And just like that, it's here. The NBA regular season tipped off last night with three games on the schedule. If this were a high school triple header with Varsity, JV, and Freshman games the Cavs vs. Wizards definitely played the role of the frosh . With that being said, I loved what I saw out of these 'kids' on opening night. Coming into the year fans had very mixed emotions about the off-season (or lack thereof) moves made by the Cavs. With a surprise top pick (Dion) and a relatively quiet free agency period (CJ Miles?), Cleveland fans came into the year excited but reserved. Well Cavs fans, I think we can finally let our guards down again.
Ever since that one guy, who is kind of the best player on the planet, left town, Cleveland hasn't been the prettiest site for basketball. After a record breaking (in a very bad way) season 2 years ago, there wasn't much reason for hope here on the shores of Lake Erie. That was until a mid season trade netted the Cavs an extra lottery pick and a little glimmer of hope.
From that seed came the 'lottery special', where the NBA determines the order of which each team will draft by selecting ping pong balls on live television. On that night in May 2011, Nick Gilbert, son of owner Dan, changed the Cavaliers fortune and future in a big way. With under a three percent chance of winning the #1 overall pick, Nick brought the Cavs enough luck to somehow do just that. The best part about it was that the Cavs won the rights to the #1 selection with the pick they had received from the LA Clippers alongside Baron Davis in a trade for Mo Williams. I'd say the Cavs did pretty good on that particular trade.
With that pick the Cavs drafted Kyrie Irving. Irving was a super-talented point guard out of Duke who played just 11 career collegiate games due to injury. There were many people who thought going a different route, such as taking Arizona forward Derick Williams, would be more beneficial for the Cavaliers. Good thing those people aren't in charge of basketball operations in Cleveland. The Cavs also owned the 4rth overall pick that year and selected Tristan Thompson. Thompson has consistently showed improvement since joining the Cavs and looks poised to be the starting PF for a long time.
As for Irving, a year and a half after the Cavs made him their #1 selection it is clear he's on the fast track to becoming a SUPERstar. A top 10 player in this league for years to come. In his first season Irving ran away with the rookie of the year award and showed flashes of greatness. He averaged 18.5 ppg, 5.5 apg, and almost 4 boards a game while shooting 87, 47, and 40 percent on FT's, FG's and 3P's respectively. Aside from those outstanding numbers, Kyrie showed what very few players have in their game, a true clutch gene in the 4rth quarter. Despite his stellar play, the Cavs were still a sub .500 team and after Anderson Varejzo (among others) suffered significant injuries, the Cavs wound up with another top 5 pick for the 2012 draft.
With that pick the Cavs selected SG Dion Waiters. Later on in the same draft, the Cavs traded up to select center Tyler Zellers out of North Carolina. When all was said and done the Cavs had gotten a starting caliber player at every position except SF (Lebron?) through the last 2 drafts. With all that young talent and an owner who is willing to do whatever it takes to win things are looking up in Cleveland. You throw in a few wiley vets such as Varejao plus a well respected head coach who specializes in developing young players, and it's natural to be excited about the future.
Now don't take this as me proclaiming the Cavs will battle the Heat and Celtics for supremacy in the East this year. It is definitely going to take some time. It won't always be pretty. Cleveland has the youngest team in the NBA by far and some nights it will show. But with a young star like Irving mixed in with all the other elements going for the Cavs right now, Cleveland and its fans have reason to be optimistic. Reason to go pack the Q again. In a few years the Cavs will be back on top so until then just sit back and enjoy the ride up.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Fantasy Football 2nd Half Predictions
With seven weeks of football in the books, most Fantasy Football league's are right at the half way point of their season. Early season surprises are now house hold names (Alfred Morris), and preseason studs are fighting to stay in your starting lineup (Cam Newton, S-Jax). This is the time where most people, mainly the "experts", seem to forget all the crazy preseason predictions they were so adamant about. If you could re draft today would it still be wise to take a tight end at a spot where you could easily have grabbed AP? How about Cam over Jamaal Charles or A.J Green?
To be fair, outside of a few super obvious names such as Foster, Rice, Brees, and Rodgers, No matter what direction you went early in this year's draft, there's a good chance your not feeling great about it. No one that drafted Stafford could have expected this, DMC was a home run if he could only stay healthy right? The point is NO ONE REALLY KNOWS. Of all sports, football changes so much from year to year it's almost impossible to predict future outcomes. With injuries, players evolving, and the coaching and game planning changing everyday its truly a full time job to try to stay up to date with today's NFL.
