Hypothetical Nats Yankees World Series Preview

I originally came up with the idea for a Nats, Yankees Simmonsish mega breakdown sometime in July when it looked as though the Nats were here to stay. I’ve given dannymac some pretty good natured ribbing over being the most fair whether fan in the history of sports, by jumping ship on the Sox after their fall collapse last year (in his defense I’m not sure there’s ever been a less likable team in the history of team sports than the 2011 and 2012 Red Sox), and moving in with the Young, hot Washington Nats. I’ll give him this credit though, he’s fully immersed himself with his new lover. This isn’t just having a fling on the side with a more attractive younger woman, this is full-fledged moving in with the new girl, getting married, buying a dog, and having three kids together. Dan’s been attending games faithfully, tweeting nonstop, sending creepy love letters to Bryce Harper, and most importantly, defending this team with his life to anyone who questions them. This article seemed like a fun way to compare two of the better teams in baseball, as well as compare our lovers (in my case the older, but still hot Yankees, and in Dan’s case, the young yoga instructor Nats).

When it started looking more and more like the Nats are firm in their stance that Strasburg will be shut down after 160 innings this season, I started to lose interest in writing this piece. What comparison are the Nats to the Yankees without Stras? After all, if the Yankees knew in advance that CC Sabbathia (or even Andy Pettite for that matter) wouldn’t be available for the postseason, would I be delusional enough to believe that the Yankees could win it all? Obviously not. That doesn’t stop Nats fans like Dan from getting carried away with his current team, a la Orangechuck on the syr.com message boards thinking SU could still win it all once Fab Melo went down. Anyways, this isn’t a piece for the topic of Strasburg-maybe Dan and I will publish the 50000000 words of email that we’ve exchanged in the last few days discussing the topic-but rather a position by position comparison of the Yankees and the Nationals. I researched these numbers free of any kind of bias, and really not having any idea what they were going to tell me. For the purpose of this article, we are comparing the two teams assuming that they are meeting in the World Series with the Nats having home field advantage, and that Strasburg WONT be pitching.

Positional Comparison

“The Battle for who wants it less…The Catchers”

Nats Kurt Suzuki- BA-.218  OBP-.257  Slug%-.284  1 HR 18 RBI’s, 20 runs scored

Yanks Russell Martin-BA-.194  OBP-.310  Slug%-.377  12 HR’s, 31 RBI’s

It’s pretty hard to believe that those are the numbers of two established major league players on contending teams. Watching Martin everyday this year just gives me that look you get when you are watching a catcher bat .194 two weeks into August, sorry I can’t word it any better. Meanwhile, I remember Suzuki being a decent offensive catcher as recently as two years ago with Oakland. That’s why it was staggering to see his numbers this year. There was nobodybetter out there to pick up for the Nats?

Both catchers are solid defensively, not only calling a good game/protecting the plate, but also at throwing runners out. As insane as this would sound to any Yankee fan, at least Martin is giving some kind of tangible power threat when he comes to the plate, despite offering literally nothing else offensively. In a category that’s really more of an indictment of National catchers, I give the Yankees a slight edge

First Base

Nats A LaRoche- BA-.274 OBP-.346 Slugging%-.521  23 HR, 72 RBI’s, 49 runs scored

Yanks Big Tex-  BA-.255 OBP-.337 Slugging%-..481 20 HR, 72 RBI’s, 59 runs scored

It’s funny to watch LaRoche have a career year one year removed from Dan blasting him, and calling for him to be buried on the bench. I remember owning LaRoche two years ago in fantasy, and I probably would have agreed with Dan that he was shot. Meanwhile Big Tex is having a typical Tex year. Waste the first six weeks of the season, play the middle four months like an All Star, before a painfully predictable slump in October. I don’t love either guy. This years’ version of both players is pretty equal-above average power, incredibly sizzling hot streaks, and all world defense at first base. Obviously Big Tex’s pedigree says he’s the better player, but you can’t argue with this years’ stats, or the fact that all Yankee fans know that Tex will crumble in the playoffs. Overall I’m going to reward the player having the career year. Slight edge Nats

Second Base

Espinosa- BA-.243 OBP-.310  Slugging%-.398  11 Home Runs, 39 RBI’s, 17 Stolen Bases

Robbie Cano- BA-.313 OBP-.357 Slugging%-.558 24 HR 64 RBI’s, 68 Runs, an additional 32 extra base hits outside of HR’s

Obviously we have our first blow out in any category. Dan told me that in the playoffs the Nats best lineup features Espinosa at second base, so that’s why he’s listed here. Cano is obviously a top ten hitter in the majors by anyone’s measure, and without doubt the best overall hitter in the Yankees lineup. Both are great fielders, but even that is no given advantage for Espinosa, as Cano is as good or better than any second basemen in the league defensively.Major edge Yankees

Shortstop

Desmond- BA-.286 OBP-.322 Slugging%-.503  17 HR, 53 RBI, 51 Runs, 17 SB’s

Derek Jeter- BA-.314 OBP-.357 Slugging%-..413  8HR, 34 RBI’s, 61 Runs, 7 SB’s

Both players are having great years. It should be noted that Desmond’s numbers are in 89 games. Considering that people thought in the middle of last year that Jeter was shot, this year has been a vindicating one for Jeter, and really all Yankee fans. Comparing the two players, Desmond has more pop and is a better run producer, where Jeter is much better suited at the top of the lineup setting the table. Desmond probably has more range defensively, but at this point Jeter is a sure thing on routine grounders and can still occasionally give you a great play. At this point in his career Desmond will steal more bases than Jeter. Here’s where the format of this piece comes into play.

For a short series, Jeter is still just as capable as Desmond at swiping bases, he’s just not going to waste his energy anymore at 38 doing that in July and August. For October though? Him and Desmond are about even in that sense. For these two statistically they are pretty close, and have the ying and yang thing going on statistically. The deciding factor? One is Derek Jeter, World Series Champion, MVP, and owner of the most hits in Post season history. When stats are that close, you go with the proven player, not the career .268 hitter. Slight Edge Yankees

Third Base

Zimmerman (100 games- BA-.276 OBP-.345 Slugging%-.458  16 HR’s, 65 RBI’s, 69 Runs

Rodriguez (94 games)- BA-.276 OBP-. 358 Slugging%-.449  15 HR’s, 44 RBI’s, 54 Runs

This looks to be a pretty clear advantage for the Nats right? Arod’s having another disappointing season, through both injury, and a not so surprising drop in power. Meanwhile, after battling injuries and slumps, Zimmerman is putting together a pretty good to great season depending on whether you see baseball objectively, or whether you are a Nats fan. Both have been playing good defense, and nothing should change on that front. I was going to say major edge Nats BUT…

Allow me to doctor some stats here to mix things up a little (a la Dan emailing me a chart that I believe was supposed to tell me that Edwin Jackson is a comparable pitcher to CC Sabbathia in Game 1 of a playoff series). Anyone who has watched the Yankees all year knows that third base is pretty much a platoon between Chavez and Rodriguez. Each will get spelled as the DH a couple of times a week, but typically they are not playing in the same game. The numbers show that they’ve been in the same game 57 times, but a large number of those is when Chavez gets inserted for defense late in the game, or pinch hits. What I’m trying to say is that for the season, and especially the postseason, this is a platoon. Using that logic let’s compare Zimmerman and ChaRod:

