Who had the best
NBA Draft week?
Kevin: It’s gotta be the Cleveland Cavaliers. I mean, they got Shaquille O’Neal for two guys who most likely won’t even have any impact on their team in Shasa Pavlovic and Ben Wallace?
That’s insane. I understand Shaq is past his prime, but he still averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last year and now he gets to play with LeBron James? That’s awesome and if you are a Cleveland fan, you may as well setup the victory parade right now. Shaq is going to be plenty motivated to cement his legacy by winning championships with the three greatest perimeter players of our era in Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and now perhaps LeBron. I think it’s a great deal for Cleveland and I’m excited to see how it works out. Shaq is going to have a huge impact all the way around.
Pete: I’m not buying Shaq as a permanent fix to Cleveland’s problems. Is that going to make them the favorites in the East, just getting a washed up big man? If not, who is the favorite?
Why not Orlando?
They lost Hedo Turkoglu to free agency, but they replaced him with Vince Carter, a more proven scorer. Are they going to miss Turkoglu’s assist contribution in the playoffs? Well, not really. He had to step up with Jameer Nelson on the bench, but with Nelson running the floor, they really need an offensive weapon at the three-spot. To get Carter, they traded Rafer Alston (who they also don’t need when Nelson is healthy), Tony Battie (who isn’t a necessary piece for a championship) and Courtney Lee (who will never gain the confidence and appreciation from Orlando fans after that layup miss).
Honorable mention goes to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who grabbed Jonny Flynn, their point guard of the future, in the draft as well as shooter extraordinaire Wayne Ellington.
Add in Ricky Rubio, who if nothing else provides tremendous trade value, and there is your team of the future
Is Federer No. 1?
Kevin: Yeah, I think so. Wimbledon proved he’s back and still at the top of his game. The only thing really holding him back is age (he’s just about to turn 28) and even that is still relatively young for a tennis player. Who wouldn’t want to be Roger Federer?
He’s got a truckload of endorsements, Grand Slams out the yin-yang and patterns his game after Boris Becker.
It doesn’t get any cooler than that quite frankly and if nothing else, I’ll be pulling for him to get back to the top.
He’s the Tiger Woods of tennis with Nadal playing his Mickelson. Nadal may be holding that coveted top ranking for now, but look for Federer to reclaim the title of world’s best tennis player in the coming weeks.
Pete: Well, I’m going to have to agree with Kevin on this.
Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.
A lot of people like to doubt him because he has trouble beating Nadal, but they forget that he tends to beat pretty much everyone else regularly.
How many of those other greats could just go ahead and smash 99 percent of his competition without much thought?
Not Sampras, not Agassi, not Connors or Borg or Becker. They were often the heavy favorites, but they weren’t shoo-ins for the semifinals of every tournament. Federer is never upset in the grand slams; he’s the most consistently excellent athlete I’ve ever seen.
He doesn’t have bad days.
Rafael Nadal matches up well against the Swiss, but that is in large part due to a fierce but reckless playing style that has left him with a predictable knee injury. Injuries are part of the game, and Roger is playing the best tennis right now out of anybody.
Will anyone challenge the Dodgers in the NL?
Kevin: I really don’t think the Dodgers offense will continue to score as many runs as they have even with the return of Manny Ramirez and I also think their bullpen is also really outperforming themselves.
Once they go back to reality, watch for the Milwaukee Brewers to make their run in a weak NL Central and give the boys in blue all they can handle. JJ Hardy, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder give the team a middle of the order to die for and Yovani Gallardo leads a better than you think starting rotation.
And let’s not forget the ageless Trevor Hoffman who continues to pile on saves with ease and provides a stabilizing force at the back of the bullpen. The beer-makers are certainly coming.
Pete: Hard to see who would. You’ve got the Phillies, the Brewers, the Cardinals, the Cubs and the Mets as possible candidates, but they can’t even keep up with the Manny-less Dodgers.
Of course, Juan Pierre played great in Ramirez’s stead, but Pierre will either continue to excel in some other capacity on the team, or he will be traded for huge value that may get Los Angeles over the top.
Besides the Phils and Cards, none of the other top NL teams are championship-ready, and those teams just don’t have the talent L.A. boasts.
The playoffs could be tight, but expect the Dodgers to come out of it. That’s me going back on my preseason pick as the Phillies to repeat as National League Champs.
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