Spring Practice Was Promising
Friday - May 12, 2010
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Del.icio.usThe Warriors move into off-season conditioning now that spring football is complete. There should be plenty of motivation considering the early part of the schedule.
A few random thoughts about the final spring scrimmage: I didn’t see any QB better than last year’s starter Bryant Moniz, although Brent Rausch, Shane Austin and David Graves each look competent. Vaughn Meatoga is a beast on the interior of the D-line. The proposed switch of Paipai Falemalu from DE to LB looks to have some merit. RB’s Alex Green and Chizzy Dimude look ready to have breakout seasons. The offensive line remains the big question mark for 2010. This team may go as far as those five guys can take it, because the skill guys are really good.
I’m starting to get jazzed for the football season, which is scary in early May.
I was perplexed one recent morning when RealGM.com NBA analyst Jarrod Rudolph said that Steve Nash was grossly overrated. And that he didn’t belong in the same sentence with Jason Kidd or Deron Williams, and that the fact that Nash won back to back MVP titles serves only to diminish that award.
He must be watching a different game than I am. Let’s take the Kidd comparison for a start. Deron Williams hasn’t been around long enough to measure. First, Kidd is a terrific point guard. And I have no problem with someone preferring him to Steve Nash.
But “don’t belong in the same sentence”? The numbers don’t lie. Kidd averages a little over 13 points and 9 assists per game; Nash over 14 and 8. Nash is by far the better shooter and big shot-maker. He is the best three-point shooter in the league history of any prominent player at 43 percent compared to 35 percent for Kidd. Nash also is one of the best free-throw shooters in league history at 90 percent; Kidd shoots 72 percent. Kidd is the better defender, but both players are headed to the Hall of Fame.
There’s some pretty heavy bias here. Is it because Nash is, you know, ahem ... Canadian?
Baseball people had a field day slamming the San Francisco Giants for signing former Oakland A’s pitcher Barry Zito to a seven-year, $126 million contract, and for three years they looked right. Over that time, Zito went 41-53 and had an ERAof 4.56. But what was lost has now been found. Zito is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.49 and opposing hitters are batting a .167. If he keeps this up, Zito will have gone from big bust to Cy Young contender. Now the Giants have as good a 1-2-3 punch as there is in baseball with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Zito. That trio could keep the Giants in the race right till the end.
Keep an eye on former Iolani slugger Kila Kaaihue, who was recently called up by Kansas City. Kaaihue hit the cover off the ball in the spring, but the numbers game pushed him back to the Triple A to start the season. If he hits well, he could force the Royals to find a spot for him all year long.
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