Dwight Howard Stays: The Only Logical Choice for the Lakers

Now that the dust has settled, we can sit back from Thursday’s NBA trade deadline and see that it was all a lot of hooey for nothing. In the lead-up to the deadline, there was a lot of talk about Dwight Howard. Most television pundits stated emphatically that the Los Angeles Lakers should trade Howard. In an also emphatic (if not slightly over-the-top) comment the day before the deadline, general manager Mitch Kupchak said that wasn’t going to happen and that Howard was going to be a Laker for a long time. Initially, I agreed with most pundits. But as the deadline loomed, it was apparent to me that the logical choice for the Lakers was for Howard to remain on the team.

At first glance, the logical choice appeared to be to trade Dwight Howard. The Lakers are on the outside looking in when it comes to the Western Conference playoff picture. Reports say Kobe Bryant and Howard are not getting along both on and off the court. Howard is going to be a free agent at the end of the year and has shown no commitment to staying with the Lakers beyond this season, and given how this season has transpired, it would be highly unlikely he would want to stay. All signs point to getting the best trade possible for Dwight Howard.

But, haven’t we been through this already? Didn’t the Orlando Magic just go through this type of dragged out fiasco months ago? I’ll get to the Magic’s role in this situation later, but first, it’s time to focus in on the Lakers.

Kupchak is one of the best general managers in the league. He has continued to make the Lakers a success and a destination for free agents. When he made the trade for Howard in the offseason, he knew the ramifications of such a decision.

Kupchak put his money in on Dwight Howard. When the trade happened, no one thought it was a bad move, and automatically the Lakers had the scariest starting lineup in the league. Little did we know that the Lakers' season would turn out this way and that they would play like they were “old as shit” (Kobe's hilarious words, not mine). Now, Kupchak is pot committed, to put it in poker terms. He is riding the future of the Lakers on Dwight Howard.

When pundits stated that the Lakers should trade Howard, I initially agreed with them. It's likely Howard would leave and with the wishy-washy nature he showed in Orlando, why deal with that? The Lakers shouldn't stake their future on Howard, and should instead get pieces to assist Kobe and the future.

It seems like a great idea, but I realized that I was looking at it from the perspective of a Cleveland fan. That's what a Cleveland team would do. That's what most teams would do. That's not what the Los Angeles Lakers would or should do. The Lakers are one of the few teams in the league that players want to come to. They've built a culture of winning and have highlighted the appeal of the West Coast since “Showtime” hit the Great Western Forum. Why would the Lakers become sellers of all a sudden? Why would they play for the future when their offseason buyer move of Howard was playing for now?

 Kobe has no choice but to deal with Dwight.

Even if a trade were to happen, what possible value could the Lakers have gotten for Howard? That's where the anger occurs in trade demand situations like with Howard, Chris Paul, or Carmelo Anthony. The small-market team loses out on a superstar in order to get a bunch of pieces that can never live up to the importance of that superstar. And, as we've seen, the NBA is dictated by superstars. Since 2000, the only team that didn't at least have a clear superstar player on their roster and won a championship was the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons. But, having a balanced team like that is a rarity over the norm. Even so, one superstar can't even lead a team to the title on his own. Jordan had Pippen. Kobe had Shaq (or vice versa). LeBron has Wade and Bosh. Let's not stop to mention all the role players that make a championship team a true winner as well.

There was nothing to say that Los Angeles would have gotten equal value for Howard. Rumors (from wherever it's not even clear in these days of social media) had a possible Howard-for-Rajon Rondo swap. This was the best deal possible, but didn't seem likely to happen, and officially would have thrown in the towel for the Lakers this year given Rondo's season-ending injury.

Imagine if the Lakers had made an Orlando Magic-type deal. Here's the breakdown of the deal from Bleacher Report with their moronic opinion that the Magic won on the deal after a re-evaluation a month ago.

Let's look at the Magic players' current season stats:

Aaron Afflalo: 16.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.1 APG

Nikola Vucevic: 12.3 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 1.07 blocks per game

Moe Harkless: 5.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG

Josh McRoberts: 3.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG

Al Harrington: Staph infection

Christian Eyenga: Waived in October

The Magic received a number of draft picks from the Knicks, Nuggets, and Lakers, all presumed playoff teams, so the selections are likely to be tougher in producing an impact or star player. While Afflalo and Vucevic are fine players, they are pieces on a championship team, not superstars (the notion in Bleacher Report that Vucevic “really makes one think if the Lakers truly got the best center in the long-term” is perhaps its silliest).

Now, factor that in with the idea that any team taking Howard knows that they may possibly have him for only half a season and the negativity and criticism that has followed the All-Star big man, and it seems ridiculous that the Lakers should even possibly take a deal like this one.
 

The Lakers were better off to do what they did, and stick with Dwight Howard. They now have the time to see if their superstars can make a run in the second half of the season to get them into the playoffs. Likewise, Kupchak has already begun to work his magic in showing his wholehearted support for Howard.

Whether Kupchak's comments work on Howard or not remains to be seen (as does the possibility of a statue outside Staples Center). But, one thing is clear: the Lakers are still the Lakers because they kept Dwight Howard.

The "Mental Game" of a Sports Fan

Recently, I finished reading Dr. Bob Rotella's Golf is Not a Game of Perfect. Published in 1995, the perspectives in the book have likely aged and are common knowledge at this point, but it was still a nice read to further enhance my “mental game” in not just golf but any sport that I may participate in. Dr. Rotella's main emphasis was on not focusing in one's mechanics, but rather to have confidence and positive thought in order to attain success on a golf course.

But, in a different realm, the book got me thinking about the sports fan, and the “mental game” involved in that. Recent Bud Light commercials have proven two things: one, that a company can beat to death a song to a point that you sadly don't like it anymore (Stevie Wonder's “Superstition”) and that the average sports fan puts a lot of emphasis on their rituals and that their interaction has an effect on the outcome of a game.

Is it possible that a fan can actually have an effect on a game? Nothing can particularly prove that other than the factor of home field advantage, which can have an impact in sports (varying from the surefire victories the Seattle Seahawks were getting this year at CenturyLink Field to the pointlessness of being a #1 seed in the NHL Playoffs). Beyond that, can superstition or a mental perspective play a role? Can the fan sitting at home really dictate anything? While I have as much proof as saying that Ray Lewis was right and God gave him the another Super Bowl win, I do think that a fan's mental state can play a role in a game outcome.

A strong part of this belief has to come from being a Cleveland sports fan. I grew up with “The Shot,” “The Drive,” and “The Fumble.” I've seen Jose Mesa's blown save. I've seen Dwyane Rudd throw a helmet and reveal a rule no one knew existed. When it all comes down to it, I learned that no lead is ever safe. It also created me having zero confidence in my team when it comes down to a close game. We've found so many different crushing ways to lose, how can any of us as Cleveland fans feel strongly that we'll win?

There are a lot of instances where I can show how mentally I felt completely different as a fan and the outcome was the same. In Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron James put up his memorable “48 Special” performance against the Detroit Pistons. In Game 6, I had my usual doubts as a Cleveland fan, but as the game progressed, I felt more confident with LeBron as a leader and the team won on our way to getting swept out of the NBA Finals. Take that situation against LeBron's no-show in Game 5 of the 2010 playoffs against the Boston Celtics and how every Cleveland fan had to be thinking we weren't going to win in Boston after getting blown out at home. I was convinced this same situation would happen to LeBron in last year's playoffs after losing Game 5 to Boston, but alas, LeBron is now in Miami and was the exact opposite of a no-show in dismantling the Celtics on their home court.

I remember having similar feelings in the 2007 American League Championship Series. After the Indians went up 3-1, I knew we had to take Game 5. Then, Josh Beckett shut us down. Most fans would still feel they had a chance up 3-2 in a series, but knowing just how dominant Beckett was against us, and that we were headed back to Boston for the final two games, I didn't believe the Indians could pull it out, and they didn't.

In connection with fan confidence is momentum. Some will say that momentum plays no role in how a game or a series transpires. But, in these examples, there's something to one team simply dominating another and it swinging the momentum of a series. Now, this swing has to do with player confidence as well. If a player feels advantageous against their opponent, he or she has the wholehearted confidence to believe he or she will win. Such confidence and momentum passes on to the fan. 

Of course, all fan bases have different levels of confidence. One of the more notorious moments where it was clear that fan confidence may have had an effect on an outcome of the game was the Steve Bartman incident during the 2003 National League Championship Series. Best depicted in ESPN's "30 for 30" Catching Hell documentary, Cubs fans turned on Steve Bartman when he interfered with a foul ball rather than focusing on the team's poor inning as a whole. I remember watching the game live, and you could feel the energy sucked out of Wrigley Field almost immediately, and it kept getting worse as the mistakes kept piling up for the Cubs.

Fan bases sometimes sadly find confidence in hatred.

But, there's got to be that other side of the coin, too. My buddy Evan is a Boston sports fan. I asked him if he feels confident when Tom Brady has the ball in a clutch situation. He humorously said, "Not lately," which makes sense. But, he acknowledged that for years Brady and the Patriots had that swagger and confidence that led to a fan feeling good about winning a game. He said he felt the same way whenever the Red Sox handed Pedro Martinez the ball during his best seasons. Once a player and a team manage to prove something and show confidence, it rubs off on the fan as well.

The "mental game" is a part of a lot of aspects in sports. I genuinely believe that momentum and "something in the air" can have an effect on the outcome of the game. Sometimes, it's a team's sense of confidence that translates to the fan (Bulls fans have to believe Jordan will hit a game winning shot) but other times it's the fan's pressure and feelings of failure translating to a team (the Cubs in 2003 and perhaps any situation for that team for the rest of time). 

The Curious Case of Joe Flacco

As the free agency period begins in the NFL, the hottest topic is Super Bowl winning quarterback Joe Flacco and his potential for a big payday and departure from the champion Baltimore Ravens. Much talk has been made of Peter King's recent Monday Morning Quarterback in which he mentions the idea of the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, or Arizona Cardinals swooping in to snag Flacco and make him the wealthiest player in the NFL. As a Browns fan, my ears perked up. But, with enough evaluation, it's easy to see that the best situation for Joe Flacco is to remain a Baltimore Raven, and the funny thing is there really shouldn't be a market for Flacco at the price that he is looking for other than his current team. 
 

Let's look at Joe Flacco by the numbers. The statistics show an efficient quarterback, and one that had the ability to lead the talented team that surrounded him to the playoffs every season. What took Flacco above and beyond this year was his playoff performance. He took the criticism that he had been receiving from the media and fans, stared it down, and defeated it with an impressive 11 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and the type of intangible leadership that creates a championship quarterback.

But, beyond his playoff performance, there's nothing in five years of being at the helm of the Ravens offense that indicates that Flacco should be the highest paid quarterback in the league. Simply put, if the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl, are we even having this discussion about Joe Flacco?

It's strange, but I think of two moments when I associate the best and the worst of Joe Flacco this season, and both connect to the Denver Broncos. In Week 15, the Ravens (in their first game with new offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell) faced off against the hot Broncos. Already down 10-0 in the first half, the Ravens were poised to score a touchdown when Flacco threw an out route that was picked off for a 98-yard touchdown return. A dejected Flacco buried his head into the grass following his missed tackle on the return. It was a momentum changer that cemented the Broncos as the presumed AFC favorite and led the Ravens to feel like the wheels were falling off. This was the Joe Flacco that fans were used to. He was a quarterback that had potential, but never seemed like he would take it to the next level to be the cream of the crop in the NFL.

Fast forward to the fourth quarter of the divisional round game against the Broncos and the Ravens are likely on their way out of the playoffs until Flacco heaves a bomb to Jacoby Jones for a game-tying touchdown. So now, we have to wonder if safety Rahim Moore does not completely fall asleep on this play, are we even having this discussion about Joe Flacco?

This is f***in' awesome!

In his column, King is correct in that Flacco is at his peak earning potential. But, it doesn't mean that his peak earning potential should be the highest salary in the league nor that the market needs to cater to that potential. Particularly, if the Ravens do see a desperate team handing the type of money that King mentions in his column to Flacco, they should let him go. It is an amount of money that can paralyze a team's salary cap for a quarterback that has not shown that he could impact a game on his own. The Ravens owe it to Flacco to sit down and have a discussion, and of course want to keep their quarterback, but not at the sacrifice of their organization. General manager Ozzie Newsome is smart enough to realize that.

