NBA Finals Game 1

Lakers 102, Boston 89

The tone of the series was set last night and it will be a physical one. Within the 1st 30 seconds after tip-off, Paul Pierce and Ron Artest received double technicals for elbowing and jawing under the basket. The first battle in this series was won by the Lakers with Kobe Bryant scoring 30 points. Pau Gasol was ultimately the best player of the night showing his finesse and toughness throughout the game with 23pts and 14reb. Andrew Bynum had arguably his best game of the playoffs while only providing 10pts. Artest added 15 himself and provided solid defense he had been lacking in the last few series.

Pierce led the Celtics with 24pts, followed by 16 from Kevin Garnett, 12 from Ray allen, and 13 from Rajon Rondo, who also had 8 assists. Nothing went right for the Celtics from the start and even culminated in a jump ball of Nate Robinson 5'9 agains Pau Gasol 7'0. Rondo I feel did not keep the Celtics offense together like he needs to if they are going to move forward in this series.

The Lakers proved that they are not just the finesse team that they are known as. They can be physical with the rest of them. The Celtics will continue to be that physical, but hopefully they can translate that into more successful play. They were out rebounded by the Lakers and will need to use that physicality to be better around the glass. I look for a closer game in game 2, as I do not see the Celtics being this bad the rest of the series. We shall see though when the series resumes Sunday at 8:00 in Las Angeles.

Who Will Be MLB's Next Big Thing

MLB’s annual amateur entry draft is set to begin June 7^th. Now to many, this is not as big of a deal as the drafts of the NFL or NBA and that was probably a fair assessment in the past. Those drafts feature impact players who can provide in year 1. That never used to be the case for MLB, but in recent years those drafted in the early 1^st round are becoming more and more likely to reach the majors in the subsequent year. In 2007, David Price was drafted 1st overall and subsequently helped the Rays make the World Series in 2008. Last year Stephen Strasburg had so much hype after being drafted 1^st overall by the Nationals. That seems to be fair praise as he has dominated in the minors and will debut June 8^th against Pittsburgh. Now you might be saying these guys were the top picks and are different than others, but many drafted last year have come in and made an impact on their teams. Just look at Cincinnati’s Mike Leake, who didn’t even throw a single pitch in the minors and has been the Reds best pitcher so far (4-0 2.45ERA in 66 innings). Others who have already reached the majors or are about to include Washington’s Drew Storen, Baltimore’s Matt Hobgood, Seattle’s Dustin Ackley and San Francisco’s Zach Wheeler.

Now that we have seen the potential impact of these early 1^st round picks, lets take a look at the top 5 picks and potential options. Now obviously these are just guesses because I cannot judge what teams feel which players have the highest ceiling, most major league ready, and of course signability.

(Team, Age, Position, School)

1. Washington, Bryce Harper, 17, C, College of Southern Nevada

Harper has been the unanimous #1 since last year’s draft. After landing the front page of Sports Illustrated at 16, he dropped out of high school, got his GED, and enrolled in junior college to play against a better level of talent in a wood bat league. This only proved to further his stock as he even hit 4 home runs, a triple, and a double in one game in May. He has incredible power and athleticism that has not been seen since Alex Rodriguez. I doubt he’ll continue to play catcher though, as it has been proven to limit players in the Majors and would probably take 4 years to reach the majors. Expect him to move to a corner outfield and hit his way to the big leagues by 2012 when he’ll be the ripe age of 19.

Alternative Pick: They would be the worst management baseball if they choose someone else.

2. Pittsburgh, Manny Machodo, 17, SS, Brito Miami Private High School

Machado entered the season as the top high school position player and has done nothing to diminish that evaluation. Big and athletic, he can do just about everything on the baseball field, with the ability to hit for plenty of average and some power as he matures. He's got more than enough arm to play shortstop and is fine there for now, though there is some concern he'll outgrow the position. Even if he does, he'd be just fine at third, both in terms of handling the position defensively and providing the kind of offense teams look for at the hot corner. Expect him in the big leagues by the end of 2013, 2014 at the latest, as he is young and will need a lot of polishing in the minors.

Alternative Pick: RHP Jameson Taillon

3. Baltimore, Jameson Taillon, 19, RHP, The Woodlands HS, Texas

Taillon is the complete package in a high school pitcher, with tremendous size, stuff and a feel for pitching. He's got three plus pitches in his fastball (can reach up to 99mph), slider and curve. Even his changeup, while not used that much, is solid. He uses his size to his advantage and has tremendous mound presence. He is projected as a starter and could reach the majors by late late 2011 or 2012. He needs to work on his control to accomplish this however.

