The $alary Cap Podcast 1.25.16

Memo to all leagues: Please stop fan voting.

Memo to all leagues: Please stop fan voting.

If you know anything about life, you should know by now that not all heroes wear capes, not every musical artist deserves to win a grammy, and hell, the best worker in an establishment doesn't always get treated fairly and not all true employees of the month get their name up on that plaque in the break room. In our every day lives you can probably come up with a situation where someone got more credit than they deserved, and that's understandable. These things happen in life.

That being said, the purpose of all-star games and other related festivities are celebratory recognition for those who have accomplished more than the normal role player in a given season. Let me tell you, we are getting screwed out of that promise. The fans have a say in every all-star event across the four major professional sports, and I quite honestly can't remember the last time there wasn't controversy or obvious blasphemy within the black and white print of the final ballots.

There are two types of fans: There's the casual, watch the primetime game and Monday night football game, and then there are fans who wake up and go to sleep to SportsCenter. There are fans who live to drive alone in their cars so that they can listen to sports talk radio. These fans can probably tell you more about your favorite then you can at times. We all love the game but the people who are pained the most by fan voting are these people such as myself.

If there's one thing I know about sports fans, it's that we are two things:

Biased, and stubborn.

You wouldn't believe the bias I hear on a daily basis. I've heard wide ranges of juicy predictions soaked in bias this year. Everything from "The Lakers will make the playoffs" to "Duke is going to repeat in college basketball" to "Michigan is going to beat Ohio State". What's wrong with all of these statements? They're all ridiculously outrageous and come from the mouths of those who support that certain team.

So how are all of these predicitons looking now?

The Lakers are in dead last in the west, Duke has lost three straight games, and Michigan was bent over and spanked like a bunny in Lamar Odom's hidden sanctuary.

Bias is a poison in the opinionated sports world, and am I saying i've never been biased? That's absolutely not what i'm saying. My point is if there's one thing it's destroying it's the fairness of those that truly deserve to represent the league as an all-star.

Kobe Bryant leads the NBA in all-star voting this season. Guys like Steph Curry, LeBron, Kevin Durant all have less by a far margin, and Laker fans across the country who have no relation or root from Los Angeles whatsoever simply just know that Kobe was once their savior for their bandwagon championship dreams and due to that they think that he instantly deserves an all-star spot. Draymond Green was voted third behind Kawaii Leanard, who yes deserves all the recognition and he is an all star in his own right, but third behind ZAZA PACHULIA... SERIOUSLY? A guy with three straight triple doubles this season on a team on the cusp of being 40-4, on a team led a by a rookie coach for half the season.. is behind Zaza Pachulia. Really? What is wrong with you people?

Also before all of you Laker fans who have vaseline next to your bedstand dedicated to a slew of Kobe highlight videos in your browser history.. here's a friendly reminder that Tim Duncan may retire this season... Duncan has five rings, three finals MVP's two season MVP's and a fifteen time all star... but where is his fanfare?

Granted I don't give a damn. That is not what this topic is about. The topic is about someone in the Western Conference that is going to get clearly snubbed by a guy who is bricking twenty jumpshots a night (if he is even on the floor for that given night).

Let's move on and continue to analyze my point that most of you that are wearing purple and gold probably at this exact moment are already pissed off at. For starters, the captains in the NHL all-star game this year: Alexander Ovechkin, Jaromir Jagr, Patrick Kane, and....... John Scott?

Who?

Yes, John Scott. A defensemen that specializes in laying out the victims receiving a suicide pass and collecting purposeful penalty minutes. More than half of the time, John Scott is healthy scratch in the lineup. He has one goal this season in eleven games and eleven points in his entire eight year career. John Scott is representing the Pacific division in the Western Conference for the Arizona Coyotes. This is taking place despite not only Scott currently being apart of the Montreal Canadiens organization, he isn't even on the Canadiens roster!!! He plays for the ST. JOHN'S ICECAPS! A TEAM THAT IS IN THE AHL! We must put a stop to this! Where's the commissioner? I demand a recount!

