Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Yesterday I posted about how the Magic have been winning games and that people need to respect what they’re doing so far. I still think that’s the case, but I may have gotten crazy with the cheeze whiz in lumping them in with the Lakers and Celtics as far as being elite type. I still think they can do it, but last nights contest against Detroit showed that they still have some work to do. Detroit is not the same team that has beaten up on the Magic over the last few playoff seasons, yet they still have the intimidation factor over them. I talked about this back in November and it is holding true as we speak. Rashard Lewis showed last night that his new found backbone may not be temporary as he was the only real offensive force for the Magic. Jameer Nelson went cold as did Dwight Howard in combining for 27 points together. They both did their part defensively but the team couldn’t muster up enough offense to put Detroit away.

The Pistons contested damn near every shot it seemed like, especially in the fourth quarter, and the Magic just couldn’t get enough shots to fall in the end. They did show a more physical style than they have in past years and hung with Detroit much better in this sense. The Pistons spread the ball around nicely and Orlando did a decent job of contesting shots, but they need to find an answer for Antonio McDyess. McDyess was all over the boards in the fourth quarter and made some incredible hustle plays to keep things from getting away from the Pistons. The Magic bench was all but non existent and the final ended up 88-82.

There were some good things within the game, but we are at the point now where we need to win and not look for consolation within a loss. These are the games that the Magic need to outhustle and outshoot to get over the hump and into the elite. I’m not disappointed with them, they were due for a bad game after running off seven straight, but we need to see more fire in upcoming big games in order to keep this thing going.

Box score

Technorati Tags: Antonio McDyess, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis

The Bolts have been the cellar dwellers of Tampa Bay for over a year now and things weren’t looking too good going forward. Starting the month of December the Lightning were 4-10-7 and things were looking as ugly as ever throughout the organization. The USF Bulls were 7-5 and were possibly the most disappointing team in Tampa as much bigger things were expected for them. The Bucs were 9-3 and seemingly on their way to a division title, much less a playoff birth. Fast forward to today and the Bulls capped off the month with a 41-14 win over Memphis in the St. Pete Bowl to help take the sting out of a hugely disappointing season. The Bucs pulled the ultimate choke job by going 0-4 and missing the playoffs after losing to a dismal Oakland Raider team.

The Bolts have gone 4-6-2 to this point, not great I know, but after stringing off three straight wins, look much better than they did a month ago. Now don’t get me wrong, the Lightning still are holding the crown of worst in Tampa, but after a home and away sweep of Florida and a 2-0 shutout win on the road against a very good Pittsburg Penguin team, there is a glimmer of hope for the first time in a long time for this team. The defense is still allowing too many shots on goal, but is getting better. The offense has come alive as Vinny and Marty have begun to light up the nets a little and  look much more fluid on the ice than they have all season.

As stated already, they are still the worst in Tampa, but they may not hold that title for too much longer if they keep up with these strange winning ways. They finish off the month of December at home against the Montreal Canadiens and could be starting the new year off on the right foot as the season rolls on. If the Lightning can pull themselves out of the bottom of the heap and even raise themselves into playoff contention, the argument could leave the Bulls and Bucs battling it out for worst in show here. It would be nice to see that happen.

Technorati Tags: Florida Panthers, Martin St. Louis, Memphis Tigers, Montreal Canadiens, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburg Penguins, St. Petersburg Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, USF Bulls, Vinny Lecavalier

The idiots on the four letter network keep driving me insane with their doubting of the Magic because of their schedule. It’s not college football you assholes! They don’t get to pick who they play, they play the schedule they’re dealt and all they can do is win. Guess what dumbasses, they’re winning! It’s not like they’re playing St. Mary’s high school or a pickup game in the back yard. They’ve won on the road against the Western Conference and they’ve beaten good teams at home. They beat up on San Antonio and New Orleans at home and won tough games on the road. They’re doing this all without really having the entire team clicking on all cylinders. It took Lewis a while to get his offense going and Dwight Howard hasn’t exactly been lighting things up lately while he nurses an injury. They won while Nelson and Pietrus were out and nothing seems to be slowing them down at this point. Since their tough loss in Boston earlier this month the Magic are 13-1, with the only loss being on a last second shot by Grant Hill in Phoenix.

I’m sick of hearing people doubt this team because they want to hang all over LeBron James’ sack. Get over yourselves idiots. The Magic are in Detroit tonight for a big game and follow that up with another tough one in Chicago on Wednesday. Next month they will get Boston at home and have to play the Spurs, Kings, Lakers and Nuggets in a brutal West Coast trip. If they bomb out there then you can get on them, but if they win these games now, you need to get on board with the rest of those that think they’re finally reaching elite type status. I can’t wait to see what this team can do with everyone healthy and playing well and everyone out there should be looking forward to it as well. We’re seeing Jameer Nelson mature into a very good player and could be on the verge of something really great with Courtney Lee. If Rashard Lewis’ sudden newfound toughness isn’t temporary we could really being seeing something special out of these guys. I hope they keep winning and the four letter network retards keep overlooking it until they’re holding up some hardware.

Technorati Tags: Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Courtney Lee, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Grant Hill, Jameer Nelson, LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Mickael Pietrus, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Rashard Lewis, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio spurs

Well, it was as ugly as it could possibly be. Not only did they drop the final four games of the season and miss the playoffs, but they did it in old school orange Buccaneer fashion. I think we all took the Carolina loss fairly well, it was on the road against a tough team and the Bucs were banged up. The Atlanta game was tough to swallow, but it was another tough road game and we could all understand it a little. The San Diego game was an absolute disaster and no one wanted to believe that it actually happened. It all could have been salvaged though with a win against an awful Oakland team and a Cowboy loss. The Cowboys did their part by taking an absolutely laughable beating at the hands of the Eagles, but it was too little too late. The Bucs had already lost to the second most dysfunctional team in the NFL, and it wasn’t as close as the 31-24 score would lead one to believe. This monumental collapse has left me wondering, who do we blame for this? Let’s try to figure it out.

