This year the All Star game festivities will be taking place in Cincinatti at Great American Ballpark (home of the Reds).
The Home Run Derby happens a day before the All Star game. In this event, the most powerful hitters in baseball step up to the plate and try to hit homeruns. The sluggers usually have a coach or someone related to them toss baseballs at them.
In the past years, the slugger that hit the most homers over the course of the competition would take the trophy.
This year, the rules are changing a bit.
The participating hitters will be competing in a single elimination tournament and the number of participants are going down from 10 people to 8 people.
The players will be seeded based on their home run total accumulated by June 7.
Instead of 10 outs, competitors will see how many bombs they can hit in 5 minutes and any that they hit in the last minute will get them bonus time.
I like this time change because the Derby will take less time and be more exciting.
Plus, it's at the Reds park which is really hitter friendly.
I'm looking forward to wAtching the sluggers compete, but I'm upset that Stanton and
Harper can't participate because they're fun to watch.
Overall, it's going to be a fun and exciting night of homeruns. Now, I can't predict who will win since I don't know who's participating, but when I know, I will predict the winner.
Hope you all tune in to the Derby because it will be an exciting event filled with fun and long homers.
Bleacher report.com
Nlds 2011
Monday, June 29, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
NBA Draft 2015
Yesterday, the 2015 NBA draft took place at Barclays Center in New. York (home of the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Islanders).
The 30 NBA franchises went to work picking the new members of their franchises.
A few of these new players will become superstars in the Association, most will turn out to be league average starters or helpful players off the bench, and a few will be busts and never pan out like they hoped to.
The T Wolves had the 1st selection and they went with Karl Anthony Towns, the player whom many people thought would go 1st. Karl Anthony Towns is a pf/c out of Kentucky who has the upside to grow into a superstar on both ends of the court. He can grow into a.scoring machine on offense, and a rim protector on defense. Plus he has already played for the Dominican Republic national basketball team.
The Lakers had the 2nd pick which is really rare because they're usually in the postseason and last year was the 1st time in a while that they were really bad. With their selection,they picked Deangelo Russell, a combo guard out of Ohio State. He has the passing ability, basketball IQ and leadership to be a point guard while he also has the shooting stroke to play shooting guard.
I love this pick because Russell can play alongside the black mamba in year 1 and get used to playing in the NBA. Then in year 2 , he can take off and become the next star to play for the Lakers as Kobe Bryant is retiring after this upcoming season.
The Sixers had another pick in the top 5, this one was 3rd overall and they took Jahlil Okafor, cousin of Emeka Okafor, who went to college at Duke where he won a championship. Jahlil Okafor was the top high school player in his class, and he arrives in the NBA with the most polished offensive post game since Tim Duncan. The problem with him going to Philadelphia is that they also have Nerleans Noel and Joel Embid, but I can see how the pick makes sense since Embid has foot problems and might miss a second straight season.
The Knicks took 7-1 Latvian Kristaps Porzings at 4. He's the sweetest shooting big man in the draft, but he's only 19 and his body hasn't filled out all the way so he will probably need a few years of seasoning.
Croatian Mario Hezonja went to the Magic where he will give them much needed shooting
Wille Cualey Stein went to the Kings. In Sacramento he will give the Kings much needed rim defense
Emanuel Mudiay, a play making point guard, went to Denver. This likely marks the end of Ty Lawson playing in Denver.
The Warriors picked Kevon Looney, a power forward out of UCLA. The dubs didn't have any needs going into the draft, but Looney does give them more size since Green is only 6-7 and now they can match up to bigs better
There were also a lot of draft day trades throughout the night which means that a lot of players will be moving teams.
Overall, the 2 round 60 pick draft was an exciting event and I can't wait to see how the players picked fare in the Association.
The 30 NBA franchises went to work picking the new members of their franchises.
A few of these new players will become superstars in the Association, most will turn out to be league average starters or helpful players off the bench, and a few will be busts and never pan out like they hoped to.
The T Wolves had the 1st selection and they went with Karl Anthony Towns, the player whom many people thought would go 1st. Karl Anthony Towns is a pf/c out of Kentucky who has the upside to grow into a superstar on both ends of the court. He can grow into a.scoring machine on offense, and a rim protector on defense. Plus he has already played for the Dominican Republic national basketball team.
The Lakers had the 2nd pick which is really rare because they're usually in the postseason and last year was the 1st time in a while that they were really bad. With their selection,they picked Deangelo Russell, a combo guard out of Ohio State. He has the passing ability, basketball IQ and leadership to be a point guard while he also has the shooting stroke to play shooting guard.
I love this pick because Russell can play alongside the black mamba in year 1 and get used to playing in the NBA. Then in year 2 , he can take off and become the next star to play for the Lakers as Kobe Bryant is retiring after this upcoming season.
The Sixers had another pick in the top 5, this one was 3rd overall and they took Jahlil Okafor, cousin of Emeka Okafor, who went to college at Duke where he won a championship. Jahlil Okafor was the top high school player in his class, and he arrives in the NBA with the most polished offensive post game since Tim Duncan. The problem with him going to Philadelphia is that they also have Nerleans Noel and Joel Embid, but I can see how the pick makes sense since Embid has foot problems and might miss a second straight season.
The Knicks took 7-1 Latvian Kristaps Porzings at 4. He's the sweetest shooting big man in the draft, but he's only 19 and his body hasn't filled out all the way so he will probably need a few years of seasoning.
Croatian Mario Hezonja went to the Magic where he will give them much needed shooting
Wille Cualey Stein went to the Kings. In Sacramento he will give the Kings much needed rim defense
Emanuel Mudiay, a play making point guard, went to Denver. This likely marks the end of Ty Lawson playing in Denver.
