WM Post: Ballack jokes, Group B prediction

Two weeks to go, and it's Der Spiegel talking to Der Moneybags, Germany captain (and new Chelsea signing at 130,000 quid a week) Michael Ballack, in a pretty good interview:

SPIEGEL: There are already some Ballack jokes doing the rounds. Have you heard this one? They used to talk about Fritz Walter weather, drizzle. Do you know what Ballack weather is?
Ballack: No, I don't.
SPIEGEL: When it rains money.
Ballack: Very funny.

CHRISTOF STACHE/AP

It's raining Michael Ballack.

No player at this World Cup will be under more scrutiny than Ballack, playing in front of the home crowd, fresh off that move out of the Bundesliga -- and in a recent poll only seven per cent of the country figured they can win the whole thing (then again, Germany is the world leader in pessimism). But his manager, Juergen Klinsmann, is doing his darndest to lift the pressure off him and his teammates:

Germany's World Cup squad will take a course in watch making to fill up a bit of spare time during their Swiss training camp, according to team manager Oliver Bierhoff. "They'll learn how to take a watch apart and put it back together again," he said after the squad arrived in Switzerland on Sunday after a break in Sardinia. "It's something a bit different."

On to the Group B predictions. Nothing out of the ordinary yet (and nothing that differs with the odds board):

1 England ... Who needs Rooney? Well, not yet, anyway.

2 Sweden ... They can chew gum and play keepy-uppy at the same time -- with the gum. But those uniforms are enough to blind any opponent.

3 Paraguay ... I'd pick them to upset Sweden if Roque Santa Cruz was healthy.

4 Trinidad & Tobago ... They may well lead the World Cup in team songs.

Speed matters, and other notes

On the same night, the Sabres and the Suns win. Fittingly, both teams rely on speed and finesse (although those were some pretty hefty hits being thrown out by Buffalo and Tim Thomas had a good, hard playoff foul on Jason Terry).

Something to hope for in about a month or so: Victory parades in Buffalo, and in Phoenix. Inaugural titles, in both cases, which maintains pro sports' grand illusion that this is all an equal contest -- but also victories for a style of play in leagues that have for most of the past 15 years favoured brawn, sleepy tempos, control-freak coaches and systems and stifling, mugging defence.

The Flyers are gone. The Minnesota Wild, the Devils and Jeff Van Gundy are gone. If Pat Riley gets knocked out at this hurdle, it'll be just about perfect, at least on this side of the Atlantic, with the World Cup still to come.

More from last night: Steve Nash, taking over. Ten points in the last 3 1/2 minutes, getting the superstar MVP's call from ref Joe Forte as he was sticking his right arm on Devin Harris's hip, delivering the winning pass to Boris Diaw on a screen/roll that went down as smooth as maple syrup (except for Diaw taking steps, that is, and no surprise given how wide open the lane was). Henry Abbott notes:

Credit the entire Phoenix Suns organization with organizing what we saw last night. But especially credit Steve Nash and Mike D'Antoni for creating an operating environment that seems to make all kinds of different players play the best basketball of their careers. Seriously, Steve Nash, Mike D'Antoni and nine Raja Bells (or Shawn Marions or Boris Diaws or Leandro Barbosas) would have a shot against just about anyone.

And here's a mock draft, the last one I'll post for a while, but worth noting from Inside Hoops's Jeff Lenchiner, who is definitely inside and worth a look:

1. Toronto LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas, 6-10, 240, PF, So.)
2. Chicago (via New York) Tyrus Thomas (LSU, 6-9, 229, PF, Fr.)
3. Charlotte Adam Morrison (Gonzaga, 6-8, 205, SF, Jr.)
4. Portland Brandon Roy (Washington, 6-5, 195, SG, Sr.)
5. Atlanta Hawks Andrea Bargnani (Italy, 7-0, 225, PF, 20)
6. Minnesota Rudy Gay (UConn, 6-9, 222, SF, So.)

WM Post: Duelling 'keepers, Group A predictions

We're getting close. The bust-ups have just begun. And the predictions, too.

First, a couple of Frenchmen engaging in handbags at 20 paces. At the France oldtimers reunion pre-tournament family hot dog roast in Tignes, the sparks are flying, goalkeeper Gregory Coupet still incensed that he's not the No. 1 guy but erratic Fabien Barthez is, and Coupet getting into the face of the coach about it:

Associated Press

Coupet, Barthez: A couple of old slappers.

