Shaun Livingston's Knee and the Winter Blues

It's getting colder, snow is starting to pile up, and if that wasn't depressing enough, I thought about Shaun Livingston the other day. I first watched Livingston in 2004 while he was playing for Peoria Central in the Illinois State Championships. I marveled at the way he effortlessly weaved his way through smaller defenders en route to the basket. Think Kevin Durant body type but a little shorter playing the point guard position, exceptional handles, but nowhere near Durant's ability to score -- that was Shaun Livingston in 2004, playing against high schoolers.
Little did I know, Livingston had led Peoria Central to Class AA title the year before against Eddy Curry's alma mater, Thornwood. That would be back-to-back titles and McDonald's All-American honors for Livingston to conclude his high school career.
Livingston committed to Duke but chose to enter the 2004 NBA Draft. He was drafted 4th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. Livingston's decision to forgo college and his horrific knee injury are the most credited reasons for him not living up to his potential. The former allegation is a gross misjudgement.
Livingston certainly would have benefited from playing a year or two under Coach K -- any player would. He also would have teamed up with JJ Redick and Shelden Williams to form possibly the greatest trio of college basketball players that all went on to mediocre NBA careers.
Livingston probably wouldn't have improved his draft stock much higher than it already was coming out of high school. The first overall picks the next three years were big men (Bogut, Bargnani, and Oden), and teams are much more likely to take a flyer on a big man than point guard with the top overall selection.
The half courts sets in the college game probably aren't suited to what I believe were Livingston's strengths -- pushing the ball, and isolating his defender one-on-one. Some time had Duke would have definitely improved his defense though.
After a promising rookie year, the Clippers traded for Sam Cassell, which halted what was expected to be a spike in Livingston's playing time. Instead, Livingston backed up Cassell at the point and occasionally played shooting guard -- a position that didn't utilize his skills. The 2005-06 Clippers enjoyed their best season in franchise history since moving to Los Angeles. They won 49 games, defeated the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, and took the Suns all the way to seven games before losing in the Conference Semifinals. Livingston's playoff numbers mirror his career stats: 9 points and 4 assists in 27 minutes per game.
The following year, Livingston would experience his claim to fame, a horrific knee injury that would tear his ACL and PCL, sprain his MCL, and dislocate his kneecap and shinbone. And all that happened on the same play, it's no wonder the video was a YouTube sensation.



Livingston's injury was season-ending and looked at first glance like it could have ended his career. It came at the worst possible time, seeing as Cassell's contract was up after that season, and Livingston would have likely been given the reigns to the Clippers franchise. Instead, the Clippers decided not to pick up his qualifying offer, opting instead to make him an unrestricted free agent.
For the next two years, Livingston spent time with the Heat, Grizzlies, Thunder, and even the D-League's Tulsa 66ers before finding a home at the end of last season with the Wizards. He played well enough in 26 games with Washington to earn a 2 year contract offer this offseason from the Bobcats. In Charlotte he finds himself in a similar situation, backing up D.J. Augustin at the point.
No one will say it, but Livingston's lack of playing time (25 mpg over his career, 17 this season) isn't all related to his play. His knee simply can't handle the stress of 35 or more minutes per game. Livingston was injury plagued before his 2007 injury, that was just the culmination of everything that has went wrong with his career.
Like so many before him, Livingston had the ability to revolutionize his position but couldn't stay healthy. Rather than dwell on what his career could have been, let's instead appreciate the fact that he's still playing. Watch that video again. It's a miracle he can even walk.

LeBron, D. Wade Photo "Isn't That Great"

Morry Gash's sensational picture taken during Miami's 88-78 win over the Bucks on Monday has made its rounds across the Internet. The photo has received an unparalleled amount of praise and already seems to be in the running for 'Best Sports Photo of the Year,' and one of the great sports photos of all-time.

