Update: Best in the Big Ten

There seems to be no question now that Indiana is the best in the Big Ten. Michigan State has fallen to Ohio State. Michigan fell to Penn State and now I believe that Michigan will be a 4 seed in the tourney.
However, Indiana will be the top seed after winning the Big Ten tournament. No other teams in the Big Ten have proven themselves like Indiana.
This year’s biggest disappointment has been Michigan due to how pathetic the second half of their season has unfolded. I can understand them losing to Indiana and Michigan State but not Ohio State and Penn State.
Although I believe that Indiana will be the top seed I do not believe that they will be the national champions. I know almost for a fact that Indiana will fall to some cinderella team after this crazy season of upsets. Personally, I feel bad for the people that select teams for the tourney because of how hard it will be for this year.
I am extremely surprised that currently the Big East has more teams going to the tourney than the Big Ten. I still truely believe that the Big ten is the best conference in the nation.
Indiana has way to many threats on both offense and defense to be stopped. On defense they have Oladipo and Zeller, both of which are in the running for player of the year. On the other side of the ball they have many 3-point shooters along with Oladipo and Zeller again. Indiana even has the advantage on the sideline with a tactical genius in Tom Crean for a coach. In conclusion Indiana is the best in the Big Ten and will go far in the tourney however, will NOT finish on top.

Swansea Go From Strength To Strength

Sunday’s 5-0 win against second division team Bradford in the League cup final deservedly brought major silverware back to Liberty Stadium for the first time in over 100 years. Whilst the result was expected against a team 72 places below them, Bradford had already beaten 3 premier league teams to get there (Wigan, Arsenal, and Aston Villa) so complacency could not be an option. Swansea’s path to victory was arguably better, defeating last year’s winner, Liverpool and Champions League winner’s, Chelsea.

The victory is a reward for the way the club has been managed for the last 10 years which has seen them rise from the third division to the premiership. The Chairman Huw Jenkins has spent extremely wisely, eschewing the fashion for getting into debt to win success. A small team like Swansea will always struggle to retain talent as teams with much deeper pockets will always swoop in to get the best players and managers. Their success is in stark contrast to fellow promotion team QPR, a team that has spent big yet languishes at the bottom of the EPL. Swansea’s rise has been punctuated by an ever changing manager – Martinez, Sousa, Rodgers and currently Laudrup. Each time a manager has left the team has improved by the next canny appointment. Can this carry on? Who knows but whatever happens in the future the ride has been worth it.

 

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Road to the Cup: Red Wings

The Red Wings have been known as the Yankees of hockey for the past decade. However this year they don’t have their all-star defender, Nicklas Lidstrom and they are feeling the pain. They have definitely lost some of their power due to his retirement. Detroit is currently fourth in the Central division and 12 points back from the current leader, the Chicago Blackhawks. Detroit is not producing stats this year after ranking only fifteenth in goals per game and ranking  in the back half of the league for goals against and power play and penalty kill percentages.

Their all-star center/left wing Henrik Zetterberg has lead the wings through the season so that they can hang on to a half decent season. Zetterberg has 5 goals and leads the team with 17 assists. As helpful as Zetterberg has been this year you have to wonder when he is going to retire and how the Red Wings are going to respond to the loss of one of their top scorers.

My prediction is that the Red Wings will narrowly get into the playoffs but will be eliminated in the first round.

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Road to the Cup: Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are clearly the best team in the NHL so far. The Blackhawks have yet to lose a single game in regulation time. The Blackhawks’ key player is all-star right wing, Patrick Kane. Kane leads the team in assists, goals, and points. The Blackhawks also have a good looking goalie in Corey Crawford. Crawford has the fourth best goals against average (GAA) in the league with a miniscule 1.65 per game.

The Blackhawks have all the stats to back up their performance as well. They are fourth in the league in goals per game, second in goals allowed, third in penalty kills, and fourteenth in power play percentage. All of the Blackhawks’ losses have been from shootouts. There is no doubt that the Blackhawks are the most exciting and best in the NHL.

The future of the Hawks looks bright and there is no doubt that they will make it into the playoffs and possibly to the Stanley Cup.

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Benitez true to form at Chelsea

Since Rafa Benitez has returned to the EPL he has shown the same sort of form he showed at Liverpool. After much success in his first few years at Liverpool failings began to show. Ever the tinkerer he would switch players from the team with predictable regularity, changing the way the team played and removing much of the consistency. Impressive wins were followed by shocking defeats.

Substitutions were another sore point. When chasing victories he would fail to strengthen the attack, either by bringing players on too late to affect the game, or making senseless changes such as replacing a defender with another defender instead of bolstering the attack.

