Predicting the Rest of an Unpredictable Men's College Basketball Tournament

The current state of everyone's brackets

As I've done with my NBA preview, my NFL preview and my college basketball preview, I'm going to look back at what was right and wrong since the first weekend of the madness that is March is through. You can go back and read my five things I thought would happen before the tournament started and you can listen to our mini episode of the podcast to hear my initial thoughts.

Right out of the gate, I was way off about Michigan State, as was almost everyone else. They really laid an incredible egg against Middle Tennessee State. I don't want to hear about other reporters saying that MTSU was wrongly seeded and that they are a really good team either. Sure, they won 20 plus games, but just look at what happened against a very mediocre Syracuse team yesterday. Michigan State would have dismantled that same Syracuse team had they taken care of business on Friday, but they didn't. MSU got out played, out hustled and out coached by a very inferior team. This has to be the biggest upset in the history of the tournament. Sure, NC State had no business beating Houston when they had Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and Norfolk State beat a much better Missouri team in 2012, but this win by MTSU was, at least in my lifetime, the biggest upset ever. MSU didn't even choke away this game, MTSU just straight up beat them, never trailing. I assumed that MSU's size and experience would make, not only this game a walk through, but that they'd coast to the title. I was way wrong, but so was pretty much everyone else. MSU blew it and they lose a ton of players to graduation. This was a major shake up that busted millions of brackets all over the country.

Then, there were my thoughts on the ACC that I was way off base on as well. Of the 16 teams remaining, 6 are from the ACC. That's impressive. Miami beat Wichita State with relative ease. Sure, WSU made it close, even taking a one point lead in the second half, but Miami started and finished that game strong and they deserved to win. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has been incredibly luck in their run to the sweet sixteen. They were down 12 at halftime to Michigan, then Michigan went ice cold and they started to make some clutch shots and Michigan still had a chance at the end until Zak Irvin took a terrible three. Also, Michigan wasn't even supposed to make that a game. Then, yesterday against Stephen F Austin, they needed a miracle tip in with one second left. SFA should have won that game and all they needed to do was box a guy out and they'd still be in it. I still don't trust Notre Dame. Syracuse got lucky with their draw. They were bigger than Dayton, then they got to play MTSU. They don't impress me at all. Duke was down at halftime against UNC Wilmington and it took the refs giving them every single call in the second half for them to win in round one. Then, they come out and shot a ridiculous percentage from three against Yale, push their lead all the way up to 27 at one point in the second half, then let Yale get back in it, getting as close as four points. Duke can't rebound and they will lose soon. Virginia has looked good. They play a slower style of basketball and they play suffocating defense. They've had an easy draw, but they have looked pretty good in their two wins. They could make final four noise if they keep this play up.

The team I was hardest on, UNC, has looked really, really good. They look like the team that was the preseason number one pick and a lot of people's pick to win the title. They cruised in round one and then they absolutely throttled Providence in round two. They look scary good right now, especially since Marcus Paige is making shots. I regret not having more respect for them. They could get to the title game if they keep it up.

My two play in 11 seeds really let me down. Michigan looked sloppy against Tulsa, but they won. Then, they came out on fire in the first half against Notre Dame, but fizzled in the second half. They should have won, but they couldn't finish, that was their problem all year long. Wichita State looked really good against Vanderbilt in their play in win, but they came out completely flat and ice cold against Miami. They put themselves in too big a hole and they could never get out of it. I was let down by both these teams. Northern Iowa also had a huge choke last night when they let Texas A&M make up a 12 point deficit in 40 seconds. I said, on the podcast, I thought they could make a run, but they really blew it last night. That was probably the biggest choke job I've ever witnessed. At least Gonzaga, another double digit seed I liked, has looked pretty good. They've won both their games handily and now they get to face an inferior Syracuse team for a shot at the elite eight.