With that said, I am here to take my best shot at forecasting this crazy game we call Fantasy Football. It's coming down to crunch time and people want to know, Are these guys really who we thought they were? Well Dennis Green? Anyway here are my 5 bold (literally in bold) predictions for the 2nd half of the FF season:
-Calvin Johnson will finish in the top 3 at the WR position.
The Megatron hate has gone too far. I have recently seen experts signing off on trading Calvin straight up for the likes of Julio Jones, T-Rich, Reggie Wayne, Alfred Morris etc. While all these are fine players, I still believe Calvin is a beast like no other. Throw out Monday nights terrible game (which ALL receivers have) and the guy is on pace to have over 100 more yards and 10 more receptions than he had last year in one of the biggest seasons from a WR ever. Throw in a brutal early season schedule (SF, Chi, Minn, Phi) and his numbers thus far are pretty impressive. With much more fantasy friendly match ups to come, I just can't see CJ and Stafford keeping up this TD slump. Right now Calvin's outside the top 10 (#11) at WR in standard and PPR leagues, but 7 weeks from now he will be back on top.
-Peyton Manning will finish as a top 3 QB.
Coming into the season Peyton Manning was the biggest question mark in Fantasy Football. At full strength he was one of the best fantasy QB's ever and could single handily get you a win any given week. So how in the heck was his ADP 60th overall and 10th QB taken? Well when a neck injury keeps you out for 2 years and the team you basically own lets you walk, there's cause for a little concern. Not anymore. Aside from some deep throws not looking exactly Manning-Esq the guy is back. Coming back from down 24-0 at the half vs. SD will be looked back on as the turning point for Manning and the Broncos and with a schedule full of potential shootouts (starting Sunday vs N.O) still to come, Look for Manning to leap frog from 7th (current QB rank) to the top 3, at the expense of Tom Brady.
-Frank Gore and Michael Turner will finish outside the top 20 RB.
Frank Gore and Michael Turner have been very solid producers so far, currently ranking 7th and 15th respectively at the RB position. If you own either of these 2 players, trade them now while their values high. While it's nice to see RB's who are considered "old" still produce at a high pace, I just don't see it lasting. Gore has been great, but with Kendell Hunter a miss step away and Brandon Jacobs bound to take some goal line carries, I don't see how his run can last. Turner really scares me. If not for a few TD plunges he would be borderline un-startable. It seems every game Jacquizz Rodgers is on the field more and more. When those fluky short TD's stop coming, so will "the burners" production. Sell high.
Darren McFadden and LeSean Mccoy will finish as top 5 RBs.
In hindsight this probably doesn't seem like I'm going too far out on a limb eh? I mean these were the consensus #3 and #5/6 RB's coming into the season anyway so why shouldn't they? Well first off just from seeing some recent trades and reading different opinions, neither one of these players are being vauled as a top 5 RB right now. In McFadden's case you could probably go get him for Stevan Ridley, T-Rich, Turner, Gore, Sproles, maybe even Reggie Bush straight up. If I had any of those RB's I'd do it in a second. DMC has one of the easiest remaining schedules of any RB. It is just a matter of time before he goes off, and it starts this week at KC. Get him now and hope for good health. As for Shady, he currently ranks as the 17th RB and has been solid but not the beast you'd expect out of a top 3 pick. A lot of it falls on the shoulders of Michael Vick. Vick has taken too many red zone oppurtunities out of McCoy's hands with turnovers and bad decisions. Coming out of the bye I think all is fixed and in a few weeks Mccoy will be back in the discussion with Rice and Foster.
Randall Cobb finishes as most productive GB player not named Arron.
While I liked him in preseason no one could have saw this coming, this fast. A perfect storm of injuries and opportunities have led to Cobb becoming one of the biggest surprises this season and one of the best WR's period over the past three weeks. In GB's last 4 games Cobb has combined for 26 receptions for 339 yards and 3 TD's. He also has 2 carries for 44 yard in that time and is a threat to for a kick/punt return TD. Arron Rodger's loves him and with all the injuries to the Packers offense, Cobb looks like he is in store for a big finish. With Greg Jennings injured and in a contract year, this may just be the beginning of Cobb's reign in GB.
