James Harden is not the MVP and Ben Simmons is not the ROY. That doesn’t sound too crazy, does it?
Of course, the league will probably pick them for their respective awards because that’s just what they do, but here’s why those are the wrong choices: Don’t get me wrong, Harden and Simmons both had incredible regular seasons and both so far led their teams to the second round of the playoffs. Those are incredible feats that very few players are able to do. MVP: Lebron James is the clear choice for the Most Valuable Player. If you take a closer look, rather than just looking at stats, James has every qualification over Harden. James said, “The body of work, how I’m doing it, what’s been happening with our team all year long, how we’ve got so many injuries and things of that nature, guys in and out, to be able to still keep this thing afloat, I definitely would vote me.” While he sounds a little full of himself, he’s not wrong; the Cleveland Cavaliers traded away a large portion of their team (including Kyrie Irving before the season…) and one of their main players, Kevin Love, rode the bench with an injury. James Harden is playing alongside Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza. The comparison from the strength of their teams clearly shows that LeBron is doing more than Harden has. LeBron has a larger impact. LeBron also played all 82 games, as opposed to harden’s mere 72. James also scored 2,251 points this year, while Harden scored only 2,191, James recorded 747 assists compared to Harden’s 630, and James had 709 rebounds over Harden’s 389. The crippled team and the stats show that LeBron is the most worthy of the 2017-18 NBA MVP (this would be his fifth). ROY: Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum are far more worthy of the Rookie of the Year Award than Ben Simmons is. Now, I won’t say who deserves it more, Mitchell or Tatum, but Julius Erving did say that, “Tatum probably should have been the first pick in the draft.” Think about what these players are working with: Ben Simmons has a potentially all-star lineup (when they’re all healthy) as he was accompanied by Joel Embiid, J.J. Redick, and eventually the first pick in the draft, Markelle Fultz. Mitchell had Rudy Gobert and then a relatively unknown lineup with Jae Crowder and Dante Exum. Tatum had Irving for half the year, Gordon Hayward for about five minutes, and then a rookie lineup with a bunch of injured backups… and of course an all-star in Al Horford. Mitchell definitely had the least to work with and he’s in the Western Conference Semifinals, tied with Harden’s championship-favorite Houston Rockets. Tatum played the least minutes, but to be fair, Brad Stevens likes to ration his players’ playing time (which has clearly worked!). In the meantime, Simmons has had an extra year to create chemistry with his teammates and an extra year to train and learn the ins and outs of the Philadelphia 76ers’ playbook. Simmons scored 15.2 points per game, recorded 8.2 assists per game, and got 8.1 rebounds per game. Clearly, he’s more of a team player, but he still doesn’t do enough himself. Mitchell scored 20.5 points per game, recorded 3.7 assists per game, and got 3.7 rebounds per game. Not bad numbers for a rookie in what is arguably the tougher conference. Tatum scored 13.9 points per game, recorded 1.0 assists per game, and got 5.0 rebounds per game. With Tatum, it’s important to remember how limited his minutes were when comparing him to Simmons or Mitchell. Another factor to note is that these men play different positions (Simmons is a point guard, Mitchell is a shooting guard, and Tatum is a small forward). You expect a point guard to rack up points and assists, but a shooting guard should solely be a point scorer. And a small forward is only expected to score and obtain rebounds, so you look at the numbers and the factors, and be the judge… (May the 4th be with you) Jesse A. Cook “James Harden Is Not The MVP And Ben Simmons Is Not The ROY” May 4, 2018
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Today is the 20th anniversary of the Seinfeld episode concerning the holiday, Festivus. In following the tradition, this December 23rd, here is my airing of grievances and feats of strength from the major sports:
AIRING OF GRIEVANCES PLAYER’S POWER In the NBA, the power of the players to control their owners has been a constant problem. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Chris Paul say they want to leave their franchise team and there’s no debate, they’re right onto listening for new deals! They say they want out and they’re gone. That’s ridiculous, but it looked like it was staying in the NBA until recently. STANTON LEAVES MIAMI Giancarlo Stanton followed in suit with the NBA stars and decided he wanted to leave the city he’s called home for his entire eight-year career. Immediately, he’s dealt to the New York Yankees, which actually leads me to my next grievance which is how a lifetime Pinstripe traded the star of the team he newly owns to the Yanks for next to nothing! Derek Jeter willingly deals the reigning National League MVP from the Miami Marlins to the Bronx for Starlin Castro and a couple of mediocre minor leaguers? Something’s not right, here. FIGHTING IN FOOTBALL From Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib to A.J. Green and Jalen Ramsey, the fighting in the NFL has gotten out of control. The sport is dangerous enough as it is, and with the ongoing investigations into concussion protocol and CTE, they definitely do not to be scrutinized over how Ndamukong Suh stepped on Aaron Rodgers’ throat. The Cincinnati Bengals are a prime example, for they’ve been recognized as thugs ever since Adam Jones and Vontaze Burfict tried to essentially assassinate Antonio Brown in the 2015-16 AFC Wild Card. NHL LEAVES THE OLYMPICS With great players from around the globe in the NHL, it’s a real shame that this 2018 Olympic Games is the first tournament to not include the NHL athletes. Who doesn’t want to see Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin lead Team Russia against Patrick Kane and Zach Parise for Team USA, or Tuukka Rask and Team Finland against Henrik Lundqvist and Team Sweden, or the many notable faces of Team Canada against whatever sorry country they’re pitted against? The NHL doesn’t want to take two weeks out of their season anymore to showcase their best and brightest stars, but fortunately, we still have the Hockey World Championship in late spring. NBA SUPERTEAMS The Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder are prime examples of superteams. These teams are corrupting the NBA because now great players are just getting together and making it ridiculous for other teams to even try! It’s not inconceivable that the only competition in the West is the Warriors, Houston and OKC and it’s only Cleveland and Boston in the East because of these superteams. FOOD AT MARINERS’ GAMES The Seattle Mariners are a fine organization, but their food has gotten a little outlandish. Safeco Field is now serving roasted grasshoppers at Mariners’ games, but however good they may or may not taste, this writer is not on board with munching on insects. HATING TB12 The New England Patriots are often thought of as the Yankees of the NFL because they just keep on winning, but that hate is directed mainly at Tom Brady. People claim that he’s not the greatest quarterback of all time, but the stats do not lie and now people are claiming that he’s not that good when he’s the front runner for MVP. Giving the MVP Award to somebody else is like when the NBA gave the award to Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon or Magic Johnson just so Michael Jordan didn’t get it every single year; greatness gets repetitive and people need to get on board. 31 TEAMS Sure, the Las Vegas Golden Knights is a pretty addition to the NHL, but now the league is in a weird situation. The West now has 16 teams and the East has 15, lopsiding the league so that there’s one more team to contend with in the Western Conference than there is the East. Maybe it’s just an answer to how the Nashville Predators, who made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, were the last seed in the West, but the seventh seed Calgary Flames wouldn’t have made it in the East, so now teams have to do slightly better to make the playoffs. FEATS OF STRENGTH WIN STREAKS The Celtics, Cavs and Rockets all boasted win streaks in the double digits, with the Land at 12 games, Houston at 14 and the Celts at an outstanding, historic 16 games. Granted, all three of these organizations fell under my list of superteams, in the competitive National Basketball Association winning above ten games in a row is no small task. Only a strong team could pull off such a feat. ANGELIC DEALS The Los Angeles Angels are making themselves into a powerful foe for their American League counterparts. Already possessing arguably the greatest baseball player since Babe Ruth in Mike Trout, with the recent acquisition of Shohei Ohtani, Zack Cozart and Ian Kinsler, they’re a daunting danger to the daring demeanor of the distant desert teams in the AL West. The all-star Reds’ shortstop Cozart and the WBC Team USA star Ian Kinsler make a deadly, dastardly duo in the middle infield and Ohtani speaks for himself, something he doesn’t do when addressing an English-speaking crowd! They barely missed the playoffs last year, so with this