tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-197370732024-02-28T15:00:35.225-08:00SportsPopOpinion, analysis and unsolicited commentary on sports. New England style.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-13268062525898160262010-04-15T13:17:00.000-07:002010-04-15T13:17:27.526-07:002010 NBA Playoffs: The PreviewThe 2010 NBA season concluded last night with a bevy of games having impact on playoff seeding. The Jazz lost to the Suns which enabled the Nuggets to grab the fourth seed and home court against the Jazz in the first round and the Mavs won to lock up to the two seed. Over in the East the Heat held on to lock up the five seed and a date with the aging Celtics in the first round, while the Bulls won and locked up the eighth seed to set themselves up to play King James in the first round. <br />
The season was long and a lot of fun to watch. One of the most exciting teams to watch this year was Oklahoma City. Led by Kevin Durant the Thunder were in contention for the number 3 seed until late in the season only to finish eighth to set up a very exciting first round series against the Lakers. Durant became the youngest player to win a scoring title, averaging just over 30 PPG. Watching him and Kobe Bryant go at it in a playoff series will be fun to watch and something that should happen for many years to come. <br />
Finally, here is how I think the playoffs will play out and who will be crowned champion and Finals MVP come mid June. <br />
<br />
<b>West First Round:<br />
(1) L.A. Lakers vs. (8) Oklahoma City</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-1 Lakers. <br />
</i><br />
The Lakers struggled down the stretch losing 7 of their final 11 games and looking nothing like the top seed they are. Everyone assumes that the Lakers were just bored with the end of the regular season and they can turn it on once the playoffs start. Count me as one of the people that don’t see it so black and white for the Lakers. The Thunder, on the other hand, finished the season 8-5, one of those losses being the thrilling OT game against the Jazz, which they should have won. The Thunder are a very young team that has never been in this position before. They are led by the scoring champ Kevin Durant and a great young PG in Russell Westbrook. <br />
This series will be a lot closer than Laker fans will like to admit and the Lakers are going to have to exude a ton of energy to pull out a victory.<br />
<b>Lakers in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>(2) Dallas vs. (7) San Antonio</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-1 Mavs.</i><br />
<br />
The Mavs look very strong. They have a talented core of players in Dirk, Caron Butler, and Jason Kidd. They are 23-7 since they traded for Butler and Brendan Haywood and are clicking on all cylinders and are hoping that a repeat of what happened a few seasons ago doesn’t occur when they were upset by the eighth seeded Warriors. <br />
The Spurs are being called the sleeper of the West because of their championship pedigree. They have won titles before and can possibly do well in the playoffs. I have gone back and forth many times on my opinion of the Mavs, however I think this year will be different. I think the Mavs have enough to pull out a victory and put a lid on Tim Duncan. <br />
<b>Mavs in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>(3) Phoenix vs. (6) Portland</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-1 Blazers.</i><br />
<br />
The Suns are the hottest team in the NBA right now. They are bashing teams left and right. They just put a thrashing on both the Jazz and the Nuggets when both teams had a lot to play for. Amar’e Stoudemire and Steve Nash lead the way for this team that is rich with three-point shooters. Channing Frye, and Jared Dudley have been jacking and making threes all season and there is no reason why they should stop now.<br />
The Trailblazers are playing at a disadvantage. Their star player, Brandon Roy, was diagnosed with a torn meniscus and will try to play through the injury. It will be very tough for him to play through this injury and without Roy at 100% they will not have a solid chance to beat the Suns. Look for the Suns to run all over the court against the Blazers.<br />
<b>Suns in 5</b><br />
<br />
<b>(4) Denver vs. (5) Utah</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-1 Nuggets. </i><br />
<br />
The Jazz and Nuggets both limp into the playoffs not playing their best ball of the season. The Jazz lost to the Suns on Wednesday night, which lost them home-court advantage in the first round, which can be huge because the Nuggets are a team that has very difficult time winning on the road. The Jazz are also dealing with injuries to Carlos Boozer, and Andrei Kirilenko. However, Kirilenko should be back for the first round.<br />
The Nuggets have the home-court advantage and look like a very good team at home. However, since the Jazz also play in higher elevation, the home-court wont help the Nuggets a much as it would against a different team. I think the Jazz have the pieces in place to make a strong run in these playoffs. <br />
<b>Jazz in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>East First Round:<br />
(1) Cleveland vs. (8) Chicago</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-2 split.</i> <br />
<br />
The Cavs are the best team in the league and have the best record to prove that. The Bulls snuck themselves into the playoffs with a strong finish. King James and the Cavs will use this series as a chance to get Shaq and Antwan Jamison some much-needed playing time together, as they have only played three games together. The Bulls will try to replicate their exciting series they had with the Celtics last season but will not be able to that against a far superior team.<br />
<b>Cavs in 5</b><br />
<br />
<b>(2) Orlando vs. (7) Charlotte</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-1 Orlando. </i><br />
<br />
Orlando will open their playoff run looking to repeat as Eastern Conference champions. They have a strong team and can never be ruled out of a series because of Dwight Howard anchoring the middle of their defense. The addition of Vince Carter and the subtraction of Hedo Turkoglu can have an affect on their quest to repeat, but it wont show up this early in the playoffs. <br />
The Bobcats will try to muster up enough will to put up a good fight but will find out just how good this Magic team is. <br />
<b>Magic in 5</b><br />
<br />
<b>(3) Atlanta vs. (6) Milwaukee</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-1 Atlanta. </i><br />
<br />
The Hawks played well all season and still look like a team that is on the rise. They have a solid core of youngsters that have been in the playoffs for three straight seasons and know what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs. <br />
The Bucks looked like a sleeper team before Andrew Bogut went down with a scary injury. They start a rookie PG, in Brandon Jennings, who had a shaky season shooting the ball and this will hurt them in the playoffs. They may be able to sneak out a victory or two but nothing more.<br />
<b>Hawks in 5</b><br />
<br />
<b>(4) Boston vs. (5) Miami</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-0 Boston. </i><br />
<br />
The Celtics have struggled all season and are not playing well heading into the playoffs. They look very old and they do not scare anyone in these playoffs. Garnett, Allen and Peirce look a step slower and their days an elite contender look like they are over for the time being. <br />
The Heat has Dwayne Wade, who has a ring, but he doesn’t have much help. They have some young talent, and are athletic, but it is a tough matchup for them against the Celtics. Even though the Celts are not as good as once advertised. The Celtics will be able to prevail in the first round this year.<br />
<b>Celts in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>West Second Round:<br />
(1) L.A. Lakers vs. (5) Utah</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-1 Los Angeles. </i><br />
<br />
After a tough first round series against the Thunder the Lakers will be drained and will be ripe for the picking. The Jazz, who should be fully healthy by the time these two teams meet, will have an advantage against the Lakers. They always play well against them and the Jazz will be able to steal a game against the Lakers in LA. <br />
Bynum will be back, but we don’t know what he will be able to provide for the playoffs, and the Jazz have too much power inside for Pau Gasol to handle. The Jazz will win the PG matchup with Deron Williams a much better player than Derek Fisher. The Lakers will have a tough time flipping the switch to player more competitive basketball and it looks like they will not make the finals for a third straight season. This is my upset special, and you heard it here first.<br />
<b>Jazz in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>(2) Dallas vs. (3) Phoenix</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-1 Dallas.</i><br />
<br />
The Suns and Mavs present a great matchup in the second round of the playoffs. They both have unlimited potential on offense and struggle to play defense. This will be a high-octane series that will be very enjoyable to watch. The Suns have great three point shooting and hold an advantage in that department. The Mavs have Dirk who can score at will. He can carry the Mavs on his back for the series. <br />
The PG matchup is one of the best you can hope for. Steve Nash vs. Jason Kidd makes for very exciting games full of assists. The Suns have been in the playoffs for many years now and have yet to put it all together in May and June, however this is the year. They Mavs will not be able to keep up with Amar’e and Nash and the Suns will make it back to the Western Conference Finals.<br />
<b>Suns in 7</b><br />
<br />
<b>East Second Round:<br />
(1) Cleveland vs. (4) Boston</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-2 split.</i><br />
<br />
This will be a rematch of the exciting second round series that went to seven games back in 2008. The Celtics went on to win that series and the title. However, this season the Cavs will be the team with the top record in the East. The Celtics look old and slow and while they did manage to win two games against the Cavs this year, they will be lucky to win two in the series. The Cavs look focused and LeBron James looks ready to crown himself champion of the league.<br />
The Celtics can win max two games this series and will be run off the floor in most games. They Celtics need to find away to muster up the defense they used against the Cavs in ’08 to have a chance in this series, but with Rasheed Wallace on this team they have very light chance of that occurring. As much as it pains me to do this, the Cavs will win this series.<br />
<b>Cavs in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>(2) Orlando vs. (3) Atlanta</b><br />
<i>Season series: 3-1 Orlando.</i> <br />
<br />
This too will be a very exciting matchup. The Hawks have a ton of athleticism and length that can trouble the Magic. The Magic however, control the defensive boards and will make life difficult for the Hawks to convert on second chance points, a place where the Hawks make a living. <br />
Dwight Howard will dominate on the inside and will cause havoc on defense for Al Horford and Josh Smith. The Magic took the season series 3-1 and those three wins were blow outs, while the Hawks lone win came at the buzzer. This matchup will overwhelm the young Hawks and the Magic will advance.<br />
<b>Magic in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>Conference Finals:</b><br />
<b>(3) Phoenix vs. (5) Utah</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-2 split. </i><br />
<br />
I am all in on the Suns this year. They have the pieces in place to make it the NBA finals and they have the matchups too. The Jazz are hurting and will struggle to protect the paint against the Suns. The Suns will win the three-point line and the paint and it will be tough for the Jazz to keep up with the Suns. The Suns will have problems winning in Utah, but since they won the final game of the season the Suns have home court and will be able to close out this series at home in 7.<br />
<b>Suns in 7</b><br />
<br />
<b>(1) Cleveland vs. (2) Orlando</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-1 Cleveland. </i><br />
<br />
This is the year the Cavs make it back to the Finals. After getting a taste of it in 2007 LeBron wants more. He will dominate this series from the beginning and carry the Cavs to the NBA Finals. This could be his last year with the Cavs and he will want to know that when he makes his final decision he will have no regrets. The addition of Jamison will push the Cavs over the top against the Magic as will the loss of the Hedo for the Magic. I think the addition of Vince Carter will hurt them in this series. The Cavs have it all working and should be able to reach the NBA Finals.<br />
<b>Cavs in 6</b><br />
<br />
<b>NBA Finals:<br />
(1) Cleveland vs. (3) Phoenix</b><br />
<i>Season series: 2-0 Cleveland. </i><br />
<br />
I am sorry to all my friends from Phoenix but this is where their run ends. As mentioned earlier LeBron is on a mission. He wants a ring and will earn it. The Suns will try to defend LeBron, but to no avail. He will get whatever he wants whenever he wants. The Suns will keep the games close with Amar’e, Nash and their three-point shooting, but in the end there will be too much LeBron. He will finally bring a championship back to a championship hungry town. <br />
<b>Cavs in 7</b><br />
<br />
<b>NBA Finals MVP: LeBron James. </b>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-10166769639010750452010-03-26T10:41:00.000-07:002010-04-09T18:07:05.281-07:002010 MLB Preview: The American LeagueAfter breaking down the 2010 National League earlier this week, which you can find below, I will now break down the American League and give you some predictions for the playoffs and awards. The American League is usually the stronger league and it looks like it will continue with that same trend. So let’s start the show…<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">American League West:</span><br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Seattle Mariners (92-70)</span> The Mariners had a major renovation completed on their team in the offseason. They spent money on Chone Figgins, they brought in Cliff Lee to team up with Felix Hernandez to give them one of the best 1-2 punches in the Majors. They also brought in MLB’s Kanye West, his words not mine, in Milton Bradley. They also roll out one of the best defensive outfields that seem to catch every ball that is hit in the air. They did lose a valuable defender in Adrian Beltre, but they slide Jose Lopez, who will hopefully be a sleeper for me in Fantasy Baseball, over to third and put Figgins at 2B. The major question with the Mariners lies in their bullpen. Can David Aardsma have a duplicate of last season? If so, they win the division; if not they most likely finish second behind….<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Texas Rangers (88-74)</span> It is finally going to all come together for the Texas Rangers. They have some sleeper pitchers in Scott Feldman and Rich Harden. They also shifted set-up man/occasional closer C.J. Wilson into the starting rotation. With that solid core it looks like, on paper at least, that their starting rotation can finally keep up with their offense. I think Josh Hamilton has a bounce back year and puts up similar numbers to what he did two years ago when he was having his breakout season. The major acquisition the Rangers added on offense was with Vladimir Guerrero. He will be a nice addition in that park and add some solid offense to the Rangers. In the bullpen they trot out Frank Francisco to close and most likely Neftali Feliz as his set-up man. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Los Angeles Angels (87-75)</span> The Angels, in my opinion, took a big step backwards. They lost Figgins, Guerrero, and John Lackey via free agency. They tried, unsuccessfully to trade for Roy Halladay, and they didn’t find anyone else to replace Lackey in the rotation. They will feel the loss of Figgins on the basepaths. I expect guys like Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales to improve upon their stellar 2009 seasons. However, the loss in the rotation will deeply impact this team. I don’t expect Ervin Santana to put up the numbers that he did last season, they also have question marks, in regards to health, in Joe Saunders and Scott Kazmir. If they are healthy they can have a solid season as a team, but if they struggle with injuries this team will struggle to win ball games. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Oakland Athletics (78-84)</span> The Athletics are going to be the worst team in the AL West. They lack any star hitters and they seem to pick up hitters who either hit a home run or strikeout. They do have some solid pitchers, Brett Anderson in particular. This is a young kid who can throw strikes and should be the ace of this team. However, the rest of the rotation can’t match his intensity and the offense doesn’t have anyone who threatens an opposing team. They do have a reliable closer in Andrew Bailey, but it doesn’t look like he will get many opportunities to close out games. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">American League Central:</span><br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Chicago White Sox (88-74)</span> The White Sox look like the team to beat in the AL Central. They look upgraded with Juan Pierre, and a healthy Jake Pevey. They have a solid base to build a good starting rotation around. Gavin Floyd, Pevey, and John Danks are all solid starters. They will have good offensive production with Pierre and Alex Rios setting the table for guys like Paul Konerko, and Carlos Quentin. I think Rios will have a solid season in Chicago and he will be able to put up solid numbers, like he used to do back in Toronto. Look for the White Sox to win the Central and make it back to the playoffs.<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Minnesota Twins (85-77)</span> The Twins are all bubbly with their recent accord with Joe Mauer. He will be the backstop for them his entire career. However, that will not be able to make up for the loss of Joe Nathan. He is done this season after having Tommy John surgery and they will have to rely on Jon Rauch as their closer. He did a decent job while with the Diamondbacks, but I wouldn’t trust him in the American League. They acquired a solid replacement for the departure of Orlando Cabrera in JJ Hardy. He struggled last season in Milwaukee, but should have a nice bounce back year. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Detroit Tigers (80-82) </span> The Tigers had a major reshuffling in the offseason. In the midst of the economic downturn their owner needed to dump players in order to save on salary. They traded Curtis Granderson to the Yankees, and they traded Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks. I loved the trade for Max Scherzer, he is studly (a quote from a friend), and he shouldn’t feel the hit of moving from the NL to the AL like most other pitchers because he will pitch half his games in the friendly confines of Motown. The addition of Johnny Damon will add some leadership to the team and possibly keep Miguel Cabrera under wraps, but Damon will see a significant dip in his power numbers. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Cleveland Indians (76-86) </span> The Indians are a team that has been struggling the past few seasons. They don’t have enough pitching to really contend in the AL Central. They are hoping Fausto Carmona regains his 2007 form where he won 19 games and competed for a Cy Young, but that could be wishful thinking at this point. They are also hoping Grady Sizemore stays healthy this year and can give them the numbers they have come to expect form him. But even if that happens, they still will struggle to win ball games. Kerry Wood is already starting the season on the DL and it looks like Chris Perez will take over as closer and most likely not give it back to Wood. That is only bright spot on this team, the future closer in Chris Perez. That is saying something. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Kansas City Royals (70-92)</span> The Royals are a very bad team. They have Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria on their pitching staff and not much else. They don’t have many good hitters; only Billy Butler really stands out. The additions of Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel are solid ones that might give a boost to the offense, but I don’t expect the Royals to win many games or be in contention in many games this season. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">American League East:</span><br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Boston Red Sox (99-63)</span> Call me a homer sure, but I’m starting to fall in love with the 2010 Red Sox. Sure they wont score 10+runs a game as often as they have in years past, but they will win many games with pitching and defense. They upgraded their defense tremendously with the addition of Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro. Sliding Jacoby Ellsbury over to left is also a defensive improvement. The main concern amongst all the talking heads is how the Red Sox will score runs, but I am not concerned. I think David Ortiz has a solid year, which he did last year but people only remember that he slumped tremendously the first two months of the season. The addition of John Lackey to the rotation gives the Red Sox three aces. Teaming him up with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester will give the Red Sox the best pitching trifecta in baseball, and when you add in guys like Dice-K, Tim Wakefield, and Clay Buchholz, they have a very sound rotation. They also have a solid bullpen with Jonathan Papelbon closing out games and Daniel Bard setting him up. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">2: New York Yankees (98-64)</span> The Yankees are coming off a World Series victory and they had a minor overhaul this summer. They added Curtis Granderson to their outfield, while losing Johnny Damon. They also recently named Phil Hughes as their 5th starter as they look to improve their pitching staff. I am not a big fan of AJ Burnett’s and I don’t know how much longer Andy Petite will continue to pitch well, the wheels should come off soon. The Yankees will always be a threat to add someone at midseason, but I don’t think they have the prospects to work out a deal for anyone substantial if they are hit with prolonged injuries, which they avoided last season. Look for the Yankees to stay in the hunt for the AL East all season long.<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Tampa Bay Rays (83-79) </span> The Rays had a very solid campaign in 2008 and they will look to repeat that, however they don’t have the personnel to do it. They will struggle to keep up with the Red Sox and Yankees. They have some solid pitchers in Garza and James Shields, and some young flame-throwers in David Price and Wade Davis, but they are still too young. The offense isn’t as potent as the Red Sox and Yankees and they are poised to finish behind them once again. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Baltimore Orioles (73-89)</span> The Orioles are not very good. They don’t have many solid pitchers and their offense leaves nothing to be desired. They have some young kids, who might make some impact, and they brought back Miguel Tejada, but that won’t help them achieve anything more than a second to last place finish in the East. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Toronto Blue Jays (67-95)</span> The Jays are another team in the East that is not very good. They are expecting Shaun Marcum to bounce back form surgery and be their opening day starter, but I don’t think he will have stellar campaign. Their offense looks to rebound from a down year and they hope Vernon Wells will be back to his old ways. But even if Wells is solid this year, they won’t have the firepower to keep up with the beasts in the East. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">National League Wild Card Predictions:</span><br />
Phillies over Colorado in 4<br />
Dodgers over Cardinals in 4<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">National League Pennant Predictions:</span><br />
Dodgers over Phillies in 7<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">NLCS MVP</span>: Clayton Kershaw<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">American League Wild Card Predictions:</span><br />
Red Sox over White Sox in 3<br />
Mariners over Yankees in 5<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">American League Pennant Predictions:</span><br />
Red Sox over Mariners in 6<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">ALCS MVP:</span> Jon Lester<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">World Series Prediction:</span><br />
Red Sox over Dodgers in 7<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">WS MVP:</span> Victor Martinez<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Regular Season Awards:</span><br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">AL MVP</span>: Miguel Cabrera<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">NL MVP:</span> Albert Pujols<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">AL Cy Young:</span> Felix Hernandez<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">NL Cy Young:</span> Tim Lincecum<br />
<br />