Not to belittle Gash's great work, but have we forgotten the subject? This is the Miami Heat we're talking about. They've won five in a row against teams with a combined .403 winning percentage and all of a sudden they're off the hook? Downgrading every Heat accomplishment this season, strictly for the fun of it, is a full time job, and one that can't be derailed because of a pretty picture.

I present a cold six pack of reasons why this photo "Isn't That Great:"

1) The Christ imagery. Did El Greco take this picture? LeBron did not die for my sins. James conveniently descends upon everyone with his arms out and his head tilted to the side, being touched by his father Dwyane Wade. I feel like a religious agenda is being pushed on me just by looking at this picture, and that, I cannot get down with.

2) While Wade looks like he's presenting a James dunk to the world, he's really just arguing with a referee. He's looking precisely where a referee would be standing in this situation, lobbying for a call. The NBA has made a point of issuing out more technicals this year to players who complain. That's exactly what Wade is doing, and like the NBA, we shouldn't praise him for it.

3) LeBron commented on the photo via Twitter, saying "By far one of the best sports pics I've seen taken." Be honest, doesn't that make you hate him and this photo even more? What if I held up my senior portrait and said, "By far one of the best senior pics I've seen taken?" First 'The Decision,' now this, you know what -- never mind. Commenting on LeBron James' ego is beating a dead horse in every sense of the saying.

4) It just so happens that Wade's finger is in LeBron's ear, a popular form of taunting, and an age old way of annoying the crap out of someone. They're playing Milwaukee, OK. Showing up was one big taunt.

5) It's a little unsettling that there's an American flag in the background. Three famous men who lied, manipulated, and walked all over the little people to team up in a position of power. What's so American about that?

6) I can't help but notice the Bucks players on the floor playing defense, and I use the term defense loosely. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (number 12), Brandon Jennings (standing around the free throw line, just managed to get his head into the photo), and John Salmons (I would recognize those calfs anywhere) are the three defenders in the vicinity of James. All three have combined for .96 blocks per game this season.

Meanwhile, one of the best shot blockers in the league, Andrew Bogut (number 6, 2.6 blocks per game), and Milwaukee's second best shot blocker, Larry Sanders (number 8, 1.4 blocks per game) are at the other end of the floor. Call me when LeBron dunks on someone who's capable of blocking his shot.

I do have one giant reason to love this photo and that is because it symbolizes the Heat's season up to this point. Wade is the focus of attention, face of the franchise if you will, despite not shouldering the scoring load. While James does the dirty work, he still looks like an extension of Wade's hand, or better yet, a Lil' Penny-esque puppet that Wade controls. And Chris Bosh, well, he's at the other end of the court watching, happy to be there.

Tottenham Clinches 'Group A' With Draw

I'm still warming up to the idea of a draw. Should a draw excite me? Is it really something to celebrate? Blame it on all the years of basketball, football, and baseball watching. It's only fitting that Tottenham's Champions League group stage journey ends where it started -- in a tie. A tie that should have been a win nonetheless, but that's besides the point.
It's been a long journey, really long actually. The "six games within the group and one game every two weeks" thing drags on quite a bit. The formula is good because the scheduling essentially builds its own suspense for each game. On the flip side, some fan bases -- Arsenal fans I'm looking at you, have two weeks to think up all of the possible ways your team can blow it.
I have to admit I bought into all the skepticism surrounding Spurs prior to the Champions League. Everyone who seemed to know anything about soccer was basically waiting for them to choke away their first opportunity in 50 years to make a lasting imprint on the national stage. I figured they must know more than me, and what do I really know anyway -- so I equated each moment to familiar Cubs' choke jobs.
First game against Bremen and Spurs jump ahead 1-0 with a gift-wrapped own goal. Fifteen minutes later and they take a 2-0 lead. Game 1 of the 2008 NLDS, Mark DeRosa hits a two run homer in the 4th inning as the Cubs take an early lead, which they eventually surrender. Sure enough, Bremen ties the game just after halftime and doesn't look back. Spurs lose two points and lay the foundation for what looks to be their expected sinking of the ship.
They bounce back in a 4-1 victory at home over Twente. Expected to be the whipping boy of the group, Twente would be heaped with praise at the moment had Spurs not stolen the show and unexpectedly won the Group. At the time, it was a good win for Spurs because they were coming off a Premier League loss, but nothing to get too excited about.

