So the Lakers aren't winning in five, and if the series ends in six games it will end with KG crying holding up the trophy. LA is down 3-1 heading into Game 5, the last game at Staples Center and possibly the last game for LA. How the hell did this happen?
In case you live under a rock, the Lakers blew a 40 point lead (OK, they were up by as much as 24) before losing to the Celtics 97-91. After four games, I have to say that Doc Rivers has outcoached Phil Jackson. Not only has he made a mockery of my finals prediction, I ranked him last on my list of NBA coaches.
Here's what went wrong with the Lakers:
First, I think we all were expecting Kobe to have an amazing series. However, he's been far from dominant. Look at this list of the Top 50 Finals performances. Look at some of the stuff Jordan did, who Kobe is always compared to. Its not even close.
Second, Ray Allen seems far from being done. I guess it was his family problems, and not his age, that was holding him back early in the playoffs. (This had to rattle him too)
And of course, Doc Rivers > Phil Jackson to this point. What usually makes Doc bad has made him good in this series. Doc coaches basketball like one of those old-school baseball managers, he goes with his gut. He's not a big X's and O's guys, and doesn't go by the book, which drives some of the purists nuts. He also seems to ignore stats, which makes the guys like me mad.
It wasn't X's and O's or stats that led him to go with KG, Posey, Pierce, Ray Allen and Eddie House in the third quarter, a line-up that gave the Lakers fits. It was his gut. It was his guy that brought House off the bench the past couple of games after watching Sam Cassell stink it up in relief of Rajon Rondo.
And here we are, since LA will probably not take two games in Boston, the worst coach in the NBA will have earned a ring at the expense at one of the most decorated coaches in the history of the game. Down is up.
Showing posts with label Boston Celtics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston Celtics. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Finals Breakdown
As promised, here's the finals break down. And in case you're wondering, the Game 1 Lakers loss has not swayed me from my Lakers in 5 prediction. Here's why:
Point Guard
Derick Fisher vs. Rajon Rondo
Rondo is a lot better than what people give him credit for. Meanwhile, Fisher is still a solid veteran, but he can get torched from time to time. Rondo has the physical capabilities to do so, but the way he gets jerked around its no telling where his head is at.
Advantage: Push
Shooting Guard
Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen
Kobe is the MVP. Ray Allen has looked done for most of the playoffs. I expect Kobe to drop 50 at least once in the Finals, Allen will be lucky to top 30.
Advantage: Lakers
Small Forward
Vladamir Radmonovic vs. Paul Pierce
Pierce has proven me right in saying he's the true Celtics MVP. Meanwhile, Luke Walton should probably start here. Either way, its the Lakers weakest position
Advantage: Boston
Power Forward
Lamar Odom vs. Kevin Garnett
Of course this is going to KG. The end of the fourth quarter was the first time I've ever seen KG demand the ball and be aggressive at the end of a big game. However, the 20, 10 and 5 he gives u is his ceiling. Despite how good he is, Garnett just isn't a 40 point, 20 rebound type guy. With Odom, his head has always prevented his talent from being completely utilized. He looked pissed that he was on the bench to end game one. This can either motivate him or make him more annoyed and hurt his game.
Advantage: Boston
Center
Pau Gasol vs. Kendrick Perkins
Personally, Gasol hasn't been as good as people have been hyping him up to be. That said its better the Lakers have him instead of whoever they would be starting at center. On the other side, Kendrick Perkins is really playing like Andrew Bynum was, minus the hype. That said, I'll give this one to Gasol because of his experience.
Advantage: Lakers
Bench
Boston has all the talent in the world on their bench, but they are too deep for their coach to handle. Leon Powe should play every game, but he doesn't get any burn in a lot of games. Sam Cassell is done, but his "veteran" presence and surly demeanor when he doesn't play has earned him playing time.
Meanwhile, the Lakers bench is underrated. They all play well together and with the starters and everyone is used to their role. Phil Jackson usually doesn't surprise people with his rotations like Doc Rivers.
Advantage: Lakers
Coaching
Speaking of which, this is the Lakers' biggest advantage. Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches of all time and Doc Rivers is one of the worst coaches in the league.
