Friday, December 09, 2005
MindDump
I saw the greatest quote on another site today:
"If minds had anuses, blogging would be what your mind would do when it had to take a dump. "
The best part is that this guy was obviously using it to put down bloggers, but I think that quote defines exactly why I write in this thing. It's not to share my opinions with others, it's not to make some money, it's not to hopefully get some fame someday. Sometimes my brain just needs to take a dump, and so I write a blog entry. It's very refreshing.
I'm now kind of embarrassed about this entry. Hopefully my grandmother never reads this.
"If minds had anuses, blogging would be what your mind would do when it had to take a dump. "
The best part is that this guy was obviously using it to put down bloggers, but I think that quote defines exactly why I write in this thing. It's not to share my opinions with others, it's not to make some money, it's not to hopefully get some fame someday. Sometimes my brain just needs to take a dump, and so I write a blog entry. It's very refreshing.
I'm now kind of embarrassed about this entry. Hopefully my grandmother never reads this.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
The Continuing Saga of Carlos Boozer
It seems there is only so much Sports Talk Radio that a man can take. Even a sports-obsessed one like my own self. When the hosts harp on the same subject for weeks on end, it starts to get tiring. Especially when there is no new story to talk about and they keep repeating the same things over and over again.
So it is with the Utah Jazz and Carlos Boozer. Salt Lake Sports Talk Radio is absolutely obsessed with the man. He was supposed to be the second coming of Karl Malone (or so the media would have us believe) and he hasn't played a game for the Jazz since Valentine's Day. This story could have been properly rehashed maybe three times.
1. When he first got hurt
2. When we found out he would be out all season
3. When he got hurt again at the beginning of this year
And yet the media feels it necessary to bring this up once or twice a week, every week. And it is having a negative effect on the fans' state of mind. Today Ian Fitzsimmons had people call in to finish the sentence "Carlos Boozer is..." and people were saying "a bum", "overrated", etc. Some people think this man is faking his injury. It's an absolutely ridiculous concept that most people would never have thought of if the media hadn't brought it up as a possibility. Now, most of the radio guys seem to agree that he is legitimately hurt, but there are a select few who place doubt in the minds of their listeners.
And the part I am the most confused about are the people who say he is overrated and he wasn't playing well even when he wasn't hurt. And that's a ridiculous statement that no one would make if they actually remembered watching him play. The guy was averaging 18 points and nine rebounds a game. His scoring average has gone up every year, from 10 to 15.5 to 18. His rebounds dipped, but that's probably because there were more rebounders on the Jazz than on the Cavaliers. He shot 52% from the floor for Pete's sake! This is a good player.
People think he is overpaid for the numbers he is giving to the Jazz. Let's take a look at this rationally. Boozer is making $11,593,816 for the 05-06 year. Let's assume that he plays equally as well this year (once he returns) as he did last year (before he was injured). So we'll say 18 points and 9 rebounds a game. Let's compare that with other players making the same amount of money(or more) as Boozer.
Brian Grant (Suns) $16,128,428
- Best year (00-01) 15.2 points / 8.7 rebounds
- Last year 3.8 / 3.8
- This year injured
Jalen Rose (Raptors) $15,694,250
- Best year (02-03) 22 points / 4.3 rebounds
- This year 10.7 / 3.3
Tim Thomas (Bulls) $13,975,000
- Best year (03-04) 15 points / 5 rebounds
- This year 4.3 / 1.3
Antonio Davis (Knicks) $13,900,000
- Best year (01-02) 14.5 points / 9.6 rebounds
- This year 4.7 / 5.1
Admittedly, those are some clunkers, but it shows we are way too early in saying Boozer is overrated and overpaid. We can even look at some "stars" making similar money. Right now I bet tons of people would trade Boozer for Pau Gasol straight up. Let's look at his numbers:
Pau Gasol (Grizzlies) $10,967,500
- Best year (this year) 19.2 points / 9.1 rebounds
Looks pretty similar to Boozer's numbers. Elton Brand is having a career year so far, and is rightly considered one of the best in the NBA. His line?
Elton Brand (Clippers) $13,152,000
- Best year (03-04) 20 points / 10.3 rebounds
- Average over the past six years before this one 19.7 points / 10.5 rebounds
If Boozer improves somewhat this year (which he has done every year he's played), then he'll be right there. How about Rasheed Wallace?
