Show Time Lakers, Playoff Future?

                 Chuckleheads, this NBA season has caused a lot of controversy. How many steps is too many to be considered a travel? How many superstars is Lebron recruiting, and what will the team look like next year? How do the New York Knicks have so much money and continue to be so bad? That’s all great and, in time, fans might get the answers – but let’s look at the Lakers. Show Time is back, Magic is in charge, and, a few weeks ago, the team was going to consist of Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Now that all the trade talks have calmed down, the Lakers sit at 27-28: 3 games out of the final playoff spot in the West, with 25 games left to go.
For the Lakers to get to 50 wins, they would need to go 22-3 for the remainder of the season. Given that, the Lakers still must deal with 13 of the 25 games consisting of the Rockets, Nuggets, Thunder, Jazz, Warriors, Raptors, Clippers and the best team in the NBA to this point by record: the Bucks. With that schedule, the Lakers will not get to 50 wins; it might even be a struggle to get to 47 wins – which most experts think is the minimum wins to get into the playoffs. The upside if you are a Lakers fan is that the team is getting healthy. Lebron is getting healthier, but is still nursing a groin injury. Lonzo Ball is set to return, and Kuzma and the rest of the Lakers are looking to make the second-half playoff race very interesting, to say the least.
                With a healthy roster, the Lakers appeared to be a top 4 team in the Western Conference. Now, the pieces of the “Show Time” puzzle are coming back together – just in time to make a playoff run. But what happens if they do sneak into the 8th seed in the West? Does Lebron’s season end the same way it has the past 4, at the hands of the Warriors? That is exactly how this season could play out. The Lakers have had some good wins – most recently right before the All-Star break when Rajon Rondo hit a put back against the Celtics with no time left on the clock. Without Lebron in the lineup, though, things have not been good on the floor, with the Lakers going 6-11 during his 17-game absence. The young players just don’t seem to be taking advantages of their time on the floor when Lebron is not in the lineup.
                Let’s go back a little bit to last offseason: Magic Johnson and Lakers landed Lebron James, but acknowledged that this was still going to be a process. Did you believe that when it was said, chuckleheads? You shouldn’t have and here’s why: everywhere Lebron has gone there are two things for certain: the head coach and the young players have been on the cutting block. If the Lakers do not make the playoffs, the same will be true. Luke Walton will more than likely be out of a job, and the young players that seemed to be available for the Anthony Davis trade option will definitely be available and will be moved if they do not make the playoffs.
                I think the Lakers sneak into that 8th seed in the West, and they will meet the Warriors, who will beat them in five games. Then Lebron will get on the recruitment trail – with Anthony Davis high on the Lakers and Lebron’s wish list. Kyrie Irving has said he wouldn’t rule out a reunion with Lebron – but that does not seem very likely. The other player that seems to be the one that is a lock to end up in LA is Kawhi Leonard, who seems to be heading for California once the season ends. Regardless, the Eastern Conference – as pointed out by Lebron – is all excited at the fact that the Eastern Conference Finals do not have to go through Lebron, as they have for the past eight seasons. Lebron will have his earliest exit of the playoffs in a long while, but will get healthy and come back stronger than ever in 2019-2020.

The Season is over, The Circus is Not!

