Tuesday, October 28, 2008

WWOD? Review of the Knicks Previews

Everyone Else's Look Ahead at the 2008-2009 Knicks

John Hollinger, ESPN
Hollinger is the Worldwide Leader's numbers guy when it comes to hoops. His Player Efficiency Ratings are, for my dollar, the zenith of statistical analysis. And, yes, part of the reason I dig his numbers so much is because they provide a cornerstone for my idolatry of Chris Paul.

The Bright Side: "At least the worst is over. After the season, the Knicks finally cut the cord with Thomas and put a grown-up back in charge, hiring former Indiana Pacers GM Donnie Walsh as the new team president... While Curry and Randolph have their shortcomings, each is a beast on the low post who can finish and draw fouls... David Lee, who is a perfect complement to either Randolph or Curry because he's so good at roaming the weak side for offensive boards."

The Half-Empty Glass: "This is still Thomas' team... The same problem of pairing Randolph and Curry remains, as do the hordes of shoot-first, ask-later types at the guard spots and the assorted overpaid underachievers filling out the bench... it's still hard to imagine them cracking the league's top 20 in defensive efficiency. Offense may be a struggle too, even with D'Antoni's genius at that end.."

The Unexpected: Hollinger warns the Association "don't sleep on Quentin Richardson. Yes, he was an absolute dog last season, but he can pummel smaller guards on the blocks, and the Knicks have been strangely reluctant to make use of this skill. He also had his best season under D'Antoni in Phoenix four years ago."

The Prediction: 28-54, 4th in Atlantic Division, 14th in Eastern Conference

J.E. Skeets, Ball Don't Lie (Yahoo)
BDL is a must-stop spot on any hoops fans daily Interweb meanderings. It's matches sarcasm, knowledge and enthusiasm in good measure. They've also been kind enough to link a handful of my posts over the past few months.

The Bright Side: Um, not so much.

The Half-Empty Glass:"The ascension of Chris Duhon to the top of the point guard heap in New York seems as much of a bum move as trading for Zach Randolph to play alongside Eddy Curry... not the most able guy in transition, you don't have to guard him anywhere on the court, he's not a creative passer, he's not even that good a passer."

The Unexpected: According to Skeets, the album that best embodies the 2008-2009 Knicks is Born to Be Blue, by Grant Green.

Sports Illustrated
It's everyone's favorite printed source for full-color photographs of week-old events. And, the grandaddy of the sports journalism that has better access to the pros than anyone this side of ESPN. In the SI team previews we hear from anonymous NBA scouts and someone attributed as C.M., who I think is NBA writer Chris Mannix.

The Bright Side: Again, we've got slim pickings when looking for positive things to say...

The 3/4-Empty Glass:"I don't think the improvement in coaching by hiring Mike D'Antoni is going to make that big of a difference this year... the new coaching staff is going to want to win games and establish a new style, but management is going to need the next two years to clear away the bad contracts and attitudes. The way it looks right now, this is a throwaway year unless they can get something out of the draft from it."

The Unexpected: "The best player on their training camp roster is probably Marbury. Look at his skills: When healthy he can score, and if he wants to -- if -- he can defend his position; I've seen him body up. He's quick, he can push it up the floor, he can handle."

Prediction: 13th In East, 4th in Atlantic

The Big Lead
This is the gateway blog that could lead you to abuse more dangerous and more cynical blogs. TBL brings most everything under the sporting sun to your attention and has been kind enough to link to a few WWOD? posts. The A.M. Roundup is great way to ease into the work day.

The Bright Side: "the talent is clearly there for Mike D’Antoni to blend into playoff team. Jamal Crawford’s shot selection is questionable, but he is undeniably a scoring machine. Zach Randolph, who amazingly stayed out of trouble in his first year in Gotham, can still provide 20-10. David Lee is the quintessential role player. Nate Robinson can provide a spark off the bench."

The 1/3-Empty Glass: " The disastrous, tyrannical reign of Isiah Thomas is over. The stench, of course, still lingers... comparing Starbury, Q Rich and Randolph to Nash, Marion and Amare is pure lunacy. "

The Unexpected: Frankly, the genuinely enthusiastic take on the positive possibilities for the Knicks throughout this preview was unexpected. And welcomed.

The Prediction: "40/45 wins and very, very close to a playoff berth."

Basketbawful, via Deadspin
A fine and funny blog in its own right, Basketbawful is the official NBA blog of the artist formerly known as Deadspin.

The Bright Side: " Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone. Isiah Thomas is gone."

The Half-Empty Glass: "I don't think Mikey Boy can repair the Knicks' defensive inadequacies; D'Antoni's teams couldn't guard somebody with a gun. And if all that wasn't ominous enough, Stephon Marbury is still around, hoggin' the ball and cap space. What I'm trying to say is that, so far, bringing in Walsh and D'Antoni is like putting curtains on a port-o-potty. The minor aesthetic modifications on the outside won't change the fact that what's on the inside still stinks."

