Warriors

G-State took a 3-1 series lead last night over Dallas in an awesomely intense game.
My highlights over the game include Baron Davis's 50 footer at buzzer before halftime, Baron Davis's dunk at the end of the third quarter, somebody on the Warriors hitting a big shot when they need one, Baron Davis dominating the game with his Rick Ross beard just in general, the best crowd in sports who were deafening these last two games, and finally Pietrus's steal with 3.3 seconds left in the game which sealed the victory. I know that I predicted a Warrior win in this series in my earlier playoff prediction post but I thought it would take 7 games. But with the Warriors dominating the Mavs so far this series, it looks like tomorrow night in Dallas, G-State may move on to the next round which I think will be known as the greatest upset in playoff history.
One more thing…. WE BELIEVE



Notes:

Today Cleveland joined Chicago and Detroit by sweeping their first round series over the Wizards behind LeBron's 31 points.

On a disappointing note for a Lakers fan like myself, the Lakers went down 3-1 in their series against the Suns with not much hope ahead as they head back to Phoenix for game 5.

NFL DRAFT PREVIEW

With the draft just under 10 hours away, I have a special preview and mock draft for the first 5 picks.

1. JaMarcus Russel: He will go number 1 because I truly think that he will have an instant impact on the success of the Raiders. If the Raiders took Calvin Johnson I don't think that it would help them because without a quarterback, even Randy Moss cannot have a good season for them. What they need is a solid QB to lead that team. Throwing the long bombs to Moss and Porter will be easily done by the arm of Russel who can throw 70 to 80 yards taking one to two steps. Russel from LSU will be the number one pick over Johnson and Quinn.

2. Gaines Adams: A great athletic DE is just what the Lions need to help their already improving defense if they do not trade down in the draft.

3. Brady Quinn: It makes sense for the Browns to take a QB as Charlie Fry is just not getting the job done for them and hasn't shown any progress. Ohio is his home state and I'm sure he won't having any problems joining Jamal Lewis, Kellen Winslow, and Braylon Edwards in Cleveland on a rebuilding team.

4. Calvin Johnson: Tampa needs a playmaker and Johnson will be that guy for them at reciever if they draft him. He is a tremendous athlete and has great size on the field.

5. Joe Thomas: To protect Matt Leinart in the pocket, Thomas will provide great protection.

Others players in the draft I really like and suggest keeping an eye on
in the 1st round are:
Amobi Okoye, Adrian Peterson, Lavon Landry, Levi Brown, Jamaal Anderson, Marshawn Lynch, Allan Branch, Patrick Willis, Adam Carriker, and Jon Beason.

It should be a good draft especially the first round in which the every pick could go anyway.

Also, I still haven't decided whether I am going to go to the Washington Spring Husky Football game tomorrow and check out Jake Locker or stay at home and watch the end of the first round and more which I would be missing if I go.

Kobe's Team

LAL-95 PHO-89
Last night the Suns started off on an 11-0 run and on 9 of their first 13 possessions they came up with points. The Lakers looked dead in the water and the crowd was completely out of it. The Suns biggest lead in the first half was 17 and things were going in the complete wrong direction for the Lakers. But then things turned around for the Lakers when they went on a huge run. Kobe had 20 in the first half and some amazing 3-point plays as he drove to the basket. In the second half the Lakers surged back and had all the momentum as the lead went back and forth. Then Kwame Brown after landing awkwardly on his ankle, had about 4 straight post moves, three of them being dunks on Amare Stoudamire who was playing with 3 fouls before Kwame got an and 1 on him and forced him to sit with 4 fouls. The Lakers remained in control as Kobe had a lot of 3-point plays as he drove to the basket consistently and set up his teammates when needed. The Lakers won 95-89 and played a great game in which they hustled for every loose ball and racked up the offensive rebounds. The key to the Lakers winning was not just Kwame Brown's 19 point playoff high, Kobe's dominating and game-changing 45 points, or the Lakers defense in the 4th quarter, but Kobe's ability to get everybody involved which led to the Lakers big game 3 win, in front of the loud Staples crowd, to make the series 2-1 with a big game 4 coming up in LA Sunday at 12:30 Pacific time. It should be great and if the Lakers play like they played in the second half of game 3, with Kobe dominating the game with his scoring and getting teammates involved, they Lakers k the series up 2-2.

