Why Andray Blatche is the Worst Player in the NBA

(If you haven't already seen it, please watch the video above before you read. Note: Blatche has 20 points, 13 assists, 9 rebounds. That's a good line, right? Reply: Watch the video.)

Let’s imagine the NBA was starting over, and each GM was set to draft a team, out of all the players in the league, that they thought could win a championship.  First pick might be Lebron, second Kevin Durant, etc, stars to build around.  In the 2^nd round each team might look for a solid complimentary player, like Andre Igoudala, or a young guy who might be a real star if they could get it all together, like Andrew Bynum.  As the rounds went on, teams would look for solid role players who could be part of a championship rotation: spot-up shooters, defensive specialists, and so on.  Gerald Wallace might go in the 3^rd or 5^th round, Eric Maynor maybe in the 7^th.  Even someone like Ronny Turiaf, essentially useless, would probably be picked up in the late rounds for a specific skill or intangible they bring to the team.

VIDEO: Kevin Love Takes One In The Bean Bags

Luis Scola providing Kevin Love a nice dose of basketball to the nuts...

Dani Alves Brings the Filth

Back from a hiatus of sorts with a pretty nasty goal by Dani Alves against Real Madrid.

Falls firmly within top 5 goals I have ever seen.

Lebron James Doesn't Know John Lucas III Exists

Wow.

A Masterpiece Down Under

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal somehow managed to enshrine themselves higher up in the pantheon of tennis after their instant classic Australian Open final today. The two men outdid themselves, and that is something which seems to be nearly impossible, after all they have combined to win the last eight Grand Slam's and have 15 combined slams (10 for Rafa 5 for Djokovic). Yet somehow they did it, somehow they provided everybody with a quality of tennis that has only been seen a mere handfull of times throughout history.

Disparity at the top: what's wrong with women's tennis?

If you were in any way surprised by the names of the semifinalists in the men's bracket of this year's Australian Open, you shouldn't have been. In the four major tennis tournaments played last year, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, currently the four top-ranked players in the world, each reached the penultimate match in at least three of them. Murray and Djokovic did it every time. That left room for a mere two spots to fill for the rest of the 1,941 players currently ranked on the ATP World Tour website, and neither advanced to the final. If you're curious, coming in at 1,941st is the legendary Alexei Filenkov, winner of one match in sixteen tournaments last year!

Where we Stand Now

I’ve been about the biggest possible Nationals fan since their first game in 2005. And not since that first game, have I literally felt a tingling feeling excitement pulse throughout my body. That being said, this tingling feeling is more one of cautious optimism than blind faith in the team. I now bring you my breakdown of the Nationals’ off-season, and where we stand going forward.

Deal or No Deal: '08 Draft Class Edition

Kevin Love, Danilo Gallinari and Kosta Koufos were the three players from the 2008 NBA draft class that signed extensions prior to the Wednesday deadline. Throw in Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose who had already signed extensions and that brings your grand total of '08ers to sign extensions to five. Meaning guys like Michael Beasley (2nd pick), O.J. Mayo (3rd pick), Eric Gordon (7th pick), Brook Lopez (10th pick), and Roy Hibbert (17th pick) will all be hitting the restricted free agent market this summer. The 2008 class is absolutely loaded with talent and all-star caliber players so the fact that only five guys from the class resigned before the deadline is quite surprising.

Prince Fielder and the Worst Infield in Baseball

3rd Baseman? Sure

With the signing of Prince Fielder, everyone expects the Detroit Tigers to score a lot more runs next year. And they better. Apparently, for some reason that I cannot comprehend, the Tigers plan on Fielder playing at 1st Base and moving Miguel Cabrera to 3rd. For Cabrera, this may have been an okay move about 60 pounds ago, but now it is laughable. Cabrera's last stint at 3B in Detroit ended after 14 games. He had 5 errors in those 14 games. If he were to keep up a pace like that for an entire season, Cabrera would come quite close to the most errors ever by a 3B in one season. Fielder on the other hand is already below average at 1B, and will likely get worse as he gets older (and fatter). This could all be avoided if one of the players does not mind a move to the DH position, but I for one am hoping that we get to see at least one season of Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Jhonny Peralta in the same infield.

Players To Be Seen Later

Christian Peterson/Getty Images

Although it wasn’t pretty, a makeshift U.S. Men’s National Team went 2-0 in their most recent friendly matches against Venezuela and Panama.  These matches were pretty much polar opposites:  In the first match, against Venezuela and on home soil, the U.S. peppered the Venezuelan defense with threats before Ricardo Clark headed home the game winner in the 97^th minute.  However, on the road at Panama the yanks were on their heels for much of the match.  Graham Zusi scored in the 10^th minute, but after that Panama controlled the match and the U.S. was eventually reduced to 10 men when Geoff Cameron was sent off for a foul outside the box.