On the Hardwood with Pros and Students

Today I will write about professional and college basketball, I will do this relatively short because my last few blogs have chained you to your seat for longer than you want. I get it, but, I will now make it shorter, but with more/better content. So, it’s kind of like juice. In the past, I had a bunch of water (length of the blog) and a good amount of juice (content), so, now I’ll cut down on the water but give you hopefully the same amount of juice.

Before we start, I want to give you guys and gals a fun activity for any sport. Whatever sport you enjoy the most, you can do this with. Ok, so, you type in “random (insert sport here, like, NBA, NFL, MLB) player generator” into your search bar, then, you find a website you’re comfortable with (doesn’t matter which) and then type in how many players you want the website to generate. Side note: if you’re using https://www.2kblacktoprandomizer.com/, press 1V1, All Players, and you can deselect “current players” for a harder challenge or keep “current players”. Then, open the website Basketball Reference, then choose one of your players and type him into the Basketball-Reference search bar. Now, here comes the fun part, go through the website and try to get from that player to the second player without typing in the second player’s name, going through family relationships, or the draft. Aaaaand, Go!

Schedule: We got the NBA random generator and here we go again. I’m going to generate 3 teams, no Knicks. Then, give the rundown. For more, go to last week’s blog, if you want more, hunt down the first blog of this series. Then, I’ll talk about March Madness, and then NFL Free Agency. I’m trying to make my blog new and interesting every week, so, if you have any, give me some ideas, please. Direct Message my father or something, if not, I’ll keep cooking up new ideas.

I rolled Dallas Mavericks first, Charlotte Hornets second, Sacramento Kings third.

Dallas Mavericks: This team is definitely a dark horse to win the Finals or to be a first-round exit. This team is a skyscraper built on a 6-inch slab (usually made to support suburb houses). It is top-heavy, with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis and they have a steeper drop-off on their roster than the Lakers had last year (LeBron James and Anthony Davis being the top two, and Javale McGee is arguably the third-best player on that team). Analysts talk about high-percentage shots, well, whenever the ball is in Luka’s hands, it’s a high percentage shot waiting to happen, whether he’s taking it or not. This team also has a lot of shooters on relatively bad contracts. Someone like James Johnson and Tim Hardaway should not be getting paid around $34 million. The bench is good, led by Trey Burke and Jalen Brunson, keeping Josh Richardson in the starting lineup was a great move by Rick Carlisle. This team is great, but has soooo much more potential if they play their cards correctly, I guess you can say that for every team, but the Mavs have tremendous upside on this team. This is what I would do: trade James Johnson and Josh Richardson for a more economically friendly contract and a pick. Start Jalen Brunson to develop him and develop Dorian Finney-Smith as well. Keep Maxi Kleber but put him on the bench as the 7^th man. Get rid of Tim Hardaway Jr. to have about 25 or so million left in spending cash, and then cash in on free agency.

Charlotte Hornets: This squad is the beginnings of a great team. This team is very young, with Gordon Hayward being the oldest in the starting lineup. The backcourt is amazing, Lamelo Ball and Terry Rozier, who is still very young, 26 years old.  Gordon Hayward is a great secondary playmaker on this team and the frontcourt is young and really good. This is what I would do: Trade for Lamelo’s brother, Lonzo at the deadline. keep Hayward, extend him until he retires. Trade Cody Zeller for a young player and a draft pick and start either Bismack Biyombo or Vernon Carey Jr. Then, have a good draft, and fill in any holes on really good contracts in free agency. In about a year or so, move Hayward to the sixth man and trade Rozier for a young and progressing SF. This team has tremendous upside, more than the Mavs, and should be making the playoffs shortly because of the age of this roster.

