2011 - 2012 NBA predictions... Part 4

And to end, my playoff predictions:

Miami vs Chicago. No brainer. Will Chicago show up vs will Miami choke? Chicago is going to need to exploit the point guard position and play with balls. With Tom Thibedea (no way i spelled that right) coaching, i give them a slight edge. I can promise it won't be one sided like last year.

Denver vs Clippers. When this happens you won't be surprised. Reading it now you think it's insane.

Bulls vs Clippers 2011-2012 NBA finals...

Bulls in 6

thanks,
Wizard

2011 - 2012 NBA predictions... Part 3

Final Season Predictions:

Eastern Conference:

Miami: 54-12
Chicago: 52-14
New York: 46-20
Orlando: 44-22
Indiana: 43-23
Atlanta: 40-26
Boston: 38-28
Phili: 38-28

NJ: 37-29
Detroit: 33-33
Charlotte: 30-36
Cleveland: 26-40
Washington: 25-41
Milwakee: 22-44
Toronto: 15-51

Western Conference:

Dallas: 50-16
OK city: 49-17
LAC: 49-17
Denver: 46-20
San Antonio: 44-22
Memphis: 42-24
Golden State: 39-27
Utah: 36-30

LAL: 35-31
Minnesota: 32-24
Houston: 30-26
Sacramento: 29-27
Portland: 27-29
Phoenix:24-32
New Orleans: 12-44

2011 - 2012 NBA predictions... Part 2

This is my shitty team by team breakdown.

Atlantic:

Boston: Did nothing to improve team. Did enough to dress 12 players.

New Jersey: Love Morrow. Love Williams. Too bad some Russian will do anything he can to ruin team chemistry.

NY: Why not score 120 a game while allowing 121.

Phili: This team will have heart and rebounding. Point's will be tough to come by though.

Toronto: A foreign team with mostly all foreign players. I never thought i'd say it but i feel bad for Bargnani.

Central:

Detroit: My 2nd favorite team. At least for home games they have a beer of the night for $5.

Chicago: Gotta love everything about this team. Rose will continue to strive to be the best. Last year he took a big step in his decision making. I assume that can only improve, regardless of his fake SAT scores.

Cleveland: Post Lebron, year 2. Still twenty more years to go before the wounds heal. Tough luck getting 2/4 top picks in weakest NBA draft of my lifetime.

Indiana: Doing the little things, and signing black players. Sleeper alert

Milwakee: At least the Packers are going 19-0.

Southeast:

Miami: 66 games, and all should be wins. That won't happen. Lebron no showing in playoffs will.

Orlando: Once Howard is traded, they will be worst team in basketball. I mean, a team that shoots 3's and doesn't rebound? When has that ever worked Phoenix?

Atlanta: Joe Johnson's contract. ha

Charlotte: Worst GM in sports history. Bring back morrison. Maybe Cam Newton can hit a jumper.

Washington: Dead money favorite to win any pistol duels. However, big underdogs game to game.

Northwest:

Denver: The Rocky Mountain Knicks have a lot to look forward to. Like teams playing the 2nd night of a back to back 5,280 feet in the air. Wait till my playoff predictions.

Minnesota: The schedule helps them almost more than anybody. Kevin Love will win 20 games by himself. Ricky Rubio sucks as well. They will get some wins, and a lot less ping pong balls.

OK City: The funnest team to watch in basketball outside of the Harlem Globetrotters. If westbrook can take his 10 terrible shots a game down to 5, and make decent passes for 10 extra points, watch the fuck out.

Portland: Heroin capitol of the world. Doesn't explain how Brandon Roys' knees disappeared or how Greg Oden himself died... Or does it?

Pacific:

Utah: Love the starters with big Al, Millsap, and Harris, but this bench is to unstable to do anything. Could be your classic NBA western conference team with 50 wins and a 9 seed. (shortened season adjusted)

Golden State: MONTE. CURRY. DEFENSE. fuck that. DEFENSE. fuck that. DEFENSE. although they should be able to outshoot anybody playing a back to back.

LAC: Beast of west. A team that is cursed with actual expectations? Blake is the best player in basketball. CP3 is the best PG is basketball. and the rest of the team is meh.

LAL: Blowing up the team for some reason. Kobe will still dominate, but i'm not sold on the mental toughness of Pau after trade rumors. and i'm still not sold on Bynum's health for a whole season.

Phoenix: Trade nash then talk to me. until then enjoy winning 1/4 games.

Sacramento: Such a boring team. yawn

Southwest:

Dallas: NBA champs. Only got better with kardashian.

Houston: Talented, but most wins will come off heart. Teams gotta get lucky once in a while.

Memphis: Tony Allen tried to trade rudy gay. When that is your biggest offseason move you may be in trouble. Sneaky though have one of the best fan bases in basketball.

New Orleans: Never heard of them

San Antonio: Early Exit. Lot of wins though. Will be fun up until April for spurs fans.

2011 - 2012 NBA predictions... Part 1

This is where i write down my thoughts so in 6 months i look really smart.