There you have all the predictions. Coming up once the NBA season is finished I will have my predictions for the 2010 NBA Playoffs and Finals.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-54389404777033695292010-03-23T15:06:00.000-07:002010-03-24T08:46:45.336-07:002010 MLB Preview: The National LeagueThe 2010 MLB season is about to commence, and as the spring season winds down I want to give you a little preview of what to expect from each League and then what to expect come playoff time and hand out some awards. I will break this up into two or possibly three posts. <br /> Today I am starting with the National League. I have always been an AL guy, as I root for the Red Sox, but since moving to Los Angeles and the decision to play fantasy baseball I have come to know and love the NL too. The NL is represented by the Phillies, who have made it to the World Series the past two seasons, winning once. They also have the Cardinals and the Dodgers, both of which are solid all around teams. So without further ado the preview.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">National League East:</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Phillies (98-64)</span> Like I mentioned earlier the Phillies are coming off a second consecutive World Series appearance and they seem like they should be headed to a third. They are stacked on offense with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the middle of the order. They also have solid pitching in Roy Halladay, which was a huge acquisition in the offseason, and Cole Hamels. They close out games with a nice set-up man and closer tandem in Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge. Lidge will start the season on the DL and Madson should fill in as closer. If the Phillies were able to withstand the horrible year from Lidge last season and still make the World Series they should be okay. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2: New York Mets (85–77)</span> The Mets were bitten hard and often by the injury bug last season. They suffered through a power outage from David Wright and didn’t live up to expectations for their season. This year they come in with little to no expectations and I expect them to exceed them. The addition of Jason Bay will add some power to the lineup and I think Wright rediscovers his power stroke. They still need some help in the rotation and if Jerry Mejia pitches like a seasoned veteran, and not like a rookie, the Mets will surprise some people. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Florida Marlins (82-80)</span> The Marlins have a solid young team. With Hanley Ramirez anchoring their offense and guys like Jorge Cantu, and Dan Uggla, and guys like Rickey Nolasco, and Josh Johnson in the rotation it looks like they have a solid foundation. The only thing is they are still too young. They will try to contend for a second place finish but will ultimately come up short.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Atlanta Braves (80-82)</span> The Braves are also a young team in the field. They are not as dominant in the pitching department as they have been in the past, but with guys like Tommy Hanson their fans have something to look forward to. The loss of Javier Vasquez is big as he was the ace of their staff last season and it will be tough to replace him. The addition of Billy Wagner to close out games is huge as he has the ability to be a top 3 closer in baseball and with their rookie stud, Jayson Heyward, they are a year or two away from truly competing for a World Series title.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Washington Nationals (70-92)</span> What can you say about the Nationals other than they are a very mediocre team. They have young guns in Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen, but they don’t have much else. They aren’t a flashy team and don’t expect them to do anything this season. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">National League Central:</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1: St. Louis Cardinals (88-74)</span> They have Albert Pujols and Matt Hilliday. They have Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. They have a solid foundation on offense and pitching. They have a solid closer in Ryan Franklin. This is a weak division, maybe the weakest in baseball, and they should have no issue with winning it as long as they stay healthy. There is already talk of Pujols having a bad back. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Chicago Cubs (86-76)</span> The Cubs got rid of a basket case in Milton Bradley and replaced him with Marlon Byrd. It was a good addition, but they didn’t do much else. They have a weak rotation with Ted Lilly already being injured. It will be tough to beat out the Cardinals, but they do have a chance. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Cincinnati Reds (81-81)</span> I think they have a respectable .500 season. Aroldis Chapman looks like a stud who can win 15 games. They have solid offense in Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Bruce, while he does strikeout a ton, has a ton of power and can hit the ball hard to all fields. Votto, who is coming off a season in which he put up great numbers while spending time on the DL for an inner ear infection and then depression looks like he can have an even better season than last. Look for them to make a hard push towards the top of the division but the ultimately fall short of a crown. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Milwaukee Brewers (78-84)</span> They have a power guy in Prince Fielder, but nothing much beyond that. They lost JJ Hardy, who I think it going to have a tremendous bounce back year, and replaced him with Alcides Escobar who will have a good shot at rookie of the year. But that won’t be enough to make a dent in the standings. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Houston Astros (70-92) </span>The Astros lost their closer, and replaced him with two guys who the manager is trying to decide on. They are hoping for bounce back years from Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee, and Lance Berkman. However, I don’t think they will all click and lead them to a division title. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6: Pittsburgh Pirates (68-94)</span> They might be the worst team in baseball. They don’t have anyone on their pitching staff who can make a difference and the only guy on offense now is really Andrew McCutchen. They will limp to the finish line of the season and their fans will have to endure another terrible season of baseball. At least the city has all the Ben Roethlisberger issues to read about.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">National League West</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Los Angeles Dodgers (94-68)</span> The Dodgers still have the best team in the West. They have Matt Kemp, Manny Ramirez, Andre Ethier, and Russell Martin and Furcal should have bounce back years. In the rotation they have Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw who should anchor a staff that will lead the Dodgers into the playoffs. In the bullpen they have Broxton and Sherill, who are both solid relievers. Look for the Dodgers to have no issues when it comes to scoring runs and preserving leads thus enabling them to win the West.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Colorado Rockies (89-73)</span> The Rockies had a spectacular year last season. Their pitching was the best it has been in years. They had rookies in Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzales emerge as guys to watch for the future. They also benefited from a bounce back year from Troy Tulowitzki. They have a solid bullpen and they should be able to have a similar year as they did last year. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3: San Diego Padres (79-83)</span> The Padres lead the rest of the West in terms of talent. They have a solid bullpen and good lineup with Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Headley and Everth Cabrera leading the way. They should be able to improve on their last season.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4: San Francisco Giants (77-85)</span> We all know what the Giants have in their rotation. They have three solid starters that can all win 15 plus games and strikeout a ton of batters. However, it is the rest of the pitching that is worrisome. They also do not have the hitters that other teams in the NL West have. They will struggle to score runs and they will have a hard time outpitching everyone in every game. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Arizona Diamondbacks (77-85)</span> They can have a surprisingly good season. They just need everyting to fall into place at the right time. If Webb can come back smoothly and give them a season that he had two years ago that will go a long way towards helping them have an excellent season. They also need Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds to build upon their stellar campaigns last season. Edwin Jackson is a newcomer that can also help tremendously. He had a breakout season in Detroit last year and if he can carry that over to the NL West they DBacks have a good chance at sneaking up on people. <br /><br />So there you have it. The NL breakdown for the 2010 season. Coming later this week I will breakdown the AL and the playoff race and awards.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-73871405143295235362010-03-16T11:57:00.000-07:002010-03-16T12:00:51.386-07:00March MadnessMarch Madness is back baby!!! Diaper Dandies galore!!! OK it’s out of my system. Everyone loves this time of year. We all love watching four games at once the opening weekend and rooting for all the crazy games and upsets. This year should prove to be no different. People are expecting a crazy tournament and we should be amazed. We have a bunch of powerhouses in the tournament. Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse are the four #1 seeds. We also have great 2 seeds in West Virginia and Ohio State. We have young teams that are anchored by freshman, and seasoned teams that boast a lineup full of seniors. <br />Everyone it seems is choosing Kansas to cut down the nets on April 5th, but I am not so sure about that. We will get to that in a minute. What I have come to notice over the past few seasons, dating back to when Carmelo Anthony was a frosh at Syracuse, is a dominate player can carry his team into the Sweet 16 and beyond. We have a few teams that fit the bill. Kansas with Sherron Collins, Kentucky with John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, Ohio State with Evan Turner, Syracuse with Wesley Johnson, and Cornell with Ryan Wittman. Yeah I just mentioned Cornell in the same sentence as Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse and Kansas. Another March Madness regularity is a double-digit seed surprising everyone and making it into the Sweet 16 or even the Elite 8. I think this year’s teams are Cornell and UTEP. <br />Cornell, as mentioned earlier has a kid named Ryan Wittman who can score from anywhere on the court, and has a bit of his dad in him, former NBA player Randy Wittman. They also have a 7-footer in Jeff Foote, who likes to bang inside and has a great nose for the ball. Cornell is the Ivy League champions and will sneak up on the higher seeds so single-digit seeds, you have been warned. <br />UTEP is one of the best defensive basketball teams in the nation. They have Derrick Caracter, an unheralded transfer from Louisville, and guard Randy Culpepper to give UTEP a great inside-outside dominance. UTEP can also run when they need to, as they have put up 80+ points in 12 games. <br />OK, onto the games. I am going to skip the first two rounds of the tournament and give you a breakdown of the Sweet 16 matchups all the way until the finals. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Midwest Bracket: (seed in bracket)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kansas (1) vs. Michigan State (5)</span>: Kansas should be able to pull out this game. Kansas is loaded with NBA talent and is fully seasoned with countless seniors on this team. Michigan State normally reaches the Sweet 16 and this year should be no different. However, they struggled late in the season and Tom Izzo won’t be able to coach this team to the Final Four. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Georgetown (3) vs. Ohio State (2</span>): Ohio State boasts one of the best players in the country and the possible #1 pick in the NBA draft. Evan Turner has the ability to put this team on his back and take them to the Final Four. I think they should be able to handle Georgetown, who struggled down the stretch. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kansas vs. Ohio State: </span> This game should shape up to be one of the best Elite 8 games in the tournament. You have Turner vs. the Kansas team. And like I mentioned earlier Turner has the ability to carry OSU into the Final Four, but I don’t see him pulling off the upset of Kansas. Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins are two first round picks in the NBA draft and they have the experience that is key to winning in March.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">West Bracket:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Syracuse (1) vs. UTEP (12):</span> Syracuse has a good defensive team and even though they struggled in their final games of the season, they were ranked #1 in the country just a few weeks ago. Syracuse is stacked at key positions with Wesley Johnson leading the way offensively. UTEP, as mentioned earlier, boasts one of the best defensive teams in the tournament and I think they can slow the game up and give Syracuse a very good game in this matchup. However, at the end of the day Syracuse will prevail based on their experience. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Xavier (6) vs. BYU (7):</span> Don’t sleep on the Mormons. They are talented and experienced, as this is their thirds straight year in the tournament. They have Jimmer Fredette, who is talented enough to bring them to the Elite 8. Xavier has the guy that dunked on LeBron this summer, Jordan Crawford. He, coupled with Jason Love, give Xavier the ingredients to pull off some upsets in the tournament. This game is a toss up and could go either way, but in the end I think BYU pulls it off.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Syracuse vs. BYU:</span> In this Elite 8 matchup BYU will try to slow down the proficient scoring abilities of Syracuse. It will be a tough task, as BYU doesn’t have anyone who can guard Wesley Johnson. Johnson is a lock for a top 5 pick in this year’s NBA draft. BYU will give a valiant effort but in the end they will come up short. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">East Bracket</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kentucky (1) vs. Cornell (12):</span> I love Kentucky. John Calipari’s teams always go far in the tournament and he always wins with point guards like John Wall. Wall is a superb athlete and when you pair him with Cousins they can be unstoppable at times. Cornell will ride Ryan Wittman all the way to the Sweet 16 and they will be America’s sweethearts, but this is where their Cinderella run will end. Kentucky will bring too much to the table and Cornell won’t be able to stop them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New Mexico (3) West Virginia (2): </span> West Virginia won the Big East tournament and the Big East is the best conference this season. They are very stacked with Da’Sean Butler, who can fill up the bucket and defend well. New Mexico is a little bit underrated, as they are not seen on TV very often. They won their conference and have the ability to pull off the upset of WVU, but I think ultimately, WVU hangs on for a victory to reach the Elite 8.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kentucky vs. WVU:</span> This will be the second best matchup in the Elite 8. Kentucky has the size and the athletic ability to handle everything WVU brings to the table, and WVU has the scorers to keep up with Kentucky. These teams matchup well together and they have similar defensive and offensive numbers. In the end John Wall will be too much to handle and he will carry Kentucky to the Final Four.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">South Bracket</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Duke (1) vs. Texas A&M (5)</span>: Duke is normally a team that scores, and scores, and then scores some more. They normally lose games when they go cold because they don’t have the players to stop other teams from scoring too. However, this year is different. Coach K has compiled a great defensive team and it has allowed Duke to win some games this year when in years past they would have lost. Normally in the tournament Duke gets bounced early because of their lack of defense, but this year it shouldn’t be the case. Texas A&M on the other hand is not as great on defense. They also struggle form the free throw line, shooting only 66% as a team. Duke will win this game easily.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Baylor (3) vs. Villanova (2)</span>: Baylor has one of the best backcourts in the nation as well as a shot blocking defensive powerhouse on the inside. They average close to 80 PPG and can score at will sometimes. ‘Nova on the other hand does not have the defensive presence to stop many teams. They struggled down the stretch and it will be difficult for them to compete with Baylor. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Duke vs. Baylor</span>: This will be a great defensive matchup. Duke will try to hold the Bears down offensively, but it might be difficult. Baylor has the defensive abilities to disrupt Duke and force them to play catch-up. Duke doesn’t seem as strong as they do in recent years. Baylor will be the unlike presence in the Final 4 with the upset over Duke. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Final Four:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kansas vs. Syracuse:</span> Kansas is big and talented. They have players who can defend Wesley Johnson. He is a super athlete, but Xavier Henry will be able to counteract his talents and he will have a big game to carry Kansas the Finals.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kentucky vs. Baylor: </span> Kentucky is great. John Wall will be able to penetrate the lane and kick to Eric Bledsoe and Cousins. Wall will be named MVP of this game and he will lead Kentucky to the Finals.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Championship Game:<br /><br />Kansas vs. Kentucky:</span> In what looks like on paper to be an amazing championship game. Wall vs. Collins, Aldrich vs. Cousins, Bledsoe vs. Henry, there are crazy matchups all over the floor. You also have the experience of Kansas vs. the youth of Kentucky. This will be a back and forth matchup that will come down to the wire, and in the end the Youth of Kentucky will pull off the upset and be crowned champions of college basketball this year. John Wall will be named the tournament MOP and solidify himself as the number 1 pick in the NBA draft. <br /><br />Starting Thursday I will break down each MLB division daily and handout my awards and playoff spots and crown the champions.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-44630445185925587822010-03-12T11:52:00.000-08:002010-03-15T14:35:27.364-07:00AI Season 9 Follow-up<span style="font-weight:bold;">**************Spoiler Alert**************</span><br /><br />I have officially given up hope of the new season of American Idol turning itself around. Last night when Lilly Scott and Katelyn Epperly were kicked off for the girls, and Alex Lambert for the guys was eliminated, it showed that the people too have given up on the season. <br /> Guys like Alex Lambert always do well on this show, just look at Jason Castro from a few seasons ago. He was a likeable guy who had the most unique voice amongst the guys, however it didn’t turn out that way. Andrew Garcia, who peaked way too early, and Tim Urban, who you knew once he started to sing Hallelujah that he was going to survive, survived. How do guys like Urban, or Paige Miles, or Didi Benami make it though when the people with greater talent do not? <br /> One explanation is because this season is full of the singer/songwriter types. You have Crystal Bowersox, Lacey Brown from the girls who are all going to have the same fan bases as Lilly Scott. I thought her rendition of<span style="font-style:italic;"> I fall to pieces</span> was very good and she deserved to make it into the top 12. The reason Paige and Katie Stevens make it though is because they have their fan bases that vote for them. Paige has the gospel groups and Katie has the likeable “I am only 16 and cute” vibe to her, so she gets all the high school votes. It seems like that is the audience this year. The high schoolers are the only ones who continue to watch this show. Which is also shown through the expatriation of Todderick Hall’s time on the show. Normally he would pick up the Broadway musical fans, especially after Simon told him sounded like he belonged on stage, but he didn’t get the votes to survive. <br /> The season only has 3 people that can carry the show now. I think Lee Dewyze is very talented, and so is Crystal and Casey James. I still think that Katie has a chance to sneak up on people especially now that she is in the top 12, an achievement I didn’t think she deserved after her performance this week, but the only way for her actually have a chance is for her to find herself. That can be a very tough assignment this far into the game and I fee like she will be out sooner than later, but that won't be the end of her time on AI. She will be back next year, if she chooses to try out. <br /> Big Mike had a very powerful performance this week and I think it raised his stock into a dark horse candidate. He has a great back-story, plus a loveable personality. He is great up there on stage and he continues to grow each week.<br /> Overall this season stinks, but yet I continue to watch to see how the singers grow week to week. I still like the finals to come down to Crystal and Casey. Let’s see if that holds true. <br />Next week I will break down and give you my March Madness predictions. Should be great.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-76293788813651385092010-03-05T12:01:00.000-08:002010-03-05T12:05:49.017-08:00American Idol Season 9<span style="font-weight:bold;">**********Spoiler Alert***********</span><br />If you haven’t seen this week’s performance of American Idol, do not read until you have viewed the episodes. <br />We are nearing the midway point of the ninth season of American Idol. As we stand today on Friday March 5th 2010, there are 16 contestants left, 8 guys and 8 girls. So far this season has been very subpar, and there are only about 4 people that have a good chance at winning this season. This season has already been unpredictable as 2 of the girls that I had rated in the top 5 at the beginning of the season have already been kicked off (Janell Wheeler and Michelle Delamor) and people like Didi Benami and Paige Miles are still around. Anyway I will rank the remaining guys and girls in order from best to worst, I came up with this list before the elimination show aired last night and I had three of the four correct contestants being eliminated. (I blundered on Michelle Delamor, as I had Didi Benami being sent home with her karaoke edition of Lean On Me). I had to rearrange a bit when Michelle, who I had ranked 4th, was kicked off. The guys I had spot on. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">American Idol Season 9 Guys Rankings:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Casey James: </span> This guy has excellent vocals and has a great sound. He looks like a rock star and has the potential to carry his own records for years to come. He takes songs and makes them his own and clearly has the look to win this competition. By pulling out the guitar and showing off his ability to play it, set him head and shoulders above everyone else. Kara has a huge crush on this guy, but despite that, he is clearly the guy to beat among the men.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Andrew Garcia:</span> He knocked it out of the park in Hollywood week when his cover of Straight Up by Paula Abdul, and every week since we have been waiting for him to do the same or better. He may have peaked too early and that may hurt him in the long run because everyone is going to compare his performances with what he did in Hollywood week. Whether that is fair or not, that is the way American Idol works. However, with that said, he still has really good raw talent and natural ability, and we know what he can do with a song, and once he hits that again he will start flying in this competition.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Lee Dewyze:</span> Now this is a guy who has a great and distinct sound. He sounds like he could be putting out his own albums and I would buy them. He has that raspy rocker sound that America has fallen fall. He is continuing to grow each week and if Andrew continues to slouch with his song choices Lee will overtake him at number two on this list. The only reason why he hasn’t yet is because we know where Andrew can go, however, Lee has yet to hit his full potential, but the possibilities are endless for him. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Alex Lambert</span>: This kid has great natural and raw talent. He looks shy and awkward at times on stage, but his performance this week left him very vulnerable and he pulled it off. He was excellent this week. He made his performance of <span style="font-style:italic;">Everybody Knows</span> his own and he is slowly creeping up this list, and is the dark horse in this competition, who I can see dueling it out with Casey as the last two men.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Aaron Kelly:</span> This is another one of the young ones who has a very good voice, but the stage presence isn’t there. He had a decent performance of <span style="font-style:italic;">My Girl</span> but he didn’t separate himself from the rest of the competition. He has the potential to go far in this competition, but we will have to wait to see if he can gain some more confidence and stage presence that will push him up this list. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6: Mike Lynche:</span> Big Mike has some good vocals, but had some pitch problems this week. He needs to get in touch with some good soul songs so he can position himself to win this competition. As of now he is in the middle of the pack and seems more like someone who will be entertaining you in a hotel bar, and not the bright lights of Hollywood. He is dropping down this list each week with his subpar performances. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7: Tim Urban</span>: He has a forgettable voice. Don’t take that the wrong way because clearly he is very talented, he is in the top 20, but what I mean by that is he sounds like so many other artists. He needs to take his voice to the next level and develop his own sound and if he does that he may be able to climb up this list and save himself. However, if he gives another lackluster performance like he did this week he will be sent home with Todderick Hall next week. (Unless only 1 person gets sent home next week)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8: Todderick Hall:</span> This is the dancer who likes to sing, but he should stick to dancing. His performance this week earned him a ticket off this show, he was just saved by horrible performances by the two who were kicked off this week. He sounds like he is yelling, and he didn’t take the constructive criticism of the judges and looked stiff up there on stage. Unless he comes out next week and kills it, he should be sent packing next week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">American Idol Season 9 Girl Rankings:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1: Lilly Scott:</span> She has the looks, she has the sound, she has the stage presence, and she is a great performer. She is clearly the favorite, even though Crystal might have had a slightly better performance this week, but who looks more like a singer than Lilly in this competition. This is her competition to lose amongst the girls. She looks great up on stage with a guitar and I look forward to her performance each and every week. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Crystal Bowersox:</span> First off I’m glad she is feeling better, and what makes her performance this week even better is the fact that she was so sick and spent the night in the hospital and she comes back with that amazing performance. She has great vocals and an extremely powerful voice. However, what is, and will continue to hold her back is her look. She doesn’t have that superstar look. Her teeth, however, continue to gain whiteness week to week. With all that said, she has great natural talent and she will be in it at the end with a good chance to pull off the victory.