Hawks over Wizards in 7
Bulls over Cavaliers in 6
Warriors over Grizzlies in 4
Rockets over Clippers in 6
Showing posts with label Cleveland Cavaliers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cleveland Cavaliers. Show all posts
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
2015 NBA First Round Playoff Picks
Eastern Conference
#1 Atlanta Hawks vs. #8 Brooklyn Nets
Atlanta
outscored the Nets by 69 points in their four victories against them this
season, and there is little reason to expect Brooklyn to turn it around.
Atlanta’s issues won’t pop up until the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hawks in 4
#2 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #7 Boston Celtics
Brad
Stevens is the best coach in the NBA not named Gregg Popovich. In a year where
Boston actively tanked by shipping Jeff Greene and Rajon Rondo out of town,
Stevens led the Celtics’ plucky group of castoffs and youngsters to a shocking
playoff appearance (big ups to all 15 people who had the Celtics making the
playoffs this year instead of the Bruins). It’s also fitting that Lebron plays
his first playoff series against the team he lost his last playoff series as a
member of the Cavs in 2010. We’re predicting Boston’s home crowd will propel
the Celtics to one home win, but that’s about it.
Cavaliers in 5
#3 Chicago Bulls vs. #6 Milwaukee Bucks
There’s
a lot to like with Milwaukee long term, but they don’t have nearly enough
offense to deal with a Bulls team that is finally healthy.
Bulls in 4
#4 Toronto Raptors vs. #5 Washington Wizards
The
only series in the entire first round featuring two teams that both have 0% chance
of making it to the NBA Finals, we’re guessing Washington’s awful coaching will
prevent them from matching last year’s feat of winning a series.
Raptors in 6
Western Conference
#1 Golden State Warriors vs. #8 New Orleans Pelicans
Golden
State had to be a little bummed out that Oklahoma City’s one man band didn’t
make it in instead of New Orleans (we love Russell Westbrook here at No
Credentials, but there was no way he could single-handedly win a game against
the Warriors in the playoffs), but they should make quick work of the Pelicans.
Kudos to The Brow though for making the playoffs in a stacked Western
Conference.
Warriors in 4
#2 Houston Rockets vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks
If
2012 playoffs Rajon Rondo comes out for this series, Dallas can win. That’s
probably not happening though.
Rockets in 5
#3 Los Angeles Clippers vs. #6 San Antonio Spurs
Here’s
your winner for most compelling first round series of the 2015 NBA Playoffs. We’re
expecting the Spurs to make it difficult for both Blake Griffin and DeAndre “SECOND
COMING OF BILL FUCKING RUSSELL ACCORDING TO DOC RIVERS” Jordan to share the
court together, and the Clippers extreme lack of talent off the bench will bite
them in the end.
Spurs in 6
#4 Portland Trail Blazers vs. #5 Memphis Grizzlies
Both
of these teams have had a tough go of it injury-wise since the All-Star break,
so it’s fitting they catch each other in Round 1. Mike Conley’s availability is
a huge variable, but ultimately we expect the Grizzlies to find a way.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
NBA All-Star Break Rankings
Now
that Marv Albert is done complaining about the lack of defensive effort in the
All-Star Game, we are here to rank all 30 teams. In reverse order, we are
listing the teams we feel have the best chance to win the title in June.
Spoiler alert…it won’t be the 76ers.
Atrocious
30. Philadelphia 76ers
Someone
needs to tell Joel Embiid to take it easy on the junk food while he’s
rehabbing.
29. New York Knicks
We’re
still trying to figure out which hallucinogenic drug Phil Jackson was on before
the season when he thought the Knicks were a playoff team. At least they
actually have the rights to their first round pick this year.
28. Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota
earns karma points for actually trying to win games in the brutal Western
Conference this year, and after a slow start Andrew Wiggins is beginning to
look like a future superstar.
27. Los Angeles Lakers
Considering
how atrocious Kobe Bryant was shooting from the field, it might hurt their
lottery chances that he is on the shelf for the rest of the year.
Occasionally Frisky
26. Orlando Magic
If
they can keep the core of young guys they have together, Orlando might have the
makings of a playoff team within two years.
25. Utah Jazz
Quietly,
Utah is giving up the fourth fewest points per game among Western Conference
teams. No one knows that because they are scoring the fewest points per game
among Western Conference teams.
24. Indiana Pacers
They
are a pain in the ass to play every night, but points have been incredibly hard
to come by without Paul George. As far as lottery teams, they could have the
greatest impact on the playoff picture depending on whether or not they decide
to move some of their veteran players.
23. Sacramento Kings
Here’s
a short synopsis of the Kings’ season so far for those of you on the East
Coast.
- Got off to a promising start with Boogie Cousins playing like a MVP candidate.
- Boogie contracted meningitis (which is bonkers), and the Kings went into a total freefall.
- The Kings fired Mike Malone while Cousins was out sick.
- Sacramento is now a team in utter turmoil, but at least Boogie is back healthy.
We here at No Credentials love Boogie Cousins, and we fully support the Boston Celtics sending 8 future first round picks to acquire him.
22. Boston Celtics
Boston
has enough draft picks over the next few years to build a 53-man roster, which
would be cool if they were an NFL franchise.
In Need of a Rebuild
21. Brooklyn Nets
Fortunately
for the Celtics, three of the picks they are owed will be coming from the
dumpster fire that is the Brooklyn Nets.
20. Denver Nuggets
Denver
is living proof of what happens when you end up picking between tenth and
twentieth every year in the draft.
Fatally Flawed, But in the Eastern Conference
19. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons
keep dropping inefficient shooters (Josh Smith was waived, and Brandon Jennings
ruptured his Achilles), which probably means D.J. Augustin should be looking
into how much his deductible is on his health insurance.
18. Miami Heat
Miami
runs the same plays they have for years, but they don’t as well when Lebron
James isn’t in the lineup.
17. Charlotte Hornets
Lance
Stephenson has worked out so bad for the Hornets, they are actually considering
flipping him for Joe Johnson and Joe Johnson’s ginormous contract.
16. Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee
has managed to stay afloat despite the loss of Jabari Parker (what a bummer) to
injury and Larry Sanders to the love of marijuana. The Greek Freak is the real
deal.
Destined to Be on the Outside Looking In
15. New Orleans Pelicans
One
year I renamed one of my fantasy football teams “Aaron Rodgers”, because he was
the only reason my team was competitive. New Orleans should consider doing the
same and going by “The Brow” the rest of the way.
14. Phoenix Suns
Phoenix
is losing its grip on the eighth seed, which is a problem when they still have
the hardest part of their schedule ahead of them. Rumors that Goran Dragic is
on the trade block smacks of desperation.
Flawed Contenders
13. Los Angeles Clippers
In a
loaded Western Conference, Blake Griffin’s staph infection is enough to drop
the Clippers out of the playoffs altogether.
12. Washington Wizards
Bradley
Beal has been off all season while dealing with a variety of injuries, and
that’s what will hold Washington back from being a contender in the East.
