Final Four Predictions

It is that time of year again, when the Final Four is in a few days, and everyone is scrambling and hustling to change their picks. All of the teams this year have a good chance of winning, and there is no clear view of who will win it all, unless you love Kentucky. Here are the Final Four team rankings and predictions.

1. Kentucky

I would lose my job if I didn't have Kentucky at the top spot. They will have a tough ride to the perfect championship season. They almost lost to Notre Dame, who is a small quick team which matches well with the Kentucky big men. The Badgers also have that speed with Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes. This will be a game to go down to the wire.

2. Duke

The firepower of Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow, Tyus Jones, and Quinn Cook puts Duke in the number two rank. They play Michigan State on Saturday. Most people think this will be a blowout, but you can never count out Tom Izzo and co.

3. Wisconsin

Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker are going up against Willie Cauley- Stein and Karl- Anthony Towns will be a battle for the ages. As I was writing this, in my mind was a debate between Duke and Wisconsin. I decided to put Wisconsin third.

4. Michigan State

Michigan State has as much chance as the other teams to win it all, but they don't have enough firepower and stardom to match up with Wisconsin, Duke, and Kentucky.

Game #1: Duke vs. Michigan State
Pick: Duke
Why: Like I said before, I don't think the Spartans will get past Duke and their set of promising young players.

Game #2: Kentucky vs. Wisconsin
Pick: Wisconsin
Why: The Badgers are fast and the Wildcats may not be able to catch up with them. I like the Badgers here and Predict Wisconsin upsetting Kentucky.

Best/Worst First Round Scenarios for Top NBA Western Conference Playoff Contenders

Best/Worst First Round Scenarios for Top NBA Western Conference Playoff Contenders

            The NBA regular season is winding down, and we have no clear idea of who is leading the race to the Finals. To get to the Finals, the teams need to get though the first round. Here are the Best and Worst Scenarios for the first round for playoff contenders.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS:

Best Case: Oklahoma City Thunder

           

            A few weeks ago, the Thunder would have been the last choice on this list. I as the Warriors would have rather played the Grizzles in the first round. Russell Westbrook was on a tear picking up triple-doubles left and right. Serge Ibaka was producing his amazing defense. Newcomers Enes Kanter, Kyle Singler, and Steve Novak were exceeding expectations. This was happening when reigning MVP Kevin Durant was out injured. This last week for the Thunder has been a week to forget. Serge Ibaka underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, and Kevin Durant had a setback on his injured foot. Both are expected to miss the rest of the season for the Thunder. They are essentially a one-man team and will be relatively easy to take down in the playoffs.

Worst Case: New Orleans Pelicans

            This used to be the best-case scenario for the Warriors, but after this week, I decided against it. The Warriors played the Pelicans on Friday and handled them easily. Unfortunately, Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson, and Anthony Davis were not playing in that game. In the eight games after his injury, Anthony Davis has averaged 28.9 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.4 blocks, and 4 assists.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLES:

Best Case: Dallas Mavericks

 

            The Mavs are the best case because since the Rondo trade, the have been mediocre. Before the trade, they were on pace to have the most electric offense in the history of the game. They traded for Rajon Rondo and it has been downhill ever since. I do not see them pulling it together at the end, and they should be easy prey.

Worst Case: San Antonio Spurs

            The Grizzles bitterest rival is the Spurs, and this series will be a hard-fought physical seven game series. The Spurs have given Memphis fits over the past few years. The Spurs can match them at every position, even the frontcourt where Memphis has Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. If the Grizzles play the Spurs, I see the Grizz going down.

2015 Free Agency Report 3/22/15

      Last week I wrote my first free agency report. So, today I am making another report with some new players that moved teams the past week. In the same format as last week I will how 5 players that moved teams this past week. These players will be on the list because in my opinion these players help there team a lot to win more games and hopefully for that team make them a franchise contender.

