Sunday, May 22, 2011

The NBA Playoffs: Conference Finals Showdowns

Bulls vs. Heat (tied 1-1)

The Bulls and Heat are doing battle in the East and it is a battle of defense. The Bulls come in with the best scoring defense in the NBA and the Heat aren't far behind. Through the first two games, the Heat have had a lot of trouble running their half court offense but have had success with fast break points, especially in game 2. The key for the Heat is to keep the Bulls off the glass. The Bulls live off second chance point and if they aren't scoring there, all the weight goes on the shoulders of the MVP. Rose has been up and down these playoffs but has come through with clutch, big time performances when it matters most.

The Bulls key to winning is scoring. We all know Rose can score, but he needs Deng, Boozer, and the bench to come on and hit the open shots like in game 1. In both of the games played thus far, Rose has struggled to get to the bucket and when he has gotten there, he hasn't been able to finish. In game 1, Rose was hitting jumps shots all over the floor so getting to the rim was not as big of deal, but he showed in game 2 that he is still a work in progress. In game 2, Rose was not hitting his mid range or 3 point shot and that forced him to go to the hole but he missed countless buckets uncharacteristically. Rose is usually one of, if not the best finisher in the game but could not find a way in game 2.

LeBron and Wade have both been relatively quiet in the series. LeBron scored 29 in game 2 but to me, it felt mor like a 20 to 25 point performance. Difference was, he hit shots at the end of the game and the Bulls didn't. Wade has scored 24 and 18, but hasn't done anything like he did last year by carrying his team byn himself or in 2006 when he was the MVP of the finals.

What I am taking from this series is that the defense being played is that much better than it even looks. When Wade, LeBron, and Rose all struggle to score, you know it is tough out there. The Bulls are playing the same way they have played all year. They win with defense. They stay in games even when they can't buy a basket. In game 2, it felt like the Bulls should have been down at least 10 but with around 4 mi9nutes left it was still tied up at 73. The big men of the Bulls have been stellar in this series and are going to have to continue that play if they want to bring this one home.

When it comes to the Heat, their key is to keep Udanis Haslem on the floor. If Haslem has the endurance and durability after missing almost the entire season, it could be a huge gain for the Heat. Other than Haslem, the Heat are relying on Bosh, Wade and LeBron and that is it. That is why I am predicting the Bulls winning in 7. I believe the Bulls bench is too deep and that the role players of the Bulls are so much better, they will easily outdo the Heat's bench and help cancel some of what the big 2 do (Bosh is not included). Deng needs to play well and Boozer needs to step up his game and it will be NBA Finals for the Bulls.

Mavericks vs. Thunder (DAL Lead 2-1)


This series has been a shootout so far. We all know Dirk can score the ball almost whenever he wants and we know the same is true for Durant and even Westbrook. The biggest story in this series is how to stop Dirk. It seems no matter how tight they play him, he can shoot over it s the Thunder started double teaming him and that turned Dirk into more of a facilitator than a scorer, but Dallas broke the tie in the series anyway with a big win in game 3.

The Thunder are dealing with a young point guard in Westbrook who is over aggressive at times and is taking major heat from the media for that. He is being accused of taking too many shots and not being the distributor that they need at the point. I have a differnet view of things. Westbrook does play on the team with teh top scorer in the league, but that doesn't make him the best player every night. I think we have seen enough of Durant being bad these playoffs that I can see the justification for Westbrook trying to take on the scoring load. Durant is a great player, but his game is too one dimensional for my taste.If Durant's jumper is not on, he is going to miss a lot of jumpers and 3 pointers. He needs to get in the weight room and develop some sort of post game and work on his quickness to get to the rim. If Durant could have a Kobe like post up game and get to the rim at will, he would be easily the best player on the floor.

When it comes to the Mavericks, they are a offensive team. From the starters to the bench, almost everyone can hit 3's and can carry them for stretches during the game. Jason Terry and Peja Stojacovich are great shooters and with J.J. Barea running around anyone who guards him, the Mavs are going to be a tough out anytime you play them and the Thunder are finding that out.
I predict that the Mavs will bring this one home and Dirk will get his shot at a ring. The Mavs bench is too much and the Thunders' youth will hold them down some. Durant and Westbrook are still a year or two away from winning it all and I believe it is the Mavs time.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Bulls, Lakers Prevail

Bulls 87, Miami 86

Another big game for the Miami heat and the Big Three and another close loss. Derrick Rose is making his case to be the MVP of the league by making clutch shots to beat playoff teams. There has been a lot of talk that the Bulls need another scoring option in the form of a starting shooting guard but I am starting to disagree with that. The Bulls play like they are the hungriest team out there and they have a chip on there shoulder. It seems like every game you watch, Noah is energizing the team, Rose is either hitting a pull up jumper or throwin' it down with authority, and Kyle Korver is looking like the sixth man of the year. The beauty of the Bulls is that even when Rose isn't scoring 30, Deng and Boozer and the rest of the supporting cast are picking up the slack. Then we can look to the most important weapon the Bulls have, and that is one of the best defenses in the League. Everyone plays defense, even Boozer is making plays. If you were lucky enough to watch Sunday's game against the Heat, Rose even took on the tall order of guarding Dwayne Wade in the 4th quarter and Deng all but shut down Lebron. The defense is going to be the key component of any playoff run the Bulls will have. It will be players such as Brewer and Bogans who are going to need to step up big and they will need Korver to continue playing smart, veteran basketball.