The Big 12 has been a let down for me. I thought that they'd represent 75 percent of the final four. Sure, Kansas and Oklahoma are still there and they look good too. KU has had no problem with their first two games and they should coast to the final four. And Oklahoma, while VCU put a scare in them, made in on the heels of Buddy Hield. He has to be the player of the year now after MSU and Denzel Valentine's shocking and embarrassing loss. Without Hield yesterday, Oklahoma doesn't win that game. He is a scoring machine. But, the Baylor's and West Virginia's of the world really blew it. Baylor got outplayed by Yale. Baylor was bigger, but Yale out rebounded them. Side note, if you want to see something truly great, go back and watch the Baylor postgame conference when a reporter asked a Baylor player how they got out rebounded by Yale. This player's response is priceless and hilarious. Baylor would have crushed Duke had they taken care of business, but now we will never know. West Virginia looked bad in their opener. SFA did anything it wanted at anytime against WVU. I thought WVU had final four potential, but has Bob Huggins ever really done anything of note since leaving Cincinnati except for blowing winnable games. That game was a joke and WVU looked pretty terrible.

I was also wrong about a Big Ten team winning the title. I thought it would be MSU in a cake walk. I was wrong and so was the majority of everyone else. The Big Ten still has three teams left, but who really believes Maryland or Wisconsin will win the title? I know in my preseason preview I picked Maryland, but that was a straight up guess and after watching them this past weekend, there is no way they are a championship level team. And Wisconsin got very lucky in both games. They were ice cold against Pitt, but Pitt was even colder. Then, they hit a buzzer beater to beat Xavier. That play was beautiful, but it should have never happened. That charge that was called on Xavier was one of the worst calls in a basketball game at any level. That ref wanted to determine the outcome of the game and that should never be the case. But, that terrible call let us witness one of the best in bounds plays of all time. There is no way either of Maryland or Wisconsin wins the title. Indiana, on the other hand, I do believe in. I had them picked to beat Kentucky and they looked decent doing it. They made big plays when they needed to and got stops when they needed to. They are the Big Ten's best shot at a title this year. 

Where we stand now, we have 6 ACC teams, 3 Big Ten Teams, 3 Big 12 teams, 1 Big East team, 1 SEC team, 1 Pac 12 team and 1 mid major. The way I see it now, the Big 12 is not getting all three in, but they have an excellent shot at 2. Iowa State will probably lose to Virginia later this week, KU should have no problem with Maryland, then they will get the winner of Miami-Villanova, which should be another cake walk for them. Oklahoma gets a very young and inexperienced Texas A&M team they should beat, then the winner of Oregon, the most overrated one seed of all time perhaps, and Duke, who I have ZERO trust in. They can win their next two games with ease. Unfortunately for the Big Ten, Maryland will probably lose to KU, Wisconsin can and should beat Notre Dame, but then they get the winner of Indiana-UNC who would crush them, and that leaves Indiana, and they have to face a red hot UNC team right now and I just don't see them beating UNC. The ACC's best shot, of the 6 remaining teams they have left, is either UNC or Virginia. I think Miami will have it's hands full with Villanova. Duke will probably lose to Oregon. Syracuse is going to get destroyed by Gonzaga. But, Virginia should beat Iowa State, setting up a showdown with Gonzaga, in what would be a great game. And UNC, if they beat Indiana, will coast over either Notre Dame or Wisconsin. UNC has the easiest and most likely path for an ACC team. Sorry Pac 12, Oregon will not represent your conference in the final four. St, Joe's should have won last night, but either Duke or the winner of Texas A&M-Oklahoma will end your season. Same thing for the SEC. A&M is too young and too inexperienced and they also got incredibly lucky to still be in this tournament, their season will end soon enough. Villanova will be its usual choking self soon, probably against Miami. They will find a way to lose because that is what they do. Which leaves me with Gonzaga. I love Gonzaga this year and they have been very impressive thus far. They will beat Syracuse which will most likely set them up against Virginia. I think they can easily win that game and go to the final four. They are playing top notch basketball at the right time.

