Friday, April 27, 2012

NFL draft my ass it's all about the NBA playoffs boo and I'm calling who wins it all

Yes, Lebron James is my 2012 NBA MVP,and yes Lebron James season doesn't start until tomorrow. No one in the history of sports has 1 post season that will go a long way in defining their legacy like the chosen one is about to face. His past failures has accumulated in a win or else situation. Which technically is not true, if Lebron was to play up to his typical regular season greatness mixed in with some 4th quarter magic and his team was to fall short, the onus would the be lifted somewhat from his shoulders, but you and I both know that if Lebron balls the way he'scapable of balling then it's O-va,and that's on da Fo real boo!

Behind Lebron on my MVP list was Durant, Parker, Kobe and Paul (If you need me to spell out their 1st and last names, stop reading right now) Kobe declined to go for the scoring title over Durant claiming 'everyone knows I can score 38 points in 1 game if I wanted to, but it's not about that, it's about the team' I'm so irritated with that statement on so many different levels I'm just gonna leave it. 

Playoff Predictions:
The Eastern Conference has some intriguing match ups but the Bulls have found themselves in my humble opinion to have gotten quite fortunate. The Knicks would have caused them 1st round problems for sure and the Pacers in the 2nd round would have caused them a few more but they don't have to face them. They get a 76ers team who maybe able to snatch 2 games but I suspect 1 win in the 1st round and then, although the Celtics have been savoring a last playoff run they will be hard pressed to get past the Atlanta Hawks who match up very well with the Celts. Either way the Bulls match up well with both and should escape with what I predict 3 losses in the 1st 2 relatively easy rounds. 

Carmelo Anthony has zero fear of Lebron James, zero. He will be putting up strong numbers in his 1st round match up against the Heat but the Heat are still the Heat and both teams will battle hard every game for 3.5 quarters til the Heat put them away in 5 games. On paper the Pacers should match up well with the Heat, they have depth and athleticism, but for some reason they don't and it ain't about to start now. Heat in 6.

If the Bulls are to beat the Heat,then Rip Hamilton will have to play like he's been playing the last couple of weeks. I still think they come up short and lose in 7 games. This is the last time I jump on Lebron's wagon if he doesn't win he may never win one so the Heat will win, with no team hitting over 100 points in any game unless it's in OT, which I can see happening at least twice. There I said it, please prove me wrong Bulls, I love you! I digress.

Most people give the Lakers no chance at all at winning and why should they. They got trampled in the 2nd round last year and this team is worse than last year's. That being said I like them as a solid dark horse. That Maverick team last year had one of those magical ride seasons, where no one was going to beat them, Dirk Nowitzki was playing like a top 10 player of all time, the stars were aligned and the Lakers don't play well from behind. This year their are no such teams and if the Lakers can pound the other teams with their superior front court of Bynum and Gasol they have a fighters chance.

It's so easy to pick the Spurs right now, they are running teams into the ground, they have incredible depth, which if you would have seen them the last 2 games winning on the road without their 3 best players like I have(yes i had money on the games)you would be able to attest to that. However, they are in my humble opinion built for the regular season especially this regular season. It's not a surprise that the 2 best records in this brutal back to back to back regular season are the 2 teams with the most depth, the Spurs and the Bulls, but when the playoffs start rotations are shortened and that takes away a huge advantage the Spurs have and unlike the Bulls who are defensive minded, the Spurs have evolved into an offensive juggernaut which traditionally doesn't play well in the NBA playoffs. Then why do I still choose them to go to the finals...

Cause the Oklahoma City Thunder cannot win a best of seven series against a championship quality team when their best offensive option at the end of a game is a Kevin Durant fade away 3 pointer. Until he learns how to get to the paint or shoot higher quality shots in the clutch sadly the Thunder will falter. What about the Mavs you say, well I think Dirk shot his wad last year and any team with Vince Carter on it should never be taken as a serious championship contender. I think the Bulls and Heat are the studs of the NBA and the Western Conference will be fodder for either team. It's all about match ups yo, and I take the Heat over the Spurs 4-2

Friday, April 20, 2012

Sometimes analogies best describe what I'm thinking

No the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami heat are not better without Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade, BUT...they do play better as a team without them. In other words if the ceiling is 100, the teams with their stars may play to a 92, but without their stars the ceiling maybe an 85, but they may play to an 84. It's like an unattractive girl who works out all the time and has a fantastic body, you like to spend time with her but you ain't marrying her, as oppose to the really pretty girl with big tits but dosen't know how to quite lay off the nachos. She may not look the best she can look but it's still hotter than a chick who maxed out at a 7.

For that to happen Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant has to pick and choose when to turn on their god given talents to score and become better facilitators. This I think should be more easier for Rose cause he's still young and learning but for the Black Mama he will definitely have to rethink his whole process cause he's got a beast in Andrew Bynum and the 3rd best scoring option in the league in Pau Gasol. The Heat however is a bit more complicated, for those guys to be successful they need superstar efforts from both Wade and Lebron and since they have similar games it's harder to achieve that, especially when the playoffs start and teams won't allow them to run as much. I suspect that whoever lays off the Nachos will be the NBA champion and that includes OKC.

