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Will the Orioles Ever Win?

May 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

it has been 12 years since the Baltimore Orioles have had a winning season. They have suffered through losing season after losing season due to poor talent evaluation and a cheap owner. The Orioles finally have some young talent in the majors with Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones. Even Nolan Reimold is off to a fast start. The problem for the Orioles is that the club still has no young pitching talent. We have heard about the young pitching in the minors for years and it has never materialized. Adam Loewen, Hayden Penn and Daniel Cabrera all turned out to be busts.

It is getting more and more difficult to ever picture the Orioles being competitive in the AL East. The Yankees and Red Sox spend well over 100 million dollars in salaries every season and Orioles owner Peter Angelos is one the cheapest owners in sports. When your franchise does not spend a lot in free agency then your talent evaluators have to hit on all their prospects. This places tremendous pressure on scouts. While money cannot buy you a championship; money can allow you to make up for draft and free agency mistakes. It is difficult to imagine the Orioles ever becoming a legitimate long term contender in the AL East with the deep pockets of the Yankees and the Red Sox. They are just better run organizations.

Filed Under: Baltimore Orioles

LeBron’s Miraculous Shot Beats Magic

May 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

LeBron James hit the game winning 3 with no time left on the clock to lead the Cavs to a 96 to 95 win at home and even the best of 7 series at 1-1. As I have watched this series I have come to believe more and more that the Magic are the better term. The Magic have some major mismatches against the Cavs. Hedo Turkoglu, Rashad Lewis and Dwight Howard are too big and athletic for Anderson Varejao, Ilgauskas and Delonte West. The Cavs have been using LeBron to guard Rafer Alston. As good as LeBron is Rafer Alston is too fast for LeBron to guard one on one. If LeBron has to guard Turkolu or Lewis then it will take away from his ability to operate at the offensive end. LeBron has been the only Cav to show up for both games. Mo Williams has disappeared in the playoffs and the rest of the Cavs players are average at best. If the Magic get good games from their big three they can steal this series.

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Nuggets Beat Lakers

May 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Nuggets pulled off a big win in LA beating the Lakers 106-103 to tie the best of 7 series at 1 game a piece. This matchup looks like it is headed for 6 or 7 games. The Lakers do not have a point guard that is big enough or strong enough to defend Chauncey Billups. Carmelo Anthony had his way against Trevor Ariza. If the Lakers hope to win this series they will need much better play from their front court. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have distinctive height advantages in their matchups and are failing to take advantage of them. The only Laker that has shown up for both games so far is Kobe Bryant. The Lakers need to win one game in Denver to have a chance to win this series.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Break Out The Brooms

May 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

As expected the Cavs swept the Hawks. This series was never in doubt as the Hawks lost all four games by double figures. LeBron James was dominant in this series and it showed. The Cavs now await the winner of the Celtics Magic series which is tied at 3-3. After watching the Celtics and Magic play 6 games, it is obvious that neither team can beat the Cavs. They are both too inconsistent to win the series. I believe that the NBA Champion is the Lakers-Nuggets winner. Both of these teams are too deep and talented for the Cavs to beat.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

NBA News

May 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

- It looks like the Cavs and Nuggets will cruise to 4-0 series sweeps. Neither team has yet to be challenged in the playoffs yet. At least the Dallas Mavericks are trying. There is little reason to believe that the Hawks will put up much of a fight tonight. I expect that they will roll over. I still have a hard time believing that the Nuggets can overcome the Lakers size in a 7 game series. The Magic would have a shot against the Cavs albeit a small one.

- Atlanta has a lot more talent then Cleveland. The Cleveland Cavaliers are just a little more talented then the Miami Heat. The only other player with All Star ability other then LeBron is Mo Williams. Atlanta has no clue as to how to play half court offense and defense. If the Hawks aren’t running and dunking they do not score. Joe Johnson is a beast. He should be playing for a better team and a better coach.

- The Lakers are the most talented team in the playoffs and look nothing like it. They looked very vulnerable yesterday afternoon. They will beat the Rockets without Yao Ming but cannot afford to play such uninspired games against the Nuggets.

- If Yao Ming could ever stay healthy for a whole season, the Rockets would make the Western Conference finals consistently. He is that good. The Rockets are a dominant team with Yao in the middle even minus Tracy McGrady.

- LeBron James is really really good. And that is an understatement.

