Category: Red Sox

After the Recent Hit Piece on the Patriots I Have Never Been More Confident Than I am in Them This Weekend

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ESPN – The Patriots are in uncharted territory. They haven’t just won games and titles. They’ve won at an unprecedented rate and over an unprecedented span, which makes the feelings of entitlement creeping inside Gillette Stadium unprecedented as well. The Patriots, in the only statement anyone associated with the team would make on the record for this story, responded to specific questions by saying that there are “several inaccuracies and multiple examples given that absolutely did not occur,” though they declined to go into detail. But according to interviews with more than a dozen New England staffers, executives, players and league sources with knowledge of the team’s inner workings, the three most powerful people in the franchise — Belichick, Brady and owner Robert Kraft — have had serious disagreements. They differ on Brady’s trainer, body coach and business partner Alex Guerrero; over the team’s long-term plans at quarterback; over Belichick’s bracing coaching style; and most of all, over who will be the last man standing. Those interviewed describe a palpable sense in the building that this might be the last year together for this group.

They Hate Us Cuz They Ain’t Us, indeed. I know we as Patriots fans say this a lot, but the media is routinely trying to drive a wedge where it doesn’t exist. Lets just state the facts. The Patriots won their division yet again, finished the year 13-3 with the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and are the favorites to win the Super Bowl with a 40 year old QB who will likely win the MVP. All after losing their top receiver in Julian Edelman and their best defensive player in Dont’a Hightower. Yet the entire organization is crumbling from within? All because Belichick had to trade a backup QB playing behind the goddamn MVP and Brady said some mean words to McDaniels on the sidelines? Fuck outta here. Its not paranoia if its true right?

So now the entire world is claiming the Patriots are imploding and that hack Seth Wickersham (author of the infamous hit piece on Tom Brady and TB12, which we addressed here) is reporting the holy trinity of Brady, Belichick, and Kraft will break up after this year. All because of some tension and some arguments? You know who has no tension, no arguments, and an easy job? Losers.

To top it all off, the New York Daily News recently reported that Belichick “wants to be the Giants coach.” So Belichick is going to jump ship and leave the organization where he became the Greatest Coach of All Time to go coach the 3-13 NY Giants? Who also have an ancient QB? He’s already the highest paid coach in the NFL with all the power in the world and the longest leash imaginable. The guy survived two alleged cheating scandals amidst 5 Super Bowl titles and 7 SB appearances, not to mention 6 (soon to be 7) consecutive appearances in the AFC Championship game to go along with 14 out of the last 15 AFC East titles. He’s gonna leave that just because he got into an argument with his boss?

With all that being said we still have a playoff game to handle this Saturday night as the Titans come to town and I could not be more confident that the Pats will blow doors. The Titans had an awesome comeback against the Chiefs, who blew yet another playoff game:

But in doing so have locked themselves into a matchup with the Patriots. Marcus Mariota looked like the guy who the Titans originally drafted out of Oregon before a broken leg late last year. The guy was laying game clinching blocks on defensive lineman, scrambling making plays with his feet and he was even throwing Touchdown passes to HIMSELF.

But if you think a second year QB who leads a self described “exotic, smashmouth offense” that relies on the running game is going to come into Gillette Stadium and beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick then you are outside of your mind.

And Las Vegas seems to agree as the spread is set at -13.5. Two touchdowns is a HUGE spread, especially in a playoff game. The only other game this weekend with a spread larger than -4 is Jacksonville at (-7.5) Steelers, even though the Jags beat Pittsburgh earlier this year.

This game reminds me of the 45-10 dismantling of the Broncos and Tim Tebow in the 2011 playoffs where Brady threw 6 touchdown passes. Any other team that was surrounded by controversy in a bye week would have you worried, but with the Patriots its just fuel for the fire. Plus after this whole shit storm, Tom Brady Instagrammed this:

Pats by 17. Lock. It. In.

 

The Raiders Just Gave Jon Gruden a 10 Year $100 Million Contract to Become Their New Head Coach

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ESPN.com – The Oakland Raiders will sign Jon Gruden to the longest coaching deal in NFL history — a 10-year contract likely approaching $100 million — when it is made official Tuesday, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.