So, if I have to pick a final four with the 16 remaining teams, I will go with KU in the South, Oklahoma in the West, UNC in the East and Gonzaga in the Midwest. I think from those four teams, KU and UNC will play for the title and I think KU wins. That's how I see it now. I will admit that this tournament has been fun to watch. While it may not always be appealing to your eyes, at least there's been buzzer beaters and upsets galore after the first weekend. Hopefully, that continues throughout the rest of this wacky and wild tournament.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He takes gret solace in the fact that not only his, but every realistic person out there, has a busted bracket. It is madness if you are not following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Tulsa and Michigan Represent the Poor Quality of Play in Men's College Basketball

A visual representation of the Tulsa - Michigan basketball game

Yes, the tournament has started and yes, I'm spending time inside watching when it's in the mid 60's and sunny outside today and yes, I've already talked about the tournament at great length, but last nights Tulsa-Michigan game was the epitome of how terrible men's college basketball has been all year.

Tulsa and Michigan were two teams that had at least 20 wins, they both had double digit losses, but they also had 20 plus wins and they beat teams like Maryland, Purdue, Texas and SMU. By all accounts, those four teams are pretty good. They were all ranked for most of the season and three of the four are higher seeds in the tournament, with SMU being the lone team not in, but that's because they gave themselves a post season ban and have been recruiting illegally for years. SMU is a good basketball team. My point is that Tulsa and Michigan belong in the tournament. It is too bad that their game was total garbage.

 Tuning into that game last night was a mistake and painful to watch, but this whole season has been like that. I mean, I'm a humongous Michigan fan as you all know very well by now, but man, they looked downright awful last night, and they won the game. I knew it was going to be bad when I turned it on, saw Michigan had a 3-0 lead very early in the first half, then Zak Irvin put up a wide open three and missed everything badly. I was on my treadmill and I said out loud, "it's going to be a long, painful game to watch". From there on out, this was a very poorly played game by two teams that got at large bids.

Neither won their regular season conference title and neither won their conference tournament, but the selection committee deemed their resumes good enough to be part of the 68 team field. I don't think I could say that I agree with them after that game. I lobbied hard to friends and family, basically anyone that would listen, that after Michigan beat Indiana, they deserved to be in the field. Hell, I went on the mini podcast and told all the listeners I thought they could make the sweet sixteen. I was wrong. They will be lucky to keep their game against Notre Dame tomorrow night close. They were absolutely ice cold from the field, especially three point range, which is supposed to be their specialty. You'd think after going 4 of 18 from three in the first half, they'd stop shooting, but that was not the case at all. They kept firing away to the tune of 6 for 25 from three. Sure, Irvin hit a crucial three when they really needed it, but 6 of 25 is just ridiculous.

That's part of the problem currently in men's college basketball. No one shoots mid range shots or has an ability to drive for an uncontested layup. Everyone either wants to be a three point shooter or wants to have a dunk that makes it on ESPN's Top Ten plays. There is very little skill being possessed by most college players right now. They're all specialists and that's a big, big problem. The only player that looked halfway decent for the Wolverines last night was Muhammed Ali Abdur-Rahkman. He was the better option at point guard than Derrick Walton last night. He took some bad threes, but he also continued to drive to the basket all game long and he either finished, was fouled, or found an open shooter. Rahkman looked like a legit college basketball player. The rest of the players for Michigan looked rough. Well, their freshman center Moritz Wagner looked good, playing very good defense and protecting the rim, but everyone else did not look good. They won, but they looked bad doing it. 

Now, I'm not going to just rag on Michigan the whole time. As the old saying goes, "it takes two to tango", and Tulsa was more than willing to play equally terrible, pretty much unwatchable basketball. At one point in the first half, Tulsa had a 16-9 lead with about 10 minutes to go in the half. They looked like they may take control of the game, but they proceeded to score only 4 more points for the entire half. Let me say that again, THEY ONLY SCORED FOUR POINTS OVER THE NEXT 10 MINUTES! That's insane. It wasn't like Michigan was playing lock down defense and forcing turnovers, Tulsa was just missing everything they put up there. They missed open threes, open layups, free throws and many mid rage jumpers. It was appalling. This Tulsa team has 9 seniors and they couldn't hit the ocean in what turned out to be their last collegiate game. You'd think that they would have played with a bit more gusto and desire, but they just looked bad. Sure, they turned it on in the second half, but they could never pull away from Michigan, even though they shot less than 25 percent from three. Nine seniors and they played with no urgency and little to no desire.

