Thursday, March 31, 2011

3/31: Opening Day, NBA, Painter, etc...

Greetings all...

  • Baseball throws out its first pitch today... as cheesy as it is, there certainly is something about Spring and baseball coming together, and the start of the absolute grind that is an MLB season... I'm wildly fired up because I'm excited about the Braves, and that's the thing about opening day... as they say, "hope springs eternal"... anyway, check out the MLB preview in the archives (look to your right) for 7 parts of preview goodness...

  • Matt Painter staying at Purdue... the Boilermaker hoops coach flirted extensively with Missouri, but decided to return... nothing to really see here with them losing Johnson and Moore next year, but maybe Hummel returns and they make some noise...

  • NBA Check - The Hawks win... a close game... against a good team?... 85-82 over Orlando... Josh Smith played well sans the more-than-occasional bad jumpshot (26 and 6) to lead the way, and they got very good minutes from Jason Collins (+11 in 18 minutes) on Dwight Howard, i.e. the reason they signed him in the first place... a nice win... Philly edges Houston 108-97 behind Jrue Holliday with 24 as they inch closer to clinching a playoff spot... Wade and Lebron combine for 68/11/17 in Miami's 123-107 shellacking of Washington on the road... ho-hum right?... well, unless you consider that Jordan Crawford had 39 (!) for Washington, and there was a fight that got John Wall and big Z ejected and Wall likely suspended for throwing a punch... eesh... The Knicks beat the Nets 120-116 behind Melo's 39 and a 33-point outburst from Billups overcoming the return of Deron Williams (22/8/8) and a 30-point game from Anthony Morrow... New Orleans keeps winning... knocking off Portland to claim the 6th spot for a day... 12 dimes for CP3 and 21 from Carl Landry in David West's stead (that was a great move in hindsight, huh?)... OKC had their best month.. ever?... 14 wins in March was a franchise record, and they beat up on Phoenix 116-98 on the road last night...

  • Some college football hilarity... Jim Tressel apologizes... come on!... if this guy wasn't "the vest" he'd already be suspended for the year if not fired, and it's a complete charade... I'm enjoying it as a Michigan fan though... the HBO/Auburn story hit the fan last night with stories of money handshakes and envelopes... my question is, why is anyone surprised by this?... and The Fiesta Bowl may lose BCS status... no one really cares about this, but the head of the Fiesta Bowl was outed by some inproprieties including a $30K birthday party and a big-time "business" strip club visit... say hello to the BCS for the Cotton Bowl and Jerry Jones...

What to watch for on a jam-packed Thursday...



  • Braves @ Nationals - Lowe vs. Hernandez - SportSouth 1:05 - Well, here we go... Livan Hernandez owns the Braves though, so that's an ominous start...

  • Celtics @ Spurs - TNT 8:00 - You thought it was all baseball?... Ha! The NBA has 2 awesome games... San Antonio is unfortunately short-handed here, so looks like Boston will cruise...

  • Mavs @ Lakers - TNT 10:30 - Great night-cap... Dallas is playing well, and LA has been scorching for weeks now... possible Western playoff matchup when we get deep...

  • Tigers @ Yankees - Verlander vs. Sabathia - ESPN 1:00 - Best pitching matchup of the day, and of course the Yankees have prime real estate on the Worldwide leader...

  • Padres @ Cardinals - Stauffer vs. Carpenter - ESPN 4:00 - You think ESPN thought they'd be showing a Tim Stauffer opening day start?...

  • Giants @ Dodgers - Lincecum vs. Kershaw - ESPN 8:00 - Another huge pitching matchup, and the best overall game of the day with 2 old-school rivals kicking it off....

Enjoy it... it's a great day to be a sports fan...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

3/30: Cavs/Heat, Jalen Rose, etc.

Greetings all...

  • Cleveland 102, Miami 90... Well, that's an odd score... just a few months after Miami pounded Cleveland in Lebron's return, the Cavs got a little revenge on Tuesday... At first glance, it's difficult to see how Miami lost with Lebron having a 27/10/12 triple double, Wade with 24 and even 23 (!) from Mike Bibby.... but Cleveland shot 56% from the field, hit 9 of 17 threes, and dominated the glass 44-30, as well as holding Miami to 42% shooting... a lot of people are pointing to JJ Hickson's 21 and 12, but I think Anthony Parker had the best game with 20 points on just 9 shots, 4-4 threes, and 7 boards... It means nothing in the grand scheme (at all), but some solace for Cavs' fans...

  • Jalen Rose was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of DUI... not exactly the greatest timing for Jalen with it coinciding with the Fab Five doc that he is the face of... he has a court date in late April, and that'll be the deciding factor...

  • Barry Bonds update.... He's still in trial.... I can't even try to discuss this... because I don't care...

  • Wichita State pounded Washington State by 31, and Alabama eeked by Colorado last night to set-up the NIT Final on Thursday at MSG... the ratings show that people actually do watch this... so there you go...

  • NBA Check - Kevin Durant had 39 points, including the first 8 of OT, in OKC's 115-114 OT win over Golden State... Stephen Curry had 35/6/5 and David Lee added 24/15 on the GSW side... Houston got 6 guys in double-figures led by 16 points and 10 dimes from Kyle Lowry to throttle New Jersey 112-87... the Williams-less Nets are bad.... and Sacramento beat up on Phoenix in the 4th quarter 31-20 to win the game 116-113... 6 guys in double-figures led by a combined 43 from Marcus Thornton and Beno Udrih... yea...

What to watch for...



  • Magic @ Hawks - SportSouth 7:00 - Here's the game to grab that "Mental Edge" that Joe Johnson is talking about... what a crock... anyway, this is a "winnable game" for Atlanta at home, but if there was ever a Jekyll/Hyde team, this is it...

  • Nets @ Knicks - ESPN 7:30 - ESPN isn't happy that Deron Williams is out...

  • Twins @ Braves - SportSouth Noon - If you have nothing else to do... the final Spring game might be riveting for you... I can smell opening day...

Enjoy...

Monday, March 28, 2011

2011 MLB Preview Part 7: Awards/Playoffs

Greetings all... let's do the award picks first... AMERICAN LEAGUE

  • MVP - Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas - It's a bit of a limb, but if you look at most "projections" for fantasy or otherwise, most of the big-time stat guys (Miggy Cabrera notably excluded) are in the NL... Hamilton hit a ridiculous .359 last year and would've been a unanimous MVP possibly had he not gone down late in the year... I think he repeats it with a more reasonable .325-ish number with 40 bombs and 120 RBIs... Other possibilities: Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Miggy Cabrera, Joe Mauer, Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz

  • Cy Young - Jon Lester, SP, Boston - Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in the AL... it's almost universally agreed on... but I'm banking on another lackluster season in terms of wins (likely with that abysmal offense and a bad bullpen), and a monster year from Lester on a possible 100-win Red Sox team... 18-20 wins, ERA in the mid to high 2s, and he gets it done... Other possibilities: Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Francisco Liriano, CC Sabathia

  • Rookie of the Year - Jeremy Hellickson, SP, Tampa Bay - Guaranteed rotation spot... big-time prospect, and he was decent enough last year... Lack of real candidates in the AL with playing time being the main issue, but Hellickson has a star-like makeup, and that's a good team around him.... Other possibilities: JP Arencibia (TOR), Tsuyoshi Nishioka (MIN)

NATIONAL LEAGUE



  • MVP - Ryan Braun, OF, Milwaukee - Bold, huh?... Hear me out... First of all, I have Milwaukee winning the division (a virtual must for an MVP), and secondly, I think there's a little voter apathy working against Pujols (AND his team is taking a step back IMO)... I think Braun goes .315/35/120 with 15 steals and 100 runs... wins it... Other possibilites: Pujols, Hanley Ramirez (if they win enough), Troy Tulowitzki, Joey Votto

  • Cy Young - Roy Halladay, SP, Philly - Sometimes it's simple... best pitcher alive on the likely best team in the NL... he wins 20+ again with ridiculous splits (i.e. 2.50, 1.05), throws 250 innings, and runs away with it again... Other possibilities: Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee, Chris Carpenter (sleeper), Tommy Hanson (my mega-sleeper)

  • Rookie of the Year - Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta - Sorry, Freddie... I didn't want to put the jinx on you, but I had nowhere else to go... he's got the guaranteed playing time that no other NL rookie has, and I think he's a guy that goes for .275/16/80 and that's enough to win it unless someone breaks out of nowhere... Other possibilities: Aroldis Chapman (if he was the closer or a starter, I'd pick him), Brandon Belt (the Giants 1B is a better hitting prospect, but doesn't have guaranteed PT), Craig Kimbrel, Danny Espinosa

To the playoff predictions...


First Round



  • Boston over Minny

  • Tampa over Texas

  • Atlanta over Colorado

  • Philly over Milwaukee

LCS



  • Boston over Tampa

  • Philly over Atlanta

World Series



  • Boston over Philly

It's absolutely insane to try and "break down" these series right now... so I won't do it... but I feel like Boston has the best team in the league with that gauntlet of a lineup, a deep bullpen, and enough starters to get by (plus my CY winner).... Congrats to the Sox on getting my jinx...


3/28: Final 4 Set, Coaching Hires, etc.

Greetings... The madness leads the way...

  • VCU 71, Kansas 61 - Has to be the most shocking result of the tournament... VCU led by 20 in the first half, laying down the gauntlet for Kansas, and while they did, in fact, respond, it wasn't enough to overcome the early hole they dug... I think a symbolic play of the day was when VCU was up 6 late, Kansas got 3 straight offensive rebounds, but couldn't finish, and Bradford Burgess corralled the 4th rebound, subsequently laid on his back, and snapped off a quick timeout to secure possession... that was the clincher IMO... regional MVP Jamie Skeen had 26 and 10 to lead the way for VCU, and while Kansas did get 33 points and 28 boards from the Morris twins, Markieff was a trainwreck of sorts... 8 turnovers (hard to do as a big) and numerous additional bonehead plays... gotta think Bill Self wishes he got Thomas Robinson some of those minutes... also, Kansas shot 2 of 21 from 3-point land, and just 36% from the field... some of that is defense, a lot of that is missed shots... at any rate, VCU is the story of the tournament, and they'll face a #8 seed in the Final 4.. the definition of madness...

  • Kentucky joins VCU.... The battle of the titan programs resulted in a 76-69 UK win over Carolina... Every time UNC made a run in this game, Kentucky had an answer with a big shot, and most of those were Brandon Knight... the freshman finished with 22 points and 7 boards to lead them, and all 5 starters scored double-digits for Kentucky... for UNC, they got big-time production from Zeller (21 and 9) and Barnes (18 and 6), but Henson fouled out for the first time in his career (with just 4 points) and Kendall Marshall shot 2 of 10 from the PG spot... wasn't enough... Kentucky is the most talented team left in the field, and if they weren't all freshman, they'd be the clear favorites...

Elsewhere...



  • 2 college hoops coaching hires... Georgia Tech is reportedly hiring Brian Gregory of Dayton... not the "splash" that Shaka Smart would've been, but Dayton has been very competitive in recent years, and I've liked what I've seen (admittedly a small amount) from Gregory... I'm going to go ahead and say that having to pay Paul Hewitt's deal pretty much eliminated Smart from the possibilities... just not enough $ there... and Tennessee has hired Missouri State's Cuonzo Martin in the wake of the Bruce Pearl disaster... Martin has done a great job at Missouri State it seems, and I always like guys who have succeeded in the MVC... it's a good league...