Sacramento Kings: The Kings are in an interesting situation, they have an extremely young roster and they have a special occurrence – they don’t have to wait for talent, they have that talent. They’re a little rough around the edges and a lot of cap space to move around which they can/could’ve done on today's (or Thursday's) deadline. I’m looking at Buddy Hield, I think he’s regressing, he’s still a knock-down shooter for D’Aaron Fox to kick out to and Tyrese Haliburton to learn how to kick out. MB3 (Marvin Bagley III, one of the coolest nicknames in my opinion) is a really good option for them as well. Delon Wright is the sparkplug for the second unit, they could work through him when the bench is in, and with them being among the bottom of the Western Conference, and probably getting a lottery pick, they could get another bench player or anyone else. Richaun Holmes Harrison Barnes and MB3 are still really young and really good for them as bigs AND with the block king of the past few years, Hassan Whiteside on the bench, they have a superior frontcourt. What I would do right now: Get rid of Buddy Hield, slide Harrison Barnes to the 3. Also, pickup a backup 4. As I’m writing this, the Kings just picked up Terrence Davis, perfect! Davis can go to the 3, Bagley back to the 4, Barnes to the backup 3 or 4. I’m adamant about trading Buddy Hield because his play and his contract don’t equal each other. So, as I’m writing this, the Kings just got younger, and they’re thinking only about the future, wonderful stuff, Kings!

 

March Madness: I created a formula for this year, yeah, I did, and I was so confident in it and then I was thinking about the fame I would get if I got all 63 games right. Then, after the first two games guess what my record was – 0-2. One thing I SEVERELY overlooked was the schedule. I had Colgate in the Sweet Sixteen. Ok, you have 4.7 seconds to laugh. Ok, now that you’re back, I overlooked it, a lot. Also, my formula was based on greater than/less than numbers. Not so great, I realized. It takes way too long, and now that my formula got less than 40% of the games correct, maybe those two social studies, three LA, and math periods would’ve been helpful in 20 years, probable: no, possible: yes. Ohio beat Virginia, and literally one reason why – Virginia has a very small point guard, and with Jason Preston, an inside-out playmaker at 6’4” who can lead his whole team in rebounding. He’s not slow either, he’s blazing fast as well and can shoot. Even though they hit a roadblock in Creighton in round two, Jason Preston is an NBA-ready player, probably mid-second rounder, late first at best. Gonzaga is the most well-oiled unit in the tourney, they run a nine-man rotation I think, which means that one starter is on the floor at all times, and all the starters are capable of leading the offense. I had Winthrop beating Villanova because 1) everyone said so, 2) the stats aligned in Winthrop’s favor but, the powerhouse ‘Nova wins, I guess rule number one is all powerhouses win unless they’re 13 or below seeds. Then, the Purdue Boilermakers lost? Purdue, this is the powerhouse, the four seed, that one, right? And you lost to not Texas, not Texas Tech, but NORTH TEXAS? Also, Colgate, who I thought would beat Arkansas, painfully lost. If you’re the underdog – a run like Arkansas had at the end of the first half is like someone blindfolding you and forcing you to run the Boston Marathon.

OHIO STATE LOST TO A DENTAL FIRM, A DENTAL FIRM, AND THEN THEY BEAT FLORIDA.

The more surprising one is Ohio State, they were in most Final Fours across March Madness brackets. Not much that I could say, except their point guard? Max Abmas? He should not be studying dentistry; he should have a full ride to Gonzaga to be their starting point guard. He has a smooth jump shot and will pull up from anywhere. They may very well beat Arkansas, unlikely, but possible. Sister Jean stays undefeated, first Sister Jean and some guys dressed in maroon jerseys with the letters L, O, Y, O, L, A, C, H, I, C, A, G, O on their jersey, beat Georgia Tech, and then they wipe out the number one seed, Illinois, the widely regarded favorites to win the whole thing. My pick? They wipe out the Oregon St. Beavers and move onto the Elite 8. The best player in the country Cade Cunningham and his team beat Liberty in the first round, and then they crash and burn against the Oregon St. Beavers. This is a wild thought to think about, Cunningham’s next formal/official game (not Uncle Jeremiah’s driveway cookout) will be in an NBA jersey. Syracuse won their game against long-time powerhouse San Diego State, Buddy Boeheim is an amazing scorer, this guy has shades of Klay Thompson in him. Theoretically, pair him with a Steph Curry and Syracuse has the fuel to go to the Final Four, I’d say Elite Eight as of now. Houston is a great school, and probably will beat Syracuse in the Sweet Sixteen (I hope not, though), but it will be an extremely close game and the final score will be worth the price of admission all by itself. 

