NL West Preview

...San Francisco Giants...

IN for the defending Champs - SS Miquel Tejada

OUT - SS Edgar Renteria...IF Juan Uribe

In the Giants organization keep an eye on...P Zack Wheeler...major blister issues derailed his 2010 progress, but this kid throws in the mid-90's with a curveball too...#6 overall pick in 2009 Draft

2010 World Series winners SF have a manager in Bruce Bochy that is as responsible for their success as the killer starting pitching or Brian Wilson II (Brian Wilson II is what we should call Brian Wilson's beard...that thing has a life of its own)...last season this group perhaps overachieved...they surely hit the hot button at the right time...The pitching was amazing, and the offense snuck up on people, especially with timely hits...Now, however, they are on the map...what that means going forward is every team will be prepared to bring their A game vs SF as it is known that is what's needed...Let's see Bochy's boys react to a target on their back...

SP's Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, and Matt Cain combine to provide a phenomenal top of the rotation...Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito are a rare lefty-lefty 4-5 and they provide a solid back-end to the rotation...The season will likely start without great closer Brain Wilson...he feels he will be ready for Day 1, but time will tell how his strained oblique muscle in his left side responds to the rehab

The O will get a boost from the addition of SS Miguel Tejada and rookie 1B  Brandon Belt, plus the continued development of 2nd year C Buster Posey...The OF has potential with guys like Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, Andres Torres, Mark DeRosa, and Nate Schierholtz ...a lot of depth there...for me a guy to watch is 3B Pablo Sandoval...For SF to repeat as Champs they will surely need Pablo to rebound from a poor 2010...he is slimmer these days and SF needs him back to his 2009 production at the plate...Another key for the Giants will be 2B Freddy Sanchez...He caught fire late-August onward last season, but he underwent his second surgery on his  left shoulder in less than a year in December

The Over/Under win total for the 2011 Giants is...88...SF is so damn solid in the rotation, and at the back of the bullpen, that 90+ W's seems do-able to me so I like the OVER here...some nice everyday players too, and Bochy has shown he can make a good team into a Championship team

...LA Dodgers...

IN -SP Jon Garland...RP Matt Guerrier...IF Juan Uribe...C Dioner Navarro

OUT - C Russell Martin...RP George Sherrill...2B Ryan Theriot

In the Dodgers organization keep an eye on...P Kenley Jansen...former C turned into pitcher as he cannot hit, but has a cannon for an arm...mid 90's fastball with movement...already a solid change-up too...raw stuff, but good enough to perhaps play a role in the LA bullpen as early as 2011

Don Mattingly makes the transition from Hitting Coach to Manager in 2011...Trey Hillman (former KC Manager) will be his right-hand man...GM Nick Colletti was busy busy busy in the off-season...New 2B Juan Uribe will add a needed bat...SP's Jon Garland (Free Agent) and re-signing Ted Lilly and Hiroki Kuroda will add depth to the starting staff, while Matt Guerrier was brought in to add depth to the 'pen

LA has a nice 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation with Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsly...in the bullpen 2010 saw closer Jonathan Broxton lose his confidence, and by the way lose mph's off his heater...the set-up men have great potential with Hong-Chih Kuo, Guerrier, and Jansen...Catching this staff will be a combo of Rod Barajas, Dioner Navarro, and A.J. Ellis

On O Mattingly needs to get Matt Kemp hitting to his potential...without that this O could again struggle in 2011...Consistency will be required from the likes of Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, and James Loney, while 100% health is required for Rafael Furcal...LF is a ? ...John Gibbons and Tony Gwynn jr will likely be the LF's in the early going, but GM Coletti has seen the Giants adjust their 2010 team on the fly to build a Championship team and he will surely be looking for upgrades during the season and LF likely chief amongst them

The Over/Under win total for the 2011 Dodgers is...83.5...I like the OVER here...I really like the starting rotation potential (all the names listed above, plus Vicente Padilla as a 6th starter too) and the back of the bullpen potential...If Broxton gets back on track, or Jansen steps in to closer role then this LA team will compete most games

...Colorado Rockies...

IN - RP Matt Lindstrom...3B Jose Lopez...1B Ty Wigginton

OUT - 2B Clint Barmes...RP Octavio Dotel...3B Melvin Mora...SP Jeff Francis

In the Rockies organization keep an eye on...P Tyler Matzek...lefty stud-of-the-future in Colorado...just getting his pro career started...raw stuff...needs to hone his command...#11 overall in 2009 Draft

The last several years Colorado has made late season pushes to qualify for the post-season aka Rocktober, but 2010 was the complete opposite...With a few weeks left the Rockies were right there in the race (1 game back), but went a putrid 1-13 in the seasons final 14 games to get buried in the race when it was all said and done...

Colorado is an organization that develops its own talent very well...most of the contributors to this 2011 team have been raised as Rockies...The 2011 team has potential...let's take a look...