10 years and $100 MILLION DOLLARS for Jon Gruden to become the new coach of the Oakland Raiders!

I love Gruden, he is awesome in the booth and I look forward to seeing him back on the sidelines, but $100 Million for a guy that hasn’t coached since 2008? That is insane. I forget who tweeted it so I can’t give the proper credit, but I saw someone on Twitter mention that by the end of this deal Raiders team owner Mark Davis will have paid Gruden 1/5th of Mark Davis’ net worth. Because as far as NFL team owners go, Mark Davis is a broke bitch. He’s worth only $500 Million.

So unless there is some sneaky ownership stake in the team included (which Gruden has denied), then Davis is betting BIG on the move to Las Vegas being a rousing success. He has every reason to believe it will be too, especially since he snaked a deal that had him put up almost none of his own money.

Is anyone better suited to bring this team to Las Vegas than Jon Gruden? Well, maybe The Rock.

But this guy is going to be electric as the Raiders move to Sin City, both on the sidelines and in his press conferences. Now is being out of coaching for 10 years going to hurt? I would say probably, but all the ESPN (lackeys) are saying its actually good for him as he’s had a chance to study the evolution of offense in the NFL. Not to mention he’s been in practices and production meetings with just about every other team in the league over the past few years so that can’t hurt.

But it is always surprising to see a guy come back after being away from the game for so long. Just look at Bill Cowher.

He was another guy everyone thought would take a couple of years off and return to coaching, but after a few years of making beaucoup bucks to work 1/100th of the hours in a cushy TV job, its easy to understand why so many don’t go back to the grind of being an NFL head coach.

Good for Gruden, but goddamnit am I gonna miss his crazy ass in the booth. The guy was legit must watch TV in a spot where the league and the networks typically lean towards the mundane. Remember Jaws and Tony Kornheiser? Woof. For a guy that made football jargon like Spider 2 Y Banana a national catchphrase and starred in Hooters and Corona commercials in his off time, it will be hard to replace him.

No matter how much fame or money a person acquires though, we’re all the same at the end of the day and Jon Gruden reminded me of that on Saturday’s playoff broadcast. The guy has absolutely. checked. out.

You earned it my man.

Taking a Look at the 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

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While I don’t have a ballot to cast, for the second straight year I have taken a look at all of the players on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot. I figured if I’m going to gripe about the Hall of Fame selection process I might as well fill out a mock ballot myself to get a better handle on the process.

It’s not rocket science but there are some tough decision to be made. Voters may vote for up to 10 of the 33 players on the ballot. I selected eight on my mock ballot. They are:

Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Vladimir Guerrero
Chipper Jones
Curt Schilling
Sammy Sosa
Jim Thome
Billy Wagner

Obviously I’m not opposed to voting for suspected steroids users. I voted for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens because, whether or not they used steroids, Bonds was indisputably the best hitter in the game for much of his career and Clemens was indisputably the best pitcher in the game for much of his career. The same cannot be said for Manny Ramirez.

Bonds won seven MVP awards, including FOUR in a row 2001-2004. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards and won the award back-to-back on two occasions, a decade apart. Ramirez never won an MVP award and quit on his team more times than I care to remember. He was also popped for PEDs twice. While strong cases could be made against Bonds and Clemens, those guys never failed drug tests. Testing didn’t start until 2003, but I have a hard time giving guys grief for doing business as business was being done at the time.

Maybe numbers were inflated, and careers extended, but Bonds and Clemens were far and away better than the rest of their contemporaries. Again, the same cannot be said of Ramirez.

Regarding Sammy Sosa, he won the 1998 NL MVP award and is the only man in history with three 60+ home run seasons. Sosa played in the same era as Bonds so he is not the best player of his era, but few players ever were as dominant as Sosa was for six straight seasons, 1998-2003.

