Milwaukee Swaps Nuggets Smith for Patterson

(FortCollins-CO) The Denver Nuggets have traded Rueben Patterson straight up for former number one overall pick Joe Smith from the Milwaukee Bucks. This transaction came out of nowhere with little to no rumors circulating around such a move prior to its execution.

It seems like the Nuggets now have an overflow of front court players as of right now. Does this mean that the departure of Kenyon Martin is coming soon? Time will tell, but Warkentien and staff would seemingly have to make a move for a guard sooner or later. Rueben was technically a two guard or small forward, but there is no doubt about the position Smith plays. The 6’10” Smith is now on a roster that boasts Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, Nene, Linas Kleiza, Jamal Sampson, Eduardo Najera, and of course Anthony on the front line.

The only true guards the Nuggets have are Earl Boykins, Andre Miller, and J.R. Smith. Yakhouba Diawara and DerMarr Johnson are listed as tweeners. Measuring in at 6’9”, DJ doesn’t really have the quickness to defend a smaller guard and the verdict on Diawara is still out.

My fingers are crossed that the tight lipped Nuggets management have something else up their sleeves in the near future. Hopefully a gem of a two guard is about to revealed…

Joe Smith has never lived up to his draft position, but has still managed to put together a productive NBA career while playing with his now sixth different franchise. He has career averages of 12.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, one assist, and one block.

Denver Nuggets

Just returned very early this morning from the DLC's annual meeting in Denver, exhausted but happy at how the event turned out. As I noted in yesterday's brief post, the National Conversation had a record turnout of state and local elected officials, which should help, among anybody paying attention, rebut the "DC Establishment" stereotype about the DLC. As always, it was refreshing to spend some time among electeds who are actually trying to solve problems; congressional Dems, for all their virtues, have no power to do that. And Monday's public event, including the rollout of Hillary Clinton's American Dream Initiative, was quite coherent and upbeat. Lord knows there were plenty of reporters in Denver who would have loved to ignore what was actually going on at the DLC meeting and instead written about intra-party fights, and plenty of bloggers and other DLC-detractors who would have loved to pile on. But they weren't given a hook for it, and I'm relieved and grateful for that.

Tom Vilsack's and Hillary Clinton's speeches in Denver are already available on the DLC web site, and they are well worth reading. Vilsack offered a good quick summary of what the DLC is about these days. And Clinton combined an effective critique of Bush domestic policies with a very focused and specific set of counter-policies that would get the country back to what it was accomplishing when her husband was in office: expanding the middle class and dealing with supposedly intractable social and economic problems. Vilsack mentioned, as he always does, his efforts to build bridges between the DLC and the labor movement, which will begin to bear fruit in a visible way in a few weeks (stay tuned). And Clinton's economic/social agenda managed to attract praise from none other than Bob Borosage of Campaign for America's Future, who pioneered DLC-bashing long before it was cool.

Last time I checked, the DLC event had not attracted much attention in the progressive blogosphere. Sure, Markos of DKos dismissed the whole deal as irrelevant in a throwaway line in a broader post on Bill Clinton's Lieberman appearance in Connecticut yesterday; but he would have done so even if we had revealed the cure for the common cold. That's his story and he's going to stick to it.

Chris Bowers of MyDD, with whom I sometimes have a friendly sparring-partner relationship, did a long post cherry-picking press reports on the Denver event in order to argue that the DLC was focused on poll-driven political arguments for doing this or that.

I would agree with Chris if that was what had really happened. But here's the thing: this was the most wonkified DLC gathering I can remember. The whole event was organized around a collection of 22 essays on national security; a book on state and local policies to deal with globalization; and a big and specific agenda (the aforementioned American Dream Initiative) on middle-class opportunity. I was there the whole time, and didn't hear any polling data. Yes, there was one session focused on a DLC paper about electoral and demographic trends. But that's the kind of stuff Chris normally loves; it's pure data and political analysis. He singles out for particular opprobrium the discussion of faith and politics he read about; presumably this refers to the workshop on this subject I moderated in Denver. But having been there and all, I can assure him that the main thrust of the discussion was "authenticity" in connecting progressive principles with faith traditions. And my own remarks focused on the misreading of public opinion research that leads some Democrats to say damaging things about religion and politics.

I can understand the lefty impulse to describe any DLC event as revolving around poll-driven injunctions to Democrats to abandon their principles and drift to the center and right. But it's still a little odd to get bashed within the poll-and-elections-obsessed blogosphere for simply acknowledging a political dimension to the question of how progressives should pursue their values and policy goals. You can't take the politics out of politics, no matter how you want to prettify it. But anybody who was actually in Denver will agree that the big message was that Democrats need principled big ideas to take full advantage of the ongoing disaster of Republican misgovernment.