rejuvenation, this year will be a wild one. THE COMEBACK Okay, okay, it was last season, but it’s still 2017 and 28-3 is the greatest Super Bowl comeback in history. Without their star tight end, Rob Gronkowski, and only held up by Tom Brady’s cool calm collectiveness, Julian Edelman’s nimble fingers, James White’s clutch speed, LeGarrette Blount’s means of just hurling himself through a defense and Martellus Bennett’s grit, Bill Belichick’s soldiers sauntered into Houston, through screeching Falcons to the first Overtime victory in Super Bowl history. A fifth ring to the GOAT’s hand through the only 21 minutes and 8 seconds of a comeback is no small deed. LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN Last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning was the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference and now they’re the best team in the entire league! This year, they have the best powerplay, most goals scored per game, the most points, most wins (and least losses), Nikita Kucherov leads the league in both goals and overall points, Anton Stralman has the best plus-minus, and Andrei Vasilevskiy has the most wins by a goaltender. This isn’t a jump from the absolute worst, but the irrelevant squadron from the 2016-2017 season is now the scariest phenom on the ice for the 2017-18 season. Now that I’ve exhausted my airing of grievances and feats of strength, it’s time to take out the festival pole. 2017 has been a good year for sports and let’s hope for an even better one in 2018, so this December 23rd can really prove to be a Festivus for the rest of us. Jesse A. Cook “Festivus” December 23, 2017 With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Isaiah Thomas injured, it’s tough to decide how well he’s going to play, but after his historic 2016-17 season with the Boston Celtics, we know he’s good. Another player that is worth watching: the New York Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis. What a duo that team would make!
Porzingis said, “Until that moment comes when the ball comes to me every time, I have to find a way to be effective with offensive rebounds, play hard defense, blocking shots.” Porzingis is a hardworking player who, while is effective with the ball, is always making plays away from the ball to help better his team. Thomas said, “You have to develop your whole game to completion.” This shows that he, like Porzingis, while is a phenom when the basketball is in his hands, works insanely hard to make sure his entire game is at the best he can be. When you put any two hard-working people together, the result is always impressive, but they’re not always the best. With IT and the Latvian behemoth, the stats speak for themselves: Porzingis averaged 18.1 points per game, 2 blocks per game, 1.5 assists per game, 7.2 rebounds per game and hit 2.1 three pointers per game last year. This year, in 24 games, he’s averaging 25.5 points per game, 2.1 blocks per game, 1.3 assists, 6.6 rebounds per game and made roughly 47% of his shots. Thomas averaged 28.9 points per game, 5.9 assists per game, hit 3.2 three pointers per game, and hit 46% of his shots in the 2016-17 season. He’s currently recovering from his various injuries as a member of the Cavs, but he’s made promising progress in recent weeks. Currently shorthanded due to the loss of future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks are in desperate need of scoring addition to Porzingis. Thomas’s contract expires at the end of the 2017-18 season. What would keep him in Cleveland if LeBron James takes initiative and departs for another city to become the star of a winning ballclub, again? Boston most likely wouldn’t want Thomas’s high priced salary back on their payroll considering that they’re already paying Kyrie Irving the maximum to play point guard. Many teams either have all the pieces they need and if they don’t have all the pieces, they don’t have any. Another option for I.T. is the Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo is a great scorer on a playoff team, and Eric Bledsoe, their current point guard only scored 21.1 points per game, made 6.3 assists per game, hit 1.6 three point shots per match and only made 43% of his shots. So far, he’s only scored 17.4 points per game, made 4.1 assists per game, hit 1.5 three pointers per game, and only made 44% of his field goals. Thomas definitely has the upper hand, despite his being four inches shorter, over Bledsoe. The current lead ball-handler for the Manhattan-based NBA team is 19 year old rookie out of Ixelles, Belgium, Frank Ntilikina. The Belgian product of Rwandan parents has had a turbulent start, scoring only 5.9 points per game, with 3.4 assist per match, only