The best day of the 2008 season.

First Cy Young award for a Giant since 1967 when Mike McCormick won. Too long. I don't think it will be 40 years before the next one.

Continue Reading

Where to begin? Well, how about the beginning? Good call, brain.

Allen Rossum has worked out well as a returner and he returned the opening kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown. Great blocking by the return team and great vision by Rossum.

Overall, the defense played pretty well. They got a decent amount of pressure on Warner, who seemed able to get the ball away just in the nick of time to the only open receiver. No sacks, but good pressure.

Larry Fitzgerald is a beast and the 49ers defense forced him to catch a bunch of underneath routes. He had 8 catches, but only 49 yards and a score.

Anquan Boldin is also a beast and he always seems to burn the 49ers. He had 7 catches for 92 yards and two scores.

The real problem was letting Steve Breaston get open down the field, going 7 for 121 yards. This is where the team missed Goldson and is hurt by Michael Lewis' inability to play the pass effectively and Mark Roman's decline as a starting safety.

Jason Hill looked amazing. Now, that's a relative "amazing," but with only a hand full of catches coming into the game he went 7 for 84 yards and helped carry the team down to the goal line before the final play(s).

Josh Morgan also looks to be rounding back into the guy from pre-season going 4 for 54 yards and a nice score in the first half.

With Bryant Johnson on a 1-year deal and likely out the door after this season. I'd say the same for Arnaz Battle after this game. Hill and Morgan have too much upside to keep Battle around. The team can only keep one old WR and it'll probably be Bruce, unless he bolts to wherever Martz lands.

Mike Martz, what were you thinking?
Why are you trying to send in a new package before Hill can spike the ball, costing the team 20 clock seconds?
Why call a fullback dive from the 2.5 yard line? Don't teams have special 2 point conversion plays? I don't have a problem running the ball right there, but the setup was retarded.

The 49ers brought in a goal line package. This bunched almost everybody at the ball. I would rather see a spread offense to create some space if you wanted to run it. The way Jason Hill was catching the ball on that drive and just the way the passing game was working that last drive, you'd think a pass play would have been the better fit for the last play.

This is my main problem with Martz, he like to do things his way too much, as opposed to just doing what's working. JTO was sucking balls for the first half of the season, but the team stuck with him because he was Martz's guy. Well, JTO sucks. Shaun Hill isn't very good either, actually his game is ugly, but he's a gamer. A guy who tries hard and can make some plays despite his own shortcomings. Like when the referees think your pass was batted at the line of scrimmage because it's so wobbly, but you fight as hard as you can for a first down with or without your helmet.

It's obvious that Shaun Hill isn't the QB of the future, but he's not going to run out of bounds on fourth down like JTO did against the Giants.

It was a painful loss, but it did leave 49ers fans with hope for next week. More than could be said of most Nolan-coached games.

Continue Reading

So, per Marcus Thompson II and TimKawakami, Harrington is getting an MRI on his back today. Here's the important line:

His agent, Dan Fegan, says that Harrington has been nursing a back injury since late last month and that Harrington is scheduled for an MRI later today.

The "real" question here for me is was Harrington's back hurting when he publicly announced his desire for a trade? Seems like a bad idea to "ask" for a trade when you know you're hurt and usually teams aren't too eager to trade for a guy who's hurt, especially back hurt. I wonder if this is what led to Nellie's comments a couple days ago:

"He thinks he's a superstar. I think he's a very good player. If he wants to be traded, we'll try to accommodate him,"

Nelllie is usually good for some straight talk, so nothing immediately stood out about his quote. When we revisit the quote it shines a little different under the news today.
1) Only superstar's are allowed(read: not killed in the press) to ask for trades. Even hurt ones.
2) Nellie's underlying sarcasm with "we'll try and accommodate him" speaks both to Nellie's opinion of Al's "superstar" status and the proposition of trading a big guy with a hurt back who doesn't rebound.

Now that the McCain campaign is over, I look forward to dominating the blogosphere's "air quotes" tally unopposed.

