NFL
- Wow somehow the Washington football team eliminated the Eagles out of the playoffs.
- The Bills lost to the Raiders, crushing their playoff chances. Somehow they beat the Patriots and after the season their coach Doug Marrone skips town. I completely understand why Marrone had an opt out in his contract. New ownership is a reasonable concern for anybody. Not quite sure why the Bills agreed to paying him though. Either way it was all weird. Also leaving the Bills for the Jets just sounds crazy.
- Going into the playoffs it's hard not to believe the Patriots and Seahawks will meet in the Super Bowl. That said, I'm going to go ahead and pick the Broncos and the Packers.
- The Dallas Cowboys won another rare playoff game. But the win is marred by a play where the refs made the right call and then inexplicably picked up the flag. No clue how you believe in the Cowboys but the best teams don't always win the Super Bowl so I'm hesitant to dismiss there chances like I want to.
- The Bengals and the Colts had a battle of teams that I knew weren't going to matter a week from now. The Colts won but they are still the worst team in the playoffs. Yes that includes the 7-8-1 Panthers.
- The NFL Black Monday is amazing. The same handful of teams that always seem to need a new coach are back on the market. Yet all of the people that they are trying to interview are people who are former head coaches that were fired. It makes sense some times but teams should probably lean more towards coordinators if they want things to change. Just my opinion though.
- Nobody would be shocked at all if the Ravens knocked off the Patriots next week. No one.
- Predictions for this weekend: Packers over Cowboys, Ravens over Patriots, Broncos over Colts, Seahawks over Panthers.
- I was really close to picking the Panthers for no reason.
NBA
- The Detroit Pistons straight up released Josh Smith. Then promptly went on a 7 game winning streak. It's almost like Josh Smith was a bad fit (sarcasm). These guys could end up being the Raptors of this year. Call it the Rudy Gay effect. You get rid of a guy who refuses to do anything but take bad shots and your team gets better at a ridiculous pace. Letting Smith go frees Monroe to operate on the block. It lets Drummond be the force on the boards and also gives Brandon Jennings more lanes to drive.
- It is an indictment on Josh Smith but not really. The problem was that he wasn't a good fit for the team and he mucked up their identity. They have the personal to be like another Memphis Grizzlies but more athletic and with better shooting. Josh Smith was just a bad fit but he isn't a bad player.
- Imagine how good they would be if they traded Smith in the offseason or just released him earlier?
- Another crazy thing is that the Pistons are in the playoff race after winning 7 games. No seriously look at the easter standings.
- Wow the Bucks are the 6 seed. Can't doubt Jason Kidd anymore if you ask me. He basically has the same team that the Bucks had last year. Jabari Parker is out for the year, which is a bummer but they continue to keep playing well.
- The Atlanta Hawks are the number 1 seed in the eastern conference and it is as amazing as it sounds. They just beat Portland Trailblazers--who are surprisingly the 2nd best in the West record wise-- pretty easily. They are doing it mainly with defense ranking in the top 5 in both points allowed and defensive rating. While still averaging 103 points a game. You can see where they are influenced by the Spurs as well. They are 3rd in the league in assist a game only behind the Warriors and the Celtics. Obviously I'm really skeptical to call them title contenders until I see them beat a bunch of really good teams.
- Oh wait I just checked. The Hawks have beaten the Wizards, Cavs, Bulls, Mavs, Blazers, Rockets and Spurs. Add the Clippers and the Grizzlies to that list. These dudes are serious man and they are doing it on both sides of the ball. They are also crushing the west. Playoffs will be a different animal but we have to start taking them serious.
- LeBron didn't really look the same all year and the Cavs need him to be the old him in order to be the team we expect. They also need a rim protecting big. Make the damn trade Cavs.
- It is also a little stupid to blame the coach right now. David Blatt is a new coach. He was going into a rebuilding situation that turned into a championship aspiration. Still have to have guys buy in to his system while trying to figure out how this team plays together. Defense is still the biggest problem and that can only be solved by getting any rim protection in there.
- Okay so since I wrote this initially the Cavs have made some moves. They made 2 separate trades that this tweet sums up.