Oh right, the commissioner is Gary Bettman. Now all of this idiocy makes sense. Let's leave it up to the guy who's had more lockouts than Tom Cruise has ex-wives to make any mess of a situation right.

How can this be? The NHL completely dropping the ball on things? Gary Bettman looking like a complete idiot? God forbid! That almost NEVER happens right?

If you can't sense my point turn off your phone or computer right now and go take a one hour class on sarcasm. You need it, buddy.

I get absolutely giddy when the NHL looks stupid. I love Hockey, but I love when the NHL looks themselves in the mirror and knows they've messed up. Every single time that this topic has been brought up in press conferences league officials have voiced clear disdain and displeasure. Bill Daly can barely make a statement about it without gritting his teeth, and Gary Bettman again uses his IQ of seventy six to muster every power in his being to simply take a page out of the penguins in the movie Madagascar's playbook; Just simply smile and wave boys.... Smile and wave.

This surely is not the first time fan voting has been completely off. In 1957 the MLB All-star game in Cincinnati included seven Cincinnati RedLeg position players out of the eight starting in the game. This vote included names like Gus Bell and Wally Post to be in the lineup over names like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Like the league wasn't going to look at that and immediately know something was wrong. Investigations launched by Commissioner Ford Frick revealed that an overwhelming amount of votes came from Cincinnati. Gee, doesn't this story sound familiar? (I'm looking at you Kansas City)

There are few things that irk me more in life than biased and blind sports fans. I should just let them be, admittedly. Nothing will ever change some fans minds of how they feel and that's perfectly fine. It's a free world, do what you want. I just think it's time to be fair to those who live and breath this. Yes it is just a game, but for some of us we prefer to see the best product on the floor over the guy with a great legacy. Kobe deserves to be honored and remembered but he is way past his prime, yeah Laker fans go ahead and kill me for stating facts. I'm a horrible person I know. This is my opinion and this is my blog so nonetheless if you have a problem with it that's really your problem.

Follow our writers on twitter at @Davidsonbaker_ @EliMilligan @SalaryCapBlog

The $alary Cap Podcast 1.18.16

Revenge of the Griffin

The Legend Begins 

Do you remember when Baylor was a bottom feeder? Do you remember when Baylor perennially dwelled at the bottom of the Big 12 south?   

Let's put it this way, the Big 12 was very good before Art Briles arrived. But the Late 90's to early 2000's was the time when Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, and in some years Kansas State were firing on all cylinders. The big 12 south was considerably stronger from top to bottom, and Baylor was the red-headed step child trapped in that division.

Do you recall a time when for some reason or another you had to pack a small sedan with more than what the car could fit? Using tactics like scrunching up, or maybe a person laying across the lap of the three passengers smushed together in the backseat?

Count them up. Six people.

For two decades, Baylor was that kid; laying on the laps of people in the backseat. There was no room for them to flourish comfortably. There wasn't enough space for them to even be comfortable, and there certainly no margin for error.

I still spend time marveling and coming away absolutely clueless of how Art Briles performed such an ungodly turnaround from the floorboard, to toasting champagne in the VIP lounge. Before Art Briles arrived, Baylor finished last in the Big 12 south in thirteen of it's first fourteen years. It wasn't hard to figure out where it all started to change, though.

It was an Acronym.

R. G.III.

Let's put it this way, in a very long story short; the rollercoaster of a career for Robert Griffin III brought twists and turns that transformed to pain and anguish and then transformed once more to jubilance and ecstasy. Before he arrived on campus in 2009, the Bears hadn't had a winning season since 1993. In Griffin's first year they won four games, and in his second season he tore his ACL. In year three the Bears go bowling, and in his final season this beaming bright kid became the savior of a quarterback in Waco and even earned an induction into one of the finest fraternities in sports, he gave the bears their first victory over Oklahoma EVER. Not to mention a bowl victory. This was a HUGE deal in Waco five years ago, and still today.

Everybody grows old at some point and time.

After Peyton Manning missed the entire 2011-2012 season for the Colts, they failed to win more than two games and obtained the first pick with a 2-14 record. With that pick they had two options to be the successor of Manning.

Option one was Andrew Luck.