Hangover

It's over.What do we do now?All you sports fans out there will know what I'm talking about. It happens each year with the winning of the Stanley Cup, the World Series, the Super Bowl. It happens every four years with the FIFA World Cup of Soccer (sorry, football) and the Olympics. It happened yesterday when Floyd Landis crossed the finish line at the Champs Elysee in Paris, to close this year's Tour de France.The competition started (or did it end?) the day before the prologue, when 9 riders were suspended due to drug allegations. Two of the main contenders, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, were implicated and an entire team was forced out since they could no longer field a full team. Prior to the suspensions it was looking like the post-Lance era would be most interesting, but this bombshell just blew all our expectations out of the water.None of this should take anything away from the man who will forever go down in history as the first (and I'm willing to bet, only) man named Floyd to ever win the Tour. It looked like he lost it in stage 16, when due to dehydration he lost over 10 minutes to the leaders. The next day in stage 17, however, we witnessed one of the great stage victories in the history of the Tour. He won that mountain stage by a stunning seven minutes over the yellow jersey, Oscar Pereiro, and although Oscar held onto a slim lead, the writing was on the wall.A masterful time trial on Saturday was all that Landis needed after that (gee, is that all?), and the Tour was done for another year. All that was left was for Thor Hushovd to beat out Robbie McEwan in the final sprint to take Sunday's stage (but not the green sprinter's jersey - McEwan still won that) to finish the Tour - a tumultuous one, to be sure - for another year.The thing about the Tour, as opposed to other sporting events, is that it's on every day (with two rest days) over three weeks. You've gotta get your fix. You watch, you cheer, you marvel at how fit and fast these guys are. No matter who wins, you can't help but respect the guy, if for no other reason than the near-impossibility of the feat.In addition, following the Tour is sort of like being a member of an elite club. Most people don't really follow it, so those of us who keep up by hanging around the Jet Fuel mornings (I can only make it on weekends) to watch it on the big screen, check in on the various websites during the day while we work, then sit around and discuss that day's stage and our predictions as to what will happen the next day, are like "insiders" on a big secret. Although there was some public interest over the last couple of years due to the whole "can Lance keep winning" thing, this year the Tour has once again dropped off the North American sporting radar, rating back-page coverage in the Toronto Star (for instance).So now I wake up this morning with a big hole in my life. How can I continue without my fix?I need it and I need it bad, baby!! Give it to me, give it to me and I'll do anything for you, ya gotta believe me!

Hangover

It's over.

What do we do now?

All you sports fans out there will know what I'm talking about. It happens each year with the winning of the Stanley Cup, the World Series, the Super Bowl. It happens every four years with the FIFA World Cup of Soccer (sorry, football) and the Olympics. It happened yesterday when Floyd Landis crossed the finish line at the Champs Elysee in Paris, to close this year's Tour de France.

The competition started (or did it end?) the day before the prologue, when 9 riders were suspended due to drug allegations. Two of the main contenders, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, were implicated and an entire team was forced out since they could no longer field a full team. Prior to the suspensions it was looking like the post-Lance era would be most interesting, but this bombshell just blew all our expectations out of the water.

None of this should take anything away from the man who will forever go down in history as the first (and I'm willing to bet, only) man named Floyd to ever win the Tour. It looked like he lost it in stage 16, when due to dehydration he lost over 10 minutes to the leaders. The next day in stage 17, however, we witnessed one of the great stage victories in the history of the Tour. He won that mountain stage by a stunning seven minutes over the yellow jersey, Oscar Pereiro, and although Oscar held onto a slim lead, the writing was on the wall.

A masterful time trial on Saturday was all that Landis needed after that (gee, is that all?), and the Tour was done for another year. All that was left was for Thor Hushovd to beat out Robbie McEwan in the final sprint to take Sunday's stage (but not the green sprinter's jersey - McEwan still won that) to finish the Tour - a tumultuous one, to be sure - for another year.

The thing about the Tour, as opposed to other sporting events, is that it's on every day (with two rest days) over three weeks. You've gotta get your fix. You watch, you cheer, you marvel at how fit and fast these guys are. No matter who wins, you can't help but respect the guy, if for no other reason than the near-impossibility of the feat.

In addition, following the Tour is sort of like being a member of an elite club. Most people don't really follow it, so those of us who keep up by hanging around the Jet Fuel mornings (I can only make it on weekends) to watch it on the big screen, check in on the various websites during the day while we work, then sit around and discuss that day's stage and our predictions as to what will happen the next day, are like "insiders" on a big secret. Although there was some public interest over the last couple of years due to the whole "can Lance keep winning" thing, this year the Tour has once again dropped off the North American sporting radar, rating back-page coverage in the Toronto Star (for instance).

