SHAKING THINGS UP
Here's an outside-the-box way to spice up the NBA All-Star Game
Jan 27, 2023, 11:53 am
This would be fun! Photo by Harry How/Getty Images.
The NBA has announced a new wrinkle for its All-Star Game coming up Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City.
Instead of the Western Conference All-Stars vs. the Eastern Conference All-Stars, or even squads picked in advance by captains LeBron James and Steph Curry … this year’s rosters will be selected right before the game with the two leading vote-getters choosing sides like a playground pickup game.
That sounds like fun, but here’s an idea that might produce a more intriguing and competitive game, instead of the showboating, no defense, 3-point contest the All-Star Game has become.
How about U.S.-born players vs. international stars?
Now you’re talking about a real game, with only the legacy of basketball at stake. From the day when James Naismith hung a peach basket in a Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA in 1891 through the next 100 years, Americans dominated basketball. But today the answer has to be “NO!” Or more specifically “non” or “nyet” or “nein” or “ochi” or dozens of other languages.
Isn’t it ironic that basketball, the only major sport with its origins in the U.S., has become the most international game?
Is it possible that a team comprised of foreign-born players could defeat LeBron, Steph and a squad of American superstars with sneaker contracts? Not only do I think it’s possible, I would put my $5 on it.
These would be the starting All-Star Game lineups based on the most recent fan voting.
For the international team: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Joel Embiid (Camaroon), and Kyrie Irving (Australia).
(Note: Kyrie Irving was born in Australia but raised in the U.S. He went to St. Patrick High School in beautiful downtown Elizabeth, New Jersey.)
The starting five for the U.S. would be: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell.
Who ya got?
The last four Most Valuable Player awards have gone (two each) to the Greek Freak and Jokic from the international team. Two leading contenders for this year’s MVP are Doncic and Embiid, both international players.
The NBA had 120 international players representing 40 countries on team rosters at the start of this season, including impact players like Rudy Gobert (France), Buddy Hield (Bahamas), Jamal Murray (Canada), Deandre Ayton (Bahamas), Andrew Wiggins (Canada), and Al Horford (Dominican Republic).
Every team in the NBA has at least one foreign-born player. The Toronto Raptors have eight players born outside the U.S. Canada is the leading exporter to the NBA with 20 players, followed by Australia with 10.
The Rockets have four international players: Usman Garuba (Spain), Bruno Fernando (Angola), Alperen Sengun (Turkey) and everybody’s favorite Boban Marjanovic (Serbia).
Of course, Hakeem Olajuwon, the greatest Rocket in franchise history, was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Other former NBA All-Stars born outside the U.S. - Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Steve Nash (Canada), Pau Gasol (Spain), Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Dikembe Mutombo (Congo), Arvidas Sabonis (Lithuania), Toni Kukoc (Croatia), and Andrei Kirilenko (Russia).
And you might remember a rather tall center named Yao Ming from China.
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After another series loss over the weekend, the Astros have Monday off to regroup as they have the Cubs up next on the schedule before they head to Mexico City to play the Rockies.
So far for the Astros this season, nothing is coming easy and the injury bug continues to bite the club. The Astros got Justin Verlander back over the weekend, but loss Cristian Javier to the injured list with neck discomfort.
Hunter Brown pitched for Javier on Sunday and surrendered three runs before recording his first out. It's hard to imagine he'll be in the starting rotation when Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, and Cristian Javier return from the IL.
With the Astros currently sitting at 7-16, it's difficult not to point the finger and play the blame game. And there's plenty of it to go around. Let's start with the back of the bullpen. Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader have been a disaster. They are the highest-paid pitchers in the 'pen, and no lead seems safe when they enter the game.
We can blame the offense for struggling with runners in scoring position all we want, but if the team can't hold a lead, they're not going to win many games. The middle relief hasn't been the problem, Seth Martinez, Rafael Montero, and Tayler Scott all have ERAs under three. Who saw that coming? Pressly and Hader both have an ERA over eight and are killing the team late in games.
On the bright side, these are players with a long history of success. If they can get back on track and get healthier in the starting rotation, the pitching should be okay. But they are running out of time. They're just lucky they play in the weak AL West.
The elephant in the room
Astros GM Dana Brown addressed Jose Abreu's putrid start to the season in an interview with Astros broadcaster Robert Ford over the weekend.
Astros general manager Dana Brown on José Abreu via @AstrosRadioMLB. Abreu, who is not in today's lineup, is 4-for-59 this season with four singles, 17 strikeouts and has committed three errors at first base. pic.twitter.com/CWd21PdF5z
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 21, 2024
Thankfully, Brown did not go with the “back of the baseball card” excuse. He acknowledged that they can't keep playing him every day and hoping he gets better. They're going to give some other guys some playing time at first base and hope Abreu figures it out because, “…he's got to climb out of it or else we're going to have to mix and match because it's tough to keep going in that direction.”
Finally! The dude is hitting .068! And this team has no margin for error. If they don't snap out of it soon, they are not making the playoffs. The problem here is there aren't a lot of good options at first base. Jon Singleton is hitting .229 with zero home runs and zero RBIs. I wouldn't mind seeing Yainer Diaz play some first base and let Victor Caratini catch more often. And considering Abreu's struggles on defense, (4 errors already) would Diaz be that much of a downgrade? Caratini isn't a plus offensive player (.276 batting average this season), but he's a way better option than what Abreu is giving you. Mauricio Dubon could also be an option at first, but it doesn't look like the team is considering that at the moment.
We all hoped the version of Abreu we saw in the playoffs would carry over to the 2024 season, but it just hasn't happened. We're disappointed about it, but not surprised. Which brings us to Alex Bregman. He's a notorious slow starter, we get it. But how long can he continue to hit third or fourth in the lineup?
Can't we move him down a couple of spots in the order until he starts producing? He's hitting .213 with zero home runs on the season.
Be sure to watch the video above as we address all the issues that are plaguing the Astros, and identify some solutions that could help turn things around!