The Warriors picked Kevon Looney, a power forward out of UCLA. The dubs didn't have any needs going into the draft, but Looney does give them more size since Green is only 6-7 and now they can match up to bigs better
There were also a lot of draft day trades throughout the night which means that a lot of players will be moving teams.
Overall, the 2 round 60 pick draft was an exciting event and I can't wait to see how the players picked fare in the Association.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Church Massacre in South Carolina
Today I will be writing about something other then sports.
On June 17, 2015, a 21 year old named Dylann Roof opened fire at a historical black church in South Carolina.
He killed nine people, one of whom was the pastor of the church and a state senator of South Carolina.
This crime was a racial hate crime as the mentally ill shooter killed black people and wanted South Carolina to go back to being a Confederate State.
The shooter tried to kill himself after he committed the hate crime, but his gun that he somehow acquired, ran out of bullets.
So Dylann knowing that police would be on his tail took off in a car and sped away.
The police eventually found and caught Dylann and then they brought him in for interrogation.
I do not get why people with crazy thoughts keep getting guns and causing harm to innocent humans.
Someone needs to do something about gun control now!
Because of this, the South Carolina government decided to remove the Confederate flag from the capital building.
I think this is a good idea, but it should have happened earlier because the Confederacy folded over 100 years ago.
This horrible event has implications, not just in South Carolina, but in the whole nation as it's another act of racial terrorism and slaughtering of innocent people.
This follows up the white policemen killing black men in Ferguson Missouri, New York, and many other places around America. That was bad enough, but this South Carolina incident is worse.
Dylann actually had racial hatred as he wanted to reestablish the Confederacy and bring harm to the African Americans.
That is horrible and I am sure that he will be in jail for life after he goes through a trial.
I hope that America can get a hand on this racial terrorism issue soon before it escalates more then it has been. African Americans have already started rioting after the Ferguson debacle and I don't want more racial terrorism to happen because it could eventually lead to a civil war or a different way of revolt/violence from the black people of our nation.
This was a break from sports because I didn't have a good idea of what to write about.
When you hear from me next, I will be back to sports.
On June 17, 2015, a 21 year old named Dylann Roof opened fire at a historical black church in South Carolina.
He killed nine people, one of whom was the pastor of the church and a state senator of South Carolina.
This crime was a racial hate crime as the mentally ill shooter killed black people and wanted South Carolina to go back to being a Confederate State.
The shooter tried to kill himself after he committed the hate crime, but his gun that he somehow acquired, ran out of bullets.
So Dylann knowing that police would be on his tail took off in a car and sped away.
The police eventually found and caught Dylann and then they brought him in for interrogation.
I do not get why people with crazy thoughts keep getting guns and causing harm to innocent humans.
Someone needs to do something about gun control now!
Because of this, the South Carolina government decided to remove the Confederate flag from the capital building.
I think this is a good idea, but it should have happened earlier because the Confederacy folded over 100 years ago.
This horrible event has implications, not just in South Carolina, but in the whole nation as it's another act of racial terrorism and slaughtering of innocent people.
This follows up the white policemen killing black men in Ferguson Missouri, New York, and many other places around America. That was bad enough, but this South Carolina incident is worse.
Dylann actually had racial hatred as he wanted to reestablish the Confederacy and bring harm to the African Americans.
That is horrible and I am sure that he will be in jail for life after he goes through a trial.
I hope that America can get a hand on this racial terrorism issue soon before it escalates more then it has been. African Americans have already started rioting after the Ferguson debacle and I don't want more racial terrorism to happen because it could eventually lead to a civil war or a different way of revolt/violence from the black people of our nation.
This was a break from sports because I didn't have a good idea of what to write about.
When you hear from me next, I will be back to sports.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Oakland A's Horrible Season so far
Through 71 games this season,, the A's have played atrocious baseball causing their record to not be what they want.
Currently, the A's are 30-41 which is a horrible record.
They're in last place in their division, trailing the 1st place Astros by 11 games. That's a lot of ground to make up and they can do it, but it will be hard.
Their offense is as potent as last year. They can score runs by playing small ball or by hitting homeruns. The A's offensively are led by Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick who are putting up all star caliber statistics. Stephen Vogt is in position to head to the festivities in Cincinnati while Reddick needs some more votes because as of now, he's not one of the top 3 outfield vote getters.
The A's starting rotation is also doing extremely well. They're pitching deep into ballgames, keeping the A's in the game, and mostly having quality starts. They're led by Sonny Gray who's 8-3 with an MLB leading 1.95 ERA and is probably under consideration to start the all star game for the AL. The A's five starters are also really young except for Scott Kazmir who's the veteran of the group. Young pitchers tend to have more upside, so that bodes well for the future.
The A's have to get better production from their defense and bullpen if they want any shot of turning things around this summer.
They have committed the most errors in the majors as they've committed an error in most of their games this season. Semien has been really bad at shortstop with a league high 22 mistakes, but the A's hired Ron Washington to help out Semien and Marcus Semien says that Wash is being really helpful.
That's a good sign because Semien is only 24 and he looks capable of one day developing into a solid major league shortstop.
The A's bullpen has also let the team down as the bullpen has posted the worst ERA in the majors.
They have blown so many leads late in the game and I think that the only reliever Melvin trusts is their closer Tyler Clippard as he's been great lately.
I saw a bullpen explosion myself on friday when I was at the A's game. The A's had a 7-4 lead when Sonny Gray was removed and the bullpen gave up that lead. It was brutal and I think that the bullpen coach should be fired if the A's relievers continue to struggle.
The A's relievers have also had a lot of injuries to relievers who were doing well and faces coming and going in the group.
For instance Mujica and Venditte both were doing well when they first joined the bullpen and then they got injured. Mujica has since come back and in his first outing back, he got shelled. Venditte is still on the DL with a shoulder strain.
Because of the A's record and Billy Beane's love of trading free agents to be, every other GM expects Beane to trade Kazmir, Zobrist, and Clippard during or before the trade deadline because their contracts all expire after this season.
