10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (4/25-4/27)

10. Nene is Bonkers
            It was an impressive effort by the Wizards on Sunday to overcome the loss of Nene, who inexplicably head butted Jimmy Butler Friday night.

9. Warriors Demolish Embattled Clippers

            Sadly, a Clippers team that had the look of making a Finals run looks like it could be derailed by it’s idiot owner.

8. Penguins Grab 3-2 Series Lead

            They finished the job Monday night. So much for No Credentials’ upset special.

7. Pacers Save Season, Even Series With Hawks
            Sadly, they squandered their Game 4 effort with a lackluster performance at home Monday night.

6. Joey Logano Wins Wild Shootout at Richmond

            There’s been tons of talk this year about the potential of young studs Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, which makes a lot of people forget that Joey Logano is only 23 years old. He took over the points lead (sort of) with his spectacular run to the front with 5 laps left Saturday night.

5. Trail Blazers Push Rockets to Brink of Elimination

            In a series where either team could’ve won every game, we’re still not counting the Rockets out despite Houston facing a 3-1 deficit.

4. Ducks Pull Off Improbable Comeback, Eliminate Dallas

            Dallas came flying out of the gate, but almost looked a little like their local NFL team in gagging away a third period lead.
         
3. Thunder Survive Game 4
            On a night where Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were both awful, it was Reggie Jackson who gave Oklahoma City a lift.
      
2. Bruins Advance to Second Round Date With Montreal
            Apparently it’s an NHL rule that the Bruins have to play at least one Canadian team every single playoff year.

1. Vinsanity Takes Down San Antonio

            Vince arguably was the most maligned superstar in the NBA during the 2000s, so it was nice to see him make the greatest shot of his career Saturday night.

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (4/18-4/20)

10. Bryce Harper Sent to the Pine After Jogging to First Base
            Harper normally is criticized for flying into walls with too much reckless abandon, so we here at No Credentials are going to give him a pass for Saturday’s mistake.

9. Brewers and Pirates Throw Fists

            We’ll split the blame for this one evenly between Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez (who if not for walking out of the box and watching his ball end up in play instead of out of the park, would’ve easily had an inside-the-park home run) and Gerrit Cole (who would’ve not escalated the fight if he simply walked back to the mound).

8. Hawks Blast Pacers

            For one day, Indiana native Jeff Teague looked like the most unstoppable point guard in the NBA. We won’t bet on that continuing all series long (especially if they switch Paul George onto him), but the Pacers need to rediscover some form of offensive continuity.

7. Red Sox Complete Five Run Comeback Sunday Night
            Sadly (for New England folks), Boston couldn’t keep the good times rolling in their annual Patriots Day game. At least an American won the Boston Marathon for the first time in 29 years.

6. Wizards Rally, Take Game 1 in Chicago

            I sadly pulled my support for Washington after during the middle of the year proclaiming them a dark horse title contender. Their Game 1 performance was even more impressive when you consider the sub-par shooting effort from both John Wall and Bradley Beal.

5. Giancarlo Stanton Blasts Walk Off Grand Slam

            We try to not to make a habit of getting too excited or disappointed about April MLB results, but 2014 looks like the year that Stanton finally puts together a hammer-of-the-gods fantasy season.

4. Blues Win a Second Straight Overtime Game Over Chicago

            St. Louis is lucky to have a two-game cushion, as it looks like they’ll be without star forward David Backes for the foreseeable future.
        
3. Pavel Datsyuk Schools Bruins Defense, Gives Red Wings Game 1 Win
            Datsyuk’s goal looked like something straight out of NHL 2003, but at least Boston pummeled the Wings in Game 2.
         
2. Columbus Blue Jackets Win First Playoff Game in Franchise History
            Good for them.

1. Warriors Defeat Foul-Plagued Clippers, Steal Game 1

            The real winner here was the officials, as there was a disproportionate amount of ticky-tack fouls. We’re expecting both teams to have a little more freedom during Game 2 tonight.

EDITORS NOTE: Incredibly, this is post #500 we've made in this space. Most of my good friends would’ve probably bet that I would’ve never made it past 50. Thanks to all the loyal readers (all eight of you) who continue to read every post. Here’s to 500 more.

NBA First Round Picks

          We covered the first half of the best part of the sports year with our hockey picks (so much for Bruins in 4), and now here's our second set of picks.