Zimmerman (100 games)- BA-.276 OBP-.345 Slugging%-.458  16 HR’s, 65 RBI’s, 69 Runs

ChaRod- BA-.283 OBP-.353 Slugging%-.488  27 HR’s, 73 RBI’s, 81 Runs scored, 11 SB’s (all by AROD)

Now at risk of Dan getting so upset at this interpretation that he threatens to hold his breath until I take it back, I will still give the slight edge to the Nats. I can’t ignore those stats either though, so what would have been a huge edge for the Nats becomes arguably a slight one, but I will still give it to Dan’s golden boy Zimm (As Dan put it to me “entrenched hitting third for the rest of his career” for Zimmerman. Anytime you can have someone who in six full seasons leading to this one averaged .287/.354/.477 with 21 Homers and 82 RBI’s hitting third for the next decade you have to do it). Slight Edge Nats

Left Field

Morse (64 games)- BA .299 OBP-.320 Slugging%-.477  11 HR’s, 39 RBI’s, 35 Runs

Ichiro- BA-.262 OBP-.289 Slugging%-.355  5 HR’s, 39 RBI’s, 53 Runs, 18 SB’s

On paper, another matchup that is probably a nod for the Nats. Morse in limited AB’s is showing that he is not a flash in the pan, and is probably the Nats best power hitter. Meanwhile, you can’t slice it any other way, Ichiro’s raw numbers look awful. To me though, that’s why you can’t use stats or sabermetrics as the sole basis behind any analysis. Scouts said that Ichiro looked bored in Seattle, and who could blame him?... Ichiro is a career .322 hitter, and Morse has basically had one good season in a five plus year big league career. Ad those things to the fact that Morse is a train wreck in the outfield, and Ichiro is still one of the best OF’s in the game, and this doesn’t become such a laugher. In the postseason, when you have the best pitchers in the game, who do you think is more suited to hit great pitching, Ichiro or Morse?... All that having been said I can’t ignore this season’s numbers, or the fact that, again, Morse is the Nats best power hitter and deserves such recognition. Slight Edge Nats

Centerfield

Werth (38 games)- BA-.308 OBP-.406 Slugging%-.459  3 HR’s, 17 RBI’s, 15 Runs,

Granderson- BA-.240 OBP-.335 Slugging%-..487  30 HR, 66 RBI’s, 79 Runs, 8 SB

My feelings on Werth are pretty well known. In my opinion it’s the worst contract in baseball history all things considered. Imagine how the Nats could have used that $130 Million to build around the rest of the team if they hadn’t signed Werth. Meanwhile, I’m not as high on Granderson as other Yankee fans are. I mean the dude has struck out 140 times already this season. Couple that with the fact that he’s walking less, and stealing less bases, and I know for sure that in two years I don’t want to give him $100 million when his contract is up.

The great part about Granderson though, is that he will single handedly win you games. I can think of three or four playoff games since he’s been a Yankee where he’s hit a two or three run homer, and made unbelievable plays in center to save runs. His ceiling is just so high. If he gets on a hot streak, he will carry the Yankees for four five games at a time. At this stage in his career, Werth isn’t even close, he’s basically their ARod with even less power. Major edge Yankees

Right Field

Harper (92 gms)- BA-.249 OBP-.328 Slugging%.406  10 HR, 32 RBI’s, 59 Runs, 13 SB

Swisher(100 gms)- BA-.262 OBP-.345 Slugging%-.454 14 HR, 58 RBI’s, 48 Runs

I’ve enjoyed seeing things like ESPN’s “Phenom Watch” or whatever they call it, and Dan blow Twitter up in  May and June over things never before seen in baseball like stolen bases, intangibles, and a great arm. How Bryce Harper is being compared to Mike Trout in any way on ESPN should remove ESPN’s credibility for the rest of time. Basically I hate Bryce Harper. Unfortunately I hate Nick Swisher too. Suck isn’t even the right word for what Nick has done the last three postseason’s (In 28 playoff games as a Yankee he’s batting .167 with 4 RBI’s…all of which came on Home Runs), even though Girardi (in my biggest gripe with him as manager to date) keeps stubbornly trotting him out there to hit sixth, despite the fact that again, he hasn’t driven in a run in 28 playoff games that wasn’t a solo Home Run. Really, this was my least favorite part of the entire analysis.

While I can’t picture swisher doing much, I have to give him the edge here based on stats. I saw Harper’s splits the other day, and he’s basically hitting .001 after June, when people realized he can’t hit off speed pitches at this point. While if you put a gun to my head and asked me who I thought would have a better series if these teams matched up, I’d say Harper, I simply have to go with the stats for this year (especially since just going off what “should” happen would mean the  Yankees would win the advantage at 1B, 3B, and LF). Slight edge Yankees

Bench (games 1,2,6,7)/DH (games 3-5)

Nats- Bernadina, Moore, Tracy, Lombardozzi, Flores

Yankees- Ibanez, Andrew Jones, Jason Nix, occasionally Chavez, Stewart (catcher), McGahee

I didn’t even look up the stats on this one. That’s a landslide victory for the Yankee bench/DH, and really one of the major strengths of the team. For the year, Ibanez and Jones platoon based on the righty/leftie matchup. Their splits (Jones and Ibanez) combined into one player are .232/.302/.468 and 27/54/77. That’s power numbers that most teams would take from their cleanup hitter, out of our DH spot. That alone blasts any of the Nats bench players out of the water, and makes this category not even worth discussing. Major edge Yankees

Overall Hitting for series

Nats have the better player at 1B, 3B, an LF. None of them are humungous advantages like the Yankees have at 2B, DH/bench or CF, but you can make the argument that LF will be unless Ichiro plays motivated baseball, which nobody can really say for sure. Meanwhile Yankees win some close matchups, namely C, SS, and RF with players on both sides that have their share of question marks. Overall the Yankees are a much better offensive team, and I don’t think anyone would debate that. Advantage Yankees

Starters Game 1

Zimmerman- 8 wins, 2.45 ERA, 6.39 k/9, 1.08 WHIP

Sabbathia- 11 wins, 3.53 ERA, 8.87 k/9, 1.2 WHIP (ability to pitch on three days’ rest)

Dan has gone so far as to call Jordan Zimmerman “arguably the best player in baseball” which could be my favorite irrational Dan quote of all time. You can’t deny Zimmerman’s numbers though, and obviously the ERA and WHIP speak for themselves. The low strikeout rate is a bit concerning, especially in the postseason when making batters swing and miss is so much more important when you have every hitters full attention. Zimmerman also has the strike against him that he hasn’t thrown a single pressure pitch in his life.

Sabbathia (and all the Yankee starters for that matter) simply put don’t treat the regular season the same way someone like Zimmerman does. Sababthia has nothing to prove, and uses the season as more or less a tune up (hence two DL visits for basically invisible injuries). Only a few times this year has he dialed up his four seemer to the mid to upper 90’s, and instead is working on his two seemer and changeup much more than he would in a playoff game. You also can’t discount his playoff experience in leading the 09 staff to a World Series, including the willingness and ability to pitch on three days’ rest.

