NBA, Tanner Horelick

Sunday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Lakers vs T-Wolves)

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Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers

(5-17)                                             (7-16)

Preview: Obviously this does not, at first glance, seem like a “must-watch game,” but bear with me. Kobe Bryant, who is one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA, is about to pass yet another milestone tonight as he is just 9 points away from leaping ahead of Michael Jordan for the 3rd most points in NBA history. Right now, Jordan, who is considered the “Greatest of All-Time”, sits at 3rd place with 32,292 points which puts him just behind Karl Malone (36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). Once the Black Mamba passes Jordan, this will add to his vast array of achievements he has collected in his 19 years in the league which include 16 All-Star Games, 11-time All-NBA First Team, and 5 NBA Championships. At 36 years old, Kobe looks to be on the decline as other young Lakers, such as Nick “Swaggy-P” Young, look too take the reins from the Legend. Do not count Kobe out just yet, though, as I guarantee he will pass many more records before his career is done.

Prediction: I believe Kobe will steal the show tonight as I am positive that he would like to make a debate as to who really is the “Greatest of All-Time.” While Nick Young wowed the crowd Friday night when he scored 28 points including a game-winning three, tonight will be Kobe Bryants moment as he will become the third highest scorer in the history of the NBA.

Points Per Game Leaders:

MIN – Kevin Martin (20.4 PPG) LAL – Kobe Bryant (25.4 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

MIN – Nikola Pekovic (8.1 RPG) LAL – Jordan Hill (9.0 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

MIN – Ricky Rubio (10.0 APG) LAL – Kobe Bryant (5.0 APG)

NBA, Tanner Horelick

Friday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Bulls vs Trail Blazers)

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Chicago Bulls vs Portland Trail Blazers

(13-8)                   (17-5)

Start Time: 7:00 PM EST

TV Channel: ESPN

Preview: What seemed like a questionable move in the offseason, when the Bulls acquired Pau Gasol, has now turned into an undoubtedly great pick-up by Chicago. Gasol is now averaging around 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. The headline at the beginning of the year, however, was not the acquirement of Pau Gasol but of course, Derrick Roses health. After starting the year on a bad note with strained hamstring which left him in-and-out of games, he has recently picked it together scoring 23 points on Wednesday against the Nets. This is going to be a good test to Rose as he will try to prove that he can produce yet another solid game. Now for the Blazers; they have won 8 out-of their last 10 games and are coming off a disappointing loss to the T-Wolves on a night where they missed nearly 50 FG on 38.8%. Portland will be looking to gain some ground on the 1st place Warriors here as they look to get a nice win following a tough loss.

Prediction: I believe that with a healthy Derrick Rose, Chicago is one of the best teams in the NBA, but without him they are a borderline playoff team. This game is going to completely rely on the former MVP and if Rose is feeling good tonight, then Chicago will run away with the victory. Based on what I saw against the Nets, Rose looks healthy and ready to lead Chicago on a nice playoff run.

Points Per Game Leaders:

POR – LaMarcus Aldridge (21.7 PPG) CHI – Jimmy Butler (21.5 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

POR – LaMarcus Aldridge (9.9 RPG) CHI – Pau Gasol (12.2 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

POR – Damian Lillard (6.2 APG) CHI – Derrick Rose (5.1 APG)

Jarod Kilgore, MLB

Fixing the Designated Hitter Debate: A Submission

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I like tradition. I like that the man who invented basketball coached at my favorite school, even if he was probably the worst coach in the school’s history. I like Notre Dame because of what they used to be, though it has little to do with what they are today.

I like the old ways. I like reading stories out of books, while acknowledging a tablet would be more convenient. I like meeting friends over coffee to talk in person, even if I already text them regularly.

I also like sports. I like when my teams are good because I like when they win. When I watch professional sports I want to watch two teams play each other at their best, with all their stars healthy and their artillery available.

