Game Five Preview

Game Five of the 2008 NBA finals will start in a little less than an hour, but I'm going to let you in on a little bit of info that may spoil the outcome of the game for you, so read at your own risk.

The Lakers will win
Yes, I did take the Celtics to win the series at the beginning, as you can see from my prediction post, though I took them in 6, and I'm sticking by that initial prediction. I think Boston has a much better and much deeper team than LA, though the Lakers have Kobe, who frankly can win at least two games in a series all by himself. Plus, Phil Jackson, who just happens to be one of the best NBA coaches of all time, won't let the Celtics win a title on the Laker's home court. Even though I took the Celtics, it's just too tough to go against the Kobe-Phil duo in an elimination game at home.

Kobe will go crazy
Kobe is going to realize that the only way that his Lakers stand a chance against the Celtics, is if he stops giving up shots, and starts shooting the ball all the time. In Game Three, Kobe had 36 points in the Lakers only win against the Celtics this whole season. In the other losses this series, he never topped 30 points, so he'll at least acknowledge the fact that he needs to start doing it himself, or at least take a bigger role, in order to get LA back into the series. He also was quoted saying that series was far from over, so I'm thinking that he realized he has to be the one to step it up, and he knows he can. I know that he'll definitely top the 30 point mark, and if he doesn't, then LA is done. However, I'm expecting a 40+ night out of Kobe.

Random Final Score: Lakers 94, Celtics 86

Alex Smith Questions

As the first overall pick in 2005, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith already had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He signed the big contract with the team that is tied for the most Super Bowl wins, and he now has to try to satisfy the fans that saw their beloved Niners quarterbacked by two of the greatest QBs to ever play the game.

To add on to that pressure, he is entering his fourth year with the club with little to show for in his first three seasons. He has thrown 12 more interceptions than touchdowns, completed 54.4% of his passes, and has had an average QB rating of 63.5. Not to mention zero playoff berths in his tenure in San Francisco. The once proud 49ers faithful are getting a little restless to say the least.

Now the question becomes, how much longer does he have? Smith gets a new offensive coordinator this year in Mike Martz, who has a Super Bowl ring to his credit. Martz will come in and insert the same pass heavy offense that we saw him run in both St. Louis and Detroit.

Will Smith be able to run it effectively? The answer to that question could very well determine Smith’s future in San Francisco. His competition is J.T. O’Sullivan who knows the Martz offensive from their time together last year in Detroit. In fact, O’ Sullivan is in San Francisco only because Martz wanted him there. The other QB fighting for the job is Shaun Hill who filled in for Smith when he was injured last year. Hill threw for 5 TDs and 1 INT, completed 68.4% of his passes, and had an average QB rating of 101.3. All of those numbers outshine Smith’s numbers by a longshot.

Though Smith seems like a quarterback that could very well succeed in Martz’s system. He’s a smart drop back passer that can sit in the pocket, throw the ball in time, and even take a hit every one in a while. He doesn’t scramble or try to run out of the pocket, as he has only amassed 339 rushing yards in three years with the team.

Though there are some looming questions coming into this season. Will Smith be healthy and ready to start after undergoing surgery on his shoulder? Will Smith be able to grasp a new complex offensive game plan, his fourth in four seasons?

Though as the season opener begins to get closer, the one big question just gets bigger. How much longer does Alex Smith have?

Tiger Woes

As the Detroit Tigers continue to slip, I have begun wondering if all my hope in this team is going to be let down. Through this tough 25-36 opening to the season, I have continued to say "I'm not worried at all, they're still going to get it together and win the division." The fact that no one in the division was more than a few games over .500 made my theory believable, though now the White Sox have take control of the division with their 35-26 record, which now makes the Tigers 10 games behind the division lead. Before the season began, I had huge expectations of these Tigers, which can be shown by my fantasy baseball draft. I took Miguel Cabrera with my first pick, 3rd overall. Though he has played like a like a 7th or 8th rounder so far, hitting .271 with 8 homers and 34 RBIs. I also took the underachieving Pudge as my catcher, and he has 1 homer, 20 RBIs and a .245 average. Curtis Granderson is also proving to be a bust with his .238 average. Placido Polanco is also not playing to potential with his .279 average and 17 RBIs. I also took Dontrelle Willis in the second to last round of the draft, so I didn't really hurt myself by doing that, but I really thought that D-Train would be having a better year than he's having so far. Although he is still 0-0, and has been sidelined mainly by injury, not by bad play. However, I have since dropped him as well as many other crappy pitchers I drafted (Phil Hughes, Barry Zito [last round, settle down], etc.) and picked up much better ones (Edinson Volquez, Shawn Marcum, Troy Percival, Jon Rauch, and Randy Johnson). It seems so far that the Tigers losing is mainly because of the pitching, which I can agree with. Though, if that's true, then the Tigers aren't looking like they're getting better anytime soon, as they lost Jeremy Bonderman for what looks like the rest of the year due to a blood clot issue. With Bonderman out of the rotation, a 2-8 Verlander, and Willis who has yet to even have a decision, the Tigers are not looking like a team that can turn it around anytime soon. Hopefully relievers Fernado Rodney and Joel Zumaya can return to the bullpen as soon as possible. Though, if the Tigers do want to get this thing turned around, they're going to have to start swinging their bats better than they are right now, because frankly, the pitching doesn't look like it's going to get much better anytime soon, and they have the skill there to be the best offensive team in the majors; they just have to be hungry enough to start winning games with their bats alone.