Other teams have already begun talking to the A's about these three veterans because all three of them will help a club down the stretch run and in the postseason.
Kazmir-will provide rotation depth. He has been linked to Boston, the Dodgers, the Astros, and other teams who need a proven left handed starter to strengthen their rotation and don't want to give up their best prospects for Cole Hamels who's a tier above Kazmir.
Clippard-will help shore up the back end of whoever's bullpen he gets traded to. He has been linked to Toronto, the Cubs, and other teams with bullpen problems.
Zobrist-will help provide versatility on defense, will be a leader in the clubhouse, and on offense provide a veteran bat who knows how to hit in the majors. He has been linked to the Cubs because he used to play for Joe Maddon with Tampa. He has also been linked to many other clubs.
I think that Beane will wait until the deadline to trade off these players and I hope if he trades, he doesn't trade anyone who won't be a free agent after this year.
If, the A's make a miraculous run to the top of the standings, then that will change what Billy Beane does with this season's A's team.
I hope that the A's can pull off a miracle run like in 2012 and catapult back into contention in their division, but my more reasonable goal for the 2015 A's is to reach 500 and not finish the season with a losing record.
It should be an exciting rest of the season with the all star game and trade deadline coming up in July, then the final 2 months stretch run, and then the postseason.
I'm excited for what will transpire over the rest of the long season and I can't wait for the end of September to see which teams come out on top of their respective divisions. I especially want to see if the Astros can keep first place for the rest of the season and if the Twins can stay in contention because both teams weren't expected to be this good so soon.
google images for pictures
Currently, the A's are 30-41 which is a horrible record.
They're in last place in their division, trailing the 1st place Astros by 11 games. That's a lot of ground to make up and they can do it, but it will be hard.
Their offense is as potent as last year. They can score runs by playing small ball or by hitting homeruns. The A's offensively are led by Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick who are putting up all star caliber statistics. Stephen Vogt is in position to head to the festivities in Cincinnati while Reddick needs some more votes because as of now, he's not one of the top 3 outfield vote getters.
The A's starting rotation is also doing extremely well. They're pitching deep into ballgames, keeping the A's in the game, and mostly having quality starts. They're led by Sonny Gray who's 8-3 with an MLB leading 1.95 ERA and is probably under consideration to start the all star game for the AL. The A's five starters are also really young except for Scott Kazmir who's the veteran of the group. Young pitchers tend to have more upside, so that bodes well for the future.
The A's have to get better production from their defense and bullpen if they want any shot of turning things around this summer.
They have committed the most errors in the majors as they've committed an error in most of their games this season. Semien has been really bad at shortstop with a league high 22 mistakes, but the A's hired Ron Washington to help out Semien and Marcus Semien says that Wash is being really helpful.
That's a good sign because Semien is only 24 and he looks capable of one day developing into a solid major league shortstop.
The A's bullpen has also let the team down as the bullpen has posted the worst ERA in the majors.
They have blown so many leads late in the game and I think that the only reliever Melvin trusts is their closer Tyler Clippard as he's been great lately.
I saw a bullpen explosion myself on friday when I was at the A's game. The A's had a 7-4 lead when Sonny Gray was removed and the bullpen gave up that lead. It was brutal and I think that the bullpen coach should be fired if the A's relievers continue to struggle.
The A's relievers have also had a lot of injuries to relievers who were doing well and faces coming and going in the group.
For instance Mujica and Venditte both were doing well when they first joined the bullpen and then they got injured. Mujica has since come back and in his first outing back, he got shelled. Venditte is still on the DL with a shoulder strain.
Because of the A's record and Billy Beane's love of trading free agents to be, every other GM expects Beane to trade Kazmir, Zobrist, and Clippard during or before the trade deadline because their contracts all expire after this season.
Other teams have already begun talking to the A's about these three veterans because all three of them will help a club down the stretch run and in the postseason.
Kazmir-will provide rotation depth. He has been linked to Boston, the Dodgers, the Astros, and other teams who need a proven left handed starter to strengthen their rotation and don't want to give up their best prospects for Cole Hamels who's a tier above Kazmir.
Clippard-will help shore up the back end of whoever's bullpen he gets traded to. He has been linked to Toronto, the Cubs, and other teams with bullpen problems.
Zobrist-will help provide versatility on defense, will be a leader in the clubhouse, and on offense provide a veteran bat who knows how to hit in the majors. He has been linked to the Cubs because he used to play for Joe Maddon with Tampa. He has also been linked to many other clubs.
I think that Beane will wait until the deadline to trade off these players and I hope if he trades, he doesn't trade anyone who won't be a free agent after this year.
If, the A's make a miraculous run to the top of the standings, then that will change what Billy Beane does with this season's A's team.
I hope that the A's can pull off a miracle run like in 2012 and catapult back into contention in their division, but my more reasonable goal for the 2015 A's is to reach 500 and not finish the season with a losing record.
It should be an exciting rest of the season with the all star game and trade deadline coming up in July, then the final 2 months stretch run, and then the postseason.
I'm excited for what will transpire over the rest of the long season and I can't wait for the end of September to see which teams come out on top of their respective divisions. I especially want to see if the Astros can keep first place for the rest of the season and if the Twins can stay in contention because both teams weren't expected to be this good so soon.
google images for pictures
Thursday, June 18, 2015
NBA Finals 2015
The NBA Finals just concluded in Cleveland on Tuesday after 6 hard fought games.
The Warriors came into game 6 up 3 games to 2 after a convincing blowout win in game 5.
In game 5 they were led by Curry who put up 37 points in an mvp like performance, carrying his team down the stretch.
They also used the small ball lineup again and for the 2nd straight game, it payed dividends.
In this game, the Cavs stayed small throughout the game to match the Warriors, but it didn't result in victory.
