NBA Season Predictions

Basketball started already?! I missed it with all the football and World Series baseball going on. No, I knew it started; I just didn’t give you my predictions yet. Here they are… and basketball has to be one of the easiest sports to predict. Maybe not game to game and it’s never definite because of injuries, but every year it’s pretty obvious who will contend for the title.

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics- Adding Rasheed Wallace makes them nearly unbeatable.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers- I don’t know how well slow old Shaq will fit in with Lebron but LJ is so good it won’t matter what Shaq does.

3. Orlando Magic- Having a healthy Jameer Nelson will equal out the loss of Hedo Turkoglu. Adding Vince Carter doesn’t hurt either.

These Teams Can’t Contend for the Championship, But They’ll Make the Playoffs

4. Atlanta Hawks- Their young talent guided by the veteran leadership of Mike Bibby gives them a lot of wins, but I think they’re too young to contend for a title.

5. Chicago Bulls- Derrick Rose will bring Chi town a championship eventually. They’re very similar to the Hawks.

6. Miami Heat- Michael Beasley will average about 20 points this year and of course Wade will carry the team. I think Jermaine O’Neal will play better but will get hurt at some point like he does every year and won’t be healthy enough to matter in the playoffs.

7. Philadelphia 76ers- Andre Iguodala is the best AI in the league. There wasn’t enough room for two AI’s in Philly and I think the organization made the right decision on which one to keep.

8. Washington Wizards- We will see the reemergence of Gilbert Arenas, but the talent of their complete roster can’t compete with the top three beats of the east.

How The Playoffs Will Go

First Round

- The Celtics sweep the Wizards.

- The Cavilers beat the 76ers, but it will get interesting. I predict 4-2.

- The Magic dominate the Heat with Howard killing O’Neal and Haslem down low. Wade will get them one win.

- D Rose will get the Bulls past the Hawks in seven putting a dagger in the Hawks fans hearts in Atlanta.

Second Round

- Rose shows just how great he is by making it a seven game series against the Celtics, but comes up just short. Boston is too talented to lose, but soon enough Rose will be so good that he will be able to single handily defeat a team like Boston.

- Lebron will be Lebron and get the Cavs past the Magic in six while enjoying the sweet taste of revenge since the Magic knocked the Cavs out last post season.

Third Round

- The Celtics all around talent defeat the Cavs in game seven in Boston. Critics will start to question if Lebron can ever win the big one. Shaq will prove to be worthless but he will stick it out another year to try and leach off of Lebron’s talent in hopes of getting another championship.

Western Conference

1. LA Lakers- How can anyone say Ron Artest won’t help as much as Trevor Ariza did last year? That’s asinine. Kobe keeps Ron’s head on straight as they defend their title.

2. San Antonio Spurs- Richard Jefferson is a perfect fit. This team is dangerous.

3. Denver Nuggets- As long as Carmelo stays out of trouble, which I think Chauncey helps with a lot, I see the Nuggets really pressing the other elite teams, putting themselves in the conversation about competing for the title.

These Teams Can’t Contend for the Championship, But They’ll Make the Playoffs

4. Portland Trail Blazers- They have a lot of talent, but they’re too young to compete with the elite’s for the title.

5. Utah Jazz- These guys really should be in the conversation for competing for the trophy but they just can’t seem to win once the playoffs start.

6. Dallas Mavericks- I don’t think Dirk will ever miss the playoffs.

7. New Orleans Hornets- Chris Paul is a winner and a great leader. He is the Hornets D-Wade.

8. Oklahoma City Thunder- Their young team will gel enough to inch them into the final playoff spot.

First Round

- Lakers sweep the Thunder.

- The Spurs beat the Hornets in five. Chris Paul gets the Hornets one win.

- Chauncey Billups leads the Nuggets past the Mavericks in six games.

- The Jazz win in game six in Utah. Portland is still too young and inexperienced. They will over-take the aging Spurs in the next two years for the top three in the West.

Second Round

- Lakers dominate the Jazz and win in five games.

- The Spurs experience and maturity get them past Denver in six.

Third Round

- The Spurs win a classic series in seven at LA. Jack Nicholas will be crying as the quiet Tim Duncan proves yet again that he’s the best ever power forward, even though he's playing center this year for the most part.

Championship Series

- Tim Duncan gets another ring as they take down Boston in six games. Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett will get frustrated by Timmy the Great.

Women's Soccer Sun-Belt Conference Tournament

Game 1

The #1 seed FIU Golden Panthers lost in the first game to the #8 seed Arkansas Little Rock Trojans in front of the largest crowd on the day. Regulation ended with a scoreless tie, really a sleeper especially for a first thing in the morning game. The Trjoans striked quickly in overtime making the Golden Panthers best ever in conference regular season record a waste.

It's official, there is a Sun-Belt Conference tournament in South Florida with neither of the South Florida teams involved. It's going to be tough to draw local fans, or really any fans at all that aren't the parents of the remaining teams' players.

Game 2

#4 North Texas beat #5 Middle Tennessee State and faces UALR tomorrow at 4pm.

Game 3

#2 seed Denver, the most impressive looking team and the defending champion, won 3-0 dominating #7 Troy.

Game 4

#6 Arkansas State upset #3 Western Kentucky 2-1 after winning a shoot out 4-2. WKU had plenty of chances to score but couldn't capitalize. These two teams made sure that the day and night of soccer could not have possibly gone any longer. It was 1-1 after the first half and then no one scored through the second half or either of the two overtime periods.