  • NBA Check - The Heat had 3 guys (you know the 3) go for 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in a regulation game.. only 2nd time in league HISTORY this has happened... 94 points and 33 rebounds from 3 guys is insane... The Hawks with back-to-back wins... hurray... Josh Smith had 18 rebounds (huh?) and Al Horford threw up a 20/10, but the story was 31 points from Marvin Williams... it is an absolute fact that he only does this when Joe Johnson is out... gotta find a way to channel it... San Antonio has lost 3 in a row... Ginobili went down in the 2nd quarter with a calf issue, and Memphis took advantage with a 7 points win... Gerald Wallace had 40 points last night for Portland... in a loss... OKC knocked them off 99-90 behind 28/7/7 from Westbrook... Portland got virtually nothing from anyone not named Wallace or Aldridge, and shot just 2 of 12 from triple... that'll do it... No one cares about Wizards/Warriors but I had to mention JeVale McGee's 28 and 18 and Monta Ellis' 37/13... a lot of D being played there I'm sure... btw... Washington is 1-35 on the road... take that in... The Lakers keep rolling... 102-84 over the injury-riddled Hornets... Kobe had 30...ho-hum... and Dallas wins in Phoenix despite scoring only 91 points, and no one having more than 16 individually... this isn't your older brother's Phoenix...

  • MLB Notes... the A's Andrew Bailey will (non-surprisingly) start the season on the DL... Nyjer Morgan has been dealt to Milwaukee...nothing to see here... but it opens up the Nats outfield for Mike Morse, etc... Neftali Feliz was named the Rangers' closer, officially... and Carlos Silva was unceremoniously cut by the Cubs...

What to watch for on Monday...



  • Sixers @ Bulls - 8:00 NBA-TV - The Bulls are really fun to watch...

  • NCAA Women's Tournament Action - ESPN 7:00 and 9:00 - Notre Dame/Tennessee and Gonzaga/Stanford... come on... it is still basketball?...

Enjoy the day...

Sunday, March 27, 2011

3/27: 6 Teams Remain....

This will be brief today... running behind with being on the road in West Virginia, so going college hoops only... sorry NBA/MLB fans... your time is coming...
  • UConn can't lose!... 9 straight tournament wins (Big East and NCAA) capped by a 2-point win over Zona on Saturday... the Cats missed 2 threes in the final 10 seconds and UConn held on... Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb combined for 39 points, and both played all 40 minutes for the Huskies... Derrick Williams was held in check, shooting just 5-13 for 20 points, but finishes 7th in all-time 3-point % for a season in NCAA history... impressive stuff... anyway, UConn continues their tear...
  • Butler does it again... the Bulldogs beat Florida in OT 74-71... Florida had the ball on the last possession in both regulation and overtime, but got 2 pretty abysmal shot attempts from Erving Walker (who shot 1-10 on the day), and Butler took advantage by holding them off... Shelvin Mack was fantastic with 27, and Matt Howard made the plays he always seems to make down the stretch, but this was a total team win for the undermanned Butler team... Florida kind of gave this one away IMO, leading by near 10 late in the 2nd half, and not executing at all in late-game clutch spots... but you can't take the win away from Butler....
What to watch for on Sunday...
  • Southwest Regional Final - VCU vs. Kansas - 2:20 CBS - No one gives VCU a chance.. and I think I'm in line with that... it's been a crazy run for VCU, but they haven't seen anything resembling Kansas, and I think the size and depth is just too much for them... the Rams may hang around, but I see Kansas by 10-15...
  • East Regional Final - Kentucky vs. North Carolina - 4:55 CBS - An absolute dream scenario for CBS, as they get 2 of the top 5 programs of all time facing off in a prime spot on a Sunday regional final... anyway, this is a virtual toss-up for me... UNC is far more talented up front with the devastating Zeller/Henson/Barnes trio that's playing out of their minds, but Kentucky is really defending at a high level (witness the way they dismantled OSU) and seem to get just what they need from Brandon Knight... and don't forget, it's not as though they're devoid of talent... Gun to my head, I think I like Kentucky, but no conviction at all there...

Saturday, March 26, 2011

3/26: On to the 8...

Greetings all... Busy Friday night... let's get to it...
  • The Overall #1 goes packing... Ohio State took it on the chin 62-60 to Kentucky last night thanks to a big-time game winner from Brandon Knight... Jon Diebler hit a deep 3 to tie it with around 20 seconds to go, but Kentucky took the ball (without a TO), got it to Knight, who pulled up on Aaron Craft and ice-colded the game winner... Sullinger had 21 and 16 for OSU, but got bottled up late, and the Buckeyes shot a wildly uncharacteristic 32% from the field on the night highlighted by 0-5 from Craft, and a crazy 2 of 16 from William Buford... for Kentucky, big man Josh Harrellson led the way with 17 and 10, but the key was Deandre Liggins to me... 15 big points off the bench including big time play down the stretch...
  • The 2 blowouts... Kansas dismantled Richmond... leading by 19 at half and cruising to a 20-point win... 18 points for Brady Morningstar and a 12 point, 14 rebound game from Thomas Robinson off the bench did in the Spiders... and UNC crushes Marquette... the final 18-point margin wasn't indicative of the destruction that took place... the Heels led 40-15 at half, and pretty much went to sleep after that... 27 and 12 for Tyler Zeller, 14 and 12 for Henson, and 20 & 9 from Harrison Barnes... that tells the story... too much size... too much talent... and Marquette simply couldn't afford to shoot as poorly as they did in the first half... 15 points?!...
  • The VCU cinderella story rolls on... an inbound pass for a layup with 8 seconds to go in OT was the difference in their 72-71 win... Bradford Burgess with 26 points for VCU in the biggest game of his life... for FSU, it was basically their offensive ineptitude late that did them in... it's really tough to lose a game when you win the rebounding battle 45-25 (wow) but if you shoot 36% and only 66% from the line, it's a lot more real... congrats to the Rams...
Elsewhere...
  • New Orleans forward David West is out for the year with a torn ACL... huge blow for NO in their playoff quest... they still have an outside chance of holding on to a spot, but gun-to-my-head I'm going against them without West... just not enough scoring options there...
  • NBA Check - Speaking of the Hornets, Chris Paul led them to a road win in Phoenix in their first game w/o West with 22 and 7... Portland knocks off San Antonio 98-96... Anthony Randolph is suddenly playing well again? The young enigma had 24 and 15 in their road loss in OKC... Durant with 23 in the win... Dwyane Wade had a monster 39/11/8 in Miami's home win over Philly 111-99... there was a Brandon Jennings sighting for Milwaukee... 37 points tonight as they beat the Knicks in NY... turmoil for New York... and Boston drops a home game... to Charlotte!?!?... Big time concerns from Celtics fans (namely, Simmons) after this one.... too early to suggest they are fatally flawed though...
  • Brad Lidge to the DL for the Phillies... the injury rash continues for PHI with Utley and Brown already down... this one doesn't hurt them nearly as much with Ryan Madson actually a better pitcher than Lidge (FYI), so nothing to see here...
What to watch for...
  • Southeast Regional Final - Butler vs. Florida - CBS 4:30 - This is a tough one to call... I like what I've seen from Florida all year, and they've been impressive recently... I think their size/athleticism will finally be the demise of Butler... I just don't see how they matchup with Tyus, Macklin, and even Parsons up front... That said, I do like Butler's guards and these type of tourney games are often decided there... Gun to my head, I like Florida....
  • West Regional Final - Arizona vs. UConn - CBS 7:05 - Even tougher... Kemba and Derrick Williams have been the best 2 players in the tournament (apologies to Jimmer), and they face off here... if there's any homecourt to be had, it'll go to Arizona (as the game is Anaheim), but I think this comes down to the secondary guys... if MoMo Jones plays how he did on Thursday, Arizona wins... if Lamb and Napier play how they did on Thursday, UConn wins... I'm taking Arizona... but that's a pure guess...
  • Nets @ Hawks - SportSouth/NBA-TV 7:00 - If you want to watch the maddening Hawks against the Deron Williams-less Nets at the same time as an Elite 8 game... be my guest...
  • Cubs vs. Rangers - 4:00 ESPN2 - I know it's Spring Training... but if you honestly hate basketball, it's on....
Enjoy the day...

Friday, March 25, 2011

3/25: Kemba, Duke goes Down, etc...

Greetings all... let's get to the Sweet 16 action...
  • Arizona 93, Duke 77... Definitely the surprise of the night... Duke was a 10-point favorite... and lost by 16... Derrick Williams was everywhere last night.. 32 points, 13 rebounds on 11-17 shooting, and they also got 16 and 16 for MoMo Jones... 93 points against that Duke defense is extremely impressive (shooting 54% from the field, and 60% from 3), and they were able to overcome 28 points from Kyrie Irving on the other side... I think Arizona may be the favorite over UConn because I just don't see anyone stopping Derrick Williams...
  • Speaking of UConn... they get a 7-point win over San Diego State... Kemba Walker finished with 36 points including outscoring the Aztecs 16-14 BY HIMSELF down the stretch... he went nuts after a "shove" incident (which has been overblown thanks to Lebron James tweeting about it, etc.), and they simply couldn't contain him... SDSU did themselves no favors shooting 6 of 13 from the line, and got hurt by foul trouble that kept Kawhi Leonard to just 29 minutes... Really looking forward to Arizona/UConn...
  • Butler 61, Wisconsin 54... My dream is over... lol... anyway, Butler led by 9 at the half, and never really looked back even though Wisconsin made a big-time late charge to cut the lead to 4 with 1:20 left... Shelvin Mack then ice-colded a curl jumper, and the lead was safe from there... The big story was the shooting woes from Wisconsin... 30% from the field (including 1 of 12 from Jon Leuer) and just 13 of 19 from the line for the best FT shooting team in the country which caused them to fall out of their #1 perch all-time in that category... Matt Howard led the way with 20 and 12 (on just 8 shots), and they got enough buckets to take advantage of their suffocating defense....
  • And Jimmer goes home... Florida beats BYU by 9 in OT... Jimmer just couldn't make a play down the stretch in regulation, and Florida throttled them 15-6 in OT... Alex Tyus had the game of his life with Florida with 19 points and 17 boards, leading 4 guys with 16+ for Florida, which was enough against BYU's non-balanced attack... Fredette finished with 32, but needed 29 shots to get it, and no other Cougar finished in double-digits... Florida/Butler has happened before, and I'm really interested to see how that goes down...
Elsewhere...
  • Chase Utley likely to start the year on the DL... the reports are wide-ranging on Utley (see my NL East Preview), and no one seems to have a gauge on this one... Definitely hurts the Phillies though...
  • Shaq is reportedly walking around in a boot... this is big news for Celtics' fans who thought they were just holding him out to save him for the stretch run... I don't see a scenario where they can win the title (i.e. beat LA) without Shaq...
  • NBA Check - Dallas gets their 50th win with a 104-96 result over the Kevin Love-less T-Wolves... Dirk had 30 and 11 for Dallas, and Anthony Randolph came out of nowhere for 31 and 11 for Minny... Speaking of Love, he may be shut down for the year... which is a shame... and New Orleans gets a win.... by at what cost? David West (after putting up 29 points) went down clutching his left knee on a late dunk... no prognosis, but it looked bad... on the court, Chris Paul had 24 and 12, but going forward, they are in real danger of missing the playoffs if West is out..
What to watch for on Friday...
  • East Regional Semifinal - Marquette vs. North Carolina - 7:15 CBS - This is an interesting game... Marquette isn't your typical 11-seed, and they are fully capable of rising up here... they dispatched of Syracuse already, and won't be phased... UNC has so much length, and that's their advantage... Henson and Zeller are long and active, and ever since they inserted Kendall Marshall for Larry Drew (the best coaching move of the season nationwide IMO), it's been a different offense... I like UNC, but tight...
  • Southwest Regional Semifinal - Kansas vs. Richmond - 7:27 TBS - Probably the most lopsided result... Richmond is a very good A-10 team... they've scrapped and have some talent, but Kansas is a different animal, especially inside... I expect the triple towers (i.e. the Morris' twins and Robinson) to wear them down, and Kansas to win by double-figures...
  • East Regional Semifinal - Ohio State vs. Kentucky - 9:45 CBS - Experience against youth... or so they say... Ohio State is actually young-ish as well... Sullinger and Craft are freshman too, but just don't play like it... anyway, Kentucky certainly has the talent to win this game... Brandon Knight has exploded in the tourney, and should have an advantage over Craft, but the key for me is Terrence Jones... He's kind of an enigma, and I think the only way they win this game is if he really shows up... I like Ohio State... too much Sullinger, and they'll take advantage of the UK youth setting up triples that they just don't seem to miss...
  • Southwest Regional Semifinal - VCU vs. Florida State - 9:57 TBS - #11 vs. #10 won't inspire too much attention I wouldn't imagine, but I'm interested in this one... Florida State would've been a 5 or 6 seed if Chris Singleton had been healthy down the stretch, and now that he's back, they have crazy defensive length, and absolutely ate up Notre Dame on that end... VCU has their offense firing on all cylinders, but haven't seen a defense like this, and the only way FSU loses this one IMO is if the Leonard Hamilton "stand-around" offense gets them....
Until later...

