Jacoby_Ellsbury

C's are finally back on track after the s***** first half. Up by 6 in the fourth quarter as I write this.

Nice, enjoy. Am I alone in thinking that TD Banknorth makes the best sausage pepper & onion subs in existence?

Apparently we're wearing special uniforms for the opener tonight. http://i33.tinypic.com/2nk0z95.jpg Good thing its only one night, we look like the A's. I heard the Red Sox did this for the 05 opener too... did they really? I didn't notice it if they did.

Why the f*** would the Sox trade Ellsbury at this point? Not only would I cut myself if that happened, I'd have to change my username.

I was reduced to scoreboard watching... who's responsible for the loss, out of curiousity?

Hmm... I'll be checking it out, seems interesting enough.

It would be pointless for the Braves to go get Peavy. Their team is free-falling toward the basement, and not even Peavy is going to change that.

http://newengland.comcastsportsnet.com/programs/manny-being-manny/

Something that concerns me about Wakefield being the fifth starter; because of Francona's decision to not use off days to break up the rotation and not use the fifth guy (unlike a lot of teams), Wakefield could end up in quite a few 1 vs. 5 matchups, which isn't comforting to me, to say the least. Probably a silly worry on my part, but I can't help thinking about it.

Very well said. Slow pitch softball isn't the reason I tune out Wakefield though...

I'll do my analysis of the rest of the teams now, because I like the discussion so far in this thread and I want more. EAST 9. Bulls -- Still a very cluttered backcourt combined with a weak front line. That said, they have way too much talent to place them too far out of contention. Derrick Rose will be a stabilizing force, drafting a true, steady, point guard can rarely hurt you. They need to aim for an offensive big man in next year's draft. Or sign one of a couple of potential free agents. 10. Wizards -- Gilbert Arenas was hurt last season and Washington didn't miss a beat. That's not what gets them this low. Center Brendan Haywood had a breakout season in 07-08, and gave the Wizards a solid presence in the paint to draw some attention away from Washington's wing scorers (Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, DeShawn Stevenson, Arenas when healthy). He's out for four months. Talented team that is once again too injury rattled to be a threat. Only this time, they'll miss the playoffs altogether. 11. Bucks -- Richard Jefferson is a solid #2 to Michael Redd. Scott Skiles does have a way of coaxing wins out of his teams in his first couple of seasons with them, by preaching toughness and defense. With this team, I just don't see it. They're hoping Ramon Sessions can fill a hole at point guard, but if he isn't ready, Milwaukee is in deep trouble there. Power forward is another position that concerns me. Charlie Villanueva is a nice player, but not the conventional PF that the Bucks need on the block. David Noel's a dunker/energy guy. The bench could also be an issue. Chicago was knee deep in talented players (though no all-stars) when Skiles was hired there. Rough year in Milwaukee. 12. Hawks -- Last year was an overachievement, plain and simple. Winning 37 games was overachieving, let alone the fact that it somehow allowed them to slip into the playoffs. This offseason, they lost Josh Childress to a Greek team. He was a solid contributor during his time Atlanta, and his departure now makes the bench, for lack of a better word, terrible. There's also a possibility they could miss Salim Stoudamire's deadly shooting touch more than they think. 13. Bobcats -- Early word is that the Bobcats are already complaining about Larry Brown's coaching style and personality. Meaning that this season has the potential to be like the 05-06 Knicks, complaining and lurching their way through the season, only they have far less talent (though are also far less mismatched). Or, Larry Brown could rekindle his coaching magic and have this team in playoff contention. Its not out of the question. 14. Nets -- What a mess. If they're lucky, they could unload Vince Carter by midseason to a contending team. If they get unlucky, they're stuck with him and the crying he's bound to do by the time January comes around and the Nets are battling the Knicks for being the laughingstock of the East. Devin Harris I really like, he'll be a great point guard in Brooklyn. The rest of the roster is random mismatched career role players such as Keyon Dooling, Jarvis Hayes, and Eduardo Najera, or young players that have yet to really pan out, and in some cases its doubtful they ever will. 15. Knicks -- Isiah is gone, but his mess remains. That is, Zach Randolph, Stephon Marbury, and Eddy Curry all still play for the Knicks. Until New York can find a way to get all three of them out of town, as well as draft some meaningful players, they'll be garbage. D'Antoni is in way over his head here. WEST 9. Suns -- I've already explained this. 10. Clippers -- They probably were screwed by Elton Brand, so you can't really fault the Davis signing, but other than that it's been a series of panic moves that Clipper fans are all too familiar with. New to the fold this time around are Ricky Davis, Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Brian Skinner, and Jason Hart. The Clippers will lack chemistry all season, and just throwing a team together like they have, without any real plan, is not a good way to try and win basketball games. 11. Grizzlies -- I like the talent here, quite a bit. Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol all have terrific careers in front of them. Its only a matter of time before that talent, Gay and Conley in particular due to having some NBA experience already, begins to materialize, and I think we could see some flashes this season. O.J. Mayo is a leading candidate for ROY, and Marc Gasol, despite not having NBA experience, has been playing pro ball for a while. Memphis is pretty much set for the future. Once thing they still have to do midseason, find a contending team that needs depth, offer them Antoine Walker, attach Javaris Crittenton, and hope they bite. 12. Timberwolves -- Similar situation to Memphis. Al Jefferson should be an all-star this season, and is a big guy perfectly suited to having a franchise built around him. I think he should be moved to center to accomodate Kevin Love. They have a slew of recent first round picks on their roster, Telfair, Foye, Brewer, and McCants. If some of that talent ever starts to take effect, Minnesota could end up doing better than we all thought. 13. Warriors -- Monta Ellis is out half the year, they lost Baron Davis and signed Corey Maggette in his place. Both of the core components of their team are gone, and they'll have to rely on pretty unknown players such as Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, and Marco Belinelli to stay afloat. I don't see it happening. Even Don Nelson won't be able to do much with this bunch. 14. Nuggets -- They're in line for a big collapse. They're an even worse defensive team than last year, something I thought impossible, they don't have any legitamite post game, and they also don't have a quality, true point guard of any kind. The only thing they do have is three great wing players who are very likely to stir the pot in a big way once the losing starts. George Karl's time is running out, I can't see him making it to the all-star game. 15. Thunder -- Seattle's revenge. Nice cast of young players, but Kevin Durant has absolutely no help here. OKC fans got their wish of a pro sports team, but unfortunately it will struggle to scrape 20 wins. Still, the future is bright, and Sam Presti has a ton of draft picks at his disposal, which he can manuever with however he pleases.