Coupet was so incensed that Barthez failed to complete a mountain hike with the rest of the squad on Wednesday that he argued with coach Raymond Domenech before driving away with his family.
He returned later and trained with the rest of the squad at their base in the French Alps. Spectators chanted Coupet's name in support of the Lyon 'keeper who is acknowledged to be the best stopper in Ligue 1 by some distance.

And here's more detail, from Sporting Life:

In the morning the players were ascending the Grand Motte glacier, when Barthez decided to give up due to a pain in his left calf.
The veteran Marseille keeper then failed to show up for lunch with his team-mates, and that was the final straw for Coupet, who vented his frustration at the French coach, before hastily leaving the table.

I know, I know. It's not exactly Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy. But these are early days, friends.

Meantime, here we go with a group a day predictions, starting off with Group A, and feel free to shoot me down below:

1 Germany ... They have Michael Ballack. That's enough, at least here.

2 Poland ... White and Red, Dangerous and Brave!

3 Ecuador ... At least they have the shortest player in the tournament: Christian Lara, 5-foot-4.

4 Costa Rica ... Losing to Catalonia is not a good sign.

UPDATE: England's Wayne Rooney is still a month away from a possible return, ruling him out of the group stage:

The exact position will be ascertained today when Rooney undergoes a hospital scan on his broken metatarsal. There is no doubt the striker has made encouraging progress, but he has been informed in the last 24 hours that there is only a slender chance, at best, of him appearing for England before June 24.

Mock the draft

The poll on thestar.com's website has LaMarcus Aldridge getting the most support of the voters, Andreas Bargnani second and everyone else well down. Meantime, True Hoop's Henry Abbott has some nice stuff from a Portland standpoint, the Blazers having fallen to the No. 4 slot after going into the lottery with the top chance of grabbing No. 1:

Associated Press

LaMarcus Aldridge: Will he be Raps' No. 1?

Big picture - this is still an incredibly high pick, in a draft with ten or so coveted players: LaMarcus Aldridge, Tyrus Thomas, Andrea Bargnani, Brandon Roy, Adam Morrison, J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams, Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams, and Patrick O'Bryant. GMs around the league are scheming to get those players. The fourth pick has value.
The list of players who could be the top pick overall is, by most mock drafts, four players long (Roy, Thomas, Aldridge, Bargnani)

Meantime, Henry points to another mock draft, one at Draft Express, that has the Raptors taking Aldridge at No. 1, and Tyrus Thomas falling all the way to No. 7. Chad Ford at ESPN.com has the Raptors taking Bargnani (registration req'd), and Thomas going to the Bulls at No. 2, SI.com has Bargnani-Aldridge-Thomas in order and NBAdraft.net has Aldridge on top.

In this kind of draft, I think you will see a lot of that kind of volatility. As fast as Thomas's stock rose during the NCAA tournament, he concluded it with that dud of a championship game. Where he fits now is all over the map.

This also speaks to another truism of this speculation season. I always found the atmosphere leading up to the draft lottery the only time when GM's spoke something close to the truth, and as soon as the pingpong balls dropped it was all changed. But far moreso than usual with all these supposed contenders for Nos. 1 thru 6 (or 7, or 8), this is going to be a wild five weeks full of smokescreens and doubletalk. It's only just begun.

No. 1 in the draft - now what?

So what do you do now?

Small forward Rudy Gay may well be the best fit. I love Tyrus Thomas's game. Andrea Bargnani is apparently the fellow Bryan Colangelo loves above everyone, and I'm sure you can find someone on a bar stool willing to argue another case. It sure beats waiting on Babcock at No. 8, doesn't it?

Looking down the order immediately behind the Raptors, the question may be whether there is someone who wants to trade up -- and would be willing to give up a player to get there. I kind of doubt it, at least at this point. For one thing, there's the money factor. Why trade up in a draft where there's not a huge qualitative difference between the top picks, a group that numbers about a half-dozen?

No. 1, in this draft, may well be no different than No. 3 or even No. 4:

Portland, which had the league’s worst record at 21-61, was big loser in the lottery. Despite a 25 per cent chance of winning the ping-pong ball drawing, the Trail Blazers slipped all the way to fourth.
Trail Blazers President Steve Patterson believes his team will still get a good player.
“You may find a player with as big an impact at No. 4 or even No. 6 as you may at No. 1,” Patterson said.