If I was betting money on one pitcher, I would take Sabbathia. That’s not the bias in me, I just would. For the sake of this article though, and the fact that this would be a home game for the Nats, I would give Zimmerman the nod over Sabbathia just so again, Dan doesn’t start kicking and screaming. Slight Edge Nats

Game 2

Gonzalez- 13 wins, 2.97 ERA, 11.31 k/9, 1.13 WHIP

Pettite- 3 wins, 3.22 ERA, 9.05 k/9, 1.09 WHIP

In my opinion, Gonzalez is the Nats scariest/best pitcher (excluding Stras obviously). He’s the one Nats pitcher that has dominant, strikeout stuff, and he’s a hard throwing lefty-never the Yankees cup of tea. He really does scare me as a Yankee fan (as opposed to Zimmerman who doesn’t to say the least). I can picture him throwing seven innings of one run, 10k ball without question.

Pettite has come back this year, and hasn’t missed a beat. His stuff is sharper than ever, as evident by his impressive K/9 ratio. There’s also the small fact that Pettite has 19 career playoff wins, and hasn’t had a start that wasn’t quality in the postseason since the 2005 NLCS with Houston. Torre/Girardi have always pitched Pettite in Games 2 or 3 of a series, because they know that he’s not going to wilt under the pressure of possible being down 0-1 or 0-2, and Andy delivers the goods just about every time. Also speaking as a fan, there is no pitcher on the Yankees that I’m more confident in during a big game. Again, I’ll give the Nats the slightest of edges, even though that’s not what I really believe, based on Gonzalez’s numbers, and the fact that he passes the eye test as well.

Game 3

Jackson- 6 wins, 3.56 ERA, 7.13 K/9, 1.18 WHIP

Kuroda- 10 Wins, 3.19 ERA, 6.95 K/9, 1.18 WHIP

Jackson supposedly could be the Yankees number one starter. Dan said this in not so many words to me. Aside from his numbers, that show he’s having a decent year in a great pitchers park, let’s take a look at some numbers that are relevant to evaluating Jackson. Consider first, that starting in 2006 (his first full year in the majors), he’s had two years with a sub 4.00 ERA in six years. Also his postseason “experience” is 1 win, and a 4.91 ERA, including a 6.72 ERA in last years’ playoffs.

I don’t have much analysis of Kuroda. His numbers are pretty good. Most games he pitches, you look up and he’s pitched 6 innings, and given up two runs. Nothing too fancy. I’m not in love with him, but I can’t imagine Edwin Jackson in a million years pitching a good game against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium during the World Series. Again, I don’t love Kuroda, but aside from his better numbers, I don’t even buy that Jackson sniffs Kuroda as a pitcher.Edge Yankees

Game 4

Detwiler- 6 Wins, 2.99 ERA, 5.82 K/9, 1.18 WHIP

Sabbathia- 11 wins, 3.53 ERA, 8.87 k/9, 1.2 WHIP (ability to pitch on three days’ rest)

This is where it gets a little interesting. The advantage of not treating your pitchers like baby chickens comes into play for the first time here (other than if you want to count shutting down a top five pitcher in baseball for no apparent reason). Sabbathia has proven time after time that he’s not only willing to pitch on short rest, but that he is great on it. In 2009, when the Yankees only used three starters the entire postseason en route to a championship, Sabbathia started games four of both the ALCs and World Series on short rest. How did he fare?

Game 4 ALCS-  8IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 5 SO

Game 4 World Series- 6.2 IP, 7 hits, 3ER, 6 SO

Don’t forget with Milwaukee he pitched the last month and a half of the season on three days’ rest in a pennant race, and had a 1.65 ERA in the three months he pitched for the Brewers. Detwiler appears to be a decent pitcher, posting a sub 3 ERA, and a WHIP comparable to CC’s, but this really isn’t very comparable (unless you’re Dan, who I’m sure is coming up with a theorem to prove that Zach Duke is better than Andy Petitte) when we look at who these two pitchers are. Detwiler has such a small body of good work, that if his numbers are even close to CC’s within a given season I’m going to give CC the edge. Edge Yankees

Game 5

Zimmerman- 8 wins, 2.45 ERA, 6.39 k/9, 1.08 WHIP

Phil Hughes- 11 wins, 4.10 ERA, 7.66 K/9, 1.28/Ivan Nova-12 wins, 4.81 ERA, 8.07 k/9, 1.47 WHIP (whichever one is hotter)

I’m lukewarm on Hughes and Nova, despite at least Hughes being much better since May, when he accumulated most of his bad numbers. Still, I don’t trust either player as much as I could throw either of their doughy bodies. I have to give the Nats a big major edge here. Major Edge Nats

Game 6

Gonzalez- 13 wins, 2.97 ERA, 11.31 k/9, 1.13 WHIP

Pettite- 3 wins, 3.22 ERA, 9.05 k/9, 1.09 WHIP

Based on everything I said above about these two, I can’t picture either pitcher beating the other one twice in the same series. Due to Gio’s slightly better overall numbers I won’t say that he loses, but each will pitch better than the other once in the series if it comes down to two head to head matchups. One of the two games will go to the bullpens. Overall Gio wins this series going 1-0-1 against Pettite, but that isn’t a crystal clear advantage. No advantage

Game 7

Jackson- 6 wins, 3.56 ERA, 7.13 K/9, 1.18 WHIP

Sabbathia- 11 wins, 3.53 ERA, 8.87 k/9, 1.2 WHIP

I hope you really believe your assessment of Jackson v. CC to be true. I sure don’t. Edge Yankees

Overall Starting pitching for series

1-4 the Nats are probably better at the bottom of the rotation, as Detwiler’s numbers seem good enough, while Hughes and Nova can’t get out of their own way. That being said, both have pitched much better of late, and let’s not forget that both pitchers (along with Pettite)  shut the Nats down in June when they faced them. Gio really scares me as a Yankee fan, and matched up against most number two’s could get the better of his counterpart. Even with Andy’s good numbers this year, you just can’t measure how good he is in big games (something Dan should remember counts as a former Curt Schilling supporter), and how much grit he has, something that Dan admits Gio hasn’t had to show yet, and can get flustered. As for CC v Zimmerman at the top, I’ll give you his (Zimmerman’s)  numbers are better this year. You can probably talk me into thinking that three games of CC is better than two from Zimmerman, but I want to give the Nats any border line matchups here, so I’ll give the Nats that matchup, and begrudgingly the overall advantage in Starting pitching, though people are really discounting playoff experience/pressure in any analysis of Nats starters. Edge Nats overall

Closers

Storen- 1 save, 2.57 ERA, 6.43 K/9, 1.43 WHIP

Soriano- 26 saves, 1.88 ERA, 9.21 K/9, 1.23 WHIP

As great a year as Soriano is having, there is no describing the loss of security that you have as a Yankee fan with anyone but Mo coming out to close a game out. I get the strange feeling that he will blow a big game somewhere along the line in October. Obviously going off this year though, you have to give this edge to the Yankees