This game was the equivalent of a junior varsity game. Put this game up against the Big Ten championship between Purdue and Michigan State and it's night and day. Purdue and MSU run offense that looks like a real offense and they play defense. They both can shoot mid range and they both feed their big men inside for hook shots and layups. Quite the opposite happened with Michigan and Tulsa. Tulsa had some big guys, but they were more concerned with trying to put spin moves on Michigan's big guys and tried circus shots and impossible dunks. Michigan totally disregarded their big men and just let their guards run everything on offense. It was atrocious.

I said this was going to be an exciting tournament, but I also said it would be painful to watch and last night just further hammered that point home for me. Both Tulsa and Michigan looked dreadful and I expect a lot of the same from the majority of this field and this tournament. There is going to be some very poorly played games that will be painful to watch at times. The fan in me was very happy that Michigan won and gets to continue their season, but the basketball player in me was appalled at what I watched last night. Gear up because this men's tournament is going to be rough.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Watching bad basketball does not make him happy, Brussels sprouts make him happy. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

5 Thoughts on the 2016 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

Gyms will start to fill up on Tuesday when the madness begins.

Instead of doing a NCAA men's tournament preview, since I've already picked two different winners in two previous blogs, I'm going to give you guys five predictions of things I think will happen in this years tournament. I will not pick a winner, but I will give you 4 or 5 or even 6 possibilities of who could win. I'm also not going to pick the player of the tournament or anything like that, I'm just going to give you five random things I think will happen in the coming weeks of games. On with the countdown.

At number 5, I don't see any ACC team making it to the final four. At first glance you might think, what about UNC or Duke or even Miami, but I think the ACC is very overrated this year. Their best team is UNC, but they've shown time and time again this year that they can choke at any time. Take their home loss against Duke earlier this year. They dominated that game, but they let Duke stick around and they got beat. UNC can't be trusted. Duke won't get out of the first weekend. If they win their first game, they will most likely play a much bigger and more experienced Baylor team that will crush them on the boards and throw around their guards like rag dolls. They will get rolled. And Miami, while they've had a great year, I just don't believe in their team. They'll get bounced quick.

My number 4 prediction, one of the 4 teams playing in the play in games for the 11 seed, be it Michigan, Tulsa, Vanderbilt or Wichita State, will get to the sweet sixteen. I have the most faith in Wichita State because they're experienced and they've gone deep in this tournament in years past. But, Vanderbilt and Michigan, if they win, could make some noise. Michigan has won some big games without their best player for most of the year, and if they're hitting their threes, they can beat almost anyone. Vandy has spent the majority of this year ranked and plays high level offense and, much like Michigan, if they're hitting shots, they will win. Tulsa is the only one of these teams I have no faith in. They don't belong in the tournament and if they beat Michigan, they will get crushed in their first round game. They lost to a very mediocre Memphis team twice this year, so that says everything I need to know about them.

My number 3 prediction, Kentucky doesn't make it out of round 2. They will win their first round game, but that would set up a showdown, most likely, with Indiana. I like Indiana in that game if it happens. Indiana has more experience and more depth and if they catch Kentucky on an off night, they will crush them. I really like Kentucky's point guard Ullis, but Yogi Ferrell is a much better and older and experienced version of him. Indiana's front court is better and could easily dominate Kentucky's young and very thin, in stature, front court. IU had better depth as well. I just don't see Kentucky beating them.

