Frandsen - Already Overexposed, But I Like Him

Hard to miss Kevin Frandsen these days...he's been on Ralph and Tom, Fitz and Brooks, the Sharks game with Drew, etc etc. Let's put it this way - he's clearly not shy!

Hard not to like him too. His enthusiasm is infectious. I even found myself thinking 'wow, maybe this Giants team of youngsters really will surprise!'

Well, fat chance. But, you gotta love his positivity, confidence, and can do attitude (God, I sound like a resume, sorry about that!)

Last night on Ralph and Tom Frandsen boldly predicted he'd hit 40-50 doubles, and that he'd be one of several Giants to do so. We'll see. He did raise a good point - that people may be selling the Giants offense short. Yes they don't have a middle of the order hitter, but with speed, aggressive play on the basepaths and a little luck they could have just enough offense to be respectable with their great starting pitching.

It's doubtful, but the fact that Frandsen has me - a true cynic of everything Giants for the last several years - even thinking about believing is a testament to his youthful exuberance and faith. And you know, youth, exuberance and faith have been in short supply 'round these parts for a long time.

Here's to hoping it's justified!

The NFC Playoff Picture

What I saw:

Seahawks/Redskins - Joe Gibbs' swan song, but we didn't know it then.

Which is fine, because I've never liked Joe Gibbs. I still hold the '83 NFC Championship Game loss against him. That phantom PI call...OK, don't get me started.

So, the game last weekend - what a strange game. Seattle dominates, you think they're going to blow Washington out of the water, then out of nowhere the Redskins take the lead! Reminded me a bit of the Seahawks/Niners game last year in Seattle, where the Niners looked like this year's Niners for most of the first 3 quarters only to come alive and win going away.

Ahh, the good old days when Alex Smith seemed like he was developing and the 49ers were on the rise...

OK, I'm back from my daydream.

It really was reminding me of that game though, and just when I was thinking maybe Seattle just has no mental toughness they come on like gangbusters and do end up blowing out the 'Skins. Here's a question - when was the last time there was a 35-14 game where the team with the 14 had the lead and all the momentum in the 4th quarter? Got me, but that's how it went down.

just like in Steelers/Jags the better team won, but in an odd sort of way.

Bucs/Giants - I don't buy all this talk that the Bucs lost because they rested guys down the stretch. Um, those great old Niner teams (here I go again with the daydreaming) always rested guys down the stretch, I don't recall it ever hurting them. Lots of teams do that and it works. That's too easy an answer.

I do put some stock in the idea that the Giants' playing the Pats so tough last week helped them confidence wise. That did play a factor.

Ultimately, though, it was the same story as in the other 3 games last weekend - the best team won. We shouldn't be surprised, it wasn't due to rest. You know, because previous Giants teams have collapsed down the stretch we tend to think this team will too, but remember that they were considered one of the 2 or 3 best teams in the NFC for most of the season, that they are undefeated on the road since week 1, and are a truly good team.

The Giants were just better. It's that simple.

The NFC games as a whole were less interesting than the AFC games, both in matchups and the drama of the games themselves, but it does set up some very intriguing matchups for this weekend, which I'll get in to tomorrow.

The AFC Playoff Picture

OK, a departure from the normally Bay-Centric theme to talk football playoffs...today the AFC, tomorrow the NFC, Wednesday a look ahead.

Here's what I saw in a nutshell:

Pittsburgh/Jacksonville - The best game of the weekend by far. I didn't think it would be that close - at 28-10 the game was going along about how I expected it to, with Jacksonville in control. But a funny thing happened on the way to a blowout - Pittsburgh showed some heart, Jacksonville got a little tight, and before you knew it not only was it a game, but the Steelers were in control.

And frankly, they should have won the game. Mike Tomlin made two enormous coaching mistakes - the 2 point conversions, which are so tempting but really should never be attempted unless it ties the game or it's under 3 minutes to go and makes sense, and the play call on 3rd down that failed and gave the Jags the ball back.

The 3rd down call to me is by far the most egregious. You could see the logic in the 2s, even though it was wrong, but I just don't get that play call at all. 3rd and 7, a first down almost puts the game away, but having to punt, with the wind howling, would create great field position for the Jags, making a go ahead field goal likely.

They went with a QB run which they had to know wouldn't work. It seemed like they just wanted to make Jacksonville use a TO there, which is just a terrible decision. From where the Jags would get the ball after the punt their problem wasn't the clock running out, it was scoring too fast and giving the Steelers too much time.

