Having cooled off lately, the Bruins can at least be satisfied to have the NHL’s Toughest Man on their team, Milan Lucic. But what about Shawn Thornton? Does that mean they have the TWO toughest players in the NHL? I mean I wouldn’t want to go up against either but if you had to choose one, who would you rather drop the gloves with? Lucic or Thornton?
Lucic
Thornton
The Patriots offensive line certainly was not a concern last season and I don’t see it being a primary concern this offseason. The only position that will be addressed should be the center position. Dan Koppen and his backup/utility man Dan Connolly will be free agents this offseason and although neither should be very expensive signings, both could potentially end up elsewhere. If healthy Koppen is certainly a quality center but there are certainly other options the Pats may consider. Connolly seems to be a great fit in the Patriots offensive line because of his versatility to play both guard 
positions as well as center. Heck, the guy can even return a kick when called upon. Most people, as well as myself saw Brian Waters as a one-year average fill in but after his pro-bowl season last year it looks like he will be back for another year. With Logan Mankins and Waters in the guard positions the Pats are as solid as it comes there. The tackle situation looks very promising as well. Matt Light looks like he still has some left in the tank and with the combination of Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder on the opposite side the Pats look pretty solid up front. The Patriots also have Marcus Cannon in the waiting, Cannon is a huge presence on the line standing at 6’5” and weighing 358. Overall the Patriots offensive line should be very solid. If Koppen walks and the Pats are not content with Connolly as their starting center they will definitely have a few possible options.
Jeff Saturday: Even with Saturday playing for the enemy for many years he still praised Patriots owner Bob Kraft and credited him by saying the lockout could not have ended without the help of Kraft. Saturday is a class act and a Patriots type of guy. Rumor has it Saturday is mulling retirement, but if he opts to remain in the league I would imagine he wouldn’t be a piece to the Colts rebuilding process. Saturday is a quality center and could be a solid fit for the Pats at a reasonably low-cost.
Matt Birk: A veteran center that could come in and be a leader on the offensive line at a low-cost.
Tuck it in Red Sox nation, not this Chris Carpenter.
Today, the Red Sox finally received some compensation for Theo leaving to go to the Cubbies. We received 26 year old righthander Chris Carpenter. Carpenter is a 6’4″ former third round pick that has spent the majority of his time in the minors as a starting pitcher. He had Tommy John surgery his freshman year at Kent State and had another elbow procedure his sophomore year. His medical history scared off a lot of teams on draft day and that is mostly why he dropped to the Cubs in the third round.He has consistently been ranked as one of the top 10-15 prospects in the Cubs farm, but has had control issues that have kept him from reaching the big leagues. Carpenter projects to be better suited out of the bullpen in the major leagues due to his pitching repertoire. He has a mid-upper 90’s fastball that can top out in triple digits. Although there isn’t much movement on his pitch, his height still makes a fastball coming at that speed difficult to handle for batters. Carpenter also has a solid slider, but frequently has trouble controlling it. Unless he can develop better secondary pitches, Carpenter won’t be much more than a 7th or 8th inning guy in the big leagues. In 10 major league appearances last year, Carpenter had a solid ERA (2.79), but allowed nearly 2 baserunners per inning.
I’m looking forward to see how Carpenter can develop in our farm system and hopefully get a shot in the majors this year. The key to him being successful this year is not working on developing a third pitch, but instead ensuring control of his fastball and slider and limit his walks (7 BB in 9.2 innings in the majors last year).I’m just glad to see we got some sort of compensation for Theo leaving as I really think the Sox butchered this one. I think they lost all power when they let Theo go before they had any compensation.
With Selection Sunday less than 3 weeks away, I thought it would be a good idea to look into the top teams to try to figure out who will be rewarded the #1 seeds in each bracket. So each day this week, I will be putting up a short summary of each team’s top players, remaining schedule, and other projections.
Kentucky | Syracuse |
#2 Syracuse
Remaining opponents: South Florida, UConn, #17 Louisville
Prediction: They should be able to handle the first two with ease, just as they have throughout the season. They already beat the Huskies by 18 points a few weeks back. Their toughest competition is going to be Louisville, who they beat by 1 point last week, and could have easily lost if Louisville didn’t turn the ball over with 2 seconds left. However, this time, the Orange are home. Marquette is 2nd in the Big East, sitting two games behind Syracuse so they should have a number one seed when playoff time comes around.
Senior Kris Joseph (from Canada?) is averaging exactly 14.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG. He is 6”7 and uses his length to his advantage. He also averages 30.9 minutes per game which is the most on the team by far. The next closes is C.J. Fair at 26.9.
