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The Mavericks are hanging on for dear life after the Warriors 103-99 win last night. Avery Johnson is one of the best coaches in the league, but his failure to find solutions to two major problems has the Mavs on the brink of elimination. The first problem is that they can’t guard Baron Davis. The best way to defend Davis is simply to back off and let him shoot. He’s a streaky shooter at best, and letting him fire 20 footers helps take everybody else out of the offense. Instead, the Mavs are over-aggressively guarding him behind the three point line, and that allows him to effortlessly get into the lane for easy layups or dishes down low. The Mavs are also reluctant to put Devin Harris, their best perimeter defender, on Davis because they’re afraid Davis will repeatedly post him up. I’m not really sure why the Mavs would rather have Davis shooting layups than turn-around 10 footers over Harris, but if they have any hope of winning this series they’re going to have to let Davis shoot.

The second problem for the Mavs is that they have no answer to the Warriors ultra-aggressive overplaying defense. This isn’t a UNC-Greensborough team failing to capitalize on an overaggressive Duke defense–this is the best team in the NBA. They should be able to make the Warriors pay for overplaying. A good place to start would be some backdoor cuts–if the Mavs even know what those are. Perhaps they need Eddie Jordan of John Thompson III to come and school them on how to do it. Mostly the Mavs just need better spacing and better passing. When Jason Terry is triple teamed in the lane, somebody should be open. The Warriors play outstanding help defense, but after four games, Johnson and the rest of the Mavs coaching staff need to find a way to expose it.

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Somebody in the Colorado Rockies organization must be a big “American Idol” fan, because when the team needed a new public address announcer they decided to hold an “Idol” style competition to find one. Two hundred sixty-one applicants sent in demo tapes and 20 were called back for a live audition. Those 20 were whittled down to three, and the winner was chosen through online voting. Unfortunately for the three finalists, they had to find out who the winner was in the most agonizing way possible. All three finalists had to say “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Coors Field” live on the air, but only the winner’s voice would be heard. In the end the winner was Reed Saunders, a 25 year old Colorado State graduate who becomes the youngest P.A. announcer in Baseball. Now the Rockies just need to find some starting pitching.

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Even since having a set closer pitch the 9th inning became the norm, teams have done a lot of tinkering with the way they use their bullpens. Still, nearly 30 years later, teams’ strict adherence to having certain pitchers pitch certain innings has led them to misuse their bullpens. Managers are too concerned about what inning it is and don’t pay enough attention to the actual situation. Let’s take a look at a few games from the last month where managers have mismanaged their bullpen.

On April 16th the Orioles trailed the Devil Rays 3-0 in the top of the 4th. Manger Sam Perlozzo pulled starter Adam Loewen with two outs and the bases loaded and brought in Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie was the team’s longman–the last man out of the bullpen and the guy who is unofficially acknowledged as the worst pitcher on the roster. The O’s were only down three runs–if they got an out in that spot they would still be in the game. Guthrie ended up surrendering a bases clearing double to Ty Wiggington, and the Orioles would be down 6-0 before he got out of the inning. The question is, why bring in the worst pitcher on your team to pitch in such a key situation?–Who cares if conventional baseball wisdom says that the 4th inning is much too early to bring in one of your better relievers–the conventional wisdom is wrong and makes no sense. The Orioles had four other right handers in their bullpen better than Guthrie–Even though it was only the 4th inning that was the key spot in the game–Get an out and they would still be in it, give up a hit and the game would probably over. Yet Perlozzo brought in the worst pitcher on his team just because he felt the 4th inning was too early to bring in Chad Bradford or Scott Williamson. It’s becoming a common trend for managers to save their better relievers for a late game lead even if it means hurting their chances of actually having a late game lead. Even Little Leaguers know it’s better to be winning than to be in good position in case you’re winning. Interestingly enough, the Orioles would rally and Guthrie would get the win in the 9-7 victory–but that still doesn’t mean Perlozzo made the right move.

