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21st October, 2009 - 3:33 pm
By Christopher Reina
Billups, Arenas Tutored Mayo This Summer: Right now O.J. Mayo is firmly between two positions, so the next two seasons will be interesting to watch develop as he attempts to shift more towards the point guard spot. Taking the Malcom Gladwell '10k Hour Theory', the Grizzlies would be much better off forcing Mayo to sink or swim at one position or the other with the vast majority of his minutes, preferably point guard. It is significantly easier for a player to eventually be versatile enough to slide from point to off guard than the opposite. But the counterargument is that there are far more adequate point guards out there in the NBA than true shooting guards that are capable of scoring 25+ points per night like a Dwyane Wade.
Shaq Sees Future As NBA Analyst: Hall of Famers don't have a very good track record transitioning into the booth as analysts. Some have been able to do it, but for every Doug Collins, there are quite a few Magics and Isiahs. I think Shaq has too big of a presence/ego to effectively provide color commentary in the booth, but could conceivably be a less funny, less interesting, less insightful Charles Barkley. His best case scenario would be as a buddy-up Ahmad Rashad who could get the lighter side of players he interviews to come forth.
Lakers Get Stuck In Traffic Jam, Arrive 39 Minutes Prior To Tip: Traffic in the Los Angeles area was atrocious on Tuesday afternoon and the Lakers showed up less than 40 minutes before tipoff like they were a JV team.
A-Rod Ready To 'Pass The Baton' If Pitchers Stop Challenging Him: I've been covering the ALCS in Anaheim this week and asked Alex Rodriguez after the Yankees' 10-1 victory in Game 4 if he had any reservations about whether pitchers might stop challenging him due to how well he has hit in the postseason.
Manny Was In Shower When Rollins Hit Walk-Off: Why should we be surprised?
Boras Compares Holliday To Teixeira: This is a nice try from Scott Boras, but Matt Holliday has a lifetime adjusted OPS of 133, while Mark Teixeira plays a more important position, switch hits and has a comparable OPS+ of 136. The contract for Teixeira was undoubtedly bloated and now is not the best time to compare anyone to the first baseman given his playoff struggles. Holliday will probably fetch approximately $114M over six seasons.
Cutler Gets $30M in New Money With Extension: Jay Cutler has rebounded fairly well from his rough start in Week 1 at Green Bay, but his 86.9 passer rating places him 16th this season. There are eight other quarterbacks with a passer rating of 100.0 or better, which includes Kyle Orton and doesn't even include Tom Brady, Kurt Warner or Philip Rivers. If I was starting a team fro scratch, Cutler would be one of the first quarterbacks I would take, but definitely not before Rodgers, Ryan or Rivers and probably not Romo, Roethlisberger or even Eli now.
Even though Orton's numbers have been excellent, it is still a trade that has worked out well for both sides.
Childress Contract Extension 'In The Works': The states of Minnesota and North Dakota were unanimous in wanting Brad Childress gone as quickly as possible just a few short months ago. This is why he picked up Brett Favre from the airport personally during the middle of practice.
Risdon's $.10 For Week 6: Jeff Risdon talks about the taboo of pulling the starting quarterback when he's having an awful game. I agree Kellen Clemens would have been able to get the Jets a victory over Buffalo in a horrifically ugly game against Buffalo.
Outside RealGM
ClipsNation On Portland's Chemistry Issues: The Blazers are having a tough time finding their rhythm with Andre Miller and Clippers' fan could have told them that over the summer.
Rays Name Derek Shelton As New Hitting Coach: The Rays have a new hitting coach.
Operation fix B.J. Upton has a new general. The Rays announced 39 year-old Derek Shelton will be the teams new hitting coach. Shelton spent the past five seasons in the same position with the Cleveland Indians.
Sounds Like T.J. Misses Cincinnati: I never would have thought I'd live to hear someone wish they were still on the Bengals.
Spare a Dime for the Times?: With the New York Times cutting 100 newsroom jobs, some readers want to pay for online content or donate money. Slate delves into the issue of whether or not the publicly traded company can actually do it.
I think there are enough smart people at the Times to figure out a road to profitability that does not lead to donations. It is an institution worth saving or even bailing out, but being as independent as possible is imperative for its longterm success.
Please send comments and questions to Scoop@RealGM.com, where we may select it for a future edition.
Click here to follow Chris Reina's Twitter feed. I will Tweeting live from Game 5 in Anaheim on Thursday. |