My number 2 prediction, this will be a wild and crazy and fun tournament to watch. I know that I've ragged on men's college basketball, and I still think it's borderline unwatchable, but the fact that this tournament is so wide open, while it may not be pleasing to watch, it will be interesting to see all the upsets that will happen and it will be exciting. I have no faith in a lot of the high seeds, especially Oregon as a number one, but, some lower seeded teams like Yale, Northern Iowa and Gonzaga can make some noise. I especially like Gonzaga as an 11 and I like them a lot in their first round game against Utah. Utah is good, but Gonzaga is bigger and deeper and has more tournament experience. If Northern Iowa can win their first round game, I believe they can make a run to the elite eight. And Yale, these Ivy League teams get in and they're always a tough out. Just ask our editor RD about his Princeton over UCLA pick a million years ago (ed note: Did you know that I picked #13 Princeton to beat #4 UCLA in 1996? I did.) . Or look at what Harvard did last year. Basically, this is a year where literally all 68 teams can win the whole thing if put in the right situation of get hot at the right time. Which will make this an exciting tournament.

Which brings me to my number one prediction, the Big 12 will make up 3/4 of the final four, but a Big 10 team will win. I fully believe that Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma can get to the final four. KU has been lights out lately and they are the best team in all of men's college basketball. They should coast to the final four. I also believe in Oklahoma and Baylor a lot. They're both big, experienced and just flat out good. Baylor has a bunch of humongous guys in their front court that will punish smaller opponents. Oklahoma has one of, if not the, best players in Buddy Hield. That dude can put up 40 any given night and he will single handily win at least two games for the Sooners. I also like West Virginia's chances too. They play suffocating defense that frustrates teams into critical mistakes. They can do damage in the tournament. But, I believe that Michigan State has the best chance to come away with the title. They got screwed by not getting a one seed, but where they're seeded in their bracket, it's a cake walk for them. They have the best player, Denzel Valentine and they have experience and depth at all five positions. They can crush you inside and outside. They have it all. In a very weird season, they have been the one true consistent team, when at full strength.

Take these predictions as you will, but I fully believe this stuff will happen. Get ready for the tournament, fill out your brackets, and watch the craziness unfold.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor is wondering where Ty put Xavier, and why he did not say the Musketeers will win it all. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ben Simmons Represents Everything that is Wrong with Men's College Basketball

The one thing the NCAA seems to be forgetting.

I know that I bag on men's college basketball a lot and today will be no exception. The game has become way too watered down. The talent level isn't nearly as good as it was, as little as 6 or 7 years ago. The "one and done" culture has ruined the game. You can't ever really figure out which players are on which big time team because the majority of that team leaves after one, or if you're lucky, two years. Kentucky, who was in the Final Four last year, lost 7 players to the pros. You read that right, 7 players left with at least 2 years of eligibility left. They're ranked in the top 25 again, and will make the tournament again, but the only player I can name that's still on the team from last year off the top of my head is point guard Tyler Ullis. He's good, but if you are a top 25 team, I should be able to name 3 of 5 starters I think. I know they had a great recruiting class, but they always do and they are always changing the roster.

This is so frustrating to me, a big time basketball fan. I love all basketball, especially the NBA, but I used to love college basketball, not anymore though. I hate the "one and done" culture and this season has been a huge reason why. All these "studs" that were going to come in and turn the top teams around have not really lived up to the task. The two best teams in college basketball, Kansas and Michigan State, have mainly upperclassmen. They're led by guys that have been there before and know how to play. Oklahoma is also a really good team, led by a senior, Buddy Hield. Those three teams I have faith in to go far in the tournament.

These teams led by freshman, teams like Duke, Kentucky and LSU, I have no faith in to make deep tourney runs, or even make the tournament. Duke will be there, but Grayson Allen(sophomore) and Brandon Ingram(freshman), will not guide them to back to back titles, they'll be lucky to make it to the first weekend. Kentucky will bow out very early because their freshman class has been a humongous disappointment and they have no upperclassmen leader, except for the oft injured Alex Poythress. And then there's LSU, the team that is the reason for this blog today.