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday Sweet 16 Preview...

Greetings... got a late start so no "daily" recap of last night's action... and no, I don't want to talk about how hapless the Hawks are... and I DEFINITELY don't want to talk about Jeff Teague getting a DNP-CD last night one day after he was only non-Horford person who showed up against Chicago... sigh... anyway... to the Sweet 16...
  • West Regional Semifinal - UConn vs. San Diego State (in Anaheim) - CBS 7:15 - Really interested in this one... it seems that the public firmly on UConn and I can see why... the Huskies have won a ton of games in a row, have the biggest non-Jimmer name in the tournament in Kemba Walker, and they're from the best conference in the land... that said? I think SDSU is better, and I think they win the game... it's all about body of work... SDSU has been consistent all year in the wildly undervalued Mountain West... they have NBA talent on that roster (Kawhi Leonard is a beast), and athletes not usually associated with a school this size... AND the game is in Anaheim, setting up a default home game for SDSU with more fans in the building and the small-school factor of the neutral fans... I like the Aztecs...
  • Southeast Regional Semifinal - BYU vs. Florida (New Orleans) - TBS 7:27 - Another good one... Jimmer is the story of the year, and lit up Florida for 30+ in last year's tournament... that said, Florida's bigs will run all over BYU's undersized/under-talented frontline... Jimmer will have to utterly carry them, and while he's capable of that, I just don't see it being enough here... keep an eye on Kenny Boynton's injury though... could be a factor as he's likely the main guy to guard Jimmer... Now insert the obligatory joke about Mormons in New Orleans...
  • West Regional Semifinal - Duke vs. Arizona (Anaheim) - CBS 9:45 - This is the game most feel is the easiest predict... Duke is just better than Arizona... now, that said, Arizona has the best player on the floor in Derrick Williams (with apologies to Smith, Singler, and even Irving) and that's usually a good thing... I just think Duke's guard play is too good, and they have enough bodies to throw at Williams to contain him a bit... Duke by 8-10...
  • Southeast Regional Semifinal - Butler vs. Wisconsin (New Orleans) - TBS 9:57 - This should be a tight one... both teams grind, and do little things better than the opposition... the issue that Butler will encounter is that they are usually 1) better coached, and 2) more disciplined than the opposition... neither is true with Bo Ryan on the other side... at any rate, I think this comes down to whoever plays better between Jordan Taylor and Shelvin Mack... and I'm a Taylor guy... Give me the Badgers...

Enjoy the madness as it resumes...

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

2011 MLB Preview Part 6: NL East

Near and dear to my heart here...

1. Philadelphia Phillies (93-69) - By the skin of their teeth...



  • Lineup - First of all, I had the Phillies at 99 wins in my initial projection... kinda running away with things here... so why the change?... health in the lineup... Chase Utley is a gargantuan question mark... there have been wide-ranging reports like "maybe out for the year" to "ready for mid-April"... I have no idea... so I'm splitting the difference, and assuming he gets 400-ish AB's... if he gets that, I think they win the division... less than that? Flip the top 2... anyway... also Philly has an injury to Dominic Brown (who they are counting on), regression from Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins for the last 2+ years, and age (upon age) in left field with Ibanez... Victorino and Polanco are who we know they are... and I like Ruiz, but the lineup isn't what is winning them the division...

  • Starting Pitching - This group, however, will win it for Philly... They have 4 of the top 25 pitchers in the league... which is INSANE when you consider it... Roy Halladay is the best pitcher alive... he goes deeper into games than anyone not named Felix, and he's a horse.. Cliff Lee has the best control of an elite guy since Maddux (high praise), sports the lowest WHIP in the league, and is a rock... Oswalt and Hamels are both upper-echelon guys who have been pretty consistent (remarkably so in the case of Oswalt), and are fantastic 3 and 4 guys... the only concern is #5 Kyle Kendrick or Joe Blanton... Blanton is the guy I'd go with because he's a vet with decent career numbers (4.30 ERA, 1.34 WHIP).. nothing to write home about, but Kendrick has higher blow-up potential IMO... best staff in the league...

  • Bullpen - Not a strength here... Brad Lidge was actually pretty decent in 2010 (2.96 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) but has injury concerns heading to the season... Ryan Madson is the bright-spot here, and is the best pitcher in the entire pen, but seems to implode when he's the closer, so they'll leave him in the set-up role where he's best (2.55 ERA, 1.04 WHIP last year)... the rest of the rotation isn't awful, but doesn't stand out... they got great production from Jose Contreras' corpse last year, I've always liked JC Romero, and they'll have whoever loses the 5th starter job in the long relief role...

  • Bench - Ross Gload, Wilson Valdez, Brian Schneider... maybe even Luis Castillo... forgive my apathy, but it's not a great bench... it will be much better when Brown returns and they have him and Francisco as options in the OF...


2. Atlanta Braves (92-70) - Just that close... forgive me for the length of this one...

  • Lineup - Best Braves lineup in a while... new addition Dan Uggla fits in the middle of the lineup with the power right-handed bat the Braves have been coveting for a few years... the heart-of-the-order core of Heyward, McCann, Uggla is very solid, and Martin Prado has proven he's a .300+ hitter at the top of the lineup (somewhere)... there are 3 question mark positions... Freddie Freeman is a rookie playing everyday at 1st base, and while I haven't heard/seen many negative things about Freeman from ANYONE, it's crucial to remember that it's asking a lot of a rookie to play everyday at 1st base for a supposed title contender... tempered expectations should take hold, and I'd gladly take a .280/15/75 type of season... Chipper Jones is another one... we've all been around with Chipper... he's a former MVP, only 2 years removed from hitting .360+ and flirting with .400 well into the year, and you know he's good for .400+ OBP... that's the good... the bad is his age (38, turning 39 mid-April), his injury history (consistently banged up even in his prime, and coming off ACL surgery), and his power outage (28 total home runs in his last 967 plate appearances (238 games).... My personal take is that Fredi Gonzalez should hit Chipper lead-off... and while I know that is being laughed at in some circles, he's the best OBP guy on the team (by far), you're not getting much speed there regardless (Prado doesn't steal bases either), and Chipper just simply doesn't have the power needed to hit in his customary #3 spot anymore...but at any rate, if Chipper plays 120-130 games (or more), I feel pretty good about 3rd base... if he doesn't? Trouble... the 3rd question mark is Nate McLouth... much ballyhooed after the acquisition from Pittsburgh, he's been abysmal for ATL... hitting just .229 over 169 games with the Braves, and while his strong walk rate keeps his OBP in non-embarrassing territory, the average is a mess... that said, if he hits like the 2009 version (.256 avg, 20 homers combined from PIT/ATL) he's a more than serviceable outfield option... in the end, you have 4 big-time hitters to count on, 1 more possible one in Chipper, and the only black-hole (IMO) is Alex Gonzalez, but you can take that one from your shortstop as long as he doesn't kick it around defensively... Like it... there are concerns about how the lineup shakes out, but the pieces are nice
  • Starting Pitching - Depth is the word I'd use... Tim Hudson is the #1 starter IMO... the guy's career record is identical to the legendary Sandy Koufax (wow) and Huddy reminded everyone of how fantastic he was in Oakland with his 2010 year (1.15 WHIP, 2.83 ERA, 17 wins)... he's the rock... Tommy Hanson is the big-timer... career 3.16 ERA with 1.18 WHIP is insane for a guy who's 24 and has only 2 big-league seasons, but Hanson struck out 173 in 202 innings, and he'll likely have an even higher workload in 2011... he was fantastic after the all-star break (2.52 ERA) and don't let the 10-11 record fool you, he was great last year... Derek Lowe is overpaid... we get it... but the guy is above-average... 16 wins, 4.00 ERA, and there's something to be said for a guy you know is pitching 33+ starts a year (every year since 2002)... he's not a #1 starter, but you can't do much better as a 3/4... Jair Jurrjens is the enigma for me... there's a divide in the Braves fanbase about how good he actually is... he was unbelievable in 2009 (2.60 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 215 innings) but the underlying splits indicate it should have been in the 3.50/1.30 range... he doesn't strike anyone out (390 K's in 550 innings in a braves uniform), and while most people blame injury for 2010, he was pretty bad pre-injury as well... I'm sort of in the middle... I think he's a mid-to-high 3's type of ERA guy with a WHIP around the low 1.3's... not bad at all, and that's your 3/4 guy, that's great, but the notion that he's "proven" as a big-time guy is off-base for me... the #5 battle is on between Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor... 2 young guys on very different paths... Minor was a 1st-round pick out of college who fast-tracked up, and Beachy was an unknown who burst on the scene with Minor league success... one key issue is the fact that Minor can be sent down to save service time, while Beachy can't... both are relative unknowns, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect average production from the 5 spot, and that's all you need.... I almost forgot the embarrassment of depth on the 40-man as well... Kenshin Kawakami (as of posting) is still under contract, and while he isn't any good, he'd be more than replacement-level as a 5th starter when you look around the league... Rodrigo Lopez is under Braves control as well, and has served as a functional guy in the past, AND Kris Medlen (who was good in 2010) is recovering from Tommy John and could be seen in August/September...
  • Bullpen - Some nice arms here... ATL will break camp with a closer "rotation" of Craig Kimbrel and "everyday" Jonny Venters... Kimbrel was ridiculous at times in 2010, leading the MAJORS in strikeout rate (17+ per 9 innings), and an ERA of 0.44 in 20.2 innings... it's a small sample, but he's got electric stuff in the closer mold... the only issue is walks... he's got 16 in 20.2 innings, which is horrendous, and a walk rate over 4.5 in the minors... for Venters, you can't argue with 1.95 ERA and 93 K's in 83 innings from 2010... if he wasn't left-handed, I firmly believe he'd be the closer, but the way they set it up is nice IMO... the "closer" role is overrated because of the save stat, and you can't do much better than playing the matchups with this type of arm... Moylan and O'Flaherty return as the primary middle guys, and they are above-average... add in George Sherrill who KILLS lefties, but can't get any righties out (hence the bad overall ERA, but look at the splits), and Scott Linebrink for another steady veteran, and that's a heckuva 6-man core...
  • Bench - Interesting stuff here... good stuff first... David Ross is the best backup catcher in baseball... he's known for his defense, but has an OPS of .880 since joining ATL... that's insane... and Eric Hinske can play 1st, Left field, or 3rd (in a pinch) and hit 11 bombs in just 281 ABs last year... then it gets tricky... Joe Mather was brought in from STL and we all assumed he'd have a roster spot, but he's been bad in the Spring, and he's a guy with just 193 career ABs... Jordan Schafer may make the team as the 4th outfielder because he can play big-time defense and has a pedigree, but he has never hit in the Majors at all... Diory Hernandez is a virtual lock because he can play shortstop, but he has a career .424 OPS in 94 ABs... Brandon Hicks can play D and run... but that's it... Someone named Ed Lucas is on the radar because he plays EVERYWHERE but he's 28 and never sniffed the majors.. and then there's Brooks Conrad... Mr. Uber-clutch all year at the plate in 2010, but the center of the defensive calamity that undid the team in the Giants series... they want his switch-hitting bat, but he can't defend a single position at an average level... Bench make-up is definitely worth watching...

