Rex Ryan Fans Time to Get Over It

It's Todd Bowles' turn! After a condensed search for a successor to New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, the New York Jets chose Todd Bowles, the former defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals. In less than a New York minute, Bowles will now lead Gang Green for the next four years. 

Rex WHO??

Reportedly, the search included John Fox (former Broncos Head Coach), Dan Quinn (Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator) and Gary Kubiak (Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator).

With Rex moving up north and moving on to coach the Buffalo Bills, the Jets now have a new captain to steer its ship into the land of optimism.

And hopefully progress.

And more wins.

In Arizona, Bowles led the No.1 rushing defense in the NFL (84.4) in 2013 and the No.4 ranked passing defense (198.0) this past regular season.

Fortunate enough to have one of the best corner-back tandems in the league in Patrick Patterson and Antonio Cromartie in the secondary, it's safe to say that Bowles, the former defensive coordinator, knows a little bit about defense.

However, as a head coach, we do not know yet, as the sample size is rather small.

In 2011, Bowles coached the secondary and served as the interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins.

In his short stint, which spans over the course of three games, Bowles achieved a .667 winning percentage, going 2-1.

Well that can't hurt.

Another upside to Bowles is that he is a local native of nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey.

He knows the area, the New York media and hopefully, he will be comfortable.

Bowles is an unknown with a clean slate; but are the Jets in a position to take a risk?

The Jets have not experienced serious post-season football since the two-year 2009-10 stretch in which Rex led this team to two straight AFC Championship games, only to come up short in back-to-back years.

The fan-base has grown frustrated with the team most popular for finding new ways to lose games (the butt fumble) than secure wins in its most recent team history.

The down-side to Bowles is that, he is a defensive guy.

No, not again!!! Could he be the ghost of Ryan?

Same story, different character.

In the last two years of Ryan's tenure as the New York Jets Head Coach, the team rushed the ball fairly well. It ranked 3rd overall this past season (142.5 yards per game) and 6th overall in 2013 with (134.9).

The Jets passing attack was non-existent as they have qualified for dead-last in the league the past two years.

Sorry Geno.

Geno Smith, New York Jets, Quarterback

Maybe Bowles, unlike Ryan, will give a crap about how the offense will be orchestrated here in New York.

Maybe Bowles knows a little more than Ryan about actually getting the football in the air for a change.

Gary Kubiak, unlike Ryan and Bowles is known for his offensive repertoire. Kubiak was my choice because it would have signaled a clear departure from Ryan and it would have excited this franchise.

But for now until his contract expires, Bowles is our guy.

So we're probably not going to trade up for WR Amari Cooper of the Alabama Crimson Tide are we?

It would've been nice, but almost anything that can associate the Jets with change is a good thing, and with this hire, the Jets are doing just that.

If you're a New York Knicks fan, I know how you feel.

If you bleed orange and blue, trust me, I understand what you are going through and the current weather does not make life any more pleasant.

On the bright side, at least we can feel some sense of encouragement from what Phil Jackson, the president of basketball operations has orchestrated over the past few weeks.

It's called not standing still.

Jackson, action Jackson is active and has traded the contracts of Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers, freeing up cap space for this summer when the Knicks will have an excess of $30 million and more to spend on an impressive 2015 free-agent class (Rajon Rondo, Tobias Harris, Marc Gasol, Paul Millsap, Goran Dragic, Kawhi Leonard and more all expected to be available).

According to Yahoo Sports, the Knicks could waive injury-prone Andrea Bargnani and are shopping Jose Calderon.

Like I said, action Jackson.

What's also encouraging is the fact that the Knicks are 5-35.

It's the worst record in the league but possessing said record favors the Knicks when it's lottery time.

The Knicks will be major players with the hopes of obtaining the No.1 pick and in this year's draft it's a must.

The Case for Jahlil Okafor

It's a must because there's a clear cut, obvious, without-a-doubt No.1 pick this year and he's currently a freshman at the University of Duke, a true definition of a phenom.

Two words: Jahlil Okafor.

