Draymond Green

What can I say? I love the dancing bear.

I remember when this chubby high school kid was an afterthought in the 2008 recruiting class.  The prized possessions of the class were Delvon Roe and Korie Lucious, and when Green chose the Spartans over Michigan and Indiana, there was hardly any buzz.  Too short to play the 4, too wide and slow to play the 3, Green was hopefully going to be a decent role player by the time he was an upperclassmen.

Day-Day has vastly exceeded all expectations.  He has been a stud, and I love everything he has brought to MSU (except having to hear national broadcasters mention his ‘high basketball IQ’ and call him a ‘great passer for a big man’ at least three times a game).  The big fella has already been a big contributor to two Final Four teams and appears hungry to help this team get back to national prominence.

People were critical of Draymond at times last year, and justifiably so in certain cases.  He would try to do too much at times, making that extra pass when he should go up with the ball or trying to thread the needle with a perfect pass that ends up as a turnover.  His turnovers went up, his assist to turnover rate dropped, and his field goal percentage suffered a dramatic drop-off from 52.5% to 42.6%.  He forced shots and was not nearly as efficient as he had been in the past.

I have a question to the people who criticized him for this: what on earth do you expect him to do?  Put yourself in his shoes for some of our games this season.  Your team is playing terribly uninspiring ball and either getting blown out, or losing to an inferior opponent.  Kalin Lucas’ shot is not falling this particular game.  You look to your left, you see an undersized, hobbling Delvon Roe fighting for post position against a good defender.  You look to the other side of the floor, and catch a glimpse of Durrell Summers spacing out in the corner.  You look to your right, and see a former walk-on and future accountant.  I love Mike Kebler, but he is not going to shoot you back in to a game.  What are you going to do, site idly by while your offense sputters, the deficit grows and your pride shrinks? 

I like what Draymond did.  He grabbed the bull by the horns and tried to make something happen when no one else was.  He showed a sense of pride when his team was getting embarrassed and tried to turn things around, even though it often failed. 

Yes, Day-Day forced shots and was probably required to be a bigger part of the offense than his skill-set dictated.  I mentioned earlier that his FG% dropped.  This happened for a few reasons, one of which was his increased range and tendency to shoot three-pointers.  He shot 107 three-pointers last year, compared to only 16 his sophomore season. 

Still, his FG% on two-point field goals dropped from roughly 55% to 45%.  Certainly, the departure of Raymar Morgan played a factor in this.  Without him, Draymond was now the focus of the opposition’s best interior defender.  He also was expected to account for a higher percentage of his team’s scoring.  Many of his shots used to come from put-backs of offensive rebound, and open dunks or lay-ups.  Last year, MSU isolated him in post-up situations a good amount, especially towards the end of the year.  That had never happened before, and it led to tougher looks for #23.

I am not trying to make excuses for him.  He had some bad shooting nights, and made his fair share of bad decisions, which also was a dynamic in his decreased statistics.  Here is the thing about Draymond: he is not built to be a star of the offensive end, and is much better suited to be your third or fourth option   You absolutely love him as the third-best player on a great team.  He will rebound, defend, make great passes and decisions, play with heart, and do a little bit of everything for you. But if he is your best player and one of your top scoring options, you probably aren’t going to the Final Four.

Even though he probably shouldn’t be, he will once again be one of our top scorers.  With that in mind, I hope he is really working on his post game.  His butt better be on the block all summer long, because MSU really needs to find some offense down there, and he is our best candidate to provide it. With his wide body and soft touch, he can be a bit of a crafty scorer down low.  If he can score one-on-one at a decent clip it creates problems, because if he gets collapsed on by the defense and commands a lot of attention, he can use his high basketball IQ (see, even I can’t avoid using this cliché to describe his game, and I can’t stand it) to find wide-open teammates.  Increasing his arsenal on the block will make the boys in green and white much tougher to guard in halfcourt sets.  Plus, Draymond is above-average in almost every other area of the game, so his #1 priority should be his improving his offense.

Difficult 4-game stretch against the Yanks

Things don't get any easier for the Tigers.  Coming off six straight losses, they get to play the evil empire, the New York Yankees in a 4-game set.


Justin Verlander gets the call tonight for the Tigers, and will be facing Bartolo Colon, who has been pretty good so far this year.  Verlander must pitch extremely well tonight and get the ball club a must needed W.  He is the ace, and part of an ace's job requirements is to get big wins for his team and stop losing streaks. 

This is the Tigers' most favorable pitching match-up of the series, and they need to get game one if they have hopes of splitting, which is a great outcome when you are struggling and facing one of the best teams in baseball.

Too Early to assess Lions Draft

Typically, in the NFL, Free Agency takes place before the NFL draft does.  Teams know the complete composition of there roster, and whomever they draft become the final pieces of the puzzle and the last additions they make of the off-season.

Because of the lockout, things are markedly different this time around. The Free Agency period in the NFL has yet to happen, so teams still have time to address their needs through other means than the draft.

I hope the Lions have big plans in free agency, because they approached their needs with a stunning apathy.

Listen, I am a big proponent on taking the best player available and not getting so caught up on need.  I loved the Nick Fairley pick at #13, because of his upside and the thought of him and Ndamukong Suh being such a nightmare to block.  I thought he was far and away the best player on the board, and I credit the Lions for taking him.

I also like the PLAYERS they took in the second round, and thought that they were good values at that point from a talent standpoint.  But third wide receivers and timeshare running backs are luxury picks, things you look for once you have your major needs taken care of.  There are still MAJOR needs at cornerback and outside linebacker, and the offensive line could really afford to be upgraded. 

I am taking a wait-and-see approach before I evaluate this draft.  If Mayhew and co. can do an adequate job of addressing those needs in free agency, I really like the draft.  If they can not do so, there will have been players in the draft that could have helped this team win more right away, which the Lions are aiming for.

Central Divison is "upside down"

Before the season, I picked how I thought the AL central would shake out in the MLB this year.  My order?  Twins first, followed by the White Sox, Tigers, Royals, then Indians.  Pick up your newspaper and check out today's standings. 

No, you are not holding your newspaper upside down.

It's been that type of year in the central, where nothing seems to be going as planned.  The Indians are playing exceptional ball, and the Twins look miserable.  Many people still do not think the Indians have the horses to win this division and make the playoffs, but they have to be at least considered a contender.  They lead the majors in runs scored, run differential, and have the best home record in the bigs.

For how bad the Tigers have looked this season (especially recently), this is a welcome sign.  The teams who were expected to compete with them for the division crown have looked miserable, and it is unlikely that Cleveland will be able to sustain this type of success throughout the season. 

The Tigers have looked bad, but if they can pull it all together they still have a shot to win an incredibly mediocre division.

Gonna have to dig deeper to win this series

The Wings are playing a very big, physical, skilled Sharks team.  Their skilled and mobile defense are arriving at dump-ins first, making good decisions and smart passes, allowing the team to get out of the zone very cleanly.  Their jerseys are hideous.  Joe Pavelski has come up with big moments.  They are carrying the puck over the blue-line with much more ease than the Wings, and using their big, physical forward corps to control the puck down low and generate scoring chances.  They are winning face-offs at crucial moments and getting far more time on the powerplay.  There have been two hotly-contested games at the Shark Tank, both have which resulted in one-goal victories for San Jose.

Are we watching last year's series again?  Because it sure seems that way.

Some things have changed.  Jimmy Howard is a more confident goalie, and the Sharks have a new guy manning their crease.  The Wings are more well rested, and the Sharks have more confidence this time around.  Either way, these last two games have been creepily similiar to many of the games last year.  Which worries me as a Red Wings fan. 

Don't get me wrong, this series is far from over.  But it is obvious that the Sharks gear up to play the players donning the Winged Wheel, and the boys in red need to play with a similar chip on their shoulders.  San Jose has spent the majority of the first two games in Detroit's zone, and the Wings need to play with more urgency on their forecheck and get more pucks at the net if they hope to turn things around.

Tigers escape with win 4/12/11

What a weird game. I saw something in baseball i'd never seen before. Josh Hamilton tried to tag-up and score from third on a ball that was popped up towards the dugout. It was a gutsy play, but Hamilton was thrown out and broke his arm on the play, which will sideline him for 6-8 weeks.

We saw Brayan Villarreal get a hold without throwing a pitch. By picking off Julio Borbon in the sixth inning with two outs, he got the Tigers out of an important jam.

Rangers reliever Darren O'Day walked Austin Jackson and Ryan Rayburn in the bottom of the ninth, allowing Miguel Cabrera to single in the game-winning run. If I am Ron Washington, i'm telling O'Day to make it his first priority to get the ball over the plate to either of those hitters, especially Rayburn, considering Cabrera was waiting on deck. I don't care if you need to underhand pitch Rayburn softball-style to get it over the plate, just do it, and don't let one of the two most dangerous hitters in the game step in the box. Hopefully this didn't stress Washington out and make him dabble in one of his past hobbies: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000657-504083.html.


Perhaps the two biggest surprises of the day: The Tigers got a win against a superior opponent with a bad pitching matchup, and being fundamentally better on the base-paths allowed it to happen.

I am down on the Tigers this year. I can't help it. I do not like the composition of the roster, I don't like the way they've played so far this year, and I find myself expecting the worst when they face adversity. In the first few innings, The Rangers were threatening constantly, and their stacked lineup was killing every mediocre Brad Penny fastball and slider. I kept waiting for the floodgates to open and for the Tigs to slide to 3-8 on the year.

Somehow, the Tigers managed to get out of their jams with minimal damage, partially because of good defense, and partially because of Texas' mishaps running the bases.

When Hamilton took off for home and was tagged out on a close play, they left a potential run on the field. Ryan Rayburn made a great grab at the left field wall, saving two more runs. Adrian Beltre was thrown out trying to stretch a triple in the fourth; C.J. Wilson made a terrible attempt to field a slow-roller by Ramon Santiago, in one of those 'there's no way that should be ruled a hit but it was for some reason' plays. Santiago came around to score, and it extended the inning, allowing the Tigers to add another run with two outs. Borbon was picked off first to end the sixth inning. Then, O'Day could not locate his pitches to two average players in order to keep the best hitter in the AL from getting a chance to end the game.

Plain and simple, the Tigers STOLE a game they probably had no business winning. In fairness, some Tigers line-drives found gloves late in the game, and the team made some great defensive plays to keep it close in crucial moments. Texas gave them a small window of hope, and Detroit capitalized it, so you have to give them credit for it.

Considering how badly this season has been going, something needed to happen to spark a turnaround. Today, luck broke the Tigers way, and they took full advantage of it. I do not want to read too far into one game, but this is the type of game that can inspire confidence in the clubhouse. They need to come out tomorrow with a similar sense of urgency, and sustain the momentum they got today. A series win here and a 4-3 road-trip turns a 3-7 start into a much more manageable 9-10.

Max Scherzer needs to prove his worth as a #2 pitcher tomorrow. A top-of-the-rotation guy has to impose his will on an opposing team in this type of game, and make sure his team gets out of the hole they started the season in. Lets see if this game was an aberration, or a sign of things to come.