Touted the greatest prospect since Manning and Joe Montana before him, he was another quarterback that had taken a college program from the dust to cloud 9 by taking Stanford to new heights.

The latter, was Griffin. Highly praised for his athletic ability, leadership skills, high character, and even higher IQ, there was upside overflowing out of his pores. Following a spectacular season for the Baylor Bears in the lone star state, Griffin was 1B to Luck’s 1A. This is when Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder proverbially broke football. Snyder was so enamored by the intangibles Griffin possessed he pulled the trigger and orchestrated one of the Biggest Draft Day deals of all time. The St. Louis Rams held the number two pick in the draft, however because they had selected Sam Bradford two years earlier the pick became expendable as he was to be the expected franchise quarterback. Washington sent over four draft picks, their first and second round picks from 2012, in addition to two consecutive first round picks from ‘13, and ’14. It is now accepted wisdom that Mike Shanahan head coach of the Redskins at that time was against making this trade as it mortgaged their future. So he then selected a quarterback of his own insecurity and turning into what is one of the biggest "Plan B successes" in recent memory. In the third round of the draft, Kirk Cousins was selected out of Michigan State. So basically, three FIRST round picks of high value stretched across three YEARS and spent their only two picks in the first three rounds on quarterbacks.

You can bet some people weren't happy about it.

Life goes on.

The season begins after an eternity, or better said, four and a half months filled of speculation and hype. Washington's division rival New York Giants are the defending Super Bowl champions and it was clear Snyder intended on making a big splash, which he did, and across the league there are five rookie starting quarterbacks on thirty-two rosters.

Flashback.

Brandon Weeden was asked to be the messiah in Brown town, Russell Wilson had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into (in a good way), Ryan Tannehill was brought to Miami for a hopeful match made in heaven with his former college coach calling the offensive shots, and Andrew Luck kept up his end of the bargain immediately and turned his rookie season into a playoff berth. Robert Griffin III returned serve and like his top five echelon counterpart, Luck became a smash hit across the league impressing the league with his impressive poise in the pocket as well as his ability to extend the play past the line of scrimmage with his legs.

RG3 became a household name and dominated jersey sales almost at the snap of a finger. A young kid's dream was becoming a reality. The team was 10-6, playoff bound, but most importantly it was putting butts in the seats. The endorsements were piling in, and it seemed as though the shining image of RG3 was being painted on Da Vinci’s best day of his life. He was the leagues most polarizing player since Michael Vick in the (pre-dogfight days). The stat sheet was being filled, as Griffin posted an impressive line of over 3200 yards passing along with a TD:INT of 4:1 with a 20 to 5 line.

He was not shy to run the ball either rushing for more than 800 yards and 7 touchdowns with a record run of 76 yards. The combination of Alfred Morris and RG3 was a literal home run just minutes away from RFK.

With Griffin leading the Redskins to a playoff berth and taking the role of the leagues media darling, what could possibly go wrong might one ask?

For starters, Injuries.

Unfortunately, this is the double edged sword that is the NFL. As in recent years this policy might be more apparent in the coaching profession, but the Quarterback position has always been known as a one year revolving door in cities that don't succeed at that position. Anything can dethrone a starter. One injury can present to be the downfall of any player’s career and begin the meteoric rise of another. Eventual Super Bowl champions Baltimore Ravens are leading the Skins’ by eight as griffin attempts to take the game into his own hands…on a dive attempt a brilliant tackle is made by Ravens DT Heloti Ngata and Griffin’s Knee awkwardly bends in a cringe-worthy Manor. The MRI revealed a mild LCL sprain and he missed week 15 but returned for action in week 16.

Whew. That was close. Just a sprain. He'll be fine.

Thanks to being kings of the NFC East, the Skins were entering Wildcard weekend preparing to host another rookie led team in the Seattle Seahawks at home with Griffin wearing a hunky brace on his right leg. His his mobility was notably hindered, and he was also seemingly just constantly on the wrong end of an Oklahoma drill as the Seattle defense relentlessly went after Griffin. After a few nasty hits, many questioned if he should re-enter the game.