A similar blunder was made in the late innings when the Mets played the Braves a week later. Willie Randolph brought in right hander Aaron Heilman to pitch the 8th inning in a 6-6 game. After an error, a hit batter, and two outs, lefty Kelly Johnson stepped to the plate with two on. The Mets best reliever, closer Billy Wagner, is a lefty, but because he’s the closer, he wasn’t even ready to pitch. Randolph was waiting to pitch him in the 9th if the Mets took the lead. The Mets never took the lead and Wagner never got to pitch because Heilman surrendered a three run homer. In this case Randolph’s blunder of leaving Heilman in is less clear cut because Heilman is one of the Mets best relievers. Still, the Mets ended up losing a game that was tied in the 8th inning without having their best reliever pitch. Johnson’s at bat was the most important at bat of the game and by not brining in Wagner Randolph failed to create the best matchup for his team. Someday a manager will realize the flaw of adhering too strictly to pitching certain pitchers in certain innings, and much like Bill Belichick going for it on 4th and short, his success will force others to follow him.

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ESPN.com has a slightly new site design. But in todays age of links, bookmarks, and Mozilla ad-ons designed to create maximum efficiency and go from one web page to another as fast as possbile, ESPN has taken a step backward. Under the new design it’s impossible to go from the main scoreboard page of one sport to the main scoreboard page of another in just one click. If somebody is looking at the NBA scoreboard and want to see the NHL scores, they have to first go to the NHL’s main page and then click on the scoreboard. So thanks a lot ESPN, you’ve managed to make everybody’s lives just a little more difficult.

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The NHL’s playoff adage has long been that strong special teams play is the key to winning the Stanley Cup. Never has this been more true than this season, when officials have had no qualms about calling penalties in situations they’ve shied away from in the past. This season’s playoffs have seen staggering number of 5 on 3 power plays and referees have not hesitated to call ticky-tack penalties in overtime or late in the third period.

Think about how much this affects the importance of special teams. There used to be entire parts of games (late 3rd period, overtime) where the ability to kill penalties and score on the power play was mostly useless–now solid special teams are the key to these parts of a. Now, instead of a solid power play earning a team a 1-0 first period lead, it’s possible it can win them a game in the 4th overtime.

Another theme of this year’s postseason has been the game’s development into a dump, chase, and forecheck contest. While the new rules have opened up the ice, the larger effect has been that it has become nearly impossible to stop a well organized forecheck. The league’s crackdown on hooking and holding has made it impossible for defensemen to stop or even slow down forwards chasing a puck that’s been dumped in. It also made it difficult for defensemen to pry the puck away from forwards who control it behind the net or along the boards. Dont’ be surprised if when it’s all said and done, the team drinking from the Stanley Cup is the one with the best special teams and most relentless forecheck.

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While watching Vancouver’s thrilling quadruple overtime victory over the Stars, it suddenly hit me how much teams change their play in overtime. They take shots at every single opportunity and throw the puck on net as much as possible. Teams just need one more goal and so they put the puck on net knowing anything can happen. Guys aren’t worried about scoring pretty goals or getting their teammates involved. They just want to put the puck in the net and win the game. One would assume that in the sudden death overtime of a playoff game, desperation unconsciously forces teams to employ the optimal goal scoring strategy–that would mean that the best way to score goals, whether it’s in overtime of the playoffs or regulation of the regular season, is to shoot the puck as much as possible.

