Funniest moment from last nights’ college basketball slate of games had to be when referee Ted Valentine turned his back on North Carolina’s Joel Berry II when he tried to discuss a non-call.
It was clear that Joel was held by the FSU defender as he was running down the court, which led to the UNC turnover. At the time of this play, it was only a 3 point game and might have been the difference maker considering FSU won by 1 point.
You always hear of referees complaining about how players treat them on the court. It was refreshing to see a referee shut down a player for once. Besides missing an obvious call, I loved what Ted Valentine did last night.
There’s a big snowstorm hitting New England currently and Belichick is still hosting a practice. It’s crunch-time for the Patriots and in reality the season doesn’t really matter until this point — so you can beat he’s not cancelling practice or having a film day even during the bye week.
“You certainly better leave yourself enough time to get here on time tomorrow. We all know there is weather. Coach has mentioned that several times to the team, so I wouldn’t want to be the guy who is late tomorrow,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said Wednesday.
Can you imagine the fear of being a Patriots player that’s on their way to practice and gets held up? I’d honestly rather start running in the snow to practice than have the fury of Bill Belichick during the playoffs on me. That player would have to be cut right? Maybe that’s why Tiquan Underwood got cut right before the Super Bowl one year — the ultimate punishment by Belichick. We’ve all seen what he’s done to players who are late even after they have a stunning game (see: Jonas Gray).
“He’s mentioned that he doesn’t care; ‘don’t call and say your car got stuck.’ I think everyone knows there are two hotels up here at Patriot Place, so stay there for the night. Find a way,” McCourty said.
Love it. I’d sleep in the locker room just to be safe. Everyone always think it’s tricks and trying to get a competitive advantage always which makes Belichick the greatest coach ever. It’s simple — he holds his players to a standard and they need to be accountable. This is the difference between Bill Belichick and a Rex Ryan who would take his team to Chuck E. Cheese the night before a game. The rings speak for themselves.
The California QBs that were touted as top picks before the season have both officially made their statements and declared for the draft within 1 hour of each other. Rosen, the UCLA product, made his statement on twitter first — followed up by USC’s QB Darnold doing the same but on Instagram.
There obviously was talk of both of them not wanting to go to the Browns because of the state of the franchise and I’m not going to get in depth in their abilities because Danny did so here. However, these two were selected as pre-season favorites to go early in the draft for a reason. Both slumped a little during their seasons and the records aren’t exactly eye-opening, but they both managed to have solid seasons.
If I had to choose one? And I’m sure Cleveland or the Giants will select a QB, if not both — I’m going Rosen. USC QBs never really pan out well in the NFL(see: Leinart, Barkley, Sanchez, Kessler). I’d be shocked if the Browns went Darnold here as I feel even Josh Allen is a better prospect than him.
Either way, it is now official and the Browns are on the clock — let’s see if Rosen can be the game-changer to turn a franchise around.
Well, it looks we have our first John Dorsey hire of the off-season, in Alonzo Highsmith. Highsmith announced that he would be joining John Dorsey’s staff, as Vice President of Football Operations. He spent the last 19 years in Green Bay working to build a Super Bowl contender.
Good to See Mr. Dorsey getting his ducks in a row here before a long, and very lonely off-season for the Cleveland Browns. By all accounts, Highsmith, like Dorsey seems more than qualified for the job. He is a well respected Football lifer, who is known for his ability to identify, and develop talent.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the highlights from Highsmith’s interview with ESPN regarding the move:
“We discussed so many ideas and all kinds of stuff,” Highsmith said in a phone interview from Cleveland. “I was exposed to so much stuff today. That’s why I thought it was as great opportunity. It feels good to go somewhere that you feel like you’re trusted…
This is an opportunity to build something from the ground up, having an input, working with John Dorsey, who I respect a great deal,” Highsmith said. “To watch his work ethic today — we watched film all day. He made me feel rejuvenated. It was a lot of fun today”
Seriously, that quote made it move. Alonzo has made a name for himself, especially in the draft. It was documented in the ESPN piece that he convinced the Packers Brass to pick Donald Driver in the seventh round of the 1999 draft. He was also instrumental in scouting, and bringing in un-drafted free agent Cornerback, Sam Shields. Shields was a major contributor in the Packers Super Bowl win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011.