Alternative Pick: OF Michael Choice (or SS Machado if available)

4. Kansas City, Drew Pomeranz, 20, LHP, Mississippi

Pomeranz has established himself as the top lefty arm in a Draft class that hasn't got a deep the southpaw pool. Big, strong and durable, he's got the makings of an above-average three-pitch mix. He commands his fastball and breaking ball very well, and, while the changeup is a bit behind, it's improving quickly. His path to the majors will depend if he becomes a relief guy or a starter. Late 2011 if relief or could be as late as 2013 if he starts.

Alternative Pick: LHP Chris Sale (really is a toss up between the 2)

5. Cleveland, Chris Sale, 21, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast University

Sometimes good things come out of smaller schools. Sale took a strong Cape Cod League performance and carried it over into his junior season. With the chance to have three outstanding pitches, all of which he can throw for strikes, to go along with outstanding mound presence, Sale has developed into one of the better lefties in the Draft class. His arm slot is not typical of a starter, but with these combinations of pitches that is what he’ll be. Expect him up by late 2012 or early 2013.

Alternative Pick: LHP Drew Pomeranz (After stocking up on position players after trading 2 Cy Youngs and many other starters the Indians will for sure go pitching)

Now I know this is the top 5 only and I don’t have faith many will make it to the majors in a year, but expect older players to reach the bigs in the later picks. This draft is leaning towards more high school players that need longer to develop.

Now another major concern is signability and super-2 status that affects who is chosen and when they first appear in the majors. First signability. Expect Bryce Harper to go for a record contract this year, but come a little short of it. The nationals signed Strasburg last year to the highest draft contract in history. He was more polished and accomplished coming out, than Harper, and many aspects could affect Harper over the years of development (injury, position change). That being said, it is common for players to not sign contract and re-enter the next year hoping for more money. This isn’t all bad for teams as they get a compensation pick 1 below their current pick if they fail to sign. Example being Texas who now has the 15^th pick because they failed to sign their 14^th choice last year. However, teams rebuilding need to sign these prospects and not wait another year to get things going.

Another BIG issue is what we call Super-2 status. Rookies determine their arbitration status based on their amount of service time in the majors. Normally, players become arbitration eligible after 3 years, but a top group who play 2 years and a certain number of days on the big league roster are eligible after their 2^nd year. This means teams will most likely be on the hook for millions more. This is why Strasburg has not been to the majors yet. However some teams don’t care and want their best talent up right away (Jason Heyward, Atl and Mike Leake, Cin). But the likes of Carlos Santant, Cle and Buster Posey, SF have not reached the majors yet or are starting to recently (in Posey’s case). The guessed line for this Super-2 group is June 1 so expect many more rookies to pop up for struggling teams (Cubs, Indians, Baltimore, etc). So all of these things factor into who teams draft and when they call them up.

Now you understand a little bit about the process and why MLB’s draft has become the bottom feeders of drafts, because it is so complicated. That being said, June 1 has passed so expect some major names to start popping up, cough Strasburg cough. This leads into my next blog topic, Current Rookies and Soon to be Rookies. See you then.

Nobody's Perfect (Except for Armando Galarraga)

By now you have heard all about what should have been Armando Galarraga’s perfect game that was spoiled by first base umpire Jim Joyce’s blown call. The cries for replay in baseball are predictably vociferous, but to me, the more surprising reaction resulting from the incident has to do with the perceived role of umpires in our national pastime.

In an ESPN.com poll, 58% of respondents say that Joyce should have called the runner out even if he believed the play to be a tie in order to preserve the perfect game for Galarraga. In essence, the argument in this hypothetical situation is that an umpire should make what he believes to be a bad call (after all, tie goes to the runner) in order to help a pitcher make history. This sentiment – expressed by the overwhelming majority of respondents to the poll, completely contradicts what are this morning also overwhelming calls for instant replay to take on an expanded role in baseball.

The main point here ought to be that umpires, through whatever means, whether that is their own judgment on the field, instant replay, or something else, should get the call right. The runner was either safe or out, and the correct call should be applied. For an umpire to call the runner out when he believed him to be safe would be umpiring’s version of malpractice.