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Katetlyn Epperly:</span> How great did she look up there on stage? She looked amazing sitting behind that Piano; she is cute and has a very powerful voice. She has grown leaps and bounds since her audition and I am starting to like her more and more with each performance. Sure the song was a little slow and Ellen thought it would have made a babysitter’s job much easier, but the overall performance was spectacular and she will be around to stay. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Katie Stevens:</span> Wow this girl is only 17, but she has an excellent look and reminds me a bit of Kelly Clarkson. However, she has yet to put it all together for an outstanding performance that I know she has in her. She has crazy raw talent and natural abilities on stage and looks like she belongs up there. Sadly, these characteristics can only carry her for so long, and unless she comes out next week and kills it with a perfect song choice, she might be gone way to early. She is the dark horse amongst the girls and with the right song choices; she will be here until the end. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Paige Miles:</span> Another one of the girls who didn’t wow me. She didn’t do anything that makes her stand out in the competition. Everyone at this stage of the season knows how to sing and she clearly has a good voice, or else she wouldn’t have made it this far, but at this point the contestants need to start showing their artistic side and Paige did not do that. The girls in this competition are not that great and she is in the bottom half.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6: Siobahn Magnus:</span> She showed a little potential when she hit that high note at the end of her performance this week, however, overall I didn’t like the performance. She is a kooky looking person and she doesn’t strike me as someone who would be able to sell albums to the American public. Like many others in this season she has a very powerful voice, but nothing she does stands out.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7: Lacey Brown:</span> The red hair girl…she has an interesting voice, but she has yet to put it all together with the perfect song. The first week she sang a Debbie Downer song, and this week with her rendition of <span style="font-style:italic;">Kiss Me</span>, while it was more upbeat, she still didn’t knock it out of the park. What has kept her in this competition so far, and what will keep her in it a little longer, unless she has a drastic improvement, is her distinct sound. It’s cute and catchy and America likes that kind of look and sound. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8: Didi Benami</span>: I thought this performance was terrible, worst of the night and I can not believe that she is back for another week, when a girl like Michelle Delamor, who granted, had her issues, but looks and sounds a lot more like a professional singer than Didi, did not make it though, I don’t know how Didi did. She does have a country vibe to her but continues to choose the wrong songs and she will not be around for the foreseeable future unless she taps into the niche that makes her unique.<br /><br /> There you have the rankings of the girls and guys of season 9 of American Idol. Right now I think the top 4 overall are Casey James, Lilly Scott, Crystal Bowersox, and Andrew Garcia. This is their competition to lose, but don’t sleep on Lee Dewyze and Katie Stevens. Overall the season is pretty weak, but it still fun to watch as these artists grow week to week and adjust and adapt to the limelight and see who can pull it off and become America’s next Idol.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-58099468249005896932010-02-25T11:41:00.000-08:002010-02-25T11:43:54.583-08:00Top 20 NBA PlayersSo for my newest column I’m going to breakdown and give you my top 20 players in the NBA. The factors I will be considering are 1: if there were a draft of everyone in the NBA, who would the first 20 picks be. 2: if you were starting a team from scratch which player would you want. 3: the rankings will factor in the age of the players, so a player who is younger but has uber talent, he will be ranked higher than someone who might be have better numbers. <br /> So without further ado…the rankings:<br />1: <span style="font-weight:bold;">LeBron James</span>: This kid is a beast. He makes his teammates better by playing the point forward and has the vision to know what his teammates will be doing. He has the tools to take over a game on offense and defense. He has yet to put this all together to bring home a championship to Cleveland, but he is young and will have plenty of time to win some. <br />2: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kobe Bryant</span>: He has having one of his best seasons this year. Coming off the NBA title, the first he won on his own, he has put together a season that has solidified himself as one of the best scorers in the history of the game. He can take over games offensively and if the game is close in the final minutes you know the Mamba is coming through. The reason why he is second is his age, LeBron is just way too young not to put him first.<br />3: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Carmelo Anthony</span>: a natural and silky smooth scorer. He puts up huge offensive numbers and he has positioned his team to be the 2 seed in the West. He has yet to put up the numbers and lead the Nuggets to the Finals. He has picked up his scoring this season and is a guy who can carry his team offensively for long stretches of games.<br />4: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dwight Howard</span>: He is a monster in paint. He blocks shots, rebounds, and defends like one of the best in the league. However, He needs to pick up his offensive game and he will be higher in this list. He needs to develop a consistent turnaround jumper and 10-15 footer. He also needs to start taking the game more seriously and acquire a killer instinct so he can lead his team to a title. <br />5: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kevin Durant</span>: This kid has it all. He is 6’10 and can score on any part of the court against any type of defender. He will win the scoring title this year, and will continue to improve his rebounding and assist skills. He will average close to 30PPG this year and he is only 21! He is a natural leader and scorer. He has a clean-cut image and is fun to watch. This kid has it all and will be playing in this league for almost 20 more years. It’s crazy to think of how his career will play out.<br />6: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dwyane Wade</span>: Mighty Mouse is one of the best at getting into the lane and finishing. He has an NBA title as an alpha dog and he gives 110% every single night. He plays hurt and he continues to throw his body around like a young Allen Iverson. He is going to make a ton of money on the open market this summer and make a new team an instant contender.<br />7: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chris Paul</span>: He is the best point guard in the league. He gets his teammates easy shots and buckets while also having the ability to score. He can take over a game on the defensive end allowing his team to get easy breakaway points.<br />8: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chris Bosh</span>: This guy is quietly one of the best superstars in the NBA. Did you know he averages over 24PPG and 11RPG? Yea me neither until I started doing some research for this post. He is still somehow only 25 years old and continues to mature on the court on a daily basis. <br />9: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Brandon Roy</span>: He is young, athletic and a great scorer. He is 25 and has many years to come that will produce greatness. Can you imagine what would have happened had Portland drafted KD instead of Oden that would be one the greatest What If’s in NBA. But I digress, Roy, carries himself very well offensively, he helps his teammates, and he has the ability to carry his team to the Finals. <br />10: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dirk Nowitzki</span>: The big German is arguably the best big man shooter in the NBA. He is a consistent All Star who continues to produce on a daily basis. His blocks and steals are up from years past and he will continue to thrive in the Dallas offense.<br />11: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Amare Stoudemire</span>: Amare has the ability to take over games on both ends of the floor, when he chooses. The problem is he chooses a lot of the time to coast. However, he still has to be considered one of the top 20 players because he is so dominant. He can score when he wants, however, he needs to be more consistent with his rebounding and he could be ranked higher on this list. <br />12: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Joe Johnson</span>: He is still in the beginning of his prime; he can score from outside and by taking it to the hole. He is a good rebounder and passer for someone in his position and his size. He is an impeding free agent and will instantly help the team his signs with in the offseason.<br />13: <span style="font-weight:bold;"> Tim Duncan</span>: He is on his way out of the league, but he can still bring it when he knows he needs to. He is still averaging just under 20 PPG and 11RPG. He also pitches in with some assists and a nice amount of blocks. He is just fundamentally sound and a great teammate who demands a double team when he is in the post. <br />14: <span style="font-weight:bold;"> Deron Williams</span>: The second best point guard in the game and he is still growing each year. He averages a double double with 18PPG and 10 APG. He is a very good defender and leads the Jazz on the court.<br />15: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rajon Rondo</span>: Now I know what you’re thinking…<span style="font-style:italic;">what a homer, how can you say someone who cant shoot the ball consistently is in the top 20</span>. However, hear me out. Sure this guy is shaky, and that might be an understatement, with his jump shot and free throw shooting, but he can dish out assists like no one else in the league, he is fearless when going to the hole and has such big hands that he can do things with a basketball others can’t. Now, while his shooting is still suspect, he has worked on it very hard since he came into the league and he has developed his shot tremendously over the past few years, and if he continues to trend up, he is a top 10 player in this league. <br />16: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Steve Nash</span>: This guy is still one of the best point guards in the game. He takes over games with his passing abilities. He still has one of the sweetest jump shots in the game and knows how to play the game to his advantage because of his age. He is also towards the end of his great career and thus ranking him higher than this is difficult because people above him have brighter futures. <br />17: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Brook Lopez</span>: Yup a member of the New Jersey Nets is on this list. While the Nets might struggle to win 10 games this season, Lopez is not the reason. He has ridiculous athleticism for a big man and he averages 19 and 9 a night and he is a sophomore in this league. He is 21 and has a very bright future in this league. <br />18: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Al Jefferson</span>: Big Al has the tools to be one of the few 25PPG and 12 RPG players in this league for years to come. He is having a little bit of a down year as he is still not 100% from his knee injury that ended his season last year after 50 games. However, he still dominates on the defensive end. He is the kind of big man you build a championship contending team around.<br />19: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Carlos Boozer</span>: He is in the prime of his career, and he knows how to score. He averages 20 and 11 a game. He has a nose for the ball on the glass. He has solid footwork in the post and knows when to gamble on defense. He is one of the best power forwards in the game.<br />20: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pau Gasol</span>: He is a smooth 7 footer who has a decent jump shot and knows how to grad some rebounds. He is very soft on the defensive end and can get lost in games when he faces a tough big man inside. He is still young and in his prime and has a solid future ahead of him in this league. As much as it pains me to put Gasol on this list, I just don’t like watching him play, He is just too solid to ignore.<br /> There you have it folks, Let me know what you think of the rakings. If you think I left anyone off email me or comment…<br />Fyi did you know the Lakers are 7-8 versus the top 8 teams in the NBA. How crazy, for all the Laker Cool-aid drinkers that live near me, and insist that are a lock for the Finals and the title, perhaps it is not so given. Let’s just wait and see how the end of the season plays out.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-11521543909925104822010-02-19T10:14:00.001-08:002010-02-19T10:14:53.508-08:00State of the Celtics AddressSo the Celtics are coming off the All Star break and the trade deadline with two straight wins to start a four game west coast road trip. They won close games against the Kings and the Lakers. In between these two wins they traded sharp shooter Eddie House for a sparkplug guy off the bench in Nate Robinson, but we’ll get to that in a minute. <br />The way the Celtics are currently playing has people in Boston jumping of the Tobin. They have blown eight, I repeat eight, double-digit second half leads since Christmas Day, and Atlanta swept them in their season series. They have also struggled against the Magic. They have looked old at times and they have gone through scoring droughts during the second half of games, which is the main cause to the blown double-digit leads. The people in the media have labeled them as old, and that age, and the health of Garnett is the reason for their struggles. This is a good and logical theory, however I would go in a different direction. I would point out that they played their first game with their regular lineup just a week ago against the Magic. They haven’t had the consistency that the Cavaliers or the Lakers have had all season.<br /> The Celtics still have the big three, which now that they have a regular rotation they have the ability to get into a groove and string some good wins together. Last night’s game against the Lakers was the epitome of the season, they ran out to an early lead, looked old and slow in the second half, and then blew that large lead. However, the difference, and now they can be turning over a new leaf, was they held on and earned the victory. A few weeks ago they wouldn’t have had the kahonas to keep their composure and win a game like this. Now, naysayers would point to the fact they only won the game by a point, and that Kobe wasn’t in the lineup. They will also sate the fact the Celtics only scored 11 fourth quarter points, but I look it differently…the Celtics held the Lakers to only 17 fourth quarter points and only two points over their final 7+ minutes. They played some great defense once KG came back into the game, after exiting for a good chunk of the second half because of foul trouble, and that just happened to coincide with the time of the Lakers run. <br /> The way the Celtics are situated now is as KG goes they go. This is a good thing, because now that KG has some games under his belt after recovering from his knee injury and he had some rest of the All Star Break, he will get into a good rhythm. <br /> Currently, the Celtics have the third best record in the east, 1.5 games behind the Magic and they are tied with the Hawks. I don’t think the Celtics can catch the Cavs, as they are 7.5 games up on the Celtics, but there is a possibility as they still have three more matchups this season, including six days from now on February 25th. That contest can be the best barometer of where the Celtics stand. <br /> The trade of Eddie House for Nate Robinson is one that will surely shake up the bench. House is knock down shooter who can’t do much more on the offensive end. House also plays some D, not a whole lot, but more than Nate. Nate on the other hand is a sparkplug off the bench. He can score at will, has a decent shot, but drives to the hole more frequently than House. Nate is also pound-for-pound the best athlete in the game, as evident from his three slam-dunk victories. He is a good bench player who fell out of favor with Mike Dantoni of the Knicks. This trade will allow Marquis Daniels to slide out of the point forward position off the bench and into the three spot, while Tony Allen and Nate can provide the ball handling responsibilities. If the trade works as Danny Ainge envisioned, this will open up the bench scoring and prevent the team from blowing their second half leads. <br /> The Celtics should head into the playoffs playing their best ball and as a #2 seed in the East. They will be able to handle the Hawks or Magic, whichever team they face in round two, and square off against the Cavs in the Eastern conference finals. This matchup will be fun and exciting. The Celtics will come in with their championship heart and the Cavs will come in with their young blood and thirst for a championship. The Celtics need to show me some more consistent play in order for me to believe they can make it back to the Finals to face the Lakers. However, at the same time the Cavs were the perennial favorites to make it to the Finals last year and chocked it away. <br /> In the end I think the Celtics are a championship caliber team, a team that if they put together a strong second half and consistent play, they will be right back in the Finals fighting for their second title in three years. <br /> It is going to be a great second half and an exciting playoffs…oh yeah don’t sleep on the Oklahoma City Thunder, they will make the playoffs this year as a seven or eight seed, but next year they will be a top four team in the West.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-45294341642455130202010-02-04T12:36:00.000-08:002010-02-17T10:04:41.433-08:00Super Sunday...Will The Saints Go Marching In?The wait is finally over…it’s Super Bowl weekend. This two-week layoff is way too long, and my team isn’t even playing. The Saints are making their first trip to the Super Bowl, while the Colts return to where they won a Super Bowl four years back. The Saints and Colts have been the perennial favorites to reach the Big Game ever since their sizzling starts. The Colts and Saints both stumbled a bit down the stretch, but once the playoffs started they looked like they never skipped a beat. The Colts trailed the Jets in the AFC championship game at the half, but used a strong second half to overcome that deficient and propel themselves to victory. Meanwhile the Saints forced turnover after turnover to propel themselves to victory over the Vikings. <br />Now let’s break down the teams:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Offense</span>:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Quarterbacks</span>:<br /> We all know that these two teams possess the best offenses in the game. Brees and Manning are the games first and sixth best-rated passers in the league, respectively. They threw the most and second most touchdown passes this season, and were ranked second and fourth in yards per game. They are both great at avoiding the sack and getting the ball out quickly. They can also make all the pre-snap reads that allows them that extra split second to make a decision post-snap and complete the pass. The difference lies in the fact Manning has been here before and Brees has not. Playing in your first Super Bowl can be very overwhelming and it may take Brees by surprise. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Slight Edge Colts</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Running Backs:</span><br />The Saints are the better running team. They averaged 131 YPG in the regular season, compared to just 80 a game for the Colts. The Saints have Reggie Bush who has the home run capabilities to break a mediocre play into a huge one. The Colts do not have anyone who can match that. Joseph Addai is a capable runner, but the Colts don’t use the run too much. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Edge Saints</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Offensive Line:</span><br />The two lines are quite similar. They have talented players who protect their QB well. (The Colts offensive line gave up only 13 sacks, while the Saints line gave up 20.) However, the lack of sacks has more to do with the QB. Both lines have the ability to open up holes for their running games, although like I said before, the Colts don’t really rely on the run. The lines don’t get called for dumb penalties and they are very disciplined with there play. <span style="font-weight:bold;"> Even</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:</span><br />The Saints and Colts have explosive playmakers in the receiving corps. The Saints have a good trio in Colston, Henderson, and Meachem. They also have a top tight end in Jeremy Shockey. The four of them combined for 23 TD receptions this season. The Colts have their own trio of receivers in Collie, Garcon, and Wayne. They also add Dwight Clark who is one of the best tight ends in the game. They combined for 31 TD’s this season. Brees likes to spread the ball around, similar to the way Tom Brady used to play before they brought in Welker and Moss. Brady always said his favorite receiver was the open receiver. Brees is very similar to that. Manning, however, likes to stick to his four guys, but as we saw in the AFC Championship game, if you take away Wayne, Manning has no qualms with going to Garcon or Collie. These receiving groups are very explosive and very talented. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Even</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Defense</span><br /> The Saints are ranked 25th in the league on defense while the Colts are ranked 18th. Peyton Manning played 9 games this year against teams ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in total defense and his stats in those games? 312 PYPG, 20 passing TD’s and only 5 picks. So Peyton can carve up a bad defense better than Wolfgang Puck can a turkey. However, the difference with the Saints is their ability to force turnovers. The Saints forced 39 turnovers in the regular season; that was good enough for second best. The Saints will find a way to force an extra turnover that can help lead to points. The Colts on the other hand only forced 26 turnovers. <br /> The Colts also have a poor run defense, the Saints will have the ability to run the ball effectively and open up passing lanes with some play-action passing.<br /> The Colts and Saints are both in the middle of the pack in terms of getting to the QB, and with the ability of ach QB to get rid of the ball I see this game with 2 or 3 sacks total. On paper this games looks like it is going to be a shootout, but I think it won’t play that way. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Even</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Special Teams:<br /></span> As I don’t envision many field goal attempts to be had in this game, the fact the Saints and Colts are both in the middle of the NFL in FG % won’t play a huge role in this game. However, special teams will come into play in the return game. The big question for Saints fans will be if Reggie Bush can come up with a huge return that will directly setup a TD for the Saints. The Colts don’t really have that feared returner to match the Saints have. Bush has a great chance to force the Colts to kick the ball away from him, thus giving the Saints some extra key yards on a punt. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Edge Saints</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">X-Factor:</span><br /> The Saints X-factor is two-fold. It is Reggie Bush and the defense. If the defense forces more turnovers than the Colts the Saints will be in a very good position to win this football game. Similarly, if Bush returns a kick for a TD or has a huge return that gives the Saints excellent field position that is a precursor to a TD, the Saints again will be in a great position to win.<br /> The Colts x-factor is their running game. If the Colts can run effectively to keep the Saints linebackers honest it will be tough for the Saints to keep up with the Colts. However, if the Colts are unable to run the ball, the Saints will be all over the Colts receivers and be able to use their natural ball-hawking skills to force a key turnover. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Coaching Staff:</span><br /> Jim Caldwell is rookie head coach who has gained a plethora of knowledge from Tony Dungy. He also has an assistant head coach in Peyton Manning. Peyton is so good at calling an audible at the line and reading defenses that it is pretty easy to coach the Colts. The Saints on the other had are coached by Sean Peyton. He is a very successful coach and he lead the Saints to the NFC Championship game a few years ago, but this will be his toughest challenge yet. Coaching in the Super Bowl is a whole different beast. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Edge Colts</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Prediction:</span><br /> Contrary to what people may be saying, the Super Bowl is evenly matched. The Saints match up very well with the Colts. This game will be relatively low scoring and I think the Saints can pull off the upset. They have the entire South behind them; they are extremely focused and motivated. They have the offense to keep up with the Colts, and they have enough of playmakers in the return game and on defense to set up the extra score needed to win the Big Game. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Saints 35 Colts 31</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">MVP: </span><br />I think Drew Brees will be the MVP of this game. He will throw for 3 TD’s and over 300 yards and lead the Saints to victory. <br /><br />Next week I will take a more in-depth look at the Celtics and let you know their chances of returning the NBA Championship trophy back to Boston.