When it comes to the Heat, they need to figure this train wreck out and fast. Do they have a good record this season, yes. But that doesn't mean they will do well in the playoffs. All the numbers show that they haven't beat the good teams and that they haven't made shots to win games. Lebron has taken a lot of the blame for either, missing, or passing on taking final shots throughout his career and this season may be showing us all why he didn't take more game winning attempts in Cleveland. Wade has been known as a closer prior to this season and most experts that talk on the subject expected Wade to be taking more of the game winning shot attempts. I think Wade needs more of the blame as well. He is supposed to be a leader on this team and he should be telling Eric Spoelstra to get him the ball so he can go win the game. Instead he stands in the corner and watches Lebron use the EXACT same drive two games in a row and they end up losing both games. Spoelstra needs to understand the personnel he on his team. Lebron is a very good player but he doesn't have that killer instinct that we have seen out of the greats like Kobe and Jordan. Dwayne Wade has proven in the past that he wants the ball with the game on the line. Spoelstra needs to give these guys a play to run out of the timeouts so that they can build confidence going into the playoffs. The only stat that Heat fans need to see is: 1-16. That is the Heat shooting with less than ten seconds on the clock and going for the win.

P.S. Yes, for those that watched, it was Noah that Lebrick couldn't take off the dribble to win the game.

Lakers 99, Spurs 83

The Spurs went into Sundays showdown against the defending champs riding a high after blowing out the Miami Heat their previous game. This high didn't last long once they got on the court. The Lakers were on a mission and continued their hot second half of the season by going up 34 to 13 in the first quarter. Everything was working and the Spurs could not stop the avalanche of points that the Lakers were pouring on them. This tells us to not overlook the Lakers this post season. There has been a lot of speculation that Kobe is too old and that the Lakers don't have what it takes to win this year but Kobe has one more in him at least. The lakers are getting hot at the right time and are playing great basketball. They got their big man, Bynum, back in the middle and the only center in the game that can stop him when he is on his Dwight Howard. Matt Barnes just came off a knee surgery and Lamar Odom is playing at a high level. Matt Barnes is a name that may be overlooked by many but he is every bit as good (if not better than) Ron Artest for the Lakers. Barnes brings energy to the defensive end, three point shooting to the offense, and he will guard the other teams best player on any given night. Another sleeper the Lakers have is Shannon Brown. Brown is a freakish athlete who can jump out of the gym and drain three balls. Having him this postseason will translate to at least one win.

The Spurs suffered a tough loss at the hands of the Lakers, but are still 5 1/2 games ahead of the Mavericks for first place. This game meant more to the Lakers than it did to the Spurs, but none the less, the Spurs must play better. They cannot come out and lay an egg like they did Sunday in the playoffs or they might not make it far enough to play the Lakers. The Spurs are a very versatile team that has many players that the average NBA fan wouldn't know about. The emergence of rookie Gary Neal and George Hill have really helped this team reach that next level. With Ginobili leading the way, the Spurs have a great chance of making it to the finals this season. Possibly the most important news for the Spurs is Tony Parker coming back from injury so fast. Parker injured his calf and was reported to be out 4-6 weeks and all of a sudden on Sunday, he was suited up ready to go on only a couple days rest. If the Spurs let him come back too soon they could be paying for it later in the playoffs.

Friday, March 4, 2011

The way I see things.

This, being my first blog, I thought I would follow Mr. Wilbon and just let you know what I think about different sports and different athletes.

Let's start with the NBA. Many have had the debate about the superpowers that are at the top of the NBA and the Big 3 in Miami and new new Big 3 on the new look Knicks. The question, is this good for the game? Depends on your view, and most likely where you live. If you live in Cleveland than you probably think that this is bad for the league. If you live in a city with a good team, i.e. New York or Miami, then you most likely don't mind the idea of ten teams that are contenders. There is no question the interest in the game has spiked this season and I can agree with a lot of people that it is good for the game.

Contenders. Now let's talk who the contenders really are. For a lot of us, ESPN's First Take is a program that we love to watch along with Sportscenter and we hear day in and day out how good Miami, Orlando, LA, San Antonio, and now, New York. My question.... Where are the Bulls in this conversation, and who decided that the Heat were the team to beat? All Chicago has done is beat the best night in, and night out. Derrick Rose is number one or two in the MVP race and he has done it minus Boozer for the first half of the season and without Noah for the second half. The Bulls are more than a legit title contender. What has Miami done? Lebron deemed them the heetles a week into the season and what has he done? The guy is a bull in a china shop, has no touch and can't make a clutch shot to save his life. Bosh is hardly a superstar. He's a very good player but very good shouldn't get you to superstar status. This beings us to Eric Spoelstra. Spoelstra needs to get Dwayne Wade the ball in clutch situation. Lebron has more than proved he cannot win games at the end. Wade is the answer and someone needs to tell Spoelstra before he is fired and coaching the Cavaliers next season.

