John Wall and Sports Science

Do the John Wall!


ESPN has a new feature called "Sports Science" where it examines unique strengths of extraordinary athletes. The one feautred recently is John Wall out of Kentucky, likely to be the the #1 pick by the Washington Wizards. The video claims that Wall is faster than point guards like Deron Williams and Chris Paul and has a vertical higher than Kobe Bryant. Wall also shows his court vision in an exercise although it would be interesting to see how well other point guards could complete a similar challenge. Of course, sports science doesn't bring the light of John Wall's biggest weakness, a consistent jumper, which he has been practicing all summer long.

Here is a link to the video.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5311494

Miss Cleo Predicts Where LeBron will End Up

Miss Cleo is asked to pick between the Knicks and the Bulls, and picks a third team.

When Facing Elimination, Butler is Clutch

Butler Hits a Game Winner in the 2008 Postseason in Game 5
against the Cleveland Cavaliers

Caron Butler performance in game 5 is surprising to some a few nights ago especially since he struggled so much before the series. He entered the game shooting below 40% from the field. He ended up finishing with 35 points and 11 rebounds in a 103-81 win against the San Antonio Spurs to help the Dallas Mavericks avoid elimination. While Butler's performance is impressive, it isn't the first time that he's performed well in the clutch in the postseason.

The last time Butler performed this well in the playoffs was also a game 5 victory for the Wizards against none other than LeBron James- the Wizards won 88-87. Entering the game, the Wizards were also facing elimination, trailing the Cavs 3 to 1. Butler put in 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists and served up the game winner against King James with 3.9 seconds left in the game. The Washington Wizards ended up losing game 6 and the series against the Cavaliers against the Cleavland Cavaliers.


Caron Butler Serves Up 32 Points & The Game Winner Back in 2008

Sports Guy Bill Simmons goes 0-4 in Playoff Picks

Bill Simmons calls his podcast the BS report after his initials,
although his picks last week could be called bullshit

Bill Simmons is the face of ESPN.com and is a entertaining writing. But let's not assume that entertainment is synonymous with knowledgeable.


Let's review Bill Simmon's picks against the spread for the Wild Card

BENGALS (-2.5) over Jets
Eagles (+4) over COWBOYS
PATRIOTS (-3) over Ravens
Packers (PK) over CARDINALS

And let's review what really happened

Jets 24 @ BENGALS 14
COWBOYS 34, Eagles 14
Ravens 33, Patriots 14
CARDINALS 51, Green Bay 45

Assuming you that you followed any of Bill Simmon's picks when gambled this past weekend, you lost money. Yes I understand that no one is perfect and everyone has a bad week. But when you write an article that's 5,227 Words long, one would think you would get one right by accident.

The moral of the story: don't gamble, even if you are Bill Simmons.

Questions Remain if Redskins Hire Shanahan

Will Shanahan bring more wins
to Washington or more of the same?

- With all the talk that Mike Shanahan has won 2 Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos as of the 2009 season, as far as head coaches are concerned, no head coach has won Super Bowls with different teams. Five head coaches have coached two different teams into the Super Bowl but neither won with two different teams.

- Mike Shanahan and Denver Broncos failed to make the playoffs during his last 3 season in perhaps the weakest division in the NFL in the AFC West which included bottom feeders such as the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. If Shanahan becomes the head coach of the Washington Redskins, he will coach in the strongest division in the NFL in the NFC East. The NFC East which has 2-3 playoff teams every year, holds the most Super Bowl wins out of any division with 11.

- As my friend John Manfreda says, genius has an expiration date. Can Mike Shanahan strategies still work in 2010 as they did back in 1997 and 1998 when he won back to back Super Bowls. Former Broncos QB Jake Plummer alluded that Shanahan's firing was "past due"and that his tactics had grown tiresome with several players.

- Given Shanahan's age at 57, will Shanahan make prudent long term decisions for this franchise or make short term moves in order to win now at all costs? Redskins fans have seen this before with Joe Gibbs 2.0 who chose to build through free agency rather through the draft and within.

- When Shanahan won his super bowls, he had a hall of fame quarterback in John Elway. Can Shanahan even be competitive with Jason Campbell or a new QB?

- Do the Redskins really want a head coach that is the primary decision maker in all personell decision. The Denver Broncos while talented were horribly constructed especially their defense which was one of the worst during Shanahan's tenure. Then again, it probably would be an upgrade over Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato making decisions.