• The offense? Jon Gruden’s offense has never really taken off in Tampa Bay and this season seemed to showcase all the problems we’ve had offensively in the Gruden era. Joey Galloway was the once favored WR who all of a sudden vanished. Warrick Dunn was the aging RB who emptied his tank yet didn’t have enough to carry them. The QB madness continued on with Garcia, Griese and McCown. The offensive line was up and down, mostly down. Any of this sound familiar? As bad as it seemed, this wasn’t the problem.
• Injuries? There is no doubt that the Bucs lost more than their fair share of guys to injuries and that always plays a factor, but this team has been allegedly avoiding big name free agents to build depth. Where was the depth? Again though, this wasn’t the problem.
• The players? Now I’ve got to admit, I’m going to put a lot of this on the players, especially in the playoff stretch. The stars in Brooks, Barber, Galloway and Garcia are all close to the end and their skills have diminished noticeably. That being said, I expected a lot more out of the defense, especially since Monte Kiffin announced his intent to depart to Tennessee, but they didn’t step up. I thought we might see that one last charge of Kiffin and his boys toward greatness, but they didn’t even achieve averageness (is that a word?). I put much of the demise on the players, but not all of it.
• Monte Kiffin? I do not put this one Monte Kiffin. As bad as the defense was in the final quarter season and as equally bad the timing was on the announcement of his decision to leave, I don’t blame Monte. He has shown us that he’s nothing if he’s not prepared and professional. I guarantee you Monte had the scheme’s in place to beat every last one of the teams the Bucs played throughout the entire season. He can’t force guys to not miss assignments or actually tackle someone that they are close to. This is not on Monte Kiffin.
• The defense? I will lump this one in with the players. Ronde Barber has been exposed as an aging corner, Derrick Brooks was in on less plays than in any season I could remember and there still isn’t enough of a rush being put on by the front four. The defense had enough physical impairments that the schemes couldn’t overcome. Barrett Ruud went from all-world to all-ok late in the season. Gaines Adams I’m officially calling a bust. Phillip Buchanon looked like he was still a Raider and the rest of everyone on the team basically filled in where they could. I think Monte saw this and that helped him make his decision to leave easier. Trying to find replacements for Brooks and company will be tough and I think he wants to spend his golden years having a little more fun than that. Defense is lumped in with the players so that’s not it either.
• Gruden/Allen?I think we all know where I was headed with this. I put it on Gruden and Allen.

Now it’s hard to put a late season meltdown on Bruce Allen, but he’s Jon Gruden’s do boy, so he takes it on the chin there. Bruce Allen has not done a good job of enticing quality free agents to come here and the drafting has been questionable at best. The draft’s have gotten somewhat better, but not much. This all still leads to Jon Gruden though.

Gruden has been the man here, especially since Allen arrived, and all things get fixed on his shoulders. The drafting of offensive talent, particularly the skill positions, has been bad. The management of talent on the field has been questionable at best and the lies have become more abundant in the process. Galloway is hurt, oh wait no he isn’t. Jeff Garcia is hurt, oh wait he isn’t. How bout this one, hey Luke McCown, if Garcia is hurt this week, you will start so I’ll have you take a majority of the snaps this week to get ready. Sunday comes and Brian Griese starts? Now I’m going to try and come at this from a different angle for all those Gruden defenders and everyone else who thinks Gruden should keep his job. The “core” of this team is still on defense and is getting on in years. Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber don’t have time on their side. The offensive core is really questionable. This is an offensive coach who’s core right now are an aging QB in Garcia he can’t get along with, an offensive line that is still a work in progress, a WR in Galloway that watched the season from the bench, another WR in Bryant who is going to get big money and doesn’t seem all that happy here, a RB group that includes an aging Warrick Dunn and a broken Cadillac Williams (whose career is now in jeapordy) and TE’s that are seldom utilized or productive. I think the time has come for all us fans to realize that the run is over.

It’s time, especially with Kiffin’s departure, to lovingly let go of the old and bring in the new. We all loved Gruden in the Super Bowl season and we all have loved the run of the defense under Kiffin that gave us Brooks, Barber, Sapp, Lynch, Nickerson, Quarles and so on. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life as we all will as fans. But we now must look at turning the page and starting over. We have tons of cap room and great ownership who let’s football guys do their jobs so when, if not now, will it be time to turn the page? It’s hard to do, but don’t you think you’ll be excited when the new wave comes through? I was excited with what I saw from Ruud and Talib this season and there could be more than that if we start looking toward the future now instead of holding on to the past. I hear people saying “who would we get better than Gruden if we fired him?” I don’t know, but do you think no one is better than him, seriously?

Look at what Mike Smith did in Atlanta this year. Look at what Tony Dungy did here when he was an unknown. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Gruden basher or a Garcia basher or whatever, it’s time for us to let the past go and embrace the future. I’m not saying that Gruden can’t build it from scratch here, but I would bet against it. How’s his track record with young players? Do you think that Matt Ryan would play that well under Gruden? I think not. Gruden’s success has always been with veterans and I haven’t seen any veteran players beating down the door to play here other than Jeff Garcia and we see how that’s going. Let’s all let it go and Gruden/Allen with it. Let’s take a chance on one of those up and coming coordinators and see what happens. Maybe it will work out again.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Aqib Talib, Atlanta Falcons, Barrett Ruud, Brian Griese, Bruce Allen, Cadillac Williams, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Derrick Brooks, Earnest Graham, Gaines Adams, Hardy Nickerson, Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, John Lynch, Luke McCown, Matt Ryan, Mike Smith, Monte Kiffin, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Phillip Buchanon, Ronde Barber, San Diego Chargers, Shelton Quarles, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Volunteers, Tony Dungy, Warren Sapp, Warrick Dunn

The Bucs need help going into the final weekend if they are going to make the playoffs and it should come as no surprise to anyone. Since the arrival of Jon Gruden in Tampa, the Bucs have a 13-18 record in December (which includes a 3-10 record in the last three years) and haven’t looked like they’re going to make any statements yet this month. Within this scenario as well, I don’t think this upcoming game against the Raiders is going to be as easy as most think it will be. The Bucs have opened up as a 13 point favorite against a bad Oakland team, but I’m not buying it. The one thing the Raiders have that the Bucs must fear is a running game. Oakland can throw 3 above average running backs at the Bucs in Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush and that’s more than enough to make me cringe. If the Bucs lose this game, nothing else matters, if they win they still need Philly to beat Dallas in order to get in.