Chuckleheads, come one, come all to amazing, dysfunctional, traveling Pittsburgh Steelers Circus. Antonio Brown via social media stated: “Steeler Nation thank you for a big 9 years!!!!! Time to move on and move forward.” Brown, the player hasn’t missed a beat, having another strong year on the field, was maybe putting on an audition for his potential suiters. 2018 for the Steelers was jammed full of drama and AB seemed to be at the center of a lot of it.  The killer BS has diminished to just Ben – and maybe that says more about the internal problems than anything else. Sometimes the team feels more like a reality show, and with the confirmation of Brown wanting out, it’s only going to get wilder as draft day approaches.
Last week of the season: the team must win, and another team must lose for the Steelers to be in the playoffs. Wednesday practice began and the bad blood between Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger continued: words were exchanged, Brown left the field and screamed “I’m done.” He did not return to the organization until Sunday: the day of the game, where he was told he was not playing. The move appeared to be a “you think you can win without me, see how open Juju is without me” from Brown’s perspective – and he wasn’t proven wrong. For most of the game against the Bengals, the Steelers struggled to move the ball or sustain any sort of momentum from the offensive side of the ball. Now with Brown looking to leave town for good, the Steelers have to be asking themselves what happened two years ago: you had the “killer Bs” and now the offense will rely heavily on if Roethlisberger can win with the young talent surrounding him, or if the window for Steeler nation been slammed shut.
2018 saw Antonio Brown do what Antonio Brown does on the field, catching 104 passes for 1,297 yards and career-high 15 touchdowns. Six straight seasons with 100 plus receptions and 1000 or more yards. In his 9 years with Pittsburgh, Brown has had quite a career, racking up 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns. There is no question Tony Toe Tap can play the game; he’s a 7-time Pro Bowler and 4 time All-Pro. The 30-year-old is in year 3 of a 5-year contract worth $72.2 million, and now he wants out. The Steelers are on the hook for him regardless of what they decide to do.  If they keep him on the roster, he is owed $2.5 Million, due on the 5th of March: 5 days into the new NFL season. The Steelers would then be on the hook for $22.16 million in cap if no trade is made. If he is traded, they would be on the hook for $21.12 million. If you trade him, what are teams willing to give up? If you hold on to him, is he going to play for you? That second question gets brought to light more with his off-the-field issues and changes in Brown’s personality in recent months.
Off the field, Brown has had just as many issues as he seems to have with Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger. First, he had an issue with a reporter both in OTA’s and training camp when questioning possible injuries. Brown had an issue in the off season come to light during the season, where Brown reportedly threw things from a balcony where he was staying: damaging property and being sued for those damages. Antonio denied the allegations, and as of last reported, planned on fighting both lawsuits. Fast forward to November and Brown gets cited for going 100MPH in a 45MPH zone on McKnight road in Pittsburgh. On January 17th, police responded to a domestic disturbance, where Brown allegedly shoved a woman with both hands to get her off his property after failing to pay the woman for his daughters’ hair appointment. The same day he officially announced to his fans that he was “leaving” Pittsburgh, he failed to show up for his hearing for the reckless driving in November. There have been a few other instances with Brown not showing up to events for fans on time and the whole “filming the locker room” thing the week before playing the Patriots two years ago.
Who are the early front runners to go after Antonio’s services? Well, the Steelers have moved on from big name receivers in the past: Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes, and Mike Wallace to name a few. But with the drama and baggage that Brown brings with him, what can you get for him? Brown wants to go to the 49ers and has made that clear, although so far reports have said there is not that big of a market for him. Oakland and head coach John Gruden have the draft picks to play around with that could make for an interesting lead up to draft day. The Green Bay Packers are a team that needs a solid number one receiver and also happen to have two first-round draft picks to play with. Lastly, the Indianapolis Colts, who will have more cap space than any other team, could trade for and sign a new deal with Brown. Interesting thing about the Colts: they are also rumored to be interested in Brown’s former teammate, running back Le’veon Bell.
Looking at the whole picture, Brown is one of the (if not THE) best receiver in the NFL today. On the field and in his offseason both, no one can compete with his work ethic and no one can argue the production you get from him. His time in Pittsburgh has come to an end: he did not handle wanting to leave in the best way and if anything has damaged the product, he is by acting in the manor that he has. He will be on an NFL field next year. Honestly, if I’m Kevin Colbert, I explain to Brown’s people that they should come talk with us and come to an agreement to get Brown on his way and the organization compensated for it. If Brown doesn’t want to sit down and the Steelers are going to have to take the cap hit regardless, I would fine him a game check every week that he doesn’t want to cooperate. Regardless what Brown wants, not returning to teammates, coaches, management, or ownership is not the way to accomplish what you want. That all being said, I have enjoyed watching Antonio Brown play and wish him the best: his business is productive on the field, but I will be happy to see the off-field drama gone.

Ownership Dedicated to Success?