 

Part of that is Patterson saving face, but he's also reflecting the general consensus. Here's the thing about it, though, that makes it valuable -- the Raptors, for the first draft ever, are dictating the terms. Even if they can't deal it, they're going to get their pick of players of some value. Given the list below, chances are he's going to be a good, maybe even great player -- if they keep the pick (and if he doesn't turn into Michael Olowakandi, that is).

Meantime, the honeymoon continues for Colangelo, who did his best last week to dampen expectations and now faces them run amok. It's his turn to make something of it. Played right, this is the biggest turn in the Raptors' fortunes since they came into the league 11 years ago.

NO. 1 PICKS OVERALL, 1985-2005

1985 Patrick Ewing, Knicks
1986 Brad Daugherty, Cavs
1987 David Robinson, Spurs
1988 Danny (D) Manning, Clippers
1989 Pervis Ellison, Kings
1990 Derrick Coleman, New Jersey
1991 Larry Johnson, Charlotte
1992 Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando
1993 Chris Webber, Orlando
1994 Glen Robinson, Bucks
1995 Joe Smith, Warriors
1996 Allan Iverson, 76ers
1997 Tim Duncan, Spurs
1998 Michael Olowakandi, Clippers
1999 Elton Brand, Bulls
2000 Kenyon Martin, Nets
2001 Kwame Brown, Wizards
2002 Yao Ming, Rockets
2003 LeBron James, Cavs
2004 Dwight Howard, Magic
2005 Andrew Bogut, Bucks

UPDATE: CollegeHoops.net has a mock draft up (first of many, for sure): 1 Toronto Tyrus Thomas; 2 Chicago, Andrea Bargnani; 3 Charlotte, LaMarcus Aldridge; 4 Portland, Rudy Gay.

WHEEL OF HO--E-!

Over at ESPN.com, Sports Biz guy Darren Rovell is taking a look at the hockey playoffs. If he can find them, that is:

Edmonton is already up 2-0 on the Mighty Ducks in the Western Conference finals, which hurts appeal in American markets. Even north of the border, Edmonton is the smallest Canadian city that has an NHL franchise. The Raleigh-Durham area, home to the Hurricanes, is only the 29th-rated television market in the United States. Buffalo ranks 49th on that list.
And in Anaheim, which is part of the greater Los Angeles population base, 51 percent of the market doesn't have access to the Outdoor Life Network, one of the league's two current television partners, on its cable system.

There's nothing really new here, but it makes for a read that brings home (again) how daunting a sell hockey on TV has become in the U.S. All this is cyclical, of course, but outside of the arenas, it's hard to imagine its American profile being lower.

Another way of looking at this comes courtesy of emailer Alex Hirbod, who was watching Wheel of Fortune last night and notes this moment:

There was a puzzle with the subject being "Event". The contestants had found enough letters to spell "VISITING THE HO_ _ E_  HALL OF FAME". You could clearly hear one of the contestants ask his partner what that other word was. Then they promptly asked for a "D".
As I was laughing out loud, the next contestants asked for a "P". The third pair of contestants finally asked for a "C" and solved the puzzle, winning a trip for two to Toronto, in addition to their prize money.

WM Post: Fish footy fever

Just two weeks until departure day, and 17 days till kickoff: just the right time for a little fish soccer:

The fish at an aquarium in Yokohama are competing in a unique soccer match complete with a ball and two goals.
Blue fish were chosen to represent the Japanese national team, which wears blue jerseys, and yellow fish were chosen to represent Brazil, which wears yellow jerseys.
The ball itself is made up of shrimp, which guarantees that the fish will be interested.

But not half as interested as the crowd, if you believe the video evidence. And just like the real thing, that's a month's worth of highlights. (Good catch, once again, from the World Cup Blog).

Vaguely related: Czech Republic's Rosicky signs with Arsenal, "the best club in Europe" (take that, Barca and Chelsea!).

Salomon Kalou wants to play for the Ivory Coast, after these World Cup finals are over, that is. And Andriy Shevchenko is skipping a Ukraine exhibition match because of his ailing knee.