The Warriors were able to take the lead in the series despite Lebron James posting a triple double and trying to will his team to victory.
In game 6, the Cavs were faced with a must win scenario as the Warriors needed only one more win to get the championship and the trophy.
Both teams are weary, but the Cavs didn't want to end their season with a loss in front of their home fans, while the Warriors wanted to extend the city of Cleveland's championship drought by finishing off the Cavs in their home arena.
The Warriors kept their same small ball starting lineup and didn't play Bogut at all while the Cavs played their bigs for most of the game in an attempt to outmuscle the Warriors and stay alive.
The Warriors triumphantly prevailed 105-97 ending Cleveland's season and title hopes while bringing the gold and shiny Larry O Brien trophy back to the bay area for the first time since 1975 which is 40 years ago!
Curry and Iggy paced the Warriors with 25 points each and Iggy continued to play amazing shutdown defense on "the king". Draymond Green helped them out by posting a triple double and the Warriors got solid play off the bench from Livingston and Ezeli.
LBJ came really close to getting another triple double with 32 points. 18 boards, and 9 dimes. He also got solid help from his bigs, but his fellow guards weren't really helpful except for JR Smith who continued his streaky shooting.
Cleveland's last major sports championship was in 1964, so their fans long suffering continues.
The Warriors party is just getting started.
Immediately after the Warriors won, fans in Oakland started celebrating.
Back in Quicken Loans Arena, Lebron James and his fellow distraught teammates and coaches walked off the court after the final buzzer went off. Before Lebron left, he congratulated Curry, and Coach Kerr.
After the game. the Dubs stayed on the court to celebrate and receive the championship trophy. Iggy, Steph, Klay, Coach Kerr and both owners got interviewed by Doris Burke of ABC and they were all ecstatic when speaking to her.
Iggy also recieved the well deserved NBA Finals MVP trophy, with his son at his side.
Then, in the locker room, the Dubs did the traditional champagne celebration and Harrison Barnes even drank booze for the first time. This shows you how exciting a championship can be.
I think that this was a well deserved title because Curry had to face all of the other members of the NBA first team in the 2015 playoffs.
It would have been more deserving if Jure Holliday (NOLA), Mike Conley(MEM), Patrick Beverly (HOU). Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love (CAVS) were fully healthy and playing when Golden State faced their respective teams.
The parade will be friday morning in Oakland with a rally at the Kaiser Convention Center. There will be hordes of people along the route since the Warriors are the only NBA franchise in the bay area. This means that everyone who likes basketball likes the Dubs and they can't be divided like bay area baseball fans.
It has been an amazing run to the championship and the Warriors have all they need to repeat next year.
Awesome Year Warriors! Now remember to pay Draymond Green.
The Warriors came into game 6 up 3 games to 2 after a convincing blowout win in game 5.
In game 5 they were led by Curry who put up 37 points in an mvp like performance, carrying his team down the stretch.
They also used the small ball lineup again and for the 2nd straight game, it payed dividends.
In this game, the Cavs stayed small throughout the game to match the Warriors, but it didn't result in victory.
The Warriors were able to take the lead in the series despite Lebron James posting a triple double and trying to will his team to victory.
In game 6, the Cavs were faced with a must win scenario as the Warriors needed only one more win to get the championship and the trophy.
Both teams are weary, but the Cavs didn't want to end their season with a loss in front of their home fans, while the Warriors wanted to extend the city of Cleveland's championship drought by finishing off the Cavs in their home arena.
The Warriors kept their same small ball starting lineup and didn't play Bogut at all while the Cavs played their bigs for most of the game in an attempt to outmuscle the Warriors and stay alive.
The Warriors triumphantly prevailed 105-97 ending Cleveland's season and title hopes while bringing the gold and shiny Larry O Brien trophy back to the bay area for the first time since 1975 which is 40 years ago!
Curry and Iggy paced the Warriors with 25 points each and Iggy continued to play amazing shutdown defense on "the king". Draymond Green helped them out by posting a triple double and the Warriors got solid play off the bench from Livingston and Ezeli.
LBJ came really close to getting another triple double with 32 points. 18 boards, and 9 dimes. He also got solid help from his bigs, but his fellow guards weren't really helpful except for JR Smith who continued his streaky shooting.
Cleveland's last major sports championship was in 1964, so their fans long suffering continues.
The Warriors party is just getting started.
Immediately after the Warriors won, fans in Oakland started celebrating.
Back in Quicken Loans Arena, Lebron James and his fellow distraught teammates and coaches walked off the court after the final buzzer went off. Before Lebron left, he congratulated Curry, and Coach Kerr.
After the game. the Dubs stayed on the court to celebrate and receive the championship trophy. Iggy, Steph, Klay, Coach Kerr and both owners got interviewed by Doris Burke of ABC and they were all ecstatic when speaking to her.
Iggy also recieved the well deserved NBA Finals MVP trophy, with his son at his side.
Then, in the locker room, the Dubs did the traditional champagne celebration and Harrison Barnes even drank booze for the first time. This shows you how exciting a championship can be.
I think that this was a well deserved title because Curry had to face all of the other members of the NBA first team in the 2015 playoffs.
It would have been more deserving if Jure Holliday (NOLA), Mike Conley(MEM), Patrick Beverly (HOU). Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love (CAVS) were fully healthy and playing when Golden State faced their respective teams.
The parade will be friday morning in Oakland with a rally at the Kaiser Convention Center. There will be hordes of people along the route since the Warriors are the only NBA franchise in the bay area. This means that everyone who likes basketball likes the Dubs and they can't be divided like bay area baseball fans.
It has been an amazing run to the championship and the Warriors have all they need to repeat next year.
Awesome Year Warriors! Now remember to pay Draymond Green.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
NBA Draft 2015 Preview
The 2015 NBA draft will be on June 25 and it will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.The Barclays center is the home of the Brooklyn Nets as well as Concerts and other big events.
