Cavs Now Team To Beat

It's official, Shaq is coming to Cleveland to play along side the King, and personally, I can't wait. Not only do I think the Cavs will win the Eastern Conference next year, I think they will win the NBA Finals as well. On top of that, if they are able to pick up another player, preferably a bigger two gaurd, they will challenge the record for wins in a season. They will still win the east even if they don't add anybody else, but if they can add a bigger two gaurd, and bring Delonte off the bench, or sign an athletic power forward, like a Shawn Marion, or Charlie Villanueva, or hey, maybe even Hedo Turkoglu, they will challenge the Bulls mark of wins in a season. The beautiful thing about this move is that by still having big Z the Cavs can rest Shaq and big Z as much as needed so their legs are still fresh come the playoffs, it will be amazing. It is gonna be a great year and I can't wait.

Finals Preview

The NBA Finals are finally here after what seems like an eternity. As expected, the LA Lakers are representing the West, and as few predicted when the season began, the Orlando Magic are representing the Eastern Conference. The Lakers seem to be the overwhelming favorite in most peoples minds, not mine, despite the fact that Orlando went 2-0 against L.A. this year. Yes, the Lakers have home court, and yes they were here last year, and yes they have Kobe, but they will still have the same problem they had last year, they are not going to be physical enough to match up with the Magic, just as they weren't against the celtics last year. I see this series looking alot like the Lakers series a few years back against the Pistons in Shaq's final year in LA, they will split the first two in LA, and then get swept by the Magic in Orlando and fall 4-1. Kobe will have a great series, just as LeBron did, but it will be his support cast just as the cavs that will cost them. The Magic just have to many unorthodox scorers to contain and it will show in the end.

Get off the Kings Back

I wish all the so called sports experts around the country would just shut-up and get off LeBron James back about the aftermath of the eastern conference finals and not shaking hands with orlando players and not immediately speaking with the media. It is becoming ridiculous. This is not the nhl which has a long standing tradition off lining up as a team to shake hands when a series ends. They also criticized him for leaving his teammates to answer questions about their season ending loss. First of all, who cares if he shakes hands or not, he is not the first, last, or only person who has done this. How can you expect the MVP, on the leagues best regular season team, to wade through confetti and seek out players on the opponent, who are celebrating and putting on championship hats and t-shirts, to shake hands? Do you think the magic players really even cared, or noticed until the media started asking questions about it? Not a bit. It is the most overblown and talked about topic in the history of sports. And the leaving his teammates to answer questions, good for him, they were the ones who stunk up the arena. LeBron put everything he had into that series, nearly averaging forty points and a triple double. And all of this Kobe would never do something like that can stop now, because he has already done worse in his career, like quitting on his team in a game seven against Phoenix, or calling out teammates and management and demanding to be traded. So please, stop acting like not shaking hands is the worst thing in the world, it was not a snub, he simply left the court and let the magic celebrate victory.

Go Time

After what seems like an eternity, the NBA regular season is finally over and the playoffs are here. Here are my predictions for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

First Round

(1)Cavs over (8)Pistons - It'll take only four games, Pistons don't even look like they wanna be
in the playoffs and would have rather stayed home.

(7)Bulls over (2)Celtics - Worst possible matchup for Celtics, the Bulls are a carbon copy of the
Hawks from last years first round that went seven games. Bulls are
young, long, fast, deep, and having nothing to lose, they are everything
Boston isn't. Bulls in six games or less.

(3)Magic over (6)Sixers - Magic will win this fairly easy even with their injury problems.

(4)Hawks over (5)Heat - This will be a great series, but in the end the Hawks are deeper and
Talented.

Second Round

(1)Cavs over (4)Hawks - Could go six games, but I see the Cavs winning one of the first two in
Atlanta and closing it out at home in five, but all games will be close.

(3)Magic over (7)Bulls - The Magic should be completely healthy by the second round and get
by the Bulls in six close games.

Conference Finals

(1)Cavs over (3)Magic - I see the Cavs winning in six, with the first five games all going to the
home team, and then the Cavs stealing game six in Orlando.


Western Conference

(1)Lakers over (8)Jazz - Lakers in five hard fought games, but wouldn't be suprised if it went
all seven either.

