The Ben Wallace Trade

I love the trade, but Nester brought up a point I never thought about. We will rely heavily on Eric Snow and Delonte West on defense because Boobie and Wally aren't good defenders.

Offensively, I think the best lineup the Cavs could put out there is LeBron, Boobie, Wally, Ilgauskas and Joe Smith. All offensive threats. You can't leave Ilgauskas open within 12 feet cause he has a very reliable jumper or he's under the hoop with the best tip back in the NBA. Joe Smith stands 12-18 feet away to knock down open jumpers. Wally and Boobie sitting on the wings hoping for an open look. Even if Wallace is in, he can take Z's spot and look for easy dunks and offensive rebounds. Joe Smith is the biggest addition in the deal and fairly underrated. He can hit open jumpers with more consistency then Drew Gooden, which is probably why he has been involved in every Cav rumor the last two seasons. Sad to see him go, but for now we're improved.

It's nice to have a guard like West who can control the offense, especially with LeBron on his side. He doesn't need to play make, just needs to play some solid defense and knock down open jumpers if LeBron creates it for him.

The Cavs are going to be very tough on the interior. I loved this trade for the sole reason of picking up some extra bodies guessing the Cavs find themselves matched up with Kevin Garnett and the Celtics in the second round. Both Wallace, Ilgauskas and Varejao can bang with him although I'd be worried if KG went outside. As long as Wallace, Ilgauskas or Varejao is patrolling the paint I feel pretty good on our interior defense.

With that all said, I think this trade makes the Cavs a better all-around team. LeBron has much more reliable shooters then he has had in his career. With LeBron and this cast of characters, I think the sky is the limit especially since LeBron gets "it" now. He's a competitor, he's a killer. He's the best talent in the NBA. Could his team be better? Yes. Is this the best group of players he's ever been around? I'm pretty sure. I expect big things and a very entertaining second round to the playoffs.

The Larry Hughes Theory

Danny Ferry has been working on a special project for the last few years, which also explains the lack of moves that the Cavaliers make. Danny Ferry intentionally put Mike Bibby rumors out there all this time to distract the media that Ferry was doing nothing. But really, Danny Ferry was in the basement of the Q working on his project. Non-stop, day and night. He would do nothing else besides watch the Cavaliers play. As Danny watched the Cavaliers play, he showed no emotion because he knew this wasn't the team he'd be cheering for soon. A team where Larry Hughes sucked up and down the court was soon to be forgotten.

That's when it happened. On January 24th, an off day for the Cavs, Danny made an unexpected visit to Mr. Hughes suburban home. He didn't come alone. At his side were Drew Gooden and Dwayne Jones. Danny said a few words and chatted up Larry, until Gooden and Jones swung a bag over Larry's head. The Cleveland Cavaliers had just kidnapped their starting shooting guard, Larry Hughes.

The next night, Larry Hughes was in the starting lineup against the Pheonix Suns. He did something very unexpected, Larry had a great game. Larry followed that up with a very solid performance against the Lakers. The next game in Portland, Larry was up to his old ways again, playing terribly. You would think Larry would be back to normal, right? No! A 28-point effort against the Sonics, followed by one more bad game. Then he broke off four solid performances in a row. What was going on? Larry finally living up to his contract (kind of). Larry was tearing down boards (for Larry Hughes), playing good defense and not taking his normal amount of awful shots.

Then the unthinkable happened. The day was February 11th, 2008. The location is Orlando, Florida. The Cleveland Cavaliers are here to battle with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Little did they know they were in for history....

A LARRY HUGHES 40-POINT GAME!!!

How could this happen?!?! Larry Hughes is terrible! Then I saw it, Danny Ferry in his skybox with a smirk on his face. Right then, I knew something was up. Then I noticed something weird about Larry. His head was sparking as he was walking into the tunnel after the game. This couldn't be. Larry Hughes is a....

ROBOT!!!!

Yes, the real Larry Hughes has been kidnapped by the Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry. Danny finally completed his project which he named "Larry Hughes 3000MAX". Right now he is set to have a bad or average game now and then. Which will last the rest of the season. Next season, Larry Hughes 3000MAX will be set to "destroy" and that's when the NBA is in for some biiiiiiiig trouble.