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-53055753467211770772010-01-29T14:05:00.000-08:002010-01-29T14:09:25.641-08:002010 NFL Mock DraftAlrighty, so I am going to try a new thing for me… A mock draft. Everyone has always seen and looked for NFL Mock drafts before, so I think it would be fun to try and put one of my own together. The first one is very tricky; trying to get a read on college players and see how they would translate their game into the NFL can be very difficult. But at the same time, it will be fun to see how many picks you can get correct. Now, a lot can and will change between now and the draft which will be held in NYC in April. So without any further ado…. the mock draft<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1: St. Louis Rams:<br />Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska</span><br />The Rams need a lot of help. They need the QB of the future in addition to help at WR, but with a pick like Suh, who is a defensive monster, will be a very safe pick. This pick might have drawn some criticism if Mario Williams didn’t pan out for Houston a few years back. The Rams need to shore up the defensive line in order to put some pressure on the QB, which was very scarce last year. (They finished with 25 total sacks on the season, third to last in the NFL.) They can find some other needs with their later picks. Wide receivers and QB’s can be found in later rounds and pan out. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2: Detroit Lions:<br />Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma</span><br />The Lions, like the Rams also need help in a variety of positions. The Lions finished fourth to last in the NFL with only 26 sacks last season and getting another monster on the defensive line will force the opponents offensive line to double team McCoy, thus opening up an extra lane for other defenders. The Lions also need help on the OL so reaching for a guy like Russel Okung, the OT from Oklahoma State can be an option as well, but I think the Lions decide to go defense with their first pick and McCouy is the second best defensive player in the draft.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3: Tampa Bay Buccaneers:<br />Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech</span><br />And we see the trend of lousy defenses picking at the top of the draft continue. The Buccaneers found their QB of the future in Josh Freeman, their first round pick last year, who played well down the stretch. Now they need to find their bookend on defense to help force some turnovers and give the offense some short fields to play with. Morgan is the best defensive end in the draft. He is very versatile, someone who can rush the passer, stop the run and even drop back into coverage on occasion. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4: Washington Redskins:<br />Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame</span><br />People will go back and forth on which QB should be taken off the board first. I think Clausen is a better pro prospect. He has a solid arm, played in an NFL style offense and was coached by Charlie Weis. Now Sam Bradford would have been the number 1 overall pick had he came out of college last year, but since he stayed in school he will likely drop due to his shoulder injury. I think that Clausen will fit in well in Washington and can lead the Redskins into the future. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5: Kansas City Chiefs:<br />Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma State</span><br />I think the Chiefs can go one of two ways here. They can look at their offensive line, which gave up 45 sacks last season, sixth most in the NFL, and say they need to protect their huge investment in Matt Cassel. Or, they can look at their defense, which gave up 388 YPG, and decide that shoring up their secondary will be what helps them. I think that once they look at some other options for the secondary they will pass on Eric Berry and decide that protecting Matt Cassel is highly important and getting a guy like Okung, someone who brings instant credibility to their OL, will be the wise choice.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6: Seattle Seahawks:<br />Eric Berry, S, Tennessee</span><br />Pete Carroll is rejoicing in his war room that Berry dropped to him. Berry reminds Carroll of another great safety with similar size and skills, Troy Polamalu. Carroll loved coaching Troy at USC and will now cherish having a guy with the ball hawking skills of Berry on his defense on Seattle. It should make his transition back to the NFL a little smoother.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7: Cleveland Browns:<br />Joe Haden, CB, Florida</span><br />The Browns are a little uncertain at QB. They have Brady Quinn, whom they used a first round pick on a few years back. I don’t think they use another first round pick on Bradford. Instead I think they focus on defense and pick the best CB in the draft in Haden. He is shutdown corner from the first day he puts on that Browns uniform. He has solid tacking skills and is by far the best corner in the draft. With the way the Browns closed out their season and with the new additions in the front office I think the Browns fans have something to cheer for next season. That’s for you Erik!<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8: Oakland Raiders:<br />Anthony Davis, OT, Rutgers</span><br />The Raiders are always the most unpredictable team in the NFL draft, maybe this year they go with a guy who can protect JaMarcus Russell. Al Davis still is high on Russell, not sure why, but since he is, he should draft a guy that is trending upward in terms of skills on the OL. With Davis in the mix Russell can have a little more time to make reads and get the ball out.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">9: Buffalo Bills:<br />Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma</span><br />The Bills need some help at QB. They don’t have anyone who can take the reigns of the position and guide the team into the future. Bradford, as mentioned earlier, would have been the unanimous number 1 pick in last years NFL draft. Bradford has an underrated, but strong and accurate arm. Bradford can be the steal of the first round with him dropping this far.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">10: Denver Broncos:<br />Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, South Florida</span><br />The Broncos have a lot of different ways they can use this pick. If Brandon Marshall is gone, they can easily use this pick on Dez Bryant, who has the home run capabilities of making huge plays in the vertical passing game. They can also go with a QB if either Clausen or Bradford fall this far as well all know Kyle Orton doesn’t scare anyone. But what I think Denver does is get someone who can rush the passer form the edge and is very athletic. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">11: Jacksonville Jaguars:<br />Brian Price DT, UCLA</span><br />The Jaguars have a decent team assembled. They do need some help on defense and the parade of DT to be drafted early in the first round keeps on coming. Price, who has a mammoth presence inside will help clog up the middle of the defensive line and help with the rush defense of the Jags.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">12: Miami Dolphins:<br />Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State</span><br />The Dolphins have some other, maybe more pressing, needs other than WR, however when a guy like Bryant falls in your lap at number 12 you have to pounce. The Dolphins need some help at WR and I hear whispers they might be afraid to draft one this high in the draft, because of the whole Ted Ginn thing, but Bryant is a guy who give Chad Henne an instant big time threat. I like the way he can play off of Devone Bess and Greg Camarillo. The Dolphins can also use this pick to grab a great ILB like Rolando McClain. But I think the Dolphins should add the big time playmaking abilities of Dez Bryant.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">13: San Francisco 49ers:<br />Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma</span><br />The 49ers need help at the right tackle position. Williams gives them someone who will help out in the running game. He will also help with protecting the QB and giving their playmaker receivers more time to operate. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">14: Seattle Seahawks:<br />Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida</span><br />The Seahawks get another great defensive presence on the line in Dunlap. The guy is big and can rush the QB. Couple him with Berry and the Seahawks have the makings of strong defensive foundation for the future. Dunlap will give the Seahawks an instant pass rush as he gets of the edge quickly and efficiently. Carroll will use their later picks to grab some offensive help. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">15: New York Giants:<br />Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama</span><br />The Giants need help at linebacker and McClain is an ILB who can be a great leader in the huddle for the Giants. McClain is the highest rated LB in the draft and to grab him this late in the draft could be a steal. He will fill a great void in the Giants defense.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">16: San Francisco 49ers:<br />Earl Thomas, S, Texas</span><br />The 49ers have a great deficiency in the secondary. Thomas is the best safety available, who has the athleticism and cover skills to be an immediate contributor in the 49ers defense. The 49ers have a great draft and with the retirement of Kurt Warner, they should be the favorites to win the NFC West. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">17: Tennessee Titans:<br />Everson Griffen, DE, USC</span><br />The Titans need help in the secondary and with pressuring the QB. Since no DB fell to them here that has first round talent, they take a value pick in Griffen. He has been consistent this season and has the NFL body to boot. He is very versatile and will be a good fit with the Titans.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">18: Pittsburgh Steelers:<br />Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee</span><br />The Steelers need some help up front on both side of the ball. Their OL was very inconsistent this season, but they also need a replacement for Casey Hampton who is near the end of time in the NFL. With Williams, the Steelers get a DL that will replace Hampton after learning fro him for a year. If the Steelers decide to go with protection for Big Ben then look for them grab Bryan Bulaga for their offensive line. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">19: Atlanta Falcons:<br />Brandon Graham, DE, Michigan</span><br />The Falcons need someone to shore up the outside on their defensive line. By picking Graham, the Falcons get someone who led the nation in tackles for a loss, which shows he is able to get off the edge and put pressure in the defensive backfield something that was missing from Atlanta last season. They need to create a better pass rush in order to bring up their sack total from last season. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">20: Houston Texans:<br />C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson</span><br />The Texans can also use some help at safety and DT so Taylor Mays or Jared Odrick can be in the picture. However, I think the Texans go with the RB who has been slipping down the draft board. Spiller is a very talented and versatile player. He also posses the skills to be a game-breaker, he is a great value pick here for Texans. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">21: Cincinnati Benagls<br />Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida</span><br />The Bengals need someone at TE and Hernandez is the best one in the draft. He has great hands and excellent YAC skills. He will give Carson Plamer an instant threat down the middle of the field. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">22: New England Patriots:<br />Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas</span><br />The Patriots need major additions on the defensive side of the ball. They need someone who can rush the passer form the LB position on a consistent basis. Kindle will fit in perfectly in Belichick’s 3-4 alignment and be a great addition for the linebackers group that already has an up and coming stud with Jarod Mayo. The Patirots also need a RB so they will take a hard look at Spiller if he drops to them, or possibly jonathan Dwyer. But I think in the end they need to find someone who can rush the passer and Kindle is their guy. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">23: Green Bay Packers:<br />Bryan Bulaga, OL, Iowa</span><br />The Packers need major help on the offensive line. Buluga will be a great fit up in Green Bay. He has great positioning and leverage skills that allow him to thrive while protecting the QB. The Packers could go defense with this pick and look to draft another USC product in Taylor Mays. They had enormous success with Brain Cushing coming out of USC last year. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">24: Philadelphia Eagles:<br />Taylor Mays, S, USC</span><br />If Mays slips past the Packers look for the Eagles to swoop in and draft him, the Eagles need help in the secondary and Mays has the physical tools to become a ball-hawking safety in the NFL. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">25: Baltimore Ravens:<br />Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma</span><br />The Ravens need some help for Joe Flacco and adding a big talented TE will help Flacco in the play action passing game. Gresham is tall and athletic, everything you look for in a TE. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">26: Arizona Cardinals:<br />Bruce Campbell, OT, Maryland</span><br />Arizona needs help protecting Matt Lienhart now that Warner has retired. Campbell is still learning the position, but has the physical skills and the determination to become a force on the offensive line. The Cardinals could also go defensive line with this pick and draft Terrance Cody. However, I like the pick of Campbell.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">27: Dallas Cowboys:<br />Sean Weatherspoon, OLB, Missouri</span><br />The Cowboys have some talent on the defensive side of the ball, but pairing Weatherspoon opposite DeMarcus Ware makes their pass rushing ability dynamic. They have some needs on the OL so if Campbell drops to them, they would happily take him. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">28: San Diego Chargers:<br />Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Georgia Tech</span><br />The Chargers need to find their replacement for LaDainian Tomlinson and they have that in Dwyer. Dwyer has the ability to carry the ball 20+ times a game and gives them the explosiveness as well. He runs low to the ground and has a good center of gravity that allows him to evade would-be tacklers.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">29: New York Jets:<br />Jared Odrick, DT, Penn State</span><br />The Jets need someone who can play over the ball and protect the middle of the defense against the run. Odrick is a big, strong defensive presence that will help the Jets with their rush defense, which despite how great their passing defense is needs help.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">30: Minnesota Vikings:<br />Patrick Robinson, CB, Florida State:</span><br />The Vikings need help in the secondary and they can use a guy like Robinson right away to bring some stability to their defense. He is the second best cornerback in this draft and has the characteristics to develop into a shutdown corner in the NFL. <br />The last 2 picks depend on who will win the Super Bowl, and I don’t want to give away my prediction just yet, so I will just give you who I think each team will take with no order starting with the AFC Colts<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Indianapolis Colts:<br />Mike Iupati, G, Idaho</span><br />The Colts need a big guy in the middle of the offensive line to pass block and open up holes for their running backs to squeeze through. Iupati is the best guard in the draft and should be able to be an immediate starter on the line. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New Orleans Saints:<br />Terrance Cody, DT, Alabama</span><br />The Saints can use some help on the defensive end and they get a great value pick this late in the draft. Cody is huge and gets good penetration off the edge of the line. He should be able to cause some havoc in the backfield. <br /><br />Today Kurt Warner announced his retirement from football. He will be missed form the game, but hopefully he will continue to be part of the NFL. He was always a class act who knew how to compete on the field. He retires as one of the best QB’s this past decade and should eventually work his way into the Hall Of Fame.<br /><br />Next week I will break down the Super Bowl matchup.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-55133535344683865762010-01-21T13:18:00.000-08:002010-01-21T13:19:42.228-08:00NFL Championship weekend<span style="font-weight:bold;">NFL Championship weekend</span><br /><br />The final four teams in the NFL square off this weekend to determine who will play in Miami for the right to be crowned king of the NFL for the final season of the decade. We have a matchup in the NFC that everyone predicted way back in week 7 or 8, while over in the AFC we have a matchup that even Rex Ryan didn’t think would happen (he famously claimed after a loss to the Falcons that the Jets had been eliminated from playoff contention, only to be corrected and informed they still had a shot). The Colts had their perfect season broken up by these same Jets, eight days after Ryan’s gaffe. So let’s start with the AFC.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AFC CHCAMPIONSHIP:</span><br /> As mentioned before, the AFC Title game is a rematch to the week 16 meeting in Indy. The Jets came into that game looking to play spoiler, while the Colts came in knowing they cared more about winning a Super Bowl than going undefeated. The Colts lead 9-3 at the half, a half where they had their starters play the whole time. However, after halftime it was a completely different game. The Jets took the opening kickoff of the second half and returned it 106 yards for a TD and they later added a TD that put them up for good after a Curtis Painter fumble was returned for a score. The Jets put up 26 second half points that afternoon, while the Colts second stringers put up just 6. <br /> No one knows what would have happened on that Sunday had the Colts left their starters in for the entire game, but what we do know is how the Jets and Colts have played since then. The Jets shocked fans of the NFL last week when they forced the Chargers into playing a terrible game of football. The Jets forced two picks, one of which set up their first TD, three fumbles, all of which were recovered by the Chargers, and ten penalties. The Jets offense did not play well. They managed only 262 yards, 53 of which came from one play, a game-sealing run by Shone Green that occurred midway through the fourth quarter. The Chargers offense was able to move the ball on the Jets, as evidenced by their 344 total yards, 283 of which came through the air, the alleged strength of the Jets defense. The Jets also benefited immensely from three missed field goals by Nate Kaeding, a kicker who is THE most accurate in the history of the NFL, and a kicker who missed three kicks ALL season. <br /> The Jets did not play a perfect game by any definition of the phrase. The Chargers had plenty of chances to win this game and force a matchup with Indy in the Championship Game, but decided they would rather play some golf with the Patriots. As a reward for the lackluster play, Norv Turner got an extension and will remain their coach. Crazy. <br /> The Colts on the hand completely dominated their matchup with the Ravens. They won their matchup because they out hustled and out hit the Ravens. The Colts had a pedestrian day on offense, racking up only 275 total yards, but like I said before they out hustled the Ravens. They forced 4 turnovers, while only committing 1. (And on the one pick Manning threw, Pierre Garcon chased down Ed Reed from behind and knocked the ball loose which was of course the Colts recovered) Once this play occurred you knew the Ravens had no chance of coming back. The Colts are an immensely focused and talented team that showed their poise through out the season. <br /> This matchup will come down to the Colts offense vs. the Jets defense. If the Jets defense can do to Indy what it did to the Chargers the Jets will be in the game late in the third quarter and be in a position to win the game. However, if the Colts are able to throw their quick slants and crossing routes, keep the Jets honest with Joseph Addai and Donald Brown they will force the Jets to play catch-up and put the game on the shoulders of Mark Sanchez. Rex Ryan knows that if this occurs, his Super Bowl parade route will be clear on February 9th. The Jets are 8-point underdogs according to Vegas, but they were big underdogs last week and pulled off the upset. However, the Colts are not the Chargers. The Colts are better coached, and they have a far superior QB than the Chargers and the Jets. Manning will be able to make the necessary pre-snap adjustments that will neutralize the Jets defense. I like the Colts to be able to control the offensive tempo and Manning will have clear lanes to throw to his receivers. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Colts 24 Jets14</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">NFC Championship:</span><br /><br />Over in the NFC we have the predictable matchup. Ever since week 8 when the Saints were 7-0 and the Vikings were 7-1 we knew this would be the matchup for a trip to the Super Bowl. The Vikings played a great game against the Cowboys last week. They put up big numbers on offense, 323 total yards, and were able to hold a Dallas offense to 248 total yards; the Cowboys were averaging over 415 yards per game in their previous four contests. Everyone knows the Vikings defense is highly talented. They have great bookends in Pat and Kevin Williams and Jared Allen. The Vikings were ranked 6th in overall defense. They can bring the heat on D. On the other side of the ball the Viking boast one of the statistical greats of all time in QB Brett Favre. He is an old time gunslinger. He loves to play with a childish like enthusiasm and his ability to carry teams on his back. They also have a workhorse in Adrian Peterson; however, he has not had a 100-yard rushing game since week 10 against Detroit. <br /> The Saints have been the perennial favorites to represent the NFC since very early in the season. They started off extremely hot, going 13-0 before finally dropping to the Cowboys. Their offense can light up any scoreboard, especially when it is the scoreboard in the Superdome. They are an extremely tough team to beat at home. Losing their last 3 games seemed like it was a bad omen since no team that lost their final three games of the regular season has made it to Super Sunday. The Saints have the offensive power to change that. The Saints put up 45 points, and 418 yards of total offense in their win last week over the Cardinals. Now no one is going to mistake the Cardinals for the Steel Curtain, but the Saints can put up points. Drew Brees has the same qualities that make Peyton Manning so successful. Brees can make great pre-snap reads; and more importantly he gets the ball out quickly, he has a great mix of receivers with Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey, and Robert Meachem. He also has Reggie Bush, no relation to the former President, who had 217 all-purpose yards including a punt return for a TD. The Saints are loaded on offense. <br /> This game will come down to Special teams and turnovers. The Saints offense will have the ability to beat the Vikings defense, as great as their D is, the Cardinals still put up 398 yards in total offense in a win in week 13, and the Viking will be able to put up points to keep up with the Saints. This Game hinges on the shoulders of Brett Favre. If he can play the way he did last week against the Cowboys the Vikings can and should win this matchup. However, if he throws a costly pick, similar to what he did in the 2007 NFC Championship game, the Saints will be able to get the extra score needed to pull out a victory and advance to the Super Bowl.<br /> I have gone back and forth with this pick. On the one hand you have the highest ranked offense in the NFL (the Saints) that seemingly can put up points on anyone. On the other hand you have a team in the Vikings who have a stellar defense, a defense that had the ability to shut down a high-powered offense last weekend against Dallas. What I know for sure is that this will be a highly entertaining game, one that should go back and forth, and come down to the wire. In the end I am going to go with my gut. Drew Brees and the same core of players were in the situation three years ago. They know what it takes to prepare for a game of this magnitude and being there gives players a greater grasp on the urgency that is upon them; an urgency that cannot be transferred by stories. Thus I give the edge to the Saints, and I follow my gut. <span style="font-weight:bold;"> Saints 38 Vikings 31</span><br /><br />Next week I will break down the Super Bowl matchup and you will find out if I think Reggie Bush will be proposing to his girlfriend in the near future. Enjoy the games.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-10493416032442723212010-01-19T11:25:00.000-08:002010-01-19T11:26:18.894-08:00The Celtics and Ramblings....The Boston Celtics are in a funk. Since losing Kevin Garnett to a mysterious knee injury, they have a pedestrian record of 5-5. A knee injury that is starting to eerily play out a lot like Garnett’s injury last year, an injury he never returned from. The Celtics are calling the injury a hyperextension of his knee. The same knee he injured last year. The Celtics are claiming that Garnett will be back for their game against Portland this Friday the 22nd. If he retunes on Friday, he would have missed almost a month of game action. <br />As you can see from last nights Celtics game against the Mavericks, Garnett’s defensive presence is sorely missed. They miss his intensity, his athleticism, and his long arms that can bother shots for many players on opposing teams. Dirk Nowitzky had a field day against the Celtics last night. Putting Rasheed Wallace, or Brian Scalabrine on Dirk did not get the job done. The Celtics defense has gone down hill since KG got injured and they need him back sooner rather than later in order for them to be a true contender.<br />Once KG returns to the lineup the Celtics will once again be the team to beat in the East. They have a very well rounded team that, with the addition of Rasheed, has excellent playoff weapons. When healthy, the Celtics are contenders to win the NBA title, if they are not healthy they are a team that will lose in the second round of the playoffs. We saw these outcomes in each of the past two years. In 2008, the Celtics had their first year with the Big 3. They remained healthy all year long and the Big 3 led the Celtics to a championship. However, last year, once KG got hurt, their season went down hill and they had to fight and claw their way out of the first round and they took the eventual runner-up Magic to 7 only to lose on their home court. If the Celtics are healthy they will have enough weapons to win the East and and have an excellent shot at beating the Western Conference Champions in the Finals. But when you rely on the knees of a 33 year old seven-footer who has played in over 1100 games in his career, IF is a very key word. <br />I think that once KG comes back on Friday and he gets some of the rust off from the hiatus, the Celtic fans will be much more relaxed and the fact that they lost their seventh home game last night, compared to just six in each of the last two seasons, won’t be so magnified. The talking heads on ESPN seem to forget the Celtics have the best road record in the NBA, which currently stands at 16-5. The Celtics will be fine.