Western Conference

#4 Houston Rockets vs. #5 Portland Trail Blazers

            Of all the Western first round match-ups, this is the most likely to go the full seven games. We’ll bet on Houston winning a Game 7 at home against a Portland club that hasn’t been the same since it’s dominant opening two months. Rockets in 7

#3 Los Angeles Clippers vs. #6 Golden State Warriors

            Going small without David Lee last year was one thing, but trying to do it without defensive anchor Andrew Bogut is a tall order. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are good enough to win a couple of games by themselves, but the lack of interior defense will prove fatal to Golden State. Clippers in 6

#2 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. #7 Memphis Grizzlies

            Rough draw for the Thunder, as they’ll get beat up a little bit down low, but ultimately their superior perimeter play will overcome the Grizzlies. Thunder in 6

#1 San Antonio Spurs vs. #8 Dallas Mavericks

            By far the greatest mismatch in the West, it will take a superhuman effort by Dirk Nowitzki to make this series remotely entertaining. Spurs in 4

Eastern Conference

#4 Chicago Bulls vs. #5 Washington Wizards

            Washington has more talent, but the dramatic difference in the quality of coaching will ultimately doom Washington. Bulls in 6

#3 Toronto Raptors vs. #6 Brooklyn Nets

            The only “upset” we’ll predict in Round 1, and that’s only because of seeding. Brooklyn is much deeper, and should handle the Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan tandem. Nets in 6

#2 Miami Heat vs. #7 Charlotte Bobcats

            We’re willing to bet that a monster game by Al Jefferson will prevent the Bobcats from getting shutout. Heat in 5

#1 Indiana Pacers vs. #8 Atlanta Hawks

            Atlanta isn’t adequately equipped to capitalize on a Pacers club prone to long bouts of errant field goal attempts. Pacers in 4

2014 Stanley Cup Playoff First Round Picks

     For the rare breed that enjoys both basketball and hockey (I'm proudly in this group. No need to hate one or the other in my book), the first half of the best stretch of the sports year begins tomorrow night. We haven't followed hockey as closely since the end of the Olympics, so even more than usual, take these picks with a grain of salt.

Western Conference

#4 San Jose Sharks vs. #5 Los Angeles Kings

            You don’t bet on Sharks in April, unless they are deep in the Pacific Ocean matched up against a manatee. Kings in 6

#3 St. Louis Blues vs. #5 Chicago Black Hawks

            Interesting match-up here, as you have the two top teams from the first two thirds of the season facing off in an unlikely first round match-up. Chicago was ravaged by injuries, but should be back to full strength with Patrick Kane returning to the lineup. How soon he shakes the rust off will determine Chicago’s chance of moving on. St. Louis choked away the Central Division with six straight losses, but teams have sputtered into the postseason before and then turned it on for a deep playoff run. This will be the best series in the West, and we see it going the full seven. Advantage to the team not needing a bunch of injured dudes to return at 100%. Blues in 7

#2 Colorado Avalanche vs. #7 Minnesota Wild

            It’s cool to have Colorado back as a competitive team. Apparently all it took was putting their best players from their hey-day in the late-90s in management gigs (we love Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, anyway we can get Forsberg involved?) to return the team to relevance. Only Los Angeles scored fewer goals among the remaining playoff teams during the regular season than the Wild, and unfortunately Minnesota doesn’t trot out Johnathan Quick in goal. We think the next generation of Aves take care of business in round 1. Avalanche in 4

#1 Anaheim Ducks vs. #8 Dallas Stars

            The Ducks are solid, and Dallas doesn’t possess the necessary depth on the blue-line to contain them. Tyler Seguin (remember him Bruins fans? He only had a career year this season) is talented enough to steal a game, but Dallas will be lucky to push this to 6. Ducks in 5

Eastern Conference

#5 New York Rangers vs. #6 Philadelphia Flyers

            This shit is going seven games, and New York employing Henrik Lundqvist was the tiebreaker for me. Rangers in 7

#3 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #4 Montreal Canadiens

            Here’s your best goalie match-up of the first round, with Vezina Trophy candidates Carey Price and Ben Bishop facing off. Tampa Bay’s 2013-14 campaign is criminally underrated, as they were able to hold the fort down even after shipping a disgruntled Martin St. Louis to New York. However, we expect Gold Medal winning goalie Price to stand on his head and steal a Game 7 on the road. Canadiens in 7

#2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets

            Pittsburgh wobbled into the postseason, and Columbus is better than you think after posting the fifth best goal differential in the Eastern Conference. Here’s our upset special. Blue Jackets in 6

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Detroit Red Wings

            At first glance, it looks like a bad draw to end up with the Red Wings in Round 1, but Nicklas Lidstrom isn’t walking through that door. Steve Yzerman isn’t walking through that door. Boston will roll. Bruins in 4

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (4/11-4/13)

10. Phil Mickelson Misses Masters Cut
            The TV ratings were already in the toilet with Tiger Woods involved. With golf’s second biggest draw done for the weekend, this could go down as the lowest watched Masters tournament in decades.

