Monday Spread Option 02-17-14

1) Now that the NBA All-Star break has come and gone, which team out of playoff contention right now has the best chance at a second half run into the postseason? 

Ty-

The All-star break is always a turning point in the season where teams start to ratchet up play and effort. To me the West is basically set even though the Memphis Grizzles are hot and is a good enough team to get into the playoffs. But If I’m going to pick a team that can make a playoff run than I think that it is easier in the East. The Pistons might not have played great up until this point but they are only a game behind Charlotte for the 8^th seed in the east. I think having 20 games to make up a 1 game difference should be easy. Also they happen to be the more talented team than Charlotte and what their record would indicate.

Spencer-
I think the New York Knicks have the best chance at a second half run for a playoff spot. Obviously they Knicks have a major disappointment this year and under performed from what people in the off-season thought they were capable of, but you know that team has enough talent in the pitiful eastern conference to at least make the playoffs. Carmelo is a fighter and if what he says about resigning with New York is true we all know he doesn't want to just coast the rest of the season, he wants to prove he likes playing there and that he can be a key to their future. It's going to be important for the Knicks to win the winnable games though, and by that I mean no losing to the Bobcats or the 76ers, and when they are in a game late with a team equal or better than them FINISH! I think if they can do those things they will at least be the eight seed and show their fans that the entire season wasn't a lost cause. Again they are helped by the fact that they play in east so if any team can make it in that conference, they can.

2) Johnny Manziel said last week that if the Texans pass on him with the number one pick, it would be the "worst decision they ever made." Do you agree with Manziel that passing on him would be a huge mistake, or do the Texans need to address other needs with the first pick in the draft? 

Spencer-
I'm one of the biggest Johnny Manziel supporters out there. I think his game will equate to a solid NFL career, I think he is obviously a phenomenal talent and I think he was unjustly victimized by the NCAA. That being said I don't think it would be the "biggest mistake" the Texans ever made if they don't take him with the first overall pick. If the Texans feel they have other needs to address you can't blame them for that entirely. We saw them do that the year Reggie Bush came out and they passed on him to take Mario Williams who had a solid career at Houston before going to the Bills this past season. I think there is a case to be made for the Texans taking Manziel (he makes your offense more dynamic, they had QB troubles last season, he is a Texas guy) but if the Texans decide they are going with Schaub one more year and want to address other areas then that is what has to happen. They know their personnel better than fans of the game do. I think a lot of Manziel's comments are him selling himself to NFL. He wants teams to see a confident guy willing to work hard to be the best. Also what player with Top 10 potential doesn't want to be the number one pick overall? Can't blame him for arguing his case to be the top pick. My bet is no matter what team had the first pick he'd be saying the same thing. Imagine if the Redskins had the first pick? They just drafted RGIII two years ago and have every desire to keep him as their franchise guy...you think they'd be taking Manziel number one? What if the Ravens had the first pick after they just linked a huge extension with Flacco last year....you think they would draft him? Probably not. So that's my point, Manziel would be saying anyone who passed on him is making the "worst decision." If I'm the Texans I stick to my guns and this doesn't play into who I'm taking number one overall. I take who I need.

Ty-

I absolutely loved what Manziel said! I am a big Johnny Football fan because he is so electric. To me now it has to happen that Johnny Football goes to the Jags and balls out against the Texans 2 games a year. But I like it more for the statement than the actual practice. I don’t think Manziel is the clear-cut best quarterback in the draft. I think the Texans would be fine taking Teddy Bridgewater mainly because their team is already good. I don’t think they have that many wholes. They were a season from winning a playoff game. Their main reason for being bad was injuries and quarterback play. So in reality Manziel could play well for the Jaguars and still lose, which would mean it wouldn’t be the worse mistake ever. I love the quote though because it is motivation, he might even be better served to not get drafted with the 1^st pick.

3) There has been a lot of talk about who the top freshman in college basketball is this year. Some were favorites from the preseason while others have performed better than expected. Given their resumes at this point in the season, who of the five is the best freshman in the NCAA this year: Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Tyler Ennis or Joel Embiid?

