4/30 Down Goes Frazier

Since Brad is on a "vacation" a subsitute teacher is needed..and it's me Ryan filling in for a little bit..not alot to cover but let's try

• Well I guess you may have heard that the Grizzlies finished off the Spurs last night 99-91.And yeah..the way they won was the way they've won the other 3 games..rebounding..a team that gets more rebounds will have more chances to score..it's simple as that. Glossing over the box score other than Randolph no one really went off..but the team shot 52%..Duncan had 12 and 10 and Jefferson is just getting to the game as you read this..I really have no idea how he pulled a complete no-show all the way through..anyways..the Grizz move on.
• In the MLB world..Nationals' Jason Marquis out dueled Tim Linceum to toss a compete game shutout...didn't see that one coming..Braves lose in extras to the Cards 5-3...more bullpen issues this time in the hands of trusted reliever Kimbrel..gotta win the close ones...gotta...my Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim roughed up David Price for 5 runs in 4.1 innings in route to a 8-5 victory.

What to watch today

• Braves/Cardinals Fox 1:10pm
• Baltimore/Chicago White Sox WGN 7:10pm
• Seattle/Boston MLB Network 7:10pm

Its a light day today..get outside and do something..have fun everyone.

4/28: Spurs Still Breathing, 2 close-outs, etc.

Greetings... slightly truncated today...

• San Antonio is still alive... Gary Neal hit a game-tying triple at the gun of regulation (after a Manu Ginobili perceived 3 that was overturned) and sent SA to an OT win to avoid elimination... Manu led the way with 33, and Parker contributed 24 to overcome Memphis.... something to watch going forward? San Antonio lost the rebounding battle... again...
• OKC closes out Denver... Kevin Durant went off late... scoring 14 of the final 18 for OKC to finish with 41 points, and had a huge block as well late... Westbrook was bad (again) going 3 for 15 from the field, but he yielded in crunch-time (smartly) to Durant, and that was enough... Denver was balanced as usual with 8 guys scoring 8+ points, but there was no offensive identity late and they couldn't stop Durant...
• Miami says bye-bye to Philly... Mario Chalmers exploded for 20 off the bench for the Heat (including 6 threes) and was the key in this one... Brand and Iguodala had 22 a piece for Philly, but it wasn't enough... on to Boston...
• MLB Round-up: The Braves get a win 7-0 in San Diego over Mat Latos and the Padres... another dominant starting pitching performance, this time from Tommy Hanson, and the bats roughed up Latos early for 6 runs in the first 2 innings... hopefully, the win (and subsequent evening of the record at .500) will overshadow the allegations against Roger McDowell... no need to get into the specifics here, but he's been accused of insensitive remarks toward homosexuals, egregious gestures, and basically outrageous behavior... if most (or any, really) of it is true, he's probably got to be fired... Big, Fat Bartolo Colon has been reborn... 8 dominant innings for the former Cy Young winner... of COURSE the Yankees would fall into a dominant version of Colon... The Marlins lost last night... which wouldn't be news except for they haven't lost much... 15-8 record even after the loss, and you never hear about them... worth noting...

What to watch for...

• NFL Draft - ESPN 8:00 - This one snuck up on us, huh?... Cam Newton is currently the "favorite" to go #1... I absolutely think that's a mistake, but I can see why Carolina wants/needs the splash... as far as the Falcons are concerned, I'll be pleased with just about any of the Defensive End options in Round 1... Always a fun watch..
• Magic @ Hawks - Game 6 - NBA TV 7:30 - I'll be in the building tonight so I won't have to deal with Dominique and Bob Rathbun (thank goodness)... Must-win for Atlanta... I don't see a scenario where they go back to Orlando and win, so this is the season...
• Lakers @ Hornets - Game 6 - TNT 8:00 - I think CP3 can get this series back to LA...
  
• Mavs @ Blazers - Game 6 - TNT 10:30 - This Portland crowd is going to be absolutely insane I have a feeling... If Dallas (namely Kidd) makes shots, they'll probably win... if not, I like Portland...
• Blue Jays @ Rangers - Morrow vs. Ogando - MLB Network 2:00 - Mid-day baseball is never a bad thing... I really want to see how Brandon Morrow looks...
• White Sox @ Yankees - Jackson vs. Sabathia - MLB Network 7:00 - CC!

Enjoy...

4/27: NBA Blowouts, NFL Nonsense, etc.

Greetings...

• Orlando 101, Atlanta 76... Well, I saw this one coming... this particular cast of characters for the Hawks is prone to not showing up when it's not a "must-win" spot and this was no exception... they played like a team who went into game 5 thinking, "we'll just win Game 6 at home".. Josh Smith led the way with 22 and 11 but shot just 7 of 18, Joe Johnson was a putrid 2 of 12 from the field for just 5 points, Jamal Crawford posted a -30 +/- for the game, and even Al Horford shot just 3 of 9... It's not as if Orlando's box score was impressive either... Dwight had just 8 points and 8 rebounds, but as soon as Orlando went +10 with Dwight on the bench in the 1st quarter, it was going to be a long night... what does it all mean? I'm not sure... The Hawks are still "in the driver's seat" but would anyone be surprised if they laid down at home on Thursday? I wouldn't be...
• Chicago moves on... nothing really to see here... a 27-point blowout.... really the only takeaway is that Derrick Rose's ankle looks to be fine, and now he'll have some additional time off waiting for the Hawks/Magic winner... done...
• LA 106, NO 90... This game was closer than the score... New Orleans was within striking distance til the end, but couldn't make that big run in the 2nd half.. Paul was outstanding again with 20 and 12, and the Hornets got good games from Belinelli and Ariza, but the difference between Game 4 and Game 5 was the lack of production from the frontline... Landry, Okafor, and Gray combined for just 13 points and only 15 rebounds between them, and they got manhandled up front... LA had 6 guys in double-figures led by Bean's 19... any questions about Kobe's ankle were likely answered when he posterized Emeka Okafor, but he assuaged them again with a lefty dunk in the 2nd half as well... I have some concerns about Pau Gasol, who looks like he did in the first Boston finals right now (not a good thing), but Bynum is playing extremely well, and covering it up....

Non-NBA...

• The lockout is... over?... well, by rule anyway... in a weird twist, a judge ruled to basically end the lockout but the NFL seemed to be unprepared to deal with this.... Watch TV if you want to hear more... it's EVERY where...
• Warning... Hockey mention.... I only do this because Vancouver avoided the colossal embarassment of blowing a 3-0 lead in this series by the skin of their teeth... Luongo was apparently dominant in Game 7 after being overly shaky in the 3 previous games... I just report the news...
• The Braves got a comfortable 8-2 win last night behind Jair Jurrjens and a complete game... one night after the bullpen was taxed a bit (although Fredi Gonzalez inexplicably left Kimbrel on the bench and allowed Martinez to hit/bunt AND implode on the mound, sigh), Jurrjens gave them a rest with a very effective complete game... nice to see 8 runs in Petco Park as well...

What to watch for on Wednesday...

• Sixers @ Heat - TNT 7:00 - I'm not really interested in this too much.. but Miami looks to close out Philly in 5 here...
  
• Grizz @ Spurs - NBATV 8:30 - The best game of the night ends up on NBA-TV.... interesting... anyway, I think San Antonio responds and gets a win at home here... Game 6 in Memphis may be another story...
• Nuggets @ Thunder - TNT 9:30 - Here's an idea Russ... Don't take 30 shots with Kevin Durant on the court unless you're absolutely feeling it (hint: he wasn't)...
• Braves @ Padres - Hanson vs. Latos - SportSouth 3:30 - Pretty awesome pitching matchup in the afternoon...
• A's @ Angels - Ross vs. Haren - ESPN 7:00 - Lost in all the Jered Weaver love has been how awesome Dan Haren has been for LAA....

Enjoy...

4/25: Chris Paul is Better than You...

Greetings... let's get to it...