Vladimir Guerrero made nine all-star games in 12 seasons between 1999 and 2010. He was a great offensive player and had one hell of an arm in the outfield. He didn’t compile huge numbers over a lengthy career, but he was one of the best players of the 2000s and he gets my vote for that reason.

Jim Thome was never the best player at his position, never mind the best player in the game. But he did compile huge numbers over a lengthy career. Mammoth numbers. He’s not in the 500 Home Run Club. He’s in the 600 Home Run Club. He’s eighth on the all-time home run list with 612. He also drove in nearly 1700 runs. He never won an MVP award, but it’s hard to not vote for a guy with those numbers on his resume. Guy just went to work and mashed for 22 years.

Chipper Jones was consistently very good for more than 15 years and was a big part of Atlanta’s run of division titles. The 1995 NL MVP made eight all-star teams, and I was pleasantly surprised by his 468 home runs and 1623 RBI.

As I said last year, Curt Schilling gets my vote because he was the best big-game pitcher of his era. He was 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason appearances and won a ring in Arizona before winning two with the Sox. Now a noted meme curator, it’s been sad to see him self destruct in recent years but he’s a Hall of Famer nonetheless.

And in a flip from last year, I voted for Billy Wagner this year instead of Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman appeared on 74% of ballots last year and Wagner only appeared on 10% of ballots but Wagner was the better relief pitcher. The only number Hoffman has on Wagner is saves. Hoffman saved 601 games in 18 years and Wagner saved 422 in 16 years. But Wagner had a better win-loss percentage, a substantially lower ERA, he struck out more batters in almost 200 fewer innings, had a lower WHIP and a better strikeout-to-walk ratio. I know that Hoffman is getting in and Wagner probably won’t sniff even 20% but I’m taking a principled stand here. Wagner was better than Hoffman.

Regarding some notable candidates left off my ballot…

Edgar Martinez was a very good player for a long period of time but he wasn’t even the best player on his own team for most of his career (Griffey, A-Rod, Ichiro). There’s just not enough offensive production on his resume to separate him from the rest of the pack for me. It has nothing to do with being a DH, though.

Mike Mussina pitched very well in an era of inflated offense but he was never the most feared pitcher in the game, and he never won a Cy Young award.

Gary Sheffield posted very good offensive numbers for a long period of time, but it’s hard to think he would’ve bounced around as much as he did if he were truly one of the all-time greats. (Editor’s note: Dougie did his capstone project in a college Baseball Stats class arguing Sheffield should make the HOF. The most comparable HOFer? Jim Rice)

Larry Walker posted very good offensive numbers, but a lot of that production came in Colorado in the late 1990s. To give you an idea of what was going on in that era, he hit .379 with 37 HRs and 115 RBI in 127 games in 1999 and finished 10th in the MVP voting that season. He was a very good player in his era, but not head and shoulders above everybody else.

 

That’s all I got. Hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter @The300sBigZ

All Of This Brady/Belichick/Kraft Bullshit Has Me Questioning Who I’ve Been Loyal To All These Years

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So unless your New Years resolution for 2018 was to turn off all devices, ignore the internet, and in general avoid humanity you know that ESPN published a nuclear bomb (topical metaphor) of an article regarding the three-headed relationship between Belichick, Brady, and Mr. Kraft. The TL:DR of it is that “sources” say Brady is calling a lot more shots and Kraft made Belichick trade Saint Jimmy, among other uncomfortable decisions made and actions taken by various parties involved, and now Belichick is generally unhappy with his situation in New England, as is Brady with Belichick.

Honestly there is probably a lot of truth in the whole thing. I’m sure Brady and Belichick butt heads. I’m sure Belichick is never truly satisfied with his position. I’m sure they’ve never been best buds. I’m sure the Coach, whether on the surface or deep down, didn’t want to trade Jimmy G, but had to, under orders or by virtue of winning football games/good football strategy. With all that said, the writer Seth Wickersham, has been churning out attack pieces on the Pats since GodKnowsWhen and definitely put as ominous of a slant on it as possible. If nothing else, the Big 3 of the Patriots are completely dedicated to winning, and to some end I’m sure all 3 know New England is the best place to do it.

