iamshack

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 22, 2013 -> 07:17 PM) The Chinese (and to a lesser extent, Indian and Middle Eastern) markets have changed everything. Look at the profit margins for Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz and where they were 10 years ago. Or the other side, all the issues that Toyota and Honda have had in the last 5-7 years, where they were once the clear market leaders and had to reinvent their brands to an extent. I'm talking literal sports cars...for instance, Audi makes basically its "brand image" model, the TT, yet basically only sells about 2000 of them in the US per year...they pour quite a bit of money into that model despite no one buying it...and it's not because it isn't a wonderfully designed car...

The market for sports cars is the thing that comes to my mind.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2013 -> 01:25 PM) It sounds like it's the bullpen session he had yesterday that's the bigger concern. refresh my memory on what happened with that again?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 22, 2013 -> 11:31 AM) That's not an answer. If there's no top line scorer in the draft, but there is a top line defender... There most likely is....it is their job to identify him...

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 22, 2013 -> 11:02 AM) But this draft is f***ing awful. The two best players include a raw defensive althletic freak recovering from an ACL tear and a SF who s*** his pants in the tournament. If you have the #1 pick there is likely going to be at least a few really solid NBA players you can choose from. Honestly, I don't really give a s*** who they pick...I am not a Cavs fan...but I think looking back in 5-10 years, Noel will be a mistake to pick #1.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 22, 2013 -> 11:01 AM) revisionist history Well of course it is revisionist history! However it doesn't need to be. It comes out of the fact, at least in my humble opinion, that teams really out-think themselves when it comes to drafting.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:59 AM) I think you take Noel because he's the most dynamic talent in the draft, not because it's a position of need. It just so happens that it is also a position of need. Well, I disagree...but fair enough.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:58 AM) Was it smart for the Bulls to pick Joakim Noah when some considered it a reach and center was a huge position of need? Oh trust me, I know...I hated the pick at the time...I wanted them to trade up to get Conley or trade down. That pick was lucky, and that isn't to say Noel can't be another Noah type, but that was also the 9th pick, not the 1st pick.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:55 AM) Just so it's said, Noel could also Hasheem Thabeet his way out of the league too, even as a #1 pick. There's inherent risk with any of these guys. You ask if you pass on Dwyane Wade if you had XYZ, but what if McLemore isn't Dwyane Wade but rather Rip Hamilton? Then you'd surely pass and wouldn't think twice. This is exactly who I was trying to think of earlier, but was too lazy to look him up. I'm not so sure about McLemore, but I really think Burke has a pretty good chance to be a very, very good player. I'd rather take a guy like that and worry about fitting him in to my roster if I am the Cavs right now, then to take Noel with the #1 pick. But again, that is just me.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:53 AM) The Bulls sure wanted him, so even if Riley didn't, he was only going to fall one more pick. I guess my point is, and this is what I laugh about, looking back now, can you really justify taking Chris Kamen or Darko and passing on Wade because you didn't have an immediate need for him at the time? Was it smart for the Trailblazers to take Sam Bowie instead of Jordan because they had Clyde Drexler already?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:50 AM) That was one Helluva draft on paper going in, and it's lived up to the Hype. Where would Hinrich go in a draft like this? Am I right in thinking he'd be on the same level with Burke? I don't think so...Hinrich was thought to be pretty much what he turned out to be...a great defender, a solid point guard, but an inconsistent shooter. The Bulls wanted Wade and thought they were going to get him until about the day of the draft, and then when Miami took him, I think they were choosing between Pietrus and Hinrich, and Hinrich was the much safer pick.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:41 AM) *Dwyane That's just a silly comparison. Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are not in this draft. If they were, Noel would be nowhere near the top projected player. Is it? Wade actually almost fell to the Bulls at 7, but Pat Riley decided on his treadmill the day of the draft that he liked Wade enough to take him. While a lot of people saw Wade becoming a spectacular player, plenty more did not.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:31 AM) I'm being consistent. Before the season started, I said 50-38 before playing the Tigers because they probably aren't good enough to win a 19-game season series, and the Sox aren't generally a second half team. With the rain out made up in August, I lowered it to 49-38. Then 40-35 to finish 89-73 to hopefully get a wildcard spot. I know...you know me, I just like to give you a hard time about how you break down the schedule...I just don't agree that you can break down a baseball schedule like you might an NFL or NCAA football schedule.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:17 AM) Zoom's been posting year for almost a decade and never posts like a prick. Just because he puts you in your place that doesn't mean you should start throwing darts. I put myself in my place by admitting I didn't know much about their roster. No need to push my foot down onto the proverbial spike. I just don't think the Cavs should be drafting a "defensive stopper" with the first overall pick in the draft. Yes, I understand he is going to be the next Noah now because that's what we say about guys that are athletic but still suck on offense, but if that was all they needed, they most likely wouldn't be drafting first here in the first place. I guess my point is, you don't miss out on drafting Dwayne Wade to pick Darko Milicic because you have Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billips on your roster...but hey, that's just my philosophy. Thanks for voicing your opinion though, I appreciate it.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 22, 2013 -> 10:03 AM) It's a long shot, but why give up in May? This team has some hope still. Not a lot, but some. No, I was commenting more on the precision...what happens if we are 46-41? Will the season be over?

