NBA homestretch
OK, we are done to the end. Here's what we know:
We know LeBron is a boss.
We know that Anthony Davis is playing better than anyone on the planet, LeBron and James Harden included. The Brow is averaging better than 30 a night since DeMarcus Cousins was hurt. And yes the West is the better league and yes, the 3-ball has become the most pronounced weapon in basketball. But man, The Brow and Boogie would offer a great complement to the long-range style preferred by the rest of that conference (other than Utah). And know this, The Brow likely is the best defensive option in the entire league to frustrate Kevin Durant, and that's important too.
We know the Rockets and the Raptors have the home-court edge through the conference playoffs.
We know that unless they get back to full strength, the Warriors are not as clear a foregone conclusion as we thought three months ago.
We know that the 76ers are fun, and if Joel Embiid returns full-go, here's a vote that Philly may be the second-best bet in the Eastern Conference behind LeBron.
We know that using the word 'know' and then the phrase 'may be' in the same sentence (check above) seems rather base-covering, don't you think. Along the lines of a definite maybe or a "certainly one of" type of claims.
Speaking of the 76ers, they have two games left - tonight at Atlanta and Wednesday at home against Milwaukee - and if they win both they clinch the 3 seed. That would mean Cleveland would be the 4, and if those two reach the finals - top-seeded Toronto has a long history of playoff gag jobs and second-seeded Boston has more injuries than a Civil War battalion - the 3 seed gets homecourt. (And the crazy thing is before this torrid 14-game winning streak the Sixers were a muddling 36-30. Nuts.)
We know in a stroke of good fortune the T-Wolves and the Nuggets will play to end the season. Normally that elicits more yawns than any Ben Affleck movie since "Argo" but each is 46-35 and tied for eighth in the West. The winner gets in; the loser gets to lose to the Rockets in round one.
Giddy-up
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Sean Newcomb delivers a pitch to Colorado Rockies' Chris Iannetta in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 8, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Braves bounced
OK, yes, we want to believe in these Atlanta Braves.
Desperately.
The summer months - also known as the day we count down before football starts - are always more fun when the Braves are more fun.
The quick offensive start for this club has again proven that.
But Monday night's loss to a brilliant Max Scherzer was evidence of the Braves' biggest hole.
The lack of an ace will leave the Braves limited when facing legit No. 1s like Scherzer or Kershaw or any number of other guys across the league.
Julio Teheran did not pitch badly Monday, but his lack of ace-level stuff is bad in the short term and simply deadly as this club takes steps forward. Remember, a lack of an ace in the regular season is a problem; a lack of an ace in the postseason is a death sentence.
That said, it will be interesting to see how Mike Foltynewicz handles tonight's assignment against Stephen Strasburg. And yes, the fact that the Nationals have a pair of aces to the Braves non-suited Jack-9 is telling.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo watches second half action against Purdue in Indianapolis on Sunday, March 13, 2016. Michigan State won, 66-62. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Next shoe drops
Hey, Tom Izzo, you want to chat about the issues and allegations in your program now?
We all remember how Izzo, who has proven to be a hollow facade of what a lot of us thought, got totally chippy when the topics of sexual assaults and allegations were brought up during his news conferences.
In a lot of ways, Izzo's defiance and deflections at the real and pertinent questions about how athletes treated women at Michigan State and how the athletics department treated the athletes who mistreated those women served as a distraction to the simple fact that Izzy had no worse than the third-most talented team in college hoops and he failed to get out of the second round.
And with these latest round of allegations - here's a story from a woman who alleges that three MSU basketball players raped her and the program tried to get her to not report it to authorities - are even worse than the whispers and reports of previous incidents.
Because if we are completely clear and honest, if those allegations that three MSU players raped her and the program coerced her not to go to the police, it's hard to see how Izzo can keep his job, right?
Here are some more harsh details from the Detroit Free Press.
This and that
- Monday we discussed Steve Spurrier joining the Orlando team in the AAF and made a joke about Tim Tebow coming aboard. Well, who knew?
- The Giants apparently like Sam Darnold and do not like Josh Rosen. Or maybe that's a smokescreen. We love the draft. You know this.
- Speaking of the NBA, it's pretty cool that going into the final game of the regular season, Russell Westbrook could still average a triple double with 16 rebounds in the season finale.
- UK point guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander has declared for the NBA Draft.
- OK, see if this surprises anyone: Tiger Woods' first Masters in three years produced the most-watched golf telecast in three years. Of course that would have been the last Masters final round in which Woods played. Still Woods' absence from the afternoon coverage was felt as the 7.9 rating was the fifth-lowest since 1993. Only last year, 2016, 2014 and 2004 were lower. The 13.0 million viewers were the seventh-fewest since 1996, although a growing streaming audience was not part of that count. Also of note, considering the tug-of-war among non-big three sports, it's worth noting that the Masters crushed the Daytona 500 (5.3 rating, 9.3 million viewers) but was thumped last year's Kentucky Derby (9.3, 16.4 million), according to sportsmediawatch.com.
- With a visor-tip to TFP UTC ace Mean Gene Henley for retweeting this, here's MTSU AD Chris Massaro showing great leadership and true care for the student-athletes and college sports. After the MTSU basketball coaching staff left for Ole Miss, Massaro gave the incoming recruits the opportunity to get out of the letters of intent and transfer without penalty. He took some social media heat from some small-minded dude named Spencer who called it a "small-time move" among other things. Massaro's response was perfect: "It is the right thing to do. The recruits signed with a different coaching staff. A small time move is to try to be vindictive or limiting. The signees are still wanted at MTSU. We try to treat people well at MT." Well-played Chris.
- Trevor Davis, a Packers wide out, apparently was arrested over the weekend at LAX for saying aloud that he had a bomb in his luggage. Wowser. Not the brightest play on record, there friends.
Today's question
Let's do some true and false.
True or false you would gladly trade for Patrick Reed's life right now. Amazing accomplished, more than $20 million in the bank and a Masters champion, but you never speak to your family and clearly are dealing with a lot of big emotional issues.
True or false, you as a fan would rather have your team make the playoffs and lose 4-1 to the Rockets or have a chance to get into the lottery and get one more true game-changing piece for your roster.
True or false, same question for the GMs of each of those teams.
True or false, the Braves should break the bank for Clayton Kershaw if he comes on the market heading into 2019.
As for today, April 10. Let's see.
On this day in 1849, Walter Hunt patented the safety pin and sold the rights for $400. Ouch. Yes $400 was a lot of coin back then, but man. Unless he started Hunt's ketchup with that seed money, seems like a poor choice.
As for birthdays, Haley Joel Osment is 30 today. Yes, the kid that saw dead people is 30. That will kick you in the birth certificate.
We talked a little about this dude last week, but Sam Kinison died on this day in 1992.
As for a Rushmore, well, since John Madden is 82 today and Dandy Don Meredith would have been 80, let's do the Rushmore of all-time NFL in-game color commentators, because those two will make a strong push.
Go, and congrats Alan C. for winning the Masters contest.