With the NBA playoffs starting yesterday, I was thinking about all the underdogs and the definite winners of each series. Like I did last year, I will be making predictions on the NBA playoffs in the 1st round, 2nd round, conference finals, and the finals, but today we start with the NBA’s 1st round predictions. We will start with the East and then move to the West. First up, Pacers-Hawks.

The 1 seeded Pacers are preparing to take on the 8 seeded Hawks in a best-of-7 series. My prediction for this series is Pacers in 6. The way the Hawks have been playing this year makes me feel like they can win 2 games against a very stacked Pacers team, but I feel like the Pacers are just way too dominant. Next, the Heat play the Bobcats. My prediction for this series is Heat in a sweep. I like the Bobcats making their second appearance to the playoffs this year, but I still don’t think they can pull off their first playoff win in franchise history. I know I am not the biggest Heat fan in the world but I still think they will move on to the next round. The 3 and 6 seeds in the East are the Raptors and Nets. My prediction for this is Nets in 6. The Raptors did a great job getting into the playoffs and gaining home court advantage but they are playing a way more experienced team. However, I still think the Raptors can pull out 2 games. The Nets can probably take this one easily because of the way they have been playing since the all-star break (The top record out of all teams since the all-star break). Lastly for the East, the Bulls-Wizards matchup at the 4 and 5 seeds. Many people may not think that this series will last too long but I think the Bulls will win in a 7 game series. These two teams will matchup very well against each other but I feel like Joakim Noah and the Bulls are too good for the Wizards. It will be tight, in my opinion, but the Bulls have got this. These are my predictions for the Western Conference. Now, to the West side of the conference.

1 vs. 8 in the West is the Spurs and the Mavericks. The Spurs, to me, have got this in 5 games. The Spurs should win the first three but Ellis and Nowitski won’t let a sweep happen on their home floor but they will get beat in the 5th game. Trust me, it will happen. The Spurs are just a complete machine walking up and down the floor getting buckets and playing slow and boring defense. No offense to the Spurs but it is true, and they were still able to pull out 62 wins out of 82 games this season. The 2nd and 7th seed series are the Thunder and the Grizzlies. My prediction for this series is the Thunder in 5. The Thunder do have Westbrook for this series unlike last year so now they have more than just 1 scoring option in Kevin Durant, but now they have Russell Westbrook as well. The Grizzlies may be a grind out team but the Thunder are too much for them. 3-6 seeds for the Western Conference are the Warriors and the Clippers. I think the Warriors in 6 will win. Yeah I know, crazy right? I think the Warriors will steal a game on the road and clinch the games at home. That is what I think of this series, yeah I know. Lastly, the 4 and 5 seeds for the Western Conference are the Rockets and the Trail Blazers. I pick the Trail Blazers in 6. The Blazers dynamic duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard happen to come in two of the weak spots for the Houston Rockets. As for James Harden, Wesley Matthews or Nick Batum can stop him or at least contain him during this series. Howard will have a clinic inside but the Blazers may start using the Hack-a-Shaq strategy to stop him. These are my predictions for the Western Conference.

I am so psyched for all of these playoff series and how players can shine throughout the world. But what I am also excited about is to hear what you guys think about the playoffs. What is the most exciting series of the playoffs? Do you disagree with some of my predictions? Who do you think will be key factors for certain teams? I want to hear what you believe about these NBA Playoffs. So, thanks for reading! Please comment.

One last note: The radio show blog coming out soon. The full interview can be heard in my next blog.

 

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone! Hope you had a good day celebrating a man that would back down from nothing to stand up for what he believed was right. If you think about everything that Martin Luther King Jr. has done for this country it is phenomenal. I look up to him because of his strength, leadership and compassion for people. He has helped make this country better for people of all ages. Thank you Dr. King for all your well doings and happy birthday! On such a special day, I had a phone interview with J.R. Inman to ask him about how feels about Dr. King and of course, basketball! Read below for my Q&A session with J.R. Inman. As always, I welcome your comments.

Mike: Well, today, being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, how did Martin Luther King affect you?