• 27 points, 15 assists, 13 rebounds... that's what Chris Paul decided to throw up on the board in NO's win over the Lakers last night... you'll rarely see a guy dominate a game like that from the jump, and he did with an eye half-shut as well... Paul got a little help from Ariza (19 points) and Landry (16 points), but make no mistake, this was as dominant a 1-man show as you'll see... on LA's side, the big concern is Kobe's foot injury that he hobbled off with late... but he shot just 5-18 and went scoreless in the first half, while Pau gave them an umimpressive 16 points and 4 rebounds while ceding considerably on defense... I still think LA wins this series, but if Paul plays like this, NO isn't out of it
• Philly stays execution... local kid Lou Williams hit the game-winning triple with seconds remaining and Philly capped a 22-16 4th quarter to win... 15 and 11 from Brand led the way, but 17 points and 6 boards from Evan Turner were huge off the bench for Philly... Miami got 53 from Wade and Lebron, but couldn't get a good shot off on the last possession, and they lost the rebounding battle 49-41... This series is over, but good for Philly for stealing one...
• Boston moves on... the Celtics put away NY 101-89 on Sunday... 26 and 10 from KG and 21 and 12 from Rondo to lead the way, but the real story for me was how bad Amare was... 5 of 20 shooting including 1 of 10 in the first half, and they just could never make a run... Toney Douglas shot 3 of 11 to finish shooting 36% for the series and he got torched repeatedly by Rondo... tough one for the kid from Jonesboro... Boston gets to rest up (and maybe get Shaq back) for Miami...
• Atlanta takes a 3-1 lead... Dwight got his in the form of 29 and 17, but Atlanta caused 8 turnovers from him, and when the only help he received was from Arenas (20 points on 9 of 18), you can feel good about that... Hedo Turkoglu has been flat-out awful in this series that continued with 2 of 12 shooting and a botched late-game possession to end it... on ATL's side, Jamal Crawford played as well as he can shooting 10 of 18 for 25 points (an empty 25 but still), Horford and Smith both had double-figure rebounding games, and Joe added 20... Atlanta takes firm control of the series here, but anyone who is penciling in the win should slow down...

Baseball...

• The Braves get a sweep... of the World champs... on the road?... I'll definitely take it... with the win Sunday, Atlanta moves to 11-12, and there's a pulse from the bats all the sudden.... Jair Asencio completely imploded in the 7th to ruin Brandon Beachy's start, but he's the least important guy in a shortened bullpen (without Moylan) so not too much to fear there...
• Hey look... the Red Sox have won 8 of 10... I'm SHOCKED that they got it together after that brutal start...
• Pitching Line of the Day - With apologies to James Shields' on his CG shutout... it's Roy Halladay with 14 K's in 8.2 IP while allowing just 5 hits and 1 run...
  
• Batting Line of the Day - Mike Aviles - The Royals infielder threw up a 3 for 5 with 2 HRs and 4 RBI... always liked him...

What to watch for...

• Spurs @ Grizz - Game 4 - TNT 8:00 - Must-win... for the 1 seed? That's where we are here with San Antonio, but I think they get it done...
• Blazers @ Mavs - Game 5 - NBA-TV 8:30 - Pivotal Game 5 here in Dallas... Brandon Roy went completely off the rails in Game 4, and while I don't think that can continue at that clip, it's very encouraging if you're a Blazers fan...
• Thunder @ Nuggets - Game 4 - TNT 10:30 - Denver down 0-3 here... I think they'll fight and maybe steal this one, but this series is in dyer straights...
• White Sox @ Yankees - Humber vs. Burnett - ESPN 7:05 - Humber! Burnett! It's the MLB on ESPN!...
• Braves @ Padres - Lowe vs. Moseley - SportSouth 10:05 - I feel good about Lowe in Petco...
  

Enjoy...

4/23: Rondo, Hawks/Magic, etc.

Greetings all... Short and sweet today...

• Rajon Rondo 1, New York Knicks 0.... even if Boston won by 17 in NY is the bigger story, Rondo's crazy triple-double is 1-A... 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 20 (!) assists for Rondo in just the 2nd ever playoff triple-double that included 20 dimes (the first was Magic), and he had more assists than the entire Knicks team... this was the nail in the coffin for NY obviously, going down 3-0, and they couldn't overcome the absence of Billups and the ineffectiveness of Amare (7 points) and Melo (4 of 16, 15 points)... Done...
• Atlanta 88, Orlando 84... Even if what is remembered about this game was that ludicrous bank-shot triple from Jamal Crawford to seal it, a win is a win... for the 3rd straight game, Larry Drew got man-handled by Stan Van Gundy, but fortunately for Atlanta, the Hawks have the much better personnel in this series when Orlando is scuffling this badly... Hedo and Jameer Nelson combined to shoot 8 of 28, and Dwight couldn't get the support he needed to... Still a pretty rough output from Joe Johnson (9 of 23) and Jamal (7 of 19), but the Hawks held their own on the glass, and put up significantly more resistance to Dwight than in the first 2 games... the result of the Zaza/Richardson scuffle will probably lead to a J-Rich suspension, and could leave Zaza or even Dwight on the sideline... definitely something to watch for, especially for Atlanta since the absence of Zaza would be magnified by a slight injury to Collins...
• LA throttles New Orleans... Kobe finishes with 30 points on 10-20 shooting, Pau responded with 17 and 10 and Bynum added another double-double, but the real story was how the Lakers locked up the NO offense... Paul was great again with 22 points on 13 shots, but New Orleans shot just 2 of 13 from 3 and couldn't seem to knock down open jumpers... and it certainly didn't help that NO was awful off the bench led by Willie Green and Jarrett Jack combining to shoot 1-10....
• Anibal Sanchez took a no-no into the 9th and finished with a complete game 1-hitter for the Fish against Colorado... pretty impressive against a scorching hot lineup too...
• Could the Kings stay in Sacramento? Multiple reports presenting that as a scenario as of early Saturday morning... the "Here We Stay" campaign may have worked to some degree, but I wouldn't be counting chickens here...

What to watch for on Saturday...

• Bulls @ Pacers - Game 4 - TNT 2:30 - This one is pretty meaningless, but Indy can lengthen things with a win...
• Mavs @ Blazers - Game 4 - TNT 5:00 - Another virtual must-win for Portland coming off a big win in Game 3...
• Spurs @ Grizz - Game 3 - ESPN 7:30 - Interested to see how SA responds on the road now that Manu is back and going... I think they at least steal 1 if not win both in Memphis...
• Thunder @ Nuggets - Game 3 - ESPN 10:00 - Probably be a pretty sick atmosphere in Denver for this one, but all the pressure is on the Nuggets here... OKC has looked pretty good so far
• Braves @ Giants - Hudson vs. Lincecum - FOX 4:00 - Best pitching matchup in the whole of the MLB on Saturday, and it just happens to include the Braves...

Enjoy...

4/21: Hey! More Favorites Winning!

Greetings all... as you can see by my outlandishly excited title line, the favorites held serve last night... let's go...

• LA 87, New Orleans 78 - This was kinda ugly... New Orleans shot just 39%, got outrebounded, and committed more TOs... not exactly a recipe for success... Paul was very good again with 20 and 9, but didn't command the game like he did in game 1, and got very little help outside of a nice game from Ariza (22 points on 15 shots)... on LA's side, they somehow get a win with Kobe and Gasol providing a) only 20 shot attempts, and b) only 5 made field goals... big-ups to Bynum (17 and 11) and Odom (16 and 7) for providing the juice for LA offensively... this win can be attributed to LA's team defense, and as we see (again), the Lakers certainly seem to win more with the fewer shots Kobe attempts...
• San Antonio 93, Memphis 87 - The Spurs even things up.. 5 guys in double figures keyed by 16 and 10 from Timmy, and the return of Manu who didn't play great statistically (5 of 13 FG, 7 of 13 FT), but had a +16 when he was on the court... plainly, this is just a different team when he's out there to break down opposing defenses... all 5 Memphis starters had double-figures, but the team shot just 39% and OJ Mayo attempted 11 shots in 19 minutes (making 2)... yikes.... on to Memphis...
• OKC 106, Denver 89 - The most comfortable win... OKC absolutely dominated the boards 54-31, and held Denver to just 39% from the field, and that'll pretty much do it... Durant and Westbrook combined for 43 on 33 shots, and James Harden had an efficient 18 off the bench... all that said, my collective MVP in this one goes to Ibaka/Perkins/Collison who combined for 31 rebounds, and basically controlled the box for the duration.... Lawson and Felton were the brightspots for Denver, but it's probably not a good sign when no one taller than 6'1 has a good game...

Elsewhere...

• The Dodgers are now run by Major League Baseball... in a fascinating decision, Bud Selig decided to seize control from the McCourts... it's been a franchise in turmoil for a while due to the divorce and the resulting financial woes, but it seems to be a shocker league-wide that this would go down... interesting to see what direction this goes in going forward...
• Kevin Love reportedly wins the NBA most improved player award... not a shocker by any means, and certainly a deserving winner, but one of my pet peeves is how inconsistently this award is handed out...
  

Baseball....

• The Braves drop another one in LA... Derek Lowe got roughed up early with 5 runs in the first two innings, and that was that... I'm still curious as to why Fredi decided to roll with Lowe on short rest rather than using Minor or another option, but if there was ever a guy to go with on 3 days, it's probably Lowe, so it wasn't egregious... the offense was dormant against Jon Garland... yeah....
• Pitching Line of the Day - Jered Weaver - CG, 6 H, 1 ER, 8 Ks... he's been the best pitcher alive so far this season... dominant stuff
• Batting Line of the Day - Andre Ethier - 3 for 4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 runs... scorching right now...

What to watch for on Thursday...