Sophomore Dion Waiters throws in 12.0 PPG himself, and adds 2.2 RPG and 2.7 APG to go along with it. Plus, he only plays 23.6 minutes per game.
Junior Brandon Triche is a 6”4 Guard who scores 9.4 PPG and shoots 86% from the free throw line.
Sophomore C.J. Fair is a 6”8 Forward from Baltimore that puts in 9.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG and is second in minutes per game with 26.9.
Senior Scoop Jardine adds 8.7 PPG and 5 assists per game.
Fab Melo, the 7 footer from Brazil, adds 7.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG to the Orange’s artillery.
They are a strong team that knows how to win games. I see them as a sure-fire #1 seed when Selection Sunday comes. Their only loss came against Notre Dame, exactly a month ago today. Notre Dame has also beaten teams such as Marquette and Louisville.
The Celtics lost their fourth straight game last night to the Mavericks in a game that was never really close. Without Kevin Garnett the Celtics had no defensive answer for Dirk Nowitzki as he went for 21 first half points and cruised to a 26-16 night in only 31 minutes on the floor. The Mavericks were up by as much as 26 in the game.
Rajon Rondo was suspended by the NBA for the Celtics final two games before the All-Star break for his altercation with a referee. Without Rondo, the Celtics looked lost on offense and having a tough time to truly find a way to play. Other than Avery Bradley in the first quarter the Celtics only scored 9 points. Avery and Paul were the only two Celtics to score in the first 8 minutes of the game.
The Celtics tough season with injuries continued as both Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox went out with minor injuries in the third quarter. The turnovers were again a major issue for the Celtics as they turned over the ball 17 times. It ended up turning in 25 Maverick’s points. Both Pierce and Ray continued to struggle shooting from three combining for a 2-8 night from beyond the arc. But they both attacked the rim in ways that we haven’t seen from either of them this season. With no real interior scoring presence tonight most of the Celtics 18 points in the paint came off of Paul and Ray’s ability to attack the hoop.
The Celtics look to end their losing streak Wednesday at 7:00pm against the Thunder.
Extra Notes:
Kevin Garnett missed his second straight game for personal reasons; Dirk past Robert Parish to become number 20 on the all time scoring list; Garnett is 19 on the list; Jason Kidd had three steals to pass Michael Jordan as second on the all time list; in a battle of whose leg’s have deteriorated more Vince Carter got rejected by Jermaine O’Neal on a fast break early in the game, hard to imagine that happening to Vincesanity in his prime.
Avery Bradley Alert
Avery Bradley was a bright spot for the Celtics hitting outside jumpers when the Mavericks were giving him room. Finished 6-11 for the night but he missed a few bunny lay-ups; picked the pocket of future hall of famer Jason Kidd. He scored 6 out of the first 8 points for the Celtics and was basically the entire offense in the first quarter.
After a stretch of wins starting in late January where the C’s won 10 of 12 contests, capped with a big win at home vs. Chicago last week, things have began to fall apart in Boston. The Celtics found themselves spiraling downhill in the past week, losing four straight as of last night against the Mavs. Whenever things start to look up, the cards just seem to stack up against the C’s. As if losing Brandon Bass to a knee injury and KG to family issues wasn’t enough, the Celts lost Rondo for last night’s matchup and Wednesday’s due to a two game suspension. Adding insult to injury, literally, Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox both left the game in the third last night with injuries. Don’t get me wrong, I love my boy Stiemsma, but unfortunately I don’t see him being the X-factor in the paint for the C’s, at least not yet. I think it’s safe to say no one needs the All-Star break to come sooner than the Celts. A week off from play after Wednesday’s game vs. the Thunder is just what the team needs to regroup and get back to their winning ways.
The Celtics (15-15) look to rebound as they have lost their last three as they take on the defending champs the Dallas Mavericks (20-12). Both teams are coming off of losses yesterday as the Celtics lost to the Detroit Pistons 96-81 in a game where Kevin Garnett did not play due to undisclosed personal reasons and Rajon Rondo was ejected. The Mavericks are looking to recover as they were the latest to be hit by Linsanity as the Harvard grad went for 28-14 against them. This is the 3rd game for the Celtics on a 5 game road trip. The Celtics will be without Rondo (suspended), Bass (Knee) , and may also be missing Kevin Garnett for a second straight game. The Celtics are 4-7 on the road this season while the Mavs are 12-5 at home.