1.      Dwayne Bowe signs with the Cleveland Browns. This is a great pick-up for the Cleveland Browns this year and would have been every year in the past since they have always been struggling on offense. They had a good tight-end, Jordan Cameron, who also left the team this year in free agency to the Dolphins. But, now they do not have any really good receivers this year which makes Dwayne Bowe perfect for this team. Even though no receivers scored touchdowns this year on the Chiefs this is still a good pick-up for the Browns.
2.      Charles Clay lands in Buffalo. This year the Buffalo Bills have made some very good moves in free agency. Now, they come back with another outstanding pickup. They get the Dolphins star Charles Clay to help Lesean McCoy who they got this year too. Now, the Bills will be a powerhouse team on the ground with a new coach and new players. 
3.      Reggie Bush comes to the Niners. The Niners have lost a lot of their good players this year by free agency or retirement. In my opinion, this year in free agency the Niners messed up big time and lost key players on their team. With Gore gone they needed another running back to help the rookie Carlos Hyde on the field. Getting Reggie Bush is one of the only good moves the Niners have done this year. Bush will now help them in the run game and the Niners better hope Crabtree of Vernon Davis does not leave the team.
4.      The Dallas Cowboys get Greg Hardy. Even though Greg Hardy just came back after being suspended because of domestic abuse, I believe he will help the Cowboys a lot. Last year, the Cowboys lost Demarcus Ware on there defensive line which was horror for them. Greg Hardy was outstanding on the field in Carolina and will help the defense a lot. I think he has all the suspensions behind him and will now bring good thins to Dallas and their football team.
5.      Shane Vereen goes to the New York Giants. This happened a while ago but was still a good pick-up.  Over the past few years the Giants have lost a couple of really helpful and good running backs that could have helped their team a lot. Getting a running back that just won a championship was a good move by this team. The Giants have an okay receiving core but were missing some really terrific running backs. Shane Vereen will help this team get easy yardage and make them a playoff contender.

2015 Free Agency Report: 3/14/15

     This has been another outstanding year in free agency with many new players on teams and some very surprising trades. First, many great players were franchised tagged this year, which means that they get to stay with that team and no other teams on the market can get that player. Demaryius Thomas, Justin Houston, and Dez Bryant are one of the few awesome players that got franchise tagged by their teams. The players that did not get franchise were on the market for many teams. So, I created a list of all the trades and free agency pick-ups by teams till now. Here is my list of 5 players that changed teams so far this year and my opinion about the pick-ups by the teams:

1.      Ndamukong Suh lands a $114 million dollar contract with the Miami Dolphins which is great for their team. Over the years the Dolphin's defense had some new player's from drafts but all of those players suffered from injuries. This is a great addition for the defense of this struggling team. 
2.      Jimmy Graham gets traded from the Saints to the 2014 champions Seahawks. This will make the Seahawks even better than before with Jimmy Graham on their side of the football. Jimmy Graham is a tight-end, but he is an impactful receiver. The Seahawks have had some tight-end problems since they have dealt with many injuries with people in that position. 
3.       Nick Foles gets traded to the Rams for Sam Bradford which was very surprising. The Rams have dealt with so many injuries last year but still being a pretty good team with their defense. Finally, they got a very consistent quarterback that just came back from an injury. Meanwhile, Sam Bradford will probably be a backup quarterback with the Eagles. I think that the Eagles will either trade up in the draft and get a quarterback like Marcus Mariota which their coach, Chip Kelly, worked with at Oregon.
4.      Demarco Murray goes to the Eagles in free agency. The Eagles traded Lesean "Shady" McCoy to the Bills making them in need of a new running-back. Last year in free agency the Eagles got the Saints running-back Darren Sproles who helped them a lot this year in the block and on the passes. Now with Demarco Murray the Eagles have got two impactful running-backs on their side of the field. This will work well for Chip Kelly's hurry up offense which has worked for them the past few years. They can get some easy yardage with Demarco Murray who lead the league this year in rushing yards playing for the Cowboys.
5.      Darrelle Revis go to another team again for the third time in 3 years. He is returning back to his first team where he got the nickname "Revis Island" and became THE best cornerback in the league. This will help them since the Jet's secondary has struggled a lot since Revis left a couple of years ago. This will help their defense a lot on the pass since their defensive line is okay. 