Ty-

I feel like this is a tricky question because if I had to purely go with the “best” player than I would have to go with Jabari Parker. His numbers have been great and if you watch him play you can see that he can do everything on the court offensively. He can play down low and on the perimeter. He may not be as great on defense but he has showed himself to be the best player. I think that Tyler Ennis has been the freshman with the biggest impact though. Ennis’ numbers don’t really add up to the other freshmen but he has been a major reason for why Syracuse is undefeated. He has been especially great in late game situations, most notably his game winner against Pittsburgh. But I’m taking Jabari Parker because he has been the best player in terms of skill and talent. By the way Andrew Wiggins hasn't been as bad as people might think he has been. He has been such a great player defensively as well but his offensive game isn't as developed as Parker. Joel Embiid has been very impactful too and Kansas plays in a tough conference so Wiggins and Embiid deserve credit to but it's just hard to pick against Parker.

Spencer-

To answer this question I'm not looking at stats really. I think each player plays different positions and have different roles on their team. Some are dominant rebounders, some the focus of the offense and some dish out assists so their stats are just too different to base it all of stats alone. For me I'm looking at who has meant the most to their respective team and helped make the team better as a whole. With that as the focus I'm going with Tyler Ennis. People knew this kid was going to be good coming into college but I don't know if they expected him to be this good. Looking at Cuse at the beginning of the year you see a team that lost an NBA caliber point guard in Michael Carter-Williams. You had a forward returning in CJ Fair who was voted the ACC preseason player of the year and had great leadership and basketball experience, but he was never a guy who could run the offense himself. Fair always needed a guy to be the administrator for his game. Thus came along Ennis. He fits that 2-3 zone perfectly with a 6'5 wingspan and he has unbelievable floor vision offensively. He has stepped up to be the general of the offense averaging 5.6 assists per game but also knows when he needs to take the shot himself instead passing it off. His confidence has also been stellar particularly down the stretch in close game. When his team has needed him to make a play in crunch time he as risen to the occasion time and time again, and that goes beyond just the three point buzzer beater against Pittsburgh last week. The biggest thing that differentiates him from his predecessor MCW is that he doesn't give up costly turnovers, as he is only averaging 1.6 a game for the season. That is an important stat for a point guard to have. When you put all that together with a team of guys that buy into the system they play in, its no wonder why Syracuse is 25-0. I believe Ennis' play has been more important to the success of his team than any of the other guys on this list. Parker is obviously a force for Duke and the offense runs through him, the combination of Wiggins and Embiid is scary and those guys can ball and of course Randle is statistically the best averaging a double double, but I just don't see those guys as bigger individual impacts to their team especially in close games, as Ennis has been in guiding the Orange to a 25-0 start.

4) Team USA's eight shootout win over Russia on Saturday was one of the most talked about finishes in Olympic history and made Twitter feeds everywhere fill with American pride. How did that finish compare to the 1980 Miracle on Ice win over Russia? Also with the Olympic playoff picture set, are we more excited to see a potential meeting with Canada in the semi-final round or a potential rematch with Russia for the gold medal? 

Spencer-
Let me start by saying this game was awesome! That was exactly what the Olympics are supposed to be about and not only did that game live up to the hype but it united us around cheering for this team to get gold and hope for a rematch. Still though, I don't think it can quite trump the 1980 Olympics Miracle on Ice win over Russia. I obviously wasn't alive then but seeing the highlights and hearing people talk about it, you can just tell what a moment it was for Olympic Hockey and the U.S.A. Nowadays the two teams are more evenly matched then they were back then since it's not amateurs playing on team U.S.A. anymore but professionals. Also you don't have all the historic meaning to it with Cold War going on back then so the impact of the win wasn't as big. Either way I am more excited for a potential rematch of Saturdays game with Russia for gold then for a semi-final game with Canada. The stakes of winning gold against the host country, a "rival" if you will and a shot at redemption after losing the gold medal game in 2010 trumps a rematch with the defending champs (Canada) in the semis for me. All I know is this tournament is gonna be wild! This time next week I hope I'm posting a blog about my thoughts on winning that gold medal over Russia! U-S-A!

Ty-

I don’t think that this really compares to the 1980’s team because that 1980’s team beat the Russians in a more important game. Although it wasn’t tournament style like it is today it was an important round robin game with Medal importance. This year’s game was more about qualifying for the single elimination portion. Also that American team in the 80’s was way more of an underdog because Russia had won the gold medal in 6 of the 7 times prior to that Olympics. That game was great but it would be better if the U.S. team beat Canada in the semis and then beat Russia again. But I would much rather prefer to play Canada in the final but I still want to see them beat Canada more because of the revenge factor. 

5) What did we learn? 

