Football

The offense is in a state of flux, but the 49ers will make the playoffs on the play of the defense. [SFGate]

Mike Singletary's actions point to him being less stubborn than we think. [SFGate]

Mark Purdy flip flops on Alex Smith and apologizes. [SJ Merc]

Singletary was impressed by the leadership from his offensive players. [Press Democrat]

Basketball

You know how the Warriors need a true point guard? Well, apparently there's a ton in the NBA today. [SFGate]

The bottom 10 plays from the Raiders Thanksgiving loss to the Cowboys. [SFGate]

Baseball

Pay the man. [SFGate]

The A's are showing interest in a Cuban defector, just not the good one. [CC Times]

Football

Singletary is starting to feel the sting of losing and things not going according to plan. [SJ Merc]

Bill Belichick and Bill Walsh have three Super Bowl rings a piece, but Belichick's coaching tree isn't growing like Walsh's did. [SFGate]

The 49ers need continuity on offense. [Press Democrat] It's interesting that Mike Johnson (QB Coach) spent his year away from football getting his college degree AND studying the spread offense. Hmm. Jimmy Raye's longest run as an OC was three seasons. Hmmm. Also, Allen Rossum was cut by the Cowboys because he couldn't stay healthy, the same reason the 49ers cut him earlier this season.

The 49ers dropped the tampering charges against the Jets. [Sac Bee]

Tom Cable punted on 4th and 1 and then thouhgt about going for two instead of the tie. [CC Times]

Basketball

Don Nelson won't make the Texas road trip with the Warriors as he battles pneumonia. [SFGate]

Pneumonia is a hell of an excuse to get away. [CC Times]

Nelson is sick as a dog and CJ Watson is recovering from swine flu. No wonder Jackson wanted to leave so bad. [CC Times]

Football

Is it time for the Niners to tailor the offense to Smith's strengths? [SFGate] It already feels like it's a game too late. But, it might not matter. Alex Smith is not the future of the 49ers. Colt McCoy anyone?

Mark Purdy seconds the notion that Alex Smith isn't the answer. [SJ Merc] Here is the key quote from Alex Smith that highlights the notion: "I think we came out, for whatever reason, apprehensive, cautious and kind of waiting for somebody to make a play." When you are the #1 overall pick, YOU aren't suposed to be apprehensive. YOU are supposed to make plays. I've been a staunch Smith supporter since he was drafted, making various excuses for his play. But, it's over, Smith is not the answer.

Gradkowski brings a much needed energy to the Raiders. [SFGate]

With the playoffs now pretty much a pipe dream, Maiocco outlines the 49ers remaining goals. [Press Democrat]

The 49ers' coaches put a bad gameplan together despite hacing extra time to prepare. [Sac Bee]

Jerry Mac's Raiders post game wrap. [CC Times]

Top 10 plays from yesterday's Raiders win. [SFGate]

Baseball

The A's signed Dallas McPherson. [CC Times]

Some Giants notes, including the notion of moving Freddie Sanchez to third if they acquired Dan Uggla. Not good. [SFGate]

Basketball

The glass is half full at the Fast Break Warriors blog. [SJ Merc]

Baseball

Lincecum wins the Cy Young and talks about getting busted. [SJ Merc]

Rob Neyer takes a closer look at NL Cy Young balloting. [ESPN]

The Giants are unlikely to go adter Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. [SFGate]

Football

Niners need to limit the YAC on Sunday. [SJ Merc]

Becuase you were dying to know, Q&A with Bruce Gradkowski. [CC Times]

Basketball

* The Warriors are playing with a lot more heart now that Jackson is gone. To bad they have played the Cavs and Celtics on the road. [SF Gate]

* Where will Monta end up? How about the Warriors!? [SJ Merc]

Baseball

* The Chronicle proves once again that they don't know anything about sports. [SF Gate]