It should be noted that in the case last night, this is not what happened – Joyce blew the call. He can’t be criticized for somehow deciding to screw Galarraga – he simply got it wrong. I’d rather see an umpire blow the call that he believed he got right than see him call a runner out that he knew to be safe in some misguided attempt to help the pitcher make history. Blown calls are part of the game (for now at least). Making a safe/out call based on the context of the play rather than what the umpire saw on the field calls into question the integrity of the game.

Clearly, in the real case rather than the hypothetical one, the runner should have been called out. Now it appears that MLB is considering reviewing the call – a course of action that shouldn’t be taken lightly, but given the clear nature of the evidence and the historical importance of the game, must be considered.

Stanley Cup Finals: Game Two

As predicted by yours truly, game two of this series resembled the third period that we saw in game one - low scoring and gritty. This wasn’t a terribly bold prediction, as it was clear that both sides were terrified of playing another game that was unpredictable to the extreme. A few things that I took away from this game and what to look for tomorrow night in game three:

Both goalies showed that they can bounce back from off nights, but I still have far more confidence in Antti Niemi than in Michael Leighton. Niemi only allowed one goal, and it was on a very tough chance – a knuckling puck through traffic. Additionally, he made far more big saves than did Leighton – especially when he closed the door on Mike Richards’ breakaway and gloved Aaron Asham’s one-timer. Leighton gave up some juicy rebounds, and had the Blackhawks positioning been a little better, this game could have been won by an even larger margin.

The Hawks’ top line of Toews, Kane, and Byfuglien was still quiet, but it inspired more fear offensively than it did in game one, in addition to holding its own defensively. The play of Jonathan Toews was notably better, as the captain was able to control the puck and create a couple of chances for himself on the offensive end. Kane got three first period shots, leading the Hawks after the first twenty minutes, but failed to register a shot on goal for the remainder of the game. In fact, it was Ben Eager who was on the ice with Toews and Byfuglien when he tallied the Hawks’ second, and game-winning, goal - a chance that was created by a nifty Byfuglien takeaway in the neutral zone. It would be truly amazing if the Blackhawks could win this series without major offensive production from Toews and Kane, and while there is still plenty of time for those guys to heat up, Chicago has proven that they can win with role-players stepping up into the spotlight.

Shifting the series back to Philadelphia will add an interesting wrinkle to the strategy behind the bench as Peter Laviolette will have the benefit of the last change for his Flyers. On the road, Laviolette showed a willingness to roll with whatever match-up Coach Joel Quenneville threw at him. This lead to unfavorable match-ups for Philadelphia throughout the first two games. Coach Q, on the other hand, has employed quick changes off faceoffs throughout the playoffs when his squad is on the road, meaning that the Flyers’ top scoring lines will likely still have to contend with the Blackhawks checkers tomorrow night.

Dan Carcillo is quickly becoming the most hated man in Chicago, and this is likely to persist as long as the Flyers trail in this series. Generally, the Blackhawks did a good job of maintaining their poise when Carcillo tried to mix things up. Until I looked at the box score this morning, I didn’t realize that Ben Eager and Chris Pronger received matching ten minute misconduct penalties at 20:00 of the third period. Meaningless as far as game two is concerned, but it should be interesting to see if any of the extracurriculars spill over to tomorrow night, when an increasingly desperate Flyers team takes to their home ice.

By every metric, game two was played very evenly, both teams dominated for stretches, and ultimately Chicago’s goal-tending was a little bit better and they were able to pull out the win – just like we expect to see in Stanley Cup hockey. Peter Laviollette is unquestionably telling his squad that to this point, Chicago has done what they are supposed to do, and haven’t done so completely convincingly. If the Flyers can come out and win game three, they have an excellent opportunity to tie the series up and seize the momentum with a win in game four. The question remains: how long can the big guns – on both sides – be held down in this series? If Chicago can steal the third game in Philly with big games from Toews and Kane, it’s all but over for the Flyers. We’ve seen them come back from a three to zero hole once; we won’t see it again.

Tommy Wingels Signs Pro Contract

Forward and captain Tommy Wingels has officially forgone his senior season with the Hawks and signed a standard entry level contract with the San Jose Sharks. Wingels was drafted by the Sharks in the 6th round in 2008.