11. Oklahoma City Thunder
Despite
all of the games missed by both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and the
handi-cap of having the worst coach in the league, the Thunder are only half a
game behind Phoenix. Their title chances hinge largely on whether or not they
can avoid Golden State in the first round of the playoffs.
10. Dallas Mavericks
Rajon
Rondo has delivered uneven results so far, but we’re guessing he will deliver
value come playoff time.
9. San Antonio Spurs
This
San Antonio club remains me of the Spurs squad that was swept by the Suns in
the first round of the 2010 playoffs. That’s not a good thing.
8. Houston Rockets
James
Harden has been playing out of his mind, but Houston’s title hopes hinge
largely on whether or not Dwight Howard is back at full strength before the
playoffs.
7. Toronto Raptors
Remember
last year when the Pacers got to the playoffs and suddenly forgot how to
execute basic offensive functions? That’s our prediction for how the Raptors
will look in April.
Legit Title Contenders
6. Portland Trail Blazers
LaMarcus
Aldridge deciding to play through his thumb injury was the turning point of
Portland’s season.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
We’re
already looking forward to the over analysis of Kevin Love shooting 25% from
the floor in Cleveland’s first round playoff series. We’d bump Cleveland as
high as second if they can add one more useful big man.
4. Memphis Grizzlies
Other
than the Spurs, there isn’t another team in the league whose players understand
their roles and deliver consistently on a nightly basis.
3. Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta
has played beautiful basketball all season long, but too many times we’ve seen
groups like this crumble in a conference finals. We’re not sure if Al Horford
or Jeff Teague are capable of delivering a bucket when it really matters come
playoff time.
2. Chicago Bulls
To
say Chicago’s play has been uneven is being kind, but assuming Joakim Noah can
get to at least 80% effectiveness by April 1, there isn’t a deeper team in the league.
1. Golden State Warriors
If it were medically possible, the Warriors would be
wise to freeze Andrew Bogut in carbonite so he can be healthy in the playoffs.
Friday, May 16, 2014
NBA Season Wrap-Up: The Lottery Teams
As
the NBA playoffs approach the home stretch, we’ll begin taking a look at all 30
teams to get a quick look at their status heading into the off-season. In addition, we will also honor each team's fantasy basketball MVP (EDITORS NOTE: I had two championship winning teams this year, so sorry in advance for me associating most of these guys with one of those groups). We start
with the teams who get to participate in the most anticipated NBA Draft Lottery
since 2007.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 25%
Fantasy MVP = PG/SG Ramon Sessions (not a lot to choose from here, but Sessions was productive during the fantasy playoffs for head-to-head gamers)
Milwaukee’s reward for building one of the most comically inept NBA rosters of all-time is the guarantee that they will have a top-4 pick in the draft. Any of the top prospects would be a match (for what it’s worth, the ESPN Lottery Mock Draft has the Bucks taking Andrew Wiggins first if they win the lottery), which makes sense when you’re talking about a team that only won 15 games this year. The Greek Freak showed flashes of brilliance during his rookie campaign, and would be a great compliment to either Wiggins or Jabari Parker. John Henson also had his moments before the calendar hit 2014, but needs to improve his free throw shooting to even 60% in order to earn enough minutes to make an impact. Larry Sanders had a year he would like to forget, but at least he is starting a four-year, $49 million extension in 2014-15. This contract looks like a giant sinkhole for the Bucks, but a top draft pick could change the momentum of the franchise. Milwaukee also has two second rounders coming from the Lakers and Raptors, so there potential haul from the 2014 draft could be substantial if one of those second rounders hits. A first overall pick and a new ownership group could be all the Bucks need to begin the path back to relevance.
29. Philadelphia 76ers
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 29
Chance of Winning Lottery = 19.9%
Fantasy MVP = PG Michael Carter-Williams (bonus points if your league didn't count turnovers)
The most blatant of this year’s impressive crop of tankers, Philadelphia’s master plan should come to fruition barring a miracle ping-pong ball draw for the Pelicans. New Orleans shipped their first rounder to the 76ers last year in the Jrue Holliday trade, but the pick is top-5 protected. If New Orleans doesn’t draw one of the top three spots, Philadelphia will add the tenth pick in the draft along with wherever their own pick ends up. Michael Carter-Williams did demonstrate that he will be a competent NBA point-guard, and Nerlens Noel will be added to the roster after sitting out 2013-14 recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at Kentucky (he could’ve played after New Years, but Philly wisely left him in street clothes). Wiggins and Parker are the best fits for their first selection, and a power forward or shooting guard would make the most sense at 10. With the exception of Thaddeus Young, no one else on the 2013-14 roster should be counted on to be a major piece of next year’s club. It’s not unrealistic to think that the 76ers could be in the playoffs next year.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 15.6% and 0.7% (own rights to Knicks pick)
Fantasy MVP = SG Arron Afflalo (might be a top-5 SG in the league, which sounds crazy)
Orlando has a similar set-up that Philadelphia has, they just didn’t suck quite as much. Furthermore, they own the Knicks pick no matter where it ends up in the draft, meaning there is a 0.010ish% chance they could end up with the top-2 picks. Victor Oladipo should’ve been rookie of the year, and made steps to establish himself as a NBA point guard. Even with that, Orlando is still reportedly very high on Australian import Dante Exum (Chad Ford has Orlando taking Exum second if Andrew Wiggins is off the board). That would give the Magic a terrific pair of combo guards to build around. Orlando is still owed two more first round picks in 2017, so the window to rebuild the roster in the post D12-era is still wide open.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 10.4%
Fantasy MVP = C Enes Kanter (was terrible almost the whole year, but was a double-double machine for one of my championship winning teams in the playoffs)
Utah earns the distinction of being the only Western Conference club to blatantly tank, but they still couldn’t out-suck three teams from the East. The Jazz will be receiving Golden State’s first round pick this year, which if the Warriors play defense in the rest of their first round series like they did in Game 2 against the Clippers, will end up in the late-teens. Theoretically, Utah would have the ammunition to move up a couple spots in the draft if it felt the need to do so. Utah has a couple of talented big men in Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter, and Trey Burke’s play was promising, leaving the 2 and the 3 as Utah’s biggest needs. Gordon Hayward has probably played his final game in a Jazz uniform, making Jabari Parker a perfect fit. If the Jazz miss out on Parker or Wiggins, don’t be shocked if they either trade down in the draft or ship one of their big men out to make room for a guy like Julius Randle.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 10.3%
Fantasy MVP = PF Jared Sullinger (I guess)
Brad Stevens first year as coach went to script. His team played hard and looked prepared every night, but ultimately lost due to a lack of talent. There isn’t any pick among the top eight ranked players that wouldn’t make sense for Boston. Point guard is the only position they have an actually building block, but drafting one would give the Celtics the security to trade Rajon Rondo. No team in the NBA has more extra picks over the next five drafts as the Celtics do, with their first extra one coming from Brooklyn this year. With the quality of talent at the top of the draft, don’t be shocked to see Danny Ainge put a package together and move up if the ping-pong balls don’t bounce Boston’s way in the lottery.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 6.3%
Fantasy MVP = PF/C Jordan Hill (another cheap big who went ham for one of my clubs in the playoffs. Thanks Pau Gasol for getting vertigo!)