His form at Chelsea indicates he has learned little since his time away and Chelsea are poised to make the same mistakes as Liverpool under Benitez’ reign. He is supposed to remain until the end of the season and has done just enough so far to avoid the sack so far (he showed this flair at Liverpool as well). He may also be helped by the poisoned chalice of Abramovich – managers have been fired so regularly at Chelsea since the chairman took over that they are running out of top managers that would want to handle the expectations. Either way it seems unlikely Benitez will hold on to the post next season.

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2013 NFL Draft

With the overwhelming success of the 2012 draft class which produced 5 starting Quarterbacks, two of the best five Half Backs in the league, and countless other impact players.  So the Chiefs, who have the first overall pick in the 2013 draft, should not be worried, or should they.  The projected pick for the Chiefs is Star Lotulelei, a Defensive Tackle.  I do not care how good he is, a Defensive Tackle can not take a bad team into the playoffs like Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson did last year.   The Chiefs could branch out and pick a Quarterback, but there are only two Quarterbacks that look like they could play in the NFL at all.  These Quarterbacks are Geno Smith and Matt Barkley.  Smith is more of a scrambling Quarterback whose game might not transfer into the NFL.  Barkley on the other hand, was a huge prospect and was being compared to Steve Young and Tom Brady, until his dismal 2012 season which knocked him out of the top 32 prospects.  The top 32 draft prospects consist of seventeen linemen and eight Linebackers and Defensive Backs.  The highest ranked skill position player is Geno Smith at 23.  The highest ranked Running Back is Eddie Lacy at 30, the highest Wide Receiver is Cordarrelle Patterson at 25.  It looks as if the bad teams will stay bad until the 2014 draft.

Next Article: Beating the Heat.

(Go Broncos)

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Best in the Big Ten?

Who is the best team in the Big 10 this year? This year the Big 10 is without a doubt the best conference in the nation, but who is the best of the best? Teams like Indiana and Michigan are obvious contenders however, Wisconsin has beaten both of them.

The current technical best in the Big 10 is now Michigan State, however they have four losses this season. I look forward to this year’s Big 10 Tournament because of all the possible upsets. Many favor Indiana although they have lost to Illinois and Wisconsin.

My personal opinion for the best in the Big 10 is Ohio State. The reason I have selected them is because they have only lost to quality teams this year such as Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Kansas, and Duke. Also Ohio State have defeated both Michigan and Wisconsin this year.

All the other Big 10 teams have lost to unworthy opponents: Indiana to Illinois and Wisconsin; Michigan to Wisconsin; Michigan State to Miami and Minnesota; Wisconsin to UVA and Iowa.

Ohio State being the only team that hasn’t lost to a pathetic team proves their abilities and rank in the Big 10 conference this year.

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NBA Trade Deadline

With the February 28th NBA trade deadline approaching, which I celebrate like Christmas, we will discuss potential trades that could shake up the whole NBA.

1) The Jazz – With the emergence of young big men for the Jazz like Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, the Jazz look like they need to get rid of Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson.  If I was their G.M I would trade Jefferson, he is a little bit older and is worth more in the trading market than Millsap.  Jefferson’s contact also runs out this offseason making him an unrestricted free agent.  It looked like San Antonio was interested in Jefferson for a while, but have since pulled out.  I think a struggling, rebuilding team will try to trade for him, like the Bobcats, Suns, Magic, or Hornets.

Prediction:  Jefferson will be traded along with Mo Williams and Raja Bell to the Hornets for Austin Rivers, Eric Gordon, and a first round pick.

Outcome:  The Jazz will become a lot younger and get ride of three expiring contracts.  Eric Gordon will be able to spread the floor for the big men.

The Hornets will get some experience and a good role model for Anthony Davis, and the Hornets will be fighting for the eighth seed by next season.

2)  The Celtics–  With Rajon Rondo out for the year, it looks like the Celtics are out of contention for any more titles in the near future.  This means that they have to trade one of their aging stars.  Paul Pierce looks like the easy choice.  His contract is about 30 million dollars higher than Garnett’s, and his 42% field goal percentage is awful compared to Garnett’s 51%.  Pierce is getting paid over 60 million dollars over four years, and he hits the market in the 2014 offseason.  I think since Pierce is 35 years old, the only teams that should trade for him are teams looking to win titles within the next year or two, like the Clippers or Spurs.

Prediction:  The Celtics will trade Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to the Spurs for Danny Green, Gary Neal, and a first round draft pick.

Outcome:  The Celtics will lose some talent, but they will free up a lot of cap space so they can make moves for free agents like Tyreke Evans.  Danny Green will blossom into a stellar player, and the Celtics will not miss the 2014 playoffs.

The Spurs with the help of Pierce will make one more push for a title.  While retaining young prospects Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter.

