Monday Morning Mehta 6/26/06

Edition # 167
June 26, 2006

Since I don't care about the Phillies anymore I find myself with very little to say. Which probably makes 99.9% of the people I know very happy that I've finally shut up. Anyway, the NBA, NHL and the US in the World Cup are finished so to wrap all that up are Derreck and Ed. Enjoy, next MMM will be July 10.

www.mondaymorningmehta.blogspot.com

NBA - Derreck Sura

- Well the playoffs are officially over, and I'd have to say they were a success (even though I went 11-4). Congratulations to the Miami Heat for winning a title in their first ever trip to the Finals. There's plenty of good stories that go along with that too. Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning finally getting a ring after 16 and 13 years respectively. Pat Riley returning to the top of the mountain after 18 years. And of course, Shaquille O'Neal winning something without Kobe Bryant. Not to go too crazy here, but O'Neal averaged 13.7 points on 60.7% shooting, 10.2 rebounds, .83 blocks and shot 29.2% from the free throw line in the Finals. Does anyone out there really think "The Diesel" was going to play second fiddle to Bryant? I sure don't, and that's exactly why the big fella orchestrated his way out of Los Angeles in the summer of 2004. He knew his skills were on the decline, and in no way, shape or form was Shaq going to play Robin to Kobe's Batman. (Kudos to ESPN's Dan Patrick for asking Shaq that at the trophy presentation too. Way to go DP!)

Dallas never recovered after having the series in their hands and blowing it in the last six minutes of game 3. The Mavericks just could not make open shots (shot 42.2% in the Finals as a team, down from 46.2% in the regular season) and tightened up down the stretch in every loss but game 4 (where they didn't show up). Another noteworthy stat is that Dallas was 1-6 in the post season in games decided by three points or less. Not good. Dirk Nowitzki has got to shoulder most of the blame too because it's on him to carry his team in crunch time. Dirk ended up averaging 22.8 points on 39% shooting for the Finals, down from his regular season numbers of 26.6 ppg and 48% shooting. It's going to be a long summer for the big German.

I don't really know how to put this, but after a FANtastic playoffs, the Finals were a little disappointing to me entertainment value wise. I know the ratings were up 12% from last year, and most of the games were somewhat competitive throughout, but something was missing. In my opinion the Mavs just didn't play well. Give credit to the Heat and their underrated defense, but I feel like Dallas never really challenged Miami or put real pressure on them to step up in big moments. Which leads me to.....

Dwyane Wade. He absolutely deserved to be MVP after completely dismantling the Mavs' D by averaging 34.7 points on 46.8% shooting. He also chipped in 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.67 steals and 1 block per game. Those numbers are great, but it's 16.2 free throw attempts per game that really demoralized Dallas. There's no doubt that D Wade was unstoppable when he wanted to be, but it's also plainly obvious that Wade got far more "respect" from the officials then Nowitzki did. Dwyane is going to be the new poster boy for the NBA, and he seems ready to handle it, but I don't think he earned the type "respect" he was given in these Finals in only his third year overall. I mean, some of the calls he got would have made Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson blush. That's my beloved NBA for ya, so I'm putting a ribbon on the season with my top five guys that currently benefit the most from friendly whistles.

1. LeBron James (10.3 FTA's per game in the regular season)
2. Dwyane Wade (10.7)
3. Allen Iverson (11.5)
4. Gilbert Arenas (10)
5. Kobe Bryant (10.2)

- Last Thursday Larry Brown got his just desserts and was fired as head coach of the New York Knicks. I didn't predict this one the day he was hired, so I can't gloat. I actually think this is a good thing for Larry the person though. After winning his ring he's managed to lose three straight teams. It all started with the 2004 Olympic team. Which led to him losing the Detroit Pistons during the 2005 playoffs. And the cherry on top was this year's 23-59 Knicks. Not that LB will heed my advice, but I think he needs to take two to three off, completely away from the game, before coming back. The man needs to get a fresh perspective and do a little soul searching that hopefully leads to him changing some of his ways. Like not ripping players in the media (Olympic team and Knicks) or adapting to the talent he has rather then making roster changes (Sixers and Knicks). The whole buyout situation on his contract bores me to death. The interesting thing in NY now is Isiah Thomas being on the clock. He put this mess of a roster together, and now it's time for his 125 million dollar payroll to deliver. I'd say "Zeke" has one and half seasons as coach to get something done or he'll be the next one canned.