But this is FOOTBALL, right? He'll be fine, right? We're American’s. This is our sport. This is a man's game. This is a man's sport. He'll be fine. Put him in, coach. What's the worst that could happen?

Well, the beginning of the end. That's not the worst that could happen, but it sure is close.

Ultimately, the blame falls upon Mike Shanahan because he as a coach should have thought long term.

Now think about this:

Press pause.

Now press rewind.

Okay stop it right there. 

2012 NFL draft.

Your General Manager just spent THREE first overall team draft picks for this guy. The Washington Redskins sat in the draft room and laughed uncontrollably in a maniacal manner, knowing they had "their guy". It was a foregone conclusion Griffin or Luck was going to be the guy there and they would give absolutely anything up to get it. I play these fantasy conversations between Shanahan and Snyder over a casual BBM and sounding a little bit like this:

"Hey Mike sorry to bother you in the middle of your massage from the random Asian guy at the mall, but I just traded four draft picks including thee first rounders’ to ensure we get Luck or Griffin in next month. Now before you say anything, you're welcome! I know, I know I’m a genius. Those idiots originally only wanted the three first rounders’ so I threw in another pick just because I felt bad LOL go skins!!!!!!"

Lol is right. Laugh out loud. At the redskins.

With those draft picks the St. Louis Rams while doing a little bit of tweaking with the position of the draft picks, ended up with players like Janoris Jenkins, Alec Ogletree, Stedman Bailey, and Greg Robinson.

At times, and when fully healthy, all four of these players have shown tremendous upside and a couple, Jenkins and Steadman in particular, could even constantly be considered as cornerstones.

Okay you can fast forward back to the 2013 Wildcard weekend again.

Now, any super-competitive athlete shot up with pain medication is capable of playing past the pain and convincing themselves that they are okay even when they may not be. Yes, this is undoubtedly selfish on the athlete's part but as previously stated in a lack for better words, MERICA. It is still football. These are still our iron men, and this is the PLAYOFFS. RG3 simply looked at Shanahan and the inner kid inside him said "nah fam I’m good"

Griffin handles a bad snap and as he attempts to regain possession, and the nightmare happens in real life. His knee twists backwards awkwardly almost as easy as a pool noodle would, and with one motionless, treacherous, hopeless, motion....

Down goes Griffin.

It didn't look good either. It was like one moment he was himself, then the next moment he was someone else. The man's world just stopped in an instant that probably to him felt like an eternity. In one synchronized, yet fateful moment in RG3's budding career, it appeared to me as a fifteen-year-old kid that someone went to the Beyond section in Bed Bath and Beyond, found the remote from the Adam Sandler movie Click (which we used whimsically a couple times in this article) and that someone who found the remote felt like straight up pointing the remote at Griffin and pressing pause the nanosecond his knee snapped. His body somewhat depicted the motion of a robot getting the main battery unplugged from the motherboard. The movement and life in his body is there one second, and then.....

Pause.

Griffin does not move, as he helplessly has just realized in that instant his left knee had snapped. Griffin does not stand up afterwards, Griffin's team does not win the game, and Griffin does not come back from this injury. The young rookie with Blake Griffin sized-dreams, turned into the klutz with Peter Griffin clumsiness.

Griffin rehabbed and returned the next season, to the tune of which some conspiracy theorists argued that it was due to Mike Shanahan's favoritism of Kirk Cousins, who was not in any means a perfect player in his own right. What is clear is that Griffin returned way too early, and it ultimately cost him his job. As Jay Gruden was given the reigns to the top of the coaching totem pole in Landover, Kirk Cousins was chosen to lead the charge. Leaving Griffin buried in the depth charts, thus, effective immediately, ending the short-lived and even longer-dreaded Griffin era.

With an article entitled the The Revenge of Griffin many wonder what hell I’m getting at.

Understand this, following the cryptic messages at RG3’s locker after the Skins lost at the hands of the bad man Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers, he declined to talk to media and it is widely assumed he will be released by the team in the coming offseason. With the Quarterback position being such a revolving door in todays NFL, there are several teams that may be interested in his services. To name a few, the Eagles, Chiefs, 49ers, Cowboys, The Los Angeles Rams....

Pause again.