Like most of the teams in the NL West this Colorado club has deep pitching...Ubaldo Jimenez, Jhoulys Chacin, and Jorge De La Rosa at the top of the rotation, with Aaron Cook and Jason Hammel (or perhaps Felipe Paulino and his heater) bringing up the back-end of the rotation...The bullpen is deep and solid, especially at the back with Huston Street, Matt Lindstrom, Matt Reynolds, and Rafael Betancourt (plus Paulino)

The O is the source of concern for the Rockies...not at home of course (the Rockies traditionally bang at home) but on the road...The #1 area of improvement for the 2011 Rockies has to be the way they hit on the road...this team was miserable on the road in 2010 (31-50...yikes) and the O was to blame...New Hitting Coach Carney Lansford will be trying to get guys like Ian Stewart, Chris Iannetta, Todd Helton, Seth Smith going, and try to get them to be consistent...Colorado has studs in this lineup like Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, plus newcomers Jose Lopez and Ty Wigginton will get numerous opportunities to produce for this club

The Over/Under win total for the 2011 Rockies is...86.5...tough one here...I will take the OVER as I do like Jim Tracy and believe in his ability to produce a winning 2011 and 87 wins seems do-able for this team

...San Diego Padres...

IN - SS Jason Bartlett...2B Orlando Hudson...OF Cameron Maybin...1B Brad Hawpe

OUT - 1B Adrian Gonzalez...SP Kevin Correia...SP Jon Garland...SS Miquel Tejada...RP Matt Mujica...OF Matt Stairs...

In the Padres organization keep an eye on...Cory Luebke...Padres lost Kevin Correia and Jon Garland in the off-season which likely provides an opportunity for the 26 year old Luebke to finally have an everyday MLB job...he had a couple of starts in 2010 and was decent enough to warrant another look at the MLB level...solid command of fastball, changeup, and slider

SD and Manager Bud Black spent 148 days as the #1 team in the NL West in 2010, only to collapse in the final weeks of the season...

The team lost stud 1B Adrian Gonzalez in the off-season, and took hits to the rotation too...Aaron Harang (FA) will get a chance to be with Mat Latos and Clayton Richards at the top of the rotation, with Tim Stauffer (nice emergence in 2010 for this team) and Luebke...Latos is the gem here...he certainly shrivelled down the stretch last season, but once he gets the ability to stretch out innings naturally he should be guns-blazing from April through September

The back of the bullpen was as good as their was in MLB in 2010...lively arms like Mujica and Webb are gone (Cameron Maybin trade), but plenty of talent remains in guys like Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams, and Heath Bell

Only 3B Chase Hedley returns to the infield from the '10 squad...new SS is Bartlett...new 2B is the O-Dawg...new 1B is Brad Hawpe...even former Jay Jarrett Hoffpauir is new...Black looking for production and solid play from those veterans to go with another newcomer CF Cameron Maybin...My question to you is what Maybin way of thinking are you?!?!  Are you concerned that the 23 year old "can't miss" stud has been traded twice already...or...do you believe in his upside potential and thus can see him be a great CF in spacious Petco...SD will need major production form Maybin, and fellow OF's Ryan Ludwick and Will Venable

All-in-all we see a lot new faces in SD, but do we see a replacement for Adrian Gonzalez?  Doubt it...

The Over/Under win total for the 2011 Padres is...75.5...too many great rotations in the NL West for SD to be able to compete in a 162 game schedule with such a young rotation...no clear replacement for the vacated O from A-Gon...UNDER

...Arizona Diamondbacks...

Welcome to the desert - SP Zach Duke...3B Melvin Mora...RP J.J. Putz...

Peace, see ya later - P Aaron Heilman...1B Adam LaRoche...SP Brandon Webb...


In the D-Backs organization keep an eye on...P Jarrod Parker...Tommy John surgery ended his 2010 season, but the 2010 MLB All-Star game had 10 pitchers who have survived and thrived following Tommy John surgery so certainly no need to panic for Parker...he possesses a 96-97 mph fastball, and an above average slider and changeup

Looks to me like Manager Kirk Gibson has his hands full in the desert...Some players to like, sure, but mostly a lot of young players and holes to fill...let's take a look...

There could be a nice 1-2 punch atop the D-Backs rotation with Joe Saunders and Daniel Hudson (kudos to GM Kevin Towers for trading for both of those young starters), and Ian Kennedy looks like he is getting better and better at #3, but some question marks at the #4 and #5 with Barry Enright and Zach Duke...It has been a few years now since Arizona was not in last place in the NL West and to end that this rotation will have to pitch well above their potential (decent staff...but decent is not good in comparison to the other NL West staff's)...The bullpen has ???, but certainly potential...new arms like David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio will help set-up for new closer J.J. Putz...Towers and Gibby really hoping Putz works out as this team has had multiple closers the past few seasons and they crave consistency from the role

On O the strikeout king 3B Mark Reynolds is gone (he has the 3 highest K season's in the history of MLB...yikes)...What is needed in Arizona is Justin Upton playing to his potential (good luck Gibby...that may be harder than when you hit a World Series game winning HR on one leg vs Eckersley)...Then you hope to get production from newcomer Xavier Nady, plus talent like Chris Young, Stephen Drew, and Kelly Johnson...Could FA pick-up 3B Melvin Mora regain his stroke and contribute consistently too?!?!  With Reynolds and LaRoche gone there goes about 60 HR's, but there also goes about 400 K's...This should allow 'Zona to improve on their .325 On Base Percentage from 2010

The Over/Under win total for the 2011 D-Backs is...72.5...UNDER...too many good teams in this Division for the D-Backs to win consistently...the unbalanced schedule means facing the great pitching in this Division too many times for the D-Backs to finish any better than 4th in 2011 (likely 5th)

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Southeast Region - NCAA Tourney

The Southeast Region features a ton of teams who are certainly good, but who disapointed recently in their Conference Tourney's...it also features public fav's Gonzaga and Butler...7 Conference Champs here...let's take a look...