I was tempted to type “100%” when listing the Lakers odds of winning the lottery, but rumors that the Lakers are willing to move their first round pick for an established star make it less likely the league would rig the draft for their benefit. It would make the most sense for L.A. to hang on to their pick and draft a big like Joel Embiid or Aaron Gordon, but logic doesn’t always take precedent in Lakerland (example: Kobe Bryant’s $48 million extension he signed after tearing his Achilles). Their 2015 pick is only top-5 protected (otherwise it ends up getting shipped to the Suns), so unless they plan posting the worst record in the league, sucking next year isn’t an option.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 4.3%
Fantasy MVP = PF/C DeMarcus Cousins (one of two dudes who were on both of my teams. Well done Boogie)
Turmoil is usually the name of the game in Sacramento, and this off-season will be no different. The only silver lining is at least the team isn’t moving for the foreseeable future. DeMarcus Cousins established himself as a truly elite big man, but it’s hard to forecast who will be around him when next season starts. Rudy Gay has a player option for 2014-15, and reportedly is still on the fence on whether or not he’s going to exercise it. Gay was surprisingly efficient upon arriving in Sacramento, so his loss would hurt. PG Isaiah Thomas is also slated to be a restricted free agent, with his chances of returning to the Kings next year probably 50%. If we could guarantee that they would end up with Marcus Smart in the draft we’d sign off on the Kings letting Thomas walk. Ben McLemore showed very few flashes during his rookie campaign, and needs to take a major step forward during his sophomore year push the Kings to the next level.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 2.8%
Fantasy MVP = C Andre Drummond (hope you were punting free throw percentage)
The first team on this list that we were incredibly wrong about (we still had Milwaukee in the lottery, so even though we were eleven spots off, we won’t count that as a major error), Detroit’s moves last summer all proved to be backwards. Things are so bad that Joe Dumars is out of a job. Josh Smith demonstrated on roughly 1,923,137 occasions that he can no longer play the 3, so moving Greg Monroe to open up minutes at power forward is priority one. Monroe is a very skilled big man who should garner a ton of interest from across the league. The biggest concern for the Pistons is the Draft Lottery itself, because if any team behind them jumps into the top-3, Detroit’s top-8 protected first round pick will be sent to Charlotte. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pistons package their first rounder with Monroe to try to move up in the draft.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 1.7%
Fantasy MVP = PG Kyrie Irving (by default)
Cleveland made a big deal last year about not wanting to be in the lottery again, but unfortunately drafting Anthony Bennett first was not what the Cavs needed to make a playoff push this season. I still think the pieces are there for Cleveland to have a contending club (especially in the East), but no team had more chemistry issues. Dion Waiters needs to be sent out of town, and teams would be wise to kick the tires on just how cheap they could get him for (when he’s rolling, he can carry an offense). Someone out of the Bennett/Varejao/Thompson needs to be switched out with a rim protector. I’d be willing to bet a large sum of cash that Luol Deng will not return, but at least there is a smidge of hope that Lebron James could return to the team this summer. It would take a loss in the playoffs and him deciding playing with Kyrie Irving for the next four years makes more sense than playing another four with an aging Dwyane Wade, but at least it’s in play.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 1.1%
Fantasy MVP = PF Anthony Davis (he'll be a top-3 pick for the forseeable future)
No team had a season equal parts encouraging and discouraging as the New Orleans Pelicans. On one hand, Anthony Davis emerged as a true superstar who projects to be the best power forward in the association for the next decade. On the other, the rest of the roster was ravaged by injuries. The Pellies only have two years to build a contender around Davis before he can hit free agency, so 2014-15 will be a make or break year. During the brief time has healthy, New Orleans looked terrifying offensively when Ryan Anderson was on the court with Davis. He should be back for the start of the regular season. Jrue Holliday also went down, but was held out for tanking purposes the final couple of months of the season. The larger issue is what to do with both Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans. It didn’t take long for it to become blatantly obvious that these two can’t be on the court at the same time, as both performed at their best when the other was out due to injury. Unfortunately both contracts are virtually immovable. Barring a lottery miracle, New Orleans will not get any help from the first round of the draft. Unless they are chosen for one of the top-3 picks, their selection is going to Philly.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 0.8%
Fantasy MVP = C Timofey Mozgov (thanks for the 30 and 29 or whatever you put up against Golden State on the last Thursday of the regular season)
There’s nothing worse than the sad feeling of being in NBA no-man’s land, and that’s squarely where the Nuggets sit. Barring an extraordinary result in the lottery, they will likely pick after all of the top-tier players are gone, and other than Ty Lawson (who would best be served as being the third banana on a title contending team), there’s no one here you want to build a title contender around. Next season, there won’t be another team in the NBA who needs to bottom out more than the Nuggets.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 0% (their pick is going to Orlando)
Fantasy MVP = SF/PF Carmelo Anthony
Phase I of a nuclear off-season just was covered when Steve Kerr decided coaching the Splash Brothers made more sense than latching on to a bunch of aging ball hogs. Phase II could very well be Carmelo Anthony departing, which with news of a rising salary cap this summer, seems more likely by the day. Fortunately for New York most of their cap contracts on the books expire after next season (see ya later Stoudemire!) so they can look to retool through free agency again.
18. Minnesota Timberwolves
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 13
Chance of Winning Lottery = 0.6%
Fantasy MVP = PF Kevin Love (actually suited up for the fantasy playoffs, much to my fantasy gaming delight)
In the NFL you often hear the label “The Good Bad Team”, which relates to clubs that consistently clobber the worst teams in the league but always fail against the top echelon. Gorgui Dieng was a great late season find (especially for one of my fantasy teams), which makes Minnesota’s off-season all the more interesting. Nikola Pekovic was just signed to an extension a year ago, but Dieng makes more long term sense because of his shot blocking ability. How they handle there center situation ultimately could determine whether or not they can upgrade at small forward, and for the long term, keep Kevin Love in town.
Chance of Winning Lottery = 0.5%
Fantasy MVP = PG Goran Dragic (in regards to where he was chosen in drafts, the best bang for the buck among any player in the league)
Winner of the award for “Team No Credentials Was Most Wrong About Before The Season”, the Suns would probably be in the playoffs if Eric Bledsoe hadn’t missed extended time during the winter for a torn meniscus. Bledsoe and Dragic coexisted beautifully when on the court together, and Phoenix looks to be a big man short of serious title contention. Phoenix is in the rare position of having extra picks (two late first rounders will come from Washington and Indiana, and they will get a Lakers first round pick within the next three years) and cap room, so don’t rule out a surprise signing of Carmelo Anthony.