Wait, something sounds familiar here.

Who did the Redskins trade all those picks to?

The irony is so beautiful in this league sometimes.

Yes, it’s the newly angelic Los Angeles Rams.

Don't let the name fool you, these are the same rams who gave up the number two overall pick in exchange for four Washington draft picks. Four players went to battle for the fighting Stan Kroenke's and all four players drafted as a result of the blockbuster deal have had at least one season on their respective resume's in which they started in all sixteen games.

Pause again!

Now let's fast forward.

How menacing does a backfield boasting a healthy Griffin and starlet Todd Gurley appear to be? Factor in the dynamic deep threat that is Tavon Austin, and add another weapon out wide in this draft and this team will seem to be nearly set on offense. All they need is consistency at quarterback and I have a feeling there's a painful, agonizing feeling in Griffin's stomach that will never settle until he fills what he came in the league to do. Let's not forget as well the Rams have a stout defensive front to compliment the offense. This team could very quickly flourish in the big media market and Stan Kroenke will be a genius if he can get Griffin to join his team in the City of Angels. Additionally, how satisfying would it be for Griffin to play and succeed in the NFC with the chance to matchup with his former team that turned their backs on him, and the backup that turned into the man behind his unseating at the helm in Washington. This team could easily carry the moniker of “The Team That Snyder Built.” Griffin will finally have the chance to be one hundred percent healthy again and with a team wiling to adapt in order to compliment his playing style. Griffins revenge is coming boys and girls,

And will it be spectacular indeed. 

Enter Griffin. Watch out Chip, Watch out Bruce, Watch out Mr. Carroll.

By, Davidson Baker & Elijah Milligan

The Salary Cap

What REALLY is the best thing for College Basketball?

What REALLY is the best thing for the sport of College Basketball?

by Davidson Baker

It's the pre-season of the 2014-2015 campaign, the squeak of the shoes are returning to fruition, the razor-sharp screech of the whistles from the mouths of coaches and referees alike are music to everybody's ear that's involved with the sport...... especially to those of John Calipari.

Coming off an effort that brought his Wildcats narrowly short of a national title as an eight seed, everybody's favorite boys in blue in Lexington were looking like a team that on paper could go toe-to-toe with any other team in the history of the sport.

Let's analyze the true greatness we witnessed by the specifics of the squad

• Eleven ESPN top 100 recruits (Ten of which were McDonald's All-Americans)
• All but two are on NBA or D-league rosters, those two are still enrolled at the University
• An average height of 6'6 in the starting lineup alone, which made them the tallest basketball team in the entire world professional or amateur, let alone in just college basketball alone
• The State of Kentucky's Mr. Basketball, Derek Willis, saw 75 minutes of action the entire season.
• A player who was supposed to be an intricate part of the team, Junior Alex Poythress, missed twenty-nine games and ultimately was not a part of the team when it mattered most.

It is definitely safe to say they were a shoe-in to be a preseason number one selection. Hell, one of the game's great pioneers of coaching even went as far to nearly GUARANTEE they would do something no one has done in almost forty years..... Perfection.

Larry Brown took the podium at a casual presser in the Dallas area a few days before their first game. There surely was a feeling in the air that was synonymous of an aroma of pre-season excitement around his program. That being said, his most notable quote had nothing to do with his team at all, rather how he felt about the potential of the top ranked Wildcats. 

"If you take their first and second teams and split them up, they'd probably have the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation, John should go 45-0 with that talent."

45-0?!?!?! Impossible. Absurd. Preposterous. Blasphemous.

Almost.

The Wildcats couldn't have played forty-five games if they wanted to, the maximum they could squeeze in was forty, given that both the SEC and National Championship games would be on that schedule. Therefore, if we're speaking on literal terms the claims made by Larry Brown were an exaggeration on more than one front. I'm sure he was being dead serious about the talent, and I know he knew the team's realistic capabilities even if that amount of games wasn't possible. Case and point, Every coach in the entire nation knew who the team to beat was all season long.

So with all this being said, when did I start to get the feeling that this team was destined to be something special?

November 18th, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Kentucky 72, Kansas 40.