The NBA draft consists of 2 rounds with 30 picks in each round.
Normally every team would have one pick in the first and one in the second.
A lot of NBA teams trade draft picks for players, cash, or other draft picks, so some teams could end up with more then 2 picks (awesome), 1 pick, or even no picks which would be sad.
In 1985, the NBA established the draft lottery to determine the order of selection in the draft for the 14 teams that missed the playoffs.
14 ping pong balls are put in a lottery machine and then various combinations are given out to the 14 teams, the most to the team with the worst record, and the fewest to the team with the best record that got left out of the playoffs.
This year, Minnesota had the worst record, so they had the best chance of winning the lottery.
The Timber wolves ended up winning the lottery and securing the first overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft which is loaded with talented ballers from College and a few amazing basketball players from Europe and Asia.
Now with the one and done rule in full force, most of the best U.S prep basketball players go to their picked college for a year and then depart for the NBA even if they didn't achieve the success that they wanted to in college.
This upcoming draft features a lot of one and done college studs, some star college players who played more then one year, 2 major International prospects, and many more players who want a shot at being in the NBA.
The prospect whom most experts think the T Wolves will select number one is Karl Anthony Towns. He's a power-forward/center out of Kentucky who was part of the magical team that started 38-0 before falling in the Final 4. He has a ton of upside and is capable of turning into a big time threat on offense, and a rim protector on defense.
Mock drafts predict that Jahlil Okafor, a one and done center from Duke will go 2nd to the Lakers. Coming out of high school, Okafor was the top rated recruit in his class. He certainly lived up to his ranking by dominating opponents with his advanced arsenal of offensive moves in the post and eventually leading Duke to a national title.
Deangelo Russell will probably go number 3 to Philadelphia because they traded away Michael Carter Williams last year and they need more explosiveness in the back court. Russell certainly provides that as he was the best guard in college basketball last year. He can put up the points and the assists so he profiles as a combo guard that can either play point guard or shooting guard.
The other guard expected to go early is Emanuel Mudiay. He's a former top recruit who originally was going to play for SMU, but then backed off and went overseas to play on a Chinese team. Mudiay has all the intagibles to be a star lead guard in the NBA, but I think that he needs to get more experience since he got injured in China and didn't finish the season.
2 more big men that will go early are Willie Cauley Stein who's a beast rim protector/defender from Kentucky.
BTW-7 Kentucky basketball players entered the draft early. Isn't that crazy!
The best international prospect is Kristaps Porzingis, a 7-1 power forward from Latvia who can shoot the three and protect the rim.
He plays like Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin (another 1st round prospect), but Kristaps is better because he's younger and has more upside.
These players will go 1-6, but I'm not sure about which teams will pick which players and I won't know until the draft actually happens.
For people looking for wings there are plenty of options in this draft.
The two best American wings are Justice Winslow of Duke and Stanley Johnson of Arizona. These two are big black boys that can defend well and lead their team in scoring.
Mario Hezonjia is a Croatian wing that is a big time scorer.
These three will all go somewhere in the first 10 picks.
The Warriors who are going for their first NBA title in 40 years tonight, pick at 30.
They don't have a glaring need so they're probably going to draft another shooter or a fowerd in case Draymond Green leaves which I don't think will happen.
Overall this draft class has a ton of talented athletes that are waiting for the chance to get to the NBA and leave their imprint on the league.
It will be an exciting night where we will witness the next generation of players entering the NBA.
http://www.nbadraft.net/2015mock_draft
The NBA draft consists of 2 rounds with 30 picks in each round.
Normally every team would have one pick in the first and one in the second.
A lot of NBA teams trade draft picks for players, cash, or other draft picks, so some teams could end up with more then 2 picks (awesome), 1 pick, or even no picks which would be sad.
In 1985, the NBA established the draft lottery to determine the order of selection in the draft for the 14 teams that missed the playoffs.
14 ping pong balls are put in a lottery machine and then various combinations are given out to the 14 teams, the most to the team with the worst record, and the fewest to the team with the best record that got left out of the playoffs.
This year, Minnesota had the worst record, so they had the best chance of winning the lottery.
The Timber wolves ended up winning the lottery and securing the first overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft which is loaded with talented ballers from College and a few amazing basketball players from Europe and Asia.
Now with the one and done rule in full force, most of the best U.S prep basketball players go to their picked college for a year and then depart for the NBA even if they didn't achieve the success that they wanted to in college.
This upcoming draft features a lot of one and done college studs, some star college players who played more then one year, 2 major International prospects, and many more players who want a shot at being in the NBA.
The prospect whom most experts think the T Wolves will select number one is Karl Anthony Towns. He's a power-forward/center out of Kentucky who was part of the magical team that started 38-0 before falling in the Final 4. He has a ton of upside and is capable of turning into a big time threat on offense, and a rim protector on defense.
Mock drafts predict that Jahlil Okafor, a one and done center from Duke will go 2nd to the Lakers. Coming out of high school, Okafor was the top rated recruit in his class. He certainly lived up to his ranking by dominating opponents with his advanced arsenal of offensive moves in the post and eventually leading Duke to a national title.
Deangelo Russell will probably go number 3 to Philadelphia because they traded away Michael Carter Williams last year and they need more explosiveness in the back court. Russell certainly provides that as he was the best guard in college basketball last year. He can put up the points and the assists so he profiles as a combo guard that can either play point guard or shooting guard.
The other guard expected to go early is Emanuel Mudiay. He's a former top recruit who originally was going to play for SMU, but then backed off and went overseas to play on a Chinese team. Mudiay has all the intagibles to be a star lead guard in the NBA, but I think that he needs to get more experience since he got injured in China and didn't finish the season.