First off, fantasy basketball leagues are only 13 weeks then playoffs. remember that.

OK. My predictions for all awards.

MVP: Blake Griffin. Just got the best point guard in basketball to set up instinctive dunking ability to begin with. Blake could average 20/15. If his FT% improves, that number could be higher.

Rookie of Year: Kenneth Faried. Guys from fake colleges are always dark horses. In a year which will have countless back to backs, the kids will have to play. It helps that Faried might end up starting.

Defensive Player of Year: Lyndsey Hunter... Is he still in the league? He shut down rondo once. This one is obvious. Barkley once told Dwight Howard to get some rebounds. Ever since he has won back to back to back DPOTY awards. He is an absolute lock to win again.

Sixth Man: Tough to predict because we don't know who will end up playing or not. My guess is George Hill from the pacers. Once IUPUI's greatest stud, he is now an important piece on a much improved pacers club.

Coach of Year: I hate saying it, but Vinny Del Negro will run away with this award. If the clippers clinch a playoff birth he is in. It won't be his coaching that earns the award, just the players. Remember, Mike Brown won this thing once.

Executive of year: Don't know his name, don't care. Guy who runs Clippers.

Most Improved: JaVale McGee. There is a ton of talent with this kid. However, he cries like a school girl when people play to physical. Guess i'm just a sucker for raw talent.

I refuse to do any other awards.

What Pink Hats have done to the Red Sox

Our long Red Sox national nightmare finally ended last night as the potentially insane Bobby Valentine was finally reported to be the next Red Sox manager. Now I hate this. I didn't want Dale Sveum either. The guy I wanted was Mike Maddux but he backed out. This was a lame crop of managers by they way. Between the group out there, then yes Bobby Valentine was probably the best choice. He looked like the manager version of Kate Upton compared to the Roseanne Barr of Gene Lamont. What really gets me angry about this whole situation is how the great puppet master Larry Lucchino undercut his new puppet in Ben Cherington so blatantly in the public and totally making it so that we, as fans, can never take anything Cherington says seriously again.


Now lets get to why the pink hats are to take some of the blame for the joke the Red Sox are now. The pink hat fans have totally taken over Fenway Park and have made it tough to be a die hard fan. The ownership has taken full advantage of the pink hats and good for them. They've made a ton of money off them. The pink hats started to pop up in 2003, really emerged in 2004 and are now basically 75% of the fan base. I hate pink hats. Pink hats are the reason that Valentine is the manager now. Lucchino saw and listened to the fans, heard that there wasn't really a lot of excitement for Svuem ( and rightfully so) and then went to the guy that pink hats have seen on ESPN and heard every bandwagon fan from Boston to Maine get excited and boom, next thing you know he's the guy that's been the number 1 choice all along when we all know damn well that Svuem was all but hired. The pink hats helped sign Crawford and now they've helped Lucchino hire Bobby V. They should own a 50% stake in the team.


Now a pink is not just about gender. Men and women can be pink hats. I have probably seen more male pink hats then female pink hats. Also pink hats don't have to physically wear a pink hat. They can wear a whole damn uniform but they're still pink hats. I was a Sox game a few years back and there was some guy sitting in the stands trying to impress his girlfriend and she asked about who the "number 9" was up in right field. The guy didn't know. He didn't know! Its Ted freaking Williams. Only the greatest Red Sox player of all time. Only the greatest hitter who ever lived. Another sign of a possibly pink hat is there reaction when you call them a pink hat. If you call me a pink hat I'm just gonna say "yah ok" and laugh it off. But if you call a pink hat a pink hat, look out. They freak out and almost always say "I'm not a pink hat. I know what I'm talking about. I watch every game" And they always say it in a high pitched voice. It happens 100% of the time, every time.


They've turned Fenway and Yawkey Way into almost a amusement park setting. They get every ticket and phase out the die hards and the people that know what their talking about. Bandwagon fans are every where but the ones I respect are the ones that don't try to act like they know what their talking about. Pink hats I have almost no respect for. I don't have a problem with the girl fans, I say god bless them but the guy pink hats just kill me and suck the life out of me. Nothing could ever drive me away from my love of the Red Sox but they way the operate down there is embarrassing and how they care what the fans say is killing me slowly. Listen to the scouts and your baseball operations people and not Joe Six Pack out in Quincy who saw Bobby V on Baseball Tonight. You think Belichick listens to us? Hell no and things have been working out for him lately.

Red Sox Off Season

Going in to this key off season for the Boston Red Sox, I thought they had one definite move to make- and that was to resign Jonathan Papelbon. Yes, he blew the save in Game 162 but if you don't have a dominant closer who's been through the fire and came out clean on the other side then you don't have anything. All those people that were "happy" to see him go, ask yourself this- Are you going to get anyone better to replace him? Heath Bell has been good in San Diego but that's San Diego. Can he handle Boston? Franciso Cordero is old and he had a good year in a contract year (always a red flag). K-Rod's arm is about to fly off at any second. Daniel Bard isn't ready. He was terrible in September and just cause you can throw 100 MPH doesn't mean you can get the three biggest outs of the game. Before Pap left I was thinking they should make into a starter. I am intrigued by Joe Nathan. He'd be cheap money but he's coming off Tommy John and who knows if he can be effective. I say Nathan and whoever steps forward between him or Bard. The closer is not the only move the Sox need to make.


