2014 NBA Power Rankings, Week 2: You Cannot Be Serious

Seriously, if I can't update this post more than once every 6 weeks, why bother calling it a weekly Power Ranking? Just pathetic on every level. Teams have played almost 20 games since the last Rankings. I'm better than that (well, maybe not).

Actually, maybe this will give an interesting snap shot in comparison to where we thought we were in the NBA in mid-January. Yea, let's turn it around and talk it up that way. Now, I don't feel pathetic anymore. I'm officially hyped. Let's do this!

1. Miami Heat (41-14, PR=3)...Being a 3 time repeat Finals participant, B-Court All-Star kind of gives Miami the benefit of the doubt most weeks over the past few seasons. Even if they appear to be on cruise control and muck things up for a few weeks in a row, you always kind of get the sense that that championship fire is burning right there beneath the surface. Well, they've turned up the heat (pun totally intended) the past couple of weeks, and they appear to be gearing up for playoff form after completing a 5-1 West coast road trip. They've also now officially won 9 of 10 and 12 of their last 14 overall, LeBron just completed one of the most efficiently dominant months in the last 50 years, and D-Wade is actually in the lineup (and effective) more than every other game.

And that's probably the most bada** protective mask I've ever seen.

2. Indiana Pacers (44-13, PR=2)...Miami is hot on their heals for the league's best record, but they are still just hot on their heels...they haven't caught up to their heels or whatever the expression would be. Point is, Indy just keeps trucking along winning 9 of their last 12. Should be interesting how Turner and Bynum get integrated into their rotation as well.

3. San Antonio Spurs (41-16, PR=1)...Always the forgotten team in a bevy of Western Conference heavyweights, I'm not convinced that there is a better team out West than San Antone. While the Clippers, Blazers, Rockets, and Warriors all are trying to make that leap from very good team to legit title contender, at this point I still have the Spurs in a series in 5 or 6 games over any of them.

4. Los Angeles Clippers (40-20, PR=5)...They're currently 4th in the West right now, but only a game behind Portland for that 3rd spot, and with Blake Griffin continuing to show his expanded game and CP3 back, they are as dangerous as anyone. Moving parts are a concern with injuries to Reddick and Crawford and new pieces in Big Baby and Granger, but this is a team that stacks up well with most of the other top teams out West (other than the Spurs). An early round matchup with the Warriors or Grizz should be avoided at all costs though.

5. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-15, PR=5)...Putting the better conference's current #1 seed 5th might be troublesome to some, but I don't like the look of this Thunder team right now. KD's having a MVP-caliber season, but I'm starting to worry about Russell Westbrook on a couple levels. Are his knees going to be a chronic issue now? How long is it going to take for him to feel his way back into his usual role on the team? Also, maybe it is just rust, but you get a weird vibe watching OKC right now, like despite keeping up appearances the KD-Westbrook power struggle is going to come to a head at some point. Also, Perkins being out oddly hurts this team from a minutes standpoint, thinning out the team's bigs, and causing them to use small lineups more often.

OKC's lost 3 straight home games since Westrbook's return.

6. Portland Trail Blazers (40-18, PR=4)...Oh, how expectations change with an unexpected hot start. Rip City has cooled off slightly over the past couple weeks, and now everyone wants to know what's wrong with the Blazers. Well, legit title contenders I don't believe they are, but they need to get LA back in the lineup soon regardless.

7. Houston Rockets (39-19, PR=none)...As hot as they've been, I still don't know if I trust them in a 2nd round playoff series. They can beat anybody on a given night, but they still depend on a lot of 3's going in and Dwight Howard.

Harden may have officially taken over the title of best 2-guard in the game though.

8. Golden State Warriors (35-23, PR=none)...Honestly, I would have guessed the Warriors would have moved up higher on this list at this point in the season. They seem to have the right blend of offensive firepower and solid team defense, but consistency remains a problem.

9. Chicago Bulls (31-26, PR=none)...Maaaaaan, don't ask me how the Bulls have done this the last 2 years. Would love to see a Pacers-Bulls 2nd round playoff matchup though.

