“Soriano is a proven hitter,” manager Lou Piniella said. “And he has that ability to stay up and keep trucking, keep performing.”
Lots of people don’t seem to be too high on Soriano at the moment, but that was a big hit tonight.
In a couple years, I think he will end up somewhere else, but for right now, the Cubs need him if they want continue to contend. He is too good of a hitter not to produce at this stage of his career.
The blog currently finds itself in Chicago, looking for a sublet, and maybe, just maybe, a full-time job. In my last three days though, I have gotten to see the Dodgers-Cubs series.
The Cubs have now won three in a row, more importantly though, they are winning games they never would have won in years past. Take tonight for example, they tie it in the bottom of the ninth off one of the best closers in baseball, and then win it in the tenth.
This team has a chance to do something special this year. The pieces are in place, and if Jim Hendry makes a couple of good moves at the trade deadline, they could really be in good shape.
Even when the Cubs lose, I still think this team is going to win the next day. It’s the first time in a while, maybe ever, that I have actually felt this way.
“Like a fat person on a diet, it sucks.”——–Charles Barkley
The Chuckster said this during an interview on Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson. He was referencing his recent gambling problems.
Hang in there Chuck.
“They didn’t do anything that beat us, we just made too many mistakes,”—-Hedo Turkoglu after the Magic got beat, once again, by the Pistons, this time ending Orlando’s season.
Hedo, my man, the Pistons forced you into making a lot of those mistakes. You made the same mistakes the entire series, but hey, there’s always next year…
Seriously, did anyone really think the Magic were going to beat the Pistons? Sure, they had their chances throughout the series, Game 2, Game 4, and Game 5, all could have gone the Magic’s way. But the problem is that the Magic don’t know how to win yet, the Pistons do.
Until the Magic can find a way to beat the Pistons, they shouldn’t even think about a championship. The team’s only goal in the off-season should be to build a team that can compete with, and beat, the Pistons.
Here’s a list of things, the Magic should do to give themselves a better chance next season:
Find a new point guard: I’ve already gone on the record saying the Magic need to find a way to get Derrick Rose. While they may not get him, they need to find a taller point guard, who has the ability to create for all of his teammates. Jameer Nelson is not the answer. This was driven home during the final two minutes of last night’s game, when Nelson inexplicably dribbled the ball off his leg, and turned it over when the Magic were in desperate need of a basket.
Trade Hedo: It kills me to write this, but Hedo really didn’t show up consistently throughout the playoffs. You could argue that he was the MVP during the regular season though, and the Magic would not have come close to where they were without him. His trade value will never be as high as it is right now, and his contract will be very attractive to some teams. If you can trade Hedo, for a solid point guard, you have to make the deal.
Forget about signing Mo Evans: Evans only made 1.5 million in the final year of his contract, and you know that he will be looking for much, much, more. The Magic should not be the team to give him the contract he is looking for. His shot was not consistent, and his defense was off and on. The Magic will be able to find somebody better, for a cheaper price.
Move Rashard Lewis back to his natural position: Lewis is a 3, not a 4. During the regular season, he did a fairly decent job of playing defense against bigger, stronger players in the post, but his natural position is not in the blocks, it is outside the three-point line. Lewis was exposed in the playoffs, especially against the Pistons. He was manhandled inside several times. The move back to the 3 position, should also get him some more open looks at the basket.
Give Gortat some more time, and see if he can play during an entire season: Marcin Gortat sure looked pretty good in limited action in the playoffs. He look a lot more mobile than Adonal Foyle. The Magic are hoping that Tony Battie comes back at full-strength, and are also hoping that Fran Vazquez can find a way out of his contract and come play in Orlando. The thing is, the team still needs another big man to Howard a rest, and Gortat may be that guy who can give 8-10 solid minutes a night.
Keep Dooling and get rid of Arroyo, Bogans, Redick, Garrity, and whoever else is taking up space on the Magic’s bench: It was clear, especially during the end of the season, that Stan Van Gundy really only trusted Keyon Dooling and Keith Bogans off the Magic’s bench. The Magic should sign Dooling because he can help them at several different positions, but they should get rid of everybody else, including Bogans. The Kentucky product is one of the Magic’s best defenders, but his shot is not consistent, and with the amount of open looks the Magic can get their 2/3 guards during the year, they need to bring in someone with a more consistent shot. Redick simply can’t play defense on the NBA level so he’s got to go, and Garrity should probably just retire and go coach at Notre Dame.