JR: Well, I think that Dr. King not only affected me, and obviously the other minority people of color, he affected our whole society -- people from various cultural backgrounds, that have different upbringings  and come from different ways of life. More than anything, I think that Dr. King represented unity. I believe that as a nation, as a country, and as a people --because of people like Dr. King-- we’ve been able to be a stronger nation, we’ve been able to get many things accomplished, and it speaks volumes about the type of person that he was. His message of nonviolence in a time of civil disobedience  is something that I not only respect, but I use that as motivation for all of my endeavors, because in the 1960s, there were a lot of things going on in our country. What he was able to accomplish was incredible. So, certainly given the roadblocks that he had, if he can make those accomplishments during his life in the 60s, certainly we should be able follow him and do the same thing in 2014.

Mike: How would you characterize your experience in the D-League so far?

JR: It’s been quite an experience. I have had the opportunity to play with, and against, current and former NBA players. So, you know, they talk about the Developmental League being a farm-seeded link, some  even say a direct link, between amateur basketball and basketball at the highest level, the NBA.  Personally, it has given me the opportunity to play in front of NBA scouts every night and to build some relationships and networking opportunities with some of the biggest people in the business.           

Mike: I see that in 6 games you averaged a double-double with 11.5 PPG and 10.0 RPG. How long do you think you can keep up this level of play?

JR: Well now, that statistic was dating back, but now I’ve played around 15 games. Right now I am actually currently inactive, which means I am still practicing with the team, I’m still on the roster, but I am not playing in the actual games. For instance, we have a game today that I will not be playing. We have about 12 or 13 guys on the roster currently, and for game day situations you can only play or suit up 10 guys, so it is a situation where I would hope to get back on the floor as soon as possible.


Mike: To date, what would you say would be your highlight of the season?

JR: My highlight of the season? I can only speak on the best statistical game I had where we played against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and I had 18 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 assists. I was scoring in multiple ways, inside, outside, really showing my full skillset and it was an exciting game. It was a pleasant experience because it was so far, and my signature game that I had, in terms of efficiency.

          

Mike: There have been various times this season where you have been moved to the center position and you have had to play against bigger and stronger guys but you have been able to contain them. What gives you the momentum to go up against these bigger and stronger guys and being able to stop them?

JR: I think that my experience playing in the Big East basketball conference, combined with my professional experiences abroad, have equipped me with the skills and the knowledge to be able to play against big guys. If you look at the NBA all-time defensive centers, like Ben Wallace, who at 6’9” was the defensive player of the year at the center position, being able to guard guys like Shaq and you say how does he do that? Defense is about desire and discipline, but it is also about technique and leverage. If you can simply get lower than your man, and you can hit him first to initiate contact, even if he is bigger and stronger than you, you can counter balance his strength with your technique. It’s science. Basketball, more than anything is a science, and that is why I have been able to do what I do when I play against guys who are bigger and stronger than me. I use my speed and I use my leverage to try to get lower, and I also initiate contact to push him out of the paint so he doesn’t have easy post position.

Mike: You have started 14 of your 16 games this season, and have really made an impact on the court. Your efficiency rating has been at +11.62, which is the third highest on your team. How are you keeping yourself so consistent?

JR: Overall, I am just trying to find my game. A lot of times, especially on this level, when guys are trying to make the NBA, sometimes people are overly aggressive and they try to do things that they are not overly comfortable with to try to impress scouts. In reality, a scout that is looking at you is either going to like your game or not.  And at this level, if they are even looking at you, they have some interest in you. It does add some pressure but I just go out and play my game and not worry about trying to impress anybody, but it is actually very interesting that you just told me that stat that I had the third highest efficiency rating in the team. There are so many aspects and there are so many variables that go into each and every game, each and every player being out on the floor that, no, it is not always the best guy, it is not always the most team-oriented guy on the court. There are so many factors that can determine the outcome of the game, the outcome of a team, and its construct. It is just important not to focus on those factors and just to focus on readiness and being prepared and waiting for your opportunity.