Marc Berman, NY Post
Berman is the Post's man on the Knicks beat. He's got fruit-bearing personal relationships with the players and the coaches. He was the guy texting with Marbury when he left the team last year in Phoenix and he was the guy who talked to Isiah when his world was crumbling at the end of last week. Berman's blog is the go-to spot for late-breaking Knicks news.

The Bright Side: "On nights Quentin Richardson has confidence in his 3-pointer, the Knicks' offense will hum like that of the Suns. D'Antoni has gotten this club to move the ball and it resulted in lots of preseason open looks."

The Half-Empty Glass: "The red flag is defense. The Knicks allowed 106.2 points per game in preseason. Lee and a rejuvenated Randolph make for a versatile offensive paring but can be overmatched on the defensive end by bigger teams. Neither blocks shots."

The Prediction: "37-45, No playoffs."

Frank Isola and Mitch Lawrence, Daily News
Isola and Lawrence are the guys my Uncle Elliot reads every morning at the News. And, I don't mean that disrepfectfully. They've got the contacts and the time and the in-house view that the rest of us don't. The flip side is that they've also got the burnout and the taking-things-for-granted-itis that those unpaid love-of-the-game guys don't have to worry about.

The Bright Side: "D'Antoni and Knicks president Donnie Walsh are thinking big picture. Their goal is to get under the salary cap for the summer of 2010 when LeBron James can become a free agent. In the meantime, Walsh will look to remove some of the dead wood and fat contracts and, along with D'Antoni, try to establish a winning culture for a franchise that hasn't had a winning season in seven years." (Isola)

The Half-Empty Glass: "D'Antoni is the New York Knicks' fourth head coach in the past five years. Two of those coaches - Lenny Wilkens and Brown - had more impressive resumes... If history has taught us anything, D'Antoni's run may be brief. But this is supposedly a new era for the Knicks - new president, new system, new media policy (we think) and of course, a new coach... Everything is new except the players. The core group that over the last four seasons produced a grand total of 112 wins and 216 losses remains intact. This group will hurt D'Antoni's career winning percentage in year one. That is a fact." (Isola)

The Prediction: "32 wins begin the long climb back to respectability." (Lawrence)

And, coming up tomorrow morning afternoon is the official WWOD? 2008-2009 Knicks Preview Extravaganza

Friday, October 24, 2008

Allan is All Out, Finally


Knicks Cut Allan Houston
While sitting in the second row of the bleachers in the gymnasium at Pace University last Sunday morning as the Knicks practiced practicing I found myself intently following Allan Houston around the floor. This was unexpected. I mean, I knew he was going to be there. I knew all about his latest comeback attempt. But it all seemed sort of besides the point as I got ready for the debut of the D'Antoni/Walsh Era. Houston was an afterthought. He was closer to an AARP subscription than to contributing on an NBA roster.

Like I said, he was afterthought. Until I couldn't stop watching him. He surely doesn't have the frenetic energy of Nate Robinson, the rubber-neck inducing, cataclysmic charisma of Stephon Marbury or the sheer size of Eddy Curry. And, he was, even then when he still was a member of the team, far less relevant to the Knicks 2008-2009 season than any of those three. But he was the guy who hit the shot against Miami in Game 5 in 1999 against the Heat. He was the guy who played with Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and who pushed John Starks out of the starting lineup. He has scored the fourth most points in franchise history and the sixth most minutes played. He is ALLAN HOUSTON.



Or, at least, he was ALLAN HOUSTON. Now, he's just Allan Houston. He's 37 years old. He's got creaky knees. Therefore, I wasn't surprised when he was cut from the roster yesterday. It was the right move, the necessary move. Because Houston is done. The more I watched him this past Sunday the more that I knew it. Aside from the fact that he couldn't even participate in the five-on-five that they ran at the end of the hour, he just looked out of place the whole morning. He moved gingerly and without conviction as he went through the motion on the other drills. He was apart from the other players on the floor even when he was standing in line with them waiting for his turn to take a shot from elbow. And, when he stood on line waiting to take his shot he kept shaking out his limbs as if he could break loose the shackles of age with a shimmy or a shiver. He was flexing and bending and twitching like a fiend waiting for a fix. And, in his way he was. Waiting on line behind guys so much younger than him, waiting for a "teammate" to feed him the ball so he could take his jump shot from the elbow. Shooting that shot is his drug.


