NBA Preview

At Midnight the day of the start of the season I give you a 2,000 word NBA preview column that no one can read because the power is probably out. Honestly would you expect anything less from me! Now that Lebron has a ring, there many new interesting stories to follow as the league goes back to a full 82 game schedule. Here are the major stories to follow and my picks for the upcoming season.
1.You Just Can't Kill the Celtics
KG is back for another contract and the return of Jeff Green and signing of Jason Terry make this the deepest Celtics team in years. The departure of Ray Allen to rival Miami seems to have motivated a team whose interest levels seems to wane over the course of a long season. A healthy squad come playoff time seems destined for a Conference Finals rematch with Miami. Look for Rondo to have a monster season and at least a 55 win season for the Celts.
2.Lakers Big 3 best Big 3?
After two years away from the Finals the Lakers are to recreate the early 2000's by getting Dwight Howard to team with Kobe Bryant. The shocking trade for Steve Nash gives the franchise its first real point guard in 20 years and allows mercurial Pau Gasol to fly under the radar as a 4th option and pick and roll machine. Expect some kinks working out the chemistry early in the season, but when spring rolls around the Lakers will tear through the Western Conference and cruise into the Finals.
3.Did Trading James Harden Sink the Thunder
For this season yes, long term no. Trading the dynamic Harden after failing to reach a contract extension, takes away the buffer between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. With an even bigger spotlight on the shoot first point guard Westbrook look for him to take a step back and for tensions in the Thunder huddle to increase. Kevin Martin who came over in the Harden trade is simply not a winning basketball player, but if the teams hit on one of their two rookies Jeremy Lamb or Perry Jones threatening the Lakers is not out of the question.
4.Battle of New York, Rose's ACL
Whether or not anyone outside the top 4 can compete for a title will be determined by how quickly Bulls point guard Derek Rose recovers from a torn ACL suffered in last year's playoffs. If he's back to himself come playoffs the Bulls become a dangerous floater in the bracket that no one wants to play.
After failing to land Dwight Howard the Nets move to Brooklyn with a slew of slightly above average players. Joe Johnson should make a decent enough pairing in the back court with Deron Williams, but the Nets will go only as far as Brook Lopez takes them which is destined to be an early playoff exit. The skilled Center has never been able to stay on the court and continues to be a rebounding liability. The Knicks will grab the back pages but lag behind their city rivals in the divisions as they lack point guard play and the Carmelo Amare pairing is just not a fit.
Teams Trending Up
Utah
Cleveland
Toronto
Memphis
A Step Back
Indiana
LA Clippers
Dallas
My East Playoff Teams
1.Miami
2.Boston
3.Chicago
4.Brooklyn
5.Indiana
6.Atlanta
7.New York
8.Cleveland
My West Playoff Teams
1.Lakers
2.Thunder
3.Spurs
4.Memphis
5.Denver
6.Utah
7.Clippers
8.Dallas
Playoff Results
East Conference Finals: Miami over Boston 4-1
Drawing the Bulls in Round 2 batters the C's and leaves them as easy picking for the Heat.
Western Conference Finals
Lakers over Thunder 4-3
These teams but on a show, but ageless wonder Steve Nash won't be denied his first Finals. He seals game 7 with a big three and sets up an epic battle with the Heat.
Finals Pick: Lakers over Heat in 7
Howard destroys Bosh inside and Kobe gets his sixth ring and cements his legacy just in front of Lebron in the battle for the second spot behind Jordan as greatest of all time.

Week 8 picks

Super busy this week coming off an always awesome New York visit, planning a DC trip and doing some crazy video work on Hudl. Also trying feverishly to get a job at Holy Cross running intramural sports which I would be totally awesome at! Falling way behind on recapping picks, but Jim had a rough week so I'm probably closer than I think. Marquee game of this week is Nashoba vs Doherty probably the most important Doherty game in years. On to the picks:
Friday's Games                                        Saturday's Games
Athol 21 Greenfield 20                             Pathfinder 24   Ware 20
Maynard 27 Ayer-Shirley 20                   Commerce 21  Mahar 7
Leciester 24  Bartlett 19                           Nipmuc 20      North 10
Bay Path 20 Nashoba Tech 17                  BVT 27        Assabet Valley 15
Brockton 35 Leominster 24                       Wachusett 28   Westboro 17
Clinton 21   Tygnesboro 15                        St. Johns 31      Xaverian 27
Shepard Hill 28  Fitchburg 27                    Worcester Tech 21     Keefe Tech 17
Auburn 28         Grafton 10
GD 30              Littleton 17
Holy Name 28    Algonquin 7
Gardner 24        Lunenberg 21
Milford 14          Marlboro 13
Milburt 24        David Prouty 14
Doherty 17       Nashoba 14
Northbridge 27   Oxford 24
Oakmont 17        Quabbin 14
Quaboag 27       Monty Tech 17
Naragansett 28    St. Bernards 20
North Middlesex 24 SPM 20
Southbridge 21        Uxbridge 17
West Boylston 24   South 6