Spencer- The Mount Rushmore metaphor for sports, sucks. 

Nothing bothered me more last week then Lebron James sending the sports world in a frenzy with his naming of who would be on the Mount Rushmore of NBA greats, because it did more than start debates on if his four player were right but then became the standard for comparing players in all sports. I heard people saying it was okay to have more than four people on their Mount Rushmore first of all, which is the first ridiculous part about this. Look Mount Rushmore has four heads on it. If you can't pick just four people for any Mount Rushmore metaphor you shouldn't be using that standard! That doesn't make any sense. Oh Mount Rushmore has four people on it but lets make an exception and add five other heads because I think they deserve it too. Come on man. Secondly four is such a stupid number to compare. What happened to top 10 lists? Even top five lists? Now we gotta do four!? Four? Really? That just doesn't add up to me and is another reason why it should never be used as a standard for measuring the greatest players in a respective sport.

In every professional sport there are more than four greats without a doubt in my mind, which brings me to my next point. Why are we so hung up on comparing greats to begin with!? Why can't one guy be great in his own right and another great on theirs. Its like the Lebron vs. Jordan thing. It's impossible to compare them in my opinion because they are different players, played different positions, played with different styles and who played in different eras. This is the time of year when sports networks get so bored that they feel the need to compare everyone. I heard people talking about if Derrek Jeter belongs on the Yankees Mount Rushmore after he announced his retirement. First of all the Yankees retire just about everyone who has worn a jersey so if all those guys were great they would need 20 Mount Rushmore's to fit them all. This whole idea of Mount Rushmore is ridiculous so lets just drop it. That is my challenge to all the sports networks out there. Move on from Mount Rusmore's and lets talk about some actual sports news. For how long these sports have been played, there are too many greats to pick just four to have their heads etched in stone. That's why we have Hall of Fames, because they fit everyone.

(Ty Butting in- LeBron only brought this up because everybody was talking about Kevin Durant. He basically was like, "Hey stop saying Durant is catching up because I'm going to be among greats!" I'm not mad at it but it seems like LeBron brought this up out of the blue.)

NBA All-Star Weekend the best.

I know there are a lot of NBA haters out there. There are the people who don't like basketball so their hate is understandable. The people that like College but not the NBA makes less sense to me. I understand if you went to a college and loved the school and basketball team that way. But if you are a basketball fan how can you like college more? The NBA play is obviously better, because the NBA gets it's players from the college game.But thats a debate for another day. The thing that people really can't deny is that the NBA All-Star game is the best of all the sports.

Let me just say that All-star games are flawed in general because it is hard to get people to play an exhibition game hard due to fear of injury. The Pro-bowl is a joke, only because lazy football just looks terrible. I don't blame the players because football is a game where it is rare for a team to come out of a game fully healthy. The Baseball all-star game has weight to it but it is usually boring for fans besides die hard fans. Also making it decide the home team of the World Series is stupid, half the players know by then that they probably wont play in the playoffs. It also makes a monotonous season of 162 games less meaningful. The Hockey All-star game is ok but it's hard to give the fans what they want all the time and it's the least watched of the 4.

The NBA All-Star weekend because there are better events because basketball allows you to play different kinds of events. The game in itself is better because people love seeing these guys dunk all over the place and shooting 3's. Yes they don't play defense in the first 3 quarters but who cares? I think people are just lying to themselves if they love seeing great defense and missed shots all over the place. In every single sport people love a shoot out. Defense is great for winning championships but not for entertainment. But they play defense when the game is on the line like it was yesterday.

 All-star games are still flawed but I would rater watch the NBA All-star game than any of the other options by a ridiculously wide margin and many people would probably agree

Monday Spread Option 02-03-14

1. Well last night was the Super Bowl and it was far from "Super"...your reaction to the game and its final outcome? 

Spencer-
I shouldn't gloat and say I called it cause I didn't really call it, but I called it. Maybe not the score per say, but I said that this Seahawks defense was just too good to move the ball up and down the field on. Obviously there were the turnovers that helped them but the two interceptions for turnovers were created by the defensive pressure from the front four so those two I credit to great defense. If the defense creates a turnover like that lets not mark it down as a mistake by Manning. Good defenses create those mistakes. Bottom line is the Broncos couldn't find any rhythm and when they did, turnovers hurt their cause. Entering the second half I thought we'd see an attempt at a comeback but I think the Harvin kick return sealed their fate. Again for me, I imagined Denver would struggle with the Seattle defense, just not as bad as they did. Sucks such a highly anticipated match-up turned out to be a laugher but hey, that what makes sports fun...they are truly unpredictable.

