Yesterday, around noon, the announcement was made that the Carolina Hurricanes had traded Andrew Ladd to the Chicago Blackhawks for Tuomo Ruutu. The trade was an exchange of "once-promising" young players, with each team hoping that the change of scenery will help reinvigorate the players involved. Also, the Hurricanes needed someone capable of playing the center position since the loss of team captain Rod Brind'Amour to a knee injury.
It was a trade that made a lot of sense. But that's not why I am writing this entry.
Why am I writing this entry?
Ruutu was in the lineup for the Hurricanes last night. As someone who grew up watching the NBA, that astounds me. NBA players often take 3 or 4 days to "adjust" to their new surroundings. Some take that long just to report to their new team.
Ruutu was on the ice for the Hurricanes, only 7 or 8 hours after the trade was announced. He arrived at the RBC 15 minutes before gametime, had an assist, delivered several crushing hits, and needed 40 stitches to close a gash on his forehead from a shot he took in the third period.
Welcome to Raleigh, Mr. Ruutu!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tiger Woods versus.....
Phil Mickelson? Nope.
Ernie Els? Not a chance.
Vijay Singh? Vijay who?
Rory Sabbatini? Only in Rory's dreams.
Ian Poulter? Ha!Ha! That's funny.
So who, then?
Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear is Tiger's only competition. And even that contest is starting to look like a mismatch.
With his victory last week at the Accenture Match Play, Tiger cleared the biggest hurdle he faced in having a season of historical proportions. Match play is very fickle, and a player can lose even if he plays great golf. Tiger nearly lost on Wednesday to JB Holmes, made an amazing comeback, and went on to win the whole thing. He made almost every putt he needed to make. He has an amazing ability to perform at his highest level when the pressure is the greatest.
At the beginning of this PGA season, Tiger stated several times that he thought he could win the Grand Slam this year. People were shocked, because Tiger almost never makes such statements. Through three events in 2008 (2 PGA Tour victories, 1 in Dubai), Tiger has made an even larger statement with his golf clubs.
I would argue that Tiger, right now, is the best golfer ever. People say he has to pass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors before laying claim to that title, but I disagree. When Tiger turned professional, people were convinced that no one would ever approach Jack's records. The fields were too deep, the players too talented, for someone to win enough major tournaments to approach Jack's mark. Well, Tiger is now 32, and he has 13 majors and 63 career victories. By the time he's 33 (late December), he could have 16 (or 17) majors and over 70 career victories. At this point, I don't think anyone would be shocked if he won the Grand Slam. Personally, I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't lose a tournament at all. I don't think he'll go undefeated, because that would require a lot of good fortune to go along with his talent, but I wouldn't be shocked if he did. He's just that good.
Tiger's chase of Jack is great theater, mostly because Jack won't choke away any of his 18 majors with Tiger behind him. He is the leader in the clubhouse, but the better golfer has just made the turn and has Jack in his sights. It's only a matter of time until Tiger passes Jack in the history books.
Ernie Els? Not a chance.
Vijay Singh? Vijay who?
Rory Sabbatini? Only in Rory's dreams.
Ian Poulter? Ha!Ha! That's funny.
So who, then?
Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear is Tiger's only competition. And even that contest is starting to look like a mismatch.
With his victory last week at the Accenture Match Play, Tiger cleared the biggest hurdle he faced in having a season of historical proportions. Match play is very fickle, and a player can lose even if he plays great golf. Tiger nearly lost on Wednesday to JB Holmes, made an amazing comeback, and went on to win the whole thing. He made almost every putt he needed to make. He has an amazing ability to perform at his highest level when the pressure is the greatest.
At the beginning of this PGA season, Tiger stated several times that he thought he could win the Grand Slam this year. People were shocked, because Tiger almost never makes such statements. Through three events in 2008 (2 PGA Tour victories, 1 in Dubai), Tiger has made an even larger statement with his golf clubs.
I would argue that Tiger, right now, is the best golfer ever. People say he has to pass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors before laying claim to that title, but I disagree. When Tiger turned professional, people were convinced that no one would ever approach Jack's records. The fields were too deep, the players too talented, for someone to win enough major tournaments to approach Jack's mark. Well, Tiger is now 32, and he has 13 majors and 63 career victories. By the time he's 33 (late December), he could have 16 (or 17) majors and over 70 career victories. At this point, I don't think anyone would be shocked if he won the Grand Slam. Personally, I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't lose a tournament at all. I don't think he'll go undefeated, because that would require a lot of good fortune to go along with his talent, but I wouldn't be shocked if he did. He's just that good.