Advantage: Lakers
Intangibles
The Lakers main intangible is the ability Kobe Bryant has to take over a game. He's the most dangerous player in the league and can go off for 50 at any moment. If he gets hot down the stretch in any close game, its over. While this didn't happen in Game 1, Kobe has been basically Mariano Rivera in the playoffs so far.
Boston's biggest intangible is their home court advantage, which is the best in the league. Also, the league wants this to go at least 6 if not 7 games. This could lead to some suspect officiating in any of the three LA games. Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist or something.
Advantage: Push
Verdict
If Boston had a halfway decent coach, I'd definitely consider them. But I can't take a team coached by Doc Rivers against Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant in any circumstances. Sorry Boston fans.
Lakers in 5.
Point Guard
Derick Fisher vs. Rajon Rondo
Rondo is a lot better than what people give him credit for. Meanwhile, Fisher is still a solid veteran, but he can get torched from time to time. Rondo has the physical capabilities to do so, but the way he gets jerked around its no telling where his head is at.
Advantage: Push
Shooting Guard
Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen
Kobe is the MVP. Ray Allen has looked done for most of the playoffs. I expect Kobe to drop 50 at least once in the Finals, Allen will be lucky to top 30.
Advantage: Lakers
Small Forward
Vladamir Radmonovic vs. Paul Pierce
Pierce has proven me right in saying he's the true Celtics MVP. Meanwhile, Luke Walton should probably start here. Either way, its the Lakers weakest position
Advantage: Boston
Power Forward
Lamar Odom vs. Kevin Garnett
Of course this is going to KG. The end of the fourth quarter was the first time I've ever seen KG demand the ball and be aggressive at the end of a big game. However, the 20, 10 and 5 he gives u is his ceiling. Despite how good he is, Garnett just isn't a 40 point, 20 rebound type guy. With Odom, his head has always prevented his talent from being completely utilized. He looked pissed that he was on the bench to end game one. This can either motivate him or make him more annoyed and hurt his game.
Advantage: Boston
Center
Pau Gasol vs. Kendrick Perkins
Personally, Gasol hasn't been as good as people have been hyping him up to be. That said its better the Lakers have him instead of whoever they would be starting at center. On the other side, Kendrick Perkins is really playing like Andrew Bynum was, minus the hype. That said, I'll give this one to Gasol because of his experience.
Advantage: Lakers
Bench
Boston has all the talent in the world on their bench, but they are too deep for their coach to handle. Leon Powe should play every game, but he doesn't get any burn in a lot of games. Sam Cassell is done, but his "veteran" presence and surly demeanor when he doesn't play has earned him playing time.
Meanwhile, the Lakers bench is underrated. They all play well together and with the starters and everyone is used to their role. Phil Jackson usually doesn't surprise people with his rotations like Doc Rivers.
Advantage: Lakers
Coaching
Speaking of which, this is the Lakers' biggest advantage. Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches of all time and Doc Rivers is one of the worst coaches in the league.
Advantage: Lakers
Intangibles
The Lakers main intangible is the ability Kobe Bryant has to take over a game. He's the most dangerous player in the league and can go off for 50 at any moment. If he gets hot down the stretch in any close game, its over. While this didn't happen in Game 1, Kobe has been basically Mariano Rivera in the playoffs so far.
Boston's biggest intangible is their home court advantage, which is the best in the league. Also, the league wants this to go at least 6 if not 7 games. This could lead to some suspect officiating in any of the three LA games. Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist or something.
Advantage: Push
Verdict
If Boston had a halfway decent coach, I'd definitely consider them. But I can't take a team coached by Doc Rivers against Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant in any circumstances. Sorry Boston fans.
Lakers in 5.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Latest NBA Conspiracy Theory!!!!
Well, Brent Barry was blatantly fouled last night at the end of their close game with the Lakers. Of course the foul wasn't called and the Spurs lost by 2 points. Peep the footage
The NBA isn't stupid, a Celtics/Lakers finals would have phenomenal ratings and boost the league's popularity heading into next year. After a thrilling playoffs, it would be the best case scenario for David Stern and Co. Now, I'm not going to accuse them of fixing the game, the Spurs definitely had their fair share of opportunities to win that game. However, the fact that a call that obvious wasn't made is going to have people speculating, especially with Tim Donaghy lingering.
I think its more indicative of a new trend in basketball in the past 4-5 years. This trend is to not call fouls during the waning seconds of a game, unless the player involved is a star. Even with a star involved, its not a guarantee that a foul will be called. I guess the logic behind that is let the players decide the game on the court.