As second thing that stands out is taking a look at Wide Receivers drafted, and developed by the Packers. Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Devante Adams, and James Jones just to name a few. Just a bunch of guys that were starters, and contributes on very good teams. A couple of number 1 receivers in that list as well.
Lets take a look at what they got running routes in Berea, Oh. The Browns have Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins, Bryce Treggs, Jordan Leslie, Jordan Payton, Ricardo Louis, and Kasen Williams, and Bug Howard. I’d like to think Highsmith will help turn this group of mush into something, or draft new guys.
Again I don’t have the slighest clue how this dude will fair in Cleveland. I pray Dorsey know’s exactly what is needed, and is lining up his people in place to execute the plan. Highsmith seems like a positive step forward.
Finally a loss on the office lock. Can’t be perfect in betting — just not possible. 5 wins in 6 games isn’t bad so we are going to bounce back in the new year.
Arsenal vs Chelsea -0 (-122)
Taking the draw no bet for the off chance that Chelsea isn’t able to put one in the night. Arsenal is at home but are missing a few key players due to injury (Ramsay, Giroud, Ozil) and Chelsea are on form and just bagged in 5 against a decent Stoke team over the weekend. I see this being a 1 goal victory for Chelsea in a low-scoring affair, despite being at Emirates. Take Chelsea with the DNB for some cover if they draw.
Insane. On Sunday, cocky Adam Schefter strutted his stuff on Twitter, and SportsCenter reporting that Jon Gruden will be the next Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders. I for one, cannot believe a team would make such an asinine decision to hire Gruden. Not only are they going to hire him, they are offering him an Ownership Stake! INSANITY!
What a complete, and utter gong-show. Was Gruden once a very good NFL coach? Absolutely, the man has won a Super Bowl. It was clear by the end of his tenure in Tampa, that the game had passed him by. Hi defense wasn’t what it once was, and he had an aging roster. Since his win over Oakland in 2002, his teams toiled in mediocrity. He was fired in 2009. Since that time he’s done Hooter’s Commercials, and “Gruden’s QB Camp”. They really want to hire this guy? He is a goddamn media personality now. He has been for quite some time, what makes the Raiders think he will do any better than Del Rio?
The Raiders pretty much pissed on Del Rio this past weekend. He was fired after going 6-10, just one season after finishing 12-4. Del Rio is a joke in his own right, but the man restored respectability to a once proud Franchise. They canned him before they could even get on the flight home. That’s the Oakland Raiders for ya!
Overall I’d be super pissed if my team went after Gruden. Granted, he’s probably (definitely) better than Hue Jackson. Gruden is a media circus. The internet lost it’s bonkers when the news broke. Now imagine mini-camp, OTA’s, and Training Camp? Going to be a fucking zoo.
I’d also be worried about how long he was removed from NFL coaching. He hasn’t coached a game in nearly 10 years. Long ass time to be removed from the best league in the world. Back in ’09 it seemed like Gruden’s methods and schemes had gone stale. Wonder how they will look in 2018-19?
Now, I think he could be a good coach for a still very young Derek Carr. I think Gruden’s ability to connect with Quarterback’s on a personal, and coaching level is very real. Spider 2 y Banana man!
I would also like to think that he is inheriting a pretty good roster. The Tampa 2 defense he inherited in Tampa Bay was one of the best of all time. He doesn’t have anything similar in Oakland, but they have Kalil Mack, Derek Carr, Marshawn Lynch, Amari Cooper, Donald Penn, and many other good foundational players Jon can work with. I still think this is an extremely asinine decision to mortgage so much on a man who’s been a TV personality for so long. The Raiders had better hope this works out, or dark times will be ahead.
In his first game back, Isaiah Thomas looked pretty good. IT had some rust, but he shot 6 of 12 from the field and 3-8 from three. He finished the night with 17 points and 3 assists. For the most part he looked like the old IT – he had a drive where he beat his defender, created contact, and finished off the play for an and one. Although he hit his shots, they appeared to be wide open and not heavily contested. It will be interesting to see how he looks when he goes up against defenders like Patrick Beverly and Avery Bradley. Only then will we know if Isaiah is truly back. Coming off the bench, the Cavs have a plan to only play Isaiah 12-20 minutes and going forward he will not play back-to-back nights.
