June 24, 2024
For all the jokes about the Lakers hiring JJ Redick, I don’t really have a problem with it. They’ll be introducing him this afternoon at a press conference at 1:30 pm. From the start of the process, you knew he was a strong candidate. Sure the Danny Hurley thing came up to, but the process wasn’t nearly as disorganized as many of you are making it out to be. You can criticize the Lakers for not valuing coaches, or being too Lebron centric, but that doesn’t make this a bad hire. The reality of it is, Redick can’t be worse at this job than the coaching we saw last year from Darvin Ham. There were some absolutely awful decisions game after game. I don’t expect Redick to make those, and I expect a modern looking offense with continued accountability on defense from everyone. The real question is whether or not he will be well received in the locker room, and not just looked at as a coach for Lebron. If that happens, then I think this has the potential to be successful. As for the roster, my expectation is there will be a bit of a shakeup this week. Why? Because if D’Angelo Russell opts in, the Lakers keep their #17 max, while resigning Max Christie, they would have already reached the 2nd apron. That tells me moves are coming.
As for the Clippers, this Paul George situation has to leave you wondering how it ends. Suddenly, the Sixers don’t seem interested anymore. Probably because as we’ve seen before, PG-13 said something stupid. He said on a podcast that he just wants to play basketball the right way at this point in his career. Oh really? You just want to be aesthetically pleasing? Sure you do. It’s become obvious since he left OKC that he wants to be paid like a superstar player, but have no part of the accountability that comes with it. For a 34 year old who has had a history of injuries of late, after those comments, it’s no wonder teams aren’t lining up to pay him max money. For those reasons, I actually think he ends up back with the Clippers. They want him back at a price that works for them, and at this point, that price may now be more than everybody is willing to pay.
To baseball where the Dodgers are still winning, but dealing with more injuries. The latest to go on the DL is Walker Buehler. It’s really unfortunate to see him struggling since he came back from his 2nd Tommy John Surgery, but it’s really not that surprising. Pitchers that come back from a 2nd Tommy John’s surgery usually don’t have an easy time. Putting him on the DL to figure things out is definitely the right thing to do. However, the question is if there is still time for him to figure things out while he is a Dodger. Buehler is in the last year of his contract. There certainly is time, but he’ll need to figure those things out in the month of July before we see if he can be a playoff pitcher. I will never say anything bad about Walker Buehler though. He manned up and pitched in the NLCS a couple of years ago when his arm was cooked, while Max Scherzer showed he was soft as Charmin tissue paper because he claimed he had a little “arm fatigue”.
As if we didn’t have enough negative things to say about the Angels already, they got dealt another tough blow when Patrick Sandoval was placed on the DL with a forearm issue. This could easily be an elbow issue, and one that results in a major injury. The worst part about it is that believe it or not, teams were calling the Halos about Sandoval. He’s actually a player the Halos could have gotten some value for. He’s also under team control for two more years. Just to put it in perspective for you, A 27 year old pitcher who is 2-8 with a 5.08 era in the Angels organization is valued. That’s because even the rest of the league knows with some halfway decent player development, Sandoval has the talent to be something he’s not able to be with the Angels.
I have no idea what Kelly Stafford was thinking. Last week on a podcast, she revealed that in college she dated the Georgia backup quarterback, and even slept with him, just to make her now husband, Matt Stafford, jealous. You have 4 kids with the guy? Why bring that up publicly? I get that there is some entertainment value to it for her, but some of the things this woman says on these podcasts makes you wonder if Matt goes home and scolds her for saying things she’s not supposed to.
Tonight may very well be the most viewed hockey game in history. The Edmonton Oilers will try to make history tonight and come back from 0-3 deficit to win the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers, in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers look absolutely shell shocked, and I’m concerned about their confidence that they can still win this series. I hope they remember that they are playing game 7 at home, where home teams usually win game 7. However, the Oilers have the best player in the world, Connor McDavid, and they’ve looked dominant for most of the last 3 games. With that being said, I would love to see the Panthers find a way to win. Connor McDavid is great, but let’s just stop it with all these ridiculous comparisons to Wayne Gretzky, who is the GOAT. Plus, I don’t want the Kings feeling good about themselves losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, otherwise it just gives them more reason to rinse and repeat. Also, if the Oilers win, it will really put a damper on all those jokes we make about Canadian Teams not winning the Stanley Cup in ages.