Another Legend Without an Off Switch

If any of you recall, I wrote a previous post about how players shouldn’t come out of retirement in order to preserve their legacy. I love when new examples appear that support what I’ve already said.

Let’s start with the easiest one; none other than our good friend Peter Forsberg. If you remember, I openly stated that Forsberg’s comeback try was a mistake.

Two games, no points, and a -4 rating later, I think it’s safe to say Forsberg should’ve stayed on his couch. Except for the minor publicity that he gave the Avalanche and the NHL, Forsberg brought nothing to the league or the organization. It was another fruitless comeback attempt for another aging star, and really, it’s becoming sad to watch.

Most NFL players don’t watch hockey though, so it comes as no surprise that another NFL player is attempting a Forsberg-esque comeback. Today, Tiki Barber announced that he wants to return to the NFL.

I guess it’s true, history does repeat itself. Here is another sad case of a retired player hanging on for one last shot at the big time. Although many Giants fans may remember Tiki for his negative comments about Eli Manning, they also remember him for being a speedy, elusive, tough as nails running back who always gave his team everything he had. He retired as one of the greatest backs in the Giants storied history, and also finished as their all time leading receiver.

That’s how he should be remembered.

He shouldn’t be remembered as that guy who couldn’t call it quits. Some people applauded Tiki when he retired as a 32 year old back in 2006. Here was a guy who knew when to hang ‘em up.

But he never really did hang ‘em up; he just put them away for storage. Tiki wants to come back now, and like it was for the many who have tried before him, I can only see this ending badly.

According to multiple sources, Tiki hopes to join his brother Ronde in Tampa Bay. While this may seem like a good fit and an even nicer story, I don’t think so. The Bucs are young and talented. They need to continue to learn to win as a group, and the more they grow together as a unit, the better they’ll be. Last year, the Bucs thrived as nobody-cares-about-us underdogs who stayed out of the limelight. Tiki would not only disrupt the chemistry on the team, but he would bring a New York sized spotlight into Tampa Bay.

Even if you discount the negative attention Tiki will bring, he doesn’t even fit well as a player. The Bucs picked up a huge sleeper last year in running back Lagarette Blount. He ran the ball extremely well for them last year, and will continue to improve. They also have Cadillac Williams to back him up, and although he’s listed at fullback, Earnest Graham (a former 1000 yard rusher) as insurance.

The Bucs (as well as most other teams) don’t need Tiki, and frankly, Tiki doesn’t really need them. Hes better off staying retired, and preserving his legacy as possibly the greatest running back in Giants history. There aren’t too many players who can make that claim.

The Forgotten Triplet

All the talk this NBA offseason was about the Big Three. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh were supposed to join together to create a super team that could leap tall buildings in a single bound. The Heat were supposed to dominate the NBA with these three “superstars”. While they’ve been one of the better teams in the NBA, they haven’t been as dominant as some people (and especially Miami residents) presumed. But the Heat’s lack of dominance is not the focus of this post.

When three “stars” join together on one team, they obviously need to learn how to co-exist with each other on the court. They need to learn to share the ball, and understand that sometimes the offence won’t run through them. They can’t all be “The Guy” anymore.

Enter Chris Bosh.

In my mind, no player has suffered as much as Bosh has since joining the Heat. In Toronto, Bosh was the alpha dog. The Raptors looked to him whenever they needed a score, he was the statistical and emotional leader of the team, and he was the go-to guy in every sense of the phrase.

That player is now long gone. Instead of Bosh the leader, we are now left with Bosh the third banana. He’s not only the third option, but a very lengthy third option at that. The Heat is Lebron’s team, with a minority ownership going to Dwayne Wade. Bosh barely even has a few stocks.

Bosh has always been best with the ball in his hands. He’s too big for small forwards to handle, and too quick for most Power Forwards. Off the dribble and in the block, he’s extremely difficult to guard. In Toronto, the system was made for him. Everything ran through Bosh, and he was the unrivalled leader of the team. Bosh gained a reputation as one of the best players in the NBA (top 10 in my mind, as a Raptor).

Now Bosh is nothing but a complementary player. The Heat don’t rely on him nearly as much as they rely on Lebron and Wade, and Bosh rarely has plays run for him. He’s forced to play off the ball a lot, where main talents as a player are wasted.

Bosh’s player efficiency rating (a revolutionary stat used to determine a player’s overall value) has dropped from 1^st in the NBA among PF’s last year, to 17^th this year. His Estimated Wins Added has also dropped from 17 games last year to only 7 this year. Basically, these stats show just how much Bosh’s value has decreased. His importance as a player has dropped heavily in just one year, and for the Heat, he’s become just another run of the mill power forward.

While Bosh will have a much better chance at winning an NBA championship in Miami, he will never develop into the same kind of star as he would have in Toronto. He will always play third fiddle to the two big dogs on his team, and a lot of his potential will be squashed. Sure, he may end up as an NBA championship, but never as “The Guy”.

Let this be a lesson to other NBA alpha dogs. Just because one star decides to “take his talents to South Beach”, doesn’t mean that all others have to follow him.

While Temperatures may be Warm, the South is no Hockey Hotbed

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. Sadly, I still have to go to school, and have been quite busy lately.

After watching the Canadiens’ 3-1 win over the Thrashers last night in Atlanta, I have only one question: Why does Atlanta even have a hockey team?

The Habs are always a huge draw, even on the road. There are Canadiens’ fans everywhere, and teams usually get bigger crowds when they are in town. I haven’t checked the “official” attendance numbers (which is usually fabricated by the home team anyways) for last night’s game, but even on TV; it was easy to see that attendance was low. There were tons of empty seats in the first 20 or so rows, and I swear, there was almost a full section that was completely empty.

