Hole Punch Sports

Two things. First, a couple weeks ago in the comments, one of my brilliant (that's a synonym for “two”) readers asked about the pro prospects of former Duke shooting guard J.J. Redick. I said I'd get into it more later, and now it's later, with the Orlando Magic selecting Redick in Wednesday's draft. It's impossible to say with absolute certainty how a player can turn out. That said, I think you can guess pretty well for most players. My guess with Redick: he won't make a very good pro. I think the best situation for him is as a bench player-and not a sixth man, more like an eighth-on a good team. I just don't think his skills-fantastic in college-translate very well to the professional level. The positives: -His shooting. Redick is a terrific perimeter jump shooter and is valuable to any NBA team on the strength of his free throws alone. At least he could be. Even if Redick can't get an open shot his whole career, he'll still be a good free throw sh...

Having a bad day at work? Money woes got you down? Does life seem unfair? Let me cheer you up with the heartwarming story of Indiana Pacers forward Peja Stojakovic. If you're not much of an NBA fan, you're forgiven for not knowing Stojakovic. He's a basketball player, but there's a lot of basketball he's not very good at. He doesn't rebound, he doesn't pass, and on defense, he makes Dirk Nowitzki look like...well, no one makes Dirk look good on defense, but they're both bad. (That said, ahem, I've never seen Peja step back from Shaq as he goes for a dunk with a championship on the line.) You might argue that Stojakovic just isn't as good at some things as at others, but it's worse than that-if he was a pro golfer, for example, he wouldn't even have a putter in his bag, that's how whatever-the-opposite-of-versatile-is he is. Stojakovic is a fabulous shooter, though-possibly the best in the world-which is enough to get him named to thre...

You know the saying "truth is stranger than fiction"? Well, I hate sayings, but I don't know what else to say about this . It's hilarious.

Congratulations to the Miami Heat. They bounced back both from last year's disappointing loss to Detroit and from the 0-2 deficit they found themselves in just over a week ago to win their first championship. Much will be made of the emergence of Dwyane Wade, who has been amazing from day one and is well on his way to becoming a legend. Shaq is already that highly regarded, and Kobe-haters no doubt delight in his most recent title. Today I just want to take a moment to reflect on the two other Heat veterans who are potential Hall of Famers. I'm speaking, of course, of Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton, both of whose former greatness is now but an afterthought. 'Zo- Depending on how loosely you define it, 'Zo is one of the greatest centers of all time. Some years ago (1999 or so), I read Dr. Jack Ramsay call 'Zo one of the ten best centers ever. (I think it was in a mailbag on NBA.com.) Like all such lists, players in their prime were given too much credit. When you w...

Six thoughts: 1. Is Jerry Stackhouse blind? He knows that was Shaq he knocked over, right? I understand Shaq’s not the player he once was, but he’s still seven-feet-plus and three-hundred-pounds-plus, and Stackhouse is still a talent-wasting pansy. Actually, Stack was tough after getting his face bashed in Game One, but after his cheap shot, he spent the rest of tonight’s game shrinking from contact. It was most evident when he bricked a dunk instead of challenging Alonzo Mourning directly-though avoiding that sure hit was probably his smartest move of the evening. 2. Maybe it is in his head after all. Dirk Nowitzki put up a Valentine’s Day, going 2-14 from the field. He spent more time on the arena floor than a Zamboni, begging for-and getting-a number of ridiculous bail-out calls. Vlade Divac reportedly called the Dirk in the locker room at halftime to berate him for “playing like a woman”. The officiating tonight was pretty shady-hmmm, what are the odds of that with Dick Bavetta p...

Did Miami make it a series again last night? Short answer...I don't know. I mean, on one hand, the Heat defended their home court and can tie the series up two weeks from tomorrow when they play Game Four. On the other, Miami barely scraped together a win after being beaten pretty soundly in the first two games. But I'm encouraged, for two reasons: 1. Dirk missed that free throw. Dirk has been reborn in these playoffs, or so the common storyline goes. It's true, he's played very well. But people talk about it like he's suddenly become one of the best players in the league. That's not really true. Dirk has actually been one of the league's stars for years. It's just that he plays like garbage in the playoffs. In this postseason, he has elevated his game, but I don't think he's really someone you'll tell your kids about yet. (Come to think of it, which athletes would you tell your kids about? I'm sure mine'll hear about MJ and Elway, b...