Manager. The Sox still don't have a manager. It looks like Dale Sveum is the leader in the clubhouse and I don't know about you but I'm not really feeling that. Maybe its cause I remember him sending every runner to the plate that he possibly could and getting them thrown out. They say because hes been in the clubhouse before and knows the players but he hasn't been here since 2005. The only players he knows in that clubhouse is David Ortiz (more on him later) and Kevin Youkillis (him too). I was on the Mike Maddux bandwagon but he backed out. Sveum was named interim manager of the Brewers in 2008, took them to the playoffs, and then they demoted him back to hitting coach and hired Ken Macha. That's a little strange right there. Sandy Alomar Jr is my choice right now. Former catcher, knows pitching, and would have respect from the players.


David Ortiz and Kevin Youkillis. I'm conflicted on this. I love both players but I would resign Ortiz and explore a trade for Youk. There really is no market out there for Ortiz and the DH position has become a dead position in baseball. He can still hit and power in today's game that is hard to come by. Yes he's got a little bit of diva in him but he's still a leader in that clubhouse even though last year happened on his watch. Resign Papi I say.

As for Youk, I don't think he can stay healthy and we have a potential stud 3rd base prospect named Will Middlebrooks. Youk can't handle the grind of 3rd base and at this point he's a 1st base/DH type of player. I don't know what you can get for Youk. The Brewers might need a first baseman and I would call up Theo at the Cubs, maybe get some relief pitching. Then Id give Middlebrooks the job and sign a veteran for him to platoon with. Such as Casey Blake. That's a move I like.


Also theres little moves I would do. Cut the cord with Varitek and Wake. I hate to do it but it's time. I'd sign Michael Cuddyer, good clubhouse presence, can play multiple postions, right handed bat, and have him split right field time with Ryan Kalish, whos ranked as the second best prospect in the Red Sox system and came up in 2010 and showed potential. Also have Jose Iglesias spilt with Marco Scutaro. By the end of the year Iglesias could be the everyday guy. Then have
Ryan Lavarnway spilt with Salty at catcher and Lavarnway could spell Papi at DH against lefties. Hopefully Beckett got a fire lit under his ass and comes back in shape. Same with Lester. Lackey's gone for the year. There's some solid starting pitching out there. Mark Buehrle is out there. I'd go out and get Rich Harden. They had him at the trade deadline but the team doctors said he want healthy. He went on the make every start for the A's after the deadline and now the team doctors are fired (good riddance to them by the way. So many misdiagnosed players the last few years). I'd stay away from CJ Wilson. Too much money and I think he's sligtly overrated.

You could say "Well BJ, you sure got a lot of rookies playing key positons". Yes but there's still a ton of talent on this team. Crawford will bounce back, Adrian will have a better year, Pedroia, Ellsbury are still here. The pieces are in place all we need is a few moves and a change of the culture and the Red Sox will be back.

Team Win

That game last night for the New England Patriots was one the most satisfying, biggest, character building wins they have had in awhile. Last night was basically for our playoffs lives and they came up big. It wasn't pretty. The defense was basically held together by glue, scotch tape, some some helf by Mark Sanchez, and were carried by Brady, Gronk, and Andre Carter.


With five undrafted free agents starting on defense you had to have a program with you just to know some of the guys out there. No Spikes, no Chung, and losing McCourty halfway through, the defense played well. I know, I know it was against Mark Sanchez but at this point we have to take what we can get. Andre Carter has been one of the most underrated free agent signings in the NFL and if he, Mark Anderson, and Vince Wilfork can get the pressure on the quarterback like last night then you can get away with having Sterling Moore, Phillip Adams, and Antwaun Molden in the secondary. Also communication was a big deal last week and this week they appeared to have those problems figured out on the road in a tough environment.


Also last night it was one of those wins that Brady, Branch, Belichick, and the rest of those guys love. It was a make or break game, the season was on the line, everybody was picking against them, and like they always do they come through when they needed to the most. Even Patriot legends like Troy Brown and Rodney Harrison picked the Jets. Brady started out a little slow but once he figured it out and went to the hurry up, he was brilliant. No team plays the "No one believes in us" card better than the New England Patriots.


Now I'm not saying to pack and get ready for the Super Bowl, this team still has a ways to go but the AFC is wide open. All these teams are fraudulent. The Pats have flaws, as do the Ravens, Texans, Bills, Jets, Bengals, and Steelers. I guess you would have to say that the Steelers are the top team in the AFC but not by much.


Big win. 6-3. Still improving. Chiefs up next on Monday night.