#1 seed - Pittsburgh Panthers...27-5...Big East...6-4  vs ranked opponents...Pitt plays in the Big East where only men need apply...this squad has very good Senior leadership with guys like G Brad Wanamaker, F Gilbert Brown, and F Gary McGhee...Junior F Nasir Robinson plus Junior G Ashton Gibbs give the Panthers a lot of balanced scoring (Gibbs likely the best Offensive weapon on the squad)...Sophomore F Dante Taylor provides a spark for this club off the bench...4 of their 5 losses came on road/neutral site games...Pitt has had a very strong season...their 5 losses were by a combined 18 points, and their last 3 losses by a combined 6 points...Head Coach Jamie Dixon does a great job of having his team prepared every night...excellent rebounding squad...very good defensive squad...Pitt is great at passing the basketball too...Pitt has a Top 10 RPI ranking...current NBA players from Pitt include Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, and Aaron Gray

#2 seed - Florida Gators...26-7...SEC...4-3  vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Billy Donovan's Gators laid an egg in the SEC Title game vs Kentucky, yet come away with a #2 seed...good for them...that will likely allow them a nice path to the Sweet 16, but I do not expect a whole lot from this team in this Tourney...Florida only goes about 5-6 deep IMO...This team is led by Senior F's Chandler Parsons, Vernon Macklin, and Alex Tyus...The Guards - Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton are good (but perhaps a tad undersized)...The season was very up and down for FLA...they opened the season as a Top 10 ranked team, then bumbled all the way out of the Top 25, then climbed the charts the last part of the season all the way to a NCAA Tourney #2 seed...FLA was 12-4 in road/neutral site games this season...current NBA players that were once Gators include Joakim Noah, Matt Bonner, Corey Brewer, Mike Miller, David Lee, Udonis Haslem, and Al Horford

#3 seed BYU Cougars...30-4...Mountain West Conference...3-1 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Dave Rose's team has had extremes at good and bad...The bad of course was Sophomore F Brandon Davies was dismissed from the team for the remainder of the season for a violation of the school's honor code (engaging in pre-marital sex...BYU players sign a Honor Code contract and that is on there)...The Cougars lost their leading rebounder in the process...also lost double-digit scoring...of course at BYU the scoring is held down by one man...Jimmer Fredette was born to score the basketball...no one at the College level does it any better (52 a few days ago in a Mountain West Tourney game)...The loss of Davies means more will be needed from Senior G Jackson Emery, and Junior F's Charles Abouo and Noah Hartsock...Freshman G Kyle Collinsworth has been called on to contribute more lately too...The loss of Davies will be felt IMO, but this BYU team can surely score the basketball...3 of BYU's 4 losses this season came on road/neutral site games...NBA alumni from BYU include Danny Ainge and Rafael Araujo

#4 seed...Wisconsin Badgers...23-8...Big Ten...4-3 vs ranked opponents...Bo Ryan has a pretty damn good team...Wisc is one of the rare NCAA teams that offer a terrific scoring Guard, and terrific inside scorer...Junior G Jordan Taylor plus Senior F Jon Leuer (damn good) lead the squad...Senior F Keaton Nankivil provides leadership and a 3rd scorer...all 8 of Wisconsin's L's this season came on road/neutral site games...Kudos to this team as they were un-ranked for much of the season, so to finish so strong as to earn a #4 seed is impressive...This could be a hungry team too as their last 2 games were complete swings and misses...2 straight brutal efforts so Ryan's team likely looking to perform significantly better...Michael Finley and Devin Harris are former Badgers

Other teams worth a look...

#8 seed - Butler Bulldogs...23-9...Horizon...0-1 vs ranked opponents...Last years Cinderella Bulldogs are baaaack...2010 runner-up...a dozen 20+ win seasons in last 14 years...a team that plays some great old-school team first b-ball that they call "The Butler Way"...4th year Head Coach Brad Stevens is the next hot up-and-coming coach...another deep run in this Tourney would solidify Stevens on the list of elite NCAA coaches...Butler enters the Tourney on fire, similar to last season where they went all the way to the Finals and had a 3-ball from Gordan Hayward in the air to win the NCAA Title (it missed...Duke wins!)...7 of Butler's 9 losses this season came on road/neutral site games...Senior F Matt Howard and Junior G Shelvin Mack provide the leadership and scoring for this team with help from Sophomore C Andrew Smith and Senior G Shawn Vanzant...Stevens will play several different combinations, even start different combos, but the 4 players mentioned above are the keys for any Butler W

#11 seed - Gonzaga Bulldogs...24-9...WCC...1-4  vs ranked opponents...Amazing that the Zags are in the Tourney for the 13th straight season...They losy Matt Bouldin (damn good) to graduation, but guys like Steven Gray (Senior), Robert Sacre (Junior - Can-Con as Sacre is from North Vancouver, BC...actually 7-footer Kelly Olynyk is also from our amazing country - Kamloops, BC), and Elias Harris (Sophomore) are keeping this Gonzaga team deep and talented...Very good defensive squad...The last 10 times Few's Zags have battled a Top 25 team they have won just once

!!! #5 vs #12 ALERT !!! ...20 of the last 22 years a #12 has defeated a #5 in the opening round...actually #5's only beat #12's about 68% of the time so please do look for a 12-5 upset...in the Southeast we have a great #5 seed in Kansas State, but the #12 seed is Utah State...The Aggies from Utah State won their Conference, and they play as good a team D as there is in the Tourney...30-3 record for the Aggies

#14 seed Wofford could give #3 BYU a better game than expected in the opening round...

