JustDave Emerges from Retirement

Scottie has been pestering me to write an article on the 2009 Padres season for a month now. So for the last few weeks or so, I have been researching how to write the perfect Padres article. The two of us came to the conclusion that the perfect Padres article has to be as follows: strong start, falls apart a little in the second paragraph, strong third paragraph, then the wheels rapidly fall off leading to an ultimately disappointing finish. Let me give that my best shot…

“Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough… the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go! What the fuck happened to the Padres I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Dave, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Molina, he's a dead man! Utley, dead! The entire roster of the LA Doyers – dead.”

First of all, let me apologize for the extended vacation I have taken from writing. In all reality, it has to do with the Padres, and was ultimately my justification for coming out of retirement., as I will cover.

For the first month of the season I was in baseball heaven. Just absolutely and completely stoked. An undermanned and underpaid team of has-beens and never-was’s was putting together an incredibly exciting string of victories over far superior opponents. The swing through the NL East made me think we could actually contend this year.

Then, like clockwork, the bottom fell out. And when it fell out, it fell hard and fast. The Padres quickly lost 19 out of 23 games and had come back to earth, prompting a string of “told you so’s” from the talking heads at the four letter network… not to mention a certain Red Sox fan who also writes here.

The Padres were toast. It was 2008 all over again, and we were on our way back to 100 losses.

Then a funny thing happened. They started winning again.

For Padres fans reading this, you will understand how rare this is. But for you non-fans out there, let me really explain to you how incredibly rare this is. This most recent incarnation of the San Diego Padres is young and does NOT deal well with adversity. In 2007, the Padres were rolling on their way to the playoffs when Milton Bradley stepped on Mike Cameron’s thumb (and broke it), and Bud Black punished him by strangling him in to submission with his own ACL. The team could not rebound and missed the playoffs in the world famous “game 163” (in which I, like all other friar faithful, am still waiting for Matt Holliday to touch home plate…). In 2008 they started semi-promising (they were over .500 15 games in to the season, better than people remember) but then got punched in the mouth with a losing streak and fell apart faster than a house of cards in Hurricane Katrina.

But the Padres of 2009 didn’t collapse. They got punched in the mouth, and they punched back.

They rattled off a 10 game winning streak, including several late-inning come from behind victories. They did it against division and non-division opponents. And best for the fans, they did it at home.

I’m going out on a limb here. I’m going to make a bold prediction. I predict this team finishes above .500. I’m calling 82-80, missing the playoffs by a billion games because I think the Dodgers will win 95+. But it’s a promising foundation to build on for next year. We will have some more money to play with, and will have some young kids coming up that should provide some excitement for the next couple years.

Let’s go Friar, lets see what you got.

-JustDave

Earth to Dwight Howard

I'm unsure as to what surprised me more, Dwight Howard's impressive performance in overtime of game 4 or the fact that he still hasn't developed a reliable post move that doesn't involve the word 'dunk.' He's been in the league for 5 years now! He can't shoot, he doesn't have a hook shot or a fadeaway, or a finger roll. It's simply amazing. He has the potential to be the most dominating center in the NBA for years to come, yet it doesn't appear like he's even improved that much offensively throughout the course of his career.

I also think that Cleveland wins that game if they had fouled Dwight Howard down the stretch. Howard is a sub 60% free throw shooter and the Cavs allowed him to score 10 points in overtime, only two of them coming from the charity stripe. Why would you not foul him in this situation? He's terrible from the free-throw line. His only offensive go-to move is the dunk, which is an extremely high percentage shot. This baffled me. Coach Scottie would have sent in the goon to play hack-a-Dwight.

WNBA: Expect Boredom

Is "Expect Great" seriously the current slogan for the WNBA?

The only thing great about the WNBA are the chances that I will never, ever watch a single minute of this awful disgrace of a basketball league.

Somewhere in LA, Tyler is shaking his fist at me.

It's Time to make Free-Throw Shooting Interesting

Anyone sick of watching foul shooting yet?

Over the weekend, there were 639 fouls and 1187 free throws attempted in three basketball games. I may have embellished these numbers a bit but regardless, there were way too many fouls called. I don't mean to sound like Jeff Van Gundy here, but the officials should let the players play. The refs have been so uptight lately that Zydrundas Illgauskas accidentally dropped his cigarette during halftime of Sunday's game and was whistled for a violation.

If the refs are plan to call fouls on every possession, can't they at least make it entertaining?

Remember how fun "knock out" was? I propose that after a foul, each team chooses an opposing player on the court to shoot a free throw. Just like "knock out," two players will stand at the charity stripe one after the other. I figure that you might as well factor in an opposing player since there will inevitably be a foul called on the next possession anyway. Whoever scores the first basket wins the point.

