NBA at X-mas

A quick browse over the NBA’s divisions wields some rather fortuitous results.


Eastern Conference:


Atlantic Division
- Boston Celtics W26 L2

Central Division
– Cleveland Cavaliers W23 L4

Southeast Division
– Orlando Magic W22 L6


Western Conference:


Northwest Division
– Denver Nuggets W18 L10
- Portland Trailblazers W17 L11
- Utah Jazz W17 L12

Pacific Division
- LA Lakers W22 L5

Southwest Divion
- New Orleans Hornets W16 L7
- Houston Rockets W19 L9
- San Antonio Spurs W17 L10


As I anticipated the Celtics are striding out over the Eastern Conference with only the Cavs displaying similar offensive and defensive strength. The Magic are hot on the Cavs tail but outside of the top three the Knicks, Pistons and Hawks in each division respectively are proving with an average of nearly even wins to loses the less competitive nature of the Eastern Conference.

Many ideas are banded around for the differences in styles, quality, coaching strategies and tactics but essentially the Western Conference is tougher for each team, bar the Lakers.

The Celtics seem well and truly on their way to division success extending a 18/0 streak into the Christmas game at the Staples Centre, LA to meet a strong and very motivated Lakers side with a grudge. The Cavaliers are proving a breeding ground for ‘King’ James who turns 24 this week as his stats now read 27.7 ppg and many just stand and fear being drawn in. However Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard currently dominate general play in points, blocks, rebounds, assists and turnovers and yet the Heat and Hornets are right in the grit of the competition. Only the Magic are feeling the impact of Howard’s dominance.

The 25th then brings an interesting game between the Hornets and Magic which could allude to their directions over the rest of the season. Whilst the Spurs would be worth watching to see the rolling impact a fully fit 5 will have for their season.

Within all this the Lakers are still showing signs of true ascendency, all in all topping the overall game stats on average offensively and defensively. It might be argued that the rolling success their overall game is having stands firm against the prolific streaks of the Celtics but it is of my hope that the inevitably pumped Christmas game at the Staples Centre on the 25th will be replicated in a 7 game finals in the summer.

Boston Celtics for the finals...again?

by James Grantham

Clearly it's none to easy to make a claim with such a long slog to come but a few weeks into the 08/09 season and champions the Boston Celtics are now 10/02 laying out their call to arms not just for the Division nor Eastern Conference but the Lakers and a possible repeat on last year’s Championship win.

After defeating the Atlanta Hawks and ending their run last week, travelling to the Knicks, Cavaliers and Nets and winning despite the 60+ age of the ‘big three’ of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, they are proving they can weather the games in quick succession.

Nothing is more symptomatic of Boston’s scope to succeed than the win over the Knicks 110/101 Monday night without Kevin Garnett. Leon Powe, the talismanic bench figure from last years finals proves his call does not go unanswered as Doc Rivers tell’s him to get on and hustle early in the 1st quarter. Hustle he did, as Rajon Rondo, with his turn of pace and slighter springier frame is a risk to point-guards breaking quickly and slicing through New York’s defence, Leon Powe, entirely un-phased gets into a scuffle with Randolph and shows just how strong the Celtic’s bench is, alongside ‘Baby Face’, Tony Allen, Scalabrine with his laid back 3’s and Kendrick Perkins.

With Rondo’s shiny new diamond and emerald NBA Championship ring glistening on his finger his orders – to play more aggressively and take them on in the paint and to the basket looks like addressing one of his personal short-comings of last years Championship winning season.

Taking the result of Monday night and the other statistics it’s clear to see Boston’s intent on starting as they mean to end, their 2 run and 10/02 overall win/ loss ratio places them easily top of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference and top of the entire Eastern Conference, with only the Cavaliers backing against them – only 1 win (and therefore 1 loss) behind the Celtics suffered at the Celtics hands. Last night proving that without Garnett thanks to a foul and suspension received from the game at Milwaukee they had gaps but nothing they couldn’t plug up. That said the Knicks' new style isn't entirely successful just yet and really looked lethargic from time to time.

It also seems that without the firing on all cylinders of the finals last year, the ‘big three’ are still so damaging. It’s not their run-away scoring potential, because outside of the common 15/0 spells they take there is no consistent scoring of the level they can accomplish, not until the season gets deeper in and the stakes higher will we see this gloss.