So the question is why don’t teams play like this all the time? In overtime teams shoot as much as possible because they desperately need a goal and that’s the best way to score. However, once the next game starts both teams go back to patiently passing it around and waiting for the perfect shot. Once it’s no longer overtime, they abandon the optimal strategy of shooting as much as possible. If one explains this by saying that shooting at every opportunity isn’t the optimal goal scoring strategy, then that brings up the question of why teams do it in overtime. At some point, likely in regulation or possibly in overtime, teams abandon the optimal goal scoring strategy. It doesn’t make sense and it’s not because of the fatigue factor in overtime. The overtime behavior of all teams suggest that they could drastically increase their chances of postseason success simply by putting the puck on net as much as possible at all points of the game. It may not be pretty or fun, but it’s the best strategy and it doesn’t make sense that teams only resort to it in overtime.

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John Beilein is leaving West Virginia and will be the new basketball coach at Michigan. Among the most interesting things regarding his departure is how he will deal with his ample buyout. West Virginia is owed $2.5 million over the next five years and Michigan is not paying any of it. Beilein has been surprisingly coy when asked about it, as though he thinks that somehow his lawyers will be able to get him out of it. Beilein had better have something up his sleeve, otherwise the $1.3 million a year Michigan will pay him suddenly wont seem like so much.

The bigger question regarding Beilein coming to Michigan is how his system will fare in the Big Ten. Of course the “system” I refer to is just shooting tons of three pointers on offense and playing a 1-3-1 zone on defense. In the past, Beilein’s teams have played shoddy defense and been dominated inside and on the boards. At first glance, that does not bode well for a team that will have to play in the rough and tough Big 10. However, the thing that Beilein does have going for him is that at Michigan he will be able to recruit better athletes. A fitting analogy to Beilein’s situation is that of John Thompson III at Georgetown. Thompson took a gimmicky system to a big school, and when he was able to recruit outstanding athletes to play in that system, a final four berth ensued. In light of Thompson’s success, the optimistic way of looking at Beilein coming to Michigan is not that his soft team will get battered in the physical Big 10, but rather than his three point shooters and 1-3-1 zone will be impossible to stop once he is able to recruit athletes who wont be overmatched inside. It will certainly be interesting to see which kind of team Beilein puts on the floor in the coming years.

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Before I get to the off-season moves, I would first like to commend 49ers coach Mike Nolan for being the person to finally put forth the idea that the pass interference rules need fixing. This is a cause I’ve been championing for quite some time, and it’s good to hear somebody actually in the NFL discuss it. Nolan proposed that the NFL give referees the option of calling a 15 yard penalty or calling a spot foul. I propose the NFL go even further and give referees the option of calling an illegal contact penalty even after the ball is thrown. For some reason the league believes giving the refs just two choices—a spot foul or a no call—will make it easier for them. It doesn’t. It’s like forcing a court to either lock somebody up for life or let them go free. What the league needs to realize is that the more options there are, the better chance there is that the penalty will fit the transgression.

Texans acquire QB Matt Schaub from the Falcons and sign him to 6 year $48 million deal

In order to get Schaub the Texans agreed to trade 2nd round picks in 2007 and 2008, and swap the 8th overall pick in this year’s draft for the 10th pick. I like the move to acquire Schaub—It’s clear the David Carr era needed to come to an end, and the team found a young replacement without having to give up a key player or a first round pick. It’s hard to predict whether Schaub will be a good NFL QB—he has only two career starts—but the best comparison would be Matt Hasselback. Hasselback had even less NFL experience when was acquired from the Packers based strictly on his preseason and practice performances, and he turned out to be a pretty good quarterback.

What I don’t like about this move is the Texan’s decision to sign Schaub to such a lavish long term deal. How can they give so much money to a guy with two career starts? Did Schaub turn down the 6 year $40 million offer? Sure, the team only guaranteed about $7 million of the deal, but they obviously need to bone up on their Rob Johnson and Scott Mitchell history. It’s always a mistake for a team to give an unproven quarterback such a lavish contract unless they’re forced to because they picked him in the draft. Schaub could be a very good NFL quarterback, but if he isn’t, the contract will be a big mistake.

Dolphins sign Joey Porter to a 5 year $32 million contract.

