AFC West Preview

by Patrick and Pete

San Diego Chargers

Patrick Says: The Chargers didn’t make a huge splash in the draft or free agency, but they have the best QB in the division and they’ll have both Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates back and hopefully healthy. I don’t know much about their defense, but lets be serious, someone has to win this division.

Pete Says: Too often the Chargers have had to just get out of their own way to win the division and failed to do so. With health on their side and some improvement at the running back position (could Ryan Mathews be a post-hype prospect?) San Diego should not only win the West but I actually have them finishing as the #1 seed in the AFC. Philip Rivers has quietly been a top-5 NFL quarterback and if he can finally develop a rapport with his skill position players the Chargers could be a quite formidable opponent. Patrick is absolutely right when he says he doesn’t know much about their defense, and with Ron River gone to lead Carolina the Bolts will have to rely on their offense more than usual. And that could be quite an experience.

Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Says: KC put a nice season together last year. They managed some early season upsets, and with the overall horribleness of the division, and San Diego’s injury/not really giving a crap problems they managed to win the division. They have a lot of young talent on the team, and I think they could be a legitimate playoff te

am in a couple years, provided Matt Cassel improves as a QB. He is serviceable, but anyone who saw that playoff game vs. Baltimore last year cannot seriously consider him to be in the upper echelon. But they’re a team that overachieved last year and they won’t get the needed lucky breaks this year.

Pete Says: If Kansas City can solve the inconsistencies of their offensive skill positions they should have no problem winning 8 games. The 5-year contract the Chiefs just gave to Tamba Hali helped lock up their defensive anchor. Hali is accompanied by defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey and Kelly Gregg, fellow linebacker Derrick Johnson, and defensive backs Brandon Flowers and Eric Barry. The quality and experience of the Kansas City defense will help make up for the luck that helped the Chiefs to a 10-6 record last year, but if Jamaal Charles has the same trouble finding the endzone the Chiefs will be pretty mediocre.

Oakland Raiders

Patrick Says: Another new coach in Oakland, the player friendly Hue Jackson. They actually seemed to have a decent draft, not reaching for any “project players.” Of course not even having a first round pick makes that impossible I suppose. They lost Nnamdi Asomugha to free agency, which was expected, and gave way too much money to Michael Huff, but they do seem to have some direction. But I just don’t see them being a serious contender in the West because of the QB situation. Pop Quiz: Who is the Raiders’ starting QB? Exactly.

Pete Says: Oh Raiders. Somehow they manage to sell to their fans that it’s oaky to pick project players (JaMarcus Russell, Derrius Hayward-Bey) or go after proven mediocre free agents (Jason Campbell). No wonder they’re so happy to kick the shit out of 49er fans. Against my better judgement I’m guessing that the Raiders luck into a few wins this year an finish in the middle of the pack. Their QB situation is complicated, the timeshare

between Darren McFadden and Michael Bush never seems to play out the way it should, and it’s quite possible that they have the worst receiving core in the AFC.[1] Moreover, the signing of Kevin Boss fills a need with the loss of Zach Miller, but Boss is hardly as good as Miller was. Finally, the loss of Asomugha severely weakens an already suspect Raider defense. The Raiders schedule holds a bit of luck, however, as they face two divisions (the AFC East and NFC North) not known for their passing prowess.

Denver Broncos

They have made some big changes to turn this franchise around. The brief McDaniels era is over. John Fox is in. John Elway is a high profile VP of football operations. The Broncos went heavy on the defensive side of the ball in the draft, with their first selection being Von Miller, an expected passing rushing stud who should go nicely with Elvis Dumervil.

To me, this will be a regrouping year in Denver, after a poor performance last year. The headline the media won’t shut up about is the Orton/Tebow situation, but in all reality, this should be a done deal. Orton is a proven NFL starter. No, he doesn’t light the world on fire, but he understands the offense and manages games well. Tebow is not an NFL QB, plain and simple. But looking at the schedule I see Denver possibly going 2-3 into their bye, and the call for Tebow will be coming hard from moronic fans and media. This is why I do not consider them a serious threat in the AFC West, and I would be shocked if they ended up going even 8-8.

