Hey guys, who's excited about Game 5 of the New Orleans/Denver series? Who thought Game 4 of the Cavaliers/Pistons series was going to give them something for the ages? And honestly, who wouldn't prefer the Game 5s coming up in the Bulls/Celtics and Hawks/Heat series weren't winner take all?
For the life of me, I can't think of a good reason for the first round to be seven games instead of five games like the old days (2002). The first round has two purposes: 1) To quickly weed out the pretenders. Why do I need to watch the Pistons, Jazz, or Hornets lose four times?? I don't. 2) To allow for highly dramatic series consisting of complacent favorites and frisky underdogs.
Think about it: Tomorrow, on a TUESDAY no less (perhaps the worst day of the week), we, the fans, would be treated to TWO series deciding game fives with the Eastern Conference favorites on the ropes and Houston and Dallas could just move on. These favorites who blew two games to lesser teams now have the luxury of knowing they'll live to play another day even if they lose game 5, while still knowing that they are the better team. Shouldn't these favorites have to face the extreme pressure of an elimination game if they are careless enough to lose two games out of four to a .500 team? Sure, I picked San Antonio AND Portland to win their series, but would a comeback to win in seven even be worth it to me? Not really, and would a comeback and a LOSS in seven?? That would be an extreme waste of my time. We complain about teams in the Eastern Conference having horrible records and asking why they are even in the playoffs, and yet we make the 66-win Cavs beat the losing record Pistons four times in a row by double digits instead of three.
Is it a huge deal? I guess not, but it sure doesn't seem right. Even the origins of the rule are a little confusing. From what I remember when it was changed six years ago, it was built to protect the Lakers from being eliminated in the first round because they were facing a formidable team in the Timberwolves and the NBA didn't want them ousted early. Talk about a bad reason. The seven game first round rule make the first round longer and less interesting. Anyone want to help me out as to why it exists?
Something for the Ladies:
After all that objectifying of men done by one Grace Burtch, I've got some to dish out on the ladies of the playoffs.
Nancy Lieberman: After Derrick Rose's playoff debut where he had 36 points in a victory on the road against the defending champs, he didn't really say much. He's a young guy who is, by all accounts, quiet anyway. But when she interviewed him after the game, Nancy treated him like he was five years old. After he didn't seem that excited about being told he tied Kareem for most points scored by a rookie in his playoff debut, she actually said to him something like, "You know, being mentioned with those names is really something...(awkward pause)..." Really? Thanks, Nancy. Get off the kid's back, just because he doesn't want to talk to you doesn't mean he doesn't know who Kareem is. Sheesh.
Doris Burke: Ooooooh, Doris.
In game 4, Kobe Bryant hits a pull up jumper against an undermanned Utah team in a blowout. Doris notes that it reminds her of Michael Jordan hitting a game winning jumper in this very same building in the finals. Already, that is an unforgivable comment. Comparing Kobe to Jordan is a cardinal sin, but comparing a first round playoff game to the game winning shot in the finals? That comment is unbelievable as it is. But Doris wasn't finished.
She went on to ask, "Who did he hit that shot over? Was it Ehlo?" EHLO??? Come on, Doris. I mean COME ON. I know this sounds terrible, but if you're going to be a female analyst in the NBA playoffs, you had better know twice as much as every man that could have done the job instead of like, asking if Jordan hit the final shot in the 1998 NBA Finals over Craig Ehlo.
(For the record, it was over Bryon Russell, someone who actually played for the Jazz)
Girl in the Pink Dress in the Taco Bell Commercial: Consider me a fan.
If I have to watch the same commercial two-thousand times over the next few months, can't I find something I enjoy about it? It's not like I'm going to actually buy that salad...oh well. All I know is that I bet you never thought you would get so excited by the phrase, "Look under the beans."
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
2009 Season Obituary: Detroit Pistons
When the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched "home court throughout the playoffs," I'm not sure they realized that meant literally every game of the playoffs.
Not surprisingly, the first team out of the playoffs might have the most work to do in terms of getting back to the top. In fact, all you really need to know about the state of this team and this city is that the second two games in The Palace were partial to the Cavs, even chanting "M-V-P" during his free throws.
Positives:
Not surprisingly, the first team out of the playoffs might have the most work to do in terms of getting back to the top. In fact, all you really need to know about the state of this team and this city is that the second two games in The Palace were partial to the Cavs, even chanting "M-V-P" during his free throws.
Positives:
- Detroit has two massive contracts as well as massive assholes coming off the books in Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace (as well as a smaller contracts in Walter Herrmann's $2 million, Kwame Brown's $4 million, Will Bynum and McDyess) who are receiving $20 million and $15 million respectively.
- This is nice for a few reasons. 1) Iverson and 'Sheed are negative forces on this team. 2) The bad economy seems to help teams like Detroit in a way. It doesn't help them sign top tier talent, but Detroit can't attract that anyway. What it helps is the fact that solid players won't be able to hold teams hostage for horrible contracts like they used to which means they could really maximize that cap space with solid guys OR severely overpay one guy which is another option.
- They found something in this Will Bynum character. Not that he is someone to build a team around, but whenever you can find a guy who fits a role and will accept it, it's a good thing. Bynum seems tough with great energy without being a hot headed punk. His jump shot isn't the best, but he's never guarded on it because he is almost impossible to stay in front of. In one of Starbury's first games with the Celtics, Bynum stole it from him and scored two out of the first three times he took it up and that's when I decided I liked him. He was the only consistent sign of life for Detroit in the whole series.
- They still have some legit third to fourth tier stars in Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.
- That city and that team just seem depressed. Neither one showed up to this series. I'm really not even sure if the last positive is a positive, frankly.
- I'm not totally sure about Curry. He never seemed very inspired in those on court interviews (I guess I can't blame him) but more importantly, the whole team was never playing inspired ball the whole year. And really, is the Iverson situation 100% Iverson's fault? Sure, he is who he is but he was handled as poorly as possible when he showed up. Ideally, he could have contributed to the team but he was a complete detriment and some of that blame has to go on Curry.
- They are still in Detroit and convincing free agents to go there at this point is going to be tough and expensive. They also don't even have that good of a draft pick in a pretty weak draft.
- Joe Dumars is a much celebrated GM, but he has been pretty hit or miss over the years.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Greatest Thing You Will Ever Read
HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT IT'S GRACE ARE YOU EXCITED?!
Every season when it gets to playoff time and someone who we actually like (limited spots, none available) makes it, Kev and I play a little game Buddies has affectionately named “GB’s Power Rankings”. Basically, it is the order of how the players stack up as marriage material. For me. Because I’m going to marry LeBron James and Grady Sizemore. I know you’ve all been waiting for this year’s NBA playoff list, so here it is:
15. Lorenzen Wright. Coming in last with a score of 0.000, all I have to say is, why does he exist?
14. Jawad Williams. A solid runner up for “just on the team to watch LeBron”.
13. Tarance Kinsey. His college mascot was the gamecock and his accomplishments to date are two NIT Championships. Subpar.
12. Sasha Pavlovic. Have you seen him? Also, used to play for the Jazz, the only mascot gayer than the gamecocks.
11. Darnell Jackson. Is he ever going to stop talking about Kansas? Where even is Kansas? It may as well be in Canada as little as I care about it.
10. Zydrunas Ilgauskas. I love Z. He just isn’t marriage material. A. He looks like an alien. B. He is in alien.
9. Joe Smith. Poster child for Not Living Up to Your Potential. Yeah right, my kids aren’t going number one in the draft and then taking a ten year nap. Metaphorically. My kids will be winners.
8. Anderson Varejao. There is no way that hair is clean.
7. JJ Hickson. JJ is not a name. It’s not even his initals. His middle name is Edward. This man is obviously severely confused. However, he is above the halfway mark, lookin’ pretty good.
6. Ben “Brittle Bones” Wallace. My kids will know the importance of calcium and drink their milk so they don’t miss the NBA playoffs with some kind of stupid injury. Also he looks like when he goes home at night, he goes home to prison. He’s still at number 6 though, cause he’s awes.
5. Delonte West. This year’s Most Improved, jumping up six spots since I found out he carries body wash around with him.
4. Daniel Gibson. Friggin’ adorable. Also, has the most hilarious nickname.
3. Wally Szczerbiak. First of all, he already has cute little kids I can steal, nice. Second of all, what an awesome name. The only other famous Wally I can think of is the voice of Underdog. We’ve got a corner on the market.
2. Mo Williams. I mean, duh. He’s the next best thing to LBJ, plus he is BFFs with him. Just working my way up.
1. LeBron James. Okay, this is obvious. He is totally awesome, plus he has adorable little kids, plus he is totally awesome, plus….awesome.
Thank you and good night.
Buddies' Comments:
First of all, one thing that makes this broad unique is that she is ranking these people on how good of marriage material they are but she actually watches the games. This explains why it almost lists the players in order of average minutes (not quite) but it doesn't explain some of my confusions:
2. Why is Darnell Jackson so low? I understand he doesn't get paid much, but he seems like an intelligent and good enough looking guy to crack the single digits. He's also a guy who has shown some promise on the court and clearly won't get paid very much so he'll probably be on the team for a long time. Gotta look at longevity.
3. Same thing for Joe Smith. It's not his fault he was the first pick (even though I bet the Warriors wish they would have snagged Garnett...or even 'Sheed). He's a nice looking guy without the youth, but plenty of money. Again, behind Ben Wallace? And behind a guy whose hair you suspect is dirty (this is a big deal for Gracie)? I don't get it.
4. The worst thing about this list is that Sasha Pavlovic isn't last. He's dumb, he's a smoker, he's dirty looking, he's foreign, and most importantly, he sucks. Sasha is literally the last player on this team left over from the dysfunctional era. This idiot probably won't be on the team next year so I don't know what you're getting with putting him 12th. Kinsey, Wright and especially Jawad Williams all seem to be much better options than this asshole.
Those are all my gripes, thanks.
SPECIAL NOTE: For all the ladies out there (like there are any...), I linked pictures of these dudes to their names, so feel free to send in your own rankings. Thanks.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Playoff Prediction and Post Season Checkup
The playoffs are just about set and I almost cannot wait to submit my April Madness bracket. But before that, let's check back at my NBA Preview post and see how I did...shall we?
"In short, (the Celtics) are less hungry, in a better division, older, and lacking James Posey and, yes, P.J. Brown (if they didn't have either of those two players, they don't get past Cleveland). If they get The Cavs this year in the playoffs, they will get CRUSHED...I'm not even worried."
And ya know what? I'm still not worried. I'm not 100% sure about "crushed," but I still feel good, we'll get to this later. I just wish I would have predicted the massive injury streak, but you can't win 'em all.
"Not getting Ron Artest was a mistake for the Lakeshow. I know he's crazy, but you would really rather have Lamar Odom over Artest?"
Ummm...yes. Lamar Odom has been a pretty great bench player and starter and I think Artest would have eaten Sasha Vujacic by this point in the season had that trade gone down.
(Remember when I suggested The Cavs trade for Artest? I wish I didn't.)
"Either Phoenix or Dallas is not making the playoffs this year. I'm probably wrong about this, but these two teams, as we know them, are so done. The Jason Kidd Mavs was such a stupid idea and everything Josh Howard does could be described similarly. Running Steve Nash ragged, like The Suns are doing these days, is going to lead to a "Weekend and Bernie's" situation if he doesn't retire soon (or get traded to a contender to be what I will like to call, the "fun-time party" guard off the bench and play 15 minutes a game). I don't see who The Suns can beat in The West really, and I don't mean in a playoff series, I mean in any regular season game. I don't even know who they are anymore."
I think I had a pretty good beat on this (except for the part where I said I was wrong). The Suns really couldn't beat anybody this year and I would say that Dallas is the worst team in the Western Conference Playoffs this year, despite their 6-seed (is it any wonder the Spurs drew Dallas in the first round?? Even in their golden years, they continue to get every break. Dallas is the only team I would pick the Spurs against in the first round and they got 'em).
"Philly and Detroit are similar because I think they will both be dangerous as "young blood" teams, which is weird to say about Detroit, but I think they'll start going to their young guys because it's for the best as far as I can see. I just don't think either of them has what it takes in the playoffs yet. As for Orlando, if you lose a series and say you were the better team, you so obviously don't have what it takes, you might as well be contracted (I'm looking at you, Wade Phillips)."
Did I indirectly predict the Iverson trade?
As much as Orlando has bothered me this year, beating my Cavaliers twice (once by about 40), I still think they are false. Unfortunately, they drew the 76ers who play such a pointless style of basketball and are unlikely to make that series interesting. The Bulls could have done it.
It's always good to get in a shot at Wade Phillips when at all possible.
"(The Spurs') go-to guys now are a tiny Frenchman and a freelancing goofball named "Ginobili." These guys are great, but the way they get their points is no sure thing. When they were just supporters of Duncan, they could do their crazy shit and that's all they had to do as Tim Duncan played his old standards. Now, with Duncan aging, the roles are reversed."
I probably should have seen Ginobili's ankle getting messed up but I pretty much called this downfall. I have never met anyone more qualified to have a blog than myself.
"Everyone loves the Blazers, but nobody has the guts to pick them to win anything. This includes me, of course, but I'm contemplating making the bet that they will be a top three seed in The West with my roommate."
Almost had it. I never ended up making that bet, but it looks like they're going to get the four seed in the West which, in spirit, makes me a winner. I like these guys to embarrass the Lakers in the second round while still losing to them...if that makes sense
"It's the time of night where I see mice walking, not running, across the floor like they own the place. Here's my Finals call and I'm outta here:
Houston over Cleveland in 7"
Overall, I think I did OK, but does it make up for initially defending the Iverson trade? Uh oh...I don't know. To make up for it, I give you the perfect NBA Playoffs Bracket
Eastern Conference
Round 1
1 Cleveland over 8 Detroit in 5
Is there any doubt about this? I always hate playing against Detroit because they somehow manage to keep it close, and inevitably Rasheed Wallace is going to make some shots and it literally hurts me to watch that idiot succeed at anything. He actually said that the Pistons would get "their swagger back in the playoffs." Here's some news: YOU HAVEN'T BEEN A TITLE CONTENDER SINCE BEN WALLACE LEFT.