The Inter Milan games sandwiched between the Bremen and Twente rematches were significant because they introduced Gareth Bale to the world. A somewhat obscure name to most soccer fans, Bale burst onto the scene with a three goal performance in the first leg against Inter. He single-handedly carved up Inter's defense and was really the only bright spot in a game that Tottenham had trailed 4-0 at one point. He topped that in the second leg, producing one magnificent run after another and crossed the ball flawlessly to set up two more goals. Bale's play became one of the great stories of the Group Stages, resulting in an onslaught of rumors linking the 21 year-old to a number of big clubs.
A 3-0 blowout at home seemed to be appropriate for a Spurs team that was coming off the high of beating the defending European Champions and a Bremen team that had been shutout at home by Twente. Spurs and Twente both went out in resounding fashion, scoring three times a piece. Both teams already had sealed their fate and played into the wackiness that swirled around this game since the very beginning. I've never seen a goalie whiff like Boschker did...never. Robert Green's mishap looked forgivable compared to that.
Other than Bale, the biggest Champions League story surrounding Tottenham was their home versus road performance. At home they were brilliant, outscoring their opponents 10-2 en route to three wins. On the road, they were outscored 9-8, in two draws and one loss. They need to clear their road woes up. It's been a problem for them all season, including the Premier League. It's not the results that are disappointing, you can live with two draws and a loss on the road, but surrendering nine goals in three games is inexcusable.
But now is not the time to dwell on the negative. This is a historic accomplishment for Spurs. Not only do they advance to the knockout stage, but they earned the top seed in Group A, so they can avoid some of the heavy hitters in the next round.
Let's party like it's 1961. President Kennedy, West Side Story, crumbling US diplomatic relations, but most importantly, quality Spurs football.

