Davis/Brand look like dopes, Favre owns a cell phone, Lauren fights with Heidi

Well, the first night of Sabathia in Milwaukee was exciting, but nothing after his arrival was spectacular so it’s on to other things.  Looks like Elton Brand is going to be a 76er.  So much for him saying he wanted to put his pride aside to get a ring ala Boston.  Instead he has gone from one NBA wasteland to another.  Not only that, but Baron Davis opted out of a ton of money to help make things happen in LA with Brand.  Now Baron Davis is the newest star wasting his life as a Clipper.

In other news, why is it news that Favre sent a text message to Ted Thompson?  Can we all just agree to shut up about Favre until something official happens?  I don’t care what he secretly hopes.  I don’t care what teams some idiot sportswriters or braindead fans want him to play for.  I don’t care what color shorts he wore to the bait shop on Thursday.  It’s too much.  We need preseason to start so this can all be brushed aside with the other pointless gossip.

John Hammond hired as new Bucks GM

Former Pistons VP John Hammond is officially the new Milwaukee Bucks GM.  It’s a pretty surprising move really, as it almost seems a sign that Herb Kohl is attempting to take the team seriously again.  It’s been noted in the past that Hammond has really been the guy calling the shots in Detroit over the years (Dumars has the final say, but Hammond creates the game plan).  That said, Hammond created the kind of team that I’ve always wanted Milwaukee to be, and not just the kind that wins.  The Pistons have been all about teamwork, defense, toughness and attitude. 

The next few months will be very exciting.  If Kohl gives considerable power to his new general manager, there should be some sweeping changes.  The first stop will be with the coach.  Rumor already has it that Rick Carlisle is going to be sought for the soon to be vaccancy.  Next comes the players.  You have to wonder who would be worth keeping on the team.  It could be a player or two being added/subtracted along with some better coaching.  It could be a near complete overhall.  I don’t want to make too many predictions this early, but I probably wouldn’t recomend buying anybody’s jersey just yet. 

Either way, call me a bandwagon jumper all you want, but I’m already signing up as one of the countless people who are actually looking forward to a Bucks season again.  There’s thousands of fans in Milwaukee who could not forget about the team quickly enough once MLB spring training started, and many of them are thinking twice about that right now.  A move like this at least sparks interest in a team that may as well have moved to Oklahoma City by now, and that’s huge.

Sit down and take a deep breath, the Bucks lose money each year

So Don Walker of JSOnline.com posted a story where Sen. Herb Kohl admitted that the Milwaukee Bucks lose money, at least in recent years. (blog link)

According to ESPN.com’s attendance report, the bucks are toward the bottom of the league, with about 83% attendance on average.  No surprise really, as the closest they’ve come to winning in recent memory is an overhyped trip to the Eastern Finals, which happened 4 coaches and 2 GMs ago.  Is it any shock that fans aren’t willing to drop a lot of money on a team that always finishes under .500, tanks the end of each season, can’t keep a coach, signs players like Dan Gadzuric to monster contracts, and has 3 lottery picks that are bigger stars overseas than in the NBA?  Let’s face it, the team is pathetic.  Hats off to Kohl for wanting to keep the Bucks in Milwaukee, but is it really worth it?  At some point it will come down to a new arena being essential.  When that happens, the Bucks are going to look to Milwaukee, who is still trying to pay off Miller Park, to front the cash.  We will likely end up with the same mess the Seattle fans are in.  A struggling team that can’t turn a profit being forced to leave town because the city won’t suffer financially over a bad investment.  I say treat them like any other local business… if they aren’t worth spending money on, it’s time to close shop.

Harris Done as Bucks GM

I think we all knew it was coming, and the rumors were already in circulation this morning.

Now it’s official.  Larry Harris is gone after the season.

If only we could do something about the owner…

Larry Harris’ Job on the Line

Bucks are seeking a new GM.

Stern to Seattle – “Give us money or we’re done.”

ESPN – Stern: NBA won’t return to Seattle if Sonics leave – NBA

Look, I’m no idiot. I can understand all the reasons the NBA wouldn’t want to go around building new stadiums for its franchises. I also understand why the owners wouldn’t want to fund a stadium project completely out of pocket. Still, I am very tired of reading all the threats to sucker cities/states into paying for these enormous arenas. Now even the commissioner is getting into the act. It’s an embarrassment to the league, but instead everyone makes it out as if the Seattle taxpayers are morons for not voting for some outrageous tax that will provide zero benefit other than entertainment for a few thousand people less than 1/8th of the year. So if Oklahoma City is willing to rape their citizens with promises of new jobs (yay, minimum wage for 40 days a year) and economic development in the surrounding area (in Milwaukee, we built an Arby’s by our tax-funded stadium) than fine. Let the folks making under $50,000/year pay a little more of their money so a multi-billion dollar industry can “afford” to come to their town. The fans should support something like this. I mean, with jerseys, shoes, ticket sales, and other merchandise providing so little income, the fans really need to start picking up the pace and helping “their” team out.