Thanks for playing, Detroit...not really though.
2 Boston over 7 Chicago in 7
If this was the NCAA tournament, Chicago would be the popular upset pick. Now that Garnett is supposedly out for the playoffs, how good are the Celtics? Here's how good they are:
Everyone talks about how mentally tough Boston is...I'm a little hesitant to call it that. I would say that Boston is mentally solid. They'll beat you if you are mentally weak, for sure (ahem...Lakers...), and they'll beat you in 7 while winning no road games if you're just not a good team. I guess you can call that tough...
3 Orlando over 6 Philadelphia in 5
Magic fans get so angry when people treat their team as a mirage but that just makes it more fun to keep doing it. I would LOVE to pick Chicago or even Detroit to win this series but I just hate the way the 76ers play. Philly is the worst team in the playoffs, if you ask me.
4 Atlanta over 5 Miami in 7
I went back and forth on this one. I usually buy into the old adage, "the team with the best player usually wins in the playoffs," but I'm going with the A-T-L here.
Miami is REALLY bad. Also, we keep talking about this Wade season in terms of LeBron's last few seasons because of how he's carrying his team and we assume he can take them passed the Hawks but you know what? Dwyane Wade isn't as good as LeBron. There, I said it. I think I'm being generous to the Heat in giving them seven games.
Round 2
1 Cleveland over 4 Atlanta in 5
You better get used to the phrase, "Cleveland in 5."
There's not much to say here. Atlanta should be a bottom four seed but there are only three good teams in the East. This is why getting the number 1 seed is nice.
2 Boston over 3 Magic in 7
Paul Pierce's last ride.
Again, this is a series between a team with, not a huge heart, but A heart (and home court) against a team with no heart.
Eastern Conference Finals
1 Cleveland over 2 Boston in 5
Paul Pierce is dead by this point and I don't think this series goes past six with both teams healthy. All questions about Cleveland's "lack of experience" are answered. See ya, Boston.
West
1 Los Angeles over 8 Utah in 5
Remember when the Jazz were a Western Conference sleeper? Yeah, neither do I, because it was never true.
Kobe is going to score so many points in this series, it's ridiculous. No worries here, they probably lose game 4 on purpose.
7 New Orleans over 2 Denver in 6
No matter how much talent Denver has or how much New Orleans doesn't, I cannot feel comfortable picking the Nuggets to win a series. The Nuggets are surely a dumb team. I know that Chauncey Billups has been a stabilizer, but he still is a bad shot taker. J.R. Smith, Billups, Carmelo...this team is a bad shot factory. Chris Paul can take these clowns.
3 San Antonio over 6 Dallas in 7
How lucky are the Spurs?
Before this match up was set, I wanted to pick San Antonio to lose and Dallas to get swept. Now, I have to settle for Spurs in seven. Dallas, in my opinion, is the second worst team in the playoffs. Talk about a team with no heart. No matter how much worse the Spurs are than the Mavericks, they will always win.
4 Portland over 5 Houston in 7
Home court will help the Blazers, but what's important is the dark cloud that follows Houston's playoff runs. I love their defense, but who are the Rockets going to in the clutch to score? Yao? Artest? The answer is Artest and that is why they're going to lose this series (not that Yao would be much better). This is where you miss McGrady, oddly enough.
Round 2
1 Los Angeles over 4 Portland in 6
As long as I get to watch two games where Kobe gets booed instead of getting MVP chants on the road, I'll be happy.
The Blazers basically ARE the Lakers but a little younger and the reverse likability. Again, in a fantasy draft, I'm taking Brandon Roy over Kobe Bryant, period.
7 New Orleans over 3 San Antonio in 6
Revenge!!
Western Conference Finals
1 Los Angeles over 7 New Orleans in 6
Though I don't think the Lakers will be too severely challenged in the West, I think the Brandon Roy/Chris Paul match ups will be entertaining enough to satiate our thirst for pre-finals blood.
NBA Finals
1 Cleveland over 1 Los Angeles in 6
A homer pick? Maybe. The right pick? Definitely.
One advantage the Lakers have is their alleged "experience."
Phil Jackson, I'll give you, has as much experience winning titles as anybody...actually more. But the last few times he has appeared, he has been overpowered by more physical Eastern Conference teams. It's also unclear as to whether or not he hates this team (my money is on hate). Kobe has experience thrashing up lackluster defenses and then being severely outplayed by a more physical guard or forward when push comes to shove. Sorry, I'm just giving you the facts. In fact, Kobe had horrible series against teams that single covered him with the likes of Richard Hamilton and Ray Allen at times. I don't love that if I'm a Laker fan.
Also, what is more important when the maximum pressure is on, fake experience or genuine chemistry and affection for your teammates? The strategy here is to take away the non-Kobe players (which Boston didn't even do that great of a job of) until he stops trusting them and comes out with guns blazing and jacks up shots. If that happens, the series is over. It will be tough for the Cavs to slow down the ridiculously tall front line of the Lakers, but I think they can do it.
And the other thing...remember that "old adage" we talked about earlier? Well LeBron is a better player right now than Kobe Bryant has ever been.
***Before I let you off the hook, I'd like to welcome a new fan, Mr. John Burtch (applause). I have no way of knowing if he actually read this unless he comments though, so I ask anyone who wants to comment to, in addition to whatever else, to answer this:
If Kobe never wins another title, in the words of Kevin Garnett, "what can you say now?"
"In short, (the Celtics) are less hungry, in a better division, older, and lacking James Posey and, yes, P.J. Brown (if they didn't have either of those two players, they don't get past Cleveland). If they get The Cavs this year in the playoffs, they will get CRUSHED...I'm not even worried."
And ya know what? I'm still not worried. I'm not 100% sure about "crushed," but I still feel good, we'll get to this later. I just wish I would have predicted the massive injury streak, but you can't win 'em all.
"Not getting Ron Artest was a mistake for the Lakeshow. I know he's crazy, but you would really rather have Lamar Odom over Artest?"
Ummm...yes. Lamar Odom has been a pretty great bench player and starter and I think Artest would have eaten Sasha Vujacic by this point in the season had that trade gone down.
(Remember when I suggested The Cavs trade for Artest? I wish I didn't.)
"Either Phoenix or Dallas is not making the playoffs this year. I'm probably wrong about this, but these two teams, as we know them, are so done. The Jason Kidd Mavs was such a stupid idea and everything Josh Howard does could be described similarly. Running Steve Nash ragged, like The Suns are doing these days, is going to lead to a "Weekend and Bernie's" situation if he doesn't retire soon (or get traded to a contender to be what I will like to call, the "fun-time party" guard off the bench and play 15 minutes a game). I don't see who The Suns can beat in The West really, and I don't mean in a playoff series, I mean in any regular season game. I don't even know who they are anymore."
I think I had a pretty good beat on this (except for the part where I said I was wrong). The Suns really couldn't beat anybody this year and I would say that Dallas is the worst team in the Western Conference Playoffs this year, despite their 6-seed (is it any wonder the Spurs drew Dallas in the first round?? Even in their golden years, they continue to get every break. Dallas is the only team I would pick the Spurs against in the first round and they got 'em).
"Philly and Detroit are similar because I think they will both be dangerous as "young blood" teams, which is weird to say about Detroit, but I think they'll start going to their young guys because it's for the best as far as I can see. I just don't think either of them has what it takes in the playoffs yet. As for Orlando, if you lose a series and say you were the better team, you so obviously don't have what it takes, you might as well be contracted (I'm looking at you, Wade Phillips)."
Did I indirectly predict the Iverson trade?
As much as Orlando has bothered me this year, beating my Cavaliers twice (once by about 40), I still think they are false. Unfortunately, they drew the 76ers who play such a pointless style of basketball and are unlikely to make that series interesting. The Bulls could have done it.
It's always good to get in a shot at Wade Phillips when at all possible.
"(The Spurs') go-to guys now are a tiny Frenchman and a freelancing goofball named "Ginobili." These guys are great, but the way they get their points is no sure thing. When they were just supporters of Duncan, they could do their crazy shit and that's all they had to do as Tim Duncan played his old standards. Now, with Duncan aging, the roles are reversed."
I probably should have seen Ginobili's ankle getting messed up but I pretty much called this downfall. I have never met anyone more qualified to have a blog than myself.
"Everyone loves the Blazers, but nobody has the guts to pick them to win anything. This includes me, of course, but I'm contemplating making the bet that they will be a top three seed in The West with my roommate."
Almost had it. I never ended up making that bet, but it looks like they're going to get the four seed in the West which, in spirit, makes me a winner. I like these guys to embarrass the Lakers in the second round while still losing to them...if that makes sense
"It's the time of night where I see mice walking, not running, across the floor like they own the place. Here's my Finals call and I'm outta here:
Houston over Cleveland in 7"
Overall, I think I did OK, but does it make up for initially defending the Iverson trade? Uh oh...I don't know. To make up for it, I give you the perfect NBA Playoffs Bracket
Eastern Conference
Round 1
1 Cleveland over 8 Detroit in 5
Is there any doubt about this? I always hate playing against Detroit because they somehow manage to keep it close, and inevitably Rasheed Wallace is going to make some shots and it literally hurts me to watch that idiot succeed at anything. He actually said that the Pistons would get "their swagger back in the playoffs." Here's some news: YOU HAVEN'T BEEN A TITLE CONTENDER SINCE BEN WALLACE LEFT.
Thanks for playing, Detroit...not really though.
2 Boston over 7 Chicago in 7
If this was the NCAA tournament, Chicago would be the popular upset pick. Now that Garnett is supposedly out for the playoffs, how good are the Celtics? Here's how good they are:
Everyone talks about how mentally tough Boston is...I'm a little hesitant to call it that. I would say that Boston is mentally solid. They'll beat you if you are mentally weak, for sure (ahem...Lakers...), and they'll beat you in 7 while winning no road games if you're just not a good team. I guess you can call that tough...
3 Orlando over 6 Philadelphia in 5
Magic fans get so angry when people treat their team as a mirage but that just makes it more fun to keep doing it. I would LOVE to pick Chicago or even Detroit to win this series but I just hate the way the 76ers play. Philly is the worst team in the playoffs, if you ask me.
4 Atlanta over 5 Miami in 7
I went back and forth on this one. I usually buy into the old adage, "the team with the best player usually wins in the playoffs," but I'm going with the A-T-L here.
Miami is REALLY bad. Also, we keep talking about this Wade season in terms of LeBron's last few seasons because of how he's carrying his team and we assume he can take them passed the Hawks but you know what? Dwyane Wade isn't as good as LeBron. There, I said it. I think I'm being generous to the Heat in giving them seven games.
Round 2
1 Cleveland over 4 Atlanta in 5
You better get used to the phrase, "Cleveland in 5."
There's not much to say here. Atlanta should be a bottom four seed but there are only three good teams in the East. This is why getting the number 1 seed is nice.
2 Boston over 3 Magic in 7
Paul Pierce's last ride.
Again, this is a series between a team with, not a huge heart, but A heart (and home court) against a team with no heart.
Eastern Conference Finals
1 Cleveland over 2 Boston in 5
Paul Pierce is dead by this point and I don't think this series goes past six with both teams healthy. All questions about Cleveland's "lack of experience" are answered. See ya, Boston.
West
1 Los Angeles over 8 Utah in 5
Remember when the Jazz were a Western Conference sleeper? Yeah, neither do I, because it was never true.
Kobe is going to score so many points in this series, it's ridiculous. No worries here, they probably lose game 4 on purpose.
7 New Orleans over 2 Denver in 6
No matter how much talent Denver has or how much New Orleans doesn't, I cannot feel comfortable picking the Nuggets to win a series. The Nuggets are surely a dumb team. I know that Chauncey Billups has been a stabilizer, but he still is a bad shot taker. J.R. Smith, Billups, Carmelo...this team is a bad shot factory. Chris Paul can take these clowns.
3 San Antonio over 6 Dallas in 7
How lucky are the Spurs?
Before this match up was set, I wanted to pick San Antonio to lose and Dallas to get swept. Now, I have to settle for Spurs in seven. Dallas, in my opinion, is the second worst team in the playoffs. Talk about a team with no heart. No matter how much worse the Spurs are than the Mavericks, they will always win.
4 Portland over 5 Houston in 7
Home court will help the Blazers, but what's important is the dark cloud that follows Houston's playoff runs. I love their defense, but who are the Rockets going to in the clutch to score? Yao? Artest? The answer is Artest and that is why they're going to lose this series (not that Yao would be much better). This is where you miss McGrady, oddly enough.
Round 2
1 Los Angeles over 4 Portland in 6
As long as I get to watch two games where Kobe gets booed instead of getting MVP chants on the road, I'll be happy.
The Blazers basically ARE the Lakers but a little younger and the reverse likability. Again, in a fantasy draft, I'm taking Brandon Roy over Kobe Bryant, period.
7 New Orleans over 3 San Antonio in 6
Revenge!!
Western Conference Finals
1 Los Angeles over 7 New Orleans in 6
Though I don't think the Lakers will be too severely challenged in the West, I think the Brandon Roy/Chris Paul match ups will be entertaining enough to satiate our thirst for pre-finals blood.
NBA Finals
1 Cleveland over 1 Los Angeles in 6
A homer pick? Maybe. The right pick? Definitely.
One advantage the Lakers have is their alleged "experience."
Phil Jackson, I'll give you, has as much experience winning titles as anybody...actually more. But the last few times he has appeared, he has been overpowered by more physical Eastern Conference teams. It's also unclear as to whether or not he hates this team (my money is on hate). Kobe has experience thrashing up lackluster defenses and then being severely outplayed by a more physical guard or forward when push comes to shove. Sorry, I'm just giving you the facts. In fact, Kobe had horrible series against teams that single covered him with the likes of Richard Hamilton and Ray Allen at times. I don't love that if I'm a Laker fan.