When I watch sports, especially at the professional level, I want them to play at their highest level. Seeing pitchers who rarely practice hitting, run the bases in windbreakers, and refuse to run hard or slide into bases is not the sport at its highest level.

If the teams and their coaches took pitchers hitting seriously I would be happy with it, I’d probably want it in the American League as well as the National League, but they don’t.

However, I give up trying to convince defenders of these offensive hackers. National League pitchers are going to continue to embarrass themselves as long as their fans want it, and I submit to their stubbornness. At least that’s what I’d tell them if I made the rules.

And then submit a work-around.

Make the Designated Hitter optional in the National League. If the home team is from the NL they will have the option of both teams either having or not having the designated hitter.

The strategy traditionalists esteem is still present but on a larger scale, because the home NL team would have to factor their prospective designated hitter with that of their opponents.

The big market teams in the National League would spend money on a “most-time” DH that could be used at home and during interleague play. If the Dodgers employed a Victor Martinez-quality player at DH, it would force medium-market NL teams to keep pace by having a decent 9th batter as well. This would continue to trickle-down to the bottom market teams in the same way. In a matter of only a few years every NL team would have made attempts to acquire a “most-time” designated hitter, who they would choose to deploy in their home ballparks depending on the strategy of the situation.

The NL team will make this decision for the duration of the series – so if the San Francisco Giants have a 3 game home series against the Boston Red Sox they must decide when submitting their lineup card for the first game if the DH will be used in that series.

Once more teams have a 9th hitter worthy of playing every day but weak in the field, MLB would introduce the idea of a full-time DH for both leagues. The use of a some-time DH would make the transition to full-time designated hitters in both leagues more palatable to the NL and its fans.

And I would no longer have to watch pitchers in windbreakers embarrassing themselves on the base paths.

NBA, Tanner Horelick

Thursday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Thunder vs Cavaliers)

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Oklahoma City Thunder vs Cleveland Cavaliers

(8-13)                                     (13-7)

Start Time: 8:00 PM EST

TV Channel: TNT

Preview: LeBron vs Kevin Durant; they’ve combined for the past three MVP awards (two going to LeBron) and are always a show to watch whenever they play. Both teams started off the year disappointingly but have battled back, each on their own respective win streaks. Immediately when the Cavs started off the new season on a bad note, fingers were flying about whose fault it was and how the Cavs would never contend for a championship. Now Cleveland is 20-games in to the season and all that talk has stopped. They’ve looked hot recently, winning their last 8, and coming off a good win vs the Wizards in which LeBron hit a clutch three to give the Cavs the lead in the final minutes. OKC hasn’t looked terrible as of late either since getting back MVP Kevin Durant, and have won a decent streak of 3-games. It’s no doubt that KD is still lingering with injuries and is not yet back to his MVP-caliber ways, but has been getting the job done and helping the Thunder win some games. Both the Cavs and Thunder look to be back to their Championship-contending ways and will look to battle each other in what looks to be an exciting game in their first matchup since LeBron’s return home.

Prediction: I think the Cavs are going to continue their winning ways and defeat the Thunder in a game where LeBron and Kevin Durant will battle each other all night long. Look for LeBron to have a big game and make a statement about who is the real MVP now.

Points Per Game Leaders:

OKC – Russell Westbrook (24.3 PPG) CLE – LeBron James (24.8 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

OKC – Serge Ibaka (7.5 RPG) CLE – Kevin Love (10.0 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

OKC – Russell Westbrook (6.6 APG) CLE – LeBron James (7.7 APG)

Jarod Kilgore, NBA

The NBA’s Most Exciting Young Team

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I have a *thing* for young athletic men full of unrealized potential. If you’re thinking *like that* then I’m not saying *like that*, but I definitely swooned a bit watching Anthony Davis last year, before he was definitely one of the best 5 players in the NBA. It’s great watching that kind of talent blossom so fully only 3 years removed from receiving his John R. Wooden Award, but for me some of the fun is lost in the transition from a young player oozing potential and when that ooze materializes into a star.