SG = Eric Bledsoe, Suns
SF = Carmelo Anthony, Knicks
PF = Anthony Davis, Pelicans (sorry Kevin Love, better chance of winning a title with The Brow)
C = DeMarcus Cousins, Kings
30. Milwaukee Bucks
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 19Chance of Winning Lottery = 25%
Fantasy MVP = PG/SG Ramon Sessions (not a lot to choose from here, but Sessions was productive during the fantasy playoffs for head-to-head gamers)
Milwaukee’s reward for building one of the most comically inept NBA rosters of all-time is the guarantee that they will have a top-4 pick in the draft. Any of the top prospects would be a match (for what it’s worth, the ESPN Lottery Mock Draft has the Bucks taking Andrew Wiggins first if they win the lottery), which makes sense when you’re talking about a team that only won 15 games this year. The Greek Freak showed flashes of brilliance during his rookie campaign, and would be a great compliment to either Wiggins or Jabari Parker. John Henson also had his moments before the calendar hit 2014, but needs to improve his free throw shooting to even 60% in order to earn enough minutes to make an impact. Larry Sanders had a year he would like to forget, but at least he is starting a four-year, $49 million extension in 2014-15. This contract looks like a giant sinkhole for the Bucks, but a top draft pick could change the momentum of the franchise. Milwaukee also has two second rounders coming from the Lakers and Raptors, so there potential haul from the 2014 draft could be substantial if one of those second rounders hits. A first overall pick and a new ownership group could be all the Bucks need to begin the path back to relevance.
29. Philadelphia 76ers
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 29
Chance of Winning Lottery = 19.9%
Fantasy MVP = PG Michael Carter-Williams (bonus points if your league didn't count turnovers)
The most blatant of this year’s impressive crop of tankers, Philadelphia’s master plan should come to fruition barring a miracle ping-pong ball draw for the Pelicans. New Orleans shipped their first rounder to the 76ers last year in the Jrue Holliday trade, but the pick is top-5 protected. If New Orleans doesn’t draw one of the top three spots, Philadelphia will add the tenth pick in the draft along with wherever their own pick ends up. Michael Carter-Williams did demonstrate that he will be a competent NBA point-guard, and Nerlens Noel will be added to the roster after sitting out 2013-14 recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at Kentucky (he could’ve played after New Years, but Philly wisely left him in street clothes). Wiggins and Parker are the best fits for their first selection, and a power forward or shooting guard would make the most sense at 10. With the exception of Thaddeus Young, no one else on the 2013-14 roster should be counted on to be a major piece of next year’s club. It’s not unrealistic to think that the 76ers could be in the playoffs next year.
28. Orlando Magic
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 25Chance of Winning Lottery = 15.6% and 0.7% (own rights to Knicks pick)
Fantasy MVP = SG Arron Afflalo (might be a top-5 SG in the league, which sounds crazy)
Orlando has a similar set-up that Philadelphia has, they just didn’t suck quite as much. Furthermore, they own the Knicks pick no matter where it ends up in the draft, meaning there is a 0.010ish% chance they could end up with the top-2 picks. Victor Oladipo should’ve been rookie of the year, and made steps to establish himself as a NBA point guard. Even with that, Orlando is still reportedly very high on Australian import Dante Exum (Chad Ford has Orlando taking Exum second if Andrew Wiggins is off the board). That would give the Magic a terrific pair of combo guards to build around. Orlando is still owed two more first round picks in 2017, so the window to rebuild the roster in the post D12-era is still wide open.
27. Utah Jazz
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 27Chance of Winning Lottery = 10.4%
Fantasy MVP = C Enes Kanter (was terrible almost the whole year, but was a double-double machine for one of my championship winning teams in the playoffs)
Utah earns the distinction of being the only Western Conference club to blatantly tank, but they still couldn’t out-suck three teams from the East. The Jazz will be receiving Golden State’s first round pick this year, which if the Warriors play defense in the rest of their first round series like they did in Game 2 against the Clippers, will end up in the late-teens. Theoretically, Utah would have the ammunition to move up a couple spots in the draft if it felt the need to do so. Utah has a couple of talented big men in Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter, and Trey Burke’s play was promising, leaving the 2 and the 3 as Utah’s biggest needs. Gordon Hayward has probably played his final game in a Jazz uniform, making Jabari Parker a perfect fit. If the Jazz miss out on Parker or Wiggins, don’t be shocked if they either trade down in the draft or ship one of their big men out to make room for a guy like Julius Randle.
26. Boston Celtics
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 26Chance of Winning Lottery = 10.3%
Fantasy MVP = PF Jared Sullinger (I guess)
Brad Stevens first year as coach went to script. His team played hard and looked prepared every night, but ultimately lost due to a lack of talent. There isn’t any pick among the top eight ranked players that wouldn’t make sense for Boston. Point guard is the only position they have an actually building block, but drafting one would give the Celtics the security to trade Rajon Rondo. No team in the NBA has more extra picks over the next five drafts as the Celtics do, with their first extra one coming from Brooklyn this year. With the quality of talent at the top of the draft, don’t be shocked to see Danny Ainge put a package together and move up if the ping-pong balls don’t bounce Boston’s way in the lottery.
25. Los Angeles Lakers
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 22Chance of Winning Lottery = 6.3%
Fantasy MVP = PF/C Jordan Hill (another cheap big who went ham for one of my clubs in the playoffs. Thanks Pau Gasol for getting vertigo!)
I was tempted to type “100%” when listing the Lakers odds of winning the lottery, but rumors that the Lakers are willing to move their first round pick for an established star make it less likely the league would rig the draft for their benefit. It would make the most sense for L.A. to hang on to their pick and draft a big like Joel Embiid or Aaron Gordon, but logic doesn’t always take precedent in Lakerland (example: Kobe Bryant’s $48 million extension he signed after tearing his Achilles). Their 2015 pick is only top-5 protected (otherwise it ends up getting shipped to the Suns), so unless they plan posting the worst record in the league, sucking next year isn’t an option.
24. Sacramento Kings
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 24Chance of Winning Lottery = 4.3%
Fantasy MVP = PF/C DeMarcus Cousins (one of two dudes who were on both of my teams. Well done Boogie)
Turmoil is usually the name of the game in Sacramento, and this off-season will be no different. The only silver lining is at least the team isn’t moving for the foreseeable future. DeMarcus Cousins established himself as a truly elite big man, but it’s hard to forecast who will be around him when next season starts. Rudy Gay has a player option for 2014-15, and reportedly is still on the fence on whether or not he’s going to exercise it. Gay was surprisingly efficient upon arriving in Sacramento, so his loss would hurt. PG Isaiah Thomas is also slated to be a restricted free agent, with his chances of returning to the Kings next year probably 50%. If we could guarantee that they would end up with Marcus Smart in the draft we’d sign off on the Kings letting Thomas walk. Ben McLemore showed very few flashes during his rookie campaign, and needs to take a major step forward during his sophomore year push the Kings to the next level.
23. Detroit Pistons
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 14Chance of Winning Lottery = 2.8%
Fantasy MVP = C Andre Drummond (hope you were punting free throw percentage)
The first team on this list that we were incredibly wrong about (we still had Milwaukee in the lottery, so even though we were eleven spots off, we won’t count that as a major error), Detroit’s moves last summer all proved to be backwards. Things are so bad that Joe Dumars is out of a job. Josh Smith demonstrated on roughly 1,923,137 occasions that he can no longer play the 3, so moving Greg Monroe to open up minutes at power forward is priority one. Monroe is a very skilled big man who should garner a ton of interest from across the league. The biggest concern for the Pistons is the Draft Lottery itself, because if any team behind them jumps into the top-3, Detroit’s top-8 protected first round pick will be sent to Charlotte. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pistons package their first rounder with Monroe to try to move up in the draft.