This is undoubtedly a huge blow to next years Redhawks. Wingels provided great leadership and proved pivotal in the Hawks run into the Frozen Four these past two years. It's a shame to see him go, he will surely by missed. That being said, I hope him the best of luck on his professional career and hope to see him up and playing with fellow Redhawk alum Dan Boyle very soon.

Official article from the Sharks Team Site: http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=530670

Next on my plate will be an analysis of next weeks MLB draft and its top 15 picks.

Until then Love and Honor,

Chris

A Lesson in Sports Ethics--Collusion

Amare Stoudemire is set to join the list of NBA free agents that will discuss their future plans with one another. This club includes Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and of course, LeBron James. Now let's not kid ourselves. Did we actually think these superstars would not send out feelers to determine what each one was going to do? These guys are all going to get their money, but the exception of Wade, none of them has been able to win a title. So of course they are going to try and engineer a way to the Larry O'Brien trophy. However, when Wade explain that these men would be meeting to discuss their plans with one another, he essentially started a discussion of collusion.

Collusion is essentially defined as working together to own the market of a given good or service. So this question has to be posed. If all these free agents are working together to play on teams together for the purpose of winning championships, it may ruin the parody of the league. But, it is not collusion. These players have every right to play for whatever team they want. They have every right to play with any player they wish to have on the court. As a result, if they added a 6th person to this list and the players paired off to play for the Bulls, Nets, and Clippers for example, Chicago, New Jersey and L.A. have become potential championship contenders. But as much griping as there may be, these players are not stopping any other team from bidding on them or from earning a championship.

Take the Lakers. Of course they would love to add James or Wade. Having a real big man who bangs around the rim like Bosh or Stoudemire would make them clear favorites in the Western Conference. But it is extremely likely none of these players will be in a Lakers uniform next season, yet the Lakers will still have a legitimate shot at the NBA championship.

It's going to hurt teams like Milwaukee. The Bucks are not in a major market. People don't seem to have the urge to play in Wisconsin. As a result, adding major talent to teams like Chicago and New Jersey will strength the Eastern Conference, diminishing the parody. Yet, Milwaukee still is in an open competition for these free agents, and they still have the ability to compete against these loaded teams for the NBA Championship. While it is likely they would be several games behind the teams they finished ahead of this year, they have not been denied the opportunity of the open market.

What it comes down to is this. It is ethical for these players to talk with one another and try to play together to win championships. Just because it is ethical does not mean we have to like it. These players may win their championships, but part of what makes us continually watch sports is the parody and the underdog. If the NBA becomes a league of four or five super teams, the product may struggle. Sure, ratings will be through the roof if a Bulls team with Lebron James and Amare Stoudemire is facing a Heat team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but when Andrew Bogut leads Milwaukee against Danny Granger's Indiana Pacers for a regular season battle, people are going to tune out. While the best thing for NBA is having its stars spread out to induce parody, the NBA may be headed for a few years of only a few contenders. And because it is technically not a result of collusion, there is nothing we can do about it but hope these stars decide to make our squads one of the "Chosen Teams."

NBA Finals Preview: Who will make it to 17 or 18

A Boston Celtics/ LA Lakers finals is probably the most storied rivalry in NBA history. Obviously, anyone who knows basketball knows Magic vs Bird, which went as far back as their college days, but there have been many more great moments in this rivalry. Starting with greats such as Bill Russell and Bob Cousy for Boston and Elgin Baylor and Jerry West for Los Angeles who competed not once, not twice, not even three times, but 6 times in 8 years for NBA’s prized trophy (all won by Boston). The rivalry renewed with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the 80’s, meeting 3 times in the finals with the Lakers taking 2 of them. After these great series, the rivalry took quite a long hiatus, until now. They are set to compete again for the 2^nd time in 3 years with Boston winning it in 6 games in 2008.

Now that we have looked back on history lets look to the present:

Lakers:

The Lakers have a strong starting 5 with some question marks though. Led by the leagues best scorer (and arguably best player some believe,) in Kobe Bryant. Bryant has had the injury bug towards his fingers the last few years, but that clearly has not affected his game. The starters have great height in All-Star Pau Gasol at 4 and Andrew Bynum at 5. Bynum has some serious knee problems that have clearly shown throughout the playoffs. He recently had his knee drained this week in an effort to finish the season and then have the required surgery. We’ll see how that goes. Veteran Derek Fisher leads the charge at point and his experience is vital if the Lakers want to win. Then there’s Ron Artest. I have not been impressed with Artest at all this season, especially the playoffs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know he made the winning shot in game 5 against the suns, but has made poor decisions all together and his defense has not been what we have come to expect. Even with these issues, the starters are strong. Don’t be fooled.