It’s not just the ‘big three' either, of the Celtic’s top 5, the PPG read 21.0, 17.6, 16.3, 7.6 and 7.2 before the NY game Monday night, hardly prolific. Yet the wins were 9/2. It’s the ability to grind it out and dominate in massive spells in games, as shown in last years finals turning around a 20 something deficit to take the Lakers win from them, plus the motivation and leadership of Doc Rivers to turn around similar troughs in the games come the following quarter. The Celtics, unless damaged in the process, look like serious contenders to make it two championships in a row. Unless, I suspect, more than one of the ‘big three’ are out at a time.

Another New Dawn

by Alex Allen

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Ramos is out, Redknapp is in. Sometimes in football, inexplicable things happen. Diego Forlan, prolific at Villareal and now Athletico Madrid, never met expectation at Manchester United. Juan Sebastian was dubbed as Scholes, Keane and Beckham all rolled in to one, but it never clicked. Now, despite winning the UEFA cup and turning Espanyol in to a highly regarded outfit that played with style and verve, Ramos is out of a job after leading Spurs to their worst start to a season in history. Inevitably, although Ramos' potential was never in question, 2 points from 8 games has left them in serious danger of relegation which would have horrendous financial consequenses, and the era of Manchester United giving a young Alex Ferguson time to prove himself and reaping the long term rewards of their loyalty are long gone.

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I feel for Juande Ramos, his squad was decimated on transfer deadline day, and there was no time to plug the holes that those big departures left. It was clear long before the deal was concluded that Dimitar Berbatov would not be a Spurs player for the 2008/9 season. Even if his move to Manchester United had no materialised, his personal strike would have seen his position at Spurs completely untenable. The whole episode was a prime example of Spurs' incessant money grabbing. Manchester United had made their interest in Berbatov apparent since last summer, so it must have come as no surprise that they made a concrete offer during the last window. Whilst I think that teams like Spurs should at least get some sort of financial benefit from the big four clubs luring their biggest assets away with lucrative contracts and Champions League football, in this instance they did it to the detriment of their own team. Darren Bent showed few signs of coming good during the last season, Frazer Campbell was totally unproven despite being highly rated, and it was idealistic to assume that Pavlychenko could adapt instantly and score Spurs out of trouble. Levy wants the team to be competitive, he fired Martin Jol for finishing fifth in consecutive seasons after all, but his actions don't match his words. If he wanted to give Spurs the best chance, he would have taken a 5 million pound cut on Berbatov, and given Ramos the best chance of replacing him. If Ronaldo had been lured to Real Madrid, who, incidentally, I don't believe for a second have genuinely dropped their interest in him, Manchester United would have struggled too, losing influential players can do that to any team. In recent seasons, time and time again Spurs have acted more like a business than a football club, and wasted the proceeds of their sales on players that couldn't make the grade. Great stadium, great location, money to spend, what's holding them back? Redknapp seems like a good choice, a motivator, a track record of spending money wisely and knowing how to organise a team. Sometimes managers who have worked wonders at smaller clubs struggle to make the grade when they step up, take Allardyce and Curbishley as prime examples, but at 61 this could be the last chance Redknapp has to take on one of the big jobs and possibly put him in the frame to succeed Fabio Cappello, so what has he got to lose?

What's the Point?

by Phil Seaman

So, where to start with Tottenham? The usual events - big talk before the season about how brilliant they are, and how this will be the season where they crack the big four. A few games in, and the inevitable mid-table pattern sets in, fans begin to boast about how next season, Arsenal will be quaking in their boots as the Tottenham ship docks in the top four.

Only this time, 2 points from 8 games means that they can no longer be certain of premier league football next year. The fans have seemingly little to look forward to in the future, so what do they do? Boo and bollock the team. How on earth can a team succeed when, at 0-0 at home to Wigan, they are booed off at half time, given abuse that you probably wouldn't even throw at the local paedophile.

The same thing can be said about England matches. These are plastic fans, happy to chant and cheer when the points and goals are flowing, but as soon as the team doesn't produce a perfect performance, or a player makes an individual error, they get on the players backs and don't let go. It's pathetic, and worst of all it heaps yet more pressure on the players. You might think that Ashley Cole is a bit of a pretentious overpaid twit, but he's out there playing for your team. How on earth does it help the team cause to boo a player who knows he's just made a howler.

