SU turned on the Knick game last night in the 3rd quarter on ESPN.  At that point, Melo was 3 for 10 with his shooting.  The Knicks then broke out the triangle offense.  Melo shot the next 6 times up the court (made them all) and then was fouled on the next 3 possessions.  I believe it was literally 9 offensive possessions in a row.  Even Jeff Van Gundy said on the broadcast that while you may want to go to the isolation offense and feed the hot hand, at some point you risk totally freezing the other players out.  SU has done the analysis and research and at 9 possessions it gets very very cold for the other players.  He finished the night 9 for 22 from the field which means he must have missed his last 6 shots.

Bottom line: they won the game against an undermanned Nets team that couldn’t stop him or elected not to double team.  Why you don’t double team a shooter who is not looking to pass and is hot is beyond me but I am not an NBA coach (although I do play one on TV).  But the other bottom line is that this is unwatchable and not a winning formula.  It’s time for a new approach at MSG.

SU is decompressing from Election Night and what is a better distraction than some hot stove talk?  Long-time SU subscriber S. Goldman commented earlier today that he had heard that the Yankees were in pursuit of Carlos Beltran.  To quote S. Goldman, “Please tell me I read this wrong.”

SU would agree here.  They lucked out last year with Beltran and he produced big numbers.  But the guy is pushing 40 and you really risk his health and productivity at this point.  While there is some chatter that the Yankees like him, the Red Sox seem to be a more likely landing spot.  The Yankees are rumored to be going after Kendry Morales.  This does not excite SU.  Right now, they have Brian McCann as the full-time DH (he of the hard ground ball to 2nd base fame) but Cashman is looking to move him.

SU says get young and stay young.  A guy like Aaron Judge who is not a terrific fielder might be good as the DH or else just rotate younger players through this spot.  Do not overpay for the DH.  You can always pick up someone.  2017 is the year of the young players in Yankee Stadium.  Do not limit someone’s development and growth by getting an aging journeyman player.

The other hot rumor regarding the Yankees is Rich Hill.  I like that one as they could use another arm and he is enjoying late career success.

Ah, it feels good to talk about the Yankees again.  Now if you can trade Jacoby Ellsbury, it would fee really good.

Any Mets talk out there?

SU stumbled across this story line this morning.  I must admit it made me laugh out loud.  Duh.  Apparently, the statistics show that the major culprit is Derrick Rose who as the point guard (where the job description says you need to get others involved), he is rarely even passing the ball once he has it.  More alarming as long-time SU subscriber T. Potter has pointed out in recent comments is that he only has 10 assists in 4 games.  The stats show that the ball sticks when it goes to him – even more than when Melo touches it so you know we are in rarified territory here.

It’s still early and of course things will sort themselves out.  SU likes that Hornacek has gone public with the statement.  The game against the Bulls tonight will be a good test.  Rose back home will get booed and no doubt will try extra hard to score even more (and pass less).  As a fan, watching Melo and Rose take all the shots this year is unwatchable and of course another wasted season.  But time to be patient.  With Jeremy Lin out with a hamstring strain, SU needs to tune in to other games for a while.

SU says there is something to the Joe Torre style of managing where you sit back and let your players do their thing.  Last night in Game 7, Maddon was obsessed with getting Jon Lester into the game.  He had him warm up early and basically forced his own hand to put him in with 2 outs in the 5th inning.  Kyle Hendricks was cruising along and getting ground ball after ground ball with a low pitch count.  He walked a guy with 2 outs after being ahead  on the count 0-2 and then getting squeezed by the home plate umpire.  Incredibly, Maddon gave him the hook and while Lester had some bad luck in giving up the 2 runs there, he still needed to cover the last 4 innings of the game.  And as we saw, he only trusted Lester and Chapman to make that happen.

Chapman had been wasted in game 6 in a game that was well in hand.  And having been used heavily for 3 straight games finally took its toll in the 8th inning.  You view Maddon as a genius who knows what he’s doing and isn’t afraid of doing the unorthodox.  But you almost feel like he panicked there.  Even Andrew Miller was gassed in game 7 and gave up a couple of runs.  SU hopes none of these guys have any lingering effects next season from overuse.