Where smart goes out the window is with desperate teams like the ones mentioned by King, but these are teams that do have to be smart if they want to see any future success. For personal reasons, I'll address the Browns first and the ideas brought up by King. King states that the signing of Flacco would lead to “a shot of adrenalin” for the team. This is the type of emotional effect that should have no bearing on how a team runs their business. The “free agent splash” is an overrated and ineffective approach to bettering a team. If there are signs that the free agent in question would not be a particular fit for the organization, the move is only being done to cater to a fan base or to make some type of emotional move, which based off King's evaluation, are the only reasons behind why the Browns would sign Flacco. It would be “sweet irony” to steal the Super Bowl-winning quarterback from the city that stole the Browns. Perhaps that's true, but what's the point if Flacco doesn't pan out or improve the team? Now, Ravens fans continue to laugh at Cleveland's misery while the team's salary cap is shot and future affected as two first-round draft picks are given up. Sure, the Browns need a quarterback as they always have. But, it's better to take the components already in place and work with them while continuing to build through the draft than to sell it all away on a player whose riding his market value high and statistically not enough backs him up as being deserving of that price.

Buffalo or Arizona could get crazy as well. The idea of a legitimate quarterback throwing to Larry Fitzgerald again is appealing, and if there's any team that I could see as being reasonable in throwing out that much money to Flacco, it's Arizona. It's clear the quarterback position entirely hindered their ability to be a playoff team. But, for any other organization in the league interested in upgrading at quarterback, it's out of line. It's a roll of the dice unless you have a strong enough supporting cast to hop aboard with Flacco's arm and leadership ability that did show in the playoffs.

When it comes down to it, Joe Flacco is like the player who comes out of nowhere to lead his team to the Final Four and ultimately shoots himself up the board on NBA Draft night as a result. Flacco had a great playoffs. He entirely changed the way fans look at him as a quarterback and determine his ability as a leader and performer. But, can you really say he's worth five years, $110 million based off four weeks of seeing a completely different quarterback than one we've seen for five seasons?

It's a hard sell, and it's why the only reasonable destination for Flacco is Baltimore. He obviously wants to stay. He obviously wants to earn as much money as possible. Baltimore wants to keep him, and will be ready to pay him to whatever extent is possible. Flacco could depart to another city, but it would be a huge sacrifice to that team's future and salary cap. Can Flacco do what Peyton Manning did this past year for another team? Does he have that type of impact?

The numbers and the games show it's not likely unless a team has as talented a supporting cast as Baltimore created for the past five seasons. Once again, Joe Flacco has something to prove, but at least he may be the highest paid player in the league while he's doing it.

Why I Stopped Hating The Ravens

It’s been almost two weeks since the Baltimore Ravens won the second Super Bowl in their 17-year history. A lot of emotions have to be running through the minds and hearts of Cleveland Browns fans, none of which are positive. But, as a Cleveland Browns fan, I have to make a shocking comment. In the 2012-2013 season, I stopped hating the Ravens.

It all began with Art Modell’s death on September 6, 2012, just days before the NFL season’s first Sunday. The death inevitably brought back a lot of memories for Browns fans. As a fan, I couldn’t help but think of the final game where fans ripped out seats from Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the site of so many legendary moments not just in Browns history but in the history of the NFL. I thought about what it meant to be a Browns fan. But, of course, it still all came back to Modell, and like all Browns fans, I couldn’t avoid my frustration or hatred or feelings of what could have been knowing how the future unfolded for the Ravens, Bill Belichick, and a glowing staff (best depicted in the recent NFL Network documentary, Cleveland ‘95) from the 1995 Browns that have shaped the success of both the NFL and college football since the move to Baltimore.