I say that there really is no good reason to not call fouls down the stretch. Just because there's only 10 seconds left shouldn't give anyone licence to hack. I guess me and the league will agree to disagree.
The NBA isn't stupid, a Celtics/Lakers finals would have phenomenal ratings and boost the league's popularity heading into next year. After a thrilling playoffs, it would be the best case scenario for David Stern and Co. Now, I'm not going to accuse them of fixing the game, the Spurs definitely had their fair share of opportunities to win that game. However, the fact that a call that obvious wasn't made is going to have people speculating, especially with Tim Donaghy lingering.
I think its more indicative of a new trend in basketball in the past 4-5 years. This trend is to not call fouls during the waning seconds of a game, unless the player involved is a star. Even with a star involved, its not a guarantee that a foul will be called. I guess the logic behind that is let the players decide the game on the court.
I say that there really is no good reason to not call fouls down the stretch. Just because there's only 10 seconds left shouldn't give anyone licence to hack. I guess me and the league will agree to disagree.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
NBA Regular Season Wrap-Up
Tonight is the final night of perhaps the best NBA season of this decade. The season has been so good that I literally have no idea what's going on in Major League Baseball right now. I haven't even bothered to look at stats or standings. (Additionally, I spent most of last weekend drinking myself into a stupor in celebration of my 23rd birthday).
Here are some interesting facts from the season.
The Golden State Warriors could finish the season 49-33 and not make the playoffs. However, if the 76ers lose tonight, two of the Eastern Conferences teams will be under .500 heading into the postseason. However, the 76ers have shown tremendous grit in making it this far in their first full season without Allen Iverson.
The Hawks, the 8th place team in the East, have snapped the longest postseason drought in the NBA.
One of the biggest stories of the season was the resurgence of the Boston Celtics, who could finish with 66 wins this season. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to the number one seed in the West, which has many fans salivating over a possible Celtics-Lakers finals. In fact, that much would help bring the NBA back to prominence.
As stated by Bill Simmons, the MVP race has been one of the greatest ever. The league's future is in great shape as almost every superstar in the league is under 30 right now.
Perhaps there were only three lowlights of this season. The biggest one is how sleazy the situation has been regarding Seattle's ownership trying to move the team to Oklahoma City, and David Stern's backing of those sleazeballs.
The Knicks are tied with the Miami Heat for second place in this column. Their situation is deplorable, and it’s heightened by the fact that they are the New York Knicks.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat made a mockery of the NBA during their last month and a half of play. Pat Riley leaving his team to watch March Madness has to be unprecedented. Nothing says taking more than having a team full of guys who aren’t even D-League all-stars, let alone NBA players finish your season. I hope like hell they don’t get the first or second pick this year.
Moving on, this year’s playoffs should be fun to watch. Hopefully there won’t be a ridiculous amount of time between games this year, which has become a staple of the playoffs recently.
Anyway, here are my awards for this season.
MVP
Clearly I’m all for CP3 for MVP. However, I think this one might go to Kobe. This has been far from his greatest season, and he did try to get traded at the beginning of the year. He plays on perhaps the deepest team in the league, a team that would still be good without him. But since he hasn’t won the award yet people will feel inclined to vote for him. Kobe is the best overall player in basketball, but Chris Paul has compiled a season that’s arguably better than those from Nash’s two MVP campaigns.
Rookie of the Year
This award has been Kevin Durant’s from the start. He had an up and down rookie year, finishing on the upside. He’s a great talent. Hopefully he’ll put on some weight this offseason and come back more physically prepared for the NBA game.
6th Man of the Year
Manu Ginobli’s award by default. He comes off the bench as a formality, superstition, or both.
Most Improved Player
Hedu Turkoglu made the Magic a threat in the East this year. He also made their signing of Rashard Lewis look very foolish, as he’s the third best player on the team at best.
Defensive Player of the Year
I’ve seen Kevin Garnett up for this award on many sites, but I don’t see it. He’s changed the attitude of the Celtics and has energized their fan base. However, their true MVP and should be MVP candidate has been Paul Pierce.