It was a great game 7 and shows how baseball can really capture the nation’s interest just like in the old days.  The crowd seemed to be evenly split and so much was riding on every pitch.  Props to the Indians who didn’t quit there down 5-1 and 6-3.

Chicago was in full party form afterwards.  Long-time SU subscriber, S. Levine, was down at Wrigley Field enjoying the festivities and shared these photos.  Go Cubs Go!

Ratings for NFL games this year are down.  Many theories abound:

• Presidential debates for a couple of the night games hurt ratings
• People are paying a lot of attention to the Presidential race (but on Sunday afternoon?  Come on)
• Games are taking too long – seem to average 3.5 hours these days
• Absence of quality QBs (see injury to Romo, retirement of Peyton Manning, Brady suspension)
• People are pissed off about players not standing up for the national anthem
• Games are just not that exciting
• Few really superior teams other than the Patriots

SU is a long-time fan and I must admit, the games are not as interesting.  3rd down and 8 yards to go feels like 3rd and 50.  Quarterbacks throw the ball 5 yards and you end up kicking.  There are so many mediocre quarterbacks out there or rookies who are learning on the job and are still not ready for prime time.  And what is up with the field goal kickers?  The best ones are all in their late 30s or early 40s.  Finally, I don’t know about you but there are so many injuries this year, and many seem to be the result of targeting by defensive backs.  A lot of cheap shots.  Whatever happened to not damaging someone’s ability to earn a living?  Hard hits are fine but it sure seems like there are more vicious ones this year.  Bottom line: is this a blip?  Or the start of a longer term trend?  SU subscribers: what do you think?

On the other hand, now that the NBA season is entering its 2nd week, they are also suffering from an absence of great teams.  The Cavs are already humming along but they had minimal disruption from off season moves.  Golden State has no bench other than Sean Livingston.  This will bear watching as the season moves along.  Expect some mid-year deals to get some role players.  But this is what happens when your total payroll is taken up by 4 players.  SU is enjoying watching Jeremy Lin and some of the Michigan alumni on various teams but they are mostly role players off the bench.  But I think it’s early and as teams get used to playing together, some will emerge to become must see tv.  The Knicks have that potential if they can stay healthy.  (Did I just say that??  Must be delirious).

Game 6 tonight.  You know this is going 7 games.  The Indians have been fortunate to keep these games low scoring.  That will be their challenge the last two games: anything over 4 runs will be hard for them to keep up.  It’s been a good series – a lot of passion in the stands as they both have terrific fan bases.  Terry Francona is a genius for the moment but SU says keep an eye on Andrew Miller’s arm in 2017.  Overuse sometimes doesn’t pop up until the following season.

SU did its due diligence last night and tuned in to catch some of the Knicks’ game against the defending champion Cavaliers.  SU, a life-long Knicks fan up until the Isiah Thomas era, really needs to be won back over to the orange and blue.  And truth be told, as long as Carmelo Anthony is here, it’s unlikely to happen unless he decides to change his game and become more team oriented.  SU’s early, early season thoughts:

• These guys have never played together before.  It’s a total makeover.  This is going to take some time.
• I really couldn’t tell exactly what the Jeff Hornacek style of play is.  There was some Mike Woodson in there (give it to Melo and have 4 players do their statue imitations) and some Mike D’Antoni (get the rebound and run).
• The problem is that Hornacek is supposed to be more like D’Antoni and if that’s the case, we all know that Carmelo does not like to play that way.  Something has to give there and if the team is smart, a trade could be in the offing.
• I thought Derek Rose looked good in spurts but as long-time SU subscriber T. Potter pointed out, he had 1 assist in 30 minutes (and he took 17 shots).  Not the formula for success.
• Porzingis had a few plays run for him but not enough for my taste.  SU cannot watch this team unless he is featured.
• I did like what I saw from the two new European players: Kuzminkas; and Hernangomez (we need Clyde Frazier to come up with some shortened nick names for these dudes and soon).  As a fan, I would much prefer to see them log more minutes – youngsters with upside who will probably even pass the ball.
• Noah beat the rush and is already hobbled with injuries.

Bottom line: you need to give it time but it’s hard to see where the scoring is going to come from.  If that is the case, then Melo will take it on his shoulders to score more which then creates a lot of other problems which in the end equals “unwatchability.”  But we won’t know until January what you have here.