That said, I like the young teams just putting things together, when you can still see their abilities and minds merging into a cohesive basketball unit one game at a time. I feel like every year there is a Most Exciting Young Team that I really enjoy watching. Last year it was the Phoenix Suns – with the Morris twins tossing in threes, Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe as the primary ball handlers (I’ll try not to refer to them as Point Guards, cus, ya know, they were mostly scorers who got to dribble the ball a lot). (footnote 1)

If you didn’t read the footnote (how dare you!) then the point is: last year’s Phoenix Suns wasn’t very good, but they were a lot of fun to watch. And stayed in contention long enough (finished 1 game behind the 8th seed Mavericks) to make their games matter all season.

Every year I try to find the Most Exciting Young Team. Sometimes I pick wrong. Sometimes fun is just a small part of the larger phrase “I’d like a refund. No, I’m sorry.”

With all that I nominate my first hope for this year’s Most Exciting Young Team: The Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee hasn’t been fun for a long time. It’s probably easier to be good than fun (mostly because no GM’s goal is to be just fun), but the Bucks haven’t been much of either since Generation Y hit pre-school [2]. Well, this year will be half different!

They have the most NBA-ready rookie (I feel like this is a straight-up ESPN trademarked term) in Jabari Parker. And as if to increase the fun times: Parker is really only NBA-ready on the offensive end.

If he was their most fun player the Bucks would only make it as high on the Fun Rankings as an up-and-down rookie season could deliver, but he definitely is not.

Enter the ring, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He’s a beautiful 6’10” basketball machine in his second NBA season from Greece. He’s raw but has already shown huge improvement since his rookie year. And he just turned 20 on December 6th. The Greek highlight machine uses his long arms and high basketball IQ to keep his talented and flawed team in games. Antetokounmpo has done something great almost every night, but the one that made the most rounds about the Internet is this double block:

http://www.vineroulette.com/v/I-mean-this-is-why-we-keep-talking-about-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-MmUmvpXmBMJ

[footnote 3]

Milwaukee is currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. That doesn’t mean they’re good, but it helps the excite-o-meter of a young team if their games still matter late in the season.

For whatever reason, the Milwaukee franchise saw fit to give the young duo teammates. Teammates with names like OJ Mayo, Jerryd Bayless Brandon Knight, and Ersan Ilyasova (4). All of them can have personal spurts of fun times but the most interesting, for me and the Bucks franchise, are the building blocks of Parker and Antetokounmpo. These guys will hopefully feed off each other for years to come, and if they crumble under the pressure of being my first (probably not last) pick for Most Exciting Young Team in the NBA, then they will almost certainly be on the short list next season.

Footnotes:

  1. Last season, Eric Bledsoe’s 1.64 Assist/Turnover ratio was the 2nd worst in the league (46 out of 47) among qualified point guards (Alec Burks was a distant last at 1.42. But, be real, Burks isn’t a PG and never should be but when you’re contractually obligated to field a basketball team it’s good manners for one of your five players on the court to bring up the ball – of those, Burks was often the most qualified).

The Suns other sort-of point guard last season was Goran Dragic. He had 2.10 A/To ratio, which would have tied for 38th out of 47 Point Guards (if he was considered a PG – which he’s not, but he has been during his career and was at times last year).

2.Last winning season for the Bucks was 2009-10 – and that was their only winning season since Ray Allen was donning those purple road unis. The Milawauke franchise has had five winning season since 1990-91 (not including the strike shortened 98-99 season).