#6 ASU faces #2 Denver tomorrow at 7pm.

Interesting Notes

- In the last week of the season it was a question if either of the Arkansas teams in the Sun-Belt Conference would make the playoffs. They each helped their cause by shutting out the Owls at FAU. Now they control their own destiny on facing each other in the Sun-Belt Conference Championship at FAU Soccer Complex.

- I will be missing my softball playoff game in order to call both the games for the tournament tomorrow. If we didn't have two months of rain outs with my softball team this wouldn't have happened. Let's hope for no rain in Boca and pouring rain in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow night just like what happened tonight so I can be good with both.

- The Sun Belt Conference Championship game is Saturday at 1pm

Money Really Can Buy Happiness

Just look at the Yankees.

Not What FAU Soccer Planned

I’ve been announcing games all season long for the FAU men’s and women’s soccer teams. Neither had good years and neither made their conference tournaments.

Worst of all FAU is hosting their first ever women’s soccer Sun-Belt Conference Tournament and weren’t good enough to be involved in the fight for the championship on their home field.

They needed to win their last match of the season to have any hope to make the playoffs, but came up just short against rival FIU 1-0. Not only did they get knocked out of the tournament by their arch nemesis, but FIU also had the best in conference record and will be the number one seed.

That doesn’t bode well for ticket sales and money generating for a sports program that was looking forward to the extra cash.

Well, I’m here to tell you come out anyway! At least to root against those FIU Golden Panthers!

I’ll be there doing the PA. Games start Wednesday 10am at Boca’s FAU Soccer Field. There are four games back to back to back to back. The next round is Thursday, first game starts at 4pm with the next directly after. The Sun-Belt women’s soccer Championship game is Saturday at 1pm. See you there… well, not the FAU women’s soccer team, but you…maybe… come on you know you want to hear me call some soccer over the PA in Boca!!

NFL Results

Picking Spreads: 3-0

Season Spreads: 43-28

Picking Winners: 3-0

Season Winners: 53-18

What I Learned This Week

- Houston has a solid all around team and will be fighting for a playoff spot in the final weeks.

- Dallas is a playoff team and made the right decision by getting rid of TO.

- Ever since Eli Manning injured his foot the Giants haven’t been the same. It’s time for Tom Coughlin to get his team right before the New York media tries to run him out of town again.

- The Cardinals are who we thought they are! A team that only plays good when it matters.

- Brett Favre on a team surrounded with great talent equals divisional title at least. Percy Harvin is the present day Randy Moss for the Vikings. Another receiver that teams passed on drafting because of some issues but worked out perfectly for Minnesota. Harvin has a knack for making the big play when it matter most.

College Football Results

Picking Spreads: 0-2

Season Spreads: 13-17

Picking Winners: 2-0

Season Winners: 20-10

What I Learned This Week

- Virginia Tech only cared about the National Championship this year and it showed in their ACC home loss to North Carolina.

- South Florida’s freshman quarterback BJ Daniels is a stud. He’s going to put USF’s program in the national limelight in a year or two. His attitude changed the culture in Tampa. They went from a team that once they lose they give up on their whole season to a team that fights for every yard on every play on both sides of the football.

- Bobby Bowden should remain the head coach of FSU until he calls it quits. The way the Seminoles have played the last few weeks proves Bowden can still instill toughness in his players, no matter how talented or untalented. The Noles could have easily lost the rest of their games but have toughened it out amongst all the negative controversies. Where are all Bowden’s critics now?

- Duke finally has a decent football team.

- How is it that no one is talking about how bad Michigan got spanked this weekend and that they have a 1-4 conference record? They went from being a team that’s ranked to a team that’s tanked.

- Bye bye USC! No championship for you!

- The BCS got it right! I thought they would rank Oregon over Boise State even though Boise beat them. Surprising… let’s see how long that lasts.

NFL Predictions

Season Spreads: 40-28

Season Winners: 50-18

Cleveland (+13) at Chicago: Take the Bears to cover. Chicago plays great at home and the Browns play terrible everywhere.

Giants (-1) at Eagles: The Giants are struggling and playing in Philly is never easy. The Eagles take this divisional game giving New York a three game losing streak after winning their first five.

Minnesota (+3) at Green Bay: This game won't be about the two quarterbacks. It will be about the Vikings defensive line blowing past the Packers depleted offensive line all day long.

Can't Pick These

Houston (-3) at Buffalo: It's starting to get cold outside. I don't know how the Texans will react.

Seattle (+9) at Dallas: Neither of these teams play consistent.

St. Louis (+4) at Detroit: Those UFL games are more exciting than this one.

Denver (+3) at Baltimore: The Ravens have the talent to win but haven't won a game in a month. Ray Lewis will get his team pumped to prove themselves but it might not be enough.

San Francisco (+13) at Indianapolis: Too high of a spread. The 49ers are a good team but don't know how to win.

Dolphins (+3) at Jets: A lot of running all game from both these teams. The winner depends on how well the Jets defend Chad Henne's passing and how well the Dolphins rookie corner's defend Dirty Sanchez.

Jacksonville (+3) at Tennessee: The Titans have failed me every time I've picked them this season. I think they'll win but I wouldn't bet on it.

Oakland (+17) at San Diego: The Chargers have the capability of covering the spread but that's too high for a team that decides to play hard just half the time.

Carolina (+10) at Arizona: These are the types of games Arizona loses.