It’s probably more possible that the Bucs get in rather than not, but it doesn’t excite me either. I don’t mind a team “backing in” if that’s how it goes, and I don’t mind them getting in under less than preferred circumstances either. Get in and things can happen. I have had trouble dealing with the thought that this team had control of it’s playoff aspirations before losses to Carolina, Atlanta and San Diego (Carolina and San Diego being blowout losses). All this being said, the Bucs absolutely deserve whatever it is that they get. If they get in, they earned it. They did enough throughout the season to be one of the few left and they deserve to be there. If they don’t get in, especially by losing to the second worst team in the NFL at home, they deserve to be home watching the rest of the teams that made it. There’s no other way to put it. I have my fingers crossed for the game on Sunday, but I don’t have a good feeling about it and I think we all could be disappointed with the outcome. We’ll see.

Technorati Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Darren McFadden, Jon Gruden, Justin Fargas, Michael Bush, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sorry for the lack of posts everyone. My sister is in town and it’s a huge family thing that’s leaving little to no time to post. It doesn’t help that I have a 10 day stretch going with my job and won’t have a day off until Christmas. There’s a lot to catch up on with the Bucs essentially playing their way out of the playoffs, the Lightning still being awful (and St. Louis finally going off) and the Magic still playing great. I’ll try to get something out tonight and over the next couple days but we’re probably going to have to do some Christmas day catch up. I encourage everyone out there to check out the Magic game tonight. I know not everyone is into basketball, but they are an extremely fun team to watch and are the closest thing we’ve got to a home town team.

Technorati Tags: Orlando Magic, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays

I’ve been digging through the tie-breaker rules within the NFL and trying to figure out what has to happen for the Bucs to make the playoffs and I’ve come up with this. No one can figure it out yet! Look, here it is. If the Cowboys, Falcons and Bucs all win out than it comes down to certain things. The Bucs lose out to Dallas because of the head-to-head loss. The tie breaker between the Falcons and Bucs is more complicated though. I’ve heard everyone saying things to contradict each other and, unless I’m misunderstanding something, there’s no way you can figure it out right now. If both teams win out as explained, they would have the same record in virtually every way. The Bucs would have a better home record, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Here’s the tie breaker rules from the NFL site.

Two Clubs

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
5. Strength of victory.
6. Strength of schedule.
7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
9. Best net points in common games.
10. Best net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.
12. Coin toss

This tells me that it would come down to strength of victory. I’m not sure if that’s for head-to-head, common opponents, overall or what but I take this from it. The Bucs better go Urban Meyer and look to destroy the Chargers and Raiders. If it’s overall than they need to blow these teams out and that would put them in ahead of Atlanta. They need to win big in their final games and that should take care of things. I could be wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time, but I think that’s the way it’s going to be. Anyone else know for sure?

Technorati Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Urban Meyer

The Magic headed out west last week looking to remove any doubts any of us may have had about them and what they could accomplish this year. I’m on board now! They came out last night in a game that could’ve easily been dropped with Howard out and the boys lagging from the tough trip that it was. Jameer Nelson wasn’t about to let that happen though. Nelson stepped up a dropped 32 points on the Warriors, which matched a career high, as he dropped bombs from the arc in the fourth quarter in finishing off Golden State. Nelson has been out of his mind lately and there’s nothing prettier than that high arching shot of his going through when he’s on. The way he shoots really lends to prolonged slumps during a long season, but when it’s on it’s sooooo pretty. Turkoglu was driving the lane like a wild animal and Marcin Gortat stepped up with a 16/13 effort in Howard’s absence. We have come to expect this type of play from Turk, but Nelson and Gortat have shown tremendous strides in their game and the mental toughness they both displayed on this road trip really impressed me. Turk shot like crap again, but has really showed he’s capable of running this offense when he’s needed. It’s good to see him taking on such a leadership role with this team and we shouldn’t freak out about his shots not falling because we know they will. Rashard Lewis is staying consistent right now as he contributed 21/8/5 and Courtney Lee also sparked things with 16 off the bench. Lee has been tremendous off the bench since he’s been given an opportunity and I see no reason that won’t continue. The final last night was 109-98 and the Magic finished up their road trip 4-1 with their only loss being a 1 point loss to the Suns on a final shot by Grant Hill. Outstanding trip to say the least. Speaking of Grant Hill, there are rumors circulating that the Magic are interested in re-acquiring the enigmatic Hill from the Suns for JJ Reddick (hat tip to Third Quarter Collapse for that one). I would be extremely disappointed with this move. Not that I would miss JJ Reddick, but why bring back a guy that essentially flattened this franchise for years with injuries and average play. Hill is not a player that we need here anymore and hopefully the higher ups recognize that as well. No Grant Hill! Anyway, it was a great trip and the Magic now sit at 19-6 and are 3.5 games up on Atlanta in the Southeast. We can’t rest easy now though, tough games are coming with San Antonio, the Lakers, Golden State and New Orleans at home. We really need for Howard to be back Thursday when Tim Duncan and the Spurs come to town, let’s hope he’s ready to go then.

Technorati Tags: Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Golden State Warriors, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, JJ Reddick, Los Angeles Lakers, Marcin Gortat, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, Rashard Lewis, San Antonio spurs

The list continues to grow for Buccaneers players in the rehab center. Jon Gruden came out and talked about it today.  They now have at least 10 players I could count on the weekly injury list..

• Michael Clayton
• Brian Griese
• Jeff Garcia
• Jovan Haye
• Chris Hovan
• Greg White (oops, I mean Stylez G. White)
• Sean Mahan
• Jeremy Zuttah
• Joey Galloway (not officially listed but Gruden says he’s injured).

