Friday, April 27, 2007

Friday, April 27

OK- Here is the situation. I have done a full week’s worth of Draft work this week (thank you to the Stars to freeing up my time to allow for Draft prep). I have my thoughts on the Cowboys draft – the biggest of which is this: The Cowboys can upgrade in many spots. There is no wrong answer at #22 for me. I like the WR idea. I like the Safety idea. I like the CB idea. And if Alan Branch or Marshawn Lynch get there, I love that, too. I disagree with Jerry Jones when he says this team is ready to play this week. I think there is an alarming void of big play makers on this team, and they can add a nice one at #22. Anyway, this morning I thought I would cruise through cyberspace and find what the “experts” think….

Pat Kirwan – NFL.com


22. **Dallas: Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU -- There certainly are a few good receivers left on the Dallas board, and it could be Ted Ginn or Dwayne Jarrett, but Bowe seems to be the consensus best wideout left on the board.


Vic Carucci – NFL.com


22. Dallas: Jarvis Moss, DE, Florida
Moss is an excellent athlete who has the makings of an explosive and highly productive pass rusher, just the sort of addition that new coach Wade Phillips wants to make in his efforts to improve the Cowboys defense.


Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc


22. Dallas (9-7)

Projected pick: Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU | Video
Needs: CB, WR, S, OT, DE, PK, C, NT, ILB, OLB

• The Cowboys have done a nice job of filling their holes during free agency, which gives them some freedom early in the draft. They have interest in moving down if they get the right deal. Otherwise, they will take the best available cornerback, wide receiver, offensive tackle or edge rusher at No. 22.

• In this scenario, Bowe is the best fit. The 6-foot-2, 222-pound wideout displays the size, agility and playmaking skills to develop into a quality starter at the next level. As a rookie in 2007, Bowe could serve as an excellent No. 3 option behind aging veterans Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn.

• Signing Ken Hamlin certainly does not preclude the Cowboys from using this pick on a safety such as Nelson, Griffin or Meriweather.
The Cowboys should also consider a cornerback like Ross, an offensive tackle like Staley or a 3-4 rush-linebacker like Spencer, if available.


Mel Kiper


22. Dallas Cowboys Dwayne Jarrett
WR USC



Clark Judge – CBS Sportsline



22. Dallas Cowboys Reggie Nelson, S, Florida -- Wade Phillips can't pass up the safety.



Pete Prisco – CBS Sportsline ..


22. Dallas Cowboys Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU -- They must get youth at receiver since T.O. and Terry Glenn aren't getting any younger.



The War Room – The Sporting News


22. Cowboys: Jarvis Moss, DE, Florida


The Gosselin Top 100 …All you need for Day 1 of the draft…

At the Sports Bullies blog, they look at all the Cowboys scenarios

A few more highlight films:

Aaron Ross – Texas



Alan Branch – Michigan



Marshawn Lynch – California



---Meanwhile, in Oakland, the Mavs try to get one back on the road tonight. There is no question that it will be a hornet’s nest tonight. They haven’t had a home playoff game since Dirk was in 15 years old. Prepare for two tough games in which you hope to be in the mix with 5 minutes to play, and then count on your MVP to get you hoops, and your defense to get you stops. A split is not a bad weekend, folks.
Warriors call on Harrington to start impacting the series


The Warriors are looking for a big game out of Harrington, who was the key to their smallball lineup during the final month of the regular season but has yet to get on track in the playoffs.

In two games Harrington has scored 12 points on 4-for-22 shooting from the field. The 6-9 forward-turned-center has had all sorts of trouble finishing inside against bigger players, especially Mavs center DeSagana Diop.

Harrington has missed numerous layups and baby shots and is also 0-for-4 from long distance after finishing as the eighth-best three-point shooter in the league at 43 percent.

Not surprisingly, Harrington said he was "not at all" happy with his performance so far.

"I just got to force the issue a little bit," he said. "I think I'm letting guys off the hook by just spotting and looking for threes. I've relaxed too much, just sitting and waiting for outside shots instead of playing my game.

"The three-point shot just came this season, but before that, I was a post guy who drove the ball. I got to find a way to get to my comfort areas and attack."
"I don't think it's a tough matchup, I just think Al has the ability to change his feet," Jackson said. "Diop is really not a good defensive guy as far as sliding. Al's a great ballhandler for his size, so I think Al can use that to his advantage to bring him out a little bit and use his game."