The Late Show: Suns breeze, Spurs Dirked

So, exactly how did the late one change so fast last night?
Looking back, all it took was Cuttino Mobley opening his yap.
Midway through the third period (check the play by play for the sequence), Phoenix's comfortable lead was down to seven points and Steve Nash, in the middle of a pretty good, under-control night, was suddenly throwing the ball away with three turnovers in a stretch of 2+ minutes.
It was the seesaw moment, the Clips with the ball in their hands. And they fell off. Spectacularly. A couple of shots went awry against Boris Diaw - a block, a disruption, and how soon is this guy an all-star? How much dumber can the Atlanta Hawks look for losing him? - Mobley gets T'd up and it's off to the races and a 20-point margin. Thanks for showing up, Elton Brand.

The Mavs, fresh off last night's epic conclusion in San Antonio, will be a far tougher order for Phoenix. Every Diop has his day, and the Mavs finally got their's, blowing out to a 20-point lead, giving it all back and then some, then winning in overtime.
Dirk Nowitzki took over in the fourth quarter: 12 of his 37 points, including eight of nine from the FT line. Nowitzki's game-tying, overtime-forcing and-one was a thing of playoff beauty, a player who's been knocking on the pantheon door for a while now and finally just deciding to kick it in by going straight at it, and against the reigning champions, yet.

ALEX BRANDON/AP

Joshing around in overtime.

Just as much a coming-of-age moment, though, came with the Mavericks' opening three offensive possessions of OT:
First, Nowitzki passes out of the double to Howard for an easy one.
Second, Terry and Diop -- yeah, it's him! the guy once called the worst draft pick in history! -- running screen and roll, Diop finishing with a poster jam.
Third, Stackhouse hits a jumper, Mavs up by four, and all five guys on the floor have done something. Meantime, the Spurs are still trying to figure out Diop at the other end.

In OT, by my count, Duncan was blocked, missed a follow, turned it over, missed twice more against Diop and the help -- he did have one make, but that was it. Never did a career playoff high 41-point, 15 rebound night end in such a nightmare.

Now it's Suns-Mavs out west, while Heat-Pistons start tonight on this side of the grid. If it's all about the best players -- and it usually is -- Dirk Nowitzki is going better than anyone right now, so I give Dallas a big shot to win in a series that may only go five, the Suns and Nash facing a bigger version of themselves, and there won't be any extended rests now. In the east, I'm not nearly as sure, but it should be a long one and I'll go with the Pistons, slightly quicker and carrying an unshakable look, in 7 long game.

As for the sideline battle, I'll take Amare's suits over Cuban's sweatshirts.

Related: Check out Shawn Marion's second half at PopcornMachine's Game Flow.

Clipperblog breaks down that third quarter meltdown, blaming it on Clippers' lack of execution.

Diop's 10 minutes of fame and Nowitzki's fourth quarter explained graphically, again at the PopcornMachine.

From Braves to Clippers

As we head into a lonnngggggg weekend, a jump forward -- all the way to Monday, and the first Game 7 in LA Clippers history.

Braves vs. Knicks, 1974, Maple Leaf Gardens.

It's the franchise's first Game 7 in 31 years -- since it was in Buffalo, playing as the Braves and making the drive up on the QEW for 15 regular season games over the course of two mid-1970s seasons.

A little trip down memory lane, if you will, back to the days of bell bottoms and platform shoes (including a pair of silver and black ones about three feet tall in the window of Master John's on Yonge St. that my barely-teenaged buddies and I would stand in front of, staring and dreaming) ... to the Braves and the Knicks, playing at the Gardens. Randy Smith against Walt Frazier. Ernie D and the Pearl. Buffalo Bob McAdoo. Bob Weiss. Jack Ramsay in a polyester leisure suit.

The ticket pictured, taken from an old scrapbook of mine, was to a 119-97 Buffalo win over the reigning champion Knicks in February, 1974 (I had to look it up to get the score). The Star's report the next day, while the city mourned the death of Tim Horton in a car accident on the QEW going back to Buffalo a couple of days before, included a sidebar of some note:

Harold Ballard, president of Maple Leaf Gardens, says he has the inside track to a National Basketball Association franchise in Toronto for the 1976 season.
Yesterday, he met for several hours with Ned Irish, president of New York Knicks, and a member of the NBA expansion committee.
(snip)
"I'm sure we can increase the attendance for NBA games next year with greater promotion."

