The Bruh Review: The Month I Missed: NFL Playoffs, NBA Trades and Rises and the College Football Playoffs.

A lot of things happened this last month so I really wasn't on top of my Bruh Reviews. Finishing up the semester and the holidays had a lot to do with it. Not having the access to sports at my grandma's house is another. I have cable at my house at school but at home I am working with the 10 channels an antenna gives me and the internet. No excuses, I could have still done some things but here are my observations in a kind of organized manor. I'll go with the sports and the biggest things I remembered from the last month.

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. 

http://www.nba.com/video/games/mavericks/2015/01/07/0021400529-det-dal-recap.nba/

• 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.

The Daily Bruh Review 12-8-14

Obviously watched a lot of football this Sunday. I was so down on the Washington football team's chances of ever wining a game again, so I interrupted this football Sunday to go see the movie Horrible Bosses 2. It is a funny movie that isn't as good as the first one but definitely satisfied my craving for a funny movie. I then came back and made some observations

1. NFL Football

I'm going to do this in bullet form like I do the small observations:

• I might as well get my bias for my team out the way. Not surprised at all that the Washington football team lost to the Rams in a shutout. At this point I expect the team to lose and they kind of deserve it. This team is bad. I'm not sure why Robert Griffin is such a polarizing figure but it is so unfair how much blame gets heaped on him. He didn't play well his last two starts but people tend to forget that 1. He only started 5 full games in a new offense with a new mindset and 2. The team didn't win much with out him.

• It would be stupid to fire Gruden but wasn't he supposedly hired to develop RG3?

• The Browns lose a game they definitely should have won. Johnny Manziel is an unproven QB option for a team fighting for a playoff spot but Brian Hoyer hasn't really deserved to keep starting. 

• Biggest surprise in the early game was the Pittsburgh Steelers blowing out the Bengals in a kind of comeback. Nobody wants to lose the AFC North.

• What happened to the New Orleans Saints? The Panthers just routed them. Nobody wants to win the NFC South

• The Seahawks and the Cardinals might be in a division battle that we all didn't see a month ago. 

• The 49ers lose to the Raiders. Sheesh. No way Jim Harbaugh is here next year. Which is a crazy development. Marc Jackson getting fired by the Warriors is a good indication to Harbaugh that not getting along with management will get you fired no matter how good you are. What's up with bay area teams not liking their coaches personally? Something in the water?

• The Broncos got a lot of help from the refs but The Bills didn't help with their offense not working until garbage time essentially. I still think giving up on E.J. so early in the season was stupid. Kyle Orton is no different to me than when Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't work out.

• In the late game I definitely thought that the San Diego Chargers was going to pull of an upset going in to the game against the Patriots. They made me look good the first 3 quarters. Kind of reminds me of me picking them to go to the Superbowl and they came out hot to start the season before falling off.

2. College Football

I watched a good portion of the games and my final four for the championship would have been 

1. Alabama 

2. Oregon

3. Fla St.

4. Baylor

Just because Ohio State was on their third QB. Yeah they blew out Wisconsin but that also could have been other people rallying behind the backup. I just feel Baylor would put up a better fight against Alabama.

But Baylor didn't get in and probably rightfully so because the Big 12 doesn't have a true championship game. Maybe they should add 2 more teams so they can have a championship. Also their is 10 teams in the Big 12 conference. At least add 2 teams to make sense guys.

I watched the Florida State vs Georgia Tech game and it was probably the best Jameis Winston played since the end of the championship last season. Which leads me to the conclusion that Winston and Florida State play best when everything is on the line. So I would not be surprised if they beat Oregon. Not picking them to though.

3.  Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Detroit Pistons

I like watching the Thunder so I wanted to make sure they can handle their business against a Pistons team that lost 11 straight in a row. They started slow but eventually got the win over the Pistons but the things that I took away from the game were

1. Kevin Durant is starting to get his swagger back......

2. Russell Westbrook really doesn't care that he broke his hand.

And then he had a great reason for his dunk's after the game.


How can people hate Russell Westbrook? " I just don't want to get my shot blocked, that's why I dunk so hard." Shout out to the Oklahoman Reporter Anthony Slater for the Vine. Definitely a guy to follow if you like the Thunder.