So now I wake up this morning with a big hole in my life. How can I continue without my fix?

I need it and I need it bad, baby!! Give it to me, give it to me and I'll do anything for you, ya gotta believe me!

A League of His Own

I'll admit it: in the past, I've been critical of NBA Commissioner David Stern. I was wrong. David Stern has done a lot of great things for the NBA. He's implemented a much-needed dress code and curbed outrageous rookie salaries. Does anyone remember when Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson came out of Purdue and was demanding $100 million in his first contract? Stern has a high schooler-free draft coming up later this summer and a developmental league to cushion the falls of players who, mistakenly, jump to the league too soon. During Stern's tenure (1984-present), the NBA has gone from a league dominated by domestic stars to one filled with international players, including 2-time MVP Nash (Canada), Yao (China), Dirk (Germany), Pau (Spain), and Manu (Argentina). Those guys are so big you recognize them just by one name. Add in Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Andrew Bogut, Darko, Peja , AK47, Nocioni, Diop, Deng, etc., and you realize that the league is being enhanced by all the talent the world has to offer. At the same time, a new crop of U.S. stars (led by LBJ, Carmelo, Wade, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, etc.) is taking the league by storm.

David Stern needs to continue to build the league that in the mid-90's was losing its grip on the American public to the NHL. I remember a Sports Illustrated cover with the headline NHL hot, NBA not ... or at least something to that effect. Since then, the NBA has reclaimed its place as #2 (behind the NFL) while the NHL has fallen so far that it has probably been passed by NASCAR. Donald Sterling, another DS, may have allowed Elgin Baylor and Mike Dunleavy to turn around the woeful Clippers franchise. However, there are still laughing-stocks nestled around the nation ... just look at the mecca of U.S. basketball, NYC! The Knicks are atrocious and tied down with the wrong coach, a bad GM, and the absurd pairing of Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury in the back court.* Along with a pair of shoot-first PG's, they have Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford, a couple of ball-hogging SG's. They also have Jerome James and Eddy Curry clogging up the middle, and I mean that literally and figuratively. The Knicks gave way too much money (and what turned into the #2 draft pick in this year's draft) for a couple guys who played really well in their contract years but have struggled with staying motivated and staying in shape the rest of the time. What did management think would happen when they locked them up to multi-year, guaranteed-money, deals?

David Stern was wrong to make suggestions to Knicks management. The Knicks have had enough time to make changes. They've been saddled with bad contracts, and rather than bite the bullet and wait out their punishment, they've tried to dig their way out of the hole by trading one bad contract for another and adding more expensive pieces that don't fit anywhere in the puzzle that is winning in the NBA. It's time for David Stern to step in! David Stern doesn't need to be making suggestions, he needs to be making calls. He didn't suggest that Allen Iverson clean up his attire, he made a rule that forced AI to dress up, along with all of his peers. Stern should take a similar stance with the Knicks and the Hawks (who have quite the stable of wing players but not much else). The Hawks left Chris Paul on the board last year and took Marvin Williams. They let Boris Diaw go to the Suns in the Joe Johnson deal. Interesting moves ... I've seen enough of them, it's time for Stern to take charge.

In fact, there are a lot of teams that could use some help. The Seattle Sonics were a solid team in 2004-2005, but the losses of Vladimir Radmonovic, Jerome James and Coach Nate MacMillan resulted in the Sonics missing the playoffs this year. The Lakers traded Shaq, missed the playoffs in 04-05 and lost in the first round this year. The Kings fired Rick Adelman, the Warriors hired Mike Montgomery and haven't been able to make the playoffs, despite a starting five of Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Adonal Foyle (a solid defensive center). The Minnesota Timberwolves blew up the bench (letting Flip Saunders go to Detroit) and roster around Kevin Garnett, the Jazz can't find guards to go with AK47, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur (although they'd be better off if Kirilenko and Boozer can stay healthy), and the Nuggets gave Kenyon Martin a max deal! Where does Kenyon Martin fit on a team with Carmelo, Nene (Brazil) and Marcus Camby? The correct answer is on the bench, if Nene is healthy. However, despite the front court studs, they can't find a decent SG. The problem with the NBA is that some teams have too many guards, some not enough, some players (Tim Thomas with the Bulls) don't fit with their current team and would be better off playing for another team (like the Phoenix Suns). Basketball isn't necessarily about having the best talent, it's about having pieces that fit together. Sure, you need good players, but Starbury, Stevie Franchise, Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, and Eddy Curry are all talented. How'd the Knicks do?

