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Stanley Cup Preview (Games 3-7) and Why Hockey Has the Best Postseason

June 17th, 2013 zach ament

 

Patrick Kane (right) and Jonathan Toews look to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to their 2nd cup since 2010 with a win over the Boston Bruins. This classic matchup of original 6 teams will cap off a tremendous Stanley Cup Playoffs, which have exemplified why the NHL has the best postseason in sports.

While much of the focus has been on the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat which is currently 3-2 Spurs with game 6 tomorrow, the Stanley Cup finals got underway last week and is already proving to be an amazing climax to a terrific Stanley Cup Playoffs. The series pits two Original Six teams against each other in the finals for the first time since 1979 as the Chicago Blackhawks (2010 Cup Champs) face the Boston Bruins (2011 Cup Champs) for the first time in a Cup finals series. The first two games went to overtime with Chicago winning game 1 on a 3rd Overtime goal by Andrew Shaw (the 5th longest game in finals history) and Boston returned the favor with a Game 2 Overtime win on a goal by Daniel Paille. Now we head into Game 3 tonight which will go a long way to determining who takes home the best trophy in sports at the end of the series. I will breakdown the rest of this series and explain why hockey has the greatest postseason in sports.

This series is incredibly interesting for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the Lockout resulted in no regular season games between these two historic franchises, who had not played each other since 2011 thus creating an aura of mystery around the  series. This series also pits two teams who were major stories during the season, the Bruins became the emotional choice of many teams after the Boston Marathon attacks and the tremendous response of the city. While the Blackhawks opened the season with an NHL record 24 straight games with a point (including 21 wins) and coasted to the President’s Trophy. In addition, both teams made amazing comebacks to save their season with the Blackhawks coming back from down 3 games to 1 against the rival Red Wings in the conference semis to win the series in 7 games. While the Bruins trailed in game 7 of the 1st round 4-1 against the Maple Leafs with 10:45 to go, they were down 2 goals with 90 seconds to go and went on to win in overtime. After two games we have seen how evenly matched these two teams are as both teams have won a game in overtime in which their opponent controlled most of the action.

The most interesting aspect of the 2013 Cup Finals is that these two teams are polar opposites and represent the final contrast in styles. Boston is a big physical led by their defenseman namely the top pairing of Dennis Sidenberg and 6 foot 9 inch captain Zdeno Chara. Even their forwards are huge with guys like 6 foot 4 Milan Lucic and 6 foot 2 inch Patrice Bergeron. They are able to suffocate teams, especially when they get a lead as goalie Tukka Rask often closes the door. This was never more evident than during the Eastern Conference Finals as they held the high powered top seeded Pittsburgh Penguins attack to 2 goals during a four game sweep.

Their opponents in this series, the Chicago Blackhawks, are a much quicker more offensive based team. They are led by captain Jonathan Toews, 2011 Cup hero Patrick Kane, and veteran scorer Marian Hossa. The only similarities between the teams is their rich history and the strength of their top defensive pairing as the ‘Hawks counter the Chara-Sidenberg pairing with the duo of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.  While Kane and Hossa are  holding their own in the postseason with 15 points a piece, including Kane’s hat trick in the conference finals clincher against the defending champion Kings, Chicago would not be here without major contributions from Bryan Bickell and Patrick Sharp. While before the series I predicted that the Blackhawks would win in 7 thanks to the fact they had home ice advantage over their evenly matched foe, but that all could have changed with Hossa suffering a pregame injury before Game 3 tonight, which forced him to be pulled from the lineup but I still see the Hawks winning their 2nd cup in 4 years with another Cup winning goal by Patrick Kane this time in overtime of Game 7, Kane will win the Conn Smythe.