Louisiana State University had the cream of the crop sign there, Ben Simmons. This kid was a can't miss prospect out of Australia. He was a once in a lifetime player. He could pass like Magic, shoot like Durant and run the floor like Chris Paul. He was going to bring LSU back to its glory days, when Shaq was patrolling the paint. He was compared, by every journalist no matter what publication, to all those players I mentioned above. He was supposed to be the best freshman since Kevin Durant was at Texas for one year, said Bill Simmons. This kid was going to make this season a must watch for college basketball fans. Now, with all that being said, he is a very good basketball player and he will almost certainly be the first pick in the NBA draft, but there is also some problems that have come along with this kid.

First of all, LSU has a slim, and I mean very slim, like winning the SEC tournament may be their only chance to make the NCAA tournament slim, chance at getting in. Some of this is coaching and some is the kid's fault. The coach at LSU clearly doesn't know how to use Simmons properly. He'll use him as a decoy way too often and he doesn't have the ball in his hands at critical times, even though it's clear he is the best player on the floor. But Ben Simmons sometimes seems gun shy at the end of critical games and he passes on the final shot way too much. I know he wants to be unselfish, but if you are supposed to be the best player in over a decade, you have to be selfish and take those final shots, you're team is expecting that out of you.

Then there is the fact that LSU has almost no chance of making the NCAA tournament. Most teams that have had a big time recruit like this have made the tournament and most have made very deep runs. Duke won the title with three freshman as their top guys. When Durant was at Texas I believe they made the sweet sixteen. Kentucky last year made the final four and won with an Anthony Davis led team a few years before that. Arizona, with Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made the elite eight last year. So yeah, most of these freshman led teams make at least some noise in the NCAA tournament. Even though the NCAA doesn't recognize it, Michigan and the Fab Five made the title game in their first and second seasons. LSU though, they look like your prototypical NIT team. Good enough to be over .500, but barely. They are 18-13 as we speak, with little to no quality wins. They do not have a resume that screams at large bid, not even close. If they don't win the SEC tournament, I don't see them getting into the NCAA tournament. There are a lot of better teams that have better resumes that are more deserving of an at large bid.

Which brings me to my last and most crucial point of today. Ben Simmons was not eligible for the Wooden Award, given to the best player in men's college basketball, for "academic reasons". Some reporters, mainly ESPN and Bleacher Report, came out and said what a travesty it is that this kid won't even be considered for the award, that it was an injustice to a great player. I say, what the hell is the matter with you morons that think basketball is more important that getting good grades? I know that most of these "one and done" players don't go to go to school, but at least the ones there make the grades, or it's made to seem that they have made the grades, keeping them eligible to play. Ben Simmons has clearly not been up to snuff in the classroom which is the most important thing. It's called student athlete for a reason. There is a reason student comes first. That is the main thing you should be focused on when entering college, being a student first and an athlete second. I know, he's going to be a multi millionaire in less than 2 moths, but Jesus Christ, go to class. I guarantee that the professors will just pass you for showing up. Also, I don't think he'd even have a 10 percent chance to win the award. I'd give it to Denzel Valentine, Buddy Hield, Perry Ellis or Georges Niang before I'd even consider Ben Simmons. Those guys are all leaders on top 25 teams that should make deep tourney runs.

People in the major media, I'm looking at you Bleacher Report and ESPN, need to stop coddling this kid and make him own up to his faults. He will be the first pick in the upcoming draft, but what if he is a bust? What if he is Sam Bowie? Will the same reporters still be there for him? I doubt it. This kid is good, possibly great, but he needs to get his head on his shoulders and grow up fast if he wants to earn the money that is about to be showered upon him. He is not Steph Curry or LeBron James or Kevin Durant yet. Hell, he's not even at DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry's level yet, at least those guys have proven they're real NBA players.

Screw the NCAA and screw the NBA for this stupid "one and done" culture that they've created. It's a menace and it will cheapen the NBA is 5 or 6 years. Enjoy great basketball now because the "one and done's" are coming to ruin professional basketball.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He often wonders why these kids even bother with college, play overseas and then come to the draft. It seems so simple. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Is it Time to Give Up on The OKC Thunder?