My Sweet Sixteen picks:

Gonzaga vs. Creighton: Zags

USC vs. Oregon: USC

Michigan vs. FSU: FSU

UCLA vs. Alabama: Bama

Baylor vs. Villanova: Baylor

Arkansas vs. Oral Roberts: Nice run, ORU, but Arkansas is taking this

Loyola Chicago vs. Oregon St.: Loyola Chicago

Syracuse vs. Houston: Syracuse

Elite Eight:

Gonzaga vs. USC: Zags

FSU vs. Alabama: FSU

Baylor vs. Arkansas: Baylor

Loyola Chicago vs. Syracuse: Loyola Chicago, are you surprised? I’m not.

Final Four:

Gonzaga vs. FSU: Gonzaga

Baylor vs. Loyola Chicago: Baylor

National Championship

Gonzaga vs. Baylor: Gonzaga by a score 81-77

Let’s Examine these Five NBA Teams

Well, back to basketball. We did this a few posts ago, but here it goes again. I don’t know the reaction that most of you had to it, but I had heaps of fun. I will randomly generate five teams, plus the Knicks. I will then give you an overview of their team, and I’m feeling like there’ll be a whole lot of totally unnecessary blaming and name-calling today. I’m using https://wordwall.net/resource/680216/nba-teams for this, if you’re curious.

All teams will be different from the last similar post, because then why would you read this? First wheel spin: Miami Heat. Second: Cleveland Cavaliers. Third: Chicago Bulls. Fourth: Phoenix Suns. Fifth: Golden State Warriors.

Miami Heat: The Heat is a team that is a suitor for a BUNCH of trade bait near this trade deadline. To name a few: Kyle Lowry, Andre Drummond, Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine, and Bradley Beal. Realistic targets? Kyle Lowry, Drummond, and LaVine, in the order of probability. Kendrick Nunn is definitely going to be a role player for the Heat this year, Bam Adebayo is Robin to Jimmy Butler being Batman, so even though he’s a pure scorer, he’s not the Robin, averaging 14 PPG and under 3 for everything else, on about 11 or so shots per game. Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro are both also role players, but while Jimmy Butler drives, those two are waiting with bated breath for a kick-out from Jimmy. Jimmy Butler is the first scoring option for the Heat, he’s getting the most shots, he’s getting the most everything when the team resets, the ball goes to Butler, if not? That poor and unsuspecting player gets “wet towel whipped” in the locker room (use your imagination for that one). Kelly Olynyk and Goran Dragic, why did I pair these players together? Because they’re both trade bait, probably to get Kyle Lowry, both are good players for their position, but both not starters. Bam Adebayo, you could argue that he’s not the Robin to Butler’s Batman, because the Heat’ll try to haul in that Robin, but no, Butler wouldn’t be an All-Star because Bam wasn’t, and Butler was chosen, that’s a Batman and Robin relationship. What I think they should do, trade Olynyk and Dragic for Kyle Lowry and sign LaMarcus Aldridge, because they decided to “mutually part ways” but that’s like a breakup, no one really knows who pulled the plug.

Cleveland Cavaliers: This team has amazing young talent with great potential. What I see for this team at the deadline is to get younger and have an extremely small salary. Yes, I’m looking at Kevin Love, I know Love is irreplaceable, but trading him comes down to the people sitting in the comically large chairs, 3 floors above the hardwood. Bleacher Report says the Portland Trail Blazers is a suitor for Love, in CJ McCollum’s absence, they need some shooting and to get some extra scoring. Some players the Cavs can target from the Blazers are Nassir Little, Gary Trent Jr., or Harry Giles III, but whatever combination of these players they decide to take, they need a draft pick out of it. They would have Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, the backcourt of the future for the Cavs, they drafted well in 2018 and 2019 to get these two guards, 2020, they also got their wing of the future, Isaac Okoro, and their center of the future, unless they trade him, Jarrett Allen. ALL OF THESE PLAYERS ARE 22 OR UNDER. Their bench, Dylan Windler (24), Cedi Osman (25), and Larry Nance (28), is a bench any team could ask for. They don’t have a star, so they’re all sharing the love, especially between the backcourt. All these players need now is good coaching and a good offseason. The Cavs are only four games out of the last place in the East and only 6 out of the last place in the NBA. That’s three bad weeks for them and they could potentially have a 1-5 pick. If they get 1 or 2, they could trade to 3, 4 or 5, to get Evan Mobley at the 5, or, if Mobley goes down to 2, take Mobley. There’s also Jonathan Kuminga. This team is in a great position. I don’t think they need to make a trade at the deadline, but, Kevin Love getting moved is a nice idea.