How great would it be to see Daniel Gibson attempt to shoot a free throw over Marcin Gortat, only to have the ball bounce off the back of Gortat's head? Or even better, Big Z and Gortat sprinting in slow motion for a loose ball after Big Z's errant free throw almost decapitates both of them. This would be high comedy, someone needs to make this happen.

Breaking News: Name Change in Effect

Some of you likely visited our website today, glanced at the title and thought, "Wait a minute, this isn't right!"

Don't worry folks, while we may have a different name, we still have the same subjective, biased sports writing

"Well Below the Mendoza Line" was unoriginal and was a little too long. It did seem fitting though because we typically write about the Padres, whose cumulative batting average rests "well below the mendoza line." I just felt that "Through Buckner's Legs" is a catchy title for a blog that frequently references the New England sports scene.

To any Red Sox fans I may have offended as a result of the new name, I hope you realize this was not my intention. I'm a die hard Sox supporter, as well as a fan of the other Boston sports teams.

The transition is not done yet - yesterday I purchased the rights to www.throughbucknerslegs.com and soon we will be transferring all of our writing to this web address.

Trading Peavy Would Have Been a Horrible Mistake

Since Dave isn't going to voice his opinion, Padres Nation, I've decided I'm going to take the initiative.

While I may not be a die-hard Padres supporter, I'm still utterly disgusted with the actions of the team's management today. A mere 40 games into the season, San Diego attempted to trade their ace, Jake Peavy, to the Chicago White Sox. Worse, it's not like the season is over, they are in second place in the division right now!

Fortunately for Padres' fans, Peavy has exercised his no-trade clause and will not become a member of the White Sox. But the lingering question is, why would the Padres have tried to trade Jake in the first place?

Here is their reasoning: The Padres are about $5 million above the $40 million player payroll that the team's majority owner, John Moores, has set for this season.

So let me get this straight. You're interested in trading Jake Peavy, the team's franchise player, in order to save $5 million this year? Just today you swapped Jody Gerut for Brewers OF Tony Gwynn Jr, saving the team about $1.2 million in 2009. You mean to tell me you can't pull off a few more moves like that?

If conserving finances is in fact the primary issue, I will offer another way to save money. Brian Giles is earning $9 million this season. Yes, this is the same Brian Giles that is hitting LEADOFF with a .166 batting average. In 145 at-bats he has just 24 hits, only 2 have been homeruns. Giles couldn't hit a beach ball at this point of his career; why the Padres keep him at the top of the order is beyond me. Regardless, here's what they need to do. Manny Ramirez recently failed a steroids test and was suspended 50 games. The Dodgers don't have to pay his salary during his suspension. Someone needs to hold Giles down and inject him with some HGH. Think about it, this is a flawless plan. The Padres save like $3 million and when Giles comes back, he may actually hit with some power again. And they can keep Jake too.

More importantly, why are the Padres trying to save money in the first place? They have the second lowest payroll in the majors already! The only team that actually spends less than them are the Marlins. Shouldn't they be focusing on spending more money? How can San Diego's owner expect to be competitive in major league baseball if he refuses to dedicate an adequate amount of funding to the team?

A Peavy trade would be a slap in the face to the Padres' fan base. Although the team has a sub-500 record (18-22), San Diego ranks 17th in the MLB in average attendance. To put this into perspective, the Padres attract more fans than Tampa Bay (2008 World Series runner-up), the Toronto Blue Jays (currently 1st in the AL East) and Texas (1st place in the AL West).

What does this mean?

People in San Diego like watching baseball! The weather is always perfect, the park is easily accessible and the city is fairly wealthy as well. If there is a substantial number of fans buying tickets to watch the less-than-mediocre Padres right now, just imagine the potential if they started winning. If management constructed a squad that could realistically be competitive in the National League, the Padres attendance could skyrocket. Attendance numbers could easily reach the top 10 in the majors.

Since the fans are actually showing up, reward them. Keep Jake Peavy. He's the face of the franchise. A former Cy Young winner and one of the top pitchers in the National League. He'd be the best pitcher in the NL if he actually had some consistent run support.

Even better, he loves the city and likes playing in San Diego. Pitchers with his talent are few and far between. Don't make the mistake of trading him away.

- Scottie

5 Reasons Why the Lakers Will Advance to the NBA Finals

It seems there are a disproportionate amount of analysts that predict the Nuggets will win their upcoming playoffs series. These experts have tossed around numerous reasons why Denver will be victorious: the Lakers' effort has been inconsistent, the Nuggets have been hot lately, Houston nearly beat L.A. without their two best players.