But, from my perspective, what hate was left for Art Modell? It had been 17 years. He had already snagged a Super Bowl trophy in Super Bowl XXXV, which was still fresh enough after the move for Browns fans to be disgusted (it only got worse the next year when the era of dominating Bill Belichick-run Patriots teams began). In financial peril, he sold the team in 2003 to minority owner Steve Bisciotti. He led a life out of the limelight in his final years, not discussing the move or speaking in any negative manner towards Cleveland. He can be looked back as the worst individual in Cleveland sports history. But, how much more of Art Modell can someone take so personally?

In the week following Modell’s death, reflecting on the move was just sad. As a fan, I looked for more answers. I was only 11 at the time the Browns moved, so there wasn’t much to really go by and remember other than I felt sad and the city felt sad. Surprisingly, 17 years later with Modell’s death, it wasn’t much different. Desperate to find more answers to the circumstances behind the move, I read, Fumble:The Browns, Modell, & The Move. Published in 1997, it’s the only book I could find that specifically discusses “The Move” and comes from a source in Michael G. Poplar, who worked as treasurer for Cleveland Stadium Corp. When you read about the circumstances behind the move, it’s simply sad all around, and it’s hard to determine whether you can blame the financial errors of an owner or the political decision-making of a city’s elected representatives. Either way, many people failed Browns fans, and forever changed how we interact with our football team. (Note: The only downfall of the book is its age. Over 16 years, a lot has happened to all the individuals involved, the cities, and the teams that the book isn’t able to express. Most humorously is the author’s statement of the Browns organization as “everyone knowing Bill Belichick was not going to be the next Vince Lombardi.”)

I also have to factor in to my perspective the absolute opposite paths that the Ravens and Browns have taken since 1999. While the Browns have been mired in poor drafting and one playoff appearance in 13 seasons of existence, the Ravens have consistently been the cream of the crop in the AFC and finding playoff appearances left and right until finally hoisting the Lombardi Trophy again this year. As a Browns fan, it’s hard for me to sit around and hold a lot of hate for a team that consistently beats us, who every year has less and less of a connection to Cleveland, and whose main source of hatred in Modell left ownership of the organization years earlier. 

 The Browns fans' nightmare

The Cleveland ‘95 documentary highlights another main point. As Modell died, the Browns moved on to a new owner in Jimmy Haslam. Both pages were turned. Now, there was truly no clear connection anymore between the Ravens and the Browns with the death of Modell and the departure of Randy Lerner. For Browns fans, it’s truly time to move on. The villain that you hated for so long has left this world. A new chapter and administration has emerged in Cleveland. Though Browns fans have heard that constantly every couple years, the coaching staff already seems more skilled and intriguing than any in the past.

As a result, it was kind of odd to find myself cheering for the Ravens. I don’t like any of these players. I respect their ability. After their impressive win in Denver, to me, it was clear they had the ability to be on the path to the Super Bowl. The gambling lines opposed and disrespected them. They looked like the team that was most focused to win and make a run in the same manner that we’ve seen Wild Card Round teams do in the NFL playoffs for the past few years. As a football fan, it was hard to not rally around and put your money on the quality football that the Ravens were producing.

Simply put, I’ve moved on. I dislike the Ravens, but I like good football. Rather than dwell on depression and disgust, it’s finally time for Browns fans to move their focus to seeing their team be a winner. The Art Modell death, the change in administration, and strangely enough the Ravens Super Bowl victory are the type of elements to get that going.

Of course, I have every expectation that I am in the minority.

Welcome to The Sportcratic Method!

The Sportcratic Method is a new blog written by stand-up comedian, Sumukh Torgalkar. I'm Sumukh. I spend a lot of time watching sports. I like analyzing it, predicting it, looking at the statistics involved in it, and reflecting on the aspects of our culture that make us love and hate sports. Since I reflect so much on sports in my mind and with my friends, I figured that I might as well spend some time writing about it on a regular basis.

This blog is going to be personal (expect a lot of Cleveland sports). It's going to be analytical. It's going to reflect headlines in sports. It's going to reflect sports topics that mainstream journalism may not even be covering. Mostly, I hope it sparks debate among sports fans in the right way, and that we look away from the sensationalism that now fills up most of sports journalism and column writing.

Thanks for reading in advance, I hope you enjoy the blog, and I hope that it only develops from here.

Love,
Sumukh