Continue Reading

The last two seasons have been, essentially, miraculous for Warrior fans. The fact that the last two season have included an 8th playoff seed and then winning 48 games and missing the playoffs speaks volumes about miracles in general.

Warriors' fans have paid their dues and achieved the "Die Hard" status for putting up with such a putrid product for so many years and still persevering to create a big home court advantage for its team. Unfortunately, the way the team is being run from the top is endangering the "Die Hard" status which could be swapped with "Foolish" as the team shows the inability to build on it's own momentum.

The latest evidence is Robert Rowell's power play. An egotistical move that has nothing to do with the quality of play on the court, but rather infighting in the front office and status posturing. No matter the outcome, Rowell v. Mullin has one loser, the fans.

Tim Kawakami's item today details the latest event in the Lord of the Flies battle. Lord of the Flies might be too nice of a categorization, after all, that was a fictional story. It didn't really happen, and this is really happening. So, we'll call this a Stalinist maneuver. If somebody is making you look bad by looking good, murk 'em. Now, you look good because they're gone.

Have we returned to 2004-05 times? Not quite. The 2008 W's are better than that, talent wise, but probably equal, standings wise. Home games will be vastly different than road games, so at least money paying fans will be entertained at the Oracle.

Until a legitimate point guard is brought in, even when/if Monta returns, the team will struggle to stay afloat as a playoff contender.

What does it say about me as a Warriors fan that all I want to see is Brandan Wright get more playing time? I've completely given up on this season already. The team is 2-3 and I'm done. Last season the team started 0-6 and I didn't give up. But last season was last season, and this season is what it is.

Continue Reading

From the Orlando Sentinel:

The Magic picked Pietrus this summer to be the team's go-to defender against some of the league's best talent. But with his grasp of the Magic's defensive scheme going slower than expected, there has been an early November surprise.

And it's that reserve guard Keith Bogans has been called on in several key moments ahead of Pietrus, who has easily been more impressive offensively with two 20-point games.

Really? I can't believe it.

Continue Reading

1) Michigan State 8-2? Despite overhyped/overworked Javon Ringer?

2) Why is the third game of the W's season not televised, on a Saturday?

3) Classic Nellie quote from Saturday re: Harrington, "He thinks he's a superstar. I think he's a very good player. If he wants to be traded, we'll try to accommodate him,"

4) Baron Davis has played 42 minutes in 3 games and won't play tonight.

5)Just when you thought the Raiders could make up ground in the "least despicable bay area NFL team" category, 305 yards to -2 yards in the 1st half.

6) The Sharks are good, but nobody really cares. I care, but I know you don't.

7) Have you ever seen Matt Schaub and Peanut Brittle in the same room? I haven't.

8)A.I. and his expiring contract for Chauncey and McDyss. Does Detroit now get the inside track to either Dwayne Wade or LBJ in 2010?

9) The return of Sexy Rexy. Next up, Titans D. Uh-oh.

10) Speaking of the Titans here' their remaining schedule: @CHI, @JAX, v. JETS, @DET, v. CLE, @Hou, v. PIT, @IND

14-2 seems almost likely with weeks 16 & 17 being the toughest matchups, especially if TEN has home field wrapped up.

Continue Reading

The Warriors were up 103-102 with 28.5 seconds left against one of the best teams in the Western Conference before they lost 108-103. Unfortunately, it was mostly a mirage, a performance propped up by the emotions of the home opener and physical freshness of the early season.

The Warriors own one of the better home court advantages in the NBA. The crowd is basketball savvy and knows how and when to feed the team its energy. They also know what's going on with the team. In the pregame introductions AL Harrington received a fair amount of boos because of his recent public trade request/demand. On the flip side, Andris Biedrins may have heard the most cheers.

The "DeMarcus Nelson is our starting point guard" experiment didn't last very long. StackJack was defending CP3 and Nelson was guarding Peja and the Hornets immediately started attacking the mismatch. Peja hit two buckets in a row for the Hornets with Nelson on him in the first 3 minutes and Nelson(coach) removed Nelson(PG) 4:30 into the game, bringing in Azubuike.