The hoop is a symbol of the current state of the Thunder

I know that in my NBA mid season review and my NBA preseason preview I had the OKC Thunder as a dark horse championship contender. Yes, they're my favorite team, but I legitimately thought, at full strength, they could compete with the Warriors, Spurs and Cavs. They have two of the five best players in the game on their team. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are lights out. They are superior scorers and a threat to anyone that the opposition puts on the floor. After those two guys, with Serge Ibaka being the lone exception, they're pretty thin. Sure, Steven Adams is a good defender and rebounder and Anthony Morrow is a good shooter, but guys like Dion Waiters, Kyke Singler and Enes Kanter do not make a title contending team.

The Thunder do have the third best record in the West, and in the league I believe, but last nights game, that they absolutely blew to the Clippers, shut down any hopes of winning a title that I had. The hopes were pretty fleeting to begin with, the Warriors are historically good and the Spurs are the Spurs, but I still had hope because of Durant and Westbrook. They both played good last night, except for the dumb three that Westbrook took with 10 seconds left, but they always perform. It's the rest of the team that concerns me. In the first half of last nights game, they couldn't miss. Same couldn't be said in the second half, they were ice cold. Not only were they missing shots, but they were playing no defense and looked undisciplined. It was frustrating. They are so Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde. The Thunder will look unbeatable during one half, but then they turn a switch and they look like a mid level Eastern Conference team the next half.

Last nights game wasn't the only time this has happened. They've looked very mediocre since the all star break ended. They can't close teams out, i.e. The Warriors game last week. They had that game won multiple times, but they couldn't close it out. Sure, Curry hit a miraculous shot to win, but the Thunder should've never been in that position. They had that game won, but they found a way to blow it. They also have trouble putting away, or even beating teams they should beat. Take the recent Pelicans game. The Pelicans have no one besides Anthony Davis, but the Thunder decided they didn't have to play hard and decided to not play defense and they lost to a very mediocre team. They've looked downright bad since the break. I don't know if it's coaching or they don't have what it takes or the talent drops off way too much after Westbrook, Durant and Ibaka, but something is wrong.

Yes, the Thunder will make the playoff and even win a round or two, but when they have to play the Spurs or Warriors, they will get scorched. I want to believe in them, but they've done nothing lately that lets me believe in them. They're in a bad funk and they need to get out of it before they get trounced in the playoffs to an inferior team.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He wants to believe in the Thunder, but reality keeps getting in the way. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Grayson Allen is Carrying on the Blue Devil Tradition

Just try and trip me, jackass

I want to take my time today to take a crack at this punk ass Duke men's basketball player, Grayson Allen.

This kid is a world class asshole. He looks like every whiny, over priveledged arrogant white kid that has played basketball at Duke. The problem with him, he isn't even in the top 25 or 30 or kids that have played at Duke. He is not that bad, but he is not some superstar that is going to set the NBA on fire in two years either. He reminds me of another white kid that was looked at as a "star" by some idiot analysts when he was in college and that kid is Aaron Craft. Does anyone remember this douchebag? Yes, I have a preconceived hatred for this kid because he played at that lame ass college full of cheaters in Columbus, Ohio, but he was not this "great" that so many analysts made him out to be. He was dirty, he was a cheap shot artist, he was a terrible shooter and he did not make that team any better. Not at all in fact. Without guys like Jared Sullinger on the same team as him, they would have been lucky to be a .500 team had Craft been their best option. He was an annoyance that hasn't made it out of the D League, so maybe he wasn't this all time great college player. I see a lot of the same thing in Grayson Allen that defined Aaron Craft. Grayson is a better shooter, but trade his shooting for Craft's defense, and you get the exact same player.

