On Second Thought... Naaaaah.

Stayed up last night to watch the USA Men’s basketball team blow out Spain and was very disappointed in what I saw. It was actually exciting and it shouldn’t have been. I saw a complacent U.S. team that refused to play defense and get guys under the basket. They knew they could win easily by just getting inside, yet they chose to go the lazy route and miss 3 pointers with shocking regularity in the 2nd half. The Spanish team had better hands much of the time. Whenever there was a struggle for the ball, the Spaniards seemed to prevail. The U.S missed fast break opportunity after fast break opportunity with missed lay ups, stupid fouls and turnovers. They had chance after chance to run away with the game and they kept letting Spain back into it. They couldn’t stop this Navarro kid to save their lives. Come on. He’s a little Spanish dude who can’t even play in the NBA. In spite of the Gasol brothers and Calderon, who was unable to play, Espana had no business being on the same court with the likes of Kobe, Le Bron, Duane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and the other NBA greats. But if Kobe hadn’t taken over in the 4th quarter, I think the U.S. would actually be coming home with silver. Redeem team? Not so much in my book. Yeah, they got the Gold, but they should’ve done it going away. It was a pins and needles game up until a minute left. We had a great team, so there are no excuses, but just out of curiosity, where were Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady and Baron Davis? Did these guys not make the team? Were they not asked to play? Or did they just choose not to play?

Speaking of complacent, the Dodgers season appears to be going gently, once again, into that good night, and, by virtue of their lack of focus and pitch selection, they don’t seem to care. Now 3 games back of the Snakes, one must wonder how they could possibly compete if Dbacks 5th starter, Yismeiro Petit is shutting down good hitting teams like the Marlins. Matt Kemp can’t seem to find the handle on his game and it really is killing the Dodgers. His losing a routine fly ball in the sun yesterday leading to 3 more Philly runs was inexcusable. Sure, guys lose balls in the sun all the time, but it seems to happen to Kemp with alarming frequency. I mean, did you see the play? He had no idea where it was, as if he never even saw it leave the bat! That’s horrible. And where were Ethier and Ramirez? Why couldn’t they recognize what was happening and back him up? Focus. How many times do I have to say it? Focus. But forget about Kemp’s lameness in all things mental. The Dodgers lost the game when Clayton Kershaw nailed Jimmy Rollins in the first at bat of the bottom of the first inning. You could just tell there was no way Kershaw was going to be effective and he stunk so much, even I could smell him and I haven’t been able to smell or taste or breathe out of this nose for almost a month. The real reason for the loss? Kemp’s at bats in the lead off spot. Terrible. Didn’t reach base once. Ethier’s at bats in the 2 hole. Awful. Didn’t reach base once. Kent’s at bats in the 3 hole. Pitiful. Didn’t reach base once. So, if the guys in front of him are 0 for 12, how is Manny gonna get a chance to drive in any runs? Sorry to say this, but you can’t win without a leadoff hitter and they have no leadoff hitter in Matt Kemp, so guess what? Juan Pierre must play and he must lead off. So, at this point in the season who would you platoon? This might sound crazy, but I would platoon Kemp and Ethier in right field. For a few games last week, they were both playing great at the same time, but it’s been more of a rarity than the norm. Neither player is as consistent as Pierre in terms of making things happen on the base paths. In order for Manny to be effective, you have to play the guys who are going to get on base and make things happen.

At this point, it’s probably moot. They’re not going to come back from a 3 game deficit the way they’re playing. I can almost promise you, they’ll lose tonight as well. That’s because the Phillies are a very good team and they’re actually playing like they have something to play for while the Dodgers look like they’re just playing out the schedule. Odd, since they were in a pennant race.

Nomar and Casey Blake are becoming more and more of a disappointment. Nomar just stinks. It’s reach down and pull, reach down and pull, lunge and pull, every swing. I’m so tired of seeing him letting pitchers off the hook by grounding out or flying out on their first pitch, I’d rather see Berroa up there flailing like a Little Leaguer and striking out. At least that’s a guaranteed three pitches. And Casey Blake. Wow. I’ve heard of slumps, but he’s in a tail spin. I can’t remember seeing him drive one ball to the right side of the field. Straight pull all the way, all the time and strikeouts through the wazoo. Isn’t there anyone in the dugout – Torre, Bowa, Mattingly, Manny, anyone – who can say “Hey, guys. We have to work deeper into counts, we gotta go to the opposite field, we have got to stop letting pitchers off the hook and we have to get guys on base, otherwise, we won’t be playing in October.” In spite of Martin’s 12th HR yesterday (big whoop, it’s the end of August) more and more, I’m beginning to think maybe trading young catcher Carlos Santana to Cleveland for Blake wasn’t such a hot idea. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Martin’s really not as great as everyone says he is. As far as the Dodgers in general… nope. This team just doesn’t have it. Even with Manny, they don’t have enough pop, talent or heart and the pitching, starting and bullpen, is too inconsistent. They won’t get it done.

Want to see how you get it done? Watch Chase Utley play second base tonight for the Phils. Watch how he focuses, runs out every grounder no matter how small a chance he has of being safe, takes smart at bats, knows who the runners are, knows where the freakin’ ball is at all times. That’s how you play the game. I think Matt Kemp should just sit down and watch him.