Skip to main content

A Look At What Could Have Been

In 2006 the Celtics were abysmal. They were a horrendous basketball team that was even horrendous at being horrendous. Eventually they just started tanking games and I was all for it. Why? Because I wanted Greg Oden. I wanted him in Green. I wanted him paired up with Al Jefferson for eternity. Could you imagine? Jefferson utterly dominant and dynamic in the post on the offensive end, but eh on the defensive end and Oden the exact opposite? A more perfect big man blend would be difficult to imagine.

And then in June when the chances looked wonderous, the dreams were crushed. The Celtics lost the draft lottery and the pairing was not to be. The Celtics went on to get KG, Ray Allen, Eddie House and James Posey to win an NBA title to dull this memory out quickly, but forgive me if I slip into what if every once in awhile, I still love Big Al.

Tonight marks a glimpse into that what could have been as Oden's Blazers head into the Garden to lose to the Celtics. And maybe I'll be the only one thinking about what could have been rather than focusing on what already is the best team in the NBA.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

M E T S = Mercifully End The Season

Do it before David Wright gets Hurt!

Numbers On Steroids: Mickey Mantle

Numbers on Steroids is a look at baseball players during the 90s to see if anything screams out at you. This week it's throwing a curve ball and looking at All Time Great Yankees. Players that we know did not take steroids to see if this gives a defense to any of the players 'convicted' by Numbers on Steroids. Time to look at my dad's favorite athlete of all time, Mickey Mantle. Averages Say: What's with the mysterious dip at 27 and then the uptick? At Bats Per Home Run Says: That's a mighty jump from 22 to 24 Explaining As If It Was the 90s If you take a look at the numbers there are two time frames which in the 1990s would be questioned. First would be the incredible leap he took from his first year in the big leagues to his first MVP season in 1956. His batting average jumped 50 points. His slugging percentage jumped 90 points and he hit 15 more homers than his previous high. This wouldn't merrit a conviction nowadays though because the young age he...

This Is Why the New York Mets Can't Win Anymore

It's pretty simple why the Mets can't win games anymore and are morphing into the second worst team in the National League, they can't score runs. The below chart shows exactly whats happenned to their offensive output since each of the major devastating injuries. The blue line shows runs scored for each game through out the season. The pink line shows the average runs the Mets scored when they had everyone, the yellow when they were missing Delgado, the light blue when they were missing Delgado and Reyes, and finally the purple when they were missing Delgado, Reyes and Beltran. In the abscence of Reyes, Delgado and Beltran the Mets are averaging barely over 3 runs per game. In stark contrast, with everyone on the roster the Mets were scoring just over 5 runs per game. That's a wholesale difference and why their roster now equals a lot of losses and a day by day progression further out of a playoff spot.