DIRK DID DALLAS

A bit disappointed about the recent remarks expressed by the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the topic of Dirk Nowitzki's career. Abdul-Jabbar went on record the other night at a function at George Mason University when asked if there was another NBA player who may have had a shot in their repertoire as indefensible as the sky-hook shot that he employed on his way to establishing himself as the greatest scorer in NBA history, and possibly the most accomplished basketball player of all-time on every level (high school and college included, although Bill Russell could make an argument). "You asked about Dirk Nowitzki," Abdul-Jabbar said. "Dirk Nowitzki's shot is very hard to block, but I don't think that he was able to have a dominant career because he couldn't do other things. If he could have shot like that and rebounded and played defense and blocked shots, then he would have been all-around, and he would have gotten more credit. He was like a one-trick pony."

It seems Abdul-Jabbar gave a response which included more than assessment of Nowitzki's difficult to defend shot, his patented one-legged fadeaway, which a reporter suggested in comparison to Abdul-Jabbar's sky-hook. And that's okay. If you know anything about the man who has owned two names throughout one lifetime, distinguished in their own right to the point they hold their own weight respectively, Alcindor and Jabbar, then you are not shocked by this comprehensive reply, but rather his opinion of a player who many consider as one of the greatest of all time. A player who in my estimation was the greatest mismatch in the Association anytime he stepped on the court. It's not that I have a problem with Abdul-Jabbar critiquing Nowitzki's game, and taking it to task for that matter. Rather it is the notion that he seems to not appreciate the approach that the 2nd greatest international player (behind Tim Duncan) and the greatest European player of all time (behind no one) took to land just five spots behind him on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Nowitzki admittedly offers that he could never compare, and for that matter, should never be compared to the player most consider to be the greatest player of all time.

But that is not what this is about, as far as Abdul-Jabbar's criticism in concerned. Nor is it about the court of public opinion possibly misconstruing or taking out of context exactly what Abdul-Jabbar's comments where intended to incite, whether positive or negative, whether truthful or untrue, and whether fair or unfair. This is to clarify the distinction between a "one trick pony" and the man who holds claim to all the accolades mentioned in support of his stellar career. Never forget that Nowitzki was often the focal point on many a 50-win Dallas Mavericks team, throughout his 17 year NBA career. Ok, check that, he has always been his team's focal point during his heyday (which seemingly appears to be ending more painlessly than Kobe Bryant's 19 year career), especially when Steve Nash took his budding MVP-type talents to Phoenix. He led his Mavericks to a championship in 2011 over the Miami Heat, besting the newly minted "Big Three" triumvirate of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, a team who many a team lay prostrate before until their defeat at the hands of Nowitzki, and his own "Big Three", Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler, and Jason Terry. They may have been more like the posse of The Three Musketeers with a D'Artagnan of their own to lead the way, but they knew how to get the ball in his hands of Nowitzki in Game 4 of those same 2011 NBA Finals, when he led them to a series-tying victory that led the Mavericks out of the jaws of a 3-1 deficit they surely would have found difficult to surmount. Clutch would not begin to describe the assortment of highlights in this man's canon.

Dirk Nowitzki deserves better than to be mentioned as the one trick pony that most who follow the NBA would find misleading a moniker. He may not have been as multi-dimensional as the person who called him that or even some others whom he looms above on the career-scoring list. Lesser players have been called worse, and they should, however, this is not a statement that should be associated with this player, much less his body of work.

THINGS WE LEARNED FROM SUPER BOWL 50: Peyton's Place

Leading up to Super Bowl 50, there was an innocuous stat which related something to the fact that the team wearing the white version of their uniform had won an alarming percentage of the games versus the team wearing colored uniforms in the last dozen or so Super Bowls. There also was the awareness that if Peyton Manning won this championship battle against the mighty Carolina Panthers he would then have the right to claim the sole spot at the top of the heap as the quarterback with the most wins of all time. An even 200 on the left side of the ledger. The ultimate referendum for his case as arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. Oh, and by the way, he would also be the first quarterback, ever, to win a Super Bowl for two different teams. It's not that those things mattered. It's just that they were some things to consider, heading into the big game.

