Brian Flores Should Be the Giants Next Head Coach

Author: Frank Caggino

Many Giants fans rejoiced after hearing Joe Judge will not be the head coach of their favorite team next season. However, the Giants still need a replacement for Joe Judge, as now they will have their fourth new head coach in a span of six years. It is vital for Big Blue to make the right choice to prevent having five coaches in eight years.

This head coach search is different for the Giants than the previous ones, since this time there is a great replacement available. Brian Flores is the best candidate to be the next Giants head coach. The Dolphins moving on from a coach that took a 1-7 team with not an abundance of talent to a 9-8 team is puzzling. One of the reasons that has been mentioned, is Brian’s relationship with Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins General manager. Ideally, an organization would want everyone to be on the same page, but the most important thing is to win games. There are many head coaching jobs open and with how many problems the Giants have, their opening is not appealing.

The most important aspect of a football team, is having a quality and reliable quarterback. The Giants have still yet to find that, as Daniel Jones did not have a great year and did not finish the season after getting injured. The Giants also do not have a ton of cap room, which makes it even more difficult to improve their team. Even despite all the struggles the Giants have, Flores is interested in becoming the head coach.

Insider Jordan Shultz said that Flores would “Prioritize the G-men job ‘at or near the top of his list,’ per a source close to the situation.” One of the main reasons Brian Flores has been linked to the Giants is his New York heritage. Having a coach who knows New York, can be a nice bonus when it comes to coaching one of the New York teams. It was clear that Joe Judge was not made for New York with the way he conducted his press conferences. The occasional sarcasm and overall demeanor of Judge did not resonate well with Giants fans. When the head coach of a team that has underachieved is joking around at a press conference, they have essentially written their resignation letter. Flores knows how New York fans are and would handle his press conferences much differently. The other main problem for the Giants is the head coaching job is not the only important vacancy they have.

The person that will decide the next Giants head coach is the team president. However since the Giants do not have a president, they have not begun the head coach interviews. It is important that the Giants get the right president who can hopefully find the quarterback of the future and solve the salary cap issues. The head coach search is an easy solution, the candidate who has had a winning season, is familiar with New York, and wants to be the head coach is exactly what the Giants need. Big Blue can not take Flores’ interest for granted, not every coaching candidate would want to get involved in the mess that is the New York Giants.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

Diary From a Depressed Lakers Fan

AUTHOR: JACK GORDON

Hey, lifelong Lakers fan checking in.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have officially made my decision: this is my least favorite Lakers team of all time. I hate watching them.

Keep in mind that I was born in 2001, and the first real teams that I have memories and connections to began around 2012. It’s possible that if I was older, the 2012 Lakers team with Steve Nash and Dwight Howard would have topped this list, but I just wasn’t old enough yet to be invested.

Even starting from 2013, calling this year’s Lakers team my least favorite might sound dramatic considering our depressing mid-2010s run. Of course I remember those teams. How could I forget the likes of Steve Blake, Ryan Kelly, Nick Young, Wesley Johnson, my plumber, my electrician, my middle school P.E. teacher, and, of course, Robert “The Janitor” Sacre?

How can I justify comparing those sub-20 win, bottom of the league-teams with a .500, LeBron James-led team currently sitting in playoff position in the Western Conference?

The difference is expectation. The 2013-2018 Lakers teams were horrible, but we also knew that they were going to be horrible. This was a transition period. Kobe was nearing retirement, and out of love and respect we paid him a max contract; in return for his farewell tour, our team-building abilities were severely halted. There was little to no expectation for those teams, and that kept our pain to a consistent but manageable level.

But this year's team is just painful to watch outright. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I legitimately become sad every time I turn on a game and we are in a 4-point hole against Sacramento for the tenth time this season. This team is bad for so many more reasons than the Robert Sacre teams.

Here is how you know that Lakers fans hate this team: when every conversation consists of almost all questions and no statements. Here are some actual examples I’ve experienced, like,

“Which do you think is worse, our offense or our defense?... Seriously? Have you watched us play offense? How do we score in the fourth quarter?... That’s true, our defense is pretty bad too… I know, right? Why does it seem like there is literally never anyone in the paint?”

and,

“I was just thinking, what does THT do well? Like, is he good at anything?... I guess, but he’s pretty bad at that too. It’s not like he’s creating shots for other people. Why are we paying him $30 million again?... By the way, I looked up his three point percentage, can you guess what it is?... Lower… Haha nope, lower… lower… It's 22 percent. Isn’t that insane?”

