Here are some New Years resolutions for some LSF teams:
Los Angeles Angels - Don't celebrate walk-off homers too much, and find the pop in the bats. And possibly, fire Mike Scioscia.
Los Angeles Dodgers - Find some consistency in the pitching. Guys like Billingsley and Kershaw have some of the best stuff in the NL, but are all over the map as far as performance (moreso Billingsley than Kershaw). Ted Lilly has been known for roller coaster seasons as well. Broxton had a very strange year.
Toronto Blue Jays - Figure out the Florida Marlins formula. The Jays will be a medium budget team for quite some time - they need to figure out how to reap the most from their farm system and scout younger players from other organizations. Brett Lawrie could be a good pickup.
Vancouver Canucks - Win the big ones. They've consistently been on of the best teams in the regular season, but can't seem to pull it off when it matters the most.
Toronto Maple Leafs - Be bold with moves for offensive players. Picking up Phaneuf and Giguere were very good acquisitions - but when your team can't score goals the defense can only do so much. Phil Kessel has been good, but not great. They could use a Rick Nash-type player.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Let the players' performance dictate who starts. Tommy Rees was not as highly touted out of high school as Jimmy Claussen or Dayne Crist, but who cares what they did back then. College is a different game, so wipe the slate clean. Also, give Manti Te'o some help on defense (today's Sun Bowl looks like they're on the right track).
USC Trojans - Figure out the Tampa 2, blitz more often, call better plays, and don't rely on high school talent. Lots to discuss here, I'll probably save it for another entry.
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays - Do some better recruiting. Too many elite players are deciding that Hopkins isn't the right place for them.
St. Louis Rams - Get some better receivers for Sam Bradford. Similar to how Joe Flacco benefited from have TJ Houshmanzadeh and Anquan Boldin this year, a big play making WR or two would really make the Rams and Stephen Jackson more dangerous.
Baltimore Ravens - Find a long-term replacement for Ray Lewis, and win the big games. Ray Ray is getting older and fatter - and Sergio Kindle may miss another season. Unfortunately this year's draft is devoid of All-Pro potential inside linebackers, and Paul Posluzsny is the only high caliber who's still young enough to be considered a franchise LB. Not sure if he has the nastiness and mean streak to fill in for Ray though.
Boston Celtics - Don't depend on KG to get you through the playoffs. He's already out for a couple weeks now with an injury, and at his age and frailty is bound to be injured for the playoffs again. Big Baby won't get the job done for an NBA title either.
Los Angeles Clippers - Trade Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, and any other young, high potential players not named Blake Griffin. In return, get a perimeter player who is willing and able to take over games the way the Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, and Chris Paul do. Brandon Knight, Kemba Walker, or Josh Selby could do. Of those three, I think Walker would make the most dangerous combo with Griffin.
Los Angeles Lakers - Beat the teams you're supposed to beat, get some sort of offensive contribution from Ron Artest, and keep Andrew Bynum healthy. They got the shit kicked out of them on Christmas day last year and look how that turned out.
Newcastle - By all means do not sell Andy Carroll. Instead, get him more creative help in the midfield.
I wrote up more for Chelsea, Man Utd, and Everton, but Blogspot just lost them when I tried to publish. Oh well.
5 comments:
This is maybe one of the best posts/ideas for a post, possibly in the history of tLSF. Maybe even better because I agree with you on all my teams, except the Celts. Big Baby is better than you think.
I also meant to say that signing Taylor to an extension was good for Newcastle.
As far as Big Baby goes, I just don't see him being able to match up with a Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, or Pau Gasol in the finals. He's a good jump shooter and has good energy, but if you replace KG for 35 mins with Big Baby, and give Big Baby's bench minutes to I don't know, Luke Harangody, I think that's a big drop off. I also think Jermaine O'Neal is too rusty and crusty to be able to contribute much.
Just one game, but thought I'd throw this out there. Big Baby's stat line from tonight's game against New Orleans: 4-14 FG, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 8 pts, -19 on the floor.
Great post. My only adage would be that the Clippers are not likely going to sell on Eric Gordon any time soon. They seem to view him as something of the type of player you describe. I think he's got a sweet shot and is underrated defensively. But as far as building a team around him and Griffin, well, time will tell. They did already trade Thornton, though.
Well, shit. Shows how much I know about the Clippers. I was very high on EG out of Indiana, but just haven't seen the ability to take over a game. Maybe he's just a late bloomer though.
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