This Kansas team boasts a coach in Bill Self who was coming off of ten straight regular season conference titles, and he went as far as making statements about how he was unsure if the cats could even be beaten, a mere THREE games into their schedule. After the shellacking in Indianapolis was over, Self shared his thoughts on whether or not they looked beatable.

"There will be teams out there who can challenge them. Whether they can beat them or not, I don't know."

At least they tried, and at least Bill Self left the notion of a possibility that there really can be challengers to the throne. The daunting fact of the matter was that the Kentucky Wildcats were ready and open to any competitor who foolishly dared to enter their sanctum of darkness, and embraced the role of being the perfect team that had no weaknesses.

The number one ranking was not once surrendered the entire season as Kentucky streaked to 38-1 before falling to eventual national runner-up Wisconsin. 

Every week of last season the common thread about college basketball was somehow, someway, intertwined with the bluegrass state. These guys were clear and far away from everybody else. The true number one, and every media outlet milked the last drop of anything that the team was even remotely involved with for almost twenty weeks in a row. 

So that being said, let's move on from the past and talk about the present. Where's this season's dominant force? SHOW YOURSELF! Who is taking the torch? Stand up at once!

.......Nobody? ....Anybody???? ....Hello!!?!?!?

Where are our perennial powerhouses? Syracuse? UConn? Wisconsin? Gonzaga?!! Ohio State?! Where are you guys???

I'll tell you where they are, replaced by the normally irrelevant programs. Texas A&M, USC, Iowa, South Carolina, even Monmouth. It's actually come to the point where the guys who play zero minutes on the end of the bench at MONMOUTH, do interpretive dances and seize uncontrollably on the ground to the salivation of the average basketball consumer, and they have five wins over power five opponents. Where the hell even is Monmouth after all? Yeesh. 

Again, i'll tell you where the powerhouses are, and i'll tell you what they're doing. These select few programs which are usual mainstays at the top in this sport are out there playing some sorry mess of a game that is a poor excuse of what I could best describe as a boring marathon with an orange ball and hardwood floors involved. That's honestly the best way I can describe it because what i've seen out of those teams mentioned previously is definitely not basketball.

And yes! Even the defending "best team in the sport" from the almighty mecca known as Rupp Arena have looked downright dysfunctional on offense this year. Kentucky's offensive flow in their game against LSU looked like a bunch of blind and deaf midgets being used as human pinballs. Straight chaos, no consistency, you never know when someone was going to do something errant, or when something (in particular, the basketball) was going to fly out of the field of play.

Well, this means we have a much different season on our hands. The question is, is that a good or bad thing for college basketball?

I'm currently writing this in the wee hours of the morning on January 15. Since November 13, the day the season started, Only half of the top ten week one remain in that same upper echelon. Out of the twenty-five teams that made the preseason poll, only thirteen remain on that list. We've had four different teams stake their claim as the kings of the hill as voted by the Associated Press, and come next Monday we will have another one thanks to Kansas' loss to West Virginia roughly sixty hours ago.

Let's get to my point, what does this mean for college basketball? Better question, what do we KNOW as fans this year about college basketball? Last year it was seldom a surprise what the most talked about commodity in the sport was every night, now it seems like that's all we get, surprises!

As I sit here and write this article at this current point and time of the fifteenth of January, there have been twelve teams ranked in the AP top twenty-five that have taken losses this week, five of them coming from teams in the TOP TEN. 

Bottom line, there's no overwhelming number one overall seed that's sticking out in my mind. Do I have a few ideas of who it could be? Sure I do. Do I have many doubts about each one come tournament time? I do Indeed.

Kansas seems like the sexy pick for the favorite at this point, however they've lacked a true leader on this team on a squad full of veterans, and that's just plain odd. They're a little iffy on the defensive end of the floor, and they also from what i've seen lack a true ball handler to bring the ball up the court against intense pressure and West Virginia exposed that. 