3. The Pistons are bad. Like bad all the way around I was surprised that coach Stan Van Gundy didn't trade Monroe or Smith and I will still be surprised if they are both still there at the trade deadline. The team just doesn't work constructed this way and all this talent is sad to watch perform so badly. The Thunder are a better team but the Pistons gave the game away too.

Smaller observations:

• Biggest thing to take away from the college football playoffs is that no matter what somebody was going to be unhappy with the system. I say go to 6 or 8 teams. Why not? 

• Washington's NFL team's defensive coordinator Jim Haslett had a former/ great player, London Fletcher, call him out. The guy has been there since 2010 and has never ranked higher than 21st in points allowed. How does he keep his job?

• That hit in the Chargers and Patriots game that negated a pick six was just an overreaction to the player getting hurt. It isn't a flag every time someone gets hurt. This is kind of a game where people launch themselves at people un purpose so....

• Saw a lot of arguments on Charles Barkley's comments on the Ferguson and Eric Garner situations. I love Chuck and he is entitled to his opinions just confused why CNN would ask Charles Barkley to do an interview like that. I wouldn't call him an expert on these situations.

• Saw this graphic about Kyle Lowry on NBA TV

Raptor on the loose! pic.twitter.com/ls3uEzNkyq
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 8, 2014

Yeah he better make the All-Star team this year. Dude is really good. The sad thing is that he was good for the Rockets a while ago but they decided they wanted Jeremy Lin instead..



•  Many have begun to believe that the Warriors and the Grizzlies are contenders in the  NBA. When do people begin to truly believe in the Wiizards and the Raptors? I get it is the east but both of those teams are really good. Yet I keep hearing people say it is between the Bulls and the Cavs. Neither team have better records than the afore mentioned teams.

• Andrew Luck has a lot of turnovers for a guy many people think is the next great QB.

• Serge Ibaka pulled out the Mutumbo after blocking Andre Drummond.

Then Drummond came back to bang on him later. Mutumbo got dunked on a fair amount in his career so this is fitting.

• Art Briles took a shot at NCAA basketball and said something along the lines of saying that they aren't sitting around to watch the decision because they are football and not basketball. I mean good thing you didn't cause you didn't make it.

• Also going to give out the biggest bruh of the day/ weekend in every post and the biggest bruh I'm going to give out is to Art Briles again. This dude blamed Baylor for not making the playoffs because the committee didn't have many southern members. Hey Art half the teams in the bracket are from the south. Bruh. 

The Daily Bruh Review 12-5-14

Daily Bruh Report day 2! 

Daily Bruh Review Day 1?

So apparently there is a twitter account called the Bruh Report so I had to change the name a little bit. Bruh Report was catchy but Bruh Review kind of describes what I'm doing more since it's observations from last night. But I digress.

Had some good NBA games and the NFL. The best observation of the night was my girlfriend Katie noticing Anthony Davis' unibrow. I know she knew who he was and knew he had a unibrow at some point and forgot but yeah apparently it really surprised her. Me and Zach actually talked about how he has a girlfriend and that's not really surprising but people making fun of his eyebrows have to  know his life is significantly better than most.

I get that the brow is Anthony Davis' trademark now though but I would not be mad if he cut it. But that man can do what he wants obviously. Let's just get into my big observations.

1. OKC Thunder's playoff chances.

First sports story I read was from ESPN/ Daily Thunder's Royce Young (check out the article here) who took a look at how the Thunder's schedule looked and projected their record 10 games at a time. It was good stuff and he projected them to get to 51-31 playing about .700 basketball. I think he had a fair assesment of what they could do. I think though that he wasn't giving them enough credit.

I believe this team will be better because of this first month of woes and growth for young players. Their bench will be strong enough to where I think that in the middle of the season, probably January, the Thunder will rip off a 15-20 win streak. I really believe that because this team should and will be one if the best teams in the league. They are going to have to beat the elite teams in the west and they have done that the last few years so I don't see that changing.

I'm sure Scott Brooks is happy that Kevin Durant is back though.

Scott Brooks be like... pic.twitter.com/7iuNL3HEbL
— NBA Meme Team (@NBAMemeTeam) December 5, 2014

2. The Cavs vs the Knicks.

I loved Kyrie like everyone else before the season and I still like Kyrie but everything that is happening makes sense. Kyrie is more like a shooting guard playing point and maybe the Cavs would have benefited better if Kyrie was a little more pass first.

Actually I take back what I just said in a way. Kyrie could definitely be a scoring guard but it does seem like he doesn't make his teammates better at all times. I know a lot of people say this about Russell Westbrook but I think Russell Westbrook does make his teammates better on most nights. Westbrook just has stretched of poor decision making. The point is though that Kyrie can still be a scoring guard like Westbrook or like Tony Parker is. He just has to get better at knowing when it is better to pass or better to shoot in certain situations.

All that being said he is still really good and really clutch! Probably a good for LeBron because he and Love have a shaky record in clutch situation. But yeah Kyrie had 37 points and only 2 assist. Maybe it is better to have LeBron be the facilitator but still. 27 and 12 look a lot better in the stat line to me.

He is still really good though....


3. Cowboys vs. Bears.

The Cowboys aren't a great team but boy are the Bears a terrible team. Just all around bad and it is truely disappointing. The Cowboys finally get over the 8 and 8 hump but that wont mean much if they still don't make the playoffs. That's pretty much all I got to say.

This Brandon Marshall catch was awesome even my girlfriend Katie agreed.




 4. Warriors vs Pelicans

Obligatory statement that Anthony Davis is good. Everybody keeps beating the notion that Anthony Davis is good over everybody else's head. I knew he was good last year. Hell, we all knew he was going to be good when he was in college.

But yeah Anthony Davis is good. He had a double double in the first half.

The real story is how good the Warriors look. They were always fun to watch last year under Marc Jackson but didn't look this good. Jackson rode Steph Curry a little to much and it seemed like the right thing to do because he was so good.

Under Steve Kerr the Warriors offense looks absolutely amazing. They lead the league in assist and it shows when you watch them. They have multiple weapons on offense and they share the ball enough to let all those weapons flourish. The crazy part is that they move the ball around so much and Steph Curry stil score the bulk of the points. You can see how much his off the ball game has improved.

I think this will be great in the playoffs because the key to stopping the Warriors has always been stopping Curry because he dominated the ball so much. Now it will be a little harder to stop Curry when they don't need the ball in his hands to be dangerous.


Smaller Observations:

• Demarco Murray ran the ball 32 times for the Cowboys. I get that riding him has helped the Cowboys win but they could have just ran the ball more and used a committee. Just not sure you can ride a guy this much in the NFL these days without him wearing down early.

• Remember when we though Austin Rivers was going to be good? Well I kind of didn't think he was going to be good but I thought he would be good off the bench but even the shooting stroke he had in college doesn't seem to exist anymore...

• HOW IN THE WORLD DID THAT UCF RECEIVER GET BEHIND 3 GUYS FOR A HAIL MARY TOUCHDOWN? I feel like I always say hail mary's don't work because you just have to stay in front of everybody but wow.

• I'm not sure if Andre Iguodala is hurt but it is crazy he is coming off the bench for the Warriors. He is kind of getting paid to much to come off the bench but Harrison Barnes is playing really well so I guess it's fine.

• Also who thought Draymond Green would be anything more than an energy guy coming out of Michigan State. He played power forward there and now he is spotting up and making threes. Crazy.
• There were some crazy suits tonight. Chauncey Billups wore a checkered suit but the worse was Barry Melrose in the Kool-aid suit. He looked like what I would imagine a Canadian pimp would look like.

Barry Melrose in the Kool-aid suit pic.twitter.com/9OSvF76iCq
— Tylante (@Tylante) December 5, 2014

• I watched some of that Peter Pan live thing and it was ok, I guess. My girlfriend made me watch it and I was more just surprised they casted Christopher Walken. He just talked like himself to me. 

NBA Season Preview

It's time for the NBA to start and that means we will get all the fast break dunks and full court alley-oop passes back! Every season includes some new story lines. Some of these story lines are predictable and some come out of no where. So now based on last season here is some questions and answers about the 2014-15 season.


Team categories:

First, what are the top 8 teams in each division?


East:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Chicago Bulls
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Washington Wizards
5. Charlotte Hornets
6. Miami Heat
7. Brooklyn Nets
8. Atlanta Hawks

West:
1. San Antonio
2. LA Clippers
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
4. Golden State Warriors
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Portland Trailblazers
7. Houston Rockets
8. Phoenix Suns


The paper champs award! What team is most likely to be better on paper like last years Minnesota Timberwolves?

