The Q and A Podcast 007

On today's episode, DeQuiency and Anthony share their ideas for speeding up the game of baseball.

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The Q and A Podcast 006

Today the boys talk about Booker T's Reality of Wrestling, the state of the WWE on the road to Summerslam, and wrap it up by speaking about race relations in light of The Atlantic article.

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The Q and A Podcast 005

In today's episode, DeQuiency and Anthony discuss the Brady Aiken fiasco, where both parties go from here and wrap it up with a little prospect talk.

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The Q and A Podcast 004

DeQuiency and Anthony welcome the All-Star break by picking the teams who are contending and who should be rebuilding  Also the guys hand out their mid-season awards for Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP.

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The Q and A Podcast 003

DeQuiency and Anthony discuss all the recent moves in the NBA, including LeBron heading back to the Cavs, the Rockets striking out in free agency, and who rules the roost in the Eastern Conference.

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A Handsome Dilemma

Big money for Chandler Parsons brings big problems for the Rockets

Really should have seen this coming. After all, the Rockets have been extremely lucky when it comes to personal decisions the past two years. Between the straight up robbery trade with OKC for James Harden in 2012, then followed by the miracle signing of Dwight Howard in 2013, we fans have been living the good life. Until today. Sigh.

Funny thing is, there really isn't anyone to blame for this situation. As an NBA player, Parsons only has 10-15 years to maximize his earning potential, so reaching for the most money was a no-brainer. The Rockets declined Parsons' fourth year option on his rookie deal in order to A) free up money to chase after free agents this offseason and B) to avoid letting the 25 year old starter become a unrestricted free agent next year. While the Mavericks are doing everything possible to get Dirk another shot at a ring (and if they screw the Rockets in the process, bonus!)

I guess the question boils down to is Chandler Parsons worth the money? Let's check the numbers:

Season	Age	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	PTS
2011-12	23	3.9	8.7	.452	1.0	2.8	.337	3.0	5.9	.507	0.7	1.2	.551	1.4	3.3	4.8	2.1	1.2	9.5
2012-13	24	6.0	12.4	.486	2.0	5.2	.385	4.0	7.2	.559	1.5	2.0	.729	1.0	4.3	5.3	3.5	1.0	15.5
2013-14	25	6.3	13.3	.472	1.8	4.7	.370	4.5	8.6	.528	2.2	3.0	.742	0.9	4.6	5.5	4.0	1.2	16.6
Career		5.5	11.6	.473	1.6	4.3	.370	3.9	7.3	.534	1.5	2.1	.705	1.1	4.1	5.2	3.3	1.1	14.1

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Seems ridiculous huh? Paying a guy who averages 14 and 5 over 15 million a year? Well, time to look at a different set of numbers...

			Salary
Rk	Player	Tm	2014-15 ▾
1	Kobe Bryant	LAL	$23,500,000
2	Amar'e Stoudemire	NYK	$23,410,988
3	Joe Johnson	BRK	$23,180,790
4	Dwight Howard	HOU	$21,436,271
5	Chris Paul	LAC	$20,068,563
6	Deron Williams	BRK	$19,754,465
7	Rudy Gay	SAC	$19,317,325
8	Kevin Durant	OKC	$18,995,624
9	Derrick Rose	CHI	$18,862,875
10	Blake Griffin	LAC	$17,674,612
11	Carlos Boozer	CHI	$16,800,000
12	Zach Randolph	MEM	$16,500,000
13	LaMarcus Aldridge	POR	$16,006,000
14	Marc Gasol	MEM	$15,829,688
15	Brook Lopez	BRK	$15,719,063
16	Russell Westbrook	OKC	$15,719,062
17	Kevin Love	MIN	$15,719,062
18	David Lee	GSW	$15,012,000
19	Eric Gordon	NOP	$14,898,938
20	Roy Hibbert	IND	$14,898,938
21	James Harden	HOU	$14,728,844
22	Tyson Chandler	DAL	$14,598,888
23	John Wall	WAS	$13,701,250
24	DeMarcus Cousins	SAC	$13,701,250
25	Paul George	IND	$13,701,250
26	Al Jefferson	CHA	$13,666,667
27	Josh Smith	DET	$13,500,000
28	Nene Hilario	WAS	$13,000,000
29	Andrew Bogut	GSW	$12,972,973
30	Rajon Rondo	BOS	$12,909,091
31	Derrick Favors	UTA	$12,833,333
32	Tony Parker	SAS	$12,500,000
33	Serge Ibaka	OKC	$12,350,000
34	Andre Iguodala	GSW	$12,289,544
35	Joakim Noah	CHI	$12,200,000
36	Nikola Pekovic	MIN	$12,100,000
37	David West	IND	$12,000,000
38	Kevin Garnett	BRK	$12,000,000
39	Al Horford	ATL	$12,000,000
40	Nicolas Batum	POR	$11,765,500
41	Ty Lawson	DEN	$11,595,506
42	Andrea Bargnani	NYK	$11,500,000
43	DeAndre Jordan	LAC	$11,440,124
44	JaVale McGee	DEN	$11,250,000
45	Larry Sanders	MIL	$11,000,000
46	Danilo Gallinari	DEN	$10,854,850
47	Tyreke Evans	NOP	$10,763,500
48	Stephen Curry	GSW	$10,629,213
49	Gerald Wallace	BOS	$10,105,855
50	Tim Duncan	SAS	$10,000,000

