2012-13 NBA Preview: Predictions

Biggest Surprise (team)

Daugulis: Atlanta Hawks

Some people will write these guys off, since they lost Joe Johnson. But let's all take a deep breath, and remember that Johnson was (still is) the worst contract in the NBA. Certainly, that suggests that he isn't a true franchise player, even if he is getting paid like one. This year's Hawks will be led by Josh Smith (in a contract year), and Al Horford, two young big men who will give most teams matchup problems. They added long-range shooting in Anthony Morrow and Kyle Korver, and also have an elite wing defender in DeShawn Stevenson. This team is a lock for the playoffs in my mind, and could end up hosting a first-round playoff series.

Korver moves from one playoff team to another

Dow: New Orleans Hornets 

Rookie QB Power Rankings II

After 8 weeks, there is little change from our last Rookie QB Power Rankings. Only Russell Wilson moves up, replacing Ryan Tannehill for the 3^rd spot. Check back in another 3 weeks for our next instalment. 

Current Ranking (Previous Ranking)

1. (1) Robert Griffin III - Washington Redskins (3-5)

66.8 Comp. %, 1,778 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT, 97.3 QB Rtg., 476 rush yards, 6 TD

RGIII rushed for 182 yards and 2 TDs against Minnesota

Oct. 28 Quick Hits: James Harden Trade Reaction

In a surprising move, the Oklahoma City Thunder dealt James Harden to the Houston Rockets just a couple days before the start of the NBA season. Here's what it means for both teams:

Houston Rockets:

Obviously, they view Harden as a franchise-defining player. They gave up Kevin Martin (who will become a free agent after the season), Jeremy Lamb (the 12th overall pick in the draft a couple months ago) and 3 future draft picks. That's a steep price, and a package you don't part with unless you think you're getting top-tier guy in return.

NFL Pick'ems - Week 7 Results, Week 8 Picks

Week 7 saw the four prognosticators agree across the board on 8 matchups, with 7 being correct (the Titans' last minute win over Buffalo being the lone incorrect consensus pick). Mike won the week with 11 correct picks and thus pulls into a tie for first with Simon and CBSSports' Pete Prisco. Mike was the lone "expert" to take a chance on the Redskins who couldn't pull it out against the G-Men, but was alone in picking the Steelers' Sunday night victory. Prisco was the only one who picked the Bucs (losers to the Saints), while SI.com's Peter King was alone in picking Baltimore, who got torn apart by the Texans. Simon took a chance on Cleveland, and, well, that almost never pans out.

NBA Preview: Pre-Season MVP Power Rankings

LeBron James is an animal. If you weren’t convinced he’s the best player on the planet, last years’ playoff run sealed it. In fact, all you really needed to see was his Game 6 performance in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. He won that game pretty much by himself.

Because of LBJ’s ridiculous playoff performance, he sits atop the NBA MVP Power Rankings. In fact, heading into the year he is the heavy favorite for the hardware. Here’s how the rest of the guys rank:

LeBron can't possibly get better this year...
right?

1. LeBron James, SF, Miami Heat

​Pros: As mentioned, the guy is a beast. He’s coming off career highs in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and rebounds. What’s really scary for the rest of the league is that he may just be entering his prime years now.

​Cons: N/A; LeBron is the odds-on favorite for the MVP trophy.

2. Kevin Durant, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder

Pros: Durant should be coming back extra-hungry after getting thoroughly outplayed by the Heat in the Finals last year. His peripheral numbers are getting better, as he’s coming off career-highs in assists and rebounds per game.

NBA 2012-13 Preview: This Year's Fun-But-Not-Good Teams

The NBA playoffs are always incredibly entertaining. The great teams rise to the top, and end up trotting out some unreal series every season. This year will be no exception. I mean, who doesn’t want to watch Kobe, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard take on Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in a 7 game series, am I right? A revenge-fuelled Celtics team squaring off against LeBron and the defending champs? Yes, please.

But it’s not just the deep-end of the playoffs that make for entertaining basketball in the NBA. Every year, there are some bad teams, some teams that never threaten to make it particularly deep in the playoffs that end up being super-fun to watch. Here’s a break-down of 5 squads that could emerge as 2012-2013’s top not-great-but-entertaining team.

Why I Will Be A Raptors Fan (at least for this season)

As a kid, I was a big-time Toronto Raptors fan. I suffered through the Vince Carter departure. I suffered through the Rob Babcock era. I briefly celebrated as Bryan Colangelo came in and instantly turned the team around. And I watched them fall apart after just one-and-a-half successful, Colangelo-fuelled seasons. But, for the last couple seasons, I have hated the Raps.

