ItsTheBlog™

A day after beating LeBron James and the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics fell to the LeBron-less Cleveland Cavaliers. Huh?

How do the Celtics look like the Eastern conference champions they are in Game 1, but struggle mightily against a team that will fight to win 30 games this year?

Age.

Look at the Celtics starting five: Shaq (38, 19th season), Garnett (34, 16th season), Allen (35, 15th season), Pierce (34, 14th season) Rondo (young). The first four guys have 60 years of NBA experience and 141 years of age -- and that's fantastic. But it means that on back-to-back nights, it's completely conceivable that they might struggle. To compound this, the Cavs had something to prove last night in their first game without the King.

As Hayden at RhymesWithHondo put it, "[c]oming off an intense game the night before, in Cleveland against a Cavaliers team eager to prove itself without LeBron James, it stands to reason that the Celtics might have a little bit of a letdown."

So, while the irony may be there, and it may feel a bit like 2009-2010 rather than 2010-2011, this shouldn't come as a huge shock. The Celtics are built for the playoffs--when it really counts--to compete with LeBron and Miami, Dwight and Orlando, and Kobe and L.A. These regular season games are important, but they really can't be seen as too important.

Labels: basketball, Boston Celtics, etball, Garnett, Lakers, Lebron James, NBA

What is up with this commercial? Lebron looks just like Tiger in that awkward commercial that Nike did after the whole Tigergate thing with all the girls he slept with.

In the commercial Lebron poses a series of rhetorical questions to the audience. Should I take on my role as the villain? Should I not listen to my friends? (But they're my friends?) Should I clear the deck and start over? Should I remove my tatoo, act, etc.? He also states, "I am not your role model."

Lebron's publicist clearly was asleep at the wheel when Lebron agreed to run with this commercial. Lebron comes across as ever other sell out athlete (think back to Johnny Damon going from the Sox to the Yankees).

In today's day and age of 24 hour news cycles, even shorter pop culture cycles, people (especially people in Cleveland) were hoping that Lebron was different. That he had some loyalty to his home town. That he'd bring the championship there. Instead, this commercial stands as a testament to those who misread the Decision--I'm here to make as much money as possible. I for one was hoping he was a page out of a long lost era when players were role models.

Labels: Lebron James, Nike

Well if everybody would have looked at the Heat Celtics game logically,(and who in the sports world really thinks this way?) then what happened opening night would not have a surprise at all. The defending east champs beat what right now can only be described as the US national team. If the national team really had time to gel and become a team, do you think they would have a problem beating Spain in the olympics? Probably not. Well the Celtics are like spain... With talent and athleticism. So yes of course the celtics were going to beat the Heat on opening night. Even Lebron having a run late in the game wasn't enough, because, would you look at that! Paul Pierce and Ray Allen aren't dead yet and some big shots from them were enough to put out that fire.

With all that being said, when Wade and Bosh get comfortable playing with Lebron they will easily be able to make runs of their own, and if James and Wade get hot at different times in a game then the Heat will be unbeatable. Doesn't matter what teammates they have on the floor with them, these players can carry their teams. The only difference this year is that they can take turns doing so.

-SR

Labels: basketball, Boston Celtics, LeBron, miami heat, NBA

Playoffs are a sports fan’s heaven. It’s the time of the season where players push their injuries, excitement and intensity of the sport build to a climax, and fans pay up the nose to catch a glimpse of the action. So more of a GOOD thing must be a GREAT thing, right? Wrong.

Major league baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires after next season. With the expiration approaching, there’s talk and support, even amongst the players’ association, for expansion of the MLB playoffs. Currently, 8 teams out of 30 qualify for the playoffs every year. The discussed proposal would call for additional teams to qualify as well as expanding the initial Division Series to a best of 7 games (it is 5 games currently).

Bud Selig, the so called innocent baseball commissioner that was completely unaware of the rampant use of steroids in the 90’s and early 2000’s, is heading the movement, "I'm intrigued by that and we'll talk about it," Selig said on ESPN Radio. "We only have eight teams, the least of any sport, so even if we went to 10 teams, we wouldn't be abusing anything."

Abuse? How did we get to talking about abuse? Shouldn’t Selig be pushing and selling this to fans as a grand, innovative tweak instead of a defensive front? In business language, Selig was saying this, “There’s more juice left in this orange. It’s not as pure as the rest of the juice, but since it’s not unethical, given today’s business practices, we’re going to squeeze it some more and sell it.”

Without a doubt, baseball is a for profit business. And yes this will lead to additional revenue. But is it the smartest move baseball can make even from a financial standpoint? I believe it is not.

The change doesn’t lend itself to meshing well with the average sports fan.

More isn’t always better. Ever been to a Super Bowl party? Of course. Ever been to a World Series party? Probably not. Why? You might say well Football and Baseball are different sports, you can’t compare the two and Football is more popular. But why is Football more popular? And if it is, shouldn’t Baseball try as much as possible to imitate Football?