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">NFL Playoffs:</span><br />Crazy weekend in the NFL playoffs….<br />The Jets closed out the games with a thrilling come from behind win which saw them gain their first 1st down late in the second quarter and didn’t see them cross the goal line until the fourth quarter. They punished the Chargers late with Shone Green who broke free on a key 53-yard rushing touchdown midway through the 4th quarter. The Colts got to the AFC Championship game by dismantling everyone’s favorite darling, the Ravens, who were over-hyped after a big win in Foxboro the opening weekend of the playoffs. <br /> Over in the NFC the Vikings defense dominated against an inferior Cowboys team. Favre played a solid game and didn’t turn the ball over. He can possibly carry this game into the Superdome where they will face the Saints in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. The Saints laid the smack down on the Cardinals who, despite reaching the Super Bowl last year, looked very weak and couldn’t handle the Saints offense. We will see what the Vikings defense can do to stop the Saints offense later on this week. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">24</span><br />The new season of 24 started this past Sunday night and it picks up with Jack healthy from his trial and risky procedure that was done with his daughter Kim to save his life. He tries to get you to believe that he is moving back to LA with his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, but there is an on-going peace process between President Taylor and President Omar Hassan, which of course, being the 24 veterans that we all are, be disrupted with an assassination attempt. An old informant, who has been shot, tells Jack that he helped bring in an assassin that is trying to assassinate President Hassan, sucks Jack back into helping CTU, which is in NY now and looks remarkably fake and ridiculous. Furthermore there is someone on the inside that is helping the assassin. CTU quickly and swiftly finds evidence that incriminates a journalist who is having an affair with President Hassan. This seems curiously suspicious to Chloe who wants CTU czar Brian Hasting to follow up on a lead, but is too arrogant and stupid to think he has the wrong person, so Chloe asks Jack to help, which he reluctantly agrees. Long story short, Jack and new CTU head of field ops Cole Ortiz, played by Freddie Prinze Jr., thwart the assassins attempt to kill President Hassan and they kill the assassin shortly after. <br /> This sets up the season, as we learn that the assassin, who has traces of weapons grade uranium on his body, is part a very intricate and deadly sect of a Russian Mob syndicate. We then learn that President Hassan’s brother has nuclear ambitions and is against the peace process, was this a surprise to anyone? Jack is now sucked in for the season, and has to work with Renee Walker in order to infiltrate the Russian Mob sect to try and buy the Uranium. Why this would work? I am not sure seeing how the Russians have a very lucrative offer and deal with President Hassan’s brother. <br /> So we shall see where this season goes, from the premier it looks like a typical season of 24, you aren’t going to get blown away by dialogue and great acting, but watching Jack do his thing is always good entertainment. <br /> I enjoyed the wildly predictable season premier of 24 and look forward to watching season 8 and finding out all the secrets that were set up in the premier.<br /><br />Coming up later in the week I will break down the Conference Championship games.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-18088193936645079132010-01-14T16:59:00.001-08:002010-01-15T09:14:33.008-08:002009 NFL Playoff Round 2!So the Patriots are out, now what? Everyone is talking about how the dynasty is over, and you know what in a way it is. Will the Patriots be in the playoffs next year? Absolutely they will. Do they need some retooling? Of course, but who doesn’t need retooling from year to year. The Pats still have a solid core on the offensive side of the ball. They have Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Kevin Faulk (who is a free agent, but I expect them to resign him) and Wes Welker once he returns from his ACL/MCL injury by mid season. The offensive line has some promise as well with Logan Mankins, and Sebastian Vollmer having very solid seasons. On the defensive side of the ball is where the creative thinking needs to be done. They have some young guys who showed promise in Brandon Meriweather, Jerod Mayo, Pat Chung, Jonathan Wilhite, and then some veteran presence with Ty Warren, and they need to resign Vince Wilfork. The rest can be filled by the draft and free agency, and now that the Patriots didn’t make the final 8, they are able to sign free agents even if they don’t lose any of their current players. For those who don’t know, next year will most likely be played with no salary cap because the current CBA is going to expire therefore meaning that in order to sign free agents if you are one of the final 8 teams left you can only do so as a replacement for a free agent you lost. The Patriots have four picks in the first two rounds of what pundits are calling a very deep draft. They can easily play around with their picks and grab a running back, and some defensive help that will give them the foundation for the future and help them next year as well. <br />So guys step back off the ledge of the Tobin Bridge, everything will be fine. Brady will heal, as will Welker and Moss. They will bring in some creative minds for the offensive and defensive side of the ball (this would have made me look great if I had posted this article yesterday as Dean Peeves announced today that eh will not be back to coach the defensive side of the ball) and everything will be fine in Foxboro. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Round 2 of NFL Playoffs</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Arizona v. New Orleans</span><br />The Cardinals come into New Orleans hot, coming off a crazy back and forth round 1 matchup with Green Bay in which Arizona jumped out to a big lead, only to squander it away and then miss a game winning field goal with under a minute to go only to recover a fumble on the first drive of overtime to win the game. The Cardinals have playoff experience and success behind them, while the Saints have, on paper at least, a better team. Remember the Saints are a team that started out 13-0 only to finish 0-3 and the only good team they lost to was the Cowboys in week 15. Midway through the Saints season, especially after they shellacked the Patriots, I thought, along with the rest of the talking heads, that nothing could derail the Saints, and that playing in the Superdome was the TOUGHEST place to play, but since they lost to the Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it doesn’t seem that way anymore. In addition you have the Cardinals, who lost in the Super Bowl last year, and everyone thought was a one-year wonder, right back in the thick of things. They looked spectacular on offense, and mediocre on defense last week, but the only part of that last sentence that matters is the spectacular on offense. What the Cardinals did last was show they can win a shootout, and that is what it will take to beat the Saints. <br />The Cardinals are now the team I have hitched my wagon too. Don’t worry I was accepted onto their bandwagon by the Josef Cousins. They have accepted my application and I am now riding the Cardinals back into the NFC Championship game. I think the Cardinals will put up plenty of points and stop the Saints when it counts. The Cardinals have Early Doucet who showed what he can do when team focus to heavily on Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals are a very tough matchup for the Saints. The Cardinals went on the road last year and showed everyone they can win when it counts. And is it just me, or do the Cardinals play their best when it matters the most. I like the Cardinals in a shootout. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cardinals 38 Saints 35</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Dallas v. Minnesota</span><br /> The Cowboys finally got off the Shnide and won a playoff game. They were the better team all year and they finally proved to America that they could win when it counts. They played spectacular defense against the Eagles and on offense they ran all over the Eagles defense. The Cowboys look like a solid all around team. <br /> On the other side of the ball with the Vikings and Bret Favre who were all know is due for a clunker. Favre likes to run around and make the wild throws, although this year he reined it in just a bit, but he did blow some winnable games late in the season. The Vikings have an incredible D line and run game, but will Favre play second fiddle to them in this game? That is the key X-factor for the game. If Favre can manage the game and the Vikings can pound the ball with Adrian Peterson, they have an incredible chance of winning this game.<br /> However, the X-factor for the Cowboys will be the amount of fans they will have in the stadium. Minnesota is notoriously known for not selling out games. Cowboy fans can easily procure plenty of seats and cause a lot of raucous for the Vikings. The Cowboys can run on the Vikings front 7 and thus open up the passing lanes for Tony Romo to Miles Austin, who will be able to run for Miles (sorry had to do it) on this Vikings D. I think the Cowboys go into the Metrodome and come out victorious. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cowboys 31 Vikings 23</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Indianapolis v. Baltimore</span><br /> The Ravens got here by dismantling my Patriots by pounding and pounding the football down the Patriots front 7. Normally the Patriots beat up on one-dimensional offenses, but not this week and the Ravens deserve all the credit in the world. They showed up to win, and the Patriots definitely did not. The Ravens have a great D and very solid running game. However, what they don’t have is a reliable quarterback. Joe Flacco can not be trusted to win a big playoff game by himself, so that means if the Ravens running game is stopped, or they fall behind early it will be very bad for the Ravens.<br /> The Colts got a bad rap for resting their starters the last 2 weeks of the season, but if they win the Super Bowl no one will be able to second-guess Jim Caldwell. Unfortunately we have seen this movie before for the Colts. They start hot, rest some guys and then stumble in the playoffs because they are not used to playing meaningful football for over a month and it isn’t a light switch that you just turn on and all of a sudden there is electricity. The Colts have lost their first playoff game after a bye twice in the last five years, and that doesn’t include last year when they lost their first playoff game. In other words, in 3 of the last 4 years they lost in their first playoff game. <br /> Now does this mean I think Indy is going down? No. I think Peyton Manning is ready to play and I think Baltimore played a perfect football game against a weak opponent. In their regular season matchup the Colts held the Ravens to five field goals and a 17-15 loss and people love to hype up certain teams after a round 1 victory, but don’t be fooled by the Ravens, this is the same team that shot themselves in the foot way too many times during the regular season. I think the Colts grind out a close football. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Colts 24 Ravens 20</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New York Jets v. San Diego</span><br />In what looks to be the most exciting matchup of the weekend, the Jets travel to San Diego to play in Mark Sanchez’s backyard. The Jets beat the Bengals for a second consecutive week and they did so by running the football, and to my surprise with Mark Sanchez managing an excellent game plan. The Jets are a very good team on D and they have an extremely confident coach (Rex Ryan handed out a schedule to his players that included a date for a Super Bowl parade) who knows how to scheme. <br />The Chargers have a very poor matchup with the Jets since they can’t run the football, which is the Jets main weakness on D. They have a very athletic and tall wide receiver in Vincent Jackson, with Phillip Rivers, who is an extremely confident and talented quarterback; throwing him the ball they have a chance to neutralize the Jets best defensive weapon, Darrelle Revis. Rivers has the ability to throw the ball to perfect spots where only Jackson can out jump Revis and retrieve a jump ball. <br />This is a very scary game to call because on the one hand you have a team that has won 11 in a row and is extremely hot coming into the playoffs, and then the other team is a team that struggled mightily to get into the playoffs and then beat a team in the first round that wasn’t too good to start with. The Jets D is solid, a Super Bowl caliber defense. As much as it pains me to say this, because I hate the Jets, but I think the Jets have an extremely favorable matchup and have an excellent chance at winning this game. However, at the end of the day I am going to trust my gut and go with the Chargers at home to prevail. I think the Chargers win a very close game, a game that can easily be won by the Jets if a call or two, or a turnover goes their way. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chargers 24 Jets 21</span><br />This weeks playoff matchups should be great and I hope the before each game the have a moment of silence for the fallen citizens of Haiti. What a tragic week for them and all the Haitian immigrants in America, my thoughts and prayers go out to them. <br />Next week we will break down the championship games. Should be great matchups and even though the Patriots are out, I am very excited for the rest of the playoffs.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-8341246005070535982010-01-05T09:22:00.000-08:002010-01-05T11:34:32.178-08:002009 NFL Playoffs<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">2009 NFL Playoffs:<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in">It’s that time of year again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The NFL Playoffs are back and for the first time in a while there is no clear-cut favorite to win it all. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">Let’s recap the regular season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in">The top seeds in the AFC and NFC got off to a combined 27-0 start only to stumble to a combined 1-5 finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Colts look a little better than the Saints do because at least the Colts rested their players in their two losses, where the Saints lost at home to a good team in the Cowboys in a great Saturday Night Matchup, but then put up two stinkers versus Tampa Bay who had 3 wins all season and Carolina who was playing without their top wide receiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>In the AFC the Chargers, Patriots, Bengals, Jets, and Ravens round out the playoff teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Chargers finished strong with a 13-3 record while winning their final 11 games, which earns them a first round bye. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Next the Patriots stumbled into the playoffs with a 10-6 record and with a HUGE loss in Wes Welker who, according to reports, has a torn ACL/MCL <span style="color:black;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/welkerhurt">http://tinyurl.com/welkerhurt</a> they have a had a very Un-Patriot like season, showing that they cannot beat a good team on the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They also showed their lack of defensive prowess, which has catapulted them into the playoffs and the Super Bowl in previous years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;">The fourth seed in the AFC is Cincinnati.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They too have had a very turbulent season suffering deaths to a member of their coaching staff and Chris Henry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>These tragic losses have derailed what looked like a promising season with Carson Palmer returning to his old self and having a great season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;">The Wild Card teams are the Jets and the Ravens who are linked through coaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Rex Ryan, the rookie head coach for the Jets lead the Ravens to a 2008 AFC Championship game loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Steelers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Jets are ranked first in overall defense, while the Ravens struggled on the defensive side of the ball this year, while playing better on offense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Joe Flacco has emerged a very solid young QB in this league.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;">After the Saints, the remaining NFL Playoff teams are Minnesota, Dallas, Arizona, Green Bay, and Philly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Minnesota wrapped up the two seed and a First round bye despite Brett Favre’s best efforts to blow the season in a similar fashion to last year with the Jets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They lost 3 of 4 games in December only to have a punishing win over a Giants team that wanted to hit the Links early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;">Dallas is the “IT” team of the NFC now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After knocking off the then undefeated Saints they put up back to back shutouts on the Redskins and the Eagles, whom they happen to matchup with for the third time this season in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Cowboys are known for a team that struggles in December and a team that can’t handle a snap for a game-tying extra point in the playoffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is this the year they finally shake those demons?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You’ll have to wait until I get into my predictions. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;">The Cardinals had a strong season winning a lot of tough matchups on the road. While also losing a few close ones that should have went their way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They have a solid offense and defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Cardinals are also the defending NFC Champions so they are battle tested and know how to win in January. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;">The Wild Card teams are the Packers and the Eagles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Eagles were playing for the an NFC East Championship, a #2 seed, and a first round and yet they were spanked by Dallas in the final week of the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That could be a crushing blow to their title hopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>While the Packers were playing for nothing against the Cardinals who were also playing for nothing and beat the Cardinals, does that prove anything? I don’t think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;">Wild Card Weekend:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;">AFC:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;">Jets v. Bengals:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The playoffs start with a rematch of the final game of the 2009 regular season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Jets whooped the Bengals tuchases 37-0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now the Bengals technically had something to play for, (had they won the game they would have been the 3 seed and hosted the Houston Texans, and then gone to SD for a round 2 matchup) but if they favored a rematch with Jets in round 1 and then travelling to Indy for a round 2 game, they would have just played the game without showing anything to the Jets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Meanwhile the Jets needed to win in order to make the playoffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In this rematch I like the idea that Cincy didn’t want to show the Jets anything where the Jets showed the Bengals a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Everyone is aware of Darrell Revis and his shutdown corner ability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He will be lined up across Chad Ochocinco who was held without a catch this past Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Bengals however will not go this game without getting the ball to Ochocinco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He will be able to get a few receptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The way the Jets can be beat is by the Bengals running crossing routes with Laveranues Coles and their tight ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Cincinnati can set up their passing game with their running game of Cedric Benson, who had over 1200 yards rushing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Jets on the other hand have the #1 overall defense and looked very strong in that final matchup with the Bengals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However, they are starting a rookie QB who, despite what the media pundits would like you to believe, is not a superstar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He’s had some very weak games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I see him throwing a costly pick and the Bengals being able to move the ball effectively on the ground and pick up a victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Bengals 20 Jets 14.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;">Ravens v. Patriots:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>In the early game on Sunday the Ravens come to Foxboro for a rematch of a week 4 meeting in which the Patriots prevailed 27-21.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In that game the Patriots were held to 85 yards on the ground and only 258 through the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Ravens were able to pick up 116 yards on the ground, but had a subpar game through the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In case you forgot the Patriots won this game because Mark Clayton drop a pass that hit him right in the chest on 4<sup>th</sup> down, late in the 4<sup>th</sup> quarter, inside the red zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If he makes that catch the Ravens most likely win the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A catch the he makes probably 99 out of 100 times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However, in the rematch the game will be much different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As I mentioned earlier the Pats lost Wes Welker to injury in their finale and will have to rely on Julian Edelman to fill in for Welker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Edelman is a rookie who played QB at Kent State, but looks like a Welker clone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He can run the crossing routes and elude tackles in an eerily similar way that Welker does. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The way the Pats win this game is by jumping out to an early lead, blitzing Flacco to get him moving a bit in the pocket to help protect their weak secondary, by converting on third down and by putting up points in the red zone in the second half of the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They do that and they win, if they don’t and Flacco is able to throw on this secondary and the Ravens can open up their defense because they know the Patriots need to throw the ball it will be a tough day for the Patriots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If the Ravens are successful in beating the Patriots it will be the first time the Patriots lose a home playoff game in the Brady era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think the Patriots will be able to use Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris to pound the ball into the Raven defense which will open up the throwing lanes for Brady and the Patriots will be successful against Flacco and force him to be uncomfortable in the pocket and the Patriots win the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Patriots 27 Ravens 14.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;">NFC:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="color:black;">Eagles v. Cowboys:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This will be the third time these two teams meet with the Cowboys winning the prior two meetings, including a beat-down of the Eagles in the final game of the regular season where the Eagle had a ton to play for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Had the Eagles won on Sunday they would have had the #2 seed and first round bye to rest some banged up players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Dallas defense has been on fire, they are coming off back-to-back games where they didn’t give up a point, and the game prior to that they ended the Saints perfect season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Eagles are a team that has been to the playoffs before and done well including a trip to the Super Bowl a few years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is tough one to call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On the one hand you have a team, the Cowboys, who never play well in December and January, but this year they have flipped the script and </span>are playing very well coming into the playoffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On the other hand we have the Eagles who normally play well in the playoffs but got run off the field in Dallas this past weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This game will be very close with the edge going to Dallas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think Dallas has finally figured out their issues and can make a deep playoff run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Dallas 21 Eagles 20</b>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Packers v. Cardinals<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></b>In the last playoff game this week we have what seems to be a recurring theme this first weekend of the playoffs, a rematch of a game from the final regular season game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This game has the same kind of feeling I got from the Jets-Bengals game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The only difference is in this game no one had anything to play for this past weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Once Minnesota won the Cardinals had no chance at the #2 seed so there was no need for them to push for a win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As we all know the Packers ended up winning the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Cardinals are coming off a Super Bowl appearance and are playing at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They have very fast, very talented receivers, even if Anquan Boldin is unable to go, which I think will not be the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Packers have a swarming defense, but with Kurt Warner taking the snaps the Cardinals will beat the Packers defense with quick slants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Cardinals defense will have a tough assignment in trying to stop Aaron Rodgers who is playing very well and his years behind Bret Favre may be paying off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But I like the home team in this matchup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Cardinals proved last year they are a team to be reckoned with and will show it again this postseason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Cardinals 30 Packers 21<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">Those are the predictions for round 1 of the postseason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will be back in a week to go over round 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And remember in each of the last four seasons a team playing Wild Card weekend has gone onto the Super Bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So who will it be this year…..? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You’ll have to wait and see.<span style="color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1167685046201833782007-01-01T12:56:00.000-08:002007-01-01T12:57:26.230-08:00Run for Immortality<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">With the commencement of the NFL playoffs set the Patriots embark on their journey for four Super Bowls in six years, a feat only accomplished by the Steelers in the late 70’s.<span style=""> </span>The Patriots start their run for Super Bowl immortality against the New York Jets in Foxboro.<span style=""> </span>The Patriots come in as the number 4 seed behind the Chargers, Ravens, and Colts.<span style=""> </span>The Chiefs round out the 6 playoff teams.<span style=""> </span>In the NFC the playoff teams are <st1:city st="on">Chicago</st1:City>, <st1:city st="on">New Orleans</st1:City>, Philly, <st1:city st="on">Seattle</st1:City>, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City>, and the Giants.<span style=""> </span>I will break down each of the leagues road to the Super Bowl.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;">AFC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">First round byes: <st1:city st="on">San Diego</st1:City>, and <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Baltimore</st1:City></st1:place><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Saturday Jan 6<sup>th</sup> 4:30pm:<span style=""> </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kansas City</st1:place></st1:City> VS. Indy.<span style=""> </span>Indy is the home team and most likely will be favored, however Indy has been playing mediocre football the last month and they look even more vulnerable to the run than earlier in the year.<span style=""> </span>KC comes in with arguably the best rusher in the NFL, Larry “Grandma Ma” Johnson.<span style=""> </span>He should get the ball over 50 times, with 40 of those coming on the ground and slash the Indy D for 200 all purpose yards.<span style=""> </span>This is the year that all the media isn’t slurping the Peyton Manning/Colts Kool Aid.<span style=""> </span>This is the year the media is actually giving another team a shot at the Super Bowl, and I say it is about time and I agree.<span style=""> </span>I have never been on an Indy bandwagon.<span style=""> </span>With all that said I have the Chiefs.<span style=""> </span>Of course since this is the year everyone is expecting the colts to lose, who knows, maybe Peyton can win a game in the playoffs when it matters.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Chiefs 41 Colts 35</b>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sunday Jan 7<sup>th</sup> 1:00 pm.<span style=""> </span>NY Jets VS. <st1:place st="on">New England</st1:place> Patriots.<span style=""> </span>The Jets roll into Foxboro all confident and cocky because no one gave them a shot to win anything this year, let alone make the playoffs.<span style=""> </span>They won ten games in a loaded AFC.<span style=""> </span>Eric Mangini is returning to his old stomping grounds to face his old master.<span style=""> </span>The Jets feel they have a chance to win because they came in to a rainy and wet Foxboro and beat the Patriots 17-14 without Rodney Harrison, Stephen Neal, and Ty Warren.<span style=""> </span>They will all be in uniform this week.<span style=""> </span>The Pats come in playing some very good football since the shutout loss in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> a few weeks.<span style=""> </span>They have a + 8 turnover margin since Brady called out his team saying they didn’t listen to their coach.<span style=""> </span>Turnovers were a huge problem in back to back wins over the Lions and Bears, but this has been fixed.<span style=""> </span>This could have been a fatal flaw for the Patriots, but not anymore.<span style=""> </span>I think this will be a relatively easy victory for the Patriots.<span style=""> </span>The Jets don’t have enough weapons on offense to beat the Patriots defense, which tied a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a season (2003).<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Patriots 30 Jets 14 <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Divisional Round<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">KC vs. SD.<span style=""> </span>This is matchup of the top two runners in football.<span style=""> </span>LDT and LJ are both dominant backs who hit the hole hard and are tough to bring down.<span style=""> </span>The teams split the season series.<span style=""> </span>The difference in this game comes from the QB position and defense.<span style=""> </span>KC probably has a slight slight edge over SD because of experience at the QB position; however, SD has a much better defense.<span style=""> </span>SD has one of the best Linebackers in the game, and they are very good at stopping the run.<span style=""> </span>I think even Marty ball cant lose this one.<span style=""> </span>And keep in mind that Marty hasn’t won a playoff game since ’94.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Bolt’s 27 KC 19<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">New England vs. <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Baltimore</st1:place></st1:City>.<span style=""> </span>The Ravens are coming off the bye week and will face a very tough Patriots team that is coming off an emotional playoff victory over the Jets.<span style=""> </span>The two teams didn’t face each other in the regular season.<span style=""> </span>This is a matchup of two defensive juggernauts.<span style=""> </span>They ranked one – two in defense in terms of points allowed per game.<span style=""> </span>The Patriots have a clear advantage on offense.<span style=""> </span>It is a wash on defense; the Patriots have the advantage on special teams.<span style=""> </span>The difference in this game comes with coaching where the Pats have the advantage again.<span style=""> </span>I don’t see Bill letting Steve McNair tear through the Pats defense, but I can see Tom Brady and company pick apart the Ravens defense.<span style=""> </span>I think the Patriots win a defensive chess match.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Patriots 17 Ravens 13.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">AFC Championship Game<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">New England versus <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">San Diego</st1:City></st1:place><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Patriots will come into a nice weather stadium to face the very talented Chargers team.<span style=""> </span>The Chargers have a great running game and a good defense.<span style=""> </span>The Patriots have the fifth best run defense in the NFL.<span style=""> </span>I think they can contain LDT, if anyone can.<span style=""> </span>They are practically even in terms of passing defense, so much like the Pats – Ravens matchup this will come down to coaching and special teams.<span style=""> </span>I think the Patriots have the edge in both.<span style=""> </span>I think BB will devise a scheme to send pressure and confuse Rivers, and we all know the shortcomings of Marty <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Schottenheimer.<span style=""> </span>They have been well documented.<span style=""> </span>This will be a very entertaining game and a very well played game, but I think it will come down to a botched play call on the part of the Chargers.<span style=""> </span>For intensive purposes this is the Super Bowl.<span style=""> </span>The winner of this game will go on to win the Big One.<span style=""> </span>Call me a homer, call me biased, but I have the Pats.<span style=""> </span>I picked them in the preseason to go 12-4 and win the Super Bowl.<span style=""> </span>They went 12-4 and now the Super Bowl part is within reach.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Pats 30 Bolt’s 20<span style=""> </span></strong><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">NFC<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I don’t really care about the NFC, but I am going to go with the heartfelt story of the Saints to play the Bears in the NFC title game and the saints will win to face the Patriots in the Super Bowl. <span style=""> </span>My prediction on that later on.<span style=""> </span><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1157662713782901542006-09-07T13:57:00.001-07:002010-01-05T13:01:06.495-08:00Different Year, Same Results<table str="" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 393pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="522"><col style="width: 121pt;" width="161"> <col style="width: 35pt;" width="46"> <col style="width: 35pt;" width="47"> <col style="width: 11pt;" width="14"> <col style="width: 121pt;" width="161"> <col style="width: 35pt;" width="46"> <col style="width: 35pt;" width="47"> <tbody><tr style="height: 30pt;" height="40"> <td colspan="7" class="xl29" style="height: 30pt; width: 393pt;" height="40" width="522"><a name="RANGE!A1:G43">2006 NFL PREDICTIONS</a></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td colspan="3" class="xl30" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">AFC</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td colspan="3" class="xl30">NFC</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl25" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"><br /></td> <td class="xl25">Win</td> <td class="xl25">Loss</td> <td class="xl25"><br /></td> <td class="xl25"><br /></td> <td class="xl25">Win</td> <td class="xl25">Loss</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td colspan="3" class="xl28" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">East</td> <td class="xl25"><br /></td> <td colspan="3" class="xl28">East</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Patriots (1)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">12</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">4</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Eagles (2)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">12</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">4</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Dolphins</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Cowboys* (6)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Bills</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">5</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">11</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Giants</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Jets</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">3</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">13</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Redskins</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">8</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">8</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"> <td colspan="3" class="xl28" style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17">North</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td colspan="3" class="xl28">North</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Bengals (4)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Bears (4)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Steelers* (6)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Vikings</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">8</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">8</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Ravens</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Packers</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Browns</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">5</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">11</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Lions</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">5</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">11</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td colspan="3" class="xl28" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">South</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td colspan="3" class="xl28">South</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Colts (2)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">12</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">4</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Panthers (1)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">12</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">4</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Jaguars</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Bucs</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Titans</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">4</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">12</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Falcons</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">8</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">8</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Texans</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">3</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">13</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Saints</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">3</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">13</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td colspan="3" class="xl28" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">West</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td colspan="3" class="xl25">West</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Chargers (3)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">11</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">5</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Seahawks (3)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">11</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">5</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Broncos* (5)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Cardinals* (5)</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Chiefs</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">9</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">7</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Rams</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">6</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">10</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Raiders</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">4</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">12</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">49ers</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">3</td> <td class="xl24" num="" align="right">13</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 9pt;" height="12"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 9pt;" height="12"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl27" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">*<span class="font5">Wild Card winners</span></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl25" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">PLAYOFFS</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl26" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Wild Card Weekend</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl26">Divisional Playoffs</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" colspan="2" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Steelers over Chargers</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Colts over Steelers</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Broncos over Bengals</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Patriots over Broncos</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" colspan="2" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Cowboys over Seahawks</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24" colspan="2" style="">Cowboys over Panthers</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Cardinals over Bears</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24">Eagles over Cardinals</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl26" colspan="2" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Championship Game:</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl26">SUPER BOWL XLI:</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Patriots over Colts</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl25" colspan="2" style="">Patriots OVER COWBOYS</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Cowboys over Eagles</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 15pt;" height="20"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21"> <td class="xl25" style="height: 15.75pt;" height="21">Awards:</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" colspan="3" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Super Bowl MVP - Tom Brady</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" colspan="2" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">NFL MVP - Larry Johnson</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" colspan="2" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Rushing title - Larry Johnson</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td class="xl24" colspan="5" style="height: 15pt;" height="20">1st pick in the 2007 Draft - San Francisco 49ers</td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> <td class="xl24"><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1157249084107869862006-09-02T18:59:00.000-07:002006-09-02T19:04:44.123-07:00Get Well Wishes.Friday was a sad day in Red Sox Nation. Losing players all year long to injuries like ACL/MCL sprains, or shoulder injuries are nothing compared to the news that the young lefty heard on Friday. Jon Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma, a treatable form of cancer. Anytime you hear the words cancer it is a cause for concern. Lester will be starting the road to recovery this week, and all I, or anyone else, can do is wish him the best of luck. When news of this severity surfaces it brings a realism to the world of sports. Jon Lester get healthy and strong as soon as possible and I wish you nothing but the best.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1154101960462611952006-07-28T08:51:00.000-07:002006-07-28T08:52:40.483-07:00Waiting is the Hardest part...Quick little thoughts on why the Patriots are heading back to the Super Bowl this year....<br /> <p class="MsoNormal">It is simple.<span style=""> </span>The Patriots are going to win the East, for a few reasons.<span style=""> </span>1.<span style=""> </span>They didn't get any worse than last yr, this includes Rodney coming back from injury, and Branch isn't going to hold out the whole season because he will still have 1 more yr on his contract.<span style=""> </span>2.<span style=""> </span>Dillon will be back to his normal self, what people don't realize is he ran behind a makeshift offensive line last yr, plus he had those injuries.<span style=""> </span>He is fully healthy and if the presence Laurence doesn’t motivate him to be his old self, I don’t know what will. <span style=""> </span>3.<span style=""> </span>No one in the east got better enough to overtake the Patriots. <span style=""> </span>Sure the sexy pick is for the Dolphins to overtake the Patriots, but seriously are you that concerned with an offense run by Culpepper. <span style=""> </span>I think the signing of Culpepper makes the Dolphins worse than last year.<span style=""> </span>Now, you may ask why, and ill tell you.<span style=""> </span>With Fiedler, he managed a football game, played within himself, he didn’t try to go out there and make plays he couldn’t.<span style=""> </span>What does Culpepper do? Exactly, the opposite of that.<span style=""> </span>He will cost them a few games because of this.<span style=""> </span>And as a side point we have to remember that last yr, with out Moss, he has 6TD’s to 12 INT’s before his injury, so he hasn’t played well since loosing his premier receiver, and in case you don’t know what the Dolphins roster looks like, they have no premier receiver.<span style=""> </span>4.<span style=""> </span>Last I checked we still had Brady and Bill.<span style=""> </span>They are the best combo since peanut butter and jelly was put together.<span style=""> </span>Also we now have a proven defensive coordinator, and that is not taking anything any from Mangini, I wish him nothing but success in NY, but he was 34 when he coached this team last year.<span style=""> </span>Peeves is proven winner under BB and wherever he went in college.<span style=""> </span>5.<span style=""> </span>Losing Adam does hurt, a lot, but I am not that concerned.<span style=""> </span>I take the Patriots front office at their word when they say they saw something in Adam that made them not want to resign him.<span style=""> </span>I also just have this gut feeling that Gostkowski will be a very good FG kicker for the Patriots this season.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">To sum everything up; the Pats are better than last yr.<span style=""> </span>No one in the East will overtake their thrown and I will see you in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Miami</st1:City></st1:place> come Feb.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> This is just a preview to the NFL Preview I will be coming out with soon.Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1153334852549694772006-07-19T11:44:00.000-07:002006-07-19T11:50:10.703-07:00The Times are a changin’<p class="MsoNormal">The Boston Celtics just wrapped up their Vegas Summer league Schedule with a 3-2 record. <span style=""></span>The team was lead by the usual suspects of Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson. <span style=""> </span>They all showed improved forms from last year.<span style=""> </span>Gomes just dominated from the field averaging 19PPG, 6RPG while shooting a spectacular 60% from the field and 86% from the line. <span style=""> </span>Green showed he has some long range potential with his 56% three point shooting.<span style=""> </span><st1:place st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> lost some weight that can hopefully keep his ankle healthy for a full season. <span style=""> </span>Rondo and Telfair both played some spectacular Point.<span style=""> </span>The surprise of the summer league has to be Allen Ray.<span style=""> </span>He was a non-drafted invitee to the camp, and the Celtics faith in paid off. <span style=""> </span>He averaged over 14PPG while shooting over 50% from the field.<span style=""> </span>I like his chances to make the team.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Let’s break down the Celtics position by position and give my prediction from the upcoming season.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b style="">Point Guards </b>(Delonte West, Telfair, Rondo)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The Celtics clearly were not satisfied with their point guard situation because they traded for one on draft night, and drafted one as well.<span style=""> </span>I like the Telfair move.<span style=""> </span>He is a very capable old school point guard who can deliver a pass with the best PG’s in the league.<span style=""> </span>He needs to work on his shooting as he only shot 40% from the field in the summer league, but he can knock down that open jumper when needed.<span style=""> </span>Rondo is a guy who also struggles with his shot.<span style=""> </span>The book on him in college is that he is very capable of leading a team, but he can’t hit that open jumper.<span style=""> </span>He showed signs that maybe that wasn’t the case as he shot 56% from the field in the summer league.<span style=""> </span>But what this guy can do is dish out assists.<span style=""> </span>West, we are all aware of West can do.<span style=""> </span>People in the media and the league, and clearly the Celtics front office don’t think he can be a true point guard that can lead a team to a championship.<span style=""> </span>I agree with that.<span style=""> </span>He is a very capable slash guard who can shoot well and spell a true point at the 1, but if he was our main point guard it would be tough to get through the playoff tree.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Overall grade:<span style=""> </span>B<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p></o:p>Off Guards </b>(Tony Allen<a href="http://www.nba.com/playerfile/wally_szczerbiak/index.html?nav=page"><span style="text-decoration: none;color:#000000;" ></span></a>, Paul Pierce, Allen Ray, Wally Szczerbiak, Gerald Green)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>This is a talented bunch.<span style=""> </span>PDub is worth every penny of his 3 year 60 million dollar extension.<span style=""> </span>Tony Allen plays great D and can also jump out of the gym.<span style=""> </span>Wally is a shooter, so is Allen Ray.<span style=""> </span>Green is the guy poised for the breakout year.<span style=""> </span>We saw signs of it towards the end of last year when he really put together some great games he clearly carried that over into the summer league.<span style=""> </span>He is a guy who has tremendous upside, and remember he is only one year removed from high school.