Setup Guy

Clippard- 3.10 ERA, 11.18 K/9, 1.07 WHIP

Robertson- 2.02 ERA, 13.37 K/9, 1.15 WHIP

I didn’t use holds in this analysis, because Clippard has closed most of the year in the absence of Storen. Obviously both guys are at the top of the list when it comes to K’s, and both have respectable ERA’s and WHIP’s. Aside from Robertson having the better raw numbers though, he has plenty of playoff experience, and of the two, I never attended a Yankee game in which he was bombed as the starter in pinstripes (same can’t be said for Clippard, as a game against the Mets in 2007 had “The Yankee Clippard” not make it out of the third inning. Big Mark was not happy). Edge Yankees

“Rest of” Bullpen

Competent Relievers for the Nats-  Burnett, Stammen, Gonzalez, Matthews

Competent Yankee Relievers- Phelps, Ropada, Eppley, Logan

Both teams have great bullpens, both in quality and quantity, probably two of the best in the game. I thought about giving the Yankees the edge with two legit strikeout lefties in Logan and Rapada, to compliment the other guys, but will throw the Nats pen a bone, as they’ve been just as impressive with four guys with sub 3 ERA’s (Yankees have two below and two just above out of the four relievers mentioned above). Slight Edge Nats

Speed

Neither team is particularly fast. The Yankees, especially once Gardner went down are pretty stationary. Really only Ichiro and Granderson would be considered quick, though AROD and Jeter are both capable base stealers, especially when it comes to postseason. The Nats do have the edge here as Harper, Werth, Desmond are all good base stealers. Overall I’ll give the edge to the Nats

Defense

Again, both teams are good defensive teams. The Nats make more errors than the Yankees, but also have more range defensively at more positions. The Yankees have no train wrecks defensively, and have at least four very good defenders in Cano, Martin, Ichiro, and Tex, with ChaRod, Jeter, and Granderson all being solid defensively, and Swisher having a good arm in right despite a sometimes scary glove, and lack of reading ability. It really comes down to preference. Would you rather have more spectacular plays, or less risk of giving up an unearned run. I’ll be fair and say push

Managers

Pretty even matchup. Each manager has lead a team to a World Series, and managed multiple other playoffs series. Both seem to shuffle their lineups a little more than they should. Both seem like deep down they’re momma’s boys. All things considered I’d call it a push

Team of Destiny/karma

If you had asked me this  question before it became definitive that the Nats were shutting Strasburg down, I would have said the Nats in a landslide. They’re a young, somewhat likable team, nice ballpark, have won a good amount of close games (another one in Houston last week of the fluky extra inning variety), and a fan base that I thought was starved for success. News of Nats shutting Stras down, and Nats fans being totally OK with this is a spit in the face of the baseball Gods. With Strasburg this team reminds me a lot of the 05 White Sox. Great top two pitchers (Strasburg and Zimmerman being Garcia and Buerhle), followed by career years from decent to mediocre pitchers (with Jackson and Detwiler playing the roles of John Garland and Jose Contreras), all coming together with a serviceable offense to blow through baseball’s postseason. Now? How can any “team of destiny” sit their best player with a legit shot to win it all. I’ll give the edge to the Yankees because they are at least all in to win it this year, and we’ll win one for Mo, who couldn’t be here with us tonight.

That’s all I’ve got. Despite embracing them as useful, I didn’t use as many sabermetrics as some would. One, I don’t fully have access to them at work, and two, it would have taken the writing time/research of this piece from five plus hours to ten plus hours. Most of the stats listed provide a pretty good idea of where they may be when it comes to a potential matchup. I don’t say this because I love the Yankees (which I do), or because I now hate the Nats (which thanks to Dan I do), but I think the Yankees are a better team this season, especially without Strasburg. Stats (and advanced stats for that matter) only tell us so much about a team. Even with the Yankees looking better statistically, that doesn’t factor at all that they would be a team with infinite more experience and success in big games, as compared to the Nats, who frankly haven’t ever accomplished a thing, either individually or as an organization. I respect the Nats, but I guess next year they will be trying to win, and maybe that will be the year they overtake the big bad Yankees. For now, Andy Pettite will continue to give Bryce Harper wedgies, the Yankees will march into the Nats stadium in their most marquee matchup of the season and brutally rape them like they did in June.

Tribute to Mo

It’s really hard to put into words what Mariano Rivera means to any real Yankee fan. When I heard the devastating news last night, I know its cliché but I felt like one of my family members had just been rushed to the hospital with a serious injury. Mariano Rivera has been in m day to day life, seven months a year since I was in first grade. I graduated elementary, middle school, High School, and college with Mo. I learned to ride a bike, shoot a jump shot, read, write, and drive a car drive a car with Mo in my life. I got married, got a full time job, bought a house, and welcomed my daughter into the world with Mo. From the age of six, to the age of twenty four, Mariano Rivera was one of the few constants that any person can have during that segment of their life.

The sport that I will always love to play is basketball, that will never change. There’s something different about baseball though. It’s nostalgic. I can’t think about baseball without thinking of watching games with my parents and my brother, or calling my dad after a big win/loss and talk about what just happened. There are pictures of me as a two year old with my Don Mattingly shirt on. This is relevant, because I’m not a bandwagon Yankee fan, neither is anyone in my household or family. Growing up I waited in anticipation the entire day for the Yankee game to start at seven o clock. My first clear memory of the Yankees is watching Don Mattingly’s final series in the 95 ALDS against Seattle. I remember the agony that my Dad went through watching the tenth inning of that game, knowing that it was the end for Donny Baseball, and not knowing if it would be another fourteen years before the Yankees made it back to the playoffs.

It’s only fans that remember and watched the pain of that game, the REAL Yankee fans that can understand the devastation of watching Mariano Rivera lying in a heap on the warning track in Kansas City. Mo is so many different things to us real Yankee fans. I’m sure I can’t name all the things Mo is, but I’m going to try to convey what Mo is to me

-He’s a living bridge to the old Yankees. The Yankees that laid the foundation for the brilliance that the late 90’s Yankees gave us. Mo played with Don Mattingly, Pat Kelly, Mike Stanley, and played under Buck Showalter. He’s a bridge to when the Yankees were playing in front of crowds of 15000 at Yankee Stadium. He’s a bridge that spans when the Yankees were just another team that had won in the past, to today where there are few more powerful organizations in the entire world. Watching replays of young Mo coming in and blowing Griffey, and Edgar Martinez away as the setup man always brings a smile to my face, and makes me wonder if Mattingly may have won a title if Showalter realized what he had in the pen out there in Mo

-He’s a testament to the fact that real Yankee fans are objective people, and not the buffoons that we are made out to be. I say this because we didn’t turn on our own. Let me explain…In a matter of seven years, Mariano blew three saves in the postseason that would have advanced the Yankees to the next round of the playoffs or won them a title. For those of you who can’t remember, he blew Game 4 of the 97 ALDS with the Yankees leading 2-1 in the series. He blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, and he blew Game 4 of the 04 ALCS (I’m not counting game 5 of that series where he came in with a runner on third and nobody out, and gave up a sac fly). Those are probably three of the most devastating losses that you can have as a fan, and Mo was in the middle of all of them. We could have turned on Mo, and made him the scapegoat. We didn’t. Mo’s brilliance on the mound transcends those three crucial failures, that mostly involved broken bat hits, errors and heroics on the base pads by the opposing team. His numbers, both regular season and playoff are so staggering and such outliers, that thirty years from now some kid will stumble across his numbers for the first time and not believe his eyes. Unlike so many other failures that we fans see in New York, we were smart enough to know that any failure that Mo had wasn’t the result of him being terrified of the moment. We knew guys like Tom Gordon, Randy Johnson, even Phil Hughes have gagged in big spots because they were scared. Mo only failed because it was a numbers game. When you have two full regular seasons worth of stats in the post season, there are going to be a couple of failures. We Yankee fans recognized this, and had Rivera’s back. I’m not sure if that would have happened in a different ‘tough’ city like Philly or Boston.

-Considering the era that he played in, he’s one of the top five greatest pitchers ever, and obviously the greatest reliever ever. Playing in the steroid/exploding offense/small ball park era didn’t even put a dent in his effectiveness. He played in the best division in baseball, and again the effect on him was zero. In the era that he played in, most of the starters were complete little boys when it came to durability. In the playoffs specifically, the Yankees rarely if ever had a starter go seven innings. That meant that Mo was pitching one or two innings in just about every game that the Yankees won, over a sixteen year span where they missed the playoffs once. His ERA over that span is 0.70. It’s hard to even fathom that. Considering the fact that he was the most indispensible player  on five World Series Champions, and seven Pennant winners, coupled with his raw numbers, I place his importance and impact above just about any pitcher who’s ever played the game

-Mo is the hero of the greatest game that I ever watched. Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS Mo submitted three of the gutsiest, most pressure packed shutout innings that you can possibly have. With all the stakes of the rivalry and drama of that game, there was no bigger pressure cooker than facing that lethal Red Sox lineup in the 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th innings that he masterfully gave us. Name me one other closer who could have gone three innings against that patient, talented lineup without running out of gas. When Boone’s Home Run sailed into the night, I remember two things. One was jumping so giddily that I hit my head on the ceiling. The other thing that I remember is Mo running out to the mound, dropping to the dirt, and bellowing out tears of joy and triumph. Something like that means so much to a Yankee fan, who typically watches his team deal with the game in a business like, utilitarian manner. We saw into Mo’s soul then, and realized that the win meant just as much to him as it did the diehard fans. When I think back to Mo twenty years from now, it’s that image that I will always remember.

-Mo is human. I watched him in 2004 pitch like a shell of himself after his nephew was electrocuted to death swimming in Rivera’s pool. I swear to this day that is why he wasn’t effective in the series.

-Most importantly, Mo gave the Yankee fans someone to be proud of. All Yankee fans hear about is payroll, buying titles, low character management, low character players, titles that weren’t deserved, players that didn’t live up to their massive contracts, and for lack of a better term, just general hatred. Mo ( and Jeter to an extent but not the same) was our answer to all these criticisms. Mo was home grown. Mo rose to the occasion when it mattered. Mo was the undisputed greatest ever at what he did. Mo treated everyone with complete respect, and doesn’t have one single blemish on his legacy. He treated every person that he ever met with the upmost respect, including his infamous stories about regularly taking minor league players out to dinner when they are called up. If there’s one silver lining in yesterday’s news, it was that I really got to see the respect that Mo has. People who hate the Yankees unanimously gave their regards to Rivera, and gave him proper respect. Shoot, even the almost invariably cold hearted commenter’s on Syracuse.com were all unified in their respect and wishes for Mo. It’s the most important testament to him.

Watching Mo interviewed last night was horrible. The mood in the locker room was as if one of the Yankees had died, from teammates and media members alike. If this is the end, everyone knew that this wasn’t supposed to be the way. We deserved to watch a victory lap, and he deserved that victory lap. When Mo began to tear up when he was asked if this was the end, I’m not going to sugar coat it one bit-I did the same. Unless you’re one of us true fans, you can never understand what growing up with Mo meant, and what watching that pain on his face meant to all of us. If that’s the end of the road, thank you Mo. You were one of the precious few who have been there with me these last sixteen years.

What Last Night Taught Us About Blake

To piggyback on Steve's piece from last night (consecutive days of Manual Buzzer for the first time...ever?), we have to discuss what has to be Blake Griffin's forgettable Playoff debut. If there was one reason why the Clippers shouldn't have won that game, it would have to be Griffin's paltry effort against that amazing Grizzlies front line through the first 3 quarters. I never thought anyone could make him look mortal in the same vein that I never thought that anyone could make Amar'e look mortal when he was playing alongside Nash. But Griffin is by no means the strongest player on the court. Marc Gasol and Z-Bo and Speights and Cunningham are an excellent front line that can wear him out, especially without a decoy on the Clippers.

I appreciate how Blake pulled it together late, and I'm sure he has a big game in him sometime this series. My main bone to pick with Blake, that I have had anytime I've watched him, is his half-court game. As Steve referred to Bledsoe and Evan's penchant for playing out of control, in isolation, Blake gets lost and tries to do too much in the half court. I always loved Amar'e's game in the half court because he could jab and blow by his defender for a dunk or fake the drive and hit those elbow jumpers. Blake's shot is sporadic, and when he needs to adjust on the drive, you usually see some wild shot thrown up.

The Clippers are reminiscent of the Amar'e-Nashty Suns, and while Paul is a way better defender and scorer and an equal as a passer to Nash, I think Blake's inability to create quality shots on his own will be the Clippers' downfall, especially against a deep frontline who can focus on stopping him. (For all intents and purposes, Reggie Evans Game 1 "masterpiece" will garner little defensive attention, and there isn't another scoring big on that team anyhow.) Unlike Steve, I'm saying Grizzlies in 6, and an apathetic LA crowd gives home-court back to the Grizz.

Ten Reasons the Clippers won Game One

How do you possibly comeback from  a 24 point deficit with eight minutes left in a road game? Does this feat become even more improbable when you factor in that the Red Sox bullpen wasn’t prominently involved (a zinger like this would have bothered Dannymac once upon a time, but apparently he only roots for the Sox when they are good. I’ll have to text him that the Nats FAILED MISERABLY in their first games against a living, breathing opponent this season to get under his skin)? I’ve got some answers for you, since I’m one of the maybe twenty three people who didn’t turn the game off in the third quarter.

I’ve heard a lot of people bashing Memphis for losing this game, and justifiably so. Dick Stockton and C Webb both said that they’ve never seen a collapse like that in the playoffs before, and really I can only think of one game that even came close (Celtics vs. Nets in 2002), but it certainly wasn’t with less than eight minutes left, and it certainly wasn’t the road team that came back. So in that sense, yes Memphis deserves a lot of heat for what happened last night. To me though, this is much more about the Clippers unbelievable resolve to make that comeback, than the Grizzlies choking the game away. Look, most teams in the NBA (or any sport for that matter) when you have a seemingly insurmountable lead take their foot off the gas and stop executing. The other team normally pulls its starters and rests up for the next game. The Clippers resolve to even think they had a chance in that game blows me away, and solidifies my opinion that Chris Paul is the best leader in the game, and will go down as the greatest point guard to ever play the game. That’s what I will take away when I think about this game ten years from now, and I think that’s how all real fans of the game should view it.  For something as improbable as being down 95-71 with eight minutes and winning, a whole lot of things had to happen on both sides to make it possible. Here are ten reasons that the Clippers won game one 99-98.