When Tiger Woods was dominating golf like no one has ever done in the history of sports it was easy to overlook his tantrums. Now that he's not winning and he's still throwing tantrums he looks like a spoiled brat, think Bobby Knight. It's like a little kid that's all cute when he's 2 years old and pouts cause he can't have a cookie and then he turns 13 and that mofo is going ape shit when you don't buy him a new Xbox cause he's still sitting on a Playstation 3. The point is he should have been disciplined earlier, and that's a little parenting tip from your sports guru.

I know it's early but the most complete team in baseball looks like the Texas Rangers. They have all it takes to go and lose in a world series for a 3rd straight year, but the bigger picture is as long as you're successful people will forgive your sins, no one cares that R Kelly pee'd on a girl after dropping Chocolate Factory, Kobe was forgiven for potentially raping a girl even though he was still married once he dropped 81 points in a single game and now the Texas Rangers are winning and winning big and not a word about Ron Washington and his penchant for doing coke. The point is if you're gonna fuck up make sure you can still entertain us.

Closing Thoughts:
OK I need proof that Josh Hamilton and Blake Griffin are not the same person. It ain't ever happening but Phil Jackson and the triangle offense would be a perfect fit for the half court mess that troubles the Heat trust me on this boo, but Pat Riley would rather coach the Charlotte Bobcats than allow that to happen. Donovan McNabb thinks he belongs in the Hall of Fame but those last 2 years he played in Washington and Minnesota...Yeesh! After following the 1st round of the NHL playoffs, I think hockey players has got to be looking at NFL players and the concussions issues and saying "Puthies" they can't say pussies cause they're missing their front teeth

Dueces!

Friday, April 6, 2012

NCAA hoops, snitching and my 2012 Baseball Predictions

Despite the fact that I had to endure a 4th straight mediocre NCAA championship game, it does not take away from Kentucky being a legitimate championship team. They have studs at all 5 positions. They rank up there with the '09 Carolina team and the back to back Florida teams of recent memory. A lot of people think Kansas missed a lot of easy shots, they did, but mostly because they were worried about getting their shots blocked. It's like being a wide receiver in football, you know how wide receivers drop easy passes while running across the middle of the field? It happens cause they are worried about being laid out by the defense. The term is called hearing foots steps and thats what the Jayhawks were experiencing. All of their shots were being highly contested so when they did get open looks they never felt comfortable... in other words they heard footsteps and someone like myself who used to block a lot of shots back in the day... I mean a lot. It's highly effective.

OK, (sigh) sure,(sigh) I'll talk about women's hoops. The Baylor Bears dominated the NCAA tourney about as much as anyone ever has, but before I anoint Britney Griner as the best to ever play she has to win again. The thing about the women's game is that the best player in the game generally has a lot to say about who wins the tourney and most of them has won more than 1 'chip. So win 1 more and then we can start talking about you with Holdsclaw, Taurasi, Parker, Moore and others. Now back to sports.

So a college player's wonderlick score was released even though it's suppose to be confidential, the same with Ryan Braun's drug test results, the same with A-Rod drug test results, the Saints were ratted out and now the Orlando fiasco with Dwight Howard wanting his coach to be fired. The only thing that DOSEN'T bother me about all this snitching is the Saints and only because they continued with bounty gate even after the commish told them several times to stop. That being said no way Stan Van Gundy should have aired his knowledge about Dwight trying to get him fired but man, its hard to blame him when you look at Dwight Howard. I am starting to lose all kind of respect for Dwight Howard. That was a bush league move at the press conference yesterday and it's clear you are undermining your coach and no Dwight you are no longer in my top 5 MVP ballot, so there!

April means baseball and baseball means it's time for me to tell you how this season is gonna go down son. Most of you won't pick up interest in the game until mid-summer so just continue reading this and you will be able to use this as a fill in the blanks kinda map as how the season will go.

AL MVP - Albert Pujols, Just because he switched league does not mean there will be any drop off from one of the top 10 players in the history of baseball, this is as safe and easy as a pick as you can make. A potential dark horse is Nelson Cruz but the fact that he's so injury prone makes him more of a black stallion

NL MVP - Matt Kemp, he will edge out Justin Upton who both will put up monster seasons but the fact that the Dodgers will be more competitive than everyone thought will be enough to carry them

AL Cy Young - Justin Verlander, his stuff + his team + the division he pitches in equals a sub 3 era and 20 wins in other words ca-ching!