9. Grady Sizemore Rocks C.C. Sabathia, Leads Red Sox Victory

            Granted it’s a small sample size, but Sizemore’s improbable comeback this season has been one of the underreported stories in MLB. He took full advantage of C.C. Sabathia’s diminishing fastball velocity Friday night.

8. New York Knicks Eliminated From Playoff Contention

            The best part of New York’s comically disappointing 2013-14 campaign is that their first round pick is being shipped to Denver. Even with Phil Jackson in charge, there should be legitimate concerns that Carmelo Anthony is going to bolt for another team.

7. Milwaukee Brewers Win Ninth Straight
            Hacking at the first pitch at a rate higher than any other club in baseball, the Brewers should be the official MLB team of the A.D.D. generation.

6. Chase Elliott Wins Second Straight Nationwide Race

            Instead of attending his Senior Prom, Elliott instead decided to win at the hardest track on the NASCAR circuit in his first trip there. There isn’t a more talented prodigy in any sport than the son of Bill Elliott.

5. Bruins Clinch Presidents Cup
            That’s not necessarily a good thing, as the recent Stanley Cup Playoff success of the league’s overall top regular season team isn’t that great. Boston begins their Stanley Cup march on Friday against Detroit.

4. Kevin Harvick Dominates Darlington

            Harvick is the poster child of NASCAR’s new win or go home scoring system. He’s not even in the top-20 in most points scored, but his two wins would have him seeded first if The Chase started today.
         
3. Paul Pierce Joins 25,000 Point Club
            The future Hall of Famer joins seventeen others in NBA history to reach this milestone. Big props to the former captain of the Celtics.
         
2. Pacers Regain Control of Eastern Conference
            I had a whole paragraph written mourning the inevitability of Miami making it to a fourth straight NBA Finals after stomping all over Indiana Friday night, but then an improbable series unfolded the next two days. A physically spent Heat club (even Lebron looked sort of human Saturday) lost to the Hawks, and then Indiana pulled off their biggest win of the year so far against Oklahoma City.

1. Bubba Watson Claims Second Masters Title

            Bubba’s ridiculous 366-yard drive on 13 felt like the moment where any chance another golfer had was gone. On a weekend with no Tiger and no Phil, this is the best result the PGA could’ve hoped for.

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (4/4-4/6)

10. Another Sprint Cup Race Ruined By Weather
            The rainout on Sunday made Texas the third weekend of the year impacted by rain, which is a damn shame, because the racing is as good as it’s been in well over a decade. At least Joey Logano put on a good show Monday to secure his first win of the season.

9. Rockies Outfielder Charlie Blackmon Goes Bonkers

            Going 6-6 with four doubles and a dinger, Blackmon probably helped 0.0824% of fantasy teams across the country with his massive stat line on Friday.

8. Chris Johnson Released By Tennessee Titans

            To the uninformed NFL fan, it’s hard to believe that CJ2K is on the scrap heat just five years after setting the record for most total yards from scrimmage.

7. Connecticut and Notre Dame Will Play For Women’s Title Again
            At some point, don’t other colleges have to catch up to these two in recruiting? The women’s pool does appear to be getting a little deeper, but the sport can really take off when there are finally some squads capable of taking down the top two programs. Connecticut is probably going to win by 15 points or more Tuesday night.

6. Derek Jeter Now Eighth On All-Time Hit List
            Jeter passed TECMO Super Baseball great Paul Molitor with two singles on Sunday. If he’s healthy for the majority of the season, there’s a chance he finishes his career sixth on the all-time hit list.

5. 18-Year Old Chase Elliott Wins First Career Nationwide Series Race

            The son of 1988 Winston Cup Champion Bill Elliott, Chase took command for good with a power move off turn four on Kevin Harvick. Between him and Kyle Larson, the future of NASCAR finally looks bright.

4. Timberwolves Knock Off Heat in Double Overtime
            In what will go down as a disappointing 2013-14 campaign, it was good to see the Timberwolves finally win a close game on the road.
          
