FanNation

Action-Reaction: May 11, 2008

I'm tired. I'm sick. I don't really want to write this blog, but I'm going to write it anyway.

Action: Greg Maddux recorded win #350 last night against the Colorado Rockies.
Reaction: Maddux will probably be one of the last players to collect 350 wins in baseball.

Action: Mike D'Antoni is leaving the Phoenix Suns for the New York Knicks.
Reaction: D'Antoni is definitely going to need some good luck to get by in New York. The players will have to learn to work hard and the system if they want to compete next year.

Writings from the Fallen Desk: A depressed stupor

Since the last week, when I brought to your attention the plight of my beloved Seattle Mariners, they've proceeded to go 1-6, and that includes four games against the equally moribund Texas Rangers. Well, needless to say, I'm in need of a happy story to take my mind off of my suffering, so, instead, I'm going to kick hiya in the **** for dropping this group on GOAT cover the depth of Chase Utley leading the major leagues in home runs with 13.

Book Review: Can I Keep My Jersey?

 -If you're a baseball bookworm, you may have heard of the book Ball Four by former MLB pitcher Jim Bouton.  It gave people an insiders look at the true life of a major league player, and sparked loads of controversy at the time with its name dropping and outspoken opinions, most notably the heavy drinking habits of Yankees star Mickey Mantle.

What does that have to do with the book I mentioned in the title?  Well, without Ball Four to pave the way, there might not be a Can I Keep My Jersey?  This book chronicles the basketball career of one Paul Shirley, a career basketball journeyman, and his constant struggle to fulfill his dream of being an NBA player.

Gu3's First SIFS Blog: Why the 'Stros Can and Cannot Succeed

 Why They Can:

#1- In the standings, they don't look to spectacular at 19-17. But, their players have been producing, a lot. They have 2 players in the top 5 in hits, 2 in the top 10 for runs including the #1, 2 in the top 11 for doubles including the #1, the #1 base stealer, the #2 HR hitter, 2 in the top 15 for RBIs, #1, #8, and #19 in total bases, the #1 player in SLG, and 2 players batting above .300.

Lance Berkman has been playing absolutely incredibly. He is 12 for his last 15 and is showing no signs of cooling off. He is #1 in runs, doubles, total bases, and SLG. He is also third in hits, second in homeruns, second in RBIs, second in BA, and third in OBP. Right now, he is killing the league and can very well be the MVP at this point.

NBA Playoffs

NBA Playoffs

The First round of the playoffs are well over and the top contenders are all still in the hunt: Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Caviliers, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz.  The Boston Celtics look in the best shape so far.  Even though they had to take the first round series to seven games to beat the Atlanta Hawks, everyone knew that this series wasn't for real and Boston knew this two.  With all of that said and done, Boston is up to a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Caviliers in the second round.  The Boston Celtics have contained LeBron James very well so far this series, makiong him miss a whopping 34 shots.  Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have been scoring, Kevin Garnett has been defending, the bench is contributing, everything is going good.

That brings me to Cleveland.  The Caviliers pulled through against the Washington Wizards in a series that was predicted to be a close one, Cleveland turned it in to sort of a laugher.  Cleveland, wait, I mean "LeBron James" (the whole team basically) manhandled Gilbert Arena,s Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison to beat them in six games.  King James was the scoring leader in all of the six games of course.

Next will be Detroit.  They played the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round and I can't say that that series didn't scare me.  The young and energetic '6ers rode Reggie Evans throught the first three games to take a 2-1 game lead.  Evans was averaging almost a double-double through these games.  Finally, the Detroit Pistons stopped playing around, kept Evans off the board, and relyed on their bench a ton - maybe too much.  Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stcukey helped them a lot throught that series but I can already see that they won't help much against an even better Orlando Magic.  With that said, Detroit holds a 2-1 lead against them but it porbably won't be like that for long.

Now Orlando . . . Orlando beat the Toronto Raptors in the first round, a much more realaxing series than the Pistons - well, for the Magic fans.  Orlando had at least one player score at least 25 points in four out of the five games that they played - with Orlando winning the series 4-1.  Well, that is what will happen when you don't play defense.  Orlando didn't do fantastic through the first two games of the second round against the Pistons but the found their groove at home and so did Rashard Lewis - he scored 33 points to bring the series back to a one game deficit.

Now lets go out to the West, aka, the Varsity Conference compared to the JV conference (Eastern Conference).  Out there, the Los Angeles Lakers are the story.  Kobe Bryant played well in Denver, like he always does, and enjoyed the heckling from the fans as well.  Result: Sweep.  Kobe scored at least 34 points in each of the second round series games against the Utah Jazz.  Result: LA up, 2-1.  Look what one Kobe can do . . .the Jazz are going to have a tough time getting out of this whole so try asking them how it is to play against Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom while they are still in it - all right?

Well, I guess the Utah Jazz do have a small shot but the chances of them winning the series are down to about 15%.  Sure, the Jazz won a game but that game was at home.  The Homecourt team has won each game in the series so far and guess who has homecourt advantage: the Lakers.  Never mind that and the Utah Jazz have had a pretty good playoff series in the first round.  They beat the fifth seeded Houston Rockets in six games and had four players score at least 20 points, grab at least 15 rebounds and/or pass at least 12 assists.  Too bad they are putting those nice playoff games streak in jepordy because of Kobe . . .

. . . And while Kobe has been doing that, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets has been terroizing teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs.  CP3 has averaged 25.6 PPG and 11.8 APG between the two series.  He has also been on the board a little bit as well, averaging 4.5 rebounds per game so far in the playoffs.  He has had at least eight assists in eight playoff games.  Who says you need expirience?  New Orleans has a 6-2 playoff record so far because of him . . . and he still isn't done.  Paul scored 35 points in Thursday's loss to San Antonio, but hey, the Hornets are still winning the series 2-1 right? . . .

. . . Well, not if San Antonio has anything else to do about it.  The reigning NBA Champions, who have won three championships in the past six years, are the best suited team for the 2008 playoffs and they also have the most expirience.  Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker are all usually clutch in the playoffs and the Spurs may be able to tie this series up on Sunday - just a little under a week after beating the Phoenix Suns in a five game series.

My playoff predictions:

Cleveland Caviliers beat Boston Celtics in seven games.

Orlando Magic beat Detroit Pistons in seven games.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Utah Jazz in six games.

New Orleans Hornets beat San Antonio Spurs in seven games.

Conference Finals

Cleveland Caviliers beat Orlando Magic in six games.

New Orleans Hornets beat Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

Finals

Los Angeles Lakers beat Boston Celtics in . . games

Cleveland Caviliers beat New Orleans Hornets in seven games.