Meanwhile, Golden State got blown out by the Spurs at home.  SU says too many All-Stars on one roster will ultimately turn into discontent.  Me thinks that team will also need some time to hit their stride but of course, that is just a matter of time.  But they will miss Andrew Bogut’s passing and the loss of some key role players.

Finally, Terry Francona is either really smart or he is now reading the Joe Torre handbook on how to mis-use your relief pitchers (see Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor).  Andrew Miller threw about 45 pitches last night.  SU thinks he knows tonight’s game will be rained out and thus will have an extra day of rest before game 2.  If so, he’s a genius.  If not, it would be dangerous to put him out there again tonight.

Let me preface this by saying that I am all in on Michigan sports and I love Trey Burke.  As a subscriber to the NBA Season Pass, SU has the opportunity to watch every NBA game every night.  For the past few years, I have watched Trey Burke on the Utah Jazz as much as possible, and I will continue to do so now as he is on the Washington Wizards.  But I came across this story about his time at Michigan and how he doesn’t think he was effectively prepared by Michigan to enter the NBA.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2016/10/trey_burkes_full_comments_on_m.html

As a fan, his attitude bothers me as he is there for school (in theory) and not as a preparatory experience for life in the NBA as a professional.  On the other hand, this is his perception and Burke is a bright, level-headed kid who was not a top recruit in high school given his height.  It makes you feel like these athletes should just be paid to play and don’t even worry about the education or the college experience.  I can see both sides of this.

SU subscribers: what say you?  Are his complaints valid?  Or is he out of bounds here?

SU is looking forward to this week’s World Series between the Cubs and Indians.  For MLB, they have really lucked out after what have been 3 weeks of low drama series.  Yankee fans are excited as we have provided each team with its closer – a small contribution to this year’s post-season.

If you look at the Cubs’ roster, it’s interesting that they went young for their position players but have mainly put the pitching staff together through free agency and trades.  Is this the model for other teams?  If you look at what Cashman has done of late, he seems to be following the Theo Epstein model in Chicago as most of the prospects appear to be position players (although I suppose some could be traded for pitchers in the future).  The Indians are a bunch of no-name younger players who play together as a team.  On paper, you have to give the nod to the Cubs but it feels like this series will go 6 or 7 games as the Indians have that lights out bullpen.  If nothing else, it’s a welcome distraction from other things for a week or so.

SU watched a lot of NFL football yesterday.  My takeaways:

• The Giants must be the worst 4-3 team in the NFL.  Winning ugly is too kind for them.  They have no rhythm offensively and their defense struggles with getting off the field on 3rd down.  As a fan, you take it but it’s hard to see them going anywhere this season.
• You have to feel bad for Geno Smith.  Dude finally gets his shot and then goes down to injury.  The Jets should go with one of their youngsters for the remainder of the season as Fitzpatrick is only a stop gap and this season is already lost.
• Whatever happened to the sure thing NFL kickers?  Did you see the end of the Seattle – Arizona game?  Each kicker missed short field goals to win the game in overtime.  It almost feels like the veteran kickers (Matt Bryant, Adam Vinatieri, etc.) can kick into their 40s like left-handed relievers in baseball while the young guys don’t have the nerve to be successful in the NFL.
• The quality of play league-wide is lacking.  Seriously lacking.  And is it just me, or have the refs stopped calling pass interference when the defender grabs the arm of the receiver before the ball arrives?  I feel like there were a ton of these no-calls over the weekend and the announcers basically just agreed with the refs.

The NBA starts this week and SU will be coming out with its fearless predictions soon.  All eyes will be on Golden State and their stacked roster but as we know, stuff happens and Draymon Green is a bomb waiting to go off.  If anything can derail the Warriors it’s him.

Finally, how does Ohio State lose to Penn State?  Nothing against the Nittany Lions, but they are not a good team this year.  And all of a sudden they are ranked in the top 25?  Wow.  Ohio State’s loss shouldn’t impact what will hopefully be an exciting match up with Michigan in November as they can still go to the Big Ten Championship game.  But their roster is stacked – hard to see how they lost over the weekend.

