Knicks/Lakers: A Season of Unsettling Dichotomy

A historic NBA franchise in the middle of a prime American media market. A set of mismatched players thrown together with little regard for how well they may or may not play with one another. Yearly turnover of personnel becoming more and more turbulent. Overpriced veterans and supposed superstars who cannot become a greater sum than their individual parts. Management beleaguered by a wide, knowledgeable and perhaps sometimes overly passionate fan base. Those same fervent followers pressing the panic button at a moment's notice, whether it be warranted or not. A team consistently grounding to new lows and disappointing fans in new, creative and sadistic ways. Expectations failed, season settling into jeopardy, everyone worried.

A historic NBA franchise in the middle of a prime American media market. A set of underrated players who were specifically put together to best build on the strengths of their franchise player. A roster that has built continuity after years of tumult. Cagey veterans help an emerging superstar finally reach his potential, with a set of improperly valued players becoming a greater sum than its individual parts. Management, no matter how shrewd its trades and wily it's moves, will always be beleaguered by a wide, knowledgeable and perhaps sometimes overly passionate fan base. Those same fervent followers cautiously buying in on an extraordinary start to the season. A team coming together, morphing into the class of the league. Expectations already surpassed, season becoming quickly extraordinary, everyone jubilant.


Of course, we're talking about the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers.

But how is it that two descriptions that would fit both teams like a fine Pat Riley suit now has flipped the script? The usually melodramatic Knickerbockers have become the respectable, heady team of veterans who win with defense, passing and patience. The usually steady Lakers have become a team in crisis, with it's highly paid imports failing to bring W's to the game log. It seems that the two franchises have suddenly switched places, and both fan bases don't really know how to handle the rapid transformation. Knicks fans are looking at their 16-5 squad with much trepidation. They are dubious to accept Carmelo as the MVP candidate he looks to be and the squad's reliance on a group of basketball geriatrics that are creating wins and melding an otherwise unwieldy team of boneheads. Lakers fans are conversely confused at how terrible a 9-13 team full of seeming superstars and solid contributors could be so incredibly awful. Overall, there's a real lack of acceptance that perhaps yes, the Lakers could be this terrible and yes, the Knicks could be this good.

(Read on at Silver Screen and Roll!)

(Not So Instant) Trade Analysis: Kevin Youkilis to the New York Yankees

New York Yankees get: 3B/1B Kevin Youkilis

Kevin Youkilis gets: 1 year, $12 million

Seemingly, former Red Sox come to the Yankees in droves (Derek Lowe and Johnny Damon most recently), while no one ever seems to go the other way north. Hmm. Must be something in the water. Or the air. Or the city. Or the fans. Whatever. I don't have a vendetta or anything.

Kevin Youkilis agreed to a one year, $12 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees to be the team's part-time third and first baseman, as well as occasional DH. The Yanks proclaimed throughout the offseason that whoever they'd sign would have to play a majority of innings manning third, as a 37 year-old A-Rod has proven that he's not up to the stress of the hot corner day to day.

Well that was before a left hip surgery that will leave Rodriguez sidelined until at least May, if not the All-Star break in July. By that time, the former three-time AL MVP will be close to 38 years old and entering into his third consecutive season in which he only missed at least a fourth of the year's games. In that sense, the need for an established third baseman became even more important, seeing as the most healthy hips A-Rod will be getting close to this year are Torrie Wilson's. Damn.

How did the LA Lakers lose in Cleveland last night?

(Copped from my Silver Screen and Roll  game recap)

Going back to Silver Screen and Roll's preseason predictions for the 2012-2013 season, most of us here were concerned with several different issues; a few of us pointed to team health, some asked questions about the coaching staff and a couple writers wondered aloud if the team's pieces were the right fit.


No one--not a single person on this blog, nor many fans out there--thought that the problem would be effort.


The team's early season slump was sent to an all-new low tonight, when the now 5-17 Cleveland Cavaliers thumped the Los Angeles Lakers 100-94 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as it ended.

The Cavs played a modest game to say the least. On the offensive side of the ball, they only shot 44% and a Howard-ian 57% from the stripe. After throwing down a ridiculous 54 first half points, Cleveland was stunningly mediocre for most of the rest of the game, including an unbelievable seven minute stretch at the beginning of the third quarter in which they made exactly one field goal. Part of the reason was a totally impotent bench that without Tyler Zeller's six points, would have gotten completely skunked. Omri Casspi, Jeremy Pargo and Daniel Gibson bricked all nine of their combined shots in an effort that would have left last year's Lakers bench shaking their heads in disbelief.