Pete Says: Denver actually has the best running back corps in the West, but that’s about it. Kyle Orton has been above average the last couple years but the introduction of John Fox will increase the rushing load (and thus the value of Moreno and Willis McGahee) while reducing the chance for Orton to produce top QB numbers. I’m not sure what will go wrong first, but Brandon Lloyd will regress based on the fact that last year’s numbers were triple his career average or based on the fact that 2011 was only the third year of his 8 year career in which he played all 16 games. You’ve probably heard this enough already and are getting legitimately sick of it, but it’s tough to trust a new coach and new system to succeed after a locked out offseason. Denver and their shaky defense will bring up the rear in the AFC West.

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[1] Although, let’s be honest. That race is going to be a tight one between Oakland, Denver (yes, Denver), Cleveland, Buffalo, and Cincinnati.

English Premier League Preview And Review

English Premier League Preview

by Brandon

The real Soccer season is upon us. The MLS with their aging “stars” from other countries is a poor excuse for a professional league. As the infamous WWE legend Iron Sheik would say “Americha, Haack phthchoo!”

Looking at the English Premier League teams, it is a top heavy league broken down as such; two or three teams battling for the league championship, two or three teams battling for a Champions League bid, a handful of teams hovering in the middle of the pack, and then up to six teams fighting to stay in the EPL.

The problem is that often the teams hoping to avoid relegation are the smaller clubs is that they do not have the funds to go get a Wesley Sneijder or a Christiano Ronaldo. A smaller club’s best chance is to make an impact in the Carling Cup or make a bid for the Europa League. Confused with all these Leagues and Cups? I hear you! In the end, what teams want is silverware.

Getting back to the English Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson, skipper of Manchester United last year’s winner of the EPL, thinks it will take 84 points to with the league. A lot has to go right over 38 games to get to 84 points. Last year, I think Manchester United was lucky to get to 80 points with all the injuries sustained. This year, I think Chelsea has the right tools in goal, defense, and a superstar striker in Fernando Torres. It will be very difficult for Manchester United to repeat with a rookie in goal and a sometimes suspect defense, but I see bright spots in goalkeeper De Gea. Manchester United can help establish their prominence by signing Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan, which will be the biggest signing of the year. Arsenal have not made enough moves in my opinion to make a run at the league title, and if they lose Cesc Fabregas it will really hurt their chances.

Week 1 & 2 In Review

by Pete

The first fixture of the Premier League was, in a word, interesting. The Everton-Tottenham match was postponed due to rioting that had a distinctly Rodney King aura to it.

Arsenal showed a serious lack of offensive creativity in the biggest drawing match of the weekend at Newcastle. The drama surrounding the possible transfers of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Samir Nasri to Manchester City drew some of Arsenal’s focus and the rest was rent asunder by the tough (and dirty) play of Joey Barton and his stupid haircut. Gervinho’s red was deserved, but Barton should have drawn one as well.

Norwich City pulled even with Wigan at 1-1 in first half extra time. The score would be the eventual end result between two teams likely fighting to avoid relegation at year’s end.

Bolton welcomed Queens Park to the Premiership with a flurry of goals in front of only 15,000 fans at Loftus Road. QPR were able to find the net twice, but the first was disallowed because Blackpool transfer DJ Campbell was offside, and the second was an own goal in the 67^th minute charged to Daniel Gabbidon.

Aston Villa and Fulham played to a tough 0-0 draw that saw Fulham backed up more than they should have been for dominating time of possession, but keeper Mark Schwerzer and his solid defense were able to hold off Villa.

Wolves went into Ewood Park and after trailing 0-1 scored two unanswered (one in the 22’ by Steven Fletcher, my pick for most underrated player in the Premiership) to take all 3 points.

Arguably the best match on opening Saturday was the 1-1 draw between Sunderland and Liverpool. After biffing a penaltykick at 7’, this year’s eventual top goal scorer Luis Suarez headed in a nice cross from Charlie Adam on a set piece in the 12^th minute. Not to be outdone, however, the men in teal took advantage of a throw in to also hit a nice cross that Sebastian Larsson snapped back across the face of goal at 57’. A flurry of cards and subs would slow the second half a bit, and both teams appeared content to walk away with a point each coming out of the opening fixture.

Sunday’s matches saw a confused Chelsea squad wonder how it failed to score against the relentless Stoke City pressure that it seemed to have solved in the second half. Also vexing Chelsea fans (myself foremost among them) was new manager Andre Villas-Boas’s omission of Ivory Coast great Didier Drogba from the game entirely. AVB shot to the top of the Portugese table with Porto last year and even won the Europa League, but needs to figure English soccer out fast if he’s to take advantage of the easy first quarter of Chelsea’s schedule.

