Suton is back. I didn't think he would be back to game speed for a few more weeks, but I was wrong. Just seconds into the game Goran had the ball inbounded off his ass under the opponents basket. Right back to game form. Everyone acted surprised but we've seen this before, probably a half dozen times.
For having three point guards in the game at once (Walton, Lucas, and Luscious) the back to back turnovers at the top of the key are inexcusable.
That's about it for now.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Lions Rant
I have watched, like most lions fans, in horror as this team has gone from bad, to terrible, to almost unwatchable. The last 5 games the Detroit Lions have come close -- flirting with A WIN -- but in the end found a way to lose each game. I'm not surprised nor terribly upset. However, things have to change.
Rant 1:
There is not a single Lion on the Pro Bowl team. Now you might raise "the lions are winless, 0-14, terrible" all of which would be true. Hell, even kind. However picture this:
- A starting QB that is serviceable at best, comparable to a healthy Brad Johnson
- A second string QB that had started zero games before the season
- A third string QB that has never seen the field in a regular season game, and has about 1/2 a year of practice (due to many confusing and aggravating decisions)
- No, zero, zilch, nada offensive line. Terrible line. (more to come on this)
- As a result very little rushing success
- With one exception, no wide receiver I would pay more than the league minimum
- YET SOMEHOW that one receiver manages to pile up:
*1165 receiving yards (through 14 games)
*65 receptions (almost 18 yards per catch)
*10 TD's and 1 two point conversion
And he's not a pro bowler? Give me a break. Those numbers, on that team, with that run support, with those QB's...he should be not only a pro bowler but a first ballot hall of famer.
Let's not forget Jason Hanson. A stud kicker (is that possible?) on a terrible team. A consistent top kicker in the league for over 17 years, his only miss this season was a block on a bad hold with terrible blocking. Throw the guy a bone.
Rant 2:
This team is terrible not because of coaching (alone) and not because of lack of a QB or any other skill position (though more talent would help). This team is bad--no horrible--because of 2 units. The offensive line and defensive line. If the Lions take a QB with the first pick this year (which they've locked up already!) I will vomit. Check that, if they take any offensive skill position I will vomit. Trade the pick before you do that. In fact trade it no matter what. Take 4 linemen this year. Pick a defensive end. Pick a lockdown corner. Pick a cover/hitting safety. DO NOT PICK A QB, WR, or RB.
Also, hit the free agent market. Get more linemen. Interior offensive and defensive. Defensive ends. Blocking tight ends. Don't tell me you don't have the money to spend. You made Jeff Backus a franchise player, with the pay that goes along with that tag, just 2 years ago. He's horrible. He is routinely beaten, holds, or is flagged for a false start. The only person more penalized was his own teamate Foster. Yet you gave him the franchise tag. I always hear "Backus is reliable...X consecutive starts" yada yada. He's like my vacuum; it starts whenever I ask it to and sucks every single time.
To be fair I thought Harrington, Rogers, and Williams would be ok picks. Odds on I thought at least one of them would still be in Detroit. But without an offensive line and no position mentors, what could you expect? Millen was a joke and the ownership is no better for keeping him on so long. There will be a lag unless the new GM starts from the inside out. Give a young, talented RB a chance by drafting/trading for some offensive linemen. Give the QB's/WR's a chance by drafting some offensive linemen. Give the corners a shot by drafting some defensive linemen. Games are won in the trenches. Emmitt Smith was a decent RB, his line made him great. Trent Dilfer was a serviceable QB, his line made him...well serviceable.
Guess what Lions? I'm available. Hire me to evaluate talent and work the trade phone. I can't do worse, that much I'm sure of. Stop with the systems and scheming (martz, marinelli) and just get talent. Get players. Get fundamentally better starting with the lines.
Rant 1:
There is not a single Lion on the Pro Bowl team. Now you might raise "the lions are winless, 0-14, terrible" all of which would be true. Hell, even kind. However picture this:
- A starting QB that is serviceable at best, comparable to a healthy Brad Johnson
- A second string QB that had started zero games before the season
- A third string QB that has never seen the field in a regular season game, and has about 1/2 a year of practice (due to many confusing and aggravating decisions)
- No, zero, zilch, nada offensive line. Terrible line. (more to come on this)
- As a result very little rushing success
- With one exception, no wide receiver I would pay more than the league minimum
- YET SOMEHOW that one receiver manages to pile up:
*1165 receiving yards (through 14 games)
*65 receptions (almost 18 yards per catch)
*10 TD's and 1 two point conversion
And he's not a pro bowler? Give me a break. Those numbers, on that team, with that run support, with those QB's...he should be not only a pro bowler but a first ballot hall of famer.
Let's not forget Jason Hanson. A stud kicker (is that possible?) on a terrible team. A consistent top kicker in the league for over 17 years, his only miss this season was a block on a bad hold with terrible blocking. Throw the guy a bone.