To be fair, outside of a few super obvious names such as Foster, Rice, Brees, and Rodgers, No matter what direction you went early in this year's draft, there's a good chance your not feeling great about it. No one that drafted Stafford could have expected this, DMC was a home run if he could only stay healthy right? The point is NO ONE REALLY KNOWS. Of all sports, football changes so much from year to year it's almost impossible to predict future outcomes. With injuries, players evolving, and the coaching and game planning changing everyday its truly a full time job to try to stay up to date with today's NFL.
With that said, I am here to take my best shot at forecasting this crazy game we call Fantasy Football. It's coming down to crunch time and people want to know, Are these guys really who we thought they were? Well Dennis Green? Anyway here are my 5 bold (literally in bold) predictions for the 2nd half of the FF season:
-Calvin Johnson will finish in the top 3 at the WR position.
The Megatron hate has gone too far. I have recently seen experts signing off on trading Calvin straight up for the likes of Julio Jones, T-Rich, Reggie Wayne, Alfred Morris etc. While all these are fine players, I still believe Calvin is a beast like no other. Throw out Monday nights terrible game (which ALL receivers have) and the guy is on pace to have over 100 more yards and 10 more receptions than he had last year in one of the biggest seasons from a WR ever. Throw in a brutal early season schedule (SF, Chi, Minn, Phi) and his numbers thus far are pretty impressive. With much more fantasy friendly match ups to come, I just can't see CJ and Stafford keeping up this TD slump. Right now Calvin's outside the top 10 (#11) at WR in standard and PPR leagues, but 7 weeks from now he will be back on top.
-Peyton Manning will finish as a top 3 QB.
Coming into the season Peyton Manning was the biggest question mark in Fantasy Football. At full strength he was one of the best fantasy QB's ever and could single handily get you a win any given week. So how in the heck was his ADP 60th overall and 10th QB taken? Well when a neck injury keeps you out for 2 years and the team you basically own lets you walk, there's cause for a little concern. Not anymore. Aside from some deep throws not looking exactly Manning-Esq the guy is back. Coming back from down 24-0 at the half vs. SD will be looked back on as the turning point for Manning and the Broncos and with a schedule full of potential shootouts (starting Sunday vs N.O) still to come, Look for Manning to leap frog from 7th (current QB rank) to the top 3, at the expense of Tom Brady.
-Frank Gore and Michael Turner will finish outside the top 20 RB.
Frank Gore and Michael Turner have been very solid producers so far, currently ranking 7th and 15th respectively at the RB position. If you own either of these 2 players, trade them now while their values high. While it's nice to see RB's who are considered "old" still produce at a high pace, I just don't see it lasting. Gore has been great, but with Kendell Hunter a miss step away and Brandon Jacobs bound to take some goal line carries, I don't see how his run can last. Turner really scares me. If not for a few TD plunges he would be borderline un-startable. It seems every game Jacquizz Rodgers is on the field more and more. When those fluky short TD's stop coming, so will "the burners" production. Sell high.
Darren McFadden and LeSean Mccoy will finish as top 5 RBs.
In hindsight this probably doesn't seem like I'm going too far out on a limb eh? I mean these were the consensus #3 and #5/6 RB's coming into the season anyway so why shouldn't they? Well first off just from seeing some recent trades and reading different opinions, neither one of these players are being vauled as a top 5 RB right now. In McFadden's case you could probably go get him for Stevan Ridley, T-Rich, Turner, Gore, Sproles, maybe even Reggie Bush straight up. If I had any of those RB's I'd do it in a second. DMC has one of the easiest remaining schedules of any RB. It is just a matter of time before he goes off, and it starts this week at KC. Get him now and hope for good health. As for Shady, he currently ranks as the 17th RB and has been solid but not the beast you'd expect out of a top 3 pick. A lot of it falls on the shoulders of Michael Vick. Vick has taken too many red zone oppurtunities out of McCoy's hands with turnovers and bad decisions. Coming out of the bye I think all is fixed and in a few weeks Mccoy will be back in the discussion with Rice and Foster.
Randall Cobb finishes as most productive GB player not named Arron.
While I liked him in preseason no one could have saw this coming, this fast. A perfect storm of injuries and opportunities have led to Cobb becoming one of the biggest surprises this season and one of the best WR's period over the past three weeks. In GB's last 4 games Cobb has combined for 26 receptions for 339 yards and 3 TD's. He also has 2 carries for 44 yard in that time and is a threat to for a kick/punt return TD. Arron Rodger's loves him and with all the injuries to the Packers offense, Cobb looks like he is in store for a big finish. With Greg Jennings injured and in a contract year, this may just be the beginning of Cobb's reign in GB.
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