NBA All-Star selections

I'm excited for the NBA all-star game. Well, maybe not for the actual game, but to see who makes the team. It's always interesting to break down who made it over who, and especially the guards who will inevitably be left out in the western conference. Hopefully those who deserve it will make the team, but there will be some who will not due to players like Carmelo Anthony, who have the statistics, but not the wins to show for it. If Atlanta has three guys make the team I'm happy, and if Draymond Green makes the team I'm even happier.

Key to Super Bowl Sunday

How can the Patriots win this weekends Super Bowl? It can't be simply Tom Brady's greatness, or Belichick's genius. There has to be more. At the end of the game, if the Patriots are victorious, of course those two will receive much of the credit. However, the play of New England's defense will be the key to a victory on Sunday night. It is important that Chandler Jones and Vince Wilfork create pressure both on the quarterback and in the middle. Holding Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch to a sub-par game is critical. It will also be key that the New England linebackers contain Russell Wilson, and do not let him break out for any big plays outside of the pocket. Lastly, the secondary will be imperative. Darrelle Revis and other cornerbacks must make sure they continue to cover well, even when Wilson is able to extend plays with his feet. If the New England Patriots defense are able to do all this, they may not even need an MVP performance from Brady, just a solid one.

NBA All-Star Starters

The NBA all-star game starters will be announced tonight on TNT, and if the early voting results are of any indication, one may be upset with a couple of the selections. The two that come to mind are Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony. Both have been scoring this season, but no very efficiently. The two also play on very bad teams and have missed a considerable amount of games. Still, I believe this is ok because it is an all-star game. It would be nice if the players who really deserve it go the nod, but these type of games require the personalities of stars like Bryant and Anthony. With the game being at Madison Square Garden, it would be nice if the two all-stars were able to play well in front of the country. We all know this will be the only relevant game to two play in this season.

Deflategate....Who Cares?

Hopefully by the time Monday rolls around next week this whole "deflategate" issue will go away. But as of today it does not look like that will happen. More and more reports are surfacing about the Patriots using slightly deflated footballs during the AFC championship game this past Sunday. Now, I do not believe anyone can dispute the outcome of the game, deflated balls or not, but these reports are interesting. It is not uncommon for a team like New England, with so much success, to be ridiculed and accused in times like these. All I have to say on this issue is that I do not care. Not only because I am a Patriots fan, but also because it seems all teams do things like this. Whether it is inflating or deflating footballs, or spying on other teams. Every team in sports tries to get an edge. Just appears that the Patriots will not get away with it.

A Super Bowl for Legacy

There will be plenty of time over the next couple weeks to talk about legacies, especially that of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Brady is already without question one of the best quarterbacks of all time. However, it is interesting to compare Brady to Russell Wilson. If the Patriots lose to Seattle I will be very upset for many reasons. One of which will be that Wilson will be on track to become the next Brady. With two Super Bowls in his first three seasons, he will have a very similar resume to that of Brady's first three years in New England. It would also leave Brady at 3-3 in Super Bowls, which does not seem to give justice to his career. Still two weeks until the game, but at this point I'm leaning towards picking Seattle. Part of that may be my fear of jinxing my team, and also my fear of the Seattle defense.

Where are the Best Teams in the NBA?

Here we are, around the mid-way point of the NBA season, and still waiting for some of the premier teams in the league to get going. The list of these teams is relatively short for me. Two teams in the east and two in the west. First are the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team just recently got LeBron James back from injury, and are waiting for Iman Shumpert to come back from an injury. A win last night against the Chicago Bulls could get this team going on a run. The Bulls are the other team in the east that I find myself waiting for. Chicago is doing better than Cleveland, but in the last two weeks has been struggling. Right now sitting in the fourth seed, the team would like to finish with the one or two seed, but being healthy come playoff time is most important. 

In the west the two obvious teams are the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are still currently out of the playoffs, while the Spurs have just not been as dominant, sitting in the seventh spot. While the Thunder need to simply focus on even making the playoffs, each of these teams need to step their games up. The only team with a free pass is probably the Spurs. Just because of the teams recent history, and the fact that home court advantage does not really matter to the team. Going forward, even if it is just for my personal enjoyment, I hope these teams begin to play as well as they are capable.

Thunder's Playoff Chances

The Oklahoma City Thunder got a big win last night against the Golden State Warriors, yet they still are on the outside of the playoff picture. The team is currently tied for ninth in the western conference  at 19-20, and three and a half games behind the number eight spot. A long win streak is in order for this team, as they have the talent to win the conference. That of course is impossible if they do not even make the playoffs. The addition of Dion Waiters should help give the bench enough firepower offensively to compete with the best in the west. Having two of the best players in the league also helps. If Westbrook and Durant can step their game up, the team should finish the season with at least the seventh or eighth seed. Rumors have been swirling about a potential trade between the team and the Brooklyn Nets involving center Brook Lopez. Although Steven Adams has been playing well in a starting role, Lopez is an established NBA center and former all-star. He would most certainly be an upgrade over veteran Kendrick Perkins, who is a solid backup at this point in his career. I believe this team will at least leap the Phoenix Suns for the eighth and final seed in the west. Do not be surprised if the team ends up making a run to the finals either, especially if the Brook Lopez deal is executed.