Kobe Bryant had a throwback game for the ages the other night, scoring a game high 38, at the feeble age of 38, to lead his Los Angeles Lakers to a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He, like Manning, is approaching almost two decades playing the respective sport in which they have  dominated. He, like Manning, is on the precipice of calling it a career, with Manning yet to officially sign-off on the notion the he is all but washed up. It brought to mind a certain sentiment entering Super Bowl 50. Could Manning, at the geriatric age of 39, win one for his own personal Gipper? Could he dig in deep to that bag of tools and find the right piece for the job one more time for one more game? Could we see a rendition of a renaissance similar to the one Bryant had drawn only days earlier? The odds seemed unlikely, and judging by the sub-200 yards of total offense that the Denver Broncos generated (the lowest ever for a Super Bowl winning team mind you) for the entire game, that moment most certainly never came to pass. 

It didn't need to. And most importantly it didn't have to. Manning has spent the better part of his career being the focal point of his team's attack. Even in Indianapolis, during the heyday of the Colt's version of the Dallas Cowboys Triplets, it was he who took the brunt of the blame when a team he had once again positioned to get into the playoffs faltered, whether by his efforts or lack thereof. Throughout his career he was the quarterback every scout, coach, and fan knew he could and would be coming out of the University of  Tennessee: the ultimate franchise quarterback. The guy who could win three or four games in a season on his own, for the same team he was guiding perennially to ten-plus wins in a season every year, when it was just part of the expectations that were placed upon him. His naysayers would always mention that he could not even compare to his brother Eli, because he had won two Super Bowls with the Giants. Now that Peyton has won two Super Bowls, for two different teams and won 200 games, the first quarterback ever to hold this distinction (he can now cross those two things off of his NFL bucket list), there is no way (as of right now) that you can compare baby brother to big bro. This was never Eli's cross to bear, rather it was Peyton's really. It became his reality. Every season. And, most often, he would fulfill those expectations. Not that this is a referendum on the middlingness of one Eli Manning, although he has won two Super Bowls he has also anchored teams that have missed the playoffs entirely in multiple seasons. A disparaging remark which could never be made about Peyton (at least when he was healthy). Much is made about the futile efforts of Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills in their four forays into the "big game." However, not enough credit and appreciation is given for the sustained success of taking care of business in the regular season, and giving one's team a shot at contending for a title almost every year of one's career. This, as of now, is the definition of the difference between Peyton Manning and Eli Manning's respective careers. But this is not that time, nor that place...

So then, it was not necessary for Peyton to have a stellar game. The type of game that he's produced before. He has had those types of games before and still his teams would let him down. This victory in Super Bowl 50, which may have brought an end to this particular part of his career arc, would prove, just as the pitcher who pitches great and loses, or better yet, pitches poorly and wins, that which we all knew. That he has justly deserved a 2nd Super Bowl win for some time now. So it was that he relied on the strength of this 2015 version of the Denver Broncos. A team who, just two Super Bowls ago, fell prey to the type of defense they employed against the Panthers on Sunday night. The type of defense that makes you feel their hits. Years, even eras, later.