If we have to give a Celtic an award, give this award to Paul Pierce. However, I don’t feel inclined to, so my would-be vote goes to Marcus Camby. He leads the league in blocks, is second in defensive rebounding, and is doing everything that Ben Wallace used to make all-star teams for (and is a far greater force on the offensive end).
Coach of the Year
This is a very difficult decision. Usually, it goes to the coach of the team that was the biggest surprise. Guys like Stan Van Gundy, Byron Scott, and Doc Rivers will probably get a lot of votes. However, I think Jerry Sloan should get the award. If we’re giving Kobe the MVP because he had a good season and hasn’t won it yet, why not do the same for Sloan.
While some of his players may loathe him, he’s been able to adapt to his roster and the play of the league and opened up the team’s offense. By doing that, he’s now the head coach of the Northwest Division Champs.
All NBA-Team
1st Team
C Dwight Howard
F LeBron James
F Paul Pierce
G Kobe Bryant
G Chris Paul
2nd Team
C Amare Stoudamire
F Kevin Garnett
F Tim Duncan
G Tracy McGrady
G Steve Nash
3rd Team
C Marcus Camby
F Carlos Boozer
F Carmelo Anthony
G Allen Iverson
G Deron Williams
Here are some interesting facts from the season.
The Golden State Warriors could finish the season 49-33 and not make the playoffs. However, if the 76ers lose tonight, two of the Eastern Conferences teams will be under .500 heading into the postseason. However, the 76ers have shown tremendous grit in making it this far in their first full season without Allen Iverson.
The Hawks, the 8th place team in the East, have snapped the longest postseason drought in the NBA.
One of the biggest stories of the season was the resurgence of the Boston Celtics, who could finish with 66 wins this season. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to the number one seed in the West, which has many fans salivating over a possible Celtics-Lakers finals. In fact, that much would help bring the NBA back to prominence.
As stated by Bill Simmons, the MVP race has been one of the greatest ever. The league's future is in great shape as almost every superstar in the league is under 30 right now.
Perhaps there were only three lowlights of this season. The biggest one is how sleazy the situation has been regarding Seattle's ownership trying to move the team to Oklahoma City, and David Stern's backing of those sleazeballs.
The Knicks are tied with the Miami Heat for second place in this column. Their situation is deplorable, and it’s heightened by the fact that they are the New York Knicks.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat made a mockery of the NBA during their last month and a half of play. Pat Riley leaving his team to watch March Madness has to be unprecedented. Nothing says taking more than having a team full of guys who aren’t even D-League all-stars, let alone NBA players finish your season. I hope like hell they don’t get the first or second pick this year.
Moving on, this year’s playoffs should be fun to watch. Hopefully there won’t be a ridiculous amount of time between games this year, which has become a staple of the playoffs recently.
Anyway, here are my awards for this season.
MVP
Clearly I’m all for CP3 for MVP. However, I think this one might go to Kobe. This has been far from his greatest season, and he did try to get traded at the beginning of the year. He plays on perhaps the deepest team in the league, a team that would still be good without him. But since he hasn’t won the award yet people will feel inclined to vote for him. Kobe is the best overall player in basketball, but Chris Paul has compiled a season that’s arguably better than those from Nash’s two MVP campaigns.
Rookie of the Year
This award has been Kevin Durant’s from the start. He had an up and down rookie year, finishing on the upside. He’s a great talent. Hopefully he’ll put on some weight this offseason and come back more physically prepared for the NBA game.
6th Man of the Year
Manu Ginobli’s award by default. He comes off the bench as a formality, superstition, or both.
Most Improved Player
Hedu Turkoglu made the Magic a threat in the East this year. He also made their signing of Rashard Lewis look very foolish, as he’s the third best player on the team at best.
Defensive Player of the Year
I’ve seen Kevin Garnett up for this award on many sites, but I don’t see it. He’s changed the attitude of the Celtics and has energized their fan base. However, their true MVP and should be MVP candidate has been Paul Pierce.
If we have to give a Celtic an award, give this award to Paul Pierce. However, I don’t feel inclined to, so my would-be vote goes to Marcus Camby. He leads the league in blocks, is second in defensive rebounding, and is doing everything that Ben Wallace used to make all-star teams for (and is a far greater force on the offensive end).
Coach of the Year
This is a very difficult decision. Usually, it goes to the coach of the team that was the biggest surprise. Guys like Stan Van Gundy, Byron Scott, and Doc Rivers will probably get a lot of votes. However, I think Jerry Sloan should get the award. If we’re giving Kobe the MVP because he had a good season and hasn’t won it yet, why not do the same for Sloan.
