Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Lazy again

Actually the opposite. I'm swamped with work stuff, so I'm throwing down some more links:

Don Banks talks coaching trees. Tony has a fairly prolific one. I'm still not sure if it's better to count Del Rio or not.

SI lists the 10 best athletes from IU. I would have added Alford and Ted Kluzewski (we are talking about all time best athletes and big Klu was a beast). Mike Smith wouldn't have been a bad choice either.

A college girl is the new Jags blogger. (Insert punch line). Seriously, though, best of luck to you Jeanne, that's quite the franchise you have to promote there.


I have no words for how improbable this photo is.

16 comments:

Bob M. said...

I cringe that I share with Banks the sense of loss with Loretzen leaving NYG: J-Load, Pillsbury Throwboy and other nicknames are really priceless.

Even scarier, Denny Green, if you count Billick and Dungy as branches of his tree, has one of the most impressive coaching trees ever. Yet he is pilloried quite a bit (esp at FO)--partly because of his post-game blowup a couple seasons ago, partly because AZ stinks and always will. Maybe it's time to show him some renewed appreciation.
If not his son.

Deshawn Zombie said...

I mock Denny mostly for his son, but in terms of giving coaches a chance, he was incredibly influential. Another great testament to the foresight of Bill Walsh

Anonymous said...

Good call on Mike Smith - he was a heck of a ball player.

Bob M. said...

I forgot Green springs from the Walsh tree... who comes from the Coryell tree IIRC (???), who has ties to the George Allen tree and I am thinking that Allen, Landry, and Noll all have some relation to the Lombardi tree... Damn, it's like the bible--you go back far enough and they're all related!

I may be off on a few of those, but a coaching family tree would be a fun project--surely some lineage would reflect "parental" influences (say BB and Parcells) and some would not. It would be fun to pick apart. Maybe I'll suggest it to the FO guys since it's the annual gaping dead hole in the calendar.

Bob M. said...

Gotta love wikipedia. Bill Walsh's coaching tree is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Walsh_%28American_football_coach%29

Not Coryell, but Prothro in SD for just one year. It waws Sid Gilman in Oakland that I was thinking of where Walsh got the passing O....

Josh Brown said...

What does everyone think of the Pacers trade? Dumping Jermaine and getting 2 first rounders is huge. That opens up like 30 million next season.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Yeah, but for what? Who's out there? Lebron ain't coming. So you dump O'Neal to sign Stoudamire? How is that really an upgrade. Seriously, what f/a will be any better than JO was?

Anonymous said...

I think you are forgetting that Jermaine is an oft-injured and whiny punk who can't carry a team to the promised land, and apparently not even to the playoffs.

This could work. At least our money will be going to someone who can potentially be playing basketball next season.

Deshawn Zombie said...

That's just it. The money won't go to anyone. And if we do get a F/A next year, it'll be some other overrated freak.

JO wasn't a punk. That locker room was full of psychos and quitters. I doubt anyone would get all fired up to play with Ron Artest, David Harrison, and the other psychos that populated that team.

Josh Brown said...

I agree with Zac. Jermaine gets 44 million over the next two years, and for what, a 20 pts 9 reb guy who settles for fade aways instead of going to the hole? Have you watched the Pacers in the last two years Deshawn? What has JO done that he is worth keeping? 30 million can buy some very good talent. If Ford can stay healthy, he is a significant upgrade from Tinsley who can't run the point in O'Brien's system. It's a deep draft, and who knows what stud will be hanging around at pick 11.

Deshawn Zombie said...

This isn't about pick 11, it's about pick 17.

here's the truth: tinsley had 19 double digit assist games in 39 games played last year
ford had 5 in 51 games

I'm no Tinsley fan, but let's not make Ford out to be more than he is.

I'm not defending JO. I'm just asking:
Who could we possibly get who is actually any better? I'm looking at the F/A market and saying, "No one." We'll have lots of cap money and 2 possibilites: 1. a cheap losing team or 2. an expensive team that overpaid some second tier F/A.

I have yet to hear anyone suggest who will get all the money that JO would have gotten.

Anonymous said...

My point isn't necessarily to just go out and throw that space at some free agent, but that the money was a complete waste going to Jermaine since he was injured so often. I'm not sure if there is a free agent worth throwing a ton of money at this offseason, there probably isn't, but getting rid of this contract is a good move. And this could be an upgrade simply from the games played perspective.

JO was a punk. Punks get paid the max by their teams and then whine about the team's bad situation when one of the reasons the team was underachieving involved YOU NOT BEING ABLE TO PLAY!

The only characteristic JO shares with true franchise players is the salary.

Deshawn Zombie said...

My whole point on this trade is that it makes the Pacers cheaper, not better. Cheaper only helps the fans if you get to sign a F/A with the money. I don't see that F/A out there. A healthy JO is better than what we have. A hurt JO is about the same (though cheaper) as what we have.

So unless we sign a phantom F/A, I don't see this trade making us better, and possibly we are actually worse than we would have been. It's great for the Simons. Not great for the fans.

Deshawn Zombie said...

I said that wrong. I hurt JO is the same (though more expensive) than what we have.

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't mind us being marginally worse and cheaper this season. It's better than being mediocre while paying JO.

And it may just lead to a top 3 pick and possible redemption the season after next. A good draft tomorrow and a high pick after that and we could have some legit pieces for a contender, then perhaps we could fill in the gaps with FA with our cap space.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Again, I'll ask the same question I asked after reading Hollinger's breakdown of the trade:

WHICH FREE AGENT? The 'franchise' guy isn't out there. I'm afraid this is just a pipe dream. I never blamed JO for not wanting to play with the thugs that were populating the Pacers. I'll take all this back if anyone can name even one potential F/A the Pacers can sign with the cap space who a. won't just be an overpaid 2nd tier guy and 2. will put them near even a conference finals contender.