This series is going to be an amazing capper to a tremendous postseason where every series has had at least 1 overtime game. In addition, there have been 5 game 7′s already with 4 of those being decided by only 1 goal and 2 overtime winners. This year is just more proof why the NHL playoffs are the best in sports. One amazing aspect of the Cup Playoffs is the traditions such as the playoff beards, the refusal by teams to touch conference championship trophies, and most of all the great show of sportsmanship that occurs at the end of series as both teams line up and shake hands after beating each other up for 2 weeks. Then there is the displays of skill and toughness seen on a nightly basis, from 2003 when Ducks star Paul Kariya took a devastating hit from the Devils’ Scot Stevens before coming back to score a critical goal in game 6 of the Cup Finals to help the Ducks survive and force a Game 7 to This year Gregory Campbell broke his leg on a blocked shot and proceeded to kill the penalty and play in a multiple overtime victory in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Adding to the greatness of the Cup finals is the reverence and love for the Stanley Cup shown by the players and coaches. For example, when ESPN hosted the Cup earlier this year, their hockey analyst Barry Melrose couldn’t even look at the cup and was uncomfortable being in its presence cause he never won it as a coach or player. In addition, the great display of emotion that comes over players when they finally win the Cup as best demonstrated in 2001 when Hall of Famer Ray Bourque won the Stanley Cup for the first time with the Colorado Avalanche after a 20+ year career. The number one reason the Cup playoffs are the best in all of sports is the sudden nature of playoff overtime hockey as one bad bounce can end a game in a heartbeat which forces the players and fans to be on their toes and focused throughout the game. As the old saying goes “There is nothing better than overtime playoff hockey {except in my opinion more overtime playoff hockey}”.

Photo Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Kane-toews-cups.jpg

NBA Finals: Game 5 Recap

June 17th, 2013 Johnathan

The end is here friends.  Since the season started in October everything has been building up to this….. The NBA Finals! Luckily for us basketball fans we get to see the two best teams in the NBA in a dream match-up. The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. After each and every game make sure to check Sportazine for my recaps

Other than Game 1, every game of this series has been decided by 1 team making an incredible run in the 3rd quarter to run away with the game.  Last night was no different, as the San Antonio Spurs used a 19-1 run in the 3rd to pull away from the Heat 114-104 to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Spurs finally got the  Manu Ginobili game that they needed. After Popovich placed him in the starting lineup for the first time all season the Argentinian scored 24 points and 10 assists in  vintage Ginobili style.  Drives to the basket, step-back jumpshots, he had it all and the Heat had no answer for him.  The defending champs also couldn’t do anything with Danny Green.  The man who was cut twice by San Antonio before finally finding a spot in the rotation, hit 6 more three-pointers (he now has a Finals record 25 3-pointers) and scored 24 points.

The other pieces of the Spurs Big 3 had big time games as well. Tony Parker had 26 points and Tim Duncan scored 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds.  The Spurs made a concerted effort to increase the tempo and not let the Heat get set defensively.  Even after made baskets they were looking to push the pace and it seemed to keep the Heat of balance and constantly getting placed in mismatches.  One thing that should’ve been a mismatch for the Heat was Boris Diaw guarding LeBron James.  We saw in Game 4 what happened when Diaw took a turn guarding Dwyane Wade, but the Frenchman held his own against LeBron and held him to 1-8 shooting when he guarding the MVP.

For Miami it was more of the same.  Lack of focus after a win has been a problem for them in the playoffs.  Coach Erik Spoelstra has been trying to combat the Spurs smallball with small lineups of his own (which is why Chris Andersen hasn’t played at all the past few games and Udonis Haslem only played 9 minutes last night), but the Spurs offense has been so good, and so consistent that is causing the great Heat defense to falter.  The Spurs run a relentless amount of screens and cuts and the Heat have been switching on pretty much all of these.  Last night a suddenly not crappy Ginobili used the mismatches he found against Miami big men and attacking them off the dribble.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both scored 25 points but each needed 22 shots to get there.  Chris Bosh scored 16 points, but aside from the Big 3 only Ray Allen scored in double figures (21 points), compared to the Spurs (all 5 starters scored over 15 points).  Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole contributed nothing and both spent long stretches on the bench as the Heat went without a true point guard.  The only silver lining for the Heat is that they are undefeated after losing 1 game and know that they won’t get a second chance if they lose on Tuesday.

Game 6 is on Tuesday

Remember: Shoot from the knees.

Sunday Pick-up in Pikesville #2

June 17th, 2013 douglasawhsport
File:Pikestheater.jpg

The Pikes Theater, in Pikesville

THE TRAINING

Monday: I decided after a not-so-stellar performance on Sunday that I needed to be taking longer runs.

Tuesday: If Tuesday was any indication, Sunday is not going to be pleasant. Instead of my usual ~6:30AM run time, I decided to run after 9AM, so that I could go run in Fort McHenry National Park. The problem is (you know, aside from me being out of shape), the outer loop at the park has no shade cover during the morning. This is because the Northwest Harbor surrounds the Fort. I’ve run in worse heat, there’s no doubt about that. I ran stadiums in high school in the North Carolina summers. I guess after years of living in Wisconsin and New Hampshire, I’ve gotten soft.

