Year: 2015

Remembering Moses

Chris McGlynn Basketball, NBA , , , ,

Sad news reached those in the NBA community on Sunday. Hall of Famer Moses Malone passed away at the age of 60. Malone was one of the greatest basketball players of all time and became the first ever player to jump from high school to the pros. His passing inspired me to rank the five greatest centers the NBA has ever seen. Let’s see if you agree.

Honorable Mention: Bill Russell, Celtics

Hakeem Olajuwon5. Hakeem Olajuwon, Rockets
This man spent 17 dominant years in Houston, racking up boards and rejecting shots. Olajuwon won back to back titles with the Rockets in 1994 and 1995. He currently sits tenth all-time for point in a career and fifth among centers. The Houston legend also holds the record for most blocks in an NBA career by a considerable margin. He posted a stellar shooting percentage as well hitting 51.2 percent for his career. Olajuwon was at his peak from 1992 to 1996, when he averaged 27 points per game along with 11.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game over a four-year period. Following the 1994 season, he was named the league MVP. That resume got him into the Hall of Fame as well. There is no doubt that Olajuwon deserves to be on this list.

Moses_Malone4. Moses Malone, 76ers
He was known for playing in a lot of different places but his time in Philadelphia was probably his most notable. His first year in Philly, Malone put up the ridiculous stat line of 24.5 points, 15.3 boards and 2 swats a night over the course of the 1982 season, ending in MVP honors. He and the Sixers went on to take home the NBA title that year. Before moving to Philly, Malone was like Olajuwon; Moses spent some time in Houston where he won his first two MVP awards. He still ranks fifth in history in rebounds. Malone retired in 1995 and was, at the time, the third best scorer of all-time. The two men he was still behind are further up on this list. Rest in peace, Chairman of the Boards.

Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O'Neal 1999 (1999 - 2000 Season)3. Shaquille O’Neal, Lakers
Probably one of the most famous players in the last two decades, Shaq terrorized teams with his monster dunks and enormous size. He is obviously a bit of a goof in the media nowadays and is often remembered for the last few years he played where he didn’t do much. However, O’Neal dominated the NBA during his time in both Orlando and Los Angeles. From 1993 to 2003, Shaq averaged at least 26.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He dominated the league for a decade, including 1999 in LA when he posted 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds and three blocks a night resulting in him being named the MVP for that season. He won three straight titles with the Lakers and picked up a fourth in Miami a few years later. Shaq is currently the NBA’s sixth leading scorer all-time but probably ranks as the third best center to wear a Lakers’ uniform.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
You could argue he should be number one. After all he played 20 seasons in the NBA and is the league’s all-time leading -scorer. He also has the third most rebounds and the third most blocks ever. “The Dream” as he was called, holds the record as well for the most MVP awards with six in his long career. He also won six league titles over the course of his two decades of play. However, Abdul-Jabbar also played alongside some of the other greatest players of all-time. He played for six years in Los Angeles before they finally won a title. They finally won when Magic Johnson showed up and later James Worthy joined them. He carried the Bucks to the title in ’71 but he had a lot of help winning the rest of the titles. Help was something the number one man on our list neither had nor needed.

Wilt Chamberlain1. Wilt Chamberlain, 76ers/Warriors
With Abdul-Jabbar’s resume, you have to wonder how he is not number one on this list. Let me tell you why. Wilt Chamberlain dominated basketball when he played. Between 1959 and 1966, Chamberlain scored less than 33.5 points per game once. He might only have four MVP awards to Abdul-Jabbar’s six but Chamberlain had a much more impressive career. He won MVP following his rookie campaign, which is unheard of. He then went on to score 50.4 points per game during the 1961 season. Later in his career, his scoring dropped down to much more reasonable numbers but that was more because he became an excellent passer. Chamberlain averaged 8.6 assists per game in 1967, while still scoring 24.1 points a night. That year, the 76ers won the championship and represented the middle of Wilt’s three straight years as the MVP. If that hasn’t sold you enough, compare their per game stats where Chamberlain averaged 6.5 more points and 11.7 more rebounds per game than Abdul-Jabbar. He remains the NBA’s all-time leader in rebounds and still holds the record for most points in a game. Without a doubt, I am picking Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain as the greatest center to ever take the floor in NBA history.

Note: Back in the time of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, blocks were not an official NBA stat, so their is no data on how well the two protecting the rim.

Murray made a major mistake

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , ,

DeMarco MurrayDeMarco Murray has to be reconsidering his decision to leave Dallas right now.

Murray jumped ship on the Cowboys after the 2014 season, despite winning the Offensive Player of the Year Award and leading the league in both rushing yards and yards from scrimmage. He credited his decision to feeling undervalued by the Cowboys. He wanted to be paid an exorbitant amount of money, which Dallas could not provide after signing Dez Bryant to a huge deal.