Another general sentiment amongst this scribe leading up to this game was the possibility that this current version of Orange Crush could be one for the ages. Would we be talking about them in the same manner that we do championship winning defenses like the 1985 Chicago Bears or the 2000 Baltimore Ravens? Judging by the expression on the up-till-that-point seemingly invincible Cam Newton's face it was definitely a defense for the ages. One of the Panthers players, okay it was Brandon Marshall, was overheard in winning locker room after the game saying something to the effect of how proud he was to play for the team that had the "best defense ever" to win a Super Bowl, with a face so serious Mike Singletary might have blinked. And for a moment the statement deserved some serious consideration. Yes, they may not be the '85 Bears, or even the '00 Ravens for the matter, but who they are are the 2016 Super Bowl champion Broncos, a team with a defense who's arguably had to deal with the most complex and explosive offenses the NFL has seen to date. And that is not even including the team that they recently defeated in the Panthers, who, although they may have been the highest scoring team in the NFL, with the greatest point differential; admittedly the benefactor of a solid defense and special teams who did much to aid the offense through scores off turnovers and favorable field position for the offense to capitalize upon, but rather the victories over the vanquished potent attacks of offenses led by the multiple-championship winning talents of Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady in their run through the playoffs just to have the opportunity to play in the big game and do all that has been described. So yes, in an era where quarterbacks and offenses are having their way week in week out during the course of an NFL season, we may just have to consider their place in the pantheon of all-time greatest defenses.

Peyton's got his place, and the 2016 Bronco's defense does too. 

Treading Warriors

Sunday night's blase mid-season contest between the walking in place New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors, who play at pace which no one would confuse with the word slow, a seemingly innocuous pummeling by the team on the left (coast that is) to the team on the right, is continuing to provide on a nightly basis evidence for which, just how much the mercury needs to travel in the opposite direction for teams competing (and much less hoping to compete) with the championship-defending Warriors.

On their way to another of the routine patented "plus-fifteen" beatings they've been handing to the rest of The Association (Yes San Antonio Spurs that includes you, Tim Duncan or not), a 116-95 systematic dismantling of the recently revamped Knicks machine of Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and company, a mundane 1st quarter, was followed up by the kind of quarter you would expect from a team which has taught us to forget about the kinds of things you should expect, at least when it comes to a basketball team. The Warriors converted 14 of the 17 field goals they attempted, for a whopping 82% for the quarter. They attempted four 3-point shots, and were flawless in that area as well as they missed not one. The only area of the court in which they had a minor hiccup with during that period was the charity stripe as they went 5-7, for a modest 71%. Maybe the most telling stat of the quarter would probably have to be Stephen Curry "only" playing seven minutes, with the Warriors relying on the four-headed monster of Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Shaun Livingston, and Harrison Barnes for the bulk of the minutes. Just for thought: Usually a team's "one-two punch" are it's leading two scorers, however the Warriors third scorer may actually be the "two" in the aforementioned punch. A luxury no championship-level team that I can think of in recent memory employs. Numbers and percentages don't tell you the whole story when it comes to this team. They really do not.

The question was asked of Knicks head coach Derek Fisher immediately following the game during the press conference held in the bowels of the World Greatest Arena, an arena whose world's greatest fans had just witnessed the world's greatest team, how a game like this one highlights their need for a second scorer. "Tonight [as opposed to other nights?]" or something to that degree was the reply. A thinly-veiled incredulous response to a reporter's misguided query to a game he obviously may not have really been paying  attention to.

And it happens; to the best of us even. You witness this efficient of an offensive machine every bit as productive as the greatest teams of all time: the 1927 Yankees, the Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s, and you begin to forget the fuel which creates the fire currently burning up the hardwood at an arena near you. Defense. This was not a game that was going to be decided upon whether Anthony would find help from another source, whether expected or unexpected. Rather, and Fisher painfully knows this is the reason, it was a game decided by which team would play the better defense, generally speaking the recipe for success in the NBA and in most sports for that matter.

And don't get it fooled. Despite the ability to put up iconic second quarter numbers the Warriors know how to defend. On a championship level. But more importantly. As it pertains to a team such as the Golden State Warriors, their adversary better have the wherewithal to sum up the funds to pay for the kind(s) of defense it takes to stop this team. For they come at you in waves. Yes, basketball is a game of runs, which, are waves in and of itself. The kind of waves that come at you when you play the Warriors however are the waves of a different sort. They are the type of waves a team, any team, much less a team like the Knicks, who are still finding their way, drown in. The Association could use a lifeboat right about now. Alot of arenas are underwater.

NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER!