Back in the glory days, I was all-in on the Raps. I swear, there were a couple years where Vince Carter hit 90% of the game-winning shot attempts he took (note: this is definitely not a real stat). But it wasn’t just Vince that got me hooked, it was the whole team. They had a core of players that fans could easily get behind.

Alvin Williams, and the rest of the Raptors' role
players, helped make the Vince Carter era so great

All of Toronto loved JYD. He may not have ever averaged more than 10 points per game during his time in T.O., but damnit, we loved watching Jerome Williams hustle around the court. Antonio Davis? I know at least one of my buddies had his replica jersey. Alvin Williams was an awesome guy to have running the point for this team, and when he couldn’t play, Chris Childs stepped right in. As a kid, I just loved this group. The Raps’ role players had almost as much to do with my fan-ness as Vince did.

NFL Pick'ems - Week 6 Results, Week 7 Picks

In Week 6, the four “experts” went 4-2 on their consensus picks, with the Titans and Browns providing the upsets. Simon was the only person to predict two NFC road upsets; the Giants' domination of San Fran and the Lions' OT win in Philly. Mike was alone in predicting Buffalo's win against the Cardinals while only Peter King picked Seattle's upset over the Patriots. Simon pulls into a tie for 1^st place with Pete Prisco, who was the only one who failed to pick Denver's win on Monday night.

Peyton led Denver to an historic yet predictable
comeback win over the Chargers on Monday night.

NFL Pick'ems - Week 5 Results, Week 6 Picks

Week 5 produced some interesting results. The four "experts" went 9-2 in their unanimous picks, with Indy and the 'Phins providing the upsets. Peter King was the only expert to correctly pick Seattle's victory over the Panthers, while Mike was the only one who failed to predict New Orleans' first victory of the season. Simon moves out of a tie with Mike and within one game of the leader Pete Prisco, who sits at 50-27. Peter King moves closer to the rest of the pack with an impressive 12-2 week.

Reggie Bush had 72 total yards and a TD in Miami's upset

Rookie QB Power Rankings

At the outset of this NFL season, a record five teams named a rookie as their starting quarterback. Two of these decisions were obvious; Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III were drafted number one and two overall to teams that were in desperate need of a starting QB.

The decisions to start the remaining three rookies ranged from moderately surprising to highly questionable. Russell Wilson was drafted 76^th overall to a team that just spent $26 million on a sought-after but unproven free agent QB (Matt Flynn). Ryan Tannehill was named the starter in Miami, even though Matt Moore had relative success with the Dolphins in 2011. And in Cleveland, 28 year-old first rounder Brandon Weeden got the start over incumbent Colt McCoy, the winningest QB in NCAA history.

So how have these rookies fared in their brief careers, attempting to succeed in the most important position in North American pro sports? The Redshirt Freshmen will track these QBs during their inaugural season with the Rookie QB Power Rankings.

NFL Quarterly Review: AFC East

AFC East

MVP: Tom Brady

Surprise surprise, Brady is tearing up the league again. The Patriots seem to have found a bit of a running game this year, a bonus for Brady which should take a little bit of pressure off of him... as if he needed it.

LVP: Mark Sanchez

NFL Quarterly Review: AFC West

AFC West

MVP: Peyton Manning

Manning has lived up to the hype in 2012

If it weren’t for the egg Manning laid against the Falcons (he was bad for 3 quarters, at least), he would have unreal numbers on the year. As it stands, his numbers are just really good instead of awesome. The Broncos can live with that. Heading into the year, I was one of the many who thought there was no way Peyton was going to come back and be the same player he was before his plethora of neck surgeries. Well, Manning has shut me up. Although, his arm does look a little weak, doesn’t it?...

NFL Quarterly Review: AFC North

AFC North

MVP: Joe Flacco

Analysts all over the place were predicting a bigger role for Flacco than seen in previous years, and so far they’ve been right. Torrey Smith is turning into a top-tear wideout for the Ravens, while Ray Rice continues to catch ball out of the backfield, and Dennis Pitta is slowly emerging as one of Flacco’s favorite targets. I wonder what happens to the Ravens’ offense once winter sets in and it becomes tough to throw the ball in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati, but so far Flacco—and his 95.8 quarterback rating—looks great.

NFL Quarterly Review: AFC South

AFC South

MVP: Arian Foster

Expect to see Foster's
signature celebration a lot

He’s been in beast mode this year so far. He can run through people, he can run around people, and—with that defense playing so well—he’s going to run a lot. In fact, that’s the only negative when it comes to Foster. Currently he’s on pace to rush the ball well over 400 times this year. That’s too much, especially with Ben Tate on the team, who is perhaps the best backup running back in the game. Even if coach Gary Kubiak lessens Foster’s role a bit going forward, he’s in for another big year.

