NBA Playoff Preview 2013.

Before we begin, let’s break this down. We all know the Heat is the best in the East. We all know that the Thunder and Spurs are the favourites to win the West. But what will happen in each series? Which players will become stars? Which players will lose their tempers? Which ref will blow a big call?

Eastern Conference first round:

Miami Heat (1) v Milwaukee Bucks (8)

This will be a fun series. With Monta Ellis doing what he does and Brandon Jennings having one 40 point game this series, it should be entertaining. Milwaukee loves to run making it enjoyable to watch. Unfortunately, the Heat also love to run. Over/under Lebron to get 5 alley-oops this series?

Heat 4-1.

New York Knicks (2) v Boston Celtics (7)



This should be a feisty series with emotions running high.

This is a pretty hard series to call. Carmelo has been on fire recently, adding to that J.R. Smith has actually been relatively efficient for his standards, and Chandler in the middle, the Knicks have a great nucleus. The Celtics are hard to predict – with the tragedy at the Boston Marathon yesterday, it is hard to know whether the players will be mentally all there. I think they will, however the Knicks just have too much firepower.

Knicks 4-2.

Indiana Pacers (3) v Chicago Bulls (6)

With a group of Paul George, Roy Hibbert, and David West, the Pacers will be competitive in every series they go into. They play extremely good defence and play well as a team. That last sentence could be repeated for the Bulls. If you are a defensive die-hard, please watch this series. Otherwise stick to the Western Conference. Pacers should have just enough on the offensive end.

Pacers 4-3.

 

Brooklyn Nets (4) v Atlanta Hawks (5)



Are the Nets really this boring now?
Jay-Z realising Reggie Evans and
Kris Humphries just don't cut it!

All the hype about the Brooklyn Nets. Where has this gone? Jay-Z is reportedly selling his shares, Deron Williams is the dullest player in the league (albeit very good), and Brook Lopez is a rich man’s Brian Scalabrine! In saying this, Joe Johnson is clutch and he will be fired up taking on his old team. The Hawks will try and go low with Al Horford and kick it out to their shooters in Kyle Korver and ex Sixer Louis Williams. It should be a fascinating series. Joe Johnson will make the difference in this one. Series tied 2-2, he hits the winner in game 5 allowing the Nets to go to Atlanta and clinch game 6.

Nets 4-2

Conference Semifinals.

Heat (1) v Nets (4).

The Nets will be exhausted after a close fought series against the Hawks while the Heat will be well rested after an easy first round series win over the Bucks. Game 1 is the key for the Nets. I think

they will go close to stealing it. If they do we have a series. If they don’t, the Heat will win in 5. Far too much offensively for the Nets to match. I think they will steal game 1 however, being full of confidence after beating the Hawks. Still not enough in the end though. No one to stop Dwayne Wade this series.

Heat 4-2.

Knicks (2) v Pacers (3).

 

Our first upset of the playoffs. Carmelo suddenly gets a little too excited about the prospect of beating Lebron in the Conference finals. J.R. Smith starts playing like J.R. Smith. The pacers steal game 2. Pacers are 2^nd in points allowed and 1^st in rebounding. No second chance points for the Knicks meaning they have to make the most of every possession. I’ve not seen enough of Carmelo in the playoffs to be convinced he can get his team over the line.

Pacers 4-2.

Conference Finals.

Do I need to write anything here? This has 4-2 Heat all over. The only chance they have is if Lebron gets injured, Chris Bosh gets in a fight with Dwayne Wade, and Ray Allen decides to clank a few for his old teammates in Boston. Good effort by the Pacers to get this far, but too much from the Heat. If the pacers could acquire Dwight Howard, we might be talking.



Here they go again. Becoming all too easy in a weak conference.

Heat Eastern Conference Champions  defeating the Pacers 4-2.

Western Conference preview to come on Thursday.

2013 Masters Preview

Tiger Woods - clearly the man to beat.

I will try not to mention his name as we all know he is the heavily deserved favourite. There are three other players though who may not be household names like Phil Mickelson or Rory McIlroy, who I think have a very good chance of finishing high up the leaderboard on Sunday night.

 

Bill Haas may have a more illustrious father in Jay, but his form this year makes me think that he has a very good chance at finishing in the top five at Augusta. Haas has played eight tournaments this year, has made seven cuts, four top tens, and one top three. That sort of consistency makes him a threat for the Masters. Haas is listed 6^th on the PGA Tour this year in greens in regulation, and 21^st in eagles/hole. These two stats make me believe that Haas will be able to hit greens and sink a couple of eagles throughout the week to put him in contention.

 

Olesen is on track for a high finish at
this years first major.

Thorbjorn Olesen. Yes that Danish golfer who none of us have heard of. This is a golfer who may take Augusta by storm this year. Olesen has been having a very good year, having a T2 and a T3, and is yet to miss a cut. Olesen is driving over 300 yards this year, giving him good opportunities on the par 5’s at the Georgia layout. In his two majors last year, he finished a very respectable T9 and T27th, giving confidence that he will not only make the cut, but go one further and secure a top five finish.

 

The final player who may not be so obscure, but I think if, 'you know who' doesn’t win this year, this is our man. Louis Oosthuizen is a player who finished runner up last year and was very unlucky not to win. Remember Bubba's 9 Iron? Oosthuizen has only played four tournaments this year, but his form has been very good. Yet to miss a cut and a win under his belt, I can only assume the lack of tournaments this year (four to date), is due to an extensive preparation for Augusta to go one better than last year.