• Bulls @ Pacers - Game 3 - NBA-TV 7:00 - Obviously a "must-win" for Indy, although it's not as if anyone thinks they have a chance... I do want to see how Chicago responds on the road...
• Heat @ Sixers - Game 3 - TNT 8:00 - Pretty much the exact same feelings as above except with "Miami" instead of "Chicago"...
• Mavs @ Blazers - Game 3 - TNT 10:30 - I still believe Portland can win this series (although I wouldn't pick them now), so this one is pretty interesting... important for the Blazers to contain the 3-point line, especially late....
• Braves @ Dodgers - Jurrjens vs. Kershaw - SportSouth 3:10 - I don't think this is the pitching matchup I want to see in a game to salvage a split, but Kershaw got roughed up a bit last time out, and Jurrjens looked electric...
  

Enjoy...

4/20: More Favorites, NFL Schedule, etc.

Greetings...

• Boston 96, New York 93 - What a weird game... New York shot 36% for the game, Amare didn't play the entire second half, Bill Walker somehow shot 0 for 11 and played 33 minutes, and the Knicks STILL could've won this game... NY dominated the glass 53-37, and that was what kept them in the game (along with Melo's 42 and 17), but Boston made the plays down the stretch again... Rondo took too many shots (23) for any Boston fan's liking, but finished with 30, and Garnett added a double-double... There are still some significant questions surrounding Boston, but they've ground out 2 wins...
• Orlando 88, Atlanta 82 - This just in, Dwight Howard is good... 33 points, 19 boards, and a very significant 15-19 from the line last night to lead Orlando to the win... the Magic (again!) got nothing from Turkoglu (4 of 16) and Richardson (3 of 12) but Atlanta didn't play as well as they did in game 1 and Dwight did enough to win it... Jamal Crawford had an efficient 25 points for Atlanta (on 17 shots), but outside of his always-empty points, no one else had a particularly good offensive game... Joe Johnson disappeared for long stretches and finished with just 14... I can't even speak rationally on the way LD has been substituting in this series... Josh Powell and Hilton Armstrong played a combined 15 minutes in a close game... I have no words...
• Dallas 101, Portland 89 - For the second straight game, Dallas got a breakout shooting game from an elderly man (lol)... Peja Stojakovic shot 5 of 10 from 3, and ended up with 21 points, Dirk had 33, and Jason Kidd had another big game with 18 and 8 for Dallas... The numbers across the board were eerily similar for both teams (both shot 49%, had 37 rebounds, and 20 assists), but Dallas made just 6 turnovers, and that was the difference... Aldridge had a workman-like 24/10 for Portland to lead 5 guys in double-digits, but the Blazers couldn't overcome a 28-17 deficit in 4th quarter scoring... this series isn't over, but Portland has to get both at home...

Elsewhere...

• It's pretty weird that the NFL Schedule release got the fanfare that it always gets... because, well, the NFL season may not start?... No schedule breakdown here, but I'm sure you can find one if you want it that badly...
• Bob Knight said some crazy things about Kentucky basketball in a speech?... I have nothing for this, other than I don't understand why people expect Bobby Knight to be tactful...

Baseball...

• Mariano Rivera blew a save last night... and the Yankees lost... that's always a story...
• Ryan Franklin out as St. Louis closer... they pretty much had to do this after he blew 4 saves in 2 weeks, but with Tony La Russa, you really never know... keep an eye on Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte to see who gets the job...
• Bruce Chen is 3-0... Hilarity ensues...
• The Braves get 8 runs in the 9th to put away LA... well, that was an offensive explosion... I'd prefer it not wait until the 9th, but I'll take it... home runs from Uggla, Prado, Freeman, and Hinske on the night, and a very, very good outing from Brandon Beachy... encouraging...
• Pitching Line of the Day - With apologies to James Shields' complete game, it's Brett Anderson who went 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 8 k's... and I love Brett Anderson...
• Batting Line of the Day - Ryan Roberts - the D-Backs 3B has been scorching to start the season, and had 2 homers yesterday to go along with 3 RBI and a SB...
  

What to watch for on Wednesday...

• Nuggets @ Thunder - Game 2 - TNT 8:00 - OKC overwhelmed them late with Durant and Westbrook in game 1, but Denver was right there... this should be competitive...
• Grizz @ Spurs - Game 2 - NBA-TV 8:30 - Must-win for San Antonio.. Ginobili is a game-time decision, but I think he plays, and they win...
• Hornets @ Lakers - Game 2 - TNT 10:30 - I really, really want the same Chris Paul from Sunday to show up...
• Twins @ Orioles - Blackburn vs. Britton - ESPN 7:00
  
• Braves @ Dodgers - Lowe vs. Garland - SportSouth 10:10 - Garland's first start of the year... and Lowe's been fantastic so far...
  

Enjoy...

4/19: East Favorites Hold Serve...

Greetings all... let's get to it...

• Miami throttles Philly.... no real surprise here other than the complete ineptitude of Philly's offense throughout... 73 total points including just 29 from the starting 5 says it all... Lebron did it all (as usual) with 29/7/6 on 10 of 19 shooting, and that was more than enough to lead Miami.... big-ups to Joel Anthony who was +15 in 27 minutes and played very well for the 2nd straight game... Needless to say, I don't think Philly comes back from this, but I still don't think they get swept..
  
• Chicago edges Indy... another single-digit win but a win nonetheless... Rose led the way with 36/8/6 for Chicago, and Boozer had a big game with 17 points and 16 boards... The real key was on the glass where Chicago won 57-33 to overcome their pretty brutal field goal shooting (38%) and still post 96 points... Indy was balanced, but Psycho T couldn't replicate game 1 (2 of 12 shooting), and they didn't really have a 2nd option to go with Granger (19 points)... Taking care of business for Chicago...
• Rick Adelman out as Houston Rockets coach... kind of ambiguous as to how this went down, but nonetheless, Adelman is gone... he had a pretty decent run in 4 years with Houston when you factor in that his best player (Yao) and 2nd best player (McGrady) were both constantly injured throughout his tenure... the guy can coach...

Baseball...

• Tim Lincecum was electric last night... taking a no-hitter into the 7th and fanning 10 to dispose of Colorado... in case you were unaware, the guy is a beast...
• The Braves drop a series opener... well, that's new at least... Tim Hudson continued to struggle in the early innings (all 13 of his ER this year have been in the 1st 3 frames) giving up 4 ER, and Ted Lilly settled in quickly to beat up on Atlanta... Nice to see Uggla with 2 hits and McLouth with 2 doubles (out of the 8 hole finally), but the offense still is underachieving...
• Pitching Line of the Day - Carlos Zambrano - 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 10 Ks... he got a no-decision because Chicago didn't scratch until the 10th, but this was old-school big Z...
• Batting Line of the Day - Jed Lowrie - The would-be starting shortstop for Boston went 4-5 with a HR, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored... he's better than Marco Scutaro...

What to watch for on Tuesday...

• Knicks @ Celtics - Game 2 - TNT 7:00 - Would be big for NY's chances to steal this one... can't see them hanging around too long if they go down 0-2...
• Hawks @ Magic - Game 2 - NBA-TV 7:30 - Absolute must-win for Orlando... which means Atlanta probably won't show up... it would be a typical Hawks response to be content with the road split...
• Blazers @ Mavs - Game 2 - TNT 9:30 - The consensus upset pick won't look good if they drop this one...
• Braves @ Dodgers - SportSouth 10:10 - Beachy vs. Kuroda - Pitching advantage to LA...
  

Enjoy...

4/18: NBA Game 1 Wraps, etc.

Greetings all... Took the weekend off due to some wedding festivities (congrats to Josh and Melissa) but we're back in full effect... without further ado...

Sunday's action first...

• Chris Paul lights up LA... 33 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds later, the Hornets get an upset 109-100 win in Staples... in addition to CP3's masterful play, NO got a huge boost from Jarrett Jack (15/5/4 off the bench), and a random influx from Aaron Gray (20 minutes, 12 points)... the Lakers got only 8 points from Pau Gasol, and while Kobe had an efficient 34 points, he was really the only guy who had an above-average game... I'm not at all surprised by the Chris Paul explosion because, well, I'm an irrational fan of his, but he did re-awaken a bunch of people yesterday... I wouldn't worry yet as a Lakers fan though...
  
• Memphis 101, San Antonio 98... the Grizz reminded us of one thing yesterday... San Antonio isn't the same team without Manu... Obviously, that's not really news, but Parker and Hill combined to shoot 6 of 23, and it wasn't enough to off-set big time games from Gasol and Z-Bo... what a day for Shane Battier, who hit the game-winner with 23 seconds left, and also became a father on the same day... big-ups to one of my favorite players... I still like SA in the series, but if Manu doesn't emerge, they are certainly in trouble...
• Jesus Shuttlesworth... that's all I got... Ray Allen hit a go-ahead triple with 12 seconds left to knock off NY last night... finishing with 24 points to lead Boston... Amare got his for NY (28 and 11), but Melo was held to just 5 of 18 shooting, and Billups wasn't much better going 3 for 11... Good sign for NY though, that they were in this thing, on the road, with those 2 shooting nights from their perimeter guys...
• Kevin Durant is that dude... 41 points, 9 boards to lead OKC to a win over Denver... Westbrook added 31/7/6 as well, and it was really a 2-man show for OKC with the exception of a fantastic 12 minutes from Eric Maynor off the bench... Denver shot 51% and had 23 assists, and managed to lose (difficult to do), but this was pretty much the example of why you want stars in the NBA playoffs...