While some of his players may loathe him, he’s been able to adapt to his roster and the play of the league and opened up the team’s offense. By doing that, he’s now the head coach of the Northwest Division Champs.
All NBA-Team
1st Team
C Dwight Howard
F LeBron James
F Paul Pierce
G Kobe Bryant
G Chris Paul
2nd Team
C Amare Stoudamire
F Kevin Garnett
F Tim Duncan
G Tracy McGrady
G Steve Nash
3rd Team
C Marcus Camby
F Carlos Boozer
F Carmelo Anthony
G Allen Iverson
G Deron Williams
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thank you NBA/TNT
Thanks for finally giving people like me a good double-header to watch.
Mavs @ Celtics
Spurs @ Suns
I'll be there!!!!!
Mavs @ Celtics
Spurs @ Suns
I'll be there!!!!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Mike Dunleavy Jr. > Rashard Lewis ???
After watching another bad Miami Heat game last night, I figured it was time for me to address the NBA.
This is probably the 12th time I’ve mentioned it on this blog, but there has to be a good reason why Miami has come on 20 more times than the Boston Celtics. I feel like all of the Heat’s games have been nationally televised this season. It’s really making me sick.
I stumbled across an interesting NBA tidbit the other day and decided to talk about it after Rashard Lewis made that buzzer beater last night.
Did you know that Rashard Lewis is playing no better than Mike Dunleavy, Jr. this year? This fact has to suck for Orlando Magic fans.
Lewis makes about $20 million a year. Dunleavy makes about $9 million a year. Although this is Dunleavy’s best season by far, it can’t make Orlando’s GM feel good that he’s overpaying by about $11 million for Rashard Lewis.
Here are their stats:
R. Lewis – 42 G, 39 minutes/game, 18.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.1 spg, .4 bpg, 44% FG, 39% 3PT, 85% FT
M. Dunleavy Jr – 42 G, 34 minutes/game, 17.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 spg, .3 bpg, 49% FG, 42% 3PT, 85% FT.
The more you know ...
This is probably the 12th time I’ve mentioned it on this blog, but there has to be a good reason why Miami has come on 20 more times than the Boston Celtics. I feel like all of the Heat’s games have been nationally televised this season. It’s really making me sick.
I stumbled across an interesting NBA tidbit the other day and decided to talk about it after Rashard Lewis made that buzzer beater last night.
Did you know that Rashard Lewis is playing no better than Mike Dunleavy, Jr. this year? This fact has to suck for Orlando Magic fans.
Lewis makes about $20 million a year. Dunleavy makes about $9 million a year. Although this is Dunleavy’s best season by far, it can’t make Orlando’s GM feel good that he’s overpaying by about $11 million for Rashard Lewis.
Here are their stats:
R. Lewis – 42 G, 39 minutes/game, 18.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.1 spg, .4 bpg, 44% FG, 39% 3PT, 85% FT
M. Dunleavy Jr – 42 G, 34 minutes/game, 17.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 spg, .3 bpg, 49% FG, 42% 3PT, 85% FT.
The more you know ...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
US Placers
I'm enjoying the break so far ladies and gentleman, hopefully I'll be able to finally watch a decent college basketball game.
I'm also looking forward to that Boston/Detroit game tonight, it's about time the Celts made a TV appearance.
In music, Lupe Fiasco dropped the Album of the Year hands down. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool is a unique combination of concept songs that revolve around "The Cool" "The Streets" and "The Game," personifications of the ills of the world introduced to us through earlier Lupe works.
Additionally, he had a few tracks that were outside of the "cool" concept, but were still hot.
Definitely cop that if you haven't already. Besides that and Getback (another Little Brother classic), 2007 was another dull year for hip-hop as Graduation and Finding Forever were average and American Gangster was borderline awful.
Just for fun, here's a video for Us Placers. Hopefully this CRS project will take off.
I'm also looking forward to that Boston/Detroit game tonight, it's about time the Celts made a TV appearance.
In music, Lupe Fiasco dropped the Album of the Year hands down. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool is a unique combination of concept songs that revolve around "The Cool" "The Streets" and "The Game," personifications of the ills of the world introduced to us through earlier Lupe works.