Is England really any good?

Just over a year ago, I wrote a blog (England Number One?) questioning the credentials of England’s number one test ranking. I questioned whether they could go and beat other test nations away from home in a series. Credit to England – they went and beat India in their own backyard. But are India really what they were five years ago? No Rahul Dravid, no Sourav Ganguly, a declining Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman only plays against Australia, and Tendulkar on his swansong tour.

Now this is no fault of England’s, but it does demerit from their tour victory. Looking at the present, England has barely had the better of a number eight ranked New Zealand team. The pitches and weather have not been conducive to result cricket, but shouldn’t a top team be able to win a series like this? They may still lose it after a stellar day one from NZ.

England are a very good team who may take over their number one status again from a very good South African team when it hosts a NZ team who won’t have a chance against England in England, and an Ashes series against an Australian team in meltdown.

Their team is very reliant on three or four outstanding players surrounded by good players. They desperately miss Graeme Swann’s quality on this NZ tour. Monty Panesar has been woeful, not having a clue how to bowl on flat decks. Alastair Cook is their best batter, and if he is to go out early, you now have Nick Compton, and one Jonathon Trott wicket (who has had a bad year) away from joining Jonny Bairstow. Not so formidable anymore without KP.

I’m not saying this team isn’t good, but compared to the great test teams (Australia of the 2000’s, West Indies in the 80’s, or England in the late 50’s), England are fortunate to play in a weakened time.

Fantasy football thoughts.

Don't worry Mr Rivers, as fantasy
football owners of you, we understand
your pain.

It is hard to enjoy fantasy football this season. Not once do I go into a Sunday looking forward to seeing my fantasy football team perform. I am always nervous that my players will lay a dud, or one of them will be scratched before the game, or they will be victim of a horrendous performance by the teams QB. I am talking about CJ2K’s and Julio Jones’s horrific inconsistencies, Philip Rivers giving me headaches all season (who thankfully I was able to flip last week trading Alfred Morris/Rivers/S.Smith for Peyton Manning), and playing waiver wire with the TE position all season thanks to Aaron Hernandez’s continuing injury problems!

For all my problems, I am thankful for getting Alfred Morris off the waiver wire to save me from CJ2K’s early season woes. I am thankful that one of my opponent’s internet cut off during the live draft subjecting him to a horrible auto-draft. I am thankful that one of my opponent's first two picks was Eli Manning and Shonn Greene. I am thankful that I have been outscored overall throughout the season, but I hold a stellar 6-3 record.

I am sure many of you have similar stories. For those of you who picked up Maurice Jones-Drew in the second round thinking you have a steal when he takes the field in game two then racks up 150+ yards against the Colts in week 3, only to see him injured already. For every person who took a gamble on Michael Vick there is also the lucky buggers who took a gamble on Peyton Manning. For those of you who gambled taking RG3 in the sixth round are just hoping he holds up to steer you through the fantasy playoffs or for those of you who were wondering if you took the Bears defence far too early in the 7^th round are now in..Uh...7^th heaven.

Hopefully RG3 is aware of the Madden curse and lets
Andrew Luck take the honous for Madden '14

Just be thankful you paid attention to the dreaded Madden curse and avoided Mr Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson (maybe just Supertron or Goodtron this year?). Halfway through the season Megatron has been the biggest bust – with the person drafting them passing on the likes of Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Ray Rice in some drafts.

P.s. Dear John Madden,

As a Washington Redskins fan, I beg you not to put RG3 on the cover of Madden ’14.

NBA Betting Predictions for the 2012/13 Season

The Heat are on a scoring spree to start the season while
forgetting to defend so take the overs before the betting
lines start to catch up.

It looks as though we could be in for a profitable year in the NBA. There are a couple of elite teams who will score a ton of points (Heat and Spurs (once Ginobili come back)) so we can look at those games to frequently go over the points total. A couple of the other elite teams (Celtics and Thunder) are pretty strong defensive teams so if the total is floating around 190/191 total points and these teams are playing at home, it is a strong play to go under the total.

Looking at the mid-tier teams in the East such as Atlanta, Philly, both NY teams and Chicago in the East, none of these stand out offensively. If they are going against a like-minded team or another weak team offensively (Toronto, Washington, Charlotte, Detroit) look for the under total. If this is floating around 190, lock it in.

In the West, defense seems to be a lot stronger. Teams such as the Grizzlies, Clippers, Lakers, and Hornets will all be strong defensive units this year. If you have two of these mid-tiers defensive teams going against one another, look for the total to be in the 183-187 range.

If you have a mid-tier team going against a Heat/Spurs/ or the Nuggets/Suns/Bobcats (who can’t stop anyone on the defensive end) and the total is around 198-200, take the over. The Heat and Spurs are so strong offensively and like to score fast break points, meaning more possessions for both teams.

If a team has a young point guard who likes to attack, such as the Cleveland Cavs (Kyrie Irving) or the Portland Trailblazers (Damian Lillard), if the over is looking enticing (anything that is under 190 DEFINITELY take the over, and anything more than that, take the other teams strengths into consideration), take it. Both of these guards like to play a high tempo offense meaning lots of possessions and lots of fast break points.

3 tips to use as a nice guideline over the opening weeks.

Until Wall is back in uniform, take
the Wizards under totals.

• Until John Wall comes back for the Wizards, never take the over in a game they are involved in.

• Until James Harden slows down, always look at the over in games that he is involved in (on a side note – how exciting do the Rockets look this year?!).

• Until the Heat takes the time to care about defending, take the over in their games.