Recently, New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert expressed his optimism about the triangle offense which will become the Knicks new offensive system in the upcoming season. Recent hires, president of basketball operations Phil Jackson (it feels so weird, yet so cool at the same time to say that) and coach Derek Fisher are expected to employ the tenets of the triangle offense to a Knicks team that ran an isolation-heavy offense last year, and Shumpert expects to provide a different measure of production this year. Shumpert believes that he, as well as other members of the Knicks roster, will be able to contribute a bit more, and showcase the skills that one cannot show when he is asked to be one-dimensional and rather predictable. And he's right. The triangle should allow him to put the ball on the floor more, cut and drive, and more importantly move without the basketball into positions that should allow him to be put into more effective spots on the basketball court, as opposed to the singular approach to the game he was required to execute as he watched Carmelo Anthony or J.R. Smith dribble the clock down before deciding to shoot or pass to "the corner"for the conventional baseline three. 

Not that he was not adept at the shot (which he was), but Shumpert can provide so much more. A solid to spectacular on-ball defender, he has showed flashes of brilliance on the offensive end from time to time since he was drafted unceremoniously by the great Donnie Walsh, the general manager at the time for the Knicks, who has always had an eye for talent. He has come up big before in games that matter. Game 6 of the 2013 playoffs comes to mind. Although the Knicks would lose an elimination game to a much more determined Indiana Pacers squad, Shumpert would provide the only shot-making help for Anthony on that night, scoring 19 points, hitting 5 threes on the night during critical junctures in the game. As mentioned, even though the Knicks lost he showed glimpses of the player that he can become when given the opportunity and the confidence. The recently departed Mike Woodson,as good a coach as he could be for the Knicks last season, actually may have undermined Shumpert in both departments allowing for his lack of opportunity by running the offense that he did, and by his constant line-up juggling, due to injury at times, but mainly because he may or may not have trusted Shumpert completely (which ultimately led to Shumpert's lack of confidence in his role on the team). Granted Shumpert is now two years removed from an ACL injury which usually requires two years before a player mentally can trust the newly sound joints, so some of the responsibility may not rest squarely a Woodson's feet.

All of this said, can Iman Shumpert actually (and finally) have the breakout year that Knicks fans have expected of him since it became apparent that not only is a great defender, but a dynamic athlete,with a propensity for tough shot-taking and tough shot-making as well? Could the triangle offense, combined with the new-found confidence in his body and his role under the stewardship of coach Derek Fisher (who I might add himself was a great on-ball defender and clutch shooter) lead to a stellar campaign for Shumpert and the Knicks? There is only one way to find out, as this upcoming season holds all the answers.

It Was All Good Just A Year Ago...

When Glen Grunwald was unceremoniously relieved of his duties as general manager of the New York Knicks prior to the recently concluded 2013-2014 NBA season it signaled an end to the brief period of composure and consistency, hardly synonymous with Madison Square Garden, which had begun to permeate throughout the organization up until that point. The move came and went, largely unannounced by NBA insiders and hardly recognized by casual observers, but it would serve as a harbinger for the Knicks disastrous 2013-2014 campaign, signaling to the aforementioned observers of the Knicks, and the NBA at large, that all was still not well at Madison Square Garden. James Dolan was still in charge.

Fast-forward to the present. Derek Fisher, the former Los Angeles Laker (amongst other teams he has played for), has been recently installed as the head coach of the Knicks. The third hire of such a kind in the last three years, he has been on the job for all of less than two weeks. It has taken him less time than that to assess the situation at hand as it pertains to the current roster he has been given, as well as Carmelo Anthony's impending free agency. [As of this writing reports are that Anthony has indeed been true to his word of opting of his current Knicks deal (as is his right) a few hours early of the intended June 24th date he had given the media and Knicks front office.]