Briefly to Saturday's games...

• The Hawks... win?... 103-93 over Orlando on Saturday despite a career-high 46 from Dwight... he had 31 in the first half, and was utterly dominant throughout, but other than the Jameer Nelson explosion late, the rest of Orlando's offense was putrid, and if the Magic supporting cast plays like it did on Saturday, Dwight could AVERAGE 40 and Orlando wouldn't win this series... Atlanta got the best Jamal Crawford game in a while (7 of 14, 23 points), and good games from Joe and Hinrich as well to lead the way... now if we can just get Jamal to play a lick of defense...
• Derrick Rose... 39 points to lead Chicago to a come-from-behind win over Indy... a lot of storylines here, but this far after the fact, the lingering story is the foul line disparity... Rose took 21 himself, and Chicago took 32 to Indy's 17... I think this was the one Indy had to steal to really threaten Chicago, but they fell short... Psycho T...
• Dallas and Miami get wins... Kind of ho-hum in both circumstances here... Miami controlled the game throughout, but Philly made a late run to make things interesting... too much Big 3... and for Portland/Dallas, Jason Kidd hit 6 threes to lead the way for Dallas... the Blazers will need more than 5-20 shooting combined from Wallace and Roy...

Elsewhere...

• The Braves get 2 of 3 from the Mets... this was an ideal sweep situation against a pretty awful Mets team, but there wasn't enough offense generated on Sunday... Now they head to the West Coast, and .500 ball on this trip wouldn't be the worst thing in the world... very, very encouraging signs from Jair Jurrjens on Saturday though, could be huge...
• Adrian Gonzalez finally signs the extension with the Red Sox... yawn...
• I'm trying to decide what's more impressive... the Indians being 11-4 or the Royals being 10-5... but either way, both of these teams are playing way ahead of pace... big-ups to them on their early season success...

What to watch for...

• Sixers @ Heat - Game 2 - TNT 7:00 - No one expects Philly to compete in the series, so it'd be a mild surprise if they won this one in Miami, but Wade missed practice with a migraine and may be limited... something to watch...
• Pacers @ Bulls - Game 2 - TNT 9:30 - Gotta love when the 2 least compelling series of the entire first round share the same night...
  
• Braves @ Dodgers - Hudson vs. Lilly - SportSouth 10:10 - Very, very good pitching matchup here... Lilly has struggled a bit out of the gate, and let's hope that continues...
• Brewers @ Phillies - Marcum vs. Blanton - ESPN 7:00 - Think ESPN is happy they get Joe Blanton tonight?...

Enjoy...

2011 NBA Playoff Preview - Round 1

Greetings all... obviously a TON to get to regarding the NBA Playoffs... in this space, we're going to hit the 1st round series' pretty hard, and give you predictions for the entirety of the playoffs... Big-ups to my confidant Ryan for his help on breaking down 4 of the 8 series'....

EAST

• Bulls/Pacers (Brad) - Ah, a good old 1 vs. 8 matchup... this is one in the truest sense in that I haven't seen a single person give Indy a shot here... and I concur... Derrick Rose is the leading MVP candidate and he leads a much more talented/balanced Chicago roster... I think Darren Collison will do a decent job defensively on D-Rose, but his offense will likely suffer because of it, and I don't think Indy can score enough points to make this a real series against the swarming Chicago defense... If there was an x-factor for Indy, it'd have to be Roy Hibbert, but he's been awful lately, and I don't see him going off on Noah... Indy's going to steal one because Chicago hasn't been in this spot before, but too much Chicago.... Bulls over Pacers in 5 (Ryan: Bulls in 6)
• Heat/76ers (Ryan) - This is it..the time of year in which we will rate how well "The Decision" has been..as a sidebar of that whole thing..you know who has some interesting length and could put up a fight?...Philly..they have alot of wing defenders to throw around at Wade and Lebron...I don't think that will matter because of how well Miami defends..but I could see some really low scoring games here.An interesting matchup for me would be Elton Brand vs Chris Bosh.Brand has a bit of a resurgence this year putting up 15pts and 8.4rebs..its not bad.Another thing to look for is if Jrue Holiday can/will take advantage of whoever is playing point guard..I dont think he can but make things interesting for once eh?... Heat over 76ers in 5 (Brad: Heat in 6)
• Hawks/Magic (Brad) - The most competitive of the East series' in my opinion... Atlanta leads the season series 3-1 (for whatever that is worth), but memories of the complete meltdown in last year's playoffs remain... Dwight Howard has his worst stats of the year against Atlanta, and a lot of that has been attributed to the play of Jason Collins... Collins was brought in for one reason and one reason only, and it was to help in this series... I honestly think Dwight is my MVP of the league this year, and with the relative pu pu platter around him, it's impressive that they're the 4 seed, but he has to be better than he's been against ATL this year, or Orlando isn't winning... The Magic supporting cast is kind of a mess... Arenas is a shell, I've never been a Jameer Nelson guy, and while I like Ryan Anderson, the forward rotation of him, Turkoglu, etc. doesn't exactly scare anyone... On the Hawks side, it comes down to whether you trust Joe Johnson to show up... he's averaged just 16 ppg in the 2nd half of the year, and he'll need to be star-caliber for the Hawks to win this series... Gun to my head, I say the Hawks compete more than they have in the last 2 months, but can't get a road win... Orlando over Atlanta in 7 (Ryan: Magic in 7)
• Celtics/Knicks (Ryan) - If there was a real panic button for the Celtics...I think everyone would have pushed it by now.Everyone points to the Kendrick Perkins trade as the bottoming out of the emotional level of Boston..and while I disagree with that notion(something that isn't important right now) the playoffs are here and its time to move on...and what better way to get your mojo back than playing the New York Knicks?...Granted..NY can give them a real scare here..Carmelo is a one man wrecking crew and Amare is a legit beast...but they don't stop anyone...they can't stop anyone(Insert P.Diddy reference for NY..see what I did there!) but yeah..I fully expect it to be competitive..but I think Rondo has a field day again Billups and gets the offense going...Shaq won't even matter that much this series in my opinion... Celtics over Knicks in 6 (Brad: Celtics in 5)

WEST

• Spurs/Grizzlies (Brad) - I'm seeing a lot of Memphis love and I'm not sure I get it... granted, this team has been better than perceived throughout the year, but they're playing without Rudy Gay, and I'm not sure how anyone can pick them against San Antonio... the question mark for San Antonio is Ginobili's elbow, and while he may be limited early in the series, I'm actually confident they can win it without him (and for the record, I think he plays and plays well)... If there was one chink in the Spurs armor this year, it was actually defensively, but I'm not sure Memphis is the type of offense that will wear them down in a playoff series... Duncan gets a minute hike (and a production increase as a result), and San Antonio cruises... Spurs in 5 (Ryan: Spurs in 4)

• Blazers/Mavericks (Ryan) - Does anybody feel like Dallas has a chance here?..anyone?...anyone?..history hasn't been kind to them over the last few years..being a #1 seed and losing to an 8 seed..losing in the finals after up 2-0 and last year being a higher seed and getting bounced in the 1st rd to the Spurs.Is this the year where they kinda shake that off and make a bit of a run?...um..maybe not this year..Portland is the super trendy pick because of their length,defense and sudden star LaMarcus Aldridge. Adding Gerald Wallace didn't do anything to help that core of attributes and he should(along with others) make Dirk work for everything he gets. I'm always at a loss for Dallas because outside of Dirk and Terry..who is getting buckets for them?...Peja?...Marion?...Chandler?..Kidd?...someone else has to step up..anyone has to step up... Blazers over Mavs in 6 (Brad: Blazers in 6)
• Nuggets/Thunder (Brad) - I think it was pretty obvious I was taking this one... lol... at any rate, this may be the toughest series to call IMO... Denver has been a completely different team since the Melo trade, but I'm not sure their newfound strengths match up with OKC... the Thunder front-line is a different animal with Perkins, and they really match up well defensively with a Perkins/Ibaka frontline... add in that they have the best 2 players in the series in Durant and Westbrook, and that's a bad recipe for Denver... I just don't think they can match up late-game without a legit go-to-guy and OKC's athletes match up with them well on the perimeter... Thunder in 5 (Ryan: Zombies in 6)
• Lakers/Hornets (Ryan) - Here's the title defense..it starts here.LA had no "resting of the starters" to get where they are now..but thats okay.The Hornets aren't exactly anyone's pick to make a run here mainly because David West is out with a knee injury,which sucks.But you must play on and Chris Paul is the best chance to do anything again the power of LA.He has the easiest matchup(vs Fisher/Blake) and he has to be aggressive in order to make Landry,Ariza and Okafor get involved and play up to the competition at hand.I don't think that they can overtake LA but give the fatigue to get here and the lapses LA has had against worse comp..just look out.... Lakers in 5 (Brad: Lakers in 5)

Well there you have it... I need to get my "bigger" picks on record too, because even though I'll be previewing this round-by-round, everyone always wants the picks... here we go...