22. Cleveland Cavaliers
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 16Chance of Winning Lottery = 1.7%
Fantasy MVP = PG Kyrie Irving (by default)
Cleveland made a big deal last year about not wanting to be in the lottery again, but unfortunately drafting Anthony Bennett first was not what the Cavs needed to make a playoff push this season. I still think the pieces are there for Cleveland to have a contending club (especially in the East), but no team had more chemistry issues. Dion Waiters needs to be sent out of town, and teams would be wise to kick the tires on just how cheap they could get him for (when he’s rolling, he can carry an offense). Someone out of the Bennett/Varejao/Thompson needs to be switched out with a rim protector. I’d be willing to bet a large sum of cash that Luol Deng will not return, but at least there is a smidge of hope that Lebron James could return to the team this summer. It would take a loss in the playoffs and him deciding playing with Kyrie Irving for the next four years makes more sense than playing another four with an aging Dwyane Wade, but at least it’s in play.
21. New Orleans Pelicans
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 18Chance of Winning Lottery = 1.1%
Fantasy MVP = PF Anthony Davis (he'll be a top-3 pick for the forseeable future)
No team had a season equal parts encouraging and discouraging as the New Orleans Pelicans. On one hand, Anthony Davis emerged as a true superstar who projects to be the best power forward in the association for the next decade. On the other, the rest of the roster was ravaged by injuries. The Pellies only have two years to build a contender around Davis before he can hit free agency, so 2014-15 will be a make or break year. During the brief time has healthy, New Orleans looked terrifying offensively when Ryan Anderson was on the court with Davis. He should be back for the start of the regular season. Jrue Holliday also went down, but was held out for tanking purposes the final couple of months of the season. The larger issue is what to do with both Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans. It didn’t take long for it to become blatantly obvious that these two can’t be on the court at the same time, as both performed at their best when the other was out due to injury. Unfortunately both contracts are virtually immovable. Barring a lottery miracle, New Orleans will not get any help from the first round of the draft. Unless they are chosen for one of the top-3 picks, their selection is going to Philly.
20. Denver Nuggets
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 21Chance of Winning Lottery = 0.8%
Fantasy MVP = C Timofey Mozgov (thanks for the 30 and 29 or whatever you put up against Golden State on the last Thursday of the regular season)
There’s nothing worse than the sad feeling of being in NBA no-man’s land, and that’s squarely where the Nuggets sit. Barring an extraordinary result in the lottery, they will likely pick after all of the top-tier players are gone, and other than Ty Lawson (who would best be served as being the third banana on a title contending team), there’s no one here you want to build a title contender around. Next season, there won’t be another team in the NBA who needs to bottom out more than the Nuggets.
19. New York Knicks
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 17Chance of Winning Lottery = 0% (their pick is going to Orlando)
Fantasy MVP = SF/PF Carmelo Anthony
Phase I of a nuclear off-season just was covered when Steve Kerr decided coaching the Splash Brothers made more sense than latching on to a bunch of aging ball hogs. Phase II could very well be Carmelo Anthony departing, which with news of a rising salary cap this summer, seems more likely by the day. Fortunately for New York most of their cap contracts on the books expire after next season (see ya later Stoudemire!) so they can look to retool through free agency again.
18. Minnesota Timberwolves
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 13
Chance of Winning Lottery = 0.6%
Fantasy MVP = PF Kevin Love (actually suited up for the fantasy playoffs, much to my fantasy gaming delight)
In the NFL you often hear the label “The Good Bad Team”, which relates to clubs that consistently clobber the worst teams in the league but always fail against the top echelon. Gorgui Dieng was a great late season find (especially for one of my fantasy teams), which makes Minnesota’s off-season all the more interesting. Nikola Pekovic was just signed to an extension a year ago, but Dieng makes more long term sense because of his shot blocking ability. How they handle there center situation ultimately could determine whether or not they can upgrade at small forward, and for the long term, keep Kevin Love in town.
17. Phoenix Suns
No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 30Chance of Winning Lottery = 0.5%
Fantasy MVP = PG Goran Dragic (in regards to where he was chosen in drafts, the best bang for the buck among any player in the league)
Winner of the award for “Team No Credentials Was Most Wrong About Before The Season”, the Suns would probably be in the playoffs if Eric Bledsoe hadn’t missed extended time during the winter for a torn meniscus. Bledsoe and Dragic coexisted beautifully when on the court together, and Phoenix looks to be a big man short of serious title contention. Phoenix is in the rare position of having extra picks (two late first rounders will come from Washington and Indiana, and they will get a Lakers first round pick within the next three years) and cap room, so don’t rule out a surprise signing of Carmelo Anthony.
2013-14 All-Lottery Team
PG = Goran Dragic, SunsSG = Eric Bledsoe, Suns
SF = Carmelo Anthony, Knicks
PF = Anthony Davis, Pelicans (sorry Kevin Love, better chance of winning a title with The Brow)
C = DeMarcus Cousins, Kings
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
NBA Mid-Season Review: Teams That Need The Playoffs
The NBA is
right around the halfway point, and we are breaking up our annual mid-season
power rankings into three parts. Today we will look at teams that desperately
need to make the playoffs (spoiler alert: it’s the smallest group).
Good News = Anthony Davis officially made “THE LEAP”, and is a bona-fide franchise player New Orleans can build around for the next decade.
Bad News = The roster around him currently makes no sense, they were fleeced in the Robin Lopez deal with Portland, their most trade-able asset (Ryan Anderson) is likely out for the season, and oh ya, they don’t own the rights to their number one pick in the most loaded NBA draft in over a decade during a season they are definitely going into the lottery.
What They Should Do = New Orleans went all-in for an effort to make the playoffs when they shipped next year’s first round pick for Jrue Holliday (not to mention this year’s first round pick, Nerlens Noel, who should be solid when he recovers from ACL surgery), but unfortunately a deep Western Conference has done them in. The goal should be to try to build a contending team by the end of 2016 so they can convince Anthony Davis to resign. Anderson was going to net the greatest haul, as it wouldn’t of been hard to convince a desperate club to ship a first round pick to land a stretch four. Moving Eric Gordon for a future first rounder would help (he’d fit nicely in Indiana if the Pacers were willing to flip them Danny Granger. New Orleans would clear a ton of salary in this move. We’ll talk more about possible Granger landing spots later), as his shaky injury history makes him a risky player to build around. Whatever New Orleans can do to solidify their strength in the 2015 and ’16 drafts, plus clearing cap space, is the best course of action.
Good News = They were able to parlay Andrew Bynum (who was miserable during his short stay with the Cavaliers) into Luol Deng, who besides being a player who can help drag them into the top eight in the east, also is an expiring contract.