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Overall grade: A-<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p></o:p>Forwards </b>(Gomes, Brian Scalabrine, Leon Powe, Brian Grant)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>None of these guys are going to start this season and only Gomes is expected to play quality minutes.<span style=""> </span>We saw what Brian can do (nothing) last year.<span style=""> </span>Brian grant was dumped by <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Phoenix</st1:city></st1:place> because of money and he probably won’t even see minutes with the Celtics.<span style=""> </span>Powe is a wildcard.<span style=""> </span>He was drafted in the second round but late.<span style=""> </span>He played in the Pac-10 which is a good conference to play in, but I’m not expecting too much from him. <span style=""> </span>Gomes could be trade bait for possibly AI, because Ainge isn’t that high on him and feels his trade value is much higher than he is.<span style=""> </span>I love Gomes, I loved him at PC, I loved him last year for the Celtics, but if he can reel in AI I wouldn’t mind losing him.<span style=""> </span>(More on AI later on).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Overall grade: C<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p></o:p>Big Men </b>(Big Al, Theo Ratliff, Kendrick Perkins, Dwayne Jones)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Big Al and Perk are most likely going to start out of this group, Big Al at the 4, and Perk at the 5. <span style=""> </span>Theo came with the Telfair in the deal with <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Portland</st1:place></st1:city>. <span style=""> </span>If he can give the Celtics 15-20 min a game rebound the ball well and block his shots, which is all we can ask of him. <span style=""> </span>Jones is not going to see any playing time this year.<span style=""> </span>I am expecting HUGE things out of Big Al and Perk.<span style=""> </span>They both showed flashes of brilliance last year and the Celtics are hoping that they can sustain that for a full season.<span style=""> </span>I think it will happen, of course I said this last year about Big Al right after I bought his jersey.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Overall grade: B<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b style="">Depth Chart<span style=""> </span>Starter<span style=""> </span>Backup<span style=""> </span>3<sup>rd</sup> string<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">PG:</b><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><st1:place st="on">West<span style=""> </span>Telfair</st1:place><span style=""> </span>Rondo</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">SG</b><span style=""> </span>Wally<span style=""> </span>Allen<span style=""> </span>Ray<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">SF<span style=""> </span></b>PDub<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Green<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Scalabrine</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">PF</b> Big Al<span style=""> </span>Gomes<span style=""> </span>Powe</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">C<span style=""> </span></b>Perk<span style=""> </span>Ratliff<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b style="">Prediction<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>This is a Celtic team that missed the playoffs last year.<span style=""> </span>This year will be completely different.<span style=""> </span>The landscape of the east is very different.<span style=""> </span>Everyone is anointing the Bulls masters of the East because they got Big Ben<b style="">, </b>but I’m not as sure. <span style=""> </span>This is new type of league where it favors teams that can run and score, FYI the Celtics can run and score. <span style=""> </span>The Bulls have both Tyrus Thomas and Big Ben who can’t put the ball in the hole. <span style=""> </span>The Cavs showed what LeBron is capable of when they came within 1 win of the Eastern Conference Finals. <span style=""> </span>The Heat are the Heat.<span style=""> </span>I don’t like the Nets I think the Celtics will finish ahead of them.<span style=""> </span>The Celtics can get to 45-48 wins with this team.<span style=""> </span>I like what Ainge has done with it.<span style=""> </span>PDub showed that he can take his game to the next level.<span style=""> </span>I think the Celtics win the Atlantic Division and get at least a 3 seed, but deserve it this time.<span style=""> </span>However, if the Celtics pull off the deal for AI they lock up the 2 seed and get to 51-54 wins.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Side Bar</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I would love to see AI come to the Celtics; I am not sure how this guy is the problem in Philly.<span style=""> </span>He plays with his heart on his sleeve and he brings it every game of every season.<span style=""> </span>Sure he will miss the occasional practice, but come on we’re talking about practice.<span style=""> </span>I think if we can pull off the deal without giving up Green, Perk, PDub, Big Al, or West I do it.<span style=""> </span>So how can the Celtics pull off the trade without throwing them into the deal?<span style=""> </span>Just looking at the salary cap numbers the Celtics can trade Wally, Scalabrine, and Telfair for AI.<span style=""> </span>Why would the Sixers do this trade? Because they want to get rid of AI and AI wants to leave after all these trade rumors.<span style=""> </span>Wally is a good shooter that could compliment Webber.<span style=""> </span>Telfair is the point guard they are looking for as well and Brian would be thrown in for money reasons.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>If the Celtics are able to pull off the deal for AI they make the Eastern Conference Finals.<span style=""> </span>There starting lineup would just insert AI into Wally’s position.<span style=""> </span>This would be a great deal for the Celtics and I hope they pull it off.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><span style=""></span> I am expecting great things from the Celtics this year and I think they are going to deliver.<span style=""> </span>I still think they are a year away from really truly contending for an NBA title, with or with our AI.<span style=""> </span>AI would help them go further this year.<span style=""> </span>The Celtics have a solid foundation for the future and they have a solid foundation for the present as well.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Soon to come, a preview of the upcoming Patriots season as well as more stuff on the Red Sox. <span style=""> </span><b style=""><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><b style=""><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1152114399138261852006-07-05T08:45:00.000-07:002006-07-05T08:46:39.166-07:00The Good, The Bad, and The Skinny<p class="MsoNormal">As we sit here on July 5<sup>th</sup>, it is the halfway point of the 2006 season and I still cannot get a read on this year’s Red Sox team. <span style=""> </span>After winning 14 of 15 against the NL East and people talking about them like they won the World Series they come down to earth and lose two straight to the Devil Rays. <span style=""> </span>Not only did they lose these games to the Devil Rays it is everything else that came with it. <span style=""> </span>We had our two best pitchers on the mound for the starts and they both took the L. <span style=""> </span>The Yankees also lost their last two games so I guess that is a good thing and a bad thing. <span style=""> </span>A good thing because we keep our lead in the AL East, a bad thing because we should have increased the lead. <span style=""> </span>So with that said let’s hand out some grades and some moves we need to do to make this years team a world champion.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Pitching<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Sox have two Aces in Schilling and Beckett. <span style=""> </span>They have a reliable consistent starter in Wake.<span style=""> </span>A rookie pitcher who has pitched on thin ice in most his starts, but has gotten out of all of them while giving us a chance to win (Lester). <span style=""> </span>And then we have a major major major question mark in Jason Johnson. <span style=""> </span>This is a guy we got off the scraps from the Indians and in his first start for us, he had a rough two innings, but then settled down, but he took the loss.<span style=""> </span>I am a little torn between who I want as my number 5 in the rotation. <span style=""> </span>I have only seen one start for Johnson, albeit a bad one, but I willing to see what he has tonight in Tampa before I start calling for his head. <span style=""> </span>Of course, the guy he is replacing in the rotation is no savior either. <span style=""> </span>Matt Clement was not pitching well this year at all. <span style=""> </span>He can’t get anyone out.<span style=""> </span>So if I have to choose one of those two for my number 5 I take neither. <span style=""> </span>We need to go out a get another starter.<span style=""> </span>But more on that later. <span style=""> </span>Our bullpen has been well chronicled.<span style=""> </span>We have a bunch of rookies who I want to see out there much more than Taverez and Seanez.<span style=""> </span>We have a nice matchup guy with Lopez.<span style=""> </span>Take away what Timlin did yesterday he is having a great year.<span style=""> </span>And of course we don’t need to reiterate how amazing Papelbon has been.<span style=""> </span>He has one of the best years for a closer anytime anywhere.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Grade: Starting Staff B-, Bullpen C, Closer/Setup man: A<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Offense<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We were told at the beginning of Spring Training that this years Red Sox team wasn’t going to be your fathers Red Sox team. <span style=""> </span>They weren’t supposed to mash the ball all around the field, they weren’t supposed to score a lot of runs, they weren’t supposed to have walk-off home runs every other week, and they were supposed to have a lot of holes in their lineup. <span style=""> </span>But that just shows you what a team with two of the best power hitters in the game does. <span style=""> </span>The old saying of “hitting is contagious” is definitely true.<span style=""> </span>How else can you explain <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Lowell</st1:City></st1:place> hitting over .300, Nixon hitting over .320, Gonzo hitting close to .270. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>(Now I know .270 doesn’t draw attention anywhere else but in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Boston</st1:City></st1:place>, but when you were supposed to hit .200 and the media said before the season that with Gonzo’s glove anything close to .270 would be amazing. <span style=""> </span>It does warrant a mention.)<span style=""> </span>A lot of players who weren’t supposed to do what they are doing are coming through. <span style=""> </span>And because of that the Sox have scored 451 runs so far for an average of 5.5 runs a game, and they are on pace for over 900, that’s not too bad.<span style=""> </span>Yuk in the top of the order has been a very pleasant surprise as well as his glove. <span style=""> </span>Loretta is the typical number 2 guy that Edgar wasn’t last year.<span style=""> </span>Ortiz is the best clutch hitter in the game, Manny is Manny.<span style=""> </span>‘Tek is having an off year with the average.<span style=""> </span>Nixon is just hitting everything thrown at him.<span style=""> </span>Crisp is getting more and more comfortable at the plate.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Grade: A<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Defense<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There isn’t much to say. <span style=""> </span>The Sox have the best defense in the game. <span style=""> </span>Earlier in the year they set the record for consecutive games without an error (17). <span style=""> </span>Yuk is playing a great glove at first.<span style=""> </span>Crisp is playing a centerfield that is making us forget about Jesus. <span style=""> </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Lowell</st1:place></st1:City>, Gonzo, and Loretta are playing like gold glove winners.<span style=""> </span>Just as a side point, Remy and Orsillo mentioned during yesterday’s game that Loretta and Gonzo have a combined five errors this season. <span style=""> </span>Five errors from your middle infield that is unheard of.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Grade: A<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Coaching<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The coaching staff has been upgraded.<span style=""> </span>They have a new pitching coach and new first and third base coaches.<span style=""> </span>All of which have been upgrades.<span style=""> </span>And I hate to say that about the pitching coach because Wallace had hip surgery and we feel for him and wish him a speedy recovery, but Nip has been great. <span style=""> </span>Terry earned his 200<sup>th</sup> win as a manager this season, and aside from some questionable decisions he has managed this team very well.<span style=""> </span>I would love to see the young pitchers in there a little more.<span style=""> </span>I want to see Hanson and Delcarmen in tight spots.<span style=""> </span>Manny has been pitching very well.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Grade: B<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Moves that should be made<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Sox need to upgrade their pitching staff.<span style=""> </span>They don’t need to do anything with their lineup or defense.<span style=""> </span>Adding another guy in the rotation and another guy in the bullpen will be great.<span style=""> </span>Now I don’t think we should break the bank for anyone, I think it will be tough to land a Willis or Smoltz.<span style=""> </span>Zito isn’t being traded.<span style=""> </span>But I’d like to give Jake Pevey a look from <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">San Diego</st1:place></st1:City>.<span style=""> </span>If the asking price isn’t too much why not make a deal with <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">San Diego</st1:place></st1:City> for the third time this year.<span style=""> </span>Although a few days ago I heard the name Smoltz thrown out there for a Hanson, I am not sure how I feel about this.<span style=""> </span>I think Smoltz will give the Red Sox a very realistic shot at another World Series ring, but Hanson is going to be a stud in this league.<span style=""> </span>At the same time, it’s easier to fine a stud closer than an ace in the rotation.<span style=""> </span>The Sox also need to add a bullpen guy to take over the Taverez or Seanez spot in the Bullpen.<span style=""> </span>The Sox could go after someone like Joe Borowski who is pitching well down in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Miami</st1:City></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Red Sox are not that far off from another World Series Title.<span style=""> </span>Just need to add a few tiny pieces as the trading deadline.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><b style=""><span style=""> </span></b></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1151003103155138882006-06-22T12:03:00.000-07:002006-06-22T19:48:08.133-07:00Allow me to Re-intorduce myself...<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Can we diagnose this embarrassment in the World Cup a failure for the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>?<span style=""> </span>I am not so certain.<span style=""> </span>Sure they were ranked 5<sup>th</sup> in the world in the FIFA rankings, their highest ranking ever.<span style=""> </span>Sure they lost to <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Ghana</st1:country-region></st1:place>, a team that has never qualified for the World Cup before 2006.<span style=""> </span>However, this is a <st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region> team that finally earned its first World Cup point with their pathetic tie on Saturday to <st1:country-region st="on">Italy</st1:country-region>, when the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> couldn’t even score their own goal.<span style=""> </span>This is also a <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> team that plays its games in a country that doesn’t care about soccer, or football depending on which American you are talking to.<span style=""> </span>That can really be a factor in this story.<span style=""> </span>Imagine yourself on a team that trains for 4 years for a tournament that is so popular throughout the world yet no one in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> cares.<span style=""> </span>When I tell people I watch the World Cup, or when people see that I am watching the World Cup people always say “why are you watching soccer, it’s so boring”.<span style=""> </span>Is it? I find it very exciting and so do more and more Americans who slowly but surely are coming to terms with this international uber sport.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>But back to the real topic... the games being played.<span style=""> </span>The <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> opened up the 2006 World Cup with a loss to the Czech in which they looked completely flat and a team that didn’t deserve to be in the World Cup.<span style=""> </span>In their second game they played to a tie with usual powerhouse <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>In their third game they couldn’t handle <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ghana</st1:place></st1:country-region>, when everything else fell into place and all they needed was the win to advance out of group play.<span style=""> </span>It’s sad, it’s upsetting, and it’s disappointing.<span style=""> </span>The only reason why I don’t categorize the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> showing in the World Cup a failure is because you can see the seeds being planted for the future.<span style=""> </span>The sport is growing in popularity and many more kids are playing the sport.<span style=""> </span>Come 2010, the next World Cup, the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> should be ranked even higher than 5<sup>th</sup> in the world and they should have a better showing than this year.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>It’s strange, normally Americans are used to dominating every sport we play, but it isn’t the case with soccer.<span style=""> </span>The rest of the world has a leg up on us because soccer is the only sport they play.<span style=""> </span>And sure this World Cup would have been different if it weren’t for the Ref’s.<span style=""> </span>It’s ironic, Americans are new to this sport and yet we still are quick to blame the ref’s.<span style=""> </span>Now I’m not saying that the ref’s didn’t screw up a ton of calls, because they did, but I am saying that the refs don’t play the game and we need to stop blaming the refs.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The refs in international soccer are also known for taking bribes and fixing games.<span style=""> </span>I am not accusing anyone of anything, but I think it is a very big coincidence that the ref who officiated the US-Italy match, the ref who made a ton of bad calls, was found guilty of taking bribes and fixing matches.<span style=""> </span>How can FIFA let this guy ref? again I am not saying he is still accepting bribes or fixing games, but if a ref were ever found guilty of doing that in the US he would never ref again, not even little league.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I think one of the main reasons soccer hasn’t been widely accepted as a sport in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> is because of the rules.<span style=""> </span>The refs are really quick to call red cards which mean you are out of the rest of that game as well as the next.<span style=""> </span>Imagine getting a double technical foul in basketball and then you are done for the next game too.<span style=""> </span>Now imagine that happening during the NBA finals.<span style=""> </span>Does that make any sense? Not really.<span style=""> </span>Another strange rule is the double yellow card.<span style=""> </span>It’s fine that two yellow cards equals a red card, but it doesn’t make sense for yellow cards to carry over from game to game.<span style=""> </span>Finally, you can only sub 3 times? Are you serious? What is the reason for that?<span style=""> </span>Imagine playing hockey and telling the coaches, oh you can only sub 3 times in a game.<span style=""> </span>Would people care about hockey? However, there are some rules I love about soccer.<span style=""> </span>I love that the clock never stops.<span style=""> </span>It makes the game much more intense and more fun to watch.<span style=""> </span>Also well actually that is pretty much it, but I love soccer.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Although the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> has been eliminated I will still have vesting interest in the World Cup.<span style=""> </span>I personally thought <st1:country-region st="on">England</st1:country-region> would win the Cup, but now that they lost one of their best players, it will be tough for them to make the finals, so I will love to see <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> just dominate the rest of the World Cup.<span style=""> </span>And I hope that Americans who watched the World Cup know the valiant effort the US gave and applaud them, and I hope the Idiot Americans that didn’t watch, who say soccer is a dumb sport, learn to love the sport and realize it is a great game to watch.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="font-size:16;">Ways to make Soccer in the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> more popular<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There a few ways that we, as Americans, can make soccer as big in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> as it is for the rest of the world..</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Firstly, we need a big name marketable star. <span style=""> </span>We have tried in the past to bring some European soccer stars over to <st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region>, most famously with Pele and trying to lure him to the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> for a 10 year $110 million dollar contract. <span style=""> </span>However, I don’t think this strategy is a good one. <span style=""> </span>We need a homegrown soccer superstar.<span style=""> </span>We have a guy named Freddy Adu.<span style=""> </span>Sure he is just turned 17, but this kid can play.<span style=""> </span>Now I know he wasn’t born in <st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region>, ironically he was born in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ghana</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but he is an American citizen, circa 2003. <span style=""> </span>Right now he is rotting away on the bench for DC United. <span style=""> </span>Why? How come this kid isn’t given a chance to play right away? <span style=""> </span>If the kid has talent, which he does, he should be given the opportunity to play right away no matter what his age is. <span style=""> </span>Because of this there is talk of him going to play oversees. <span style=""> </span>This will be a huge mistake. <span style=""> </span>Granted he will make boatloads more money in <st1:place st="on">Europe</st1:place>, but this is what all our good players do. <span style=""> </span>We need to bring the Americans back to <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> and let them play in our league.<span style=""> </span>We need to build up a solid league with American superstars that the American people can relate to. <span style=""> </span>If this happens we can help the sport grow.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Secondly we need to get MLS a major network TV deal. <span style=""> </span>I don’t even know where you can watch a soccer game. <span style=""> </span>I don’t think I have ever seen a regular season game on TV. <span style=""> </span>If a network, let’s say ESPN, who no longer has Hockey, and doesn’t really show anything but Baseball on TV over the summer. <span style=""> </span>(The MLS season run from the beginning of June until the end of October.)<span style=""> </span>If ESPN picks up TV rights for MLS starting for the 2007 season that will give America 3 years of prime time exposure until the next World Cup in 2010.<span style=""> </span>And of course along with a big network TV contract comes more advertising money that can be pumped into the sport allowing teams to spend more money on stars which will then allow teams in the MLS to keep the few superstars we have.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Now I don’t know what it was like when any other major sport was first introduced to the mainstream, (I’m only 22), but I’m sure they faced some of the same hardships that MLS does.<span style=""> </span>People don’t fully understand the rules of soccer and until they do people will remain uninterested with the sport.<span style=""> </span>I’m not too sure on how to fix this problem with American viewership other than the onus in on the fans to learn the sport, and the only way to learn all the rules is to watch the game of soccer.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">No sport can grow in popularity without a big time TV contract. <span style=""> </span>The fastest growing sport, the Arena Football League, didn’t start to boom until it received a TV deal with NBC.<span style=""> </span>Once the AFL received its TV deal it was exposed to mainstream <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> and people learnt the rules of the sport, and learned to love the fast paced alternative to the NFL.<span style=""> </span>Why can’t this be the case with MLS? Well it can.<span style=""> </span>I beg ESPN to pick up TV rights to this great league. <span style=""> </span></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1150914157833258752006-06-21T11:21:00.000-07:002006-06-22T19:48:57.043-07:00NBA Champs: The Miami Heat<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="">“We wanted it, we took it.” D Wade after the heat game 6 victory to win the NBA title. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Last night the Miami Heat won their first NBA title in franchise history. <span style=""> </span>They came back from 2-0 series deficit to stun the state of <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:state> as they thought they would be crowned NBA champs this year. <span style=""> </span>In game 6 last night, Wade, excuse me I mean the Heat came back from an early first quarter deficit to win the game. <span style=""> </span>Now I have a few thoughts on this series and you are about to read them…</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I had <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> in 7 to start the series. <span style=""> </span>I thought <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> was the better team coming into the Finals. <span style=""> </span>I thought <st1:city st="on">Dallas</st1:city> had the momentum coming in, but I guess the series with <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Phoenix</st1:place></st1:city> took too much out of them.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">To start things off I would like to congratulate the Heat on winning the NBA title, because no matter what anyone will say, the Heat won the series and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> did not. <span style=""> </span>But with that said I do believe that something fishy happened in this series. <span style=""> </span>Now, I am not the kind of guy to yell conspiracy theory like the next fan of the NBA, but I am the guy who will point out some reasons why their may have been a conspiracy. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">First things first, the free throws disparity was in huge favor of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>I went back and counted up the attempts and it backed up my statement (Mia:207, Dal: 155) and also included the deciding game in the series, game 5, in which Miami doubled up on free throw attempts (49-25).<span style=""> </span>That is a huge disparity in free throw attempts for the game considering Shaq only took 12 FT’s.<span style=""> </span>Now I know it has become commonplace to blame the ref’s for losses in every sport.<span style=""> </span>The losing team never really lost the game, the ref’s did.<span style=""> </span>It is very similar to Shawshank Redemption; no one in the prison committed any crimes.<span style=""> </span>But with that said the Ref’s suck and something needs to be done.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The play that will be looked at forever is the phantom foul call on Dirk in overtime of game 5. <span style=""> </span>While watching the game live I thought it could have been called a foul, but the more I look at that play there is no way that is a foul. <span style=""> </span>No one even touched Wade on his way to the hoop. <span style=""> </span>So you ask why Wade is getting a call that even <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Jordan</st1:place></st1:country-region> wouldn’t receive. <span style=""> </span>And there are two simple answers.<span style=""> </span>The first is the NBA is in dire need of the next loveable superstar and Wade fits that bill. <span style=""> </span>The second is the NBA does not want Shaq and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kobe</st1:place></st1:city> on the same level. <span style=""> </span>As long as Shaq didn’t win another title, fans could say <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kobe</st1:place></st1:city> or Shaq couldn’t win titles on their own. <span style=""> </span>But now that Shaq has one without <st1:city st="on">Kobe</st1:city>, David Stern can market Shaq as the better of the two and bring <st1:city st="on">Kobe</st1:city> down another notch, and we all know how much the NBA loves to hate on <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Kobe</st1:city></st1:place> now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There was a second controversial call in game 5.<span style=""> </span>While Wade was in middle of sinking the game winning free throws Avery Johnson signaled to Josh Howard to call a Timeout after the second free throw, however the Ref’s see this and think that Johnson was calling a timeout for then.<span style=""> </span>Which is absurd, there is no reason to call a timeout there.<span style=""> </span>Now, on the one hand the ref’s are not there to determine what the coach really means, but they are there to be the cooler heads.<span style=""> </span>They are there to make sure the game is running as it is supposed to.<span style=""> </span>So technically they had no obligation to huddle up and be like ok he didn’t want the timeout now, he wants it after the second free throw. <span style=""> </span>But, at the same time they should have known the gravity of the situation and should have huddled up and corrected the situation.<span style=""> </span>Now of course if the ref’s did do this it didn’t mean that the Mavs would have won the game, but they would have had a much better chance.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The ref’s weren’t the reason why the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> lost this series.<span style=""> </span>They definitely hindered their chanced to win the series, but the reason why <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> lost was because Dirk didn’t show up. <span style=""> </span>He was shut down in the final four games of the series.<span style=""> </span>Give credit to the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:city> defense because Dirk was playing the best individual ball in the playoffs until Wade completely took the next step to the pantheon level of greatness. <span style=""> </span>Wade completely raised his level of play in the finals, and put on one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">While watching SportsCenter this morning, Tim Legler said DWade is the <span style="color:black;">"greatest combo of athleticism and control that I have seen".<span style=""> </span>Is he really? <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Kobe</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Jordan</st1:country-region></st1:place>, LeBron these guys aren’t better than Wade? Of course not, the guys in the media are trying to market Wade as THE next big thing in the NBA.<span style=""> </span>It is crazy, because Wade is good, but how good is he really? I think most people can play the way Wade does when they have the Big Fella with them.<span style=""> </span>Everyone is slurping what Mighty Mouse does.<span style=""> </span>Wade deserves most of the praise he receives because he did play well even when Shaq isn’t around, but still the "greatest combo of athleticism and control that I have seen” that may be taking it a little too far.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color:black;">Mark Cuban.<span style=""> </span>This guy gets fined for all of his comments; of course they are all warranted, but even still. <span style=""> </span>Is there any other sport that has an owner and commissioner clash so much as Cuban and Stern do?<span style=""> </span>With that said, I totally think Cuban said to Stern about the league being fixed. <span style=""> </span>I completely believe that Cuban would say something like that to the Commish, but there is a time and a place. <span style=""> </span>You don’t yell that courtside after game 5, you do it in private and I’m sure David Stern told Cuban that.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color:black;">As a whole the NBA Finals, as well as the rest of the NBA Playoffs were very well played and very exciting.<span style=""> </span>This just adds to the growing popularity of the sport.<span style=""> </span>Now all the League needs to do is solved the problem with the ref’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;">Just some quick thoughts on the Sox now…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color:black;">I am very happy to see them on a 5 game winning streak after that embarrassing series with the twins last week.<span style=""> </span>They really turned it around and they are playing much better baseball.<span style=""> </span>I am very happy with Lester being our number 4 starter and we just need to get rid of Clement and find a new number 5 starter.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color:black;">I am also pleased to see that they are taking the wheels off of our young arms in the ‘Pen.<span style=""> </span>Craig Hanson, Manny Delcarmen, and Abe Alvarez should prosper with the big club and I want to see them in more pressure spots.<span style=""> </span>And as I saw on Boston Sports Tonight this morning, Andy Gresh said that we finally have that flamethrower that can come in and just blow away the Yankee hitters late in the game.<span style=""> </span>It will be very exciting to see how these kids turn out by the end of the year and if the plans stay on course, we will be raising another World Series Title come this October and all because of the kids.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1149744040677361932006-06-07T22:18:00.000-07:002006-06-08T20:56:38.790-07:00NBA Finals Prediction<p class="MsoNormal">Tonight marks the beginning the NBA Finals. <span style=""> </span>The matchup is between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.<span style=""> </span>The Mavs got here by sweeping the Grizzles.<span style=""> </span>They then took care of the Spurs in 7.<span style=""> </span>In the Western Conference Finals they slowed down the Phoenix Suns in 6.<span style=""> </span>The Heat held off the Bulls in 6.<span style=""> </span>Then they crushed the Nets in 5.<span style=""> </span>In the Eastern Conference Finals they dethroned the Pistons in 6.<span style=""> </span>The Mavs showed they can win on the road, they can win a defensive battle, and they can win a speed game.<span style=""> </span>They are playing with the best player on the planet right now.<span style=""> </span>Dirk is taking care of business and he is looking like a guy hungry for a championship.<span style=""> </span>He has finally put the Mavs on his back and carried them.<span style=""> </span>Now the Heat on the other hand have coasted through playoffs a little bit.<span style=""> </span>They had a blowout loss on their home-court to start the second round of the playoffs.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let me just remind everyone that The Closer and Saved both start in 4 days.<span style=""> </span>I’m very excited.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><br />Before I pick my champion I will compare the two teams. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Offense<o:p></o:p></b><br />The Mavs have the best player on offense. <span style=""> </span>However, the Heat have Shaq.<span style=""> </span>This guy can still put up 22-10, but he isn’t the same Shaq that he used to be.<span style=""> </span>He isn’t far from what he used to be, but he is just mortal enough. <span style=""> </span>The Heat also have DWade.<span style=""> </span>He has stepped up in the playoffs this year.<span style=""> </span>The Mavs have averaged over 102 PPG when the Heat scored only 97.5. <span style=""> </span>I like the way the Mavs move the ball on O and like their offense over the Heat.<br /><b style="">Advantage: <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p></o:p>Defense</b><br />This edge clearly goes to the Heat. <span style=""> </span>Shaq can still hold down the fort in the paint. <span style=""> </span>They have James Posey who is an excellent one on one defender. <span style=""> </span>And their team defense is better than the Mavs.<br /><b style="">Advantage: Heat<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b style="">Bench<o:p></o:p></b><br />The Mavs have more versatile players coming off the bench. <span style=""> </span>While the Heat have ‘ZO, Posey, and Payton, the Mavs have Stackhouse who can score, Devin Harris’ speed, and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Griffin</st1:place></st1:city> and Dampier to defend and crash the boards.<br /><b style="">Advantage: <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b style="">X-Factor</b><br /><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> has Stackhouse.<span style=""> </span>He needs to play well in order for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> to truly dominate.<br /><st1:city st="on">Miami</st1:city> has <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Walker</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>If he is able to hit his 3’s and help out with the point a little bit.<br /><b style="">Advantage: Push<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p></o:p>Coaching<o:p></o:p></b><br />Mavs have first full year coach Avery Johnson. <span style=""> </span>He won Coach of the year and led <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city> to the second best record in the NBA. <span style=""> </span>The Heat have Pat Riley.<span style=""> </span>He wanted to take over this year when he replaced half his roster. <span style=""> </span>I think Pat Riley’s experience coaching the NBA Finals will help a little bit, but not enough to give the edge to the Heat<br /><b style="">Advantage: Push<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p></o:p>Prediction</b><br />I liked these two teams at the start of the post-season and now they are set to square off against each other. <span style=""> </span>I’ve liked what the Mavs have done all season long, and I didn’t really think the Heat reached their peak until the final weeks of the season. <span style=""> </span>This has allowed them to reach the finals.<span style=""> </span>This series will be hard fought by both teams as both franchises are making their first <span style=""> </span>Finals appearance.<span style=""> </span>While I think the Heat have the talent to win the series, I think they will come up just short and lose in an exciting game 7 in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>Dirk will be too much for the Heat to handle and think Shaq has lost just too much to lead the Heat past the Mavs.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Once again Saved and The Closer are coming in four days!!!!! Set up those Tivo’s.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1146181664579833692006-04-27T16:47:00.000-07:002006-04-27T16:47:44.600-07:00West Preview<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">NBA Playoffs Western Conference Preview<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">SA Versus Sac<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The Spurs cruised to the number 1 seed in the west with an injured <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Duncan</st1:place></st1:City>. <span style=""> </span>He is still being hobbled by that injury, but don’t expect him to be that affected by it in this series. <span style=""> </span>The Kings played great ball once they got Artest.<span style=""> </span>He has been that shutdown defender they needed. <span style=""> </span>But he won’t have the offensive firepower, or the defensive ability to shutdown <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Duncan</st1:City></st1:place>. <span style=""> </span>With that said they can still win 1 maybe a second so I have the Spurs in 6<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Dallas</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Memphis</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">I originally had <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> in 3 but that was when I thought the series was a best of 5, so I know have them in 4. <span style=""> </span><st1:city st="on">Dallas</st1:City> has been playing the best overall basketball this entire season and <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Memphis</st1:City></st1:place> won’t have a prayer in this series.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">LA Clippers versus <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Denver</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">I loooove the Clippers.<span style=""> </span>I have been a Clipper fan for a few years and I think this year they have a very well balanced team. <span style=""> </span>They have Cassell at the point, Brand and Kamen inside, they have Cat at the wing, and they have Shaun coming off the bench with Radmonovich (who was acquired in a mid-season trade from <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City>). <span style=""> </span>The Clippers haven’t won a playoff series since 1993, but they hold home court advantage in this series even though they are the lower seed. <span style=""> </span>Cassell will pound the ball into Kamen and Brand, who should have been MVP, and hit the open jumper when needed. <span style=""> </span>I have the Clippers in 5<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b style="">Phoenix</b></st1:place></st1:City><b style=""> versus LAL<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The Lakers have <st1:city st="on">Kobe</st1:City>; <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Phoenix</st1:City></st1:place> has everyone else that is worth mentioning. <span style=""> </span>This should be an easy series for the Suns, but it won’t. <span style=""> </span>Kobe will steal a bunch of wins for the Lakers, right now the series is 1-1. <span style=""> </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kobe</st1:place></st1:City> is very good.<span style=""> </span>Kobe will show the world why people compare him to Jordan and why he wanted to lead this team without Shaq, because as long as Shaq was on his team he wouldn’t be help up as high without him. <span style=""> </span>So he got rid of Shaq and now we will see why. <span style=""> </span>In the end I have the Suns in 6.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Second Round<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b style="">Dallas</b></st1:place></st1:City><b style=""> versus SAS<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Like I said before, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> has been playing the best basketball all year. <span style=""> </span>The Spurs are the defending champs, but their run will end here. <span style=""> </span>The Mavs have the bodies to stop <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Duncan</st1:City></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>I think Terry can shut down Parker. <span style=""> </span>I think Manu will get some points, but it won’t be enough. <span style=""> </span>Dirk is playing his best ball yet, and he will lead the Mavs into the conference finals with a huge game 7 victory. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">LA Clippers versus <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Phoenix</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The Suns know how to win in the playoffs.<span style=""> </span>The Clippers don’t.<span style=""> </span>The Clippers will have the advantage on the inside because Thomas can’t stop Brand.<span style=""> </span>But the Suns have the advantage on the outside and with the fastbreak.<span style=""> </span>This series will be very exciting to watch and very well played.<span style=""> </span>In the end the Clippers will give a valiant effort, but they are still a year or two away from really contending in the West, and lose in 6.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Western Conference Finals<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Dallas</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Phoenix</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">This will also be an amazing series to watch.<span style=""> </span>The series has two very offensively talented teams who can also play some D.<span style=""> </span>The Suns have the better guard play, while the Mavs have better big men, especially because Amare isn’t playing.<span style=""> </span>This series will also go to the max and much to the dismay of some friends (Jon, Yosef, Yosef) I think Dirk will dominate the series and the Mavs can play D now with Coach of the year Avery Johnson that they will have the ability to pull out the series win.<span style=""> </span>Also there isn’t a way the Suns can win the whole thing without Amare.<span style=""> </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> in 7<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">NBA Finals preview coming later <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19737073.post-1146078799865973402006-04-26T12:12:00.000-07:002006-04-26T12:13:19.910-07:00NBA Playoffs Cont.<p class="MsoNormal">So apparently I’m not such a good basketball fan because I forgot that all rounds of the playoffs are now best of 7, I still had the first round pegged at 5. <span style=""> </span>So that changes up some things because <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Dallas</st1:City></st1:place> can’t win in 3.<span style=""> </span>But anyway I will correct those errors as well as add some in depth reasons for my picks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Detroit</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Milwaukee</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I think that <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:City> is the most talented team in the East.<span style=""> </span>They can dominate the ball on the inside with the presence of the two Wallace’s.<span style=""> </span>They control the boards on both ends of the court.<span style=""> </span>In the back court the Pistons have Billups who is one of the best big game performs in some time.<span style=""> </span>He just raises his game to the next level in big situations.<span style=""> </span>With that said the Bucks have some talented big men as well, including four 7 footers, but only Redd can lead them to a victory and he will, but just one win.<span style=""> </span>Pistons in 5.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">NJ Nets versus <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ind</st1:place></st1:State><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Nets played very well in the second half which lead to the Atlantic Division title. <span style=""> </span>The Nets are led by a trio of Kidd, Jefferson, and Carter. <span style=""> </span>I am probably the biggest anti Vince Carter fan out there, I can’t stand this guy. <span style=""> </span>He is extremely cocky, complains about setting a bad example for kids by scoring 81 in a game. <span style=""> </span>He needs to stop complaining and mailing it in. <span style=""> </span>With that said the Nets did play well as a team, but they just don’t have the big men to stop O’neal.<span style=""> </span>In my upset special I have <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">IND</st1:place></st1:State> winning in 7.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Miami</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Chicago</st1:City></st1:place><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This series won’t even be close.<span style=""> </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> is the more dominant team, and they have Shaq, who contrary to what everyone has said all year, just mailed it in the past year and will turn it up another gear for the playoffs.<span style=""> </span>We saw that in the first two games, this guy can still dominate a game.<span style=""> </span>Oh and they have DWade.<span style=""> </span>This kid is ridiculously good.<span style=""> </span>He keeps on getting better and sure having a big man like Shaq opens the lane up enough for mighty mouse to increase his numbers, but he had a breakout year as a rookie without Shaq.<span style=""> </span>I have <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> in 5 over the Bulls.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Cleveland</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">LeBron LeBron LeBron.<span style=""> </span>We are truly watching greatness.<span style=""> </span>He showed that in game one of this series when he become the second youngest player to record a triple double in a NBA playoff game.<span style=""> </span>He can dominate both ends of the floor.<span style=""> </span>No one can stop him, and I think he will start his climb to being the next MJ in the playoffs of this year.<span style=""> </span><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> played well all year, fought off some injuries to lock up the fifth seed of the playoffs, but LeBron will be too dominant and will lead the Cavs to victory in 6.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Second Round<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Detroit</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Cleveland</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:City> again will have the advantage inside in this series.<span style=""> </span>Z can maybe take Ben Wallace out of his game, but Gooden can’t take care of Rasheed.<span style=""> </span>No one on <st1:city st="on">Detroit</st1:City> can take LeBron but his supporting cast isn’t good enough for them to take down <st1:city st="on">Detroit</st1:City> unless, and I can see this happening, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:City> stays as cocky as they are now.<span style=""> </span>A decent team can take them out with the way they are playing now, but I don’t think that will happen.<span style=""> </span>I think Flip will knock some sense into their heads and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:City> will win the series in 6, but if for whatever reason Flip doesn’t know some sense into his players look for the Cavs to win in 7</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Miami</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">IND</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Again <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> will be the dominant team in this series.<span style=""> </span>The Pacers will exert a lot of effort to get past the Nets and thus causing a letdown in this series.<span style=""> </span>Shaq will have his way versus anyone <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">IND</st1:place></st1:State> can throw at him and DWade will be unstoppable.<span style=""> </span>This will be an easy series win for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> in 5 games.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Eastern Conference Finals<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><b style="">Miami</b></st1:City><b style=""> versus <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Detroit</st1:City></st1:place></b> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">This will be a great match-up.<span style=""> </span>I am very excited to see this match-up happen.<span style=""> </span>We will see Shaq battle the Wallace’s and we will see DWade battle Billups.<span style=""> </span>This series can and will go the complete 7 games because these two teams are very close in talent.<span style=""> </span>Last year Miami came within 1 game of beating the Pistons without a healthy Shaq or DWade, and now Miami has that and also added Walker, Williams, and James Posey who in these first two games of the first round showed he can hit that open trey.<span style=""> </span>I’m taking <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> in 7.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Coming tomorrow will be the West preview.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p>Eli Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16659790140856461689noreply@blogger.com0