Well, that was fun... lol... moving on...

3. Florida Marlins (84-78) - A step back, but a decent club...

  • Lineup - Best Shortstop in the game, and top-10 player in Hanley Ramirez to lead the way... pencil him in for .300+, 30, 100... okay then... there's less pop than last year with the loss of Uggla, but they should make up some of that power in year 2 of Mike Stanton (who could hit 40 HRs), and maybe some from Gaby Sanchez in year 2 also... I like Logan Morrison alot as a guy who will likely hit over .300, move runners, and provide some stability, the Omar Infante addition would be better if they didn't have to play him every day at second (negating his #1 asset of positional flexibility), and they can't be serious with Wes Helms at 3B... yikes... anyway, I like Coghlan and Sanchez b/c you know what you're getting too... not a lot of "wow" but Hanley is a beast, and the world loves Stanton
  • Starting Pitching - Could easily be a strength... Josh Johnson was Cy Young caliber in 2010, and while there's a little injury concern, if he's healthy, he's a top-15 to 20 guy in baseball... Ricky Nolasco is tantalizingly inconsistent, but capable of a 3.52/1.10/15 win year like 2008... I love the Javy Vazquez signing... he was a wreck in NYY, but the guy kills the NL, and last time he was seen in this division, he was a Cy Young contender in 2009 (2.87 ERA, 1.03 whip with ATL)... and then there's Anibal Sanchez, a guy with tremendous stuff who FINALLY stayed healthy in 2010 and there were results... he won 13 games with a respectable 3.55 ERA, and if he's their #4, that's nice... Chris Volstad rounds it out, and he's a capable #5...
  • Bullpen - This went badly in 2010... Leo Nunez had a nice year as the closer (he just couldn't beat ATL) with 30 saves and a 3.46 ERA, but 30 of 38 isn't the best rate, and he's middling in that role... they've upgraded with Mike Dunn (who they got in the Uggla deal) on the lefty-side... he's got big-time stuff and has been good since coming up...they uncovered a jewel in Clay Hensley last year who had 22 holds, and a 2.16 ERA in the set-up role... but outside of that? Cast-offs and unproven youngsters...
  • Bench - John Baker is a decent backup catcher... Emilio Bonafacio had a great week to start 2010 (lol), and he's really, really fast... but he can't hit... or field... and Scott Cousins is their 4th OF... it's not real deep...


4. New York Mets (76-86) - Bah...

  • Lineup - Well, this is most certainly the best part of this roster... David Wright is the league's best 3B in my opinion (sorry Mr. Longoria), Jose Reyes is still an elite SS when he's on 2 legs, they have bright-spot guys in Ike Davis and Angel Pagan (who had a breakout last year), and that's before you get to Jason Bay who is overrated, yes, but still an above-average guy in left field despite the contract... same goes for Carlos Beltran... if you get him on the field? Even in a reduced role, the guy's gonna hit.... there aren't many weaknesses... Daniel Murphy has been a major-league hitter before at 2B... Catcher is an unknown, but they seem to like Josh Thole... alas, it's a pretty good unit barring catastrophic injury (which has happened before)...

  • Starting Pitching - Uhh... this is a catastrophe... Johan Santana isn't walking through that door at least until mid-Summer (if at all) and there's not much to write home about... Mike Pelfrey was good in 2010 with an ERA of 3.66 but he profiles as a mid-rotation guy because he can't strike out anyone (113 in 204 innings)... Jon Niese had his moments last year and had a 3.43 ERA in his first 20 starts, but tired greatly... he's solid... after that... yeah... RA Dickey was a pleasant surprise last year, but has no track record to suggest that'll continue, and knuckleballers fluctuate wildly... Chris Young is Chris Young... he's always hurt... always... and their 5th starter is Chris Capuano... good night...

  • Bullpen - K-Rod is back... and hopefully not so angry... he's a proven 40-save guy and that's a nice thing... Bobby Parnell and Manny Acosta have proven to be semi-effective down there, and I like Pat Misch... it's not a horrible bullpen by any means... but they need K-Rod functioning for a full season, and that's certainly not a lock...

  • Bench - Ronny Paulino... Luis Hernandez... Brad Emaus... Scott Hairston... and maybe even the immortal Willie Harris... Hurray!


5. Washington Nationals (72-90) - The basement...

  • Lineup - Definitely not the weakness... they've basically swapped Adam Dunn for Jayson Werth and Adam Laroche... say what you want about the Werth contract (it's a bad one), he'll still be a very good player in 2011... and LaRoche is a guy you can pencil in for 25-30 homers, a respectable average, and he won't kill you anywhere... Zimmerman is an elite 3B who may be the best defender in the league at his position, and he'll hit for big-time numbers... after that, some questions... Ian Desmond is a big-time talent, but hasn't hit at the MLB level yet, same goes for Danny Espinosa at 2B... Pudge is about a thousand years old, Nyjer Morgan is a certified lunatic (lol) who can run, and run, and run, but isn't the best hitter... and the pundits love Mike Morse as an everyday guy in LF for the first time, but again, unproven...
  • Starting Pitching - The Strasburg blow hurts... there just isn't a lot to grab on to here... Livan Hernandez was a blessing for them in 2010, but it's LIVAN HERNANDEZ... anybody counting on a repeat is out of their mind IMO... Jordan Zimmerman is an elite prospect, but is (again) coming off injury... the rest of the rotation is Jason Marquis, Tom Gorzelanny, and John Lannan... not inspiring...
  • Bullpen - A lot of talent here... Drew Storen is the "closer of the future" but hasn't been anointed yet for 2011... he's a big-time talent who they've been grooming, and he's got great stuff... Tyler Clippard led the MLB in relief innings last year, and was very good in them... Stammen and Burnett are nice options too... but the depth isn't quite there yet for long relief, etc...
  • Bench - Roger Bernadina is their 4th outfielder, and has significant upside... big-time speed guy who can play anywhere... Jerry Hairston and Alberto Gonzalez man the utility roles with good gloves... and Wilson Ramos as the backup C... I've seen worse benches...

There it is... Stay tuned for the 7th and final part with my league-wide predictions, playoff stuff, etc...

3/23: Two Wild NBA on TNT Games...

Greetings... Kind of a crazy night on TNT for the NBA... for very different reasons...
  • Bulls 114, Hawks 81.... a 33-point blow-out and honestly? It wasn't this close... Derrick Rose and company dominated this game from the 3-minute mark of the first quarter on, finishing the rest of the half on a 50-24 run, and never looking back... Rose was completely unstoppable with 30 points and 10 dimes in just 29 minutes, making 6 of 8 threes, and when he shoots like that, it's a thing of beauty to witness his offensive game... then there was Luol Deng, who semi-quietly had an ultra-efficient 27 points (on 10-15 shooting) and didn't seem to miss a shot for the entirety of the first half... 40 rebounds for Chicago, 26 for Atlanta... 30 assists for Chicago, 16 for Atlanta... it wasn't competitive... and that doesn't even get into the fact that the crowd was 60+% Bulls Fans... for a game in Atlanta... MVP chants were the norm, and I felt like I was on a road trip... I don't have the time to rant on this...
  • LA Lakers 139, Phoenix 137 in 3OT... this was a wild one... Vince Carter missed a triple at the end of regulation... Lamar Odom missed a jumper at the end of OT #1... Pau Gasol knocked down 2 huge FTs to tie it at the end of OT2... and Kobe & Ron Artest combined for 9 points in the final 2 minutes of OT3 for the win... some crazy box score stuff here... like Channing Frye going for 32 & 14 in 57 (!) minutes... Marcin Gortat for 24 & 16 in 53 minutes... 20 assists in 49 minutes for Nash.. 42/12/9 for Kobe in 48 minutes, and Lamar Odom with 29 and 16... just a wild one from the jump, with some crazy shot selection from Kobe (as per usual), a wild behind-the-back pass falling out of bounds from Nash... all the trimmings...

Elsewhere...

  • The Barry Bonds trial is in full swing... my question is... why is it leading ESPN.com if no one I know cares... at all?
  • Amazingly, the Hawks/Bulls game wasn't the biggest blow-out of a 3-game NBA night... Portland drubbed Washington 111-76... The Wiz shot 37% from the field, Portland shot 50%... the entire front-line for Portland had 22+ points (Batum/Wallace/Aldridge) and they pretty much ran them out of the building...
  • A report citing the NFL as using replacement players was quickly denied by Roger Goodell... this is getting to be kind of a joke at this point... wake me when they sign a CBA deal...

What to watch for...

