5'10 Guard with 50' Vertical

5 foot 10 guard from Illinois College got some springs. Oh yeah, and he's a white boy.

Boston Celtics Miami Heat Preview

The Boston Celtics vs the Miami Heat should be the best series of the second round and perhaps the playoffs. The Celtics and Heat met 4 times during the regular season with the Celtics winning 3 out of the 4. In the Celtic wins they dominated the Heat inside and out. Rajon Rondo controlled the game and the tempo. Dwayne Wade was not a factor in all 3 loses. The key for the Heat to win the series is to speed up the tempo and force turnovers. They also will have to find a way to score during the final possesions of games. Chris Bosh will have to be aggresive during the whole series. He can't just settle for jumpshots. He has to make Kevin Garnett work hard in the post, and seeing that he is one of he Heats biggest players he has to have a presence on the boards.

The key for the celtics to win the series is to slow down the tempo and only run when it is needed. The Celtics will have a huge inside advantage if Shaquille O'Neal can play in this series. The Heat will doesn't have anyone who can matchup with Shaq, even at his age. If Shaq can't go for this series then the Celtics will need their bench to step up. Jeff Green and Glen Davis will need to have big impacts and Nenad Kristic will need to be a force inside. I'm taking the Heat in 6. I think their size will wear down the Heat in the first few game. I see the Celtics winning 1 in Miami, and finising it of in game 6 at Boston.

Green Bay Packers to Repeat

The Green Bay Packers have got to be the favorites to when next years super bowl. The Packers don't have any real key free agents that they have to worry about losing. They might want to resign Cullen Jenkins to keep anchoring that front line with B.J. Raji, but after that anyone else is replaceable. Remember, the Packers won the Super Bowl without a running game and with many key players out with injury. Not to count the players they lost during the Super Bowl. With key players returning and the players they can add through the draft, and we all know that Ted Thompson is one of the best drafting GM's in the game today. The Packers should be primed to make another run at the Lombardi trophy.

End of the Spurs Dynasty

After a 91-88 loss to the Memphis Grizzles, and a 2-1 deficit in the series, this could be the end of the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. I always thought that the Spurs were not as good as their regular season record had indicated. Going into the playoffs I had the Spurs losing in 6 games to the Oklahoma City Thunder. I never thought that the Memphis Grizzles, without Rudy Gay would be the better team in that series. Even though I think the Spurs will still win the series, they are clearly not one of the teams that can compete for a championship. The problem is that Tim Duncan cannot hold the type of defense he needs to hold against Randolph and Gasol and still be effective on offense. Manu Ginobili is struggling with that elbow, and Tony Parker is turning the ball over too much. As for the rest of the team, besides Mcdyess, they haven't showed up to play yet. The San Antonio Spurs still do have a solid nucleus with Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan, but if they can't get some needed help during the offseason it will definitely be the end of their dynasty.

NBA Powers Starting To Pull Away

The first round of the playoffs have been surprising good. The games have been close, and the competition has been fierce. The Indiana Pacers have pushed the Chicago Bulls in all three of their games. The Memphis Grizzles are taking the San Antonio Spurs through a dog fight. Their are also a couple of series that are up in the air yet. But, I think as this first round starts playing out you're going to start seeing the power team’s start separating them self’s from the rest. The Celtics and Lakers have pretty much put their stamp on their series. The Miami Heat is going through the 76ers, and I think the Spurs will start to pull away from Memphis. I look forward to the second round where I think the playoffs are really going to begin.

NFL Draft:Over Hyped

Let’s all face it; the NFL draft gets to much attention. I'm a faithful ESPN viewer, and I'm so tired of hearing about the NFL draft. Tired of hearing about the draft boards, who's on the clock, and who is going where. Honestly, does it even matter? Unless you’re a college football expert you're not going to know half of the players who get drafted anyway. How many players in the first round even go on to have a successful career? All football fans know about all the quarterback bust over the years, but sports media still feels the need to ask everyday who's going to be the first quarterback drafted. Does it matter! The quarterback that gets drafted in the 3rd round will probably be the most successful then all of the one's who went before that. Don't blame me for what I'm saying because it is proven.

