Maddux Sports Blog

There is a whole lot going on out there today, so we’ll quickly touch on a bunch of them:

1. Roger Federer – Federer closed strong last night to make the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Win or lose, it is the 23rd consecutive Grand Slam he has made at least the semi’s in. Just think about how stunning that is for a second – there are only four Grand Slams a year, so for almost six years in a row Federer has finished at least in the top four of the hardest, deepest tournaments in the year. That’s on three different types of surfaces as well, and they are spread out over eight months. I dare you to name another current athlete that has been that consistently dominant for that long. There isn’t one.

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Well, it took precisely one day for all the questions I asked about the Suns yesterday to be answered. Amare Stoudemire is out for eight weeks with eye surgery after suffering a detached retina on Wednesday against the Clippers. That essentially eliminate any chance they had of being relevant down the stretch. It seems like Steve Kerr is cursed. He certainly can’t catch a break as GM. I know a lot of people are really down on Kerr, but I’m not one of them. He has certainly struggled to get this team going this year, but I put a lot more of that on Terry Porter than Kerr. Sure, Kerr made the decision to bring Porter in, but that decision turned out to be much worse than it looked at the time. Mike D’Antoni had to go, the team couldn’t lay much defense, and Porter was respected, so it made some sense. I also think that not trading Stoudemire was the right move, even if it really doesn’t look like it right now. Picking up Jason Richardson was also a good move, and Shaq was a solid gamble.

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This Amare Stoudemire situation is very interesting. I was convinced that Miami was going to be his new home. I didn’t think that the Suns would be thrilled with getting Shawn Marion back, but they have no hope this season anyway, and his contract will be helpful in the massive rebuilding they are suddenly faced with. That all blew up, of course, when Marion oddly ended up in Toronto in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal. I don’t think that O’Neal will particularly help the Heat – he certainly hasn’t shown much health or interest in Toronto, and that was after saying how excited he was to join Chris Bosh. It’s a great deal for Toronto. They get the room to figure out what to do next to turn this into a contender. Their current path sure isn’t working. As for Amare, now I need to find a new home for him. I still think the best home is Phoenix, and I hope he stays there. If he goes anywhere, though, then I think it will be the Cavs . The Bulls have more to give up and might make more sense for Phoenix,but I still can’t figure out why they would make the deal for him now. The Cavs could certainly use him, Danny Ferry and Steve Kerr are buddies, and Amare would probably be happy because he’d have a very good shot at a title. The rest of the teams mentioned just don’t make sense to me. I don’t see why they would trade him to Portland to make a team in their own conference that much stronger, and I think that the rumors of the Lakers deal are stupid. The Suns would never help the Lakers, and Amare does not seem like a good fit for the triangle – especially with Andrew Bynum in town.

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We learned something today, or rather we had the obvious truth confirmed to us yet again – Michael Jordan is about as good at picking players as he was at hitting curveballs. His former number one pick Kwame Brown is wasting away in basketball hell, averaging 3.4 points per game for Detroit after not contributing to any team at any point before now. Now Adam Morrison, his first pick for Charlotte, number three overall, has been dumped to the Lakers for not much more than a couple of used basketballs. Morrison has been a decidedly underwhelming pro, plagued by injuries and unnecessary drama. He was obviously fun to watch at Gonzaga, but he peaked at 20 and has gone steadily downhill since then. His biggest legacy as a pro so far has been what he isn’t – Jordan picked him ahead of much better players like Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay. Anything can happen, but I will be shocked if Morrison plays any kind of significant role in L.A., just like I don’t have very high hopes for Vladimir Radmonovic, who went the other way in the deal. There will be big deals before the trade deadline, but this is not one of them.

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