2.A personal favorite from my favorite highlight machine: the finger-roll where he doesn’t dribble for 25 feet (and it wasn’t traveling!)

https://vine.co/v/OvLBKUbMmuJ

4.Or as he should be known, the Turkish James Franco:

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/2767.png&w=3

NBA, Tanner Horelick

Wednesday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Warriors vs Rockets)

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Houston Rockets vs Golden State Warriors

(16-4)                             (18-2)

Start Time: 10:30 PM EST

TV Channel: Local/League Pass

Preview: Golden State hasn’t lost since November 11th when they were shut down by San Antonio, and will look for their 19th win tonight as they face off against a Howard-less Rockets team. The Warriors will look to Andrew Bogut as the man to step up as Houston is without one of the premier big-men in the NBA, Dwight Howard, as he recovers from a knee injury which first kept him out on Nov. 19th. This is going to be a very interesting game as Golden State is spectacular at home with a 7-1 record, but the Rockets are also outstanding while on the road with a record sitting at 8-1. The Rockets usually rely heavily on the defensive end, but with an elite defender wrapped up on the bench, they will most likely look to even it out on both sides of the court. While both teams are among the Top-6 in opponent points per game, this one is going to come down to who can finish off more of their opportunities on the offensive end. Consistency is going to determine who will come out of this game with the victory.

Prediction: I believe that the Golden State Warriors will pull off a close win in this matchup mostly due to two reasons; 1.) James Harden can’t play defense so Klay Thompson will take advantage of this and have a big game 2.) Warriors are coming into this game on a 13-game win streak and are the unquestioned hottest team in the NBA right now which could propel them to the ‘W’ if this were to turn out to be a close one

Points Per Game Leaders:

HOU – James Harden (25.2 PPG) GSW – Stephen Curry (23.1 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

HOU – Dwight Howard (11.3 RPG) GSW – Andrew Bogut (9.3 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

HOU – James Harden (6.6 APG) GSW – Stephen Curry (7.7 APG)

NBA, Tanner Horelick

Monday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Clippers vs Suns)

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Los Angeles Clippers vs Phoenix Suns

(14-5)                                       (12-9)

Start Time: 10:30 PM

TV Channel: Local/League Pass

Preview: Back on November 15th, the last time these two teams faced off, Chris Paul was absolutely on fire and contributed 32 points including 5-6 from 3-point range, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds in a game where the Clippers beat the Suns by a score of 120-107. The score of this game does not show everything, though, as the Suns looked statistically better throughout most of the game except for one key area; Field Goal Percentage. Phoenix was atrocious on the offensive end, only making 38% of field goals and 36% of 3’s. If the Suns had been able to finish on the offensive end, this game may have had a different outcome. Today is a new day, however, and the Suns will look to bounce back from a tough loss to a very talented Houston Rockets team that defeated Phoenix by 5 points on Saturday night. Los Angeles, on the other hand, has looked very sharp as of late and will be looking to build off their 7-game win streak which included one against those same Rockets. This is going to be a very interesting game as the Suns are a primarily offensive based team while the Clippers are more balanced on both ends of the court, only allowing 98.5 points per games (9th best in NBA). If the Suns want to get revenge on PG Chris Paul and the Clippers, they will need to have contributors all throughout their team which could be difficult should key 6th man, Isaiah Thomas, not be available tonight due to an ankle injury.

Prediction: I think the Los Angeles Clippers will come out of this game with a win tonight as they look to be a more complete team so far this season than the Suns and also have some momentum as they have won 10 out of their last 11 games.

Points Per Game Leaders:

PHX – Goran Dragic (16.0 PPG) LAC – Blake Griffin (22.9 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

PHX – Markieff Morris (6.6 RPG) LAC – DeAndre Jordan (12.2 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

PHX – Eric Bledsoe (5.7 APG) LAC – Chris Paul (9.8 APG)

NCAA, Tyler Englander

Did the Committee get it right?

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The NCAA wanted controversy, they wanted there to be an argument about who gets in and who doesn’t, and most of all they wanted to create a college football season that was more intense than it was in the previous BCS system. The College Football Playoff system delivered and created the best college football season in recent memory. With that being said there are a few teams, Baylor and TCU, who feel that the system failed them and they believe that they should have been included in the first edition of the College Football Playoff. The question is, did they get it right?

