Browns
George Kokinis is a smart man, that came from a great organization in the Ravens. He agreed to leave his nice position with the Birds, where he was rising fast, based on the belief that he would have FINAL say on the players that would be drafted and play for the Browns. But from the very second he stepped on the Browns campus, he was completely kicked to the curb and had no say in anything that involved football operations. GK might not have been the right guy for the job, but he was never given the opportunity to show his skills, because the big fat loser named Eric Mangini was too busy running this great organization into the ground. From the very beginning, the big fat loser has mismanaged every facet of football operations and organizational behavior. From not saying hi to people in the hallways, to hiring imcompetent coordinators, the laundry list of errors is too long to talk about. And unfortunately for Browns fans, it seems like this nightmare might not be over just yet.
Eric Mangini missed his career move big time. He should be making millions of dollars, not coaching football, but teaching MBAs and business students how to sell themselves in the interview chair. I mean the guy could sell ice to eskimos. Why isn't this guy doing marketing for a hedge fund? This is a guy who stepped into a Jets board room, and duped them after his stint as a defensive coordinator in New England completely deteriorated. A tenure that saw the Pats D get worse and worse, to the point where BB had to take over the play calling. That didn't stop the Jets from welcoming him aboard with open arms. A Sopranos cameo, and several shitty seasons later, his next stop was Al Lerner's office. In his greatest moment, he delivered an oscar worthy performance and yet again duped a shy private man, who will not do live interviews.
NBA
You look at a guy like Leoul Deng, and you just see this tin man who is constantly hurt. You see a guy who is overpaid by many many millions, and wonder how and when this guy was EVER worth 80 million. But then he has a night like he did the other night, with 24 points on 70% shooting and brings down 20 rebounds. And a game like he did last night against the Cavs, where he just checked LeBron like he was just another guy in the league. A fantastic defensive display by Deng last night. Bron finished with 24, but 6-8 of those were in transition, and 6-8 were in situations where Deng was out or on a stone cold switch. Every time I picked my head up, I saw Bron settling for a bad look, and I think you gotta credit Deng with a solid effort.
I have a very soft spot for Jo Noah. I was a huge fan of his game coming out of Florida, and thought he was gonna be a great pro. I would have taken him inside the top 10 if I had a shot at him. And I have ended friendships with those who don't think he's good. There's been many occasions of that. He played pretty shitty last night, but he gives you just a ton of value at a low price. I watched him in the first quarter when they beat the Spurs and it was just a clinic. Hard wide ball screens. Hard rim runs. Deflections. Assists. Offensive rebounds. Hard helps. Runs the floor. Talks on D. Energy. Focus. Hustle. He's a beast.
Here is where I would put the power rankings after a week and a half of games:
1A Lakers
1B Celtics
2 Magic
3 Nuggets
4 Spurs
5 Cavs
Brandon Jennings has brought the League to it's knees early in the season, as I predicted earlier this summer. He's doing whatever he wants, albeit on a crummy team, and making guys like Donnie Walsh and other guys that passed on him want to slit their wrists. I mean, if you're Donnie Walsh, how are you justifying this to your stakeholders. You gotta team going nowhere, that can't afford to miss a guy like BJ and he totally whiffs and takes a bum like PJ Hill, who can't even get on the floor for one of the shittiest teams in the league. OUCH. Jennings is gonna hit that rookie wall, but the guy lives in the key, and does anything he wants to do with no jump shot to speak of.
Rajon Rondo might be on steroids. His chest is starting to look like Derek Smith's and John Reese's.
The Houston Rockets, one of my favorite teams in the league, are off to a hot start. They don't have a blue player on the roster, but are built with players who have tremendous intangible value. Darryl Morey, one of the best GMs in the league, continues to amaze me with his ability to find guys who are undervalued, and plug them into a team. You gotta give Rick Adelman a lot of credit as well. Hopefully, they will be able to get a contribution from Tmac somewhere down the line, and keep enough juice to sneak into the playoffs.
I feel for CP3. His situation is bad. They'll struggle to make the top 8 in the west. Good for my fantasy team because I have Paul, but bad for his morale.
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