hitting 0.6 threes per night, and has a 36% shooting percentage. He’s first in the Knicks’ depth chart, so Thomas would be a welcome addition to their squadron. The Knicks have the cap room to add Thomas to their team and New York City is one the best sports markets on Planet Earth. Granted, in recent years, I.T.’s beloved Boston has proven itself to be the best sports market in America, if not the world (I mean, they’ve won at least one championship in each of their Big Four sports teams in the last decade, not going without a championship for more than three years), but as I previously stated, with Irving on their payroll, they Danny Ainge doesn’t particularly want Thomas back. The Knicks could very well be a playoff team as they are the current eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, but imagine them with a seasoned point guard making a dynamic duo of all-stars Isaiah Thomas and Kristaps Porzingis. Jesse A. Cook “Will The Knicks Get Isaiah Thomas?” December 16, 2017 After the Cleveland Cavaliers traded their star point guard, Kyrie Irving, for the Boston Celtics’ forward, Jae Crowder, backup center, Ante Zizic, a 2018 draft pick from the Brooklyn Nets and their beloved all-star point guard, Isaiah Thomas, fans of both cities are left unhappy. The fans of Cleveland feel that they just traded a sure-shot Hall of Famer for an injury prone maybe-Hall of Famer and the fans of Boston feel like their favorite player with the grace of a seasoned acrobat has been ripped away from them.
“You have to think of it in a business situation,” Cedric Maxwell, Celtics’ legendary forward and radio analyst, said. “Kyrie Irving is the best point guard right now in the NBA.” While NBA fans have shared their collective thoughts which support the latter part of Maxwell’s statement, the numbers from the 2016-17 season say otherwise: Thomas averaged 28.9 points per game, while Irving only averaged 25.2, Thomas averaged 5.9 assists per game, but Irving only averaged slightly less at 5.8 and Thomas averaged 3.2 three-point baskets per game, yet Irving only averaged 2.5. Apart from stats, the hypotheticals are daunting for the Land’s fans: Irving put up impressive numbers last year (however dwarfed they may have been by Thomas’s) and helped bring the Cavs to the NBA Finals in the last three years, including being the Most Valuable Player of the Finals in their only victory in 2015-16, but he did that surrounded by LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyle Korver. Despite their obvious skill, he’ll most likely be playing amongst a lower level of play with Al Horford, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart. Thomas, according to C’s head coach Brad Stevens, might not even be ready for 2017-18 Training Camp, which begins on September 26, more than a month away. He has also remained, while extremely hardworking, rather injury prone. With the possibility of James leaving in the near future, Cleveland will have trouble even making the playoffs when led by Iman Shumpert, Love, Korver and a Thomas who may be hurt more often than even Derrick Rose! With that in mind, stats are stats, and there’s no way to take away from the fact that Thomas achieved record numbers with a team that couldn’t make it to Game 6 in the 2016-17 Eastern Conference Finals (against Cleveland, however). The opposing side is that Irving was playing with a team chock-full of great players, namely James, arguably the greatest player of all-time, so he did have to share the load, which is not something Thomas often struggled with. After all, Irving’s main goal for leaving Northeastern Ohio was to be the star of the team. Beantown also finds solace in the truth that, granted, neither player is much of a defender, Irving’s defense puts Thomas’s to shame. “We feel comfortable with who Kyrie is and who he can be,” Danny Ainge, legendary Celtics’ point guard, teammate of Maxwell and current owner of the team, said when asked about the emotional effect on the city Boston. Massachusetts fans have a right to be a little unsettled about trading their “King in the Fourth” for “Uncle Drew” and, if “I.T.” can stay healthy, much to the dismay and chagrin of die-hard Bostonians, the numbers certainly make it look like Cleveland got the better end of this shocking deal. Jesse A. Cook “Nobody’s Happy; Kyrie For I.T.” August 22, 2017 It’s time for Music City to bring home a cup named Stanley. They made the great offseason move to trade Shea Weber to the Montréal Canadiens for P.K. Subban. The Nashville Predators are now down two games to one to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Why, not only will the Preds win the championship series, but why do they deserve it?