It did get me thinking though. I actually kind of had an existential moment and, in a way, I suppose this is a bit of a confession. As I read sentences that openly pondered whether or not Brady or Belichick, or both, were on their way out, I actually asked myself if I would still give as much of a shit about the Patriots without them. DO NOT GET ME WRONG I did not become a Pats fan upon the team’s success or the arrival of the two  aforementioned current pillars. Patriot fans around my age are always getting shit for being too young to be able to appreciate their success but they won their first title when I was about to turn 12. Over a decade without a sniff of success is a good chunk of time. I got my start pretty early in sports so I remember some putrid Bledsoe years. I remember no name running backs. I remember going to the Super Bowl in 1997 knowing we were going to get smoooooked by Brett Favre. So ya, I’ve been a fan for awhile.

This dynasty though, man. Belichick, Brady, Mr. Kraft becoming “Mr. Kraft”. This has been special. This has been a contingent of people, personalities, and philosophies all of its own, existing inside the history of a ~60 year old football franchise. And there have been other players we’ve gotten attached to that have come and gone as well. Mike Vrabel. College wrestler Stephen Neal. Ben Watson. Tully Banta-Cain. Would we have the fond memories and continued affection for those players if they didn’t come to us during these 18 years? Do I give as much of a shit about Vrabel, for instance, if he caught those 8 TDs as a goal line tight end from 5 other quarterbacks who aren’t Tom Brady while being coached by a coach who isn’t Bill Belichick? Probably not.

So let’s say Belichick thinks he has outstayed his welcome and bounces after this year. Next season we have someone else underneath the headset. Brady, Kraft’s guy, jogs out onto the field. Devin McCourty stretches on the sidelines. They score and on the ensuing kick Matt Slater pins the opposing team at their own 2. Does it feel as special? Are we still living the same dream? Do I really give as much of a fuck? Or is it The Office without Michael Scott? I’m a huge fan of those episodes. You have a dump in your pants if you say they weren’t funny. But a certain spark was missing. A special element. No one could deny that.

So I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve become the obsessive, psychotic, my-girlfriend-doesn’t-watch-football-with-me-anymore guy because of a growing love of football and the Pats or because of the characters involved. It’s almost an impossible question to answer. The chicken or the egg, the coach and QB or adolescence. I’ll watch the Pats until I die because there isn’t anything else to do on Sundays, I love football, and my happiness is in their hands whether I like it or not. But whether wins and losses, picks and touchdowns, sacks and missed opportunities keep me up at night or not without Belichick, or Brady, is a huge question. One that so far has taken 18 years and three of the best football minds to answer. I just hope they still haven’t come to their conclusion.

Johnny Manziel Has Been Cleared to Play Football!! Has My Long Standing Boycott of the CFL Come to an End?

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NFL.com – Johnny Manziel’s return to professional football is close to getting a green light from north of the border. Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced Thursday the league is prepared to approve a contract for Manziel to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats if he continues to meet certain conditions tied to his eligibility. The Tiger-Cats own Manziel’s CFL rights.

Everybody, REMAIN CALM. JOHNNY MANZIEL HAS BEEN CLEARED TO PLAY FOOTBALL. I said back in September that I would be boycotting the CFL after Johnny Manziel was barred from signing a contract with the Hamilton TigerCats. I even mocked up this very appropriate quote from “Blow” in my rage.

I vowed that I would not watch a single CFL snap until one Johnny Football was allowed the opportunity to dominate that 110 yards long 65 yards wide Canadian Football field. It seems like that day is near.

We’ve been close to this before though and I’ve written about Johnny Manziel comeback rumors ad nauseam so I’ll believe it when I see him on the field tossing TDs against the Toronto Argonauts.

The NFL is probably a long shot for Johnny these days, which is a shame since he was *electric* at Texas A&M. His only shot at making a comeback is to DOMINATE in the Canadian Football League a la Doug Flutie and Warren Moon. Even if he doesn’t win 5 Grey Cups like the #1 Rated CFL Player of All-Time in Doug Flutie…

…he will still be fun as all hell to watch. I need Money Manziel back in my life and the CFL is legit built for him to thrive. CFL fields are just under 12 yards *wider* than NFL fields so that will make it that much more difficult for linebackers to chase him down, stack the box, or QB spy him. The wider fields give him tons of room to scramble around and make things happen with his feet.