10. Fool’s Gold- The Grizzlies were the worst three point shooting team in the NBA both in terms of number of makes per game (4.2) and percentage (32.6%). When Mike Conley rattled in his final three of the night to put the Grizzlies up twenty four points, Memphis had made eight out of ten from downtown. Everyone (including myself, and I stick by it) that picked Memphis to come out of the West did so, for one reason, because they have such a unique advantage in their frontcourt. When this game got in the fifteen point range, Memphis should have given the Clippers undersized frontline a steady diet of Gay, Zebo, and Gasol on the block. This didn’t start to happen until the game was in single digits and the sky was falling.

9. Caron Butler broke his hand- I have respect for Caron, but when he’s in the game, he bogs down the Clippers offense, and to be blunt they look stale and old when he’s in there. His ball stopping style of play kills the Clippers when his jumpers aren’t falling. Put it this way, Chris Paul won’t  be giving us the Nancy Kerrigan “WHY!!!” if Butler misses significant time.

8. Vinny Del Negro’s Tie- Following the ritual of his forefathers Mike Dunleavy, and Donald Sterling, Vinny Del Negro wore a tie to the game last night that costs less than $20. Want to know how I know this? I have the exact same tie, and bought it at Marshall’s for $12. Does it surprise me that Vinny Del Negro shops at Marshalls? No, not one bit. Can you be more used car salesmanish than Vinny?

7. Beat LA chant- As pappy pointed out on Twitter, are Grizzly fans really that lazy that they are using the “Beat LA “ chant on the frigging Clippers? They already had strike one against them for the “white out” t shirt gimmick. I’ve said before that no professional fan base has an excuse for this amateurish gimmick, other than the 2007 Warriors. Fans that all wear the same non team color for an NBA game are the ones who I’m sure only cheer when some wisecracking PA announcer or the Jumbotron tells them to. I can say with pretty good confidence that Knicks, Celtics, Bulls, or even Lakers fans would not have let their home team lose a game like that, because they would have known when to lift their team. The Beat LA chant to the Clippers just sums up how stupid some of these fan bases are.

6. Eric Bledsoe/Reggie Evans Insanity-  These two came in and just started running around like a couple of first graders in gym class. We’ve all played with that guy in pickup ball who’s so out of control that it’s effective for him, since nobody wants to break their nose in a pickup game. Well that is pretty much what Bledsoe and Evans were out there doing. They weren’t always making the best basketball play, but it was always the craziest. Bledsoe grabs the rebound, goes the length of the floor and jumps off of Marc Gasols back for a dunk! Reggie Evans ties Tony Allens shoe laces together and takes the ball from him! The best part is that they aren’t even the two best irrational confidence guys (#Simmons) on their own bench…

5. Kenyon Martin- Martin’s psychotic self sat on the bench cold for a good stretch of the fourth quarter, and was somehow able to play outstanding defense against Rudy Gay’s last second jumper…no easy feat. Which reminds me…

4. Gay’s last shot- I know that Kenny covered this on Inside the NBA last night after the game, but what an awful last possession by Memphis. Aside from the fact that running it down to the buzzer doesn’t give you the opportunity to foul if the shot is missed…MEMPHIS HAS THE BEST FRONT LINE IN THE LEAGUE!!! Take a jumper with five seconds left and let Zebo or Gasol get a rebound against the college sized front line of the Clippers. Or if you don’t want to take a jump shot at five seconds, have Rudy Gay drive on Martin. This would seem to make sense being that Gay is one of the best slashers/finishers in the game, and Kenyon Martin is a 35 year old seven footer who looks like he’s one bad day from being in jail for 25-life any given day. Sometimes I just don’t understand

3. Nick Young- Nick Young’s back to back to back threes were some of the most clutch shots that I’ve seen in a long time. He was the reason that the game seemed realistic for the Clippers. I’ve probably watched 10,000 games over the years where a twenty five point lead gets cut to like thirteen as the game is winding down. It never means anything. Young gave all us basket ball fans who’ve ever thought in their heads “if someone can just catch fire and hit like three three’s in a row this thing isn’t over” hope that someone on our own favorite team can do this one day. The ultimate streak shooter, everybody in the arena and watching the game knew that Young’s last three to cut it to 96-93 was going in as soon as we saw Young sprint to the corner on that fast break. Cutting the lead from thirteen to three in about 90 seconds was the biggest stretch of the game that made it seem realistic for the Clippers.

2. Tony Allen not guarding Chris Paul- I tweeted to Pappy after the game about this. When Memphis felt this game slipping away, why wouldn’t you put the best perimeter in the league on Paul. Pappy said that he figured that whoever the two guard on the floor was (Nick Young) would post Conley up and get him in foul trouble. This is something that would have been valid at the beginning of the game perhaps. When you’ve just watched a twenty four point lead decrease to say six, wouldn’t you take your chances and try to cut off the head of the Clippers? Allen is the best perimeter defender I’ve seen in my lifetime of watching the NBA. Chris Paul legitimately struggles to get his shot off against only one player in the league-Tony Allen. Hollins put Allen on Paul for the final possession, and Allen bottled Paul up, despite Paul getting bailed out by a highly questionable call after Allen picked his pocket. The move came about seven possessions too late.

1.Chris Paul’s brilliance- I can say with 100% confidence that you could have replaced Chris Paul with any other player in the league, and none of them would have willed their team to a win last night. The only other player in the league who would be crazy enough to still think their team had a chance in that spot is Kobe, but Kobe isn’t a strong enough leader/motivator to get the rest of the team to believe as well. LeBron has the talent that Chris Paul have, but being one of the all time front runners, I can say with great confidence that Bron would have been biting his nails with  a towel over his head once his team got to 95-71. Paul’s tame (for him) stat line of 14 and 11 doesn’t tell the story. The aforementioned three by Nick Young was one of the most brilliant plays I’ve seen in basketball. Down 96-90 with about two minutes remaining, Paul comes up with a loose ball and is leading a three on one break. On his left, Blake Griffin is streaking to the hoop for an alley-oop that would have given the Clippers two points with 100% certainty. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nick Young streaking up the right side of the floor. Young was not completely wide open. In about a millisecond Paul was able to conclude that;

-Nick Young is an unstoppable scorer in bunches, and that once he’s hit two in a row you can bet the house that he’s hitting a third

-Cutting the lead to a single possession would be devastating psychologically to the Grizzlies. Unless you’ve played basketball it’s hard to explain that huge difference (even more so than the obvious difference between one and two possessions) between a four and a three point lead.

-Young was sprinting all out to get to that spot, and Paul hit him so perfectly in the hands that it was almost like an alley oop jump shot for Young.

Again, nobody in the league but Paul makes that pass, or would have been able to process all that information so fast. That’s why I have no doubt that when it’s all said and done that Paul will go down as the best point guard to ever play.

