The Nets Take an... Interesting... Approach

The Brooklyn Nets finished the 2012-2013 season with a 49-33 records, which was good for fourth best in the eastern conference. During their teams off season discussions the front office must have decided they were really close and that all they were missing was some veteran leadership because they traded away lots of their future for the a 35 year old and 36 year old guard and a 37 year old forward. Sure these older veteran players are Jason Terry, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, players who have all been at the top at some point in their careers, but as every stock prospectus ever warns us,  past performance does not necessarily predict future results. 

These guys have been playing basketball for a long time. In Kevin Garnett's case he has 17 years of professional experience under his belt. Their bodies are getting older and their skills are or will be getting worse. To acquire these three veterans the Nets gave up five players and three first round picks. That is right they gave up three first round picks. Let that sink in.... hopefully you have properly considered it now. The Nets have essentially said that these three veteran players, who in the best of situations have 4-6 years of effective playing time left, will provide more value for their franchise then three young talented rookies. 

On top of the three first rounders the Nets also trade five other players, Keith Bogans, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humpries, Reggie Evans and some guy named Tornike Shengelia. Most or all of these guys were included in the trade because of the NBA's constant salary cap shuffling. None of them look to be big contributors to the Celtics, but still they are part of the trade. 

 If the Nets do win a championship in the next 1-3 years this will deal will be worth it. Hoisting the trophy at the end of the is the ultimate goal of all teams. However, the more likely scenario is that the Nets fall short and all three of the veterans they acquired leave in either free agency or retirement. In that case this trade would be a complete failure. 

This was definitely a bold move by both teams. If you are a fan of either team, I supposed you can be glad that you have a clear idea of what your teams plan is. The Celtics dumped the fave of their franchise and committed themselves to being bad for the next couple of years in the hopes of being better in the long term. The Nets decided to go for it all now. That is better then floundering in mediocrity like many other teams. I just dont know if I could get behind such a risk being taken by the Nets.

A Little Consistency Please

I hate how during the NBA playoffs the rules unofficially change. A foul during the regular season or the first 45 minutes of the playoff game is suddenly just good hard defense during the last 3 minutes of a playoff game. The function for defining a foul shouldn’t be time dependent. A play should either be a foul or not.

Here is the NBA rule books definition of a foul:

“A player shall not hold, push, charge into, impede the progress of an opponent by
extending a hand, arm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal. Contact that results in the re-routing of an opponent is a foul which must be called immediately."

See, there is nothing in the definition that says to consult the game clock when determining a foul. Why should the rules suddenly change at the end of a game? Why have a rulebook and an official definition if the referee charged with upholding it are just going to ignore it for the last three minutes? It doesn’t make any sense.

Let’s say a team plays hard the whole game. They develop a strategy to penetrate and draw fouls. This strategy has been working well the whole game, then when the clock hits 2:59 they stop getting those calls. Instead of a trip to the free throw line and a chance at points, they just get a turnover and bruise for their efforts. It is ridiculous.

Now don’t get me wrong; I am not against referees letting the players play. If I had my way they would call a whole lot less fouls. Most of the time, the fouls are so ticky-tack they just slow the whole game down. I find myself losing interest in games that spend a lot of time on the charity stripe. I am not unrealistic though. I realize we cant play street rules. A professional sports league needs clear rules. I am a proponent of some happy median. But what I really want more than anything is consistency in how the games are called. Is that really too much to ask?

                       

I Am Sure Glad We Kept Justin Smoak

Mike Carp - Fangraphs

Look at the 2013 stat line and try not to tell me this front office screwed up yet again.

It is all on you, Charlie Furbush.

Back in 2011 the Mariners had a plethora of pitching talent and a dearth of hitting ability. By July the team was headed to yet another last place finish. So, GM Jack Z decided to trade away one of his promising young starters, Doug Foster and a solid reliever, David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers. Once he arrived in Detroit, Fister turned into a great pitcher. He has a 2.73 ERA as a Tiger. As compensation for Fister the Mariners received, Capser Wells, Fransisco Martinez, Chance Ruffin and Charlie Furbush.

The center piece of this trade was supposed to be Martinez. Last week the Mariners traded him back to Detoit for cash considerations, essentially giving up completely on him. The other hitter in the trade was Casper Wells, a defense first outfielder with too many strikeouts and not enough power. He got cut by the M's this off season and still hasn't found a permanent MLB home. A reliever, Chance Ruffin, was included in the trade because he was near Major league ready and has an electric arm. After forgetting how to throw strikes in AAA last year,  he is currently in AA Jackson and isnt really considered by anyone to be in the future plans for the team. That leaves only Furbush as a contributor to the Mariners.

When he came over to the Mariners, Furbush was a starter. He is now a reliever and although he is not quite a LOOGY, he does specialize in getting lefties out. As such his potential value to the M's dropped dramatically. However, with all three other players the M's received as part of the trade providing zero value, the burden of salvaging the trade falls entirely on Furbush.  Unless Charlie manages to become the greatest left handed reliver ever this trade is going to go down as a failure for Jack Z. In fact it might even be the epitome of all Jack Z trades. They look good when they happen and than turn out worthless in the end.