Nicki Minaj Giving Steve Nash Lapdance

Refs Killing NBA Playoffs

What is supposed to make the NBA playoffs special? I mean, each of the teams that make it into the playoffs has to play the same teams they've been playing in their conference all season. They have to play them the best out of 7 games. It's not like football, where it is one and done, or fans may get to see a matchup they haven't seen all year. What is supposed to make the NBA playoffs different is the physical play of the game. It's the time in the NBA where flopping shouldn't be rewarded. It is where tic tac fouls shouldn't be punished. NBA players have been accused of not giving their all during the regular season because of the season's length. Well, this is the time where the players’ intensity picks up. It’s when defenses start tightening up. Where star players start pushing their teams to victory. All that can be deferred by bad officiating. Referees, for some reason always want to control games.

Look at some of the calls in the playoffs thus far. The hand though the rim by Kendrick Perkins that perhaps cost Denver the game. The offensive foul call against Carmelo Anthony that perhaps cost the Celtics the game. Derrick Rose went to the line about 40 times in to games against the Pacers. Now, I know the he is going hard to the rim and drawing contact, but if that's all he has to do, well all the rest of the teams might as well pack up and go home. How many tic tac fouls have you seen the refs call already? You would think David Stern would do something, but he hasn't done any thing good for the league in years. I think if the refs put the whistles in their pocket the game will be a lot more exciting.

Shaq Key to Celtics Finals Run

Shaquille O’Neal will be key for the Boston Celtics to make it back to the NBA finals. I don't know what kind of shape Shaq will be in when he returns from injury, but he will have to have an immediate impact for the Celtics to advance past the Heat, or the Bulls. Shaq isn't the most dominate player in the game anymore but he is still one of the biggest, and takes up a lot of space in the paint. Me personally, I've been rooting for Shaq to win another ring. I just can't understand what happened to the big guys touch around the basket. I understand when you get older you lose your athleticism, but to lose your touch is crazy. When Shaq played for the Lakers he had a turn around jumper, a hook shot with either hand, and just touch around the rim. If he could just find a go to move, like a hook shot he would be much more effective. Well, I think he is going to make an impact. I think he knows this is probably it for him, so he might as well let all hang out.

Derrick Rose is the Truth

If anyone has any doubts about Derrick Rose being MVP this year, then you must not have seen the Chicago Bulls opening playoff game vs. the Indiana Pacers. Any true basketball fan can watch someone play and tell that they're watching someone special, and yesterday was one of those examples. I must admit, that I was not on the Derrick Rose bandwagon for 85% of the season. I thought from the time he came into the league that he was talented, athletic, fast, strong, but was unable to make jump shots on a consistent basis. As a fan of the game knows, as a guard in the NBA you can have all of the other attributes but if you can't shoot the ball it will limit your game significantly. Credit to him for working on his shot, and even if he's still not a knock down shooter he's got it good enough to where defenders have to respect it. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the Chicago Bulls this season because I knew they would be in the playoffs, but I thought the Heat and the Celtics still had to much for Chicago to compete with. Fast-forward to their final games against the Celtics and the Knicks, and their first round playoff game against the pacers. Those games are all I needed to see to know that this dude is the best player in the game this year. I do still think that Kobe is the best player skillfully wise in the NBA, but Derrick Rose is the most dominate, with Lebron at a close 2nd.

Did Steroids Save Baseball

Did steroids save professional baseball? In my opinion it didn't hurt the game. 1998, 2001, and 2007 were probably the most popular year’s professional baseball has ever had in the last 50 years. In 1998 you had, what was in my opinion the reincarnation of professional baseball. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had one of the greatest performances in sports history. Whether they were using performance enhancing drugs or not they had the world paying full attention to them going after Roger Maris's homerun record. Baseball, as a sport was at an all time high, and it came right on time, seeing that professional baseball was coming out of a lockout. Which raises the question, did baseball create the monster, and are they now trying to kill it?

     In 2001 and 2007 we witnessed two more record breaking moments, when Barry Bonds broke Mark McGwire's and Hank Aaron’s homerun records. Let's face it; the homerun is the most exiting play in baseball. Everyone loves the long ball; they even have an entire event based around the homerun. If you notice, every player that had overly successful seasons between 2001-2010 has been linked to steroids. It is had for me to believe that none of the big wigs of professional baseball had no clue that this was going on. Of course they new what was happening, but because they were generating so much revenue they either turned their heads or they were pulling the strings. Either way, in my opinion they knew and still know what was and is going on.