I don't remember much of this game, except that Frazier was a must-see, my favourite player of the era and the co-author of a book that solidified his position as the coolest athlete of the era. But it was the Braves who were, for a brief time, our team. They were a fun team, too, McAdoo one of the purest scorers I've ever seen and Smith lightning-quick, maybe the league's finest player you've never heard of, as David Neiman noted this week in the Washington Post:

Smith, a quiet 57-year-old, has faded into virtual anonymity. The front desk operator at the Mohegan Sun Casino, where Smith now works as the director of player development, was unaware he had been in the NBA.
"There's a Randy Smith here," said a woman who identified herself as Lenore. "I don't know if he was a professional basketball player or not."

Toronto's always had a basketball hardcore, and a generation-plus ago this was how you got your fix -- long droughts punctuated by the odd exhibition game, or the Braves' brief encampments, television, and intermittent pronouncements like the one by Ballard that got your hopes up, but proved to be false alarms. Toronto waited 22 more years for the Raptors. I was too young to drive down to Detroit or the Aud in Buffalo - that came later, and by then the Braves were gone to San Diego, and from there finally to L.A. Smith was there every step, though you'd never know it now:

TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Buffalo Bob goes baseline.

Smith has not been contacted by Los Angeles one time in the more than two decades since he set so many team records. He made efforts to get in touch with the organization, even speaking with owner Donald Sterling at a past all-star game. Nothing came of it.
A Clippers spokesman declined when asked to comment about whether the team had made any effort to connect with past players.
"I've even tried going back, because they were my team," Smith said. "I would talk to a few people in management there, but to no avail. So I just stopped."

One more link to the past is completed on Monday. For Braves fans with long memories, you'd think the Clippers would be the team to cheer for. But for Toronto's small crowd of Braves fans, that's Steve Nash out there for Phoenix. It's a tough call, but I'll stick with the original hunch: Suns in 7.

Programming note. If you're wondering about when that game will be played Monday, pay attention to tonight's results: If Dallas and San Antonio goes to a Game 7, it'll be shown Monday night at 8, and the Suns-Clippers broadcast would start at 10:30 (groan!). But if the Mavericks sans Jason Terry win tonight, that series is over and the Suns-Clippers would go at 9 p.m. Monday.

Watching. Detroit at Cleveland (7 p.m., TSN), San Antonio at Dallas (9:30 p.m., the Score). Tonight's doubleheader should be gripping, and leaves open the possibility of as many as THREE Game 7's on tap this weekend as the NBA's best playoff season in years rolls on.

Not watching. Watford at Leeds, Sunday, 10 a.m. I'd love to watch this, the promotion final with the winner going up to the riches of the Premier League and the loser sinking back to the despair of fizzy pop. But it's only available on pay-per-view. Shame.

WM Post: Henry stays at Arsenal

Given the way he whined after Wednesday's Champions League final, the assumption was that French international Thierry Henry and Arsenal were divorcing. Instead he's coming back:

LUCA BRUNO/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wenger and Henry: Sticking together.

“I am staying to play longer for the club that I love,” the 28-year-old Henry said at a news conference at the Gunners’ training ground. “I won’t lie, at one point it (leaving) did cross my mind but I’m a guy who thinks with his heart. My heart told me to stay.”
“Arsene, the club, the fans, I couldn’t let them down,” he said sitting next to manager Arsene Wenger.
Henry is set to earn as much as 130,000 pounds ($274,060 Canadian) a week, according to British papers. That would likely make him one of England’s two highest-paid players, along with Michael Ballack, who joined Chelsea on Monday from Bayern Munich.

Ballack's unveiling on Monday was full of the same kind of hooey - even more so, actually, including this howler from the German: "There are no guarantees I will be in the team."

This Henry deal is not quite the same - unlike Ballack, he's not merely following the scent of money. He's staying put for the money (and comfort level, and next year's Champions League playdowns, Arsenal having squeaked in to that one that one thanks to a fortuitous lasagna virus). Despite all the earlier speculation, this deal always seemed the strong favourite: With Arsenal set to move into their new money-spinning stadium and their team value skyrocketing, it's a marriage made in a bank vault.

As for the World Cup, we'll see Henry and Ballack there. For a little while, anyway. But no matter how their teams perform, they'd be hard pressed to be any worse than this abomination (link from Deadspin, of course).