Bad News = Besides the next team we’re about to discuss, there isn’t a more dysfunctional roster in the NBA, highlighted by the hatred between Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. Things aren’t helped by Anthony Bennett, who’s currently on pace to be the worst first overall pick since Kwame Brown.
What They Should Do = Unlike 60% of the teams in this group, Cleveland actually owns their first round pick, so the logical thing to do would be to tank. Unfortunately, Cavs owner has made it abundantly clear that he wants his team in the playoffs this year. Furthermore, a playoff berth could go a long way in luring Lebron James back to Cleveland. Despite all the dysfunction, Cleveland with Lebron James would be better than Miami with James next year. Unloading Waiters for a future draft pick could immediately make the team better, but they would need some form of perimeter shooting in return. If things really go south and they are too far out of the eighth spot, Anderson Varejao would draw interest from any of the championship contending clubs. Standing pat makes the most sense, as there is enough talent here to get this team into the playoffs. It would be irresponsible for them to ship out their first round pick this year, unless they are solidly in the top eight shortly before the trade deadline.
Good News = Somehow they are only 2.5 games out of the eighth seed.
Bad News = J.R. Smith used up any good luck he had last season, as he’s had an abysmal 2013-14 campaign. Amar’e Stoudemire is the most un-trade-able asset in the league. Lastly, Carmelo Anthony can opt out after this year. Yikes.
What They Should Do = This will never happen (because the Knicks ownership is too stupid), but they should really blow this thing up. Just to show some light at the end of the tunnel, look at the money that currently is slated to be coming off of their books at the end of the 2015 season.
Tyson Chandler - $14.1 million
Andrea Bargnani - $11.9 million
Good News = Somehow they are currently locked into a playoff spot in the Leastern Conference.
Bad News = Their all-star center is done for the year, their all-star point guard is in and out of the lineup with a bum ankle, and their former all-star point guard is a shitty head coach.
What They Should Do = I’m genuinely disappointed with what has happened with the Nets this year, as injuries never let the roster get off the ground. Even with the infusion of old Celtics, the team was still built around Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. Williams looks like he’ll never regain his elite form from his days in Utah, but if he can ever figure out his ankle issues he’s not to old to have a resurgence. Brooklyn is severely limited in what they are able to do for the foreseeable future, with only Paul Pierce’s contract coming off the books for next season. Even with him making $15.3 million that still leaves them roughly $28 million over the salary cap. Pierce is their only realistic trade chip, but unless he would fetch a first round pick, it’s not worth shipping him out of town. Brooklyn’s best bet is to plug away with what they have, make the playoffs (remember, no first round pick next year, or for approximately the next fourteen), and try to regroup after the off-season.
Good News = Kevin Love has righted himself after an injury plagued 2012-13 campaign.
Bad News = Ricky Rubio is historically awful and shooting, and Kevin Love is probably leaving after next year.
What They Should Do = Minnesota is like the classic Phillip Rivers’ era Chargers teams where the advanced metrics say they are good, but their record is mediocre. The Timberwolves have the fifth best point differential in the Western Conference, but incredibly are 3.5 games out of a playoff spot. They still have their first round pick, which makes tanking an option, but they need to make some sort of impression on Kevin Love to convince him that Minnesota is the place for him to sign long term. Unlike any other team in the league, I’ll recommend that the Timberwolves should actually shop their first round pick. Statistics say that Minnesota’s record should stabilize and put them into a playoff spot, and an upgrade at small forward would help them. Furthermore, there is the chance that their pick ends up in the lottery, so they could get an immediate starter in return. We’ll end this post with some fun trades that will probably never happen.
24. New Orleans Pelicans
16-25, 12th in Western ConferenceGood News = Anthony Davis officially made “THE LEAP”, and is a bona-fide franchise player New Orleans can build around for the next decade.
Bad News = The roster around him currently makes no sense, they were fleeced in the Robin Lopez deal with Portland, their most trade-able asset (Ryan Anderson) is likely out for the season, and oh ya, they don’t own the rights to their number one pick in the most loaded NBA draft in over a decade during a season they are definitely going into the lottery.
What They Should Do = New Orleans went all-in for an effort to make the playoffs when they shipped next year’s first round pick for Jrue Holliday (not to mention this year’s first round pick, Nerlens Noel, who should be solid when he recovers from ACL surgery), but unfortunately a deep Western Conference has done them in. The goal should be to try to build a contending team by the end of 2016 so they can convince Anthony Davis to resign. Anderson was going to net the greatest haul, as it wouldn’t of been hard to convince a desperate club to ship a first round pick to land a stretch four. Moving Eric Gordon for a future first rounder would help (he’d fit nicely in Indiana if the Pacers were willing to flip them Danny Granger. New Orleans would clear a ton of salary in this move. We’ll talk more about possible Granger landing spots later), as his shaky injury history makes him a risky player to build around. Whatever New Orleans can do to solidify their strength in the 2015 and ’16 drafts, plus clearing cap space, is the best course of action.
21. Cleveland Cavaliers
15-26, 10th in Eastern ConferenceGood News = They were able to parlay Andrew Bynum (who was miserable during his short stay with the Cavaliers) into Luol Deng, who besides being a player who can help drag them into the top eight in the east, also is an expiring contract.
Bad News = Besides the next team we’re about to discuss, there isn’t a more dysfunctional roster in the NBA, highlighted by the hatred between Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. Things aren’t helped by Anthony Bennett, who’s currently on pace to be the worst first overall pick since Kwame Brown.
What They Should Do = Unlike 60% of the teams in this group, Cleveland actually owns their first round pick, so the logical thing to do would be to tank. Unfortunately, Cavs owner has made it abundantly clear that he wants his team in the playoffs this year. Furthermore, a playoff berth could go a long way in luring Lebron James back to Cleveland. Despite all the dysfunction, Cleveland with Lebron James would be better than Miami with James next year. Unloading Waiters for a future draft pick could immediately make the team better, but they would need some form of perimeter shooting in return. If things really go south and they are too far out of the eighth spot, Anderson Varejao would draw interest from any of the championship contending clubs. Standing pat makes the most sense, as there is enough talent here to get this team into the playoffs. It would be irresponsible for them to ship out their first round pick this year, unless they are solidly in the top eight shortly before the trade deadline.
19. New York Knicks
15-27, 11th in Eastern ConferenceGood News = Somehow they are only 2.5 games out of the eighth seed.
Bad News = J.R. Smith used up any good luck he had last season, as he’s had an abysmal 2013-14 campaign. Amar’e Stoudemire is the most un-trade-able asset in the league. Lastly, Carmelo Anthony can opt out after this year. Yikes.
What They Should Do = This will never happen (because the Knicks ownership is too stupid), but they should really blow this thing up. Just to show some light at the end of the tunnel, look at the money that currently is slated to be coming off of their books at the end of the 2015 season.
Amar’e Stoudemire - $21.7 million
Carmelo Anthony - $21.4 million per year (has a player
option that he can exercise to become a free agent this year, which will likely
happen)Tyson Chandler - $14.1 million
Andrea Bargnani - $11.9 million
For those
of you that are not mathematically inclined, that’s $69.1 million. If I were
running the Knicks, I’d be willing to move any of these guys. Stoudemire won’t
be an option for trade until next year (when he officially will be referred to
as Amar’e Stoudemire’s Expiring Contract), but the other three have value.