Rasheed Wallace (Pistons) $10,260,000
- Best year (01-02) 19.3 points / 8.1 rebounds
- This year 14.3 / 6.3
Anyway, the points are these:
1. Carlos' numbers to date have been at least on par with his money-making peers.
2. Carlos is way too young for us to judge him as a star or as a bust
3. Carlos is legitimately injured
4. We will have to wait until we have two full seasons of a healthy Boozer before we pass judgement (unless he never has two full healthy seasons.......then he is a bum)
I truly believe that 3-4 years from now the Jazz will be one of the better teams in the Western Conference, with a starting five of Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, and a shooting guard to be named later. At that point, as they are fighting for one of the top seeds in the west, we can all have a good laugh that we ever doubted Carlos Boozer to be anything less than a solid 20/10 every night. With a workman's ethic, strength and power, we'll be ever more excited for the years to come.
Until then, leave the poor guy alone, and we can all quit talking about him. Capisce?
So it is with the Utah Jazz and Carlos Boozer. Salt Lake Sports Talk Radio is absolutely obsessed with the man. He was supposed to be the second coming of Karl Malone (or so the media would have us believe) and he hasn't played a game for the Jazz since Valentine's Day. This story could have been properly rehashed maybe three times.
1. When he first got hurt
2. When we found out he would be out all season
3. When he got hurt again at the beginning of this year
And yet the media feels it necessary to bring this up once or twice a week, every week. And it is having a negative effect on the fans' state of mind. Today Ian Fitzsimmons had people call in to finish the sentence "Carlos Boozer is..." and people were saying "a bum", "overrated", etc. Some people think this man is faking his injury. It's an absolutely ridiculous concept that most people would never have thought of if the media hadn't brought it up as a possibility. Now, most of the radio guys seem to agree that he is legitimately hurt, but there are a select few who place doubt in the minds of their listeners.
And the part I am the most confused about are the people who say he is overrated and he wasn't playing well even when he wasn't hurt. And that's a ridiculous statement that no one would make if they actually remembered watching him play. The guy was averaging 18 points and nine rebounds a game. His scoring average has gone up every year, from 10 to 15.5 to 18. His rebounds dipped, but that's probably because there were more rebounders on the Jazz than on the Cavaliers. He shot 52% from the floor for Pete's sake! This is a good player.
People think he is overpaid for the numbers he is giving to the Jazz. Let's take a look at this rationally. Boozer is making $11,593,816 for the 05-06 year. Let's assume that he plays equally as well this year (once he returns) as he did last year (before he was injured). So we'll say 18 points and 9 rebounds a game. Let's compare that with other players making the same amount of money(or more) as Boozer.
Brian Grant (Suns) $16,128,428
- Best year (00-01) 15.2 points / 8.7 rebounds
- Last year 3.8 / 3.8
- This year injured
Jalen Rose (Raptors) $15,694,250
- Best year (02-03) 22 points / 4.3 rebounds
- This year 10.7 / 3.3
Tim Thomas (Bulls) $13,975,000
- Best year (03-04) 15 points / 5 rebounds
- This year 4.3 / 1.3
Antonio Davis (Knicks) $13,900,000
- Best year (01-02) 14.5 points / 9.6 rebounds
- This year 4.7 / 5.1
Admittedly, those are some clunkers, but it shows we are way too early in saying Boozer is overrated and overpaid. We can even look at some "stars" making similar money. Right now I bet tons of people would trade Boozer for Pau Gasol straight up. Let's look at his numbers:
Pau Gasol (Grizzlies) $10,967,500
- Best year (this year) 19.2 points / 9.1 rebounds
Looks pretty similar to Boozer's numbers. Elton Brand is having a career year so far, and is rightly considered one of the best in the NBA. His line?
Elton Brand (Clippers) $13,152,000
- Best year (03-04) 20 points / 10.3 rebounds
- Average over the past six years before this one 19.7 points / 10.5 rebounds
If Boozer improves somewhat this year (which he has done every year he's played), then he'll be right there. How about Rasheed Wallace?
Rasheed Wallace (Pistons) $10,260,000
- Best year (01-02) 19.3 points / 8.1 rebounds
- This year 14.3 / 6.3
Anyway, the points are these:
1. Carlos' numbers to date have been at least on par with his money-making peers.
2. Carlos is way too young for us to judge him as a star or as a bust
3. Carlos is legitimately injured
4. We will have to wait until we have two full seasons of a healthy Boozer before we pass judgement (unless he never has two full healthy seasons.......then he is a bum)
I truly believe that 3-4 years from now the Jazz will be one of the better teams in the Western Conference, with a starting five of Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, and a shooting guard to be named later. At that point, as they are fighting for one of the top seeds in the west, we can all have a good laugh that we ever doubted Carlos Boozer to be anything less than a solid 20/10 every night. With a workman's ethic, strength and power, we'll be ever more excited for the years to come.
Until then, leave the poor guy alone, and we can all quit talking about him. Capisce?
