Basketball Hall Of Famer Bill Bradley Was Known For Alleged 'DeflateGate' Tactic | ThePostGame

Sooner or later, everything old is new(s) again.....

from The Post Game:

http://m.thepostgame.com/blog/throwback/201501/bill-bradley-knicks-ball-tester-air-deflate-basketball-pressure-patriots-nba

In case the type in the Tribune clipping is too small for you to read, here are Jackson's quotes from it:

"What we used to do was deflate the ball. We were a short team with our big guys like Willis (Reed), our center, only about 6-8 and Jerry Lucas also 6-8. DeBusschere, 6-6. So what we had to rely on was boxing out and hoping the rebound didn't go long."

"To help ensure that, we'd try to take some air out of the ball. You see, on the ball it says something like 'inflate to 7 to 9 pounds.' We'd all carry pins and take the air out to deaden the ball."

"It also helped our offense because we were a team that liked to pass the ball without dribbling it, so it didn't matter how much air was in the ball. It also kept other teams from running on us because when they'd dribble the ball, it wouldn't come up so fast."

Arenado has winning hit in 9th, Rockies top Giants - Yahoo! Sports

from Yahoo Sports:
Arenado has winning hit in 9th, Rockies top Giants - Yahoo! Sports:

DENVER (AP) -- Nolan Arenado hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth inning Saturday to lift the Colorado Rockies to a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants, losers of six straight for the first time in three years.

'via Blog this'

In describing the current state of the Giants after today's loss, I can hear immortal words of former point-guard Michael Ray Richardson used to describe the state of the New York Knicks as one of their promising seasons ( maybe 1982 or so) went down in flames.

from the basketbawful blog:
http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2007/03/im-sure-michael-ray-richardson-was-just.html

My favorite Michael Ray quote is widely known as the "ship be sinking" quote. He said it near the end of this career to describe the Knicks' general state of being. It went like this:

Reporter: What do you think is happening to the team?

Richardson: The ship be sinking.

Reporter: How far can it sink?

Richardson: Sky's the limit.

Giants management worse than the Knicks?

HELLO BRIAN, YOU STINK!! NO REALLY, I CAN PROVE IT!!

According to Dr. Patrick Rishe, they are:

http://blogs.forbes.com/sportsmoney/2010/05/the-worst-managed-pro-sports-franchises-of-the-last-5-years/

The methodology is pretty simple and most Giants fans could have told you intuitively that the Gigantes would be in the team picture, but comparable to the Knicks? Brian Sabaean, nearly as inept as Isiah Thomas and Matt Millen? At least we don't have to worry about some of the PR/PC debacles that Thomas put the Knicks through.

THE METHODOLOGY:

I presumed that managerial inefficiency was akin to spending the most money for the least amount of victories and postseason appearances. Thus, the metric used to assess managerial inefficiency was to identify teams with the highest average payroll cost per win AND with no more than 1 post-season appearance in the last 5 years.

To make a cross-league efficiency comparison over the last 5 years, a simple ratio was constructed for each team in pro sports. The ratio was the team's 'payroll cost per win' over the median 'cost per win' for that league. So, for example, a ratio of 150 suggests that the team in question is 50% less efficient than the median standard of efficiency for the league.

Conversely, if we define 'cost effective' organizations as having the lowest 'player costs per win' and having at least a 40% playoff appearence rate over the last 5 years, then the most efficient franchise would be the Indianapolis Colts. Within their own league, they were nearly 5 times more frugal than the Lions and Rams, spending $7.8 million on player costs per win. And using the ratio approach discussed above, the Colts were 39% more efficient than the median NFL franchise (a ratio score of 61). The next closest pro sports team was the Minnesota Twins, who were 33% more efficient than the median MLB franchise.

THE RESULTS:

Using this metric coupled with the post season filter, the 3 most inefficient franchises of each league from the last 5 years are:

MLB

1) NY Mets, 2) Seattle Mariners, 3) San Francisco Giants...The average cost per Mets victory was $1.3 million, with a 20% postseason rate. The Mariners and Giants averaged a cost of $1.2 million per win with no postseason trips between them.

