I Love This Game

By John "Metstradamus" Coppinger
Posted Friday, June 1, 2007

Watching the Mets so far this season, it’s slowly starting to resemble watching an NBA game…all you have to do is watch the final two minutes and you’ll see something exciting.

The last three walk-off wins have all come courtesy of Carlos Delgado. His nickname is “Diesel”. He’s the big guy. He kind of reminds me of Shaquille O’Neal. Both are large bodies who, when they score or hit, do it in dramatic fashion. Both players also have trouble with seemingly easy tasks such as playing defense (Delgado) or hitting free throws (Shaq). But with the NBA Finals fast approaching I got to wondering: what if the other key Mets were NBA players? Who would they be? Delgado as Shaq is easy. But let’s look further…

Every team needs a point guard. Jose Reyes is the perfect candidate for that position. He’s fast, he’s flashy, he’s fun, and some would say his mouth motors non-stop…at least when he’s in the dugout. Some would say that Gary Payton wouldn’t shut up when he was on the court. Reyes has got a great glove. Payton’s nickname was “The Glove”. Hence, Jose Reyes = Gary Payton.

Then you have Carlos Beltran. Beltran is a player who, as they say in the NBA, “fills up a stat sheet”. Between home runs, RBI’s, runs scored, outfield assists, and the occasional steal here and there, he does just about everything a ballplayer can do. In the NBA, nobody fills up a stat sheet better than small forward Shawn Marion of the Suns. I could see Beltran finding the open man and hustling up and down the court like Marion.

Power forward? The Mets don’t have a lot of guys the size of a power forward. But the Mets do have a guy that gets big hits, plays tough and physical, and gets the occasional thumb for arguing. The Pistons have a guy who makes big threes, plays tough, and gets the (more than) occasional technical foul and ejection. It’s safe to say that while the Pistons have Rasheed Wallace, the Mets have their own “Sheed” in Paul Lo Duca.

We’ll take a little liberty in choosing a shooting guard, because this guy is technically a small forward. But I can’t think of a true off guard that symbolized David Wright better than LeBron James. LeBron is the chosen one, much like Wright has been here. Both are going to one day be defined by how far their teams go, and both are currently looking to reach their first Finals or Series. And both have nice little endorsement deals (James with Reebok, Wright with Coca-Cola…who just bought Vitamin Water). If the Mets are going to one day reach the promised land, most will think (hope?) that it will be on the back of Wright, just as the case is with James.

(I know, Wright/LeBron is a bit of a stretch. But isn’t it refreshing to hear David compared to somebody other than Derek Jeter?)

You can’t have an NBA squad without a bench. Luckily, the Mets can scrape together one of the best. Endy Chavez is the Mets’ version of Phoenix’s Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa is the reigning NBA sixth man of the year, and once came off the bench in a Game 7 against the Lakers to score 26 points, including I think 10 straight in the second quarter. Endy Chavez comes off the Mets’ bench to get big hits, drag bunts, and the greatest playoff catch ever.

Kevin Willis is 45 years old, and after a season off, recently returned to the Dallas Mavericks to come off the bench. I wonder if the Mets have anybody who’s that old…

Maybe older…

I’m going to have to come back to that one.

The San Antonio Spurs have a roster spot used by a guy who basically doesn’t need to come in until the last two minutes of a game. That would make Robert Horry our Billy Wagner, right? If only Horry had a theme song…

Shawn Green? He’s our Michael Redd. Very good offensive numbers. Allergic to defense.

Guillermo Mota is our Carmelo Anthony. Think about it: Mota just came back from a long suspension, and once was in a fight where he ran away from the man he hit. Carmelo hit a player, then ran away…resulting in a long suspension. I say there’s a match there (and you could do much worse than Carmelo Anthony).

Then of course, every team has their injured reserve list, which I guess would mean that Duaner Sanchez would be our version of Grant Hill?

Hey, that’s not a bad team. Shaquille? Payton? Marion? Rasheed? LeBron? Barbosa, Horry, Redd and ‘Melo? That’s a team that could contend for an NBA title. Luckily, in the real world, the Mets have all those parts wearing the same uniform. Now who was that old guy…

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Come join me at The Musings and Prophecies of Metstradamus to discuss what NBA player you feel most resembles Scott Schoeneweis. Michael Olowokandi, anyone?