Michigan's Harris should stay in school

As the experts separate the locks and bubble teams for the NCAA tournament,I decided to take a look at a player whose team won't be in the Big Dance and will have the decision of staying in school or testing the NBA Draft waters.That player would be Michigan junior Manny Harris.
  I'm no advisor or NBA personnel guru,but Harris needs to tune up his game to catch the eyes of NBA honchos.Since his freshman season he has made strides,but still needs to work on a few things to be an NBA player.Harris has the talent and I believe the drive to have a career in the league.He has worked on going to his left and you can tell when you see him in game action.That is something he should've been working on in high school.He can get to the basket and is a decent finisher.His game is better suited to an uptempo style of play,although he has done well in coach John Beilein's system.He has the tools and athleticism to be a good defender,but must learn how to not pick up cheap fouls.Harris also needs to work on that scissor kick jump shot.He has to square up better and not kick his feet out when he shoots.If he can become more consistent with his shot,he can be NBA material.
   I think he has the talent to get there.I just think that if he wants to go after a season in which Michigan was expected to excel and be a top 20 team,it will be a mistake.Only if he somehow puts this team on his back and steals the Big Ten tournament and has a couple of dazzling games once he gets there.I doubt that happens,but that might be the only way he gets high on the radar of NBA execs.If I'm in his shoes,I stay put.Maybe enter my name in the draft,get some workouts and see what the suits say I have to work on and come back for my senior season.Especially since he'll be the main threat on a young Wolverines team that won't be expected to do much.

Hearns fighting foreclosure

According to a report in the Detroit News,boxing legend and seven time world champion Thomas Hearns is facing foreclosure on his Southfield home.Records show that Hearns owes $961,156 in delinquent taxes and mortgage payments.The "Hitman"made $40 million dollars over his career,but this is another setback in a with a long string of financial problems.Hearns says he is working to keep the house and pay the debts.I'm just hoping he can get this straightned out and that he's not broke.There seems to be a lot of former athletes that go broke due to being ripped off by "financial advisors",bad business deals,and "helping" others maintain a lavish lifestyle.Being one of my favorite boxers of all time,also one of the most entertaining,I would like to see the Hitman knockout these taxes and debt and restore some order to this current mess. 

Final Answer

It seems the curtain is closing on Allen Iverson's NBA career.He was released by the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday after missing time to be with his sick daughter.Or so we thought.He was reportedly seen partying  in Charlotte with music producer Jermaine Dupri.

  Iverson has had a brilliant career,but his later years have been marred by controversy and two disastrous stints with the Pistons and Grizzlies.After signing with the 76ers,he wasn't able to recapture the past glory that made him one of the more decorated stars in the league.I still think he can play and has the ability to help a contender.I just don't think he has the will to take on a lesser role on a winning team or to be a mentor on a young team.In previous postings, I've said some unflattering things about the guy.I actually like him as a player.Can't really say much for the man himself since I don't know him.I hate to see him going out limping on a bad knee and a damaged reputation.That is something he could've taken care of a long time ago.He's just to headstrong for any team and they really don't want to deal with it.I don't blame them.To top all this off,his wife is filing for divorce saying their marriage is "irretrievably broken".She also wants full custody of their five children,along with alimony and child support.I don't know how he feels,but he has to be thinking his world is crumbling.Maybe he takes the rest of this season off and tries to prioritize his life.

Alvin Robertson is a sick man

Former NBA all star guard Alvin Robertson has been charged with child trafficking,sexual assault of a child,and forcing a sexual performance by a child.Robertson has not yet been apprehended.  

   Robertson,whose NBA career spanned from 1984-1996 was a four time all star,the first NBA most improved player award winner and 1986 defensive player of the year.He played for the San Antonio Spurs,Milwaukee Bucks,Detroit Pistons,and Toronto Raptors.He was a solid all around player and one of the best defensive players of his time. Enough about his playing career.

  Authorities say Robertson was part of a sex ring that kidnapped a 14 year old girl from San Antonio and forced her to have sex with clients and dance at a strip club in Corpus Christi,Texas.Seven people have been charged,that also includes his girlfriend.He's the only one who hasn't been arrested.The girl escaped which prompted an investigation.Robertson,is best known in the Detroit area,for attacking,alledgedly choking player personnel director Billy McKinney,while he was a member of the Pistons.In 1997 he was charged with four misdemeanors for abusing a former girlfriend and sentenced to one year in prison.In 1990 he spent a month in jail for beating his then wife.He served that time in the off-season.In January of 2007,he was arrested on a variety of charges related to domestic violence.Now the sex ring operation,alledgedly.You can see the pattern of legal problems,namely domestic violence.If what has came out is true,he needs to be put away.I hate to wish the worse on anyone,but i hope he gets sexed up while he's locked up.With the legal pattern he's developed he deserves it.