Fisher believes his team can win, and now. And why not? This is a Knicks team that won 54 games just a season before this season's 37 win debacle. Plagued by injuries to key players, player suspensions, and general dissent and apathy amongst the troops, the Knicks did their best to underwhelm the same city they had overwhelmed last year with thoughts of a title pursuit. So which team really is the Knicks team? That's hard to say depending on who you ask. If you ask Fisher he will say yes. 

Contingent and dependent upon the place where Anthony will sign in free-agency, a lion's share of what Fisher believes is tied into the fate that is the destination of that signature. A player of Anthony's stature is considered to be the building block of any organization. A team with championship aspirations would be fortunate to have him on their roster. Fisher knows this. He also knows that Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, Andrea Bargnani, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Raymond Felton (yes even Felton) are all better than the record they produced last year. Yes it true that you are what you record says you are. The great Bill Parcells was unwavering on that issue. The Knicks are the team that produced 37 wins last year. At the same time they know that they are also the team that won way more than that the year before; the year in which there was as much stability and veteran leadership as there was talent and athleticism. That year there was a veteran point guard who helped to spearhead a great start to that 54 win season. A veteran point guard turned coach who was able to turn around a moribund New York City-area basketball team the same way that the Knicks hope their veteran point guard coach can do for their New York City-area basketball team. 

Jason Kidd was that player and that coach and now Derek Fisher finds himself in the same position. Fisher feels that he will have the same impact on this roster that Kidd had on the Knicks a season ago and with the Nets this season, and who's to doubt him? He knows what impact good communication, a respect for authority, and a willingness to buy into the same ideals as a team will bring. He has seen it. He has been it. Regardless of whether or not Carmelo Anthony re-signs with the Knicks Fisher knows and believes that this is a roster built to win when it is clicking on all cylinders. Now that he has been handed the keys, let's just see what a little body work and under-the-hood repairs will accomplish. You don't need two weeks, let alone a year, to figure that out.

FINAL FOUR SCORE

You could make an argument for each team in the FINAL FOUR, but here's my take: Wisconsin, Florida, and Kentucky all had tough leagues to play in. Not to say UConn didn't, but out of all the four teams left, no one expected them to be there. Florida went undefeated in the SEC during the regular season. I say they finally lose to an SEC team when the play Kentucky for the NCAA Championship. Kentucky will win it all and John Calipari will move to the front of the line of championship-winning college coaches who use gel to slick their hair like Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino.

He Giveth & He Taketh Away: The Story of Tony Romo

"That's my teammate. That's my quarterback..."-Terrell Owens

With a little less than two minutes left and facing a 2nd & 16 from inside his own 20, Tony Romo stood 86 yards away from a date with destiny. The opportunity for victory over the undefeated, Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos and the possibility of having his name etched in the annals of NFL greatness lay within his grasp. And in the end it would be fate who kept that date, destiny running off into the Texas sunset with Manning, another notch on a belt that needs none.

Such is the case when Romo has had these types of game-defining, legacy-defining situations in his hands since talking over for the Dallas Cowboys midway through the 2006 season, and it is his belt that could use a notch or two of wins of great magnitude. Instead losses of great magnitude and the questions that accompany have become part of Romo's wardrobe, and yet it is this accessory which he would like to hang up for once and all, as failing to come through when it counts most these days is so out of style.

This failure, this withering in the presence of pressure, has become the constant essence of Romo in critical situations. You don't have to be even the most knowledgable football fan to have an opinion, usually of the disparaging variety, on him. Most pedestrians know of his epic failures (That still is what the kids are calling those these days, right?) in great detail and can rattle off game after game, play upon play, moments in when he has been true to his ability to be shortcoming. Regular season games with playoff implications, playoff games with championship aspirations, whether his performance suffered for an entire game or at a crucial time and place within the game itself, you name it he has done it. Well, actually he has not. You get the point.