Anthony would net the greatest haul. Here are a couple of fun hypothetical
salary dump trades courtesy of the ESPN.com Trade Machine.
Anthony to the Phoenix Suns for Emeka Okafor ($14.5
million expiring contract), Marcus Morris ($1.9 million for the next two), the
rights to their first round pick this year and the Wizards first round pick
this year, plus a future protected first round pick
Anthony to the Dallas Mavericks for Shawn Marion ($9.3
million expiring contract), Brandon Wright ($5.0 million for two years), Wayne
Ellington ($2.7 million for two years), Jae Crowder ($0.8 million for two
years), and two future first round picks
Both
Phoenix and Dallas are struggling to hang on to playoff spots in the West, and
while Dallas would probably get a negligible boost this year, but would finally
have another star to pair with Dirk Nowitzki. For my money, Phoenix is the most
interesting destination. Okafor would provide major salary relief, and it’s never
a bad thing to stock up on draft picks from a team that is never a consistent
contender. Neither of these deals will probably happen (you might’ve been able
to talk Phoenix into it if Eric Bledsoe hadn’t of gotten hurt), but it’s fun to
dream. Chandler would be the premier defensive big-man on the trade market if
New York puts him there, and Bargnani has value as a stretch four or five. I
forecast the Knicks stubbornly hanging onto their core and either sneaking into
the playoffs or finishing ninth in the East.
17. Brooklyn Nets
18-22, 7th in Eastern ConferenceGood News = Somehow they are currently locked into a playoff spot in the Leastern Conference.
Bad News = Their all-star center is done for the year, their all-star point guard is in and out of the lineup with a bum ankle, and their former all-star point guard is a shitty head coach.
What They Should Do = I’m genuinely disappointed with what has happened with the Nets this year, as injuries never let the roster get off the ground. Even with the infusion of old Celtics, the team was still built around Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. Williams looks like he’ll never regain his elite form from his days in Utah, but if he can ever figure out his ankle issues he’s not to old to have a resurgence. Brooklyn is severely limited in what they are able to do for the foreseeable future, with only Paul Pierce’s contract coming off the books for next season. Even with him making $15.3 million that still leaves them roughly $28 million over the salary cap. Pierce is their only realistic trade chip, but unless he would fetch a first round pick, it’s not worth shipping him out of town. Brooklyn’s best bet is to plug away with what they have, make the playoffs (remember, no first round pick next year, or for approximately the next fourteen), and try to regroup after the off-season.
11. Minnesota Timberwolves
20-21, 11th in Western ConferenceGood News = Kevin Love has righted himself after an injury plagued 2012-13 campaign.
Bad News = Ricky Rubio is historically awful and shooting, and Kevin Love is probably leaving after next year.
What They Should Do = Minnesota is like the classic Phillip Rivers’ era Chargers teams where the advanced metrics say they are good, but their record is mediocre. The Timberwolves have the fifth best point differential in the Western Conference, but incredibly are 3.5 games out of a playoff spot. They still have their first round pick, which makes tanking an option, but they need to make some sort of impression on Kevin Love to convince him that Minnesota is the place for him to sign long term. Unlike any other team in the league, I’ll recommend that the Timberwolves should actually shop their first round pick. Statistics say that Minnesota’s record should stabilize and put them into a playoff spot, and an upgrade at small forward would help them. Furthermore, there is the chance that their pick ends up in the lottery, so they could get an immediate starter in return. We’ll end this post with some fun trades that will probably never happen.
Timberwolves trade Dante Cunningham (expiring contract),
Shabazz Muhammad (troubled lottery pick, but still talented), Ronny Turiaf,
A.J. Price (expiring contract), and 2014 First Round Pick to Celtics for Jeff
Green – Celtics pipe dream trade that would
net them another draft pick
Timberwolves trade Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea, Dante
Cunningham, and Ronny Turiaf to Pacers for Danny Granger – Indiana adds
depth to their bench, and if Granger returns to 80% of his former self,
Minnesota gets almost an All-Star caliber 3. I don’t think Minnesota would have
to throw in their first round pick for this offer to be fair.
Timberwolves trade Dante Cunningham, A.J. Price, Robbie
Hummel (all three are expiring contracts), and 2014 first round pick to Jazz
for Gordon Hayward – Let’s get this trade to the commissioner’s office
right now. It makes too much sense.
Monday, May 30, 2011
10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (5/27-5/29)
10. Avril Lavigne Lashes Out At Tampa Bay Ray’s Fans
Let the record show that this 10 spot on this list was blank until 11:24pm Sunday when I read this story on Yahoo. I hadn’t realized that Avril’s career had gone so far off the tracks that she was performing a concert after a baseball game.
9. Cleveland Cavaliers Attempting To Acquire 2nd Overall Pick in NBA Draft
So let me get this straight…Cleveland fans are supposed to be excited about their favorite basketball team potentially having the top two picks in the draft when this year’s crop of rookies is considered to be the worst in over a decade? Man it sucks cheering for the Cavaliers.
8. Golfer Jordan Spieth Skips High School Graduation to Play PGA Tour Event
In retrospect, I would’ve gladly skipped my high school graduation ceremony to get in a couple of extra games of “MVP 2004”, so I don’t fault Spieth for missing his to actually do something worthwhile. He pulled within 3 shots of the lead before fading on the back 9.
7. Djokovic Wins 43rd Straight Match
I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m a tennis expert (although I am pretty solid at Wii Tennis), but I do know that winning 43 straight matches is pretty hard to do. If he keeps the streak alive, he’ll more than likely face Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open.
6. David Ortiz Hits Pinch-Hit Home Run To Lift Red Sox Over Tigers
For all the talk about the 0-6 start, Carl Crawford’s struggles, and Adrian Gonzalez proving his worth, there hasn’t been enough talk about David Ortiz. Big Papi delivered a rare pinch-hit home run off of Tigers closer Jose Valverde to give Boston a 4-3 win in Game 1 of a doubleheader Sunday. After two horrid starts in both 2009 and 2010, Ortiz has hit at a .305 clip (9th in the AL), a team-leading 11 home runs (5th in the AL), and is currently 5th in the American League in OPS. Either Papi is back on the juice, or he’s really happy to have Adrian Gonzalez in the lineup.
5. Barcelona Hammers Manchester United, Wins Champions League Title
If you want to keep your kid away from football for fear of injury, have him or her watch highlights of Lionel Messi. That should be able to hook them for life.
4. Steven Stamkos Undeterred By Broken Nose
Hockey players come back from stuff like this all the time, but it never ceases to amaze me. The last thing I would do after taking a frozen rubber brick to the sniffer was return to the very same activity that resulted in the injury 15 minutes later.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Runs Out of Gas on Last Lap
After the craziness that happened in the Indy 500 earlier in the day, about the only thing that could’ve knocked the 500 off the front page would’ve been a win by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Coca-Cola 600. Amazingly, he came within about a 500 feet of pulling it off. Kevin Harvick was again the beneficiary of Junior’s misfortune (like Martinsville earlier this year).