The Houston Rockets.
I really think that the Rockets will implode a little bit this year. Pretty much a gut feeling here because Dwight Howard and James Harden is so good but the loss of Chandler Parsons is pretty key. I don't know is Parsons is as big of an addition for the Mavs as he is of a loss for the Rockets. PAtrick Beverly wasn't really a point guard that made a ton of plays so Parsons was great because he took some of the playmaking responsibilities from Harden. They also lost Jeremy Lin so a lot of the scoring and playmaking responsibility will fall on Harden and it will be a little too much for them to stay in the elite class of the West.

What team is most likely to have the most all-stars?

Cleveland Cavaliers. 
They will probably get 3 for Irving, LeBron and Love. I could also see the Thunder getting Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka with the PF spot being a little more open with Love on the East now.


What team will be on the Sportscenter top-10 the most?

Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Clippers. 
It will be a tie between those two teams with the Thunder not far behind. Anytime you have the potential of Kyrie breaking some guys ankles, LeBron finishing a crazy dunk and Kevin Love throwing a bomb full court pass in the same game then you have to believe that team will be a staple on top-10. LA will be Lob City as long as they have Blake Griffin. But you also can't sleep on the ferocious dunks Westbrook is sure to have! like this one!



What team will be on the Sportscenter not top-10 the most?

Denver Nuggets.
I actually think that the Nuggets will be sneaky good this year but they are only winning this category because of the myth! The legend! Javale McGee!
Spencer-



What team will blow the most amount of games?

Houston Rockets.
This was a hard category because last year was automatically the Timberwolves. That team lost so many close games it was crazy. Now I think that the Rockets will lose a few games they should win because of the combination of Harden's poor defense and Dwight Howard's poor ability to shoot free throws


What team will win the most close games?

Portland Trailblazers.
Damian Lillard is as clutch as it gets and I really don't expect that to change at all.




What team will be this years Portland Trailblazers? Team to take the next step.

The Charlotte Hornets.
I really wanted to pick the New Orleans Pelicans but they play in the west so it would be a mini-miracle for them just to make it to the playoffs. I really think that the Hornets will take a pretty big leap in the east. They may even be a top 4 seed. I realistically think they will be the 5 seed in the east and will look like a legitimate contender at times. There defense was a force last year even with Al Jeffesrson's poor defense. You then couple that with Lance Stephenson joining the team, which should help the offense take off.



What team will be good in a couple of years?

Orlando Magic.
They have crazy young talent that will make them pretty good in 2 or 3 years. I really like Elfrid Payton with Victor Olidipo in the back court. They also locked up Nikola Vucevic, a guy with multiple 20 point 20 rebound games longterm. Tobias Harris is underrated. Also Andrew Nicholson, Channing Frye, and Aaron Gordon will make the power foward position crazy versatile.

The St. Bonaventure product Andrew Nicholson said he is going back to the post this year!



Whos is going to win the West?

Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder will start the year in a tough spot. Not only did they lose Kevin Durant but the injuries have pilled up. They will currently only have 4 bench players on opening day. But when this team becomes full strength in December they will get on a roll. Anthony Morrow will prove huge in the long run with his added shooting ability. Morrows shooting will help make the Thunder unstoppable. Thunder coach Scott Brooks put in a new system that will focus on ball movement a little more. I also expect Reggie Jackson to have a great year and average 14 points. Also Serge Ibaka will finally be the 20-10 guy that he is capable of. One of the more important things is that Stevan Adams has been named the starting center and I think he has a chance to average somewhere close to 12 and 10. His pick and rolls with Westbrook in the preseason looked amazing. I also don't think San Antonio will have the motivation it had last year to return to the finals.

Who is going to win the East?

The Chicago Bulls.
I am not so easily putting my eggs in the Derek Rose basket. I honestly think the Cleveland Cavaliers will have more talent than the Bulls but that will only matter in the regular season. In the playoffs I don't know if the Cavs will have the defensive ability to perform in the playoffs. I hate trusting Derek Rose but I have a very gut feeling about this. But man trust Derek Rose and betting against how well that Cavs team fits together offensively.

Yeah I'll be regretting this pick in about 3 weeks if Rose gets hurt again.