2 more big men that will go early are Willie Cauley Stein who's a beast rim protector/defender from Kentucky.
BTW-7 Kentucky basketball players entered the draft early. Isn't that crazy!
The best international prospect is Kristaps Porzingis, a 7-1 power forward from Latvia who can shoot the three and protect the rim.
He plays like Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin (another 1st round prospect), but Kristaps is better because he's younger and has more upside.
These players will go 1-6, but I'm not sure about which teams will pick which players and I won't know until the draft actually happens.
For people looking for wings there are plenty of options in this draft.
The two best American wings are Justice Winslow of Duke and Stanley Johnson of Arizona. These two are big black boys that can defend well and lead their team in scoring.
Mario Hezonjia is a Croatian wing that is a big time scorer.
These three will all go somewhere in the first 10 picks.
The Warriors who are going for their first NBA title in 40 years tonight, pick at 30.
They don't have a glaring need so they're probably going to draft another shooter or a fowerd in case Draymond Green leaves which I don't think will happen.
Overall this draft class has a ton of talented athletes that are waiting for the chance to get to the NBA and leave their imprint on the league.
It will be an exciting night where we will witness the next generation of players entering the NBA.
http://www.nbadraft.net/2015mock_draft
Friday, June 12, 2015
NBA Finals Analysis so far
The Warriors and the Cavaliers have been going at it for four games so far in the 2015 NBA Finals and the four games have been as epic as expected.
The first two games were in Oakland at the home of the Warriors and they both went to overtime.
The Warriors took the first game 108-100, but the game was close throughout. Lebron James scored 44 points to keep his team in the game against the balanced attack of the Warriors.
He needed to play extra hard because his often injured point guard Kyrie Irving re- injured his knee.He had to leave the game and was in extreme pain as he walked to the locker room. This is a big blow to the Cavs because Kyrie Irving is one of the best point guards in the NBA and his play enabled the Cavs to stick close to the Warriors. Then in overtime, the Warriors clamped down on defense and started to pull away from the Cavs who were handicapped without Kyrie Irving.
Then at some point before game 2, Cleveland found out that Kyrie fractured his kneecap and will be out for the rest of the finals. This is crushing news for Cleveland and everyone immediately thought that they were done because most people didn't believe that Dellovadova could be up to the task of starting at point guard.
Those doubters ended up being wrong as Delavadova played well enough to help the Cavs earn a hard fought overtime win in game 2 at Oracle. The score was 95-93 and the Warriors had many shots at victory down the stretch of the game. However, they couldn't eke out a win as the Cavs played better defense than game 1, were able to overcome their fourth quarter collapse, and ultimately hold off the Warriors in overtime. Lebron also had his 2nd straight outstanding game as he put up a triple double. He scored 39 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out 11 assists.
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Cleveland has been dominating the rebounding in the Finals as their big guys (Mozgov and Thompson) are way better than the Warriors big guys when it comes to crashing the boards
The Cavs also won because Curry had a horrible shooting night either because he was just off or because Delly played good defense on him.
The Warriors were able to keep it close because they had good defense and because Klay Thompson scored 34 points, bailing out his teammates who could not make the shots they normally make.
The Warriors had the ball as the overtime clock was ticking down and they were down by 2. Curry tried to pass the ball up to Klay Thompson so he could shoot and try to win the game, but Shumpert on the Cavs stole the ball and the Cavs won.
Then the setting shifted to Cleveland for games 3 and 4.
Cleveland. fired up by their crazy home crowd, managed to take game 3 at home and gain a 2-1 series advantage. Lebron James totaled 40 more points, 12 more rebounds, and 8 more assists in another fantastic performance. He's willing to do whatever it takes to bring the first title in any major sport to Cleveland since 1964, and it's all on him to play his best since his fellow stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are out injured. Delly helped him a little bit in game 2, but in game 3 Delly really stepped up his game as he scored 20 points and endeared himself to the Cavs faithful fans.
Lebron played almost the whole game for the third straight game and people have got to be wondering if at some point, Lebron will get tired and his play will reflect that.
Just like game 2, Curry had problems shooting the orange throughout the game as he was defended well by Delly which led to the Warriors trailing throughout the game. But, in the 4th quarter,something clicked for Stephan Curry and he found his shooting stroke as he scored 17 points and tried to bring the Warriors back into the game, but couldn't bring them to victory.
Curry also got some help from David Lee who actually got into an important game and made a big impact.
After the game , Dellavadova was taken to the hospital where they treated him for cramps. He cramped up because he's not used to playing as many minutes as he has been.
Game 4 was in Cleveland. The Cavs stadium was sold out and throngs of fans who couldn't get a ticket stood outside watching the game on a big screen.
Most people thought that this game was a must win for the Dubs.
Steve Kerr made a lineup change at the start of the game as he put Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup instead of Andrew Bogut.
Coach Kerr thought that this switch would allow Golden State to get out in transition more and do what they do best as Iguodala is faster then Bogut and can fly down the court while Bogut trots.
Andre Iguodala also is a really good defender so Coach Kerr wants Iguodala to guard James and do his best to slow him down.
The only con of this decision is that it's going to be tougher to get rebounds without Bogut in to bang with Cleveland's trees. Bogut's their only rim protector so without him on the court, it will be easier for the Cavs to get buckets near the rim.
Coach Kerr's gamble worked as Iguodala played 36 minutes, shut Lebron down, and gave the Warriors a big boost offensively by scoring 22 points mostly on threes or dunks in transition.
With Iguodala in, the Warriors played at their usual pace and ended up winning 103-82 , which is the largest margin of victory in the series so far.
Curry kept his refound shooting stroke and scored 22 points, some of them huge baskets.
Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes also stepped it up offensively after a couple of bad games.
Lebron was held to 20 points which is a normal game for most players, but not normal for him. Iguodala played amazing defense,causing Lebron to struggle shooting.