The Blue Devils will take the court tonight at 9:00 pm against the Miami Hurricanes on ESPN2 & ESPN3, which brings the opportunity of watching #15.

Okafor, averaging a near double-double in 19-9, is a 6'11 center starting for the Blue Devils.

He's a former McDonald's All-American and a Jordan Brand All-American.

Okafor's production and influence on the (14-1) Blue Devils has made him a candidate for player of the year honors and his game explains why.

Okafor is a true back-to-the-basket big-man, a style which symbolized the root of the big-man and is now extinct.

It's hard to find these days and even Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies takes 15-footers from time-to-time.

But that's why Okafor is worthy of being selected No.1 overall this June.

He had all the post-moves with his back-to-the-basket at the tender age of 19 years-old.

Drop-steps, quick turn-around's to his off-shoulder, hook-shots a face-up game, 15-footer and spins, Okafor can do it all and does most, if not, the majority of his damage in the post-area.

It's the maturity of Okafor's game that makes him a can't miss prospect and being 6'11 with 270 pounds on his frame with the development of his all-around skills as a player and physical stature yet to come is what makes Okafor a can't-miss.

Just watch the video below of what he did to Wofford.

That's all you need to see.

The kid is an instant double-double and he's exactly what the Knicks need.

He can be the inside presence the Knicks have sorely lacked since Patrick Ewing.

Okafor has the potential to be a star at the next level and could be someone Carmelo Anthony can take under his wing, groom and mentor as he progresses towards the later stages in his NBA career.

The Knicks need to hope that the odds are in their favor as far as the lottery is concerned.

Okafor is worth praying for.

Harden Overshadows Mason Plumlee's Career-High 24 Points

Houston Rockets guard James Harden is becoming one of the must-see main attractions of the NBA.

Harden has the third most votes in the All-Star ballot for the 2015 NBA All-Star game among Western Conference guards (690,843), following Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (958,014) and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (862,568), but All-Star votes do not do Harden justice.

It's his un-guardable crossover dribble, stutter step-back move and ability to finish at the rim which allows him to embarrass and exploit any and every defender in the league.

It's like Santa Claus, you have to see Harden's game to believe it, and once you do, you will believe in the beard too.

The Rockets are (26-11) as they progress towards the much awaited All-Star Weekend, which will be held in New York City this year. Dwight Howard and a cast of formidable and respected role players aside, Harden is the primary reason for the Rockets success.

Harden, a candidate for league MVP honors, is averaging 26.8 points per game, along with 6.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds, his best career overall numbers yet, and tonight, the Nets experienced all of it.

And, I mean all of it.

After dismantling the Knicks last Thursday night, Harden led the Rockets into the Barclays center and enjoyed a similar result, defeating the Nets in a rout, 113-99.

The Rockets improved to (27-11) on the season while the Nets dropped their sixth-straight game, now (16-22).

Harden had his way all night long, toying with each defender the Nets presented him with, scoring a fairly easy and exciting 30 points and 6 assists, featuring 15 points in the 1st quarter alone.

An altercation between Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard in the first quarter, which ultimately led to KG's ejection couldn't fuel or inspire his teammates this evening.

"It looked like they got into a little bit of a scrum, and I really didn't think too much of it," said Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale post-game.

To be honest, the writing was already on the wall before the Nets, losers of five-straight (including losses to Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit), tipped-off against the Rockets tonight. This game was a clear-case of just having no answer for one of the best two-guards in the league.

At the half, Harden led all scorers (both Rockets & Nets) with 20 points and 4 assists, yes, one of those nights.

There's only a few players in the league that can generate cheers on the road and create a level of excitement and anticipation every time he touches the ball.

Kobe Bryant when healthy and LeBron James are other examples.

Harden is becoming that kind of player and his performance was well received by the fans of Brooklyn tonight.

The state of the Brooklyn Nets didn't matter.

Injured guard Deron Williams and his health were an after-thought.

We all just wanted to see what Harden would do next.

To make matters even worse, Harden's early damage in this game throughout the first three quarters, paved the way for the rest of the Rockets to pad their stats, while he received a well-deserved rest for the duration of the final 12 minutes.