Rondo Suspension
David Stern isn’t winning many fans over this season, and his suspension of Rondo 2:30 hours before game time surely will not win him over any more in Boston. The Celtics point guard has been suspended for the next two games after he was given a technical and then tossed a ball at a referee and finally ejected. While tossing a ball at a referee is of course not acceptable, the referees officiating the game were horrible and Stern should account for that. The suspension was to be expected though and the Celtics will likely go with Avery Bradley in Rondo’s place for the next two games. They are 13-4 when he plays over 10 minutes.
Keys to the Game
Turnovers
The Celtics turned the ball over 24 times against the Pistons, shooting any chance they had of getting a victory in the first half. They have to take better care of the ball against a great Dallas defense
Rebounding
The Celtics have been getting killed by teams with offensive rebounds and second chance points. They gave up 16 offensive rebounds to the Pistons the night before, when the Pistons were using two or three point guards on the floor at the same time. The Celtics need to start boxing out and preventing the opportunity for second chance buckets.
Pushing the Pace
Even with Rondo out for the game, the Celtics need to push the ball. The Mavericks have one of the best half-court defenses in the NBA. According to Synergy Sports they are ranked fourth right behind the Celtics. The Celtics are averaging about 97 offensive possessions per game and I would like to see that number climb up past 105. The half-court offense has struggled and especially without Rondo, the Celtics should look to push the pace.
Ball Movement
Finally the Celtics have been getting way to stagnant with the ball. They have been taking tough shots at the end of the clock. Players are deferring to each other way too much and the chemistry especially with the second unit has been lacking. The Celtics need to start passing the ball and moving it around to have a good game.
With Selection Sunday less than 3 weeks away, I thought it would be a good idea to look into the top teams to try to figure out who will be rewarded the #1 seeds in each bracket. So each day this week, I will be putting up a short summary of each team’s top players, remaining schedule, and other projections.
#1 Kentucky
Remaining opponents: Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, #11 Florida
Prediction: Barring some fluke, I do not see the Wildcats losing another game this season. They beat Florida by 20 points two weeks ago, and Anthony Davis and company should be able to win their conference with ease. In fact, the only one close to them in the standings is Florida, and they are 3 games behind.
Super star Freshman Anthony Davis is averaging just shy of 14 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and a huge number of blocks per game at 4.9. He is clearly the best player on this star-studded line up.
Doron Lamb is a Sophomore Guard for the Wildcats. He is averaging 13.8 points and 3.2 rebounds but is a defensive presence on the floor. He has dropped over 20 points in 3 games this season.
Sophomore Terrence Jones is averaging 12.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and shoots 50% from the field. He is 6”9 and is a force when he gets in the paint.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a freshman from Jersey who is also very long at 6”7. He is averaging 12 PPG, grabbing 7.7 boards per game and 2.1 assists per game.
Darius Miller is the senior presence on the floor, averaging 9.9 PPG and 2.1 APG, but does so in only 25.2 minutes per game. That is less than any of the other stars on the team.
Freshman Marquis Teague is the last person who will be mentioned. He is a 6”2 Point Guard who puts up 9.6 PPG and dishes out 4.8 APG.
There are not too many teams who will have 6 people that can do what these Wildcats have done. They have lost only one game this season. That was to Indiana, by 1 point, in December. They are surely going to be a #1 seed come March 11th. But knowing the history of Kentucky, most of these players will not be back next season.
The big news around the MLB today is good old Manny Ramirez coming back to play for the Oakland A’s. Regardless of whether you’re a Manny fan or not here in Boston, this is good for baseball. How could it not be? Manny puts people in seats. The Dodgers basically marketed their entire first season with him on the roster around his “Manny being Manny” brand, ie. Mannywood. Unfortunately for us in Boston, the three times Manny would’ve been at Fenway this year, he’ll be on the bench serving out a 50 game suspension from the league. But you can’t even tell me the old ballpark wouldn’t have been sold out those three games. Who knows if Ramirez still has the swing, but with a one year deal worth about $500,000, I guess you could say the A’s are playing Moneyball.
Personally, I like Manny. Don’t get me wrong, he took a turn for the worst in his final days in a Sox uniform and no can argue that, but he helped bring us two world championships. He was there to break the Curse of the Bambino. In his prime, Red Sox Nation loved Manny. In the time since, a lot of people lost that love with his over the top antics, and I don’t blame them. So I’m interested to see what you guys think about him now. What does Red Sox Nation think of Manny Ramirez now?
Great news as pitchers and catchers reported for the Sox yesterday.The first workout will be tomorrow and position players will arrive February 24, a day before the teams first full workout. The Red Sox clubhouse is still talking to media about the epic collapse from last year, with Lester and Beckett openly taking blame. Also, guys like Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Adrian Gonzalez have already been vocal about assuming the leadership type of role this team needs.