Mike: That is all I got. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

JR: I would like to say that we have been struggling in terms of win/loss however, this is an experience that I will never forget. I am appreciative, but you know, I came a long way, I was the 8th round draft pick in the D-League draft. I went from being the 8th round pick to starting 14 of my 16 games. Most players that we drafted are not even on our team anymore. In fact, we only have four players currently, from the original training camp roster, that are still with us. So, the fact that I was able to defy the odds by going from an 8th round pick to becoming a starter in just a month span, it speaks volumes of my work ethic and I just think that is something in itself and an example for young children to understand. Some kids, especially in the high school level, they may say, "Oh coach doesn’t like me because I don’t get much playing time" but where you are at today has nothing to do with where you will be at tomorrow or the next day. As long as you put your best foot forward each and every day, you can continue to work hard to reach your goals and aspirations. I believe there is a saying that the crane always rises to the top and that is what happened with me and the 87ers.



Thanks for reading and please comment!

Hello everyone, today I am going to make my
predictions for the NBA Draft which goes on tonight. I am really excited to see
who goes where in the draft, especially the Knicks who have the
24th pick in the first
round of the draft. I am going to do only the first round for my mock draft. I
have done my research and I am ready to get these picks started. How about you?
Here are my first round picks.

Cleveland Cavaliers R1N1: Otto Porter (Georgetown) 


Orlando Magic R1N2: Nerlens Noel (Kentucky) 


Washington Wizards R1N3: Cody Zeller (Indiana) 


Charlotte Bobcats R1N4: Ben McLemore (Kansas) 


Phoenix Suns R1N5: Anthony Bennett (UNLV) 


New Orleans Pelicans R1N6: Trey Burke (Michigan)


Sacramento Kings R1N7: Victor Oladipo (Indiana)


Detroit Pistons R1N8: C.J. McCollum (Lehigh)


Minnesota Timberwolves R1N9: Shabazz Muhammad (UCLA)


Portland Trail Blazers R1N10: Alex Len (Maryland)


Philadelphia 76ers R1N11: Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga)


Oklahoma City Thunder R1N12: Steven Adams (Pittsburgh)


Dallas Mavericks R1N13: Shane Larkin (Miami)


Utah Jazz R1N14: Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse)


Milwaukee Bucks R1N15: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Georgia)


Boston Celtics R1N16: Sergey Karasev (Triumph Moscow)



Atlanta Hawks R1N17: Dennis Schroeder (Germany)


Atlanta Hawks R1N18: Rudy Gobert (France)


Cleveland Cavaliers R1N19: Allen Crabbe (California)


Chicago Bulls R1N20: Mason Plumlee (Duke)



Utah Jazz R1N21: Isaiah Canaan (Murray State)

Brooklyn Nets R1N22: Gorgui Dieng (Louisville)



Indiana Pacers R1N23: Giannis Adetokunbo (Greece)


New York Knicks R1N24: Tony Mitchell (North Texas)


Los Angeles Clippers R1N25: Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan)


Minnesota Timberwolves R1N26: Jamaal Franklin (San Diego State)


Denver Nuggets R1N27: Jeff Withey (Kansas)


San Antonio Spurs R1N28: Reggie Bullock (North Carolina)


Oklahoma City Thunder R1N29: Glen Rice Jr. (NBA D-League)


Phoenix Suns R1N30: Ricky Ledo (Providence)


These are my first round picks. Do you agree with them or do you disagree? Tell me in the comment section who you think should be changed up. Did you think that someone who was not mentioned here should be here? Tell me! Anyway, thanks for reading and please comment.

With the NBA Playoffs starting, I was thinking about which team
would win each series in the playoffs. Of course, there are a lot of exciting
things going on right now in the playoffs, so it was hard for me to think of
which team would win series and in how many games would that team win it in. It
was very hard making these choices, and of course some were easier than others.
Plus, these are truly who I think will win, not necessarily who I want to win.
So, anyway, let me start off with the easiest ones that I could think of with
the 1 seeds vs. the 8 seeds.