- The United States National Team was eliminated from the World Cup after losing to Ghana 2-1 in the final game of group play. The "Black Stars" two goals came on US mistakes too. On the first one captain Claudio Reyna sprained a ligament in left knee and gave the ball away leading to a one on none break away. The second goal is a little more counterseal being that it was a penalty kick that came during stoppage time. The foul on Oguchi Onyewu in the box was total garbage, and was basically a result of him being bigger then the guy that fell. That killed the momentum USA has just regained on a brilliant ball from DeMarcus Beasley (the singular highlight of the tourney for the US) that Clint Dempsey put in the back of the net to tie it at 1-1. Blaming the ref is a convenient excuse, but really there is no PK if Carlos Bocanegra clears the ball as he's supposed to a few seconds before that.

If you would have told me before the WC that the US was going to be 0-1-1 with a chance to advance by beating Ghana, I would have took it in a heartbeat (Italy ended up doing there part beating the Czech's 2-0 BTW). As is usually the case with our team, we got the opportunities, but just couldn't finish. To make matters worse, on top of our utter inability to finish, or produce the required service that leads to finishing, we compound that by making stupid mistakes. You just can't advance in the WC making stupid plays. The other teams are too good and always convert.

I got into the WC back when it was in the States in 1994, and I've followed the USA ever since. I don't watch other kinds of soccer, but pretty much every time the National Team is on, I tune in. What I saw in this WC is what I always see from them. I was guilty of buying into our team being good enough to compete on the highest level, when in reality, we are the same bunch of losers we always have been. That said, I still think this was the most talented roster we've fielded in our history, and I have to question how coach Bruce Arena used them. We played a 4-5-1 the entire tournament. Which is four defenders, five mid-fielders and one striker. Not that I'm some kind of X & O expert, but after the way the offense looked against the Czech's, and AGAIN versus Italy, a change was probably in order. Brian McBride is a top flight striker (voted MVP by teammates at Fulham in the Premiership), but leaving him up front all by himself for every game (where in the hell was Eddie Johnson?!?!), combined with having no one skilled enough to deliver him the proper service needed, was a complete and utter joke. Arena has done for more for US soccer then any other coach in it's history, but I think his time is pretty much up. Eight years at the national level in almost unheard of in international soccer. I'd like to see a high profile, recently deposed, international coach with some fresh ideas be hired.

In closing I have two statements on the US team, one good, and one bad. So long to Reyna, McBride and Eddie Pope. You all served your National Team well. Finally, if Landon Donovan is our best player, we're in big trouble. I was going to go on a long tangent ripping Landon to shreds, but Ives Galarcep of ESPN.com did a better job then I ever could have. If you care in the least about the future of US soccer, this article is an interesting read.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=372268&root=worldcup&cc=5901

- The World Cup has been enjoyable pressure packed soccer all around. However, there are two things that could have easily been avoided marring the proceedings. The first is the turf, and that's really simplest of all. How the pitches in Germany are not perfectly manicured for the biggest tournament in the world is beyond me. Next is the refereeing. It's so wildly inconsistent and subject to play acting that it's hard to take seriously. I have no idea what FIFA can do to fix the problem, but the amount of cards is not what they want the fans and media remembering this WC for.

I guarantee to my readers that if you watch all four quarterfinal matches this Friday and Saturday, you will end up as a fan of the World Cup. Here is a quick run down of my thoughts on the remaining matches...

#53. Italy v Australia - The "Socceroos", as the Aussie's are known, are big time underdogs here. They may just be happy to be into the knock out round for the first time ever. Then again, Italy is well known for playing down to their competition. I see a tight match where the Italians do just enough to win.