And ya know, maybe take less massive hits from gigantic linebackers. Manziel is listed as 6’0″ 209 lbs on Google, which is like me claiming to be 6’2″ on my driver’s license. A bold faced lie. So a little extra room to scramble around will do Johnny good. Although, maybe he is 209 these days.

Thicc Money Manziel.

So while I don’t exactly know if the CFL Sunday Ticket is a package thats available on DirecTV in Boston, you can bet your ass I will illegally stream pay to watch any and every Johnny Manziel game I can find.

Totally Uninformed Bowl Game Gambling Picks – Round 2

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A tough opening act for our bowl picks with three upsets on Saturday. The 300’s did call one of those upsets, though, with Boise State beating Oregon outright. With five games on the docket this week, we’ll look to get our heads above water.

Overall Bowl Record (2-3)

BOCA RATON BOWL Akron vs. Florida Atlantic – Dec. 19, 7 p.m. ET
I expect Florida Atlantic to roll, but can’t help but take the points. AKRON +22

FRISCO BOWL SMU vs. Louisiana Tech –  Dec. 20, 8 p.m. ET
Two middle of the pack teams, but SMU plays in a slightly better conference. SMU -4

GASPARILLA BOWL Temple vs. Florida International – Dec. 21, 8 p.m. ET
Florida International has more to prove and is playing closer to home. FIU +7

BAHAMAS BOWL UAB vs. Ohio – Dec. 22,  12:30 p.m. ET
UAB’s only loss since Halloween is to Florida. They feel like the better team at the moment and I expect them to cover. UAB +7.5

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL Wyoming vs. Central Michigan – Dec. 22, 4 p.m. ET
It’s the blue turf bowl! Central Michigan has won five in a row while Wyoming has stumbled down the stretch. CENTRAL MICHIGAN +3

(All lines are from from the Westgate Las Vegas as of 12/19, except Wyoming vs. Central Michigan. I couldn’t find that line from Westgate, so that line is from Bovada.)

Friday Morning Randomness

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As a kid I always dreamed of going on Double Dare and crushing the famed obstacle course. If this happened to me on the Double Dare obstacle course I probably would have died of embarrassment. This video might be the most awkward 60 seconds of television you see today and one of the meanest pranks ever played one someone.

Close But No Cigar For El Tiante

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Lost in between the news of Giancarlo Stanton’s trade to New York and the Patriots tough defeat in Miami over the last few days was the fact that Luis Tiant was up for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame again. Unfortunately for Tiant and his fans, his Hall of Fame candidacy came up short once again. Looking at his numbers, though, that’s the right call.

Tiant played for 19 seasons, but only received Cy Young Award votes on three occasions and never took the award home. He didn’t receive any Cy Young Award votes after arguably his best season, 1968, but that had more to do Denny McLain going 31-6 and pitching 28 complete games. Tough luck for Tiant I suppose, but he had some pretty lean years too. He went 9-20 a year later in 1969 and got off to a rocky start in Boston in 1971.

Looking at all of his seasons on Baseball-Reference.com, Tiant had some great years and some not so great years but was generally a pretty good pitcher for 17 years. He was a big part of a very fun time in Red Sox history and is rightfully a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, that doesn’t get you into Cooperstown. You can be brilliant over a shorter career – Sandy Koufax, Pedro – or you can compile stats over a longer career – Nolan Ryan, Tom Glavine – but Tiant gets caught in between in no man’s land.

The fact that baseball fans and writers have been debating Tiant’s Hall of Fame resume for literally 30 years is a great example of how broken the voting system is.  At least it appears to have gotten this one right.

Check back later this month for my mock Hall of Fame ballot.  You can see who I would’ve voted for last year here.