Who is going to win it all?

Oklahoma City Thunder. 
 It is their year. I feel it.

Player categories:

Who is most likely to get dunked on by Blake Griffin multiple times?

Everybody.
Nobody is safe when it comes to Blake Griffin. But honestly he will probably dunk over Timefey Mozgov 6 times this season. I'm low balling it.


Never forget.


The KD award! Who is the player most likely to steal or press Lebron for the MVP award?

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors.
He probably should have been higher in the MVP discussion last season but I really think the Warriors will be great this season and Steph Curry is going to be lights out and I don't just mean shooting the ball. I expect Curry to be among the league leaders in scoring as well as in assist. I loved Marc Jackson but I think Steve Kerr will be a better coach at using Curry effectively and make the pieces around him fit a little bit better.


The CP3 award! What player is the most likely to end up in a commercial?

Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
The Brow is blowing up! Rightfully so. I think that he will get way more recognition after staring in the FIBA world championship. The Brow is unique and will be in some commercial for nike this year.

Over or under? Kobe averages 20 shots a game?

Over.
Definitely over. Especially with Swaggy P out. By the way, is it just me or did we all just accept the name "Swaggy P" for Nick Young. I mean what an accomplishment.

Who is the most likely to have a 20 minute video about their bad defense? The James Harden award.

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving will obviously be great on offense but man will his defense be exposed because he is going to have to guard guys like Derek Rose, Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker, Chris Paul and all the great point guards in the spotlight now. The spotlight part is key. Kyrie has always had defensive woes but nobody thought about it because the Cavs weren't good. But expect a lot of this from Kyrie.




P.S.
That is the Derek Rose we want to see!

Who will have a break out year?

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks.
Nobody really knows who this kid is but man I love everything about his game. He is a guy that has the potential to be very similar to Kevin Durant. Now I don't think he will be that good but he will be good. Yeah most people will focus on Jabari Parker in Milwakee, and rightfully so, but the "Greek Freak" will be the other reason that the Bucks will push for a playoff spot. Giannis really picked up his play later in the year last season and in the summer league he averaged 17 points and 5 rebounds while playing some point guard as well. This dude is 6-10 and capable of playing point guard!

The Mario Chalmers award! The guy most likely to get yelled at by LeBron the most.

Dion Waiters, Cleveland Cavaliers.
Dion Waiters is going to be Dion Waiters, which means he will probably be yelled at by LeBron and multiple Cavs fans.

Who is the most likely to end up on TMZ?

Nick Young, aka Swaggy P, LA Lakers.
Two words. Iggy Azalea.




"It's a shame what happened to D'Antoni."


Can't wait for the season to start!

Monday Spread Option 05-19-14

1. How shocked are you that the Pacers beat the Heat so handily?

Ty-
Honestly I am shocked and not shocked at the same time. The Pacers have been up and down since the all-star break. The one thing that they have been consistent about is playing up to good teams. I could have seen the Pacers losing by 20 because they haven't played well but they got their groove back a little during the Wizards series. I picked the Pacers to win yesterday because I thought that they would finally play with energy. They had to because this is the series that they have been waiting for all year. They match-up well with the Heat and have the tools to beat them. So I'm not that surprised but I didn't think it would be as easy as it was. The reason it was so easy was because the Heat don't have the same team they had last year. The Heat bench and role players are not playing nearly as well as they were last year. The only player who played great was LeBron. The Heat need more contribution from other players next game. I do think the Pacers need to win game 2 to really have a chance to win the series.

Spencer-
I'm not shocked at all. For one that is the level of basketball I expected the Pacers to play when the playoffs started. Obviously they lived on the edge for the first two series and only looked their best when they knew it was win or go home. All that aside though I knew if the playoffs weren't enough to motivate the Pacers to play harder, a rematch with the Heat was. The Pacers had the Eastern Conference Finals circled on their calender since game 7 ended last year and they wanted home court advantage this time around and got it so they could have an edge when they met Miami there again. They got just that and they're play yesterday showed that this is what they were built for, dethroning Miami. Indiana spent the last three years building that team and getting them playoff experience and they came so close last year. This series is about two teams that hate each other and I expect the Pacers to play inspired like they did in game one all series.


