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28th October, 2009 - 8:05 pm
By Christopher Reina
RealGM Recaps For Opening Night: You have to hand it to the NBA for squeezing in Opening Night on a non-NFL, non-NCAA football, non-World Series, non-HBO/Mad Men/Showtime, non-whatever people in their 50s or later watch (CSI?) day. It doesn't have quite the same gravitas as the opener to the MLB season with games on from 9:00 AM PST until 1:30 PM EST, or the excitement of the NFL, but it was a good abbreviated slate of games.
You couldn't ask for a better Eastern Conference matchup than Cavs/Celtics, given the return of Kevin Garnett and the debut of Shaq. It is just one game, but LeBron James played 44 minutes and Cleveland still lost. Unlike the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs and even the Magic, this team truly isn't very good without their best player on the floor and don't have a strong supporting cast despite their offseason maneuvers.
Barring a trade, the Cavaliers are relying on a major injury to ALL of those four teams in order to legitimately be a title contender, at least from my perspective. Las Vegas disagrees, giving them 3/1 odds just behind the Lakers, but that isn't the kind of bet that would give me much confidence.
Rondo Deal Still Possible: With Rajon Rondo's agent unwilling to budge on much of a discount from the max, Boston is wisely sitting on it and will deal with this during the summer when he is a restricted free agent. He could conceivably get a cap space team to give him a max deal, but the Celtics can certainly afford to match from a financial perspective.
Extending him now would make him nearly impossible to trade, which is an option Danny Ainge appears dead set on keeping his pocket and I fully trust him on that.
NFL Power Rankings For Week 8: The Trench Counter has moved Green Bay up to the fourth slot ahead of their matchup against the Favikings. They were one half of my Super Bowl prediction with the Chargers looking like the ugly half of a bad marriage.
Chiefs To Release Larry Johnson: A team source informed RealGM's Jeff Risdon that the Chiefs will release Larry Johnson later this week, which is a move that both sides will benefit from. His holdout during HBO's 'Hard Knocks' in 2007 had an ominous quality to it that didn't take too long to manifest.
RealGM's World Series Preview: The Phillies are a formidable opponent for the Yankees, but I like them to win in six games.
Smoltz's Radical Way To Beat The Yankees: I love John Smoltz's idea of having his pitchers go two or three innings maximum against the Yankees' lineup. When the rosters expand next September, maybe we can create enough momentum to see the Jays or Orioles give it a try for a series.
Outside RealGM
Yankees In Six: I had a reader send me this link to Frank Isola's Knick-centric look at the Yankees' World Series hopes and how it could affect famed Yankee fan LeBron James. Isola's math has the Yankees potentially having their victory parade on the same night as LeBron makes his only 2009-10 appearance at MSG.
Unless Donnie Walsh can clear Eddy Curry to get a second max contract slot, I've been swayed away from LeBron coming to New York, because unlike CC Sabathia coming to the Yankees, the Knicks are far more limited in the resources the salary cap system affords them to buy championships.
Larry Brown Calls Rasheed league's 'most understood': I'm in full agreement with LB on Rasheed Wallace.
“He’s as good a teammate as you’ll have,” said Brown. “He’s as good a teammate as I’ve ever coached. Plus he’s a great player. He’s a great defender. He can make shots. He’s a great competitor.
“I’ve really never met a player that played with him that didn’t love him. I really have met a coach that coached him that didn’t love him.”
Green dot goes from Willis to Goldson: The 49ers decided Patrick Willis was already carrying a huge load for their defense.
Is Ryan Howard really that bad versus LHP?: Ryan Howard has a career OPS of .719 in 890 plate appearances against lefties, but this post from InsideTheBook.com has his true OPS against lefties at .805, which isn't
Please send comments and questions to Scoop@RealGM.com, where we may select it for a future edition.
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