10. Phoenix Suns (33-24, PR=none)...Was actually tempted to put my red-hot Wizards here, but couldn't bring myself to do it since they would only be in 10th place in the West right now. The Suns are probably the shocker of the NBA season so far. Let's hope Dragic and Eric Bledsoe get back on the court soon.

The 2013 Redskins in Review, Part 3: One More Time Around the Coaching Carousel

Parts 1 and 2 of this series went pretty bang-bang in my fury once the NFL regular season had ended, but time constraints and work obligations caused my blog posting to come to a screeching halt sometime around mid-January. If Part 3 happened in quick succession of the 1st 2 posts, it would have had an entirely different tone. As it is, it's going to come off lukewarm. In fact, so meh am I about Part 3's subject matter that I almost considered scrapping this idea altogether. This was supposed to be a scathing memorandum of Mike Shanahan's time in Washington, DC...a commentary on his ego, his shadiness, on his inability to perform at a player personnel level like he had as a coach, on his inability to coexist with his boss and those he was the boss of alike, and (most importantly) his record as head coach of the Redskins. A record in 4 seasons outside of a 7 game hot streak in 2012 that could only be described as miserable. For the record (rimshot, please), he departed with a mark of 24-40, leaving owner Dan Snyder perfectly within his rights to give him the boot on performance and merit alone. If you just take out that 7 game run of perfection, that leaves ol' Shanny a whopping 17-40.

I know, I know, Mike...that's awful.

This post was supposed to be about how Shanahan always seemed more concerned with power struggles within his own organization than with winning games. His years can be marked with the Albert Haynesworth implosion, the Donovan McNabb firestorm, and finally the RG3-pocalypse. Shanahan seemed to obsess more over making everyone else bend to his will than anything else. And yet if the Redskins happened to choose to bring Shanahan back for the last season of his contract, I would have at least been ok with it. He presumably would have had a healthy Griffin in 2014 and a couple replacements to some of their substandard level players

I know that's a meh reaction, but it's hard to get ecstatic about any coaching move that Washington makes anymore. They've pretty much run the gambit of hiring types since Danny boy has owned the team, all with similar outcomes. They've gone for old school defensive coach (Marty Shottenheimer), the hot offensive minded college coach of the time (Steve Spurrier), the bring-back of the most beloved and legendary coach in their own franchise's history (Joe Gibbs), the unheard of potential diamond in the rough (Jim Zorn), and the splashy multiple Super Bowl winning coach (Shanahan). I can't lie...other than Zorn, who I had never heard of previously, these all sounded like great hires at the time, and they all either fizzled-out eventually (at their best) or blew up in their faces at some point (at their worst).

So, excuse me for not being anything but meh about the team's decision to hire Jay Gruden. This isn't meant to disparage him at all. He appears to be a fine coach. He has pedigree, being the brother of another Super Bowl winning coach in John Gruden. The offenses he coordinated the last few seasons in Cincinnati were somewhere between good to very good with a quarterback who was average at best. He appears to be earnest, bright, hungry, and most other attributes you would want in a coach. But if the other guys who came before him are any indication, he's likely to last in Washington between 2 and 3 years before he gets canned with an overall record below 0.500. More meh from me, but it's tough to come up with another honest emotion regarding the coaching situation based on past history. Aside from prove me wrong, there's really not much us for me to say. Godspeed, Jay Gruden...Godspeed.

Looking good already, Jay.

5 Quick Observations About This Year's Super Bowl

1. This year’s Super Bowl commercials seemed especially tame. I mean, there were a couple worthy of smirks or awwws, but nothing all that memorable. Nothing "Ad Nausem" worthy at least…just saying. Also, Bruno Mars was just fine. Leave Bruno Mars alone, people.

Hate, hate, hate!

2. Enough with all this 12th Man bulls***. Yes, Seattle is loud. It’s a very cool stadium. Northwestern people go nuts for their sports. Stop telling me about the significance of the fans at the neutral site Super Bowl and the significance of the Seahawks scoring 12 seconds into both halves. Stop it!

