Week in Review - 11/9/09

I'm not going to write about Cuddyer here.  If you missed it, the Twins picked up his option and are going to pay him $10.5 million in 2011.  They had to make the decision by today, and I understand why they picked it up rather than paying a $1 million buy-out, but are you really confident he will be worth $11 million in two years?  Last year was a career year, and according to fangraphs that season was only worth $8.8 million on the open market, so we're expecting him to get better?  The smart move would have been to buy him out, then try to resign him for like 3 years/$18 million or so.  If some fool team wants to pay him $10 million a season, shake his hand, congratulate him on finding someone willing to overpay him, wish him luck, and move on.

Well, I guess I lied.  I did end up writing about Cuddyer, even though I said I didn't, but at least he didn't get one of the coveted ten spots below.  Mainly because although I don't think it was the right move, I don't think it was awful, either.  Although I have a feeling our very own I Hate Cuddy Guy might show up here pretty soon with some less than flattering words.  On to the stuff......


WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Chris Paul.  Is Paul the next Magic Johnson?  Of course not, idiot.  Magic was a once in history type player, but that doesn't mean Chris Paul isn't really damn good and the best point guard in the league right now.  He's scoring (26.6 per game, 7th in the league), assisting (9.7 per game, 3rd), and shooting (62% from the floor and 68% from three, 7th and 2nd) and generally playing out of his mind right now.  None of this should come as a huge surprise, since he was so good and showed so much potential in college, but these things don't always work out so it's good to take note of it when it does.  Unfortunately for him and basketball fans, the rest of his team completely sucks.

2.  Cincinnati Bengals.  Before the year started, some genius wrote "This is the team that I think will surprise.  Carson is back, and coming with him will be Ochocinco who is "revitalized" which really just means he's a bitchy little whiner who wouldn't try last year because they sucked and now everyone thinks they will be good again so he will be good again - and I agree.  Plus the defense isn't half bad, actually, at least not as bad as you think.  Playoffs, baby.  Believe."   Now, following a shellacking of the Ravens that doesn't look as dominant as it was because it was just 17-7, whoever that handsome fella who wrote that looks even smarter than usual, and that's tough to do.

3.  Josh Freeman.  I have a theory.  My theory is that Steve McNair is alive and Josh Freeman is actually dead, but due to some kind of conspiracy and a Face/Off style surgery, McNair is living and playing as Freeman.  Seriously, this kid throws like him, runs like him, carries himself like him, and, at least yesterday, was cool under pressure like him after leading the formerly hapless Buccaneers to a big 38-28 win over the Packers (which also essentially wrapped up the division for the Vikes).  It was Freeman's first start, and he started kind of slow, and his numbers aren't particularly impressive (but better than that piece of crap Aaron Rodgers's), but he threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, made smart plays down the stretch while Rodgers was melting down, and led the Bucs to their first victory of the season.  I don't know if he'll ever put up huge numbers and be a a big-time fantasy QB or anything, but if I'm a Tampa fan, I'm suddenly feeling a lot better about the future.

4. Russell Westbrook.  When the Sonics picked Westbrook fourth overall a couple of years ago I was like "lol wut?"  Westbrook wasn't a true point guard, and wasn't a great outside shooter, so I wasn't sure exactly what role he would play in the NBA.  Luckily for him, I'm an idiot, and after a great rookie year in which he finished fourth in ROY voting, he is following it up this year by becoming one of the best all-around guards in the league, averaging 18 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds per game.  Oh, and also yesterday he had 17-5-10 as the Thunder destroyed the Magic 102-74 (Orlando was without Vince, Rashard Lewis, and Ryan Anderson, but still, that's a good win). 

5.  College Basketball.  It's back, baby.  The Gophers might be playing an exhibition tonight, but there are four real, actual games tonight with the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament kicking off the season.  North Carolina, Ohio State, Syracuse, and Cal all have what should be pretty easy matchups, but there's some intrigue anyway.  UNC plays FIU in Isiah Thomas's coaching debut (more on him below), and Syracuse plays Albany in their first game action since their loss to LeMoyne (more on that below also).  That's all just a prelude to Friday and the real start of the season, with 252 teams in action that night.  Awesome, as it is every year.