And from 1996 to 2005, when he was scoring those 9,243 points in a Knicks uniform, that sweet jump shot was our drug too. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was the essence of basketball. After all, the set shot was there before the ally-oop, before the slash to the lane (which everyone forgets that Allan used to be quiet adept at as well). I've never seen anything as simple and ideal as Houston's jumper. It was all muscle memory and thoughtless focus. It was what Matthew Graham was really talking about when he said, "Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body." He only thought he was talking about dancing because that was all Graham knew. The fluid, wordless expression of the soul was Allan Houston's jump shot more than it was ever a pirouette. If you've seen it then you know what I mean.

And, as Houston finally trades in the hundred-dollar high tops for the the shined-up penny loafers that he'll wear as a Knicks executive it is a shame that he isn't appreciated as much as he should be. Too many Knicks fans, one of my brothers included, never forgave him for pushing Starks to the bench. Too many Knicks fans never forgave him for signing the one hundred gazillion dollar contract that he was offered. Of course he signed it. Wouldn't you? What else could he do? It's not his fault that management offered him all that money without thinking about what it meant for the long-term health of the franchise? It's not Houston's fault. We can't hold him accountable for it. But we can give him credit for all of the beauty he gave us. For all the games that he won. Hopefully with the passing of time and with his continued involvement in the organization he can eventually receive the respect he deserves. Hopefully we'll remember him for what he was on the court and not who he pushed off of it or what he signed off of it.

Hopefully, we'll remember him for this:

Thursday, October 23, 2008

The Verknickular

Additions to the native language of our locality inspired by the New York Knicks

Charles Smith Layup Line
Function: Noun
Etymology:

Definitions:
1: a dire predicament caused by incompetence
2: the condition of public embarrassment
3: a total loss of control
4: a no-win situation in which higher powers are blocking the path to success (or not calling any of the many fouls in the play)

In use:
1. The Republican insistence upon deregulation at every turn made it inevitable that Wall Street would end up a Charles Smith Layup Line and ensured it was just a matter of time before I was living in a lean-to and hording canned goods.
2/3. So, me and my brother were out doing shots of jagermeister with these Australian dudes all night long. I totally blacked out. The next thing I know, I wake up in the hallway of the hostel. I'm squatting with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. And, I'm only wearing my underwear. Yeah, that sh*t was a complete Charles Smith Layup Line.
4. Sigourney Weaver's character in Working Girl, Katherine Parker, is determined to steal the credit for the good ideas of her subordinate Tess McGill, ensuring that Tess is stuck on a Charles Smith Layup Line.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Real Geniuses

Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni Edition

Although the product on the court isn't exactly transcendent, or even mediocre, there have already been signs that both the Knicks new President and Head Coach are as clever as their press releases would have you believe. In fact, I'm willing to concede genius. Real genius.

As the papers filled with stories of Eddy Curry's large spot on the bench and Stephon Marbury's ever-imminent removal from the roster during the preseason there was something amazing happening. Because genius was at work. Lazlo-level genius.

I didn't understand what was happening at first. Because I am no genius. In fact, I was so far off the scent just a few weeks ago that I thought the opposite of genius was at work at MSG. I thought both Walsh and D'Antoni were experiencing a bit gun-shyness due to the enormity of the problem that they inherited from Isiah Thomas. I was puzzled when the Knicks didn't pull the trigger when they could have traded the Zach Randolph to the Los Angeles Clippers in July. The Clips were dealing from a position of weakness after Elton Brand's shock defection to the 76ers and the Knicks would have been able to shed Randolph without having to take back substantial contracts in return. I was bewildered, bordering on bepissed when Walsh rebuffed the offer. A few weeks later the Knicks again didn't trade Randolph when the chance arose. This time the potential suitor was the Memphis Grizzlies and the haul included a bunch of spare parts featuring Dark Milic.

At this point, I was not bewildered or befuddled. I was beside myself. What were they waiting for? Why weren't they taking what they could get for the man who I spent most last season referring to as the Zach-hole? Why weren't they packing the bags of the player this side of Steve Francis who most exemplified Isiah Thomas's facile understanding of team building? Everyone knew that dumping his contract (he's due $14.7 million this season, $16 million next and $17.3 million in 2010/11) was the keystone to constructing a bid for Lebron James when he enters free agency after next season. Everyone knew that it would be near impossible for the Knicks to clear the necessary salary cap space without moving Z-Bo. In the New York Post, Marc Berman equivocally said the only way [signing Lebron] would be possible is if they can deal Zach Randolph for shorter-term contracts.

What were they waiting for? I thought, as Berman did, that the team needed to get rid of him in order to turn this thing around. And that was the problem. If I knew it then so did every General Manager in the NBA. And, therefore it was impossible that Walsh would get fair value for a guy who, in spite of his many foibles, is one of the few players in the Association capable of putting up 20/10 each and every night. A good GM doesn't just get cap space (which is what the Clippers deal offered) or spare parts (the Grizzlies deal) for a player with that statistical potential. A good GM finds a contending team needing a scorer to put them over the top and cherry picks the most promising youngsters of the roster. A good GM doesn't trade a player when his perceived value is at his lowest. And, Zach Randolph's perceived value could hardly have been any lower than it was during the second half of last season and the first half of the offseason.