Stern can't just improve the Knicks and Hawks without a little cooperation from other teams. So, in the best interest of the league, Stern should be given full reign ... the NBA is his playground. Owners would be relieved of their duties and given shares in the new NBA Corporation based on the estimated worth of their teams. Teams like the Phoenix Suns, who have been constructed well — with players who have complimentary skill sets and a coach who's system takes advantage of their abilities — will probably remain unchanged. Stern would give Kevin Garnett the chance to be a star in a major market, such as New York City, or on a championship contender, possibly being paired with King James in Cleveland. Kobe won't be burdened with another star and Lamar Odom will be moved elsewhere so he can actually touch the ball every once in a while. By systematically putting teams together that make sense (like the Detroit Pistons), the overall product will improve. Erick Dampier won't be on the Mavericks because Dallas doesn't want an offensive weapon in the post. Diop will man the middle for the Mavericks and provide defense and rebounding.

LeBron James wouldn't have a post-up center (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) clogging up the lane. He also wouldn't have Larry Hughes as a running mate. Hughes is a good player, but he doesn't shoot the three well (28% on the season) and is best with the ball in his hands. LBJ should have teammates who can hit open perimeter shots, defend, and run the floor. In David Stern's NBA, the Cavs starting five would be Raja Bell (49% from 3-pt range), LeBron, Tayshaun Prince (48% from 3-pt range), Kevin Garnett and LaMarcus Aldridge. James would be the primary ballhandler on a team filled with athletic players who can defend and shoot from the perimeter.

Additionally, Stern and his management team will be in charge of hiring, firing, contract negotiations, discipline, etc. To paraphrase the commish, if players don't like it, they can get out and do something else for a living. Players will be rewarded financially based on personal and team performance, as well as attendance, jersey sales, and other marketing-related endeavors. In the interest of good basketball and employee satisfaction, it's important that players and coaches are put in positions where they can succeed. That isn't happening, on a large-scale, currently. It's time for a change. It's time for David Stern's powers to be increased, for the betterment of the league financially and on the court.


*I just googled the NY Knicks and clicked on the link to the Knicks page on nba.com and a 2006-2007 NY Knicks tickets pop-up came up. Who were the Knicks featured? David Lee, Nate Robinson, and Channing Frye. The NY Knicks are marketing Lee, Robinson and Frye.

Why I Love The Home Run Derby

Here we are, once again in the middle of summer and on the brink of MLB's All-Star game and I have six words to share: I Love The Home Run Derby! Seriously, folks, whoever invented this competition deserves an honorary spot in the Hall of Fame (of course as far as I know he - or she? - already has one). If anyone's unfamiliar with this rockin' event - it was on last night, I'm really sorry if you missed it - it involves a bunch of baseball's best sluggers of the season trying to do nothing other than hit the ball outta the park. That's it. No full-counts, no running bases, no pitchers' pick-off moves - it's all home runs, all the time! Each player gets an unlimited number of pitches so they can wait for the one they like best and then just swing away. For every hit ball that's not a home run it counts as an "out" but they up the margin from 3 to 10 so each guy gets quite a few chances.

But my favorite thing about the HRD is that it generally constitutes a complete role reversal in that players are the fans and fans become the players. Here's a group of big-tough-guy baseball players unabashedly cheering each other on. As with the All-Star game it's National vs. American League, so you'll get Yankees supporting Red Sox and Cardinals rooting for an Astro - meanwhile the fans show all the outfield talent, performing Olympic quality stunts to try to catch some of the balls. Last night's challenge at PNC park was exceptionally hilarious because of the Allegheny River that runs adjacent to the field. You might guess that a river would deter fans from gathering outside the park to fight for the far hit homer but instead it seemed actually to encourage them. I can just picture the conversations that occurred all over Pittsburgh's suburbs: "Honey, let's go kyaking... And bring your baseball glove!!"

As with most sporting events there's little at stake besides bragging rights and the Home Run Derby is ultimately all about fun and entertainment. For those that missed the actual event, the MLB video games for PS2 (and likely XBox as well) have a Home Run Derby level for do-it-yourself HRD entertainment. Unfortunately, the game doesn't come with crazy fans outside the stadiums but you will get the luxury of entering any player you like into the competition. Tony and I once created a "Funny Batting Stance" Home Run Derby and chose players such as Moises Alou, Gary Sheffield and Craig Counsel simply based on the silliness of their pre-swing stances. Our HR tallys never got high - likely because accuracy gave way to laughter a few too many times. Entertainment, pure and simple. And that, my friends, is why I Love the Home Run Derby.