Game One

Game one of the NBA Finals sure made it look like this series is going to live up to all the hype that is surrounding it. Kevin Garnett had a good game, and he was really good until the fourth quarter came around and he went 1 for 9 down the stretch; and that one was that beastly dunk he had in the last couple minutes, so technically he didn't really even make a shot. Ray Allen was good enough, and he even missed a free throw! Crazy! Kobe looked alright, but he wasn't spectacular either, as he missed a lot of shots that the Lakers needed to make in the last five minutes. Though it seemed like every Laker was missing, and the only time that they really even put points on the board in the last eight minutes was the two or three minutes that Kobe was on the bench. Though the story of the game was life long Celtic Paul Pierce. He wasn't doing all that great in the first half, and then in the third quarter he went down with what looked like a pretty serious knee injury. When he came back into the arena ready to play, the crowd went crazy. Pierce then checked into the game, and knocked down every shot he took, including two huge three-pointers which helped the Celtics put away the Lakers 98-88. Pierce was compared to Willis Reed who came back from a knee injury to help the Knicks win the title almost four decades ago. Reporters asked him about this comparison, and when he reentered the arena to rejoin his teammates and come back into the game, there where chants of "Willis Reed" heard throughout the Garden. However, Kobe and Laker coach Phil Jackson did not seem worried at all, and knew that they would just have to come out and play like they know how to in game two. It was a great game one that made it seem like this series will be yet another classic.

We Are the Champions

Yes, the Wings finally put away the Penguins in game six, though they couldn't do it without scaring us till the last second. Osgood once again had us holding our breath until the final horn sounded. Though luckily this time, Ozzie came out on top, and made the clutch stop that the Red Wings needed again in the final minute, and this time it ultimately won them the Stanley Cup. Zetterberg's game winner was a really sweet goal too, and it has to kill the Penguins to know that that is what ended up denying them a chance at game seven and possibly the Stanley Cup. Z-Money also really deserved that Conn Smythe Trophy, and I'm glad they didn't give it to Chris Osgood, especially after that game five loss. I think the Pens are going to be a really good team down the road with all their young skilled players.... but so are the Wings. And right now, I'm thinking that in the next 15 years we're going to see this match up in the finals numerous times, and this will turn into a huge rivalry with the two teams always meeting in the finals like the Lakers and Celtics in the 70s and 80s. Right now though, it's Red Wings 1, Penguins 0.

THE Finals

Yep, so it's just about time for the NBA Finals to begin. ABC, the TV host of The Finals, got what it wanted with the ever-popular Celtics-Lakers match up. These two teams obviously go back an extremely long time. The most recent finals between these two was in '87 with the lovely Magic-Bird rivalry. Though, I wasn't around during that time to see those games, so I really have no business talking about it or how great it was, because frankly, I have no idea how it went down. Though this years match up between Kobe and the Boston Three Party should definitely be a good one; and although ABC will probably get the highest rating for a Finals series in a long time, I really don't think that any of the games will be all that great or anything. I'm not saying it's going to be all that bad or anything, it's just that I don't think that there's going to be any crazy endings, buzzer beaters, or even a game seven. No, I think that this will be a series that will be decent to watch, though it's not going to be one of the greatest ever or all that memorable when it's over. Here's some more of what going to happen in The Finals: 2008...