The Dolphins needed to get an impact player on their defense, but this is one of those classic “pay him for four bad years to get one good year” contracts. Porter’s play has been slipping of late—he still puts up decent numbers, but he is by no means a Pro Bowl player anymore. The Steelers would have liked to keep him this year, but they decided to cut him because they were not willing to give him an extension and they feared Porter would hold out. It was smart move by the Steelers–signing Porter to an extension would have been a disastrous. Porter will be 30 when the 2007 season starts. He has only one good year left, maybe two if he’s lucky. Still, the prospect of adding Porter to the defense this year was enough to sucker the Dolphins into giving him a five year deal. It may pay off for them this year, but it will not be worth the cap trouble it causes them down the road.

49ers sign CB Nate Clements to 8 year $80 million contract

It’s hard to call it a good move when a team signs someone to the richest contract ever given to a defensive player and that player is not Brian Urlacher or Julius Peppers—so I will not call this a good move. Still, the 49ers had cap room and needed to improve their secondary, and Clements may end up being the best cornerback to hit the market this decade. In today’s NFL 90%, of the players are overpaid–so if Clements can continue to a be a shut down corner for the duration of the contract it wont be a good deal, but it I’m willing to say it’s an ok signing.

Patriots sign LB Adalius Thomas to 5 year $35 million contract

This was an outstanding signing for the Patriots. Thomas gives them the outside pass rusher the team desperately needs and he is a perfect fit for the 3-4 defense. Although Thomas will be 30 when the season starts, the contract is extremely back loaded, meaning that if Thomas’ play beings to slip in 2-3 years, the team can cut him without having to take a catastrophic cap hit. It’s nice to see the Patriots are finally using their cap room on a talented player instead of on nobody.

And now, and ode to Wade Phillips celebrations

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Well that was fast. The baseball season hasn’t even begun, but it seems the Marlins simply could not wait any longer to make the first stupid trade of the season. Earlier this week in the team sent 22 year-old Yusmeiro Petit to the Diamondbacks for reliever Jorge Julio, with the intention of making Julio their closer. As far as I can tell, there are only four major problems that make this an idiotic trade. The first is that Julio has proven he is not a good closer. After an outstanding 2002 season with the Orioles, Julio lost the closers job after his ERA ballooned over the next three years from 1.98 to 4.38 to 4.57 to 5.90. He was traded to the Mets before last season, and after posting a 5.06 ERA with the Mets, they shipped him to Arizona. Julio pitched a little bit better with the Diamondbacks, but he still blew 4 out of 19 saves as the team’s closer.

The second problem with this deal is that it’s been proven over the last few years than anybody can close. Salomon Torres, Eddie Guardado, B.J. Ryan, Adam Wainwright, Takashi Saito, and Akinori Otsuka have all come out of nowhere to become solid closers. In this day and age there is no reason to give up something good to acquire a closer and there’s especially no reason to give up something good to acquire a bad closer.

This brings us to reason #3 the trade is stupid. Petit is an excellent prospect. He was key guy in the trade that sent Carlos Delgado to the Mets and he has loads of potential. Although he struggled when he was called up last last season, there is not a general manager in baseball who would rather have Jorge Julio then Petit. Last season Julio was so lightly regarded that he was traded for Orlando Hernandez, and he has done nothing since then to prove he has more value than that.

Obviously the Marlins panicked a little bit because they are expecting to be competitive this year and feel they have no closer. This brings us to the forth reason the trade was stupid. The team has plenty of pitchers capable of closing, including Taylor Tankersley, who had a 2.86 ERA last yea while closing occasionally. Tankersley is a former first round pick and so there’s no question he has to the stuff to be a solid closer.

It may seem like I’m making a big deal out of a relatively small trade–and I am–but deals like this boggle the mind because there is absolutely no upside for one of the teams involved. The simple fact in that the Marlins are trading a decent pitching prospect for a pitcher they don’t need who also happens to suck.

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