Lebron also got fouled hard by Bogut and banged his head on one of the cameras. This caused his head to start bleeding and Lebron got 2 cuts on the top of his head, but remained in the game.
Lebron didn't look as full of energy in game 4 , and I think that's because of all the minutes he played in the first 3 games.
It didn't help him that his fellow healthy back-court mates Smith, Shumpert, and Delly struggled mightily shooting the basketball.
Lebron did get a great performance from his bigs, but that wasn't enough to beat the Warriors on a night they played exactly like they did in the regular season when they won an NBA best 67 games.
Now there are 3 games left in this series, but if either of the teams wins both games 5, and 6 then there will be no need for a 7th and final game.
I think that the next 3 games will be as exciting as the first 4 and I really hope that the Warriors can win 2 out of 3 and take home the Larry O Brian Trophy for the first time since 1975.
Good luck Dubs!
Game 4 was in Cleveland. The Cavs stadium was sold out and throngs of fans who couldn't get a ticket stood outside watching the game on a big screen.
Most people thought that this game was a must win for the Dubs.
Steve Kerr made a lineup change at the start of the game as he put Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup instead of Andrew Bogut.
Coach Kerr thought that this switch would allow Golden State to get out in transition more and do what they do best as Iguodala is faster then Bogut and can fly down the court while Bogut trots.
Andre Iguodala also is a really good defender so Coach Kerr wants Iguodala to guard James and do his best to slow him down.
The only con of this decision is that it's going to be tougher to get rebounds without Bogut in to bang with Cleveland's trees. Bogut's their only rim protector so without him on the court, it will be easier for the Cavs to get buckets near the rim.
Coach Kerr's gamble worked as Iguodala played 36 minutes, shut Lebron down, and gave the Warriors a big boost offensively by scoring 22 points mostly on threes or dunks in transition.
With Iguodala in, the Warriors played at their usual pace and ended up winning 103-82 , which is the largest margin of victory in the series so far.
Curry kept his refound shooting stroke and scored 22 points, some of them huge baskets.
Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes also stepped it up offensively after a couple of bad games.
Lebron was held to 20 points which is a normal game for most players, but not normal for him. Iguodala played amazing defense,causing Lebron to struggle shooting.
Lebron also got fouled hard by Bogut and banged his head on one of the cameras. This caused his head to start bleeding and Lebron got 2 cuts on the top of his head, but remained in the game.
Lebron didn't look as full of energy in game 4 , and I think that's because of all the minutes he played in the first 3 games.
It didn't help him that his fellow healthy back-court mates Smith, Shumpert, and Delly struggled mightily shooting the basketball.
Lebron did get a great performance from his bigs, but that wasn't enough to beat the Warriors on a night they played exactly like they did in the regular season when they won an NBA best 67 games.
Now there are 3 games left in this series, but if either of the teams wins both games 5, and 6 then there will be no need for a 7th and final game.
I think that the next 3 games will be as exciting as the first 4 and I really hope that the Warriors can win 2 out of 3 and take home the Larry O Brian Trophy for the first time since 1975.
Good luck Dubs!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
MLB Amateur Draft 2015
The marathon 40 round MLB amateur draft started on Monday and it concludes today. Baseball players from college and the best from high school are drafted as well as some international prospects mostly from Central or South America.
Rounds 1 and 2 were on Monday. The players that get picked on this day are the most talented players in the draft and have the best shot at making it to the majors.
Rounds 3-10 were yesterday. The players that get drafted here either fall because of injuries, sign ability concerns or just aren't 1st day talents. These players aren't as hyped, but some are still able to make themselves known at the big league level.
Rounds 11-40 are today. Most of the young baseball players drafted this late don't really make an impact, but there have been some exceptions like Albert Pujols.
Most high school players have college commitments so it's harder to get them to sign.
Plus, each team has an allotted amount of money they can use to sign their draft picks. This influences what they do because if they spend too much money on one player, then they're not going to have the money that they need to sign their other picks.
The MLB draft isn't as hyped as the NBA or NFL drafts because most of the players that get picked take way longer to reach the majors than athletes playing football and basketball. Most NFL and NBA draftees play right away, while MLB prospects spend at least 2 years in the minors unless they're extremely polished coming out of the draft. It's harder to make it in baseball than in football or basketball.
This year was the year of the shortstops as they were the first three picks, and then 8 overall were drafted out of the first 36 picks.
Day 1
The Diamondbacks had the number one overall pick and they drafted Dansby Swanson, a shortstop out of Vanderbilt which is the best baseball college in the U.S. This is showcased by all the star big league players that are Vandy alums like David Price and Sonny Gray, as well as the number of highly rated players they had in the draft.
The Astros had the number 2 pick as compensation for not signing Brady Aiken; and even though they just called up Carlos Correa to play shortstop, they went with the best player available and took Alex Bregman, a shortstop from LSU.
With the third pick, Colorado picked shortstop Brendan Rodgers from Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida. Rodgers was widely considered the top overall prospect in the draft. It now looks like he'll be the heir to Troy Tulowitski in Colorado.
With the fourth spot, Texas took the first pitcher Dillion Tate, a righthander out of UCSB who has the pitching ability to either be a dominant closer or the ace at the front of a rotation.
Houston had another pick at 5. This pick means that they were the 5th worst team in baseball last year. They took high school outfielder Kyle Tucker, brother of Preston Tucker who is already in their organization. Kyle projects to be even better than his older brother and he was the first outfielder chosen.
These are the 5 best players and now I will move on to who San Francisco and Oakland picked on day 1.
The A's chose two shortstops to address the need there after they traded away their top two shortstop prospects (Addison Russell and Daniel Robertson) in 2 separate deals. In the first round they picked Richie Martin, a shortstop out of Florida University. Scouts say that he has the ability to stay at shortstop long term, but there are questions about his hitting. The A's need a better defensive shortstop then Semien.