See if Brian Cook can play: Otis Smith traded away Trevor Ariza for Evans and Cook, and with the real possibility that the Magic won’t be able to sign Evans, Cook is all they will have left. Yes, he can shoot, but can he do anything else? The Magic better find that out quick, because he could also give them some minutes off the bench. If not, how bad will that trade look, one year from now….
Bring Hakeem Olajuwon in to teach Dwight Howard some post moves: Talk about being exposed, the hype machine was in full-force after the dunk contest, about how Dwight Howard was the best big man in the league. Sadly for Magic fans, this is simply not the case. The Magic would be wise to bring in Olajuwon and have him tutor Dwight on offensive moves in the post. Almost every time he got the ball in the Pistons series, he looked uncomfortable, and unsure of what to do. When was the last time during that series when you saw him smile? Dwight plays best when he is running up and down the floor, and making things happen.
Somewhere, during the last two weeks, he lost that swagger, and looked like he was miserable. I have never seen him complain much at all, and in the Detroit series, it seemed like he was complaining after every play. I think Olajuwon can help him find that swagger again. If the Magic want to get to the next level, Dwight has to be the one to take them there, and in order to do so, he must be able to dominate in every phase of the game.
Keep an eye on Otis Smith: Only time will tell whether Smith made the right moves, and you can’t judge him simply on this year, or the last few years alone. Yes, the Magic had a great season, and did much better than many people, including myself, thought they would. But my biggest problem with Smith, is that he has essentially left no wiggle room for the Magic to go and add players. Unless the Magic make a major move, their core for the next five years will be Howard, Lewis, and Nelson. Most teams in the league would be very happy to have these three, but does anyone really believe that these three can lead the Magic to a championship? It’s not like the Magic have added anyone else through the draft, (’05 Vazquez, ‘06 Redick, ‘07 pick traded away for Darko)
That’s why I couldn’t believe it when people like Mike Bianchi were praising Smith for the job he has done. You don’t play the game to make it into the second round of the playoffs, you play to win a championship, and after watching the Magic get handled in this series, and watching the way the team has spent its money in the last few years, I think they are a lot farther away from a title than some people think.
“To me, the first and 15th, when that paycheck comes in, it tells you who the ace is. They don’t get paid really, really well unless they’ve done some productive work. Zambrano is the guy we lean on the most.”—–Lou Piniella
Carlos Zambrano got another win tonight, this time over the Padres…..
I went to Game 4 of the Pistons-Magic series on Saturday, and I still can’t believe what I saw. Not only did the Magic completely blow a chance to tie the series at 2, they also didn’t get Dwight Howard the ball down the stretch. I mean he only had two points during the final three quarters, to finish with eight total.
How can an All-NBA first team center only have two points during the last three quarters, and barely touch the ball down the stretch? I couldn’t figure it out, until I saw a column in the Sentinel, from Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp.
Sharp’s column had several good points, namely that,
“Howard didn’t get the ball enough, especially late, because he didn’t want the ball enough.”
I agree with Sharp. I don’t recall Howard ever getting extremely mad about not getting the ball. I never saw him go to the bench and yell at his teammates to give him the ball either.
And…
“Howard’s offensive repertoire remains at a rudimentary level. He’s not comfortable making an away-from-the-basket offensive move. He rushes shots, clumsily throwing up garbage and then complaining that the referees aren’t giving him a fair whistle.”
This was a tremendous observation by Sharp, and one that I have not read from the Sentinel’s columnists. Could it be that Howard didn’t want the ball in the clutch because he is still not comfortable when he has the ball in his hands?
Could it be that his teammates are still hesitant to give him the ball in the post, because he looks so uncomfortable with it when he gets it?
As I think back over the season, Howard really has dominated at points, but there aren’t many times when I can remember him getting the ball in the post, making a move, and putting it in the basket. Most of his points still seem to come off rebounds and tips, especially when he runs the floor.
I have read so many times this year about how much Howard has improved, how dominat he has become, and I think he has, but not to the point where most local media members believe. He still has a long, long way to go. Howard should want to be the most dominat player on the court. He should want the ball every time down the floor, and each time he gets it, he should score.
Defensively, his game is there. Also, he might be the best rebounder in the league, but a truly dominant player needs to take over offensively as well.