Most Yankee fans were sorry to see Andrew Miller be traded in July as Brian Cashman went to the youth movement.  SU had no issue with the trade.  You need to move talent to get talent, and the hope is that the youngsters acquired in that deal from the Indians will be up in the Bronx soon.  But he has been amazingly dominant in the post-season so far and has established himself as a real difference maker in these first two rounds.

The Indians are a great team to root for.  A bunch of contact hitters who seem to have a game plan with their at bats.  It’s such a contrast with the 2016 Yankees whose hitters took their at bats in a vacuum.  You don’t see the Indian hitters futilely hitting into the shifts over and over again.  You know Joe Girardi is losing what little hair he has on his head watching the Indians.  They are basically trying to get a small lead through 6 innings and then turning the game over to a dominant bullpen.  The Yankees had that for the first half of the year but the combination of Chase Headley, Slugger Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Mark Texeiria just didn’t allow for any offensive production or flow.  The fact that they contended in September was just a function of Gary Sanchez, not these dudes.  While this season was an opportunity lost due to offensive ineptitude, as a Yankee fan, it’s all good as Cashman is blowing up the team now.  But you still wonder about what could have been with that All-Star bullpen.

The Jets hit a new low last night and you can already see the QB controversy developing.  But their season is already over.  The Giants are still in the mix at 3-3 but are deeply flawed and fooling no-one.  The League has so many mediocre teams this year.  And is Dallas that good?

SU is worried about long-time fave Novak Djokovic who melted down in China last week in the semi-finals of a tournament in Shanghai.  Tore off his shirt in the middle of a game and broke his racket in an upset loss.  He is struggling with motivation right now.  Andy Murray won both China tournaments and has a real shot to finish #1 this year.  SU has some new found respect now for Murray who has always been a nut job on the court yelling at himself and his team in the box along the court.  He was quoted as really understanding what Djokovic is going through after winning the French Open this year and how hard it is to maintain a high level of passion and motivation year after year.  He also spent time talking to Kyrgios about learning how to be a professional at 19 years of age and acting like an adult on tour.  I must say that Murray has evolved as a player and as a person.  Impressive.

We are one week away from the start of the NBA season.  Knick fans have high hopes.  SU has not watched any of their preseason games but unless Porzingis is featured in the offense, I will wait to get on board.  I will also wait to bash Carmelo as he may surprise us all this year and look to be a distributor on offense with a stronger roster around him.  Or not.

Wow, let’s face it.  Five games into the 2016-17 NFL season and we basically have 2 unwatchable teams in New York.  SU is struggling.  Lifelong NFL fan and I can pretty much watch any sports event on TV.  But I am not being entertained by the NFL this season and especially the NY teams.  The Jets should be better than they are – especially given their defense but they come up short week after week.  The Giants just don’t have the personnel and that’s on the GM.  The defense can’t get off the field on 3rd down and OBJ is just a distraction on offense.

Even the other games that I have watched this season are yawners.  I know the NFL’s ratings are down so far this year – not sure if that’s a blip or not.  But I find myself looking forward to the start of the NBA season and college basketball more and more.

Speaking of the NBA, Jeremy Lin’s Brooklyn debut on Thursday night featured 21 points in 15 minutes.  This will be SU’s new adopted team for the season.  The roster is Development League quality – and that is almost an insult to any D-League team.  But Lin will run the show and it’s refreshing to watch a pass first point guard who wants to get everyone involved.  SU checked on line and there are still seats available on the Nets bandwagon – you can even upgrade to extra legroom for no extra charge as there is no one on the bus.  I am sure he will be dissed by all of the other NBA players (See Jarrett Jack’s tweet when Lin’s 3-year, $36 million deal was announced and Jack was cut: “Hahahahahahaha.”)  But Lin has paid his dues playing with James Harden and Kobe which run counter to his team-first roots.  Good for him and good for SU.

The baseball playoffs have been equally dull.  I suspect the Red Sox will make a run here and force a game 5 vs. Cleveland and that once the Cubs move on, interest will pick up.

Finally, watching Michigan’s 78-0 throttling of Rutgers over the weekend makes you wonder if Rutgers should be in the Big 10.  It’s not fair to the players and they are years away from being competitive.  Michigan only threw 2 passes in the 2nd half and just kept running the ball.  It appeared that Rutgers’ defense quit and that’s hard to watch.