Also, what is more important when the maximum pressure is on, fake experience or genuine chemistry and affection for your teammates? The strategy here is to take away the non-Kobe players (which Boston didn't even do that great of a job of) until he stops trusting them and comes out with guns blazing and jacks up shots. If that happens, the series is over. It will be tough for the Cavs to slow down the ridiculously tall front line of the Lakers, but I think they can do it.
And the other thing...remember that "old adage" we talked about earlier? Well LeBron is a better player right now than Kobe Bryant has ever been.
***Before I let you off the hook, I'd like to welcome a new fan, Mr. John Burtch (applause). I have no way of knowing if he actually read this unless he comments though, so I ask anyone who wants to comment to, in addition to whatever else, to answer this:
If Kobe never wins another title, in the words of Kevin Garnett, "what can you say now?"
Friday, April 10, 2009
Buddies' Ballot
With my beloved Tribesmen looking less than stellar in their first series against the potent Rangers, it looks like the perfect time to send in my ballot for NBA regular season awards (I know the NBA has been pretty anxious to hear my picks...I like to keep 'em waiting).
The thing about the NBA awards is that they are annoyingly and most likely purposefully vague. If you ever watch ESPN's broadcasts of NBA games, you often hear Mark Jackson berating Jeff Van Gundy about not following the rules when making picks. Mike Breen will ask for a sleeper in the West, Van Gundy says, "Well Mike, I have three." Classic. Things like having a shared Rookie of the Year has actually happened in the past (Steve Francis/Elton Brand in '99-'00, Jason Kidd/Grant Hill in '94-'95, and Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie in '70-'71). One huge point of these awards, as far as the NBA or anyone in the media is concerned, is to generate conversations, heated ones in fact, about what "Most Valuable" means or what counts as a "6th man." It's all in good fun (by the way, if you were impressed by my knowledge of the history of the Rookie of the Year Award, forward all positive comments to Wikipedia's "Rookie of the Year" page).
So what I'll try to do is to define what the award means to me as I make my picks. Sound fair?
From what I gather, the "real" ballots include a top five for the MVP and a top three for most other things so that is what I'll be using...so here we go!!
Most Improved Player
3. Allen Iverson, Detroit Pistons
Haha! Gotcha!!!!
(I actually had a running disagreement with this person's dad about the merits of the Iverson deal from the Piston's side of things. Once Iverson literally quit the team...I think it's time for me to give it up.)
But seriously folks...
This award has become offensive to some people because Hedo Turkoglu will say something like, "Oh man, I've been good the whole time! The Magic just gave me a chance to shine!" Where I'm coming from is I'm basically looking for a rookie of the year who is not technically a rookie. Like, for example, if Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies to the playoffs or something because he went from an aimless leaper to a team leader (I think you probably know where I'm going with this), I would vote him the MIP. Let's get to the picks.
3. Devin Harris, NJ Nets
This young fella might be higher on some lists, but to me, it's a real life Turkoglu situation. Devin is actually shooting well below his career shooting percentage which is worrying for a potential MIP candidate, but the fact that he is the "main guy" on a team that...well I guess they're not very good. The point is, this is a young guy who surprised people by leading his team to wherever it is that they seem to be going (that really is a bad team).
(Do you see why this is hard? I feel like I made absolutely no case for that guy.)
2. Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz
Just from a fan's perspective, this guy went from a solid bench player, to a guy that is not EASY to stop. He's also being considered as a REPLACEMENT for The Booz and, oh yeah, he gets paid close to the league minimum. Can there be an award for "Most Underpaid Player?"
1. Kevin Durant, OKC Thunder
Because we can't give 'im the Rookie of the Year twice!
Durant sort of did the same thing that Rudy Gay did in that fictional story I made up to described what Durant did (sort of). The thing about Durant is that he could win this award next year too. He seems to be on his way for a "top ten player" spot in the league, if he's not there already (Durant and Brandon Roy are the top candidates to replace Kobe in the top five when "outgrows" that position). He'd probably be in the MVP race if the Thunder didn't have 57 losses.
6th Man of the Year
As the ESPN crew knows, this one can get tricky. Do 6th men who start sometimes count? Does it count if your 6th man is your best player (GINOBILI!!!!!)?
I would say that yes, if your 6th man is your best player it still counts, and if you are only starting because of injuries, you count. That last part is basically so I could squeeze this first guy in.
3. Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz
Hey wait, I think I know this guy!
This guy has started most of the year, I just can't put J.R. Smith, Jason Terry, Nate Robinson, or Leandro Barbosa on this list. They are all glorified Eddie Houses and do we endorse that sort of behavior on Buddies' Bullshit? I'm fairly certain that we do not.
2. Stephon Marbury, Boston Celtics
WOO!! This is too fun.
2. Travis Outlaw, Portland Trailblazers
Travis Outlaw has the longest arms. LAP.
1. Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers
The three guys on the Cavs who have an almost unblemished attendance record (knock on wood) and really the main three players Cleveland goes to in the clutch are LeBron James, Mo Williams, and yes, Anderson Varejao. Yes, he has started a TON of games for the Cavs this season and will probably start in the playoffs, but he has started for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace when they both were hurt and played so well in those games (Cleveland was 30-9 in those games, 17-3 subbing for Wallace) he is now the likely starter in the playoffs. He's also a fringe candidate for MIP.
Defensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the year is the guy who, when he's on the court, makes me worried about how or if my team is going to score any points in this game.
3. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Something tells me we'll be hearing from this guy again later in this post.
If I were a real columnist, I would get so many emails from people saying, "Just because he gets those chase down highlight blocks doesn't make him a great defensive player!!!" And then they'd probably say something about how Kobe is a lock down defender.
That fake emailer is partially right. Highlight blocks don't make you DPotY (do you see Josh Smith...or even D-Wade in here?) But players have an imaginary sphere or cylinder (or whatever shape) around them that represents where they can get on the floor and LeBron's might be the biggest in the league. He can, and does, get to so many balls that nobody else can get to and it changes the game. Not to mention, he runs one of the top defensive teams that starts Mo Williams at Point Guard, Zydrunas Ilgauskas at Center, the 6 foot 3 Delonte West at Shooting Guard and has Boobie Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak as valuable bench players.
2. Shon Bartestier, Houston Rockets
Pronounced: "Shawn Bar-TEST-ee-ay"
I'm pulling a Van Gundy, mainly because Shon Bartestier sounds so awesome (the "Shon" link goes to Artest and "Bartestier" goes to Battier).
The Rockets, mainly because of their defense, are the least fun team to play...and let's just say it's not because of Yao...or Von Wafer.
1. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
I desperately wanted to not have him here. To put it bluntly, his mental girth cannot match his physical. He really isn't as imposing as he should be. With that said, Dwight is physically unbelievable (and mentally serviceable). His mere presence allows a team with Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis at the forwards (and a rookie starting at the 2) to be a pretty great defensive team. Nobody really has to guard anybody when you know Dwight is down there. And also...HIGHLIGHT BLOCKS!!!!
Coach of the Year
CotY might be the toughest because there's nothing tangible stat-wise about coaching except maybe wins. I'm sure there have been coaches of the year whose players would refute, but I'll try to find some good ones.
3. Nate McMillan, Portland Trailblazers
No link here (what am I supposed to link?). McMillan coaches an extremely young team who is now poised to win probably one playoff series (don't sleep on Portland over LA in the second round. The Lakers haven't won away from LA against the Blazers in a while and Kobe gets booed every time he touches the ball in Portland just because they don't like him...smart fans). The Blazers seem to be pretty ahead of schedule, and I can only assume Nate McMillan has at least something to do with it. But then again, how should I know?
2. Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets
Adelman has kept Ron Artest in check since he's been in Houston (aside from basically losing the game to the Lakers by firing up Kobe with his idiotic trash talk) which is no easy task. He also has lost his starting point guard to a trade and Tracy McGrady to himself. In fact, McGrady was never really involved in this season, even when he was playing. And with all that, Houston looks like, I would say, the second best team in the West (not sold on the Nuggs). Unfortunately, Adelman is without a doubt going to be foiled AGAIN by a Phil Jackson coached team in the Western Conference Finals. What a bummer.
1. Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers
A few years ago, this would have been followed by a "Just kidding!! LOL!!!" and a hearty laugh. Now with the Cavs going for the league's best record, it doesn't seem so silly does it? Mike Brown is an easy target because he's young coach with funny mannerisms, but when (other than the San Antonio sweep) has he been out coached in a playoff series? I'm not sure he has. Of course, when the correct coaching move is "give the ball to LeBron" it's harder to give a guy credit, but here's the deal:
Mike has convinced the best player in the league with perhaps the biggest ego to embrace defense and therefore force his teammates to play defense (that defense first world view LeBron now has might even convince him not to play for the New York D'antonis...you never know). His team has the best record in the league, can we give him some credit?
Rookie of the Year
My Rookie of the Year ballot is split between these three: My Favorite, the Stat Man, and Derrick Rose.
3. J.J. Hickson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Yessss!! I love doing this.
(By the way, does JJ remind anybody else of Luigi from Mario 2? He can jump to places the other characters can't get to but sometimes he just loses control and falls in lava.)
3. Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder
Russell Westbrook is what being a rookie is all about. He has lots of turnovers, a low shooting percentage, is on a bad team, but is a pleasure to watch do anything. I love this guy.
2. Brook Lopez, New Jersey Nets
I know the Lopez twins aren't very cool, but Brook is really quite good. He's a productive starting Center in the NBA already (Greg Oden isn't even that yet). Just look at his stats, there's really nothing more to explain here.
1. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
...............
(It really looks like Andre Miller broke one of his ankles on that play. If you type in, "Derrick rose br" into youtube, "Derrick Rose breaks Andre Millers ankles" shows up. I didn't really want to write anything in this, but I will mention that he is the best player on a playoff team as a rookie. Not bad.)
Most Valuable Player
The MVP award takes the cake on stupidly annoying to interpret, not because it's the most ambiguous, but because it is still so ambiguous and allegedly the most important. It seems that there are a few schools of thought.
There's the group that says it should just go to the most outstanding player in the league. I can sympathize with this group because Dwyane Wade probably isn't going to win any regular season awards this year (is there a comeback player of the year?), even though we'll probably remember this season from him for a long time. There's the group that says it should go to the "best player on the best team." These are the idiots who are waiting to see if the Cavs or Lakers finish with the best record as if that tells us a damn thing about who is more valuable (this is how Dirk Nowtizki wins an MVP on the "best" team to lose in the first round of the playoffs). I have no tolerance for these people.
I like to go with who is truly the most indispensable, because isn't that what "most valuable means?" I guess I don't know.
5. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Rather than defending why he's an MVP candidate, it's more likely I would be asked to explain why I have him so low on the ballot. Kobe is the most polished and skilled player in the league and his team is probably going to have 65 wins (and yes, wins do factor into my concept of who is "valuable." Everything becomes more valuable when you are an actual title contender). So you might ask, "If wins are a factor, why is he so low??"
The fact is, Kobe contributes, by far, the least to his team's record than any of the other four guys on the list. Again, in John Hollinger's new "Estimated Value Added" statistic, Kobe ranks fifth (behind the guys he is behind on this list...I'm not really sure in what order). But just from what I've seen, the only defense for putting Kobe higher on the MVP ballot is purely reputation based (a repuation he has not earned, mind you...but I'll save my Kobe hating for the Finals). Kobe is a great player, but not as good as these other four, and furthermore, he's not a good enough teammate or personality for his value to be inflated in my book.
4. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
It hurts to put him this low on the list because he should have won it last year. He is the first of four on this list that if you take him off, the team just ceases to exist. Without these players, the teams they are on have absolutely no identity (and probably would have a bottom three record). I also read an article by John Hollinger that I believe stated that Chris Paul was the only player on his team with a Player Efficiency Rating over the league average. If you're not disgusted by that, you probably don't know what PER is. Chris Paul is a high probability Charles Barkley style MVP, where they don't give it to LeBron one year just beacuse he wins it too much in the next 10 years.
3. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
Dwight is easy to like and hard to like at the same time. He's a nice kid, but is that really a good thing as a physically imposing Center? He teeters on the brink of being good in spite of himself. I've seen him make horrible plays in crunch time while at the same time, almost never see him hit clutch free throws in crunch time (nice block on Paul Pierce though).
However, him just being there is more valuable than anyone else's in the NBA. Again, the Magic are basically the Toronto Raptors without Dwight in the middle. Also, keep in mind any distrust of him in the playoffs is semi-irrelevant because this is a regular season award.
2. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
The common argument for Wade to win the award is that he does "more with less." That statement is false. While he does have a worse supporting cast than LeBron or Kobe, what Dwyane Wade actually does is "less with less."
His per minute stats are slightly worse than LeBron's, but the difference is basically negligible. The reason he is not number one is that being great on a team that is a title contender is just more important than doing it on one that isn't. But even though his team is not very good, he is too good to put anywhere below second.
1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
The way Wade, Kobe and even Jordan carry a team is differen than the way LeBron does it. The Jordan type drags their team along. They are going to do what they want and you can follow if you want. If you're not good enough, they have no time or tolerance for you. The way this type of player operates, the lone wolf with teammates there only because the rules say they have to be, is what leads analysts to come up with concepts like "killer instinct." Before Jordan, that type of player didn't really exist. Now, everybody tries to play that way, and they have all failed. Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill...all have come up short in attempting to center a team around a shoot first/pass never shooting guard. But still, great perimeter players will be crucified for passing up the final shot to an open man in the final seconds because he lacks some contrived concept of "killer instinct." That's not the way the MVP operates.
The way LeBron james lifts his teammates is nothing short of inspirational. Instead of dragging them along, he fills up their confidence bubble to where, instead of being dead weight, they become useful players. This year, LeBron has extended careers (Big Z, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak), made starters out of career goofballs (Delonte West, Anderson Varejao) and molded a defenseless chucker on a bad team into an All Star and the second in command on the best team in basketball (Mo Williams). He has tricked us into thinking the Cavs are a great team.
LeBron might leave something to be desired with his shooting ability and occasional heat-checks, but what he does for his team, and the league, is undeniable and an absolute pleasure.
