Preseason is here and the beginning of the NBA regular season is right around the block. The season officially begins on Tuesday October 27th with two great match-ups on TNT. The first game could possibly be this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, Boston @ Cleveland. In the second game you will see the defending champion Lakers versus Blake Griffin leading his Clippers for the first time. This could one day be the battle of LA, but maybe that’s just hopeful thinking for the NBA.
But before we get to those great match-ups, I first have to give you my 2009-2010 season predictions. Feel free to comment and begin water cooler discussions all over:
Eastern Conference
*Cleveland Cavaliers
*Boston Celtics
*Orlando Magic
*Washington Wizards
*Atlanta Hawks
*Toronto Raptors
*Chicago Bulls
*Detroit Pistons
Miami Heat
Philadelphia 76ers
Charlotte Bobcats
New York Knicks
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
New Jersey Nets
* denotes playoff teams
Western Conference
*Los Angeles Lakers
*San Antonio Spurs
*Portland Trailblazers
*Dallas Mavericks
*Denver Nuggets
*New Orleans Hornets
*Utah Jazz
*Phoenix Suns
Oklahoma City Thunder
Los Angeles Clippers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Memphis Grizzlies
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Sacramento Kings
*denotes playoff teams
Awards
MVP- Lebron James
Rookie of the Year- Blake Griffin
Defensive Player of the Year-Dwight Howard
Coach of the Year-Flip Saunders
Friday, October 9, 2009
What's Next for the Detroit Tigers?
On September 6th, the Detroit Tigers had a 7 game lead on the Minnesota Twins. Well, today those same Twins are preparing for game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. What happen to the lead? That question will never really be answered, but we can all speculate. Was it the lack of getting runs in with runners in scoring position? Was it the injuries to Washburn and having no one to replace him in the rotation? Or was it that the team just overachieved the entire season?
This team was predicted by almost every baseball expert, from ESPN to Yahoo! Sports, to finish fourth or even last in the Central Division this year. Despite this, they were in first place almost the entire year. With a payroll of $115 million it should have never come down to an extra game to decide the division champ. Many of the players on this high payroll however never contributed to anything significant. They had injuries to Jeremy Bonderman, Joel Zumaya, Armando Galarraga, Nate Robertson, and Dontrelle Willis. Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez didn’t contribute anything to the team until the second half of the season. We had to patch things together by playing players such as Clete Thomas, Wilkin Ramirez, Ryan Raburn, Fu-Te Ni, and Don Kelly. No matter whom we played, with the division lead all year we should be playing tonight not the Twins.
With that said, what changes can be made to get us to the playoffs next season? Well…not much. Many of the high priced salaried players that I mentioned earlier will still be on the books next year with an additional loss of key players. Fernando Rodney and Placido Palanco, two key cogs to this year’s success, will both be free agents in the off-season. Placido might cost you 3 years at $8 million per and Rodney will cost you at least $10 million a year after the great year he had. Let’s not forget Magglio Ordonez will get $18 million next season, and Granderson will get a $2 million raise. If you count all that, the payroll could go up to roughly $130-$140 million next year. If that’s the case, do not expect Ilitch to go out and spend lots of money to improve on this year. This could be our actual lineup next season: CF-Curtis Granderson, LF-Ryan Raburn, RF-Magglio Ordonez, 1B-Miguel Cabrera, DH-Carlos Guillen, 3B-Brandon Inge, C-Alex Avila, SS-Adam Everett (granted they resign him), and 2B-Scott Sizemore. If you think our team had no offense this year just wait till next.
I’m no baseball expert but all I have to say is, save your money for the 2011 season. Good Luck getting through next year.
This team was predicted by almost every baseball expert, from ESPN to Yahoo! Sports, to finish fourth or even last in the Central Division this year. Despite this, they were in first place almost the entire year. With a payroll of $115 million it should have never come down to an extra game to decide the division champ. Many of the players on this high payroll however never contributed to anything significant. They had injuries to Jeremy Bonderman, Joel Zumaya, Armando Galarraga, Nate Robertson, and Dontrelle Willis. Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez didn’t contribute anything to the team until the second half of the season. We had to patch things together by playing players such as Clete Thomas, Wilkin Ramirez, Ryan Raburn, Fu-Te Ni, and Don Kelly. No matter whom we played, with the division lead all year we should be playing tonight not the Twins.
With that said, what changes can be made to get us to the playoffs next season? Well…not much. Many of the high priced salaried players that I mentioned earlier will still be on the books next year with an additional loss of key players. Fernando Rodney and Placido Palanco, two key cogs to this year’s success, will both be free agents in the off-season. Placido might cost you 3 years at $8 million per and Rodney will cost you at least $10 million a year after the great year he had. Let’s not forget Magglio Ordonez will get $18 million next season, and Granderson will get a $2 million raise. If you count all that, the payroll could go up to roughly $130-$140 million next year. If that’s the case, do not expect Ilitch to go out and spend lots of money to improve on this year. This could be our actual lineup next season: CF-Curtis Granderson, LF-Ryan Raburn, RF-Magglio Ordonez, 1B-Miguel Cabrera, DH-Carlos Guillen, 3B-Brandon Inge, C-Alex Avila, SS-Adam Everett (granted they resign him), and 2B-Scott Sizemore. If you think our team had no offense this year just wait till next.
I’m no baseball expert but all I have to say is, save your money for the 2011 season. Good Luck getting through next year.
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