I do not see this happening, at least not this year. Here is why.

1. Kobe Bryant. The 2009 NBA playoffs may be his last great chance to win another championship. Sure, he may be rather young and he's still in the tail end of his prime, but Kobe has already played over 1100 games in his 13-year career. In this time span, he's logged over 40,000 minutes, while also being extremely durable. With all of these miles on his legs, one would think that it would be nearly impossible for him to maintain this consistency for much longer. Kobe Bryant's legacy is on the line. He's going to do everything in his power to ensure that the Lakers don't lose.

2. Denver isn't that good. The Nuggets played New Orleans in the first round, a team that had significant disadvantages in both size and depth. The Hornets were basically only playing with two guys: Chris Paul and David West. No one else showed up. Worse, this team clearly gave up on their coach during the series, which is obvious due to their 60 point shellacking at home. The Nuggets played Dallas in the next round. Another squad that lacked size and depth. Josh Howard appeared to be playing at 50% because of his ankle injury, meaning that the entire scoring load rested on Dirk's shoulders. Starting to see any patterns here? Meanwhile the Lakers were struggling against a very well-constructed Houston team that, due to their toughness and great defense, was able to take L.A. all the way to Game 7. Denver has had a much easier road so far.

3. Los Angeles should be able to control Chauncey Billups. The Lakers have trouble guarding quick point guards. They made a mediocre Aaron Brooks look like Isiah Thomas in his prime, which is a big reason why the Rockets won three games in that series. Rajon Rondo's success in the 2008 NBA Finals is another example. Luckily the 32 year old Chauncey Billups has lost a step and his ability to get to the basket is not an issue anymore. Billups lack of mobility will work in the Lakers' favor.

4. Defense - Who will cover Kobe? Dahntay Jones is supposedly the Nuggets' best perimeter defender. To his credit, he played Chris Paul really well in the first round. One problem this creates is that Jones is an awful offensive player. When his is on the court, Denver's scoring will suffer. Secondly, if Shane Battier and Ron Artest, two of the best current perimeter defenders in the entire NBA, can't keep Kobe under 25 ppg Dahntay Jones surely isn't going to be able to. When the Nuggets realize that Jones can't guard Kobe, J.R. Smith will take over the defensive duties on the 2008 MVP. This will lead to 78 bad shots that will also affect Denver's offense. Smith has never seen a shot he doesn't like, and would shoot the ball from the parking lot if he was open.

5. The Insanity Factor. Will it be possible for the Nuggets to maintain their composure? Kobe loves to throw his elbows around, often leading to cheap shots on the opposing players. When this happens, I'm not so sure Denver will let it go. What about Kobe's constant taunting and the fact that he constantly runs his mouth? There is a high potential for a fight to occur in this series. The Nuggets have been able to contain their emotions throughout the playoffs thus far, but players like Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony have been previously suspended due to altercations on the court. If either Martin or Anthony is ejected or suspended for any game in this series, it will be to the Lakers' advantage. Derek Fisher doesn't get away with that elbow against Denver.

We Want Leftwich

Here is an excerpt from a May 13th article published by the ESPN.com news staff, titled McCown: Starting Job His to Lose:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a plethora of quarterbacks under contract, but Luke McCown believes he's got the coolest hand of them all.

And despite the presence of recently signed, proven veteran Byron Leftwich, McCown - who signed a new deal himself in February - declared emphatically Tuesday that the starting job is his to lose.

"Absolutely," McCown said, according to the St. Petersburg Times. "This has been a long time coming for me and I'm not letting anybody take it from me. And it's the first legitimate opportunity. Say what you want about getting three starts at the end of a season [two, in 2007].

"But this is my first real opportunity to be the starter, to be the guy. And I look at it as mine and you're going to have to shoot me."

So wait, is he saying that since he is the starting QB, we should shoot him? Or is he implying that the only way he will not be the Bucs QB is if he is shot?

Either way, can someone get on this?

Dallas's Demise

Last night, I received an email from my good friend Dan Rose, requesting that I write about the tragic defeat his beloved Mavs recently suffered. He referred to Denver as the "Thuggets," which I thought was hilarious.

So why was Dallas completely obliterated in the series?

Well, first off, they were undersized. Any time you are forced to play a 5'5'' shooting guard for 20+ minutes a game, it creates a significant matchup problem... but not in a good way. And while we're on the topic of matchup problems, Erick Dampier's awful defense caused a mediocre Nene to put up ungodly numbers in games 1 and 2 (24.5 points per game on almost 80% shooting). And of course there is Jason Kidd, who couldn't guard a ball rack at this point of his career. With the exception of game 1, Chauncey Billups scored at will on Kidd.

