BenMaller.com - Ben's Takes

Big Ben's "Insider Notes"
Western Conference Finals:

LA Lakers at Sacramento Kings – Game 1

* The Lakers won 3 of 4 meetings with Sacramento this season and split 2 games this year at Arco Arena. They're 16-5 against Sacramento since Phil Jackson became coach. They have eliminated the Kings from the playoffs in each of the last 2 years, including a 4-game sweep last year; and they have won 5 of their last 6 games at Arco and 7 of 8 overall.

* The Lakers have won a NBA-record 11 straight road playoff games, including 3 this spring. The last time the Lakers lost a road playoff game was on June 16, 2000, when they were destroyed by Indiana 120-87 in the fifth game of the NBA Finals.

* The Lakers have won 10 straight playoff series under Jackson.

* Los Angeles has won 23 of their last 25 postseason games. The lone losses were Game 1 of last year’s Finals vs. Philadelphia and Game 2 this season vs. San Antonio.

* This is the second year the Lakers play in the conference finals without homecourt advantage. Last year they won Games 1-2 in San Antonio on their way to a sweep of the Spurs.

* The Kings are playing in their first conference final in 21 years (as the Kansas City Kings in 1980-81, when they lost to the Moses Malone-led Houston Rockets). The Lakers have advanced to the conference finals 13 times (winning 11) since the Kings last got there. * Peja Stojakovic's sprained right ankle will keep the All-Star forward out for at least the first 2 games. He has averaged 18.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in 7 playoff games.

* Kobe Bryant had 46 fourth-quarter points in the 5 games against the Spurs.

* Mike Bibby averaged 21.8 points, 6.8 assists and 42.2 minutes a game and shot 45.3 percent in the series vs. the Mavericks.

* At Arco Arena in the playoffs, Shaq averages 23 points and just over 15 boards per game. He is shooting nearly 14 percent lower there than at home and shooting just under 41.5 percent from the free throw line. In contrast, he averages over 37 points and exactly 19 rebounds in postseason games played against the Kings in Los Angeles.

Source: Stats Inc permalink

Friday, May 17, 2002

Colts should go "Hollywood"

By Ben Maller

The Indianapolis Colts are the best fit among the teams that have been mentioned about possibly moving to Los Angeles. While I never want to see a team move from one city to another, the fact is LA needs a team and the Colts would be a perfect fit. Southern California sports fans like two things: 1.) a winner and 2.) super star players. The Colts have three superstars in QB Peyton Manning, RB Edgerrin James & WR Marvin Harrison. They are also very close to making the "Jump" to winning a super bowl despite a pathetic season a year ago.

Trust me that the NFL also knows how the Los Angeles market works. You can build a tax free 64,000 seat stadium in downtown, but if you don't put good star players and a team that has a chance to win there who's going to care? I understand that the Colts said yesterday they are not looking at a move to LA but why would they announce there plans? Of course they are going to say no to those questions, they have tickets to sell this season in Indianapolis.

The Chargers only superstar player is Junior Seau and he's at the end of the line. The Cardinals closest player to being a star is WR David Boston but he has off field problems. I don't believe that Jake Plummer is a "superstar" he's a younger Jim Everett. Minnesota has Randy Moss a true superstar who would make mega bucks in LA but I think they stay in the twin cities.

I attended the Dodgers vs. Expos game at Chavez Ravine last night and was overwhelmed by the amount of people that came up to me and asked if I had any "Inside" info on an NFL team moving to the city of angels. It's my opinion that LA is now hungry again for the pigskin.

Los Angeles could take the lead from Colorado who had the Quebec Nordiques move to Denver and then win the Stanley Cup right away. The Colts have the potential to do just that.

That said I still think the odds on favorite to move to America's REAL finest city are the Chargers. I guarantee though that one city will be watching NFL football for the final time this season as there team will be moving to Hollywood. permalink

Thursday, May 16, 2002

Sportsgod heading to Atlanta?

By Ben Maller

Are Dave Smith & Steve Carbone about to do a radio show in Atlanta? According to an e mail sent to me by a high ranking BenMaller.com mole the dynamic duo who where fired by a Los Angeles all-sports station several months back will get an on air tryout on WCNN in Atlanta. The team who got into trouble for there foul mouths is said to have a special audition show this Friday night from 9pm till 12am Eastern time.

