Hawks in NBA Summer League

                The NBA draft came and went without any of the St. Joe’s players being selected. However, summer league signings have come around and the three starting seniors from the A-10 tournament winning team have become undrafted free agents. Each of the three guys has something they need to prove in the summer league games if they want to make the NBA team or their respected D-league teams. The Summer Leagues are a pair of a week of games. European basketball is definitely more lucrative than the D-league. This is their opportunity to make it to the NBA and complete their dreams. The last Hawk to play in the NBA was Dwayne Jones in 2006. Whether it is for the team they are playing for in the Summer League or other; Langston, Roberts, and Halil hope to impress. Each one still has a great deal to overcome. After all, being selected to play in the NBA Summer Leagues is like being drafted in the seventh round of the NFL draft. This summer got much more interesting for some recent Saint Joe’s Alumni.

               

Langston Galloway – New York Knicks:

                Langston is a pure shooter, and this was seen during the NCAA tournament as well as every work out that he attended. However, the one thing with shooters is that the NBA is full of them. The NBA was guys with unbelievable mid-range games as well as amazing 3-point shooters. Langston will have to set himself apart during these summer league games. To make a team like the Knicks or their summer league team they Langston will have to up his defense. That is a skill set that he lacked during his college career. He will have to overcome his lack of height as well. Langston probably has the most to overcome during these summer league games. But if Galloway can succeed anywhere it would be with Phil Jackson’s offense because of revolves around a 3 point shooting. Galloway will be in Las Vegas between July 7th and 21st. Who wants to go on vacation to Vegas?

Halil Kanacevic – Denver Nuggets:

                Halil has the least amount to lose through this whole summer league process. Halil already has a deal overseas, so he already has a team in place for him. All Halil has to do to make the NBA scouts see he has the ability to score. Halil naturally has a strong and powerful NBA body. The type of body that Halil has is one NBA scouts dream of, and his passing ability makes it even better. Scouts know he can play a strong defense, and pass better than most point guards; he just has to prove he can score. Denver is looking for a guy like Halil to fit into their defensive program. Halil has nothing to lose in this summer league process.

Ronald Roberts – Philadelphia 76ers & Miami Heat

                Roberts amazed NBA scouts with his athleticism. He earned a spot on the Sixers summer league team from July 5-11 in Orlando and Heat from July 11-21 in Vegas. The NBA scouts are not able to measure his vertical because it is over 46 inches. I do not know why that is as high as their vertical can measure. Ron worked out for 15 NBA teams. At the very least he can join the Sixers Flight Squad with the trampolines. In all seriousness the 76ers need to get better at rebounding. That is not Roberts’ specialty but hopefully with some NBA coaching it can improve. He has a good chance of impressing both the Heat and Sixers’ coaches by doing better than each team’s big men.

USA's Loss is a Win?

Germany attacked United States early as if they wanted revenge from getting crushed in two World Wars. The Germans should have also won an Oscar for Thursday’s performance. The movie would have been called How to Fake a Shin Injury. The Germans dominated the game so much it looked like they were playing with more men on the field. They got to every ball first and won every challenge. Wherever USA passed it there was a German waiting for it. They made us weak with rapid aerial attacks. It was like a modern day Blitzkrieg. 

Once again Michael Bradley shows how terrible he is. The bald pasty white midfielder for United States has some of the worst first touches out of anybody in the World Cup. While watching a USA match there a few things you can expect: goals, injuries, and Michael Bradley screwing up. He leaves the defense open and vulnerable for attacks. Poor midfield play is what makes the United States defense look worse than it actually is. Even though Germany is one of the fastest teams in the World Cup, both the defenders and the midfielders need to stop watching the ball. Instead of watching the ball they should get back and help their goalkeeper Tim Howard. 

While Bradley is playing poorly, One of the players that came into his own on the national level is Kyle Beckerman. His club team is Real Salt Lake and now plays a pivotal role for USA. Even though he is 32 years old this is his first chance at the national level. Some people believe Beckerman should get a red card for his wild dreadlocks. If he was not wearing the United States uniform you would think he crashes on a different friend’s couch every week without paying rent. No matter what he looks like, he is a player on the American team that should have more of a name than he does. Kyle plays the holding midfield position.  A holding mid-fielder is a mid-fielder who makes the middle of the field stronger while bolstering the defense. He is well disciplined and a sound tackler.