In the East, the #1 seed is the Miami Heat and #8 seed is the
Milwaukee Bucks. My predictions are that Heat will win in 5 games. I really
  truly think that the Bucks can pull off one game on their home floor, but the
  Heat are too good and too talented for the Bucks, who had a losing record this
  year, but I think the Bucks could pull off one of those two home games because
  of their backcourt duo which is Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. So, my
  prediction for that series is that the Heat will win in 5 games. In the West,
  however, the #1 seed is the Oklahoma City Thunder and the #8 seed is the
  Houston Rockets. My predictions are that the Thunder will win in 6 games. The
reason why I think Houston will pull out two games is because of two words, “The
  Beard”. James Harden can definitely bring two games home to Houston, in my
  opinion. The Rockets did pull out one game out of three against the Thunder by
  two points. However, I think that the Thunder will win this series because of
  the dominance of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka. Anyway, I
  think the Thunder will win in 6 games. Next, we have the 2 seeds vs. the 7
  seeds.

In the West, the #2 seed is the San Antonio Spurs and the #7 seed
is the Los Angeles Lakers. My predictions for this series are that the Spurs
will win in 5 games. I think that the Lakers cannot pull out this series against
the Spurs without Kobe Bryant, plain and simple. I think that the Spurs have
more talent than the Lakers because of Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan. Even though
the Lakers have D-12, I just don’t think they can do it. In the East, the #2
seed is the New York Knicks and the #7 seed is the Boston Celtics. I think that
the Knicks will win this series in 5 games. I think this because Boston will
definitely win a game on their home court, in my opinion. I think the Knicks
will win this series for sure if Raymond Felton plays well and he has so far so
keep it up, RAY! After that, we have the 3 seeds vs. the 6 seeds.  

In the West, I come to my first upset prediction. The #3 seed is
the Denver Nuggets and the #6 seed is the Warriors. My prediction is that Golden
State will win in 7 games. I think that the Warriors have enough talent to pull
this off. With the dominance of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson from beyond the
arc, I think that the Warriors will win. However, I think that the Nuggets will
make it close because of their backcourt in Andre Igoudala and Ty Lawson. In my
opinion, this will be a great and fun series to watch. Again, I think that
Golden State will win in 7 games. In the East, the #3 seed is the Indiana Pacers
and the #6 seed is the Atlanta Hawks. This was one of the easiest choices to
make. I think that the Pacers will sweep the Hawks simply because of the
dominance on both ends of the floor. With a lineup of George Hill, Paul George,
Lance Stephenson, David West, and Roy Hibbert, I think that the Pacers are going
to be very difficult to stop for the Hawks. I can see Josh Smith possibly
winning a game for them, but I think it will be a sweep by the Pacers. Lastly,
we have the #4 seeds vs. the #5 seeds.

These two series are always the toughest to make,
but I made predictions, so here we go. In the East, the #4 seed is the Brooklyn
Nets and the #5 seed is the Chicago Bulls. In my opinion, I think that the Bulls
will win this is 6 games. I think this because the Bulls won the season series
3-1 and I think that they have a much better defensive team and can stop the
  scorers like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez. Another reason why I
  think the Bulls will win this series is because of the 2 young all-stars named
  Joakim Noah and Luol Deng. These two have so much talent, Deng can hit the open
  shot, Noah is a beast around the basket and getting boards. This is why I think
  the Bulls can win in 6. In the West, the #4 seed is the Los Angeles Clippers
  and the #5 seed is the Memphis Grizzlies. My last prediction for the 1st round is the
Grizzlies win this series in 7 games. I think that Mike Conley is going to take
charge and have some phenomenal games and get the ball to Zach Randolph and Marc
Gasol for easy layups, dunks and jump shots. I also think that Zach Randolph is
going to have a 35+ point game throughout the series and it will be fun to see.
I cannot wait to see this series and I am sure it will be fun to watch. Again, I
think that the Grizzlies will win against the Clippers in 7
games.

These are my predictions, but I want to know what yours are.
  Please comment below on your predictions on the playoffs and who you think will
  go to the next round. I think the Heat, Thunder, Spurs, Knicks, Pacers,
  Warriors, Bulls, and Grizzlies will all play in the Conference Semifinals.
  Thanks for reading my predictions. Please comment!  

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Knicks have their last battle of the regular season against the Nets at Madison Square Garden at 3:00 PM. The last time that these two teams played together at the Garden was on December 19th, back in 2012. Now it is 2013 and the Nets are doing great to start off the New Year only losing one game! That’s stupendous! The Knicks, however, have not been looking very good getting their first three game losing streak while having Mike Woodson as head coach during the regular season. I still think though that the Knicks and Nets will play some phenomenal basketball.

In my opinion, I think that Carmelo Anthony will easily hit 30. The reason I say that Carmelo will get 30 points because against the Nets he averages 37 points per game. Here is how many points he scored in each of the battles: Part I: 35 points, Part II: 45 points, Part III: 31 points. I’m saying: Part IV: 30 or more points. This game should definitely be a very rough one, but still a close game. I believe that it might come down to the very final shot, maybe even at the buzzer of the 4th quarter. Just like Parts I and II of the battle. Part I: Overtime Thriller as Nets hold on to win 96-89, Part II: Jason Kidd hits a three pointer and the foul with around 15 seconds left, misses the free throw, but the Nets could not tie the game, Knicks win 100-97, Part III: Knicks win in blow out 100-86. As you can see, it will be rough, for neither team has gotten one point more than 100 in all three battles. That is some good defense and hustle! Raymond Felton will not play in the game because he fractured his right pinky finger on Christmas Day against the Lakers.

Next up are the matchups. They are: Point Guards: Jason Kidd vs. Deron Williams. I think that it will be tough for D-Will to score on Jason Kidd because Kidd has an extremely high basketball I.Q. However, I think Deron Williams will win this matchup because he has speed over the 38 year old Jason Kidd. Also, as being one of the rising stars in the NBA, Deron Williams can hit contested shots over Kidd. In my opinion, the point guard matchup goes to the Nets. Shooting Guards: Iman Shumpert vs. Joe Johnson. I think that Iman Shumpert will play great defense on Joe Johnson, but has still not fully recovered from his big injury yet, so I think the shooting guard matchup goes to the Nets, as well. Small Forwards: Chris Copeland vs. Gerald Wallace. I know that most people are going to disagree with me on this, but I think Copeland wins this matchup. Chris Copeland shoots with such confidence over defenders and makes it in. He also has had about 4 or 5 games this year where he started and got 20 or more points. Gerald Wallace, on the other hand, gets injured way too much. That’s why they call him CRASH! In my opinion, the small forward matchup goes to the Knicks. Power Forwards: Carmelo Anthony vs. Kris Humphries. This is probably the easiest choice to make and I have got to go with Carmelo. I think this matchup goes to the Knicks. Centers: Tyson Chandler vs. Brook Lopez. I think that Brook Lopez is really overrated and Tyson Chandler is clearly better. The centers matchup goes to the Knicks.

I think and hope that the Knicks win. I think that the Knicks can win the season series against the Nets as 3 wins and 1 loss.

I cannot wait to see this game Brooklyn vs. Manhattan, Nets vs. Knicks. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day and please comment! 

NBA 2k13 out now! I got the game pre-ordered because my mom and dad were nice enough to get it for me. Anyway, it is a pretty sick game. Let’s get to the changes. What I figured out first was that the left trigger on defense helps you play more intense defense on the player that you are guarding. There is a way to flop like LeBron too. You hold B, release B, and then press B quickly. One last thing that they made new is the shot stick is not for shots anymore it is simply for doing spin moves. Another great thing that 2k added is that the songs were chosen by Jay-Z and now I am more familiar with the songs that play while I’m checking things out. These are some new things that 2k added.

                Now I’ll talk about the teams and graphics of NBA 2k13. The graphics are phenomenal they have every single player exactly right. It is amazing! The Brooklyn Nets’ logo is really cool and the Bobcats changed their logo as well. I got to say, it is really cool. Then, they added some new legendary teams like the 2k13 Celebrity team with players such as Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber, they have the 1992 USA Olympic Dream Team with MJ, the 2012 Olympic squad with Kobe, LeBron, and Durant. They also have “The Answer”, AI, Allen Iverson in the 2001 squad when he took the Sixers to the finals. Also, they changed the My Player setup and skill points. They now have your My Player on the home screen and if you click on him it does not bring you to start your career. They now have a new section called My Career, it is the same thing as My Player from 2k12 but it is called a different name, My Career. Another thing with my player or my career is that instead of getting Skill Points you get Virtual Currency coins. You get a certain amount each game. They also have a mode called My Team where you will be given a certain amount of players at a rookie skill level and you can play online against people with your squad versus their squad. That is another really cool feature!