It’s nearly impossible to get seats like these in a place like Montreal, but in Atlanta they couldn’t even sell them. To put it simply, people in Atlanta don’t care about hockey. As Canadiens’ colour commentator Benoit Brunet said (I’m paraphrasing and translating here), “they have a baseball team, a football team and a basketball team. In Atlanta, hockey is fifth out of four in terms of sports”.

The lack of attendance doesn’t just hurt the owner’s pockets, but it hurts the players’ morale too. There’s no electricity in an empty arena, and it’s hard for players to get pumped up to play an NHL game when they’re playing in front of 6000 people who are only at the game because they have nothing better to do.

Now compare this to a place like Quebec City, Winnipeg or even Hamilton. The people who live in these cities love hockey as much as they love their Tim Hortons. These cities would be thankful just to have a team, and I guarantee you they would never have empty seats in the lower bowl.

For some reason however, Commissioner Gary Bettman seems intent on growing the NHL brand in the Sun Belt. From the sparse (to put it nicely) crowds in places like Atlanta, Phoenix and Florida, you would think that Mr. Bettman would have learned that this is a fruitless pursuit. Hockey will never be popular in the Southern United States; it has too much ground to gain on the other sports.

Hockey has no history in the South, especially compared to football and baseball. If the Thrashers, and other teams with similar problems (Hello, Phoenix Coyotes) were to move to Canada, all these problems would be solved immediately. Some people point to the size of the cities in question, but in reality, it is not about how many people live in the city, but about how many of those people actually care about hockey.

Even if there are 1.5 million people living in the Phoenix area, that doesn’t mean that there are more Coyotes fans and ticket buyers then there would be in Hamilton (pop. 740 000) or Winnipeg (675 000).

Not only would there be more fans in these smallish Canadian cities, but the quality of the fans would be higher as well. Instead of having a few thousand “fans” who still think icing is what you put on cake, the relocation of Sun Belt teams would bring about packed arenas, full of knowledgable, diehard hockey fans. Instead however, real hockey fans are left out in the cold, and the NHL is stuck bargaining and begging people in the South to support their teams.

So please, Commissioner Bettman, give the real fans their teams, and leave the beach bums alone. People in Canada will be forever grateful, and as for the South, well, they probably won’t even notice.

Note to Lebron; It's About the Name on the Front

After watching the despicable excuse for television that was The Decision, and after seeing what an egomaniac Lebron has become, the events of the Heat-Bulls game on Wednesday really didn’t surprise me. With the Heat down 92-89 with 16 seconds left, Lebron chucked up a one dribble pull up three, with Luol Deng standing a few steps away with his hand up. The shot (if we can call it that) missed badly, not even touching the rim and barely grazing the backboard. The Bulls got the rebound, hit a few free throws, and the game was over.

Horrible shot, but frankly I’m not surprised. Lebron’s been making a lot of bad “decisions” lately.

16 seconds is a lifetime in basketball. There was no point of rushing a shot, especially not a semi contested pull up three. The Heat (and Lebron) could’ve moved the ball around for a few seconds and gotten a much more high percentage shot. Lebron was definitely not the best shooter on the floor for the Heat at the time, and he wasn’t even wide open.  

With 16 clicks left, even a quick two would’ve been fine, and this is why this was such a bad shot. Lebron had a clear step on Deng, and could’ve used that step to get the Heat a quick bucket. Announcers always fawn over Lebron’s quickness and strength, and they say he can’t be stopped once he gets into the lane with a head of steam. With this in mind, Lebron could’ve easily gotten inside (he already had a step on his defender) and finished, maybe even drawing a foul.

Looking back on the play, it seems like a no brainer. The Bulls were defending the three and Lebron could’ve easily gotten to the paint. The Bulls would need to then inbound and make two pressure packed free throws, and the Heat would still have enough time to run another set. Even if Lebron didn’t get an easy layup, he could’ve looked for an open teammate (if a Bulls defender had helped on him), which would’ve resulted in a much more high percentage shot. Lebron had a few different options here, and clearly, taking a contested three pointer was not the right basketball play.

But Lebron doesn’t care about the right basketball play; he cares about the right Lebron play. If Lebron had made that shot, it would’ve been heroic. The whole state of Florida would dub him the greatest player of all time, he would be inducted as ruler of Miami, and they’d build a golden statue in his liking outside the arena. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit for a game played in late February, but you see the point I’m trying to make. Lebron wanted to take that shot because it was the right play for him, and it had the potential to lift his reputation. He didn’t take it because it was the right play for the Miami Heat.

Lebron could’ve gone for a quick two (as I said before), or he could’ve swung the ball around and looked for an open teammate. But he didn’t, because it wouldn’t have caused even close the same electricity as a game tying three ball.

That’s why I was almost expecting Lebron to take that shot, even though the moment he threw it up, it was clear it was the wrong play. Lebron wants to be remembered like MJ is remembered; he wants people to reminisce on his incredible shots and clutch buzzer beaters. What he needs to realize is that MJ wasn’t planning on hitting crazy game winning shots; they just happened. MJ only cared about winning, and that’s what Lebron needs to do also.

All Lebron needs to do is worry about winning a championship for the Miami Heat, and then the buzzer beaters will start to fall. As the great Herb Brooks once said, great moments are born from great opportunity; Lebron is an incredible player, but he needs to wait for that great opportunity, and seize it.  He needs to learn to make the play that will win his team the game, and not the play that might catapult him into further stardom. Whether that “right” play is a clutch three, a strong drive, or a great dish to an open teammate, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the end result. Make the right basketball play, and the glory will ensue. Just ask Kobe Bryant.