2. How much do you think the Serge Ibaka injury effects the Spurs vs Thunder series?

Spencer-
I think is definitely hurts the Thunder in a big way. I know he isn't by any means the focal point of the offense and that they needed him more in the first two series than they will in this match-up with the Spurs, but I still think him being out of the lineup will cost the Thunder this series.

His offense is helpful enough at times that they will miss it, but what is more important is the absence of his defensive presence. Ibaka averages 8.8 rebounds a game this year and nearly three blocks a game. I know that other guys like Steven Adams and Nick Collison can step up in that spot and contribute in a big way, but they won't have the same effect as Ibaka. Obviously Perkins will guard Tim Duncan, which makes Tiago Splitter's effectiveness huge for the Spurs. He'll step up his game down low and that could be costly for the Thunder. Playing small ball more, could be the one saving grace with the absence of Ibaka, because they have had success with that line up before, including against the Clippers last series.

Ty-
I think it is a big effect on the Thunder. A lot of people under-rate Ibaka when he is playing and downplay his impact on the game. He is a beast defensively and change a lot of shots in the lane. But I do think that if Ibaka is lost this is the time where it doesn't hurt as much. Ibaka was good offensively but not somebody the Thunder relied on. They can get his offense from somewhere else, probably Reggie Jackson, Caron Butler or even a wildcard like Perry Jones III.

The Spurs don't have the bigs that the Clippers and the Grizzlies had that you needed Ibaka for. Perkins would have guarded Duncan anyway and he isn't the focal point of the offense. Spurs center Thiago Splitter has played well but he isn't as athletic as DeAndre Jordan or physically imposing as Zach Randolph or Marc Gasol. Nick Collison and Steven Adams are capable of guarding him. This also forces Scott Brooks to maybe play small more which benefits the team and also play a lineup of Westbrook, Jackson, Durant, Collison, and Adams. That lineup came back against the Clippers in game 6. They still played great defense with rim protection from Adams and had great spacing offensively. Nick Collison's passing and Adam's ability to finish at the rim really opened the floor for Durant and Westbrook. The injury hurts because Ibaka usually kills the Spurs but the whole team plays well against the Spurs so they can still win.

3. Now that the Bruins and have been knocked out of the playoffs and the conference finals under way, who do you have winning the Stanley Cup?

Ty-
The Blackhawks should be the favorite for now. They have the pedigree of winning and they are the defending champions. I do like all the teams left and could see all of them winning the cup. The Rangers did beat Montreal easily so they can be a force to worry about as long as they have Lundqvist. But I think the Blackhawks have the defense and offense to win it again.

Spencer-
When the playoffs started a few weeks back I felt the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues were the two best teams in the playoffs with Chicago as a close third. I thoroughly believed whoever won the Blues, Blackhawks series was destined to at least make the cup and now with the Bruins out of the picture it is the Blackhawks to lose. They should handle L.A. for the second straight year and I don't see either team in the East being a problem for them either. The defending champs will take it again.


4. Which NFL Rookie will have the biggest impact next season?

Spencer-
Kahlil Mack will have the biggest immediate impact next year. This guy is a play maker and don't tell me "he played in the MAC conference," cause I don't care. No conference can hide raw talent and he has it. The Raiders have been stuck in neutral for a while now and defensively they are taking steps forward now. Mack's quickness will allow him to be a play maker all year on an Oakland defense that will face three playoff teams in San Diego, Denver and Kansas City. He will get a lot of reps on defense and with a veteran like LaMarr Woodley to lead him, he can develop into a solid NFL pass rusher. Also the pressure is off of him to take his time to develop because he isn't a quarterback expected to turn around a franchise in a season and he plays in Oakland. That works in his favor as well. I see Mack making a lot of great defensive plays for the Raiders this year and in years to come.


Ty-
Sammy Watkins should have the biggest impact next year. Although I could have leaned on a quarterback like Manziel or Bridgewater. I think that Watkins is the only sure fire starter and star in the draft. Also with the Stevie Johnson trade Watkins is the #1 wide receiver for the Bills already. Although the Bills have other decent wide receivers like Robert Woods and Mike Williams, Watkins is by far the best wide receiver in the group. It all really depends on if E.J. Manuel can get him the ball. They will probably scheme for him to get the ball on screens which should work because Watkins is so good in the open field. I suspect that Watkins has 1,300 yards receiving and 6 touchdowns for the bills this year.