  • Hawks @ Sixers - 7:00 SportSouth - I have no idea how the Hawks respond to the beating they took on Tuesday... road.. back-to-back... yikes
  • Magic @ Knicks - 8:00 ESPN - The Knicks can't defend... Orlando has issues scoring... hmmm...
  • Spurs @ Nuggets - 10:30 ESPN - A nice test for the Duncan-less Spurs... Denver has it all going right now, and they gotta be the favorite here w/o Timmy...
  • And again... if you need college hoops to get you to Thursday... NIT quarterfinal matchups... Charleston @ Wichita State (ESPN2 7:00), Miami @ Alabama (ESPN2 9:00), and Northwestern @ Wazzou (ESPN2 11:00)...

Enjoy...

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

3/22: Bruce Pearl Fired, Duncan, etc...

Greetings all...
  • Bruce Pearl axed at Tennessee... The world saw this coming, but it was confirmed on Monday... I'm sure the 30-point loss to Michigan didn't help, but it was possible (even likely) that nothing Pearl did in the SEC/NCAA tournaments mattered when discussing saving his job... too much turmoil, too many violations, and an AD who through him under a giant moving bus... see ya...
  • Tim Duncan sprained his left ankle on Monday in San Antonio's 111-96 win over Golden State... sounds pretty ho-hum, right?.... well, wrong.... This is a huge story... It's not "serious", but the Spurs have been remarkably healthy thus far, and they simply can't afford to lose Duncan for any extended period of time... knowing Pop, I'm sure he'll sit him longer than he needs to sit, but they need him to make a run...
  • NBA Check - The Dwight Howard MVP train keeps rolling... he's not getting the buzz that Rose is getting, but Dwight is CARRYING Orlando... 28 and 18 last night in their road win in Cleveland, and the first guy since Hakeem to notch 4 steals and 4 blocks with similar points/rebounds numbers... Boston locks down NY in the 2nd half... 59-35 was the 2nd half tally in this one, and Garnett led the way with 24 and 11... Neither Melo or Amare notched a FG in the fourth... Chicago blows out Sacto... not really noteworthy... but 132-92 is eye-catching, and it's the Bulls 50th win... impressive... and Denver continues to click... jarring Toronto by 33... Ty Lawson led 7 guys in double-digits with 23...
  • Gonzaga women's hoops player Courtney Vandersloot set an NCAA record by becoming the first player (male or female) to notch 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in a career... big-ups...

What to watch for...

  • Bulls @ Hawks - TNT 8:00 - This has special significance... because I have court-side seats for the first time in my life... anyway... Chicago has been chirping about revenge since they blew that huge lead in ATL on their last visit... I hope the Hawks show up...
  • Suns @ Lakers - TNT 10:30 - LA is really rolling right now... can't imagine Phoenix has too much of a shot here on the road...
  • And again... if you need college hoops... Colorado vs. Kent State on ESPN at 9:00...

Enjoy..

Monday, March 21, 2011

3/21: The Sweet 16 is Set...

Greetings all... the Madness slows...
  • Duke 73, Michigan 71.... Well, this one hurt my soul... the Wolverines trailed by 15 in the 2nd half, and 12 with under 7 minutes to go before staging a furious rally... Michigan lead guard Darius Morris missed an open floater with 5 seconds remaining that would've tied the game and likely sent things to OT... Being the rational fan that I claim to be, I know full-well that Duke was the better team, but it did make my heart warm to see Michigan hoops in relevancy, and knowing that the team graduates no seniors (and SHOULD see no early defections, come on Darius and Tim)... Encouraging signs... for Duke, survive and advance... I think they matchup well with Arizona too....
  • A couple bizarre endings... North Carolina sneaks past Washington thanks to a 2nd half surge... but the story was the ending... Venoy Overton took a half-court wrong-handed heave with 3 seconds to go which was inexplicably touched by John Henson.. resulting in an inbounds with 0.5 seconds to go (controversial) that saw Isaiah Thomas shoot a fadeaway jumper for the tie that fell off the rim (and his feet were inside the 3-point line anyway)... and that was that... most of the discussion will center around that ending, but in short, Overton made 2 ridiculous plays (the possession previous, he took an ill-advised/contested lay-up into 2 guys) and that was what hurt Washington... overall, the Huskies played well (even outrebounding UNC) but couldn't make enough plays down the stretch... and Arizona plows ahead... an utterly wild sequence to end this game 70-69 winners... there was a questionable 5-second call, a gigantic and-1 layup by Derrick Williams (the clincher), and Texas being out-coached... only one of those things is surprising... hilarity... anyway, a huge win for Arizona, and the Rick Barnes legacy continues...
  • The surprises.... VCU lays the wood on Purdue... 94-76 was a shocking score for me, but VCU led by 20 throughout the 2nd half and Purdue never really made a run... the Rams shot 57% from the field and put up 94 points (ridiculous)... tough way for the careers of Moore and Johnson to end, but VCU is a nice story... the other surprise was Florida State beating up on Notre Dame.. swarming D from the 'Noles held ND to 31% from the field, and 7-30 from distance... Ben Hansborough was 5-13, and Carleton Scott shot 1-10... big-time stuff from FSU even without anything from Chris Singleton... Leonard Hamilton played 10 guys significant minutes, and never let up...
  • Marquette wins a Big East battle... 66-62 winners over Cuse... I'm not sure how though... Syracuse shot 55% from the field... and lost?... 18 turnovers was a big cause of that, and Marquette got to the line at 3x the rate (19-23 to 5-7)... they made play after play down the stretch...
  • The Number Ones advance... Ohio State put on an exhibition... 61% from the field, 62% (!) from 3, only 9 turnovers, and 98 points.... David Lighty was out of his mind, and freshman PG Aaron Craft had 15 dimes... off the bench... insanity.... and Kansas pulls away late... 73-59 over Illinois thanks to dominant play from the Morris Twins (41 and 24 combined)... there's so much talent on that roster it's scary... Illinois just couldn't match it...

Elsewhere...

  • Baseball stuff... It's never too early... Oliver Perez was finally (and mercifully) released by the Mets after still being owed $12 million... that's how bad he is... Philadelphia is looking to sign recently-cut Luis Castillo... presumably to be Utley-insurance and provide depth... there are significant lineup issues for Philly right now... and Jake Peavy had a set-back in his rehab over the weekend... FYI for fantasy guys drafting this week....
  • Barry Bonds trial begins today... the stock answer is... "wait, what?"....
  • NBA Check - The Hawks won a basketball game... 104-96 over Detroit at home... That's all I got... New York is struggling... losing in Milwaukee 100-95 despite Amare's 25 and 11... giving up 100 to Milwaukee is a feat right now in itself... Sacramento throttled Minnesota in Minnesota... by 32... It's not good in Minny... Kyle Lowry put up his first career triple-double in monster fashion... 28 points, 11 boards, 10 assists to lead Houston to another win... and in the same game, Kevin Martin shot 18 of 18 from the line... Dallas clinches a playoff spot by holding GSW to 73 points... that's impressive defensively... and LA knocks off Portland 84-80... the Lakers are scorching right now, and they held Portland to just 32 points in the 2nd half... balance...

What to watch for on Monday...

  • Celtics @ Knicks - 7:30 NBA-TV - New York on a back-to-back... they really need a win right now...
  • NIT... If you desperately need college hoops... Missouri State vs. Miami (7:00 ESPN), New Mexico vs. Alabama (9:00 ESPN), and OK State vs. Wazzou (11:30 ESPN2) are the options...

Slow day... recovery...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

3/20: Pitt Goes Down, etc...

Greetings all... Let's hit the madness action first...
  • Pitt goes down in a heap.... one of the craziest endings to a game that you'll ever see here... On one end, Butler executed an excellent play to get a layup, taking a 1-point lead with 2 seconds to go... Pitt inbounded in the backcourt, and Shelvin Mack inexplicably rode Gilbert Brown down the sideline, getting a blocking foul, and leading to un-needed free throws... Brown made the first FT to tie the game, but missed the second... which Matt Howard (of Butler) rebounded, and was immediately and INEXPLICABLY fouled by Nasir Robinson... in the backcourt... with under a second to go... in a tie game... I have no idea... but Howard knocked down the first one and it was game time... in the larger picture? Butler played fantastically, and, led by Shelvin Mack (30 points) and Matt Howard, they're a team that has been there before... Pitt goes down again, with yet another exit to Jamie Dixon's resume... I don't know what it is about Pitt, but they never seem to make enough plays down the stretch in these games...
  • San Diego State survives and advances... a double-OT win over Temple... the Owls had numerous chances in regulation and the first OT to win this one, but it got out of hand in the second OT with SDSU throttling Temple with pressure... just a deeper, more physical team that wore them down... honestly, this was a bad basketball game (both teams shot less than 43%), but it was at least exciting...
  • Kentucky advances... Brandon Knight had a career-best 30 points to lead the Wildcats to a huge 2nd half... WV led by 8 at half-time, and Kentucky outscored them 38-22 in the 2nd frame... the Mountaineers just couldn't get into the lane in the 2nd half the way they were in the first, and Kentucky's defense was the story...
  • Probably the highest level of play I saw all day was in Florida's win over UCLA... both teams sported pretty high talent levels playing well... Florida got 21 points (on just 8 FG attempts) from Erving Walker, and 7 guys scored at least 7 points for the Gators, as they outlasted a talented, but young, UCLA team... in the end, UCLA didn't get anything out of their bench, and couldn't overcome it, but I did like what I saw from Joshua Smith (16 points, 6 boards in just 26 minutes)... if he'd only lose 30 pounds...
  • The 2 blowouts... Jimmer had 34 points on 23 shots for BYU, leading the way for a team that made 14 of 28 threes... that's basically the story... Gonzaga couldn't get a stop at any point to make a run, and while they were decent offensively, you can't give up 89 points to a team with no inside presence.... and Richmond cruises over Morehead State.. holding MSU to 38% FG, and 14% 3-point field goals... really wasn't that competitive throughout... big-ups to Kenneth Faried on a great career capped by 11 and 13 here, but Justin Harper (19 and 6) and company were too much...
  • Wisconsin outlasts Kansas State... Jacob Pullen was ridiculous all night, shooting 13 of 22, and scoring 38 points for K-State in a gritty effort, but in the end, Jordan Taylor (who was wretched all night) blocked a potential game-tying shot from Pullen and that was it... I have no idea how Wisconsin won this game... Jordan Taylor (their heart and soul) shot 2 of 16 from the field, and they got out-rebounded... the bright spots were just 5 turnovers, shooting 83% from the line (both Wisconsin staples) and 9 of 20 from distance...
  • Kemba!... The UConn guard had another crazy game... 33 points with a bad right wrist, to lead the Huskies to the win... every time that Cincy needed a stop, UConn went to Walker, and he made plays... even down the stretch, he iced the game with 4 straight perfect FTs (14-14 on the night)... game, set, match...
A quick NBA Check...
  • Miami cools off the scorching hot Nuggets behind 30+ from both Wade and James... Blake Griffin led the Clips in all 3 categories with a 30/8/8 in defeating Cleveland at home... Boston gets back on track with a road win in New Orleans overcoming CP3's 15 dimes, and David West's 32... Trick or Treat Tony Allen had the game of his life in Memphis' win over Indiana... 19 points, 11 boards, 6 assists, 6 steals for Allen... Steve Novak led the way for San Antonio with 19... I have NO clue.... and Portland gets a nice home win over Philly led by Wes Matthews' 28...
What to watch for on Sunday...
  • #7 Washington vs. #2 North Carolina - CBS 12:15 - This a very nice game... as you may have seen, I'm on record that I think Washington wins this game... but after seeing the way UNC has dominated inside recently, I'm wavering a bit... I still like Thomas and company to win this one, but I'm not convinced as I was... the key is containing Zeller and Henson...
  • #8 Michigan vs. #1 Duke - CBS 2:45 - Well, I'm not rational here... but I think Michigan can hang around here... the 1-3-1 zone will make Duke shoot jumpers, and they're capable of a clanker or 2... that said, I think Duke wins a tight one, and sends my boys home...
  • #8 George Mason vs. #1 Ohio State - CBS 5:15 - Mason is a nice story... Ohio State is a juggernaut...
  • #5 Arizona vs. #4 Texas - TNT 6:10 - Texas has the better roster... Arizona has the better coach... and I'll take the better coach when the "worse" coach is Rick Barnes... especially if I have Derrick Williams (the best player on the court) on my side
  • #11 VCU vs. #3 Purdue - TBS 7:10 - I think the dream ends for VCU... they've impressed with a chip on their shoulder so far, but Purdue is a different animal, led by senior leaders in Johnson and Moore, that won't overlook them...
  • #11 Marquette vs. #3 Syracuse - truTV 7:45 - Not exactly the typical 11/3 matchup... conference foes, and Marquette has already beaten the Cuse this year... Syracuse has the better guys and more tourney experience with Jardine/Jackson/Triche... give me them...
  • #9 Illinois vs. #1 Kansas - TNT 8:40 - How close this game is depends on which Illinois shows up... the one who dominated UNLV, or the one that disappeared against Michigan in the B-10 tourney... I don't think it matters, b/c Kansas is winning this game, but it'll be a blowout if Illinois isn't playing optimally...
  • #10 Florida State vs. #2 Notre Dame - TBS 9:40 - Florida State is fully capable of slowing down the ultra-efficient ND offense... but I don't think FSU can score enough, and Ben Hansborough gets off here...
Enjoy it...