What did Walsh do? He got together with his head coach and in a matter of weeks the two of them turned Randolph from headache to honor roll, albeit in a severely remedial class. D'Antoni has benched Marbury, railed against Curry and stood by as the seemingly unquashable confidence of Jamal Craword was thoroughly quashed. And now, we're a week away from the season opener and Randolph is no longer the Knicks main problem. Quite the opposite. It could even be argued that he is the team's most dependable player. He will score and he will rebound for a team with very few stats you can project in pen. Moreover, with Curry seemingly out of the rotation to start the season Randolph will have free reign in the post when the Knicks settle into a halfcourt set on offense. He won't be pushed out to the perimeter by a teammate, where he was at his ball-stopping worst last year. Rather, Randolph will be the focal point of the offense and likely be able to work against centers who are not quick enough (and, yes, it does feel so very wrong to talk about someone not being quick enough to handle the flightless Z-Bo) to stay with him.

Now, has Randolph fundamentally changed at all? No. Is moving him any less important to the team's goal of landing Lebron James? Nope. But does it seem like those things are true? Maybe. Does it seem like Marbury and Curry are more pressing problems right now? It sure does. Especially if you read the papers. That is the beauty of this "plan" that I have given Walsh and D'Antoni credit for. And quite possibly conjured from thin air. I think they think that Randolph still needs to go. I think that they just don't want everyone else to think that they think that. You follow? So rather than driving a FOR SALE sign into the front lawn for the neighbors to see they have gotten to work repainting the house's siding and fixing the broken shutters. They stopped saying that they were going to sell their home. They turned down a few lowball offers and told the neighbors how great the house was and how many points it was going to score. And in a few months when a neighbor's roof starts to leak he may stop by and ask if you ever thought of selling that great, point-scoring house of yours.

Before we know it Randolph will be averaging more than 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. After a few weeks of getting the ball in whatever semblance of D'Antoni's "seven seconds or less" offense the Knicks manage to scrap together, Randolph will again be considered the go-to offensive force that he was considered when Isiah Thomas traded for him. Or, at least, the numbers will be about the same. And then everyone won't think that Walsh needs to trade Randolph. After all, he'll be the team's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. He'll have those magical 20/10 numbers that make GMs salivate. Back when Randolph was acquired by the Knicks the move made no sense as far as team-building strategery was concerned, but his numbers were so impressive that Knicks fans uncomfortably got behind the deal. Those numbers make lesser men (read: Isiah Thomas) do things that don't always make sense. Donnie Walsh understands this.

Walsh was named Knicks President the day after April Fool's Day and in less than seven months he is well on his way, with a great deal of help from Mike D'Antoni, to fooling just such a lesser man around the league. Because he is smarter than they are. While we've been debating Duhon vs. Marbury and pondering the potential of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari these two have been slowly and surely rehabilitating Zach Randolph's image.

In about a month and a half Walsh will have everyone right were he wants them. And, then Randolph will be shipped to the Cavs to provide the scoring that Ben Wallace can't or he'll head to Detroit to provide some off-the-bench offense for a team that has everything but that. And, in return Walsh and D'Antoni will get back far more than the Clippers or Grizzlies were willing to offer when they thought they had the Knicks over a barrel. Just watch.

Well played, sirs.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The More Things Change...

Knicks Lose to Celtics, 90-101

Bobbing and weaving my way south through midtown it started to seem real again. It being the shrill autumn wind slaloming between the office buildings, the Knicks, basketball and the Garden. All of it. There have been so many night at Shea and even a few in the Bronx for baseball and already so many hours logged in front of the television for football that hoops has been pushed past the last remembered bits of waking dreams into the recesses of my brain. Of course, it's also possible that recent Knicks history has played a part of in my pushing aside of basketball after the final game was played last season. It's possible that I sought refuge in the 2008 Mets to salve the burn left behind by the 2007-2008 Knicks. Thankfully, that whole Mets thing totally worked out for me. For us. Right?
Anyway, it all comes rushing back as I set the plastic tray down at my second-floor table at the Nathan's on 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue. I'm ready to go. And by "go," I mean eat the No. 2 meal and then cross the street to watch pre-season basketball by myself at Madison Square Garden.

After eating my two hot dogs and drinking my lemonade I make my way past the ticket scalpers and Donnie Walsh's welcome-back message and towards the bag-checkers and body-searchers. The crowd is a decent size for a Tuesday night in the middle of October. In East Rutherford, that is. It's unremarkable compared with the teeming masses several floors below in Penn Station.Fans were crowded about the merch booths snapping up the newest/bluest gear and a surprising amount of foam fingers. Seriously there were way to many people buying foam fingers. And, I'm not really sure why. The foam-fingered crowd never even flirted with capacity and was made up of a noteworthy minority of Celtics fans. Because the champs were here.

(Thoughts on the "game" itself are coming soon to a post near you. In the meantime, enjoy the pretty pictures)
















Sunday, October 19, 2008

And on the Seventh Day, They Practiced

Images From the Knicks Open Practice
(More Words/Pictures To Come Later Today/Tonight)
It was bright and early. It was too early and far too bright. But here I was in the car cruising north on the Saw Mill Parkway headed for Pace University in Pleasantville, NY. The occasion was the annual open practice held by the Knickerbockers. The early wake-up call, though, was well worth the hour that I got to watch the team practice.

It wasn't anything extraordinary. They stretched. Ran a few drills. And then went through the motions in a bit of 5 on 5. But the 150-200 folks in that gym were right up close for all of it. We heard Jared Jeffries cracking wise about Patrick Ewing, Jr. We felt the awkwardness when Chris Duhon and not Stephon Marbury took the floor with what sure looked like the first team. We cringed with the same embarrassment that everyone on the team did each time Jerome James took a shot. And, we knew the simultaneous awe and pity inspired by Allan Houston as he did what he could when he could.

















Saturday, October 18, 2008

TBS = Thwarting Baseball Supporters

Or, Is it Just That They Love Dick Clark and The Steve Harvey Show?

What a great night for sports. You got Texas and Missouri playing over on ABC. You got Boston College and Va.Tech on ESPN2. And you got The Steve Harvey Show on TBS. Uh whaaaa?

For some reason, Game 6 of the ALCS between Tampa and Boston is nowhere to be found. There was an old episode of Bloopers featuring Dick Clark and some co-host which then gave way to that Harvey show. Which I had forgotten even existed.

Steve Harvey just made a joke about going to an "oxygen bar." Up next, he's going to make a topical crack about the age the Republican candidate for President, Bob Dole

MLB.com has no mention of what's going on. Neither does ESPN.com. Same for TBS.com. Very Funny.

UPDATE: The game finally replaced the comedic talents of Mr. Harvey. You have to think that Frank Caliendo was pretty pissed off that they weren't airing his show during whatever technical difficulties were going on down in Atlanta.

Cliff Floyd is the Man


Floyd as quoted in today's New York Times:

“We don’t go up there and think, Now we’ve got to beat Beckett — no one cares about Beckett,” the Rays’ Cliff Floyd said. “Face him the same way you face everybody else. If anything, Beckett should be worried about us. We just beat him.”

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Law of Conservation of Manning


According to the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design's Encyclopedia of Science and Philosophy:
The law of conservation of mass or of matter, also known as the Lomonosov-Lavoisier law, states that the mass of substances in a closed system will remain constant, no matter what processes are acting inside the system.
I've known about the Law of the Conservation of Mass since middle school. Or maybe I learned about it in high school. Either way, I know that there is a fixed amount of stuff in the universe. What I didn't realize until last night is that there is a football corollary (or something like a corollary) to this law.

It is the Law of Conservation of Manning. It states that the quality of quarterbacking in a closed Manning gene pool will remain constant no matter how each brother performs independently. It is a different way of stating that though the individual quality of each brother's performance may change, the accumulative quality cannot be altered. If one brother is excelling at the quarterback position then the other brother will be below average. If one brother is mediocre then so will the other brother. There is a fixed amount of success for Eli and Peyton Manning and it will remain constant no matter what processes are acting inside the system.

This is why it was impossible for Eli not to be terrible last night against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football after Peyton's Colts blew out the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon. And it wasn't just that Peyton's team won. The problem for the Giants was that Peyton played exceptionally well. Therefore, the Law of the Conservation of Manning demanded that Eli play poorly.

Before Week 6's events some people were contending that Eli had surpassed Peyton in quarterback skill. Fostering and exploring such sibling rivalry, however, misses the point. The discrepancy between their performances in any given week isn't a matter of one brother being "better" than the other brother. Rather, it is just a matter of how the fixed amount of Manning success is divided at any given time. That's all.

The Law of Conservation of Manning is best articulated in the pair's recent Oreo Cookie eating contests. You see, when one Manning excels, whether it be at twisting Oreos or hitting wide receivers in stride, then the other one must perform poorly to conserve the overall level of Manning performance. While the high quality of players on the Colts and the Giants means that each football team is capable of winning when their respective Manning is on the low ebb in that week's Manning skill quotient, it is easiest to understand this scientific law by remembering the Oreo Cookie which was wisely chosen by the brothers as a symbol of their symbiosis. If one Manning pulls the side with the frosting than the other Manning does not. If one Manning gets half the frosting on his half of the cookie than the other Manning also gets half the frosting. The total amount of frosting, just like the total amount Manning skill, remains constant. It is the Law of the Conservation of Manning.

It's simple. It's science. And, you can't argue with science.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Thursday, October 9, 2008

WWOD? NLCS Preview

Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles versus Philadelphia Phillies

It's the oldest team goal in all of baseball. Winning the National League pennant, that is. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs formed in New York City on February 2, 1876. It was put together at the behest of a Mr. William Hulbert, a grocer turned coal trader turned owner of the Chicago White Stockings, because the National Association, the forerunner to NL, was on the skids. And so it was done. The NL was formed. It originally contained eight teams. The Arizona Diamondbacks were not amongst this group. Nor were the Metsies.

Somewhere early along the line it was decided that a flag was to be awarded at the conclusion of each season to the team that finished with the best win/loss record. This symbolic pennant would rise above the team's ballpark for all to see. There were no playoffs to decide who got to fly the pennant up the flagpole at season's end. There were no best-of-x series. There was no exhibition All-Star Game providing a decided advantage in deciding the league's winner. It was very simple. The best team over the course of the season was named that year's champion. The team's raced for the pennant. It was simple. And straightforward. The best team often did win. Which almost seems quaint these days.

This, of course, all changed once the National League had too many teams and therefore too much earning potential to just let the season end on it's final day. There was more money to be made. And, there was also the upstart American League to contend with. Beginning in 1903 these two professional baseball league's would each send there pennant-winning team to participate in the World Series. It would determine the word champion, rendering the individual league championships slightly less meaningful. Still, I think that most teams want to win the pennant whereas they really just want to reach the World Series.

Without much further adieu, let's break down this year's National League Championship Series matchup:

Catcher
Phillies: Carlos Ruiz/Chris Coste
These guys are prototypical National League catchers. They catch the ball. They don't do much else. Both are right-handed. Neither hits for power. All of these things were also true about Yadier Molina.

Dodgers: Russell Martin
This guy, on the other hand, is an All Star. From Canada. Actually, the 24-year-old Martin is already a two-time All-Star. Last year he was awarded a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award. This year, he led all catchers in steals and at-bats. Which shows he is a superior athlete and he stays on the field. However, he did crouch behind the plate for more innings this season than any other backstop. Which could be a concern.

Edge: Dodgers. And, it's not even close.

First Base
Phillies: Ryan Howard.
After missing the All-Star Game, thanks in large part to an anemic .234 batting average, Howard turned around his 2008 season and enters the NLCS as the presumptive NL MVP. He led the league (and the Majors) in home runs and RBI. He raked at a .352 clip in September and is good as he's ever been right now. Today. Which brings me to a fact that I have been slow to realize. Maybe because I'm a Mets fan. But I don't think so. Seemingly all of a sudden, Ryan Howard could be a two-time MVP winner, home run king and playoff regular. It was only a few years ago that Jim Thome was the Phillies slugging, strike-out prone first baseman. That was through the early part of 2005. A short time later, Howard's 48 longballs, coming in a year when power numbers dropped precipitously across the game (cough, no more steroids, cough), have established him as the game's premier power hitter. He's led his team to two, and counting, division titles. That description sounds sort of like a future Hall of Famer. Which is weird. And depressing. For me. And the Mets. Not for Howard, obviously.

Dodgers: James Loney.
He's not Ryan Howard. Which makes him seem the ugly stepsister in this comparison. But Loney is the real deal. He's got a solid, soon-to-be gold-edged glove and he can swing the bat. He's a middle-class man's Mark Teixeira. If I had to sign either Howard or Loney to a seven-year deal then I'd take Loney. And it wouldn't even be close. Loney is 24 years old and already playing in his third Major League season. Howard is already older than me. Which is old. In sporting years. Regardless, Loney led the Dodgers in RBI (90) and just behind teammate Andre Ethier in hits with 172. And, it was Loney that really (well, not really because everything goes back to the Manny trade) got this whole things started in the NLDS against the Cubs. He hit a Game 1 grand slam and the Dodgers never looked back.

Edge: Phillies. But barring a wild power-surge from Howard (which is not altogether unlikely) this matchup could be much closer to a wash than most people would think.

Second Base:
Phillies: Chase Utley
He was supposed to be the 2008 NL MVP. Howard won in 2006. Rollins won in 2007. This was Chase's year. And, it sure seemed like it in the early going as Utley broke out the gate hitting .352 in April to go along with 10 home runs and 21 RBI. The season was coming right to Chase. Until it wasn't. He never batted over .295 in any other month the rest of the season or hit more than eight home runs. Make no mistake, this guy is very good. He led all National League second baseman in runs, doubles, home runs and RBI. And, probably other stuff. Like spontaneous marriage proposals from the stands. Because he is dreamy.

Dodgers: Blake DeWitt.
He did not lead National League second baseman in runs, doubles, home runs, and RBI. He's 23 years old. And has 97 hits to his Big League resume. Utley had more just this year. Jeff Kent is the "real" two-bagger for the Dodgers. He is all-time home leader for the position. He is also old and on the bench with injury. And crankiness.

Edge: Phillies. And, it's not even close. Even if Utley has been hot and cold and cold and hot and cold and colder and warm and hot and cold throughout the season there is no doubting his ability. He is one of four people (Utley, Howard, Manny, Hamels) capable of single-handedly winning this LCS. The young Blake DeWitt? Not so much.

Third Base

Phillies: Pedro Feliz
This guy signed with the Fightins as a free agent during the offseason after coming up and playing with the Giants for the early portion of his career. I remember hearing that he was going to be a good fantasy baseball sleeper because he would hit 25 home runs by accident at the band box in Philly. I might have even drafted him in a league or two. Well, he hit 14 dingers, batted .248 and only drove in 58 runs. He didn't exactly carry anyone to a fantasy baseball title. To someone outside of the City of Brotherly Love, Feliz seems like a space filler in the lineup. He seems like the anonymous "replacement value player" that is used in all those sabremetric comparisons. The only thing about him that is worth thinking about is that having been a San Fran Giant for so long he was schooled in hatred for the Dodgers. They have been his rival his whole career. He even batted .417 against them during the regular season, which is the highest average he as against any team. Probably won't mean anything, but surely worth mentioning.

Dodgers: Casey Blake.
He has a playoff beard. And he's used it in the playoffs before. And that's all you need to know.

Edge: Playoff Beards. And, the Dodgers who wisely saw their one glaring weakness and traded for Blake during the season. The Indians, who had realized that they were not destined for October baseball this year, understood it would be a crime to keep Blake from contending late into Autumn.

Shortstop:
Phillies: Jimmy Rollins.
He's a chatty fellow. In case you didn't know. Last season he was a heck of a baseball player as well. He hit a now suspicious number of home runs last year. He hit 30 as opposed to just 11 in 2008. All of this great 2007 play earned him the NL MVP Award. And, a NL East division title. He was the catalyst for last year's club. This year he was less of a catalyst. He was occassionally like a heavy stone chained to a tiring swimmer. He hit .217 in June. But, like all good players (there I said it) he stepped up when it mattered and hit .313 in the final month of the season as the Phils again passed the Mets for the division title. So, the real question is going to be which Rollins shows up in the NLCS. If it's September Rollins then you've got to love him as the difference maker. But if June Rollins shows up then, well then things are very different.

Dodgers: Rafael Furcal.
Much like his counterpart in the other dugout, the Dodgers have a potential difference maker at short and at the top of the batting order. Furcal came out as hot as anyone in baseball when the season started. With the exception of Chase Utley, that is. He hit .367 in April. And then he went down with a back injury and missed just about the rest of the season. I was shocked when he was on the postseason roster. But there he was in Game 1 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. There he was at the top of the Dodgers batting order. He hit .333 against the Cubs and crossed home plate four times. If he's really healthy then the Dodgers lineup becomes better than it was at any point during the regular season. And, so does their infield defense as Furcal has a great arm and good range. When healthy.

Edge: Right now you've got to say it's even. But given all the adversity both players faced this season you can't think both are going to come through. Whichever one does will likely be doused in champagne in the near future.

Right Field
Phillies: Jayson Werth
Although he sports the ideal baseball goatee, he is not your ideal ballplayer. Ideally, Werth is your club's fourth outfielder or part of a platoon in one of the corner spots. Due to injury and lack of depth, Werth ended up starting most of the season in right for the Phils. To his credit, he did what he could with the opportunity. He set career highs in home runs (24), hits (114), runs (73) and RBI (67). He went 5 for 16 in the Division Series.

Dodgers: Andre Ethier
Ethier is yet another young, up-and-coming go-getter making his name in the Chavez Ravine. Going over this Dodgers roster you do realize how stacked they are going forward. I don't know if this is a year (or two) too early for them but in 2010 you need to watch out for these guys. In fact, go out and find a sportsbook that has MLB futures and put down a few bucks on the Dodgers to win the NL pennant in each of the next few years. Do that. You'll win one of those bets. Then come back and finish reading this. Back? Ok. Good. So, this Ethier character in some ways is the poster child for the 2008 Dodgers 2.0. Going into the season he was battling with oldster Juan Pierre for playing time in left field. Ethier got the Opening Day start but by mid April it was a time-share. Meanwhile next door in center field, Andruw Jones was keeping Matt Kemp at bay on the depth chart. Luckily for Kemp there was room for him to get playing time in right field. Anyway, eventually Manager Joe Torre got acclimated out on the left coast, realized that Andruw Jones was now more myth than man, and that Ethier was too good to spend a few days a week on the bench. Well played, Joe, as Ethier would go on to lead the team in batting average (not counting Manny and Furcal who didn't play enough games to qualify) and home runs.