Jason Terry scored all of his nine points in the 4th quarter, which included 3 three-point shots.

Donatas Motiejunas contributed a double-double in 18-11 and Josh Smith scrapped up 13 points.

For the Nets, their inability to stop Harden overshadowed Mason Plumlee's production, scoring a career high 24 points while posting his ninth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds, which leads the team.

Mason Plumlee, Brooklyn Nets center; talking with the media

In this defeat, we can point to numerous reasons why the Nets failed to overcome one of the best from the west.

You can argue the fact that the Nets struggled to defend the three-point shot as the Rockets shot 40% from three, (16-40). The Nets were just unable to match the marksmanship from behind the arc, shooting 23.8% (5-21).

"It came down to us shooting 24% from three, 5-for-21, and the other side was 16-for-40," said Nets Head Coach Lionel Hollins in his post-game press conference.

Lionel Hollins, Brooklyn Nets, Head Coach; addressing the media in a postgame press conference

"That was the difference in the game-if you looked at the score, it was 14 points."

You can even challenge the Nets inability to take care of the orange, committing 16 turnovers which amounted to 19 points for the Rockets.

In the end, Harden took control of this game early and the Nets were unequipped to answer.

"Yeah, especially on the road, you got to make sure you put teams away," said Harden in the visitor's locker-room following the game.

"You give any team the confidence, especially at home, anything can happen. We are feeling really good about ourselves right now."

Harden's game simply defined exactly what drives the Rockets.

Their entire philosophy on offense stems through the bearded one.

Harden's exceptional ball-handling gives him the opportunity to break-down defenses and make plays for himself and a supporting cast filled with three-point threats.

When those threats are comfortable from outside, it makes the Rockets impossible to guard and coral.

"When you have a player like James Harden and he's attacking and doing what he does, there's going to be opportunities for the three-point shooters," Hollins said post-game.

And it worked; I mean do we have to reiterate the fact that the Rockets hit 16 three's tonight?

This game displayed why every team covets the "star" player.

It explained why teams tank.

It exhibited how much one player can affect the outcome of a game individually.

It also highlighted and reminded us all what Brooklyn misses in Williams.

The Nets are a confused bunch at this point in the season, which brings up the most logical question regarding their immediate future, which is: Where are they going?

Deron Williams Re-Aggravates Sore Left Side and Exits Game

In their last ten games, the Brooklyn Nets are 6-4.

It's better than average, good for most teams right?

Well if you don't count the last two consecutive losses to the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks (both heart-breakers), then you're probably comfortable with the Nets progress thus far this season.

Sooner or later the Nets are going to have to decide what team they are going to be for the remainder of this season.

Can they catapult themselves towards the hierarchy of the Eastern Conference? Or will they mirror the team they once were during the 2012-13 season that enjoyed a short trip to the playoffs, eventually sent home in the first round in seven by the Chicago Bulls.

One game/win does not define a season, but the New York Knicks are in rebuild mode and the Nets are the city's only hope as far as competitive basketball is concerned.

With the precipitation featuring snow recently, the Brooklyn Nets have allowed the unfavorable weather beyond the comforts of the Barclays Center to affect their game, and it showed tonight hosting the Boston Celtics.

With the exception of the first quarter, the Nets struggled offensively for the rest of the game and fell to the lottery-bound Celtics, 89-81, their third straight loss.

The Nets are now three games under .500 at (16-19) while the Celtics improved to (12-21).

It just wasn't their night.

Expending a month's worth of energy in Monday's overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks, 96-88 could have something to do with it, as well as, completing a 10-game stretch which included three back-to-backs.

"The energy was low and I was fearful of that coming in," said Brooklyn Nets Coach Lionel Hollins during his post-game press-conference.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Lionel Hollins speaking with the media in a postgame press conferenence.

"We just played back-to-backs and one of them was overtime, and now we go back to another back-to-back, so we have a back-to-back, a day off, game, a day off and a back-to-back."

Hollins also expressed that the current schedule along with Deron Williams and his injury status (re-aggravating his sore left side in the second quarter against the Celtics), has forced Jarrett Jack and Joe Johnson to play more minutes than he would have liked.