3. I’m still not sure why so many of ESPN’s talking heads picked Denver to win. I'm not saying everyone picked them, but it seemed like there were a lot. Maybe they were wishing it instead of actually analyzing the teams…or history even. If anything, it should have been split closer to 50-50 I think (For the record, I picked Seattle). But the old adages of defense wins championships and great defense beats great offense have become old adages for a reason: because a great majority of the time, they hold true. And I think people gave Seattle a chance to win, but I think out of the possible outcomes people thought that if one team had the potential to deliver a blowout, it would be the Broncos with their high-powered offense. The Seahawks could win, but their style of play would probably make it a close win. Historically though in the Super Bowl, if great defense plays great offense in the Super Bowl, it’s the team with the D that does the sha-lacking. (The game that immediately comes to mind is the whooping the Buccaneers put on the Raiders in 2003.)

4. The outcome shows us that at the end of the day, talent and athleticism still trumps almost everything else in sports. Denver had a very talented corps of position players on offense this year, highlighted by Peyton Manning. That talent combined with Manning’s ability to read a defense and dissect the area of weakness made them almost impossible to defend this season (hence, the numerous offensive records). But none of that matters when the pocket collapses around the quarterback before he has a chance to throw or when a receiver can’t get separation from a defender or when the offensive player is hit and tackled immediately after getting the ball. The Seahawks aren’t the Pittsburgh Steelers or New York Jets. They didn’t give the Broncos a bunch of exotic looks or go blitz-crazy. They did pretty much the same thing every play, and yet there was no play Denver could call to make Seattle change their scheme (or even make them feel threatened). When you have athletes as good as that, you don't need to get all fancy.

A common theme from last night...

5. Finally, this almost certainly seals Manning’s fate as 1 of the all-time greats, but definitely not the greatest ever. As great as his numbers are going to wind up being, he’s just been too mediocre in postseason play. I’m not saying to discard all of his other accomplishments, but you can’t overlook his playoff record either.

Ad Nauseum: Take a Look at My 15% or More

Old Spice and Geico have been pushing the weird quotient on their TV commercials for a while now, but they may have both set new personal bests in terms of weirdness with their latest respective ad campaigns.

For Old Spice, it started with their “Mom Song” commercial, a look into the world of mom-stalker tendencies when it comes to their sons’ dating habits. I actually saw the shortened version below 1st, and there’s something about the Asian lady’s voice that still cracks me up every time, which is why it gets the embed-treatment here (as opposed to the longer original version). What makes these commercials is how truly horrifying and grotesque the women that were picked to play these mothers are…my apologies ladies, but holy f***ing s***.

Geico’s commercials have been out there (no, I mean really out there) for long enough now that they teeter on the line between amusing and utterly annoying. I actually enjoy some of the did you know ads they have been running lately (“thus endeth the trick”), but I have to say these portrait ads I don’t get at all. Make it stop…please, make it stop.

2014 NBA Power Rankings, Week 1: Pow, Pow, Power Rankings!

You know what 2014 is missing? NBA Power Rankings, that’s what…here…we…go.

1. San Antonio Spurs (31-8)…While Portland is the surprise team out West so far, the Clippers, Thunder, and Grizzlies are sloshing through injuries, and Golden State and Houston continue to try to feel their ways out, you know who would be the number 1 seed in the West again if the playoffs started today? That’s right.

These guys! See what I did there?

2. Indiana Pacers (30-7)…While it’s obvious by now that Miami doesn’t care about this regular season at all, the Pacers continue to use it as their angry, chippy, smashmouth announcement to the world that they have arrived as a team to be reckoned with. Just please don’t f*** it up and sign Andrew Bynum.

3. Miami Heat (27-11)…Even after losing 3 straight to sub-0.500 Eastern Conference teams, it’s hard to get worried. Hey look, a Greg Oden sighting!

This is some mythical unicorn stuff...

