If you don't score, you don't win

The Nets managed to somehow lose game four of their series with Cleveland, despite being at home and despite a relatively poor performance by the Cavaliers. The Nets boast a trio of star players: Jason Kidd, point guard extraordinaire, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson.

The Cavs have one dude. Lebron. And Lebron did not exactly dominate this game (almost blew it by missing a late free throw).

So why aren't the Nets good? Tony Kornheiser wondered why they aren't *great*, despite having three stars on their teams. Everyone sees the three guys and thinks "man, they will be hard to stop".

Yet they are oh so easy to stop, for very simple reasons. Reason, actually.

None of them can shoot.

Oh, sure, Vince Carter is a fine player and so is Richard Jefferson, and Jason Kidd is clearly a terrific point guard, but none of them can shoot. They can drive, finish, pass, etc., but if the defense collapses, they kick it out and... then they have to drive *again* because none of them can shoot. This is a terribly constructed team. The big three can't hit a wide open 20 footer with any type of regularity. The opposing team can just give the three point line away and it won't matter.

It is here that one finds my biggest problem with sports teams of today. They have all forgotten how to win. You win in basketball by scoring more than your opponent. This requires the ability to SHOOT. If speed and hops were all you need, Tyrus Thomas would be Oscar Robertson. If the ability to slice and dice was all you needed, Devin Harris would be Magic Johnson.

Jason Kidd is a terrific point guard, but no one in their right mind would take him over Steve Nash. Want to know why? It isn't because Kidd is an inferior passer--he isn't, really--or because he is an inferior rebounder--he is clearly superior--or because he is worse at defending--he certainly isn't. It is because Steve Nash can do that tiny little thing which so many people can't in the NBA.

He can shoot the basketball and *make* said shots. If The Nets had anyone who could knock down an open jumper, they could very well have won each and every game they have played. Instead, they have let a Cleveland team more fit for posing for a "weirdest hairstyle of the month" contest than basketball, completely embarass them.

Now clearly, Vince Carter has always been overrated, and Richard Jefferson has always been well-rated despite people attempting to claim he is underrated (he is a good player, not a great one) and Jason Kidd is an exceptional point guard. But still, if any of them could shoot, this team would be nigh unbeatable. Instead, they have let a floppy-haired flopper, a guy who can't decide whether to wear a headband, a guy with a crazy patch of hair on the back of his neck, a guy who is a 700 hundred years old (also fat) and a superstar who doesn't seem to care whether he wins or not...

to completely embarass them. The Nets are every bit as bad as their record suggested. It is because they can't shoot.


This is not only a Net problem or a basketball problem though. The Knicks are a fine example of an extremely athletic--and utterly inept--basketball team. None of them can shoot. But in other sports, we have teams willing to break the bank on players who can do a lot of things well but can't do what they need to do at all. NFL teams are always ready to pay a lot of money for fast WRs who can jump. They often forget to check if they can catch. Marques Colston is not particularly fast, but he owned the league last year because he can do that oh-so-unimportant catching thing. In baseball, pitchers with great fastballs and knee-buckling curves are always hired... even if they have never won any games due to their complete inability to throw a ball over the plate (see: Jeff Weaver).

The teams that do well are the teams that get players who can do what they need to do to win (see: New England Patriots). They might not have ceisure inducing speed or mind-numbing power, but most of their players can do what they are supposed to (i.e. their linebackers can tackle, their QB can throw accurately, their tight ends can block and catch, etc.)

After looking at John Elway's career biography and stats, I have to wonder... what did this guy do that was so amazing? I mean, sure, he was extremely consistent, but most of the time that consistency manifested itself in 20 TDs, as well as just a few less than 20 INTs. Not to mention he only ever threw for 4,000 yards *once*. As far as winning... well sure he got to the Super Bowl a lot... and lost a lot. Until, finally, a great running game won it for him in 97 and 98. I'm not saying he wasn't great. But why is he the supposed greatest of all time? If anyone knows, please edify me.

World Series to be played... in November! The possible seventh game of the World Series would be played November first, thanks to the MLB moving back the starting game from October 20th to October 24th. Not sure why this is important but I thought you needed edification (by the way, my twisting and butchering of this word is completely purposeful).

The Most Bogus Suspensions Since the first suspension bridge fell down: Two words: You suck NBA, in much the same way that dropping your toast butter-side down sucks, in much the same way that feet wrapped in leathery, burnt bacon suck, in much the same way that the person trying to count out exact change in front of you sucks, in much the same way that an empty soda can sucks, in much the same way that My Chemical Romance sucks, in much the same way that a baby does a job on a thumb, in much the same way that falling in the mud sucks, in much the same way that getting dumped sucks, in much the same way that sitting in an airplane behind an obnoxiously obese person who is putting their seat back WAY too far and snoring sucks, in much the same way that putting on your shoes only to find out someone filled them with peanut butter sucks, in much the same way spinach sucks, in much the same way nuclear bombs sucks.

Yeah, that's right, I said it. NUCLEAR BOMBS! That's how pathetic these retarded suspensions are. I look forward to a disastrously low-rated Conference Finals and NBA finals, because NO ONE wants to watch a bunch of dirty whining babies who only got to where they are on the backs of scurrilous suspensions handed down by a league with as much common sense as a pauper has cents.

Oh I love it when my blog fulfills its purpose.

~The Sports Maunderer~