Friday, August 21, 2009

Who's your second favorite?

ESPN’s Truehoop recently ran an article in which they polled a network of blogs on who their second favorite team in the NBA is. All of the blogs polled are dedicated to a single organization and ESPN wanted to know who they watch when their team isn’t on.

While KC Sports Media Rant is slightly miffed at our exclusion from the poll, we might as well chime in anyways.

It should be noted that The Rant’s hoop squad of choice is the Golden State Warriors – who received an overwhelming response as a second favorite team of choice to many of the blogs.

But undoubtedly when the Dubs aren’t running the floor we tune our NBA League Pass to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The primary – and obvious – reason is the great collection of young talent. Year after year losing squads are handed lottery picks and continually blow them. A case in point is the Milwaukee Bucks who in back to back drafts took Yi Jianlain (publicly didn’t want to play there) and Joe Alexander (freak athlete, no basketball skill). But that is not the case for OKC.

The Thunder have capitalized on early picks in their recent drafts. They took Kevin Durant with the second pick in 2007 and also swung a trade for versatile glue-guy Jeff Green. The next year they scooped up UCLA product Russell Westbrook, who since has silenced all doubters about his point guard ability. Just 2 months ago Oklahoma City landed James Harden – a good decision maker, passer, and scorer. Throw in young guards Thabo Sefalosha and Kyle Weaver and you won’t find another younger backcourt with more upside anywhere in the league.

Certainly there are some missing pieces, like a post scorer and paint defender or two, but keep in mind OKC has plenty of money under the cap to play with in the coming famed free agency of 2010.

So knowing we can’t always watch our Warriors firsthand, the Thunder are the second team of choice at this blog. They don’t always grace national TV, but The Rant jumps at the chance to see Oklahoma’s young talent develop right before our eyes.

Dr. Murphy out…

***This week’s trivia – drop your guesses/answers in the comments section

Only three players in NBA history have averaged 2 steals and 2 blocks for an entire season. The first 2 were David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon. Who is the third? (it is an active player - think Eastern Conference and expansion draft)

***Last week’s answer: David Robinson was the 4th player to ever record a triple double when he put up 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks against the Detroit Pistons in 1994.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Dr. Murphy uses Twatter.


First of all, I would like to apologize to Dr. Murphy. Through out the entire month of July I fell completely off the horse with this whole posting thing. Luckily the good Dr had the sense to keep the blog alive and made some ridiculously sick posts.

So, the trading deadline came and went, the royals did nothing. Do you know what the result of doing nothing is? It is the exact product that you had before. The Royals are still losing at an impressive rate and Kansas City has once again turned to football as their savior. For those of you who don't know, baseball season officially ends in July and the city ceases to care. (BTW while I am writing this the Los Royals are losing 7 - 1 to the A's in the top of the 4th. For those who aren't delusional like me, baseball is hopeless.)

But, as sure as fat kids eat cake, hope springs eternal is KC when Chiefs training camp starts. This year seems different to me though, primarily because Todd Haley is a bad ass and kicks pussy ass wide receivers off of the field. The Chiefs have become a no bullshit and ass kicking team. Scott Pioli is the mastermind and Todd Haley is the task master, and Todd loves it. He made Glenn Dorsey's fat ass sit out for 3(?) days and he doesn't take shit from anybody. None of the weak shit from coaches of the past is here. No fucking crying by an old man and no more pussy ass "players coaches".

New England has been the only organization to figure out that sports are a business and that's how they should be run. I like that the attitude has been brought to KC. To succeed and win you need to fill you business/team with reliable, talented and interchangeable parts. If one fails, you replace it with the next in line. It may take time to build your business but once its done you win and reap the benefits consistently. Sports are a business and business is cut throat. You either perform or you are gone. I like that.

"No more pussies on the team", should be the motto for the chiefs. Permanently.

*ESPN rumor central has the chiefs as one of the few teams looking at Vick.