3. Boston Bruins Clinch Top Seed in Eastern Conference
            Seeding isn’t as big a deal in the NHL as it is in other sports, but of all the teams in the East, Boston appears to be the best built for a deep playoff run.
         
2. UConn Keeps Slaying Giants, Knocks Off Florida in Final 4
            It looks more and more like the Huskies were undervalued after spending their first season playing in a conference devastated by the break-up of the Big East.

1. Aaron Harrison Delivers Another Dagger, Puts Kentucky Into Championship Game

            How many more backbreaking 3s does this guy need to make before we can get a defender to put a hand in his face? Allowing him to get a shot off while protecting a 2-point lead was a fatal error by Wisconsin.

Overcooked MLB Preview

            Some of you asked if I was going to write about real baseball this year, and I’m proud to say that I did. Unfortunately, I forgot to post this Sunday afternoon, so you’re getting it two days later than it was originally intended to be released. Based on my March Madness performance, it’s probably for the better, as I wouldn’t want anyone making bets on any advice I have to offer at the moment. Without further ado, we run through each division, with some playoff predictions at the end.

 



NL West

5. Colorado Rockies

            The pitching is abysmal, and we predict by June that whispers of Troy Tulowitzki ending up in pinstripes become shouts.

4. San Diego Padres
            Almost the exact opposite of Colorado, San Diego has the proud distinction of providing the most inept offense in the National League. A Chase Headley bounce-back campaign is their only hope.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

            If they were willing to pay the price for David Price, we’d consider bumping this team up to the top spot in the NL West. Without him, their rotation is a bit of a mess until Archie Bradley reaches the Major Leagues.

2. San Francisco Giants

            The 2012 World Series champs had a down 2013 for a variety of reasons, but if half of those issues correct themselves, they should be looking at a Wild Card spot.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

            They have the best starting pitcher (Clayton Kershaw), arguably the best shortstop (Hanley Ramirez), and MLB’s best chance of Manny Ramirez 2.0 (Yaisel Puig). Not to mention that they are owned by crazy people who will do whatever it takes at the trade deadline to improve the team. There’s always a chance of an October flameout, but in the regular season the Dodgers are the best bet to rack up the most wins in MLB.

AL West

5. Houston Astros

            Are the Astros the Philadelphia 76ers of MLB, or vice versa? Regardless, some of Houston’s top prospects will be hitting the bigs soon. There’s a chance they won’t be horrendous in 2016.

4. Oakland Athletics

            Oakland always squeezes more production out of it’s players than any other team, but season ending injuries to a couple prominent members of their starting rotation will set them back.

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

            I think Pujols comes back to near All-Star form, and Mike Trout is ridiculous, but until Los Angeles corrects their pitching issues, they won’t hang with Texas.

2. Seattle Mariners

            Either we’re over eager about Seattle because of their abundance of young starting pitching behind Felix Hernandez, or because Robinson Cano has been one of the team captains of my No Credentials Fantasy Baseball team for three years. Regardless, there’s a chance that Cano stabilizes an offense full of talented players who haven’t delivered yet.

1. Texas Rangers

            We’re bummed out about Jurickson Profar missing the first three months of the year, but there’s still a ridiculous amount of depth offensively. Prince Fielder will return to previous form playing his home games in Arlington, and Adrian Beltre is arguably the most under appreciated great player in the game. They’ll need to acquire another starting pitcher before the deadline to be a true threat in the playoffs, but there’s enough here for them to win the AL West.

NL Central

5. Chicago Cubs

            We’re about a year away from seeing the benefits of Theo Epstein’s rebuild, but at least Chicago should have the most exciting mid-season call-up in the form of Javier Baez. 

4. Milwaukee Brewers

            Milwaukee could win anywhere between 65 and 95 games and I wouldn’t be completely surprised. As we’ve written before, Ryan Braun is a complete asshole who won’t care about getting booed everywhere he goes. He should return to near MVP-level form. It’s the question marks in the starting pitching staff (in particular, presumed ace Yovani Gallardo, who imploded last year) that make us lukewarm on them surpassing any of the other three playoff teams in their division from a year ago.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

            The Pirates were a blast last year, even getting contributions from a pitcher who grew up right in No Credentials home turf. It would’ve been great to see them go all-in and acquire another power bat, but it appears they are just hoping for another step forward from Pedro Alvarez. They’ll still be competitive, but we see them just missing the Wildcard game.

2. St. Louis Cardinals

            Are the San Antonio Spurs the St. Louis Cardinals of the NBA, or vice versa? They’re incredible pitching depth will have them in the hunt as always come October.