Future of Boston Basketball

It is tough to see where the Boston Celtics are headed right now. Although its clear that Danny Ainge is interested in assets and draft picks, it is not so clear what exactly he plans to do with all of them. With about 11 first round picks over the next four drafts, the Celtics have a lot of "assets". Will the team keep all of those picks or use them to trade for something more. The team has also cleared up a lot of cap space, giving them money to spend on a big time player. Problem is no one seems to want to come to Boston right now. The team took a run at Kevin Love last summer, but without a top 5 pick the team did not have enough to offer Minnesota. So for now it seems the team will simply have to hit on the next couple of drafts, and hope that players like Marcus Smart and James Young really come into their own over the next year or so. If the team keeps Brad Stevens and believes in his philosophies as a coach, the team has a real good chance to build something great from the ground up. The key will be not missing on some of these draft picks, and eventually being able to trade some picks for established NBA stars.

New Team, Same Rex Ryan

Rex Ryan is at it again. The new coach of the Buffalo Bills held his first press conference the other day and it was much of the same for Ryan. The man who multiple times predicted that his former team (the Jets) would win the super bowl, started off his Bills career by promising playoffs for Buffalo. The team has not seen the playoffs in 15 years, but with a strong defense, many believe that the team is just a quarterback away from being a sleeper in the AFC. I appreciate the enthusiasm from Ryan, but haven't we seen this before? When Ryan took over the Jets he led a team with a great defense to back to back AFC title games. Ever since his teams have been mediocre and have never carried good offenses. Ryan has always been the out going head coach who makes big statements to the media in support of his team, but in a place like New York City he just got destroyed. I believe that Ryan is a great defensive coach and he will be fine in Buffalo but I do not think he got off on the right foot by saying what he did at his press conference.

The College Football Playoff Comes to an End

The new College Football Playoff format is a huge success. There is an unreal amount of buzz surrounding this game and its meaning to college football. It is not like this is the first national championship to create excitement, but everything from the SEC going down to the game being played in Jerry's world helps make this game even more intriguing. The coach of Ohio State, Urban Meyer, could solidify himself as one the best to ever coach at the college level with a win tonight. While Oregon and its Heisman Trophy winning quarterback could finally capture that title that has held the school back from being considered one of the best programs in the country. All of this and more add to what has been one of the best couple weeks of football in recent memory (college and pro). Tonights game will be remembered in history as the first National Championship played in the CFP format, displaying a progression from the previous format.

For the second year in a row, both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will participate in the NFC and AFC championship games respectively. These teams were predicted by many to be here when the season began, and now they indeed sit with just one game between them and Glendale. Tom Brady will take on Andrew Luck and the Colts for the second consecutive year. Last year the team dominated Indianapolis in the divisional round and now look to end Andrew Luck's playoff run. He has now reached the championship game and is one step closer to reaching the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl. This run will likely end next week in Foxborough. Although the team looked good against the Broncos, the Patriots are a different animal and will give the Colts much more problems defensively.
Seattle will host the NFC championship and take on a slightly hobbled Aaron Rodgers. The key matchup will be Rodgers against the great defense of Seattle. If Rodgers can make some big plays and does not receive too much pressure, the Seahawks could be in trouble. Can't wait for an exciting Sunday next week.

NFL Divisional Round: Pats-Ravens

A rematch of the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens headlines the start of Divisional weekend in the NFL. These teams have met up in the playoffs three times in recent years, with the Ravens winning two of the three. The Patriots are favorites playing at home, but are aware of how dangerous this Ravens team could be. Joe Flacco was impressive in last weeks win over the Steelers, continuing his impressive postseason play that led the team to a Super Bowl win just a couple years ago. The Ravens also have a great pass rush with Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil. The Patriots should win this game by a touchdown or so, but if they fall behind early it could be a different story. If the Ravens start out with the lead and are able to unleash the pass rush it could be a long day for Tom Brady and the Patriots offense. Still I think the Patriots will handle the Ravens and win this game 31-21.

Warriors: Current Kings of the NBA

Is there any doubt who the best in the NBA are right now? The Golden State Warriors won another game last night, this time against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now there was still no LeBron James, but the win continued a great early season run for the Warriors that has them at 29-5. Not only are they at the top of the league but they are also dominating some of the leagues best. Although the west is tough, I would be surprised if a team is able to knock off Golden State come playoff time. If the team ends up with home court advantage it will be incredibly difficult to win a game on that floor.

Cavs Moves

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a few moves this past week in an attempt to improve their current roster. This resulted in acquiring a couple of shooting guards (Iman Shumpert and JR Smith), as well as center Timofy Mozgov. These moves immediately improve the Cavs roster, but I'm not so sure this makes them anymore of a contender. Hard to tell until LeBron comes back from injury, but I can't see this team making it to the NBA Finals right now. I would like the Cavs chances in a matchup against the Raptors or Hawks, but I could not see them beating the Bulls or the Wizards in the playoffs. Shumpert will help out the perimeter defense and will bring some athleticism to the backcourt. Smith should be exactly what he's always been, and thats a streaky shooter who can win a game here and there because of his great scoring ability. Mozgov is a huge upgrade at center after Varajao went down with injury. So, we will see how these moves end up playing out. I expect the team to improve and start winning more games, but when LeBron comes back.