Wednesday: I ran on Gwynns Falls Trail South and then to Fort McHenry, upping the run to ~6.4 miles.

Thursday: My Thursday run was less newsworthy for the run than for my thoughts during the run. I realized that last week was the first time I had played an all-male game (that is, non-coed) in almost two years. No wonder the game seemed like a faster pace!

Friday & Saturday: These were supposed to be rest days. I tell ya, those toe-shoes are murder on your calves. I’ll get used to them though and I’ll be better for it. However, on Friday I ended up walking to Shoppers in Locust Point. On Saturday I ended up walking from the Pratt/Light intersection to Waterfront Kitchen and then back (well, actually, a little further on the way back).

 

THE GAME

Well, we (team red) ended up losing 7-2, I believe. We played a person down until it was 5-2, but we were gassed by that point and the player we got was not one of the better players on either team. I felt much better than the previous week. Whether that was due to having another week under my belt, not being sick, more water or something else, I couldn’t really say. Still no goals for me. I had some decent defensive stops and a couple of good crosses, but nothing to write home about, so you know, I’m keeping it short.
GOING FORWARD

I guess I am going to have to start taking my own pictures!

Also, I think I need to work on my ball work. Fitness is still a problem, but it’s not as big of a problem as not being able to handle the ball in traffic I don’t think.

Splitting the series… AGAIN!!

June 16th, 2013 coloradoheat

We meet again on a old western Mexican stand with 2 W’s and  2 L per team. With the league’s MVP and the runner up in full effect and with the Miami Heat also playing like, the Miami Heat.

However, this wasn’t possible without some gruesome horror movie which happened on Game 3. When the Spurs showed some unbelievable resilience against the champions and a fortune from the 3pt land that reminisce that  beat down by the New York Knicks back in December. Fast forward 6 months and is a whole different story.

The story got ugly and doomsday lure over the champion, even Eric was paralyzed repeating continuously like an old suggestive recording, saying: “We got what we deserved”, “We got what we deserved”.

The lack luster performance of the Miami Heat as they saw the paint get crowded, the boards get owned and the rim shut. It was nearly impossible to create a final run, and instead they got blown out wide open on the 4th. The whole aura of champions that was resounded after Game 2 in Miami got completely evaporated under the dry weather of San Antonio. And the all too familiar Overrated chant got once again heard under the hostile environment. In the end, there was nothing more than a very dark place around the whole Heat team. Heat Nation was not loosing faith but even some of the posts were like “Daaamn”.

Then again, they got something that they could feel, and maybe that’s the wake up call that they need to finally get the big 3 back to becoming the big 3 and not just for a Game. On a similar fashion as the game 7th versus Boston a year ago got the Heat mentally ready to eradicate the Thunders in the Finals.

But let’s take a more chilled look on what went wrong with the Heat?

First we need to focus on some of the things that did happened, and one of the things was the 3pointers happened. Something that like I mentioned before killed the Heat versus that game with the Knicks.

We had a Dany Green and Gary Neal went bananas from downtown as well as there were some other lucky gunners. Usually coaches don’t really have much strategy when 2 players are going unconscious. Just like a play on Game 4, when LeBron was waiting to meet Neal on the top of the 3pt land, and he just shoot the ball several feet away from LeBron and nailing it. Obviously by the time King James reacted, it was too late.

So with more being done on the offensive end, the Heat looked very out of rhythm missing the passes that they would do routinely on the rotation. The passes were very sloppy and even on a breakaway LeBron the human train that used to take two or three players with him to the hole, couldn’t even pass 1 and loose the ball many times. However bad passing, bad handling which could be of a lack of concentration or too much eagerness caused to foul execution of the breakaway.

So what did San Antonio did:

San Antonio’s answer: Duncan was featured inside early and often in Game 3, which made him an immediate factor and opened things up for the 3-point barrage from Gary Neal and Green that followed.

For Miami, right now there is only one goal, to stay consistent and stay the course.

Who will win the EPL in 2014?

June 14th, 2013 douglasawhsport

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Chelsea_FC.svg/500px-Chelsea_FC.svg.png

First thing is first, Rooney is still at Manchester United and well, the transfer window begins July 1st, so we’ve still got some time to speculate (although, apparently, some deals are already happening).

