Get To The Chopper An insightful and and entertaining look into the world of sports. Focuses on the major American sports but everything is fair game. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 1 0 4 26

Articles from Get To The Chopper

Now I Feel Pretty Bad 2008-05-02 11:15:00 Sorry DC. I ripped on you the other day about your injury on the show "Pros vs Joes" and that was insensitive. Well not really, but today I found out that you need a heart transplant. Seriously. I'm sure that there are numerous cities full of NBA fans (Charlotte, Detroit, Philly, etc) who would have some things to say about that. By which I'm implying that Derrick Coleman was often accused of playing "without heart". I think the main problem with DC was that he was so talented. He could've (coulda, shoulda, woulda,) been a sure fire Hall Of Fame player. His skills were that good. He could've been a player who was a combination of the best parts of Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber. A complete inside/out player. Never happened though.DC was such a tease. He would rarely turn it on for a string of games. Don't get me wrong, he played well at times but he was just scratching the surface. But occasionally, for some short bursts within games, he exploded. His body continued to let him d ...

So They Lost, Does It Really Matter 2008-05-01 21:40:00 The Philadelphia 76'ers finally fell tonight to the Detroit Pistons. Let me go out on a limb right now and pick the Orlando Magic over the Pistons in Round 2 of the Eastern Conference. Were the Pistons the better team versus the 76'ers? Absolutely. Does that really mean anything? Not a chance. Why did the Pistons win? 2 reasons. (1) The Sixers have zero 3-point shooters. (2) The Sixers were not able to match up against Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton.So what does this really mean? It means (A) The Sixers have a bright future (B) The Pistons will have their hands full against the Magic, much less against the Celtics (Hawks permitting). The Magic have the players to match up against the Pistons. Even more so, do the Celtics. The Pistons are aging notably and although their bench is young, they lack that spark 'Sheed first brought to them. That is the spark that Garnett brings the Celtics and the spark that the Spurs never lack.Tomorrow I'll do the the "What the Sixers can do to make ...

Mavericks Fire Avery Johnson 2008-04-30 15:59:00 The writing was really on the wall for the Lil' General huh? What a story. Groomed as Don Nelson's successor. A Finals appearance and a Coach of the Year award in his first full season as coach. You could've written off blowing a 2-0 Finals lead to the Heat. They had a highly-motivated Shaq, an en fuego Dwayne Wade and a nice supporting cast of veterans. True to that, the Mavericks won 67 games the next season. That's the 5th most in NBA history. And then the Creator became the Destroyer. Don Nelson's 8th seeded Warriors ran over the highly favored #1 seeded Mavericks. The teacher had whipped the pupil. Mark Cuban, to his credit, maintained his cool for a hot minute. There were no immediate changes, trades or signings. In the Mavericks defense the Celtics summer moves prompted quite a few veterans to sign with the Celtics. Had the Celtics still been bottom feeders the Mavs may have been able to get a James Posey, PJ Brown or Sam Cassell.The Mavs started out slow and it was curtain ...

Suns To Fire D'Antoni. Is This Really A Good Move? 2008-04-30 10:43:00 This is not official yet but is being reported heavily by SI.com. Let's hop in our Delorean, feed Mr. Fusion and hit 88 miles-per-hour. No, we're not going back to 1955, we're so sick of that year. Instead let's go back to 2003. Some guy (Mike D'Antoni) who has been coaching in Europe is picked to take over as the coach of the Phoenix Suns at mid-season. He brought with him a fast-paced style of basketball that hadn't been run in the NBA in more than a hot minute. He led a D-League team to 21 wins in 61 games. Remember this is immediately after the Stephon Marbury trade. Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Antonio McDyess and Maciej Lampe replaced Marbury, Penny Hardaway and Cezary Trybanski. Who woulda thought that 4 years later it looks like McDyess was the best player in that deal? (Just a note, when researching the Marbury trade I noticed that the Knicks still owe the Suns their first-round pick in 2010. Unless the Suns have traded it away, which they might have. Isiah is just the g ...

NFL Draft 2008 Grades 2008-04-28 12:10:00 I linked y'all to Mel Kiper's Draft Grades. I do not believe in grading a draft anything before two full season after its conclusion. You cannot project exactly how a player is going to fit and perform in your system. So evaluations of this kinda are pointless. Yet millions of NFL obsessed fans will pour over these draft grades for the next couple of weeks. With such a high demand the sports outlets feel obligated to put out something. In my opinion, evaluating the draft picks 24 hours after the draft is more difficult than projecting next years first round 364 days before it occurs. But in the name of content I feel that there are several ways in which a draft can be evaluated in the immediate aftermath.-Filling needs. In this case we will not penalize any team for "reaching" to fill a need. It happens, especially when you cannot find a team to trade down with. Free agency is over and this draft is basically the only way to fill the remaining holes on your roster. Taking the best pl ...

2009 NFL Picks That Changed Hands 2008-04-28 11:51:00 There were a record 33 trades during the NFL Draft this past weekend. Out of those 33 trades, 8 draft picks in the 2009 Draft changed hands. It always seems difficult to find a list of these so I'm gonna post one because I'm kill.ROUND 1Philadelphia Eagles receive Carolina Panthers first round pickROUND 2New England Patriots receive San Diego Chargers second round pickROUND 3Dallas Cowboys receive Cleveland Browns third round pickROUND 4Dallas Cowboys receive Detroit Lions fourth round pickROUND 5Philadelphia Eagles receive Cleveland Browns fifth round pickROUND 6Green Bay Packers receive New Orleans Saints sixth round pickTennessee Titans receive Dallas Cowboys sixth round pickROUND 7Tampa Bay Buccaneers receive Jacksonville Jaguars seventh round pickIt's pretty obvious why the Patriots, Cowboys and Eagles always have 10+ picks in every draft. Cleveland GM Phil Savage vowed that he would not raid next year's draft picks to jump back into the fray this year. In the end Cleveland ga ...