The thing about the NBA awards is that they are annoyingly and most likely purposefully vague. If you ever watch ESPN's broadcasts of NBA games, you often hear Mark Jackson berating Jeff Van Gundy about not following the rules when making picks. Mike Breen will ask for a sleeper in the West, Van Gundy says, "Well Mike, I have three." Classic. Things like having a shared Rookie of the Year has actually happened in the past (Steve Francis/Elton Brand in '99-'00, Jason Kidd/Grant Hill in '94-'95, and Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie in '70-'71). One huge point of these awards, as far as the NBA or anyone in the media is concerned, is to generate conversations, heated ones in fact, about what "Most Valuable" means or what counts as a "6th man." It's all in good fun (by the way, if you were impressed by my knowledge of the history of the Rookie of the Year Award, forward all positive comments to Wikipedia's "Rookie of the Year" page).
So what I'll try to do is to define what the award means to me as I make my picks. Sound fair?
From what I gather, the "real" ballots include a top five for the MVP and a top three for most other things so that is what I'll be using...so here we go!!
Most Improved Player
3. Allen Iverson, Detroit Pistons
Haha! Gotcha!!!!
(I actually had a running disagreement with this person's dad about the merits of the Iverson deal from the Piston's side of things. Once Iverson literally quit the team...I think it's time for me to give it up.)
But seriously folks...
This award has become offensive to some people because Hedo Turkoglu will say something like, "Oh man, I've been good the whole time! The Magic just gave me a chance to shine!" Where I'm coming from is I'm basically looking for a rookie of the year who is not technically a rookie. Like, for example, if Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies to the playoffs or something because he went from an aimless leaper to a team leader (I think you probably know where I'm going with this), I would vote him the MIP. Let's get to the picks.
3. Devin Harris, NJ Nets
This young fella might be higher on some lists, but to me, it's a real life Turkoglu situation. Devin is actually shooting well below his career shooting percentage which is worrying for a potential MIP candidate, but the fact that he is the "main guy" on a team that...well I guess they're not very good. The point is, this is a young guy who surprised people by leading his team to wherever it is that they seem to be going (that really is a bad team).
(Do you see why this is hard? I feel like I made absolutely no case for that guy.)
2. Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz
Just from a fan's perspective, this guy went from a solid bench player, to a guy that is not EASY to stop. He's also being considered as a REPLACEMENT for The Booz and, oh yeah, he gets paid close to the league minimum. Can there be an award for "Most Underpaid Player?"
1. Kevin Durant, OKC Thunder
Because we can't give 'im the Rookie of the Year twice!
Durant sort of did the same thing that Rudy Gay did in that fictional story I made up to described what Durant did (sort of). The thing about Durant is that he could win this award next year too. He seems to be on his way for a "top ten player" spot in the league, if he's not there already (Durant and Brandon Roy are the top candidates to replace Kobe in the top five when "outgrows" that position). He'd probably be in the MVP race if the Thunder didn't have 57 losses.
6th Man of the Year
As the ESPN crew knows, this one can get tricky. Do 6th men who start sometimes count? Does it count if your 6th man is your best player (GINOBILI!!!!!)?
I would say that yes, if your 6th man is your best player it still counts, and if you are only starting because of injuries, you count. That last part is basically so I could squeeze this first guy in.
3. Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz
Hey wait, I think I know this guy!
This guy has started most of the year, I just can't put J.R. Smith, Jason Terry, Nate Robinson, or Leandro Barbosa on this list. They are all glorified Eddie Houses and do we endorse that sort of behavior on Buddies' Bullshit? I'm fairly certain that we do not.
2. Stephon Marbury, Boston Celtics
WOO!! This is too fun.
2. Travis Outlaw, Portland Trailblazers
Travis Outlaw has the longest arms. LAP.
1. Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers
The three guys on the Cavs who have an almost unblemished attendance record (knock on wood) and really the main three players Cleveland goes to in the clutch are LeBron James, Mo Williams, and yes, Anderson Varejao. Yes, he has started a TON of games for the Cavs this season and will probably start in the playoffs, but he has started for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace when they both were hurt and played so well in those games (Cleveland was 30-9 in those games, 17-3 subbing for Wallace) he is now the likely starter in the playoffs. He's also a fringe candidate for MIP.
Defensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the year is the guy who, when he's on the court, makes me worried about how or if my team is going to score any points in this game.
3. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Something tells me we'll be hearing from this guy again later in this post.
If I were a real columnist, I would get so many emails from people saying, "Just because he gets those chase down highlight blocks doesn't make him a great defensive player!!!" And then they'd probably say something about how Kobe is a lock down defender.
That fake emailer is partially right. Highlight blocks don't make you DPotY (do you see Josh Smith...or even D-Wade in here?) But players have an imaginary sphere or cylinder (or whatever shape) around them that represents where they can get on the floor and LeBron's might be the biggest in the league. He can, and does, get to so many balls that nobody else can get to and it changes the game. Not to mention, he runs one of the top defensive teams that starts Mo Williams at Point Guard, Zydrunas Ilgauskas at Center, the 6 foot 3 Delonte West at Shooting Guard and has Boobie Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak as valuable bench players.
2. Shon Bartestier, Houston Rockets
Pronounced: "Shawn Bar-TEST-ee-ay"
I'm pulling a Van Gundy, mainly because Shon Bartestier sounds so awesome (the "Shon" link goes to Artest and "Bartestier" goes to Battier).
The Rockets, mainly because of their defense, are the least fun team to play...and let's just say it's not because of Yao...or Von Wafer.
1. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
I desperately wanted to not have him here. To put it bluntly, his mental girth cannot match his physical. He really isn't as imposing as he should be. With that said, Dwight is physically unbelievable (and mentally serviceable). His mere presence allows a team with Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis at the forwards (and a rookie starting at the 2) to be a pretty great defensive team. Nobody really has to guard anybody when you know Dwight is down there. And also...HIGHLIGHT BLOCKS!!!!
Coach of the Year
CotY might be the toughest because there's nothing tangible stat-wise about coaching except maybe wins. I'm sure there have been coaches of the year whose players would refute, but I'll try to find some good ones.
3. Nate McMillan, Portland Trailblazers
No link here (what am I supposed to link?). McMillan coaches an extremely young team who is now poised to win probably one playoff series (don't sleep on Portland over LA in the second round. The Lakers haven't won away from LA against the Blazers in a while and Kobe gets booed every time he touches the ball in Portland just because they don't like him...smart fans). The Blazers seem to be pretty ahead of schedule, and I can only assume Nate McMillan has at least something to do with it. But then again, how should I know?
2. Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets
Adelman has kept Ron Artest in check since he's been in Houston (aside from basically losing the game to the Lakers by firing up Kobe with his idiotic trash talk) which is no easy task. He also has lost his starting point guard to a trade and Tracy McGrady to himself. In fact, McGrady was never really involved in this season, even when he was playing. And with all that, Houston looks like, I would say, the second best team in the West (not sold on the Nuggs). Unfortunately, Adelman is without a doubt going to be foiled AGAIN by a Phil Jackson coached team in the Western Conference Finals. What a bummer.
1. Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers
A few years ago, this would have been followed by a "Just kidding!! LOL!!!" and a hearty laugh. Now with the Cavs going for the league's best record, it doesn't seem so silly does it? Mike Brown is an easy target because he's young coach with funny mannerisms, but when (other than the San Antonio sweep) has he been out coached in a playoff series? I'm not sure he has. Of course, when the correct coaching move is "give the ball to LeBron" it's harder to give a guy credit, but here's the deal:
Mike has convinced the best player in the league with perhaps the biggest ego to embrace defense and therefore force his teammates to play defense (that defense first world view LeBron now has might even convince him not to play for the New York D'antonis...you never know). His team has the best record in the league, can we give him some credit?
Rookie of the Year
My Rookie of the Year ballot is split between these three: My Favorite, the Stat Man, and Derrick Rose.
3. J.J. Hickson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Yessss!! I love doing this.
(By the way, does JJ remind anybody else of Luigi from Mario 2? He can jump to places the other characters can't get to but sometimes he just loses control and falls in lava.)
3. Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder
Russell Westbrook is what being a rookie is all about. He has lots of turnovers, a low shooting percentage, is on a bad team, but is a pleasure to watch do anything. I love this guy.
2. Brook Lopez, New Jersey Nets
I know the Lopez twins aren't very cool, but Brook is really quite good. He's a productive starting Center in the NBA already (Greg Oden isn't even that yet). Just look at his stats, there's really nothing more to explain here.
1. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
...............
(It really looks like Andre Miller broke one of his ankles on that play. If you type in, "Derrick rose br" into youtube, "Derrick Rose breaks Andre Millers ankles" shows up. I didn't really want to write anything in this, but I will mention that he is the best player on a playoff team as a rookie. Not bad.)
Most Valuable Player
The MVP award takes the cake on stupidly annoying to interpret, not because it's the most ambiguous, but because it is still so ambiguous and allegedly the most important. It seems that there are a few schools of thought.
There's the group that says it should just go to the most outstanding player in the league. I can sympathize with this group because Dwyane Wade probably isn't going to win any regular season awards this year (is there a comeback player of the year?), even though we'll probably remember this season from him for a long time. There's the group that says it should go to the "best player on the best team." These are the idiots who are waiting to see if the Cavs or Lakers finish with the best record as if that tells us a damn thing about who is more valuable (this is how Dirk Nowtizki wins an MVP on the "best" team to lose in the first round of the playoffs). I have no tolerance for these people.
I like to go with who is truly the most indispensable, because isn't that what "most valuable means?" I guess I don't know.
5. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Rather than defending why he's an MVP candidate, it's more likely I would be asked to explain why I have him so low on the ballot. Kobe is the most polished and skilled player in the league and his team is probably going to have 65 wins (and yes, wins do factor into my concept of who is "valuable." Everything becomes more valuable when you are an actual title contender). So you might ask, "If wins are a factor, why is he so low??"
The fact is, Kobe contributes, by far, the least to his team's record than any of the other four guys on the list. Again, in John Hollinger's new "Estimated Value Added" statistic, Kobe ranks fifth (behind the guys he is behind on this list...I'm not really sure in what order). But just from what I've seen, the only defense for putting Kobe higher on the MVP ballot is purely reputation based (a repuation he has not earned, mind you...but I'll save my Kobe hating for the Finals). Kobe is a great player, but not as good as these other four, and furthermore, he's not a good enough teammate or personality for his value to be inflated in my book.
4. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
It hurts to put him this low on the list because he should have won it last year. He is the first of four on this list that if you take him off, the team just ceases to exist. Without these players, the teams they are on have absolutely no identity (and probably would have a bottom three record). I also read an article by John Hollinger that I believe stated that Chris Paul was the only player on his team with a Player Efficiency Rating over the league average. If you're not disgusted by that, you probably don't know what PER is. Chris Paul is a high probability Charles Barkley style MVP, where they don't give it to LeBron one year just beacuse he wins it too much in the next 10 years.
3. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
Dwight is easy to like and hard to like at the same time. He's a nice kid, but is that really a good thing as a physically imposing Center? He teeters on the brink of being good in spite of himself. I've seen him make horrible plays in crunch time while at the same time, almost never see him hit clutch free throws in crunch time (nice block on Paul Pierce though).
However, him just being there is more valuable than anyone else's in the NBA. Again, the Magic are basically the Toronto Raptors without Dwight in the middle. Also, keep in mind any distrust of him in the playoffs is semi-irrelevant because this is a regular season award.
2. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
The common argument for Wade to win the award is that he does "more with less." That statement is false. While he does have a worse supporting cast than LeBron or Kobe, what Dwyane Wade actually does is "less with less."
His per minute stats are slightly worse than LeBron's, but the difference is basically negligible. The reason he is not number one is that being great on a team that is a title contender is just more important than doing it on one that isn't. But even though his team is not very good, he is too good to put anywhere below second.
1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
The way Wade, Kobe and even Jordan carry a team is differen than the way LeBron does it. The Jordan type drags their team along. They are going to do what they want and you can follow if you want. If you're not good enough, they have no time or tolerance for you. The way this type of player operates, the lone wolf with teammates there only because the rules say they have to be, is what leads analysts to come up with concepts like "killer instinct." Before Jordan, that type of player didn't really exist. Now, everybody tries to play that way, and they have all failed. Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill...all have come up short in attempting to center a team around a shoot first/pass never shooting guard. But still, great perimeter players will be crucified for passing up the final shot to an open man in the final seconds because he lacks some contrived concept of "killer instinct." That's not the way the MVP operates.
The way LeBron james lifts his teammates is nothing short of inspirational. Instead of dragging them along, he fills up their confidence bubble to where, instead of being dead weight, they become useful players. This year, LeBron has extended careers (Big Z, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak), made starters out of career goofballs (Delonte West, Anderson Varejao) and molded a defenseless chucker on a bad team into an All Star and the second in command on the best team in basketball (Mo Williams). He has tricked us into thinking the Cavs are a great team.
LeBron might leave something to be desired with his shooting ability and occasional heat-checks, but what he does for his team, and the league, is undeniable and an absolute pleasure.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
BaseBowl Preview
Waiting to the Michigan State vs UConn game to start (I picked Mich State in Streak For Cash...you can't go against the 2-seed MSU), Frankenberry and I were commenting on how useless we all are when I got this message from Mr. Bowl:
Bowl said...
Buddies I didn't know where else to put this so I'm posting it here...
I need a baseball preview form you. The season starts tomorrow even though I will pretend like it doesn't until Monday because that is when it should. Anyway I want division winners, your World Series match up with the winner, and season award winners. A separate piece about the Indians and Reds might be nice or just extra about them. Whatever, you know what I mean.
Get it done.
While I can't endorse making comments irrelevant to the topic at hand, it's hard to justify not satisfying my only reader. Without further ado, Bowl, Frankenberry and I will talk this baseball season out. Let's see how this goes (probably not well).
Note: The ONLY reason to read this chat is for comedic value. It is meandering and meaningless and I will sum it up at the end. This conversation has been SEVERELY edited...and it STILL looks like this. Enjoy.