Amazingly, the Cavaliers caught only eight offensive boards, which is two more than Anderson Varejao's season average. On the whole, the team was crushed by the Lakers' rebounding edge, ceding 11 more to LA, 15 of which were on the offensive end. Cleveland's defense wasn't sterling either, with the squad sending the Lakers to the stripe 40 times. In terms of field goals, the Cavs allowed 54 second-half points to the Show after just 39 in the first half. Finally, they did a terrible job coaxing Kobe Bryant into bad shots, as the Mamba hit 16 of 28 for 42 points.


The Cavs did have a couple of bright spots however, which came from predictable places. Kyrie Irving had a timely return tonight, coming back from injury to drop an amazing 28/6/11 on the Lakers in a seeming 1-on-1 duel with Kobe Bryant. C.J. Miles somehow dropped 28 points, looking like a genuine starter rather than a scrap heap pick-up. Anderson Varejao continued to make his case for the Eastern Conference All-Star team with a fantastic 20 points, 9 boards and 5 assists. However, the rest of the team was a virtual offensive wasteland, combining for 24 points split amongst seven players.


Looking at all those statistics, how could the Lakers have possibly lost this game?

(Check out the rest of the piece over at SS&R!)

Instant Trade Analysis: Shin-Soo Choo to the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds get: OF Shin-Soo Choo, IF Jason Donald

Cleveland Indians get: SP Trevor Bauer, RP Matt Albers, RP Bryan Shaw, OF Drew Stubbs

Arizona Diamondbacks get: SS Didi Gregorius, RP Tony Sipp, 1B Lars Anderson

In the second major transaction of the night, the Reds may have gotten the final piece to their championship puzzle in outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, while the Indians bolstered their team for the future and the Diamondbacks...did something.

Just two months ago, the Reds were on the precipice of eliminating the future World Series champion Giants with a commanding 3-1 lead at home. However, their offense scuttled in games 4 and 5, as Cincy's first two hitters in their line-up scored one combined run in 18 at-bats. In fact, both SS Zack Cozart and 2B Brandon Phillips managed to plate only 3 runs the entire series, which isn't so strange when you consider that Reds top two leadoff hitters all season hit to a below .650 OPS overall and had a nearly 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. In other words, Cincy's 3-8 hitters were so good that even without placesetters, they were able to score the 9th most runs in the Majors. Amazing. 

(Not So Instant) Trade Analysis: James Shields to the Kansas City Royals

Tampa Bay Rays get: OF Wil Myers, SP Jake Odorizzi, SP Mike Montgomery, 3B Patrick Leonard

Kansas City Royals get: SP James Shields, SP/RP Wade Davis

"This could be the deal that brings Moore's time in Kansas City to an end"--Keith Law, ESPN

"Hell yeah this was a desperate trade. More than a quarter-century of irrelevance tends to foster desperation."--Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports

"The Royals got owned on this one," said an NL executive, who marveled at Friedman's huge haul of young talent."--Jerry Cranick, ESPN.com

Just three out of hundreds of opinions that suggested that the James Shields-centered trade from late Sunday night was nothing more than a heist for the Tampa Bay Rays. In many ways, how could you argue that? The Kansas City Royals look like Randy Travis--a drunk, pantsless victim of larceny.

The Rays dealt a fine, fine pitcher, who's averaged 33 starts, 222 innings, a 3.80 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP for the past six seasons. He's an extremely healthy player, especially considering that he's such a prolific strikeout artist, sitting down 7.8 batters per nine innings. Shields placed third in Cy Young voting last season, which combined with this season, count as a great right-hander settling into his prime. He's started 33 games each of the past two seasons, with a 3.15 ERA, 8.5 Ks per nine, a 3.64 SO/BB ratio and giving up just 403 hits in 477 innings pitched. In other words, Shields has emerged into a rotation work horse, capable of taking on big innings matched with premium results. He's not a bonified "ace", but he's close.

His fellow ex-Ray Davis isn't a slouch either. As a starter, he averaged 176 innings and 29 starts over two seasons, throwing 4.27 ERA ball, with a 1.36 WHIP. However, his fatal flaw was that in stretching his arm out, he hardly struck anyone out, with a paltry 5.6 Ks per nine innings. Davis was converted to a reliever last year with much deadlier results--70 innings, 2.43 ERA, 87 strikeouts to only 29 walks and a remarkable 1.09 WHIP. Going forward, Davis is probably better off as a reliever, though his contract makes him paid as a starter. It'd probably be a mistake to put Davis "out of position" to "justify" activating his three team options after 2014 (for $7, $8 and $10 million), but the Royals currently plan to have Davis start. Perhaps his true destination is to end up at closer, but for now, he'll hit the mound every five days.