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West Region - NCAA Tourney

The West Region has the defending Champs...Legendary Coaches...Bill Cosby's fav school...an amazing 8 Conference Champs...let's have a look...

#1 seed - Duke Blue Devils...29-4...ACC...5-1 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski leads one of the best programs in College Sports...an amazing 11 times he has led the Blue Devils to the Final Four...4 of those times he emerged as National Champion including 2010...extremely impressive in ACC Title game beatdown over rival North Carolina...Although all 4 of their 2011 losses were road blowouts, this is a program built to thrive in Tourney scenarios...one of, if not the best scoring team in the NCAA Tourney...Top-heavy scoring with the likes of Senior's Nolan Smith (damn good) and Kyle Singlar (damn good)...Duke also gets production from Seth Curry (son of Dell Curry and brother of Stephen Curry), Ryan Kelly, and the Plumlee brothers Mason (6'10") and Miles (6'10"...plus their younger brother Marshall is currently at 7-feet tall still in High School) and Sophomore Andre Dawkins...Duke is a very strong rebounding club too...current NBA Alumni include Grant Hill, Josh McRoberts, Elton Brand, Shane Battier, JJ Redick, Dahntay Jones, Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng to name a few...

#2 seed - San Diego State Aztecs...32-2...Mountain West...2-2 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Steve Fisher is back in the Tourney as a fav...we remember he was the Head Coach of the Fab 5 Michigan teams that were National runner-ups both years the 5 were together...there was a ton of hype and attention for those Michigan teams, not so much these days with a SDST program that plays in the Mountain West Conference...This Aztecs squad was un-ranked to open the season, but have played so well they are all the way to #6 Nationally, and #2 NCAA Tourney seed...impressive...SDST plays great team D...The team is led by Seniors F's Malcolm Thomas and Billy White, plus Senior G D.J. Gay...Sophomore F Kawhi Leonard does a great job for this team, as does fellow Soph's Chase Tapley and James Rahon...a lot of depth in the frontcourt and backcourt for Fisher to work with...only 1 time all season did SDST lose a road/neutral site game

# 3 seed - Connecticut Huskies...Big East...9-6  vs ranked opponents...UCONN makes the 2011 NCAA Tourney as an Automatic Bid having won the Big East Tourney...amazing feat...to win the NCAA Tourney you need to win 6 games (the first 2 perhaps not even that grueling) in 3 weeks...to win the Big East Title UCONN had to win 5 games in 5 days...and by the way the competition for that was TOUGH...The Big East is sicker and deeper in 2011 than it usually already is making this a remarkable accomplishment for UCONN...tough to handicap this Huskies squad though...they limped into the Big East Tourney losers of 4 of their last 5 games, but then proceed to knock off DePaul, then 4 straight Top 25 teams in Georgetown, Syracuse, Pitt, and Louisville...UCONN is of course led by Head Coach Jim Calhoun who has guided the program to the Final Four 3 times, twice emerging as National Champions...Calhoun certainly came under fire this past year as he was cited by the NCAA for failure to create an atmosphere of compliance for his Assistant Coaches and his program...UCONN opened the season un-ranked and won the Maui Invitational...7 of their 9 losses have come on road/neutral site games...we know they are led by stud Kemba Walker (Future Raptor?!?!) who was born to score the basketball...Freshman Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, and Roscoe Smith - plus Sophomore's Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Alex Oriakhi give UCONN depth this season, and provide an extremely bright outlook for the future of this program...I like this teams ability to rebound as that skill will translate to any court and give the Huskies a chance to compete every night...Over Calhoun's 25+ years at UCONN he has produced some NBA greats...Rip Hamilton, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Ray Allen aka Jesus Shuttleworth, Caron Butler, Emeka Okafor, Clifford Robinson, Donyell Marshall, Charlie V to name a few...

#4 seed - Texas Longhorns...27-7...Big 12...6-3  vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Rick Barnes is in his 13th season at the helm in Texas, and it is the 13th time he has Texas in the NCAA Tourney...Barnes has coached NBA players like Kevin Durant, T.J. Ford, and D.J. Augustine at Texas...5 of this teams 7 2011 losses came on road/neutral site games...the O is led by Sophomore Jordan Hamilton (damn good), but this group gets very balanced scoring from F's Tristan Thompson (Freshman needs to stay out of foul trouble) and Gary Johnson, plus G's Cory Joseph and J'Covan Brown...Seniors Dogus Balbay and Matt Hill also contribute to this team...Texas is an outstanding rebounding club, and an outstanding D squad as well...“We’re a good team. We can beat anybody,” - Rick Barnes

Other teams worth a look...

#7 seed - Temple Owls...24-6...Atlantic 10...1-2 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Fran Dunphy was the victim of the annual 12-5 upset last year when his #5 Owls fell in the opening round to #12 Cornell...they are back this season as a #7 seed...a lot to like here...very balanced scoring...The team gets Senior Leadership from F Lavoy Allen, plus underclassmen like Ramone Moore, Scootie Randall, Juan Fernandez, and Khalif Wyatt

#13 seed - Oakland Golgen Grizzles...25-9...Summit League...1-4 vs ranked opponents...Senior C Keith Benson and Junior G Reggie Hamilton give the Grizz a rare inside-outside combo threat...Seniors Will Hudson and Larry Wright provide scoring too...This team won a Conference record 20 straight Conference games...Texas is their opening round opponent so the Committee did them no favors, but take a good look at this squad...