Quick NFL Playoff Predictions

Seahawks 27, Packers 24
Cowboys 30, Giants 21
Patriots 31, Jaguars 20
Colts 35, Chargers 17

My Thoughts on the NFL Playoffs

The NFL playoffs start Sunday and I thought on chime in on it with my 2 cents. Seeing as my squad (the Chicago Bears) have been out of it for a few weeks, I have a fairly unbiased few on the playoffs. As everyone should know, the New England Patriots are rolling into the postseason as the first team to go undefeated in regular season play since the season was expanded to 16 games. The Colts and Cowboys are the other favorites to win the Super Bowl. As for the other teams the Jaguars and Redskins rolled into the playoffs with impressive endings to their seasons. Can any of these playoff teams stop what seems like an inevitable Super Bowl matchup of the Patriots and Cowboys? Tom Brady Vs. Tony Romo, Randy Moss Vs. Terrell Owens, Jessica Simpson Vs. Gisele.

New York Giants @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Giants are coming off a very impressive showing against the New England Patriots where they outplayed them for 3 quarters of the game. Brandon Jacobs has been running great lately and if he can keep that up, the Giants could find themselves in the NFC Championship. Eli Manning has to limit mistakes and Plaxico Burress has to play like the big play receiver he is.

So, I found out today that Tampa has the #2 defense in the NFL. That caught me off-guard. Jeff Garcia has been great leading this team to the playoffs and Earnest Graham has been admirable his the starting RB since Cadillac Williams' season ending injury early on in the season. Still, I just don't believe in Tampa Bay. I'm taking the Giants 24-14.

Washington Redskins @ Seattle Seahawks
No one wants to play the Seahawks in Seattle, since they have the league's loudest crowd. Shaun Alexander looks like a shell of himself, only averaging 3.5 yards per carry this season with only 4 touchdowns. The Seahawks got here with the help of their QB Matt Hasselbeck, who just wrapped up his best season as a pro.

The Redskins are playing for their fallen teammate, Sean Taylor who was killed in his Miami home about a month ago. The Redskins are led by a very strong running game with Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. Who's going to play QB for the Skins, Jason Campbell or his backup who has yet to lose this season, Todd Collins? Either way, I don't see the Redskins winning this one in Seattle. Seahawks 20-17.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Easily the best of the Wild Card round match ups. Week 15, these two teams played in Pittsburgh with David Garrard, Fred Taylor & the Jaguars coming out as the victors. David Garrard is playing as good as any QB right now and he's doing that by not making mistakes. Garrard has only thrown 3 INT's this season and has lost only 2 fumbles. The thing for me that separates these two teams is the running game. The Jaguars have the 2nd best running game in the NFL statistically (only behind the two headed beast in Minnesota).

However, Pittsburgh has the #1 defense. On the flip side, they will be without Willie Parker. That's really, really bad for the Steelers. Big Ben is going to have to come out with some fireworks for the Steelers to advance to (likely) New England. Jaguars 31-17.

Tennessee Titans @ San Diego Chargers
This one is easy. Contain LaDanian Tomlinson and this will be a game. Let Tomlinson run free and allow Phillip Rivers to use play action to get himself involved in the game and the Chargers run away with it. I think Vince Young will get a rude awakening to life in the NFL playoffs. But you have to give him a lot of credit for getting the Titans here with very little to work with on offense. Chargers 34, Titans 14.

Well, thats how I think the first round will go. Maybe next week I'll write up another one, but maybe I won't. Anyways, here's how I think the rest of the playoffs will go.

Dallas Cowboys over the New York Giants
Seattle Seahawks over the Green Bay Packers

Dallas Cowboys over the Seattles Seahawks

New England Patriots over the Jacksonville Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts over the San Diego Chargers

New England Patriots over the Indianapolis Colts in a game to be remembered.

New England Patriots 35, Dallas Cowboys 31.

The Waiting Game

The Buckeye Nation has to patiently sit, wait and hope that the Oklahoma Sooners can knock off #1 Missouri in the Big XII Championship game on Saturday. If Mizzou can knock off the Sooners, they're headed to New Orleans to compete for the National title likely against #2 West Virginia. The Mountaineers are playing Pittsburgh, coached by Dave Wannstedt. Um, I think I've said enough about how badly the 'Neers are going to beat up on Pitt (even though it's a big rivalry game, but c'mon WVU are a Pat White injury away from blowing out each and every team in the Big (L)East).

As you can probably tell from the previous sentence, I think the Big East is the most overrated, overblown conference in recent history. Do people really think the Big East is that good? I'm not saying the Big Ten is any good, because its not. Connecticut is probably the second best team in their conference. Do you think UConn can go toe to toe with Michigan or Illinois? I doubt it. Neither could South Florida, Louisville or Rutgers.