The United States only were playing soft and were unable to get into Germany’s half before it was too late into the game. USA needed a bit more bite to their attacks. Maybe USA could have used Luis Suarez’s assistance to put some teeth into our attack. Their attack would have been more feared and ferocious. But I am sure Suarez took a bite of the Italian player because he was just craving some Italian food. Everybody loves some good Italian food. Part of the reason Suarez was so hungry was because he ate Chinese food before the match. We all know that an hour after eating Chinese food you are starving again. He has had two other instances of biting other players before. Suarez looks like a donkey and thinks he is a zombie (or Vampire). Luis already missed 32 games due suspensions. He is clearly deranged and needs help. But the bizarre part is that the national media in the United States is acting like this is a common occurrence because is soccer and a typical foreigner. 

It does not get any more American than losing and still being a winner. This is like a romantic comedy where a star high school sports athlete loses the championship but gets the girl at the end of it. When you believe you can win, you do. Even when you lose. The tie with Portugal felt like a loss for the United States. However, the loss against Germany feels like a win. The United States believed that they could win. What actually happened was that they won from a mathematical advantage. There are not many times that people can feel this great after losing something in their lives. The United States were shutout on Thursday, but they still advance. The postgame speech by the United States coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, must have been a bit unorthodox. Do you talk about how poorly the team played or about how it does not matter because the team is moving onto the next round?

Coach Klinsmann could not have said, “Great job guys! A few more close losses like this one and then we can win this thing.” Because it is elimination time.  Every game has to end with a winner and a loser. There will also no longer be a game ending in a tie.

Of course the United States did not advance because of a loss. They advanced because they had a 1-1-1 record and 0 goal differential. This is the 2^nd straight World Cup the United States have advanced to the knockout stages, which is the first time it was accomplished. It is also their 3^rd time in the last 4 World Cups. Their only knockout win in those years was 2-0 over Mexico in 2002. When it is a World Cup tournament that Spain, Italy, and England do not advance, it represents how difficult it is to move forward. These nations wish they could be where USA is right now. The United States did not back into the next round with ease. United States will be going against Belgium next. Belgium is just as good, if not better than Germany. It is hard to tell because there has to be a team that tested them yet. Hopefully United States will give them a fight on Tuesday 3:30. Until then it is not okay to eat Belgium waffles.

USA still has a chance

With a minute left to play Michael Bradley could have booted the ball downfield and run down the clock. Instead, Bradley gave the ball away in a crucial moment. Michael Bradley is the  soccer equivalent of Tony Romo. And now everybody in America knows how it feels to be Dallas Cowboy fans. There is a lot of blame to go around, but it starts with Bradley. Geoff Cameron, the same defender who made the hideous blunder in the first five minutes of the game, made another mistake by not properly marking his man. His man headed Ronaldo’s beautiful cross into the back of the net. Ronaldo should have never had the opportunity to make that world-class cross. It was the mistakes of Bradley and Cameron that led to the Portugoal and the tie. Zero excuses for USA choking. 

It does not matter that Cristiano Ronaldo crossed the ball into the center of the penalty box. Yes he is a great player and great players always make a difference seem to make a difference, especially when it matters most. I do not know what is worse letting the goal in or Ronaldo’s haircut. America was confused whether Cristiano was trying to support Harry Potter with a lightning bolt shaved into his hair or if it was just a bad haircut. The worst part about it is that a poor kid that does not know any better that was watching the game might think that he is cool. Ronaldo epitomizes what American sport fans do not appreciate. He cries, whines, and flops. Even further he is an anti-blue collar guy. Ronaldo makes double the amount of money that the entire starting U.S. team makes. The United States head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, wanted to put Ronaldo in his place, however that was not accomplished. 