!!! #5 vs #12 ALERT !!!  ...20 of the last 22 years a #12 has upset a #5 in the opening round...in the West he have #5 Arizona vs #12 Memphis...Head Coach Josh Pastner has the Memphis Tigers back in the Big Dance...they did go 0-2 vs ranked opponents, but Arizona was worse at 0-3...Freshman G Will Barton leads a very deep squad...8 Tigers average at least 7 points per game...

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Southwest Region - NCAA Tourney

The Southwest Region has a powerhouse (Kansas), programs more noted for their success on the football field (ND, Purdue, Texas A&M, Florida State), and a fav of mine (UNLV)...let's take a look...6 Conference Champs...

#1 seed - Kansas Jayhawks...32-2...Big 12...5-1 vs ranked opponents...Kansas had a look of a #1 NCAA Tourney seed for much of this season...16-1 in away and neutral site games bodes very well for the Tourney...The 'Hawks are brilliantly lead by Head Coach Bill Self...Kansas alumni in the NBA include the likes Paul Pierce, Mario Chalmers, Julian Wright, Kirk Hinrich, and Drew Gooden...more recently Xavier Henry...Of the teams in the Tourney only Washington scores more per game than Kansas...It is a family affair at KU as they are led by the Morris twins - Marcus and Markieff (Juniors) who provide size and skill for the Jayhawks frontcourt...KU is also getting great play lately from Tyshawn Taylor (Junior), plus Seniors Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed...Very very good shooting team (one of the Nation's best)...Very good rebounding team...Very good defensive unit...the Big 12 Champs will surely be a team to be reckoned with for the next few weeks...

#2 seed - Notre Dame Fighting Irish...26-6...Big East...8-3 vs ranked opponents...current NBA players from ND include Luke Harangody, Troy Murphy, Chris Quinn, and Matt Carroll...Notre Dame really impresses me with their scoring depth...This a veteran Senior-led squad...G's Ben Hansbrough (Big East Player Of The Year...damn good) and Scott Martin can really score, plus good play from F's Tim Abromaitis, Tyrone Nash, and Carleton Scott (all 5 players are Seniors)...Youngsters Eric Atkins and Jack Cooley are the future of this program, and they contribute now too...ND is one of the top scoring teams in this 2011 NCAA Tourney (they can really shoot the 3-ball)...The Irish pass the ball very well and set up teammates very well...ND has a Top 10 RPI ranking...impressive 14 wins vs Big East foes this season...all 6 ND losses came on road/neutral site games...

#3 seed - Purdue Boliermakers...25-7...Big 10...4-2 vs ranked opponents...What a season in West Lafayette, Indiana...First their stars JaJuan Johnson (damn good) and E'Twaun Moore (damn good) declare themselves eligible for the NBA Draft, but luckily for Purdue both decide to withdraw from the Draft and return to the University for their Senior seasons...Then Robbie Hummel is lost for the season which surely is a major blow, but Head Coach Matt Painter has a deep rotation and has a lot of Juniors and Sophomore that will be the strength of this program going forward...especially at the Guard position with Juniors Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith, plus Sophomores Kelsey Barlow and D.J. Byrd...Purdue lost all 7 of their games this season on road/neutral site games...Purdue's best ranking was #6 this season...current NBA players from Purdue include Carl Landry, Brad Miller, and Brian Cardinal

#4 seed - Louisville Cardinals...25-8...Big East...7-5 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Rick Pitino has surely done a great job at bringing this Louisville basketball program into elite-program status...but I am underwhelmed at the name of their new arena KFC Yum! Center...yikes...current NBA players Derrick Caracter, Earl Clark, Francisco Garcia, Samardo Samuels all went to Louisville, as did AND1 and streetball legend the late Troy Escalade Jackson...This years squad is very balanced...Pitino can go 8-9 deep with this roster...The team is led by Senior G Preston Knowles (only Senior on the team)...Kyle Kuric can hit 3's in spurts, plus Chris Smith and Peyton Siva provide depth and skill in the Cardinals backcourt...if you value great Guard play as a must have in the Tourney then Louisville is worth a look...this team plays very good team D...they also distribute the basketball and pass the basketball very well...


Other teams worth a look...

#13 seed - Morehead State Eagles...24-9...Ohio Valley Conference...0-2 vs ranked opponents...Seniors Kenneth Faried (damn good) Sam Goodman, and Demonte Harper provide leadership and a ton of points and rebounds for the OVC Champs...the biggest reason to like this team is surely Faried who would be more of a household name if he played at a bigger program...Kudos to Head Coach Donnie Tyndall for getting his team to the Big Dance...

#8 seed - The University of Nevada at Las Vegas aka UNLV...24-8...Mountain West Conference...1-6 vs ranked opponents...full disclosure - any NCAA preview of mine would have at least a blurb on the Runnin' Rebels...they are my fav team and have been since the days when Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, and George Ackles were kicking major ass...I also am a long time Lon Kruger (current Head Coach) fan...Former Memphis player Tre'Von Willis (Senior) leads this squad with help from Juniors Chace Stanback and Oscar Bellfield (both pretty good from downtown), plus Soph G Anthony Marshall...