Tiger's chase of Jack is great theater, mostly because Jack won't choke away any of his 18 majors with Tiger behind him. He is the leader in the clubhouse, but the better golfer has just made the turn and has Jack in his sights. It's only a matter of time until Tiger passes Jack in the history books.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
NC State Basketball: Underachievers? Or Over-rated?
NC State's season has been a roller coaster ride. A really fast roller coaster, as a matter of fact, because a lot of the season has been seemingly downhill. A thought occurred to me recently, however, that has changed my perception of this year's team.
Don't get me wrong, I am still disappointed in the season. If the team you're a fan of struggles, the season is always disappointing, even if the struggles were expected.
My theory is this: People expected a lot from this team, largely because of the run they made at the end of the season. These preseason prognosticators overlooked the entire body of work of last year's team, which may not have been wise.
The factors that most people point to as problems for this years team are effort, intensity, and rebounding. The rebounding is a problem, and, in my opinion, will continue to be an issue until Coach Lowe can recruit more rebounders. The players recruited by Herb Sendek simply are not the type of players that will be above-average rebounders. They may not even be average rebounders. Outside of JJ Hickson (recruited by Coach Lowe), most of NCSU's players are "finesse" guys who do not really have the right attitude for rebounding.
I am not convinced that the effort and intensity are new problems. Last year, the team may have gotten a pass, simply because no one will question the effort or intensity of a team that had 5 guys averaging more than 33 minutes a game.
With the exceptions of Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, every player who was on the team last year is doing basically the same things they did last year. Gavin Grant is still the most frustrating player on the team, because he can go from brilliant to buffoon in an instant. Courtney Fells is still inconsistent, but, to his credit, he has been shooting the ball better this season than last.
McCauley and Costner have been impacted the most by the arrival of JJ Hickson. Costner also suffered an offseason knee injury that caused him to come into preseason practice somewhat out of shape. Costner has struggled with his shot this season, something that also may be attributable to his knee injury/extra weight. Without the consistent jumper, teams don't play him as tightly, which has taken away his ability to drive to the basket. As for McCauley, I feel that he has struggled mostly because the offense has changed this year. The space that he operated in last year is not available this year, partly because of Hickson, and partly because NCSU's guards have not shown an ability to run the pick and roll. McCauley and Engin Atsur were great last year on the pick and roll, and that hasn't happened at all this year.
At this point, I'd say that most people made assumptions about this year's team that have proven false. Among them:
-one of the 3 point guards would be able to step into Atsur's role.
-Costner would build on his ACC Tournament performance, and become a top ACC talent.
-added depth would help with fatigue that cost NCSU games last year.
Farnold Degand's season-ending injury cost the Wolfpack it's most experienced point guard, and thrust Javi Gonzalez into a starting role that he was not yet ready to handle. Whether it's injury, attitude, or some combination of both, Costner has regressed this season. The players whose minutes have shrunk seem to press when they are in the game, trying to squeeze 35 minutes worth of performance into 25, which has led to problems.
Basically, I think this year's NC State team, while disappointing, is not the massive failure it is being made out to be. In a year where no ACC teams other than North Carolina and Duke stood out, the media chose NCSU to finish in the top 3. When that happened, NC State fans, starved for athletic success, pounced on the prediction: "We're back!!"
In reality, the departure of Coach Sendek and the arrival of Coach Lowe signified the beginning of an overhaul that should not have been expected to happen so quickly. Coach Lowe's style is going to be vastly different than that of Coach Sendek. With the arrival of Hickson, Coach Lowe decided to jump into trying to play his preferred inside-out offensive style. Last year, the offense was still very similar to Sendek's, with a few tweaks. This year, the offense is a round hole, and some of the players are square pegs. This transition was going to happen at some point, and Coach Lowe decided that he'd go ahead and get the process started. Nearly everyone thought that everything would come together, but it simply hasn't.