So Murray went north to the City of Brotherly Love to join Chip Kelly and the new look Eagles. People were excited to see Murray in the fast paced offense and Murray was pleased to be paid like the franchise running back he thought he deserved to be.

The signing made a ton of sense for the Eagles as well. They had just traded their lead back LeSean McCoy to Buffalo in exchange for Kiko Alonso. However, Philly also went out and signed Ryan Mathews as well from San Diego to add to the stable of runners that featured Kenjon Barner and Darren Sproles.

I had concerns about Murray in this new Eagles offense. First, he was going from a team that sold out on the run to a team that loved to throw the ball. He also went from having the league’s best offensive line to a line that featured two new starters. Murray also had 390 carries in 2014 and no running back has excelled the following season after toting the ball that many times.

Demarco_MurrayHeading into tonight, I was apprehensive as to how Murray would play. I figured he would have decent success though as the Eagles faced the Falcons who had the league’s worst defense a year ago. I kind of expected though that he would see fewer touches because they wanted to pace him for the season and because both Mathews and Sproles would vulture some carries.

However, I hardly expected that Murray would only run the ball eight times in the game. I was shocked even more that he only picked up nine yards on those eight carries. He did catch the ball four times but only picked up 11 yards there. So on the night, Murray finished with a miserable 1.67 yards per touch. That is a far cry from a season ago when he averaged 5.03 yards per touch.

He still scored twice but both times were in short yardage situations. You also cannot count on him scoring two touchdowns every week. Without that second touchdown, the stat line seems a lot less impressive. He will no doubt get opportunities to score in the Philly offense. He just cannot think he will put up the same ground production.

Obviously, it is a very small sample size for Murray and the Eagles but it was not an encouraging start. Either way, Murray made the wrong call when he chose which team. He obviously got paid more but by putting his pride ahead of his production. There is no way Murray will every be as productive as he was going away from Dallas. It was the best spot in the league for a running back. The defense was sturdy and the offense often got them leads early on. That led to plenty of situations for Murray to run the clock behind a bulldozing offensive line.

The Eagles on the other hand, tend throw the ball a ton and Murray has never been known for being a premier pass catcher. That means that Kelly will often sub him off on obvious passing downs. The offensive line also isn’t as reliable. There is just no way Murray is in a better situation. His wallet is just a bit more swollen. He passed up the chance to make a title run with the Cowboys, who, had they retained Murray, would be a popular pick to win the NFC.

He could go on to have a really good year, but in my mind, unless he eclipses his numbers from last year or the Eagles go deeper into the playoffs than the Cowboys, I will definitely chalk this up as a selfish mistake by DeMarco Murray.

New name means new look

Chris McGlynn Announcements

Hello fans of Second Look Sports. I am pleased to announce that I have officially changed the name of my site to The Aftermath. I felt the new name better reflected what I was doing on the site and I felt that it was time for a change. I also bought the web domain, meaning that I am no longer a wordpress site. So welcome to aftermathsports.com. I hope you guys enjoy the new site!

Who’s fault was it anyway?

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , ,

Michael CrabtreeOverall, this was not a great offseason for the San Francisco 49ers. They are returning half of their starters on opening day a year ago. One of the starters that left was wide receiver Michael Crabtree. He left the Bay Area…wait no he actually stayed in the Bay Area and moved to the other side to join the Oakland Raiders.

The divorce wasn’t too ceremonious. Crabtree let it be known that he had no interest in returning to San Francisco. Now, he is taking shots at his former quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Crabtree was quoted saying, “I needed a quarterback that can deliver the ball, and that was hungry like I was.”

Colin_KaepernickThat is flat out harsh. Telling reporters that he didn’t get the ball enough and that Kap wasn’t motivated is some serious criticism. First, it makes Crabtree sound selfish. Second, how much more did he want the ball thrown his way? Kaepernick targeted Crabtree 108 times last season. That ranked him tied 34th in the league among receivers, which doesn’t seem like very much. Consider as well that Kaepernick also targeted Anquan Boldin 130 times as well, which has to make Crabtree feel like he is an afterthought.

However, you have to wonder maybe Kaepernick started to lose some confidence in Crabtree as the season wore on. Crabtree only managed to pick up 10.3 yards per reception last season, including 6.55 yards per catch over the last five games.

Anquan_BoldinMeanwhile, Boldin racked up 12.8 yards per catch over the course of the season. Also, throwing in Boldin’s direction was a much better decision for the 49ers as a team. On 108 targets last year, Crabtree picked up on 698 yards, for an average of 6.46 yards per target. Throwing Boldin’s way was much more productive. Boldin tallied 1062 yards on 130 targets, for an average of 8.17 yards per target. That might not seem like much but even if you were to target both receivers 10 times in one game, the difference would be 17 yards per game. Over the course of a 16-game season, the difference becomes 272 yards per season.