HS week 7 picks

Have to sneak the picks in late night since I'm leaving for a long weekend in NYC tomorrow!
Friday's Games                                    Saturday's Games
Assabet 20 Quaboag 10                       Nipmuc 21 Burncoat 7
BVT 27      NT 14                                  Baypath 24 KT 17
Marlboro 28  Algonquin 7                    DP 21       Uxbridge 18
Oakmont 24    GD 21                             Holy Name 35   Gardner 20
Athol 24          Turner Falls 8                 St. Bernards 17     South 15
North Middlesex 27  Hudson 17            Nashoba 20         Westboro 10
Leciester 21              Southbridge 13      St. Johns 42        Lemonister 24
Littleton 28             Murdock 24             WA 35                 Choate 13
Mohawk 6                Mahar 0
Naragansett 21        Maynard 15
Milford 20                Fitchburg 17
Milbury 28             Bartlett 23
Nortbridge 28        Shepard Hill 27
Clinton 20              Quabbin 14
Doherty 24              SPM 13
Lunenberg 13      Tyngsboro 10
Grafton 31          Oxford 21
   

HS week 6 picks

I had a disaster of a week last week going 21-10, but so did Jim Wilson. With a half a season to go I sit within a very respectable five games and feel quite confident I can out pick the expert over the course of the year. Some notable things learned from last week were that this is the best Doherty team we've seen in a long time and St. Johns has no defense. Nashoba and Auburn are a clear #1 and #2 and I would rank Shrewsbury #3 Northbridge #4 and Doherty #5.

Last Week's Record:21-10
Season Record: 116-43
Jim Wilson Last Week 21-10
Season Record 121-38

Friday's Games:                                                  Saturday's Games:
Athol 27  Sci Tech 12                                           Auburn 28  Leicester 13 
West Boylston 28 Assbet 20                                Northbridge 27 Nipmuc 17
Oxford 17           Nashoba Tech 14                       Ware 17          Franklin Tech 6
Grafton 34       Shepard Hill 21                              St. Johns Prep 42 St. Johns 38
Bay Path 34     Quaboag 13                                    Mahar 21    Belchertown 20
BC High 41       Marlboro 20                                  BVT 21        MT 13  
Milbury 28        Burncoat 0                                      Shrewsbury 35  Westboro 17 
Nashoba 31      Clinton 10                                        Salisbury Prep 21  WA 20
Hudson 21        GD 13                                               Doherty 35   South 6
Quabbin 30       North 21
Fitchburg 34     NM 24
Littleton 24       St. Bernards 21
SPM 20            Wachusett 13
Tantasqua 24    Gardner 20
Oakmont 28       Ayer-Shirley 24
 

While you Weren't Watching 2012 Baseball Playoffs

For reasons I will never understand Major League Baseball started the Playoffs on a weekend against a jam packed football schedule. This combined with the lack of Red Sox involvement lead me to believe that very few people having been watching. I'm going to review everything that's happened so far and preview how each of the first round series will end.

Play in Games:
No matter what people say the games played on Friday were play in games and no part of the real playoffs.
Atlanta who rightfully won the Wild Card by six games were force to play defending champion St. Louis in a one game playoff to advance to in the NLDS. You knew this was going to end badly for Atlanta and it did when a horrendous 4 led to a 6-3 St. Louis victory. The game will be remembered for an awful infield fly call 50 feet deep into left field that thwarted an Atlanta 8th inning rally. It was a poor ending to the career of Chipper Jones who made a huge error that led to a three run inning and left four runners in scoring position.

In the American League play in game Texas completed their choke job and crushed completely out of the playoffs. Cinderella Baltimore got the pitching performance of a lifetime out of August recycle bin pickup Joe Saunders to carry them to a 5-1 victory. Free agent to be Josh Hamilton was a weak 0 for 5 and is someone no team should go near this winter.