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Now those numbers tell a completely different story. You would much rather pay an up-and-comer like Parsons than retreads like Rudy Gay, Tyson Chandler, or Andre Bogut. Or talented knuckleheads like Josh Smith, DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee, or Larry Sanders. And while Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook are obviously more talented, do you really trust them to stay upright for 82 regular season games plus playoffs? I don't.

Last set of numbers, I promise you. Last Wednesday, the NBA announced that the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold for the upcoming year will be at all-time highs. More money in the pot equals bigger contracts for the middle class of free agents. $46 million over 3 years (with a player op-out after year 2) may seem like an overpay now, but trust me it could have been much, much worse.

Is Chandler Parsons a great player? No not yet, but he definitely has room to grow into an All-Star and third best player on a team with champion aspirations. He's worth the contract and the Rockets should not hesitate to match the offer. And besides....

How can you say no to that face?

The Q and A Podcast 002

DeQuiency and Anthony wrap up the MLB All Star Game by discussing the American League Roster and pick a winner. Also one of our hosts go off on a rant about Derek Jeter starting at shortstop and the ASG itself.

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The Q and A Podcast 001

On the debut episode, DeQuiency and Anthony talk about the MLB All Star Game by breaking the the rosters for the National League and ask a very important question: Who is Josh Harrison?

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Welcome to Two Eighty Eight

I can't remember the subject, but I do remember the two sentences that started all this:

"Man we should make a podcast. People would love hearing what we have to say!"

Now mind you, my partner-in-crime, Anthony, said this at midnight. In a bar. After a few drinks. So I wasn't exactly as thrilled with the idea as he was. Neither was our third wheel, Stephen, but that's more because he's an emotional-less cyborg. What would we talk about? And who would even care enough to listen to us two jamokes ramble on and on?

"Come on, it will be awesome" Whatever, bruh.

So we started recording demo podcasts and working out the kinks about 3 months ago. My God, there were a lot of kinks: Mispronunciations, stuttering, and bad transitions and that's just on my end. You don't even want to how terrible Anthony was. But you know what? It was fun for us and for the small circle of friends that we allowed to listen even if we were just messing around and talking about random topics. The only issue was the delivery system. Sending the podcasts through email and asking others to forward it on to others became very tedious. We needed something simple.

Say hello to the next step and welcome to Two Eighty Eight. Here we will discuss damn near anything in the world of sports and entertainment while giving it our own Houston flair in our writings and podcasts. Right now, we only have one writer (me), one on-going podcast, (The Q and A Podcast) and one cyborg producer, (Stephen) but we will do what we can to grow and find more talent even if it's just our colorful cast of friends. Will we make a ton of fans and money so we can quit our day jobs? Probably not but I can guarantee it will be entertaining.