The NFL releases the 2008 schedule tomorrow at 1pm. Finally.
Interesting story on former Texans GM Charley Casserly (Thanks, Peter King's MMQB)
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The Rockets sure make you scratch your head sometimes. They could not have started their game against Phoenix any more poorly, down 13-2 in just minutes. Yet, they came back immediately and actually dominated the Suns the rest of the night. They played poorly out of the gate in Denver again, and the Nuggets are such a dumb team they couldn't even build a significant lead on the Rockets until midway through the second quarter. But it didn't matter. The Rockets have had plenty of stinkers this year - see Miami - but this was maybe the worst game, start to finish they've had since '08 flipped over. That is troubling.
Injuries are a factor. No Battier, no Bobby Jackson and Rafer Alston re-aggravated his hamstring. But so what - the Rockets threw the ball around like it was a hot potato. They let the Nuggets do whatever they wanted (43 fastbreak points) and they showed no will or desire to get back into the game - that is troubling.
Still it all comes down to tonight - win and you get homecourt in the playoffs. Good luck beating Utah a second time in Utah this year. The Jazz are 36-4 at home.
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The Astros are good...when Roy Oswalt watched from the dugout. The Astros team ERA is 4.34. If you boot Oswalt's 3 horrible starts out, the team ERA drops to a fairly impressive 3.56.
The team is hitting .238, only Washington is worse in the NL. But they're 10th in runs scored and 6th in slugging. They've only been oustcored by 2 runs on the year.
Every team in the league has committed at least 5 errors - except Houston who leads the NL with just 3.
No team in the league has turned more than the Astros 15 double plays - except Pittsburgh, but they've also committed 18 errors in 13 games.
If Hunter Pence was not striking out seemingly every at-bat and if the bullpen wasn't extending deficits via the long ball every time they enter without the lead - then they'd probably be more like 8-5, even with Roy's impressive-ly bad starts.
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Back to the NBA for the awards.
MVP
The MVP race is a 3 man race. Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. Garnett's value lies with his ability to do every right for the team - on both ends and at the expense of his own numbers. Kobe is obviously the best player in the league, ask any coach in the game. Ask any player in the game. But Chris Paul is the league's most valuable player to his team.
He scores 21 points a night, dishes out nearly 12 assists per game. That the neighborhood of 35 points directly attributed to him. He leads the league in assists, in assist/turnover ratio (and only Chauncey Billups among other elite PGs rank among the top 10), and leads the league in steals.
Tyson Chandler has zero offensive game, yet Paul has him scoring more than 11 points a night thanks to the well over 100 alley oops he's given him. What he is doing this year is akin to what Nash did for the Suns in his 2 MVP campaigns. He's the choice. Just my opinion - it's a close race.
Coach of the Year
Another close race. Here's my ballot (which of course I don't have)...
1. Rick Adelman
2. Maurice Cheeks
3. Byron Scott
4. Eddie Jordan
5. Nate McMillan
6. Doc Rivers
The Lakers, the Hornets, the Jazz, the Spurs, the Rockets and the Suns all essentially have the same record. We're talking about a game here or there is all the separates them. Now which one of those coaches had to win without their best player for half the season? Just Jordan and Adelman. Jordan's job in Washington has been admirable without Arenas nearly all year and without Butler for significant time. It still pales in comparison to what Adelman has done.
He's the only new coach among those I mentioned. He had to implement an entirely new system in the most historically difficult conference in NBA history. There are 2 games left and the Rockets could still grab the #1 seed. I don't even really think this is a difficult choice.
Yes Byron Scott has done a terrific job, he's also done so with the MVP in perfect working order all season and he got 75 starts from five starters. Don't forget the Peja was out almost all last year and Paul has made huge strides from year 2 to year 3. David West you could say the same thing - he made the all-star team for the first time. Yep, great season for Coach Scott - but not as good as Adelman.
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