3) The Hawks–  Josh Smith has clearly stated that he wants out of Atlanta.  Houston has shown interest in the 6’8, athletic Power Forward.  Houston would be more than willing to send Patrick Patterson, who has never really developed, to Atlanta in return.  In my mind this is a match made in heaven, the Hawks get a low ego quality player in Patterson, and the Rockets get a player that will carry them into the playoffs.

Prediction: The Hawks will trade Josh Smith and Devin Harris to the Rockets for Patrick Patterson, Terrence Jones, and a first round pick.

Outcome:  The Hawks will become a much more efficient team with Al Horford and Lou Williams leading them into the playoffs.

The Rockets will have another star to play alongside James Harden, and might make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

4) The Bulls–  Apparently fourth place in the east isn’t good enough for the Derrick Rose-less Bulls.  Rumors has it, the Bulls want Toronto forward Andrea Bargnani. This confuses me because Bargnani is having an awful year.  He is shooting just 41%, 30% from 3-point range.  He is also grabbing an underwhelming four rebounds per game.  Boozer scores just as frequently as Bargnani, with 16 points per game, but he grabs nine boards per game, and shoots 47%.  The trade rumors don’t completely surprise  me though.  Boozer hasn’t liked Chicago management very much since he was traded from Utah, and he doesn’t fit in with the Derrick Rose offensive scheme very well.  Luol Deng can also be traded now, since if you get Bargnani you won’t lose any 3-point shooting, and backup Small Forward Jimmy Butler has shined of late.  I expect a shocking three team trade to go down.

Prediction: The Bulls will send Carlos Boozer to the Raptors for Andrea Bargnani, they will also trade Luol Deng and Marco Bellinelli to the 76ers for Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes.

Outcome:  The Bulls will clear cap space and try to lure a big name free agent in, while still being a legitimate title contender.

The Raptors will finally get rid of Bargnani.  They will have a positive outlook on the future with Boozer, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, and Rudy Gay.

The 76ers will get rid of underachieving Evan Turner, and get an all-star in Luol Deng.

These four deals could drastically change the NBA for years to come.  Now all we can do is wait and see.

Next Week’s article: The weakness of the 2013 NFL draft class.

-(GO PACERS)

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Best in College Basketball?

College Basketball has been greatly talked about recently. All the drama coming with the constant change in top teams. But through the cloud of drama who is the best basketball player this year?Many names come up when you talk about the Wooden Award like Burke, McDermott, and Zeller. But who is truly the best in the nation?

Michael Carter-Williams is the best player in the nation. He is a sophomore guard for the University of Syracuse and leads the nation in assists and is fourth in the nation in steals. Carter-William’s success in these two categories shows his well roundedness. He excels both on defence and offense. His performance hasn’t gone unnoticed, the Orange are ranked 9^th in the nation and prime contenders in the NCAA tournament.

Even if Carter-Williams doesn’t win the Wooden Award this year I strongly believe that he could in some of the following years. I can see him prospering into a very strong young NBA star.

Carter-Williams is the heart and soul of the Syracuse basketball team and will most likely lead them far through the NCAA tournament.

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Wolverines come up Short

The Michigan Wolverines have played 3 tough games this season and have only come out 1-2 from those games. Is Michigan overrated? Will the dynamic duo of Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. live up to the expectations?

NO, Michigan needs a big man. Because when you are down by one with ten seconds remaining you don’t want to kick it out and go for a three, you want to pass it to a 7-foot big man and get an easy layup.

Michigan is an elite big 10 team however once they face Duke or Syracuse or Louisville they are going to break. Just last year Michigan played Virginia and lost. Virginia wasn’t ranked and had lost to TCU. The main problem with Michigan is their lack of size. This isn’t a problem in the Big 10 because no other teams have size. Why is Indiana’s Cody Zeller so good? Because he is 7-foot while Michigan’s tallest players are 6-10. In the 2011-2012 season Virginia’s tallest player was also 7-foot and Michigan’s remained a puny 6-10. Michigan’s very weakness is their lack of height.

The ACC is one of few conferences that still thrive off the common 7-foot center. When one team has a 7-1 player like NC State and say they play Big 10 Penn State whose tallest player is 6-11 it is very hard to defend a big man when you don’t have a big man. That is why NC State killed Penn State 72-55.

The key to the Big 10 is height. If Michigan want to do what the Fab Five never could, and win a National Championship they need to sign a 7-foot big man and integrate him into Belien’s master plan.

Finally, if you look at the rosters of the past 5 national champions you will notice every single one has a player that is 6-11 or taller. Because Michigan doesn’t have any tall enough I don’t think they will win a National Championship for the next 2 years.

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