QUOTE (flavum @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:15 AM) This would be a great one to win. A sweep going into a soft part of the schedule would give the Sox a legit opportunity to get back over .500 and possibly get back into a position to contend. Dunn might have found something with his swing, which could go a long way for the Sox to win games. Now we need Konerko to do the same, get Beckham and Danks off the DL, and hopefully get to 49-38 by July 8.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:18 AM) Specifically Apple? No, they and plenty of other corporations enjoy these sort of loopholes. GE's gotten press over the last few years for their similarly low tax rates. But big corporations in general? Yes, for the most part, but absolutely there's unintended consequences and loopholes. But then there's pressure on the legislators not to close those inadvertent loopholes. Interesting...without being an economist, it's difficult to get much further into the discussion.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:03 AM) Pretty much, yeah. I still greatly prefer public regimes of power and accountability over private ones, though. How many realistic choices of operating systems are there? Mobile carriers? Food suppliers? Airlines? TV/Internet providers? Media sources and reliable journalism and investigation? Banks? We've got a zillion choices in the toothpaste aisle, but they're all from just a handful of manufacturers. And we're still not really left with any real amount of democratic control over what these companies do and how they do it. This would be analogous to every state having an unelected government but arguing that it's just as good because we can always just move to another state that we like better. e.g. banks: Right, because the public sector has proven to get things done so much more efficiently than the private sector...

SS, Do you think the loopholes Apple is taking advantage of were deliberately left that way because of their lobbying efforts?

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:46 AM) It really has little to do with his offensive game. He's drawing comparisons to guys like Camby, Chandler and Noah because he has great length, explosive athleticism and good mobility. He has elite defensive potential, that's not exactly easy to find. He's not Dwight Howard, but significantly less talented big men have gone early in other drafts. It's fairly obvious that you don't know anything about the Cavs' roster if you mentioned Trey Burke as a possibility. That Kyrie Irving guy is kinda good. Yikes. They might take a wing like McLemore or Porter, but since they just took Waiters I'm not sure how anxious they'll be to get a 2-guard. There really is a huge difference in value of picks. Obviously there are exceptions, but it's not like the NFL where 2nd-7th rounders deliver value all the time. This chart illustrates how precipitously the expected value of your pick drops once you get outside the top-5 (unfortunately it's ESPN Insider). He also has a blown acl and cannot score. But hey, thanks for being a tremendous prick about it.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:04 AM) @ZachZaidman 40s Former #Bears LB Brian Urlacher has retired Claims he wanted to only wear one jersey for a historic franchise

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2013 -> 07:51 AM) #1, no reason to ever trade the #1 pick in the NBA, unless you are trading it for a very good proven player. That's not going to happen with this draft. #2, Noel scored 10.5 per game this past year, which was 3rd on the Wildcats, though I have no idea how much was gained (or lost) because he was out. Also only averaged 7 shots a game. He really didn't do a lot offensively and I don't think he would expect to do a lot offensively in the NBA either. I'm not going to lie, I don't know much about the Cavs roster...a quick check shows that they have like 17 guards already. But not many of these guys are going to be around if/when they actually field a good team, so I'd draft another guy that can add to the mix offensively before I'd start worrying about defense. You can always add a defensive stopper down the road.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ May 21, 2013 -> 08:48 PM) This draft is horrible. It's not like they'd be passing on sure-fire studs to take him. If he had gone back to school for some reason, he'd have been more likely to go outside the top-5 in 2014 than in it. That said, guys that can average 12-10 with solid defense are extremely valuable commodities. A lot of teams would like to get their hands on guys like Joakim Noah or Tyson Chandler. Yeah, I figured someone would bring up Noah...but guys like Noah that are incredibly active and unselfish AND realize they are limited offensively and thus don't really care about getting shots are extremely few and far between. I don't think it's fair to compare a guy to Noah just because he doesn't have much of an offensive game. I think you have to look at trading the pick if you are the Cavs or just trading down or taking McLemore, Oladipo, or Burke and just figuring it out down the road. I always think it's funny how everyone is so critical and certain of where guys should or should not be taken leading up to the draft and where they fit into each team, even though every year there are plenty of guys that turn into stars that are taken all over the first round...

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 21, 2013 -> 06:01 PM) Cavs will most likely draft Nerlens Noel and their starting lineup would look something like this. Hm Irving Waiters SF Thompson Noel. I really would not like having to pick Noel if I had the #1 pick...he has a chance to be a nice defensive player, but probably not going to do much offensively...that's sort of setting your sights low with the numero uno...

Way to go blood of the penis! Alex, Alexei and Kepp!