Americans are not going to love a sport that gives extra time after regulation so the favored team can tie. Everybody seemed to be enjoying soccer until it ended in a tie. Maybe some of them were confused. I know Donavan McNabb was. Since the game ended in a tie, Americans are going to pretend this game meant little to them. This past game might not mean much to them, but Portugal means even less. Most Americans probably could not even locate it on a map. 

Bottom line is that USA still has a favorable chance of advancing and it is hard to be too upset about that. With a win or draw on Thursday against Germany USA can still advance to the next round. For the sake of throw a number out there, they have a 76% chance of moving onto the elimination rounds. Some people believe both teams should fix the game and decide to tie. This is so nothing would change in the group standings and both Germany and USA would be able to move on. This is moronic because the first place team in group G plays the second place team in group H. And vice versa. There is a big difference between Group H's first and second place team. USA still has hope to beat Germany. If you look at history, USA has a history of defeating Germany.  If United States does move forward we will have to start calling the head coach Jurgen CLlINCHmann.

The Beautiful Game

USA hit the field of Arena das Dunas on June 16^th for their first match of the World Cup and beat Ghana. If you are an American that does not know any soccer player’s name, watch one game a week; and then the household names of soccer such as Neymar, Ronaldo, and Messi will become easier to say than John and Paul. Even though the United States roster does not have any household names, they still had a US TV viewing audience of 15.9 million. That number is more viewers than any MLB game outside the World Series and any NBA game outside the NBA Finals this year. These numbers show that the World Cup is Christmas for soccer fans. A second name for soccer (besides futbol) is the beautiful game. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With the United States being the beholder, does she see any beauty in the World Cup?
 

There are 32 nations participating in the World Cup, however it unites everybody from all parts of the world. And that includes the United States. Before, during, and after the tournament a conversations will be started with complete strangers from different parts of the world just because you can relate with them due to the games. The culture of soccer brings people together. During the World Cup soccer is not only on the TVs of pizza shops but in bars, schools, and homes. Another way could be going to a pizza place.  It is exhilarating to watch your country crush another no matter what they are competing over.
 

In the United States there is a wide spectrum of the intensity of a soccer fan. There are Americans who loathe soccer. However, they care about the World Cup and if USA wins. For these people it is comparable to the Olympics. During the World Cup people will feel some positive peer pressure to watch the games due to the hype of it. Peer pressure in this case is ok except for maybe giving people another excuse to drink in bars. Girls that do not like soccer will watch the World Cup to look at athletic guys. While girls could get that every year, guys are lucky this year. Unlike the fat NFL fans in the United States, the World Cup this year has hot Brazilian girls. Below you can some players from the women's all geared up to watch their USA men to win. Those that do not enjoy soccer maybe will enjoy watching the game more while listening to a game with the Univision’s soccer
announcers.
 

USA is in Group G. It consists of Germany, Portugal, Ghana, and of USA. The American media has decided that USA is in the group of death. USA is not in the group of death. Their group is just a really tough and competitive group. The media just wants to call it that because they are in it and it would lure more attention. USA is just the worse team in a group of better teams. The group of death is one of the many reasons to watch the World Cup because violence is involved. There is hope for the United States to get out of their group and move onto the elimination matches.

In order for United States to advance past the group stage, they must play as if every game is the World Cup final. Each game that the Americans play is a must win. Soccer is a sport that where there is never a clear winner, which bodes well for the United States. There were already a few upsets with a couple of them being Spain’s loss to Netherlands and Uruguay’s loss to Costa Rica. USA plays under the least amount of pressure and scrutiny out of any team that is playing. They are usually overlooked. Leading up to the World Cup, the United States were undefeated in the warm-up matches. United States has already beat Ghana. Let’s hope they can continue that Sunday against Portugal.

Three reasons to fire Ruben!

This season for the Philadelphia Phillies has been one of ups and downs. The Phillies at some points have shown flashes of brilliance, and at other times have been real head scratchers. Though the Phillies season to many seems to be a lost cause, at this point they are still in reach of first place, only being 5.5 games out. If the Phillies were to have one long hot streak of 5 or 66 games won in a row, they could be playoff contenders. However, one thing has been clear in many Phillies fans minds. This is the idea that Ruben Amaro should no longer be with the Phillies. There are three main reasons why Amaro’s time in Philadelphia has been a failure.