In under an hour at 7:30 PM Pacific, things are going to get loud and hyphy in the Bay Area as the Warriors bring their 1-1 series against Dallas to Oakland. It is the first home playoff game for G-State in over a decade and the place should be rockin. I expect to see another intense and emotion-filled game as the preveious two games have been great ones.

Intense Warriors

GS 99 - MAVS 112:
The Warriors had a 1-0 series lead and were looking for another road win in Dallas tonight. The game was a two point Mavs lead at halftime and Stephen Jackson was leading the Warriors with 20 points. G-State was playing decently and keeping the game within reach for them. Then, things got out of control in the third quarter after Stephen Jackson foul on Jason Terry, which Jackson raised his hand afterwards to signal the foul was on him, Jason Terry continued dribbling as Baron Davis and then Matt Barnes tried to knock the ball out of his hands. Terry immediately after that let go of the ball and went to Baron Davis's face and gave him some words as teammates joined in some intervening. After the players were separated Diop from the Mavs was granted a technical foul as well as Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson for the Warriors. This incident really raised the tension of the game and frustrated and angered Davis and Jackson. After the technical free throw, B Diddy and Jackson went straight to the refs for explanations for they did not understand why they were awarded the T's. This was the major turning point of the game and with every Davis foul throughout he would show his clear frustration and talk to the refs. When Baron Davis was given his fifth foul with a few seconds left in the second quarter, he argued then went near his sideline and started clapping as the ref told Nellie to restrain his player. Davis continued and was awarded his 2nd technical and was ejected from the game. He had a few quick choice words for the official before leaving the court and heading for the locker room. According to a TNT sideline reporter, Davis saw the replay on a TV on his way to the locker room and asked everyone around him if they saw any foul. Then in the fourth quarter Stephen Jackson was ejected when he lost his temper and yelled at the officials. Jackson did not walk off the court right away and continued the yelling as he very slowly and time-consumingly walked to the locker room often stopping and yelling at the refs. Hopefully, Jackson will not be suspended for the next game as he had 30 points for the Warriors before being ejected. The final score was 112-99 Dallas. All I know is that the Bay Area will be buzzing Friday night when the first playoff game in over 10 years for the Warriors is played there. The Warriors led by BD, Jackson, Monta Ellis, Matt Barnes, and Al Harrington will look to go up 2-1 and take the series lead come Friday night so be sure to tune in.

In other games the Spurs tied up the series with the Nuggets 1-1 in a 10+ point win and the Cavs beat the Wizards by 7 to go up 2-0 in the series.

Tomorrow night-Lakers-Suns 7:30 Pacific Time Tune In. Kobe needs to go off and score at least 50 maybe 60 for the Lakers to win. The Lakers also need to speed their game up to try and match the Suns pace. The Lakers desperately need a win here.

Sonics Firings, Playoffs

To start things off tonight, earlier today owner Clayton Bennet fired Bob Hill, coach of the Sonics, and GM Rick Sund. I am not surprised due to the Sonics 31-51 record even though the season was plagued by injury, the coach and the GM were not getting things done right. I am glad that they are out and I look forward to the rebuilding process over the summer.

I just stopped watching the Lakers-Suns game which got out of hand in the second quarter when the Suns who shoot around 60 percent were hitting almost every shot they took and Barbosa was playing great. They actually led 68-47 at halftime and the entire game was very fast paced. Kobe did not score enough or take enough shots for the Lakers to win and that is why he and the other starters are sitting on the bench with the game out of reach by 30 points with just under a quarter to go (when I stopped watching). The Suns are an amazing team this year and could go very far in the playoffs unless the Lakers make a big run as the series continues in LA on Thursday. I have to say that I am very disappointed in Kobe and the Lakers.

The Bulls easily took a 2-0 series lead over the Heat earlier tonight in Chicago in a victory that was sealed by the great play of Luel Deng.

The Raptors also tied their series up with the Nets at 1-1 led by the great play of Chris Bosh.

Tomorrow, two entertaining and two of my favorite first round match-ups resume as the Nuggets look to take a 2-0 lead on the Spurs, as the Warriors will attempt to do the same against the Mavs. It definitely should be a night of great basketball.

Wild Weekend + Monday Night

It was a great weekend of opening games with a few upsets and some great individual as well as team performances. The following recaps are some of the games that I thought were more intriguing and exciting than the rest.

