Iowa Wins Big over Michigan State

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303032294

The above link takes you to a recap of Iowa’s blowout victory over Michigan State yesterday.

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I was very happy to see the Iowa Hawkeyes blow out the Michigan State Spartans 37-6 yesterday.  Not because I dislike Michigan State; it’s just that I thought their number five (AP Poll) ranking going into the game was far too high when you consider their quality of wins.

In college football when you analyze any teams schedule you tend to focus on the “good” teams that they’ve beaten.  In the case of Michigan State you put your focus on their wins against Notre Dame, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

The wins against Notre Dame and Michigan were wins that we thought were “good” at the time when, in fact, both of those opponents are no longer in the top 25.  Actually, both teams had proven to be not so good at all.  Michigan’s 5-2 record heading into their loss yesterday against Penn State was severely skewed by the fact that their five wins came against unranked opponents and their two losses were against ranked teams.  Notre Dame was only 4-4 before yesterday’s loss to Tulsa.

Now, beating Wisconsin can’t be taken away from Michigan State.  That is a quality win without question, but is it a win that should have gotten them that high ranking they had entering yesterday’s game?  I don’t think so.

Even though they were undefeated coming into yesterday’s game I feel they should have been ranked lower.  Then the drubbing that took place (on the road against a better opponent) wouldn’t have been so surprising. 

Carmolo Anthony wants out

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5742587

The above short write-up tells of how Carmelo says his recent comments about wanting out of Denver were taken wrong.

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I don’t quite understand Carmelo Anthony’s logic here.  How can his statement be taken wrongly?  What else could “…it’s time for a change” mean?  It means Carmelo wants to be traded, and it’s not a secret.  There are no misconceptions here.

So what kind of return can the Nuggets expect to get for Carmelo?  It depends on how teams evaluate Mr. Anthony.   Looking at his raw numbers it seems that Anthony is a superstar.  His career stats of 24.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.1 APG with a .460 FG% while shooting 80% from the charity stripe seem to make him a superstar.  

When using Player Efficiency Rating (PER) though, an advanced metric invented by ESPN Insider John Hollinger, it doesn’t seem that he is.  

To learn more about the intricacies of PER and how it is calculated please visit the link above.  For this write-up though, this scale (also invented by Hollinger) gives us a good idea of what classification a player could be put into based on his PER:

• A Year For the Ages: 35.0
• Runaway MVP Candidate: 30.0
• Strong MVP Candidate: 27.5
• Weak MVP Candidate: 25.0
• Bona fide All-Star: 22.5
• Borderline All-Star: 20.0
• Solid 2nd option: 18.0
• 3rd Banana: 16.5
• Pretty good player: 15.0
• In the rotation: 13.0
• Scrounging for minutes: 11.0
• Definitely renting: 9.0
• The Next Stop: DLeague 5.0

Anthony’s career PER is 20.1 (ranked 60^th all time in the NBA among active players).  Using the above chart we can see that this make Anthony a “Borderline All-Star.”  Throughout his career he has never had a PER greater than 22.1 meaning he’s never really crossed the line into the “Bona Fide All-Star” category.  (For reference the Active leader in this stat is LeBron James at 26.81, who also achieved the best Single Season PER of all active players in 2008-2009 at with 31.67).

So, let me ask you, what is a player that has seven years worth of “mileage” on his legs, and is in his age 26 season (not old, but not young in NBA years) that is a “borderline All-Star” worth to a team?  

I fear the answer for the Nuggets isn’t as great as they’d wish.  I don’t think they could get a first round draft pick in exchange for Anthony, and I certainly don’t think they’d get a younger superstar to replace him.  I think a second rounder and maybe two solid players is what they should expect.  Especially when you consider how much money Anthony will demand.  

There is a reason Carmelo hasn’t been traded yet; he isn’t valued as highly as the Nuggets need him to be for them to get a great return.

Giants win Game one

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=301027126

The above write-up is a recap of the San Francisco Giants game one victory last night in the 2010 World Series.