    

Derek Jeter: There's no loyalty in sports

Derek Jeter is growing tired of all the negative opinions about the way he has been perfoming this year. I don't know what he expects after a summer of him criticizing the oganization about his contract. Jeter has been in the league for 15+ years he should know that there is no loyality in sports. When you are coming to the end of your career and your skills start to diminish and you can't perform like in past years or even the year before, people soon forget about the good times you've given them. Jeter will be part of a long list of athletes who have given there all to an organization and gets hurt when it is not given back. Even the Chicago Bulls let the best basketball player ever to play the game leave coming off of 3 championships. That's why I don't get mad when players want more money, request trades, and pick where they want to play, because this is all a business at the end of the day and that's it.

NBA Playoffs

With the nba playoffs upon us, I will like to comment on some of the questions I've been hearing about. Who's coming from what conference and who's going to win tthe title? I keep hearing the Chicago Bulls out of the east and the L.A. Lakers out of the west. Let me explain why that will not be the matchup we will be watchin in June. First of all, the Lakers will be in the finals again this year. I think there are a couple of teams that came give the Lakers a long series, but ultimately they are too big, too talented, and too well coached for any team in the west at this point. The San Antonio Spurs can match them at coaching and perhaps talent, but the size will be their demise. The Oklahoma City Thunder still do not have enough weapons to beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. Now, to the tricky east. The first round is not important, everything should play out according to seed. When it comes to the semifinals, that's when the fun begins.

Orlando Magics vs. Chicago Bulls

This will be a hard fought series for both teams. The only way the Magic will win this series is if Dwight Howard avarages 20+ ppg. and 15+ reb. Gilbert Arenas will have to show at least 85% of his old self, and if not that then at least he will have hit his open shots. Hedo, Jameer, J-Rich will also have to hit those open 3 pointers when  they are presented. They also are going to have to pick their poison, either stop Derrick Rose or stop the rest of the team. In order for the Bulls to win the series they just have to play how they've been playing the last 2 months.

Bulls 4 Magic 2  Bulls win series


Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat

I think this will be another series that will end in 6 games. For the Boston Celtics advancing in this series will all depend on the health and production of Shaquille O'Neal. With shaq in the fold the celtics will be able to clog that lane and make Miami more of a jump shooting team, just like they did in the 3 wins this season. With Miami not having big men that can stretch the floor and not being a real prolific shooting team shaq will not have to deal with to much pick and role. Another factor for the celtics will be if Rajon Rondo will make them pay for leaving him unguarded. In the game on Sunday, I can't count how many times he passed up open free throw line jumpshots. The celtics also need to decrease the turnovers, convert on offense and make Miami take the ball out of the rim, which will slow down the fast break opportunities.

     I the Heat wants to take this series they will need Dwayne Wade to play like he did this past Sunday, and not like he played in the 3 losses this season. Chris Bosh will need to be one of the most physical players on the court. They will also need to create easy baskets, get up and down the court and try to wear the celtics out. The most important thing the heat has to do is protect home court advantage.

Celtics 4 Heat 2  Celtics win series

Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls

This will be the only 7 game series of the whole eastern conference playoffs. The recipe for the Chicago Bulls to advance to the finals will be making shots in the half court, matching the celtics defense intensity, and defensive rebounding. Derrick Rose will have to continue to play at a mvp level. Luol Deng will have knock down those open shots off of pick and roll. Carlos Boozer has to be a more physical player and help Jokim Noah down in the paint. The x factor for the bulls will be Keith Bogans defense on Ray Allen. The
Boston Celtics will need their stars to be stars on both ends of the floor. Rajon Rondo can not let Derrick Rose control the pace of the series. He has to make rose play both ends of the floor. The x factor for the celtics is of course shaq, but I think Jeff Green will be the biggest factor. If he can come in for Pierce and make a impact I think the celtics will come out on top.

Boston Celtics 4 Chicago Bulls 3   Celtics win series

Boson Celtics vs L.A. Lakers Finals

This will not be the series it was last year. I think this will be the only time the celtics will truly miss Kendrick Perkins. The Lakers will just be too big for the celtics to handle. I also think the celtics would have had a much harder road than the lakers and will affect them in the finals.

L.A. Lakers 4 Celtics 2  Lakers win series