It’s no wonder Kaepernick stopped looking his way as the season continued. There were other reasons too. Both Boldin and Crabtree dropped seven balls over the course of 2014. However, their comparative drop rate was 5.3 percent for Boldin and 6.5 percent for Crabtree. Clearly, Boldin showed better hands and was less likely to drop the ball when it was thrown his way.

DSC_6852Crabtree is also delusional if he thinks that heading to Oakland will result in an immediate upgrade for him at quarterback. Kaepernick hasn’t been a Hall of Famer but he has definitely played better than Derek Carr. In 2014, Kaepernick had a better completion percentage, more passing yards, a better yards per attempt, fewer interceptions and considerably more rushing yards. Then looking deeper, Kaepernick finished the season with a Total QBR of 60.2, which was the 14th best mark in the league. On the other hand, Carr completed the year with a QBR of 38.2, better than only two other quarterbacks in the league. There is no chance that anyone is picking Derek Carr to lead a team over Colin Kaepernick this season. Maybe two years from now, sure. But right now? No chance.

I think Kaepernick has been about as effective as you could expect considering his lack of general surrounding talent. Honestly, based on last season showed us, it should be Kaepernick taking shots at Crabtree for being ineffective. Crabtree has no right complaining about the play of his quarterback until he starts playing like wide receiver he thinks he is.

What was Greg Hardy thinking?

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Social Issues ,

Complain all you want about Brady’s suspension being overturned or celebrate it. Either is appropriate in this situation. However, Greg Hardy got the wrong impression from Brady’s suspension being overturned. No one should be complaining about his suspension and that includes Hardy.

Greg Hardy
Hardy recently signed a 1-year, incentive laden contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

Hardy, who is set to miss the first four games of the season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. He violated it for his involvement in a domestic abuse case back in April of 2014. He missed all but one game of the 2014 season on the commissioner’s exempt list and now will miss four more this year. However, once he heard about Brady’s suspension being vacated, he considered pushing for another appeal to turn over his own suspension.

The fact that Hardy thought he should have a fair chance of having his suspension vacated now based on what happened to Brady. There are a lot of things that don’t add up and make that notion both laughable and despicable.

Firstly, Brady’s suspension was overturned because the NFL doled out his punishment with no form of hard evidence. In Hardy’s situation, that was not the case. He was convicted of assault and found guilty in court. He received 18 months probation instead of 60 days in prison, which already showed some leniency. Then, his charges were later dismissed after a civil suit agreement with the accuser. He might have missed 15 games on the commissioner’s list, but he was still being paid for all of the games he missed. The NFL never officially gave Hardy a punishment and now these four games are the punishment he deserves. On top of all of that, the league actually suspended Hardy for 10 games initially, which he appealed and that resulted in the four game suspension.

Say whatever you want about Tom Brady being a cheater or having a tainted legacy. It does not matter. He was accused of cheating in a game of football. Bad, yes. But on the same level and physical assaulting a women? Absolutely not. Somehow though, Hardy equated those two things in his head and decided that if Brady got off, then he should too.

That idea is ridiculous. Where on Earth did Hardy get the idea that fans or a judge/jury were going to support his claim that he did not deserve his punishment. During his trial, “the accuser testified that she was assaulted by Hardy at his apartment after a night of drinking. She also said Hardy threatened to kill her and put his hands around her neck,” according to ESPN reports. Brady’s four games were for deflating footballs. Hardy’s are for threatening a women’s life. Those don’t equate on any level so Hardy should consider himself lucky that he only has to face the four games.

Hardy’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus stayed very involved with the situation.

Hardy, thankfully, decided to hold off on appealing again. That shows some recognition that the two situations were not similar but the fact that Hardy had the intentions to shows that we still have a long way to go with teaching NFL players what is acceptable. Hardy believed that he had served his punishment for a domestic violence scandal even though he was paid during the time that he was held off the field. In his mind, he came up with the idea that deflating footballs and assaulting a women were comparable. Obviously, he would never admit to that but by simply saying that the outcome for Brady could change his situation means that he made some parallel between the two.

It shows that the NFL has a long way to go before they finally teach their players that domestic violence will simply not be tolerated. Players still think they can find their way out of suspensions or at the very least negotiate their way down from where they start because it’s just domestic violence. You can maintain that it isn’t true but that is the message that the league and it’s players send when they fail to properly react to these types to situations.

Hardy made the right decision to accept his punishment in the end. I have to commend him for that much. I just really wish he had never even brought up a second appeal. Had he really put his efforts into having his suspension vacated, their would have been a big uproar and I can guarantee you that I would have been part of it.

He got off without jail time, he still got paid and he had his initial suspension reduced. Hardy couldn’t have asked for much more and the fact that he almost did bothers me. I can only hope that the time comes where the NFL no longer has to deal with these types of situations. It will take some time but it is a day that we will accept with open arms.