My Tribute To Ron Santo, And One Last HOF Plea

Growing up as a Cubs fan, I found out quickly there weren't any teams to reminisce over. Other fan bases could look back on the great teams of so-and-so a year and smile eternally. We as Cubs fans don't have that luxury. Our teams, 1969, 1984, and 2003, are brought up to express bitterness and disappointment -- pain and suffering.
The "judge an athlete by the amount of championships he's won" way of thinking doesn't apply to Cubs players. My theory is that because we don't have championships to celebrate, we need another outlet to celebrate the greatness of our individual players that didn't achieve team success. This outlet is found in MVP and Gold Glove Awards, and ultimately, Hall of Fame induction. We need some sort of order to be restored to the universe. There has to be a silver lining in all the suffering, and that comes in the recognition of great individual effort.
Former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, who died last Thursday, served as the longstanding symbol of a great Cubs player denied his proper recognition. Santo impressed both offensively and defensively on terrible Cubs teams for the first seven years of his career. While the Cubs achieved a degree of team success later in his career (including the 1969 team), Santo ultimately never played in a playoff game. The playoffs were structured differently and only allowed for the top team from each of the two divisions in each League to face off for a World Series birth.
Taking a look at Santo's numbers, it's hard to argue that he should not be in the Hall of Fame. There are currently thirteen third basemen in the Hall of Fame -- the position with the least amount of players. I compared Santo's career batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, runs batted in, and runs scored to ten of the thirteen players. I didn't include Hall of Famers Ray Dandridge, Judy Johnson, and Jud Wilson in the statistical comparison because they played in the Negro Leagues, and the statistical data in question is not available for Negro Leauge players.
Here is how Santo would rank compared to the other ten Hall of Fame third basemen in the following six categories: Batting Average - 8th, On Base Percentage - Tie 7th, Slugging Percentage - 4th, Home Runs - 3rd, RBIs - 5th, and Runs Scored - 7th. Santo also won five Gold Gloves, which would be third most among Hall of Fame third basemen.
Statistically speaking, Santo's inclusion seems like a no-brainer, but that's only when compared to other third basemen. Santo's career numbers in the so-called most important categories look like this: .277 AVG, 342 HR, 1,331 RBI, and 2,254 hits; not particularly impressive when compared across positions. We've been told a .300 BA, 500 HRs, 1,500 RBIs, and 3,000 hits are the gold standard and Santo reached none of those. This type of thinking is misguided and probably has played a huge part in Santo's rejection from the Hall. Does it make sense to attach such lofty offensive production to a position that historically has housed more defensive minded players? Would you penalize a center for dishing out less assists than a point guard?
When compared to the more offensive minded first base and outfielder positions, Santo's numbers are dwarfed. Compare him to other Hall of Fame third basemen, take into account the five Gold Gloves, and you see a player that is one of the greatest offensive and defensive third basemen of all time. The voters need to do a better job of differentiating production by position, rather than production overall.
Baseball, more so than any other sport, claims to champion character, honesty, and integrity when selecting their Hall of Famers. Their strict ethical stance is why MLB's all-time hits leader and the greatest home run hitters of my youth aren't sniffing the Hall.
Diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 18, Santo kept his disease a secret, fearing he would get cut from the team. Very little was known about the disease in the 1960s, in fact, most people diagnosed with diabetes were not expected to live into their 30s. In wasn't until the end of his career that Santo announced he had diabetes, and subsequently became of the foremost figures in the fight against the disease. It is estimated that he raised over 60 million dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation over the course of his life. Santo also hosted camps and spoke to kids who were living with diabetes. Numbers aside, Santo possessed all of qualities the voting committee say they care deeply about.
For myself and many Cubs fans around my age, too young to see Santo play, we came to know Ron through his radio broadcasts. He's been criticized over the years for not providing the most insightful commentary, and this criticism was definitely warranted. Santo wasn't the type who was going to pepper you with the details of the game. He was a fan first and foremost, as evidenced by this clip:




Some may call that bad color commentary, and I guess, by definition, it is. Personally, I love it because his reaction was the same as everyone at home. Santo's announcing style was the definition of accessible. He had no intention of being the smug announcer snubbing his nose at the know-nothing fans. He was one of us, who just so happened to blessed with the talent to play professional baseball. Santo was never overly optimistic or pessimistic about the team. His feelings were usually a reflection of the larger fan base. He lent a voice to the frustrations, joys, and general masochism that is being a Cubs fan. For that, he was loved.
The Cubs aren't winning a championship anytime soon. Funny, how that phrase applies every decade. It's my guess that Ron would have wanted to see a championship even more than his Hall of Fame induction. But because we are Cubs fans, we need to settle for Ron's Hall of Fame recognition -- an honor that has been long overdue.

How To Do The "John Wall "

Hailed as the "Next Big Thing" out of the Carolinas, Raleigh's own Troop 41 is here to help you do the "John Wall." As you may have guessed, the "John Wall" involves flexing your bicep from side to side. You know, kind of like the "dance?" John Wall himself made up last year at Kentucky. Well, these kids put a song to it and have themselves over 3 million YouTube views. Someone needs to tell these young athletes on the fast track to super stardom that they need to trademark everything they do. Flexing, sneezing, coughing, if an athlete does it, money can be made off them.
Top 3 Reasons To Listen:
1) One of the rappers is wearing a Cubs hat. This may mark the first time in rap video history that someone has worn a Cubs hat. The Sox hat is much more popular for reasons probably having more to do with NWA than the relationship between hip-hop music, culture, and south side demographics.
2) There's an appearance by a red-headed white girl. Again, if she's not playing the violin, I don't think I've seen a redhead in a rap video.
3) "My jump shot stupid, yeah it's retarded" is one of the lines in this song. And one of the better ones.