Matt Le Tissier was talking about how Southampton managed to stay up after winning just 1 point from 8 games back in 98-9. The reason: They turned The Dell into an impenetrable fortress during the second half of the season through a mixture of good performances and great support from their fans. When they turned up to play, they had no fear and were confident that together with the fans, they would win the game.

Compare that with White Hart Lane, where Spurs players with fragile confidence are called overpaid, spoilt brats by their own dismissive fans. If the fan's are the mythical '12th man', spurs are down a player. And most teams can't deal with being a man light for an entire season - bye bye Spurs.

Getting Games or Selling Shirts?

by Tom Clarke

I read this morning that David Beckham could well be on his way to AC Milan to play during the MLS close season. In my opinion, this is nothing more than an opportunity to sell replica shirts from AC Milans point of view. Their team is full of world-class players, including huge names like Kaka and Ronaldinho. But the fact is that although Beckham is now in the autumn (or some may go as far to say 'winter') of his career, Brand Beckham is still as strong as ever.

At the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, Beckham made an appearance to kick a football into the gathered audience of thousands in the stadium. A host of people dived for the ball with the 'lucky victor' holding it tight to his chest for dear life. He is no longer revered for just his football talents.

Yes, Beckham was a great player, and can still show flashes of brilliance in his cameo 10-minute run-outs for the England squad, but the fact is that he plays his club football in the MLS, which is arguably at a level not even comparable to the Championship.

I doubt that AC Milan have been eyeing players like Bristol City's Lee Trundle, Barnsley's Jamal Campbell-Ryce or Birmingham City's Garry O'Connor...and they all scored this week (I looked it up...)

I really hope that I am wrong and Beckham finds a rich new vein of form whilst playing for Milan which he then transfers to his (surely coming to an end?) England appearances, but I can't help but think that there are other motives here.

You may find this viewpoint controversial, or maybe you agree with it...but what's really controversial is that I didn't link Milan with 'Posh Spice', 'shopping' and 'she made him do it'...now that would have been out of line...

Selling the World the Beautiful Game

by Alex Allen
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Following the of controversial plan by the Premier League clubs, who on Thursday unanimously agreed to further examine a proposal to extend their season to 39 games by staging a new round of competitive fixtures outside the UK from January 2011, the Premier League stands on the brink of its most radical shake up since the league’s conception in 1992. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, has described the proposed, additional ‘international round’ of fixtures as ‘an exciting and innovative proposal that needs careful consideration before being introduced’.
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The Premier League would not be the first sporting franchise to try and hauk it’s product overseas. Roger Goodell, league commissioner of the NFL, described the scheduling of the first regular game outside North America as one of the highlights of the 2007 season. It wasn’t just for the benefit of good public relations and furthering the NFL brand either. The game itself between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants in October 2007 was an 82,000 sell out, and is estimated to have generated 20 million pounds in revenue for London with nearly 10,000 visiting for the game. Further more, the game was broadcast in 212 countries in 21 languages, which appeared to vindicate the NFL’s decision to pursue new markets. The recent Superbowl, won dramatically by the unfancied New York Giants, was watched by 93.2 million people in the US alone, and this, in addition to the potential worldwide television audience which approached a billion people, is further evidence of the potentially lucritive markets which lie further afield. Now the Premier League wants to crash the party. It is estimated that the proposed ‘international round’ could generate an additional 5 million pounds for each club who participates, and the increased revenue could be reinvested in to the league attracting better players and improving stadiums and facilities.
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However, the proposals have received a lukewarm reception from fans, who feel that the proposals are nothing more than Premier League clubs disregarding their own supporters in a move motivated only by the prospect of further lining their own pockets. Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporter’s Federation, has challenged the Premier League to, ‘scrap the plans if the majority of football fans in this country don't want matches to be played abroad’. He added, ‘the FSF has no doubt whatsoever that the vast majority of supporters are against this, and believe it would drag the Premier League into the realms of farce. When this ludicrous idea was first mooted in October last year, we ran a poll here on our website and a huge majority of supporters, 80% who took the trouble to vote, were in complete opposition to this’.
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Whilst the big four clubs, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are undoubtedly box office attractions worldwide, what of the rest? Middlesbrough regularly struggle to even fill their own stadium, with an average of just 26,809 supporters coming to the 35,000 capacity Riverside stadium in the 2006-7 season. Wigan Athletic attracted even less, just 18,439 supporters came to the JJB stadium on average last season, a smaller number than some MLS attendances, as they perenially do battle with the town’s first love, rugby league. Surely it is naïve to think that either could generate enough global interest to fill a venue the size of Pasadena’s 90,000 capacity Rosebowl arena. Whilst Dubai, Tokyo and Sydney may dream of seeing Ronaldo, Ronaldo and Drogba in the flesh, what would they make of Bramble, Savage and Cattermole? Even if the fixtures were drawn randomly, with the top four seeded to avoid each other and to spread the league’s biggest assets evenly, several dead ties are unavoidable. Downgrading certain fixtures to smaller stadia due to a reduced demand for tickets would undermine the Premier League’s standing as a world brand of high enough quality to be a global spectacle. Further more, whilst in the initial development stage the twenty clubs have committed to sharing the financial rewards of this global enterprise equally, as the biggest teams with the most attractive and saught after players, will the big four be permanently content to receive the same sum as the clubs battling relegation at the other end of the table when it is they that provide the majority of the Premier League product?
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There are a number of other potential hurdles to clear. Would the price of the proposed additional fixture be included in the cost of a standard season ticket? Given that Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool regularly fill their stadiums to capacity, what sort of compromise could be reached to satisfy the demand for tickets from domestic supporters, and those eager to grasp the unique oppurtunity to see their team in the flesh from abroad? The 10,000 strong support that the New York Giants took to London to face the Dolphins in October, demonstratest the afinity supporters have for their team.