WCNN in Atlanta the current home of programming wiz Mike "Super Stud" Thompson who used to be the PD at a Los Angeles sports talker when it was based in Burbank. "Mayor McCheese" is well respected and considered one of the best PD's in the biz.

Source: Ben Maller.com Mole permalink

Wednesday, May 15, 2002

"The Curse of Piazza"

By Ben Maller

This is a very sad day in Los Angeles. It's now been four years since the Dodgers put a Babe Ruth like hex on their franchise. The Dodgers were playing the Montreal Expos on May 15th, 1998. It was "Sports Radio" night when the darkest molment in Dodgers history took place. GM Fred Claire announced that the Dodgers had sent Mike Piazza & Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich and Charles Johnson. The deal was made by a couple of TV guys at FOX, Peter Chernin and Chase Carey.

I agree that Piazza and his agent Dan Lozano had been out of their minds with their contract demands. I remember talking to Lazano in Vero Beach that spring when he said he could see Mike playing for the Orioles, Red Sox, Giants, or D'Backs. Piazza turned down the chance to be the highest paid player in Dodger history, but I don't think he would have ever really left Los Angeles. He was an L.A. guy all the way, living in Manhattan Beach. Piazza was a superstar, in the truest sense of the word, much like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. Baseball doesn't have very many true marquee players. Piazza had been a Rookie of the Year and an All-Star, and he's going to be a Hall-of-Famer. Piazza was the cornerstone of the organization, a guy loved by fans.

Before the Piazza trade, the Dodgers had finished in first place in 1994 (*Strike) and 1995 and then won the Wild Card in 1996. In 1997 Piazza's final full season with the Dodgers, LA finished with 88 wins and lost out on the playoffs to the Giants in the final week of the season by 2 games.

From 1954 through 1997 the Dodgers had three managers, Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda and Bill Russell.

The Dodgers have had four managers in four years since the Piazza trade, in which they picked up a bunch of crap.

Gary Sheffield: Complained from day one in Los Angeles. Among his think blue highlights: he demanded a $2.5 million dollar bonus to except trade from Marlins; demanded that the team lift its ban on facial hair because he didn't want to shave; demanded that the team allow earrings; demanded that the team pay for his family to go with him to the All-Star game, or he was not going; said he didn't want to dive for balls on artificial turf; said he didn't want to play with the flu; said he didn't want to play the last day of the 2000 season because his average could have dipped below .300; complained about the amount of money that Darren Dreifort & Shawn Green among others where making.

Bobby Bonilla: At age 35 in 1997. Played just 72 games with the Dodgers the rest of the 1998 season. Bonilla, one of the laziest men in the history of baseball, batted .237 with 7 HR's and 30 RBI's. Bonilla was voted one of the most disruptive players in all of sports from the past 10 years. Bonilla was traded by the Dodgers to the New York Mets in exchange for Mel Rojas on November 11, 1998. While with the Mets for a second time, Bonilla & Rickey Henderson, both mad at being benched, spent the late innings of a playoff game playing cards in the clubhouse instead of sitting on the bench.

Jim Eisenreich: He was known as a "Dodger Killer" in his years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Eisenreich at age 39 batted .197 with 0 HR's and 6 RBI's in 75 games before retiring after the season.

Charles Johnson: He was called the best defensive catcher in baseball when he arrived in Los Angeles at age 26. He also was supposed to be able to supply some homeruns. In 102 games behind the plate with the Dodgers in 1998, Johnson batted .217 with 12 HR's and 35 RBI's. More troubling than Johnson's lack of offense was his only average job behind the plate. CJ made 6 errors in LA while he had made just 4 errors in the last two years COMBINED with the Marlins.

Johnson, a native from South Florida, hated being away from Miami and on the west coast, and was traded to the Baltimore Orioles after the '98 season. The Mets traded C Todd Hundley and minor league P Arnold Gooch to the Dodgers for Johnson and OF Roger Cedeno. The Mets then swapped Johnson to the Orioles for P Armando Benitez.

As for Mike Piazza, he has gone on to be one of the most popular players in New York. Piazza led the Mets to the National League Pennant in 2000. He has been an All-Star each season, batting over .300 each and averaging 35 HR's and over 100 RBI's. How long will the curse last? Ask the Red Sox or the Cubs who have been waiting almost 100 years now to win again.

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Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Canseco to the Hall of Fame?

