In keeping with tradition I'll lead with the NBA....
- Hawks put chalk on the board at home vs. Boston.....Okay, I was there last night so I have all sorts of little insights.....1) The crowd was actually semi-loud...shocking to me...but an uninformed fan base lacks the knowledge to bring the team a lift when it needs it...I'm glad it wasn't a down to the wire type of game...2) Paul Pierce just utterly disappeared...I blame Doc for this but i'm almost positive he only attempted 1 shot in the 2nd half and there wasn't a guy on the floor that could guard him...inexcusable....3) Doc Rivers played 11 guys last night...in a competitive playoff game....there's literally no way that should happen....4) Josh Smith will take at least 6-7 threes in Game 4 just because he made 3 last night... never a good sign as a Hawks guy....5) In an end-of-quarter situation (8 seconds having to go the length of the floor, after a dead ball), Mike Woodson somehow allowed Solomon Jones at 6'11 to be matched up full court with Rajon Rondo who waltzed down the lane with no resistance for a layup...was my lowlight of the night (other than the belligerent drunk behind me who thought he was better than Mike Bibby, classic)...and 6) Kevin Garnett had the quietest 32 and 10 imaginable...he didn't even play that well...could've had 45 if he had the jump shot working....7) Was really pleased with the way Al Horford played...he's playing very maturely in the playoffs matched up against bigger guys and holding his own...big time intensity from him last night too (and a ho-hum 17 and 14)
- Utah pretty much puts Houston away at 3-1....Not alot to be said here...6 guys in double figures for Utah in a balanced win....
- LA ends Denver's season in theory going up 3-0...never had a shot...
- Orlando goes up 3-1 but this is the series that doesn't feel like it's over for some reason....too evenly matched teams and no dominance at home for Orlando or anything...
To the draft....I'm gonna make this easy and divide into 3 sections...1st section is the Falcons...2nd section are picks I thought were reaches....3rd section picks I liked.....
- Okay, the Falcons end up with Matt Ryan, Sam Baker, and Curtis Lofton....I'm okay with all 3 picks but not wowed with any...I thought Baker could be had about 10 picks later than he actually went, but we got a reasonably good deal to trade up and get him (having 3 3rd rounders now) and he fills a glaring need right away....Lofton should start or at least play alot right away in the middle with Boley and Brooking outside...At least I hope....Chris Redman starts the first 8-10 games....we go like 2-7 or something...insert Matt Ryan to get beat around the rest of the year...that's how I see it.....In the 3rd round we need to get at least 1 D-Tackle and 1 corner...anything less and I don't know what's happening......Just as a wrap, I think we would've been better off taking Dorsey at 3, sitting put at 34 and 37 and taking an OT (maybe even Baker) at 34, staying with Lofton at 37, and grabbing Brohm or Henne at 48 (both were available)...but that's just Monday Morning quarterbacking....I'm now a huge Matt Ryan fan.....dear God, let this work out...
- Picks I thought were reaches: Sam Baker at 21 to Atlanta....Derrick Harvey at 8 to Jacksonville (and they went up 18 spots to get him....yikes)...Jerrod Mayo to NE at 10 (but he fills a huge need)....Joe Flacco at 18 to Baltimore (who traded up to get him when Brohm and Henne went literally 40 picks later)....Chris Johnson to Tennessee in Round 1...they've become the Lions of running backs (3rd straight 1st pick for them)....Eddie Royal over Deshaun Jackson....they're the same player and Jackson's better....
- Picks I liked when I saw them: Kansas city getting Dorsey at 5 is highway robbery...I saw probably 20 mock drafts and he never went below 3 in any of them....Kansas City again with Branden Albert who is an absolute monster at 15.....Pittsburgh gets Mendenhall....hear me out here....he was the best player available and Pitt has no glaring needs...I liked it...strangely...Antoine Cason to San Diego at 27....playing opposite Cromartie they are just wildly athletic....Kenny Philips to NYG...their biggest need was safety and they got the best guy available.....Malcolm Kelly to Washington...he has concerns but Washington has no weapons and he was once the #1 WR on the board, worth a gamble in Round 2 Id say...Miami picks Henne late in Round 2...I actually like the concept of getting him this late and he can definitely push John Beck (I think Henne's the better prospect) maybe they'll hit on one of them?...
Other stuff...
- I have no issue with Josh Howard admitting to off-season Pot use....alot of people in the league do it and he's being honest....No issue here...but it was a little dumb to say that publicly....
- Darren Collison coming back...it's his show now and if the gamble works he'll greatly improve his draft stock if he proves he can be steady and a legit scoring option...
- Forgot this earlier...Kevin Garnett is the most ridiculous physical specimen possible live....
Churned this out very quickly so any errors chalked up to that...enjoy
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