Manchester United got an early goal from Wayne Rooney (13’) but after that needed an own goal to eek out a victory against West Brom on the road. The Red Devils’ new keeper David De Gea showed what I believe the English call “blush” and what we call being green, but the strong United midfield and back line kept him out of any real trouble, although it wasn’t pretty.

Perhaps the most exciting match of the opening fixture was Manchester City’s 4-0 victory over Swansea City at Etihad. The game started slow and City had a plethora of chances turned away by a staunch Swansea side that looks to make a statement and obviously has no plans of a return to the Championship after just one year in the top league. But then Edzin Dzeko scored a close shot at 57’ and the floodgates opened. Touted transfer Sergio Aguero subbed on in the 60^th minute and after only 8 minutes of play took a gorgeous cross from Micah Ricahrds to cap a solid end-to-end possession. David Silva would add in the 71’ and Aguero again in stoppage time to propel City to the top of the table.

The second fixture finally saw a full slate of games. Chelsea, Wolves, Aston Villa, and Man United all won at home, with the former needing to come from behind to do it and the latter two leading all the way. I’m not sure how the riots in Tottenham affected Spurs’ play, but like too many road teams in the Premiership recently they seemed to hold out strong until the first goal against and then melt like butter.

Draws seemed underrepresented in the second fixture, as Wigan tied at Swansea 0-0 and Stoke striker Kenwyne Jones hit a crushing blow in the last minute of stoppage time to snatch the victory from home side Norwich City. Swansea probably should have taken three points against a weak Wigan side, but it appears that Scott Sinclair is their only real offensive threat and that is insufficient for a top league team.

The slew of road victories continued in week two as Queens Park, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Manchester City all took 3 points. Queens Park scored their lone goal in 31’ minute on a right-footed-veering-right shot; exactly the shot that gives Tim Howard fits.[1] It didn’t help that Everton isn’t fielding a fully healthy squad, but they can take the positive of the low scoring game away. Like Everton, Newcastle thrives on a strong defense and a lot of one goal games.[2] Sunderland and Newcastle split possession in their fixture at the Stadium of Light, and for a team like Sunderland to win in that situation they’re going to need to have the ball much more often.

Liverpool walked all over the self-destructing Arsenal and Luis Suarez scored again. (In fairness, though Liverpool did not look too good, but they were able to do what top flight teams to: take advantage of opponents in disarray.) Frimpong drew red (two yellows) for Arsenal at 70’, Koscielny hurt himself 15’ in, and they still hadn’t squared up what they were doing with Samir Nasri. The Gunners could be in some serious trouble this season if Arsene Wenger can’t work his usual magic (like perhaps taking advantage of the player strikes in Serie A and La Liga?).

In a battle at the top of the table, Man City was able to hold off a storming home Bolton side. Two games in, we can be sure that Man City is going to be phenomenal offensively, even if Tevez leaves.[3] This game is interesting for the Wanderers, though, as they have succeeded early. The schedule gets tougher, though, as the next three fixtures are at Liverpool and then hosting Manchester United and Norwich. If Bolton can escape those three games with at least 5 points they could be in a nice early position.

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[1] Unless, of course, he’s playing Chelsea. Against the Blues Howard fills the goal and stops everything that gets near him…much to my chagrin.

[2] Joey Barton’s play in the first fixture against Arsenal is probably what triggered his transfer to Queens Park. Barton is a tough but extremely sloppy and risky defender to employ on a team like Newcastle that has to count on tight, smart play.

[3] And especially because City finalized the transfer of Samir Nasri from Arsenal.

AFC East Preview

A contentious AFC East preview? Not really...

New York Jets

Patrick Says: Disclaimer: I think Mark Sanchez is horrible. I cannot write an objective analysis of this Jets team. Between Rex Ryan’s douchebaginess and Sanchez’s inability to throw the ball more than 4 feet off the ground I cannot take them seriously even though they have somehow been in the AFC Championship 2 years in a row. So even though I do not believe in them at all I assume they will win at least 10 games and declare themselves to be the greatest 10 win team of all time, etc, etc. Whatever.