The Mavs-Warriors game was awesome with G-State pulling off the upset in Dallas over the top-seeded Mavs. The Warriors were led by Baron Davis who nearly had a triple double with 33 big points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists. The Warriors got off to a good start when they held the Mavs to only 17 points in the 1st quarter when the Warriors had 23. Baron Davis had 19 of his 33 in the third quarter which helped propel his team to a victory ,with the help of Stephen Jackson's 23 points, over the now frustrated Mavs.

The Nuggets beat the Spurs 95-89 in San Antonio yesterday also with Allen Iverson dropping 34 points in his first playoff game in about 3 years I believe. Melo also had 31 points in a great all-around effort by the Nuggets.

Kobe Bryant also had an amazing first half matched up 1 on 1 against Raja Bell mostly by hitting numerous hard three pointers and jumpshots and he ended up with 28 points at half and a Lakers lead which in the 2nd quarter was up to eleven thanks to the help of Luke Walton and rookie point guard Jordan Farmar from UCLA who got the start over slumping Smush Parker. The Suns charged back in the second half led by Barbosa who came off the bench to score 26 points and lead the Suns to a 95-87 victory of the Lakers. Kobe ended up with 39 points, only scoring 11 in the second half and he was ice cold from the floor making only 1 of his 10 shot attempts in the fourth quarter. Hopefully the Lakers can bounce back tommorow against the Suns and tie the series up before it heads back to LA. Note: Earlier today Barbosa recieved the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

The Cavs took care of the Wizards who are playing withot their two all-stars, Arenas and Butler, but still put up a rather good fight. Larry Hughes had 20, LeBron had 23 despite injuring his ankle in the third quarter and returning as soon as he got up. News out of Cleveland is that he is doing fine and will play in the next game.

One of the games that I payed more attention to this weekend and today (Monday), was the Pistons-Magic playing. The Pistons have played solid in the first two games winning them both and in the second game earlier tonight, they held Dwight Howard to only 9 points. The Pistons have been playing strong and in Rip Hamilton and Big Shot Billups have combined for 44 in the first game adn 43 in the second game. Sheed and CWebb are also playing great and Pistons are clicking on all cylinders and playing intense Pistons playoff basketball as they have been known for playing over the last few years.

Also, the Rockets grabbed a 2-0 series lead on the Jazz tonight led by Tracy McGrady's 31 points. More to come either tommorow or early the next morning so keep checking for updates.

Playoff Preview & Predictions

I will be covering this year's NBA Playoffs as a one man team as below I have previewed and predicted all 8 of the first round matchups. Soon I will be posting my predictions for who will meet in the conference and NBA finals. Just to let you all know I will be following and writing about these following series more than the others: Lakers-Suns Spurs-Nuggets, Pistons-Magic, and the Mavs-Warriors series.

Here are my previews and predictions for all the first round matchups:

Mavs-Warriors: Golden State has won, I believe, 8 straight games in the season ending stretch, which helped them greatly in getting into the playoffs. Golden State is in a rhythm right now and Dallas has been resting starters recently and taking it easy before the playoffs. Baron Davis, the highly improved Monta Ellis, and Jason Richardson, and Stephen Jackson will take this team to the second round if they continue to play as well as they have been playing and continue their winning moment into the playoffs. They are going to catch the Mavs by surprise and win what will be a very close and intense series.

Warriors in 7.

Pistons-Magic: The Pistons had a great season this year and have one of their best teams in years with the arrival of Chris Webber. They have been a great, solid, winning team this entire season and they will step it up even more heading into the playoffs. Dwight Howard will be a force for a few games and put up big numbers, but they will not be enough to outplay the Pistons and, Big Shot Billups, who I believe will make it through to at least the Eastern Conference Finals where a Pistons-Cavs series is imminent.

Pistons in 5.

Suns-Lakers: This was the one of the best match-ups in the playoffs this year and was highlighted by Raja Bell and Kobe going at it (remember that clothesline?), and Kobe's dunk over the then MVP, Steve Nash. I still cannot believe Tim Thomas hit that shot in game 6 that forced a game 7 when the Lakers had been up 3-1 prior to that. It was a very exciting series last year and was probably my favorite behind the Pistons-Cavs series in the Semis. This season Kobe showed he could put up big numbers when he dropped 50 plus in four games straight this season. I think Kobe needs to drop at least 35-40 points per game for the Lakers to win the series. If he does this it will come down to Game 7 where Kobe will go off for 50 plus maybe even 60 in a Lakers win.