So why do I hate watching the Lakers so much this year? There’s a lot of reasons, but we have to start with the $44 million elephant in the crypto.com room. I had no idea how to feel about the Russell Westbrook trade when it happened, but once the season started, it became clear that it was an absolute disaster. His fit with this roster is just horrific, and it hasn’t been fun watching him this year. He used to be one of my favorite players in the league, and we all used to think, ‘Man, when he figures out how to slow down and control his pace, he’s gonna be amazing.’ Well, he never figured it out, and now that his athleticism has started to fade, the decision-making and basketball skills that he never developed fully have come back to haunt him. I’ve watched almost every Lakers game this season. His decision-making, on both ends of the court, in the final few minutes of the game are damaging to the team. He can’t shoot the ball (which would help LeBron), turns the ball over excessively, and he misses a lot of layups (as my dad loves to point out, and he barely watches basketball). Even simple things that you would expect and need from even an average guard, like entry passing, Westbrook is not good at. I remember yelling at my TV at the beginning of the season when Westbrook and AD would be on the floor together, and for some reason would not run pick & rolls despite having no other offensive system to speak of. Instead, Westbrook would dribble around and eventually send an entry pass to Davis in the post, which might either get tipped or lead to a missed mid-range jumper.

Once AD got injured, we eventually tried going small with LeBron at the center position. Offensively, this seemed to help Westbrook a bit, since it freed up the middle of the court for him to do stuff. It’s the same thing that Houston did when they traded Capela and Westbrook's numbers shot up. Completely change the team, and maybe Westbrook can contribute. The problem with this adjustment, obviously, was that our defense became even worse than it already was. Without any big men or real on-ball defenders aside from Avery Bradley, opposing teams seemingly waltz into the paint on every single possession. Seriously, in any close game, we pray for LeBron to bail us out on offense, but my hope as a fan gets bashed over and over again when there is no resistance on defense whatsoever.

This leads me to the main reason it's so painful to watch this team. The Lakers are a .500 team, with wins that have come almost exclusively against below .500 teams. However, we do not beat any of these teams in decisive fashion. Here is another question I’m constantly asking myself: “Geez, can we get a single definitive win against a bad team? Why is LeBron averaging 30 points just for us to eke out games against the Timberwolves?” Against any good team, anyone that watches will understand why the Lakers can’t be considered a good team. The contrast is always clear, and there is just something about this team where it never feels like there is an obvious path for hope or optimism in any game. The most depressing part is that we have played so many bad teams, and have struggled to win games. At some point, our schedule is going to get much more difficult.

Westbrook can’t be blamed for everything, though. Anthony Davis, before the injury, was having one of his worst seasons and was the worst mid-range shooter in the NBA by percentage. He fits being on a team I hate watching, because he is the most frustrating player I have ever watched - someone who has so much talent, and can so clearly be dominant, yet doesn’t have the drive to do so.

Talen Horton-Tucker, who for some reason was relied upon by the organization to become some instrumental piece of the team’s future, was chosen over Alex Caruso in free agency. I have never understood what the best version of Horton-Tucker is supposed to be, but I do not enjoy watching him play - and clearly neither does Frank Vogel, because it seems like he plays less and less.

One common thing that delusional Lakers fans were saying early on was, “Well, we don’t have Ariza or Nunn yet. Just wait until they get back, and things will change.” That was dumb. Has anyone watched Ariza lately? He is like a corpse, just looking to pass the ball off as soon as he gets it.

I am also not sure why we signed Deandre Jordan, or why we thought an old roster would be a good thing. Austin Reeves and Malik Monk are exciting players to watch - I wonder why! Hm, is it because they are relatively youthful and athletic and care about every game? Somehow Carmelo Anthony is one of our most important players, something that probably isn’t a great sign.

The list goes on, and I could rant forever. As I’m finishing this up, the Lakers have lost a 14-point lead to Sacramento once again to fall back to .500. LeBron has 30+. Reeves is trying. Westbrook is 2-12 from the field. Dwight Howard has another DNP. The Lakers gave up multiple wide open shots on defense down the stretch. Like clockwork. Ready to do it again the next time.