By Ben Maller

Jose Canseco walked away from baseball yesterday. The game's premier slugger in the late 80's and early 90's he was tired of the dissrespect he has been given after being forced to play in triple A at age 37. Canseco retired with 462 home runs, placing him 22nd on the all-time list and just three behind Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. Many people will say that, because he is 38 homers short of 500, he won't get a ticket to Cooperstown. At first I agreed, but after looking over the career of the Bash Brother I think he has done enough to be placed among the legends of the game. If Ozzie Smith & Bill Mazeroski are good enough to make it then Canseco should get in, after all those guys couldn't hold his jock.

Case for Canseco to be in the Hall of Fame:

Aside from an injury-plagued year in 1989, he averaged 37 homers, 115 RBI and 23 stolen bases from 1986-91.

In 1988, he became the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season, winning MVP honors.

Canseco and Mark McGwire became known as the "Bash Brothers" and helped lead the A's to three American League pennants and the 1989 World Series championship.

Canseco ranks among the top 60 with 1,407 RBI and a .515 slugging percentage.

Along with Fred McGriff of the Chicago Cubs, Canseco is the only player to hit at least 30 homers with four different teams and has the most home runs by anyone born outside the United States.

After a few down years In 1994 with Texas, he won AL Comeback Player of the Year honors after hitting 31 homers and driving in 90 runs in just 111 games.

In 1998 with Toronto, Canseco hammered a career-best 46 homers and had 107 RBI and 29 steals.

Case against Canseco getting in to the Hall of Fame:

He's 38 homeruns shy of 500.

Injuries limited Canseco's ability and reduced him to a mostly one-dimensional player over the rest of a 17-year career that included stints with Texas, Boston, Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees and the White Sox.

Canseco, while with Texas, once had a ball carom off his head and over the fence in right field for a home run in Cleveland.

Canseco stole more than 10 bases just twice after 1991 while racking up at least 102 strikeouts 11 times.

Canseco is second all-time with 1,942 strikeouts

In 1993, Canseco was used in relief by the Rangers during a lopsided game with the Red Sox at Fenway Park. He retired the side despite allowing three runs, but suffered an elbow injury that eventually sidelined him for the season.

Things got so bad for Canseco he played for Newark in the lightly regarded Atlantic League.

Ben's Bottom Line: Canseco was the best player in the game from 1986 till 1991 when the homerun ball was not as common as it is today and he has done just enough the rest of his career to get a call from Cooperstown. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the three players most like Canseco are 1.) Ken Griffey Jr., 2.) Sammy Sosa and 3.) Fred McGriff. The three players most like Canseco at age 36 1. Reggie Jackson (903) 2. Fred McGriff 3. Willie Stargell. All the players similar to Canseco are going to the Hall of Fame.

The sad thing is Canseco should still be in the Majors. The Twins, A's, Blue Jays, Tigers & Devil Rays among others could use his bat.

I'll remember Canseco as the better half of the Bash Brothers with the A's and for that and during the 1989 American League Championship Series when he hit a towering home run into the fifth deck at Toronto's SkyDome. Canseco almost played for the Angels in 2000 but was released at the end of spring training because the Angels traded for Glenallen Hill who was a bust and retired a month later.

Did you Know? Jose Canseco played for Oakland, Toronto, Texas, Boston, Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees and the White Sox in his 17-year career.
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Monday, May 13, 2002

MVP My Ass

By Ben Maller

Tim Duncan is playing like Kevin Garnett against the Lakers. The NBA should have a do-over and give Shaq or Jason Kidd the MVP award. Duncan, who for a reason nobody seems to know, took home the MVP award this past week and then preceded to put on his skirt in the fourth quarters of games 3 and 4 to fall behind 3 games to 1 to the Lakers.

The game's true gate players are supposed to be able to carry a team on their back and will them to victory. Duncan did none of that in the fourth quarter on Sunday. The Spurs had a 10 point lead at 84-74 with 6:15 to go in the 4th quarter. From that point in the game on, Duncan was 0-2 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the line as LA outscored San Antonio 13-1 to win the basketball game.

Duncan is great for three quarters but in the fourth he folds up just like rest of his pathetic teammates. Kobe Bryant is a prime time player. He took that game over down the stretch with 12 fourth-quarter points. Jason Kidd is a prime time player with 8 foul shots in the final quarter. Despite shooting just 6-of-23 from the floor Kidd made the plays to give his team a win down the stretch.

Even in the game when the Spurs beat the Lakers in LA, the so-called MVP of the NBA had 10 turnovers!

What a joke. permalink