Chuckleheads as I sit here and write this, I do realize that the Super Bowl just happened, but I don’t really feel like talking about that Patriots and their 6th Super Bowl. So instead, this week we are going to look at the Pittsburgh Pirates with spring training right around the corner,  February 12th  to be exact. That’s when the Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers and catchers will make their way to Bradenton, Florida, and thus the beginning of another Pirates baseball season. The Pirates have been very quiet this offseason, making a handful of moves – none of which jump off the page as an improvement on the 82 wins the 2018 ball club had. A couple questions management must answer: who’s the fifth starter in the rotation? Who is going to make up the middle infield this season?  How can you tell fans that ownership is dedicated to winning with a projected $74.5 million payroll?  Until proven otherwise, Bob Nutting is equal or maybe even worse than the lady that owned the Cleveland Indians in the movie Major League.
Starting pitching for the Pirates is mostly locked into place with Jameson Taillon is the teams ace, and a pitcher that some are calling a dark horse for the Cy Young. The rest of the rotation is as followed: Chris Archer, Trevor Williams – who was the big strength in that Pirate rotation a season ago, and Joe Mustgrove. Now, if you count those up, that’s only four pitchers. That means there is a fifth spot open to be won at Spring Training. The front runner for the fifth spot is Jordan Lyles, a former first round pick of the Astros back in 2008. Lyles split the 2018 season between the Padres and the Brewers with a 4.11 ERA in 87.2 frames. Not numbers that jump off the page, but the change of scenery might be what Lyles needs. The Pirates have also suggested Nick Kingham, who is out of minor league options, and Steven Brault, who has seemed to find a home in the bullpen. Kingham had moments last year where he looked to be capable, but they were few and far between. Steven Brault, much like Kingham, has looked good at times; but as a starter, it doesn’t seem to be the right fit. Brault has seemed to find his calling in the bullpen.
Another issue the 2019 Pirates face is who is going to make up the middle of the infield. The Pirates parted ways with shortstop Jordy Mercer and 2nd baseman Josh Harrison – leaving a hole up the middle. The outlook coming into spring training has Adam Frazier penciled in at 2nd base, but they also have the option to put Jung ho Kang there as well. The shortstop position sees two players competing for the job: Kevin Newman who was anything but impressive at the end of last season bating .209 for 91 at bats. The other option the team has is newly acquired Erik Gonzalez, who, in 81 games, batted .265 for the Cleveland Indians in 2018. General manager Neal Huntington said of the two shortstops, “We like Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Newman and we like what we feel is the level they can produce at in comparison to what else is truly out there.”
The last thing that needs to be addressed is more of what general manager Huntington said during the offseason that should have Pirate fans a little worried about where the mentality of the ownership is. Huntington said of the growth of the organization: “we have the ninth best record over the past six years.” He went on to say, “we are one of the few teams that have made the post season three times in the last seven seasons.” Fans should find this crazy that the team is bragging about three post-season appearances in seven years – where the team did not advance past the divisional series. Why is this a bench mark that the team seems to be so proud of? The Pirates’ last playoff birth was in 2015, in which they went 98-64 third best in the majors. There was a 2016 78-83 payroll reduction, 2017 75-87 payroll reduction, and then in 2018 82-79 yup, you guessed it, cut payroll again. For 2019, the Pittsburgh Pirates are projected to have a $74.5 million payroll – which is grossly under lthe eague average of $121 million and is good enough to rank the Pirates 29th out of 30, with only the Tampa Bay Rays lower on payroll. Huntington also stated on the culture in the front office: “There is a tremendous group of people whom I am honored to work with and they are committed to bringing a championship to Pittsburgh. We believe we have a strong group of young players that can grow and get better. We have an ownership group that is fully committed to bring a championship home.” I don’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence, but having a $74.5 million payroll leaving you with close to $50 million in open space, doesn’t seem like the effort the Pirates claim to be putting forward.
Chuckleheads be happy that baseball season is right around the corner: pitchers and catchers report in a week. This means the continuation of being told by management and ownership about a commitment to winning with arguably less effort towards that cause than they ever have. Ownership has no interest in spending money to grow into a championship-caliber team, which has a trickle-down effect throughout the ball club. Lack of money spent handcuffs the general manager in, who he can bring to the club. The general manager can only play with the talent that he is given. My hope is that some of this young talent that we as fans have been told about for years can develop into solid big leaguers, and that the current big leaguers can put together some wins and get the fan base back to the excitement that was the 2015 season – when they won 98 games.