That said, recently I interviewed Josiah Barbour on the Music Manumit Lawcast (who should be at the very first This is not TINAP show) and he said he thought the fight was going to be between United, Spurs and Chelsea. The removal of City from the equation seems premature to me and I’m not exactly sure where the fight from Spurs is coming.

Chelsea, Champions

Chelsea always perform well for a new manager. Since Chelsea gets new managers every week or so, Chelsea tends to perform well. I figure between a maturing Oscar, Hazard, McEachran, the return of The Special One, and a transition year for United, this will be Chelsea’s year. Maybe, if I listened to my head more than my heart I could pick City, but I just can’t do it.

City, 2nd

City is already bringing in reinforcements, though one wonders why they need them. Talent is not City’s problem. Cohesion is their problem. Of course, to even talk this way of a team that won the title just last year is kinda silly. However, that is how the City management are looking at it. Expect City to win in 2015, then not in 2016 and once again fire their manager.

United, 3rd

Every one that knows much anything about sports knows that Manchester United lost their long-tenured manager. Those that know a little bit more know that that man was Sir Alex Ferguson. Even fewer know his replacement was fellow Scot and former Everton manager David Moyes. Well, it is. Josiah, in the aforementioned interview, suggested that United would struggle for a few years under Moyes. To the extent 3rd is struggling, I guess I don’t disagree.

Arsenal, 4th

Until Arsenal misses Champions League, I’m not going to scream their demise. This of course means I’ll be wrong some year. However, I think that’s better than being wrong every year, like the people that keep predicting Arsenal’s demise.

Spurs, 5th

Spurs finished 5th this past season. This, of course, means they won’t have Champions League as a “distraction” but they will still have the Europa League. Until they prove they can finished above Arsenal, I’m not going to put them above Arsenal. The last time they finished above Arsenal was 1995. That was, of course, before the Arsène Wenger era. Don’t expect it to happen again until Wenger gets tired of the Arsenal BS and moves to PSG.

 

Expect a longer analysis once some serious changes at any of the clubs happens. Since Falcao headed off to AS Monaco, I’m not sure what sort of moves might really shake things up other than Rooney away from United and perhaps Ronaldo back to United. Stay tuned to find out whatever it turns out to be!

NBA Finals: Game 4 Recap

June 14th, 2013 Johnathan

The end is here friends.  Since the season started in October everything has been building up to this….. The NBA Finals! Luckily for us basketball fans we get to see the two best teams in the NBA in a dream match-up. The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. After each and every game make sure to check Sportazine for my recaps

In the 2006 NBA Finals a Dwyane Wade led Miami Heat faced the Dallas Mavericks.  After losing the first 2 games by a combined 24 points, Wade put on his superman cape and proceeded to destroy the Mavericks by getting to the line (he shot 97 free throws in 6 games) and averaging 39 points the next 4 games.  The Heat won that title and Wade quickly moved up the list of greatest shooting guards ever.  Fast forward to 2013 and D. Wade has looked old and washed up.  Due to a knee injury that he suffered in the regular season he looked more like a borderline role player than perennial All-Star and future Hall of Famer. Before last night he only scored over 20 points twice in THE ENTIRE PLAYOFFS!  Until last night it had been up to LeBron James to carry the team to victory after victory with virtually no help from ‘the other guy’.

So of course last night after Coach Popovich made the decision of choosing Boris Diaw to guard him, D. Wade finally showed up.  In a vintage performance that consisted of acrobatic lay-ups, eurosteps, dunks and blocks Wade scored 32 points as the Miami Heat cruised to a 109-93 win to tie the series 2-2.

While Wade was the star of the show, LeBron James finally got out of his slump and had 33 points and 11 rebounds.  Right from the start of the game he was aggressive and looking to push the pace.  He got to the rim at well and was finally able to get his jumpshots to start going in.  Chris Bosh also had his best game of the playoffs and had 20 points and 13 rebounds.  When the Heat’s Big 3 combine to score 85 points to go along with San Antonio’s 19 turnovers, they are virtually impossible to beat. This Miami team knows how to bounce back from losses and are 12-0 since January after losing a game.  Not only that but they bounce back and crush their opponents as well, winning by an average of 20 points.

The biggest question for the Spurs was Tony Parker’s health.  Despite his minutes being closely watched he had an incredible 1st half and scored 15 points and had 6 assists.  The story was different after halftime and he failed to score a single point.  Manu Ginobili continued his struggle as well, only scoring 5 points in 26 minutes.  The hot shooting for Danny Green and Gary Neal continued (they made 6 three-pointers combined) but it was nowhere close to their Game 3 output and it didn’t get the job done with Parker and Ginobili struggling.  Tim Duncan remained reliable by chipping in 20 points but he only managed to grab 5 rebounds.