However, rather than taking the "sky is falling" outlook, NC State fans could choose to look at some positive things from this season. Javi Gonzalez has grown immensely since the beginning of the season. He still makes mistakes, but he comes out with more confidence each game. JJ Hickson has gotten much better as a player. He is more able to find open men out of the post, and he makes better decisions with the ball.
Seeing players develop during the season gives me a great deal of confidence in the coaching staff, and makes me believe that good things are on the way for NC State basketball, even if I have to wait a little longer for them than I originally thought.
Don't get me wrong, I am still disappointed in the season. If the team you're a fan of struggles, the season is always disappointing, even if the struggles were expected.
My theory is this: People expected a lot from this team, largely because of the run they made at the end of the season. These preseason prognosticators overlooked the entire body of work of last year's team, which may not have been wise.
The factors that most people point to as problems for this years team are effort, intensity, and rebounding. The rebounding is a problem, and, in my opinion, will continue to be an issue until Coach Lowe can recruit more rebounders. The players recruited by Herb Sendek simply are not the type of players that will be above-average rebounders. They may not even be average rebounders. Outside of JJ Hickson (recruited by Coach Lowe), most of NCSU's players are "finesse" guys who do not really have the right attitude for rebounding.
I am not convinced that the effort and intensity are new problems. Last year, the team may have gotten a pass, simply because no one will question the effort or intensity of a team that had 5 guys averaging more than 33 minutes a game.
With the exceptions of Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, every player who was on the team last year is doing basically the same things they did last year. Gavin Grant is still the most frustrating player on the team, because he can go from brilliant to buffoon in an instant. Courtney Fells is still inconsistent, but, to his credit, he has been shooting the ball better this season than last.
McCauley and Costner have been impacted the most by the arrival of JJ Hickson. Costner also suffered an offseason knee injury that caused him to come into preseason practice somewhat out of shape. Costner has struggled with his shot this season, something that also may be attributable to his knee injury/extra weight. Without the consistent jumper, teams don't play him as tightly, which has taken away his ability to drive to the basket. As for McCauley, I feel that he has struggled mostly because the offense has changed this year. The space that he operated in last year is not available this year, partly because of Hickson, and partly because NCSU's guards have not shown an ability to run the pick and roll. McCauley and Engin Atsur were great last year on the pick and roll, and that hasn't happened at all this year.
At this point, I'd say that most people made assumptions about this year's team that have proven false. Among them:
-one of the 3 point guards would be able to step into Atsur's role.
-Costner would build on his ACC Tournament performance, and become a top ACC talent.
-added depth would help with fatigue that cost NCSU games last year.
Farnold Degand's season-ending injury cost the Wolfpack it's most experienced point guard, and thrust Javi Gonzalez into a starting role that he was not yet ready to handle. Whether it's injury, attitude, or some combination of both, Costner has regressed this season. The players whose minutes have shrunk seem to press when they are in the game, trying to squeeze 35 minutes worth of performance into 25, which has led to problems.
Basically, I think this year's NC State team, while disappointing, is not the massive failure it is being made out to be. In a year where no ACC teams other than North Carolina and Duke stood out, the media chose NCSU to finish in the top 3. When that happened, NC State fans, starved for athletic success, pounced on the prediction: "We're back!!"
In reality, the departure of Coach Sendek and the arrival of Coach Lowe signified the beginning of an overhaul that should not have been expected to happen so quickly. Coach Lowe's style is going to be vastly different than that of Coach Sendek. With the arrival of Hickson, Coach Lowe decided to jump into trying to play his preferred inside-out offensive style. Last year, the offense was still very similar to Sendek's, with a few tweaks. This year, the offense is a round hole, and some of the players are square pegs. This transition was going to happen at some point, and Coach Lowe decided that he'd go ahead and get the process started. Nearly everyone thought that everything would come together, but it simply hasn't.
However, rather than taking the "sky is falling" outlook, NC State fans could choose to look at some positive things from this season. Javi Gonzalez has grown immensely since the beginning of the season. He still makes mistakes, but he comes out with more confidence each game. JJ Hickson has gotten much better as a player. He is more able to find open men out of the post, and he makes better decisions with the ball.
Seeing players develop during the season gives me a great deal of confidence in the coaching staff, and makes me believe that good things are on the way for NC State basketball, even if I have to wait a little longer for them than I originally thought.
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