In the Dallas overtime loss, Jack logged in 44 minutes and Johnson logged in 45.

Brooklyn Nets point guard Jarrett Jack

Tonight, Jack logged in 39 minutes producing 15 points and four assists while Johnson contributed 17 points in 37 minutes.

Despite the Nets boasting four players in double figures, including Mason Plumlee who recorded his 7th double-double of the season with 16-12, as a whole, the home-team struggled on the offensive end the entire night as the Celtics out-scored the Nets in every quarter besides the first quarter (2nd: 21-14, 3rd: 29-23, 4th: 20-19).

Oh there's more.

The Nets shot 40.5% from the field, shooting 21.4% from behind the arc and 69.2% from the charity strike.

"When you are consistently at 39%, it's going to be a struggle to score every game," Hollins told the media post-game.

It gets worse!

The Nets committed 17 turnovers opposed to the Celtics 6.

As poor as the Nets offense was, they did compete on defense, but their efforts just weren't enough for a team who was younger and sported fresher legs.

And about those fresher legs, Celtics guard Avery Bradley showed off.

With the departure of Rajon Rondo, Bradley took advantage, torching the Nets for 21 points, shooting 3-5 from three-point range.

Tyler Zeller played sidekick to Bradley's exploits, as the Celtics second leading scorer with 18 points of his own, oh and another thing: every player who checked in for the Celtics recorded points.

The Celtics bench outscored the Nets bench, 34-18.

At the end of the day, it comes down to making shots and the Nets were unable to keep up with the hungrier and younger team.

They looked fatigued and un-enthusiastic.

Tonight, the Nets played with what the Knicks are made of which is just plain old bad.

In his post-game press-conference, Hollins, combated the negatives with his own observations of where his team is now opposed to where they were in the beginning of the year.

"We are playing much better," Hollins expressed.

"We've made progress, were moving forward, I think our culture is better, our togetherness is better, our defense is certainly better, we just have to figure out a way to make shots throughout the course of the game."

It seems like the Nets most recent struggles on the court stems back to the root of what their foundation as an organization is built on: The Big Three.

With the exception of Johnson, Williams and Brook Lopez have missed significant time on the court this season and their absence from this team as leaders, with their presence, continues to take its toll on the Nets, in the present and immediate future.

How long can Johnson and Jack continue to play excessive minutes without suffering injuries or just overall fatigue.

Their games will suffer which will eventually compel the remaining roster of the Nets to carry their load as starters, which isn't their role.

Jack was brought here to provide a formidable guard option off the bench along with Alan Anderson, and due to Williams injuries, his role has increased.

The Nets have to make a decision with their $99 million dollar-man in D-Will.

To trade or not to trade?

Williams re-injuring his sore left side during the second quarter of tonight's game does not help the possibilities of trading the former star at all.

As for the able bodies, Johnson and the crew are looking for the formula to solve their answers.

"I think we've had a few different lineups-us as players, trying to still learn and fine tune it for one another, so this team needs a little more time than we expected," Johnson said post-game.

Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets Shooting Guard

"We just got to keep working hard, keep trusting one another and keep believing in one another."

The positive similarities in Johnson's and Hollins' post-game quotes regarding team chemistry are encouraging but losses like tonight are exactly what can disrupt that chemistry.

The Nets have to take care of their home-court and beat the teams that are inferior.

This weekend, the Nets will participate in another back-to-back. They play Philadelphia at home on the 9th and then will travel to play the streaking Detroit Pistons on the 10th, who are a perfect 6-0 since waiving Josh Smith.

The Nets need to win those two games.

Following Philly and Detroit, the Nets schedule features a ten-game stretch where they will face the likes of the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies (home-home), and the Washington Wizards (back-to-back; and away-home). The Nets then do a west coast swing to play the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers (back-to-back), and Utah Jazz. They come home to play the Portland Trailblazers (Monday, Jan. 26), then back out to play the Atlanta Hawks (Wednesday, Jan. 28) and back home on Friday, January 30 to face the Toronto Raptors.

It can get very ugly.

But that's why it's Wednesday, were not there yet.