Lakers. Another thing is people are writing off the defending champion Lakers already. Yes they are aging and yes they have had their struggles this season but does that really give anyone reason to write them off. Look at their competition. The rejuvenated Spurs, the Mavs, and the Thunder. You have to think that the Lakers will only face one, maybe two of them as well. The Spurs are a great team this season, but I am not sure they can hold up throughout the playoffs with Parker coming off a recent injury, Duncan really showing his age, and a supporting cast of no names and veterans past their prime. The Mavericks seem to always be a great regular season team, but can never get over the hump, so until they do, I just can't see them beating the Lakers. The Thunder are the most intriguing team in the West. If Durant's ankle s healed, they could be dangerous, but I see them as still a player or two away from really being able to beat the Lakers. Kobe has slowed down some but I am not convinced that he won't turn it on in the postseason and have games like we are used to seeing from him.

Football time. The labor situation is looking up the last couple days so at least we know they are talking. Let's talk about the game though, not this labor situation. Jay Cutler's season ended with, let's just say a little controversy. I am from Chicago and am far from a Bears fan but when I saw him standing on the sideline the second half of the NFC Championship game, I was legitimately mad. Players play the game of football to reach the ultimate goal of wearing a ring, and to be a half away from it and to not finish the game a a sprained tendon is ludicrous, not to mention it was against the Packers. I have played and coached football my entire life and have seen more high school and college players play though injury than I probably should have, and I have had teammates with the same injury finish games in high school. The man is making millions of dollars to put is body on the line every Sunday and to sit out of a NFC Championship game while still being able to walk and still be conscious is a joke. If I was a Bears fan, I would have run him out of town. People have got to quit thinking that people are being to hard on him because when other players and coaches come forward and say they have played through the same injury, their is nothing more that we can do as fans of the game but be mad and disappointed.

The best quarterback in the game today is Tom Brady. Aaron Rodgers is a close second. No one has done more with less than Tom Brady throughout his career. If we look past his two seasons with Randy Moss, who may be worse than anyone expected after he was traded, who has Brady had to throw too? You have to really scrap to find the name of the players that he was throwing to. Players like tight end Daniel Graham, who played receiver for a year for the Patriots because they were so thin at receiver. Dion Branch who everyone thought was a pretty good player at the time, until he was traded to Seattle and was average there at best. Tom Brady has the numbers, has the rings, and has the hair to call himself the best ever. Better than Manning, better than Montana, better than Favre. He has literally never had a bad season. Never had a season with a qb rating under 86. Plays every game every season. He is the single season record holder for passing touchdowns and qb rating. The guy is a player and leader. He has all the intangibles needed to be the best and that is what he is.


The Buccaneers. Could they have had a better season with that talent they had? It is tough to say but Raheem Morris put together one of the best seasons of coaching I have ever seen this past season. He lost star safety Tanard Jackson to a season long suspension. He lost Cody Grimm, who was Jackson's replacement. He lost defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price. He lost starting linebacker Quincy Black. He lost the league leader in interceptions at time in Aqib Talib. He lost starting center and captain Jeff Faine. Starting Pro Bowl guard Davin Joseph. Starting Rookie wide receiver Aurellious Benn. They lost of of these starters and still pulled off a ten win season with the youngest roster in football. Quarterback Josh Freeman is growing into a star along with rookies LaGarret Blount and Mike Williams. This team is built to be good for years to come and with a good pass rusher in this years draft, that defense could be top five in the league.

Tiger Woods. We all know the story of Thanksgiving and Tiger Woods. He is not the man we thought he was and his game is suffering just as his image suffers. Tiger has been struggling to say the least and people seem to think that he will never break out of it. Let's get this straight. The guy is going to break out of it, and he is going to break every record that we already thought he was going to break. He is the greatest golfer of all time and that hasn't changed. He went through some life changing events that he brought upon himself and that really has set him back but there is not one second I believe that Tiger will not be the Tiger of old before too long. I would be extremely surprised if he doesn't win at least one tournament this year.

Cubs and Sox. I read an interesting article the other day asking if Chicago would ever be White Sox town. Anyone who is from the area know that this will never happen. It has been a century since the Cubs have won and yet, people are still saying 'there's always next year.' The White Sox are better year in and year out than the Cubs and have even won the World Series recently. It is tough to grasp why people have so much love for a single team that has done nothing but lose and disappoint. There are generations of people that have never seen them win, yet right across town are the White Sox, a team who is pretty good every year and gets to the post season pretty often. Being a White Sox fan and listening to Cubs fans always talk like they are going to win it this year is getting old. Come to the South Side!


Thanks for reading guys. I know it is a little all over, I was basically giving you all a overview of the way I see things. Comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Debates are always welcome too!