Pete Says: Disclaimer: I also think Mark Sanchez is horrible...but the rest of the team is really damn good. Many expect regression from LT coming into the season. He has regressed the past two years, that's true, and so the expectation isn't unwarranted. But Shonn Greene is there to spell that load. The mix and match of talent on a run-heavy team is a great thing. Moreover, I absolutely love the Plaxico Burress signing. I don't care that he's been out of football for the past two years. I believe that the lockout is going to result in resurgent performances from veterans all over the league and this will benefit teams such as the Jets who have not changed their makeup much. Even noodle-armed Sanchez is going to have a tough time not increasing his performance with Burress on the field in place of Drop Everything It's Braylon Edwards. New York's consistency should see them to the top of the East once again.

New England Patriots

Patrick Says: While Philadelphia has made waves this past couple weeks as the NFLs “Miami Heat” the Patriots have made a few veteran signings as well. Bill Belichick is not a young man any more[1], and neither is Tom Brady. The Patriots defense has been a liability since their core (Vrabel, Bruschi, Samuel, Seymour, et al) left/was cut/etc. a few years ago to save money, and this has prevented them from being a serious threat in the playoffs. They resemble the not too distant Dallas Maverick teams (pre-championship, of course): regular seasons studs and postseason flameouts. I do not see Belichick/Brady going out this way. They know their window is closing. Haynesworth, Ochocinco and everyone else will be motivated, and should lead the Pats to a division title.

Pete Says: Tom Brady has the greatest hair in pro sports and I would be happy to spend serious amounts of time with initial Mrs. Brady castoff Bridget Moynahan. But enough about my best friend Tom Brady. The Patriots have such a balanced attack it's almost not fair. Bill Belichick has bred a ruthless culture of performance and anti-egoism that has allowed New England to be a place to shine for miscreants like Corey Dillon and Randy Moss. There's no reason to think the same won't happen for Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth. What the Pats lack in the run game they make up for in their pass attack, sporting every possible type of receiver and two top notch tight ends. If New England can get a full-ish healthy season out of Kevin Faulk, they could do some serious damage all the way through. Unlike Patrick, though, I believe the Jets will win the East. My predictions for this year place value on team consistency, especially on the offensive end. Ochocinco and Haynesworth are both veterans who address needs for the Patriots, but eventually Belichick's faith in his abilities will fail to pan out and this might just be the year. It'll be close at the top, but I think New England falters a bit this year.

Miami Dolphins

Patrick Syas: Well, here’s another team with a lousy QB situation. Chad Henne? Please. If the goal in the NFL was to throw more interceptions than TDs and have a rating of 75 (oh, I’m sorry I’m not using ESPNs stupid new QBR metric yet) then he would be good. But those numbers suck. Henne sucks. Davonne Bess? Brandon Marshall? Please, those guys together combined for 165 rec. and 1800 yds last year. Marvin Harrison practically did that himself in the early 00s. Defensively, they have Cameron Wake. Beast. That is all.

Pete Says: I agree that Miami is going to be pretty awful this year. They pass on quarterbacks in a draft that had a decent number of prospects to take a center? Mike Pouncey definitely has the ability to become a Pro Bowl center, and with fellow linemates Jake Long and Richie Incognito Pouncey could help solidify a formidable offensive line. The problem is that the offensive line might be the most formidable part of the Miami team. Sadly for south Floridians Miami's frequent mismanagement of teams and drafts is starting to chute their organizational rating into the basement. Five years from now when Jake Locker, Ryan Mallet, and Colin Kapernick (that's right I said it) are legitimate starters Dolphin fans will still be making Matt Moore jokes. At least they'll still be able to stream aging and underperforming running backs behind their highly drafted offensive line. Yes, I'm looking at you Reggie Bush.

Buffalo Bills

Patrick Says: Another tough QB situation up in Buffalo. Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t suck last year, and a lot of people thought the Bills could have won a few more games, but this is not going to be their year. The real question will be “Will Ralph Wilson die and will this team move to LA?” I give the Bills credit, they used a lot of picks on up front positions, and didn’t give in to idiot analysts who insisted they draft an overrated QB (a la Gabbert, Ponder, Locker, etc.) But honestly, it will be another tough year in western New York.