2. Boston Bruins Advance to Stanley Cup Finals
I’m not going to write too much here due to the fact that my Stanley Cup Finals preview will be up within 36 hours from now.
1. JR Hildebrand Chokes, Gives Dan Wheldon Indianapolis 500 Victory
Hildebrand could go on to win three 500’s during his career, but he’ll more than likely never forget the mistake he made on the final corner of the last lap.
Monday, January 10, 2011
10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (1/7-1/9)
10. Cavaliers Center Anderson Varejao Out For Season With Foot/Ankle Injury
As if the Cavaliers haven’t had enough bad luck this year (losing 20 of their last 21 games, Lebron taking his talents to South Beach), they now lose their most watchable player who else was probably their most valuable trade asset. At least they’ll have a great chance at the #1 pick in the draft that is loaded with talent…oh wait, the 2011 draft class is probably the weakest in five years. It just sucks cheering for Cleveland.
9. Andrew Luck Stays at Stanford, Jim Harbaugh Leaves for 49ers
Pretty refreshing to see a kid stay in school to earn his degree. The cautionary tale of this maneuver is Matt Leinart, who after his junior season at USC would’ve been the 1st overall pick in the 2005 draft. Leinart stayed in school, slipped to 10th in the draft (costing him millions of dollars) and now is a 3rd string quarterback for the Houston Texans. Luck appears to be a much more pro-ready prospect at this point in his career than Leinart was, so hopefully he’ll maintain his status for next season, and maybe even end up in a better situation than he would’ve in Carolina.
8. Heat Survive in Overtime Against Trail Blazers
Lebron and company have been playing pretty solid ball ever since they decided to play fast-break basketball. If they can add some form of an interior presence at the trade deadline, they will be a serious championship threat.
7. Blake Griffin Records 23rd Straight Double-Double
Griffin plays basketball the way Sharktopus has no regard for human life. My level of excitement for his appearance in the dunk contest on a 10-point scale is 32,893,819,381
6. University of Michigan Schedules Meeting With Les Miles
What does Michigan need to turn around their floundering program? A coach who makes mind-boggling play-calls, takes audacious risks, has no idea how to manager a clock, and most importantly, eats grass during games to be “one with the field” (and oh by the way, this guy somehow wins football games. I’ll sign off on Miles to Michigan all day).
5. Carmelo Anthony Trade Talks Heat Up Again
Reportedly, the latest trade proposal that would end up with Anthony in New Jersey now involves 15 players. For those of you that don’t know about the NBA, 15 players is the number allowed on one NBA roster. This trade makes zero sense for New Jersey, but they’ll turn over their entire roster in order to satisfy their Russian billionaire owner who wants a superstar on his team. Good times.
4. Syfy Channel Airs “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”
KHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(TANGENT ALERT: Believe it or not, while I was typing the previous word, the theme song for “Doogie Howser, M.D” came on my television. That has to be the longest, most uncomfortable opening introduction in television history. Creepy, low-tempo keyboards stretch on for about 45 seconds while they are showing all of little Doogie’s accomplishments. Then they list literally every actor who ever appeared on the damn show. All in all, this introduction lasts for roughly a minute and 45 seconds.)
3. Green Bay Wins Again at Philadelphia
This was probably the strangest game of the four wild-card match-ups. It felt like Green Bay dominated, but Philly had the ball with a minute to go and a chance to win. Dog lovers across the nation must’ve been rejoicing when Vick’s last pass was intercepted.
2. Jets Win at the Buzzer Against Indianapolis
You have to hand it to Peyton Manning for almost dragging his sorry team to a gutsy win. Hopefully for his sake, the Colts are able to reload similar to how the Patriots did after Ravens pounded them in last year’s playoffs.
Looking ahead to the AFC Divisional Round, I can’t recall ever having both games on one side of the bracket being rubber matches (I’d suggest that the round should be renamed “Rubber Games, sponsored by Trojan”, but that would be inappropriate). I don’t give the Jets a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning at Foxborough, but I could definitely see Baltimore squeaking out a win against Pittsburgh. Definitely looking forward to next week.
1. Seahawks Stun Saints, Advance to Divisional Round
I hate this Seattle team. For whatever reason, I can’t accept that a 7-9 team made the playoffs (I’m weird like that). It’s almost as pathetic as when an 83-win St. Louis Cardinals team won the World Series in 2006. With all that said, their performance against New Orleans last Saturday was fantastic. Matt Hasselback was chucking the rock like it was 2006. More importantly, Sean Payton didn’t advance (he’s a little too arrogant for my taste. Also, I’m a little bitter that he was once the Cowboys offensive coordinator, but left to coach the Saints. You could say that my opinion of him is slightly biased). Seattle will probably be lucky to put up 10 points in Chicago this week, but good for them for silencing at least a few critics.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Pro Athletes Don't Care As Much As You Do
Most sports fans, when speaking about their favorite team, tend to use the word “we” when describing what the team has done or hasn’t done well. If I had a dime for every time I said, “we need to fire the coaches”, when referring to the Dallas Cowboys the last few years, I’d at least have $3.80. We love our favorite teams, to the point that their performance can actually affect our moods for several days. It’s irrational, it makes very little sense, but it’s the truth.
That’s what made tonight’s Heat-Cavaliers game so depressing. Cavalier’s fans brought their A-Game tonight. There were quality signs and t-shirts (the three dudes wearing Le-B-um were my personal favorite), and fantastic chants (“AKRON HATES YOU” winning the award for best chant of the night) aimed at Lebron James. Cleveland could’ve gone 1-81 this year, but if they somehow could’ve won this game, there season would’ve been a success. The crowd energized the Cavs early, but Lebron and company went on a 16-0 run at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Lebron dropped 24 points in the 3rd quarter alone to seal the deal and clinch a successful return to his former stomping grounds. It’s not really the fact that the Cavaliers lost that made me feel bad for Cleveland fans. Miami is a superior team, so no one would fault Cleveland for losing. It was the way they lost, and mingled with Lebron James, that had me scratching my head.
Shortly after the crowd showered him with boos, Lebron began mingling with Cavaliers players. He was seen on camera chatting with Mo Williams. During a Heat free throw attempt, he was chatting with Daniel Gibson while Gibson was sitting on the Cav’s bench. As hard as the Cleveland crowd was working to make Lebron uncomfortable, Cavalier’s players were working to undermine that effort. By socializing with him, they allowed James to feel at home and nail jumper after jumper.
As a fan of the Cavaliers, how would you feel if the players on your favorite team are laughing it up with the man who “betrayed” your franchise (I don’t necessarily believe that James betrayed anyone, sense he was free to sign anywhere, but for the sake of this column I’m trying to look at it from the point of view of a Cleveland fan) while your team is getting slaughtered by 30 points? I know times are different know, with social media what it is today, but I would at least want my players to be in business mode during the game. It’s a shame the players didn’t care as much as the Cav’s fans. We would’ve had a much better game.
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