Is this me making fun of West Virginia's accomplishments over the past season? Absolutely not. West Virginia might just be the best team in the nation. Not LSU, not USC, not anyone else. The trio of QB Pat White, RB Steve Slaton and WR Darius Raynaud is as good as you get. Can any defense shut these guys down? WVU seem to be on a mission towards New Orleans and at this point, no one in the Big East is going to stop them.

Could the Buckeye defense do it? History says no. Florida manhandled Ohio State with a spread offense in last year's BCS title game and the Fightin' Illini knocked off the Bucks 28-21 in the Horseshoe using a spread. Cincinnati almost ended the Mountaineers title hopes in a 28-23 Mountaineer victory and pending a Oklahoma win, I expect Coach Tressel to watch that film once or twice. WVU's offense is obviously great. White and Slaton have never faced a defense with as much talent on it as the Buckeyes have. If the front four could eat up the WVU linemen and let Laurianitis and Freeman roam free, it could potentially be a great matchup for the Buckeyes. I, however was hoping for a WVU upset and LSU to roll into New Orleans. I wanted no part of the Pat White and the spread and wanted everything to do with Matt Flynn (who's bad) and LSU's dynamic rushing attack.

If Mizzou does beat Oklahoma, then Ohio State will be headed to where all Buckeye fans thought we'd be heading on November 17th and that's the Rose Bowl. Quite the consolation prize, huh? If USC hammers UCLA (and if Mizzou wins, I hope they do), the nation better get ready for three straight years of Ohio State Vs. USC talk. The Buckeyes and Trojans are playing a home and home series starting next season in LA (really looking forward to a junior Chris "Beanie" Wells against a most likely vaunted USC defensive front). There would be no better way to end the season for Coach Tressel (except for winning the BCS title of course) then winning the potential "Who's the #1 team in the land next year?" game in the most prestigious bowl, the Rose Bowl.

Not to toot my own horn or anything (oh, who am I kidding? I made this thing so my predictions can be posted somewhere) but it seems I was right in my Ohio State preseason prediction when all of the experts were riding the Michigan and Wisconsin bandwagons real hard. As I posted in this blog, anything less then the BCS would be a huge disappointment, with an enitrely possible shot of the BCS title (I thought it would take a 12-0 record to get there, but I think the Bucks will take what they can get). People need to realize that Coach Tressel has put a stranglehold on the Big Ten. As Michigan prestiege slowly dwindles by disappointing season after disappointing season, the Buckeyes are glad to take over the reins as the most dominant team in the conference.

So, this Saturday I'll be watching the West Virginia/Pittsburgh and Missouri/Oklahoma rooting hard for Pitt and OU. Maybe in the long run it will be better for the Buckeyes for both teams to win, maybe it won't. Maybe not making a trip to New Orleans will inspire Vernon Gholston, Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurianitis and Brian Robiskie (rumor around OSU campus is that Gholston, Jenkins and Robiskie are near locks to enter the draft) to return to school for their senior seasons. Here's to hoping that the seniors, like Kirk Barton who could have left for the NFL draft, can go out as not only Big Ten champions, but also National Champions.

Why Memphis Will Win The National Championship

Every year the Memphis Tigers roll into the NCAA tournament as a 1 or 2 seed only to be eliminated before the Elite 8. Each year, Memphis is a talented squad who are just missing one piece, their superstar. Thanks in part to the NBA Early Entry rules, this forced those superstars that committed to Memphis, but ultimately took the money that came with the NBA (example: Amare Stoudemire). This year, the Memphis Tigers have five returning starters and a freshman phenom in Chicago's Derrick Rose. I make it no secret of my man crush on Derrick Rose. He's already my favorite player in the nation and maybe the nation's most talented. Rose isn't the only future pro on the squad. Chris Douglas-Roberts has looked great in the two games this season. Joey Dorsey is another NBA prospect, but has yet to play in a game this season. PG Willie Kemp has taken a backseat to Rose and will play as his backup for the season. Robert Dozier, Antonio Anderson and Shawn Taggart round out Memphis' remaining important pieces.

A big part of Memphis' struggles in the past NCAA tournmanets have been them not being tested until the NCAA tournament. The Conference USA has been a joke since Marquette and Louisville left for the Big East. Coach John Calipari loaded up the non-conference schedule with games against USC (and O.J. Mayo, will be an extremely hyped games), Cincinnati, Georgetown, Arizona, Gonzaga and Tennessee. Some of those games could be instant classics will all the talent in the games and possible tournament previews. How Memphis does against those teams will be a big part in how the Tigers fare in the dance.