Pete Says: I'm high on the Buffalo Bills this year. I really like Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has succeeded every time he's had an opportunity. If Fred Jackson can stay healthy Buffalo also has the potential for a great pairing at running back. But the Bills lack sorely in the receiving game and on defense. Running a 3-4 may now be the vogue in the NFL, but when you're relying on the washed up shell of Shawne Merriman and the black belt of overpursuit Nick Barnett you could be in some serious trouble. Especially against Tom Brady. But somehow Buffalo managed to stay in games late last year and if they end up in a last play situation the Ryan Fitzpatrick to Stevie Johnson combo is more than enough to help Buffalo luck into a few wins. They'll fight with Miami for the division cellar though.

[1] Pete Says: “And when he was he coached in Cleveland and lost a lot.”

AFC North Preview

In previewing the AFC North, Patrick and I had general agreement with the way the teams split: Pittsburgh and Baltimore at the top, Cincinnati and Cleveland at the bottom. But that was about it.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Patrick Says: They have basically the same schedule as Baltimore, so I would be shocked if they won less than 10 games. However, I feel they might start slow after the dreaded “Super Bowl hangover.” Whatever you think of him, Roethlisberger is a legitimate NFL QB; he wins games. As long as he stays healthy and James Harrison doesn’t kill anyone on the field and go to jail, they’ll win 10 games but finish second in the division.

Pete Says: I’m all in on the Steelers. The AFC North will be less top-heavy this season so the Steelers will probably only win 10 or 11 games, but it will be enough to return them the division title. Mendenhall might be the best back in the divison (sorry Ray Rice). Additionally Pittsburgh has the best receiving core and even a regressing Hines Ward is offset by the addition of Jerricho Cotchery.

Baltimore Ravens

Patrick Says: I’m going to say Baltimore wins the division this year. Their defense is always good. Flacco is a good quarterback. Ray Rice is a legitimate weapon out of the backfield. But here’s the reality: the Ravens play Cleveland and Cincinnati twice, and each NFC West team once. That should be 8 wins right there. For the rest of the 8, I say they play a little better than the Steelers.

Pete Says: I have Baltimore finishing second in the North…but just barely. I actually think that they’ll regress this season. The Ricky Williams pick up solidifies their rushing game, but – and I speak this as a Badger alum – Lee Evans is no one’s answer at wide receiver. Anquan Boldin is still a threat to have a good season, but teams that mix coverage and are able to single cover Evans while enfolding Boldin in a zone scheme will eat Baltimore alive. Flacco has shown flashed of okay-ness, but his ceiling is probably Eli Manning. And with no more Todd Heap to crush helmetless through entire strings of linebackers, the Ravens are destined to finish around .500.

Cleveland Browns

Patrick Says: Another poor year for the Browns. They have a new coach again. They have made a lot of roster changes this year, which is probably good. They haven’t really figured out the QB situation yet. They play in a tough division. Try again next year guys.

Pete Says: I wholeheartedly disagree with Patrick here. Not only do I think the Browns will do okay this year, I feel like they will end up near .500, perhaps even challenging Baltimore for second in the division. Yes, a new coach is in theory far more problematic in the wake of a shortened offseason, but we’ve all read/heard the stories of Colt McCoy meeting with Favre to learn the subtleties of the West Coast offense. The Browns have glaring issues at receiver, but Ben Watson is a solid tight end and having seen literally nothing from Montario Hardesty last year, it is entirely possible that Cleveland has a nice pair of backs on their hands. The decreased work load would ultimately benefit Hillis, too, who wore down at the end of last season. Don’t sleep on the Browns this year. It won’t exactly be Derek Anderson leading them to the playoffs, but at the same time the improvement will be something Cleveland can build on. They could be legit contenders in a couple years.

Cincinnati Bengals

Patrick Says: I have no real reason to think the Bengals will play near .500 football, but I feel that Dalton will play well in a starting role. In addition TO and Ochocinco are gone, they resigned Benson, drafted A.J. Green, and will somehow pull more games out than most people think. Also, they play the NFC West. That can’t hurt.

Pete Says: Patrick and I both have the Bengals slated in the 6 to 7 wins range. It’s tough to say why. They’re being defensibly held hostage by their best QB option (Carson Palmer) because owner Mike Brown has proven himself totally delusional, and their two best players this year will probably be rookies (Dalton and Green). But one thing Cincinnati does have going for it is tremendous potential. Jermaine Gresham has the makings of a very good tight end, and wideout Jerome Simpson has shown improvement that hints at possible number one stuff. You just can’t be sure that all the pieces fit or will even stay together. Perhaps the oddities of a shortened offseason will work in the Bengals’ favor.