4. Portland Trailblazers (29-9)…I believe their 1st entry on this list in either the top or bottom 5 in 3 seasons, but much deserved. Portland is one of those franchises that the league is just better when they’re good.

5. [Tie] Los Angeles Clippers (27-13) and Oklahoma City Thunder (28-10)…Hard to pick between these 2 Western Conference powers playing without their star point guards. You’d give the edge to LA maybe because Darren Collison has outplayed Reggie Jackson thus far in the replacement role, but then again even with Blake Griffin having a career year Kevin Durant is still Kevin Durant after all.

The 2013 Redskins in Review, Part 2: Another 18 Million Reasons Next Year Ought To Be Better...I Hope

If we are going to go down the list of what went wrong with the Redskins this season, you have to follow-up a discussion of RG3 with one about the rest of the roster…this dreadful, no-talent roster. It’s still baffling to me that many people – knowledgeable intelligent people who cover sports for a living – thought this team would be better than the 2012 version. The reasons for this predicted improvement included Griffin being better and having a better grip of the offense in year 2 and having continuity after returning something like 21 of 22 starters off of a playoff roster. Well, we already talked about Griffin’s issues coming back from injury, so it goes without saying that those types of expectations for him were absurd.

While this is a quarterback’s league, and the Redskins hope that Griffin is their signal caller for the next 10 years, the bigger issue may have been that 2nd point though. This is a franchise that incurred salary cap penalties in back-to-back years of $18 million per year. They didn’t return 21 of 22 starters because they wanted to…they did because they couldn’t afford to sign anybody better than what they already had. Last season, they won 10 games because their quarterback had one of the great rookie seasons of all time, they played a creampuff last place schedule, and they got hot at the right time. This was the definition of lightning in a bottle, not a sustained formula for success.

During a late season loss to the Eagles, the Fox broadcast showed a graphic of the impact players on the Eagles’ roster whose 2013 salaries totaled $18 million…now, a bunch of those guys were still on their relatively cheap rookie contracts, but the list was between 6-8 players deep, and it was staggering. $18 million is a lot of money. That could be a couple superstar players or a handful of solid starting level players. It’s nothing to sneeze at. $18 million is the difference between a starting NFL defensive backfield and a group of backups. It’s the difference between a professional right tackle and left guard and a couple guys who might not be in the league next season. It’s the difference between a competent and reliable 2nd option at wide receiver and the hodge-podge group the Redskins trotted out there this past season. And it's the difference between a team that has good depth for when injuries occur and to play on special teams and having possibly the worst special teams units of all time.

Hopelessly flailing at opposing punt returners was a common move for Redskins' special teamers this season.

But the Redskins’ problem is going to be that even with that added cap space back, they may simply still have too many holes to fill. London Fletcher retired, and salary cap dead weight Josh’s (Morgan and Wilson) come off the books. But Washington will have important decisions to make on guys like Brian Orakpo and Santana Moss, who could both hit free agency. Moss had some great receiving years early on in his career in Washington, and he could still be useful as a slot receiver on 3rd downs, but he’s no longer $4 million a year useful. Orakpo has shown flashes as an edge rusher, but his production to this point in his career probably doesn’t match up with the type of payday he wants this offseason. You get the feeling that he’s probably going to command that type of money from someone…with all their other needs though, I’m just not sure it should be the Redskins.

Aside from that, there are always roster moves that are made when a new coach comes to town just to bring in people that will fit his system, so cuts and signings along those lines are to be expected. The Redskins also have decisions to make on cheaper free agents such as Reed Doughty, Perry Riley, and DeAngelo Hall. All are very, very expendable in my book, but letting them walk just means there will be more positions where replacements will be needed. After all that, that $18 million in salary cap room could go quickly. And with the lack of a 1st round pick this year, cheap starting level talent will be hard to come by.

If God (and Bruce Allen) have any sympathy for Redskins' fans at all, they will at least let one of the most hateable Skins of my memory walk this offseason.