!!! #5 vs #12 ALERT !!! 20 of the past 22 years a #12 seed has upset a #5 in the opening round...in the Southwest the 5-12 match-up is #5 Vanderbilt (23-10...SEC) vs #12 Richmond (27-7...A10)...The Richmond Spiders did play a ranked opponent 3 times this season, winning twice...they have a really nice inside-outside attack with Senior F Justin Harper and Senior G Kevin Anderson (damn good)...4 of Richmond's 7 losses were on road/neutral site games...
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East Region - NCAA Tourney

The East region features the Tourney's #1 ranked team (Ohio State)...a 7-time NCAA Champ (Kentucky)...smart people (Princeton #13 seed)...2006 Cinderella George Mason...6 Conference Champs...let's take a look...


#1 seed - The Ohio State University...32-2...Big Ten...5-2 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Thad Motta has his Buckeyes as the #1 ranked team in the entire Tourney...kudos on a fine season...now the tough part...only 9 times ever has the #1 overall ranked team won the NCAA Tourney...as you can imagine this team is deep and talented...F Jared Sullinger (damn good) is a Freshman and leads the team in scoring and rebounding averaging a double-double...William Buford, Jon Diebler, David Lighty, and Aaron Craft provide Motta with depth and skill in the backcourt...Their only 2 losses this season were to Top 13 opponents (Wisconsin and Purdue)...the depth and skill in the backcourt coupled with what Sullinger brings to the table makes this team dangerous...Buckeyes one of the best shooting teams in the Nation...

#2 seed - North Carolina Tar Heels...26-7...ACC...2-4 vs ranked opponents...“Early in the year, the young man took a lot criticism from people who said, ‘Oh, he’s not that good,’ ” coach Roy Williams said ”He just stayed focused on being Harrison Barnes.”...That was Head Coach Roy Williams commenting recently on Freshman Harrison Barnes...Barnes had unprecedented hype as a true Freshman as he was a pre-season All-American selection...Only pre-season true Freshman ever to be honoured like that...at 15 points per game Barnes led UNC in scoring, and really got it going late in the season...they also get good production from fellow Forwards Tyler Zeller and John Henson...The Guard position has seen change recently as Larry Drew II left the team early Feb 2011 so the Heels look for more from Guards like Leslie McDonald, Dexter Strickland, and a pair of Freshman in Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall...this UNC club is an outstanding rebounding team (likely best in the Nation)

#3 seed - Syracuse Orange...26-7...Big East...7-5 vs ranked opponents...Head Coach Jim Boeheim and Assistant Coach Bernie Fine are in their 35th season as coaches...impressive...Amongst NBA players that have been groomed by this Syracuse staff are Carmelo Anthony,Jonny Flynn, Hakim Warrick, John Wallace, and of course Can-Con with Canadian citizens Leo and Andy Rautins...This current squad is very deep...of course they play the Zone D very well, and they get balanced scoring from F's Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph - plus G's Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche...Freshman Dion Waiters is getting his # called more and more by Boeheim too...same with 7-foot Freshman Fab Melo from Brazil...The 'Cuse also get production from Freshman C.J. Fair and Baye Moussa Keita (from Senegal)...a very young and diverse roster for the Orange so we see the window of winning is not closing anytime soon for the University of Syracuse...This is a very good rebounding team too...

#4 seed - Kentucky Wildcats...25-8...SEC...6-1 vs ranked opponents...My hat is off to Head Coach John Calipari...This UK team has 5 (wow 5) players drafted in this recent NBA Draft in the 1st round...amazing...even with that massive loss of talent the Wildcats are right back in the spotlight as they win the SEC Tourney and earn a NCAA Tourney #4 seed...impressive...to be able to recover from such a loss of talent so quickly and so effectively must mean that this team again had an influx of talent and youth...we see UK led by Juniors Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins, but this team gets great play from their top 3 scores - all Freshman - Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb...Despite the youth and inexperience this team shoots the 3-ball and scores very well...A ton of talent here, but I feel wary of the inexperience, although they put together a fantastic game in the SEC Champ game vs Florida so this team is a certain dark horse...UK can play great team D too...all 8 of UK losses this season were on road/neutral site games

Other teams worth a look...

# 7 seed Washington Huskies...23-10...PAC-10...1-3 vs ranked opponents...The PAC-10 Champs will have alumni like Detlef Schrempf, Brandon Roy, and Nate Robinson cheering them on in the Tourney...plus this school has some some Can-Con history too as Hall Of Fame Forward Bob Houbregs (Vancouver, BC) went to Washington...8 of their 10 losses came on road/neutral site games...Junior Isaiah Thomas is the big-shot leader of this team...Seniors Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday provide size, leadership, and scoring...the team depth at the Guard positions is great...along with Thomas the Huskies have Abdul Gaddy, C.J. Wilcox, Terrence Ross, Scott Suggs, and Venoy Overton all contributing in the backcourt...pretty nice squad here...a mix of young players and veterans, and a mix of strong Guard play with frontcourt talent too...Very good team at crashing the boards

The winner of the #6 Xavier vs #11 Marquette will likely give Syracuse a tough game in the 2nd round...

!!! #5 vs #12 ALERT !!!...20 of the last 22 years a #12 has upset a #5 in the opening round...in the East we have West Virginia and Head Coach Bob Huggins as the #5...the Mountaineers will have to wait to see if they play UAB or Clemson as the #12 seed...either opponent will test West Va early...