Byron Scott inexplicably starts resting CP3 five minutes into the game and he won't comeback into the came until the second quarter. This keys the Warriors 21-9 run with CP3 on the bench and a seven point lead heading into the second. Everything goes well when the W's hit their 3's.

Andris looks really good in the first quarter and a half with eight boards and some nice offensive scoring. It's his first game, but I think Turiaf will be looked at as the best offseason signing. He won't pass the franchise leader in blocks, but he reminds me of a "good" Adonal Foyle. An energy guy who makes a difference on the defensive end, but offers more than Foyle on the offensive side. Most importantly, Turiaf is being paid the correct amount of money for his services, unlike Foyle. Are they still paying Foyle?

The problem that is already beginning to present itself is, offensively, the only Warrior that can create his own shot is Stack Jack and maybe Maggette. Plus, both of them will be playing nearly every minute. StackJack played all 48 and Maggette would have played more if he hadn't gotten in foul trouble. As the W's start to tire, the Hornets go on a 12-4 run to close the half. At the half, StackJack was more selective with his shooting, putting up nine and had zero turnovers running the point most of the time.

The starting five is back on the court after the half and DeMarcus Nelson thinks he's supposed to score. No! Nelson(coach) is known as a mathcup master, but Byron Scott is doing his own matchup exploitation. Scott gets CP3 matched up with Andris a couple times and puts Biedrins up to four fouls early in the third. Azubuike(Buke from now on) is playing really well, kind of like a young Matt Barnes, where there's still hope for improvement and not huge brain farts. Buke needs to work on his jumper more as he missed a couple, but his driving and low post scoring looks great.

Rebounding looks to be a problem again this season. Turiaf should help, but it's mostly going to be Andris and Turiaf getting boards and nobody else. David West is good and his good shooting is rubbing off on Rasual Butler. Who? Exactly. After two bad, tired shots the W's are on the brink of having the door slammed on a win, but Andris gets a board and draws a foul putting the W's in the bonus with seven minutes to play. It's a nice change to see the W's get into the bonus with so much time left, but Andris misses both FTs, but Al gets the rebound! Al gets blocked then Andris picks up his fifth personal. D'oh!

I'd like to see Andris stay out of foul trouble more this season. He's a real contributor when he's on the floor. When you look at his minutes played, at first it doesn't make sense, why he isn't playing more, but he gets in foul trouble too much. Hopefully, playing with Turiaf will ween him off of trying to defend everybody around the hoop.

StackJack has played every minute, is the main offense and has to guard CP3. Jim Barnett mentions that SJ's last brick was a "tired" shot, and we'll probably see a lot of those this season. Two possession after Barnett's comment, StackJack launches a 3 with 18 left on the 24-sec clock and no W's underneath. That is the shot StackJack has to get away from. I know it's part of his game, but he has feel the situation. The shot came after a W's basket followed by a defensive stop and the crowd was getting amp'd and then after the fast brick the crowd was quieted.

The bonus is not helping the W's. Andris goes 0 for 2, again, followed by Al going 1 for 2. The W's are drawing fouls, playing D and getting stops, but can't sink their FTs.

For some reason DeMarcus Nelson is in the game with the W's down one with 19.4 seconds to play and he nearly threw the ball away. It doesn't matter because the W's turn the ball over on the inbound and NO goes up by three. Al gets an open look at a triple, but clanks it, game over. AL is 5-17 for the game. That's not a good way to up your trade value. Al is good when he shoots less, but that's not what he thinks.

If it's painfully obvious the W's need a real point guard after the first game of the season, I can only imagine what it's going to look like in a month or two. There is some hope, Turiaf, Buke, Andris, Maggette drawing fouls, and StackJack's overall good play, but the W's need a PG. If CP3 played more in the first half, this game isn't even close. It could have been ugly, I'm afraid to see what the W's road record will look like this year. There is some small hope to be gleaned, but with no PG, it's going to be a long season, especially for Captain Jack.

Continue Reading