Additionally, he had a few tracks that were outside of the "cool" concept, but were still hot.
Definitely cop that if you haven't already. Besides that and Getback (another Little Brother classic), 2007 was another dull year for hip-hop as Graduation and Finding Forever were average and American Gangster was borderline awful.
Just for fun, here's a video for Us Placers. Hopefully this CRS project will take off.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Quick Hits 11/16/07
First, I want to say that my prayers are with Sean Taylor and his family right now.
There’s no need to speculate about the situation right now, we should just hope he pulls through.
NFL
As for the rest of the NFL, things are starting to get interesting. The Eagles say they won’t start McNabb until he’s 100%, which is code for “let’s see if A.J. Feely’s game against the Patriots wasn’t a fluke.”
Speaking of the Patriots, their road to 16-0 continues. I will say that their game against the Eagles was more of them taking the foot off the gas, than Philly coming up with a blue print.
Speaking of 16-0 (or 0-16), tonight Ricky Williams makes his triumphant return for the Dolphins. (Insert marijuana joke here).
I’m also looking forward to Dallas making short work of the Packers. However, if Green Bay does knock of the Cowboys, I’ll finally start to take them seriously as a Super Bowl Contender.
Right now, the Super Bowl berths are Dallas and New England’s to lose. Green Bay, Indy, Pittsburgh, may make it interesting, and the Jaguars and Browns are seemingly legit as playoff contenders at least.
Besides the Cowboys and Packers, the rest of the NFC looks like garbage.
Speaking of garbage, I looked at my preseason and fantasy picks over the weekend … horrendous.
NBA
There are a few themes developing early this season in the NBA.
1. LeBron James is here. While many people would’ve wrote this a year or even two years ago, I was always somewhat critical of LeBron, at least in the sense that I didn’t feel like he was the best player in the league or a Jordan reincarnate.
Now, he’s finally living up to those expectations and seems poised to average a triple double for a season some day. I’m now going to watch as many Cavs games as possible.
2. The Suns, Spurs, and Mavs are up to their old tricks again in the West, but the Magic and Celtics are also emerging as power teams. Look for them to be the new Pistons and Heat, as two more of my predictions are made foolish.
3a. The NBA is filled with young and exciting teams. New Orleans, Toronto, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Golden State (kind of), Atlanta, Washington (Caron Butler is the new Carmelo, you heard it here first), the Lakers, Portland are all fun teams to watch.
3b. The NBA hasn’t realized this, and continues to give us the same damn teams on TV. Note to the league, no more Rockets, Heat, Knicks, Nets, Pistons, or Bulls games until further notice. Thanks!
NCAA Football
I’ll save my defending the BCS/making it better rant for later, but I can say that the “overrated teams will lose eventually” theme of college football is constantly proving itself.
If Missouri knocks of Oklahoma this weekend, then I’ll consider them legit. If they lose to Oklahoma, look for West Virginia to destroy Ohio State for the national championship.
Also, expect Hawaii to lose to Washington this weekend, and look the Virginia Tech/BC winner to become overrated.
Georgia is also very overrated and should get shellacked in its bowl game, depending on the match-up.
I’m still mad that Dennis Dixon got hurt and ruined my West Virginia-Oregon dream title game.
NCAA Basketball
Still too early to tell in college basketball, but I can say the CAA is looking strong this season. Even my Drexel Dragons are playing well and my possibly exceed expectations this year.
There’s no need to speculate about the situation right now, we should just hope he pulls through.
NFL
As for the rest of the NFL, things are starting to get interesting. The Eagles say they won’t start McNabb until he’s 100%, which is code for “let’s see if A.J. Feely’s game against the Patriots wasn’t a fluke.”
Speaking of the Patriots, their road to 16-0 continues. I will say that their game against the Eagles was more of them taking the foot off the gas, than Philly coming up with a blue print.
Speaking of 16-0 (or 0-16), tonight Ricky Williams makes his triumphant return for the Dolphins. (Insert marijuana joke here).
I’m also looking forward to Dallas making short work of the Packers. However, if Green Bay does knock of the Cowboys, I’ll finally start to take them seriously as a Super Bowl Contender.
Right now, the Super Bowl berths are Dallas and New England’s to lose. Green Bay, Indy, Pittsburgh, may make it interesting, and the Jaguars and Browns are seemingly legit as playoff contenders at least.