Check out the other NCAA Tourney Region blogs too...follow me on twitter @craigballard77

craig.ballard@hotmail.com

Derek Fisher...Miami Heat MVP?!?!

Word is the Miami Hate, I mean Heat, are in tears as we speak...seems like having a "Decision" show to make yourself a world wide fool, and then have an introduction ceremony with more pyro and moving stage parts then a U2 concerts DESPITE the fact that you had ZERO wins at that point might have been a bad idea...Putting a bullseye on your back when you have zero W's looks like it has backlash attached to it...For LeBron James to predict 7 (you read that right...7) NBA Titles at that very Introduction Ceremony might have been a tad buffoon-ish as well...Not to mention for those of us in Canada who watched Chris Bosh announce on espn that he was signing with the Heat because he is a "winner" (YIKES...could he find anyone in Canada who agreed with that assessment?!?!) and lost our lunch watching Bosh act like an attention starved small child during his FA process also may have been ill-conceived...

The result is this team put themselves under an unprecedented microscope...they surpassed the Lakers as the #1 hated team in the Association (hence the name Miami Hate)...For those of you who have read my blog for a while you know that I never thought Miami was the right place for these 3 by any means...With big men like Amar'e now, Dwight Howard shortly, plus David lee/Carlos Boozer/Joakim Noah all possible teammates why oh why would Bron Bron and D-wade chose Bosh to be their 3rd (distant 3rd) in the Big 3?!?!  With the new CBA sure to significantly improve the owners take, and likely to have no Exceptions (Trade...Mid-Level...Veteran...B-Annual...etc) why go to a team that has a punchline for a roster?!?! No Exceptions means once your team has spent to the Cap (which Heat have) then adding talent is only available through draft and trade...A big thing for me was that D-Wade and Bron Bron were both just eliminated in 2010 by the Rajon Rondo coming out show...other PG's in the East are Jameer Nelson (has been All Star before) and Derrick Rose (2011 has been D-Rose's coming out party)...all names listed here are significantly better than what Miami offers...after seeing the crucial importance of a top PG in the East why oh why did these guys go to the Heat where Mario Chalmers is the only PG on the team?!?! Chalmers as your answer to Rose/Nelson/Rondo is under the "Hey good luck with that" category...

This entry is to look at one of the under-the-radar FA signings in the summer-o-fun in the NBA this past summer...Derek Fisher...D-Fish had a choice to make between signing with the Heat to PG James/Wade/Bosh...or...re-up with the Lakers and PG Kobe and the gang...he chose the Lakers...I think Fish would have been the perfect PG to run this Heat team...in his years with the Lakers he has been in a zillion hostile environments...a zillion packed houses of fans who go to one game every year - the Lakers game...A) to see a great team in person...but really B) to cheer rabidly against the hated Lakers...LBJ, Wade and Bosh went from being loved to being hated overnight and they were never going to be able to deal with it in a way that they can get through it and remain a Title contender...Fisher would have surely helped...There are so many scenarios/situations that would have been new to this Heat team...none of them would have new to 14+ year vet Fisher...

The truth about the recent Heat slump is that all 30 NBA teams experience this "down" during the "up and down" of a NBA season...a 5-time Champ like Fisher would have been able to A) accurately prepare the guys for what the season was going to bring (especially the road games)...B) helped the team understand the proper path to a Title (for example when the Lakers struggled about a month ago there was frustration yes, but zero panic as they know the goal is to progress to the point where you are playing your best b-ball in June)...C) in the past 2 seasons Fisher has been great with big plays in Championship series W's vs Orlando and vs Boston - both of whom (plus Chicago) will be on the Heat's dance card in the playoffs...D) (not as important but still worth mentioning) D-Fish would have automatically lessened (a tad) the hate for the Heat...Fisher's story of his daughter and her medical issues are well documented and you can't help but cheer for a guy like Derek Fisher...

Miami is 1-8 vs the Magic/Celtics/Bulls...5-14 in games decided by 5 points or less (worst team in the NBA for that)...in the final 10 seconds of a game in this season the Heat have taken 18 shots to tie or win the game...they have made 1 (LBJ vs Memphis...the Grizz went on to win that game in OT!!!)...I am a firm believer that Derek Fisher would have been instrumental in improving all of these areas

When Fisher ultimately decided to stay with the Lakers he said he couldn't leave "my guy" (Kobe)...truth is even Fisher could see that the on-court abilities of James are UNREAL, but so are Kobe's, and Kobe is a better teammate and better leader - really a better winner than Bron Bron

July 14/2010...Lakers re-up with Fisher...I wonder what the Big 3 in Miami thought at that time...could they have seen this rough road coming...we sure did...Derek Fisher sure did...fast forward to one day ago where the players are in tears...Good Luck in the playoffs Miami...you will need it

Follow me on twitter @craigballard77

Bryan Colangelo era

With the Bryan Colangelo extension likely to happen let's take a look at the BC era here in the T-Dot...

2006...The Toronto Raptors win their first division title in franchise history.  That was the first time a Canadian-based NBA team had won a division title...now Bryan Colangelo is given the keys to run the franchise...what sort of upswing path did he put the Raps on?!?!  Let's take a look at the successes (mostly failures) of the BC era...