                

 The first reason why Ruben Amaro’s GM time in Philadelphia, though short has been a complete failure, is that almost every player  Amaro has brought it has failed. Amaro has made deals that on paper seemed to be amazing to fans and the league, however in reality it did not seem to work out. Amaro has made deals to bring in players like Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Hunter Pence. Though each of these games had a few successful seasons in Philadelphia, they never really helped the team succeed. Bringing in a guy like Roy Halladay seemed to be a move that would greatly help the Philadelphia Phillies, and though he had great success in Philly he was never able to help the team to get over the hump. Though he threw a perfect game and no hitter wearing the Phillies pinstripes he could really never help them reach their overall goals. The aging superstar would have several injuries and would never be able to bring the Phillies a World Series. The Hunter Pence deal was a different story. Bringing Pence in was a good idea and seemed like a plan that could really help the Phillies out. Hunter Pence was a strong bat in the outfield with the potential to be a key for the Phillies. Amaro had to give up several future potential MLB players to bring in Pence, however it seemed to be the right idea on paper. But, Ruben Amaro simply gave up on Hunter Pence. This is a move that still today does not make much sense. The reason that seemed to be behind the move was that Pence lacked production, but as many fans saw this was not the case. Amaro brought Pence in with the hopes he would be a superstar, which would have the ability to carry a team on his back when injuries occurred. However, as any person knowledgeable about baseball would understand that Pence is a key cog in team. Hunter Pence is not a star that is why he fit so well in San Francisco. Hunter Pence is better than anyone else Amaro has brought in, in recent years and is a much better outfielder then what they have today. These are only two examples of the failures Amaro has had, this is not including other moves he made for other guys that he felt would be great fits, but only became failures. Amaro has an odd loyalty to players as well guys like Jonathan Papelbon and Brown. These are guys he does not want to give up on, due to the fact I believe he thinks of them as his guys. Almost every player Amaro has signed and traded for has been a failure in Philadelphia. The moves that Amaro has made have been wasteful ones.

                 

The second reason why Amaro’s time here has been a failure is his lack of scouting ability. The Phillies have always had a dreadful scouting system, with the lack of ability to scout key players and guys that could be a cog in a team. Amaro, likes to scout guys that seem to be five tool players, rather than pieces that could help the team grow. Amaro has great support for Domonic Brown, this is due to the fact he has great potential according to Amaro. Brown is a young guy that should have been traded away for players that could be used as a cog for this Phillies organization. Brown is a prime example of too much support to players that lack MLB ability. Looking at the guys in recent years Amaro has drafted or signed each and every of these young guys seem to lack MLB talent and ability. Only two of Amaro’s draft choices have made it to the Major Leagues and that is Jon Singleton and Cody Asche. Singleton is now a potential star for the Houston Astros and Cody Asche has had his ups and downs this season with the Phillies. Amaro has not had much draft luck.

                 

The third and final reason why Amaro’s time here has been horrible is that the lack of success the Phillies have had. Even though for the first few years of Amaro’s reign they made the playoffs and even won the division, they still seemed to be lacking something and these teams were not truly Amaro’s teams. Now we are seeing teams that are more made up of players that are Ruben Amaro’s. Over the last two seasons the Phillies records have been; 73-89,81-81, and this season seems not to be doing much better. The Phillies teams have had a lack of success with Amaro as the GM of the team. Though he has brought in some great players like Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, and was able to provide the Phillies in 2011 a season with 102 wins, they haven’t been able to get over the hump. Some of the additions Amaro has made like Halladay were great ones with the potential for a lot of upside, however it didn’t pan out that way. The Phillies were never really able to get over the hump with Amaro as the GM. Amaro tried to play with the big boys and buy his team, when rather he should have been focusing on getting cogs that fit in the system of the Phillies. The Phillies should have won at least one or two more World Series since 2008, though injuries and bad moves have gotten in the way they should have brought the city of Philadelphia one more championship.