• East - Bulls over Magic in 5, Celtics over Heat in 6...... Celtics over Bulls in 6
• West - Spurs over Thunder in 7, Lakers over Blazers in 7..... Spurs over Lakers in 7

Spurs over Celtics in 7.... and no, I have absolutely no confidence in that pick... it's the NBA Playoffs... Sit back and enjoy it...

A Little Q & A Session...

Greetings everyone... Yes, we're still prepping for the NBA playoff preview... that'll be out Saturday morning... but in the meantime, I was asked a few questions this week, and wanted to get to them... questions courtesy of my cohort Ryan...

• What has happened to Joe Johnson in the 2nd half of the season? Well, this is an interesting one... first, some stats... Joe averaged 26 points, 5 assists, and 5 boards in 13 games in January... that is superstar-type output and pretty much what the Hawks need him to do... then, the 2nd half happened... for the final 3 months, he never averaged over 17 points a game in any month, and he's averaged under 16 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists since the All-Star break... I think it's a combination of things... there's a slight (I repeat, slight) regression in talents I believe due to age (he's 31 now with a lot of miles)... in addition, there's been a concerted effort to get the ball out of Joe's hands (iso-Joe), and while that's a season long effort, Joe's usage rate is down even further in the 2nd half... Basically, I think his lack of production seems to dwell on being uninspired, and because he's the face of this team, it's been similar throughout the roster...
  
• Who is the most improved player in the NBA this year? This is a very tough one... This is actually the toughest award to evaluate for me because the criteria is ridiculously open-ended... There are certain types of guys who get involved in this award... Guys who "breakout" from good to great, and guys who go from obscurity to become contributors... there are varying things on this, but everyone usually falls into one of these categories... I'm picking LaMarcus Aldridge... Hear me out... he's averaged a career-high 22 ppg, 9 rebounds per, and for about a 2-month period, absolutely CARRIED Portland on his back in the absence of Roy... I feel like he's one of two guys (with Kevin Love) who made the leap from good to great this year, but Love still has weaknesses (defense and the fact that is team is wretched, even if that's not his fault) and slightly inflated stats... Aldridge is the single most improved guy in my eyes because he passes the eye test... he FEELS like a superstar now in a way that he's never felt, and I can see him being a #1 on a good team (which he already is)... Other candidates: Kevin Love, DeMar DeRozan, Dorell Wright, Deandre Jordan, Serge Ibaka
• What do we make of Denver? This is a great question... since the Carmelo Anthony trade, Denver is 18-7... 18-7!... It's now a team with ridiculous depth (we'll come back to this), but no superstar, and they are extremely entertaining to watch... Here's a question... Where do they go when they need a basket? I'm really not sure... Nene is the best player on the team IMO but he's a big... I don't think of Felton or Lawson as "closers"... JR Smith is insane... Chandler and Gallinari aren't exactly "creators"... Is it really Arron Afflalo? He's been their best crunch-time scorer but I don't know... that's an issue... but here's the big problem... I believe the #1 culprit of their success (other than MELO IS GONE! YES! WE GET TO SHOOT!) is their depth... but their 10-man rotation isn't going to do them any favors in the playoffs when there's no back-to-backs, and when teams are trotting out only their best 8... they draw a decent matchup for them in OKC, but I'm not sure they are really a threat to do any real damage...

Changing gears...

• What baseball teams are you impressed with in this short timeframe? In quick form... Texas and Colorado are probably the most impressive... 9-3 and 10-2 respectively, they are both hitting the ball all over the yard, and I think it continues... Texas caught an injury with Hamilton, but they have crazy lineup depth, and their pitching (Ogando especially) has been better than most expected... Lineups carry you over 162, and they're built to win that division... for Colorado, it's not unexpected, but Tulo is absolutely mashing, they have underrated pitching (I love Chacin, and even De la Rosa), and they aren't going away... Also, Cleveland and KC at 8-4 each is pretty impressive... I don't really buy it in either case, but it's a good look... Do I really have to say that Philly is impressive?....
• What are you more impressed with, Derek Lowe's pitching start or Chipper Jones' health? This one had me laughing... the answer is Lowe... yes, Chipper has looked more spry than I anticipated so far this year, but at the same time, it's a 13-game sample, and he's one of those guys where every time he slides, you're praying for him to get up... so I can't really judge the health yet... Lowe has been electric so far... 1.47 and 1.o7 WHIP so far... he's burying guys down in the zone, and it seems like the movement is fully back on his pitches (as evidenced by 15 K's in 18 innings)... I really like what I've seen from Lowe since August of last year...
• What is your overall assessment of the Braves so far? It's obviously early so I'm not going into a long-scale rambling here... but in short, I'm not worried... the bats have gotten off to a slow start... there are really only 2 guys (maybe 3 if you count Heyward) that have hit to their potential so far... McCann is raking, and Chipper's .800+ OPS is about all you can ask for... but Uggla is still asleep (.552 OPS), Freeman started quite slow, and the Gonzalez/McLouth pu pu platter is, well, a pu pu platter... that said, I'm still excited about the lineup when Uggla starts hitting... I absolutely disdain the best hitter in the lineup (Jason Heyward) losing ABs by hitting in the 6 hole... I do understand the unwillingness to hit Chipper lead-off because it would just SEEM crazy, but you already have a lead-off hitter who 1) isn't fast, and 2) NEVER walks... whatever... but I can't endorse McLouth in the 2-hole and getting more ABs than Heyward... on the pitching side, My only real concerns going forward are with the veteran relievers... Linebrink and Sherrill have been mini-disasters so far... I anticipated Fredi actually realizing that Sherrill can't pitch to right-handers (ever) and he doesn't seem to grasp that yet, but the real key is Linebrink... they need him to be semi-effective, and right now, he has a 1.59 WHIP... that won't get it done... As far as Beachy and Minor are concerned, I'm not worried... Minor got roughed up in his one start, but he won't surface again unless there's an injury, and Jurrjens takes the hill Saturday...
  

Alright then... there's that.. if there's anything you want/need addressed, feel free to hit up the comments page... stay tuned...

4/15: NFL Mediation, Baseball, etc.

Greetings everyone... Gonna be short today with no NBA action last night, and I'm prepping for a couple of big things including an NBA Playoff Preview (to appear on Saturday morning).... Just a heads-up, let's get to it...

• The NFL and the players union are talking again... by force... the 2 sides began discussions again for the first time since the lock-out became "official" in March, thanks to a court ruling that is forcing them to talk... basically, any discussion is "good" discussion for those of us who eagerly await football, but nothing has happened yet...
• Speaking of CBA talk, David Stern is cracking the whip... just 2 days after Kobe Bryant got docked $100k for the homophobic slur on the court, Phil Jackson AND the Lakers organization were both fined $75K for comments regarding the pending labor negotiations... the comments were honestly tame, but Stern is sending the message that NO ONE can say anything about this...
  
• NBA early entries: Josh Selby and Kawhi Leonard are in the draft as of Thursday... Selby is the highly-touted Kansas freshman that had a hugely underwhelming Freshman year and is a fringe prospect, and Leonard was the big-time swingman for SDSU this year, who is capitalizing on how high his stock is... I'm a fan of him...

Baseball...

• Joe Mauer goes on the DL... with something called "leg weakness"... this is sure to spark (and already has as of this morning) discussions on both his contract, and how long he can remain a catcher... I've honestly never heard of anything like this...
• The Braves lose yet another series... I don't have the energy to rant on the lack of attendance all week (appalling), but I'm not worried about the squad... the bats are awakening a bit, and after the first inning, the pitching was quite good last night... and my man Freddie Freeman is starting to come alive...
  
• Pitching Line of the Day - Cliff Lee - CG, 3 Hits, 12 Ks, 0 ER... Dominant stuff from Lee, silencing the crazy Phillies fans who thought he may be slipping after getting hammered by Atlanta last week...
• Batting Line of the Day - Nick Markakis - Not a great day for bats... but 3 for 5, HR, 3 RBI, and 2 runs...
  

What to watch for on Friday...

• Mets @ Braves - Carrasco vs. Lowe - 7:30 Fox Sports South - Lowe has been outstanding this year despite his 1-2 record, and this is a game Atlanta should win...

Somehow, this the only game I see on the TV schedule... depressing...

Enjoy... Stay tuned for a busy couple of days in this space...