I’m sticking with Memphis to win a knock down heavyweight fight in seven. They just have so many advantages this series, and we’ve seen this team bounce back from tough losses before. One last point…The Knicks series is over in four, MAYBE five games. People who didn’t watch the Knicks closely this year just don’t realize how important Iman Shumpert is to the Knicks. He’s tied with Avery Bradley for the second based perimeter defender in the league, and can legitimately give Wade fits. Without him, the Knicks just aren’t nearly athletic enough on the perimeter to stay with Miami. In the words of Kobe Bean Bryant “What the fudge?!?!?!” There’s always next year I guess.

Calipari's letter to Nerlens Noel

Editors Note: This is the fictional letter that I picture John Calipari sent to recruit Nerlens Noel in the days leading up to his decision on where he will attend school.

Dear Mr. Noel,

As a life-long fan of basketball, and now as the current coach of the national champion Kentucky Wildcats, I write you this letter in an attempt to help you weigh your options in choosing which college you will attend in the fall. Wednesday April 11, 2012, you are going to announce to the world the school colors that you will wear for the next ten months or so. It is my intention to sway you to attend class(haha get it?) and get you ready for your long and successful career in the pros.

Now Nerlens, you and I both know that this decision comes down to Big Blue and the Orange. I don’t need to do much to sell you on us here at Kentucky. Were coming off a National Championship, we have some of the most rabid, enthusiastic fans in the world, and most importantly, by the end of this years’ draft we will have produced roughly TEN first round picks in the three years that I’ve been here. Were basically an assembly line in making young men like yourself life-long millionaires. Simply put, I barely even need to sell you on Kentucky at all.

This brings me to the Orange. Coach Boeheim certainly is one of the all time greats, and his statistics make it clear that he is one of the top ten coaches to ever coach in College Basketball. I just want you to consider a few concerns that I would have if you decided to go to the Orange…

First off, have you seen the ‘fans’ of Syracuse in their treatment of their former center Fab Melo? This kid, much like you entered their program with expectations that were through the roof. To his credit, he put in hard work and morphed into one of the best defensive players in the country, after a shaky freshman season. He was the most valuable player on a team that had its greatest regular season in school history. People loved Fab. So what happened? Well, as you may or may not know Fab was from Brazil, and English was his second language. Apparently Fab struggled with academics, and right before the NCAA tournament was ruled ineligible to play in the tournament. Literally no other detail was given besides those. And yet, what happened? Well, instead of taking it as a bad break that happened to a very good player on their favorite team, the city of Syracuse turned Fab into its own personal whipping boy. A public outpouring of racial slurs, derogatory comments about his intelligence, and even threats to his safety flooded the fan forums and social media. It’s gotten so bad, that even now when Fab posts something on Twitter, invariably his replies fill with seething, nasty hatred towards him from the SU fans. Keep in mind, nobody really knows what happened, but ask yourself, would you want to play for these ‘fans?.’

One of your good friends is Michael Carter Williams. Why don’t you ask him what happens when Coach Boeheim doesn’t think you are ready to play. Does he assimilate you in the flow slowly, as gradually your confidence builds, and by the end of the year you are ready for battle? Or does Jim get into petty personal battles that waste a year of eligibility for a player that is trying to grow and get better. Twice in three years, Boeheim refused to play talented young big men DeShonte Riley, and Rakheem Christmas any meaningful minutes throughout the season, and then rushed them into action in a pinch when they weren’t ready in the biggest games of the year. Would you want to play for a coach who kept your best friend-and probably most talented guard- on the bench all year to rot? Do you want to sit on the bench all year if you start slow, and then be rushed into an NCAA game and be made the scapegoat when you aren’t ready?

You may want to take a look at the track record that Syracuse players have in the pros. With the exception of Carmelo Anthony-who let’s be honest, even Isiah Thomas could have succeeded in coaching- you will see a long history of players who never reached their ceiling and, who aren’t really disciplined on either end of the floor. The zone that they play is an effective tool to throw your opponent off on this level, but it’s going to put you at least a year behind in the pros, where no team plays zone as its primary defensive set.

Nerlens, do you really want to play in a cold city, where the fans turn on its players, the coaches let petty fights and impatience with freshman effect playing time, and has a history of underachievement at the next level, or do you want to play for the school that has no downside. Hope to see you soon

Coach Cal


Speaking on behalf of the Syracuse fans, we have a lot of work to do. I'm guilty, I called Melo out the first day the story broke out of frustration. In retrospect and now it's a disgrace that a large group of trolls still spit venom towards Fab, and towards Kris Joseph publicly in forums and on Twitter. If you don’t think that top players talk amongst each other, and relate this stuff you are crazy. As much as I would love to see Nerlens Noel playing for Syracuse next year, he’s not going to. Put it this way, if I were him, I would take that fictional letter from Calipari, think that his points are valid, and play for Kentucky. Maybe as fans, we can stop giving rival coaches gold for their smear campaign against our favorite team, and show a little respect for things like maxing out limited potential (Joseph), or struggling with academics in your second language (Fab). Don’t think for a second a coach as wily as Calipari won’t use all that against Syracuse, and you know what??? he’d have valid points.

Cuse wrap up featuring the sports bigamist

Dan got the ball rolling, with a well thought out, interesting piece on his beloved Washington Nationals. I’m not sure to interpret this as him being (justifiably) disgusted by the end of the Red Sox 2011 season, which was graciously narrated to him by a humble, well spoken Steve DePaulis…or if Dan is higher on the Nats this year than the Sox. Either way, between his shameful love for both Syracuse and Ohio St basketball, and his Sox/Nats love triangle, I think that TLC is chomping at the bit for its newest reality show Dan McKeever Sports Bigamist. Each episode he will waffle back and forth between keeping his allegiance to his hometown roots, and getting caught up in the flash and bright lights of his new life. The first episode will show a well dressed, bearded Dan watching a heated intramural handball game at a prestigious High School in the DC area. During the game, he will talk about the thought process that goes into rooting for another team, when you already have a favorite team in that sport. In this episode he decides that he will become a huge fan of this DC area team, while always repping his own handball team White Chocolate, ultimately deciding that he will root for the DC team, unless somehow White Chocolate improbably found some of the old members (and brought some others back from the dead), reunited, and played the DC team, in which case Dan would “just root for a good game.” The season finale would be a dramatic one on one interview of his thought process during the Ohio St v. Syracuse Elite Eight game in 2012. Here’s a brief excerpt of the interview:

Mike Tirico: Dan, Syracuse fans have had a lot of disappointment over the years. Keith Smart, Richmond, the Moten timeout, Vermont, Texas A&M, The DeShaun Williams era, and perhaps worst of all, losing their starting center twice in three years the week before the tournament starts, and in each of those years Syracuse was arguably the best team in the country. Orange fans live in a miserable city, with some of the world’s worst weather, crime rates, and a lousy economy. Syracuse basketball is all these people have really. What do you say to them as you sit here wearing an Ohio St Final Four hoody, the very team that just dealt the death blow to your “favorite team.”