WHO SUCKED

1.  Iowa Football.  Never has it been easier to pick someone for this spot, and never has it felt better.  Not so much that I hate Iowa, I probably don't as much as most Gopher fans do, but I'm just glad the Hawkeyes aren't going to somehow back in to the BCS Championship game thanks to a Texas loss in the B12 championship game or something and get blown right off the field and once again set up a series of articles about how bad the Big 10 is at football.  I mean, they are, but I get sick of reading about it.  So thank you Iowa, and thank you Northwestern.  There is now zero chance we have to watch another Big Ten team get killed in the championship, and instead we can watch them get killed in all the other bowls, and with Penn State losing to OSU, we can be assured whoever ends up in the Rose Bowl by default will lose by at least 30 to Oregon. [Let's make this USC since I just found out Oregon lost to Stanford]

2.  Syracuse Basketball.  LeMoyne??  If you pay attention to sports, you are no doubt already completely aware of the fact that the Cuse lost to D-II LeMoyne thanks to a last second three pointer by some guy whose dream just came true Tuesday night.  I'd love to join the pile one, but come on.  For Syracuse it's a glorified scrimmage, for LeMoyne - just three miles down the road from the Carrier Dome - it's the Super Bowl/World Series/NCAA Championship all in one, not to mention a chance for these players to stick it to Boeheim and the Orange for not recruiting them.  I mean, I'm pretty sure Syracuse will suck this year, but it has nothing to do with a loss to LeMoyne.   

3.  Corey Brewer.  Ok, I'm sorry but this guy just can't shoot the ball.  I got called out (and called "bro") for being worried about his 37% shooting in the preseason in the comments section of this post, but it looks like I was right -  he's shooting 38% so far this year, including games of 6-21, 6-16, 4-10, and 4-9 this week.  Now, sucks is kind of strong, because Brewer absolutely serves a valuable function on this team, and is a definite starter thanks to other things he can do like defense, rebounding, and just overall being around the ball, but he's not a prolific scorer, and shouldn't be a featured part of any offense.  Of course, with Love out and Jefferson having a terrible season so far, maybe the Wolves don't have a choice, and that my friends, surely sucks.

4.  New Jersey.  Good god is this team awful.  Actually losing to the Wolves should have been a pretty big tipoff, but now the Nets sit at 0-7 after a really stellar 0-4 week, their best player, Devin Harris, is injured, they're in the bottom two in the league in both scoring and shooting, Courtney Lee his shooting 31%, their suddenly promising young player, Chris Douglas-Roberts, now has the swine flu, and Trenton Hassell has become prominently involved.  Things are not going well.  I know the plan was basically to ignore this season and clear room to go after Lebron in the offseason, but I think they cleared the teamout a bit too well.  Seriously, if Lebron signs here (or anybody else) he's pretty clearly effed in the head. 

5.  FIU/Isiah Thomas - Seemed like everything was going well for Isiah at FIU, right?  First, he signed a pack of Juco guards, including three good scorers who immediately shore up an offense that is losing almost all of it's scoring.  Then he uses his national stature to grab a couple of good recruits, including a shocker in getting Dominique Ferguson, Rivals #40 recruit who chose the Panthers despite offers from Arizona and Kentucky.  All is well, right?  Well, turns out you also have to coach, and instead of a triumphant debut, Isiah watched his team lose to Northwood in an exhibition, the same Northwood that is an NAIA school.  Oops.  And I realize nobody really cares, and neither do I, but this gives me a great excuse to post this video, which might be the greatest thing ever.




Is that not the greatest thing ever? No preview for the Gopher exhibition because yawn and also because real basketball starts tonight. Also file away in the "sucks" column the fact that I realized yesterday due to previous engagements and business travel/events, I won't be able to attend another Gopher game until December. Thanks a lot, life. You suck.