This team sucks to watch because we were supposed to be a title contender, and instead it's just a legitimately mediocre team. And there isn’t much hope for a trade, because Westbrook makes too much money and everyone else on the team makes too little. And there isn’t much hope in general, because the team is so old that there aren't many ways to improve for the future. Watching the team flounder every game to keep their heads above water genuinely bums me out, and this is why it's my least favorite Lakers team.

Oh, well. I love the Lakers and I can’t wait to talk myself back into them. Westbrook always plays way better in the second half of the season! Anthony Davis is gonna come back at some point! We still have LeBron James! This team is built for the playoffs! *Sigh*

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

Checking Out Every NFL Playoff Team

The NFL regular season has finally come to an end, and now we are onto the playoffs. It is safe to say that this has been one of the craziest seasons in terms of which teams can contend for a Super Bowl because every team seems vulnerable in certain areas.

It is going to be extremely tough to predict a winner, because right when we think one thing about one team in a certain week, it quickly changes. But let’s look into the teams and see who might have the best chance of taking home the Lombardi Trophy.

In the AFC, let’s just get the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the way, because they realistically do not belong at the dance. It was a nice feel-good story to see Ben Roethlisberger’s career end the way it did in the regular season, but he just is not capable of taking his team to the promised land anymore.

His offensive line is not good either, and the Steelers’ rush defense is one of the worst in the league. It is hard to imagine them putting up much of a fight when they take the field on Sunday night.

The Las Vegas Raiders are a tough squad and really do embody the word “wildcard.” But with all of the turmoil, they have had to deal with, the on-field inconsistency, and their roster being far from the most talented, it is also tough to imagine them going far in these playoffs.

The New England Patriots are back in the mix, and despite them starting a rookie quarterback in Mac Jones, you know you can never count out the genius that is Bill Belichick. They also have a very winnable game against the Buffalo Bills, whose flaws on offense have been exposed this year. That might just be the most intriguing matchup on Wildcard weekend.

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking like the dark horse of the playoffs, and with elite talents such as Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, the rest of the receiving core that is the best in the NFL, and a stout defense, they might just be able to make some noise. But their lack of experience and lack of an offensive line might catch up to them at some point.

The Kansas City Chiefs look a lot better than they were early in the year, and they fought their way back to the second seed in the AFC. But their defense is suspect, their offense is prone to stalling out, and their momentum has tailed off as the regular season has come to a close. A third consecutive appearance in the big game might be tougher than it has been in previous years.

The top-seeded Tennessee Titans have momentum, they are starting to get fully healthy, and they are about to get Derrick Henry back in the lineup. But their offensive line is hard to watch sometimes, Julio Jones could go down with an injury at any point, and most importantly, they are tough to watch when they have a big lead or expectations on their shoulders.

The AFC is going to be a bloodbath, but the race is most likely to come down to the Bengals, Chiefs, and Titans. The NFC is much less interesting, as the only teams who seem capable of making it are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers.

The Philadelphia Eagles are just not very good and are winless against legitimate teams. They are likely to get destroyed by the Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys are similar in terms of losing momentum at the end of the regular season, especially the Cardinals, and both are likely to be hampered by poor coaching. I would not be scared of either team making much noise.

The San Francisco 49ers are a bit of a mystery, but they are fairly inconsistent. I see no reason to believe that a roster led by Jimmy Garoppolo can outlast other good rosters led by Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.

The Los Angeles Rams are another talented team, but they have not seemed the same since losing to the Tennessee Titans in Week 9. Matthew Stafford’s ball security is also a huge question mark, so it is tough to imagine the Rams getting it done.

The Buccaneers have Tom Brady, who is who he is, but the injury to Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown debacle could limit their offense. Some will say that the Brown drama could hurt them, but that should be the least of their worries. A team with leadership that Brady and Bruce Arians provide can overcome that.

The Packers have Aaron Rodgers and a very talented roster. It is essentially the same situation as they were in last year, and based on their track record, I do not know if we can trust them.

Their recent performances in NFC Championship games have not been good, and Rodgers himself has not looked good in them. And with them potentially having to go through Brady again, history might repeat itself.

As you can see, every team has serious flaws that might be difficult to overcome. Hopefully, the playoffs will be as intense as the regular season, which was madness.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE