2011 mlb predictions, moments before opening pitch

Alright, with just moments to go before the 2011 season kicks off, I'll go ahead an get my predictions out there.

(Note: I posted this about two seconds before the first pitch of the season, but I left some stuff out, i.e. my analysis for the D'Backs was "out of time and not worth mentioning" so I went back and cleaned it up a little.)

AL East
1. Red Sox-Hard to pick against the Sox here, coming off an 89 win season, which was hurt by injuries to key guys like Pedroia and Bucholz. Factor in their returns and the off season signings of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Bobby Jenks and this team is scary good. Not only do they have an extremely strong lineup, but their pitching rotation is crazy too. Everybody's talking about how good it is to have Hamels and Blanton as fourth and fifth starters, but I'd have to take Beckett and Dice-K over them any day of the week. Easy pick here for the Sox to win the AL East.
2. Yankees- Boring pick, Red Sox then Yankees, but it has to be made. This division is less competitve this year with the Rays on the decline and the teams paying $200 million should be the ones up front. But this Yankees team is very good, especially on the offensive end. Having Russell Martin behind the dish is a nice addition even if his numbers have been declining lately, and when you have Teixeira, A-Rod and Cano hitting 3,4,5, it's a pretty strong team. Still I don't think this team's pitching is nearly on par with its hitting, which is something to watch out for. When you look at how much money the team is spending and their offensive power, it's hard to believe they don't have anything above the young Ivan Nova, with three career decisions (though I'll admit it looks like he had a good spring) and the 34 year old, Freddy Garcia who has had a long and pretty mediocre career compared to the grandeur of much of this team. I think the Kevin Millwood signing, which shows they think they might have to turn to Kevin Millwood, says all you need to know about the relatively shaky rotation.
3. Rays-They lost a lot and I think the drop-off will be pretty significant after the Yankees this year. Kind of sad to see this go from young and talented bunch of guys to praying that Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez still belong on a baseball field and not in a retirement home. They do still have most of the guys who were around for their world series run and ensuing success, but they probably lack the depth to be very competitive this year, especially in the AL East.
4. Blue Jays-I got a chance to see this team this spring and I loved what I saw. John Farrell had this group of lesser-known guys playing small ball and manufacturing runs which is exactly what they're going to have to do to win some games this year. Top to bottom this is the weakest lineup in the division although it is exciting to see Jose Bautista in the three hole. The rotation is average, but it should be exciting to see what Kyle Drabeck, the key piece in the Halladay deal and the son of former NL Cy-Young winner Dough Drabeck, can do.
5. Orioles-I've been hearing a lot about how this team signed Vlad, Derek Lee and they got Buck Showalter as their new manager, so they should be up and coming. Well I'm not buying it. This is like the Rangers all over again, Buck Showalter managing a team with all batting and no pitching. He doesn't even have Kenny Rogers this time around, he has Jeremy Guthrie as the number one starter, who isn't awful but would have to be the third or fourth starter for this team to be truly competitive in such a strong division.
Al Central
1. White Sox-Tough division to pick, the top three teams could all go any way within that top three. I'm going to take the White Sox to win this division. They probably have the most fire-power at the top of their rotation once Peavy returns, which it looks like won't take all that long, although I might argue the Twins have better pitching top to bottom. As a long-time Adam Dunn supporter I love the Adam Dunn signing and even though I don't like the DH, that's probably where he's always belonged. The lineup has a lot of depth and Ozzie is capable of guiding this team to winning the division.
2. Twins- Love the Twins, I definitely think they're capable of winning the division, but they're going to have to stay healthy and there are now some serious doubts in my mind on whether Morneau and Nathan can do that for an entire season. Still this is a group of over-achievers who know how to win and are used to playing and winning together. They have a lot of guys who come up huge when they need it like Kubel and Delmon Young and their pitching staff isn't super flashy but they know how to win games, something that I think gets overlooked a lot of the time.
3. Tigers-They have a dangerous heart of the lineup with Ordonez, Cabrera and Victor Martinez. Their pitching rotation has shown a lot of potential over the past few years, but hasn't been able to all come together and pitch well at the same time. If they can do this than watch out for the Tigers this year.
4. Indians-Tough year for the Indians and Royals as they'll have some trouble competitng in this division. It's tough to see a guys like Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner playing for mediocre Cleveland their whole careers. This team isn't terrible, with those two guys, though both are probably past their prime, and Fausto Carmona and Justin Masterson in the rotation. Still, best case scenario this team comes close probably wins 75 games.
5. Royals-Disappointing to see them lose Greinke because he was something for Kansas City fans to get excited about. I'll admit I don't know a whole lot about this team but I do know their minor league system is supposed to be stockpiled with talent. Hopefully with the pieces from the Greinke deal and years of favorable draft picks they'll be much better in a few years.
AL West
1. Angels- I love this team's rotation, especially if their fifth starter Scott Kazmir can get it back and be like he was a couple years ago, which would make him by far the best fifth starter in baseball. They have decent offense, not the greatest, and are getting a little old (Bobby Abreu, Tori Hunter), but with their pitching they should have enough to get the job done.
2. A's-To quote my friend “I love when Bill Bean makes a good signing,” in reference to the Matsui acquisition. Overall this team has a lot of question marks, but if guys can play up to their full potential (Willingham, Dejesus) this team could definitely make a playoff run. The rotation isn't full of big name guys but definitely guys able to get the job done and Trevor Cahill is extremely underrated and a possible Cy Young candidate leading their rotation.
3. Rangers-The defending AL Champs are definitely still loaded especially offensively, but the issues with Michael Young could cause some problems on the field. I also thought they benefitted last year from both a weak AL West and an extremely strong start which they kind of struggled to hang on to, showing they may lack the consistency to win this strong division over a full season.
4. Mariners-I came into last season very high on the Mariners, and they let me down. This year I'm not as excited. They'll look really good for the very start of the season, because you'll get to see Felix Hernandez, Ichiro and Chone Figgins. Then after that the team gets a whole lot worse and they won't be able to compete with three very strong teams out west.
NL East
1. Phillies-Safe pick, but there's no reason the Phillies shouldn't win this division. They have the best rotation in baseball, even though there may be some offensive question marks with Utley being injured, losing Werth and Rollins being on the decline. But, with Howard, Victorino and Ibanez, they have more than enough offense to provide run support for a staff that's going to have the best ERA in baseball. Seeing Cliff Lee in his first full season in the NL should be very exciting.
2. Braves-This team is very good. They have exciting young talent like Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman, veteran leadership in Chipper Jones and guys in the peak of their career like Dan Uggla, Nate McClouth and Brian McCann. This might be the best offense in the NL, and the pitching is solid, but leaning on the aging Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson could be troublesome for the rotation. Still this team could definitely compete with the Phillies to win the division.
3. Mets-Another season, another disappointing Mets team coming up. Jason Bay is coming into the season hurt, Beltran is playing but looking like he's hurt, the rotation is shaky. If it weren't for the huge salary (which is looking like it may not last) this team wouldn't even be in contention for third.
4. Nationals-Signing Jayson Werth was big step for this team even if they may have overpaid, because it shows their committed to spending some money and getting good. It gives them a very formidable lineup that will only get better if Bryce Harper is called up by July like he is expecting. It's too bad Strasburg is hurt because he would add a lot of excitement to a rotation that is frankly lacking it. Still, don't let 36 year old opening day starter, Livan Hernandez fool you, this is a team very much on the incline.
5. Marlins-With Hanley Ramirez, Mike Stanton and Joe Johnson, this team still has some exciting pieces and the Marlins are baseball's natural overachievers, but they probably just have too much ground to cover this year and don't quite have the pieces to do it. Still, counting the Marlins out is never a good idea and it isn't this year either.
NL Central
1. Brewers-I know it's only spring training, but the Brewers hit .321! That's a team that can straight up swing the bat. Unfortunately for them it looks like Greinke will miss about a month, but they still have a respectable staff without him and once he returns this team is gonna be very good, and should take advantage of a wide open NL Central.
2. Cardinals-Seems like things just haven't been working out for this team lately and Wainwright being hurt does not help their cause at all. Still they have a very strong lineup and Pujols in a contract year when he clearly wants more money could be scary good and a potential triple crown winner. If everything works out for the Cards they're very capable of winning the division.
3. Reds-Last years winners are good, but I don't think they're quite strong enough to compete with the Brewers and Cards. The rotation is good but not great, I'd love to see Chapman move to the starting rotation and see what he can do. They still have the pieces to repeat and the top three in the NL Central could go any way but I don't think they're quite as strong as the Brewers or Cards.
4. Pirates-That's right I'm picking my beloved Pirates here. Maybe pure wishful thinking, but I think this is a pretty exciting young lineup. Pedro Alverez, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker andAndrew McCutchen make up a really good young core who could all hit .300 this year. They also just signed Lyle Overbay and traded for Chris Snyder to hopefully add some much needed power. The down spot, and there's not way to sugar coat it, is that the rotation sucks. The bullpen sucks. They have a few prospects who aren't quite ready, but the rotation won't be good enough to carry them anywhere above fourth ideally.
5. Astros-This team isn't very good, last year they started out losing something like 7 straight, and they looked like the worst team in baseball. Not a whole lot of excitement in the lineup, the top is made up of all 27-28 year olds who they've had very high expectations for that they aren't quite hitting now that they should be in the peaks of their careers.
6. Cubs-That's right I'm picking the Cubs for last. I don't care if they're paying $150 mil a year, if you want to know the most boring way to spend $150 mil ask to Cubs to buy a baseball team for you. Great deal signing Carlos Pena for $5 mil a year, the dude hit a solid .196 last season. I don't care if they come in fourth, like they probably will, they deserve last based on the amount they'll be paying per win.
NL West
1. Rockies-Not as good pitching as the Giants, but the offense is really good, and they have an electric young core with Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitski I'm running out of time to post this so I'll leave it at that but it's time for this team to play well for a whole season rather than just ending well.
2. Giants-Last years world series winners, could definitely win this division mainly based on pitching but they have a decent offense too, Pablo Sandoval is supposed to be in much better shape than before and it's hard to pick against Lincecum, Sanchez and Cain at the top of the rotation.
3. Dodgers-This team is going in the wrong direction, maybe because of the divorce trial of their owners, which has put financial strain on the club, but they're moving away from their back to back division titles a couple of years ago. Clayton Kershaw is a definite Cy Young candidate, but the team does not have the best lineup or rotation right now.

4. Padres-I like their rotation with Matt Latos, but they lost way to many pieces to be good with the losses of Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Young, Tony Gwynn Jr. and a whole medley of other guys.
5. Diamondbacks-They have two guys in their staring lineup who are over .270 career hitters and they're both below .277. I think that says all it needs to, even if they hit home runs a bunch of solo shots aren't going to get the job done.

AL Wild Card: Twins-Not picking the Yankees because I think the Sox win 75% of the games against them this year which is going to make a significant difference rather than years where they go 50-50.
NL Wild Card: Braves-The Braves are just a really good team, definitely capable of winning the division, their lineup is dangerous top to bottom and their pitching staff will get the job done.
ALCS: Sox over White Sox- Too much pitching, too much batting from the Red Sox, going to be very difficult for anyone to match up with them.
NLCS: Braves over Phillies-Usually I like pitching in the playoffs, as shown by the Giants last year, but I think the Braves staff can stay close to the Phillies pitching guys like Derek Lowe and Tommy Hanson on limited rest, and they should be able to outhit the Fightin' Phils.
World Series: R. Sox over Braves-See above. This Sox team top to bottom is better than anyone on paper, and Francona knows what it takes to get them to win. The depth of their bullpen and starting five should get their pitching through the playoffs fresher than anybody else and they'll be ready to go in the World Series.

Mailbag, take one

Alright, sorry to my followers for the delay in posts, I'm sure both of you have been devastated during the hiatus.

To keep myself to some guaranteed regularity, I'm going to add a new feature starting right now. It'll be called the “Reader Mailbag,” questions can be submitted to henglehart@students.colgate.edu or to the comment box at the bottom of this page. And we've got some questions now, so I'll jump right into it:

Nothing on the Celtics? Come on, I have to know if this team's gonna be okay or not.

(Submitted by Greg from Newburyport, MA)

Sorry Greg, of course the Celtics are my top priority right now. I gave them a premature tweet where I declared I wasn't worried anymore, after seeing them play eight minutes of almost perfect basketball to finish off the Knicks game. They responded with an almost excusable loss to Memphis, who is at least going to have a winning record, and then a loss to Charlotte. Charlotte's starting Center that night: Kwame Brown, I'll leave it at that. I didn't get to see either of those games because I'm trapped outside of the television market, but I've heard they were just straight up awful basketball by the 'tics. Doc apparently tore into the team after the Charlotte game and they responded by playing a great first quarter against the T'Wolves tonight, which they then went on to almost blow after a very poor last three quarters. So I guess this mainly means we're going to have to wait until the playoffs to see if they can switch the “on-switch” again, because under all the mess I'm pretty sure there's still a good team down there. The slight upside I see is that the trade mainly broke up the D on paper, and so far the D has been allowing about the same amount of ppg as they were before the deal. So, if the D can keep it up, Krstic adds a new scoring option at Center and Green gives one off the bench. They haven't been the problem, but mainly the other four starters have been. If they can turn it on in the playoffs like they've done in the past, they could be in pretty good shape. But the bad news is they lost to the Bobcats at home, which I just can't see a championship team doing. The important thing is trying to somehow hold on to the two seed so that the Miami series won't be in the second round and because I think the Sixers are much scarier than the fading Knicks.

How about Butler and VCU in the final four?

(Submitted by Greg from Hamilton, NY)

I'll admit right now I was wrong about VCU. I was a firm believer they shouldn't have made the tournament after coming in fourth in the CAA. I'm still stubborn enough (and a big enough Buffs supporter) to say Colorado should have gotten in over them, but I still think they both should have gotten in over UAB. Anyways I think it's great for the tourney, hopefully we'll se a little more love for mid-majors from now on. All that said, I think that was an incredibly lucky game for VCU. They executed really well, and still the only reason they won was because Kansas was missing open shots. Kansas didn't shoot 11% from downtown because VCU covered the three so well, they shot 11% because they had multiple open looks rim out. VCU probably wins that game one out of twenty times, but that's probably better than a lot of teams, so props to VCU. Still, I don't see them getting by Butler. I have so much faith in Brad Stevens right now, even if he just lied on national TV an said he got out-coached by Billy Donovan. A) Billy Donovan did not out-coach him in that game. If he had out-coached him, his second ranked Gators with superior athletes, and recruits would have beaten the Bulldogs. His team also would've pounded the inside and dominated down there and the last shot of the game wouldn't have been a gross fade-away three pointer, but rather a decent look off of an actually well drawn up play. B) Even if Billy Donovan had out-coached him yesterday, Brad Stevens' coaching talents extend past single game preparation. He works year round to get his team working together and playing good basketball, and every time they get out on the court they show just how good a team they are.

Nothing on baseball yet? I thought you were a baseball guy, you slacking?

(Submitted by Greg from Mass.)

You're absolutely right, I am slacking. Maybe it's the fact that I've been stuck in the harshest winter of my life, maybe it's because I'm not playing this year for the first time since I was four, maybe it's because I'm actually a tiny bit excited about the Pirates young talent, or maybe it's because I'm still fired up from that awesome World Series last year, but this is maybe the most excited I've ever been about an MLB season starting. So expect my next post to be a preview, and expect it to be up within the next 24 hours, and finally I'll end with a baseball question/tribute:

Can I get a little love for my man Mike Hampton? Calling it quits after sixteen years.

(Submitted by Greg from NY)

Absolutely some love for Mike Hampton. I posted a little bit about it on my twitter yesterday, which I'll now put in a shameless plug for, follow me, @gregenglehart, for a very random assortment of mainly sports related tweets. Anyways, a lot of people, myself included, think of Mike Hampton as a great hitting pitcher, which he absolutely as. But let's not forget the dude could pitch. 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA in 1999. He also hit .311 that year with 3 doubles and 3 triples! Gotta love seeing a pitcher leg out a triple. So congrats on a great career Mike. I am officially making you the second member of both my 1998-2003 all underrated team, and my all underrated Mike's team, both which so far includes Mike Sweeney (.333, 29 HR's and 144 RBI's on the Royals for crying out loud! He must've hit 50% of their baserunners in that season!).

So keep the questions coming folks, and look for an MLB preview and maybe even the completion of those underrated teams coming soon.

NBA Trades

Let's start with the Melo deal. The one thing that matters for the Knicks playoff success now is how well they finish the regular season. If they stay at six they're not going to win without home court against either the Bulls or Celtics, I don't see Miami slipping to three right now (I definitely don't think they're a lock for first either though). But if they can make up the five and a half that they're down right now and play Atlanta or Orlando, I guarantee the Knicks will win either of those series. Two reasons for this, first is the David Stern factor. David Stern loves the Knicks and would love to see the Knicks be a title contender again, not to mention how much he would love having New York's TV audience watching for multiple series. If you don't think David Stern loves the Knicks and wants them to win watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWExLwQenW0&feature=related if you don't think the NBA is fixed watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlGYvIMPgQ&feature=related and the other parts or read this http://deadspin.com/#!5392067/excerpts-from-the-book-the-nba-doesnt-want-you-to-read and the rest of Tim Donaghy's book, or just look at free throw disparity in playoff games favoring the more “elite” teams. The other reason I think the Knick's would beat Orlando or Atlanta is simply because this deal does make New York a very good team. Their bench is pretty thin and Ronny Turiaf as the starting center is going to leave them pretty weak on the inside, but Billups, Anthony and Stoudemire is a great core. Obviously because they're all great players, but also the chemistry seems so much better than the group in South Beach. Billups and Anthony have already been playing together so there shouldn't be any major issues there. While he may not have quite played with an Amare Stoudemire caliber scorer, Melo has played with some better scoring options than either Lebron or Dwayne Wade had before they joined forces, so it shouldn't result in one of them awkwardly standing in the corner while they watch the other one score all by themselves, like the Heat were doing early on. Stoudemire played with some very good players in Phoenix, so he shouldn't have much problem joining these two. And Billups brings experience to the table, he's a guy who has a ring and was the Finals MVP when he won that ring. So this is a good team. If they make it past the first round, the David Stern factor will probably end, so it comes down to who the Knicks would play. I don't think the Knicks match-up all that well against Boston or Chicago. Boozer and Noah are too strong inside for Stoudemire and mainly Turiaf to handle. As good as Billups is, he's no Derrick Rose, and the Bulls actually have a bench they can turn to. The Celtics also can probably beat up on New York inside a little bit, and they're too deep for the Knicks to handle. I actually think the Knicks match up the best with the Heat. Both teams are pretty similar; lacking a strong starting center, lacking a deep bench, built around three players. I think this would end up being a very interesting series, where Stoudemire could potentially go off on Bosh. Landry Fields could be the best starter outside of either teams big three, which gives the Knicks a nice weapon. I wouldn't pick the Knicks but I think they'd have a pretty decent shot at pulling off the upset.

The downside of this trade is for this team to be good they need Billups or another good starter to contend for a title. That leaves them with a pretty short window unless they can make some other moves in the offseason, which would probably have to be through free agency as they really didn't leave themselves with many pieces to trade. Not to mention they need to sign more bench players as well. Overall I'll give this trade a B- for the Knicks. They probably overpaid giving up so many young pieces, but they traded potential for proven players who make them a great team now, and I think it was a small victory that they only had to give up one pick.

From the Nuggets standpoint, I think this was a great move. Billups is getting old, they haven't been able to win with Melo and the possibility that he might not re-sign, as slim as that may have been, made it a good decision to move him. They got some great young pieces with Gallinari only being 22, Wilson Chandler's only 23, Mozgov is 24 and Felton is 26. In a couple of years this gives the Nuggets potential to be one of the best teams in the west. Trading Gallinari for a pick might be risky as he's shaping into a very good player, but getting a lottery pick might be able to add a superstar to this core of already strong players which would make the Nuggets title contenders around 2014 or so. Grade: A

Also on the trade horizon, the Celtics are trying to get Shane Battier. I love it. I love it, I love I love it. Even though I personally believe C's would have won the championship the last three years if it weren't for injuries, the last two years have lacked something that the '08 team had. First was James Posey, who played lockdown defense off the bench. Last year the team also lacked Eddie House being a spark-plug off the bench. So, why not bring both those attributes back with one player? Sounds like two-time NBA All-Defensive second team member and career .385 three point shooter Shane Battier could help. Battier would be able to matchup with LeBron in a series against the Heat, and he would be a shooter off the bench, something the Celtics really don't have right now. And to top it all off, he would be expiring contract at the end of the year. This deal could not possibly be any better. The only setback is the Celtics may not have the pieces to deal. Ideally, the trade would involve Nate Robinson, who the Celtics will not need with the return of Delonte West, and Battier could replace him as a decent scoring option off the bench. Normally I'd be really hesitant about trading picks with the end of the big three era looming, but I think it may be worth it here, as I think this would make a huge difference in the Celtics winning this year. Potential Grade: A+++++++++++.

Mike Brown: The Most Valuable Coach in NBA History?

On July 2^nd, 2010, the landscape of Cleveland basketball changed when the Cavs chose to bring the talents of Coach Byron Scott to Lake Eerie Beach. The move was met with less skepticism than one may have expected following Coach Mike Brown leading the team to 66 wins in 2008-2009 and 61 in 2009-2010, but his inability to win a title led to the organization bringing in Byron Scott, who had led the Nets to two NBA Finals in the early 2000's. While the move seemed like it would not hurt the Cavaliers too badly, as they retained a strong nucleus of players centered around Antwan Jamison, JJ Hickson, Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Anderson Varejao, Boobie Gibson and the versatile Leon Powe, not to mention electrifying newcomers like Ramon Sessions, few could have imagined that Brown was quite as important to Cleveland as it is now clearly evident that he was.

The Cavs recently snapped their NBA record, 26 game losing streak, leading many to wonder how could a team with only 21 losses in the entire season last year have slipped so far? One need look no further than the top and Coach Mike Brown. “Guys just responded to his coaching style,” former Cav and current Miami Heat Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said in an interview last week, “I couldn't imagine that team being successful after he left. When he was out, so was I.” While the players have clearly struggled with the loss of Coach Brown, so has the local economy. In a study by Justin Snydor, economic professor at Case Western University, Snydor estimates that due to the decrease in Cavs attendance figures caused by Brown's absence, and the subsequent lack of success, the economy in downtown Cleveland will lose about $20 million from potential shoppers and eaters before and after the games. Paul Bettany, owner of Earl Averill's Bar and Grille on 34^th street, has been a diehard Cleveland sports fan his whole life, and showed his dedication 15 years ago when he proudly opened his establishment named after the late Indians center fielder. Bettany has felt the effects of Brown's departure more than most, “People used to pack this place before and after Cavs games,” Bettany told us on Sunday, “Now, we're lucky to fill up half the tables. With Mike Brown at the helm there was an expectation we'd win, Byron Scott's still got most of the same players, people just don't understand why he can't figure it out.”

Ironically, perhaps the greatest testament to Brown was given by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert when he wrote an open letter to Cavs fans hoping to console them and boost morale shorter after Scott was hired in place of Brown. Though Gilbert did not use the former coach's name in the letter, he made it clear he was referring to the Columbus-born Brown when he wrote, “As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted...is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.” Gilbert went on to guarantee that the Cavs would win a title before the so-called “king” won one. “Dan and Coach Brown never got along all that great, so I was surprised to see Dan using the king as his nickname,” Ilgauskas said, “but you can see from that guarantee that there may have been some hard feelings there.” The hard feelings are felt by neither Brown nor the city of Cleveland. Brown, chose not to coach this year to allow Cleveland a head start on winning a title that Byron Scott now seems like he almost certainly will not deliver. “No, there are absolutely no hard feelings on our side,” said Bettany, “This city loves Mike Brown and would take him back in an instant. This guy had a .764 win percentage last season, right now we're at .164, get the man back as soon as possible.”

Despite the lack of success under Byron Scott, he has earned the support of his players. “Coach Brown was great, we can see now just how valuable to the franchise he was,” said Jamario Moon after last weeks losing-streak snapping win over the Clippers, “But he never had to deal with the adversity we're facing. We lost [Anderson] Varejao, Mo [Williams] and Leon [Powe] to injuries this season. We got Mo back tonight and we won, don't count Coach Scott out yet.” And Moon may be correct. It may not be so much Scott is a poor coach, rather Mike Brown is perhaps the most valuable coach in NBA history. “I don't want to knock my former teammates,” said Ilgauskas, “but if Coach [Brown] were to go to say the Bucks and get an opportunity to work with guys like Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings, man, I don't know if we never had that much talent back in Cleveland. I wouldn't want to play that team come June.” No team likely would. Our statistical analysis based on the Cavs win percentage with and without Brown estimates that a Mike Brown coached Milwaukee would have approximately 82 wins in the regular season. Byron Scott has done one successful thing in Cleveland this year and that is to show Mike Brown is the most valuable coach in since Red Auerbach.

Celtics vs. Lakers Reactions

Here comes a plethora of NBA posts in the next few days or even hours, starting off with last night's NBA Finals rematch between the Celtics and Lakers. First of all, the Lakers did not beat the Celtics last night. They beat a “Celtics-Iceberg,” on the surface it looked pretty good, with all five of the Celtics starters from last years NBA Finals starting once again for the Celtics. But below the surface this was not the true Celtics team. This was a team missing three centers! The Lakers only have two centers, Andrew Bynum and Theo Ratliff, on their roster. The one center the C's had, Kendrick Perkins, has played in all of nine games this season. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Celtics started the game missing their backup point guard. This loss has been extremely understated this season. If Nate Robinson were even six feet tall, nobody would think of him as a point guard. He has good athleticism and can heat up shooting, but his game, especially his mindset and his court vision, do not reflect that of a true point guard at all. Still, he brings enough to the table that he is not the worst option as a third string point guard, it's just easy for people to forget at times that this offense would probably flow much better with Delonte West running the show rather than Nate. But then of course, with the Nate Robinson injury, the C's were forced to call on their fourth string option, Avery Bradley, freshly called up from the D-League. Since the 'tics were hindered at the 1 and 5 positions, it's only fitting they were missing backup 3 man Marquis Daniels as well, who brings a mixture of some size and athleticism that Von Wafer does not. This is a Celtics team who lost game seven last year because they got killed on the boards, and are winning this season because they move the ball so well. If you take away three centers, two point guards, and throw in the fact that Paul Pierce, the team's leading scorer, missed Wednesday's practice due to illness, it's pretty easy to explain the Celtics loss.

All injuries aside, maybe the biggest factor of this one was the Lakers had to win. They needed this game and while the Celtics would have enjoyed sweeping the season series with the team that ended their hopes of an title hopes last season, this was not a must-win. The Lakers came into last nights contest a combined 0-5 vs. the Celtics, Heat, Spurs and Mavs. They had to prove to both their critics and mostly themselves that they were still a team who could go on the road and beat the NBA's best. If they had lost this game, it would've been time for the Lakers to go into panic-mode. Instead, Lakers fans can breath a sigh of relief because their team proved it is good enough to win when it has to, and Celtics fans can breath a sigh of relief as well. This game showed that the injury bug, possibly the Heat and maybe, maybe the Bulls, are the only things that will stop the Celtics from raising banner number eighteen to the rafters following this season.

(Do not think I forgot Ray, more to come on the record.)

Super Sell Out

Last night's Super Bowl XLV was an exciting game in which the Green Bay Packers, defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. Everybody should know that because the game was watched by 111 million people, but I decided to restate it because if you do a google search for “Super Bowl,” the top results include stories about; The fans who lost their seats, “Why were the Super Bowl Commercials Extra- Violent this Year,” Super Bowl Social Media Marketing, “Groupon CEO's Non-Apology Letter for Super Bowl Ad,” Christina Aguilera's missed lyrics during the National Anthem, another article about commercials, an article about the half-time show, an article about the episode of Glee following the show, you get the picture. I went through several pages before giving up without finding a single writeup about the game, and very few articles relating to gameplay at all. And herein lies the problem. I love sports. I am an American. The Super Bowl is supposed to be the greatest event in American Sports. To top it all off, I'm a Steelers fan. While football isn't my favorite sport, I still should have been in a level of sports heaven near where I was when my beloved Celtics were in the NBA Finals last summer (before the game that will never be mentioned on this blog), but I wasn't.

Let's backtrack to before the game. This was a matchup between the NFL's two most storied franchises. Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback who had replaced Brett Favre and saved Green Bay, Ben Roethlisberger was rebounding from a shaky off-season looking to win his third Super Bowl. There were plenty of stories for the media to cover, more than in most years. So why was such a large part of the coverage in the week leading up to this game on “Ben Roethlisberger going out to a piano bar not being a story” (They sure covered it like a story!), the weather in Dallas (The game was in a dome for crying out loud!), who was included in the Green Bay team photo and more? Easy. The Super Bowl has sold out. And who can blame it? If sports fans are going to watch it why wouldn't they show it. But unfortunately, with all this hype and advertising and media, its easy to lose sight of the game itself. This year's game was very exciting too. Green Bay jumping out to a large early lead, the Steelers coming back and having a chance to win on the final drive and complete the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Classic. You don't need $2 million commercials, the Black Eyed Peas, Usher and Slash, Christina Aguilera, and a bunch of stories hardly relating to sports to make this a great game. This is America's most popular sport, most popular league and biggest game. I understand that the opportunity to make money is there and will almost always be taken when it is, but the Super Bowl is a game, not a giant commercial and the NFL should not turn its back on the glory of the game.

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My name is Greg and I will be blogging about just about every sport from baseball to association football to track and field and everything in between. Enjoy.