Hypothetical situation: you are the owner of a team that's down 3-1 in a series and looking for any advantage you can get. It's probably not the best idea to start insulting the mother of the most psychotic member on the opposing team. That's not exactly going to give you the psychological edge. In fact, it may actually get you killed. I'm half serious here.

Early in the series, Denver set the tone in terms of toughness. Kenyon Martin shoulder checks Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks' franchise player, to the ground. Nowitzki doesn't confront him, approach him or even raise his voice. More importantly, Dirk's teammates don't stick up for him either. Could you imagine if the opposite scenario had occurred, if Martin was knocked to the floor instead? Not only would Dirk have been pummeled, but we probably would have witnessed the reincarnation of the Artest melee. I think this Nuggets team is almost as crazy as that 2004 Pacers team. Anyways, my point is, don't you need toughness to a certain degree? Doesn't it seem like Dallas would easily buckle under the pressure, especially if the Nuggets' players got in their heads? I thought the Mavs looked intimidated in every game.

I think Dallas's biggest issue was depth, specifically that they don't have any. While the Nuggets have a very reliable bench, headlined by J.R. Smith and "The Birdman," Dallas's bench is Jason Terry and a bunch of nobodys. Antoine Wright? James Singleton? Ryan Hollins? The Mavs' starters were forced to play 44 minutes a game, likely the reason why their losses were almost
all blowouts.

I am a big fan of Bill Simmons, arguably ESPN.com's top columnist. I think he's hilarious and I enjoy the way he connects sports with pop-culture references. He's also a diehard Boston sports fan, which further attracts me to his writing.

But Bill, GM of the Timberwolves? Seriously?

His reasoning is that his hiring would increase Minnesota's nationwide publicity and overall ticket sales. This is true... but to an extent. Sure, Simmons is well known across the country and has a very devoted fan base (myself included), but most of his readers are from the Boston area. I'm surely not going to fly to Minnesota to support him. The team needs to do well in order to fill the seats in the arena. Fans don't buy tickets because they like the GM, fans buy tickets because they enjoy watching the team play. If the Timberwolves are trotting out a lineup that includes Mark Madsen, Brian Cardinal, Kevin Ollie and Jason Collins (all of whom started of their last game of the season), I wouldn't watch the game on TV, let alone shell out $75 to watch it live. I'm sure Minnesota fans feel the same way.

There's also a considerable amount of luck involved in being an general manager in the NBA. Or any other professional sport for that matter. A GM could assemble the perfect team. The ideal mix of talent, chemistry, player salaries, veterans vs youth, along with fact that the starters & bench players recognize their respective roles. Suddenly the organization's superstar is injured and their championship hopes are all but lost. It isn't the general manager's fault when this happens. Now I'm not saying Minnesota had any chance to win the 2008 NBA title, but would last year's duo of GMs, Kevin McHale and Jim Stack, have taken the same amount of criticism if Al Jefferson hadn't torn his ACL midway through the season? Of course not. Jefferson was the franchise's best player. If he hadn't been injured they would have won more games and either McHale or Stack would likely still be the General Manager.

Simmons also contends that he can't possibly perform the job worse than awful GMs like Isiah Thomas and Elgin Baylor. While this also may be true, an NBA team, regardless of how terrible they are, is not going to hire a general manager that lacks the experience necessary to run an organization. Simmons has never even possessed an entry-level administrative job in the NBA. If he is seriously interested in becoming a GM (which it sounds like he is), he needs to get his foot in the door first. Shadow a general manager to see the daily duties and responsibilities. The position is much more than simple decisions like, "No I'm not going to give up two first round draft picks for Eddy Curry!"

Bill, you have the hook-up in Houston. Your boy Daryl Morey is the GM of the Houston Rockets. Learn some more about the position and maybe even take a lower role within organization.

Better yet, be the "VP of Common Sense" that you've always talked about. This experience will give you the credentials you need to become a general manager down the road.

So I'm at work right now watching the 1988 Eastern Conference semi-finals, Celtics vs. Hawks, and couldn't help but notice how stacked this 1988 Boston team was. The Celtics had one of the best Power Forward/Center combos in the NBA in Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

Flash forward to the 2009 Eastern Conference Semi-finals, Boston's starting power forward is now:







Oh how times have changed. We currently have a 6'6'' 300 pounder with a 4 inch vertical leap playing power forward.

And when he is in foul trouble, here is Boston's 2nd option:


















I will now light myself on fire

Considering both of these guys will likely spend time guarding Dwight Howard, the league's best center from both an offensive and defensive standpoint, I don't really like the Celtics chances in this Orlando series.