#1 Boston Celtics over #1 Los Angeles Lakers in 6
Yeah, I had to take a day or two to think about this choice, but I'm pretty confident in my selection. In the beginning I was thinking Lakers, though the more I thought about it, the more I noticed that the grass was greener on the Celtics side. They have three really good players, and the Lakers have one extremely good player. Boston has a bench, and the Lakers have a bench. After that, I did some mental math and noticed that the benches cancel each other out, and that three was greater than one (or you could even count Kobe as two, but three is still greater than two). Though the fact that Kobe is Kobe is the reason that I had LA winning two games in this series, though I think in the end that The Three Basketeers are just going to be too much for one Kobe to handle, and Boston will be able to win it in game six, which will be back in Boston. Truthfully, I would much rather see the Lakers win it because they've been with each other for more than just a few months, and I would much rather see them win than a bunch of superstars pulled together during the offseason. That's just how I feel though.

Anyways, that's about it. I hope the Wings can finally take care of business tonight and win the cup. If they do lose again, I still won't be that worried because I know that there's no way they'll lose in game seven, if there is one. And if there is a game seven, they better put Hasek in net, because Osgood is just wayyy too flakey. Yeah, and the Tigers blew another game yesterday to the A's. I was really happen to see D-Train out there pitching though. And he did really well with four shutout innings. I don't really get why they would take him out after that though. If a pitcher has a shutout going, then wouldn't you keep him in as a manager instead of letting the bullpen F it up and lose the game for you. Haha, yeah. I'm done though. Go Wings.

Wow

We blew it. It was the perfect night. We had the momentum from game four. We were at home. We even had a 3-2 lead with a minute left. Yet, it just wasn't enough. Chris Osgood is really that bad. The goal he gave up with less than a minute to play in the third period... it was just horrible. I could feel the cup though. It was right there. I thought it was all but automatic after we put in two quick ones midway through the third period. But no. Of course not. All because Chris Osgood is in net. Anyways, after the Pens scored that goal to force OT, I just didn't really feel it anymore. I didn't really feel like I was going to see Stanley that night. And I didn't. We didn't. However, I am still 100% confident that the Wings will be able to pull it out in either six or seven and still win the cup, but I'm just pissed that they didn't win it last night (or this morning) when they could have. Anyways, I'm not going to even try to predict game six, because frankly, I have no idea what going to happen. But yeah, thats it from me.

Tonight, The Cup Comes Home

Yes, tonight is game five of the Stanley Cup Finals, and tonight the NHL season will come to an end. Just as I predicted, the Detroit Red Wings will win the cup in five games, so that they are here, back in front of us, their fans. This cup is long overdue for the Red Wings, whose last cup came in 2002, or Hasek's first stop in Hockeytown. Since then they have won numerous President's Trophies, and have been the #1 seed in the West almost every year, yet got upset in the first two rounds every year from 2003-2006 to teams like the Mighty Ducks, Flames, and Oilers (all of which went on to lose in game seven of the Cup Finals). Then last year they lost to a Ducks team in the conference finals. I actually felt that the Ducks were a better team than the Wings, and they proved me right, beating the Wings in 6, then defeating the Senators in 5 to win their first ever Stanley Cup. Though this year was (and still is for one more night) the Wing's year. Tonight, all the fans in Hockeytown will be able to go crazy, and tonight is the Wing's night for the taking.

Detroit Red Wings 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Yes, the Wings will do it again. The cup will come back to where it belongs. We'll see the first goal by Franzen open things up for the Wings, though it won't happen until the second period. Then the Wings will get another goal on the powerplay from Lidstrom. The Penguins will then cut it to 2-1, and with 1:00 remaining, Zetterberg will put in an empty netter to secure the win, the series, and the cup. Welcome home Stanley.

Conn Smythe Trophy: Chris Osgood
Do I think Osgood is just a little flake in the net? Yes. Do I think he is one of the worst goalies in the NHL? Yes. Do I think that the only reason he's doing so well is because of the amazing defense in front of him? Yes. Do I think he deserves the Conn Smythe? No. However, after all that, I think he gets the trophy that dubs him Playoff MVP. Franzen would have won it if he wouldn't have missed an entire series. Zetterberg or Lidstrom would have got it if they would have appeared more on the score sheet. And like always, I definitely think Holmstrom deserves to be in the conversation, though in the end, the voters will elect Osgood with his 13-3 (soon to be 14-3) record in these playoffs. Still, no one really cares, as long as we get the Stanley Cup back to Detroit.