Besides the Cowboys and Packers, the rest of the NFC looks like garbage.
Speaking of garbage, I looked at my preseason and fantasy picks over the weekend … horrendous.
NBA
There are a few themes developing early this season in the NBA.
1. LeBron James is here. While many people would’ve wrote this a year or even two years ago, I was always somewhat critical of LeBron, at least in the sense that I didn’t feel like he was the best player in the league or a Jordan reincarnate.
Now, he’s finally living up to those expectations and seems poised to average a triple double for a season some day. I’m now going to watch as many Cavs games as possible.
2. The Suns, Spurs, and Mavs are up to their old tricks again in the West, but the Magic and Celtics are also emerging as power teams. Look for them to be the new Pistons and Heat, as two more of my predictions are made foolish.
3a. The NBA is filled with young and exciting teams. New Orleans, Toronto, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Golden State (kind of), Atlanta, Washington (Caron Butler is the new Carmelo, you heard it here first), the Lakers, Portland are all fun teams to watch.
3b. The NBA hasn’t realized this, and continues to give us the same damn teams on TV. Note to the league, no more Rockets, Heat, Knicks, Nets, Pistons, or Bulls games until further notice. Thanks!
NCAA Football
I’ll save my defending the BCS/making it better rant for later, but I can say that the “overrated teams will lose eventually” theme of college football is constantly proving itself.
If Missouri knocks of Oklahoma this weekend, then I’ll consider them legit. If they lose to Oklahoma, look for West Virginia to destroy Ohio State for the national championship.
Also, expect Hawaii to lose to Washington this weekend, and look the Virginia Tech/BC winner to become overrated.
Georgia is also very overrated and should get shellacked in its bowl game, depending on the match-up.
I’m still mad that Dennis Dixon got hurt and ruined my West Virginia-Oregon dream title game.
NCAA Basketball
Still too early to tell in college basketball, but I can say the CAA is looking strong this season. Even my Drexel Dragons are playing well and my possibly exceed expectations this year.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Winter is my favorite time for sports. Double doses of football with a dash of wacky baseball trades, free agent signings, etc. While I don't have anything to say about baseball, there's definately a lot to discuss elsewhere ... like my bad predictions.
NCAA Bball
I didn’t do a NCAA preview because it’s pointless. 1. The real season starts in March. 2. With the new(ish) NBA rules, each college season is essentially unpredictable.
There’s an influx of freshman stars who may come and go, struggle early then flourish later on in their careers, or just flame out all together. Regardless, from about 96 until the rule was implemented, most of the Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon types would’ve been on some NBA team’s bench right now.
That said, I think the media has it right with the early favorites of UCLA, UNC, and Memphis.
NBA
LOL at my NBA predictions. I definitely underestimated the surges Dwight Howard and Chris Paul would have this season. They are now in the top 10, as far as players in the league go.
I also underestimated the smarts of Bulls GM John Paxson, and the effects a non-Kobe trade would have on the Bulls.
I overestimated the Hawks young nucleus coming together.
Enough about me. This season has been very exciting so far, the NBA is in great shape. There really isn’t a team in the league without a star, except maybe Charlotte, but they have a good nucleus of young players.
If you’re sleeping on the NBA, wake up. This year has the potential to be one of the best years in recent memory.
NCAA Fball
It’s been hard for me to write about NCAA football since Dennis Dixon is done for the season. I talked him up for the Heisman early in the game, and he was poised to be the best prediction in the almost 1 year history of Sportsology. DAMMIT!
Now it should go to Tim Tebow. I was watching ESPN today and they were hyping up the QB’s from Kansas and Missouri, who are admittedly decent. However, if you were to give it to one of them over Tebow then you might as well give it to Dennis. The biggest benefactor of Kansas and Missouri’s “surprising” runs has been weak scheduling.
Speaking of which, one of those two teams making the national championship game would be a disaster. In the original BCS formula, I’d be surprised if West VA wouldn’t be ahead of them anyway, or maybe even Ohio State. The Big 12 is so suspect, as always, and it would be a shame if LSU didn’t square off with West Virginia or Ohio State at this point.