Fantasy Football is the most popular fantasy sport. Why? Because it’s only once a week and that day is on a weekend. As I once heard someone say before, “it takes away the aftertaste of church.” The point being here, in this age of technology, people have poor attention spans. Look at me, I’m writing this while in class. Baseball gets complaints about being too slow of a game. The fact that the World Series will extend into November this year is ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong. More baseball, I’ll watch. But if baseball is going to grow it has to attract a larger fan base. There are diehards with every sport but catering only to them is a bad business decision for the sport overall.

A salary cap is the next step Baseball needs to make. Having the Yankees in the World Series every year may not be BAD for TV ratings but it’s BAD for the growth of the sport which should be the ultimate goal.

- MB

Labels: Baseball, expansion, MLB, playoffs, wild card, Yankees

The Lakers got their championship rings last night, and the ceremony was quite different than I expected. Each member of the 2009-2010 squad got a chance to be on the microphone, in front of a sold-out Staples Center, to say "Thanks" and to introduce the next teammate. My first thought? Is this a contest of how literate each Laker can be?

I came away oddly surprised at how professional and intelligent most of the Lakers came across. (Read: Most NBA players don't do so well in front of people.) More importantly, however, was the "family" atmosphere that came across as each player took turns introducing the next. From Lamar's "proud papa" attitude when introducing first-time champion Ron Artest to Fisher's "Kobe is the Man" speech, this Laker fan was proud.

Although, I did find it mildly amusing that the two adjectives Phil Jackson used to describe the championship ring were "terrific" and "unwearable." True to form, Jackson let none other than Justin Bieber, who was sitting courtside, wear his ring during the game last night. Gotta love LA...

Labels: Artest, champions, championship ring, Fisher, Kobe, Lakers, NBA, Odom

The folks at ItsTheLeague.com take their stab at answering the following questions about the 2010-2011 NBA Season, which kicks off tomorrow:

1. What will be the 2010-2011 Miami Heat regular season record?

Michael Boyd (MB): 63-19
Karan Lodha (KL): 63-19
Matt Reyes (MR): 56-26
Steven Rojas (SR): 58-24
Kevin Reyes (KR): 61-21
Hayden Alfano (HA): 58-24
Cody Schumacher (CS): 63-19
Jayson Moss (JM): 65-17


2. What will be the 2010-2011 Los Angeles Lakers regular season record?

MB: 64-18
KL: 65-17
MR: 59-23
SR: 53-29
KR: 59-23
HA: 55-27
CS: 58-24
JM: 63-19

3. Who will be the 2010-2011 NBA Champion/the runner-up?

MB: Celtics/Lakers
KL: Lakers/Magic
MR: Lakers/Heat
SR: Heat/Thunder
KR: Lakers/Celtics
HA: Celtics/Lakers
CS: Celtics/Thunder
JM: Lakers/Heat


4. Who will be the 2010-2011 MVP?

MB: Kevin Durant
KL: Kevin Durant
MR: Kevin Durant
SR: Kevin Durant
KR: Kevin Durant
HA: LeBron James
CS: Kevin Durant
JM: LeBron James

5. In terms of points, rebounds, and assists, what will be LeBron James' 2010-2011 stat line?

MB: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8.5 assists
KL: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists
MR: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists
SR: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 9.5 assists
KR: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 8.5 assists
HA: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists
CS: 25 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists
JM: 27 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists

6. Who will be the 2010-2011 Rookie of the Year?

MB: Blake Griffin
KL: Jeremy Lin
MR: Blake Griffin
SR: Blake Griffin
KR: John Wall
HA: Blake Griffin
CS: Blake Griffin
JM: John Wall

7. Predict seeds 1-8 in the 2010-2011 Western Conference playoffs. In particular, who will be the Lakers' biggest threat, and why?

MB: 1. Lakers
2. Mavericks
3. Thunder (Biggest threat because they are young and athletic, took Lakers to 7 games last year. )
4. Spurs
5. Utah
6. Portland
7. Denver
8. Houston

KL: 1. Lakers
2. Thunder
3. Dallas
4. Memphis
5. San Antonio
6. Portland
7. Denver
8. Phoenix

MR: 1. Lakers
2. Thunder (OKC will be the Lakers biggest threat with Durant having an MVP season but they will fall short of the Lakers and get the number 2 seed.)
3. Mavericks
4. Utah
5. Spurs
6. Blazers
7. Rockets
8. Nuggets

SR: 1. Lakers
2. Nuggets
3. Thunder (The Thunder will be Lakers biggest threat, and I think they will beat them. I think Kobe has an off year, I'm not saying he is done, but I think he will be playing at 60% energy all season and try to turn it on during the playoffs, and it won't work.)
4. Blazers
5. Suns
6. Mavs
7. Spurs
8. Grizzlies