Celtics Fans’ Reaction
IT should and better get a standing ovation from the Boston crowd. Besides Brad and Danny, IT is the most important part of the Celtics turnaround from being a lottery team to reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. When IT was traded to the Celtics, they had a losing record and were expected to be a lottery team for the second year in a row. He elevated his game and took that team all the way to the playoffs. He was an embodiment of what Boston loves in their athletes — someone who is tough as nails, always plays with a chip on his shoulder and is willing to leave it all out there on the court.
Since the trade, IT has said that he wishes he didn’t play through his hip injury in last years playoffs because it cost him a large chunk of his 2017-2018 season. These are not the comments that a Boston fan wants to hear but what Isaiah maybe doesn’t realize just yet is that 15-20 years from now Boston fans wont forget what he did playing through his hip injury and the death of his sister.
Just like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, when IT comes back Wednesday night he will be doused with love and cheers. He will hear thank you, IT chants/signs and possibly an MVP chant to top it off just so he knows how much this city cared for him.
Isaiah has asked that the Celtics not play a tribute video in his first trip back. In a response on Twitter, Thomas explains why he declined the tribute video “I would like to actually PLAY & have my family in the arena to appreciate the love the city/organization will show US? It ain’t about me its about my family.” The Celtics agreed to not play a video this time but they plan to do so in the future.
With all this love going to IT, does Jae expect to receive a standing ovation or a tribute video? I would expect him to get a video, but I’m not so sure he gets cheered. He was critical of the Boston fans cheering opposing player Gordon Hayward and basically called the fans racist and the fact that he gave Gordon a little bump in the air which led to his gruesome injury.
Jae Crowder on his possible TD Garden reception: "(#Celtics) fans have cheered for opposing team's players before (i.e. Gordon Hayward), I feel like they should do the same for me because I gave them a lot. I hope they give me a little cheer."
Holding IT out on Wednesday is the smartest thing the Cavs could do for many reasons.
It removes the threat of Isaiah pushing too hard to get his “revenge” on the Celtics front office.
It takes the spotlight off of him and allows him to ease back into playing under the radar.
The story shifts from Isaiah vs. Celtics to Lebron vs. Irving/ Celtics vs Cavs.
It stinks for the fans not to get to see IT play, but this is the smart move for him and the team moving forward.
Who Won the Trade?
Months after the trade went down, we still can’t determine who won this trade. The Celtics look fantastic with Kyrie and are playing tremendous basketball, but the Cavs get IT back and he could very well be the difference maker this year. The Brooklyn pick doesn’t look as valuable as it has the past few years. The Nets are currently 14-23 which puts them 10th from the bottom and gives them a 4.0% chance to land a top 3 pick and 1.1% to get the first overall pick. The idea was to either trade the lottery pick for an all star at the deadline or keep the pick to help with a potential rebuild if LeBron leaves. At this point with the pick being so low, the Cavs won’t be able to get that difference maker at the deadline and is probably best to keep it.
The biggest chip in the trade was Kyrie Irving who is playing like on an MVP level this year. There were questions as to whether he would work in Brad’s offense and would he put in the effort to play the defense. The answer to both questions are yes. Kyrie is playing the best defense of his career, just watching him play, he’s going all out and rarely taking a play off. Defensively he is averaging 3.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.3 blocks a game. Offensively he is averaging 24.8 points and 4.9 assists per game. He’s becoming more of a passer and has excepted the role of playing off the ball at times.
Jae Crowder, who the media was gushing over immediately following the trade is back to being the average role player he always was. It wasn’t fair to Jae that the media put expectations on him that he wouldn’t be able to reach. He’s a good 3 and D role player coming off the bench. He averages 8.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and is shooting 40% from three while playing 26 minutes a game.
Ante Zizic was a draft and stash by the Celtics a few years ago and received high praises from scouts in Europe. In his first year in the NBA he is bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G-League. When he does get into games they are blowouts, he’s averaging 1.2 points and 1.2 rebounds.