NFL Quarterly Review: NFC South

NFC SOUTH

MVP: Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan and Mike Smith have the Falcons Rolling

This one’s not even close. The only other person in the conversation is Sean Payton, since without him the Saints have completely fallen apart. But, since Payton isn't a player (and, since I'm going to spend some time ripping apart the Saints in a bit anyway), the MVP has got to go to Matt Ryan. Matty Ice has not only been the best player in the NFC South through 4 weeks, he’s been the best offensive player in the entire league. This right here is an MVP season in the making. Instead of giving any sort of analysis, I’ll just list Ryan’s stats to make my point: completing 69.4% of his passes, 11 touchdowns to only 2 picks, averaging over 290 passing yards per game, quarterback rating of 112.1. Point proven.

NFL Quarterly Review: NFC East

The NFL regular season is a quarter over, and with that, let’s take a look at how all the divisions stack up so far. Who are the MVPs, players who need to step up (let’s call them LVPs), players to watch going forward, and favorites to win the division crowns?

NFC EAST

MVP: Robert Griffin III

The Redskins were predicted to be at the bottom of the division, and yet 4 games in, they’re still in the mix. For that, the Skins can thank RGIII, as he has accounted for 8 total TDs, while only throwing 1 interception on the way to a quarterback rating of 103.2. He’s also completing just under 70% of his passes. Man, he’s good.

NFL Quarterly Review: NFC North

The NFL regular season is a quarter over, and with that, let’s take a look at how all the divisions stack up so far. Who are the MVPs, players who need to step up (let’s call them LVPs), players to watch going forward, and favorites to win the division crowns?

NFC NORTH

MVP: Bears’ D

Off to a weird start—giving the MVP to a defensive unit rather than a player—but hear me out. So far, Chicago has looked like the class of the division, and most of that is thanks to their D. The Bears have allowed the fewest points in the division (5th fewest in the league, heading into the weekend), are always a threat to score (as evidenced on Monday night), and are allowing opposing teams to convert only 26.1% of third downs (second only to Houston). These guys either get the ball back to their offense, or take it to the house themselves. 

Julius Peppers and co. have silenced opposing offenses this year

MLB Wild-Card Round Preview

Tomorrow, Major League Baseball's new expanded wild-card system will be unveiled, and the teams involved are a bit of a surprise. The Redshirt Freshmen will try to make some sense of the wild-card matchups after what has been a largely senseless 2012 season.

AL Wild-Card – Baltimore Orioles (93-69) @ Texas Rangers (93-69)

NFL Pick'ems - Weeks 3 & 4 Results, Week 5 Picks

Week 3	Simon	Mike	Prisco	King	Result
NYG @ CAR	NYG	CAR	NYG	CAR	NYG
TB @ DAL	DAL	TB	DAL	DAL	DAL
JAC @ IND	IND	IND	IND	IND	JAC
BUF @ CLE	BUF	BUF	BUF	CLE	BUF
NYJ @ MIA	NYJ	NYJ	MIA	NYJ	NYJ
KC @ NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	KC
CIN @ WAS	WAS	WAS	CIN	CIN	CIN
STL @ CHI	CHI	CHI	CHI	STL	CHI
SF @ MIN	SF	SF	SF	SF	MIN
DET @ TEN	DET	DET	TEN	DET	TEN
ATL @ SD	SD	ATL	SD	ATL	ATL
PHI @ ARI	PHI	PHI	ARI	PHI	ARI
PIT @ OAK	PIT	PIT	PIT	PIT	OAK
HOU @ DEN	HOU	HOU	DEN	HOU	HOU
NE @ BAL	NE	NE	NE	BAL	NE
GB @ SEA	GB	GB	GB	GB	SEA

NFL Quarterly Review: NFC West

The NFL regular season is a quarter over, and with that, let’s take a look at how all the divisions stack up so far. Who are the MVPs, players who need to step up (let’s call them LVPs), players to watch going forward, and favorites to win the division crowns?

NFC WEST

MVP: Kevin Kolb

Sure, the Cardinals are 25th in the league in passing offense, and second last in total offense. And, sure, Kolb has only completed 62% of his passes. The Cardinals are 4-0, and that’s the only stat that really matters in the NFL. Kolb came in late in the game in Week 1, and has led the team to 4 straight victories. Sure, he hasn’t been great. But he’s put his team at the top of the division.

Somehow, Kolb has takend the Card to 4-0