NL Cy Young - Roy Halladay, the Phillies offense is very mediocre and Halladay will need to come up with several 2-1 victories... and he will

AL Comeback Player - Adam Dunn, sadly several of my beloved White Sox players could qualify for this award but when you have a higher strikeout total than batting avg. all you need is a mediocre season to be considered for this and I predict 35 homers from Dunn, who will narrowly edge out A-Rod

NL Comeback Player- Johan Santana, Johan will be back to a top 5 pitcher and since he didn't play last year at all, this is a no brainer

AL playoffs NY Yankees, Detroit, LA Angels, Tampa and Boston

Angels and Tampa will play in the AL Championship with the Angels stud pitching out dueling the Rays Stud pitching

NL Playoffs Phillies, Milwaukee, San francisco, Miami and Arizona

San Francisco will stymie Ozzie and the Marlins

The Angels over the Giants in 6 games

Trust me its going down just like that

I had my fantasy auction draft last week and considering it's 13 team league I think Im gonna do damage:
C
Pierzynski, A.J.
(C) CHW
Home: 3 (DET)
Away: 3 (@CLE)
2719028%17%0.00000000
1B
Konerko, Paul
(1B) CHW
Home: 3 (DET)
Away: 3 (@CLE)
8390100%98%0.00000000
2B
Barney, Darwin
(2B) CHC
Home: 4 (MIL)
Away: 3 (@STL)
38558322%10%0.00000000
3B
Valencia, Danny
(3B) MIN
Home: 6 (LAA,TEX)
Away: 0
2169042%21%0.00000000
SS
Jeter, Derek
(SS) NYY
Home: 3 (LAA)
Away: 3 (@BAL)
1199097%86%0.00000000
MI
Furcal, Rafael
(SS) STL
Home: 3 (CHC)
Away: 3 (@CIN)
2911639%20%0.60000011
CI
Helton, Todd
(1B) COL
Home: 6 (SF,ARI)
Away: 0
3289029%18%0.00000000
OF
Braun, Ryan
(OF) MIL
Home: 0
Away: 7 (@CHC,@ATL)
590100%100%0.00000000
OF
Gonzalez, Carlos
(OF) COL
Home: 6 (SF,ARI)
Away: 0
1990100%99%0.00000000
OF
Lee, Carlos
(1B,OF) HOU
Home: 3 (ATL)
Away: 3 (@MIA)
2279091%73%0.00000000
OF
Reddick, Josh
(OF) OAK
Home: 3 (KC)
Away: 3 (@SEA)
3162525%13%0.28571110
OF
Span, Denard
(OF) MIN
Home: 6 (LAA,TEX)
Away: 0
3099037%21%0.00000000
OF
Sweeney, Ryan
(OF) BOS
Home: 3 (TB)
Away: 3 (@TOR)
400353%1%0.50000010
DH
Dunn, Adam
(1B) CHW
Home: 3 (DET)
Away: 3 (@CLE)
2939089%66%0.00000000
Bench (C)
Martin, Russell
(C) NYY
Home: 3 (LAA)
Away: 3 (@BAL)
1169087%70%0.00000000
Bench (2B)
Hudson, Orlando
(2B) SD
Home: 3 (ARI)
Away: 3 (@LAD)
31255511%4%0.00000000
Bench (OF)
Crawford, Carl
(OF) BOS
Home: 3 (TB)
Away: 3 (@TOR)
689099%10%0.00000000
Bench (OF)
Cruz, Nelson
(OF) TEX
Home: 4 (SEA)
Away: 3 (@MIN)
7890100%92%0.00000000
Pitchers (Learn More)
ScheduleRankingsTrendsStats
PosEditActive Pitchers4/9-4/15Proj.ActualOwnStartERAWHIPWKS
P
Broxton, Jonathan
(P) KC
Home: 3 (CLE)
Away: 3 (@OAK)
45964757%39%0.0000.0000000
P
Buehrle, Mark
(P) MIA
Home: 3 (HOU)
Away: 3 (@PHIProbable Start)
24862784%52%3.0001.5000050
P
Capps, Matt
(P) MIN
Home: 6 (LAA,TEX)
Away: 0
26464768%53%0.0000.0000000
P
Colon, Bartolo
(P) OAK
Home: 3 (KC)
Away: 3 (@SEAProbable Start)
358250%28%1.1250.5000160
P
Floyd, Gavin
(P) CHW
Home: 3 (DETProbable Start)
Away: 3 (@CLE)
20464768%31%0.0000.0000000
P
Lincecum, Tim
(P) SF
Home: 3 (PIT)
Away: 3 (@COLProbable Start)
2864798%97%0.0000.0000000
P
Marshall, Sean
(P) CIN
Home: 3 (STL)
Away: 4 (@WAS)
18761881%64%0.0000.0000020
P
Weaver, Jered
(P) LAA
Home: 0
Away: 6 (@MINProbable Start,@NYY)
2564798%97%0.0000.0000000
P
Worley, Vance
(P) PHI
Home: 6 (MIA,NYMProbable Start)
Away: 0
17364792%62%0.0000.0000000
Bench (P)
Doubront, Felix
(P) BOS
Home: 3 (TBProbable Start)
Away: 3 (@TORProbable Start)
47164727%10%0.0000.0000000
Bench (P)
Wilson, C.J.
(P) LAA
Home: 0
Away: 6 (@MINProbable Start,@NYYProbable Start)
6164798%82%0.0000.0000000
Bench (P)
Zambrano, Carlos
(P) MIA
Home: 3 (HOUProbable Start)
Away: 3 (@PHI)
40964757%21%0.0000.0000000
Injured (P)
Carpenter, Chris
(P) STL
Home: 3 (CHC)
Away: 3 (@CIN)
39064789%7%0.0000.0000000