Friday, March 18, 2011

3/19: Round 1 in the Books...

Greetings all... yes, you read that right... Round "One" in the books... I refuse to acknowledge this as round 2... it's a sham...

Not as many quality games on Friday as there were on Thursday, so it'll be a tad more brief...
  • To the Wire - Only 3 games really went to the wire on Friday.... George Mason got an "onions"-type shot to take a 2-point lead, then a wild sequence that resulted in a run-out dunk at the gun to win by 4... impressive resiliency from Mason who was down most of the day, but such a brutal end to the year for Nova.... Arizona outlasts Memphis as Derrick Williams (who had 22 and 10) swatted away a potential game-tying put-back in the final seconds so that Zona could hold on by 2... and Washington survives Georgia's last stitch effort at a heave late... Isaiah Thomas was a beast for Washington, but I actually though Trey Thompkins was the best player on the court (26 and 11)....
  • Texas outlasts Oakland... a furious run by Oakland late, but Texas was just too much honestly... Tristan Thompson was huge.. 17 points, 10 boards, 7 blocks, and he held Oakland's Keith Benson to just 6 of 15 shooting... thought it was a break-out type effort from Thompson... In the end, Rick Barnes tried to give this one away, and it looked like Texas had never worked against a press in their lives in the last 5 minutes, but fortunately for them, they were up by double-digits by the time the wall hit...
  • The Surprises - Michigan hammers Tennessee... this one just snowballed in the 2nd half... 75-45 final score despite Michigan only leading by 4 at the half... it wasn't even a crazy statistical effort from UM... shooting just 9 of 26 from 3, but Tennessee pretty much rolled over in the 2nd half, and for some reason, went away from Tobias Harris (who was dominant early)... Michigan didn't even make a free throw and won by 30... Goodbye Bruce Pearl... Marquette throttles Xavier... It's not a surprise that Marquette won the game, but the complete ineptitude of Xavier's offense was shocking to me... 41% from FG, 15% from 3, and 15 turnovers don't even do it justice, you had to watch the toilet bowl offense... it was a tribute to Mike Woodson and Paul Hewitt all in one... Illinois pounds UNLV... again, not a shocking result win-loss wise, but the Illini led by 22 at the half, and UNLV made a late run to make the score not look so lopsided... they controlled the glass (30 to 21), and shot 60% from the field... that'll do it... and VCU blind-sides Georgetown.. 74-56 final... just a case of Georgetown not being able to make any shots really... 20-52 from the field, 5 of 26 from 3.... can't do that AND allow VCU to shoot 12-25 from triple... done...
  • The Blowouts - North Carolina, Purdue, Kansas, Ohio State, Duke, Syracuse and Notre Dame (every 1 and 2 seed from Friday, plus Cuse) all held serve by margins ranging from 13 (ND) to 42 (Duke)... the "closest" games were Akron giving ND a bit of a scare, Syracuse getting challenged for a bit by ISU, and BU hanging with Kansas for a half... yeah...
  • Florida State knocks out Texas A&M... Kind of a boring game... A&M was inept offensively (31%) but the story was the return of Chris Singleton for FSU... that's a totally different team with him on the court with his length/defense, and you don't just have 1st round picks appear for the tourney (unless you're Duke).... That's an interesting matchup with ND on Sunday...
Elsewhere...
  • Ichiro donates $1.25 million to Japan relief... big-ups to Japan's favorite son (athletically at least) for this one... be aware...
  • NBA Check - Bulls/Pacers went to OT in a pretty good one... Rose had 42 for Chicago, but they fell to Indy late thanks to Pyscho T with 29 and 12... he's on a bit of a run right now... Jameer Nelson drains a game-winning 3 at the gun for Orlando to outlast Denver 85-82... Dwight led the way with 16 and 18... Miami blitzes Atlanta at Philips... I don't even want to get into it... but Lebron was unreal (43 points in 3 quarters), and there was no answer from the home team.. exhale... New York lost again... in Detroit?!... San Antonio pulls away from Dallas late... SA's big 3 dropped 80 of the Spurs 97 led by Parker's 33, and it was too much for the Mavs... Houston beats up on Boston at home... 93-77 final, and Houston looks primed for their playoff push... Boston is going the other way all the sudden...
  • President Obama is in the top 1% of brackets nationally... I don't even know what to say....
What to watch for on Friday...

Say good-bye to TruTV!... Their coverage ends... yeah...
  • #5 West Virginia vs. #4 Kentucky - CBS 12:15 - Picked Kentucky in my bracket, but I'm not sure I want to stick by it... WV is the veteran team, and Kentucky looked a bit skiddish against Princeton... they get their own timeslot so America will be tuned in
  • #7 UCLA vs. #2 Florida - CBS 2:45 - I was impressed by UCLA in their win, and I'd like them a lot more here if the game wasn't in Tampa... definitely a winnable spot for UCLA, but I think Parsons and company pull it out...
  • #13 Morehead State vs. #12 Richmond - CBS 5:15 - Dream matchup!... lol.... Both of these teams are better than their seeds indicate at least, and it's worth watching just to see how many rebounds Kenneth Faried gets... I like Richmond in the game though
  • #7 Temple vs. #2 San Diego State - TNT 6:10 - Now we're talking... multiple games at once... This is a tough test for SDSU... Temple is a disciplined team that won't be phased by all the athletes, but I do like the Aztecs to hold serve...
  • #8 Butler vs. #1 Pittsburgh - TBS 7:10 - All props to Butler for getting by Old Dominion at the gun... but I think the run ends here... Pittsburgh will grind and grind and grind here...
  • #11 Gonzaga vs. #3 BYU - CBS 7:45 - This has been the mostly discussed game on TV so far this morning (as I write this) mostly due to the Jimmer love affair, and the darling factor from Gonzaga... but it's a really interesting matchup... BYU clearly doesn't have the support to make a deep run unless Jimmer plays out of his mind, but I also don't believe that Gonzaga is as good as they played against St. John's (doubled them on the boards?! huh?)... I think Gonzaga has the personnel edge, but they'll need a similar effort on the interior to win...
  • #5 Kansas State vs. #4 Wisconsin - TNT 8:40 - Bo Ryan and Jordan Taylor... can't bet against them...
  • #6 Cincy vs. #3 UConn - TBS 9:40 - A conference game already?... That's what happens when you have 11 teams lol... I actually think the run ends for UConn today, but I've been repeatedly wrong about them, so take that for what it is...
Enjoy...

3/18: March Madness Day 1 Wrap, etc.

Let's get to it...
  • The Upset - Only one legitimate (in my mind, at least) upset on Thursday... Morehead State's Demonte Harper banged home a game-winning triple with less than 5 seconds to go to knock off #4 seeded Louisville... Somehow, Morehead managed to win with their best player (NBA prospect Kenneth Faried) shooting just 4 of 17 from the field even though he had 17 rebounds... Louisville got less than stellar efforts from Siva and Marra, plus an injury to Knowles... a tough one... onions!...
  • Buzzer-Beaters ruled the early session... Butler's Matt Howard got a put-back as the clock hit 0.0 to beat Old Dominion at the gun... I can't get a box-out!?!?... Temple got a game-winner from Juan Fernandez to beat Penn State by 2, after an absolute bomb from Battle to tie the game... and Kentucky's Brandon Knight hit a floater off-glass with 2 seconds to go to knock off Princeton... Knight was 0-7 FG before that...
  • Michigan State made a ferocious comeback to down 2 with a few seconds to go, but had to go the length of the court, resulting in a Kalin Lucas traveling violation and the 2-point loss... no excuse for being down as much as they were, but an impressive comeback...
  • West Virginia stormed back from a double-digit deficit to win by 8 over Clemson... really seemed like Clemson got worn down near the end of this one, and WV took advantage... Truck Bryant led the way with 19...
  • Richmond "upset" Vandy... 69-66 and the 12 seed knocks off the 5... it's not an upset for me since Richmond was a 2-point underdog, and basically was 50/50 to win, but they continue their impressive tourney record... the Spiders now have 5 wins all-time as a 12-seed or higher... easily the most ever... that's a legit team, and now they're a sweet 16 favorite since they draw Morehead State in round 2... Kevin Anderson led the way with 25...
  • Jimmer alert... Fredette had 32 points as BYU held serve over Wofford... his shot selection is laugh-out-loud funny at times, but they really need him to carry them offensively, and he's trying to do that... 7 assists as well... interested to see how they try to stop...
  • Gonzaga!... I admittedly didn't think they'd beat St. John's, but I missed on this one... they dominated inside winning the glass 41 to 18 (wow), and shot a blistering 54%/60%/81% on FG/3pt/FT... Just great offense all night... they'll be a big test for BYU...
  • The Blowouts - Pitt cruises by 23 behind Ashton Gibbs' 26 points... San Diego State pulls away late after having just a 6-point half-time lead, and wins by 18.. Kawhi Leonard (21 and 10) is a man... Florida crushes UCSB... I actually thought the Gauchos would hang around, but I was wrong... UF led 43-19 at the half and never looked back... Chandler Parsons controlled things from the jump.. and UConn wins by 29 behind a near triple-double from Kemba Walker.. 18 points, 12 dimes, 8 boards, and he didn't even play his customary 40 minutes in this one...
  • Wisconsin survives test #1 in their march to solidify my Final 4 pick (lol)... 72-58 winners over Belmont thanks to some wildly efficient offense... 50% FG, 55% 3s, and 80% from the line on the game... the Badgers are currently the best free throw shooting team in THE HISTORY OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL sitting North of 82%... insane... Belmont shot just 37% and made just 6 of 22 threes... not enough...
  • Cincinnati cruises over Missouri... never phased by the up-tempo pressure from Mizzou, they pretty much kept their distance all night... led by 11 at half, and played keep-away in the 2nd...
  • RIP Utah State... the 11-point deficit they undertook to K-State at the half was too much to overcome... Jacob Pullen led the way for KSU with 22, and made Frank Martin look smart... not a small feat!