Buddies929: im makin' my font all stupid so you can tell us apart
Buddies929: don't change yours rob
Buddies929: you idiot
Buddies929: alright
Buddies929: frankly, i don't picture us getting anything done while watching this final four game
Buddies929: bowl, what cereal are you eating?
BowlBradington88: banana nut cheerios
Buddies929: i want 'em
BowlBradington88: they are great
CaptainRoBry: balls, nuts, cheerios
Buddies929: clark kellogg looks like he wants to eat jim nantz
CaptainRoBry: OK, I THINK I HAVE FOUND MY FONT
Buddies929: me too
Buddies929: by the way, this is going into the blog UNEDITED
BowlBradington88: GREAT!
CaptainRoBry: I'D SEX
CaptainRoBry: LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD (BALLS)
Buddies929: bowl, you have to keep us on topic
BowlBradington88: f*ck that
CaptainRoBry: I WILL
BowlBradington88 (6:00:40 PM): this is going to be turrible
CaptainRoBry: AL EAST????
CaptainRoBry: MORE LIKE AL LEAST
CaptainRoBry: No more caps
Buddies929: so we got rays, sox, yanks, b-jays and oreos
CaptainRoBry: i wish i didn't have to listen to clark smellog all throughout
Buddies929: have the orioles given up as an organization at this point?
BowlBradington88: the only thing worth caring about on the Orioles is Matt Wieters
Buddies929: i have no idea who that is
CaptainRoBry: No, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis are the stuff
CaptainRoBry: brian roberts...ok
Buddies929: that is purely a fantasy opinion
CaptainRoBry: nah, wieters is supposed to be hott
CaptainRoBry: M Wieners
BowlBradington88: Wieters should be the best hitting catcher in the majors for the next decade
BowlBradington88: Mauer but with power
Buddies929: maowa wit' powa
CaptainRoBry: i heard that exact quote on sportscenter
CaptainRoBry: and it angered me greatly
CaptainRoBry: as most things do
Buddies929: that back of his jersey should say "Mawawitpowa"
Buddies929: alright, we've already spent too much time talking about the orioles
CaptainRoBry: i mean, line up...B+
CaptainRoBry: Rotation...D
CaptainRoBry: They are the AL Least
BowlBradington88: no way they get close to .500
Buddies929: the fact that they are in that division makes them hopeless
CaptainRoBry: and the fact that Simon wants outside
Buddies929: haha alright
Buddies929: i think we should just speculate as to the order of rays, sox, yanks
Buddies929: i might go sox, yanks, rays
BowlBradington88: the more i look at their teams i think the rays might be the best
CaptainRoBry: i got Yanks, Sox, Rays, Orioles, BJays
CaptainRoBry: in that order
Buddies929: im sure the indians looked really good after last season
CaptainRoBry: With BJays getting maybe 67 wins
BowlBradington88: i have rays, sox, yanks, orioles, bjays in order
Buddies929: rob: "Goran Pooptan"
CaptainRoBry: So no Playoffs again for Bowl's Yankees?
BowlBradington88: no
CaptainRoBry: Girardi fired by mid season?
Buddies929: steiny dies by mid season
BowlBradington88: have you seen their order other than tex and a-rod when he's back
BowlBradington88: not good
Buddies929: i did totally just forget about a-rod for a second
CaptainRoBry: dude...their rotation is sick with it
Buddies929: and jeter isn't even good
CaptainRoBry: jeter cano damon could be hott
BowlBradington88: burnett will die and pettite sucks
Buddies929: rob....
Buddies929: damon?
Buddies929: i love cano, but that is irrational
CaptainRoBry: dude, check the box
CaptainRoBry: once he moved to left he was beastly
Buddies929: don't try to sell me johnny damon
Buddies929: broke ass sexual chocolate
Buddies929: but seriously
Buddies929: he's not good
CaptainRoBry: Least important player in the history of the Final Four: Craig Austrie
Buddies929: plus, how can you win without the Giambino?!?!
BowlBradington88: plus the yankees are all bad in the field
CaptainRoBry: dude, not all bad
CaptainRoBry: although i did see some random stats say jeter is the worst shortstop in baseball
CaptainRoBry: and that even includes jhonny peralta
Buddies929: he was the worst shortstop on the america WBC team
BowlBradington88: no chance he is worse than jhonny
CaptainRoBry: check pecota
Buddies929: bowl, we all love jhonny
BowlBradington88: he has the least amount of range a ss has ever had
Buddies929: i love it
CaptainRoBry: hoawabout yankees trade for Edwin Encarnacion, move him to short, and send Jeter to Double A?
Buddies929: ok let's get back on topic a little
CaptainRoBry: consensus divison winner?
CaptainRoBry: No sox
Buddies929: it might actually be the rays
Buddies929: i usually think its stupid to go against the sox but they don't have manny
CaptainRoBry: i actually like the o's to make noise
Buddies929: and the yankees lost most of their insane lineup
BowlBradington88: no
CaptainRoBry: like tor did last year
CaptainRoBry: and then perish late
BowlBradington88: orioles will get like 70-74 wins
CaptainRoBry: lol
CaptainRoBry: more like 83
CaptainRoBry: exactly
Buddies929: 12
CaptainRoBry: nice range, bowl
CaptainRoBry: didn't even include 83
BowlBradington88: haha
Buddies929: alright....
Buddies929: are we goin' Rays number 1?
Buddies929: lucas cash
Buddies929: lucash
BowlBradington88: i'm for the rays at 1
CaptainRoBry: Rays 1 is good i guess
CaptainRoBry: but i hate
CaptainRoBry: i forgot to pick my streak for cash
Buddies929: there's nothing worse than that
Buddies929: seems like consensus is:
CaptainRoBry: O's #1
Buddies929: rays, bosox, spankees, o's, jays
CaptainRoBry: no way
BowlBradington88: those are mine
CaptainRoBry: Rays Yanks
Buddies929: with rob being the lone proponent of orioles number one
CaptainRoBry: Yank my Ray
Buddies929: renegade
Buddies929: rob got yanks over sox?
CaptainRoBry: Sox: Trash
CaptainRoBry: The TrashSox
BowlBradington88: i think the sox and yanks will both be worse than people think
CaptainRoBry: Dustin Pedroia: Worst MVP Ever?
BowlBradington88: yes
Buddies929: its going to come down to who has some young guy come up and be awesome/an old guy getting hurt
Buddies929: which is what everything comes down to in baseball
Buddies929: which is why i hate picking preseason baseball anything
BowlBradington88: AL last year: MVP= Pedroia, Cy Young= Cliff Lee
CaptainRoBry: I'll be cool with Rays
Buddies929: yeah, he can't even hit the high and inside fastball
BowlBradington88: quality
Buddies929: hahaha
CaptainRoBry: because of the david price theory
Buddies929: cliff lee wasn't even the minor league mvp two years ago
CaptainRoBry: Cliff Lee is a worse Cy Young than Pedroia MVP
Buddies929: all those AAA guys who were hammering him in '07 are like "???"
BowlBradington88: let's move on from the east
Buddies929: seriously
CaptainRoBry: AL LEAST
Buddies929: 1. Rays 2. Sox 3. Yanks 4. Orioles 5. Jays
CaptainRoBry: NO
CaptainRoBry: NO sox
Buddies929: im actually ok with that
Buddies929: i am indifferent to yanks/sox
CaptainRoBry: Yanks Wildcard
Buddies929: fair enough
BowlBradington88: fine
CaptainRoBry: dude, CC, Ching Ding Wang, Burnett, etc
Buddies929: AL (L)East:
CaptainRoBry: AL LEAST
Buddies929: rays, yanks, sox, oreos, jays
Buddies929: i hate you
Buddies929: moving on
Buddies929: AL Central
Buddies929: ?
Buddies929: <3
CaptainRoBry: THE WORST
Buddies929: the jon sheyer of divisions
CaptainRoBry: This is seriously the worst division in baseball
Buddies929: scheyer
Buddies929: duschhh
Buddies929: seriosuly?
BowlBradington88: the west is SO much worse
CaptainRoBry: I have high hopes for the Royals
Buddies929: true probably
Buddies929: high hopes meaning 82-80
Buddies929: at best
CaptainRoBry: Gil Meche having a "CLIFF" style cy young campaign
Buddies929: that style doesn't really exist
CaptainRoBry: it did last year
Buddies929: unless you are counting on a fluke
CaptainRoBry: people cant hit because you're too bad
Buddies929: that was paul byrd
Buddies929: and borowski
CaptainRoBry: and jamie moyer
Buddies929: and wickman
CaptainRoBry: cy youngs and world series rings
CaptainRoBry: i need to suck worse
CaptainRoBry: then i'll be winning trophies and rings
Buddies929: ok...
Buddies929: i would like to say that i like the indians to win this division with no more than 90 wins
CaptainRoBry: I have the Royals winning the division: with 83 wins
BowlBradington88: i got tribe, twins, royals, tigers, chi sox
CaptainRoBry: AKA tying the Orioles
BowlBradington88: tribe get 91 wins
CaptainRoBry: but making the playoffs
Buddies929: i kinda like bowl's
Buddies929: and on a personal note, i LOVE bowl himself
CaptainRoBry: My Fave Five: Royals, Twins, Indians, Tigers, White Sox
Buddies929: by the way, we decided you have to keep pick up game stats, bowl
BowlBradington88: that's so hard
Buddies929: well rob, i think we all know how much your opinion is going to be taken into consideration in this division
Buddies929: (not)
CaptainRoBry: Voy a l(a) centro
Buddies929: that's so stupid
Buddies929: el agua gato
CaptainRoBry: me gusta!
Buddies929: ok we're goin' with bowl 'n' mine
CaptainRoBry: absolutely not
Buddies929: tribe, twinks, (you don't matter) royals, tiggz, sox
CaptainRoBry: how are the indians going to win 91 games?
CaptainRoBry: seriously???
Buddies929: (bowl, i'll obviously only write about the indians during the season, so don't fret)
Buddies929: we have to please all of my national readers
CaptainRoBry: their rotation is jim jacobs, fausto carmona, and toots magoots
BowlBradington88: vicky is back, derosa is good, shin-soo is hot, fausto= Cy, and kerry wood is not blowrowski
Buddies929: this is the first Indians closer ive seen for a while who can throw over 90 mph
CaptainRoBry: you have 3 eric milton's at the bottom of the rotation
CaptainRoBry: and I included cliff lee in there
Buddies929: pavano comeback player of the year!!!
CaptainRoBry: because he is exactly eric mitlon
CaptainRoBry: NO NO NO
Buddies929: wily mo pena comeback fatass of the year
CaptainRoBry: Pavano pitches 3 innings during the tenure of any contract
BowlBradington88: the indians were good at the end of last year with a thrown together piece of shit rotation
Buddies929: the point is: odd number year, good tribe year
CaptainRoBry: i see pavano's season line going...3 ip 3 er
CaptainRoBry: POS is key work
CaptainRoBry: and word
Buddies929: im moving on
Buddies929: AL WEST
Buddies929: AL Worst
Buddies929: AL Duschhhh
CaptainRoBry: Al West: American Hero
BowlBradington88: i want to pick the rangers so bad but their rotation would get lit up in a high school rec league
Buddies929: you gotta go with the angels winning 200 games this year
CaptainRoBry: hamilton, 69 hr
CaptainRoBry: on opening day
Buddies929: hammy will have 69 hrs
Buddies929: fantasyyyyy
Buddies929: ichiro hurt for opener
CaptainRoBry: As are the darkhorse
CaptainRoBry: Angels will win by 13 games though
BowlBradington88: i like the angels to win but not be that good followed by rangers, a's, mariners
Buddies929: angels, a's, rangers, mariners
CaptainRoBry: 96 wins
Buddies929: no, 200 wins
CaptainRoBry: to the rangers and As tied at 83
CaptainRoBry: 83 wins will be a hotbed
Buddies929: why does burger king want me to want to have sex with their hamburgers?
BowlBradington88: reds get 83 wins
Buddies929: i feel like the A's and Rangers will end similarly
Buddies929: A's win by like 3 games
Buddies929: but it won't matter at all in any way
CaptainRoBry: dude reds double 83
BowlBradington88: thabeet sucks
Buddies929: ok
Buddies929: bowl, thoughts?
BowlBradington88: on?
Buddies929: why do you like the rangers over the afaleticks
CaptainRoBry: Uconn is illllll
CaptainRoBry: i wish i wouldnt have forgotten to pick my streak!!!!!!!!
BowlBradington88: a's aren't good at anything while at least the rangers can hit the shit out of the ball
Buddies929: i wish i would have
CaptainRoBry: As are good
CaptainRoBry: at being young
CaptainRoBry: which is tricky
Buddies929: A's always have a bunch of dirty ugly left handed hippie looking white idiots
BowlBradington88: they do have cust...
Buddies929: has anyone noticed all their players look and are exactly the same?
Buddies929: chavez
Buddies929: giambi
CaptainRoBry: byrnes
Buddies929: cust
Buddies929: EVERYONE
CaptainRoBry: bobby dirtsby
Buddies929: and then they usually have a token black guy
CaptainRoBry: rajai davis
CaptainRoBry: "Did you just make up Bobby Dirtsby?"
CaptainRoBry: I hate "Buddies" lack of knowledge
CaptainRoBry: it makes me want to murder him
CaptainRoBry: constantly
CaptainRoBry: Indians Fans...
Buddies929: ooooohhhohohohhhoooo...
Buddies929: edit!
BowlBradington88: haha
Buddies929: alright
CaptainRoBry: You bitch!
Buddies929: im bored of the west
Buddies929: rob, you're the tiebreaker
Buddies929: ballaz or ringaz
BowlBradington88: ringaz!
CaptainRoBry: Angels, As, Rangers, Moop
BowlBradington88: gay
Buddies929: ha ha! suck it bowl
Buddies929: hey bowl, what's the difference between jam and jelly?
BowlBradington88: i dunno
Buddies929: rob can't jelly his [edit] up your mom's [edit]!