Game 5 is on Sunday

2013 College World Series prediction

June 13th, 2013 douglasawhsport
File:North Carolina Tar Heels Baseball 1885.jpg

After 146 years, the oldest varsity sport at the nation’s oldest public school, will finally become national champions

The series field is set, with UNC, NCSU, LSU, Oregon St, UCLA, Indiana, Louisville and Mississippi St. It is interesting that two SEC teams made the final 8, just not the two I expected. The ACC faired less well than I had anticipated, which calls some question into my pick of UNC but Vandy would have been my next pick, not another team from the ACC, so who knows. Unless you play gridiron, conferences do not win championships (and, as a Bama fan, I’m pretty ok with that).

Anyway, I was right with the North Carolina, North Carolina St, LSU and Oregon St. This basically means I shot 50%, which is not particularly great. NCSU was certainly no lock though, so I’ll take some solace in that. I also assumed UNC would struggle with USC, and they certainly did.

I hate picking my teams to win because it makes me look like a homer, and also because that means I have nothing to cheer for after my team is out. At least I can take some solace in being right, even if I pick an arch-rival to win. Nonetheless, after years of coming oh-so-close, I think they’ll finally get to storm the streets of Chapel Hill for baseball (I suspect, given the summer school crowd, no actual storming will occur).

Looking at the statistics provided by the NCAA, it looks like LSU should be the favorite to win. They lead four statistical categories out of the 8 teams in Omaha, more than any other team (UNC is second with 3) and LSU is near the top of all of the other categories except stolen bases and strikeouts/inning. UNC is likewise near the top of most of the statistical categories, but not walks allowed, WHIP, runs allowed. Considering NC State is also not highly ranked in those categories, I think it may be that the hitters in the ACC are just good, which would mean there are more intentional walks and also more careful pitchers.

But games aren’t played on paper and this Carolina team seems to figure out a way to get it done. Obviously over the course of the season LSU got it done too. I’ll be surprised if anyone other than UNC or LSU wins, but I’m still picking UNC because, well, I need to pick one to finish the article. A man can dream, right?

NBA Finals: Game 3 Recap

June 12th, 2013 Johnathan

The end is here friends.  Since the season started in October everything has been building up to this….. The NBA Finals! Luckily for us basketball fans we get to see the two best teams in the NBA in a dream match-up. The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. After each and every game make sure to check Sportazine for my recaps

As the saying goes in the NBA, “superstars win games on the road, and the role players win games at home.”  In Game 3 for the Spurs their role players put not just good but legendary performances.  Danny Green had 27 points (seven 3 pointers) and Gary Neal scored 24 points (six 3 pointers) as San Antonio blew out the Miami Heat 113-77 and take a 2-1 series lead.

Right from the start of the game the Spurs took control and the Miami defense simply seemed to have no answer defensively.  Once again Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh started off aggressive and looking for their shots.  For Wade the shots were falling early (he finished with 16 points) and Bosh chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mike Miller continued his hot shooting and went 5-5 from the three and was actually the most efficient scorer for the Heat.

The struggle for LeBron James continued as well.  Back in 2007 when the Cleveland Cavalier met the Spurs in the Finals that team dared LeBron to shoot jumpshots and clogged the paint to pretty much make him ineffective for most of the games (that was a 4 game sweep for San Antonio).  Fast forward to 2013 and the Spurs are employing the same strategy.  Kawhi Leonard is running and under screens and sagging off LeBron daring him to shoot, and he’s simply missing.  LeBron only scored 15 points and had to take 21 shots to get there.  This type of inefficiency from LeBron (for 3 straight games now) is unheard of and the questions are going to trickle in now as to why he isn’t showing up.

For the Spurs everything seemed to go right.  Tim Duncan bounced back from a terrible Game 2 and had 12 points and 14 rebounds.  Because of the incredible hot shooting (the Spurs made an NBA Finals record 16 three-pointers) Ginobili and Parker didn’t really have to exert themselves much and all of the Big 3 spent the 4th quarter on the bench.  That rest may be needed because Tony Parker injured his hamstring.  He will have an MRI on Wednesday.  If Parker can’t play in Game 4 then it will be up to guys like Neal, and Green to pick up the slack.

Game 4 is on Thursday.

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