Last summer, I spent some time working out at the RDV Sportsplex, where the Magic practice. While I was there I watched a pickup game, between a few people, including Howard and Bo Outlaw. I understand that it was just a pickup game, and I understand Dwight is just a kid, playing against some 40 year olds, but I watched him dribble down the floor and heave up jumpers the whole time.
I get that he was probably just trying to have some fun, but it was still kind of strange. If I were him, I would be in the gym working on my post moves, the enitre off-season. Maybe he did, but his performance thus far, especially in the post-season shows that he needs some work.
If the Magic have any chance to get back in this series, Dwight needs to show up on both ends of the floor. He has got to want the ball.
Howard is one of the best players in the game, but there are still times when he disappears offensively. If I were the Magic, I would go find Hakeem Olajuwon and have him work with Dwight all off-season.
“With clubs, balls, and gloves, the Clovis Municipal Golf Course has everything you need to smack a little whitey,”——Clovis Municipal Golf Course in New Mexico
Big thanks goes out to my buddy Fro, for tipping me off to this off-the-wall quote. Fro is the best photographer in the world…..If you want to see some unbelieveable pictures, go check out his blog.
Last week, I went to DC, and got a chance to see the new Nats Park. Overall, I was impressed with a lot of what I saw. The park is very nice, and has great sightlines. The seats have plenty of legroom, and I have never been to a stadium that has better food options. There is a Five Guys,
inside the park itself, and there is a local bar-b-que joint called Red Hot & Blue that is very popular as well.
The thing is, while I think the Nats did a solid job with the park, there are still a few things that bothered me. First and foremost being all of the empty seats behind home plate. I went to every game of the Cubs-Nats series and the place was pretty full each day…..except for the section behind the plate.
You see, the Nats are charging fans $325 bucks ($335 for premium games, like the ones against the Cubs) for the “Presidential Seats” behind the plate, thus making the place look fairly empty when
watching the game on television. A few of my friends called me over the weekend to ask why it was so empty at the park. I told them that it was actually packed, just that the angle they saw on tv, into home plate, made it seem otherwise.
The other thing that really bugged me was that at several points throughout the weekend, the place was dead. The fans just did not seem to be into it most of the time. Considering half of the park was full of Cubs fans, I couldn’t help but think what it must be like when
the Nats are playing…let’s say, the Marlins.
The most excited I saw the Nats fans during the entire weekend, aside from Wil Nieves’ walk-off home run on Friday night, was during the Presidents’ race each day. They seemed to enjoy the race, and cheering for their Presidents, much more than they did for their own team.
Granted, although the Nats took two of three from the Cubs, the team is just not very good. Washington’s offense is hard to watch, and the team itself doesn’t have any superstars on it, so maybe that’s why fans seem to embrace Teddy, Abe, George, and Thomas the way that they
do.
That’s really the problem though. No fan is going to spend anything close to $325 dollars on a ticket to a baseball game, when the most exciting part of the day comes when four dead Presidents come racing down the first base line.
Until the Nats can find a way to improve the product on the field though, people are not going to continue to come out to the park, after this initial homeymoon period with it ends.
The team can start by finding a way to fill up those seats behind home plate. I propose that each fan entering a Nats game be given a stub with one of the President’s names on it. Whichever fans have that night’s winner on their stub, are then entered into a drawing for the empty seats behind home plate for a future game.
The winners of the drawing would be announced towards the end of each game, and be given a voucher for two “Presidential Seats” for a future game. This way, all fans would get a chance to experience Nats baseball up close and personal, and it also would make the team look better from a PR standpoint, because it would fill those seats up behind the plate, and give fans something else to look forward to each day, besides watching a sub .500 team.
Is this all wishful thinking? Of course. But hey, anything can happen. Plus, Teddy has to win some day right…….
The Blog currently resides in Atlanta, on the job search once again….
A few thoughts to get yourself through the day….
The Magic looked terrible in the second half of game 1 against the Pistons…they don’t look mentally tough enough to win this series, but if they win tonight, they will give themselves a chance.
Tim Hudson dominated the Reds on Friday night, but Edinson Volquez looks like the real deal…
The “Kanye West Glow In the Dark” concert is pretty impressive…the whole spaceship theme is kind of strange, but the show he puts on is pretty cool….
All rights reserved by Nick Friedell.