BowlBradington88: lol
CaptainRoBry: ahahaha
Buddies929: alright
Buddies929: that is the perfect way to end the AL
Buddies929: so we got playoff teams as follows
Buddies929: Angels over Yanks? do the angels only choke against the sox?
CaptainRoBry: Angels are not good
CaptainRoBry: they are playoff poopers
Buddies929: but only against the red sox normally
CaptainRoBry: only barry bonds could lose to them
BowlBradington88: i mean it's best to just pick a world series team and not try to predict match ups
Buddies929: who do we like?
Buddies929: angels are the team that people like to pick to WS it up, but it NEVER happens (except that one time)
CaptainRoBry: BONDS
Buddies929: right
CaptainRoBry: Howabout...whatever AL team signs bonds midseason...makes WS
BowlBradington88: i got yanks out of those teams
Buddies929: unfortunatly i don't disagree
BowlBradington88: the angels are not good
Buddies929: what about the rays again?
CaptainRoBry: Yanks indeed
CaptainRoBry: i do love rays
BowlBradington88: the rays are the only other choice for me
BowlBradington88: they could do it
Buddies929: true
CaptainRoBry: but you gotta yank
Buddies929: i feel good about the reverse jinx of the yanks
BowlBradington88: the only reason i don't have them is b/c they did it last year
Buddies929: yeah i don't really envision a rays AL dynasty
BowlBradington88: yanks have a good 3 man rotation
Buddies929: alright spanks
CaptainRoBry: AL Least
BowlBradington88: the NL is so boring. there are no good teams
CaptainRoBry: Except for 1
Buddies929: yeah, the phillies
CaptainRoBry: Reds playa
CaptainRoBry: Jerry Crasnick says they are the best team ever
Buddies929: ok shut up
CaptainRoBry: yummy youngies
Buddies929: NL Feast?
CaptainRoBry: More like NL LEAST!
Buddies929: haha goddamnit
Buddies929: both of those divisions are the best in their league
Buddies929: but they are the least apparently
BowlBradington88: i'm going same order as last year but flop the top. so mets, phils, marlins, braves, nats
CaptainRoBry: Bowl
Buddies929: eww bowl
Buddies929: mets?
CaptainRoBry: Mets will never
Buddies929: k-rod?
BowlBradington88: they have a bullpen now
Buddies929: eww
CaptainRoBry: Matt Redd?
Buddies929: EWW
Buddies929: bowl, there are too many things wrong with the mets
Buddies929: delgado is gonna get roid busted mid season
Buddies929: at the latest
CaptainRoBry: Delgado, reyes, wright
CaptainRoBry: not as good this year
CaptainRoBry: i feel like beltran should get worse...but i also have a feeling he'll be straight up ballin
BowlBradington88: they got a bull pen and the phillies got worse
CaptainRoBry: phils suck
CaptainRoBry: let's think weird here
BowlBradington88: marlins
Buddies929: but the phillies taught me that baseball's not about feelin' good
CaptainRoBry: Braves?
BowlBradington88: no
Buddies929: eww
BowlBradington88: NO
Buddies929: gross
BowlBradington88: NOOOOO
CaptainRoBry: dude, Derek Lowe...Healthy Hudson
Buddies929: i would feel great about picking the marlins to make the playoffs
CaptainRoBry: They still have COX
BowlBradington88: they are terrible
BowlBradington88: outside the box in this division is the marlins
Buddies929: i feel like doing that
BowlBradington88: is it time for them to win it all and blow it up yet?
Buddies929: probably
CaptainRoBry: nah that's next yeatr
Buddies929: haha ok
CaptainRoBry: hanley for homer bailey
BowlBradington88: haha
CaptainRoBry: mid season
CaptainRoBry: fine, i'll give them encarnacion a well
Buddies929: trading easy E for nothing is an upgrade
Buddies929: i want to pick the mets to win the division actually
CaptainRoBry: i mean i can see a .270 28 100 34 line from eddie
Buddies929: and they'll have a great record
Buddies929: and lose in the first round to the wildcard team
CaptainRoBry: 34 is not steals, it is errors
Buddies929: k rod 3 blown saves
Buddies929: in one series
CaptainRoBry: i'll take that
BowlBradington88: not gonna disagree with that buddies
Buddies929: alright, im goin with bowl's situation
CaptainRoBry: No one has talked about nats yet
CaptainRoBry: A deezy dunner
BowlBradington88: dunn hits 65 homers
Buddies929: 378 Ks
BowlBradington88: fine
CaptainRoBry: that is a few
Buddies929: so what is the order in the Least
CaptainRoBry: NL Least
BowlBradington88: he only hits homers and bat .195
Buddies929: and are the Phils the WC?
CaptainRoBry: Hell no
CaptainRoBry: Cubs WC
BowlBradington88: phils or 2nd in the central are wild card
CaptainRoBry: yes, chubs
Buddies929: what's the order
Buddies929: mets, phils, marlins, nats, braves?
BowlBradington88: braves ahead of nats
BowlBradington88: phils 2nd
CaptainRoBry: jamie moyer is 60
CaptainRoBry: cole hamels hurt
Buddies929: mets phils 'lins raves natzz
CaptainRoBry: their only righty bat is gone
Buddies929: natty lights
CaptainRoBry: ryan howard is K city
CaptainRoBry: Utley hip questions
Buddies929: we all hate ryan howard
BowlBradington88: that's why they won't win but they will get 2nd
CaptainRoBry: no
CaptainRoBry: no no no no
CaptainRoBry: who are their other starters?
CaptainRoBry: billy johnson?
CaptainRoBry: Kip Withers?
Buddies929: dingly doodlers
CaptainRoBry: Franklin Delano Roosevelt?
BowlBradington88: myers, blanton
BowlBradington88: moyer
CaptainRoBry: Fat Blanton
CaptainRoBry: Crazy Ankiel Style head Myers
Buddies929: Magic Johnson
CaptainRoBry: Grandpa Moyer
BowlBradington88: and apparently chan ho park is makin an appearance in the 5th spot
CaptainRoBry: Chank hong tink?
Buddies929: ding dang dong?
Buddies929: ching pong ping pong?
CaptainRoBry: Phils 4th
Buddies929: ok whatever
BowlBradington88: i mean i guess the phils picked up raul ibanez so that is good
Buddies929: ok al Centra'l
Buddies929: (NL)
CaptainRoBry: Phils 4th
Buddies929: shut up
Buddies929: 2nd
CaptainRoBry: Central
Buddies929: ok
Buddies929: NL Centra'l
BowlBradington88: i hate the cubs but can anyone else win this buddies?
CaptainRoBry: Reds are clearly the greastest at every position in baseball history
CaptainRoBry: REDS
Buddies929: bowl, as weird as it sounds, i don't hate the reds
CaptainRoBry: C NAT
CaptainRoBry: I mean
CaptainRoBry: Cy Young: Volquez
Buddies929: the fact that dunn and griffey aren't on the team anymore makes them seem good to me
CaptainRoBry: ROY: Dickerson
BowlBradington88: i don't either but i mean winning the division is a big step up from shitty
Buddies929: their rotation isn't horrible
CaptainRoBry: MVP: Votto Bruce Phillips
Buddies929: the cubs are always tryin' to lose
CaptainRoBry: "I would kick Thabeet's ASS!"
Buddies929: -zach
CaptainRoBry: zach
CaptainRoBry: zax
Buddies929: we should all refer the fans to zach's blog: buttass be bloggin'
CaptainRoBry: THE BEST
Buddies929: i believe the URL is bitchesbebuttass.blogspot.com
Buddies929: yep, that is correct
CaptainRoBry: Reds, Cubs, Cards, Rats, Brews, Stros
CaptainRoBry: Reds 99 wins
BowlBradington88: rats are last
CaptainRoBry: Dude, Brewers opening day starter: Jeff Suppan
Buddies929: i feel like stros are ahead of rats and brews
BowlBradington88: i know but the rats are the rats
CaptainRoBry: fine, just flips stros and brews
Buddies929: deal i guess
CaptainRoBry: they have nate the great
BowlBradington88: their minor league team got beat by a community college this week
Buddies929: those three teams all have nothing good about them
Buddies929: hahaha
BowlBradington88: it had people that were in the majors last year
CaptainRoBry: dude, the reds lost to the carolina mudcats (our AA afilliate)
Buddies929: this blog is sponsored by "Buttass Be Bloggin'"
CaptainRoBry: 12-4
Buddies929: haha i love that fact
Buddies929: im takin' the reds bowl
Buddies929: im sorry
Buddies929: but im doing it
BowlBradington88: fine
Buddies929: solid
CaptainRoBry: we all love the reds
Buddies929: i only hate the reds when you are around
CaptainRoBry: lets talk reds
CaptainRoBry: youth
Buddies929: no
Buddies929: later
Buddies929: get that away
CaptainRoBry: great rotation
Buddies929: no!
CaptainRoBry: great pen
Buddies929: go away!
CaptainRoBry: young power bats all over
CaptainRoBry: athletic outfield
BowlBradington88: dude speaking of the indians... that catcher we got for casey blake is apparently great!
CaptainRoBry: dusty baker is the only reason they may not go undefeated
Buddies929: is it carlos santana or a different one?
CaptainRoBry: no one has ever spoken about the indians
Buddies929: rob, that is a good point
BowlBradington88: santana
Buddies929: he is what worries me
Buddies929: santana is a baller
Buddies929: alright let's hurry on over to the west
CaptainRoBry: kind of like what the reds would have done in the wbc
CaptainRoBry: the reds are a WBC all star team
BowlBradington88: dodgers win, everyone else sucks. d'bags might not be terrible but clearly 2nd
CaptainRoBry: im in the dodge
Buddies929: i think that is by far the least interesting division
CaptainRoBry: bc of matty kemps though
CaptainRoBry: billingsly cy candidate
BowlBradington88: dodge will be good
CaptainRoBry: im actually a giants man
Buddies929: the padres should be contracted
Buddies929: haha shut your ass
CaptainRoBry: check their shit
CaptainRoBry: they pumped up
CaptainRoBry: im for serial
BowlBradington88: the giants are the most boring team in baseball
Buddies929: no, padres
CaptainRoBry: Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, DBags, Fathers
CaptainRoBry: dude, toddy helt hitting .525
BowlBradington88: pads last, dodge 1st. don't care about the rest
Buddies929: <3 toddy helt <3
Buddies929: solid
Buddies929: ill go dadge, gigantes, rox, dbox, feathers
CaptainRoBry: feathers?
BowlBradington88: whatev
Buddies929: who we got in the WS?
Buddies929: NOT the mets
CaptainRoBry: REDS over forfeit
BowlBradington88: dodge
Buddies929: yanksin'?
Buddies929: do we have the yankees winning the WS?
BowlBradington88: i dunno, i thought that was what we had?
CaptainRoBry: yank over dodge
Buddies929: i hate myself
CaptainRoBry: or reds over yanks
Buddies929: die
CaptainRoBry: reds over rays
CaptainRoBry: fine...two outcomes
CaptainRoBry: reds over rays
Buddies929: tribe over shitcinnati
CaptainRoBry: or yanks over dodge
BowlBradington88: this is not at all what i would pick if i was doing this myslef
CaptainRoBry: no tribe
CaptainRoBry: royals out in first round
Buddies929: how did it come to that?
BowlBradington88: i dunno
BowlBradington88: i wouldn't even have yanks in playoffs
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: would you have sox?
BowlBradington88: yeah
Buddies929: winnin' da whole thang?
BowlBradington88: no
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
BowlBradington88: dodge over tribe
CaptainRoBry: yanks over dodge or reds over rays
BowlBradington88: i don't care anymore
BowlBradington88: this needs to end
Buddies929: hahaha i love this
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: im ok with yanks over dodgers because none of us are happy about it and that's how the season normally ends
Buddies929: with nobody happy
Buddies929: about anything
CaptainRoBry: that is good logic
BowlBradington88: fine
BowlBradington88: are we picking award winners?
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: aww son of a bitch
CaptainRoBry: yes
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: what even are all the awards?
BowlBradington88: just MVP and CY
Buddies929: phew
Buddies929: can i get a grady MVP?
CaptainRoBry: absolutely not
Buddies929: hahaha
CaptainRoBry: mvp
CaptainRoBry: tex
CaptainRoBry: or hammy
BowlBradington88: AL: Grady and Fausto. NL: Manny and Santana
Buddies929: hammy? his team will have four wins
CaptainRoBry: 83
Buddies929: haha fausto? we'd all love that
CaptainRoBry: AL: Texiera and Meche
BowlBradington88: only the reds will end up with 83 wins
BowlBradington88: fausto is great
Buddies929: im not buyin' tex
Buddies929: i know
CaptainRoBry: NL: Beltran and Lincecum
BowlBradington88: he will at least be top 5 in cy voting
CaptainRoBry: 2nd Bruce and Volk
BowlBradington88: lol
Buddies929: solid
CaptainRoBry: Meche Cum, Tex Belt
Buddies929: is it gonna be an all cleveland sports MVP year?
CaptainRoBry: NO?
CaptainRoBry: unless tim couch comes back
BowlBradington88: whatev are we done?
How was that? From what I gather, the playoffs look like this:
Round 1
Yankees over Angels, Rays over Indians
Dodgers over Phillies, Reds over Mets
Round 2
Yankees over Rays
Dodgers over Reds
World Series
Yankees over Dodgers
As for award winners...
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore NL MVP: Manny Ramirez
AL Cy Young: Francisco Liriano NL Cy Young: Johan Santana
Thank God that's over. We'll be getting an Indians' preview out there at some point in the week I'd say, as well as an NBA regular season look back at my picks and my present day picks for awards and playoffs. The NBA Playoffs bracket honestly gets me more excited than the NCAA. Take it easy.
Bowl said...
Buddies I didn't know where else to put this so I'm posting it here...
I need a baseball preview form you. The season starts tomorrow even though I will pretend like it doesn't until Monday because that is when it should. Anyway I want division winners, your World Series match up with the winner, and season award winners. A separate piece about the Indians and Reds might be nice or just extra about them. Whatever, you know what I mean.
Get it done.