It’s not necessarily that Nashville is predestined to win the 2017 Cup, but it’s just that the Penguins shouldn’t. There are several teams that have won too much in the NHL: the Pens, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, etc. Any of the remaining teams could deserve to win, but why is Nashville most deserving? That’s a good question, I mean, why not Sergei Bobrovsky’s Columbus Blue Jackets who had that insane winning streak at the beginning of this 2016-17 season? Why not Brad Marchand’s Boston Bruins who scraped their way into the postseason by beating powerhouses at the end of the year? Why Pekka Rinne’s Nashville Predators? Well, to begin with, they fought off the rallying St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks in the last two rounds. The Blues were the second round matchup and the Ducks were their opponents in the Western Conference Finals. What’s more remarkable is their victory in the first round: The top seed Chicago Blackhawks laughed in the face of the bottom seed Predators before Game 1. How could Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, and Pekka Rinne’s feeble Nashville Predators, who had barely nudged their way past the Winnipeg Jets take on Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Corey Crawford’s Blackhawks? Well, in the Game 1 Smashville shutout on the road, the Preds’ Viktor Arvidsson scored the only goal in the first period. Game 2 saw another Rinne shutout with a 5-0 victory which brought the series to Tennessee. Game 3 started out with two Chicago goals from Dennis Rasmussen and Patrick Kane in the second period. In the third, Filip Forsberg took the game into his own hands and fired two goals, one early in the period and one late, past Crawford to tie the game 2-2 and bring us to overtime. It wasn’t until 16:44 in OT that the tie was broken by the Preds’ Kevin Fiala. The current score in the series worried the now horror stricken Hawks fans as they trailed three games to none to the eight seed. Despite the third period goal from Jonathan Toews, the two goals from Josi, one goal from Colton Sissons, and final goal from Arvidsson brought the final score to 4-1 Predators, just confirming the Windy City’s worst fear: they’d, not only lost to, but been swept by the last seed in the Western Conference, Nashville Predators. With 94 season points, Smashville would have missed the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, yet Chicago had been knocked off by them. Now, we move past the implications for who deserves what more, and to who has more skill. In this series, the defending champ Penguins are favored by 145 points to win. Now, that does not mean they’ll win Games 4 and 5 276-131; it means that if you bet $100 on the Predators winning, and they do, you win $145. Pittsburgh is clearly heavily favored to take this series, which would be their third since 2000 and their fifth total. This year is Nashville’s first appearance in the NHL Finals. Despite the previously presented information, Pittsburgh gave up more goals than Nashville. The Preds also have won a higher percentage of faceoffs than the Pens, which, when combined with the apparent lacking defense of Pittsburgh, does not come out with a Pittsburgh victory. Now, Rinne, after yesterday’s game is 1-9 against the Pens; and his newfound momentum and complete steely-eyed nature in front of the net will almost assuredly carry Music City to their first NHL parade. The Predators have given up very few goals this postseason and are neck and neck with Pittsburgh for goals scored. That combination does not add up for the Pennsylvania side of the coin. The Predators have faced great adversity this season and they have really excelled of late. No team is more deserving of this Stanley Cup victory than the Predators of Nashville, Tennessee. Sidney Crosby and the Penguins of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have had their fun, but like LeBron James in the NBA with his Cavaliers of Cleveland, Ohio, they will most likely lose on their quest to defend their title. Jesse A. Cook “P.K., Pekka, Preds” June 4, 2017 Ever since the Cleveland Cavaliers knocked off the Boston Celtics, there has been a whole ordeal about how Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors will have the City’s third thriller with Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love’s Cavs. Here’s why that shouldn’t have happened:
The Celtics had a shot to beat the Cleveland Crew, but their fans were so obsessed with how they were facing the “King,” himself that they didn’t realize how real their chance was. Sure, the Cavs played possibly the best offensive game for one team in NBA history in Game 2. In Space Jam, the Monstars led at the half 66-18, which was thought of an impossible score for one game, but the Cavs led Game 2 at the half with a score of 72-31. Sure, the deficit was slightly more in the Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes film, but it’s still a pretty incredible (or pathetic) achievement. The Cavs took that game 130-86, but believe it or not, the Cs had a shot to win the series. Game 1 was another example of Boston winning the second half, but unfortunately, that was not enough to overcome their fantastic halftime deficit. You know the story with Game 2, but Beantown took Game 3 111-108 in Cleveland to become the only team to have beaten Cleveland in the playoffs. Game 4 was a story of heartbreak for Celtics nation: Without Isaiah Thomas, due to a hip injury, and leading 57-47 at halftime, the Green team looked forward to tying the series and becoming the first team to even up the Cavs. Unfortunately, Kyrie Irving had other plans… In the third quarter, Boston scored an as per usual 23 points, yet Irving scored 21 by himself. The 40-23 third quarter put the score at the Cavaliers leading the Celtics 87-80. Now, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford’s Celtics, without their all-star point guard Thomas, had to climb back in the fourth quarter after leading all game. The Celts kept closing in, but losing it at the last moment. Finally, Cleveland broke free and became the first team to go up three games to one on Boston. If Boston could’ve strengthened their defense in the paint, they would have tied the series and headed back to Boston with some major momentum. Game 5 was barely a trifle for Cleveland: scoring 43, 37, 34, and 26 points in each quarter to total 135 points to Boston’s mere 102 ended the Eastern Conference Finals. Now, it was the Golden State Warriors’ daunting task to take LeBron back off his throne, but it may not be so daunting for the higher seeded Warriors. In Game 1, Kevin Durant unleashed a monstrous 38 point game; not only did he collect 8 rebounds, but his shots drained from every corner of the court. The thing that shut Boston down was how Kevin Love could defend Al Horford in the paint and from three-point range, the same for Kelly Olynyk; but the Cs excelled when they had both men on the court because Love could not guard both of them simultaneously. Love doesn’t have such problems against Golden State’s Durant (I mean, he’s just one guy), but KD still took the Cavs down. If Steph Curry and his fellow Warriors can continue to relax while Durant drives, this will be the easiest sweep in NBA history! One of Boston’s tactic throughout the season was having the point guard (either Thomas or Terry Rozier) drive to the hoop, but dish the ball outside the three point line at the last moment. Having drawn all the defenders in towards the paint, the shooters were usually open for a easy shot. It was extremely helpful and beneficial to the Celtics that they could have a good shooting big man, such as Olynyk or Horford, ready outside. What this would do is bring their lumbering opponent outside, and unable to play defense at the top of the key and around there, the defender would have trouble keeping up Beantown’s athletic big men. At this point, there would be no hulking shotblocker to snatch the ball away from Thomas or Rozier and no hotshot forward to keep up with Horford or Olynyk. This made scoring extremely easy for the top seed Celtics. Unfortunately, Kevin Love, unlike the Washington Wizards’ Marcin Gortat and Chicago Bulls’ Robin Lopez of the first two serieses, is just as athletic as Horford and Olynyk, which ultimately made that go-to tactic of Brad Steven’s team moot. Boston might have had a chance if Horford and Olynyk could have driven or hit outside shots against Love, although they would have had a better chance if IT had stayed healthy. Anyways, despite Boston’s getting trounced by the LeBron Squad, Golden State has one of the easiest jobs in the world. Jesse A. Cook June 2, 2017 “How Boston Could've Won And Why The City Will” |
AuthorJesse Cook: High school junior. Does play-by-play for the Sharon Varsity Eagles softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and football teams. Fanatic of the Boston and Cincinnati teams in the Big Four sports. Designs graphics of athletes, politicians, and musicians at Picsart.com. Archives
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