Lakers in 7.

Cavs-Wizards: In a rematch of last year's exciting first round matchup between these two teams, LeBron and the Cavs come in with momentum and their second straight 50-win season. LeBron is developing more and more into a leader of his team and we will see how far he has come throughout the playoffs. However, this series will be far more exciting if Gilbert Arenas was playing and if Caron Butler was also playing. I don't think it will even be too competitive with the Wiz missing their two All-Stars. LeBron will begin his playoff rampage and end the season for the Wizards in a playoff sweep.

Cavs in 4.

Spurs-Nuggets: AI and Melo have been clicking recently and the Nuggets have won 9 of their last 10 games heading into the playoffs. With Marcus Camby playing as dominant as ever and Steve Blake stepping up when needed I believe that the Nuggets will win this serious under 3 certain conditions:
1. The most important thing is that AI and Melo step up and keep playing like they have been recently as the chemistry has been great. Melo also needs to pour in the scoring when needed.
2. Lock-down defense needs to be played against Tim Duncan and the Spurs.
3. Steve Blake, Marcus Camby, and other key reserves need to step up and play their asses off in order for the Nuggets to win this series.
This game will come down to a decisive game 7 in San Antonio and the Nuggets will come into the Alamo Dome and knock the Spurs out of the playoffs.

Nuggets in 7.

Raptors-Nets: Raptors-Nets: The storyline for this one is Vince returning to Toronto to play his former team who surprisingly are in a better position than the Nets. I also fully expect the Raptors fans to boo Vince every single to he touches the ball. However I believe that veteran All-Star point guard Jason Kidd will help out the Nets greatly and Vince will show his ability to utterly dominate a game again and a again. Also RJ will do what he does and contribute to a Nets series win.

Nets in 6.

Jazz-Rockets: A highly improved Jazz team led by young point guard, Deron Williams take on the also much improved Rockets led by T-Mac and Yao Ming. T-Mac and Yao will be too much for the Jazz to handle and the Rockets will come out with the win and move on to the second round.

Rockets in 6.

Heat-Bulls: When the Bulls lost to New Jersey on the last day of the regular season it took them from the 2nd seed to the 5th seed. With the off-season addition of Ben Wallace, the Bulls have been much improved this season. The Heat managed to not only stay in the playoff picture but also claimed the fourth seed when D-Wade went down. With D-Wade's recent return, the defending champs will rely on him to have big games in this series and be back to his usual self on the court. With D-Wade playing great, James Posey, Udonis Haslem and Shaq will contribute to the Heat series win over Chicago and pound the ball inside. The defending champs are going to be back in back in full force.

Heat in 6.

I strongly believe that the NBA Playoffs are going to be extremely exciting this year starting out with great first round matchups. Get ready for an intense and exciting 1 and a half months!

Playoffs Are Set

Playoffs are now officially set. Come Saturday and they will be underway. Man am I excited for this year. My predictions will be posted soon.

Cavs Clinch

LeBron's 28 points led Cleveland to a win over the Bucks as New Jersey beat Chicago, giving the Cavs the number 2 seed in the east. Myself being a Cavs fan am very pleased with this. They will face the Wizards in the first-round in a remath of last year's first-round series which will probably be less exciting will be less exciting due to Gilbert Arenas's absense from the line-up. Right now the Warriors are working on clinching the 8th and final spot in the west so we will see how that plays out. In case you didn't already know, today is the last day of the regular season and all the final clinching so to say is being done or has been done today.

Quick Hits

Joey Crawford suspended. Thank you David Stern. Joey was placing himself above the game and implicating the game in his own way which was not a good way at all. This wasn't his first incident of overreacting either but was probably his worst. From what he said, it doesn't seem that he is going to ref again. Which is good to know because nobody wants a ref implicating the eventual out come of the game.
Bottom line is that David Stern is not somebody to be messed with.

Nuggets have won 9 of their last 10 and it seems that AI and Melo are in high gear playing together heading into the playoffs.

Also a few other little thing:

Vince Young is rumored to be on the Madden 08 cover and the official announcement and revealing of the cover is set for Thursday on SportsCenter.