Rose will ride the success of this season into becoming the #1 pick in the NBA draft joining Kevin Durant in Seattle or Oklahoma City, beginning the best NBA duo since Shaq & Kobe.

I'll probably be blogging about college basketball more than anything with an emphasis on my favorite college teams. Those teams being Ohio State, Southern Illinois, Duke and Syracuse. Taylor King, next Duke great. Watch out people.

NBA Western Conference Preview

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2007-08 NBA Sleeper Team of the Year, The Memphis Grizzlies! Believe it or not, but this team all of a sudden has the potential to be a very good team. Remember they made their first playoff appearance two years ago thanks mostly in part to Pau Gasol. All of a sudden, this roster is really deep. Here's a quick run through...

C/PF: Pau Gasol, Darko Milicic, Stromile Swift, Andre Brown, Brian Cardinal, Hakim Warrick
SF/SG: Rudy Gay, Mike Miller, Tarence Kinsey, Juan Carlos Navarro, Casey Jacobsen
PG: Damon Stoudamire, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley Jr.

Throw this roster on the court to play "Phoenix Suns" style basketball and I'll give you a potential 6-8 seed in the playoffs. This roster is very well put together for the first year of this uptempo offense with new head coach Marc Iavaroni they should be a ton of fun to watch. I've always wanted to see one of my favorite collegiate players of all-time in Hakim Warrick play the Boris Diaw role and my wish might have been granted.

The reason of the success of this team will come through the point guard play. The Grizz have a great trio right now with a proven veteran in Damon Stoudamire, a 2nd year guy in Kyle Lowry(although he only played in 10 games due to injury), and the #4 pick in the NBA draft and my favorite college player from last year in Mike Conley Jr. Life will be made easy for whatever point guard is on the court with an array of weapons. In the post, it's one of the most reliable and underrated players in the Association in Pau Gasol. If you want to drive and kick to a shooter, you have Mike Miller (or Casey Jacobsen if he gets PT). You have athleticism all over the court with Hakim Warrick, Stromile Swift and Rudy Gay leading the way.

What might be the biggest addition to the Memphis roster is Gasol's Spaniard buddy, Juan Carlos Navarro. "La Bombas" adds an explosive scorer to the Memphis arsenal that might have head too much athleticism last year and not enough players with real skill. With Navarro, came comfort for Pau Gasol, which will add keep the all-star in Memphis (almost traded to the Bulls during the season and off-season).

You can expect to see the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs this season as a 6-8 seed thanks to Coach Iavaroni, Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, whatever point guard breaks out and yes, Darko Milicic.

Western Conference Contenders

The Cream of the Crop:
San Antonio Spurs-The best team in the Association. Not much has to be said about the Spurs. Tim Duncan leads the way with his right hand men Tony Parker-Longoria and Manu Ginobili. Watch Ime Udoka grow before our eyes into the next Bruce Bowen thanks to Bowen himself and the best coach in the Association (that includes Phil Jackson) in Greg Popovich. They might not leave the season as the one seed, but once no one will want to face this team come playoffs.

Dallas Mavericks-Can the Mavs get it together after their playoff meltdown against the Golden State Warriors? My guess is Dirk Nowitzki is going to come back better than ever and on a mission to show the league that the playoffs were a fluke. Returning the corp of their 67 win team with only a few additions, mainly second round rookies. If this team can play with a chip on their shoulder, they could return to the NBA Finals. If not, look for the Spurs or Suns to send the Mavs packing in the second round.

Phoenix Suns-I don't understand the moves that rookie general manager Steve Kerr made. When he traded Kurt Thomas I thought he must have a move up his sleeve to deal the only man on the roster who can remotely guard Tim Duncan. Turns out I was wrong. The Suns big man currently consist of Amare Stoudemire (great player, but can't slowdown Duncan), Boris Diaw, Sean Marks and Brian Skinner. Sure, Shawn Marion can guard some bigs, but without someone to guard Tim Duncan, can they really beat the Spurs? Can they stick around with a healthy Yao or Dirk? With the current state of this roster, you'll probably need a superhuman effort by Steve Nash to bring Phoenix the title. With that said, I wouldn't bet against an angry Suns team in the playoffs.