Let’s get back to the matter at hand, ranking the shortstop’s in the AL East.
Find prior rankings here: C–1B–2B–3B
1. J.J. Hardy, Orioles
2. Derek Jeter, Yankees
3. Yunel Escobar, Blue Jays
4. Nick Punto/Mike Aviles/ Jose Iglesias, Red Sox
5. Sean Rodriguez/ Reid Brignac, Rays
Derek Jeter is nearing the end of his career and the shortstop position has switched from a division strength during the late 90’s and early 2000’s to now the AL East’s weakest position. It seems like just yesterday Nomar was being called “The Human Vacuum Cleaner” by Sports Illustrated for Kids and featured with his shirt off on the Sports Illustrated cover labeled “A Cut Above.” Whether it was the cover jinx or not, injuries arose for the Beantown legend and the position has become vastly different from the days when Nomar and Jeter would duke it out as potential MVP candidates.
J.J. Hardy, Derek Jeter and Yunel Escobar all display plus gloves in the field, although Jeter is the only to have received a Gold Glove out of the three (he has received five total-his latest in 2010). Despite this, Jeter might now be the worst fielder out of three since his range has begin to diminish with his aging body. J.J. Hardy is ranked first due to his reinvented swing from the past two years. Hardy went from hitting 50 HRS in 2007-2008 combined to 11 in 2009 and 6 in 2010. Hardy was killed by pitchers (specifically lefthanders) in these two years, after Alex Eisenberg of Baseball-Intellect.com revealed some flaws in Hardy’s plate approach. He has spent the 2009-2010 battling through a wrist injury and other minor injuries. Hardy now has spent the end of 2010 and 2011 redefining his plate approach by shortening up his swing and lowering and extended his arms in the beginning of the approach. He has began pulling the pull more often and the results showed last year. In his bounce back year, he had 30 HRS and 80 RBI’s. I expect Hardy to hit around 28-34 HR in the hitter friendly Camden Yards.
Next up is Derek Jeter. In Big Nons story earlier this year, I chimed in the comments section giving my thoughts on Jeter: “Can’t call yourself a true fan of both the Red Sox and baseball unless you admit Derek Jeter is a great ballplayer. The guy hustles on the field and is the ideal team captain. Any time i see someone go full speed into a ball in the stands and dive in there with the fans the way Jeter did years back against the Sox, I’m impressed. “The flip?” One of the best heads up plays I have EVER seen a shortstop make. I mean “c’mon son” to any Sox fan that is not willing to have some respect for him.” Despite his declining skills, he is still a force as the leadoff man in the always impressive Yankee lineup. Due to his consistency in this leadoff spot in getting on base and getting himself in scoring position, he gets the nod for the second spot in these rankings. Yunel Escobar on the Blue Jays is the third ranked shortstop. Escobar has displayed the ability to consistently get on base throughout his four year career, even throughout his off year in 2010 (.366 Career OBP with .289 Career AVG).
All of the first three options display some sort of flaw; Jeter’s career is close to ending as he will turn 38 in June and both Escobar and Hardy have had issues with injuries throughout their careers. Despite this, all are better options than the situation the Red Sox and Rays are in. The Red Sox shortstop position opened up in late January when Marco Scutaro was traded. It will be temporarily fixed with Nick Punto and Mike Aviles. Both players are pretty good fielding shortstops, but have been utility infielders for the majority of their careers. Punto has just about zero power, but will reach base at a decent rate in comparison to other options (.249 career BA, .278 last year, .325 Career OBP-.388 last year). Aviles is a slightly better option offensively in terms of power and AVG, but he has a horrible OBP considering his higher AVG (.288 AVG and .318 OBP throughout his career). The real gem could be Jose Iglesias. He has been one of the top prospects in the Red Sox farm system for a few years now, with a glove that is very major league ready. He is touted as a future perennial Gold Glover. His only issue is batting, and its a big issue. He batted .235 in the minors last year, but he has slowly been improving throughout his short professional career. Due to his incredible fielding skills, he will most likely be forced to try and improve in the big leagues. As I’ve said before, I don’t care how good of a fielder he is, every Red Sox fan wants to see offensive production and there is no way he can last in Boston hitting barely above the Mendoza line.
Tampa Bay is in a very similar situation. Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac are both good options fielding wise, but both are worse hitters than Boston’s options, with the exception of Iglesias. Brignac batted .193 last year and Rodriguez batted .223. Unless one of these players figures out their troubles at the plate, Tampa Bay will have the worst situation at shortstop in the AL East.
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