The NFL Draft is 11 days away and man am I excited for that. A lot of great athletes are in the draft this year and I am looking forward to see how that is going to play out.

Tim Duncan, Kobe, MVP & More

Firstly, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, families and anyone affected by the Virginia Tech massacre.

Joey Crawford. Wow, that is one hot-headed and emotional man. I already know of his ways from watching previous NBA games and it was only a little bit of a shock of the little incident between him and Timmy Duncan. I still can't believe that he threw a player out that was laughing. Although it appeared that Duncan was laughing at the call Crawford had just made he could of been laughing at anything in the world. But, Tim was probably laughing at the call and Joey Crawford felt that he was showing him up. Yet you cannot throw a player out of the game for that especially if he was sitting on the bench not even on the floor playing.

Kobe dropped 50 on my Sonics again. These late season losses on the season are actually good news for us because it means that the Sonics will have a much better chance of winning a top pick in the draft in which I consider will be a draft to replace Rashard Lewis because I highly believe that he is out of here. Without Kobe turning it on during the late season NBA strech run, the Lakers would not be near the playoffs now. This recent 50 point outing of Kobe's was the tenth time this season in which Kobe has had 50 points or more. This is amazing and also the fact that he is carrying his young team on his shoulders gives him my MVP vote. The bottomline is without Kobe turning it on and doing what he does best, the Lakers arent even getting near the playoffs.

My hope is that we get a rematch of the first round matchup of last years Lakers-Suns series which was highlighted by a Kobe-Raja Bell battle throughout the series in which the Lakers lost after leading 3-1.

Also, I strongly believe that Brandon Roy from the Portland Trailblazers,coming out of Garfield High School here in Seattle as well as being a four-year player at the University of Washington winning Pac-10 Player of The Year Award and also being honored as an All-American, is the Rookie of The Year without a doubt.

Oden Going Pro

Looks like Greg Oden will join fellow freshman Kevin Durant in the NBA Draft. His father told the Indianapolis Star earlier tonight that he is happy with his sons choice and is quoted saying why would he risk injury? (playing another season in college). Oden's father also informed the newspaper that fellow Buckeye Mike Conley Jr, a former Indiana high school teammate of Oden's is also going to enter the draft as will freshman Daequan Cook. All players have until midnight on April 29th to offically enter themselves in the draft.

My reaction: I am not surprised for all these players have NBA-caliber game and they had a meanigful college basketball experience reaching the National Championship after an exciting season. In upcoming posts I will write about who should be picked number 1 in this upcoming draft.

Also, No more Baller of The Day Awards will be given out until playoff time with very few games remaining in the season, the majority of them meaningless.

Have a good weekend.

Baseballin

Just got back from the Mariners-Rangers game over at Safeco Field. M's lost 5-2 but I had a fun time. My uncle gave us some first base line tickets about 20 rows up which were nice seats. Felix Hernandez is KING by the way. Even though he wasn't pitching tonight but they showed highlights of his 1-hit game Wednesday against Boston which was amazing.

B.O.D. 4/12/07

Ok the first baller of the day award was a tough one. With the two games on tonight with LeBron dropping 35 on the Nets and throwing down some nasty dunks in the process he made a strong case. The Cavs with their win over the Nets are now tied for 2nd place in the East. After that game Kobe and the Lakers had a Hollywood showdown with the Clips at Staples Center and Kobe got hot dropping 44 through 3 quarters. In the 4th with the Lakers up by 17 Kobe hit 50 and looked on track for 60 plus. But he then got cold while Corey Maggette continued his big night leading a Clippers comeback with 39 points of his own.

Because of this game-changing performance Corey Maggette wins the first annual B.O.D. awards. It was a huge win for the Clippers who kept their playoffs hopes alive fueled by Maggette, Cassell, and Brand.

Starting This Up

Whats up? Jonathan here with my new blog. I will try to update it daily as I deal with school and other things. It will primarily be about my thoughts on the day of basketball and football. When I say basketball and football it could range from high school to college to the NBA and NFL. Just want to let it be known that I am a huge Seahawks fan, Washington Huskies fan, and my favorite NBA teams are the Nuggets, Cavs, Pistons, and the Lakers. I will update on my thoughts every day about these sports and will have daily awards such as B.O.D. which is baller of the day. Whether it be a bballer or a footballer. Thanks for reading, Poyce-