Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Random links ...

Hard to predict anything in these 2 series, but some random thoughts ...

Is Mike Brown an idiot?! Or is LeBron terrible at defending the pick-and-roll?! There must be a reason Mike Brown keeps LeBron on Rafer instead of having him guard Hedo - who has been destroying the Cavs running the pick-and-roll for the Magic.

Either way, I think the Magic will close out the Cavs, especially if they keep draining 3s. But I don't think the Magic will beat either team from the West. I guess it depends on how tired/exhausted Kobe really is though.





Looking for an excellent analysis of the LOST season finale?? Click here.


MJ went to a Hawks game -

So I'm standing in the United Center suite with Mr. Hockey himself, Michael Jordan, and his buddy, Kid Rock. We're killing time between the first and second periods of the Chicago Blackhawks-Detroit Red Wings playoff game, and I'm thinking, "NHL, where have you been all my life?"

I mean, when's the last time you saw MJ at a hockey game? Even more incredible, when's the last time Jordan slipped on a personalized No. 23 Hawks sweater (but only after team officials sewed a red patch over the maker's company logo), walked out to his seat and happily posed and waved to the geeked crowd as the Versus cameras recorded every surreal moment? After all, who thought MJ would commit to the Indian?

"That's never happened," says an amazed Jay Blunk, the team's senior vice president of business operations. "We celebrate the little things."

"It's validation," says Hawks president John McDonough, who has known Jordan for years. "It's validation."




Bulls interested in Shaq?!?!
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There is a possibility Shaquille O’Neal could be in a Chicago Bulls uniform next season. In a rather surprising discovery, the Phoenix Suns aoneal.jpgnd Bulls plan on engaging in trade talks that could send the future hall of fame center to Chicago, as soon as teams are allowed to talk after the playoffs. Suns GM Steve Kerr is looking to deal Shaq and is said to be interested in Loul Deng. The Suns would like to move the aging center mainly because he has slowed the up-tempo Suns down drastically. They feel Deng could bring some young, athletic energy back to the team. The Suns also feel Deng could still live up to his potential and contract if he can stay healthy.



The Bulls worked out Johnny Flynn, who is projected as a possible lottery pick -



With two first-round picks in what is widely considered to be a weak draft, it's impossible to predict what the Bulls will do on June 25.

Nevertheless, news that the Bulls worked out Jonny Flynn over the weekend is intriguing merely because most mock drafts have the Syracuse point guard listed as a lottery pick. The Bulls own the 16th and 26th selections.

Flynn worked out with St. Mary's point guard Patrick Mills and Arkansas point guard and Marshall High graduate Patrick Beverley.

The Bulls didn't announce the workout, which is a fairly common practice.

The Bulls also conducted a workout of wing players with reputations of athleticism that included Arizona's Chase Budinger




Tyrus needs to work on his J.


D-Rose's top 10 games of the season.




Mark Cuban fixes Wall Street -


Call it Madoff’s Law. Where there are consistent returns, it doesn’t mean that the risk is reduced, it means you can’t see the risk.

In a world where public companies always have to make more money than last year, they have no choice but to convince themselves they are avoiding risk. Now with Madoff’s law, they can know that is not the case.

So how do we fix Wall Street ? Rather than limiting pay on Wall Street, I would do the exact opposite. I would ask the Obama administration to recognize where the real problems are. The problems are not with the innovators. The problem is less with the immitators. The problem is with the 3rd group, the idiots who think that by copying the others while accepting lower returns, they are making smart decisions.

I would create additional forms of licenses (outside the patent office, managed by the treasury ?) that any financial institution can apply for ( with a signicant fee that makes this a government profit center and keeps out patent trolls) and receive for a new financial instrument. Once approved as original, with as many risks as can be having been documented, I would grant the financial institution some period of exclusivity to market and sell the product. It could be 3, 5, 10 years. I dont know what the exact right number is. What I do know is that while it will keep the price of that financial service artificially high for some period of time, it will also give the government a means of tracking what new financial instruments are being considered and marketed. The ones with the greatest upside will always try to get protection. It will also give the innovator and the markets a chance to see how the “law of unintended consequences” applies to the product. Before all the copycats get their shot at it.

In addition, because the companies that receive the “exclusive license” will always try to protect their license, the government will always be made aware of anyone trying to compete with their products. Which will make them a far more effective “regulator” than anything a government institution can do.

...

Here is what it comes down to. The problems we have experienced did not come from the innovators, they came from the idiots who thought there was no risk for them if it worked for the imitators before them. That caused the market to inflate quickly and with the undesirable consequences we have all experienced. If you try to limit pay on wall street, the innovators will go outside the reach of regulators and do what they need to do to get paid. If instead you reward the innovators and make it easier to make money, you will be able to monitor, reform and understand the impact of the new financial products before they go “generic” and the imitators and idiots get a hold of them.

2 comments:

Kmart said...

Shaq to the Bulls for Deng? Yes Please! On one hand I would take this deal everyday of the week, and the other I can see Paxdorf sitting in a room shaking their heads saying... how did it get to this? I would be 100% ok with seeing Luol turn into the star we thought he might be in Phoenix, but I'm not sure Pax and Uncle Jerry feel the same for what would be a straight salary dump.

On the other hand this allows you to sign BG to a reasonable deal, leave the team with a ridiculous amount of cap room in 2010 to get a coveted free agent, and include vocabulary such a Shaq-a-Bull to your daily diction.

I think he'd be great for Noah, good for Tyrus, keep a collar on BG, and a guy the entire team would rally around on the court and in the locker room... I could also see him calling out Vinny to the media after a disappointing loss in the playoffs which would eventually leave the Bulls no other choice but to fire him and get a serious replacement.

I see no real downside to this deal. I think Luol Deng can still be a very productive player in this league, I just don't know if he will ever be an $11-12/per type player. I'm more than ok with letting the Suns find out.

2j said...

Agreed - I would make this move in a heartbeat ...


but it's more than a salary dump. It's Gar's first big move as the GM and it;s basically calling out his new boss (Paxson) by saying: "You messed up when you signed Luol to that contract."

Not quite a slap in the face, but a bold move for the new GM, right??





Plus, think of how fun it would be to cheer for Shaq (regardless of the phase of his career, and it would be good for our young bigs). He could re-energize the Shaq-ago Bulls (oops, it's already starting), perhaps helping us make the leap because of his veteran presence.

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