Ty-
This is what sucks about waiting 2 weeks for the Super Bowl. Everybody was anticipating a great game from what people thought was the best 2 teams in the NFL. In all reality though it was not the case. The Broncos did move the ball on the Seahawks at points but cost themselves with turnovers. The opening safety set the tone and  Percy Harvin finished it. My brain said to go with the Seahawks but I thought Manning was going to be special. It wasn't Manning's fault they lost, The Seahawks probably just played the best game they played all year. Now it's time to worry about next year. In the mean time I'm going to be moving on to basketball.

2. Everyone is going to be talking about Peyton Manning's "legacy" now that he is 1-2 all time in Super Bowls and nearing the end of his career. What do you think his legacy should and will be when he decides to hang it up? 

Ty-
I'm not one to call people dumb but it's not a very smart thought to place so much burden on Peyton Manning for losing 2 out of 3 Super Bowl. Peyton Manning is one of the all-time great players in NFL history. The Seattle Seahawks were the absolute better team. People look at all the great quarterbacks and give them so much credit for Super Bowls when it is an absolute team sport. Putting it on one guy to win a championship is dumb even in a sport like Basketball. Football is the ultimate teams sport! People forget that Tom Brady won his first Super Bowls really early in his Career. Tom Brady has been a better quarterback in the years since his last Super Bowl win and still has yet to win one again. Tom Brady was close but his team was not good enough. Championships are way to hard to get and take so much luck to validate somebodies legacy.

Spencer-
Look anyone who thinks Manning's legacy is a bust is ignorant or not a true football fan. The guy has 5 MVP awards, will have his name on a handful of NFL records when it's all said and done, has played in three Super Bowls (so far) and won one. Dan Marino played in one Super Bowl in his ROOKIE season, NEVER won one and nobody ever questions how great of a QB he was. Let's not forget how hard it is to win the Super Bowl, and when you do win it takes all aspects of the game to usually do so. In now way did Manning lose that game to Seattle on his own. The Broncos lost that game cause they didn't do anything well! Not one facet of their game looked like a Super Bowl worthy team last night. Manning is one of the greatest to ever play the game PERIOD. He is a first ballot HOFer and that's that. Don't get so caught up in this legacy stuff.

3. Now that the NFL season has come to a close what sport are you most looking forward to devoting your time to? Why? 

Spencer-
February signifies the start of Spring Training for baseball, which gets me excited for the season to start and for Spring to come...buuuuut as fun as it is to get caught up in the predictions and see the rosters take form no one wins the World Series with games played in March so I'll wait on that till April. That being said it's college hoops for me. My Orange are now the number one team in the country and got a tough stretch of games coming up to close out the season and then obviously we got everyone's favorite distraction from work March Madness. It is going to be a great run up until them with some great games so I am excited to watch that a little more and see how it all comes together come tournament time.

Ty-
Basketball hands down. It's time to focus on the NBA and College hoops. I'm not worried about baseball at all. I feel like baseball just ended and I'm really not giddy for spring training in a sport that plays a 162 game regular season. The NBA All-Star weekend is coming up and it will be time for teams to get serious and make a playoff push. This is when teams begin to kick it in to gear. Then in College hoops it's hard not to get excited for the conference tournaments and then the NCAA tournament. The conference games in February have always been great so I'm excited to focus even more on basketball.

4. Saw a lot of upsets this weekend in College Hoops, with the regular season winding down over the next month who are your favorites to be the four number one seeds come NCAA Tournament time?

Ty-
More things can happen so it is very hard to say who will be there for sure. I think it can really be decided in the conference tournaments. Although I think that the Big Ten and the Big Twelve are the two best conferences in the country they have been beating up on each other throughout conference play. So I think the Syracuse should get a number one seed although I don't necessarily believe they are the best team in college. Syracuse would deserve a number one seed for the way they have been playing although the ACC didn't turn out to be as good as it was last year. This can always change because of this, if they drop a few games to a mediocre ACC team and lose to Duke in the rematch than they might drop.

 Arizona would probably drop a little bit because of Brandon Ashley's injuries but they can also slide Aaron Gordon to the PF slot and play a more guard heavy rotation or play Hollis-Jefferson more. Either way, I believe that they can continue to win in the Pac-12 and should be able to get a seed.

