Michael Redd and Shaq for Vince Carter? (shaq-fu where art thou)?

Recently my fantasy basketball team was offered Michael Redd and Shaquille O' Neal for Vince Carter. It is time to poll the readerss to get some opinions on this trade offer. A few things that should be taken into consideration. Namely, Shaq's numbers have gone down over the past few years rendering him nowhere near the player he once was. That being said he is still capable of averaging close to a double double when he returns. Addittionally, Michael Redd is certainly a scoring machine but he averages 3.8 Rebounds and a measely 2.2 Assists per game while Vince is averaging 5.9 Rebounds and 4.0 Assists per game. Another factor that should be taken into account is the timetable for which Shaq is expected to return. As of today, through the Fangini research department there seems to be no exact date set for his return. Fangini has checked multiple resources who all say the big fella is due back 4-6 weeks from November 16. Fangini thinks the edge goes to Vince over Michael Redd when comparing the two players strait up through each statistical category. The question boils down to whether the the addittion of Shaq's stats is worth the downgrade from Redd to Carter?

The Fangini has decided to forego the offer based on the follwoing rationale. Since Vince seems to be a superior fantasy player to Redd, Shaq would have to statistically make up the difference between the two. While it is certainly true that a healthy Shaq should be able to do such a thing is it really worth the risk if Shaq turns out to miss more time than expected?. The Fangini likes to take risks but usually calculated risks. This offer seems all too tempting yet Fangini does not believe the big fella has much gas left in the tank. Whatever gas is left in the tank will ultimately be saved for a Miami Heat playoff run. The heat will look to conserve the diesel energy until it is needed most

Fangini would love to hear your take. It is time for the readers to give their opinion

Bob Knight vs Dean Smith: the best of all time?

The question was posed this morning on cold pizza. Would you rather have Bob Knight or Dean Smith claim stake to the title of best ncaa coach in basketball history? The answer is simple and clear.
While Bob Knight is a tremendous x's and o's coach he coached all of his teams in dictatorship style. Knight insisted on recruiting a certain type of player that would run through a wall for him as opposed to obtaining the top recruits that North Carolina would obtain year after year. The point is Knight did not go after the Jordan's, Stackhouse, Wallace, Carter, Worthy type of player. Knight did not want to deal with the ups and downs of moody college superstars. Knight wants the type of old school player that simply says yes sir, no sir, right away sir, how do you like your burger cooked sir? In other words, Knight is and always has been a great coach who could not adapt to the modern day player.
On the other hand, Dean Smith has been able to prove over his tenure of coaching that he was not only a great strategist on the chalkboard but he also had the ability to adapt to the modern player over the course of time. He was very good at developing the comraderie and relationships with the new age player that coach Knight was unable to do. There is no question that if you were to place Dean Smith in the head coaching positions that Bob Knight has had over his career that Dean Smith would certainly produce the same results as Knight. However, can the same be said if you were to place Coach Knight into Dean Smith's shoes? On the contrary you probably would have seen Rasheed Wallace go mano-e-mano with Knight time after time. You think good ole Stackhouse wouldve listened to that old school coach? I think not
Bob Knight is a great coach, but Dean Smith gets my vote.

Black Monday: Green canned, Shell retained, and Mora wateva!

How in the name of Al Davis can Art Shell possibly be retaining his job while Dennis Green gets fired?

Sure Art is a nice guy and all but the Oakland Raiders were the biggest laughing stock of the 2006 NFL season. For any GM to remotely think that the game has not passed by Art Shell is beyond any comprehension. There is no disputing the fact that he had very little to work with on offense. Aron Brooks was hurt right off the bat and the Raider offensive line is all but laughable as Robert Gallery has yet to live up to any expectations that were set for him. Yet Shell seemed insistent and almsot defiant in running over-simplistic and predictable offensive gameplans that were highly innefective right from the outset. Losing the support of many players who jumped ship on him certainly made matters even worse. It is time for the organization to get its act together and bring in some youthful exuberance to the GM and Head Coaching positions. Replacing Shell will not be an easy sell to up and coming coaches but it is a necessity before the black hole becomes, well, .....a black hole.


In other news this Monday Dennis Green gets the big ax out in Arizona. The Fangini is perplexed. Show complete incompetence and no sense of direction for the future like Art Shell and retain your job but fire Dennis Green who has the Cardinals heading in the right direction? Fangini smells something funny....must be the odor coming from those strange fans in the black hole. Dennis Green has a proven track record of building QB's and was only given a short while to prove that he can develop Matt Leinart into a consistent elite NFL player. Fangini can see the future coming and knows that Arizona will have another head coach take all the credit and glory that Dennis Green has layed the foundation for over the past three years while drafting Leinart, Fitzgerald and Boldin. This team will improve once they get a few core pieces on defense put in place and some improvements on the offensive line. While the record does not necessarily show the improvements from one year to the next this was not Dennis Green's fault. This oraganization is certainly headed in the right direction while that other team who is supposedly committed to excellence is in complete shambles. Sorry Dennis!!! Fangini will miss your post game tirades.

Hot off the presses, Jim Mora was just fired by the Atlanta Falcons. I guess when Mike Vick says he needs to evaluate your performance you better watch out!! Warrick Dunn better be careful what he says to Mike or he could be next. Mora deserves this fate as he made inapropriate comments during a radio talk show interview earlier in the season claiming he would be willing to take a high profile coaching job at Alabama. Ultimately, the Falcons have underachieved for the past two years and Mora did not help his situation with his interview. He'll resurface somewhere else with Daddy's help.