(Although I still say Michigan would’ve knocked them off with a healthy Hart and Henne. Another one of my predictions bites the dust)
NFL
All of the talk has been about the historic runs of New England and Miami. That’s understandable. However, I think three things are getting lost in the mix.
1. There isn’t really a dominant running back in the league besides Adrian Peterson. By that I mean a traditional power running back. LaDainian is perhaps a victim of poor coaching, a little bit of age, or maybe a combination of the two. Willie Parker is good, but they can’t trust him around the endzone. Brian Westbrook is having a crazy season, but that’s because he’s a combo back. The leader in rushing yards this season may not even crack 1,400 yards.
2. Tom Brady is having one of the greatest seasons in NFL history. This isn’t talked about enough, I don’t think. However, number 2 is only possible because of number 3.
3. Randy Moss is the MVP of the league, and is having one of the greatest seasons any athlete has ever had in any sport. He’s literally unstoppable. He’s making Brady look like a God and making his opponents look second class. When you look at many of his touchdown catches, a lot of them were either bad passes or very questionable decisions that he cashed in on anyway. You can say Brady wouldn’t have thrown those passes to anybody but Moss, but you can also say Brady wouldn’t be this good, this year, if it wasn’t Randy and company at wide out.
NCAA Bball
I didn’t do a NCAA preview because it’s pointless. 1. The real season starts in March. 2. With the new(ish) NBA rules, each college season is essentially unpredictable.
There’s an influx of freshman stars who may come and go, struggle early then flourish later on in their careers, or just flame out all together. Regardless, from about 96 until the rule was implemented, most of the Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon types would’ve been on some NBA team’s bench right now.
That said, I think the media has it right with the early favorites of UCLA, UNC, and Memphis.
NBA
LOL at my NBA predictions. I definitely underestimated the surges Dwight Howard and Chris Paul would have this season. They are now in the top 10, as far as players in the league go.
I also underestimated the smarts of Bulls GM John Paxson, and the effects a non-Kobe trade would have on the Bulls.
I overestimated the Hawks young nucleus coming together.
Enough about me. This season has been very exciting so far, the NBA is in great shape. There really isn’t a team in the league without a star, except maybe Charlotte, but they have a good nucleus of young players.
If you’re sleeping on the NBA, wake up. This year has the potential to be one of the best years in recent memory.
NCAA Fball
It’s been hard for me to write about NCAA football since Dennis Dixon is done for the season. I talked him up for the Heisman early in the game, and he was poised to be the best prediction in the almost 1 year history of Sportsology. DAMMIT!
Now it should go to Tim Tebow. I was watching ESPN today and they were hyping up the QB’s from Kansas and Missouri, who are admittedly decent. However, if you were to give it to one of them over Tebow then you might as well give it to Dennis. The biggest benefactor of Kansas and Missouri’s “surprising” runs has been weak scheduling.
Speaking of which, one of those two teams making the national championship game would be a disaster. In the original BCS formula, I’d be surprised if West VA wouldn’t be ahead of them anyway, or maybe even Ohio State. The Big 12 is so suspect, as always, and it would be a shame if LSU didn’t square off with West Virginia or Ohio State at this point.
(Although I still say Michigan would’ve knocked them off with a healthy Hart and Henne. Another one of my predictions bites the dust)
NFL
All of the talk has been about the historic runs of New England and Miami. That’s understandable. However, I think three things are getting lost in the mix.
1. There isn’t really a dominant running back in the league besides Adrian Peterson. By that I mean a traditional power running back. LaDainian is perhaps a victim of poor coaching, a little bit of age, or maybe a combination of the two. Willie Parker is good, but they can’t trust him around the endzone. Brian Westbrook is having a crazy season, but that’s because he’s a combo back. The leader in rushing yards this season may not even crack 1,400 yards.
2. Tom Brady is having one of the greatest seasons in NFL history. This isn’t talked about enough, I don’t think. However, number 2 is only possible because of number 3.
3. Randy Moss is the MVP of the league, and is having one of the greatest seasons any athlete has ever had in any sport. He’s literally unstoppable. He’s making Brady look like a God and making his opponents look second class. When you look at many of his touchdown catches, a lot of them were either bad passes or very questionable decisions that he cashed in on anyway. You can say Brady wouldn’t have thrown those passes to anybody but Moss, but you can also say Brady wouldn’t be this good, this year, if it wasn’t Randy and company at wide out.
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