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Going into last night’s Game one of the World Series the San Francisco Giants were facing immense odds.  First off, they were facing the invincible Cliff Lee; secondly they were facing a lefty, to which the Giants only managed a .716 OPS against during the regular season (.734 vs. righties).  When you combine this with Cliff Lees’ opposing batter OPS of .618 you can see that the Giants were going to struggle to score any runs last night.

Then, as we all saw, the improbable happened.   The Giants batted around Cliff Lee so bad that he was pulled in the fifth inning and ended the night allowing eight hits and seven runs in 4.2 innings.  

Obviously Cliff Lee just got too much of the plate last night because it’s not like he walked batters and beat himself (one walk, and one hit batter).   He did strike out seven batters in 4.2 innings.   Last night the Giants were solely responsible for beating Cliff Lee, this was not a self-imposed defeat for Lee.  That is one of the positive notes to come out of this performance for the Rangers last night.

Texas’ offensive performance is another positive note.  As a team they scored eight runs total and batted around Tim Lincecum to the tune of four earned runs in 5.2 innings. 

While any loss is bad, this loss does not discourage my hopes that the Rangers will win this series.  Their offense definitely showed up, and their Ace just had a bad night that was not self-inflicted (coming off a very abnormal eight days rest).  

The best thing about all of this is that in a seven game series all the road team has to do is win one of the first two games to snatch back home field advantage.  The odds of the Rangers doing this increase when you consider that they will throw another lefty (CJ Wilson) tonight against a Giants team that, as previously discussed, has trouble hitting southpaws.  Can the Giants chase a good lefty two nights in a row?  Possible? Yes. Probable? No.

All will be forgotten if the Rangers win tonight, and everybody will be focusing on the positives for the Rangers going into game three as I have already done here.

This series has a long way to go and after tonight’s game the Rangers could have a decisive edge with home field secured and Cliff Lee going again when we all know the odds of him pitching badly twice in a row are very, very long.

New York Giants....Best team in the NFC?

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=301025006

The above write-up is a recap of the Cowboys heart-breaking loss to the New York Giants last night (Monday Night Football)

SportsReaction

While most of the “pub” this morning will discuss the disappointing start of the Cowboys and how they lost Tony Romo to injury last night, this SportsReaction will focus on the dominant New York Football Giants.

While last night cemented their status as one of the best teams in the NFC—they won the game despite being on the road and committing five turnovers--I want to point out that it was two weeks ago that I was discussing football with a friend of mine and told him I thought the Giants were one of, if not the best teams in the NFC.

Two wins after that discussion I look more correct than ever.  The Giants record sits at 5-2, tied with Atlanta for the best record in the conference, and their team statistics do nothing but support their status as the top team in the NFC.

Offensive Category	Stats	NFC Rank		Defensive Category	Stat	NFC Rank
Yards per game	388.7	1		Yards allowed per game	263.3	1
Points per game	25	1		Poinst allowed per game	21.9	8
Pass yards per game	243.3	5		Pass yards allowed per game	177.9	1
Rush yards per game	145.4	1		Rush Yards allowed per game	85.4	2
3rd down conversion %	36	12		Opp. 3rd down conversion %	30.5	2
				Giveaway/Takeaway	-5	11

I think those charts speak for themselves.  The Giants rank either first or second in most major offensive and defensive categories. 

To show their dominance more so pay attention to the statistics I’ve highlighted in orange.  These are stats that most teams need to perform well in to maintain a winning record; yet the Giants are performing poorly in all of them and still maintain a 5-2 record despite them.

It’s hard to look at the New York Giants body of work so far in this 2010 season and not declare them the best team in the NFC…I know I am.

The New York Giants have a very under-rated, Super Bowl winning quarterback; a great running back tandem, a fantastic receiving corps, an offensive line that rankins in the top third of the NFL (as per footballoutsiders.com), and a quarterback-rushing, high octane defense that will keep them at the top of the NFC all season long.