Let’s start with the top two seeds in this year’s playoff, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oregon Ducks. There is little doubt that both of these schools should have been involved in the playoff. Starting with the Tide, it is quite obvious that the winner of America’s toughest conference deserved to be in the playoff. Also, after a tough loss earlier in the season to Ole Miss, Alabama has looked like the dominant team they are, plus the resurgence of Blake Sims after struggling early against Auburn has cemented the Crimson Tide as the favorite heading into the inaugural playoffs. Next is the Oregon Ducks, they avenged their only loss of the season to Arizona in the Pac 12 Championship game and finished the season as one of the hottest teams in the nation. Heisman hopeful Marcus Mariota has the Ducks primed to make a run at the first championship in Oregon history. Moving on to the number three team in the nation, the Florida State Seminoles. While I understand that people don’t believe Florida State should be in the playoff because of their average margin of victory, I would disagree with them. As the only undefeated team left in the nation and the defending national champions, the Noles deserved a shot to prove their still the top dog and that’s why the committee got it right by putting Florida State at three.

With little disagreement about the first three teams selected, the controversy came with who the committee selected for the fourth and final spot in this years playoff. That spot was given to the Ohio State Buckeyes who absolutely dismantled Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. The other two teams in the running for that fourth spot were TCU and Baylor, and they feel that that they should have been included in the playoff. All of these three teams were deserving, but I tend to side with TCU and I believe that they should have been in the playoff. My reasoning behind that is that TCU had the toughest loss of those teams losing to Baylor, while Ohio State lost to a team in Virginia Tech that only scored three points in a double overtime game against an abysmal Wake Forest team. Also, if just one week ago TCU was two spots better than Ohio State how did a 52 point win make them fall three stops? Finally, the committee’s job was to get the best four teams in the playoff and it’s hard to believe that Ohio State with Cardale Jones is a better team than TCU with a proven quarterback in Trevone Boykin. It’s only sensical to believe that Cardale Jones won’t have the same performance against a stingy Alabama defense that he has against Wisconsin and that’s why I think the committee overvalued Ohio State’s win in the Big Ten championship game. With that being said, give credit to Ohio State who made a strong final impression and forced the committee to make a decision and it ultimately went in their favor.

NBA, Tanner Horelick

Saturday’s NBA Matchup to Watch

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Chicago Bulls vs Golden State Warriors

(12-7)                      (16-2)

Start Time: 8:00 PM

TV Channel: NBATV

Preview: The Warriors are the hottest team in the NBA right now and are entering this game with a league best, 11 game win-streak, also 1.5 games above the Rockets for 1st place in the Western Conference. Chicago, on the other hand, have been off-and-on during their last 10 games, winning a respectable 5 and still maintaining 4th place in the East while still only 2.5 games out of 1st. If the Bulls want to win this game tonight, they are really going to need to step up their defense which as of now, ranks 17th in opponent points per game at 99.9 PPG. If they continue this horrid defense, the Warriors will put on an offensive showcase as they average 106.8 PPG which is good for 3rd in the NBA. This is going to be a very tough assignment for the Bulls as they face a red hot Warriors team who have looked basically unstoppable these past few weeks, led by Steph Curry who averages around 23 points and 8 assists per night.

Prediction: The Warriors are going to pull off a win tonight as they are undefeated in their last 11 games and their stellar offensive ball movement will propel them to a hopeful victory. As long as Stephen Curry can continue his miraculous shooting ways, the Dubs will pick up their 17th win and 12th straight.

Points Per Game Leaders:

GSW – Stephen Curry (23.4 PPG) CHI – Jimmy Butler (21.6 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

GSW – Andrew Bogut (9.4 RPG) CHI – Pau Gasol (11.4 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

GSW – Stephen Curry (7.8 APG) CHI – Derrick Rose (5.1 APG)

Always going for More