Elsewhere...

  • Jim Tressel self-extends his suspension... the formerly 2-game ousting is now 5 games after he decided to make it even with his players... it's a blatant attempt to avoid further NCAA sanctions (their investigation is ongoing), but a fairly smart one IMO...
  • NBA Stuff - Derrick Rose had 21, and Omer Asik added 16 boards for the Bulls in their 84-73 road win in NJ... that's 8 straight... The Blazers throttled Cleveland by 41 (!) behind Lamarcus Aldridge's 20 and 11... man, Cleveland stinks... and New York gets a team-record 20 triples to beat Memphis 120-99... big-ups to local product Toney Douglas with 29...

What to watch for on Friday...

  • The Madness Day 2... All day!... Oakland/Texas and Michigan/Tennessee are both good early games... I'm excited for Villanova/Mason and Arizona/Memphis in the afternoon... Florida State and Texas A&M needs to be captivating in the early evening (two 1/16 games and a 2/15 in that timeslot, yikes)... but the last 5 games of the night are all interesting for me... 4 of them are pretty tightly seeded (Washington/UGA is the biggest point-spread), and the 5th is Cuse/Indiana State which has sleeper written all over it...
  • Heat @ Hawks - 7:30 SportSouth - Kind of a shame this will be overshadowed by the tourney... but also, kind of nice to avoid the Heat circus...

Seize the day... watch some games!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Official 2011 March Madness Bracket Revealed...

Greetings everyone... Had to get my bracket out... Here we go...

Round 1 Winners -
  • East Region - Ohio State, George Mason, West Virginia, Kentucky, Xavier, Syracuse, Washington, UNC... All favorites?... all favorites... I don't like doing it, but I had to here... George Mason is "the favorite" but all the public money will be headed on Villanova since it's a name program... Nova has been a trainwreck for weeks, and I can't do it... otherwise? Pretty straight forward... I like Xavier a lot in that game b/c of Holloway, and Marquette gets the Big East bump, but they don't impress me... I love, love, love Washington over Georgia... The one upset alert? Watch for Clemson over West Virginia...
  • West Region - Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Texas, Cincy, UConn, Temple, San Diego State.... Love Michigan in this spot because I think Beilein is high-level, and I would love to pick against Bruce Pearl... I nearly pulled the trigger on Oakland over Texas, but couldn't do it... but I'm on the record as hating Rick Barnes... Taking Cincy over Missouri b/c I don't like Missouri on the road (at all)... Favorites again!?!?!?... Yeah... I hate it as much as you do...
  • Southwest Region - Kansas, UNLV, Richmond, Louisville, Georgetown, Purdue, Texas A&M, Notre Dame.... Finally an upset... we'll get to that... UNLV/Illinois is a game I really have no read on at all, so I'm gonna back Lon Kruger.... I like Richmond over Vandy as my first "upset"... it's a very minor one despite the 12/5 matchup (Richmond is only a 2-point underdog), but I think the A-10 is wildly undervalued as a whole, and Vandy never impressed me outside of their home building... Georgetown is getting Chris Wright back, and that's enough to give them the bump... Texas A&M/Florida State is the single most "coin toss" game I've seen in the whole field... Total gut call...
  • Southeast Region - Pittsburgh, Old Dominion, Utah State, Wisconsin, St. John's, BYU, Michigan State, Florida... I think Butler is getting more credit than they should due to last year's run, and I'm as responsible for that as anyone else after riding them all year, but it's just not the same team, and ODU has been impressive all year... Utah State is my favorite double-digit seed in the field, they are brilliantly coached and a veteran team... add in that I hate Frank Martin? Done... Wisconsin/Belmont is so brutal... I love, love, love Wisconsin, but I had Belmont circled to take as an upset pre-bracket... I'll stick with Bo Ryan, and company, but Belmont is good... St. John's/Gonzaga is tough as well, but I'm rolling with the Red Storm and their 10 seniors... Michigan State/UCLA is a matchup of 2 coaches I really like, and taking MSU is based simply on belief in Kalin Lucas...
Sweet 16 -
  • East - Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse, Washington... Chalk except for the Huskies... OSU cruises over G-Mason, Kentucky out-talents West Virginia, 'Cuse gets by Xavier with the zone, and then comes Washington/UNC... I actually really like UNC, but Washington is wildly undervalued... the Pac-10 champs have vets everywhere, a clutch end-of-game guy in Thomas, and they're well coached... I'm betting against UNC's youth more than anything, and their tendency to sleep walk early in games...
  • West - Duke, Arizona, Cincinnati, San Diego State.... Duke is too much for Michigan... I can't pick Rick Barnes to beat a solid team in Zona (and I love Derrick Williams), UConn will hit the fatigue wall eventually, and I'm betting it's against their conference rival, and I'm rolling with the talent-laden Aztecs...
  • Southwest - Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, Notre Dame... Chalk, Chalk, Chalk... love Kansas in a rout over UNLV, Richmond can play with Louisville, but I can't pick it... Purdue will take advantage of Georgetown's inability to put the ball in the basket consistently (and Johnson will bang them inside), and I like Notre Dame's discipline against A&M...
  • Southeast - Pitt, Wisconsin, St. John's, Florida... Pitt cruises over ODU... Wisconsin outlasts Utah State in the Brad Rowland Invitational... and.. wait for it... down goes Jimmer!... I don't think he can carry them over an athletic team like St. John's with multiple guys to throw at him, and so much experience... Florida over Michigan State is a tough one for me, but the game is in Tampa and that's the tiebreaker...
Elite 8 -
  • East - Ohio State and Washington - Ohio State is too talented, too well-coached, too complete for Kentucky, and I don't trust Calipari as far as I can throw him... Sullinger goes off... and I'm rolling with the Huskies... Syracuse isn't a team I love (their advancement is more matchup-based) and this is the end of the line...
  • West - Duke and San Diego State - Pure chalk... Duke outlasts Arizona... they can throw multiple guys (Singler, Plumlee) at Williams, and the key is the guard play advantage with or without Irving... I'm a full-on believer in SDSU, and they hold serve over Cincy (an a virtual home-court in Anaheim)
  • Southwest - Kansas and Purdue - Kansas is too much for Louisville... I love the Self vs. Pitino matchup for Kansas, but the key is the pure length.... and Purdue in a mild upset over ND... senior leaders for Purdue, and ND has no one that can guard Jajuan Johnson on that roster...
  • Southeast - Wisconsin and Florida - I've gone back and forth on this... but I can't help my Wisconsin love... Bo Ryan is an elite coach, and they will grind... and grind... and grind on Pittsburgh... Florida/St. Johns is a toss-up for me as well... but I've thought Florida was underrated all year (until the seeding, then wow), and I think they have enough to knock off Lavin and company...
Final 4 -
  • East - Ohio State - Most complete team in the land... they have leaders like Lighty and Diebler... the big-time talent in Sullinger and Buford, and scrappy guys like Craft... the Cinderella run ends for Washington...
  • West - Duke - Smells like chalk... whether Irving is there or not, I think Duke is the class of the region, and while the SDSU game will be a test (especially in Anaheim), too much experience... and Nolan Smith...
  • Southwest - Kansas - they have multiple guys to throw at JaJuan Johnson, and they're talent level outside of Johnson and Moore is just too much...
  • Southeast - Wisconsin - the curveball!... defense, rebounding, disciplined offense, and Jordan Taylor....
Final 4
  • Duke over Ohio State - I think they can contain Sullinger and that's what this comes down to... the Plumlees and Kelly are underrated, and while Sullinger will get his, they won't collapse on him (and leave Diebler and Buford) like a lot teams would... plus I think Nolan Smith is a guy that Ohio State would have trouble with...
  • Kansas over Wisconsin - The Badgers finally meet a team they can't handle... they overwhelm them with athletes, and there's no answer...
Finals
  • Kansas over Duke - I just can't do it... Duke fans would try to sell me on Kyrie Irving being back and ready to go, but what do we actually know about Kyrie Irving right now?... Kansas has 3 legit NBA bigs in the Morris Twins and Robinson, and they are just the more talented team.. size wins here...
And there you have it... it's madness!

3/17: Quick Hits...

Greetings all... I'll be putting my bracket up in a couple hours (before the noon tips) so this will be brief...
  • NBA Check - Denver runs away and hides from the Hawks late... JR Smith (Smiff) had all 15 of his points in the 4th, and Denver won by that same margin... It's probably not a good sign when Zaza Pachulia leads you in scoring (even if he played well with 19 and 10)... Boston reclaims a share of 1st in the East with a 12 point win over Indy... Rajon Rondo went scoreless though, and he seems to be out-of-sorts a bit... Chris Paul led NO to a home win over PHX with 26 and 9... OKC knocks off Miami on the road led by Durant's 29, and holding Miami to 85 points... encouraging stuff from OKC defensively... Dwight Howard had 31 and 22 in their OT win over Milwaukee... beast mode... and Dirk dropped a 34/13 on GSW on the road in Dallas's 112-106 win...
  • The "First Four" concluded with a bang... laughter... UT-San Antonio and VCU advance... VCU actually was a mild surprise to most as they kind of dominated USC holding them to 46 points... they draw Georgetown now... yeah...
  • Bruce Pearl is in trouble at Tennessee... he couldn't get even get the dreaded "Vote of confidence" from AD Mike Hamilton yesterday...
  • Why is it a story that Tiger Woods believes he's the best player in the world?... Isn't that what he should be thinking? Why wouldn't he think that?... That's "top news"!

What to watch for on Thursday...

  • The Madness... For the first time ever, you can see every game without ordering the mega-package... if you don't watch the tourney, I'd call you un-American... and I'm only sort of kidding... There's an NBA game on late (Blazers/Cavs on NBA-TV) and that's the only live event I'm aware of elsewhere...

Enjoy it, and stay tuned...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

2011 MLB Preview Part 5: NL Central

Greetings all... The Central should be interesting...

1. Milwaukee Brewers (87-75) - Bit of a limb...
  • Lineup - Ryan Braun is a top-5 outfielder in the league... pencil him in for .300/25/100 and go about your day... Prince Fielder is in a contract year at first base, making him a prime trade possibility BUT with Milwaukee contending, there's virtually no way they can justify moving him, and he's due for 40 homers... elsewhere, there's Casey McGehee who went .285/23/104 last year and has knocked the cover off the ball since arriving in 2009... I also like Corey Hart in RF (who's banged up right now) coming off his breakout year.. Rickie Weeks is a beast at 2B as well when healthy... the weakspot? Yuniesky Betancourt is an abominable option as a starting SS... I can't even justify it...