Using this comparative ratio metric (second paragraph above under METHODOLOGY) , the worst managed pro sports franchise of the last 5 years was the Detroit Lions. With an efficiency ratio of 262, this implies that the Lions organization has been 162% less efficient than the median NFL franchise. The St Louis Rams were a close second with a ratio of 260.

Rounding out the top 10 list of worst managed pro sports franchises over the last 5 years (with their inefficiency rating in parenthesis): 3) NY Knicks (222), 4) Oakland Raiders (191), 5) Kansas City Chiefs (159), 6) Minnesota T-Wolves (156), 7) LA Clippers (152), Cleveland Browns (146), 9) Washington Wizards (132), 10) Sacramento Kings (130).

Rounding out the top 10 list of the most managerial savvy franchises in sports over the last 5 years are teams from each major sports league: 3) San Diego Chargers, 4) New England Patriots, 5) Colorado Rockies, 6) Dallas Cowboys, 7) New York Giants, San Diego Padres, 9) Detroit Red Wings, 10) L.A. Lakers.

Giants upper management will find themselves at a crossroads moment with Sabean if the Giants do not make the playoffs this season. Sabean has once again saddled Bochy and Giants fans with another Sabeanesque roster. It is way too reliant on aging veterans, a bit slow (which impacts the defense) and lacks punch. These qualities have been highlighted because the big eraser in the middle of the lineup --- the B-POPE, BLB --- is missing.

Sabean has had some positive to point to, mainly the signings of Aubrey Huff as a free agent and adding Pat Burrell. The farm system is now an organizational plus, highlighted by the play of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey.

Sabean’s minuses continue to anchor the roster: Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, Mark DeRosa. The farm systems failing is in not producing a quality OF bat in ages.

Will the plusses outweigh the minuses? A playoff appearance will act as a great disinfectant.

Why the Knicks are the Knicks

This is the guy they got rid of. To make room for the guy they didn't get. Good move slick.

It's for more reasons than this though, seriously. An organization that would even for a minute contemplate bringing back Isiah Thomas as GM--if a spot opened up--is not serious about being anything but a laughing stock of an organization.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=5394864

David Lee continues to represent the New York Knicks well, even though he is no longer a member of the team.

Lee flew from his hometown of St. Louis to New York last week to attend the funeral of Scott Jaffer, who served as an NBA security official at Madison Square Garden for many years, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

According to the Times, Lee knew that much of the Knicks' basketball staff would be unable to attend because they were in Las Vegas participating in the NBA Summer League.

Lee wanted to make sure the Knicks were represented at the funeral -- this despite the fact that Lee was shipped to the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade agreement a couple of days before.

"I thought it was wonderful that he came," Marni Jaffer, Scott's wife, told the Times. "And it also struck me how he stayed in the back, paying his respects quietly, not wanting to have people say, 'Oh, it's David Lee,' and intrude on my husband's moment."

The revelation about Lee comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding the New York Yankees, after no player attended the funeral of longtime Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard on July 15.

A stand-up leader who holds himself accountable, even when it's not convenient. From St. Louis, Missouri so he must have some of those old-fashioned Midwestern values in him.

According to his bio on NBA.com while Lee is naturally left-handed, he became essentially ambidextrous when he broke his arm and learned to play right-handed as a sophomore in high school. Lists Jesus Christ, Michael Jordan and Dr. Martin Luther King as historical figures he’d most like to dine with as well. Lee has been one of the Knick's most popular and community-minded athletes throughout his tenure their and it sounds as if he will be sorely missed.

Well, two out three ain't bad. Good job by David Lee.

Let's review, in case you're scoring at home, the Knicks would like to have Isiah Thomas back and seem to believe they cannot win with a guy like David Lee. I must be the crazy one.