Oklahoma could be another candidate for that top spot I suppose, however do you wanna talk about a defense that's in the category of "iffy"? That word would honestly be putting it in the nicest and most candy-encrusted, sugar coated of all adjectives in the absolute nicest way possible. These guys just let a very short-standing freshman named Jawun Evans score forty-two on them! When the sooners are full of juniors and seniors with real long and lanky defensive frames! Juan Evans went to the hole whenever he wanted and scored probably in my estimation at least 25 of his 42 off strictly layups. Try slowing down Kris Dunn, or Denzel Valentine with that kind of defense. Ain't gonna happen brother. How do you let him score forty-two? This team needs to fill not just holes, but GAPS on defense before being considered anywhere near a favorite in the tournament.

Michigan State, maybe? 

Nope. 

Sparty got taken behind the woodshed by the fighting Fran McCaffrey's for the second time this season earlier tonight. 

What about North Carolina? 

Maybe if they can play up to their potential as a whole unit. This team would be my gut pick for a number one overall seed right now and I say that with an uneasy stomach. They just need to play a complete game for me to be a little more settled on the issue, and I haven't seen them do that yet. They almost seem to play better when one of their stars sits out due to injury. They went 7-0 without Kennedy Meeks and only suffered one loss to Texas at the buzzer during the absence of Marcus Paige at the beginning of the season. Understandably so no one could guard Isaiah Taylor, which Paige could have done, but we aren't here to discuss the what-ifs.

Let's also not forget here, oh, the irony that the same coach who forced the stake in the soil on the undefeated speculation whirlwind on day ONE last year, is the same man coaching THIS year's lone remaining unbeaten team. Of course! SMU! Great point guard play in Nic Moore, an experienced and talented supporting cast with Ben Moore, Markus Kennedy, Jordan Tolbert, etc. They seem like a nice fit for the prize! The last remaining unbeaten team has GOT to be the overwhelming favorite come March right? 

Nope. Banned from the postseason due to academic fraud.

Way to go, Mr. Brown. I thought I was on to something there.

Now where will the sport head from here come tournament time? Everyone's wired differently, so every fan will have their own preference when it comes to what they like in headlines and hoopla alike in sports. Some people are absolutely in love with the idea of an overwhelming superpower playing with all the pressure on their shoulders come time for the big dance. So maybe that really is the best form of entertainment to keep track of during the big dance. 

The main reason why this is true is because everybody loves to hate the perennial power. You either love or hate the yankees, you love or hate Notre Dame football, you love or hate Kentucky, but what about the other side of the spectrum? What about upsets? The little guy knocking off the bully in the schoolyard? What about David knocking Goliath out with a slingshot courtesy of his very last stone in his pocket? Where's the love for the Down goes Frazier's? The "Do you believe in Miracles"? Does America want to see cinderella anymore? Or is her time in the ballroom coming to a slow but sure screech? 

Quite honestly, America would rather watch a super team put it all on the line with history at stake, and the numbers prove it. 

Last year's Final Four contest that saw the almighty Wildcats get slayed by a bunch of angry badgers from southern Wisconsin drew an audience of 22.6 Million fans. The most fans to watch a national semifinal since 1996. My final question is simple, where did the entertainment in surprise go? I guess we will find out soon enough, but whatever TV rating number that's posted this year will be the pointing arrow to the answer to my question, What REALLY is the best thing for the sport of College Basketball?

Follow Davidson Baker on twitter @Davidsonbaker_and follow our page as a whole @SalaryCapBlog

A City Yearning for Basketball

So my Job calls for me to start at any point in the day so this morning it led me to driving to work around 5:30 and let me tell you, Robin Lundberg is one of my favorite Espn Radio hosts and he took the words out of my mouth. The New York Knicks are real people in just his second year Phil Jackson has brought the franchise back to life.

Basketball is always ultimately about wins and losses but this team is unlike the 2012-13 team under Mike Woodson who went 54-28. This team most certainly will not win as many games but it has something that this team didn’t have… the hope to eventually bring a championship to New York.

1.     Kristaps Porzingis is a revelation, but the success the Knicks have had thus far must be attributed to another guy and that man is Carmelo Anthony. He has evolved, he has become a facilitator, a guy who breathes to make his teammates better, and it has culminated with a .500 record. On Friday night against the spurs, he had the 21^st centaury version of the glove on him in Kawaii Leonard, and help defenders near by, he doesn’t take the shot... Mind you this is the first time that any team has had a chance to take a game winning shot against the spurs this season! He passes the ball to Jose Calderon who had a good look at a three. Yes, he misses but Melo showed that he has faith in his team mates and that is the growth as a player that he is showing.