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For those unable to afford the inflated cost of a three and a half thousand mile round trip to see their team in action, would the game be televised at a time which would suit the home supporters, or the audience abroad? Given the prospective income that the proposed ‘international round’ of fixtures is projected to generate, I suspect it would be the latter. In the midst of the whole proposal, is the detrimental effect it might have on the teams themselves. Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments that, ‘"they [the Premier League] can't keep their mouth shut down there. I think if they are going to do these things they should have been enquiring and having discussions with managers and players before they come out with all this stuff and make an issue of it’, are indicative of the gulf which has grown between the football’s chairmen and the players on the field. Manchester United are, of course, all too familiar with the lure of the foreign dollar, having recently earned a reported 1 million pound gift from the Saudi Arabian royal family for participating in Sami Al- Jaber's testimonial. As Ferguson commented after the game, ‘"I must admit that when the decision was taken to play in Saudi Arabia I had not expected such a tough FA Cup tie against Premier League opposition," he conceded, in regard to the home FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur on the following Sunday. "I reckoned the odds were on us drawing a team from lower down the divisions because we had had a run of nine draws against teams from the Premier League." In other words, Ferguson took a risk. He gambled that Manchester United could pocket an easy million pounds, and still maintain their consistent domestic form. When Robbie Keane poked home Aaron Lennon’s cross after 24 minutes to give Spurs the lead at Old Trafford five days later, he must have wondered if it had been a gamble that was to backfire rather emphatically, leaving him a host of uncomfortable questions to ponder.

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These new proposals could well put every Premier League club in much the same position. Come the end of the season how much will those additional three points be worth? Even taking the increased parachute payments from 7.75 to 11 million pounds in to consideration, the television rights alone generate 30 million pounds for the clubs involved per season, in comparison to less than 1 million for their Championship counterparts. In the 2005/6 season €430 was distributed between the 32 teams that qualified for the Champions League group stages. Even taking the most generous projections of the financial benefit overseas fixtures for Premier League clubs to be true, those figures are still dwarfed by the financial incentives for clubs fighting to break in to Europe’s elite competition, or simply fighting to maintain their Premier League status. By pursuing their latest cash cow abroad, English clubs could find themselves in severe danger of a Leeds United-esque financial melt down because they spread themselves too thinly to remain afloat domestically. Although a firm decision from the twenty Premier League clubs regarding the issue will not have to be made until January 2009, before then there are difficult obstacles which must be overcome, opposition, notably FIFA and Gordon Brown, to convince and appease, and players and managers to consult. Despite only agreeing to further examine to the proposal of an additional weekend of overseas fixtures, the prospect of its realization has already caught the imagination of the football community. Now, the serious business of evaluating whether the expansion of the Premier League in to new, foreign markets is really a viable and sensible option begins.