Kansas should be able to secure a number one seed. Although they have dropped a couple of games, Kansas has played the toughest schedule in the nation and have continued to get better. I think that they can end up being the best team going into the tournament. Wichita St will probably be hurt by being a mid major honestly. While I think that a team like Wisconsin might go further in the tournament I think that Michigan State will get that last top seed.

My top 4 seeds:

Syracuse
Arizona
Kansas
Michigan St.


Spencer-
Obviously it is still a little too far out to know for sure but I think there are some great candidates that are in a top spot in the rankings that could end up with a number one seed in the tournament. I'd like to think the Syracuse will be one even if they lose a game or two but I think they need to win the ACC and at least make a run in the conference tournament. A lot of times being a number one seed is based off of how a team is playing at that time of year, which is another reason Cuse can't rest on their laurels right now. Outside of that I think the Big Ten winner will be a number one seed no doubt. That conference is hands down the best in all of college hoops right now and every team in it, it seems, can beat any other team in it. I think playing in the toughest conference and coming out on top will speak numbers to how good of a team they are. So for the my second number one seed I'll just fill it in with "Big Ten Winner." Next I think you got to like Kansas and not because of the Wiggins hype and all that, but because before this weekend slip up against a solid Texas team, they were playing their best basketball. I think they will get back to that and close out the season with key wins over ranked teams like Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and push their way into the tournament with a high ranking. Also Kansas has held a number one seed with less talent before so I see them stepping up when they need to. Lastly, I'm going to take Florida as my last number one seed. From what I have seen from them so far, they are a great team and they play as one unit. I think that is a recipe to win their conference, even though they still have to play Kentucky twice, and stay in the top of the rankings long enough to be a number one seed.

To recap my four number one seeds are:
-Syracuse
-The "Big Ten Winner" 
-Kansas
-Florida

Notable absences: Wichita State: I think they are obviously a solid team, but not number one seed worthy, even if they do go undefeated in their awful conference.
Arizona: I worry about Arizona with Brandon Ashley gone for the season. He is important to what that teams been doing and with him out I think we will see Zona notch a few more losses that will drop them in the rankings.

Look forward to re-evaluating these as tournament time gets closer! 

What did we learn in sports this past week?  

Spencer: Defense Still wins Championships.

Okay, so I didn't really learn this it was more just a reassertion of it but as we saw in the Super Bowl and great offense is nice but a great defense well, that's what you need in the NFL. Seattles defense forced Denver to make mistakes, it was the only team all year to pressure Peyton Manning, they made stops and they absolutely shut down the Broncos dump and run type offense that dominated teams all year. We saw, especially in the second half, what made that offense work all year and it was throwing short passes and relying on YAC. Seattle had other plans. They don't miss tackles in fact they were the number one team in the league this year at making the tackle at first contact.

On the other end the Broncos defense, which was awful all year, stayed that way, which made what I learned even more true. I know the turnovers by the offense didn't help their case but even in those cases the Denver defense had the Seahawks in third and five yards or more, four times and didn't come up with the big stops a good defense needs to, to keep their team in the game. Nowadays for me a good defense is just one that gets the big stops when they need to in the biggest moments of the game. Denver couldn't even make those and are therefore nothing more than a mediocre defense. Which I guess makes the Seahawks defense elite then cause they got stops just about every time they were on the field.

It boils down to this, if you have a good defense you have the makings to be a championship team and all you need is a competent enough offense to get you there. So to the Browns and Bills fans out there...the future looks bright!

Ty- There are to many All-Star NBA players in the West.

The NBA released the full rosters of the all-star teams this last week and there were a lot of talk about snubs. You can easily make the case that Kyle Lowry or Lance Stephenson should have made the All-Star team over guys like Joe Johnson and Joakim Noah. In the western conference it is not really that clear.

Anthony Davis, Goran Gragic, Demarcus Cousins and even Serge Ibaka have all had All-Star caliber seasons. But who do you take off of the western team? Dirk Nowitzki maybe but he has played great all year too. The west is obviously better than the east and there is always going to be people who feel like they were snubbed but this is the first year in a long time where there were so many All-Star caliber players in the running.

If it were up to me I would take out Dirk Nowitzki for Anthony Davis but i am fine with the case Dirk has to be in the game. There is still an opportunity for players to get spots because Kobe Bryant doesn't plan on playing and Chris Paul might still be hurt.