Rant 2:
This team is terrible not because of coaching (alone) and not because of lack of a QB or any other skill position (though more talent would help). This team is bad--no horrible--because of 2 units. The offensive line and defensive line. If the Lions take a QB with the first pick this year (which they've locked up already!) I will vomit. Check that, if they take any offensive skill position I will vomit. Trade the pick before you do that. In fact trade it no matter what. Take 4 linemen this year. Pick a defensive end. Pick a lockdown corner. Pick a cover/hitting safety. DO NOT PICK A QB, WR, or RB.
Also, hit the free agent market. Get more linemen. Interior offensive and defensive. Defensive ends. Blocking tight ends. Don't tell me you don't have the money to spend. You made Jeff Backus a franchise player, with the pay that goes along with that tag, just 2 years ago. He's horrible. He is routinely beaten, holds, or is flagged for a false start. The only person more penalized was his own teamate Foster. Yet you gave him the franchise tag. I always hear "Backus is reliable...X consecutive starts" yada yada. He's like my vacuum; it starts whenever I ask it to and sucks every single time.
To be fair I thought Harrington, Rogers, and Williams would be ok picks. Odds on I thought at least one of them would still be in Detroit. But without an offensive line and no position mentors, what could you expect? Millen was a joke and the ownership is no better for keeping him on so long. There will be a lag unless the new GM starts from the inside out. Give a young, talented RB a chance by drafting/trading for some offensive linemen. Give the QB's/WR's a chance by drafting some offensive linemen. Give the corners a shot by drafting some defensive linemen. Games are won in the trenches. Emmitt Smith was a decent RB, his line made him great. Trent Dilfer was a serviceable QB, his line made him...well serviceable.
Guess what Lions? I'm available. Hire me to evaluate talent and work the trade phone. I can't do worse, that much I'm sure of. Stop with the systems and scheming (martz, marinelli) and just get talent. Get players. Get fundamentally better starting with the lines.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
mid game update
UNC is good. No news flash there.
Digger Phelps is a moron. See above.
Marquise Gray has found a way, despite being in his fifth year, to never learn to box out. I watched just Gray for a few possessions. Not only did he not get some rebounds in his area, he didn't put a body on anyone. His help side defense is non-existent. He has no business putting the ball on the floor in the paint. Don't dribble. Just don't.
Morgan can really be perplexing. Flashes of being great. Then an inexplicable triple pump in the lane. Just draw a foul already and stop worrying about getting blocked. Against North Carolina you are better to just shoot. The longer you wait and fake the more bees swarm to the ball.
Tyler Hansborough is a hack. He's like the Shaq of old. Drop your shoulder, throw your off arm to clear space, spin 4 times clearing out, then throw some trash at the basket. He does have pretty good touch -- considering no matter how ugly the shot it seems to go in -- but he gets away with murder down low.
Lucas looks pretty good. Allen has shot well, but like Morgan, flips the "wtf were you thinking" switch every so often. It used to be that he would just leave his feet with no particular plan. He seems to be over that but today took a couple of horrible leaning shots.
Roe looks good. Green looks like Izzo put the fear of God in him about Hansborough. For the first two possessions Green was in the game he looked like he was trying to square dance with Hansborough.
By the way, Tyler, as the new Adam Sandler movie says "those [eyes] would be big on a cow."
Pains me to say this but...miss Suton a smidge. Just on rebounding really. Still miss him. Knee to be scoped tomorrow so I'm guessing he's out at least another 10 days, more likely until around the start of the B10.
Digger Phelps is a moron. See above.
Marquise Gray has found a way, despite being in his fifth year, to never learn to box out. I watched just Gray for a few possessions. Not only did he not get some rebounds in his area, he didn't put a body on anyone. His help side defense is non-existent. He has no business putting the ball on the floor in the paint. Don't dribble. Just don't.
Morgan can really be perplexing. Flashes of being great. Then an inexplicable triple pump in the lane. Just draw a foul already and stop worrying about getting blocked. Against North Carolina you are better to just shoot. The longer you wait and fake the more bees swarm to the ball.
Tyler Hansborough is a hack. He's like the Shaq of old. Drop your shoulder, throw your off arm to clear space, spin 4 times clearing out, then throw some trash at the basket. He does have pretty good touch -- considering no matter how ugly the shot it seems to go in -- but he gets away with murder down low.
Lucas looks pretty good. Allen has shot well, but like Morgan, flips the "wtf were you thinking" switch every so often. It used to be that he would just leave his feet with no particular plan. He seems to be over that but today took a couple of horrible leaning shots.
Roe looks good. Green looks like Izzo put the fear of God in him about Hansborough. For the first two possessions Green was in the game he looked like he was trying to square dance with Hansborough.
By the way, Tyler, as the new Adam Sandler movie says "those [eyes] would be big on a cow."