4/13: Josh Hamilton, NBA Seeding, etc.

Greetings all... lots to get to this morning...

• Josh Hamilton breaks his arm... the scorching hot Texas Rangers lost their MVP yesterday for 6-8 weeks yesterday on an aggressive head-first slide in the 1st inning against Detroit... This would be a crippling injury for most lineups, but with the depth of that lineup, they should be fine for this length of time... never like to see the big guns go down though...
• NBA Check - Andrew Bynum hyperextends his knee... you knew it was coming... the oft-injured Lakers center went down in a heap last night against the Spurs, and no diagnosis is available yet... but they certainly need him to be the favorite they're considered to be now... The seeding is set in the East with Chicago taking on Indy, Miami taking on Philly, Boston playing NY, and Orlando playing the Hawks... but the West is still murky... Portland clinched the 6 spot last night, and SA & Denver are locked in as well, but it'll come to the end for some of these... On the court, Chicago beat NY 103-90 on the road behind 22 boards from Carlos Boozer and will fight with SA for the overall #1 seed on the final day...
  

Baseball...

• The Braves dominated Florida 5-0 last night behind 7 big-time innings from Hanson and a power surge from Heyward and McCann who both homered... but that isn't the story... The game drew 13,865 fans... on a sunny, cool day, on the FOURTH home game of the season... that is the Turner Field record for lowest attendance... inexcusable... I can't even summon a rant here...
• Pitching Line of the Day - Dan Haren - CG, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K's... Haren was dominant from the jump in shutting down the previously hot Indians... and you can't argue with 1-hitters....
• Batting Line of the Day - Alexei Ramirez - 2 for 4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 runs... The White Sox shortstop hit the 2nd of his homers in walk-off fashion in the 10th to give CWS the win... big time...

What to watch for on Wednesday...

• Marlins @ Braves - Johnson vs. Hudson - Fox Sports South 7:10 - Ace vs. Ace... doesn't get much better than that...
• Hornets @ Mavs - ESPN 8:00 - Both teams playing for seeding on the final day...
• Phillies @ Nationals - Halladay vs. Lannan - ESPN2 7:00 - the Roy Halladay show...
  
• Hawks @ Bobcats - SportSouth 8:00 - If you like pain... watch this...
• Grizz @ Clippers - ESPN 10:30 - ESPN is only still showing this game because Blake's involved...

Enjoy...

4/11: Masters Wrap, etc.

Greetings all... went off the grid for the weekend... but I'm alive and kicking... let's go...

The Masters concluded in epic fashion with 3 major storylines...

1. Charl Schwartzel birdied the final 4 holes to win the tournament at 14-under... Your question (and mine) is... who!?!?... When he ascended the leaderboard on Sunday, I was dumbfounded, but he kept making putts down the stretch, and had 2 unbelievable chip-ins in his first 3 holes to get the ball rolling... Gotta lead with the guy who actually WON the tournament... big-ups...
2. Rory McIlroy collapses... gotta feel bad for the kid... he shoots an 80 with a 4-shot starting lead and goes 6-over in a 3 hole stretch following his epic triple-bogey on 10... there was a little unluckiness involved (like his tee-shot on 10 careening backwards off a tree), but it was clearly between the ears... he'll be back...
3. And of course... Tiger... he made a big-time charge going 4-under in a 3-hole stretch on the front nine, but simply missed too many putts on the back nine highlighted by 5-foot (or closer) misses on 12 and 15 for par and eagle respectively... was riveting to see him charge, but couldn't finish it again... Way too soon for anything about him "never being the same"... I don't get that rationale... anyway...

Elsewhere...

• NBA Check - Chicago got 39 from Derrick Rose, and they needed every point in squeaking out a 102-99 win in Orlando... the Magic were pretty impressive playing without Dwight (technical foul suspension), and got 28 and 10 from Ryan Anderson, but fell just short... Miami throttles Boston... Sign of things to come?... I still don't think so, but Miami was pretty impressive yesterday... Boston is really scuffling right now, but if there was ever a different "playoff" team, it's them... The Grizz pull even with NO for the 7 spot in the West... for what its worth... and finally, OKC makes a statement in LA... 120-106 led by 31 from Durant, and LA has now inexplicably lost 5 in a row... I'm not worried b/c that's a team with a clear on/off switch, but I do feel like they weren't mailing it in yesterday... OKC looked very, very good, and Perk gives them a dimension defensively with he and Ibaka that matches up very well with LA up front...
• There is reportedly some "forced" mediation between the NFL and the players on the docket... I'm trying not to bombard you with this stuff, because, frankly, it's not interesting to me... but just an update... there could be some discussion upcoming...
• UNLV hires former player Dave Rice to replace Lon Kruger... the funniest thing? Rice was formerly the associate head coach at BYU... and I can't think of two more different programs than BYU and UNLV... laughter...

Baseball....

• The Braves can't seem to hit... .289 on-base percentage for each of the top 2 hitters (abysmal), Dan Uggla with a .158/.200/.316 in the middle of the lineup, and Freddie Freeman hitting .188 doesn't exactly inspire confidence... but hey... it's 10 games... take a breath... everyone... now... Cole Hamels was dominant and he's fully capable of doing it again, nothing to see here... in fact, I'm WILDLY encouraged by what I've seen from Derek Lowe... and he's 1-2...
  
• Boston takes 2 of 3 from the Yankees... 2-7!... anyway, if you're really that worried about the Red Sox, I don't see why...
• Pitching Line of the Day - Some dominant performances, so I'm splitting it between Josh Beckett (8 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 10 Ks), Gavin Floyd (8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 8 Ks), and Jered Weaver (7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 15 K's).... Clearly, in my opinion, Beckett is the most note-worthy as he looked like his previously dominant self... and well, they need him...
• Batting Line of the Day - Stephen Drew - 4 for 4 , 3 RBI, 2 runs, BB.... Big boost for a hapless Arizona roster to get him back... he's a high-end Shortstop when he's going...

What to watch for on Monday....

• Heat @ Hawks - 7:00 SportSouth - the Hawks have lost 4 straight, and get Miami on the 2nd night of a back-to-back... at home... Atlanta has clearly (and annoyingly) packed it in on the regular season, but this is one they need to get...
• Magic @ Sixers - 7:00 NBA-TV - Philly should be on TV more...
• Thunder @ Kings - 10:00 NBA-TV - Sacto should not...
• Rays @ Red Sox - Hellickson vs. Dice-K - 7:00 ESPN - The battle of the doldrums...
  

Enjoy...

4/8: Bulls, The Masters, George Karl, etc.

Greetings all...

• The Masters are underway... Rory McIlroy became the youngest player ever to lead after the 1st round, and his co-leader Alvaro Quiros also posted a 65 (7-under) to go into the next 18 up by 2... Tiger shot a very respectable 71 (1-under) and usually just needs to be in contention after 18, not leading... A long way to go here... but it's firing up...
• NBA Check - The Bulls pounded Boston 97-81 to take a 4-game lead with 4 to play... Rose had 30 points and 8 assists while the always underrated Luol Deng added 23 and 6... Boston shot just 38% for the night including 3-11 from Ray, 3-10 from Rondo, 3-9 from Garnett, and 1-8 from Big Baby... that won't get it done... and Portland takes down the undermanned Jazz on the road... 5 guys in double-digits for the Blazers led by 29 from Gerald Wallace... and Brandon Roy looked good (5 of 8 shooting) in 21 minutes...
• George Karl actually said... live... that he would prefer to play Dallas over OKC... what is the advantage of this decision? You tell me... Obviously, coaches have a preference of who they want to play because of matchups... I get that... but what advantage is gained by vocalizing it? Extra motivation for the opponent and no discernible gain for you...
• Michigan is in NCAA Hockey finals... I mention that because I bleed Maize... and that is literally the only reason

Baseball...

• Atlanta falls to 3-4... a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee... couldn't really solve Marcum (who allowed only 2 ER) and never overcame the early struggles of Hanson... on the bright side, after the 2nd inning, Hanson settled down and looked good, but he threw so many pitches early that he only went 5.1 IP, and the offense didn't pick him up... a 3-4 road start isn't the worst thing in the world... on to the home opener...
• Boston is 0-6... and Tampa is 0-6... well, I would've lost a bet on this one... neither team is hitting... Tampa has 8 runs in 6 games.... EIGHT!... and Boston has only 16 on their end... I still don't think it's anything damning about Boston because if you look at that lineup, they're going to score... but Tampa has a lot of unproven pieces and it could be cause for some early concern... nothing drastic...
• Pitching Line of the Day - Edwin Jackson (CWS) - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 13 Ks... He beat up on the Rays in dominant fashion... never been a fan, but he has games like this...
• Batting Line of the Day - Wilson Valdez (PHI) - 4 for 4, 3 RBI, 3 runs... I put him here chiefly because he will never set foot in this space again... he's probably the worst hitter of any "regular" even in the National League...
  