The Lakers bench, in my opinion, could be there downfall. The most important player is Lamar Odom. Odom is big and can stretch the floor for a 3 guard. When on the court with Fisher, Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum, the Lakers are HUGE. Rebounding is tough against this group. After Odom, there’s not much to be said. Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown get minutes at guard, but besides an occasional outburst have been unimpressive. Others to see action will be forward Didier Mbenga and guard Sasha Vujacic.

Offensively the Lakers can score points, easily. They did struggle tremendously against the zone in the previous series against the suns, but still managed to score over 100 points in every game. Defensively will be the make it or break it point in this series for the Lakers. The allowed over 100 points in every game against the suns and must be a lot better since I doubt they can keep up that scoring pace.

X-Factor: Sure it’d be easy to say Kobe Bryant since the Lakers succeed or fail on his shoulders, but I’ll go with coach Phil Jackson. He is the most accomplished coach in NBA history and surely his adjustments throughout the series will be crucial if the Lakers want to win.

Celtics:

The starting 5 for the Celtics has 4 All-Stars in Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. The odd man out is Kendrick Perkins. The big 3 (Garnett, Allen, and Pierce) all will contribute similar numbers in mid-teen points, 6-7 rebounds, and a few assists. This has been consistent over the years and usually if one scores 20, another will score under 10. So all-in-all they’ll even out to their usual numbers. Rondo has been huge this season, especially in the playoffs. He is a double-double machine (points and assists) and has done a tremendous job keeping the pace at where the Celtics want it. Perkins is almost irrelevant with these guys on the court, but provides an occasional burst.

The Celtic bench has many key contributors. Rasheed Wallace provides invaluable experience, but has underperformed to what people expect from him. That being said, he still provides a great deal off the bench by stretching the floor. Tony Allen has been a huge defensive lift and provides some highlight reel moments. Glen Davis is another key contributor and provides solid minutes for them, as well as mid-season signee Michael Finley. The x-factor in this group though is Nate Robinson. Robinson is a guy who can shoot miserably or score 40 points, even off the bench. We shall see how he performs in the series.

Offensively, the Celtics can struggle at times. There are long scoreless droughts at times and this must be limited if the want to win. Defensively, the Celtics have been amazing this postseason. They do have a daunting task in defending the Lakers, but if they play like they have, the Lakers will have trouble reaching 90 points.

X-Factor: For this team, there are 3 and all are important if you ask me. First, Rondo will be the most important player on the floor. He is 1^st team all –defense and is pivotal running the offense. It’s amazing how they struggle when he’s not in. Second, the Celtics are old and injury prone. Coach Doc Rivers took a gamble and rested players the last month of the season instead of fighting for a higher seed. He knew they must be healthy if they wanted to make a run, and that risk has paved huge dividends. That being said, the big 3 are ticking time bombs and role players have had injuries throughout the playoffs. Finally, their attitudes can lead to problems. Now this has been good to get into the other team’s head, but I have seen it cost them greatly too. Perkins is 1 technical foul from suspension and Garnett takes stupid fouls for no reason (i.e. elbowing Dwight Howard for no reason last series) that make him come out of the game. These 3 are important to their success and I’ll be watching closely.

Prediction: Will the Celtics win number 18 or the Lakers 17^th.

This one was tough but I think the Celtics in 6. I expect their defense to continue in this series and be the ultimate reason for their win. That being said, don’t expect Kobe Bryant to go down that easily.

New Look, Same Great Taste!

Hey everyone, it's been a week and they haven't shut us down yet, so either we must be doing something right or not enough people care to read what we have to say! Either way, we've changed things around a bit, so now it should be a little easier to navigate. On the side bar you'll see a list of pages. From now on, that's where we'll be posting the bulk of what we have to say, so be sure to check it out. We want to branch out a bit from hockey, so we've added a lot more stuff over there. Look for expanded coverage on the NBA finals, the MLB now that baseball is in full-swing, and World Cup coverage from yours truly starting next week.

Speaking of which, in order to accommodate for more sports coverage, we've added a new member to the team. Along with Pat, Mike and myself, please welcome Chris Stratmoen to the fold, as he'll be covering the NBA finals as well as all the action from the baseball diamond.

Love and Honor,
Matt