Newly appointed commissioner Adam Silver will be the one to decide who replaces those guys.
I think that Silver will pick Goran Dragic and Anthony Davis if those two are out because they will need another guard and because Anthony Davis is the hometown kid with the game being played in New Orleans.

Monday Spread Option 01-27-14

1. Super Bowl week is upon us! Who's winning the Superbowl? Why? and what is the score going to be?

Spencer-

Crazy that its Super Bowl week, what a great season its been...As for my pick, it's obviously an intriguing match up with the number one offense going against the number one defense and I'm taking the defense. Seahawks are going to win it. I think if there is any defense that can stop the offensive machine the Broncos have with Manning at the controls, it's Seattle. Also the Broncos defense will focus on stopping Marshawn Lynch and the run game, basically begging second year quarterback Russell Wilson to beat them with his arm. That is where I see Wilson stepping up in the moment. He may only be in his second year but he plays with the poise and smarts of a 10 year vet. He's done it all playoffs, making the big throws when they need him to and I see him doing it again in the biggest game of his career. Should be a great match-up overall and a memorable Super Bowl...31-24 Seahawks.

Ty-

There is only one more football game left until August, which is terrible news and great news! Super Bowl week is a great to see how these two teams go here. I for one, am glad that the two best teams in most people's eyes will be facing off for the championship. This outdoor Super Bowl has set up everything to be in the Seahawks favor. A colder game should benefit a Seahawks offense, built on the run and slow down a pass offense that the Broncos rely on. Also usually when High Power offenses meet high power defenses the defense tends to win right? My head is telling me to pick the Seahawks but there is something else that is telling me I have to go with the Broncos! Yes it's an outdoor Super Bowl, but Peyton Manning won his one ring outdoors in a rain monsoon. Although the Broncos have an offense predicated on the pass, they still play in an outdoor stadium and have a very good running game with Knowshon Moreno and Monte Ball. I'm really not too worried about the weather as long as it isn't windy. I think sometimes in Super Bowl games you need a quarterback to put the team on his back like Aaron Rodgers or Eli Manning. The Denver defense is actually good against the run so I think it's going to come down to Peyton and Russell Wilson. So I'm going with 28-24 Broncos

2. What has been more impressing? Kevin Durants absurd month of January or Carmelo Anthony's epic 62 point game at MSG?

Spencer-
Got to be Durant's aka the Slim Reaper's month of January. Obviously dropping 62 in a game is great for Carmelo but Melo is a great player because that's what does best shoot, and score. It should be no surprise to anyone that he was able to get so hot against a dismal defense like Charlotte and score 62. Some guys just have those nights where they can't miss. For Durant that night has been every game in the month of January. That's why it's more impressive. That team is missing one of its top players and Durant has single-handedly stepped up into his role as a super star player and carried that team to an impressive 12-5 record since, beating some great teams from the West along the way. Since January 7th he hasn't had under 30 points in any game he has played in. He has crossed the 50 point margin once, and come within four points or less of it twice for all of January. Those kind of numbers take a different level of play every single night and he has done just that. The man is just on an MVP caliber tear right now and I don't see him slowing down until Westbrook comes back and he is forced to share the ball a little more.

Ty-

Kevin Durant by a mile! I'm not "poopooing" Carmelo's 62 points because regardless of who you play, it takes something special to score 62 points. The other team knows your hot and they usually don't want to be the team to give up a record. But the Durantula has been absolutely poisonous to the opposing defenses this month. In January Durant is averaging 36.5 points per game, not to mention his own 54 point game. He is also averaging 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Although the Thunder team has begun to learn how to play with out Westbrook, the only reason they lead the West is because Kevin Durant is playing out of his mind right now. Also in Carmelo's 62 point game, not only were they up most of the game but he also had 0 assists. In Kevin Durant's 54 point game he recorded 6 assist. So even though he had the hot hand, he still worked to get his team good looks.

3. Arizona is now 20-0! How long do you think they can go undefeated? or will they run the table?

 Spencer-
I know they have had some close calls here the last few weeks but honestly with the talent of that team and the conference they play in I wouldn't be surprised if they went into the  Pac-12 conference tournament with an unblemished record. As of now they have no ranked teams on their schedule and they have obviously shown separation from the their conference as the next closest team has four losses. You could see them maybe tripping up with a team like Cal or maybe Oregon who can score a lot of points and other than a recent losing slump has a great season, but its still not a for sure. Arizona is a solid team so I could definitely see them pulling out an undefeated season.