(7)Hornets over (2) Nuggets - Let the Tracy McGrady comparisons begin for Carmelo, Hornets
win in six with a healthy Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul.

(6)Mavs over (3)Spurs - No Manu, no second round for Spurs, Mavs are to hot right now.

(4)Blazers over (5)Rockets - Too young, deep, and athletic for the Rockets to handle, they win in
six.

Second Round

(1)Lakers over (4)Blazers - It'll go atleast six great games, most likely seven, and Kobe will just
barely get the best of Roy down the stretch.

(7)Hornets over (6)Mavs - Hornets win the right to be swept by Lakers.

Conference Finals

(1)Lakers over (7)Hornets - Too deep, too much Kobe.

Finals

(1)Cavs over (1)Lakers - In what should be the best finals in twenty years, LeBron and the Cavs
will take down Kobe and the Lakers in seven exiting and close games
with James drilling one at the buzzer to win game 7 at home.

Tourney Picks

Its the greatest time of the year again and let the madness begin. Here is how I see each region breaking down and who I see winning it all.

Midwest Region

Sweet 16 - Louisville over Arizona ; West Virginia over USC
Elite 8 - Louisville over West Virginia

West Region

Sweet 16 - UCONN over Purdue ; Memphis over Missouri
Elite 8 - Memphis over UCONN

East Region

Sweet 16 - PITT over FSU ; Villanova over Texas
Elite 8 - PITT over Villanova

South Region

Sweet 16 - UNC over Gonzaga ; Syracuse over Oklahoma
Elite 8 - Syracuse over UNC

Final Four

Memphis over Louisville ; PITT over Syracuse

Final

Memphis 73 ; PITT 67

At the end of the day I think the length, defense and mix of youth and experience will win out for Memphis.

Revised Playoff Predictions

Well, looks like I should of stuck with my original gut feeling when the playoffs started and gone with the Steelers over the Eagles, but I went with my pre-season pick of the Chargers. I thought when the playoffs started that LT would be healthy enough to play and Big Ben would still be a little off because of his concusion, so I took San Diego, guess I was way off on that one. Atleast I got the Ravens right. And in the NFC, although I only got the Eagles pick right, I like to think I was half right on the other one, since I did have the Panthers losing, just to the wrong birds. So, here are my revised picks.

AFC Championship - Steelers 20 Ravens 9

NFC Championship - Eagles 24 Cardinals 21

Super Bowl - Steelers 24 Eagles 16

Gator Greatness

The Florida Gators fought and scrapped for sixty minutes Thursday night to win their third National Championship, and second in three years, against the high powered Oklahoma Sooners. (Just like I predicted they would before the season started) The defense was sensational, stepping up big with two goal line stands late in the first half to keep the score tied at 7-7 at the half. Stud defensive end and defensive MVP was in the backfield harassing Bradford all game long.(Told you to watch out for him) And the defense held up in the second half as well, to allow Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin to take over the game and put the Sooners away for good.
While the game may not of lived up to the offensive shootout it was hyped to be, it was exactly the way I thought it would be. As the SEC has proved year in and year out in the BCS era, defense wins in the big games. Not only did Florida shut down the highest scoring offense in NCAA history and their Heisman winning QB, they did it playing man coverage and getting constant pressure on Bradford, despite OU having the so called "greatest offensive line ever". You just cannot prepare for the speed of the SEC, as the Sooners found out. Oklahoma played only one other team that had anywhere close to the athletes that Florida has, and they lost to them as well. As both Texas and Florida proved, if you can get to Bradford early and keep just the slightest amount of pressure on him, he will fold. Hell, on their last possession, trailing by ten, Bradford threw four times for 6 yards, and on fourth down threw to a covered receiver about three yards short of the sticks and the ball was batted away. And at the end of the first half, with ten seconds left and no timeouts tried to force a pass into a covered receiver short of the goal line and was intercepted, and even if caught, the clock would of run out, so instead of a three point lead at the half, they went in tied. All of these mistakes were brought on my the speed and aggressiveness that the Gator defense showed from the start.
So, let's please stop all the SEC is overrated talk, I think we all now know that it was the Big 12, no defense league that was truly overrated. And don't worry Texas fans, you'll get your chance to find out next year when Colt McCoy gets his taste of the Gator defense in the BCS Championship, and gets steamrolled, like Tebow will also do to your paper defense.