While I can't endorse making comments irrelevant to the topic at hand, it's hard to justify not satisfying my only reader. Without further ado, Bowl, Frankenberry and I will talk this baseball season out. Let's see how this goes (probably not well).
Note: The ONLY reason to read this chat is for comedic value. It is meandering and meaningless and I will sum it up at the end. This conversation has been SEVERELY edited...and it STILL looks like this. Enjoy.
Buddies929: im makin' my font all stupid so you can tell us apart
Buddies929: don't change yours rob
Buddies929: you idiot
Buddies929: alright
Buddies929: frankly, i don't picture us getting anything done while watching this final four game
Buddies929: bowl, what cereal are you eating?
BowlBradington88: banana nut cheerios
Buddies929: i want 'em
BowlBradington88: they are great
CaptainRoBry: balls, nuts, cheerios
Buddies929: clark kellogg looks like he wants to eat jim nantz
CaptainRoBry: OK, I THINK I HAVE FOUND MY FONT
Buddies929: me too
Buddies929: by the way, this is going into the blog UNEDITED
BowlBradington88: GREAT!
CaptainRoBry: I'D SEX
CaptainRoBry: LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD (BALLS)
Buddies929: bowl, you have to keep us on topic
BowlBradington88: f*ck that
CaptainRoBry: I WILL
BowlBradington88 (6:00:40 PM): this is going to be turrible
CaptainRoBry: AL EAST????
CaptainRoBry: MORE LIKE AL LEAST
CaptainRoBry: No more caps
Buddies929: so we got rays, sox, yanks, b-jays and oreos
CaptainRoBry: i wish i didn't have to listen to clark smellog all throughout
Buddies929: have the orioles given up as an organization at this point?
BowlBradington88: the only thing worth caring about on the Orioles is Matt Wieters
Buddies929: i have no idea who that is
CaptainRoBry: No, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis are the stuff
CaptainRoBry: brian roberts...ok
Buddies929: that is purely a fantasy opinion
CaptainRoBry: nah, wieters is supposed to be hott
CaptainRoBry: M Wieners
BowlBradington88: Wieters should be the best hitting catcher in the majors for the next decade
BowlBradington88: Mauer but with power
Buddies929: maowa wit' powa
CaptainRoBry: i heard that exact quote on sportscenter
CaptainRoBry: and it angered me greatly
CaptainRoBry: as most things do
Buddies929: that back of his jersey should say "Mawawitpowa"
Buddies929: alright, we've already spent too much time talking about the orioles
CaptainRoBry: i mean, line up...B+
CaptainRoBry: Rotation...D
CaptainRoBry: They are the AL Least
BowlBradington88: no way they get close to .500
Buddies929: the fact that they are in that division makes them hopeless
CaptainRoBry: and the fact that Simon wants outside
Buddies929: haha alright
Buddies929: i think we should just speculate as to the order of rays, sox, yanks
Buddies929: i might go sox, yanks, rays
BowlBradington88: the more i look at their teams i think the rays might be the best
CaptainRoBry: i got Yanks, Sox, Rays, Orioles, BJays
CaptainRoBry: in that order
Buddies929: im sure the indians looked really good after last season
CaptainRoBry: With BJays getting maybe 67 wins
BowlBradington88: i have rays, sox, yanks, orioles, bjays in order
Buddies929: rob: "Goran Pooptan"
CaptainRoBry: So no Playoffs again for Bowl's Yankees?
BowlBradington88: no
CaptainRoBry: Girardi fired by mid season?
Buddies929: steiny dies by mid season
BowlBradington88: have you seen their order other than tex and a-rod when he's back
BowlBradington88: not good
Buddies929: i did totally just forget about a-rod for a second
CaptainRoBry: dude...their rotation is sick with it
Buddies929: and jeter isn't even good
CaptainRoBry: jeter cano damon could be hott
BowlBradington88: burnett will die and pettite sucks
Buddies929: rob....
Buddies929: damon?
Buddies929: i love cano, but that is irrational
CaptainRoBry: dude, check the box
CaptainRoBry: once he moved to left he was beastly
Buddies929: don't try to sell me johnny damon
Buddies929: broke ass sexual chocolate
Buddies929: but seriously
Buddies929: he's not good
CaptainRoBry: Least important player in the history of the Final Four: Craig Austrie
Buddies929: plus, how can you win without the Giambino?!?!
BowlBradington88: plus the yankees are all bad in the field
CaptainRoBry: dude, not all bad
CaptainRoBry: although i did see some random stats say jeter is the worst shortstop in baseball
CaptainRoBry: and that even includes jhonny peralta
Buddies929: he was the worst shortstop on the america WBC team
BowlBradington88: no chance he is worse than jhonny
CaptainRoBry: check pecota
Buddies929: bowl, we all love jhonny
BowlBradington88: he has the least amount of range a ss has ever had
Buddies929: i love it
CaptainRoBry: hoawabout yankees trade for Edwin Encarnacion, move him to short, and send Jeter to Double A?
Buddies929: ok let's get back on topic a little
CaptainRoBry: consensus divison winner?
CaptainRoBry: No sox
Buddies929: it might actually be the rays
Buddies929: i usually think its stupid to go against the sox but they don't have manny
CaptainRoBry: i actually like the o's to make noise
Buddies929: and the yankees lost most of their insane lineup
BowlBradington88: no
CaptainRoBry: like tor did last year
CaptainRoBry: and then perish late
BowlBradington88: orioles will get like 70-74 wins
CaptainRoBry: lol
CaptainRoBry: more like 83
CaptainRoBry: exactly
Buddies929: 12
CaptainRoBry: nice range, bowl
CaptainRoBry: didn't even include 83
BowlBradington88: haha
Buddies929: alright....
Buddies929: are we goin' Rays number 1?
Buddies929: lucas cash
Buddies929: lucash
BowlBradington88: i'm for the rays at 1
CaptainRoBry: Rays 1 is good i guess
CaptainRoBry: but i hate
CaptainRoBry: i forgot to pick my streak for cash
Buddies929: there's nothing worse than that
Buddies929: seems like consensus is:
CaptainRoBry: O's #1
Buddies929: rays, bosox, spankees, o's, jays
CaptainRoBry: no way
BowlBradington88: those are mine
CaptainRoBry: Rays Yanks
Buddies929: with rob being the lone proponent of orioles number one
CaptainRoBry: Yank my Ray
Buddies929: renegade
Buddies929: rob got yanks over sox?
CaptainRoBry: Sox: Trash
CaptainRoBry: The TrashSox
BowlBradington88: i think the sox and yanks will both be worse than people think
CaptainRoBry: Dustin Pedroia: Worst MVP Ever?
BowlBradington88: yes
Buddies929: its going to come down to who has some young guy come up and be awesome/an old guy getting hurt
Buddies929: which is what everything comes down to in baseball
Buddies929: which is why i hate picking preseason baseball anything
BowlBradington88: AL last year: MVP= Pedroia, Cy Young= Cliff Lee
CaptainRoBry: I'll be cool with Rays
Buddies929: yeah, he can't even hit the high and inside fastball
BowlBradington88: quality
Buddies929: hahaha
CaptainRoBry: because of the david price theory
Buddies929: cliff lee wasn't even the minor league mvp two years ago
CaptainRoBry: Cliff Lee is a worse Cy Young than Pedroia MVP
Buddies929: all those AAA guys who were hammering him in '07 are like "???"
BowlBradington88: let's move on from the east
Buddies929: seriously
CaptainRoBry: AL LEAST
Buddies929: 1. Rays 2. Sox 3. Yanks 4. Orioles 5. Jays
CaptainRoBry: NO
CaptainRoBry: NO sox
Buddies929: im actually ok with that
Buddies929: i am indifferent to yanks/sox
CaptainRoBry: Yanks Wildcard
Buddies929: fair enough
BowlBradington88: fine
CaptainRoBry: dude, CC, Ching Ding Wang, Burnett, etc
Buddies929: AL (L)East:
CaptainRoBry: AL LEAST
Buddies929: rays, yanks, sox, oreos, jays
Buddies929: i hate you
Buddies929: moving on
Buddies929: AL Central
Buddies929: ?
Buddies929: <3
CaptainRoBry: THE WORST
Buddies929: the jon sheyer of divisions
CaptainRoBry: This is seriously the worst division in baseball
Buddies929: scheyer
Buddies929: duschhh
Buddies929: seriosuly?
BowlBradington88: the west is SO much worse
CaptainRoBry: I have high hopes for the Royals
Buddies929: true probably
Buddies929: high hopes meaning 82-80
Buddies929: at best
CaptainRoBry: Gil Meche having a "CLIFF" style cy young campaign
Buddies929: that style doesn't really exist
CaptainRoBry: it did last year
Buddies929: unless you are counting on a fluke
CaptainRoBry: people cant hit because you're too bad
Buddies929: that was paul byrd
Buddies929: and borowski
CaptainRoBry: and jamie moyer
Buddies929: and wickman
CaptainRoBry: cy youngs and world series rings
CaptainRoBry: i need to suck worse
CaptainRoBry: then i'll be winning trophies and rings
Buddies929: ok...
Buddies929: i would like to say that i like the indians to win this division with no more than 90 wins
CaptainRoBry: I have the Royals winning the division: with 83 wins
BowlBradington88: i got tribe, twins, royals, tigers, chi sox
CaptainRoBry: AKA tying the Orioles
BowlBradington88: tribe get 91 wins
CaptainRoBry: but making the playoffs
Buddies929: i kinda like bowl's
Buddies929: and on a personal note, i LOVE bowl himself
CaptainRoBry: My Fave Five: Royals, Twins, Indians, Tigers, White Sox
Buddies929: by the way, we decided you have to keep pick up game stats, bowl
BowlBradington88: that's so hard
Buddies929: well rob, i think we all know how much your opinion is going to be taken into consideration in this division
Buddies929: (not)
CaptainRoBry: Voy a l(a) centro
Buddies929: that's so stupid
Buddies929: el agua gato
CaptainRoBry: me gusta!
Buddies929: ok we're goin' with bowl 'n' mine
CaptainRoBry: absolutely not
Buddies929: tribe, twinks, (you don't matter) royals, tiggz, sox
CaptainRoBry: how are the indians going to win 91 games?
CaptainRoBry: seriously???
Buddies929: (bowl, i'll obviously only write about the indians during the season, so don't fret)
Buddies929: we have to please all of my national readers
CaptainRoBry: their rotation is jim jacobs, fausto carmona, and toots magoots
BowlBradington88: vicky is back, derosa is good, shin-soo is hot, fausto= Cy, and kerry wood is not blowrowski
Buddies929: this is the first Indians closer ive seen for a while who can throw over 90 mph
CaptainRoBry: you have 3 eric milton's at the bottom of the rotation
CaptainRoBry: and I included cliff lee in there
Buddies929: pavano comeback player of the year!!!
CaptainRoBry: because he is exactly eric mitlon
CaptainRoBry: NO NO NO
Buddies929: wily mo pena comeback fatass of the year
CaptainRoBry: Pavano pitches 3 innings during the tenure of any contract
BowlBradington88: the indians were good at the end of last year with a thrown together piece of shit rotation
Buddies929: the point is: odd number year, good tribe year
CaptainRoBry: i see pavano's season line going...3 ip 3 er
CaptainRoBry: POS is key work
CaptainRoBry: and word
Buddies929: im moving on
Buddies929: AL WEST
Buddies929: AL Worst
Buddies929: AL Duschhhh
CaptainRoBry: Al West: American Hero
BowlBradington88: i want to pick the rangers so bad but their rotation would get lit up in a high school rec league
Buddies929: you gotta go with the angels winning 200 games this year
CaptainRoBry: hamilton, 69 hr
CaptainRoBry: on opening day
Buddies929: hammy will have 69 hrs
Buddies929: fantasyyyyy
Buddies929: ichiro hurt for opener
CaptainRoBry: As are the darkhorse
CaptainRoBry: Angels will win by 13 games though
BowlBradington88: i like the angels to win but not be that good followed by rangers, a's, mariners
Buddies929: angels, a's, rangers, mariners
CaptainRoBry: 96 wins
Buddies929: no, 200 wins
CaptainRoBry: to the rangers and As tied at 83
CaptainRoBry: 83 wins will be a hotbed
Buddies929: why does burger king want me to want to have sex with their hamburgers?
BowlBradington88: reds get 83 wins
Buddies929: i feel like the A's and Rangers will end similarly
Buddies929: A's win by like 3 games
Buddies929: but it won't matter at all in any way
CaptainRoBry: dude reds double 83
BowlBradington88: thabeet sucks
Buddies929: ok
Buddies929: bowl, thoughts?
BowlBradington88: on?
Buddies929: why do you like the rangers over the afaleticks
CaptainRoBry: Uconn is illllll
CaptainRoBry: i wish i wouldnt have forgotten to pick my streak!!!!!!!!
BowlBradington88: a's aren't good at anything while at least the rangers can hit the shit out of the ball
Buddies929: i wish i would have
CaptainRoBry: As are good
CaptainRoBry: at being young
CaptainRoBry: which is tricky
Buddies929: A's always have a bunch of dirty ugly left handed hippie looking white idiots
BowlBradington88: they do have cust...
Buddies929: has anyone noticed all their players look and are exactly the same?
Buddies929: chavez
Buddies929: giambi
CaptainRoBry: byrnes
Buddies929: cust
Buddies929: EVERYONE
CaptainRoBry: bobby dirtsby
Buddies929: and then they usually have a token black guy
CaptainRoBry: rajai davis
CaptainRoBry: "Did you just make up Bobby Dirtsby?"
CaptainRoBry: I hate "Buddies" lack of knowledge
CaptainRoBry: it makes me want to murder him
CaptainRoBry: constantly
CaptainRoBry: Indians Fans...
Buddies929: ooooohhhohohohhhoooo...
Buddies929: edit!
BowlBradington88: haha
Buddies929: alright
CaptainRoBry: You bitch!
Buddies929: im bored of the west
Buddies929: rob, you're the tiebreaker
Buddies929: ballaz or ringaz
BowlBradington88: ringaz!