Pains me to say this but...miss Suton a smidge. Just on rebounding really. Still miss him. Knee to be scoped tomorrow so I'm guessing he's out at least another 10 days, more likely until around the start of the B10.
MSU UNC at Ford Field
Well, I wish I had good news. I don't.
North Carolina is good. Very good. I don't know about this "potentially one of the best ever" talk. But good. Should be a disappointing season for them if it doesn't end in Detroit in March.
One of the papers...LSJ, Freep, or Detnews...had a matchup. Probably LSJ, but I'm too lazy to look right now. Anyhow it showed players head to head by position. UNC was favored in every category other than coaching. There's an easy one to prove.
This last week people were chatting during the Wichita State game about how much they missed Suton, how big of a difference Suton would be making, and basically making him out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. He would have helped but I seriously doubt he would have changed the outcome against Maryland. That was terrible calls, terrible offense (from 30+ feet) and terrible free throw shooting. Suton is not likely to play against UNC, which will hurt for two reasons. He can rebound (somehow without the ability to actually get his feet off the ground...) and could draw a defender out of the lane on the offensive end for a mid range shot. He also seems to hit free throws. And, I hate to say, he's certainly our best post player. Can he guard Hansborough? Probably not. Could Suton keep him off the offensive glass? Probably more often than not. Plus we will miss his 5 extra fouls.
Kalin Lucas needs to have a great game. His defense needs to be solid, no doubt, but more important is getting to the basket. I'm sick of seeing us stand around the perimeter and throw up 30' shots. Get in the lane, draw defenders and kick, or just finish. Get to the line early and often. Make or miss it gets the other team in foul trouble.
Morgan? I don't know what to say about him. He should be an unguardable force. He seems to have extended his range to 22'+ and at the same time forgot how to shoot from 15'. He still travels, puts the ball on the floor too early at times, and plays defense with his upper body (mostly his hands). That said he could still be great. In close he finishes. If he could learn to boxout on shots he could DOMINATE down low since he should have about 4 inches on anyone trying to guard him. I also can't quite figure out how we forgot the lob plays we used to run. Summers, Gray, Allen, and Morgan should all be viable lob targets.
Perhaps the most embarrassing thing about this game will be the crowd. Rumor had it that only around 20,000 tickets had been sold for a venue that holds 65k for a football game, and should have more than that with floor seating. A lower bowl ticket went half price yesterday -- to $9.50 -- no doubt in an attempt to make the place look respectable. Good luck with that.
N.C. -- 78 (with Hansborough 86)
MSU -- 65
North Carolina is good. Very good. I don't know about this "potentially one of the best ever" talk. But good. Should be a disappointing season for them if it doesn't end in Detroit in March.
One of the papers...LSJ, Freep, or Detnews...had a matchup. Probably LSJ, but I'm too lazy to look right now. Anyhow it showed players head to head by position. UNC was favored in every category other than coaching. There's an easy one to prove.
This last week people were chatting during the Wichita State game about how much they missed Suton, how big of a difference Suton would be making, and basically making him out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. He would have helped but I seriously doubt he would have changed the outcome against Maryland. That was terrible calls, terrible offense (from 30+ feet) and terrible free throw shooting. Suton is not likely to play against UNC, which will hurt for two reasons. He can rebound (somehow without the ability to actually get his feet off the ground...) and could draw a defender out of the lane on the offensive end for a mid range shot. He also seems to hit free throws. And, I hate to say, he's certainly our best post player. Can he guard Hansborough? Probably not. Could Suton keep him off the offensive glass? Probably more often than not. Plus we will miss his 5 extra fouls.
Kalin Lucas needs to have a great game. His defense needs to be solid, no doubt, but more important is getting to the basket. I'm sick of seeing us stand around the perimeter and throw up 30' shots. Get in the lane, draw defenders and kick, or just finish. Get to the line early and often. Make or miss it gets the other team in foul trouble.
Morgan? I don't know what to say about him. He should be an unguardable force. He seems to have extended his range to 22'+ and at the same time forgot how to shoot from 15'. He still travels, puts the ball on the floor too early at times, and plays defense with his upper body (mostly his hands). That said he could still be great. In close he finishes. If he could learn to boxout on shots he could DOMINATE down low since he should have about 4 inches on anyone trying to guard him. I also can't quite figure out how we forgot the lob plays we used to run. Summers, Gray, Allen, and Morgan should all be viable lob targets.
Perhaps the most embarrassing thing about this game will be the crowd. Rumor had it that only around 20,000 tickets had been sold for a venue that holds 65k for a football game, and should have more than that with floor seating. A lower bowl ticket went half price yesterday -- to $9.50 -- no doubt in an attempt to make the place look respectable. Good luck with that.
N.C. -- 78 (with Hansborough 86)
MSU -- 65
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