What we learned?

Ty- Coaching Changes Could Decide the Future of NBA

Basketball is just like every other sport. Sometimes even if you have the talent to succeed you need a good coach to mesh everything together. Last year the Pistons cultivated a lot of talent on their team. But they made two bad moves in a row.

First the Pistons signed Josh Smith to play small forward, which he had proven to be bad at. Then they hired Maurice Cheeks who is a good coach but isn't great in a lot of areas that you need and has

never been a proven winner with a tried and true system. They didn't have the right fit of players or coach. Now they have hired Stan Van Gundy to be the coach and the president of basketball operations. He has a great system that is also analytics friendly that should utilize more three point shooting and Drummond's pick and roll prowess.

I do think they need to get rid of Josh Smith or let Greg Monroe walk in free agency. SVG might get rid of them both and opt for a stretch forward like he had in Orlando. But he could win with 2 of those guys and not three unless one of them comes off the bench.

The other coaching change that happened was the Steve Kerr spurning the Knicks to sign with the Warriors. Although I love Steve Kerr and he was a decent GM with the Suns he has yet to prove if he is a good coach. That is however his least important problem. He has to deal with coaching a team that was absolutely not on board with the firing of the successful Mark Jackson.

The team might not want to buy into Kerrs style because of how much loyalty they have for Jackson. The only way they do is if he makes them better. I do think that the Warriors could have played with a lot more pace than they did with all their shooters and open floor athletes. That could really open their game up by they have to remember to play defense. Also hopefully Steve Kerr is better at drawing up plays and not relying on his stars as much as Jackson did. Either way they hiring could really effect the landscape of the NBA.

Spencer- The early MLB season has been a lie 

This year the MLB season has gotten off to a very unpredictable start as the teams that everyone expected to be dominant and prove it from the beginning of the year have been slow, while teams expected to struggle have come out hot. Only three teams in my mind have really lived up to their predicted start and that is the Detroit Tigers, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. The Tigers for obvious reasons were picked by most to be a top team and so far have been as they hold a 27-12 record and lead their division by seven games already. With the Giants, although I predicted it completely wrong, they have jumped out to a 28-17 start and lead a division that most thought was owned by the Dodgers. Then there is the A's who hold a 28-16 record and lead the AL West Division by three and a half games over the Angels, which again has been predictable.

Now looking at the rest of the league things seem all out of whack compared to what everyone kind of expected to happen. In the AL East, which I and many predicted to be the toughest division the Yankees lead and the two teams I predicted to finish in first and second, the Rays and Red Sox, sit in the bottom of the division and are slumping. It still could end up being the most competitive division because the teams are all within a few games of each other, but it is kind of opposite of what many thought thus far. In the AL West the Angels, as I said, are just three and a half back of the A's, which has some people surprised. I know I predicted the Angels would bounce back this year with the roster they have but some people still felt they weren't going to compete. What is more surprising about that division is that Texas sits in second to last with a 21-23 record. The Rangers can't seem to score though right now so that has been the cause of their early season struggles.

In the NL the biggest surprise to me is the Milwaukee Brewers ridiculous 27-17 start, which has them leading the NL Central by four games over St. Louis. I don't know anyone who really saw that coming. Then in the NL west the Colorado Rockies have seen some early success as they are in second, just three games back of the Giants and two ahead of the Dodgers who are just a game above .500 at 23-22. I for one saw Kershaw's return as a jump start to L.A.'s season but he struggled mightily in his last start. We may still have to wait for a run by the Dodgers but I still think it's coming. For Colorado though they are hitting out of this world right now particularly at home.
Troy Tulowitzki has kind of been the spark for that offense as he started the month an insane 28-for-47 (.560) at home back on May 5. I don't expect the Rockies to keep this up forever though. The most sane division in the NL is the East where the Braves and Nationals are in a tight race for first. Marlins surprisingly though have used solid pitching to hang in there as well only a game and a half back. I expect the Jose Fernandez injury to have a huge impact on that teams ability to keep this up though.


As we enter summer it is going to be interesting to see which teams can turn their slow starts around or which teams fall off a bit. Baseball is a long season so nothing is set in stone yet, but for baseball fans out there it hasn't been the start we saw coming.