Monthly Archives: May 2011

Re-Doing The 1996 NBA Draft – Best Draft Ever??

May 31, 2011
Re-Doing The 1996 NBA Draft – Best Draft Ever??

Over the next few weeks leading up to the 2011 NBA Draft, I'll be taking a look back at some of the Association's previous drafts and deciding which players were taken in spots worthy of their future NBA careers, which picks were more or less deserving, and which picks were just downright atrocious. Today we're gonna review the 1996 NBA Draft, which you could argue was actually the greatest NBA draft of all time.

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NBA Draft – 1995 Re-Do – KG Went Where?!

May 30, 2011
NBA Draft – 1995 Re-Do – KG Went Where?!

The 1995 NBA draft is 16 years old, and while the majority of the players are long retired, some are still being productive for the NBA’s elite teams. This allows us to properly rank the careers of the draftees and show just how badly some teams missed with there picks, while others scored. Over the next week or so I'll be doing this with a lot of the mid-90's NBA drafts, starting up again on Wednesday when I get to talk smack about Shareef Abdur-Rahi and the 1996 draft. Who won't enjoy that?? And for those not interested in re-writing the past, be sure to check out my 2011 NBA Mock Draft, where I re-write the future.

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Mensch of the Week – Jorge Posada

May 28, 2011
Mensch of the Week – Jorge Posada

The 2011 baseball season has not been the norm for Jorge Posada. Told in the offseason he'd no longer be given the opportunity to be the team's full time catcher, Posada has struggled in his new permanent DH role. His struggling bat led to the much-debated Posada-gate, when the Yankee lifer asked to be taken out of the Yankee line-up. Which is why we're going back to one of our old features, the NY Sports Digest Mensch of the Week, where we celebrate the charity work done by one of sports biggest names. While Posada's work on the field might not be up to the standards Yankee fans typically hold him to, his Jorge Posada Foundation continues to thrive off of it.

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New York Knicks Off-Season: Five Ways To Upgrade At Head Coach

May 27, 2011
New York Knicks Off-Season: Five Ways To Upgrade At Head Coach

It is never to early to start looking toward the future, and even though I love Mike D’Antoni as the Head Coach of the New York Knicks, I am starting to feel that I may be in the minority. We've examined this debate here at the NYSD, stating why D'antoni should and shouldn't be fired. In my opinion, D’Antoni and his style of play have reenergized basketball in New York City, and for the first time since he arrived, the roster finally has players who can buy into his system. It is obvious to me that even Donnie Walsh and James Dolan are not sold on D’Antoni as the head coach for the future of the franchise because he enters the 2011-12 season without an extension. It may be because of the fact that there are so many high profile head coaching candidates available, or set to become available in...

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The Mets – Einhorn Deal Tells Us… Nothing

May 27, 2011
The Mets – Einhorn Deal Tells Us… Nothing

By Greg Blume -- The Wilpons, as promised, are about to sell a minority stake in the New York Mets. Naturally, as sportswriters, it's our job to break the whole thing down for everyone. So let's look at it together, shall we??

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New York Knicks Off-Season: Five Ways To Upgrade At The Center Position

May 26, 2011
New York Knicks Off-Season: Five Ways To Upgrade At The Center Position

Center? Yes please! The New York Knicks came into the 2010-11 season with three guys listed as centers: Mozgov, Turiaf, and Curry. Needless to say pickings were slim for Coach Mike D’Antoni and crew. The Knicks got by with playing Amar’e down low and just trying to use speed and agility to out-maneuver their opponents. Offensively it worked, but when it came to rebounding and help defense the Knicks were at a horrible disadvantage, and it cost them down the stretch. With the Knicks getting so much offense from STAT and Melo at the 3-4, the center position can basically be half of a player who concentrates on doing the little things like defense and rebounding. Here are a few guys who could be made available this off season that the Knicks should go after hard.

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Big Blue Diss – Eli Manning Left Off NFL Network’s Top 100 List

May 26, 2011
Big Blue Diss – Eli Manning Left Off NFL Network’s Top 100 List

For those of you who are lucky to be able to watch the NFL network, you've been treated the past few weeks to a list of the top 100 players in the NFL. Obviously this is no more than a mere distraction to the NFL lockout that has gone on past 70 days but it’s something to talk about other than labor issues. And what we'll talk specifically about this day is how the list generated by players around the league had one glaring name left off the list. That’s right; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning did not crack the top 100. And I'm wondering why.

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Does The Designated Hitter Serve Its Purpose??

May 26, 2011
Does The Designated Hitter Serve Its Purpose??

By Greg Blume -- In The New Bill James Historical Abstract, James shows how rule changes in sports can be effective in ensuring that gameplay remain as it was intended--that players and coaches, as he puts it, "stop messing around" with "tricks and gimmicks," and just play ball. He offers as an example the shot clock in basketball, which was implemented to prevent inferior teams from dribbling the ball around indefinitely to keep the opposing team from building a lead. Which brings us to the designated hitter rule...

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New York Knicks Off-Season: Five Ways To Upgrade At Power Forward

May 25, 2011
New York Knicks Off-Season: Five Ways To Upgrade At Power Forward

Along with Dirk Nowitzki, Amar’e Stoudemire was the class of the NBA when it came to the power forward position. Amar’e is easily more familiar with the Mike D’Antoni style offense then any other player on the team, but he can’t play every minute of every game. In fact, you can argue that the New York Knicks over-used him down the stretch, and this overuse ended up hurting them in the playoffs. Needless to say, the Knicks need to add veteran depth at the position, someone who can bang his way to ten rebounds and four blocks and pick up a few garbage buckets each game. Here are five guys that could help the Knicks off of the bench immediately.

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Rafael Soriano’s Injury Doesn’t Make Brian Cashman A Genius

May 25, 2011
Rafael Soriano’s Injury Doesn’t Make Brian Cashman A Genius

The news that an MRI on New York Yankees reliever Rafael Soriano's elbow revealed enough damage that the team has sent him to Dr. James "Tommy John" Andrews has been viewed by many as a tremendous detriment to the shut-down bullpen Yankee fans envisioned over the winter. However, the news is being talked about just as much by fans who are offering it as a literal "told you so" on behalf of GM Brian Cashman. If you look at it with the simplicity of a fourth grader (or maybe Buster Olney) you'll likely vindicate Cashman. After all, he didn't want to sign Soriano. And Soriano, to this point, hasn't worked out. So in those simplest of terms, Yes, Cashman was right

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