The Dugout – Drafts, Awards & Psychobabble
MVP! MVP! MVP!
Steph Curry, take a bow. You are the 2014/15 NBA MVP.
Curry becomes the first Golden State Warrior to ever win the award, and the first Warrior since Wilt Chamberlain in 1959/60 when the team was still in Philly, holding off the charge of James Harden with 100 of the 130 first place votes. Harden was runner up, followed by LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
Curry averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and two steals, shooting 48.7% from the field and 44.3% from three point range. Curry led his team to 65 wins as the top scorer and most influential player, and few players are as capable of a highlight play as he is either.
Last year Kevin Durant topped off his MVP award with a brilliant speech where he individually thanked each and every one of his teammates and paid an emotional tribute to his mother and his upbringing. This year, Draymond Green (who was unlucky not to win Defensive Player of the Year) stole the show with a particularly pressing question.
It sounded like he was headed for something heartfelt, but really he just wanted shiny new watches for him and his buddies. Watch out for Draymond, he’s fat becoming one of the most fun guys in the NBA. He ain’t leaving GSW though, not for any number of dollars.
Ooh, Pick Me!
With The second pick, in the 2015 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select… Marcus Mary-otto! Or something like that.
Which begs the question, why does the commissioner still read out the names? Does he enjoy getting booed viciously, or hugged brutally by 125kg linebackers? Or getting made fun of for pronouncing one of the most well-known names in the draft class wrong? Dammit, just dip into the player fine fund and pay, like, James Earl Jones or Sam Elliott or Morgan Freeman to do it.
Anyway, the annual influx of college dropouts into the NFL happened this week, with a couple of quarterbacks going first and no major trades, though Philly apparently did their best. Guts to them, we all know how much Chip Kelly wanted Mariota, instead he’ll have Sam Bradford backed by Mark Sanchez backed by some other deadwood backed by Tim Tebow. Remind me again why they traded Nick Foles?
Todd Gurley went nice and early (boom), getting taken tenth overall by the St Louis Rams, which caused their current starter Zak Stacy to freak out a little bit.
Stacy was promptly traded to the Jets, while Gurley was given his old jersey number. That one went sour fast. Gurley was the first running back drafted in the opening round since 2012. He’s got some injury things that may take a season to get over but in the long run he’s meant to be something great. Chris Mortenson called him the best RB prospect since Adrian Peterson. RB Melvin Gordon also went at 15 to the Chargers.
The talk is always about the top quarterbacks at the draft, and both Winston and Mariota have many admirers, though neither is a slam dunk pick. Winston has ‘personality issues’, which basically meant he acted like a dumb college kid the last couple years while Mariota will need to adjust from the spread offence of his Oregon side, though the Titans are pumped with what they got. There wasn’t much else, there wouldn’t be another QB taken ‘til pick 75 by the Saints.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jameis Winston (QB)
- Tennessee Titans – Marcus Mariota (QB)
- Jacksonville Jaguars – Dante Fowler Jr. (DE)
- Oakland Raiders – Amari Cooper (WR)
- Washington R**skins – Brandon Scherff (OT)
- New York Jets – Leonard Williams (DE)
- Chicago Bears – Kevin White (WR)
- Atlanta Falcons – Vic Beasley (OLB)
- New York Giants – Ereck Flowers (OT)
- St Louis Rams – Todd Gurley (RB)
The Game 7 To End All Game 7s
Man, when the Clippers and Spurs ended up facing each other in Round One, we knew we were in for something good. This was worthy of a Conference Final series, let alone the first round of their playoff runs. One of these great teams had to bow out, and after seven tightly fought games, here’s what happened.
Chris Paul had the heroics, but Blake Griffin logged himself a triple double too. Absolute madness. If this is the end of the Spurs as we know them (yeah, we say this every year), then it was a helluva way to bow out, even this early. As for the Clippers, they’re now 1-0 up in the series against Houston, winning game one despite Chris Paul sitting it out. That one’s gonna be the Hack-A-Whoever series to end all series.
McCarthy-isms
Injuries must be so brutal for professional athletes. Sure, they get paid way too much, but imagine being unable to do the one thing that you’re best at for months at a time. It’s enough to spark an identity crisis or something.
Definitely something in the case of LA Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy. A torn elbow ligament means he’ll miss the entire rest of the season, having pitched just four starts in 2015. He’s just had surgery on that elbow and now has about nine months of spare time on his hands. Cue a twitter barrage:
MLB Power Rankings:
(Last week)
- St Louis Cardinals (5)
- Houston Astros (3)
- Detroit Tigers (2)
- LA Dodgers (6)
- New York Yankees (7)
- Kansas City Royals (4)
- New York Mets (1)
- Minnesota Twins (NR)
- Chicago Cubs (8)
- San Diego Padres (NR)
MVP Handles
Shaq Attack
Offseason Gronk Going Strong
Quote of the Week:
"People ask me about Tim and Manu and myself for the last five years, what we're going to do. It's all psychobabble. I have no clue. We'll probably come back. Paycheck is pretty good… You think I'm lying?"
We don’t really know if Pop/Duncan/Manu are ready to hang it up yet or not, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have definitely been dodging questions, but this answer from Gregg Popovich in his post-Game 7 press conference was pretty encouraging. Pop will almost certainly return, but his task is very different should Duncan or Ginobili disappear into the sunset. Duncan especially was great throughout that series, even at 39 there’s gas left in the tank.
Good Week:
Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors) – He did win the MVP award, that’s worth something.
Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles) – A 4 of 4 hit night against Tampa Bay has the O’s outfielder’s average back up over .400, he’s been fair slaughtering pitchers all season. In fact, there’s only one man in the league hitting better than him…
Dee Gordon (LA Dodgers) - … and that man is Dee Gordon. Through 104 at-bats, he has 45 hits at .433, and 12 stolen bases to boot. A one-hit game against Washington snapped an incredible 7-game multi-hot streak, though it did make 9 games in a row with at least one. And his Dodgers are looking damn hot too.
Bad Week:
Boston Red Sox – They wanna be seen as contenders but having the dead worst ERA for starting pitching is no way to go about that. Boston has dropped 4 games on the trot to fall to last in the AL East, and their best hitter so far, Hanley Ramirez, is about to miss a chunk of time with a shoulder injury.
Portland Trailblazers – Who thinks LaMarcus Aldridge is coming back? Anyone?
Player of the Week:
Chris Paul (LA Clippers) – You know how people call CP3 a choker, blame him for never getting past the second round of the playoffs? Yeah, stop doing that.