Basketball

Warriors lose to the Cavaliers. RT, did they cover? Also, an update of the "Big Meeting" tomorrow between management and Monta Ellis. LeBron James was giving Stephen Curry advice after the game. LBJ a GSW next year? I kid. I kid. [CC Times]

Baseball

Andrew Bailey won the Rookie of the Year, now the A's need to find one that swings a bat. [SFGate]

Lincecum has to go to court before the judge signs off on his pot ticket. Can't blame the judge for wanting an autograph, right? [SFGate]

Football

Matt Wilhelm stepped up nicely when he came in for a hurting Takeo Spikes who may still be out Sunday. [Sac Bee]

No starting QB has been announced for the Raiders, but there's other stuff to talk about, too. [SFGate]

Chris Johnson and his quest for 2,000 yards rushing. [NY Times]

by RT


The day of reckoning has finally come and the Warriors get a B+ for how they handled the Stephen Jackson situation. As I have written in the past, the Warriors should have told Jackson he was not welcome at practice or at games and told him that he would not be traded. Simply put – “you can come out of your room when you are ready to play nice.” Of course, the only team to actually go through with such a threat was the Denver Broncos this last summer with Brandon Marshall. Amazingly enough, Marshall is headed for the Pro Bowl as a Bronco and not a Charger or Cowboy. Of course, there was no guarantee this strategy would have worked with Jackson.
When Al Harrington got traded this time last year, the event was permanently etched in the head of Jackson and his agent. While Captain Jack gave the Warriors everything they wanted and more, the team continued to lose and he had to start thinking – “I am stuck with this team that will not be a winner for at least another two years.” The reality is that most NBA players want to win unless they are living in New York, LA or Miami. The New York Knicks have been terrible over the past 7 season and the only player that has requested a trade was Starbury, who is at least 30 cards short of a full deck. So while Al Harrington is eating steak at Angelo and Maxie’s with super models, Jackson is stuck in Oakland going nowhere fast. For the Warriors, the Al Harrington trade was a disaster because he got exactly what he wanted while the Warriors got nothing in return. The Warriors were not about to let a player get exactly what he wanted again.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Warriors must have narrowed their trade partners down to all the terrible teams in the league and the teams that do not play in the above-mentioned cities. This list of teams was short to say the least. As any good trader knows, the best trade is often the one you didn’t make. With that thinking in mind, the GM of the Bucks, T-wolves, Pacers, Jazz, Grizzles and Kings need to be given a lot of credit for not getting involved in the Stephen Jackson trade talks. However, the Bobcats, a train wreck of a franchise in their own right, could not stay away.

In a lot of respects, this trade was a huge in for the Warriors.

* They get a significant amount (~$21 mm) in savings over the next 3 years.

* Monta Ellis now has to take the team seriously when they tell him – “If you don’t want to stay, your options are Utah, Sacramento or Minnesota.”

* The Warriors have not righted the ship, not even close, but the die-hard fans now know that the Warriors realize how poorly they handled the Harrington trade last year.

The only real negative in all of this is that the Cavs were likely offering two expiring contracts for Jackson which would have been nice trade chips later this winter. However, most fans don’t understand the mutiny which would have occurred if Jackson would have ended up in Cleveland. Think about it – one guy gets to play in the best city in the world and the other guy gets to play with the best player in world. If I was a janitor at Oracle, I would have asked for a trade to the Staples Center because there was no reason to believe I wouldn’t get it.

Finally, I think I speak for most Warriors fans when I say that Stephen Jackson still has some good basketball in him. He is a very unique player that can not only guard the best players in the world but he can also score from about anywhere on the court. However, his best Warriors days were behind him. He needed to be a mentor to the younger players on an off the court. He needed to play the point forward that looked to create mismatches on the offensive end. He needed to teach this team how winning in the NBA is about sacrificing for the good of the team. The bottom line is that the Warriors needed him and he didn’t want them. It was time for him to go.

And yes, there is such a thing as addition by subtraction.