LeBron's Long Awaited Return

I'm struggling to try and put LeBron James' return to Cleveland in context. What does it mean to the Miami Heat, the NBA season, the city of Cleveland? Will this game be remembered as a heroic against-all-odds type of performance, or not remembered at all? A mere footnote in James' Hall of Fame career.
There's one thing I do know, and it's that this game -- regular season game -- has the feel of a WWE Pay Per View event. It has been built up as a raucous crowd, full of signs, chants, laughs, boos, and object throwing that I'm not so sure the fans in attendance know how they're going to react, or even how they're supposed to react.
In my constant effort to find cross-sport references, I was reminded of a little baseball incident that occurred in June of 2002. Mets pitcher Shawn Estes found himself in an incredibly uncomfortable situation pitching against Roger Clemens in Shea Stadium. Playing by National League rules, this game would mark the first time since the 2000 World Series that the Mets had the opportunity to pitch to Clemens.
Mets catcher Mike Piazza suffered a concussion after being hit in the head with a Clemens fastball midway through the 2000 season. The two would square off later that year in the World Series. Clemens flung a piece of Piazza's broken bat at him while he ran down the first base line.
Estes' 2002 start was billed as a revenge game for Piazza and the Mets. The Mets would finally have the chance to get Clemens back for the recklessness he exhibited two years prior. Estes wasn't even a member of the Mets in 2000 but tried to bean Clemens because he was supposed to bean Clemens.
The result? A wild fastball in the high 80s that Estes threw about a foot behind Clemens. The build-up had been for naught, as it was clear that Estes wanted no part of beaning a player in the 3rd inning of a 0-0 game.
I'm worried that the same outside pressure to react a certain way has been placed upon the Cleveland fans in attendance. "Tonight, everyone is a Cavs fan" has been a popular saying. Fans of other teams across the country will be tuning in to see how Cleveland reacts. Many of them will be disappointed if mayhem doesn't ensue.
It's easy to be the guy on sideline saying, "Do this, do that," when you're not the one doing it. It's even easier to watch a city burn itself down and watch gleefully because you don't live in that city. I remember a 2001 in Cleveland Browns Stadium. The refs blew a call on the field, allowed the Browns to run another play and then chose to review the call. They overturned a catch that would have given the Browns a first and goal from the nine yard line, down five points, with 48 seconds and no timeouts. They got the call right, but shouldn't have been allowed to review it because another play had already been run.
Browns fans threw bottles onto the field -- at players, coaches, and mostly the referees. When the players returned to the field a half an hour later to complete the game, the sidelines were filled with empty bottles and cans that had to be cleared off the field.
I think many people are hoping for a scene like that. People that have no stake in the Cavs, Heat, or the city of Cleveland.

How about a really good basketball game? An inspired effort from the Cavs defense. A home court advantage coupled with a playoff atmosphere. How about watching to see how LeBron reacts to the crowd. Will he look to score? Is he timid? Does he come out of this having played good bad overall?
Probably the most fascinating aspect of this story, despite being over discussed to the point of nausea, is LeBron's powder toss. A large ball of confusion is is mixed up in that small amount of powder.
Somewhere along the line, LeBron, his powder toss, and Cleveland fans combined to form the holy trinity of Cavaliers basketball. No doubt, the large WITNESS Nike ad that once hung from the Landmark Office Tower had something to do with that.
LeBron is his own separate entity. The powder toss is his pregame routine. It caught on with the Cleveland fans and the advertising world capitalized off it. Why would he change his pregame routine? It's his routine. The sooner that distinction is made clear, the better.
Cleveland can say, throw, or light on fire whatever they want. I'm not from Cleveland and I don't root for the Cavs, none of the reaction will reflect badly on me. We watch basketball because of the product on the court. The players are supposed to be the entertainers, not the fans.
Just a reminder, for those interested in things other than a good basketball game, perhaps you should direct your attention to Thursday night's WWE Smackdown, which also airs at 7 PM.