  • Starting Pitching - Gallardo and Greinke is a heckuva 1-2 combo... but I think this staff makes or breaks with Shaun Marcum in the middle... he's a high-upside guy who was very good in 2010 but has some injury risk.. I personally think he makes a bit of a leap in the NL and makes this staff formidable... Randy Wolf in the 4 spot is solid, and Chris Narveson is a "meh" 5th guy...

  • Bullpen - Interesting unit here... the loss of Trevor Hoffman is actually a GOOD thing... he was very, very bad in 2010, but outside of him, the bullpen was serviceable... John Axford pitched very well and returns in the closer role, and they have vets like Latroy Hawkins and Takashi Saito at the back-end... watch out for Manny Parra... he was a dreadful starter, but reports are that he has it really dialed up and could be dominant in a shorter role...

  • Bench - Mark Kotsay and Craig Counsell anchor the bench... two uber-utility guys who are pros but don't scare you... George Kottaras as the backup C, and Mat Gamel are the other contributors... meh...

To the defending Central champs...

2. Cincinnati Reds (84-78) - Ah... Dusty Baker...

  • Lineup - Best unit in the division... Joey Votto is an MVP-candidate beast at 1B, Brandon Phillips is a top-5 guy at second, and I really like the Stubbs/Bruce combo in the outfield... both with tremendous upside... there are questions though... Scott Rolen is ancient, they have a SS battle including Edgar Renteria (lol), and Johnny Gomes (who can mash) looks like he may play every day...

  • Starting Pitching - Lots of talent... Cueto was their anchor last year, but he's banged up in Spring and there's some worry there... Volquez has elite stuff, and should be healthy, and Bronson Arroyo is steady, steady, steady... on the back-end there's a 3-way battle between Homer Bailey, Travis Wood, and Mike Leake for two spots...

  • Bullpen - The best pitcher in the bullpen isn't the closer... it's Aroldis Chapman... but I do understand their unwillingness to insert him with big money being paid to Francisco Cordero... Cordero isn't awful, but isn't electrifying at this point... I do like Nick Masset as well down there

  • Bench - Not real deep... Fred Lewis, Miguel Cairo, and Ryan Hanigan (at Catcher) are the guys most likely to get consistent time... Lewis is a one-dimensional speed guy, and Cairo is run-of-the-mill...

3(t). Chicago Cubs (80-82) - I actually like the Cubs...

  • Lineup - Carlos Pena was their big splash, and can be penciled in for 35 bombs in that ballpark... the key? He may hit .195... if he hits .240-.250 like I think he can, he's an upgrade over what Lee gave them last year... Aramis Ramirez is back healthy, and really picked it up down the stretch in 2010... capable of 30 HRs there... They're fairly good up the middle with Soto (like him alot), Castro (up and comer), Dewitt (meh), and the ever-underrated Marlon Byrd in center.... There are some questions (cough, Soriano), but should be pretty solid...

  • Starting Pitching - For starters, I loved the Matt Garza pick-up... coming to NL is one thing, but LEAVING the AL East helps doubly... he's got great stuff, and I like a big-time rebound from him... Dempster is extemely solid at the top, and you know you'll get at least average stuff from Randy Wells... the x-factor is obviously Carlos Zambrano... he was absolutely awful at times in 2010, but pitched well in stretches too... he's the key

  • Bullpen - Marmol is electric... he walks everyone in the world, and needs to get that under control, but it's still a sub-2.00 ERA guy... the set-up guys are spotty.. Kerry Wood, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija (who still should've played football) are the key guys...

  • Bench - Kosuke Fukodome as the 4th outfielder is actually not terrible... Jeff Baker is an ultra-utility guy who can play any infield slot, and they have Koyie Hill or Max Ramirez behind Soto... at least they're versatile?...

Man, that Wainwright injury...

3(t). St. Louis Cardinals (80-82) - See above... Wainwright.. sigh...

  • Lineup - Albert Pujols is the best player on the planet... no argument here... the "distraction" of his contract negotiation is violently over-stated, and he can be penciled in for .320/40/120... Matt Holliday is about as money in the bank as it gets from the outfield as well... and I really like Colby Rasmus in center... there are some age questions (Lance Berkman), power outages (Schumaker and Theriot up the middle), and still unproven guys (Freese), but it's a capable lineup based on the 3-4-5 alone...

  • Starting Pitching - What was once the strength of the team is now a relative weakness... Chris Carpenter is an elite starter when healthy and he seems to be so... but there's always risk, and he's being asked to carry the staff now with Wainwright on the shelf... I'm VERY high on Jaime Garcia, but he had a significant innings increase and needs to be watched closely... after that? Yikes... Dave Duncan has done nice reclamation projects on Lohse and Jake Westbrook, but neither are dominant-type guys, and now, they rely on Kyle McLellan to make 25 starts out of the 5-hole... I think Wainwright's loss cost them 5-7 wins off the top..

  • Bullpen - Ryan Franklin continues to get the job done at the closer spot, and he's solid... the remainder of the pen is pretty sketchy/unproven outside of Jason Motte... it's definitely a question mark..

  • Bench - Jon Jay is the 4th outfielder, and former Twin Nick Punto is the utility infielder... they could do worse... I'm not a believer (in any way) in Gerald Laird as the backup catcher though...

And the drop-off...

5. Houston Astros (73-89) - At least they're better....

  • Lineup - Hunter Pence had his breakout year in 2010 and anchors the lineup... Carlos Lee isn't what he used to be (he's still fat though), but can be penciled in for productivity whether he's playing 1st or a sketchy LF... Michael Bourn may be the fastest guy in the league, and he'll steal 50 rolling out of bed... I even like Chris Johnson and Brett Wallace at the corners for their upside... but there's really no one that scares you at all, and guys like Clint Barmes and Bill Hall are going to get 600 ABs... Pass...

  • Starting Pitching - Wandy Rodriguez is an absolute stud... he was one of the best pitchers in the MLB down the stretch last year, and has electrifying stuff... Brett Myers had the best year of his career in 2010 coming out of nowhere to be great, but I don't necessarily trust it... outside of that? J.A. Happ is young and has been good, but has injury concerns, Bud Norris has an obscene strikeout rate, but has never been particularly effective, and they're starting Nelson Figueroa... yikes...

  • Bullpen - Brandon Lyon has saved games in the Majors... that's the nicest thing I can say about this bullpen... I do like Wilton Lopez a little, but come on...

  • Bench - On the bright side, a lot of these guys played a ton last year... Jeff Keppinger can play anywhere, and he had a good year in 2010... no power though... Tommy Manzella is an elite fielder who can't hit, and Michaels/Bourgeois are average at best in the outfield...

That was fun... this won't be...

6. Pittsburgh Pirates (66-96) - Jeez...

  • Lineup - This is the part of the team that isn't awful... Andrew McCutcheon is an elite-level OF who can do it all.. Pedro Alvarez has 40-homer power and is a top prospect, and they've already gotten good production from Neil Walker, Garrett Jones and Jose Tabata... even guys like Lyle Overbay and Chris Snyder are capable major-leaguers... it's really an average offense (which is good for Pittsburgh)...

  • Starting Pitching - The wheels come off here... Paul Maholm (who I actually like), Ross Ohlendorf, Kevin Correia (outside of Petco, eesh), James McDonald, Charlie Morton... what do they have in common? None of them are even #3 starters in the majors right now... that's an issue...

  • Bullpen - Joel Hanrahan starts as the closer... he's average... capable of saving games semi-effectively, but the job will eventually be Evan Meek's... great arm on that kid... outside of that, Braves import Chris resop, and the famous Scott Olsen are the best arms... wow...

  • Bench - Ryan Doumit and Matt Diaz are very good bench bats... both guys can hit but not really field... they also have John Bowker to play outfield D, and Josh Rodriguez on the infield... I'm done...

There it is... stay tuned for Part 6 on the NL East...


3/16: The First Four, Kyrie Irving, etc.

Greetings all... not the busiest day for news...
  • The "First Four" is underway in Dayton... I won't spend a whole lot of time breaking down the games in which UNC-Asheville got an OT win, and Clemson decimated UAB... good for them... but there were some pretty amusing subplots... Namely, the absolute insistance on referring to this as the "first round", and saying that the winners moved on to "the second round"... can we stop this?... Also, I have no earthly idea why they need the CBS #1 crew doing these games, and a 5-man studio show... hilarity...
  • Kyrie Irving... will play?... Former Duke great Jay Williams has "confirmed" what many have reported that Irving will take the floor on Friday... obviously, this is big news as he was one of the most highly-discussed players in the land early in the year, and a great talent... what I'm not convinced of is everyone's immediate need to "change their brackets"... I guess if you had Duke losing in the Sweet 16, this may sway it, but this is a guy who hasn't played basketball in 4+ months and didn't even PRACTICE until Tuesday (and was still limited)... also kind of an insult to his teammates, who are, well, the defending national champions...
  • NBA Box Score Check - Joe Johnson explodes... 36 in the game, 28 in the first half for Joe as the Hawks blew out Milwaukee... the Bucks' offense was particularly unwatchable... but the story of the night was the attendance... it was somehow listed north of 13,000 (a complete sham), but divide that number by 4 and you have the real number... Indiana knocks off New York 119-117 knocking the Knicks down to 6-6 since the Melo deal... Psycho T had a career-high 30 for Indy and Granger banged home the game-winner... Wizards/Bulls was kind of a wild "box score" game... Jevale McGee had a triple-double with points/boards/blocks (12 blocks!)... Jordan Crawford played ALL 48 MINUTES(!) for Washington and had 27 points (I got nothing here), and the Bulls pounded the Wiz by 19 even without Noah... yeah... and Portland gets a big win over Dallas behind the familiar duo of Aldridge and Roy... 30 and 8 for LaMarcus (who's still going nuts btw) is typical these days, but it's nice to see Brandon Roy go for 21 in 28 minutes and have a spring in his step by all accounts...
  • If you didn't know, Jeff Capel got fired as the Oklahoma men's hoops coach... it was kind of a non-story... until Blake Griffin openly defended him on Tuesday, then it became news... my question is, why does this sway anyone's opinion?
  • A's closer Andrew Bailey came back from seeing Dr. Andrews... with good news?... That never happens!

What to watch for on Wednesday...

  • The First Four (Continued) - UT-San Antonio vs. Alabama State at 6:30 and USC vs. VCU at 9:00... the USC could be watchable... truTV is the destination...
  • Nuggets @ Hawks - 7:00 SportSouth - a rare home back-to-back for Atlanta, and Denver is hot right now having won 8 of 10...
  • Thunder @ Heat - 8:00 ESPN - The Heat are suddenly surging... another big-time test here though...
  • Mavs @ Warriors - 10:30 ESPN - Road back-to-back for Dallas, and this is a game they need to be wary of... GS can run them out of the gym if they don't show up...
  • And our first baseball game of the year in this space... Braves vs. Red Sox at 1:00 on ESPN... No, I don't care about the result of the game at all, but Tommy Hanson is worth watching, and ESPN will have Matthew Berry in the booth at some point... okay, I'm stretching...

Until later...