ALDS  Tigers vs A's     (Tigers lead series 2-0 will win 3-1)
What did the Oakland A's gain for their miracle run to win the AL West? The right to start the playoffs on the road against Justin Verlander and the Tigers. Coco Crisp lead off the game with a homer, but that's all they would manage in a ho hum 3-1 defeat. Game 2 was a great game but the A's great bullpen blew one run leads in the both the 7th and 8th innings and the Tigers walked off to a 5-4 win on a sac fly in the 9th.
Projecting ahead the A's have the last three games at home but their bullpen looked tired in the first two games and they don't have an ace to steal them a game.
I think they'll win Game 3, but the Tigers will win the series in 4 and with the insurance of having Justin Verlander pitching Game 5 should easily advance.

ALDS  Yankees vs O's (Series Tied 1-1 Yankees will win 3-2)
The Yankees really lucked out with this draw as they entered the playoffs with their poorest starting rotation in years and an offense entirely dependent on the home run but wind up facing a team that can't take advantage of them. Baltimore was kind of a fluke this year riding a great bullpen and tremendous record in one run games to make the playoffs for the first time since 1997. A lineup built almost entirely of swing and miss guys proved costly in Game 1 as their inability to move runners let the Yankees hang around and eventually win 7-2 behind a five rive run top of the ninth. Baltimore used their bullpen depth to hang on for a 3-2 win in Game 2, but seem unlikely to win two out of 3 in New York. Yankee Stadium is just homer friendly for below average Baltimore starter Miguel Gonzalez and Charles Tilman to survive. I say a Phil Hughes gag of a start stretches the series to 5 with the Yanks ultimately advance behind ace lefty CC Sabathia.

NLDS Reds vs Giants (Reds lead series 2-0 will win series 3-0)
This series has been the most one sided and seems destined to end in a sweep. The Giants lineup is so poor it got shutout by Bronson Arroyo. Second baseman Brandon Phillips is red hot and with Cincinnati home for the final three games advancing and a long rest are all but assured.

NLDS Nationals vs Cardinals (series tied 1-1 Cardinals will win 3-2)
The Nationals were lucky to steal Game 1 4-3 after stupidly bunting down a run in the 8th with runners on first and third and no outs. A pinch hit two run single by rookie Tyler Morse bailed them out and gave them a victory. Game 2 was all St. Louis as they cruised to a 12-5 win. Even with the final three games in Washington the playoff experience of St. Louis has been apparent in the first two games and will carry them to a series win. Choosing not to pitch Stephen Strasburg really hurts against St. Louis as they have playoff veterans Chris Carpetner and Adam Wainwright to send to the mound in Games 3 and 5 and the Nationals don't have the pitching depth to counter. I'd love to be wrong and go to Washington for the World Series but I see St. Louis clearly advancing in five.

I'll be back to see if I was right at the end of the round. Lots more posts coming this week including some requested TV and movie reviews. So check back during the week

Week 5 HS Picks

Week 5 High School Picks
Last Week's Record: 24-6
Jim Wilson's Record:24-6
Season to Date:95-33
Jim Wilson to Date:100-28

I had a much better week last week but trail by 5 games because I keep picking against Nashoba. The goal is 3 losses or less this week. On to the picks:

Friday's Games:                                          Saturday's Games:
Nipmuc 24    St. Bernards 20 w                     Holy Name 35        Doherty 21 l
Bay Path 27  Monty Tech 20 w                      BVT 28                   KT 20 w
Gardner 28    Tygnesboro 17 l                     Milbury 20             Leciester 17 l
Algonguin 21  Hudson 15 l                            AV 24                    NT 17
Athol 34         Mohawk Trail 20  w                 Westboro 28        North Middlesex 21 l
GD 21            Clinton 20 w                              St. Johns 35        Shrewsbury 28 l
Naragansett 24    WB 21 l                             Poly Prep 24       Worcester Academy 20 w
Northbridge 24    Grafton 20w                        Leominster 24     Wachusett 14 l
Brockton 42        Fitchburg 14 w                      SPM 20                Milford 17 w
Mahar 20            Frontier 13                         Oakmont 21       South 13 w
Littleton 20         Maynard 6 w                         North 21           Burncoat 13 w
Lunenberg 28     Quabbin 27 w                        Southbridge 20  David Prouty 14 w  
Nashoba 35        Marlboro 14 w
Ayer-Shirley 20   Murdock 6 l
PV 28                    Ware 10 l
Worcester Tech 17  Quaboag 12w 
Auburn 28              Shepard Hill 17 w
Uxbridge 23           Bartlett 21 l