Those occasions could be listed here, but there is neither the time nor the space for them to be eulogized here. And, after taking stock of 

everything. After listening to the naysayers, after digesting enough anti-Romo rhetoric to make one sick and tired of digesting enough anti-Romo rhetoric it comes time to support and defend the guy who makes the possibility of winning on Sunday for the Cowboys a reality. Without running the risk of ssounding like Terrell Owens, circa 2007, "I LOVE MY QUARTERBACK! THAT'S MY QUARTERBACK!" 

If you have seen all that I have seen from #9 over time then you know whereof I speak.  If you are aware that he is the quarterback who both Bill Parcells and Sean Payton (Super Bowl winning coaches themselves) believed him to be then you know why I believe in Romo. He is the keeper of the gate; the one who holds the key to the Cowboys return to the promised land. He is my quarterback. 

Half the teams in the NFL would love to have Tony Romo at the helm of their respective teams don't let them fool you. He can play any time, any where, against any one. He's as tough as nails, cracked ribs and all. He spins out and into and out again from trouble all the time. He throws the throws that the Rogers' and the Brees' throw, although he has yet to throw his team the ultimate bone that those two quarterbacks have thrown their's by winning Lombardi trophies. He can be a wizard and a dunce (seemingly) all in one game, this recent game no exception. Truly though, which quarterback has not played that role as well at some point in their career, whether or not it was an extremely fruitful or extremely middling campaign? This is what life is for an NFL quarterback, and this is what life is like for a Dallas Cowboys quarterback.

This will always be Tony Romo's legacy until he changes it and, for every quarterback that has played the game, whether it be Steve Young trying to emerge from Joe Montana's long shadow, or John Elway trying to erase memories of earlier failures on the grandest of stages, the Super Bowl (XXI, XXII, XXIV to be exact), the script was the same for them as well. Not to compare, because Young never faltered, but only needed a chance to play, and Elway although a three-time Super Bowl loser himself, will always be remembered as a winner in Denver for aligning himself with a running back and a coach that could provide him that opportunity to change his legacy, but this is the same movie. Only difference is that Romo is in the lead role now. He gets scrutinized as much for where he plays, as for how he plays. This is how it is and how it will be until he comes through in the clutch for a change. When it's all said and done he will probably own all the passing records in Dallas Cowboys history, and that is saying a whole lot when you consider it contains heroes such as Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman in it's midst. Will he have their rings; rings such as they own when all is said and done? This is the truest measure of greatness is it not? For this is it how it is for Romo. A question which remains in search of answer.

So there was Tony Romo again this past Sunday in Dallas searching for an answer. A raucous AT&T Stadium home crowd bellowing it's approval of his performance for all of the prior 58 minutes of this searingly-contested battle against a team whom most have picked to win the Super Bowl. It may not have been the playoffs, and as of right now it is a game of no importance with regards to determining making the playoffs (although every game matters immensely in this league), but the opportunity for a defining moment nonetheless awaited Romo; for him and his team, for him and his legacy.

The opportunity of passing Norm Van Brocklin's single game passing record of 554 yards and putting his name in record books amongst the greatest passers of all time would become an opportunity not be capitalized upon.* (Romo would finish with 506 yards for the game, a stellar feat no matter the outcome). The opportunity to beat a team that 16 straight opponents have laid down for, the opportunity for a win that could propel this team to heights only imagined would once again be a possibility not realized. A dream deferred if you will. This is the reality that is Tony Romo, a dream that remains beautiful till awoken. One day this dream will continue when awoken, and Romo will finally answer it. It is a dream I too share. For he is my quarterback.

* Although winning a game is more important than breaking a record, I point this out because the Cowboys were at their 14-yard line, after a sack of Romo on 1st down, and if they were to win the game whether via field goal or touchdown, they would have to at the very least reach the Broncos' 35-yard line in order to attempt a FG. This means they would have had to matriculate the ball at least 50 more yards, Romo only needed 48 more yards to tie the record. Not to say they would have attempted to gain all of those yards via the pass, but who knows. They way which Romo was passing and the manner in which Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and Terrance Willaims were receiving that day who's to say they would not have broken-off another big play or two down the field to help their teammate, their quarterback?