Sports

Yashinsky: Lions and Tigers and Other Odds and Ends in the Detroit Sports Scene

December 16, 2014, 12:43 PM by  Joey Yashinsky

A Must-Win Game Against a Wobbling Opponent

Amazingly, the Detroit Lions are in prime position to qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in the last 15 years.  And they couldn’t have asked for a better team to play in order to make that dream a reality. 

The Chicago Bears are playing some of their worst football of the year, coming off two consecutive shellackings in home night games.  The Cowboys lit ‘em up for 41 in Week 14, and the punchless Saints authored the beatdown last night. 

Jay Cutler is handing out interceptions like Christmas gifts, and fans in the Windy City seem to have lost all patience with their underachieving squad. 

If the 10-4 record that the Lions currently sport means anything at all, they will go into Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon and handle this downtrodden bunch with ease.  No need to worry about the Packers and the showdown the following weekend.  The task at hand is Chicago, and Jim Caldwell’s squad is not yet good enough to overlook any opponent.

And would you believe that if the Lions do grab a win in Chicago, which would be their 11th of the season, it would be just the second time in the Super Bowl era (49 years) that the franchise won more than ten games?  Simply astonishing.  (The Patriots have accomplished this feat 11 times since 2001!)

Jim Caldwell's squad has a chance to make some real history this season.  Two more wins and Ford Field could actually play host to an NFL playoff game for the first time (not counting the PIT-SEA Super Bowl). 

First things first, though, and that means stepping on this Bears team with full force right at the outset.  Cutler’s crew has proven throughout the year that if you get them down early in a game, they will simply lay down and go through the motions until the final gun. 

If that script plays out one more time, it’ll be celebratory coney dogs and Faygo Red Pop throughout Detroit at about 4:18 pm Sunday when the game goes final and this Lions team can officially declare itself a real playoff participant.

Fifty Nifty...Not So Much

Josh Smith recently got the 50% monkey off his back with a 9-for-16 night in the win at Sacramento.  It was a very unattractive streak he had working, but it pales in comparison to the one currently taking hold with the entire Pistons team.

After Monday night’s blowout loss to the Clippers, the Pistons remain one of just three NBA teams (Indiana, Charlotte) yet to shoot 50% or better from the field in any game this season.  Quite improbable, and frankly, quite disheartening considering the Pistons are almost a third of the way through their schedule.

The closest they came was a 37-for-75 night against Milwaukee early in the season, but since then, it has been a slew of nights in the low 40s and even mid-to-high 30s.

Brandon Jennings has been the main culprit of late, failing to show up most every night in what has undoubtedly been his worst stretch of ball as a Piston.  For the month of December, Brick Jennings has attempted 65 shots and connected on 14.  That comes out to an eye-popping 21.5%, which is somehow far superior to his December numbers from outside the arc, where Jennings has swished 2-20 for an even harder-to-believe 10%!! 

It was clear in Joe Dumars’ last few years at the helm that he was no longer assessing value to outside shooting ability when composing his roster.  Unfortunately, Stan Van Gundy is paying the price for that shortsightedness now. 

Nearly a “Shocker” at Calihan Hall

The UDM Titans tangled with Wichita State over the weekend in what was one of the biggest home games for the team in a long time.  The Shockers came in ranked #11 in the country, and  the second half, it appeared the Titans were going to send them home with a big, fat, L. 

Juwan Howard, Jr., one of the streakiest players in the country, found himself unable to miss coming out of the locker room for the final 20 minutes.  He continually set up shop on the right wing, knocking home a barrage of long jumpers and threes.  Howard quickly tallied 13 points in about seven minutes, and after a triple by MSU transfer Brandan Kearney, the Titans had flipped a four-point halftime deficit into a healthy 10-point advantage.

That was at the 11:42 mark of the second half.  Then Wichita State decided playtime was over.  A full-court press was unleashed.  Getting the ball beyond the mid-court line became a monumental task, and only three Titan baskets were scored over the next 10+ minutes.   

Before the unusually boisterous Calihan crowd could figure out what hit them, the visitors and heavy favorites had retaken the lead and secured the game.  It was another close-but-no-cigar affair for the Titans, an outcome that unfortunately has not been uncommon in the Ray McCallum era. 

U of D should be right in the thick of things this winter in the Horizon League, but watching this team year to year, you tend to see the same shortcomings plaguing them: a lack of ferocity on the defensive glass, subpar outside shooting, and most frustrating of all, a far-too-frequent disregard for quality shot selection. 

This is McCallum’s 18th year as a head coach, and just twice has he led a team to the NCAA tournament; 1995 with Ball State and Bonzi Wells, and in 2012 with his son, Ray Jr. running the point.

The loss to Wichita State, one of the nation’s finest programs, is by no means something to criticize or dwell on for too long.  It was a respectable effort, and ultimately, the better team won.  But at some point, the Titans need to make the transformation from being a team capable of competing in a big game to a team capable of winning it. 

It’s Ray Sr.’s seventh year at the helm, and the upcoming Horizon League slate could be the most important one for him yet.  Should he and his group struggle again, there might be some very justified cries for a new head man at McNichols and Livernois come end of this season.

Time for a New Backstop?

In 2011, Alex Avila posted an impressive .295 batting average.  In 2012, that number dropped precipitously to .243.  In 2013, it dropped again to .227.  And last summer, he flailed his way to a .218 mark, a career low.  Throw in the career-high 151 punchouts (in less than 400 ABs), and it sure looks like time for the Tigers to invest in a new full-time catcher.

You cannot deny Avila’s strength on defense and his well-known ability to handle the veteran pitching staff, but at what point do those positive traits get overwhelmed by his ineptitude at the plate?  It appears that time has come. 

Nobody is claiming that Avila, who can still hit for a little power (11 HR last two years) and draw more than the occasional base on balls, is a useless player.  But he is no longer a guy a contending team should feel comfortable penciling in the lineup 120-130 times a year. 

It’s understood that quality-hitting catchers do not grow on trees.  It is no simple task to go out and find a Buster Posey or Yadier Molina.  But somehow, be it through a trade or signing former fictional Cleveland Indian Jake Taylor, Dave Dombrowski needs to find a way to get more production from the catching position.     

And no, bringing Gerald Laird back for a third tour in Detroit is not an option.



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