I mean, if you look at it as JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov for Waiters and a first, it’s not a total disaster.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) January 7, 2015
- Besides having to take JR Smith I really like these trades. I think they would have preferred Kosta Koufas who is a better rim protector than Mozgov but an underrated factor is that Mozgov played with Coach Blatt already and should be ready to fit with the team. Mozgov can flash well enough on offense and rebound so Cleveland wont lose much and will hopefully be able to play better defense. Shumpert should also help their perimeter defense hopefully. Now they just need LeBron to come back healthier.
- Everybody in the west is in an arms race right now. The Rockets added Josh Smith. The Mavs traded for Rajon Rondo. The Thunder traded for Dion Waiters. Now the Grizzlies are looking to upgrade their wing rotation by looking into trades for Boston's Jeff Green and Miami's Loul Deng. Deng would probably fit their grit and grind style more but I doubt Miami trades him.
- Not sure how I feel about the Thunder trading for Dion Waiters. Waiters has talent but I have been really outspoken about how the Cavs needed to trade him. His stats look bad on and off the bench because he thinks that he is something that he is not. He thinks that because he was picked 4th overall that he is going to be a star. What he doesn't understand is that you can be a star in many different ways in the NBA. Manu Ginobili is a bonafide star because he accepted a role to come off the bench. Waiters best year was when he was off the bench at Syracuse. he shot around 52% a game in that role. He has to just relish in that role to really reach his potential. I'm not sure he does it but he is young and he can grow into something.
- The best part about the Thunder adding Waiters is that they kept Reggie Jackson. Jackson has to do better in his role too. For the teams sake and for himself. He isn't going to get this deal that he wants unless he plays well.
- Now to the Thunder they look terrible right now losing by a lot to the Warriors and the Kings. Yes they looked bad but it was mainly because Westbrook and Durant struggled. Why? I don't know. But that won't happen very often. Westbrook was playing like an MVP at a point and so was Durant. I think they have to buckle down on defense first and really try to run an offense. They have so much scoring talent that they aren't using. Serge Ibaka needs an expanded role in the offense as well. But it all starts with them playing better defense.
- Jimmy Butler might be the best SG in the west and I might have to do a separate article for it. His stats:
- This guy is stuffing James Harden and carrying the load on the team. He also has a whopping 6.1 win shares which ranks fourth in the league.
Oh and doing cool things like this...
The Bulls are just really good including Pau Gasol turning back the clock. This team will be hard to beat in the playoffs.
- I just did a whole thing on the Bulls and didn't mention Derrick Rose once.... Well I know I just ruined it but still.
- The Raptors lost Demar DeRozan and went 11-7 and still are 2nd in the east becuase Kyle Lowry is good. So like he's an all-star guys.
- Oh and his coach Dwane Casey is the Bruh of the month in a good way because he said, "I hope our fans get out and vote and don't put it in the hands of the coaches. And if the coaches don't do it I'm probably going to get into a physical fight with those guys." This was regarding whether Kyle Lowry should make the all-star team.
College Basketball
- Jahlil Okafor Jahlil Okafor JAHLIL OKAFOR.
- Basically talk to me about college basketball in a month.
College Football
- Yeah Oregon ran Florida State off of the field. Florida State turned the ball over way to much but Oregon was the better team.
- Ohio State really impressed me with how they are winning down their 2 best quarterbacks. The team is just really good. Alabama just never looked that good to me. I can't say I expected Ohio State to win but wee need to stop overhyping the SEC. They are the best conference in college football but the gap isn't as big as people make it.
- I honestly don't know who will win the championship game but it comes down to whether Ohio State can stop that Oregon fast paced offense. I don't know if they can and that's why I'm leaning towards picking Oregon but it's tough.
- Give me Jamies Winston over Marcus Mariota. Mariota is great in this scheme but I'm not sold on his ability outside of it. Winston has a long delivery but other than that looks the part as a pocket passer. Winston might need the Dez Bryant treatment in the NFL though. If you didn't know the Cowboys pay people to watch over Dez Bryant and it has worked out well for them.
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