#54. Switzerland v Ukraine - I don't really know that much about either team, other then the Swiss play good D and the Ukrainians are tough. I'm torn here, but I'll go with Shevchenko to be the difference maker for the Ukraine in a lackluster match.

#55. Brazil v Ghana - This could be the United States getting torched here. Anyway, I'm sure Ghana will surprise Brazil when their overall team speed at first, but after Brazil adjusts, game over.

#56. Spain v France - This is going to be a very entertaining match to watch. The French seem to be in a goal scoring funk, while it looks like Spain is hitting their stride at the right time for once. Big time players are all over both rosters, but I'm going with the Spaniards.

QUARTERS

#57. Germany v Argentina - The opening match of the elite eight is a doozie. The home country versus a South American powerhouse. You really couldn't ask for more. With the way they have been playing, I can't pick against the Germans here.

#58 - Winner #53 v # Winner #54

#59. England v Portugal - This should be another great match featuring two perennially underachieving European sides with a trip to the Semis on the line. Portugal will be without the services of chief playmaker Anderson Deco due to a red card. Something tells me it's the English's year, so I'm leaning that way.

#60 - Winner #55 v Winner #56

NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser



- How is it possible to have the most ridiculous name and logo in all of pro sports and when given a chance to change it the team makes it more ridiculous? The Anaheim Mighty Ducks were sold and the name is now just the Anaheim Ducks, not much you can do about the name, but the new logo is awful. It's some kind of silly gold lettering with a gold stripe above the waist. That logo was created by some kid that got a D minus in design class.


- The NHL draft took place last Saturday. If you're not familiar with the NHL draft it's not like the NBA draft or the NFL draft in that the GM of the team that is making the pick goes to the microphone and makes the pick himself. When it came time for the Flyers to make their selection Flyer GM Bobby Clarke went up to the mic and said "with the 22nd pick in the 2006 NHL draft the Philadelphia Flyers select, from the Québec Major Junior Hockey League.....(starts shuffling his papers) I forget". So Clarke had to go over to Paul Holmgren and get the kid's name. The name was Claude Giroux. I'm not going to pretend like I ever saw the kid play but I did read that he's a speedy right winger and that he's only 5'10" so maybe Clarke finally is learning what the new NHL is really all about. Only a year too late.



- Chris Pronger demanded a trade from Edmonton for "personal reasons". I hate to do that to everyone, I know you all are wondering "what are the reasons?" I searched the internet high and low and I couldn't find out the reasons to save my life.



- Quick review of the season.....the penalties went from being called for actual penalties to some weird zone were the commissioner put the fear of God in the referees and they started calling more ticky tac penalties then were called against Michael Jordan defenders in the 1998 NBA Finals. We need a happy medium.....The NHL on OLN was a failure. The coverage went from abysmal to being a pretty good broadcast, but nobody noticed. The NHL needs to on a network like ESPN, a network that will wind up on a certain amount of household TV's in America, and every TV in a bar, regardless of what's on.....the Bruins traded away the league's MVP and scoring champ (Joe Thorton) and a player (Sergei Samsonov) that helped take his new team to the Stanley Cup Finals. And who did they get in return? Ahhh, that's not rhetorical, other then Marty Reasoner I can't remember.....The 'Nucks traded Todd Bertuzzi to the Panthers for Roberto Luongo. There were other players involved but Bertuzzi and Luongo were the only ones that matter. GREAT trade for the 'Nucks. Bertuzzi's welcome was officially worn out and he needed to be moved and to get one of the best goalies in the league is quite a coup.....the two biggest surprises in the league this year were the Flyers ineptitude and the starless Sabres making a legit Cup run.



- So the season is over and the NHL takes what seems like 2 weeks off before the next season starts. In the meantime if there's any topic in pop culture or sports that anybody would like to hear my take on send me an e-mail and I'll write about it in this space. Just let me know.