My NBA Dream Team Lineup: Bench Players

My NBA Dream Team Lineup

6^th Man: Wilt Chamberlain

         Wilt is considered one of the best ever. Bill Russell bested him many times in his career, and that is why I put Bill Russell ahead of him. He was a prolific scorer and rebounder. He once scored 100 points in a game, and averaged 50 points a game once. For his career, he averaged 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.

7^th Man: Oscar Robertson

         Oscar Robertson is one of the most underrated superstar in NBA history. Most people don’t know who the only player to average a triple double in a season was. If you don’t know who that is, it is Oscar Robertson. That season, he averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists. Over the course of hi 14 year playing career, he averaged 25.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists.

8^th Man: Hakeem Olajuwon

         Hakeem Olajuwon is an amazing. He was runner-up to Michael Jordan for Rookie of the Year, and that is a pretty good achievement. He won the championship twice in the 1990s, and had a quintuple-double, where he recorded 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, and 12 blocks.

9^th Man: George Mikan

         People probably don’t know who George Mikan is, but he was the first superstar in the NBA. He played for the Minneapolis Lakers, and was absolutely dominant. He forced the league to make the increase the lane from 6 feet to 12 feet.  He averaged 23.1 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.

10^th Man: Kareem Abdul- Jabbar

         During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. At the time of his retirement in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts.(28,307), blocked shots(3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), and personal fouls (4,657).

My NBA Dream Team Lineup: Starters

My NBA Dream Team Lineup

            There have been many great NBA players over the 68 years that the league has been active. Here is my Dream Team of non-active players. There will be five starters and 10 on the bench.

 

Starting Point Guard: Magic Johnson

I’m putting Magic Johnson here, but John Stockton

and Oscar Robertson might say differently. Over his 13 year playing career, he averaged 19.5 points, 11.2 assists, and 7.2 rebounds while leading the “Showtime” fastbreak.

Starting Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is the greatest player ever. He has been to 13 all-star games, and has six championship rings to prove it. In the 15 years he played basketball, he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.3 steals.

Starting Small Forward: Larry Bird     

Larry Bird was a great shooter, and he won the championship three times. He led his Celtics team to epic battles with Magic Johnson in the Finals. He averaged 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.

Starting Power Forward: Karl Malone

The Mailman would always deliver on a nightly basis, and he had John Stockton to help him. He made it to the finals three times, twice with the Jazz and once with the Lakers. You might doubt him for losing, but the two losses with the Jazz came at the hands of the Jordan- led Bulls. Beating them is easier said then done. He scored the second most points in NBA history, 36, 928.

Starting Center: Bill Russell

This one was hard, people are vouching for Wilt Chamberlain, and some are cheering for Patrick Ewing. Bill Russell was a great player, and a great leader too. He won 11 titles, 7 in a row. He averaged 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists.

The bench players will come out over the course of the next week.

Chris Gayle

     Chris Gayle is one of my favorite cricket players that plays in this year's World Cup. He plays for West Indies as a star batter and an excellent spinner. Being an all-rounder he is a crucial part to West Indies in their victories this year and in the past. He established his batting skills against Zimbabwe this past week hitting an outstanding 215 runs and 2 wickets. This set a record in the World Cup history for the most runs scored by one individual player. He was also able to get the best partnership a in history. Meanwhile, as I mentioned before he also got 2 wickets having arguably his best match of his whole career. Chris Gayle has been playing in the World Cup for 16 years and this is the best match he has had so far. I believe that later the "GayleStorm" could have even a better match then the one he had against Zimbabwe.  Gayle also plays for an IPL team call the Bangalore Royal Challengers, which is my favorite team. Playing for Bangalore he also got the fastest century in IPL  history.  The fastest century in T20 history with a century off only 24 balls. Chris Gayle has shattered so many records with the fastest century, biggest partnership, and the most runs by an individual in the history of the World Cup. Leaving many people to think of him as one of the best batsmen in all of cricket history.

-Anish