Chicago Bulls: This team is going rebuild mode, Zach LaVine is one of the most thrown around names in the NBA trade deadline rumors. If they trade him, they need a lot of young talent for him. Coby White has tremendous upside but is very hit-or-miss. Patrick Williams is a very interesting player, I’m all for Williams, I want to see him get a bunch of minutes. Their front-court, Lauri Markkanen, and Wendell Carter Jr. are the frontcourt of the future for them, or both of them are out in the next two years if they’re really going full rebuild mode. Otto Porter Jr. and Thaddeus Young are two forwards that the coach can lie back and relax when they’re on the floor because he’s going to be extremely consistent up and down the floor, if they’re not scoring, then they’ll defend and rebound. If they trade LaVine, it’ll be the best thing they can do, because then that will plummet their performance this year, while scooping up more talent, and, if they finish low enough, they could get Jalen Suggs or Green, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga or, if they’re REALLY lucky, Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley.

Phoenix Suns: This team is so wildly amazing, with the Lakers breathing down their neck, 0.5 games back of the second seed. This might sound crazy, but, Bleacher Report, who, in my opinion, is the most down-to-earth sports news source out there, say the Suns should get Lauri Markkanen, granted they also say they should get Joel Embiid, the MVP favorite, this is insane, the only way Philly would think of the offer would be to include Devin Booker, but the Suns won’t want to give Book. The Markkanen move, though, there’s something there, because right now, Frank Kaminsky starting will most definitely not cut it. If the Bulls trade both LaVine and Lauri, then they’re most definitely sitting pretty in the top 5 in the draft. Chris Paul, the initiator of the “dish and swish” on every team he’s on, is irreplaceable, he might even stay next year, unless, the Suns took him on for one reason, to propel them to the playoffs. Devin Booker is irreplaceable for real now, he can do everything, now, with the strengthening of the left hand, he can score and pass with the left as well, which unlocks so many more doors for him. Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton are both players who would be second or even first scoring options on any other team, on this team, they’re three and four, and that’s why they’re the second seed, the immense depth. Their bench needs work, but once Cameron Johnson, the potentially great forward comes back, then the Suns and Suns’ fans can sleep a little better.

Golden State Warriors: If Stephen Curry leads the Klay Thompson-less, KD-less, regressing Draymond Green to the playoffs as a 7^th seed or higher, Joel Embiid and him should be head to head in the MVP race. He’s leading a young team to a 19-19 record, these inexperienced players are being carried by Curry. Kelly Oubre Jr. is not amazing at anything, but he’s also not bad at anything, Andrew Wiggins is being overshadowed by Curry and he doesn’t really belong on this team. The Warriors need some knock-down shooters, kind of like, just kind of like, the Heat, when Jimmy’s locked up, he has Tyler Herro or Duncan Robinson. Same thing here and whoever that shooter is, he could be his partner in crime. Once Klay comes back, and they have a good offseason, and a good shooter and James Wiseman progresses, this is looking good.

New York Knicks: The Knicks have a roster that’s around 20-25^th in talent, but guess what, we’re above .500. Tom Thibodeau has done magical things with this roster, putting Reggie Bullock in the starting lineup, but harnessing Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley to the bench. Even though Elfrid Payton’s starting is infuriating all Knicks fans, the leader of the court isn’t doing that bad. RJ Barrett and Julius Randle are leading the Knicks on the court, almost all possessions where Randle or Barrett are on the court, the ball touches their hands, and that’s how I want it. I love our centers, Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel, they have huge bodies that get every rebound, set amazing screens, and contest all shots. Frank Ntilikina, playfully called “French Jesus” by Knicks’ fans, is starting for the Knicks in Payton and Rose’s absence, and he’s doing good. Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, and Taj Gibson are all role players for now, but I hope that at least Burks and Toppin, but Toppin at the least, sprout into stars. The Knicks can do so much at the deadline, even if they don’t make the playoffs, they are poised for a huge offseason. Leon Rose can do so much in the offseason. We can sign a free agent, make a trade right now, virtually anything we want. We have a couple of first-round picks, so we can trade up, a lot. I would love a John Collins, or a Michael Porter Jr., or an Andre Drummond. This would definitely propel us toward the playoffs and in my opinion, the younger the player, the heaps and heaps and heaps better. 

