Things That Make You Go, “Hmmm…”

Here is an article I just read on Stephen Strasburg, the “the best amateur pitcher I’ve [MLB super-agent Scott Boras] seen” on ESPN.com. And here’s Sports Illustrated’s 1995 cover piece on a 19 year-old coming straight from high school named Kevin Garnett.

It is interesting to me how the piece on Strasburg discusses his fastball, how much money his super-agent will be able to fetch him in contract negotiations, and how teams with no chance of acquiring him are sending scouts to watch him anyway, because of what a treat it is just to see the kid perform. How the crux of the column is how much guaranteed money the young pitcher will receive from the team that drafts him, and how negotiation will set a new standard for top-flight draftees.

While the Garnett piece (also this, this, this, and this), paradoxically, discusses how overwhelming the whole situation may be for the young basketball player, how the money he is set to receive is “like… Monopoly money” to him, and how there is a strong possibility (along with past cases as evidence) that he might fail.

I know this issue has been talked about ad nauseum over the years, and fired up again last yer when Brandon Jennings ditched the NCAA for Europe and this year when Jeremy Tyler passed up his senior year of high school for the pros overseas. It’s just crazy that Lebron James and Kevin Garnett’s initial NBA contracts were worth less than $25 million COMBINED (note: the NBA installed a rookie pay scale in 1998;  LBJ’s rookie year was 2003-04; and KG’s yearly salaries can be seen here), and Strasburg’s agent has MLB general managers talking in the $50 million range and there is nary a word of how overwhelming that may be for Strasburg or how he may have to worry about keeping childhood friends from pulling him in all directions or how he very well may fail, or how his example of being super-talented sets a bad precedent for less-gifted amateurs who may attempt following in his footsteps.

Just interesting to me.

Order: Restored

So we (as in the Redeem Team) did it! Took the men’s bball gold medal and put it back in it’s proper place: The country that started the game and is STILL the best at it: The United States of America.

As recently as my past season overseas, a teammate of mine (who was from Serbia) attempted to discredit my argument on some basketball topic because “USA [wasn't] number one anymore.” So even though I wasn’t on the 2008 Olympic bball squad, what those men did helps me, in more ways than one.

Kobe Bryant once again solidified my belief that he is the best basketball player in existence right now. KB24 also showed how much of a factor he can be on the defensive end of the floorwhen the scoring load is not all on his shoulders.

Dwyane Wade made my 2008-09 NBA MVP prediction for him look good for the rest of the NBA summer.

LeBron James makes me happy that the most athletic person in the universe is from the USA. LBJ also gave us all a close-up of how much of a leader he is.

Team USA as a whole showed the world that great 3 point shooting is not the real answer to dominating all different types of international competition. The answer is speed, quickness, athleticism, ball pressure, opening the floor up, and overall defensive intensity.

(Let’s not forget the women’s team while I’m at it, who won their fourth consecutive Olympic gold.)

Finally, Team USA showed that fast (ahem), super-athletic (ahem) players who cover the entire floor, shoot from the outside (ahem), and get to the rim are game- (ahem)changers who can overwhelm the other advantages (size, experience playing together, greater sense of patiotism, better fundamentals, etc.) we previously thought were what made these Euro-clubs better than us.

I stayed up ’till 5AM to learn all this, and it was well worth it.

Patriot Games

I’m excited right now after watching Team USA crush Greece by 20 something in Beijing (watch it here), avenging their loss to Greece in Japan at the 2006 World Championships. Our (Team USA, that is) defensive efforts are really opening the games up, disrupting the pick & rolls many European teams like to run to death. And our transition/ fast break offense is incredible; if you’ve watched any games you know what happens when we turn games into open floor contests. This was definitely a statement game for Team USA- many pundits had bet that if we were to lose in the preliminary round, it would be today to the Greeks. USA still produces the best basketball teams; the Spains, lithuanias and Greeces of the world can compete with us if we let them have some success early and allow them to hang around. But, when we bring the intensity, commit defensively and put of feet on the gas pedal, there still is no competition. now for some player evaluations…

• LeBron James In terms of physical abilities, LBJ is the best athlete, regardless of sport, in the entire universe right now. If you’re reading this, I don’t need to explain who LeBron is or what he does, and he has been making some spectacular plays here with his athleticism. His volleyball spike of an Angolan player’s shot attempt Tuesday had me hitting rewind on the DVR 5 times. And th way he looked at the guy as he lay on the floor made me double over laughing.
• Kobe Bryant Kobe has made clear throughout that he is here, on Team USA that is, to be the defensive stopper, guarding the most threatening opposing player. Kobe’s doing pretty well in this regard. The alley oop he caught today off the DWade save-the-ball-from-going-out-of-bounds pass had me yelling. On the inside.
• Carmelo Anthony Melo hasn’t been the offensive dynamo he had been the past two summers so far, but he’s still a viable threat that cannot be ignored by the defense. Plus, Melo’s commitment to dominating the glass on both ends is an overlooked aspect of basketball that any young American players should take note of.
• Jason Kidd Jason is clearly the 3rd best PG on this team by now, but his experience and leadership are valuable to any team. The alley oop off the backboard he threw today, presumably to LBJ, ended in a hilarious airball that had Coach K biting his lip.
• Dwight Howard May be too powerfulfor his own good in this setting, with opposing big men flopping and getting calls from the refs when DHo decides to get gangsta under the basket. I wonder how the hell anyone guards him in pickup games with no referees to appeal to.
• Dwyane Wade I’ve already deemed DWade the 2008-09 NBA MVP, with so many people writing him off because of his injury problems. DWade still isn’t much for fundamental defense- unless it’s going for a steal or block- and he doesn’t box out or close out on shooters very well. But offensively, Wade has been downright dominant, scoring from all over the floor in a very efficient manner. In 3 games so far, DWade is 22-31 (71%) from the floor.
• Chris Paul Paul is a magician with the ball, and always finds his guys open in a position to score. his quick hands are very useful ont he defensive end as well. Along with Deron Williams, CP is the reason no team can put any real pressure on the ball for the duration of this tournament.
• Chris Bosh Wes and I took turns completely trashing Bosh when USA played Canada in an exhibition game before leaving for Asia. Bosh was fumbling passes, getting scored on at will, and looking lost and out of place on the floor with the other USA stars. But Chris Bosh made me eat my words today, as clearly the best big man on either team in today’s game. Rebounding on both ends, and finishing all his opportunities. I’m excited to see Bosh go up against Pau Gasol and Spain on Saturday morning.
• Deron Williams I’m slowly becoming more of a fan of this man the more I watch him play. I still remember watching the NBA Playoffs in 07 in Philly with Tone and Wes in my crib in Philly, and this happened. We yelled and screamed for about two minutes. He and Chris Paul will have Team USA in good hands for the next 8 years.
• Michael Redd, Tayshaun Prince & Carlos Boozer None of these guys have played much to this point, and, barring injury to any of the men above, God forbid,they probably won’t play much as the games become more and more pivotal.
• Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Greece) aka “Baby Shaq” (pictured below)

If you don’t follow international competition closely, Baby Shaq caused a great many problems for Team USA in the ’06 WCs in Greece’s upset of the Americans. Over the past two years, Baby Oliver Miller has ballooned to as much as 350 pounds, and is no longer a serious candidate to come over to the NBA (his rights are owned by the LA Clippers, who drafted Schortsanitis a few years ago. Go Figure). He played sparingly in the game today, as he is incredibly out of shape and looking more like Rick Ross than Shaquille O’Neal nowadays.