Two surprising teams, both with the second-best record in their conference, advanced to the NBA Finals (game one starts tonight at 6 p.m. Mountain on ABC). Dallas has shuffled its lineups a bit throughout the postseason, so these matchups are based off of who started in the last game. Here’s why I think Miami will win: Point Guard: Devin Harris, Dallas vs. Jason Williams, Miami. On one hand, we have the young player who’s still developing and on the other, a veteran who will never grow up. Harris has been a pleasant surprise in the playoffs, shooting over fifty percent from the field, but still makes some of the mistakes you’d expect from a player his age. Besides, Dallas really doesn’t ask much of him. Williams is as streaky as always, but when he’s on, he’s incredible-see Miami’s last game against Detroit for details. Edge: Miami. Shooting Guard: Jason Terry, Dallas vs. Dwyane Wade, Miami. This matchup is closer than you think-oh, who am I kidding? No, it’s not. Terry’s a scorer ...

If Steve McNair can pass a physical, the Tennessee Titans will trade him to the Baltimore Ravens . The Titans, of course, locked McNair out of their training facility this offseason due to a contract dispute. McNair was on the books for an enormous salary cap figure this year but refused to renegotiate his deal. Was McNair delusional? Not even close. Sure, I guess it’s possible that the 2003 co-MVP thought he’d get to stick around and cash in. More likely, though, he saw an easy way out of town and took it. Things change quickly in the NFL, but the Titans probably won’t be competitive for a few years. Surely McNair knew this. Now he gets to bail on them without taking a PR hit. The Titans, on the other hand, are ready to turn the team over to Vince Young. Is it the right decision, or should young quarterbacks take a few years to learn before they see the field? I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all right answer to that question. Yes, Carson Palmer benefited from waiting behind Jon ...

Remember when I said the Nuggets need another big man? Well, I don't. But it sounds like something I would have said. Plus, after Nene's injury and K-Mart's insanity, we were looking at a long search for a new post player. That search is over. Shawn Kemp, now 36 years old and light-years removed from his glory days, attended the Nuggets' free agent camp in hopes of making an NBA comeback . He'll turn things around. Um, right? "I've always appreciated basketball," Kemp said. "I never tried to disrespect the game. That's why I stepped to the side a couple years ago to get my focus back to see if I really wanted to put the effort into basketball." In other words, this is a love of the game comeback. I wanted to make a joke about paying child support in six different languages, but this is serious business. Anyway, I'm glad Kemp doesn't want to disrespect the game, because I can't think of anything he's done that could be mis...

Tonight's NBA Finals Game One (6 pm Mountain, ABC) promises to be an exciting matchup of- I'm sorry. It turns out the Finals don't start until Thursday. I can see why the NBA would want to delay the series and maximize potential weekend games. However, the only weekend contests will be Games 2 and probably 5, which land on Sundays. There aren't even any Friday night games. So that's not it. Instead of building on their momentum and leaping headfirst into an intriguing Finals, the NBA bizarrely elected to cede control of the airwaves to Albert Pujols' injury. And instead of trying to predict what will happen four days from now when I don't even know what I'm doing for lunch in forty-five minutes, I just want to talk about the closeout games. East Finals: The Heat cruised to a surprisingly easy 95-78 win over the Pistons. Every time the Pistons went on a run in the second half, the Heat matched it with scoring of their own. Friday's game showed how awe...

This NBA playoffs, no series lead is safe. The Los Angeles Lakers blew a 3-1 lead in the first round against the Phoenix Suns. The Dallas Mavericks did everything they could to waste their 3-1 advantage over the Spurs. I’m tempted to say the referees are the only reason the Mavericks won that series. I’m not sure if you saw it, but late in Game Seven, a Mavericks employee handed Dirk Nowitzki the wrong flavor of Gatorade during a timeout, and Dirk was awarded three free throws. (That said, I can understand why the league would want teams from big markets, like the Lakers or Knicks, to win. I can’t really see why they’d want to do Mark Cuban any favors.) Anyway, the Heat jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost to the Pistons last night. Can the Heat avoid falling into the same trap? I ask because the Heat are my only hope for caring about this year’s Finals. The Pistons are pretty cocky for a team that won only one title-and that came...