Blake Griffin In Person

I have a mini basketball hoop that hangs from the top of my closest door. I love it so much in fact, that I wrote about it a few months ago. With the 2010-11 NBA season in full swing, I've practicing quite a bit. I still can't make an open 10-footer consistently, but I have come up with a few interesting dunks.
Over the weekend, I threw the ball off the wall, caught it in my overextended right hand, faded away in the air, and tomahawked the dunk home. The 23-year old me was pretending to by the 21-year old Blake Griffin.
Just yesterday, my girlfriend asked me, "Blake Griffin? (I add the question mark because she was looking for confirmation that she had the name correct). He plays for the Clippers, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good, we're going to see him play on the 18th. I want to see those freckles."
My girlfriend, by her own admission likes weird looking people. Joakim Noah, Blake Griffin, me -- it's only fitting that she'd base my Christmas gift not only around the game I love most, but a chance for her to see freckles.
I became hysterical like a 15-year old Twilight fan waiting for the midnight showing. "Blake Griffin? Oh my gizzod, Blake Griffin? Let me help you find tickets."
I spent all of last night, a good three hours, watching Blake Griffin YouTube highlights and looking up Shawn Kemp's career numbers.
Kemp seems to be the logical historical comparison to Griffin. They're about the same size, Griffin is a little bulkier than the pre-Cleveland Kemp, they're both way more athletic that you'd expect someone their size to be, and they each produce(d) at least one highlight reel dunk a game.
During Kemp's peak years with the Sonics in the mid-90s, he averaged about 18 points and 11 rebounds a game. Griffin is currently at 20 points and 11 rebounds a game, in his rookie year. You saw that right, the rookie Blake Griffin, on a bad team without a Gary Payton, is currently outperforming Shawn Kemp in his peak years. Scary.
My favorite Griffin YouTube video is the one below, taken from Griffin's 44-point game against New York on November 20th.



Everyone has seen the first dunk. Griffin curls his hand around the back of 7'1 Timofy Mozgov, raises up, and the symbolism is clear. It's this type of quiet cockiness that I love about Griffin's game. He doesn't posture and pose after the dunk, in fact, his teammates are more excited than he appears to be. But to even have the audacity to redirect a man's head towards your...um, lower body, speaks volumes. That move was meant to show his opponent up, in a disrespectful, yet legal, and less obviously boisterous way than say, pounding his chest and standing over an opponent.
Griffin's second dunk in the video is less ballyhooed, but even more spectacular to me. This time forward Danilo Gallinari is victimized. I'm starting to think Griffin may have a little Kevin Garnett in him -- the part that hates European players.
Watch carefully at the slow motion part starting at the 45 second mark. In mid-air, Griffin uses his left arm to basically remove Gallinari's outstretched left arm from the picture. The phrase "A man amongst boys" gets thrown around a lot, but I can't think of a better visual representation of that saying.
Griffin's mid-air discarding of Gallinari's defensive effort reminds me of the time he hit his head on the backboard in college while dunking the ball. Griffin is going to get to the basket, it doesn't matter if there's a 7'1 center, lanky left arm, or a backboard in his way. He doesn't bowl over defenders (LeBron) or weave through them (Rondo), he simply removes them. I'm not sure we've seen an NBA player who does this with the ease that Griffin does. The majority of the time it seems like he's playing on a mini hoop against imaginary defenders.
While we'll be sitting too high to get a glimpse of Griffin's freckles, a bird's eye view should be just fine to witness his offensive prowess. I'm just glad I'll be able to say I was there for a moment of his rookie season. The start of what I think is going to be a very special NBA career.