Nelson was quick to point out that Harrington isn't the only one struggling. Richardson has yet to find his stroke and Mickael Pietrus has had no impact off the bench. Ellis, the newly crowned NBA Most Improved Player, had a stellar first quarter in Game 2 before falling off.

The Warriors are looking at their home crowd for an instant fix.

"Yeah, we're at home, baby. We're a good home team," Nelson said. "And we haven't had a playoff game here in a long, long, time. We need the support, really, of our fans, to get us through these next two games."


Nelson fines Baron, Jackson


As the Warriors await word from the league on whether Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis will face any additional fines or suspensions for their Game 2 ejections, coach Don Nelson lowered his own boom Thursday.

Nelson is fining both players a "substantial" amount for getting themselves thrown out of Wednesday's playoff game, thereby hurting Golden State's chances of going up 2-0 in their series with the Mavs.

"It doesn't make any sense to me, as hard as we worked to get to the playoffs, to all of a sudden get there and not be able to play because of ejections and not controlling our emotions," Nelson said.

"I want to play with passion. I want to play with emotions. But you have to have respect for authority out there. The referees are the authority. And it's just like when I make a decision, I just expect the respect to be there for me."

Davis received his second technical foul after he failed to stop clapping in sarcasm despite warnings from both Nelson and official Bennett Salvatore. Jackson's second technical came after arguing with official Jim Capers on a foul call.

Nelson said "everybody's on board" with the fines, though both players avoided direct answers to questions about them. Davis said the incident was in the past, and Jackson said he was only concerned about tonight's game.

The coach wouldn't say how much of a monetary hit his players will take, but because players cannot be fined twice for the same offense, it may depend whether the NBA adds anything to its standard punishment scale.


In Rangers news, they suck.
A-Rod could do Tom Hicks a solid


The Rangers won't say it publicly, but they are hoping Rodriguez has another flip-flop left in him. When they traded him to the Yankees, the Rangers agreed to pick up $67 million of his remaining contract, with $24 million of that in deferred payments. They have to make those payments no matter what, but if A-Rod opted out, they would save $21 million in salary they owe him over the next three seasons.
They cannot, however, get their hopes up.

"It's something we're completely uninvolved with outside of our trade agreement," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "It's not something we think about actively, but I'm sure we'll pay attention to it at the end of the season."
Since arriving in New York, A-Rod has had a love-hate relationship with Yankees fans. His star power is classic Broadway, but he is denigrated for what he is not -- and that is Derek Jeter.

His month of April is one of the most prolific in baseball history. He leads the major leagues in home runs (14) and RBI (34) and tops the American League in batting average (.378).


Save the Rangers $21 million? That is $21 million more for the Rangers NOT to spend on players! Awesome.

Elias points out the Sammy Homers in losses more than anyone


Sammy Sosa hit two home runs in the Rangers' 9-4 loss at Cleveland. It's the 25th time that Sosa has hit at least two home runs in a game that his team lost, easily the highest total for any player in major-league history. Nobody else has done that even 20 times. Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth combined for fewer multi-homer games in losses than Sosa (they each had 12).


In hockey, Guerin and the Sharks beat Detroit in Game 1. And Luongo sure looked human in Game 1 against Anaheim when he was a sieve. Good stuff in the NHL round 2.

I doubt this Dallas Cop thinks $9 was worth his career

Warriors, Come out to Play!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

What the hell movie is that?

And Elias only proves that Sammy played on the Cubs and Orioles in his career, not that he hits HRs more OFTEN in losses than wins. Show me some rate stats if you want to back up your implied stats.

Andy D. said...

We all know that this is a 4 sport town right... let's examine the 4 franchises really quick and see which ones are worth the time around here...

Cowboys: playoff team that is about to draft some sort of an impact player immediately to compliment Romo and company

Mavericks: Can possibly go up 3-1 by Monday. are the favorite to win the Championship.

Rangers: only KC and Washington are worse than they are this year so far. once again, no one cares about this team and we're barely in to May.

Stars: on the brink of something major either happening (firing Tippet and blowing this thing sky high) or not happening (standing pat with our "core" of players). out in the first round again, and by the way did you see the score of the Canuck game 1 of this series? yeah, makes you want to barf.

Sports in DFW... same old story... different verse.