Then we have the injured reserve guys…

• Earnest Graham
• Torrie Cox
• Byron Storer
• Cortez Hankton
• Maurice Stovall
• Geno Hayes
• Jermaine Phillips (assumed)

Not sure if I missed anyone, but that is a lot of injuries. Here’s why we shouldn’t feel bad for the Bucs though. They have built themselves to be deep, not star heavy. That’s a great way to build to try to remain competitive when injuries pile up (sound familiar) but doesn’t lend to having a dominant team. That’s why, when healthy this team doesn’t light up the scoreboard or rout too many teams, but that’s also why we’re in a position to make the playoffs with so many injuries. It’s tough to deal with and handle. I want a deep team, but I long for some hardcore play makers on the offensive side. I like being able to compete throughout the season, but I would desperately love to see this team have some play makers. I realize that we all can’t be the New England Patriots, who seem to be able to plug guys in and cruise right along without skipping a beat (even Matt Cassel threw four TD’s yesterday). Say what you want about those guys but Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli do it better than anyone, cheating or not. I have come to the realization that we will never develop a QB under Gruden, we will always have the revolving door of “veteran” QB’s, but why can’t these guys stumble into a great player on the offensive side of the ball? Maybe Clifton Smith is it, but we’ll never know. I’m still excited about the Bucs maybe making the playoffs, but I will be disappointed with a one and done performance, won’t you?

Technorati Tags: Bill Belichick, Brian Griese, Byron Storer, Chris Hovan, Clifton Smith, Cortez Hankton, Earnest Graham, Geno Hayes, Greg White, Jeff Garcia, Jeremy Zuttah, Jermaine Phillips, Joey Galloway, Jon Gruden, Jovan Haye, Matt Cassel, Maurice Stovall, Michael Clayton, New England Patriots, Scott Pioli, Sean Mahan, Stylez White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Torrie Cox

Two weeks ago the Bucs were the number 2 seed in the overall playoff picture. Now, after 2 straight losses to division opponents, the Bucs could be on the outside looking in. They’ve gone cold as Carolina, Atlanta and Philadelphia have got hot. Dallas also holds a tie-breaker over the Bucs with their head to head victory. They have two very winnable games coming up against San Diego and Oakland and winning both of those should put them in the playoffs, but I’m still very skeptical about the whole things. Let’s look at what’s gone on.

• They got out muscled by a very good Carolina team, that as this point looks like the Giants did last year in getting silly hot at the right time. The Bucs missed way too many tackles in that game and just looked inferior as it all went down.
• They lost to a good Falcon team in Atlanta in OT and again looked like the inferior team. The defense did more to keep them in the game yesterday, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

Now let’s look at some other points with the players and coaches.

• Garcia couldn’t go yesterday and was replaced by Brian Griese. Weren’t we all told that Luke McCown would be the starter if Garcia couldn’t go? Haven’t we seen enough of Griese to know that he doesn’t give us the best chance to win?
• The defense has been sloppy, especially tackling and things could get worse with the inevitable announcement that Monte Kiffin has decided to move on to Tennessee. This team has given up 450+ yards rushing in two weeks! What happened to Barrett Ruud by the way? He was playing at a Pro Bowl level until that Carolina game and has really looked bad since. Not trying to single him out as the whole team is playing poorly right now, but how did this happen to such a good player?
• Joey Galloway isn’t playing and no one seems to know why. I realize that Antonio Bryant has replaced him as the # 1 receiver on the roster, but does Gruden really think that Michael Clayton and Ike Hilliard are better than him? Why can’t we see Joey and Bryant on the field at the same time? He says he’s not hurt and no one is telling him why he’s not playing, so what’s the deal here?
• How come the Bucs run on 3rd and 28 but not on 2nd and 4? Outstanding play calling!
• How many penalties can Jeremy Trueblood get in the red zone? Maybe he’s going for a record of some sort.

There are so many more things we could harp on with this team, but the bottom line is this. They’ve gone from a #2 seed to a #6 seed and have looked bad in doing it. There have been injuries to Garcia, Graham, Haye, Hovan, Phillips (broken arm) andGalloway (I guess), but every team in the NFL deals with this. I don’t understand what has happened to this team and why they’re getting outplayed at the worst time of the year. Don’t think the Chargers can’t come in here win either, they have a talented team that is coached by Norv Turner, which explains the losing record, but can beat the Bucs if they don’t right the ship by Sunday. I’m done bitching for now as I must get to work, but this is far from over.

I’m glad the Bolts didn’t tease us too much by winning again. I was wondering how they would follow up that win in Montreal and they took all the drama out of it real quick. They came out flat and never got anything going in their 2-0 shutout loss in Ottawa. I guess Vinny and Marty needed a break after scoring and the rest of the team must have stayed in Montreal celebrating their last win. Mike Smith played very well, stopping 31 of 32 shots on goal, but didn’t got nooffensive help throughout the game. He can’t do it alone and that’s the position got put into on Saturday night. The next game is Thursday night at home against Colorado. What’s the deal with the weirdo schedule in the NHL by the way. Five days off between games? The NHL is running itself into the ground with all this strange crap that they do and it’s sad to see such a great sport being mismanaged in this way. I’m going to try to make it to the game Thursday and get a feel from some of the fans to see how they view this franchise right now. I know I don’t have much confidence in this group right now and I’m not seeing any end to this crap in the near future either.

Technorati Tags: Colorado Avalanche, Martin St. Louis, Mike Smith, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vinny Lecavalier

I’ll have to cover 2 games at once again as I freakin work too much. The game in Phoenix didn’t have the Shaq/Howard crap that I had anticipated, but it turned out to be a great game. The one in Utah amounted to a melodramatic road game without much intrigue. Let’s go.