Additional thoughts on the Irving and Isaiah
Kryie is a player that other young superstars would love to play with. The most notable superstar that has been on the Celtics radar for years has been Anthony Davis. The Pelicans have said multiple times that they have no interest in trading Davis. However if things get ugly in New Orleans, I could see a scenario where Davis forces his way out and asks to be traded to a team like Boston that already has a superstar in Irving and has a ton of young talent.
As much as we love Isaiah, he was a player that needed to touch the ball on every possession. He earned the nickname King of the Fourth because of the way he would take over the 4th quarter. With that being said, I wonder if Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum would have been able to develop the way they have if IT was here and healthy. Tatum in the 4th quarter this year is shooting 70% 17 for 24 from the field and has made 3 of 4 three pointers 75%. On the season he is averaging 14.1 points, 1.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Jaylen Brown has also taken a big step from year 1 to year 2 and I’m not sure if he would have taken this big of a step if Isaiah was here. He is averaging 14.4 points, 1.2 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.
As much as we love IT, Danny made the right move in trading him. It’s too early to declare a winner, but as of right now the Celtics have zero regrets about making this move and the fans agree.
We all knew this was coming after he’s been injury plagued the last couple of seasons but this is a bit of sad news. Poor Larry Fitz is going to be left with Blaine Gabbert and Drew Stanton missing him on wide open slants. This is the right move for Palmer though. David Johnson was returning next year and it would have been interesting to see what they could have done but the time was right.
The writing was there for Palmer, Peterson, and Fitz to have one more run at glory with a team that with the right coach can be a force to be reckoned with. Palmer did play poorly down the stretch and the broken arm at 38 years old proved to be the end-all for him. Of course, he’ll mostly be remembered for his time on the Bengals (where he was one of the top QBs in the league) and his fiasco with that organization. He’s not quite Hall of Fame material but Palmer’s career is nothing to be ashamed of.
#AZCardinals QB Carson Palmer retires today after earning $172.5 million during his lengthy NFL career. … That is not bad.
Jimmy Graham has finished his contract that was given to him for 4 years, $40 million by the Saints a year before being traded to the Seahawks.
Should have seen the I'm-out-of-here look on Jimmy Graham's face when the TE entered #Seahawks' locker room today. He saw the media horde inside on clean-out day and U-turned out of there without comment, off to free agency.
It’s no secret that he has been criminally underused in his time as a Hawk and will almost definitely be finding himself a new home this offseason. Sure — he finished with 10 TDs, certainly not shabby but only with 520 yards. He was a game-changer on the Saints and used as a primary weapon (as he should be) rather than just a red-zone target on Seattle.
I’d love to see him go back to the Saints. I can’t imagine he’d garner too big of a contract as he looked pretty bad this year — dropping some easy passes. To see him re-connect with Brees on a revitalized Saints team would be exciting for all fans (except other NFC South teams of course). He wasted his prime and is now 31 years old but the talent is still definitely there. If he’s willing to take a pay cut…a Gronk-Graham double TE set in Brady’s final years? Sign me up.
News broke late Tuesday evening that the Bengals have decided to extend their coach Marvin Lewis amidst end of season rumblings that he would step down as coach after a dismal 2017 season by the Bengals.
#Bengals announce Marvin Lewis has signed a two-year contract to return to Cincinnati.
It’s amazing how these types of organizations constantly drop the ball. Cleveland is doing everything in their power to make the worst possible decisions in the AFC North while the Bengals are doing their best to keep up. How you retain Marvin Lewis at this point makes zero sense. Sure — consistency is important in the NFL but you have made this man the second most tenured head coach (behind Belichick, mind you) and you have not gotten ONE single playoff win. 0-7 in the playoffs and they are stuck with Andy Dalton as their franchise QB.
Lewis has to be the nicest guy ever otherwise I have no idea how he got this extension because it is surely not due to coaching ability. Cincy had a trainwreck of a season and is wasting away AJ Green’s career at this point. I genuinely feel bad for the fans that thought it was a sure thing that he was leaving at the end of the season. Ohio has to be cursed for professional football.
Office Chatter 