The Talented Mr. Newton

I've started this blog of with two straight NBA posts so I think it's time that I switch gears to the NFL now. Since no one likes talk of a lockout (Or the inevitable depression I'll go into. It will involve lots of crying on Sundays, massive consumption of pizza and wings, laying fetal position on my couch while I flip between FOX and CBS for hours, and many hours of me watching NFL films trying to convince myself that what I'm watching is live and not prerecorded.) I'm going to talk about the only other relevant thing in football right now and that's the combine. How we love the combine because it is always 100% accurate in telling us how great a player will be. Oh, whats that? That's not true? My mistake, it is 100% accurate in telling us how athletic someone is. While the combine can be useful, it can also alter views of players that shouldn't of been altered. Too many times has a players stock fallen or risen based on how fast they ran a 40 or how many bench press reps they completed. Where scouts and fans alike should really look to determine how a player will be in the NFL is at their entire NCAA career. When looking at a player's entire career anyone can usually get a pretty good feeling whether or not a player can play in the NFL. Other things I would look at is their improvement over their time in college. Yes a player may have the talent to take their game to the next level, but did they show the ability to take coaching well, apply that coaching in games, and become better players because of that coaching. Almost everyone is still developing somewhat in college. There are many 5 star high school prospects who come to college and continue to build on their already impressive 40 times and other measurables, but have not developed as an actual football player. So why do scouts expect these kids to keep improving when by the time they get drafted they have hit their physical peek? I would prefer to teach a kid who benches 10 less reps than someone else rather than a kid who can't catch a football. This is why year after year we see successful players emerge that were drafted late and many busts who were drafted early. This is why I believe Cam Newton will be the best QB from this years draft. I know, I know, he is supposed to be drafted pretty early so it's not much of extreme stance to take. Well, after seeing him get beat up by most "experts" after his ballsy combine performance. (Eight of the past 12 quarterbacks drafted in Round 1 have opted not to throw at the combine) This is what I do know about the top two QB's in this years draft. Newton did all the drills which tells me he is not afraid of anything. Watching him play at Auburn this year was something pretty impressive and the guy can simply play football. He is light years ahead in his passing skills than Vince Young was when he was drafted. Newton will be something special in the NFL. Blaine Gabbert did not throw at the combine which tells me he is afraid or hiding something wrong with is throw. Watching him at Missouri was a decent enough. While he was good and made some plays; he never actually scared anyone and I never got the feeling he would put the team on his shoulders to make a play at the end of a game. He is working with the same throwing coach Tebow hired to correct problems with his throwing motion because apparently he also has bad throwing mechanics. Even after all of this Gabbert will be drafted ahead of Newton because....well Newton had the balls to do whatever was asked of him. Some people also came away unimpressed with Newton's interview and impressed with Gabbert's. If the NFL were an interviewing contest than I am sure people like Newton wouldn't ever make it in the league, but this is how people perform on the field and not how they kiss ass.

Old vs. New

Got my first follower! Woohoo! Even if it is my brother (thanks Chad!) doesn't everything start small? I don't know how long I'll keep this up or if I'll always have something worth talking about, but I just want to have fun with it. And with that said onto the sports! With the NBA, PGA, NCAA BB, and even NASCAR on today if you're watching What Chilli Wants on VH1 then you need to be shot. I was trying to determine where I actually wanted to go with this blog today when it came to me while watching the Lakers vs. the Thunder. The NBA is always really good at scheduling which games to put on TV, and one of the themes this year seems to be the young guns vs. the old guard.  Kobe vs. Durant. The Celtics big 3 vs. Miami's big 3. So with all of these match-ups it begs the question of who is better? If you want to judge by just pure athleticism then it would be the younger generation of stars. There is no way Kobe or Paul Pierce could keep up with the younger legs of Durant and LeBron. So how is that both of the old guy's teams happen to have better records than the young ones? I think to answer this we need look no further than Kobe's career. When Shaq was traded from the Lakers the team effectively became Kobe's. Kobe was still young, athletic, and had done a good job of avoiding the injury bug for the good part of his career. Bryant became the most feared scorer in the league. He could drill a shot from anywhere on the court and then dunk on your head at a moments notice. During this span of ridiculous scoring (Anyone who watched Kobe's 81 point game will never forgot how amazing it was. For both the large number of points and the extreme ball hogging which will probably never be matched unless we can clone a young Wilt Chamberlain.) Kobe's team had some of the worst records of his career. It took him years to learn that it is not about averaging 30 points a game. In order to win you have to be unselfish, make your teammates better, and manage your body. While Kobe only slightly did the first two he probably is the best at the third. He has completely changed his game in order to prolong his career. He added a whole new repertoire of skills in order to not have to exert his body as much. When the playoffs role around Kobe will probably have fresher legs than any of the younger guys and that is how the playing field becomes evened. If there was a one game for my life and I had to pick a player I would pick LeBron, but if there was one game for my life after an 82 game season I would pick Bryant. With the original big 3 it is simple. They are better than Miami's big 3 because they follow the first two rules of how to win. They are unselfish and they all make each other better. Miami tries to be unselfish, but anyone who has watched them this season can get a feel that it just isn't natural. They are trying to force it. With Boston there is no forcing it. With a last second shot Boston will simply draw up a play and whoever ends up with the best percentages will take the shot.  With Miami there is no one who wants to take the shot. LeBron has passed away wide open 3's at the end of the game. If Miami can stop caring about what people will think about them they will be an unstoppable force. Until then Boston will continue to be the only big 3 in my book.

Carmelo or yellow?

Who would of thought the Carmelo drama would of ended up with him in New York? Let me guess, probably everyone. The real exciting part of this trade is how well the Nuggets have been playing without Carmelo Anthony. They have beaten the eastern conference champs from a year ago. Plus they have made every game competitive since they have let Anthony go. The question now is, how good was Anthony to begin with? He obviously never took the Nuggets to any deep playoff runs. The team seems to be playing better without him. To top it all off Carmelo and Amare just joined together for 49 shots against their loss to the Cavs. The Cavs have the worse record in the NBA.  Even LeBron and Dwayne Wade know to pass to a teammate from time to time. Before Carmelo can be a scary combination with Amare they need to learn how to harness their power like Michael Corleone in the Godfather. The only problem with this scenario is who will be there Marlon Brando? Who will guide them in the ways of how to succeed? Donnie Walsh will probably murder their careers the same way Michael ended the lives of the other five families at the end of the Godfather! And for that I feel some sympathy for Anthony. He will never live up to the hype that surrounded his draft, and all the players that were taken in it. Go ahead and put a bullet in his head and don't forget the cannolis.