Are Americans Finally Embracing the Beautiful Game?

The round of sixteen is set to begin at the World Cup.  In a surprise development, one of those sixteen squads is the United States.  Surviving the “Group of Death” is no mean feat for a talented and gritty team.  The United States entered the World Cup ranked 13^th in the world, which signals that they have the ability to play with the best.

 

Belgium will test the United States and the country will tune in to see how the Red, White, and Blue perform.  Win or lose, but not draw since the sister kissing portion of the World Cup is over, the Men’s National team has sent the message that they are a legitimate threat in international competition.  This is welcome news for most U.S. sports fans but is already being misconstrued as a turning point in America’s soccer interest level.

Coverage of the World Cup routinely includes the cliché question: Has the U.S. finally joined the rest of the world and embraced soccer?  The particularly hipster commentators substitute futbol for soccer.  The answer is no.  Americans love to cheer for America, surprise.  Soccer continues to lag behind football, baseball, and basketball with hockey and auto racing more enthralling for the average U.S. fan than soccer.

 

World Cup interest and ratings have been high in Brazil but they were also high in South Africa.  The U.S. television market is embracing sports as a whole.  The DVR proof nature of live sports makes them an integral component in today’s Netflix world.  It is in the broadcast network’s interest to prop up the World Cup as a phenomenon.  The key is to ignore the hype and recognize the World Cup for what it is for the average U.S. sports fan, temporarily compelling.

The World Cup is a single sport Olympics.  The U.S. is competing for world bragging rights and viewers love that backdrop.  Swimming receives high ratings every four years during the Summer Games but no pundits claim that American audiences finally get it and are joining a global community.  Michael Phelps was a tremendous storyline and source of pride at Beijing in 2008.  He commanded the airwaves.  It did not result in a lasting interest in televised swimming stateside.

           Of course, Phelps was the favorite and Americans love the scrappy underdog.  Soccer provides Americans with the rare opportunity to be a considerable underdog, at least in perception.  Hockey also provided the U.S. with that opportunity in 1980.  Despite tape delay, the “Miracle on Ice” remains a treasure in the country’s collective sporting memory.  The U.S. may produce another treasure in Brazil, which will generate some soccer interest, but August is rapidly approaching and with it the NFL season.

Dewayne Wade, Not LeBron James, Will Determine Miami’s Future

The Miami Heat is in a precarious position.  Entering the NBA Finals, they were underdogs according to Las Vegas, but the two time defending champions were expected to contend with San Antonio.  That did not happen.  Other articles have detailed how the Spurs dissected the Heat’s defense more thoroughly than an honor’s biology lab dissects a frog.  This piece in particular is a great X’s and O’s breakdown of the Finals.

Now that the Finals are over the Heat must address the personnel issues that contributed to their defensive lapses.  The Big Three can all opt out or in and that flexibility creates a fluid situation.  The safe assumption is that all three will opt back in for one more season.  That does not eliminate the opportunity to add an All-Star quality player via free agency.

That player is not Carmelo Anthony.  Adding him would lower Miami’s defensive and offensive efficiency.  However, Kyle Lowry, most recently of the Toronto Raptors, would fill their needs.  The versatile guard averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 assists per game in 2013-14.  Signing Lowry would make Mario Chalmers expendable and a possible trade piece for the agile, defensive, big man the Heat need.

The catch is that Lowry will not be cheap.  Even if he discounts his services to seek a championship, and greater brand exposure, he will command at least ten million dollars a year.  This obstacle is avoidable if one of the Big Three were to opt out and restructure his deal at a severe bargain rate.  Dewayne Wade needs to do this.

 

           This would be the final part in Wade’s championship saga.  He teamed with an aging Shaquille O’Neal to will his way to his first championship.  By recruiting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Beach, Wade earned two more titles.  Now his knees have limited his effectiveness.  By gracefully moving aside, he will become the veteran sixth man that supplies energy, grit, headlong forays into the lane, and timely scoring.  In short, Wade has the opportunity to become Miami’s version of Manu Ginobili, albeit a less dangerous outside shooter.  If Wade accepts this role, it will signal Miami’s move to a Spur-esque team first attitude.  After all, if you can’t beat them, mimic them so you can beat the next season in the Finals.

Fisher Today, Zen Junior Tomorrow

Has Derek Fisher thought this out?  By becoming the New York Knick’s head coach, any success will be widely viewed as another by-product of Phil Jackson.  Jackson has targeted two former players.  Specifically, he has targeted his two most widely known cerebral, clutch sharpshooters.  Steve Kerr resisted the siren’s song of New York but Derek Fisher could not resist it.

To be clear, Fisher has the right constitution to move from player to head coach without any experience as an assistant.  Jason Kidd made the same transition this year and guided Brooklyn to the playoffs.  Once Brook Lopez was injured, Kidd utilized a small ball lineup that featured Kevin Garnett at center.  Garnett’s skill set resulted in this lineup moving the ball and attacking from the perimeter instead of focusing on interior touches for Lopez.  Kidd coached to his strengths as a former NBA point guard.

Fisher will do the same.  The problem is that what Fisher knows is Jackson’s Triangle offense.  If Carmelo Anthony stays in the Big Apple, that will be a big adjustment for the NBA’s most dangerous volume shooter.  It is apparent Kerr considered this issue and knew that Golden State would give him the freedom to solve it.  Kerr has met with David Blatt to be his lead assistant coach.  Blatt is widely regarded in coaching circles as today’s foremost offensive innovator.  Combine this with Kerr’s stated intention to have the Warriors run more and to emphasis Andre Iguodala’s talents by getting him out of the corner and it all comes into focus.

            Kerr recognizes that the NBA is now a perimeter league.  The Triangle will not be as effective as an up-tempo perimeter attack that focuses on efficient three pointers and transitions opportunities.  Jackson is arguably the most successful coach in NBA history.  The likelihood that he would hire a former player with no coaching experience and then allow him run a system counter to his own doctrine is slim.  Kerr wanted elbowroom and an offense that does not rely on the elbow.  Personnel and cap structure issue plague the Knicks.  Those issues will be resolved.  The question is if Jackson will allow Fisher to make strategy adjustments that run counter to Jackson’s philosophy.