Ok, just seemed iffy with the context, thought you had made a typo. Uhhh... where is this coming from? Regardless, somebody's forgetting about DQ, Diawara, and possibly Dorell Wright. Even if it was true, I doubt it lasts very long, once Erik Spoelstra discovers just how much Marcus Banks sucks.

Haslem also started on the 04-05 and 06-07 teams, in addition to the title team. He's a solid player, and he gets things done. Judging by the context of the bolded part, I assume you meant that Quinn can't shoot, in which case you be wrong, he hit 40% of his three point attempts last year (making 64 total). Overall FG% was about 43%, not spectacular, but plenty good enough for the role he'd be playing, considering his three-point and free-throw percentages. He's not a great man defender, but he can get a takeaway here and there. Last season, however bad the team was, Quinn showed that he can run a team's offense. FTR, what does it matter how tall Quinn is and whether he can play shooting guard? We're talking about him in a backup point guard role, a role he's perfectly capable of filling.

TJ averaged 2 TOs a game on the button last year. Andre Miller, Rafer Alston, Jameer Nelson, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Devin Harris all averaged more. And those are just the players I bothered to look up. Shooting is not a pre-requisite to be a good point guard. Jason Kidd, Andre Miller. He plays decent defense. The fact is, he helps teams win, recent history proves that. Milwaukee made the playoffs in 06 when he returned from the spine injury, and in 07 he pushed Toronto to the playoffs for the first time since god-knows-when, and Toronto made it last year as well. This Indiana team has as much collective talent on it as any of the three teams mentioned. Granger is a player on the rise, there's a reason lots of people like him so much. He does a bit of everything. His average will top 20 ppg this year. What other non-playoff teams from last season made major improvements, besides Miami? New Jersey dumped Richard Jefferson for essentially nothing, Milwaukee still sucks despite taking on Jefferson, Chicago did nothing, Charlotte did nothing. Who are these other teams on the up-swing?

Something like that. Its not for the season though, he'll still provide a deep threat when he returns.

Not a whole lot more I can add to this than I already have... we will see what happens. No doubt playing with Michael Redd as opposed to LeBron James helped those numbers. I think Mo playing more minutes than Gibson also contributed. West moving to shooting guard isn't going to magically fix that hole, either, seeing as West is a tad undersized to be a 2 and his strength thus far in his career has been his defense. They're not better than last year, they lost their sixth man, Josh Childress, who was criminally underrated. That'll offset any small improvements from Bibby or Horford. Atlanta only won 37 games last year, there was no way they should have made the playoffs. If the East was legitamite outside of 3 or 4 teams, they wouldn't have made it. They might win 1 or 2 more games this year, but that won't get them in, due to Indiana and Miami flying by them (in my book). Chalmers has weapons in Miami. Their names are Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, Shawn Marion, Daequan Cook, and James Jones. That's plenty good enough on the weapons front. Magloire isn't going to be asked to do nearly as much as when he was in Portland and New Jersey, bad teams who needed him to give them scoring, which he can't do. What he can do is rebound and score in spots while the defense is focused elsewhere. Miami is a good fit for him. I don't think he'll resurrect his career to the level of 03-04, but he can be productive. IMHO, he needs to be the starter over Blount. Jamaal Tinsley does suck, that's why he won't be on the team this year. Marquis Daniels is decent, he can't shoot but he can score a little and get a steal or two a game. For players who don't have an impact, Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy were awful close to 20 ppg last year. Jeff Foster can have an impact, he only averaged 3.4 offensive rebounds a game last year, almost 9 in total, while playing about half the game. Ford is one of the better point guards in the league. All I know is, for a team that didn't mesh, they did awful good for what was expected of them this time last year. And as I said, the main thing they missed was good point guard play. T.J. Ford is a good point guard, he was overshadowed by Calderon in Toronto. On paper, the Hornets are dynamite. Basketball is not played on paper. Again, I've follwed the league for quite a while and surprise teams like that do come back down to reality, to some extent, next season. Don't forget that there are expectations on them, now. As opposed to this time last year where they were free of any expectations or pressure. May seem nitpicky, but I believe that its a factor. I don't. Amare is an offensive stud in the fast break game, that's what he was meant for. He can still do well in this new system, just not as well. Unfortunately, not the case with anyone around him. If I was Phoenix, I wouldn't want Nash's easily injured self playing in a more physical game style. Shaq is through. End of story. He'll just be a wad out there the 35 games he does play. Tim Duncan is still the best (or very close to it), Tony Parker is still only 26 years old and only gets more productive every year, Ginobili won't miss a beat once he's back. Off the bench they have Kurt Thomas, known for rebounding and good defense, Ime Udoka, shooter/defender, Michael Finley, shooter, Roger Mason does a little of everything. They basically have the same formula off their bench they've always had; shooters, defenders, rebounders (down low). Its worked in the past, no reason it can't work this season. Chemistry is going to be a major issue with the Clippers. They effectively swapped out Brand and Maggette for Davis and Camby. Out of the two duos, I'll take Brand and Maggette. Camby is old, and while can he can still contribute a lot to a defense, he will never give you close to what Brand gave LA. Mobley's slowing down, Davis will make more contributions than Mobley will. What the Clippers did, once again, was go out and find three or four mismatched veterans to bring in and hope that they can all co-exist and give them wins. That plan has backfired a few times on the Clippers in the past. Only this time, its pretty much a complete housecleaning with the exception of Kaman and Thornton.

Because of the shoulder injury, he might last a little while over the winter. I'd see how things go with Peavy (or Sabathia/Burnett... sigh...) before making this move.

Well we shall see... both sides have made their arguments, not a whole lot else we can do that wouldn't be repetitive.

Not hugely positive... the guy plays good defense and will hit a few late-game threes. He's a good addition, but he won't be the reason they place 1st in the conference, assuming YankHater's predictions prove to be on target.

IMO, that's the reason he's going to aggressively pursue another (probably young) catcher. He won't come right out and tell the truth about this sort of thing.