BREAKING NEWS – Red Sox Come To Agreement with Sam Adams

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Another day, another out of touch Red Sox tweet. While the Yankees were trading for Giancarlo Stanton and the Angels were negotiating with Shohei Ohtani and improving their teams, the Red Sox had other business to tend to. They had to lock down an official beer sponsor!

Fenway Park is starting to feel like the Finer Things Club. Now we can enjoy a Sam Heavy to go with our Lobster Poutine or Fenway Farms Kale Salad.

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I don’t know about you, but I have enough trouble trying to eat a hot dog in the bleachers without getting mustard on the guy next to me. Who the hell is messing around with forks and knives to eat a salad on their lap? I’d rather eat a salad on the Green Line than in my seat at Fenway Park.

How much does Red Sox ownership look down on their Bud Light swilling fan base? Enough of this high brow stuff. If you can’t get me a hot dog for less than five bucks, stop telling me about the official $13 beer of the Boston Red Sox.

I might be more enthused if Sam Adams were going to brew a Fenway Park exclusive, but it sounds like regular old Sam Heavy – Boston Lager. Been there, done that. I know it’s Jim Koch’s favorite but there are so many more exciting options they could have gone with.

Another option entirely would have been Harpoon. At least then the official beer of the Boston Red Sox would actually be brewed in Boston, as opposed to Cincinnati or Lehigh Valley.

LiAngelo Ball and LaMelo Ball Both Turning Pro to Play Together in Lithuania

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ESPN – LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball have reached an agreement to sign professional basketball deals with Lithuanian club Prienu Vytautas, the team’s coach/GM Virginijus Seskus and Ball family agent Harrison Gaines told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. After ESPN reported on the seriousness of the talks between the Ball brothers and the European team on Monday afternoon, the two sides finalized the agreement hours later.

This week in LaVar Ball’s continued efforts to ruin his kids lives, dad is sending his kids off to go play professionally in LITHUANIA! Ball in the Family season 3 is going to be fucking must watch TV. You got LiAngelo going to Chinese prison for shoplifting only to be saved by Donald Trump, LaVar pulling LaMelo out of high school and then pulling LiAngelo out of UCLA, and now both of Lonzo’s brothers with questionable basketball talent will be going pro and playing together in Lithuania.

Real talk though, I understand LaVar’s want to turn all three of his sons into NBA players, but at what cost?

This is not UCLA. To quote a morbid scene from the movie 300, this will not be over quickly, you will not enjoy this.

“Prienu Vytautas, or BC Prienai as it’s often called, is a low-level club from a small, non-English speaking village of roughly 10,000 people in southern Lithuania. The team has been grappling with financial issues and started the season losing eight of its first 12 games in the Lithuanian league…The club plays in a 1,700-seat arena; 500 of those seats are reserved for team sponsors and their friends. Tickets cost around 5 euros. The team has no general manager and doesn’t practice regularly due to the poor financial situation.”

Oh this should go swimmingly.

By all the reports I’ve read from the heavy hitters like Woj, LiAngelo is not considered an NBA prospect. Dan Wetzel said scouts told him LiAngelo’s best bet was to transfer to a mid-major and stay for four years, not burn every bridge and go play in a third world country. LaMelo may have a shot at the NBA, but he’s 16. Going from high school to playing against grown ass men in Lithuania does not seem like the smart route.

As Dan Wetzel put it on Yahoo:

“[LaMelo] will be eligible for the 2019 NBA draft and there is plenty to lose playing against grown men in the Lithuanian and Baltic leagues. LaMelo is 16. The two point guards currently on the Vytautas roster are 28 and 32. This isn’t the Nike AAU Peach Jam tournament…LiAngelo is not considered an NBA prospect at this time, no matter what LaVar says.

These kids grew up rich and pampered in sunny California with every advantage, raised by an overbearing father who controlled everything for them. Now these two are going overseas to a country where they don’t speak English to play for a team where they’re not even guaranteed playing time, let alone success. These two kids quit high school and quit UCLA after things didn’t go their way. Quitting this time would probably be a death knell to any serious NBA aspirations. Its sink or swim time boys.