The Brothers McGwire

To someone on the outside looking in,Mark and Jay McGwire have a strange relationship.It started with a swat to Jay's son on the backside to a book detailing Mark's steroid use.Yesterday Mark said that "he never wants to see Jay again" and that he's "saddened" by the book.In the book Jay says that Mark did use them to recover from injuries,but also knew he would gain size and strength .I guess Jay would know since he's a former bodybuilder.
  Really,Mark's use was no secret.If you look at him from his rookie year to his later years with the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals he gained a lot of size.Same thing with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa,two other noted sluggers from the steroid era.I do believe Mark used them to heal from injuries,since he had so many of them before his last few years in Oakland.I also believe he used them to gain more strength,since he was primarily a home run hitter(check the stats).Personally,I really don't care.If that's what he and many others choose to pump in their bodies,then so be it.I'm sure they'll pay for it somewhere down the road.I know it's not fair to other players that don't use them and have their path to the majors blocked by someone that is.
  As far as the relationship between him and brother Jay,I feel it shouldn't have come to this.Yes,Jay has a book to sell.A book that probably should've never been written.I understand their relationship has been strained since 2002,when Jay's stepson,Eric, tickled Mark and he spilled coffee on himself.Mark gave Eric a swat on his backside raising his wife,Francine's ire.She then decided to no show Mark's wedding.Jay has spoken out previously about Mark's use of steroids.Now he's co-authored a book about it.Even if you aren't getting along,you don't sell out your blood brother like this.I'm wondering what former NFL quarterback and brother Dan McGwire is thinking about this.I guess there won't be any full fledged family gatherings in the near future.Right now it looks like blood definitely isn't thicker than water.

Big names might find it tough on the open market

Brian Westbrook and LaDainian Tomlinson were two of the bigger names recently released by their respective teams.Leading up to the draft there will be more big names hitting the waiver wire.Even though there will be an uncapped year in the NFL,I suspect it might be pretty hard for some stars of recent memory to find a job.There won't be a lot of free spending,like a lot of fans think.Westbrook and Tomlinson,will find it even harder.Tomlinson,due to so-called performance issues.Westbrook,due to injury concerns.
   Personally,I think Tomlinson still has something left in the tank.The experts say running backs decline around age 30.I don't remember that when I was growing up.They weren't known to be washed up aound that point in their career.Times have changed and when you hit the big 3-0 your done.Sometimes its the player,sometimes its the team your on.I do think LT could help a team that is a contender,that might need a push over the top.He's had some nagging injuries that have slowed him down.Also he's been slow to recover from them.He'll find a team that can use his skills only if he doesn't think he'still a big money player.He still has some productive years left,if he goes to the right team.
   Westbrook on the other hand will be a risk/reward to someone.Once again i think it would be better served if he went to contender.A multi-purpose threat,he has a history of injuries,most recently a damaging concussion that sidelined him for most of 2009.I still think he has some juice left, only if he's being used in a timeshare backfield.Eagles coach Andy Reid said concussions weren't the reason he was released.I don't totally buy that,but a $7.25 million dollar price tag didn't help Westbrook's cause.If he signs somewhere,that team will be assuming a big risk because of Westbrook's injury history.If he's healthy it could be a wise bargain,making someone look like a genius.Both players still can bring something to the table,but only at the right price.

You have to know when to break it up

While watching the Trailblazers-Celtics game last night,my wife asked,"If Boston wanted Rasheed Wallace,why couldn't the Pistons use him?"You see she's a Piston fan,more of a casual one since she really can't bear to watch an effortless team parade toward Lotteryland.I'm a Pistons fan through and through.It's where I'm from so I'll always support them.Well,back to the point of today's posting.We always have the discussion about how the business of sports works.More specifically about when to break a contender up and start over.

  A lot of people in the Detroit area were upset about the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade.Including my wife.At that point it seemed like a trade that wanted to put fans in the seats.You know,get a bonafide superstar without a championship,and add him to a team that made the Eastern Conference finals for 6 straight seasons and you might make a deep run in the playoffs.In addition,seeing someone fresh and new,you could put a few extra fannies in the seats.My wife hated that move,but I explained that since Iverson had an expiring contract they had to get something for Billups while they could.If it worked out for the Pistons,great.If not,then they had the option to start the rebuilding process instead of waiting out everyone's contract,having an old team going nowhere.Which is something I always bring up.You can't let a team age and just get old without having younger talent in place for the future.This is something I alluded to in a previous post about the current Celtics.They have 3 of the premier players in the league,but in the NBA you can get old quickly.Just ask the Miami Heat (2001) about that.Yes someone wanted Rasheed Wallace.He signed with the Celtics.But they had a better role for him,also he's a better fit with Boston than Detroit.I explained that to her as well as the art of the trade nowdays in the NBA.You try to trade a player with a heavy contract for a player with equal ability and value with a contract that is up after the season.It just didn't work out well for the Pistons.

 In the NBA,when your team has a lot of good,but not great players such as the Pistons did,there will come a point where you have to cast an eye to the future.Detroit wasn't getting any better as they were constructed.They would've put up 50 or more wins in the regular season, only to be embarrassed by teams they once dominated such as Atlanta,Cleveland,and Orlando.Then you would have to hear,why didn't they get rid of these players when you could've?  Joe Dumars had to do something .It's just that the wrong move was made last year.If you allow your team to get old without having younger talent to take their place, there will be a longer,steeper climb back to the top.Celtic fans know all about this.They weren't going to trade Larry Bird,Kevin McHale,or Robert Parish,but they got older and eventually walked away from Boston with no one there to take their place.Of course the untimely deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis didn't help.In the early 90's when the Pistons were surpassed by the Chicago Bulls,they were devoid of younger talent to replenish the roster which led to some dark days at the Palace.The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to overcome this phenomenon by getting lucky with younger,cheaper talent like Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Vlade Divac,the latter two being parlayed into Kobe Bryant.Good things don't last forever.Some fans need to learn to let go.Sometimes you have to get bad before you're good again.If management makes the right moves and has a little luck it can happen a little quicker.You gotta learn how to bridge the gap.