Sports
Let's take a look at the Patriots, as they prepare for the draft, and the Celtics, as they position themselves for the lottery.
As the esteemed Elvis Brothers pointed out, the Patriots are busily remaking their defense and special teams. They've signed K Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) Gramatica, who was out of football last year rehabbing a knee. Speculation is that they'll bring in another young leg or two to compete with him for the kicking duties. This is good news, as young kickers rarely produce at the NFL level. It took Adam Vinatieri years to become the clutch guy who hit those huge ones for us.
They also brought back S Tebucky Jones. Jones was a Pats first round pick who got a ring with us in Super Bowl 36. He was a key member of a very physical secondary that shut down the previously unstoppable Rams offense. Jones wanted a big payday after that, and got it - from the Saints.
Tebucky was a Pete Carroll-Bobby Grier pick who, they said, had the natural gifts to be a shut-down CB even though he'd played Safety his whole career (since switching from RB). Ummm, nope. Jones remains now what he was then - a physical specimen who, at 220 lbs, might still be the fastest guy on the team - but has no ball skills. He's more athlete than football player.
But that's okay because on special teams he's amazing. He makes our coverage and return games much better just by suiting up. And he's good enough in the defensive backfield to be an effective sub and nickle-dime player. With the other guys who've come in or re-signed (like Eric Warfild and Guss Scott), the backfield looks good, short of a shut-down CB.
Which still leaves questions at LB. If you look at the depth chart on the Pats website, Mike Vrable is starting at both inside and outside linebacker. Not good. Bruschi, Colvin, and Vrable are solid and reliable. Izzo and Davis are for special teams (though Davis has played safety and LB for them). Banta-Cain is an OLB and special teams - but is better on special teams. Monty Beisel is a solid back-up, but no more than that. Ryan Claridge is a young guy with potential, and Eric Alexander is another pure special-teamer.
Since the free agent money has gone to DB's, you have to think that Belichick is going to target LB's in the draft. He'll probably go for a Ted Johnson type of ILB plugger and a fast light DE to play OLB.
Overall, they're shaping up. And don't buy into that bunk about having a 'soft' schedule. Sure, they get to play an NFC division that's not what it once was - either Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago, or Minnesota will go to the playoffs at 8-8 - and we get to play Houston and Tennessee, but that's football. In recent years there has been dramatic improvement from year-to-year among also-rans. You can't start counting 'W's' and 'L's' this early.
The Pats play Houston December 17. What if RB Reggie Bush is all he's cracked up to be? They might be the most improved team in the NFL and a real handful.
On the Celtics side, things are not so rosy. We haven't had a sniff at a championship since #33 was on the floor and not hanging the rafters. From my close-up look at the kids, I'm please with a few of them. Al Jefferson has to get his butt on the court and stay there.
Delonte West has raised his game to a B- in his second year, which is great, but he's not showing any signs of becoming Steve Nash yet. Orien Greene just looked lost.
But young Gerald Green was impressive. He has a slender build, but was effective in traffic and showed no fear of the big bodies. He's an effective scorer and an improving defender. He does look like a kid who could become an all-star in time. Gomes was also intriguing. He looked like a younger smaller "Cornbread" Maxwell.
My question really is this: given that the young guys can play, how good will they be? Are they a group that can take the team all he way, or will they mature into a perennial 41-41 team? Do they have more playing value or trade value?
Because Paul Pierce is absolutely dominant right now. And with Szczerbiak and LaFrenz, they have a decent core. Can we use some of that young talent to turn into a 2007 contender? And if we do have a decent lottery pick this year, do we want another young guy fighting for minutes?
And is Doc Rivers the guy to coach them?
Stay tuned...
As the esteemed Elvis Brothers pointed out, the Patriots are busily remaking their defense and special teams. They've signed K Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) Gramatica, who was out of football last year rehabbing a knee. Speculation is that they'll bring in another young leg or two to compete with him for the kicking duties. This is good news, as young kickers rarely produce at the NFL level. It took Adam Vinatieri years to become the clutch guy who hit those huge ones for us.
They also brought back S Tebucky Jones. Jones was a Pats first round pick who got a ring with us in Super Bowl 36. He was a key member of a very physical secondary that shut down the previously unstoppable Rams offense. Jones wanted a big payday after that, and got it - from the Saints.
Tebucky was a Pete Carroll-Bobby Grier pick who, they said, had the natural gifts to be a shut-down CB even though he'd played Safety his whole career (since switching from RB). Ummm, nope. Jones remains now what he was then - a physical specimen who, at 220 lbs, might still be the fastest guy on the team - but has no ball skills. He's more athlete than football player.
But that's okay because on special teams he's amazing. He makes our coverage and return games much better just by suiting up. And he's good enough in the defensive backfield to be an effective sub and nickle-dime player. With the other guys who've come in or re-signed (like Eric Warfild and Guss Scott), the backfield looks good, short of a shut-down CB.
Which still leaves questions at LB. If you look at the depth chart on the Pats website, Mike Vrable is starting at both inside and outside linebacker. Not good. Bruschi, Colvin, and Vrable are solid and reliable. Izzo and Davis are for special teams (though Davis has played safety and LB for them). Banta-Cain is an OLB and special teams - but is better on special teams. Monty Beisel is a solid back-up, but no more than that. Ryan Claridge is a young guy with potential, and Eric Alexander is another pure special-teamer.
Since the free agent money has gone to DB's, you have to think that Belichick is going to target LB's in the draft. He'll probably go for a Ted Johnson type of ILB plugger and a fast light DE to play OLB.
Overall, they're shaping up. And don't buy into that bunk about having a 'soft' schedule. Sure, they get to play an NFC division that's not what it once was - either Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago, or Minnesota will go to the playoffs at 8-8 - and we get to play Houston and Tennessee, but that's football. In recent years there has been dramatic improvement from year-to-year among also-rans. You can't start counting 'W's' and 'L's' this early.
The Pats play Houston December 17. What if RB Reggie Bush is all he's cracked up to be? They might be the most improved team in the NFL and a real handful.
On the Celtics side, things are not so rosy. We haven't had a sniff at a championship since #33 was on the floor and not hanging the rafters. From my close-up look at the kids, I'm please with a few of them. Al Jefferson has to get his butt on the court and stay there.
Delonte West has raised his game to a B- in his second year, which is great, but he's not showing any signs of becoming Steve Nash yet. Orien Greene just looked lost.
But young Gerald Green was impressive. He has a slender build, but was effective in traffic and showed no fear of the big bodies. He's an effective scorer and an improving defender. He does look like a kid who could become an all-star in time. Gomes was also intriguing. He looked like a younger smaller "Cornbread" Maxwell.
My question really is this: given that the young guys can play, how good will they be? Are they a group that can take the team all he way, or will they mature into a perennial 41-41 team? Do they have more playing value or trade value?
Because Paul Pierce is absolutely dominant right now. And with Szczerbiak and LaFrenz, they have a decent core. Can we use some of that young talent to turn into a 2007 contender? And if we do have a decent lottery pick this year, do we want another young guy fighting for minutes?
And is Doc Rivers the guy to coach them?
Stay tuned...
posted by fiduciary at 8:15 AM
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