What to watch for...

• The Masters 2nd Round - 3:00 ESPN - I do wish this was on all day...
• Phillies @ Braves - Lee vs. Hudson - 7:35 Peachtree TV - It doesn't get much better than that... 2 stud pitchers in the home opener in front of a sold-out house...
  
• Hawks @ Pacers - 7:00 SportSouth - Hawks need 1 win to clinch the 5-spot... other than that... playing out the string...
• Suns @ Hornets - 8:00 NBA-TV - Paul vs. Nash is enough....

Enjoy...

4/7: The Masters, Kyrie Irving, etc.

Greetings all...

• The Masters kicks off today... It's the biggest golf tournament in the world... Tiger is in the field... the piano is playing... all of it... It's a great event... Do I think Tiger wins it? Eh... I'm on the fence... but if you're giving me one guy and one guy only to pick? Gotta be TW...
  
• NBA Check - Indiana clinches their first playoff appearance since 2006... putting up 136 points on the hapless Wizards... Chris Paul (28 points, 10 dimes) and the Hornets all but eliminated Houston last night with a 101-93 victory at home... good-bye Rockets... Miami played without Dwyane Wade and lost to Milwaukee at home to fall 1/2 game behind Boston for the 2 seed in the East... Oklahoma City wins the division title after a 112-108 victory over LAC... Blake Griffin had 35 and 11 in the loss, but KD managed 29 points, and Perk had 17 boards for OKC... Denver gets yet another road win... this time against undermanned Dallas... 5 guys in double-figures led by JR Smiff (yes, Smiff) with 23... San Antonio clinches the 1 seed with a 32-point blowout over Sacto... but the highlight of the night was a Tyreke Evans facial on Gary Neal.. cover your eyes... and LA drops one in Oakland against GS and cede control of the West...
  
• Kyrie Irving will... declare for the draft... there was a rumbling or two that he was considering staying, but the #1 guy on Chad Ford's big board is headed to the league and with good reason... he's almost assuredly a top-3 pick...
• South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia is suspended... again!... I need someone to justify Spurrier not kicking him off the team by now... 5 suspensions in 3 years?... I guess he's the Quarterback...

Baseball...

• Boston is 0-5... I'm STILL not panicking on the Sox... but 0-5 is a little alarming... Dice-K wasn't horrible, but the long relief (I'm looking at you Dennys Reyes) was abysmal and Cleveland got them again...
  
• Texas is 6-0... the opposite side of the spectrum to Boston... the Rangers are rolling right now... they beat Felix last night (well, it is the Mariners, but still), and they may never lose... 162-0, right? (Shout-out to the TMS)...
• Adam Dunn had a emergency appendectomy on Wednesday morning... and he may play this weekend?... That seems... quick...
• Pitching Line of the day - Tim Lincecum - 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 13 Ks - The freak was dominant in their 8-4 win over San Diego...
• Batting Line of the Day - Ryan Howard - 4 for 4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 Runs, BB - This is a rarity... he must have faced all righties (insert random Phillies joke)...

What to watch for on Thursday...

• The Masters - 3:00 ESPN - Guys are on the course all day (can watch at masters.com), but TV starts at 3:00.... Tiger tees off at 10:41... just saying...
• Celtics @ Bulls - 8:00 TNT - Best two teams in the East... that's enough
• Blazers @ Jazz - 10:30 TNT
• Braves @ Brewers - Hanson vs. Marcum - 1:40 SportSouth - Great pitching matchup here... Braves trying to get a split
  

That'll do it... I can hear the piano....

4/6: Weird NBA losses, Women's Champs, etc.

Greetings all...

• Out of the box with the NBA check.... San Antonio knocks off the Hawks 97-90... Parker/Manu/Duncan shot a combined 22-36 and the Spurs dominated the glass 39-25... oh yeah, and Joe Johnson with another ho-hum, uninspiring 9 of 23... No one cares about Nets/T-Wolves, but Deron Williams had 21 assists last night... worth a mention... Orlando clinches the 4-spot with a horrendously ugly 78-72 win over Milwaukee... 18 and 17 for Dwight... Houston gave one up at home to Sacto 104-101... putting them on life support for the playoffs... OKC beat Denver on the road... not a small feat... led by 32 from Durant... and Utah beats LA... in LA?!... Gordon Heyward was the catalyst with a career-high 22 points on 9-14 shooting including a "what the!?" left-handed dunk... 23 boards from Bynum in the loss...
• Texas A&M wins the women's basketball title... big-ups to them... I won't act like I watched it... but they held the touted ND guard Skyler Diggins to 7 of 19 shooting... that'll do it...
• The prosecution rests in the Barry Bonds case.... again, I ask... is there anyone out there following this closely?...
• Mark Gottfried hired at NC State... the former Alabama coach takes over for Sidney Lowe, and I like this hire... he had a good record at Bama, and is used to being overlooked (at his own school at Bama, and now in his own state vs. Duke/UNC)...

Baseball...

• The Braves tumbled against Milwaukee yesterday 1-0... Yovani Gallardo was masterful (more on him later), but the bats just didn't awaken... props to Derek Lowe for (again) pitching very well, but it's tough to win with no run support... encouraged more and more by the bullpen too...
• Texas and Cincy are both undefeated... 5-0 for the Rangers after Alexi Ogando throws 6 scoreless innings in his first career start... and well, Cincy played the hapless Astros...
• Boston falls to 0-4... they got a little better pitching from Beckett than they got against Texas, but the lineup is hitting just .186 on the year... too early to panic, but that's what Boston fans do...
• Pitching Line of the day - Yovani Gallardo - CG, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 Ks..... odd to see a CG 2-hitter with only 2 K's, but nobody could make great contact against him, and he had it going from the jump.. dominant...
• Batting Line of the Day - Yunel Escobar - 3 for 5, HR, 2 RBI, 3 Runs... nice line... but he sits here because the bomb was of the walk-off variety...

What to watch for on Wednesday...

• Braves @ Brewers - Minor vs. TBD - 8:05 SportSouth - Well, at least the pitching matchup will be interesting... looking forward to seeing Minor
  
• Bucks @ Heat - ESPN 8:00 - You know ESPN loves having that hapless/unwatchable Milwaukee team on TV tonight...
  
• Lakers @ Warriors - ESPN 10:30 - Again, LA is on EVERY night....
• Diamondbacks @ Cubs - Galarraga vs. Dempster - 2:20 WGN - Day baseball at Wrigley...
• Twins @ Yankees - Pavano vs. Garcia - 7:05 ESPN2 - Freddy Garcia! Carl Pavano!

Enjoy...

4/5: UConn = Champs

Greetings all... let's kick if off with the lead story...

• "Unparalleled ineptitude"... Those were the words used by Clark Kellogg to describe Butler's offensive output in the National Title Game last night, and they were pretty much spot-on... The Bulldogs shot 18.8% from the field on the night (lowest ever in a title game), including a ridiculous/hilarious 3 for 31 from TWO-point distance... but let's give credit to the champs... UConn made enough plays to win the game, and at least had SOMETHING to do with Butler's horrendous shooting... For me, the key was Jeremy Lamb... the freshman from Atlanta had 12 points and 7 boards on offense, and utterly draped himself over Shelvin Mack on the other end... he was their X-factor all tourney long... Kemba didn't really play well, shooting 5 of 19 for just 16 points, but it can't be overlooked how much he did in making this unprecedented 11-game run through the Big East and NCAA... for Butler, they just couldn't survive with Mack being bottled up (4-15), and with how bad Matt Howard was... 1 of 13 from the field for their best player, and it almost seemed worse than that... anyway, a really enjoyable tournament punctuated by a game that wasn't necessarily poorly played (just 17 total turnovers), but a game with horrendous shot making...

Elsewhere...

• Roger Goodell dropped a bit of a bomb yesterday that went under the radar... he expressed in no uncertain terms that the next CBA agreement "must include HGH testing"... not a huge deal on the surface, but I'm really interested to see if 1) they can get it included, and 2) how much it will affect players... because there will be suspensions...
• No games in the NBA on Monday... they choose yearly to avoid this night to not go head-to-head, and I think it's smart... no reason to lose your normal fan base (i.e. me) on a night where most eyes will be on the college product... national title games are just different...
• The Masters begin on Thursday... and yes, I can already hear the piano, and I can almost smell the azaleas....

Baseball...

• Two eighth inning solo homers give the Braves a series-opening win in Milwaukee... Martin Prado and Dan Uggla both bombed off former Brave Takashi Saito, and the pitching took over from there... Brandon Beachy was brilliant after a rough start, and pitched out of multiple jams throughout... and Craig Kimbrel was utterly dominant in the 9th, striking out the side in pretty strong fashion... 3-1 with 3 more to play in Milwaukee...
• Nelson Cruz has 4 home runs... in 4 games... only the 3rd guy to do it in MLB history... the first two? Mark McGwire in 1998 (the 70-HR season), and Willie Mays in 1971...
• Pitching Line of the Day - How bout Charlie Morton?!... The former Braves prospect is someone I've crapped on continuously in Pittsburgh for his 7+ ERA... so I have to give him credit now... 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 Ks in a win over Pittsburgh... well done....
• Batting Line of the Day - Neil Walker - an all-Pittsburgh feature today... anyway, Walker went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI (on a slow day for bats)... and I really just wanted to mention him, because he's highly underrated...