Filed Under: NBA

Lakers Go Up 2-1 On Rockets

May 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles Lakers got a big win last night to go up 2 games to 1 on the Houston Rockets. The Lakers beat the Rockets 108-94. Since Game 1 Kobe Bryant has dominated the series and has refused to let the Lakers lose. Kobe scored 40 points in Game 2 and 33 in Game 3 last night. He also added 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 assists. Each of the other 4 Laker starters scored in double figures. Jordan Farmar started at the point for the suspended Derek Fisher. For the Lakers to win this series Kobe will need to have 2 more dominating performances because he isn’t getting any help from his teammates. Andrew Bynum has disappeared and given the Lakers nothing offensively. Trevor Ariza and Derek Fisher have had trouble with their defensive matchups. The only help that Kobe has gotten in the series has been from Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. The Lakers have had a tough time dealing with Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks. Game 4 will be played tomorrow at 3:30pm.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Manny Ramirez Suspended

May 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Manny Ramirez was suspended 50 games today for violating baseball’s drug policy. Ramirez failed a steroids test and is the latest superstar to have cheated. Manny has been one of baseball’s best sluggers over the past 10 seasons and is probably the best overall hitter in the game. This just proves that you really do not know what players used performance enhancing drugs over the past 20 years and all of baseball’s statistics are pretty much meaningless. Steroids turned Brett Boone, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and numerous other players into steroid users. Steroids made Roger Clemens, Kevin Brown and Andy Pettitte dominant pitchers. Baseball should not deny players of the last 20 years entrance into the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame needs to select the best players of the last 20 years and treat each players statistics as if everyone was cheating. It’s not fair but you really just cannot tell who was clean and who was not. So you have to lump everyone in the same category and suspect them all. It’s a shame that so many players that were locks to get into the Hall of Fame now have no chance because they cheated the game and themselves.

Filed Under: Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez

Pacquiao Floors Hatton

May 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

It wasn’t even close. Manny Pacquiao knocked Ricky Hatton out in the second round of their light welterweight championship fight Saturday night. Pacquiao retained his IBO welterweight belt and Hatton is left to wonder whether his best days are behind him. This was Hatton’s second defeat in his last four fights and he has been overmatched in both championship bouts. Pacquiao is the currently rated the #1 pound for pound boxer in the world. The fight that everyone would like to see is Pacquiao against the former pound for pound champ, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Before he retired “Pretty Boy” Floyd was 39-0 and regarded as the best boxer in the world. Now that Floyd has unretired, a Pacquiao Mayweather fight would be like an Ali-Frazier fight. Floyd is undefeated and Pacquiao is the final challenge to cement Floyd’s legacy. If Pacquiao wins then he would be the first boxer to defeat Mayweather. Either way a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight would be one of the best fights in a long time.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Spurs Need To Get Younger

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Spurs 4-1 series loss to the Dallas Mavericks revealed the primary weakness of the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have had a great run and have won 4 championships over the last 10 seasons. But now the Spurs have gotten old. The Spurs have 8 players on their roster that are 31 or older. They lack athleticism and speed in their lineup and rely on three players to produce all of their scoring: Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili. Duncan and Ginobili are both north of 30 and their best basketball is behind them. If any of those players gets injured or plays poorly, the Spurs lose.

Matt Bonner, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, Kurt Thomas and Jacque Vaughn are good complementary players but none are scorers. The Spurs need to get younger at the shooting guard position. Bruce Bowen is now 38 and the Spurs need an offensive minded player at the two guard position. Tony Parker is just reaching his prime and needs players at the 2 and 3 that can run with him. This would help to create easy baskets for the Spurs in transition and make them a more potent offensive team.

Unless the Spurs surround Duncan and Parker with younger more explosive players, the Spurs days as a serious championship contender may be in the past.

Filed Under: San Antonio Spurs

Thoughts from Last Week’s Draft

May 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

- What were the Raiders thinking? I like Darius Hayward Bey but Michael Crabtree would have been the better selection at number 7.

- Has Todd Heap’s stock dropped so much that the Cardinals wouldn’t trade Anquan Boldin for the Ravens 1st round pick and Todd Heap?

- Why was Ray Maualuga the last linebacker drafted from USC? I think he was the best playmaker on the defensive side of the ball at USC.

- If Matthew Stafford is really that good, why did Georgia underachieve every year he was there? He was not the best player in this draft.

- Knowshon Moreno will be a superstar running back in Denver.

- LeSean McCoy was the most underrated player in the draft. People forget just how good he was at Pittsburgh.

Filed Under: Uncategorized