Surprisingly, all of these teams have a bright future. I’ll keep you posted.

Spring 2021 Baseball Season and the Mets

Spring Training kicked off this week, and even though I am in school online, I still stream games, yes, I am a very conscientious student, if you’re wondering but baseball is baseball. I never told this to anybody, but because you are reading this blog, I will share something with you. If you go to http://www.volokit.com/schedule/, you can stream any sports event. Yes! Any sports event, no signup, and everything’s 100% free, no, I didn’t just get money for telling you that, I don’t know anyone at Volokit and no one’s paying me if you still don’t believe it – don’t believe it! Think that you’re reading a very established blog writer’s blog who has many connections and finished second in his Harvard journalism class, and it’ll make your reading more enjoyable.

In the first Mets game of the season, some things struck me: 1)Brandon Nimmo is in for a big year, and will hopefully bat <.290. 2) Francisco Lindor is a bust, the worst signing in Mets history (for those of you who didn’t take a baseball bat and smashed your computer to bits and pieces with that last comment, heaps of sarcasm in that). 3) Hopefully Pete Alonso can rebound this season, even though he was 3^rd in homers in the NL last year, I still want to see him hit 30 and this will complement Michael Conforto and Francisco Lindor in the lineup. 4) Kevin Pillar is set to have a season with about 10 homers and a solid starting role, move Albert Almora. 5) I have mixed feelings about our bullpen. Who’s gonna be closer? Who’s the 5/6^th inning man? Who’s the mop-up man? Can we have an elite set up man? Can Edwin Diaz get off LSD? Can we find a closer who’s drug-free? All of these questions will be answered, but only once we hit Opening Day can we decide, because then our pitchers are set and we can answer these questions.

Next two games: 1) I’m excited to see Jeff McNeil this year, I want to see him leadoff, and then the other potential candidates to lead off can round out the lineup near the bottom. 2) Number one prospect Ronny Mauricio isn’t MLB ready, yet, but hey, we’re not that thirsty for prospects. 3) I know I said Albert Almora Jr. isn’t going to start at center, but hey, if Kevin Pillar plays like dog poop in July, then Almora’s easily sliding in there. 4) The Mets rotation is first or second in baseball, Dodgers, Padres or Mets at 1 or 2, but Mets at 1 or 2. 5) I want to see Luis Guillorme in the starting lineup, somehow, some way, I want to see him starting, I don’t know how, but hey, do I get paid Luis Rojas’ salary to figure that out? No. 6) We should experiment with Mallex Smith in the infield because the outfield is as crowded as a middle school hallway, Smith is fast and versatile, so let him get some reps in the infield.

Next games: 1) I love Pete Alonso. But, a grand slam doesn’t mean anything, even if he hit one, anything could still happen in the early season. 2) Even though David Peterson will probably start the season off in the minors, he’s going to come up this season, as a mop-up man or as a genuine starter. 3) Dominic Smith percolated last year, and being one of the most consistent hitters on the team, he’s gonna explode this year. 4) James McCann is not going to just hit, and he’s also not going to just scoop bad pitches. I’ve heard both sides of the spectrum, and I think he’s going to do both, he’s not called “McCannon” for nothing, and he’s playing really well. 5) I think the Mets should prune the outfield and the team in general. We have so many redundant players and other teams are fish in the Sahara Desert for players. Scoop up some prospects, free up cap space, get a veteran, get someone if JD Davis swings and misses at this upcoming season (smooth, right?). 6) Edwin Diaz may have played well against the Astros, but don’t let it fool you, don’t let it don’t, don’t. Diaz hopefully won’t screw up, but hey, it’s Edwin Diaz. 7) Sadly, there isn’t a sixth man in baseball, like there is in basketball, he’s the best player on the bench, but he’s on the bench. Jonathan Villar would fill that role really well, but right now, I can’t see a role for Villar on the team. You would think there’s a point to this statement, but there isn’t, just expressing what I’m saying. 8) Finally, I have a little faith in the Mets’ bullpen, Aaron Loup, Trevor Hildenberger, and Daniel Zamora all help that theory, and I hope that while Spring Training continues, Luis Rojas’ bullpen IQ increases, his faith in the bullpen increases and the pitcher get into their groove. 

Wipe the mustard off your faces while I watch some games.