1. Cincinnati Reds

            Forgetting his forgettable 0-4, four strikeouts performance on opening day, we think Billy Hamilton is the key to the Reds overtaking St. Louis in the NL Central. His transformational speed is enough of a difference maker to make an already potent Reds lineup all the more lethal.

AL Central

5. Minnesota Twins

            Hard not to think that Joe Mauer’s move away from catcher is about three or four years too late.

4. Chicago White Sox

            There are not a lot of interesting players here, but at least Jose Abreu should be fun to watch.

3. Cleveland Indians

            Last year’s most surprising AL playoff participant, Cleveland likely needs Carlos Santana to have a career year in order to put them over the hump.

2. Kansas City Royals

            For the first time in a while Kansas City actually has some depth in their starting rotation. Mike Moustakas fulfilling his post-hype sleeper status alongside former top prospect Eric Hosmer is needed for the Royals to have any chance of knocking off Detroit.

1. Detroit Tigers

            They have the best pure power hitter in baseball and the deepest starting rotation in the American League. Throw in some better clubhouse chemistry now that Prince Fielder is in Texas, and you have yourself the favorites to represent the American League in the World Series.

NL East

5. Miami Marlins

            At what point do the Marlins pull the trigger on a Giancarlo Stanton trade? He’s the best tool they have to completely reload their farm system.

4. New York Mets

            Matt Harvey’s injury really is a bummer. New York might’ve actually had a chance to at least be in shouting distance of a wildcard spot if their young ace was healthy.

3. Atlanta Braves

            No team was ravaged more by injuries during spring training than Atlanta. They are one of the few teams that have the depth to deal with losing 40% of their starting rotation (that’s a fancy way of saying they lost two starting pitchers), but we think that puts them a step behind in the NL East.

2. Philadelphia Phillies

            Remember the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns, who made a semi-improbable run to the Western Conference Finals a few seasons after it looked like the Nash Era would never contend for a NBA title again? That’s the kind of year I’m predicting for Philly.

1. Washington Nationals

            A full year of solid health for Bryce Harper (who was fortunate not to get a concussion after getting kicked in the head on opening day) is what we are predicting, as well as a serious run at the NL MVP award. If the offense improves their scoring output by one run per game over last year, their pitching will take care of the rest.

AL East

5. New York Yankees

            The infield is atrocious, there are no sure things in the starting rotation (Sabathia is washed up, Kuroda is a nerd stats regression candidate, and while we like Tanaka, we aren’t ready to bet the farm on him), and even more frightening, they don’t have THE HAMMER OF GOD anymore. Throw in the fact that they will be lucky to get 240 combined games out of Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran, and this has all the makings of a season similar to what the Red Sox endured in 2012.At least for their sake, Bobby Valentine isn’t the manager.

4. Baltimore Orioles

            For my money, no team whiffed more in the off-season than the Baltimore Orioles. The offense is dynamite (and the Nelson Cruz signing at least paid dividends on opening day), but if there was one team that needed to through an obscure amount of cash at Tanaka, it was Baltimore. Ubaldo Jimenez is not enough for the Orioles to get into playoff contention.

3. Boston Red Sox

            Coming off a year where just about everything went right, it would make sense that a market correction will occur. We are hopeful that Grady Sizemore (one of the franchise players on one of my all-time favorite fantasy baseball teams I owned in 2008) makes a serious run at Comeback Player of the Year.

2. Toronto Blue Jays

            Think of this prediction as the opposite of what I just said about Boston. Virtually everything went wrong for Toronto last year, and while they didn’t get off to a great start against Tampa Bay, we still think the Blue Jays have the manpower to at least finish second in the AL East.

1. Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays

            On paper, this is the best (Devil) Rays team of the Joe Maddon era. There’s so much pitching depth throughout the organization, they could trade David Price and still not miss a beat. Wil Myers will form a dynamic duo with Evan Longoria in his sophomore campaign, giving the offense a much-needed boost. Barring a significant injury to Longoria (which could happen), this is the team to beat in the AL East.

(Probably Terrible) Playoff Predictions

NL West = Dodgers

NL Central = Reds
NL East = Nationals
NL Wildcard 1 = Cardinals
NL Wildcard 2 = Giants

AL Central = Tigers

AL East = (Devil) Rays
AL West = Rangers
AL Wildcard 1 = Mariners
AL Wildcard 2 = Royals

NLCS = Reds over Cardinals

ALCS = Tigers over Rays

World Series = Reds over Tigers