In the 2nd round, the A's chose Mikey White, a shortstop who went to the University of Alabama.
Scouts say that White has good power, but they don't know if he can stick at shortstop. He seems like the opposite player of Richie Martin, but they both seem really good.
The Giants had 3 picks.
In the first round, they chose Phil Bickford, a pitcher from the junior college Southern Nevada. He's a power pitcher who can hit 97 on his fastball, but a concern is that he just tested positive for marijuana.
Then they got a pick in the competitive balance round because they lost Sandoval in free agency. With this pick in between the first and second rounds, they chose power hitting 1st basemen Chris Shaw who went to Boston College.
Then in the 2nd round they chose lefty Andrew Suarez from the University of Miami.
I like who the Giants took and, if their draftees keep their power tools, they could be really good.
Of course these are only five of the 40 names our Bay Area clubs are going to be drafting, and I decided to highlight them because 1st and 2nd rounders usually get talked about the most.
Some star players fell in this draft because of injuries or sign-ability issues.
Brady Aiken, the pitcher who didn't sign last year despite being taken number 1, and then got TJ this year, fell to number 17 where Cleveland grabbed him.
Mike Matuella of Duke has an arsenal of an ace, but he fell to Texas in the third round because he also got TJ this year.
Daz Cameron (son of Mike Cameron) fell to Houston at 37 because teams thought that he would be too hard to sign. He was considered the 6th best talent before the draft.
Justin Hooper of De La Salle is a lefty power pitcher who looks imposing on the mound and can light up the radar gun. He fell to the 25th round where Milwaukee picked him. He fell that far because he's hell bent on playing baseball at UCLA.
Joe Demers, a righty from College Park is just like Hooper in that he's pretty much locked in to play baseball at Washington University. Because of this, he hasn't even been drafted yet.
I'm excited to see which players from this draft class that sign a contract develop into solid players, which players are future stars, and which ones become busts.
Rounds 1 and 2 were on Monday. The players that get picked on this day are the most talented players in the draft and have the best shot at making it to the majors.
Rounds 3-10 were yesterday. The players that get drafted here either fall because of injuries, sign ability concerns or just aren't 1st day talents. These players aren't as hyped, but some are still able to make themselves known at the big league level.
Rounds 11-40 are today. Most of the young baseball players drafted this late don't really make an impact, but there have been some exceptions like Albert Pujols.
Most high school players have college commitments so it's harder to get them to sign.
Plus, each team has an allotted amount of money they can use to sign their draft picks. This influences what they do because if they spend too much money on one player, then they're not going to have the money that they need to sign their other picks.
The MLB draft isn't as hyped as the NBA or NFL drafts because most of the players that get picked take way longer to reach the majors than athletes playing football and basketball. Most NFL and NBA draftees play right away, while MLB prospects spend at least 2 years in the minors unless they're extremely polished coming out of the draft. It's harder to make it in baseball than in football or basketball.
This year was the year of the shortstops as they were the first three picks, and then 8 overall were drafted out of the first 36 picks.
Day 1
The Astros had the number 2 pick as compensation for not signing Brady Aiken; and even though they just called up Carlos Correa to play shortstop, they went with the best player available and took Alex Bregman, a shortstop from LSU.
With the third pick, Colorado picked shortstop Brendan Rodgers from Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida. Rodgers was widely considered the top overall prospect in the draft. It now looks like he'll be the heir to Troy Tulowitski in Colorado.
With the fourth spot, Texas took the first pitcher Dillion Tate, a righthander out of UCSB who has the pitching ability to either be a dominant closer or the ace at the front of a rotation.
Houston had another pick at 5. This pick means that they were the 5th worst team in baseball last year. They took high school outfielder Kyle Tucker, brother of Preston Tucker who is already in their organization. Kyle projects to be even better than his older brother and he was the first outfielder chosen.
These are the 5 best players and now I will move on to who San Francisco and Oakland picked on day 1.
In the 2nd round, the A's chose Mikey White, a shortstop who went to the University of Alabama.
Scouts say that White has good power, but they don't know if he can stick at shortstop. He seems like the opposite player of Richie Martin, but they both seem really good.
The Giants had 3 picks.
In the first round, they chose Phil Bickford, a pitcher from the junior college Southern Nevada. He's a power pitcher who can hit 97 on his fastball, but a concern is that he just tested positive for marijuana.
Then they got a pick in the competitive balance round because they lost Sandoval in free agency. With this pick in between the first and second rounds, they chose power hitting 1st basemen Chris Shaw who went to Boston College.
Then in the 2nd round they chose lefty Andrew Suarez from the University of Miami.
I like who the Giants took and, if their draftees keep their power tools, they could be really good.
Of course these are only five of the 40 names our Bay Area clubs are going to be drafting, and I decided to highlight them because 1st and 2nd rounders usually get talked about the most.
Some star players fell in this draft because of injuries or sign-ability issues.
Brady Aiken, the pitcher who didn't sign last year despite being taken number 1, and then got TJ this year, fell to number 17 where Cleveland grabbed him.
Mike Matuella of Duke has an arsenal of an ace, but he fell to Texas in the third round because he also got TJ this year.
Daz Cameron (son of Mike Cameron) fell to Houston at 37 because teams thought that he would be too hard to sign. He was considered the 6th best talent before the draft.
Justin Hooper of De La Salle is a lefty power pitcher who looks imposing on the mound and can light up the radar gun. He fell to the 25th round where Milwaukee picked him. He fell that far because he's hell bent on playing baseball at UCLA.
Joe Demers, a righty from College Park is just like Hooper in that he's pretty much locked in to play baseball at Washington University. Because of this, he hasn't even been drafted yet.
I'm excited to see which players from this draft class that sign a contract develop into solid players, which players are future stars, and which ones become busts.
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