                Now I will talk about All-Star Weekend. You can only get all-star weekend if you pre-ordered the game. I was fortunate to get it pre-ordered because my parents got it for me by surprise. First, there is the All-Star game. It is the same as last year with the same all-stars just in the conference that they are supposed to be in like Dwight Howard is in the West All-Stars. Second, we have the Rising Stars Challenge. They have the sophomores and rookies go head-to-head in a fearsome battle. Third, we have the Slam Dunk contest. They allow you access to the legends like MJ, Dominique, Clyde, and even Spud Webb. They also allow you to put NBA players up against the legends like you can have LeBron, Blake Griffin, MJ, and Dominique go at it. Another thing about it is that your my player is able to be in the dunk contest as well with the NBA and legends. Even if your my player cannot dunk he is able to dunk in the contest. Anyway, back to the dunk contest, the way you activate a dunk takes some getting used to. What you have to do first is choose a section like through the legs or 360s or windmills. Then, once you choose a section you have to choose what kind of way you are going to do it like for the props section you can choose the dunk up and over where you jump over a car. You have 3 dunks per player and 4 players. The highest score you can get in the dunk contest is a 100. The last part of all-star weekend is the three point contest. Your my player will be featured in this as well. There are 6 players and 2 rounds which means that the top 3 scores go to the final round. If you have NBA 2k11 this is the same thing as the blacktop three point contest except it is in the Rockets stadium. You will have lots of fun with this feature if you pre-ordered it.

The Knicks need more than a new uniform. They need leadership both on and off the court.  All the way from the back office to the players on the court, we need a team that will live up to the excitement of the city that never sleeps. C’mon, we are New York!

I think that the new New Yorkers, the Brooklyn Nets, have a better understanding of what being in New York means. Over the summer, they took some serious action. They beefed up their squad with Joe Johnson and resigned Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace. I think they probably now have one of the best backcourts in the league outside of Kobe and Nash on the Lakers. During the same summer months, the Knicks lost Lin and Fields, their starting back court. They reunited with former Knicks Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas while also bringing Jason Kidd onboard. All three veterans are nearing the end of their career so I am not sure how the Knicks management thinks this is a step in the right direction.  We also acquired Ronnie Brewer who still has time to develop his skills, however we only signed the 27 year old to a 1 year contract. It leaves me wondering if the future New York fans will look to the Nets to represent their great city. 

The Orlando Magic may not recover from this disappearing act. Its superstar, Dwight Howard, a non-free agent that was still the biggest name in free agency, finally walks away with a deal in Los Angeles to play with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and the Lakers. I do not get why in the world the Magic took this deal. Did they just completely overlook the Brooklyn Nets deal?  Howard averaged 20.6 points per game, 14.5 rebounds per game and an astonishing 2.2 blocks per game last season. So, the Magic lets him go and now they have one of the worst teams in the league. I remember learning that the same thing happened in 1996 with Shaquille O’Neal going to the Lakers from the Magic, and then winning 3 straight titles with Kobe Bryant. Now Kobe will, in my opinion, get his sixth ring to tie Michael Jordan, thanks to the Magic...

One Knicks opportunity is lost almost as quick as it was found. Jeremy Lin, the sophomore star of the New York Knickerbockers, took the Big Apple by storm for 25 games in February. I cannot imagine how the Knicks would just let him go after such an amazing run that he had scoring 38 on Kobe, hitting the game winner in Toronto, and dunking it on the Wizards. The Houston Rockets offered Lin a 3YR/$25.00M contract, with the last year of his contract earning 14.8M out of the 25M. At first I thought to let him go, but then I looked back at some of the highlights with Lin doing incredible moves around people, and then I thought that he was definitely worth it. According to James Dolan, owner of the Knicks, he truly was not enough.