When BC took over the franchise in 2006 there were likely 7 franchises in the entire Association that had a brighter outlook than the Toronto Raptors...San Antonio and the Cavs made it to the NBA Finals (players like LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker all elite even then)...Detroit still had their core together from their 2004 Championship squad...Utah had Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Matt Harpring, and very young talent like Deron Williams/Paul Millsap/CJ Miles/Ronnie Brewer...Phoenix had Amar'e, Nash doing their All Star thing, and young Leandro Barbosa and The Matrix Shawn Marion combining for 36 points per game...Dallas had Disco Dirk, Jason The Jet Terry, and young talent like Josh Howard and Devin Harris...Houston had Yao and T-Mac and remember in 2006 these 2 had significant relevance in the Association...

5 years later that list of 7 has grown significantly...25 teams in the NBA currently have a better record this season than YOUR TORONTO RAPTORS...4 teams (only) are stacking more L's these days...and of those 4 (Cleveland, SacTown, Minny, Washington) I would rather have the roster of 3 of them rather than the Raps...

Washington has a future All Star in John Wall...also other young talent like JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Al Thornton and Jordan Crawford

Minnesota stacks L's at an amazing rate, but their future does look bright with Ricky Rubio (likely to come from overseas next season) Mr Double-Double Kevin Love (K-Love currently averaging 21 points and 16 rebounds per games...wow wow wow), plus a lot of young high-upside potential players...Luke Ridnour and Darko Milicic each are 7 year NBA vets, but the rest of the roster is extremely young and has potential

Sacramento has 2 future All Stars in Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, plus a lot of young talent like Omri Casspi, Marcus Thornton, Francisco Garcia, Jermaine Taylor, and Jason Thompson...

The only roster in the NBA I like less than the Raps may be Cleveland...and even the Cavs have 2 Lottery Picks in this upcoming draft so even they are about to infuse youth and talent to their roster...

The best Raptor in the BC era has been Chris Bosh...BC did not draft Bosh, and of course he completely mis-managed the Bosh situation by not trading him when the value for return assets was there...the best draft pick of the BC era has been Andrea Bargnani...many Raptors fans disagree, but I am a Bargnani fan and I like his upside...teams do not have an answer for a 7 foot shooter like Andrea...problem of course is that Colangelo has struggled mightily to put pieces around Bargnani...in the BC era we as Raps fans have held out hope, and then said goodbye to the likes of Jamario Moon, TJ Ford, Rasho, Juan Dixon, Primoz Brezec, Linton Johnson, Maceo Baston, Darrick Martin, Jason Kapono, Jake Voskuhl, Roko Ukic, Willie Soloman, Patrick O'Bryant, Quincy Douby, Marcus Banks, Nathan Jawai, Hassan Adams...a ton of yikes there...high profile moves like Jermaine O'Neal, The Matrix, Marco Belinelli, Jarret Jack, Hedon't Turkoglu all were disasters too...

I like the drafting of Ed Davis and DeMar DeRozan the past 2 years, but I ask you how do you see those moves?  Do you give BC credit for adding 2 future starters for this organization?  Or do you think that any GM would have taken these players if they were available as late as they were in the 1st rounds?!?!  The former is a W for BC...the latter means anyone could have made those picks so no credit for you BC...

I also like bringing in Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson...jury still out on Reggie Evans and Linas Kleiza (injuries)...I don't think BC's most recent acquisitions of Jarryd Bayless, Alexis Ajinca, and James Johnson will be franchise-altering (I do like James Johnson though)

BC was humiliated not once, but twice this past offseason by trades and FA signings he wanted to do that were ultimately squashed...to this day I find it unforgivable that BC did not know the NBA rules and thus the sign-and-trade of FA Matt Barnes was rescinded by the NBA...ridiculous BC...

Also unforgivable for me was the trading of Jermaine O'Neal and that massive contract for Shawn Marion...the Raps should have kept that contract and used the significant $$$ when that contract expired to go after FA's in this past summer-o-fun in the NBA...instead BC orchestrated it so he would have $$$ to spend the year before...you know the year where Hedon't Tukoglu was the best FA available (Good Lord)...BC has said himself that the organization may never recover from that major tactical error

While we are talking about things that I cannot get past with BC, let's touch on the Head Coach situation...To fire Sam Mitchell is one thing that you can debate as far as justified or not, but to have Jay Triano as his replacement is ridiculous...Triano is not an NBA Head Coach...to have him under contract to do so is uninspired...when Triano is finally fired we will all note that he will never be an NBA Head Coach again (great assistant, but not the guy to run the show)

The monstrous hole on this roster as far as being able to provide toughness and consequences in the paint that existed when BC took over 5+ years ago remains every bit as problematic...JP Riccardi was the Jays GM for 7 years and he never was able to get the organization on the right track at SS or C...same here for BC and getting talent for the low post...

For me personally when BC gave FA $$$ to Jason Kapono a few years back I lost my faith in him right there...It was actually Chuck Swirsky who talked me off the ledge of creating a Fire BC campaign (like anyone would listen to me, but still!)...now there is no way on God's green earth that I would ever suggest that I know more about basketball than the Swirsk, but he gets to watch sensational b-ball these days in ChiTown while we as Raps fans play the role of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day...same lame roster moves over and over again by BC and his bwoy Maurizio Gherardini...3 playoff wins in 5 years...not 3 playoff series wins (which still would be bad), but in fact 3 games...pathetic IMO...

Why on earth is MLSE looking to extend BC?!?!

Send me your thoughts on this, or any other blog entry... craig.ballard@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter @craigballard77