Plus, the Steeler passing game was clicking. Just an inane decision.

The better team one, but they shouldn't have. The game was decided in the minds of the coaches as much as it was on the field.

SD/Tennessee - Here's a game that I thought San Diego would win, but there was one doubt in my mind. I kept remembering that Norv Turner is their coach. I love Norv - he was fantastic with the 49ers and you could see this year what a difference his absence made with them - but he is a miserable head coach. He just isn't a good motivator, players don't fear him, and therefore his teams tend to play below their talent level.

A great example: he took a Chargers team coming off a 14-2 record and considered one of the top 2-3 teams in the league and turned them in to an 11-5 overwhelming underdog on the road next week.

But, the talent difference on offense between the Chargers and the Titans was great enough to overcome the Norv factor. At halftime I thought just maybe, but the Chargers talent emerged in the 2nd half and once they got up by 2 scores the game was over.

I love Jeff Fisher, and he got his team farther than the talent they had. I'd even go so far as to say that if Jeff Fisher was the Chargers' coach they'd have been off last week and hosting a playoff game this weekend, that's how much of a difference I think there is between he and Uncle Norv.

But, in the end the talent, greater than it's 11-5 record, also proved to be too much greater than the Titans, despite a valiant effort.

One great game and one solid game, not a bad way to start the playoffs at all...

Just Shoot the Puck (it sounds stupid, but it works)

OK, a quickie observation from last night's 5-2 Sharks win, their team record 9th straight on the road...the Sharks went down 2-1 and were teetering on the edge of one of their fold the tents collapses when a funny thing happened. They learned the important lesson their coaches have been trying to hammer home all season (and last season as well for that matter) - SHOOT THE PUCK!!!

When you shoot the puck at the net good things happen. To borrow a line from Dazed and Confused...it sounds stupid, but it works.

This team is so skilled that they get too cute on offense...rather than peppering the opposing goal tender with shots they instead try to make fancy passes to get just the right shot. Well, guess what? *ANY* shot is just the right shot! Ironically it is the Sharks' great skill level that seems to be hamstringing their offense. Just shoot the damn puck!

Turns out after all the clamoring from coaches and fans alike the catalyzing event that allowed the Sharks to learn this important lesson - at least for one night - was Craig Rivet's nothing little shot from just inside the blue line at 12:04 of the 2nd.

It was one of those shots that no one expects to go in...maybe you'll get a nice rebound, at the very least it might lead to a forecheck deep or a much needed line change. But something strange happened...it went in the net. All of a sudden we had a tie game, and you could almost see the wheels turning in the Sharks' heads.

Suddenly every player was winding up and letting it fly. Odd angles, blue line shots, spin arounds with hardly a chance to go in. And sure, most of them didn't go in. But it's no coincidence that they scored 3 more goals after Rivet's...with all the shots they were putting on net some were bound to go in, and indeed some did.

So, Sharks, remember this night and this lesson. Don't try to get pretty. Don't dazzle us with your skill. Just tenaciously keep shooting the puck at the net. Good things will happen. Trust me on this.

Jack Giveth and Jack Taketh Away

The Warriors are a fun team. No question about that. Unfortunately "wildly entertaining" doesn't necessarily translate to "really good". We saw that last night.

Look, after the miserable hoops years we've had here by the bay I'll certainly gladly take wildly entertaining and mediocre. It's a hell of a lot better than boring and crappy, which is what we had come to expect. But let's be clear about this team, they are entertaining, fun, edge of your seat exciting, but they aren't really good. Last night was a microcosm of what the W's are about, and Stephen Jackson, the emotional center of the team, is also the best example of all that is both good and bad with the Warriors.

You see, the Warriors are dependent on Jack. We all know the team started out 0-6 as Jackson served a league imposed suspension, and how the season suddenly turned around upon his return.

But Jackson, like the Warriors, is like the little girl with the curl....when he is good he is very very good, and when he is bad he is horrid. Unfortunately whether he's good or horrid the Warriors depend on him, and as he goes they go.

In some ways Jackson is having a great year...he's averaging a career high 21.5 points per game, good for 16th best in the NBA. He is the emotional core and co-captain of our resurgent Plucky Little Warriors. For a guy considered poison by most NBA teams because of off the court issues he's having a fantastic year, better than they could possibly have hoped for when they traded for him.