Projecting Ricky Rubio

by Pete

So Ricky Rubio has landed. He has finally come to America to play for the lowly Timberwolves alongside Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and self-described future superstar Derrick Williams.

The world is up in arms about Rubio because his stats for his club team in Barcelona last year seem lackluster: 22.7 MPG, 6.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.6 APG. Based on last year’s NBA stats, that pretty much makes him Mario Chalmers. Not exactly what you want from a No. 5 overall pick. But can we judge his Euro performance by our NCAA/NBA standards?

The basketball media is constantly talking about how different the European game is. In fact, the European game is so different that Fran Friscilla has become the Mel Kiper of European basketball and got more face time than Jan Vesely’s girlfriend at this year’s draft.[1]

Comparing Rubio’s stats to his teammates he’d be the fifth highest scorer on the team. In theory, that would situate him as the T’Wolves’ starting point guard. A quick perusal of fifth best scorers on all 30 NBA teams last year puts Rubio somewhere between Shawne Williams and Rajon Rondo. That’s a huge window. If he ends up playing like Shawne Williams, we’ll obviously call him a bust. But should his career emulate or exceed Rajon Rondo’s then David Kahn will look like a genius.

If we normalize Rubio’s stat line to his entire league, however, could we perhaps get a more concrete player comparison? Barcelona’s top scorer was NBA castoff Juan Carlos Navarro at 15.7 PPG. The MVP was Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos (12.6 PPG, 6 APG). The EuroLeague’s top scorer? Keith Langford at 18.7 PPG for BC Khimki. On the Timberwolves Rubio would score closer to 8.5 PPG. Normalized to his new league’s top scorer, Rubio’s PPG would go up to around 11.5 PPG. His assist totals would move up to 6.8 per game. So essentially a reasonable – yet high – performance by Rubio for the 2011-2012 season (provided there is one) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 PPG and 6.8 APG. Those statistics would situate him at about 25^th among PGs for scoring, and about 13^th for assists. Certainly those numbers don’t light the world on fire. But they happen to situate Rubio’s statistical performance in league with both of the PGs from the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks: Kidd 7.9 PPG, 8.2 APG, Barea 9.5 PPG, 3.9 APG. So maybe we should lay off ripping on Rubio until we’ve really figured out how the European game translates to the NBA. After all, didn’t most of the world just revise its view on “the best foreign-born player ever in the NBA”?[2]

More importantly, the statistics revolution in basketball has yet to solidify. Because baseball is a repeated series of one-on-on confrontations, advanced metrics have an intuitive and immediate validity. For basketball, however, we can’t yet be as certain.[3]

So what do we know? We know that an acceptable range of expectation for Rubio – according to the numbers – is from the unexceptional and confusing career of Shawne Williams to the championship pedigree of Rajon Rondo. More likely, his stats will compare to the indomitable Mario Chalmers, who appears to have the basketball IQ of a pancake.

Yet for those of us first exposed to Rubio in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold Medal Game, our Budweiser eyes told us something different. Despite 6 points on 1-3 shooting (4/4 FTs), 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, Rubio showed flashes of court command that rivaled Pete Maravich (there I go comparing again). So how do we reconcile our eyes and the numbers?

We don’t. If this year’s NBA Finals taught us anything it is that a whole slew of people can be wrong without anyone actually being right. Let’s not forget that Ricky Rubio is only 20 years old. Let us not forget that he’s about to play for a young, struggling, traditionally bad NBA franchise. Let’s just give the kid a break and let him play 20 games before we sell him up the river.

But if he turns out to be the basketball messiah, I have dibs on titling him “The Greatest Under-Seven-Foot Spanish Basketball Player Ever”.

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[1] Nevermind that by the end of the draft no one had any idea who the players were and the NBA teams were just picking cool names.

[2] The comedy of this title is unending. Dirk constantly outperformed the general media’s woefully ignorant expectations, only to be given this foolish and qualified title. It’s like winning an Oscar but constantly being asked how you enjoyed winning your Golden Globe.

[3] My personal belief is that the five-man unit stats compiled by 82games.com are so far the best metric for evaluating performance, but even that needs a tweak here or there.