Oh and since the Brewers are “my” team in that same sense… do I get to have a vote on cutting Turnbow?

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Random Sports Thoughts

Will Shields Announces Retirement
Willie Roaf left last year, Casey Wiegmann is likely to retire and now Shields is gone. What are the Chiefs going to do? There’s no instant improvement to be had on the offensive line via the draft and there’s no way they are going to pick up enough players at this point who can make a difference. Total bummer for anyone who has Larry Johnson in any fantasy keeper leagues. The guys might run the ball 400 times this year for 800 yards.

My Thoughts on NBA and Blowing Games
Ryan Gomes of the Celtics recently admitted to sitting out late in a game because his team was after a high draft pick. Milwaukee Bucks GM Larry Harris recently made mention of 4 of his original starting 5 players being on the bench because he was looking at the long term future of the team (you can say he’s worried about health of his stars, but I don’t buy it). It’s obvious that teams are trying to blow a lot of games right now. It’s the yearly race for the most ping-pong balls.

It’s obviously a joke. Everyone knows it, lots of people are saying it. Having teams intentionally blow games to try for a higher draft pick is hurting the popularity of the NBA. The appalling practice is downright insulting to fans who pay the exorbitant ticket prices. Sure, it’s in the best interest of teams to try and draft a young superstar. History has proven that it’s nearly impossible to win a title without one (see every NBA champion post-1970). The problem, is that it takes more than one player to make a great team (see every current team minus San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix). To be a dominant team, you need a core of good players along with a superstar. You also need a good coach and management structure. That is something that is completely lacking in the league these days. This theory can easily be proven given the immense number of games suddenly being lost by the bottom five teams.

So with the system we have now Memphis, Milwaukee or Boston will likely end up winning the Oden/Durant marathon. Either of these teams will turn that pick into a mild improvement next year, but ultimately bad coaching and management is going to keep that team in the same place they are now. Meanwhile, the truly deserving teams that are currently fighting for top playoff spots, will be left with average players that rarely have much hope of contributing for several years. Thus, the teams that are good now rarely don’t stay on top for very long.

A system like this leaves us with a league of average teams with the occasional group of above-average teams that are on top for a handful of seasons. Where is the fun in this? What happened to the long-time rivalries between dynasties like the Lakers and Celtics? What happened to Jordan vs. the entire NBA? Where did the days go when you could turn on a game between the Suns and the Knicks and actually not know who would win?

Plenty of folks, probably most smarter than I, have offered up solutions to this dire state the NBA is in. Many of these solutions have the same fundamental problems the current system does. There has to be some small advantage to help the struggling teams out, but it cannot be so great that there is incentive to lose.

So what do I propose?

Quite simple… keep a lottery as we have now, but make huge changes to level the playing field.

Currently, 14 teams don’t make the playoffs. In the current system, the 1,000 available lottery number combinations are divided amongst these teams and the odds are stack-ranked in favor of the worst team. I say keep this current number, but divide the picks completely different.

Once you do that, break everything down like so:
– Give each non-playoff team 45 chances in the lottery. (14 teams x 45 chances = 630 combinations).
– Give the eight teams that lose in the first round of the playoffs 30 chances each (240 combinations).
– Give the 4 teams that lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs 25 chances each (100 combinations).
– Give the 2 teams that lose in the Conference Finals 10 chances each (20 combinations).
– Give the 2 finals teams 5 chances each (10 combinations – 1,000 total).

You could easily arrange the playoff teams differently, maybe give a few less chances to the eventual NBA champions. Regardless, the structure is what matters.

By doing the draft lottery this way, there is not only no advantage to being a last place team, but there is also no strong advantage to say, losing your last couple games and missing a playoff spot (as some other suggestions leave open). This way there is still a reasonable (0.5%) chance that the NBA champion could get the top pick in the draft (current chance = 0%). Most importantly, all the non-playoff teams would only have a 4.5% chance of winning the lottery. The 4% different between the best and worst team gives a true level playing field and leaves the true advantage in the hands of teams who hire good coaches and make wise moves on the GM and owner level.

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