McKeever: I would say that WE TAKIN THE CHIP. LETS GO SULLY LETS GO!!! GO NATS!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel that is a proper segue to put the bow on this years’ edition of the Orange. In the big picture, I would call the regular season the perfect storm. Heading into this campaign, the Orange obviously had some talent. In my own opinion, I felt like it was a team that had five players who would be third or fourth options on great teams, and five guys who were either freshman or wild cards. Those I included in the first group were Scoop Jardine, Triche, Kris Josesph, CJ Fair, and Sutherland (who I was actually kind of high on). Those guys were all good college players, that each had their own flaws. The main issue I had with this group of five, was that the only one of the group that could consistently create his own offense, was also historically its worst decision maker-Scoop. The other four thrived in transition, yet seemed to settle for jump shots in the half court (or dribble off their feet ** KJ**, or go nowhere when they tried to dribble**Triche**) , when ironically, there were all streak shooters at best.

The other five guys included Dion, Fab, Christmas, Carter Williams, and Keita. Of this five, the only two I thought could be remotely useful this year were Dion, coming off his 18 point game against Marquette in the tourney last year, and Carter Williams, who had tons of hype out of High School. Before the season started, I would have bet my life that Dubroff would have been the Big East Defensive player of the year before Fab Melo would have been. Yet, as the season started, it became apparent early that Fab and Dion were not the same handicapped looking bums that we had all watched the year before. Them both turning into NBA quality players out of nowhere obviously changed the entire dynamic of this season and its expectations. Of great importance, Dion could create his own shot.

Other factors that helped the Orange, were developing a knack to win close games, and a surprisingly easy Big East schedule (at least compared to some years past) when their toughest road games turned out to be not so tough (thank you UCONN, NOVA, and Regular Season Lousiville for under achieving) and the teams at the top of the league were home games (Marquette, Geargetown). Being honest with ourselves, this was probably the easiest BE schedule that Syracuse has played in at least five years.

This is not to say that Cuse wasn’t an elite team, because for most of the year, they were either the best or second best team in the country. Fab Melo’s defensive evolution was the most important factor on this team’s success. He allowed the top of the zone to be ultra aggressive, and to stay out on shooters, knowing that Fab could erase any mistake that got by. Everything with this team revolved around the fact that it was the best defense in the country. Having the best transition game in the country only complimented this fact, since the zone caused multiple run outs each game. If the game was close at the end, the Orange had five capable guys on the floor, and one guy-in Dion-who could get his own shot off anytime he wanted to. Ultimately this was a talented team filled with surprising breakouts, a great defense that ignited its strength on offense, and some favorable breaks in the schedule. Our result was a team that entered the tourney 32-2.

Skipping over all of the fluff of the first three tournament games, there’s a few points I want to make about the Ohio St game.

Bad officiating was a factor, NOT the reason that Syracuse lost

Make no mistake about it, this was about as poorly an officiated game as I’ve ever seen, aside from an intramural game from 2005 where J Mills and I combined for nine fouls in the first half of a game before I got T’d up, thrown out, and suspended for the next game. The best analysis of the game came from Gerry McNamara, who summed things up well declaring “we thought that Aaron craft was allowed to play defense one way, while everyone else on the floor was held to a different standard.” Amazingly spot on, from someone who’s offered about as many memorable quotes to date as my daughter Juliet has. He was right though. How in a game where four Syracuse players had at least four fouls, was Aaron Craft allowed to do his ADD defense on the Syracuse guards without picking up a foul for the first 30 minutes of the game? Almost comically, he was whistled for five fouls over the next seven minutes despite not changing a single thing in the way that he played defense over the first thirty minutes. By the time he picked those cheapies up it was too late for Syracuse anyways.

Syracuse plays zone, and I can only think of a handful of times all year where anyone on the team has been in foul trouble, let alone the whole team. Other gripes I have include but are not limited to:

-The rare double whammy of Triche having a ridiculously bad block charge call go against him to wipe a three point play off the board (the defender was moving AND in the restricted circle), which was compounded when the ref T’d Jimmy B up for reacting how every coach in America reacts about ten times a game when the refs blow a call.

-The foul called Against Keita where Sullinger falls backwards untouched, and got his shot blocked. Probably the most important call of the game to go against Syracuse. Not only was it an indefensibly bad call, but it came at a huge spot in the game when Cuse had all the momentum, and would have started a fast break the other way as Sully laid his fat self on the hardwood.

Those two calls were the most egregious that stick out, and obviously changed this game. Thing is Syracuse was down 1 with the ball with five minutes left, so that’s not WHY Syracuse lost. Syracuse lost for three reasons

1) They were without the Big East defensive player of the year
2) Their top two scorers played terrible games
3) They didn’t take advantage of Sullinger’s foul trouble


In regards to point number one, just imagine if OSU didn’t have Aaron Craft on Saturday. That’s pretty much what you take away from Syracuse when you lose Fab. Mckeever and I were emailing before the game last Friday, and said that anyone who thinks that Syracuse is better off without Fab Melo (as many fans said after Cuse won the first three games of the tourney) doesn’t know basketball. When we look back on the 2011-12 Orange, Fab Melo was the single most important player on that team. When Fab went down, Cuse’s ceiling went from ‘National Champs’ to ‘miraculously make the Final Four’ and they almost did. It’s like Johns said to me right after we found out Fab was ineligible, “ it just sucks that we’ll never know what could have been.” You can’t put it any better than that. Fab’s absence allowed Sulliinger to pretty much do what he wanted, despite Keita and Rakheem giving everything they had. A recent scouts take on Sullinger was that the one thing he struggles with is legitimate size. It would have been very interesting to see how that matchup would have played out.

Not to be forgotten is that Syracuse blew about 10-15 great looks/layups that they normally make. The two main culprits were Joseph and Waiters, who each missed layups that they haven’t missed all year. You can’t state how hard it is to watch your best players have games like that, when it wasn’t really the defense that forced them into it. They truly just missed shots. That’s got to be hard for the players and coaches to live with.

Watching the game with a good chunk of my family, we all agreed at halftime the game was over. Cuse caught the break of all breaks on Sullinger’s second foul. For Cuse to win that game minus Fab, they needed to be at least plus five over that fourteen minute stretch where Sullinger wasn’t on the floor. Instead it was dead even, and fat boy got to rest the whole first half. Devastating, and Boehiem stated after the game that the aforementioned stretch was what cost them the game.

Just like 2010 after the Butler game, the feeling right now for any Syracuse fan is unsettling. Once again, everything seemed to go wrong at the wrong time. When I think about the 2009-10 team, I only have two memories. One was ballroom dancing in the upper levels of the Dome during the record setting game against Villanova, and the other is watching an Arinze-less Syracuse team lose to a far less talented Butler team in the Jazz’s mostly empty arena, knowing that Duke won the title that year, and that we were so much better than Duke that year. It’s slightly different this season, because it would have taken at least an A- game out of Syracuse to beat Kentucky this year. The principle is the same though, our starting center cost we the fans a chance to make our miserable lives in Central New York about 10% better with a trip to New Orleans. On the bright side, at least Dan has a team to cheer on this weekend.

*I’m predicting 98 wins and a division title for the Yankees this season