KR: 1. Lakers
2. Thunder
3. Mavs
4. Jazz
5. Spurs
6. Trail Blazers
7. Nuggets
8. Rockets

HA: 1. Los Angeles Lakers (In terms of the regular season, I think all of the top five or six seeds could step up and challenge LA for the league's best record. Nagging injuries to the Lakers really could cause them to win fewer games during the regular season, especially at the start.)
2. Utah
3. Oklahoma City
4. Dallas
5. Denver
6. San Antonio
7. Portland
8. Houston

CS:1. OKC (OKC's youth and raw talent will lead them to take out the Lakers as defending champions)
2. Dallas
3. LAL
4. Utah
5. Denver
6. SA
7. Portland
8. Houston

JM:1. Lakers
2. Jazz (The Jazz have a new center and will mesh well with D. Williams dishing the ball)
3. Thunder
4. Hornets
5. Mavs
6. Nuggets
7. Trail Blazers
8. Spurs

8. Predict seeds 1-8 in the 2010-2011 Eastern Conference playoffs. In particular, who will be the biggest threat to the Magic, Celtics, and Heat, and why?

MB: 1. Celtics
2. Heat
3. Orlando
4. Atlanta
5. Chicago
6. Bucks
7. 76'ers
8. New York

KL: 1. Heat
2. Magic
3. Bulls
4. Bucks
5. Hawks
6. Celtics
7. Bobcats
8. Knicks

MR: 1. Celtics
2. Magic
3. Heat
4. Bulls (Chicago will be the next biggest threat finishing 4th in the East and will also make it to the conference finals but lose. The Boozer and Korver pieces will give them more depth at positions they lacked last season.)
5. Bucks
6. Hawks
7. Knicks
8. Wizards

SR: 1. Heat
2. Magic
3. Celtics
4. Bulls
5. Hawks
6. Bucks
7. Knicks
8. Cavs

KR: 1. Heat
2. Magic
3. Celtics
4. Bulls
5.Hawks
6. Bucks
7. Bobcats
8. Knicks

HA: 1. Boston
2. Orlando
3. Miami
4. Chicago (Chicago is the biggest threat by default, because any team seeded 5-8 will have to beat all three of the Celtics, Magic, and Heat without homecourt advantage. That's just ridiculous. Equally ridiculous, however, is the idea that Chicago could win two such series'. This is a three-horse race from the getgo.)
5. Milwaukee
6. Atlanta
7. New York
8. Philadelphia? I don't even know. I can't think of a single East team deserving of the eighth seed.

CS: 1. Miami
2. Orlando
3. Boston
4. Chicago (I dont see anyone really being a threat to the big 3 teams, but if i were to say one it would have to be Chicago, the combo of Rose/Boozer (when healthy)/Noah should be pretty tough to deal with.)
5. Atlanta
6. Milwaukee
7. New York
8. Philly

JM:
1. Heat
2. Magic
3. Hawks (Hawks want it and need it; also the Bulls, with a new team new attitude)
4. Celtics
5. Bulls
6. Knicks
7. Bucks
8. Wizards

9. Will Carmelo Anthony be traded during the season? To whom?

MB: New Jersey
KL: Knicks
MR: No trade
SR: He will not be traded, the Nuggets will have a good team and try to win with him for one more year.
KR: I think Carmelo stays put. If the Nuggets are really struggling at the deadline, they'll make a big effort to move him, but otherwise, I would guess he ends the season a Nugget.
HA: No
CS: No, I dont think he will be traded, but if he is it will be to NY
JM: Yes. Knicks

10. Will there be an NBA lockout next season? If so, what does that mean for the NBA?

MB: Better not be. Though I think there will be. If so, NBA takes huge hit. Will contract 2-4 teams.
KL: Probably... sad.
MR: Yes, they will need to cut the number of teams in the league in order to cut expenses.
SR: If there is a lockout it will kill all of the momentum this LeBron James saga has created for the NBA. More people will watch because of the Heat, and a lockout will kill those casual fans and even some hardcore ones.
KR: I sure hope not, but it's sounding more and more like a lockout is not only possible, but likely. All we can hope for is that it doesn't delay--or, worse, completely cancel--the 2011-2012 season.
HA: Yes. I don't want to talk about it.
CS: No, the league can't afford to take a hit like that, and things should get worked out in time.
JM: Hope not!

11. Who will be the NBA's leading scorer, and how many points will that person average? (Matt's version of this question: how many points will Kevin Durant average?)

MB: Durant, 30 ppg
KL: KDeez Nuts, 29.7 ppg
MR: Durant, 28.6 ppg
SR: Durant, he will average pretty much the same as last year, as I said before Kobe will cruise most of the season and lebron's heat won't have enough scoring to go around.
KR: Durant, 31.2 ppg
HA: Durant, 33 ppg
CS: Durant, 30.4 ppg
JM: LeBron, 30.8 ppg

Labels: basketball, Boston Celtics, Bulls, Lakers, NBA, predictions