What to watch for...

• Women's CBB Title Game - Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M - ESPN 8:30 - Interested to see how this game does ratings-wise without UConn, Tennessee or Stanford in it...
  
• Spurs @ Hawks - 7:00 SportSouth - The West's #1 seed comes to town... interesting to see if Atlanta gets up for this one
• Braves @ Brewers - Lowe vs. Gallardo - 8:10 FSN South - Probably the best pitching matchup of the series... Milwaukee needs a win lol
  
• Jazz @ Lakers - 10:30 NBATV - Utah is really scuffling...
• Bobcats @ Cavs - 7:00 NBATV - Good luck with this one...

Enjoy..

4/4: Final Four, Baseball, UConn Women, etc.

Greetings... Let me go ahead and apologize for the lack of content over the weekend.... internet access was the culprit, but I'm still alive and kicking... let's get to the action...

• The UConn Women... lose!?... Obviously, this is the only story in WCBB that would lead this blog, and it benefits from a lack of "big" news except for the men's title game (coming later), but Maya Moore's 36 points wasn't enough to overcome Notre Dame, and the 3-peat won't happen... It's really impressive what they've done, but all credit to ND who seemed to have beaten up on them, shooting 52% and dominating the glass 32-24...
• Missouri has a new basketball coach... they've hired Miami's Frank Haith... kind of a precarious hire with how sketchy Haith's status at Miami has been... he hasn't recruited a whole lot of talent to the U, but they've been perimeter attack oriented, and that's at least similar to Mike Anderson...
• NBA Check - San Antonio ends their historic 6-game slide with a 114-97 win over Phoenix... George Hill actually led the way with 29... put an asterisk by the losing streak just b/c of injury, but they need wins to keep the 1 seed... The Lakers finally lost a game... 95-90 to Denver, at home, to fall short of 10 straight wins... Kobe finished with 28, but shot just 10-27, and Denver got 22 from Gallinari (who somehow shot only 5-11 from the line)... Shaq came back for Boston... and then immediately got hurt again? This time a calf injury... doesn't seem serious, but wow... the Knicks clinch a playoff spot with a win over Cleveland... first time in 7 years for NY... Toronto knocks off Orlando to end a 6-game slide... 24 for DeRozan, and 17 boards from my man Reggie Evans... Washington won (another!) road game... defies all logic... and of course, The Hawks go down in Houston 114-109... a 32-18 3rd quarter was their undoing... Joe Johnson had 25, but his counterpart Kevin Martin had 35, and all 5 Houston starters had double-digits...
  

Baseball...

• The Braves rout Washington 11-2... Hudson threw 7 dominant innings (allowing just 3 hits and 1 ER), and Brian McCann continues to rake going 3 for 5 with 4 RBI... 2 of 3 on the road against an opponent that seems to have your number is a nice start...
• Evan Longoria hits the 15-day DL... not the start he would've liked I'm sure... but those "strain in your side" things seem to linger for baseball guys...
• Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz have BOTH homered in the Rangers' first 3 games... for the first time in MLB history, teammates have done this, and that's pretty crazy...
• Pitching Line of the Day - Jaime Garcia - CG, 4 hits, 0 ER, 9 Ks, and a dominant shutout performance from the 2nd year guy...
• Batting Line of the Day - Ryan Hanigan - 4 for 4, 2 HR, 4 RBI... the young Reds catcher continues the torrid production from that position in that lineup... the kid can hit

What to watch for...

• College Hoops National Title Game - Butler vs. UConn - Tip-off @ 9:23 PM - Hmm... Butler suffocated the VCU offense on Saturday, and they've consistently been the best defensive team in the tournament... there is something to be said for that... also, they have Mack, Nored, and Vanzant to throw at Kemba, and those are all vets... the key to the game is Matt Howard... he's gotta go off here for Butler to have a realistic shot... on the UConn side, they've gotten stellar support production from Napier (on Saturday), Lamb, etc. and it can't just be the Kemba show... gun to my head, I'll take UConn, but I think Butler's style of play is something I really enjoy...
• Braves @ Brewers - Beachy vs. Narveson - SportSouth 2:10 - Another day game... get a chance to see Beachy, and he'll be key to the Braves success...
• Twins @ Yankees - Baker vs. Nova - ESPN 7:05 - Ivan Nova is probably the key to the entire Yankees season... that seems crazy, but it's true...

Enjoy..

4/2: Final 4...

Various technical difficulties... Mostly lack of internet access... Anyway, blogging from my phone to get my thoughts on the Final 4 games at least...

VCU vs. Butler - I love Butler here... They defend and that doesn't go away... VCU has hit 12 threes ok 3 different occasions in the tourney after not hitting 12 in a game ALL year... Has fluke written all over it, and when you factor in the lay-off and the "happy to be there" attitude against experienced Butler and I like them...

UConn vs. Kentucky - Kentucky has more talent... UConn has the best player... It's kind of a toss-up to me, but I've been going against UConn all tourney long and I'm not stopping! (lol)... Liggins slows Kemba enough to even things our, and Brandon Knight keeps making plays...

Until later...

4/1: Baseball Recaps!, NBA Double-header, etc.

Greetings all... Opening day first...

• The Braves are 1-0... Catering to my audience a bit with this one... shameless!... anyway, Atlanta got 5 and 2/3 scoreless innings from Derek Lowe, and the bullpen was electric in shutting down the Nats lineup... Venters went perfect in the 8th on just 7 pitches, and Kimbrel shut down the 9th with 2 K's.... Maybe an indication of the future? It seemed pretty clear by use of roles yesterday (i.e. Venters facing righties in the 8th, Kimbrel facing at least 1 lefty in the 9th) that Kimbrel is getting the first crack... Jason Heyward hit another opening AB home run... Chipper looked spry in turning a single into a double... and hugely, no errors... encouragement...


• NBA Check - Boston gets a road win in San Antonio... Rondo was masterful with 22 points, 14 assists, and 0 turnovers... even more impressive against SA... and KG put the Spurs away with repeated 17-footers down the stretch... nice to see San Antonio's trio all on the court together and Duncan looked good (20 and 13), but they shot just 43% and 28% from distance (8 of 29).... A fight was the headliner in the LA/Dallas game... which is an indication of how non-competitive the game was late... Jason Terry and Steve Blake had a skirmish, but Matt Barnes came off looking like the crazy person (shocking) shoving former Hawks HC Terry Stotts to the ground, and having a Stephen Jackson-ish look in his eye... on the court, LA had 5 guys with 13+ points led by 28 from Bean Bryant...


• An interesting story about Von Miller... a name you may not know, but the former Texas A&M star is a likely top-10 pick in the NFL Draft... he's also the only rookie to be a formal plaintiff in the players' lawsuit against the league... well, he's decided to go to the draft anyway... worth noting...


• Wichita State won the NIT... big-ups to the Shockers... I read a great question on twitter yesterday... who you got, Wichita State or the winner of Butler/VCU?.... Closer than you think, to be sure...

Let's see if I remember how to do this.... Baseball!...

• Ramon Hernandez hit a walk-off bomb for Cincinnati as John Axford imploded in the 9th for the Brewers.... 4 in the 9th including the 3-run HR by Hernandez and Milwaukee wins 7-6....


• Cameron Maybin hit a game-tying moonshot with 2 out in the 9th, and then drove in the game-winner in the 11th for the Padres... welcome to San Diego....


• Pitching Line of the Day - Clayton Kershaw - 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 9 Ks, and a dominant performance in a win for the Dodgers... even out-dueling Lincecum...


• Batting Line of the Day - the aforementioned Ramon Hernandez - 4 for 5, HR, 3 RBI and the only 4-hit day... from a platoon catcher...

What to watch for on Friday....

• Celtics @ Hawks - 8:00 ESPN - Let's see if this will be a better result than the last nationally televised home debacle... Boston is on the 2nd of a road back-to-back, which usually bodes well for the rested home team...


• Lakers @ Jazz - 10:30 ESPN - Man, the Lakers are on 3 times a week...


• Astros @ Phillies - 1:00 ESPN - Myers vs. Halladay - the vaunted Philly pitching staff opens with Halladay... best in the business...


• Pirates @ Cubs - 2:20 WGN - Correia vs. Dempster - Yes, Kevin Correia is starting on opening day...


• Red Sox @ Rangers - 4:00 ESPN - Lester vs. Wilson - I have Lester as my Cy Young winner... so...

That'll do it... Enjoy the day...