Denver Nuggets-This team all depends on how Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson have progressed as teammates. If they have learned to play together, you might have the highest scoring team in the league. A lot of experts are jumping on this team as potential Western Conference champions. With Melo, AI and Marcus Camby as their big three they also have J.R. Smith, Nene, Kenyon Martin (if hes healthy), Eduardo Najera, Chucky Atkins and Linas Kleiza helping them out. I see them as fifth best in the West behind the Spurs, Suns, Jazz and Mavericks, just ahead of the Rockets.

Utah Jazz-Love this team. They're probably still a little young and not quite as good as the Big 3. However, this team is a very good one as displayed in the playoffs last year. Led by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, this is one of the more talented teams in the league. I think life will be easier on Williams this season as Ronnie Brewer should come into his own and rookie Morris Almond will help stretch the floor and fill a shooting role for the Jazz. There is a sticky situation with Andrei Kirilenko who is butting heads with head coach Jerry Sloan and Jazz management. A trade could be coming soon, but the Jazz won't trade him without good value in return.

The Pretender:
Houston Rockets-This team looks great on paper. With a roster that includes Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Luis Scola, Shane Battier, Steve Francis, Rafer Alston, Luther Head, Bonzi Wells, among others you would think I, like most people, would buy into the Houston hype for this season. Yao looked great last year up until his injury. For the first time in his career, he was dominating everyone. The emergence of Yao makes life easier on T-Mac and the others.

I don't know if it's just me, but this team is fatally flawed. Let's start off with the trio of point guards. I hate putting point in front of guard when describing your classic shoot first players in Mike James and Steve Francis (I don't see a difference in these players, except Francis is more athletic). I'm not big on playground legend Rafer "Skip to my Lou" Alston either. The second thing I dislike about this team is the fact that T-Mac and Yao, up until this point in their careers, have won nothing. In all fairness, if this team was in the East I would probably have them in the conference finals at least. In the West I'll take San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix everyday of the week. They might even get ran off the court by uptempo teams like Memphis and Golden State. I'm not giving this team any chance of making it out of the second round of the playoffs.

The Sleepers:
Memphis Grizzlies-As stated above. Like the Bucks in my Eastern Conference preview, I don't think they have any real shot of winning it all and will have a hard time getting out the first, but there is no doubt in my mind that they won't be in the playoffs (pending an injury to Gasol).

New Orleans Hornets: This team was 3 games out the playoffs last season. They didn't have Chris Paul for 18 games and Peja Stojakovic for 69 games. This is the year that Chris Paul will get his respect, as a lot of critics have seemed to side with Deron Williams (a fantastic player in his own right) as the better of the two young point guards because of what Williams did last season in the playoffs. Here's the thing, the Jazz have more talent then the Hornets. Chris Paul is the better point guard.

A front court of David West and Tyson Chandler is one I really like. West is more of the banger and scorer that compliments Paul. Chandler is there to play some defense, simple as that. The signing of Morris Peterson was a great one as insurance for another Peja injury. The bench isn't very deep, but I do like rookie Julian Wright. If some of you remember, I picked Wright as one of my prospects that I wasn't high on when I was talking about potential draftees. However, Chris Paul is one of the guys who makes everyone around him better, a truly special player. Julian Wright and all of that athleticism will benefit greatly from running alongside Paul and will have a successful rookie campaign catching oops from Paul.


Season Predictions:
NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over the Boston Celtics in 6

MVP: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Seattle Sonics
Most Improved: Darko Milicic, Memphis Grizzlies
Sixth Man: Monta Ellis, Golden State Warriors
Coach of the Year: Greg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs .If the Celtics get the #1 seed in the East, Doc Rivers will probably get the award even though Pops is a superior coach compared to Rivers (which is an understatement). The reason that the Spurs will beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals, if it were to happen, would be the coaching difference. Pops, one of the best coaches there is and Doc Rivers, who is not in any discussion regarding good coaches.

Off Topic: Ohio State beat Penn State 37-17. The game was never even scary. The way that Brian Robiskie shredded one of the best corners in the nation, Justin King was a thing of pure beauty. Chris "Beanie" Wells had his way with the Penn State rush defense and Todd Boeckman did what he wanted to do with the Penn State secondary. Keep hating America, please keep on hating. Tell us we're going to lose to Wisconsin. Tell us that the Juice will be let loose on the Buckeye defense. Tell us this is the year that Henne and Hart finally get a victory against the vaunted Buckeyes. Please, just keep hating because we love it. I love Ohio State football.