Edge: Slightly favoring the Dodgers. Ethier is the better ballplayer with the brighter future but over seven games that might not mean much at all if Werth is swinging a hot bat as he did in the Division Series against the Brewers.

Center Field
Phillies: Shane Victorino
The Flyin' Hawaiian is his nickname. There was a bobble-head doll of him wearing a hula skirt. The Phillies let Gold Glove-winning center fielder Aaron Rowand walk away so they could play Victorino every day this year. Not only was Victorino a cheaper option than Rowand (who signed a hefty deal with the San Fran Giants), but he didn't disappoint, setting career highs in almost every cumulative stat category. He can cover ground in the field and motor between the bases. In other words, he flies. And, he is from Hawaii.

Dodgers: Matt Kemp
There are 14,726,910 reasons why Kemp should not be the starting centerfielder for the Dodgers. It should be Andruw Jones, the man who is being paid one dollar apiece for each of those reasons I just mentioned. However, Kemp will trot out to the not-so-large patch of lawn in Philly for Game 1 of the NLCS while Jones won't even be on the roster. And, while this is partly because Jones has joined the Jerome James Contract Year All-Stars it is also because Kemp is a preternaturally gifted athlete who had a breakout year. In 2005 Baseball America ranked him as the best athlete in the Dodgers organization and he hasn't dissapointed in that regard. He's also gone a long way towards becoming more well-rounded player on the diamond, leading the club in hits, runs scored and total bases.

Edge: Dodgers. Both are solid players but I'll take the higher ceiling for Kemp in this series.

Right Field
Phillies: Pat Burrell
The best thing that the Dodgers have going for them when it comes to Pat Burrell is that they are not the Mets. Burrell terrorizes the Mets in a Chipper-esque fashion. I've seen him hit too many back-breaking home runs at Shea to take him too lightly. Especially in the tiny confines of Philly's home park. Another layer for Pat The Bat in this postseason is his contract status. His one-time long-term deal with the Phils expires after the World Series. He is a man without country at that point. So he's trying out for AL teams across the country right now. Moreover his relationship with the fans in Philly has been rocky at best. They loved him after his breakout year in 2002 and then hated him as he slumped through large stretches of 2006 and 2007. They wanted him shipped out of town alongside Bobby Abreu. Burrell has been gifted the chance to define his Philly legacy. A good performance in the NLCS and perhaps the World Series and he can be a legend in that town. A few too many strikeouts and it will be good riddance when it's all said and done.

Dodgers: Manny Ramirez
Last, but not least, is Manny. Being Manny. Which doesn't have nearly as much to do with idiosyncracy as it does with crushing baseballs. Absolutely crushing them. No matter who threw them. Where they are in relation to the strike zone. Or what the situation. In the 53 regular season games that Manny played with the Dodgers after being traded from Boston he hit .396, knocked 17 home runs and drove in 53 runs. In the three-game NLDS against the Cubs he hit 2 homers, got seven hits in 14 plate appearances, scored five runs, walked four times and drove in four runs. Is there any hitter that you would want your team to have to face less right now? He's the leading home run hitter in postseason play. He's on his way to having the most RBI in postseason play. He's arguably one of the top five right-handed hitters of all time. And, he's playing as well as he's ever played right now. Years down the road people are going to talk about his career the same way they talked about Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Both players were polarizing personalities. But they were great. And we eventually studied and recalled their frailty and selfishness off the field just as we did there greatness on it. That being said, I can understand why Boston fans are disgruntled. But we must remember that "disgruntled" is their natural inclination. Even if the past several years have made them forget it. They think that Manny screwed them over. That he dogged it and got a free ticket out of town. But the fact is that the Red Sox ran Manny out of town. Or, at the very least, they forced him into the blocks and then fired the starting gun. They had the chance during Spring Training to pick up at least one of the two options years on Manny's contract and they chose not to. They told the player most responsible for the franchise's turnaround that he had to prove his worth this season if he wanted to stay around. They told Manny he had to audition. Is it a surprise that something dramatic followed? Telling a famously mercurial player that you don't know if you want him around longer than this season is the easiest way to sour this season. You'd think that famously Harvard-educated GM Theo Epstein would have deduced as much. Especially with uber-agent Scott Boras perched on one of Manny's shoulders holding a pitchfork. But this is a debate for another time. Manny is a Dodger. And he is appointment television. I don't want to miss an at-bat.

Edge: Um. Dodgers.

UP NEXT: Pitching and Managerial Comparisons and the WWOD? Predicition