Ty-

The Arizona Wildcats  have been winning every which way possible. This probably bodes well for them because now they just know how to win under any circumstance. It could come in handy in the tournament game. That being said, if they keep having close calls in games, then they will eventually fall to a team. They don't play anymore ranked teams this year so there is a great possibility for them to run the table  and win all their games this season. Their biggest threat is Stanford, who have been playing fairly well.

4. After seeing the NBA All-Star game starting 5, who was the biggest snub?

Spencer-
Easy answer here, James Harden. With Dwight joining him this year he hasn't been forced into having these forty point games anymore like he had last year but that's not his fault. He is still in my opinion the center piece of that Houston Rockets team and he has proven in two years since being the sixth man in OKC that he is a talented player who can hold his own. He deserved to be there, particularly over Kobe who has played in just five games this year. I know he is Kobe, and one of the greatest to ever play the game, but for the 2013-14 season he isn't even an All-Star. Just shows why sometimes the fans voting keeps out worthy guys. Either way Harden definitely got snubbed, almost as bad as Kendrick Lamar did at the

Grammys.



Ty-

LeMarcus Aldridge. Although I think Kobe should not have gotten the nod on the west squad, I think that Kevin Love should have been replaced with LaMarcus Aldridge. Love's numbers are awesome but they are still very similar to Aldridge. The only difference between the 2 is that the Blazers have one of the top 5 records in the league and Aldridge is an MVP candidate. I think that Aldridge would have been a starter if people remembered who he was. If he had commercials or if the Blazers had more TV games then he would be a starter. Although it is worth noting that he will in all likelihood be a reserve but he has played at an all-star starter level. Kevin Love has also been great but his team is only 21 and 22 and his team has underachieved all year. Yes it isn't all Love's fault but being an All-Star isn't always about numbers.

What We Learned This Week:

Spencer- The PAT is BOOOOOOOOORING!

With all the talk of changes in the NFL the biggest news maker was the leagues move to potentially eliminate the PAT. While I think it is kind of a tradition of the game, I also have come to realize I understand the rational.

Think about it, we love football because its exciting, full of big hits, and most importantly....UNPREDICTABLE. Nothing about the PAT screams unpredictable anymore when you have kickers nailing field goals from  nearly half the length of the field. The fact that broadcasters call a 20 yard field goal a chip shot, must make a PAT child's play. Time for some change. Time to switch it up a bit. Time to add some intrigue into a team going for the conversion in the first quarter or not. I love the idea of generating some more strategy into the game. It is a genius idea for the NFL to keep all eyes on the game a little longer, instead of having the PAT like an invitation to take a bathroom break.

That being said I don't think they should get rid of it necessarily completely. I think the best solution I have heard so far is moving the extra point back so it's a 30 yarder or so, and if you go for the two you get the ball on the one. Just something to make a coach think twice about potentially kicking the extra point or not.

I think that would be the best solution but I want to hear your ideas for fixing or eliminating the PAT so please post them in the comments or tweet them at me (@Spencito6)

Regardless of what the NFL decides to do though, may the odds be ever in your teams favor!

Ty- Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, this might be the last year of the Miami Heat Era!

The Miami Heat have had less of a buzz this year, mainly because they are the known commodity. Now this isn't something that we learned last week but this passing week has made it clear that the Miami Heat future could be up in the air.

This past week we have seen LeBron talk a lot about how he is jealous of Kevin Durant's shot attempts. Then when Carmelo dropped 62, he chimed in again about wanting to have a 60-plus point game. It seems as if LeBron wants to be able to get some of these accolades because he feels like he is in his physical prime.

But he can't do this because he has too many Superstars on his team, or so that must be his mindset. I do feel like he could shoot as many shots as he wanted to but I think he knows that it would be at a cost of looking selfish.

On top of that, Dwayne Wade has been playing very scarcely this season. He has been sitting out games this season for maintenance of his many injuries. This is troublesome because his health has steadily declined over the last few seasons. The Heat might be doing this now so that they have him in May and June but it should still cause some concern. It's easy to question whether LeBron James or Chris Bosh will stay with the heat if they are unsure about D-Wade's future. Specially with LeBron apparently wanting to shoot more.

Although I doubt LeBron would give up the rings or is really that jealous, if he wanted to shoot a lot, why didn't he just stay in Cleveland?