7/12: World Cup, Phoenix Suns, etc.

Aloha... short on time so some brevity today...

• Spain wins the World Cup... obviously big news... but if you watched that game (I somehow did), you'd know that that was clearly NOT what soccer needed as an advertisement for expansion in the US... do they care? maybe or maybe not... but a 1-0 game that took 115+ minutes to score a goal, featured a record number of yellow cards, and was even reported on TV to have been a "negative advertisement of soccer"... that's not a good thing for the pending US soccer "boom"... Congrats to Spain though, best team won it seemed...
• The Suns made some waves with 2 moves... acquiring Hedo Turkoglu from Toronto for Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones... and acquiring Josh Childress sign-n-trade from Atlanta (6 years/30 million) for a 2011 2nd-round pick and a trade exception.... I don't like either "fit" particularly... Hedo needs the ball in his hands to be at his best... and he... won't? The theory I heard peddled about this move was that they wanted to use him as a ball-handler when Nash was out of the game... didn't we just see Goran Dragic's coming-out party? That makes no sense... he definitely fits in defensively though... let's leave it at that.... for Childress? I'm a huge fan, as anyone in this space knows... he's a plus defender, is extremely efficient offensively, and is a great rebounder for his size... but in Phoenix? Not crazy about it... they have their defensive stopper(s) already in Dudley and Hill... and Childress isn't a great 3-point shooter (career 36% isn't bad at all, but he takes under 1 per game)... the money? Pretty reasonable considering what guys like Wesley Matthews and Travis Outlaw have gotten (I'd rather have Childress than either one)... so not all bad...
• Have to discuss the Hawks outlook on the Childress move... This is a bold assumption, but if we were to assume the Hawks could've kept Childress for a similar deal (6 for 30), I'd be upset we let him walk... that's less than the mid-level, and I'd much rather have Childress than 99% of available FA's... but clearly Rick Sund had little interest, and while the return looks sparse (2nd rounder), the party line is that the trade exception the Hawks will receive (3 million-ish) is the real reason they made the deal... I'll keep that in mind in the future when, as usual, the Hawks will likely stand pat... sigh...
• An interesting move for the Raptors in shipping Hedo out for Barbosa... but I like it because Barbosa is 1) cheaper, and 2) not Hedo... so that's a win for Toronto... and reportedly, they'll turn around and acquire Boris Diaw from Charlotte.. I'm not as enthused by that move because I don't like the fit (Diaw doesn't bring rebounding or defense which are what they lack up front) and a Diaw/Bargnani front court makes me cringe a bit... plus he's owed 18 million over the next 2... a curious decision... but maybe they're trying to acquire the entire 2006 Suns... UPDATE: Now, sources reporting that the Diaw-to-Toronto deal has taken on new form in adding Jose Calderon and Tyson Chandler... now THAT's a deal I can get behind for Toronto if it's true.. Chandler gives them a legitimate rim-defending big to play with Bargnani and gives Jarrett Jack 30+ minutes a night... I like it

Baseball is on hiatus... there are no "decisions" being made... it's going to be a slow couple of days of "actual" sports... If the MLB all-star festivities do it for you, congratulations... but I won't be tuning in...