• The Magic went to Phoenix and played an absolutely great game against a good team that went down to the wire. Turk shot like shit the entire game until hitting another clutch shot to put the Magic ahead with 9 seconds left. The worst part of the whole thing came when Grant freakin’ Hill took a beautiful pass from Amare Soudemire and hit a reverse layup that won the game. Dwight Howard left the game with a sore knee, that will hopefully not keep him out long, after only playing 22 and a half minutes of game time and really wasn’t much of a factor in things. The Magic did a great job of moving the ball and spreading out the scoring, but in the end it wasn’t enough. I take solace in the fact that the Magic were in this game, and almost won it, on the road with their best player hurt and Hedo Turkoglu shooting like crap against a complete Phoenix Suns team. The Suns were minus Shaq and Raja Bell, but Shaq isn’t much of a factor anymore and Bell’s absence is equated by the loss of Mickael Pietrus, so I write that off. With Howard out and Soudemire in and the Magic losing by only one on a final shot in the last 9 seconds, I take the loss in stride and these guys can build from that.
• In the fourth game of the West Coast swing the Magic beat the Jazz 103-94 and have brought their  record to 3-1 out west so far. It was an off night as Dwight Howard sat out along with Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Brewer. Turk and Lewis did most of the damage and the Jazz just couldn’t keep up with Orlando’s offense. I didn’t get to watch the game because it wasn’t on TV here tonight but things appeared to be good on our end from those that started. Nelson dropped 17 as he continued his long due breakout season and Keith Bogans chipped in 10 in essentially split duty with Courtney Lee. Being that I didn’t get to see this game I can’t add anything to my man crush on Lee, but I’m sure he did what he does.

The Magic have gone 1 and 1 since I last talked about them, but they’re now 3 and 1 on this road trip and that’s a great accomplishment. The Western Conference is considered the varsity league in the NBA and the Magic have put up a winning record against them, on the road, with injuries. It shows the fortitude of the team and the ability to overcome arduous situations. Hedo hasn’t shot well, but he’s hit the ones that count, which proves my point regarding his importance to this offense. Rashard Lewis has played very well on both ends of the court during this stretch and has finally stepped up, temporarily, to being the player the Magic thought they were getting. Jameer Nelson is playing at a level we all had hoped for and Courtney Lee is doing major damage off the bench. One guy that played well the last couple nights that I have dogged also is Marcin Gortat. Gortat has stepped up in Howard’s absence and is proving that he belongs in this league. He will never be, and shouldn’t be, a starter in this league but he’s developing into a nice spot player that embraces his role very much. I would prefer Lee get more playing time and Gortat less, but situations dictate that. Lee needs more attention, that post is coming, but things are working and you can’t argue with Stan as they win. One more in Golden State boys,  bring it home right.

Technorati Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Marcin Gortat, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Raja Bell, Rashard Lewis, Ronnie Brewer, Shaquille O'Neal, Stan Van Gundy, Utah Jazz

It was a busy week in the AL East and I had to sit down and look at it tonight. I’ve been listening to the radio and reading about the moves being made and I came up with this. The Rays are much smarter than the Yankees.  There are a few good things about being a small market team and they’re showing during the winter baseball season. Let’s break it down.

• The Yankees signed CC Sabathia to a $161 million deal and brought one of the best pitchers in baseball to New York. But how much did this improve them? I honestly don’t think it improved them much at all. Think about it like this. They signed a guy that won 17 games last year to replace a guy that won 20. Now I’ll say that Sabathia is better than Mussina and he would’ve probably won 22 or 23 games with the Yankees last year with the same run support Mussina got, but that’s still only a 3 game improvement. Not enough for that kind of money. They also signed AJ Burnett to fill in the rotation but they haven’t re-signed Andy Pettitte yet. That’s a 4 game improvement if Andy doesn’t come back. Not enough either. If Pettitte comes back and teams with Wang and Sabathia that should be a decent three man rotation. Then they’re counting on Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes to handle the rest of the load. I’ll take my chances. Burnett will get hurt, Wang and Sabathia will probably be ok, but I don’t think Chamberlain and Hughes will do what they’re expecting. The Yanks also are going to lose Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi, Jeter is another year older and slower and A-Rod will be useless when needed as he always is. I’m not writing the Yankees off before the season starts, but how many of these store bought teams have done what they’re supposed to do? Even Sabathia realizes that the pressure in NY is so silly that he got an opt-out clause after three years. How much you wanna bet that that gets exercised?
• In comparison, the Rays traded their fifth starter for a young RF prospect who is already an upgrade over anything they put out there last year in Matt Joyce. Replacing Jackson will be the best pitching prospect in baseball who already proved himself at the Major League level at the end of last season, including the playoffs. This move also puts a guy on the bench, Gabe Gross, who contributed in a major way throughout a championship season.  
• If we look at who’s not coming back and who is it’s a big difference as well. The Yankees may not have lost all these guys yet but have Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina and Wilson Betemit. Kyle Farnsworth is gone and so is Carl Pavano (useless) . I personally think Abreu will end up in Chicago and Pettite with the Dodgers. Mussina is retired and that tells me something right there. This is a guy, who at the age of 40 and just came off his first 20 win season, has decided to retire rather than come back to NY or anywhere else. How big a toll did playing in NY take on him? I can’t think of any other reason that he wouldn’t come back to play somewhere for a couple years and try to get his 300th win other than the pressure of playing in NY completely beat him down. There’s no telling what the same pressure will do to Sabathia, who has an awful postseason record, and Burnett. Burnett comes in with an injury history similar to Carl Pavano’s and don’t think that the NY media won’t be harping on that either. The Rays lost Jonny Gomes (finally), who was phased out anyway, Trever Miller and possibly Rocco Baldelli. Miller can be replaced without damage and Baldelli wasn’t counted on anyway.

In wrapping this up I come up with this. The Rays got better already while making one move, the Yankees may or may not have depending on who comes back. The Yankees could still get Abreu, Giambi and Pettite back and that would make them a better team. The main component there would be Pettitte. Even if all these guys came back, who do the Yankees have to fill in if someone goes down? The rotation could end up being a high priced nightmare if one or more of their pitchers get hurt. Who do they have to replace any one of those guys if someone goes down, Darrell Rasner? Again, I’ll take my chances. Their bullpen has already been weakened as well with the loss of Farnsworth and Chamberlain. They could sign Derek Lowe, but I think he’ll end up in Boston. On the Rays end, they have replaced Jackson with Price, Gross with Joyce and still may sign some guys to fill out the DH and bullpen needs. If one or more of the Rays pitchers gets hurt there’s guys like Wade Davis, Jason Hammel, Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Hellickson and Jeff Niemann to fill in. It shows that being small market forces a team to think about the future. Remember when George Steinbrenner was forced out and the team finally had to develop players? They got Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera out of that deal, among others. They got role players then like Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch and Jim Leyritz to fill out the roster and that’s how they won all those Series rings. That’s the path the Rays are on now with pieces like Longoria, Price and Upton as they sign guys like Iwamura, Pena and Percival to fill things out. It’s the smart baseball people that win, not the big money teams. We’ve seen it over and over again with teams that try to outspend everyone and don’t succeed and it amazes me that more teams don’t do it better. The Red Soxhave the best combination of both sides right now unfortunately as they have great development and lots of money. They can sign anyone if they want and are developing guys like Papelbon, Pedroia and Youklis. That’s a hard mix to beat but the Rays have the core to compete with them right now, maybe not forever, but right now. The entire perception of these things make me laugh because people are too caught up in the money aspect to see what’s real. The Yankees are supposed to win because they have the most money, they won’t because they don’t have good baseball people. The Red Soxwin because they have both money and good baseball people. They can afford to pay Ortiz, Beckett and Matsuzaka but they don’t win if they don’t develop Pedroia, Youklis and Papelbon. We all hope the Rays can spend the money to keep all these guys but the realistic fact is that, 2 or 3 years from now, they will have to trade a Kazmir, Crawford or Upton to help reload with younger, cheaper players. I hate the thought of that but it’s the reality we live in as a small market team. The great part of it though is that we don’t have distorted thoughts about our teams here and appreciate the winning much more because of it. I can’t wait to see what happens during the rest of this off-season and the regular season next year.

Technorati Tags: AJ Burnett, Akinori Iwamura, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, BJ Upton, Bobby Abreu, Boston Red Sox, Carl Crawford, Carl Pavano, Carlos Pena, CC Sabathia, Chien-Min Wang, Chuck Knoblauch, Darrell Rasner, David Ortiz, David Price, Derek Jeter, Derek Lowe, Dustin Pedroia, Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, George Steinbrenner, Jason Giambi, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Jim Leyritz, Joba Chamberlain, Johnathan Papelbon, Jonny Gomes, Kevin Youkilis, Kyle Farnsworth, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mariano Rivera, Matt Joyce, Mike Mussina, Mitch Talbot, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Brosius, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Troy Percival, Wade Davis, Wilson Betemit

Let’s wrap up the goings on with the Bucs this week, and we don’t need to talk about the Carolina fiasco anymore than we already have.

• Adrian Peterson has accused one of the Bucs players of trying to take him out. I can’t go back and watch the game to figure out who it was but Peterson does not strike me as a liar and he’s definitely not a wuss, so I’m going to believe him. That being said I’m not going to try to rip anyone on the Bucs either. If someone actually tried to take him out than, whoever it is, needs to check themselves. Football is a tough sport for tough men and there should be no room for guys like this in a sport like this. The game is tough enough without having to worry about cheap shots and dirty plays. There’s guys on every team from the NFL to High School Football who pull this crap and they should be taken care of by their own teammates any time it happens. I hope it wasn’t what Peterson thinks because I would hate to see him get hurt, I love watching him play and I want him healthy to see what he can accomplish in this league.
• Jeff Garcia’s injured calf is limiting him in practice and he will apparently be a game day decision. In the mean time Luke McCown is slated to start if Garcia can’t go. Garcia has been playing decent and I would really like him to play, but if he can’t go I know I’m much more comfortable with McCown than Griese back there. This is going to be a wait and see thing so we’ll check it out on Sunday.
• Antonio Bryant responded to Emmitt Smith and Trent Dilfer’s comments about him and it was pretty entertaining. As far as Bryant’s comments go I’m absolutely going to side with him because we all know my feelings on professional athletes and their private lives, but I will say two things. He is really harping on the disrespect thing too much, as most men do, and needs to let some of this crap just roll off him. I also have to laugh at how much he says man. Man he say man a lot, man! Now I must talk about Smith and Dilfer. I loved Emmitt as a player but could really do without him on TV. He’s slow, basic and very un-entertaining. I have more fun clipping my toenails than listening to him discuss football. As far as what he said about Bryant, didn’t you play for the Cowboys Emmitt? Wasn’t Michael Irvin on your team? Didn’t half of that team get arrested for something? Good thing Bryant didn’t play with you then or he might have some real problems. Dilfer is quite the opposite of Emmitt. I think he does a decent job on TV but I hated watching him throw interceptionsplay football. Dilfer also needs to shut his mouth. I realize that everyone is trying to get ratings and talk trash about someone, but I absolutely hate it when athletes talk about other athletes personal lives. I’m sure if I dug hard enough I could find some skeletons in both of these guys closets, but I don’t care to do so. I would love to see Bryant get 5 minutes alone in a room with either one of these two even though I don’t think Smith or Dilfer would last that long.

Technorati Tags: Adrian Peterson, Antonio Bryant, Carolina Panthers, Emmitt Smith, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Trent Dilfer

The Bolts must have taken all the Barry Melrose crap to heart as they finally decided to play some Hockey tonight. They came out fired up on the road and scored twice in the first period behind goals from Marty and Vinny to take a 2-1 lead. That’s all Olaf Kolzig needed tonight as he looked very good stopping 31 of 32 shots against a good Canadiens team. These are the types of performances we hoped to get from the veteran goalie when he signed and he delivered tonight. Marty added a second goal in the second period to put the Bolts up 3-1 and that’s how it would end. At this point we’re all just looking for anything positive from this team and they gave us something to grab onto, even if it’s just for a minute. I would still like to see the defense give up less shots and the offense shoot more, I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll take any win we can get right now. Winning 3-1 while getting outshot 32 to 22 is good enough, but it’s not gonna get you very far. Maybe Marty and Vinny can start putting the offense together now that we know they’re capable of and that would bleed out to the rest of the team in every aspect. It would be a lot easier to play defense with the offense being more aggressive and the goaltending would then become better also. Ok, I’ll stop with the negativity and take the win.

Technorati Tags: Barry Melrose, Martin St. Louis, Montreal Canadiens, Olaf Kolzig, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vinny Lecavalier

MLB Trade Rumors has a post up that the Rays have traded Edwin Jackson to the Detroit Tigers for OF Matt Joyce. I’ve been duped by these rumors before so I’m not reporting it as being true, but if it is I really like this move. I obviously wanted a different Tigers OF but this one really makes sense for the Rays. Joyce is a young player, 24, with a lot of upside and is a decent outfielder from my understanding. I only saw him play a couple times so it’s hard to judge, but by numbers alone I would think the 12 homers he hit in 242 at bats in Detroit would translate to around 17-19 in our stadium. This fits extremely well into the Rays plan in every way as Joyce is cheap, under team control for a few years and has tremendous upside. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a Tampa native as well either. He’s left handed, which goes against what the Rays were shopping for, but he’s young and should be able to play every day. It solves the RF problem for us in theory and opens a spot in the rotation for David Price. It looks good from a management standpoint too as the Marlins were asking for a lot more from basically the same type of player in Jeremy Hermida, but better by numbers. This move would also free up the Rays to focus on the bullpen and DH for the rest of the offseason, and that’s good considering most free agents haven’t signed yet. I like this for Edwin Jackson personally too as I think he could put up better numbers in the giant stadium in Detroit than he did here. I would like to see the Rays focus on guys like Joe Beimel, Rocco Baldelli and Pat Burrell now. I really think this creates the perfect scenario for Rocco as he could be the right handed DH as much as he could play, not be counted on too much to play the outfield and, on the nights he can’t play, Willy Aybar could handle things. On the note of Willy Aybar I would love to see him drop some weight, learn some outfield and him become the super utility player Maddon covets. I’m very excited over this move if it’s true. If not we can all just pretend this never happened, OK?

Technorati Tags: David Price, Detroit Tigers, Edwin Jackson, Florida Marlins, Jeremy Hermida, Joe Beimel, Joe Maddon, Matt Joyce, Pat Burrell, Rocco Baldelli, Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Aybar

Ok, this is going to be a long one as I try to catch up with the mess that is the Tampa Bay Lightning but I’ll do my best to keep it short. I’ll do it in bullets to try and make it easier to follow my rambling. Before the bullet points I’ll point out that the Bolts lost again and the toll is now at 8 straight win-less games. This team does suck right now. Let’s get to it.

• Radim Vrbata requested to go back to his native Czech Republic for “personal reasons” and the Bolts are relieved of his duties and contract for this year. I don’t know what his personal reasons are and, as you know, I don’t get into that but I am left wondering if he would still want to do this if the team were doing well. In the linked article Vrbata’s agent explains good reasons for Radim to request this but it still leaves me dumbfounded. If the team were good I don’t believe this would’ve happened. It’s explained that this relieves the Lightning of the $3 million owed to Vrbata for this season but he gets re-assigned to the Lightning in the summer and they will need to deal with it then. Small problem within larger ones for this messed up squad right now so I won’t dwell on this.

Barry Melrose is a bitter, scorned woman. There’s no other way to put this. He sounds like a whiny bitch now. Let’s try to analyze what he said.

• First Melrose says that ownership fired him because he wouldn’t let them run the team. He says he wasn’t playing the right guys enough and other guys too much. Ok Barry, is ownership not supposed to question what you were doing with their team when you were losing?! You didn’t have anything going in the right direction and everyone, including you, knew that these were going to be hands on owners from the get go. Why shouldn’t they question your decisions when your losing? I’m not defending ownership completely here, but if Melrose claims ignorance here by implying that he didn’t realize that ownership would be involved, he’s dumber than I thought he was.
• Then he says that Rick Tocchet is a puppet for ownership and that they are actually coaching the team. Why aren’t they in the coaches box then Barry? We’ve all seen controlling owners in sports, Daniel Snyder, Mark Cuban, etc., but they don’t call plays. They don’t call line changes, teach defense and they damn sure don’t make in game adjustments. That’s all on the coaches. Now I’m not saying that Tocchet is doing a better job than you Barry, but how can you call him a puppet if you kept the job with them doing the same thing to both of you? Last I checked, you got fired. If you didn’t want to be a puppet you would’ve quit because they were interfering too much, wouldn’t you have tough guy?
• He says that Steven Stamkos isn’t ready for the NHL and he shouldn’t be playing. Again, how come you played him then Barry? It’s not like you said this while you were here. You were one of the guys praising him and his talent. I agree that Stamkos isn’t ready for the NHL, but you can’t say that if you played him and want to pretend that you weren’t a puppet for ownership at the same time. You did the same thing Tocchet is doing, you just have no people skills, which leads to the final point.
• Barry Melrose says that he never got close with any of the players here. Was that ownerships fault too? Did they tell you not to spend time with the players? Did they tell you not to have conversations with guys at practice? Did they tell you that you had to coach guys but never get to know them? No, Barry. This was completely your fault. I could see the owners being controlling, forcing the issue with the highly touted draft pick, even telling you to tread lightly with certain things. I can guarantee all of you that no one told this jerk to not get to know any of the players. That’s all you Barry, and that’s why you got fired. The players probably complained about you because you didn’t get to know any of them and that’s why you didn’t know what any of them were capable of. This is where the scorned woman thing comes in. You sound like the woman that can’t understand why her boyfriend cheated on her. Maybe it was you, maybe he’s just one of those assholes who has to do that, either way, there’s nothing to figure out. It’s over. Move on and find something better. When you got hired here there was a general feeling that you didn’t really want to coach again because you enjoyed being an analyst and were done coaching because you wanted to be. You’re telling us all now that you have always wanted to coach and are pissed off now because you can’t. You conned Oren Koules into believing that you were a good coach who just wanted to be an analyst now and it would take a lot to make you come back. We see now that no one wanted you to coach and that’s why you’ve been an analyst for all these years. If that’s not true then why do you care so much what a messed up ownership group did to you so early in a bad season? You know what Barry, I don’t care if the Lightning lose every game for the rest of the year (as you want them to do you petty bitch), I’m just happy you’re gone. I, Scott Brannelly, call you a bitch. You’re a sorry excuse for a man who wasn’t tough enough to play or coach hockey and I would happily tell you that to your face if you were man enough to meet me.

Ok, last points and I’ll be quick. Rick Tocchet and Steven Stamkos both responded to the idiot Barry Melrose but I’m not going to cover it. If you want to read them you can click here and here. Tocchet doesn’t need to respond because his reputation far exceeds Melrose’s and it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s the coach and he’s got to try and fix a very bad team, tough enough problem as it is. Stamkos doesn’t need to respond because he’s a kid and he just has to worry about playing as well as he can. They both had good responses but they weren’t necessary. Melrose is a stupid bitch and nothing he says matters now anyway. Nothing else really matters within all this, Melrose is a jackass and removing him was the right move. I’ll dog out ownership for the consistently stupid moves that they’ve made since arriving (Melrose being one) but at least they corrected that mistake. Tocchet may not be the right guy, but it doesn’t matter. Stamkos may end up being a bust, but that doesn’t matter right now either. The team sucks right now and I’ll continue bashing them for that, but Barry Melrose is gone and I know I’ll be happy about that regardless of the end result of this season. The woman who wears bad suits will probably not shut up, especially if the Lightning keep losing, but this is the last time I’ll talk about his sorry ass.

Technorati Tags: Barry Melrose, Daniel Snyder, Mark Cuban, Oren Koules, Radim Vrbata, Rick Tocchet, Scott Brannelly, Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

The Magic looked very good for most of the game last night and were handling the Blazers at home pretty well for most of the game. That was until the fourth quarter. The Magic were hitting threes and playing well until the Blazers came at them with the zone defense and some offensive firepower provided by LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy who combined for 19 points in the fourth quarter. The Magic slumped a little in the fourth but a couple threes by Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis helped them keep it close until Hedo made that ridiculous three pointer in the closing seconds to give the Magic a 109-108 road victory. That shot was silly and would’ve won a game of H.O.R.S.E, much less an NBA game. After the game Turk and coach Stan Van Gundy joked that that was the way it was drawn up and intended to go. Nice to see some personality in these guys who rarely show any and this team is really going good right now. It’s easy for everyone to smile and laugh when they pull out victories like that against tough teams during tough road trips. The celebration after the game was fun to watch also and these guys seem to be on a totally different level than we’ve ever seen any Magic team on prior to this. I don’t remember any team, even the Shaq and Penny teams, that looked so together at any point and I’m really starting to get a little too excited about things right now. I would really like to see Courtney Lee get some more time at the two guard right now also as he really looks great right now. There’s a post coming dedicated to this by the way. Anyway, it was a great win on the road against a very good Portland team and it showed that the Magic are ready to step up into the elite team status in the Eastern Conference. Next up is Phoenix and we get to hear all the crap with Shaq and what not, hope they can pull that one out.

Technorati Tags: Brandon Roy, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Orlando Magic, Penny Hardaway, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, Rashard Lewis, Shaquille O'Neal, Stan Van Gundy

This is why I tell everyone not to get too far ahead of themselves when they talk about the Bucs and the playoffs. Carolina came out mean and aggressive at home as they set out to try to win out and the Bucs were the first opponent to feel the wrath of what this team can do. In a somewhat surprising twist in this game it was the defense that let us down. The offense played decent against a good defense with no turnovers and moved the ball well enough to win in most any other game. The defense looked very small last night in getting man handled up front as they gave up nearly 300 yards rushing. This is something our defense has always been susceptible to given that we have smallish interior defensive linemen. Monte Kiffin can usually game plan well enough to overcome these things, but not last night. The game was tied at 17 going into the fourth quarter and it looked like it was going to be one of those games where it would be decided in the final two minutes, but no such luck. Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams went off and started running through the line however they felt and it was over soon after. On the positive side of things Antonio Bryant was an animal last night with a 9 catch 200 yard performance.  Ronde Barber said after the game that they ran a handful of different plays and that they just executed better. Maybe that’s what Tony Dungy was talking about way back then huh? Anyway, the season isn’t over and we still look good for the playoffs if we can knock off Atlanta at home. This game in Atlanta has now become the biggest game of the year because if we can win here, it all but clinches the playoffs for this team with bad Charger and Raider teams coming here to finish off the season. Hope it goes better in Atlanta this week.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, DeAngelo Williams, Johnathan Stewart, Monte Kiffin, Oakland Raiders, Ronde Barber, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tony Dungy

The Magic started their West Coast swing last night in L.A. against the Clippers and got out with a 95-88 victory. It was a nice win in the sense that the Magic started and finished strong. They closed out the game with a 29-13 fourth quarter where they trailed by 9 to start and won by 7. That showed a nice finish the Magic have not always had, especially on the road. Dwight Howard led the charge with another 20/20 game and finished with a 23/22 line. Rashard Lewis had 18 and Jameer Nelson chipped in with 15 in another quality game. Nelson has shown marked improvement this year and should be getting more credit than he has received so far. Third Quarter Collapse came to his defense yesterday and did a nice job in pointing out how much he’s improved on paper. Nelson was criticized by 3shadesofblue where they stated “Just think about how good they would be if they had a real, live point guard on the roster.” I wouldn’t say that they couldn’t upgrade the point guard position, but to dismiss Jameer Nelson as if he’s not doing anything to help this team is just stupid. They obviously haven’t seen much of him this year and are judging him strictly on his past. Back to the game now, Lewis and Turk still haven’t got their shooting touches back yet going 9 of 17 combined and if these guys can still win with these guys shooting this way, it should be interesting to see how things go when they get their strokes back. Courtney Lee had a nice effort off the bench with 8 points and played some solid defense in the process. They Magic head to Portland tonight and it should be interesting to see how well they can play on back to back nights out west.

Technorati Tags: Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers, Rashard Lewis