Kenny Phillips (Miami) #32 To The Giants 2008-04-28 11:48:00 New York Giants#32 Overall Kenny Phillips (S) MiamiNice pick by the Giants. I thought Phillips could've gone as early as 19 to Philly or to Seattle or the San Diego. Phillips represents a great value here and fills a pressing need for the Super Bowl champs. The Eagles may live to regret this, Brian Dawkins is 35 and they'll get to see Phillips at least twice a year for the next half of a decade. ...

Nobody (Nowhere) #31 To The Patriots 2008-04-28 11:44:00 New England Patriots#31 Overall (Forfeited due to the Spygate scandal)Nobody (Nothing) NowhereI just had to remind everybody that the Patriots were punished. The fact that they had the 7th overall pick made quite a few people forget that the Patriots were pretty heavily disciplined. That being said, if Matt Walsh has the goods the Patriots might not be picking in the first round for a long time. Kinda like the Minnesota Timberwolves after the Joe Smith fiasco. ...

Dustin Keller (Purdue) #30 To The Jets 2008-04-28 11:40:00 New York Jets#30 Overall (Acquired from Green Bay for 2008 2nd and 4th round picks)Dustin Keller (TE) PurdueI think the Jets can live with this pick. A lot of mocks had Keller going a couple of picks earlier to the Seahawks and the top couple of TE's should be off of the board by the end of the second round. It's a toss up between Keller and USC's Fred Davis for best rookie TE in my opinion. Davis is the better all-around TE and Keller is more explosive. Whoever QB's the Jets needs more weapons and this will help. Especially if Pennington wins the job. ...

Kentwan Balmer (UNC) #29 To The 49'ers 2008-04-28 11:33:00 San Francisco 49'ers#29 Overall (Acquired from Indianapolis)Kentwan Balmer (DT) UNCInteresting pick here. Not a horrible value, it's just a question of how Balmer projects into the 49'ers 3-4 defense. If he fits well this is an excellent pick. If he doesn't do anything for a year or two it will be pretty obvious he belongs inside in 3-4. Again, this would have been an excellent spot for the first WR to come off of the board. Alex Smith really doesn't have much to throw to, even if Vernon Davis finally shows up. I wonder if the 49'ers would ever consider making a run and Ocho Stinko? Probably not after the T.O. Experience but he would seem to fit a big need and the 49'ers, their coaching staff, their fans and Alex Smith all need to have a good season. Right now. ...

Lawrence Jackson (USC) #28 To The Seahawks 2008-04-28 11:24:00 Seattle Seahawks#28 Overall (Acquired from Dallas)Lawrence Jackson (DE) USCThe Seahawks were in a position to take the best player on the board and it would seem like they reached here. They did trade back 3 picks, gaining 5th and 7th round picks this year. Most mock drafts had them going with a RB or TE here and I feel they have a fairly pressing need at WR as well. This could've been the perfect spot for Devin Thomas to come off of the board. If they wanted to go with a DE, Phillip Merling is still on the board and would've represented better value. ...

Antoine Cason (Arizona) #27 To The Chargers 2008-04-28 11:20:00 San Diego Chargers#27 OverallAntoine Cason (CB) ArizonaGood job by the Chargers to resist burning another high pick on a WR. They needed a CB to replace Drayton Florence as their nickel corner. Cason was the highest player left on the board. Thought that they might take a flier here on Miami's Kenny Phillips but I guess re-signing Clinton Hart addressed that need for them. Good value here and given San Diego's recent draft history I expect Cason to be an excellent nickel corner in the near future. ...

Duane Brown (Virginia Tech) #26 To The Texans 2008-04-26 17:16:00 Houston Texans#26 Overall (Acquired from Baltimore via Jacksonville)Duane Brown (OT) Virgina TechThis is called reaching to fill a need. The Texans have needed OL help since their inception. But this was a reach. I think they got too cute trying to trade down and they went too far. If they can hit on one of the extra picks they got this is fine pick. This is the danger zone right here. ...

Mike Jenkins (South Florida) #25 To The Cowboys 2008-04-26 17:12:00 Dallas Cowboys#25 Overall (Acquired from Seattle for 2008 pick #28, a fifth and a seventh rounder)Mike Jenkins (CB) South FloridaThis is called Pac-Man Insurance. Jenkins can return kicks and is a pretty good cover corner. He also represents good value here. Jones was smart to maneuver up 3 spots to secure him. This also leaves Dallas free to go after a WR in round 2. Pretty solid draft for the Cowboys so far. And it pains me to say that so you know it's true. ...

Chris Johnson (East Carolina) #24 To The Titans 2008-04-26 17:08:00 Tennessee Titans#23 OverallChris Johnson (RB) East CarolinaNo. Horrible pick. It's a reach, RB is just about the strongest position on the whole Titans team and Johnson is another combine creation. The Titans should know, they drafted last year's version in Chris Henry. That means in the last three drafts the Titans have spend 2 second round and 1 first round pick on running backs. If the Titans are eliminating the forward pass from their playbooks this makes a lot of sense. Otherwise I hate this pick. ...