WNBA: Mercury Rising?

By Mel Greenberg

UNCASVILLE, Conn. _ It will be a homecoming show for four players Saturday afternoon in the Mohegan Sun Arena when the Phoenix Mercury meets the Connecticut Sun in WNBA cross-sectional game.

Diana Taurasi, the most notable of the quartet, has done this act several times already after graduating after the 2004 season as arguably the University of Connecticut’s best all-time player

However, the native Californian has had to share headlines recently with Mercury rookie, Cappie Pondexter, the No. 2 overall pick in April’s WNBA draft who is already known as an enemy opponent in her days at Rutgers.

Pondexter, in her first visit East, which will also include a Sunday stop in Madison Square Garden against the New York Liberty, set the stage for her arrival on Thursday by scoring a WNBA rookie record 35 points as Phoenix upset the Detroit Shock, 92-80, in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Joining Taurasi in the UConn alumni association portion of the Phoenix lineup is Mercury rookie Ann Strother.

The fourth of the group knows much about the Connecticut pro team because until the season got under way, Jen Derevianik, a former George Mason star, had been a member of the Sun the last three seasons after making the team as an undrafted free agent.

Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said at Friday’s practice cutting Derevianik might have been his most difficult player personnel move since joining the franchise after it arrived from Orlando.

“But she wasn’t going to be able to grow here,” Thibault said of his guard-loaded lineup and Derevianik’s ability to help kick-start the Mercury under new coach Paul Westhead after Phoenix struggled in the early going.

The Mercury did not practice Friday upon arrival so we decided we could wait for Saturday’s action, but I’m sure our friends running the Women’s Basketball site will have quotes in whatever publications were successful in getting Mercury players on the phone Friday afternoon.

Thibault had things to say about Phoenix, most of which was complimentary, especially after the Sun lost the first encounter on the road this season.

“Nobody has stopped them from scoring because they’re all averaging 27 points,” Thibault said. “What you have to do is make them work for what they get and do a good job of making their shots contested.

“We can’t do what we did in the last game, Taurasi had three uncontested threes in transition. That’s just bad communication.”

Thibault was with Westhead on the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers in 1980 and 1981 when they were a high-scoring operation.

“That era may have been the best NBA teams ever. They had everything,” Thibault.

Speaking of Westhead’s style, the Connecticut coach noted, “You can wear people down with the tempo. If you give players the freedom to shoot without them looking over their shoulders, they tend to be better shooters.”

He said Phoenix is loaded beyond Taurasi and Pondexter. “They have a lot of good players. I think they’re a contender, I really do. Theoretically, if you looked at the rosters and got a chance to coach any team in the West, would you choose very many more teams than them to coach in this league _ talent wise?

“You can’t say (who’s best) in the West right now, that those teams (except Minnesota) are beating each every night. What San Antonio did in L.A. the other night, that was a butt-kicker. And they all do that to each other. Whichever of those teams becomes the most consistent road team will probably be the best team in the West.”

There was major Sun news of note Friday even though we’re just discussing it at this point in our report.

All-star starter Nykesha Sales, a former University of Connecticut star, beat the Sun coaching staff by minutes in deciding to shut herself down for several weeks to heal a series of nagging injuries, including her left Achilles and right hip.

“I think obviously I don’t feel good,” Sales said. “My output is not helping the team. I don’t want anything to get worse to something that’s not fixable, so my body’s telling me to strengthen it and take some time off before I start having a major injury.

“It was really tough,” Sales said of her decision. “I thought about last night (after the close win over Charlotte here) and coach called me about it. I just got to know when to say when. Usually I’m not in this position, but you got to know.

“My body’s trying to tell me to chill out. If I want to be healthy for the playoffs, which is most important, I have to go ahead and do what I need to do now to get that way.”

Sales said there’s no timetable for her return. “The only way to really let it heal is to rest. I can’t compensate at all because it’s on both sides of my body. I just have to rest.”

As for playing in the All-Star game on Wednesday in New York, Sales said, “I haven’t made that decision yet. We’ll probably make that decision in the next couple of days, but it doesn’t look good.”

Sales said staying off her feet and not pounding the floor was the only way to go.

“We were both at that crossroad,” Sales said of herself and coaching staff knowing she needed to be sidelined for a while.

“It’s obvious out there, I can’t do what I want to do. I look like I’m in pain running up and down the floor.”

Nothing is broken or torn Sales said of the medical evaluation of her condition.

“Yeah, it’s kind of frustrating, because it’s just little issues that just piled up and it’s to the point now, where there’s just too much going on.”

-- Mel