If I were GM Bruce Allen, I would probably focus on a right tackle (to help keep RG3 off his back), a number 2 receiver (even though I think Pierre Garcon is more likely a number 2 receiver than a number 1 on a good offense), an inside linebacker to replace Fletcher, and at least 2 starting defensive backs…Brandon Meriweather has a player option for a couple more seasons, and they just used a 2nd round pick on David Amerson, but if you could somehow wave a magic wand, ax everybody, and get an entirely new starting defensive backfield, I would do it. Even after that, I wouldn’t mind an upgrade at guard and on the defensive line, but all of that might be too much to ask. After all, we’re taking $18 million, not $80 million.

The 2013 Redskins in Review, Part 1: RG3 Version 2.0

Unbelievably, the last time I made a post about the Redskins was following their final win of the season, a win utterly and undoubtedly gifted to them by the San Diego Chargers. Almost more unbelievably, that was in the 1st week of November. As each following week brought another loss and more revelations of the franchise’s ineptitude, I chose to go dark. Washington was boiling over with ridiculousness to the point where it would’ve been mostly pointless to comment on the happenings from week to week. Instead, I decided to wait until this season was completely nuked before sorting through the rubble, which I will try to do in a multi-post series.

I guess if you’re going to start anywhere, you need to start with the team’s franchise player, Robert Griffin III. From the opening week loss to the Eagles, it was obvious to everyone that RG3 was simply not ready to play. As a fan, you were hopeful, and he showed flashes of his old self throughout the season, but this was not the same guy who completed maybe the best and most explosive offensive rookie season of the history of the league just a year ago…and that included missing a game and playing several others on a wounded knee last season. No, this Griffin was a step (or 2) slower, and played very tentatively, which was in stark contrast to the decisiveness and instinctiveness he showed in year 1.

If only RG3 followed the advice of his own catchy t-shirt slogan.

By season’s end, Griffin not only looked slower and more indecisive, he actually looked skittish and shell-shocked. In 2012, most of the hits Griffin accumulated took place outside of the pocket (either on designed runs or scrambles), but in 2013 he seemed to take a weekly beating from within the pocket, a result of Griffin’s inability (for probably the 1st time in his life) to outrun defensive lineman and his offensive line’s glaring inability to block them. Already trying to regain the confidence and mechanics to step into throws again following major knee surgery, RG3 also seemed to be fighting what I believe is technically termed as the yips, as he started to rush or just plain miss on throws with no defenders near him as well, possibly anticipating getting hit before there was any real threat of contact.

At this point, it would be hard to argue against the idea that Griffin has been mismanaged throughout this injury/rehab process. Part of that is his own doing…his ego, tough-mindedness, and marketing strategy (all in for week 1) worked to his own detriment. But at the end of the day, the buck stops with the organization (more on that later). If a player wants to check himself into action before the coaches, doctors, and front office execs deem him ready, it’s their job to tell the player to slow his roll. Because of that reason (and my yips comment above), I actually didn’t mind coach Mike Shanahan’s decision to deactivate RG3 the last 3 weeks of the season on the surface. But Shanny’s real motivations and his and the team’s mismanagement of Griffin from last season’s playoff game against Seattle give you pause as well, as it seems doubtful that his intentions were pure either (more on that later too).

It also proved that the rest of the team was still s*** tier whether RG3 was manning the helm or anyone else.

Now, one can only hope that by the start of next season Griffin’s knee and his psyche are fully healed, that the new coaching staff puts him in the best positions to be successful and stay healthy, and that the end to the league-imposed $36 million cap penalty allows the organization to put more pieces around him. There's a common thought now that RG3 is damaged goods, that he is a raging egomaniac who has been catered to too much too soon, that he's only a running quarterback who can't be effective from the pocket, and that he isn't capable of being a leader. How quickly everyone forgot last season already, when he seemed to have all his s*** together both on and off the field. Losing tends to do that though. If he can play up the standard he set for himself during his rookie year next season, all that will go away. If not, it may be back to the drawing board (again) for the Redskins.