CaptainRoBry: Angels, As, Rangers, Moop
BowlBradington88: gay
Buddies929: ha ha! suck it bowl
Buddies929: hey bowl, what's the difference between jam and jelly?
BowlBradington88: i dunno
Buddies929: rob can't jelly his [edit] up your mom's [edit]!
BowlBradington88: lol
CaptainRoBry: ahahaha
Buddies929: alright
Buddies929: that is the perfect way to end the AL
Buddies929: so we got playoff teams as follows
Buddies929: Angels over Yanks? do the angels only choke against the sox?
CaptainRoBry: Angels are not good
CaptainRoBry: they are playoff poopers
Buddies929: but only against the red sox normally
CaptainRoBry: only barry bonds could lose to them
BowlBradington88: i mean it's best to just pick a world series team and not try to predict match ups
Buddies929: who do we like?
Buddies929: angels are the team that people like to pick to WS it up, but it NEVER happens (except that one time)
CaptainRoBry: BONDS
Buddies929: right
CaptainRoBry: Howabout...whatever AL team signs bonds midseason...makes WS
BowlBradington88: i got yanks out of those teams
Buddies929: unfortunatly i don't disagree
BowlBradington88: the angels are not good
Buddies929: what about the rays again?
CaptainRoBry: Yanks indeed
CaptainRoBry: i do love rays
BowlBradington88: the rays are the only other choice for me
BowlBradington88: they could do it
Buddies929: true
CaptainRoBry: but you gotta yank
Buddies929: i feel good about the reverse jinx of the yanks
BowlBradington88: the only reason i don't have them is b/c they did it last year
Buddies929: yeah i don't really envision a rays AL dynasty
BowlBradington88: yanks have a good 3 man rotation
Buddies929: alright spanks
CaptainRoBry: AL Least
BowlBradington88: the NL is so boring. there are no good teams
CaptainRoBry: Except for 1
Buddies929: yeah, the phillies
CaptainRoBry: Reds playa
CaptainRoBry: Jerry Crasnick says they are the best team ever
Buddies929: ok shut up
CaptainRoBry: yummy youngies
Buddies929: NL Feast?
CaptainRoBry: More like NL LEAST!
Buddies929: haha goddamnit
Buddies929: both of those divisions are the best in their league
Buddies929: but they are the least apparently
BowlBradington88: i'm going same order as last year but flop the top. so mets, phils, marlins, braves, nats
CaptainRoBry: Bowl
Buddies929: eww bowl
Buddies929: mets?
CaptainRoBry: Mets will never
Buddies929: k-rod?
BowlBradington88: they have a bullpen now
Buddies929: eww
CaptainRoBry: Matt Redd?
Buddies929: EWW
Buddies929: bowl, there are too many things wrong with the mets
Buddies929: delgado is gonna get roid busted mid season
Buddies929: at the latest
CaptainRoBry: Delgado, reyes, wright
CaptainRoBry: not as good this year
CaptainRoBry: i feel like beltran should get worse...but i also have a feeling he'll be straight up ballin
BowlBradington88: they got a bull pen and the phillies got worse
CaptainRoBry: phils suck
CaptainRoBry: let's think weird here
BowlBradington88: marlins
Buddies929: but the phillies taught me that baseball's not about feelin' good
CaptainRoBry: Braves?
BowlBradington88: no
Buddies929: eww
BowlBradington88: NO
Buddies929: gross
BowlBradington88: NOOOOO
CaptainRoBry: dude, Derek Lowe...Healthy Hudson
Buddies929: i would feel great about picking the marlins to make the playoffs
CaptainRoBry: They still have COX
BowlBradington88: they are terrible
BowlBradington88: outside the box in this division is the marlins
Buddies929: i feel like doing that
BowlBradington88: is it time for them to win it all and blow it up yet?
Buddies929: probably
CaptainRoBry: nah that's next yeatr
Buddies929: haha ok
CaptainRoBry: hanley for homer bailey
BowlBradington88: haha
CaptainRoBry: mid season
CaptainRoBry: fine, i'll give them encarnacion a well
Buddies929: trading easy E for nothing is an upgrade
Buddies929: i want to pick the mets to win the division actually
CaptainRoBry: i mean i can see a .270 28 100 34 line from eddie
Buddies929: and they'll have a great record
Buddies929: and lose in the first round to the wildcard team
CaptainRoBry: 34 is not steals, it is errors
Buddies929: k rod 3 blown saves
Buddies929: in one series
CaptainRoBry: i'll take that
BowlBradington88: not gonna disagree with that buddies
Buddies929: alright, im goin with bowl's situation
CaptainRoBry: No one has talked about nats yet
CaptainRoBry: A deezy dunner
BowlBradington88: dunn hits 65 homers
Buddies929: 378 Ks
BowlBradington88: fine
CaptainRoBry: that is a few
Buddies929: so what is the order in the Least
CaptainRoBry: NL Least
BowlBradington88: he only hits homers and bat .195
Buddies929: and are the Phils the WC?
CaptainRoBry: Hell no
CaptainRoBry: Cubs WC
BowlBradington88: phils or 2nd in the central are wild card
CaptainRoBry: yes, chubs
Buddies929: what's the order
Buddies929: mets, phils, marlins, nats, braves?
BowlBradington88: braves ahead of nats
BowlBradington88: phils 2nd
CaptainRoBry: jamie moyer is 60
CaptainRoBry: cole hamels hurt
Buddies929: mets phils 'lins raves natzz
CaptainRoBry: their only righty bat is gone
Buddies929: natty lights
CaptainRoBry: ryan howard is K city
CaptainRoBry: Utley hip questions
Buddies929: we all hate ryan howard
BowlBradington88: that's why they won't win but they will get 2nd
CaptainRoBry: no
CaptainRoBry: no no no no
CaptainRoBry: who are their other starters?
CaptainRoBry: billy johnson?
CaptainRoBry: Kip Withers?
Buddies929: dingly doodlers
CaptainRoBry: Franklin Delano Roosevelt?
BowlBradington88: myers, blanton
BowlBradington88: moyer
CaptainRoBry: Fat Blanton
CaptainRoBry: Crazy Ankiel Style head Myers
Buddies929: Magic Johnson
CaptainRoBry: Grandpa Moyer
BowlBradington88: and apparently chan ho park is makin an appearance in the 5th spot
CaptainRoBry: Chank hong tink?
Buddies929: ding dang dong?
Buddies929: ching pong ping pong?
CaptainRoBry: Phils 4th
Buddies929: ok whatever
BowlBradington88: i mean i guess the phils picked up raul ibanez so that is good
Buddies929: ok al Centra'l
Buddies929: (NL)
CaptainRoBry: Phils 4th
Buddies929: shut up
Buddies929: 2nd
CaptainRoBry: Central
Buddies929: ok
Buddies929: NL Centra'l
BowlBradington88: i hate the cubs but can anyone else win this buddies?
CaptainRoBry: Reds are clearly the greastest at every position in baseball history
CaptainRoBry: REDS
Buddies929: bowl, as weird as it sounds, i don't hate the reds
CaptainRoBry: C NAT
CaptainRoBry: I mean
CaptainRoBry: Cy Young: Volquez
Buddies929: the fact that dunn and griffey aren't on the team anymore makes them seem good to me
CaptainRoBry: ROY: Dickerson
BowlBradington88: i don't either but i mean winning the division is a big step up from shitty
Buddies929: their rotation isn't horrible
CaptainRoBry: MVP: Votto Bruce Phillips
Buddies929: the cubs are always tryin' to lose
CaptainRoBry: "I would kick Thabeet's ASS!"
Buddies929: -zach
CaptainRoBry: zach
CaptainRoBry: zax
Buddies929: we should all refer the fans to zach's blog: buttass be bloggin'
CaptainRoBry: THE BEST
Buddies929: i believe the URL is bitchesbebuttass.blogspot.com
Buddies929: yep, that is correct
CaptainRoBry: Reds, Cubs, Cards, Rats, Brews, Stros
CaptainRoBry: Reds 99 wins
BowlBradington88: rats are last
CaptainRoBry: Dude, Brewers opening day starter: Jeff Suppan
Buddies929: i feel like stros are ahead of rats and brews
BowlBradington88: i know but the rats are the rats
CaptainRoBry: fine, just flips stros and brews
Buddies929: deal i guess
CaptainRoBry: they have nate the great
BowlBradington88: their minor league team got beat by a community college this week
Buddies929: those three teams all have nothing good about them
Buddies929: hahaha
BowlBradington88: it had people that were in the majors last year
CaptainRoBry: dude, the reds lost to the carolina mudcats (our AA afilliate)
Buddies929: this blog is sponsored by "Buttass Be Bloggin'"
CaptainRoBry: 12-4
Buddies929: haha i love that fact
Buddies929: im takin' the reds bowl
Buddies929: im sorry
Buddies929: but im doing it
BowlBradington88: fine
Buddies929: solid
CaptainRoBry: we all love the reds
Buddies929: i only hate the reds when you are around
CaptainRoBry: lets talk reds
CaptainRoBry: youth
Buddies929: no
Buddies929: later
Buddies929: get that away
CaptainRoBry: great rotation
Buddies929: no!
CaptainRoBry: great pen
Buddies929: go away!
CaptainRoBry: young power bats all over
CaptainRoBry: athletic outfield
BowlBradington88: dude speaking of the indians... that catcher we got for casey blake is apparently great!
CaptainRoBry: dusty baker is the only reason they may not go undefeated
Buddies929: is it carlos santana or a different one?
CaptainRoBry: no one has ever spoken about the indians
Buddies929: rob, that is a good point
BowlBradington88: santana
Buddies929: he is what worries me
Buddies929: santana is a baller
Buddies929: alright let's hurry on over to the west
CaptainRoBry: kind of like what the reds would have done in the wbc
CaptainRoBry: the reds are a WBC all star team
BowlBradington88: dodgers win, everyone else sucks. d'bags might not be terrible but clearly 2nd
CaptainRoBry: im in the dodge
Buddies929: i think that is by far the least interesting division
CaptainRoBry: bc of matty kemps though
CaptainRoBry: billingsly cy candidate
BowlBradington88: dodge will be good
CaptainRoBry: im actually a giants man
Buddies929: the padres should be contracted
Buddies929: haha shut your ass
CaptainRoBry: check their shit
CaptainRoBry: they pumped up
CaptainRoBry: im for serial
BowlBradington88: the giants are the most boring team in baseball
Buddies929: no, padres
CaptainRoBry: Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, DBags, Fathers
CaptainRoBry: dude, toddy helt hitting .525
BowlBradington88: pads last, dodge 1st. don't care about the rest
Buddies929: <3 toddy helt <3
Buddies929: solid
Buddies929: ill go dadge, gigantes, rox, dbox, feathers
CaptainRoBry: feathers?
BowlBradington88: whatev
Buddies929: who we got in the WS?
Buddies929: NOT the mets
CaptainRoBry: REDS over forfeit
BowlBradington88: dodge
Buddies929: yanksin'?
Buddies929: do we have the yankees winning the WS?
BowlBradington88: i dunno, i thought that was what we had?
CaptainRoBry: yank over dodge
Buddies929: i hate myself
CaptainRoBry: or reds over yanks
Buddies929: die
CaptainRoBry: reds over rays
CaptainRoBry: fine...two outcomes
CaptainRoBry: reds over rays
Buddies929: tribe over shitcinnati
CaptainRoBry: or yanks over dodge
BowlBradington88: this is not at all what i would pick if i was doing this myslef
CaptainRoBry: no tribe
CaptainRoBry: royals out in first round
Buddies929: how did it come to that?
BowlBradington88: i dunno
BowlBradington88: i wouldn't even have yanks in playoffs
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: would you have sox?
BowlBradington88: yeah
Buddies929: winnin' da whole thang?
BowlBradington88: no
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
BowlBradington88: dodge over tribe
CaptainRoBry: yanks over dodge or reds over rays
BowlBradington88: i don't care anymore
BowlBradington88: this needs to end
Buddies929: hahaha i love this
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: im ok with yanks over dodgers because none of us are happy about it and that's how the season normally ends
Buddies929: with nobody happy
Buddies929: about anything
CaptainRoBry: that is good logic
BowlBradington88: fine
BowlBradington88: are we picking award winners?
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: aww son of a bitch
CaptainRoBry: yes
CaptainRoBry: JAY BRUCE
Buddies929: what even are all the awards?
BowlBradington88: just MVP and CY
Buddies929: phew
Buddies929: can i get a grady MVP?
CaptainRoBry: absolutely not
Buddies929: hahaha
CaptainRoBry: mvp
CaptainRoBry: tex
CaptainRoBry: or hammy
BowlBradington88: AL: Grady and Fausto. NL: Manny and Santana
Buddies929: hammy? his team will have four wins
CaptainRoBry: 83
Buddies929: haha fausto? we'd all love that
CaptainRoBry: AL: Texiera and Meche
BowlBradington88: only the reds will end up with 83 wins
BowlBradington88: fausto is great
Buddies929: im not buyin' tex
Buddies929: i know
CaptainRoBry: NL: Beltran and Lincecum
BowlBradington88: he will at least be top 5 in cy voting
CaptainRoBry: 2nd Bruce and Volk
BowlBradington88: lol
Buddies929: solid
CaptainRoBry: Meche Cum, Tex Belt
Buddies929: is it gonna be an all cleveland sports MVP year?
CaptainRoBry: NO?
CaptainRoBry: unless tim couch comes back
BowlBradington88: whatev are we done?
How was that? From what I gather, the playoffs look like this:
Round 1
Yankees over Angels, Rays over Indians
Dodgers over Phillies, Reds over Mets
Round 2
Yankees over Rays
Dodgers over Reds
World Series
Yankees over Dodgers
As for award winners...
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore NL MVP: Manny Ramirez
AL Cy Young: Francisco Liriano NL Cy Young: Johan Santana
Thank God that's over. We'll be getting an Indians' preview out there at some point in the week I'd say, as well as an NBA regular season look back at my picks and my present day picks for awards and playoffs. The NBA Playoffs bracket honestly gets me more excited than the NCAA. Take it easy.
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