2.     Okay, okay I know you’re shaking right now I am too here you go… PORZINGOD, KP, SCOREZINGAS, THE FLAMINGO, and the ZINGER. Yes, he is special very very special, we finally have got our franchise player finally and the kid is something to watch. last night he rejected three Celtics players in one possession I was in awe. He hits thirty point three with ease, and I mean considering the ball is being released almost ten feet in the air who can really guard him he is a nightmare for opposing big men with his ability to catch and shoot while also being an effective passer. The kid is the complete package and we can’t even compare him to anything we have ever seen because he’s more tenacious defensively than Dirk ever was, and more confident offensively at the same age. He has a refined inside game yet is confident pulling up from anywhere on the floor. Most importantly he D’s up and isn’t afraid to get down and dirty with the big boys. REBOUNDING! YES HE DOES THAT TOO! Okay let me stop because I am getting excited and he is still ONLY A ROOKIE the sky is the limit.

3.     Robin Lopez and Aaron Afflalo who were teammates together in Portland, these guys have been huge for Knicks. Aaron Affalo is a willing and capable defender but the biggest thing he has added to the team is consistency behind the three-point line. A former teammate of Melo in Denver, this was quite the savvy move by Phil Jackson and his play has been impressive thus far. Robin Lopez may be the biggest reason why Porzingis is playing the way he has and his recent scoring surge has fans salivating. He is the type of player who does everything that doesn’t always show up in the box score but Porzoingis and Lopez make a very menacing tandem inside allowing the Knicks to focus the rest of their defensive efforts on stopping the three ball which has led to them defending the three better than any team in the league.

4.     The other guys!

a.     Lance Thomas WOOO this guy can ball and he makes Phil look like an absolute genius after the JR Smith/Shumpert trade. He’s sinking over 40 percent of threes and has put on 15 LBS of muscle during the offseason. He is the clear cut sixth man and provides the Knicks with legitimate depth at small forward, as I watch him his size and skill set reminds me a lot of Chris Copeland but he plays a lot harder on the defensive end of the ball. Kudos to the Knicks player development team in Westchester.

b.     Derrick Williams is the cutter and part of the Knicks scoring lineup with him at the three Melo at four and Kris at the five. He seems to finally be coming into his own and shedding the bust label he has been accustomed to carrying for so long.

c.     Jerian Grant put a nice line up last night of 16 and 8 with 6 assist in the fourth quarter he is a smart and polished player who is only lacking a jump shot but remember there was a time where fans called Jason Kidd, Ason Kidd for his lack of a J.

d.     Lou Amundson, Langston Galloway and the rest of the boys, it seems like this team is meshing and they have a chance to go over .500 tonight with a fitting matchup with the crosstown boys from Atlantic Avenue. Although the Nets sit at 10-28 with Melo questionable from an ankle sprain and a back to back looming this will not be an easy matchup.

Bottom line the city is ready for a basketball team that can live up to the expectations that are there every season. The Knicks are done waiting for the messiah there is legitimate core and they are effectively building around it. Done are the days of mediocrity as they have proven they can hang with the big boys.

The biggest thing that can be taken away from last nights’ victory against the Boston Celtics is the word TEAM. With Melo sidelined with an apparent ankle injury and the Zinger fouling out in the fourth quarter the Knicks supporting guys like Affalo who had 24, and Derrick Williams who had 15 and most notably Jerian Grant who led the Knicks offensive charge in the fourth quarter. Derrick Fisher has coached this team into an impressive start and the team is meshing well as they continue to play better the collective confidence between the team continues to grow as they managed to play well enough without their two best players against a very scrappy Celtics team. The point guard play although, must improve as we have seen Isaiah Thomas once more torch the Knicks who last night finished with 34 points. However, The New York Knickerbockers are chasing the playoffs and they are for real the best is yet to come stay tuned.