And yet, he's shooting only 40% from the field, 30% on 3s (while hucking up almost 7 a game on average). For all the points he is putting up he's also giving away a lot of possessions with bad shots or, like last night, just plain missing key good shots. Jackson had a wide open 3 to take the lead with 9 seconds left last night...he clanked it, and with it went the game.

Jackson, who missed 10 of his 15 3 attempts and 18 of his 27 shots total, said after the game "The team relies on me to score points, so I just have to shoot better. If I'm going to take that many shots, I'm going to have to hit a higher percentage of them."

And herein lies the problem. The Warriors do rely on him to score points. And some nights he is very good at it. Unfortunately, however, on some nights he is horrid. And when he is, like he was last night, so are the Warriors.

So are the Warriors wildly entertaining? Yes. Are they a lot of fun? Yes. Am I thankful to have them? Absolutely. But we all have to accept that they are, like their emotional leader, also wildly inconsistent. Some nights Jackson and the Warriors look unbeatable, but many nights they look as they did last night, dependent on a mediocre shooter for key points at big moments. And that's not really good.

Clearing Out the Cobwebs (Me and the Teams)

OK, back at it after 5 days off for the holidays...and the words are not exactly flowing out of me as they sometimes are wont to do. Of course, I'm not the only one shaking off the rust...there are millions of others out there in the same boat.

Apparently a handful of them play for the Warriors and Sharks. Yes, they both won last night - and for the Sharks that is reason in itself to be excited. And yes, a win is a win. But take a closer look at how they won and you'll see these are not teams playing at full capacity right now.

The Warriors took on the worst team in the league last night, at home, and built up a 22 point lead. But, they surrendered most of it, eventually hanging on for a 4 point victory, 105-101. Hey, it's a win - their 4th in 5 games - and we'll take it. But good teams don't often let bad teams back in games they control at home. Great teams never do. We'll give them a pass because it's the holiday season and I'm feeling magnanimous, but this is not a comforting win.

That said, watching the development of Monta Ellis in to a top player in the league is a true pleasure. I like this team a lot, and they're fun and exciting to watch. I just wish they'd learn to put a bad team away. They've got some time to figure it out.

One team that is running out of time to figure it out is the Sharks. They've plummeted from the 2 seed to the 5 seed in little more than a week with yet another perplexing run of uninspired play at home against Pacific Division rivals. They currently sit only 3 points away from being on the outside looking in on the playoffs. This even after a win last night.

Again, though, take a closer look at that win. It was over a team, the LA Kings, who had, coming in, lost 8 straight games. Much like the Warriors the Sharks pounced quickly, gaining an early 2-0 lead. But, like the Warriors, they twice let the Kings back in to the game, allowing them to close within 2-1 and, later, 3-2.

Hey, after the Sharks terrible play of late a win seems great, no question. But, once again, the good teams don't let the bad teams back in games, they step on their throats and don't let up.

This is more worrisome in the Sharks' case than the Warriors' - there are higher expectations for the Sharks. Unlike the Warriors, who are a good team who hope someday to be great, the Sharks are supposedly a great team, one of the top 4-5 in the league. They haven't looked like it in defeat the last week, and unfortunately they didn't look like it in victory last night either.

So our teams went 2-0 yesterday but, like the rest of us, slowly easing back in to the grind of everyday life after the holidays, there is a lot of work still to be done.

The Clarity of Distance

OK, in the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I am out of town and did not actually watch the Sharks shootout loss to the Coyotes last night. But, in an odd kind of way, hearing about it without actually having seen it has proven somewhat illuminating.

They lost the way they've lost many times before - at home, in the shootout, blowing a late lead, giving up a shorthanded goal. And, since I didn't see all the times they carried the play I am not fooled in to thinking 'oh, a break here, a break there...they were clearly the better team, they just didn't close the deal, it will even out over the course of the season'.

Guess what? I'm beginning to think they just may not be the better team we all think they are. When you just read the results, and consider the familiarity of those results...well, perhaps this is just the team we have.

Perhaps we really are a team that can't win at home, that can't hold leads, that can't win shootouts, that allows almost as many goals on the power play as it scores(OK, exaggeration, but admit it, it feels that way).

You know what we call teams like that? Hint: the answer isn't "Contender for the Cup".

I feel somewhat like a hypocrite considering I wrote just last week that the Sharks were doing fine and fans complaining were overreacting and should be happy with the team they get to watch. But you know what? Perhaps I just needed to step away and not watch them for a game to see what everyone - but me - who has been watching them is seeing.

And maybe you all are right.