In addition to being overhyped, Grayson Allen is one of, if not the, most dirty players in all of college basketball. How many times does he get to trip opposing players before the ACC lays down some real punishment? Sure, they sent him a letter to reprimand him and deemed that sufficient, but that's a crock of shit. If this kid played anywhere else, save for Kentucky, he would have been suspended multiple games for tripping people. First of all, tripping an opponent on a hard wood floor could cause a very bad, possibly career ending injury. What if one of the two kids he tripped fell so hard they smacked their heads on the floor and were concussed? Would the ACC deem that enough of a problem to suspend him? Sure, if he played for Syracuse or North Carolina, but not for anyone on the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K is a standup guy and he doesn't teach his players to be dirty, right? Absolutely not, he has had some of the dirtiest players to ever step foot on a college basketball court, but no one in the main stream media has the guts to call him out.

Let's look at some past dirty players that the mighty Coach K has had. You have to start with Christian Laettener. He is one of the all time greatest college basketball players, but he was also one of the dirtiest. He'd kick players while they were down, he'd foul guys excessively hard when it was not needed, he was arrogant and could be a malcontent. Hell, ESPN even did a "30 For 30" on him called "I Hate Christian Laettener", that how epic his play and his dirty play was. It turned out to be a fluff piece because that's how ESPN rolls, but at least some got to show and tell about his dirty play. Later in his coaching career you can take guys like Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer and Steve Wojohoweski. These guys all came off like they were good, decent, respectable human beings on the court, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Battier was an arrogant, self righteous asshole while in college. Whenever he didn't get a call he thought he deserved, he would bitch and moan so much, that officials would give in. Carlos Boozer used to set dirty and illegal screens all the time while at Duke, but no one ever called him out on it because he was "playing the Coach K way". Steve Wojohoweski was an undersized little shit that fouled everyone on every play because that was his way of trying to get in opponents heads. Even recently you can look at players like Kyrie Irving, Greg Paulus and Jahlil Okafor. Kyrie Irving was a prized recruit who only played 11 NCAA basketball games, but was looked at as a star because of the nice things Coach K had to say about him. Now, he comes off as a diva. He couldn't lead the Cavs to the playoffs when it was his team and now that LeBron is back, and is the unquestioned leader and coach and GM, reports have come out that he is unhappy with his role and he wants to be traded. Sounds like a whiny, spoiled brat to me, AKA a Duke Blue Devil. Greg Paulus was so average at college basketball, he tried his hand at football and that was a disaster. He sounds like another kid that was given everything he wanted in life, no questions asked, and when the times got tough, he whined and complained instead of working hard at something else, AKA a Duke Blue Devil. Jahlil Okafor is proof positive of "getting way too much, way too soon". He won a title in his lone season at Duke, was looked at as the star of that team, was drafted in the lottery and now, he's making mistake after mistake, and is he really a good NBA player? First of all, without Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow, Duke doesn't even come close to even being in that title game, so no, Okafor was not the reason they won. Second, sure he ended up in a terrible situation, being picked by the 76ers, but that doesn't make it okay for him to get in bar fights and to play terrible, non existent defense. He is also a bad teammate. He clearly only cares about his stats and himself, AKA a Duke Blue Devil.

Now we have this Grayson Allen shithead. This kid may take the cream of the crop. He is the worst since Laettener, but at least Laettener could back it up with his game. Allen is mediocre at best and he is an extremely dirty player. This tripping nonsense needs to stop before he really hurts someone. It also makes the play look even worse than it has all season. It is childish and the fact that the ACC and Duke aren't doing anything about it makes it even worse. I'd take all the players, plus a lot more, that I mentioned above before I'd even consider this Allen kid and his childish behavior on the court makes me even more sure that I would not want him on my team.

So, no Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas and Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg, Grayson Allen is not a transcendent player, he is a malcontent, whiny and arrogant douchebag, AKA a Duke Blue Devil.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He has a love hat relationship with Duke basketball, he loves when they lose and hates when they win. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Chaos of the College Basketball Season will Extend Well into March

This season has even our ancestors confused

As I've done with the NBA, NFL and MLB seasons, I want to check up on my preseason preview for men's college basketball and see how I did and what I think will happen now that the regular is just about done.

First of all, this season of men's college basketball has been very, very ugly. There is no clear cut best team out there. The talent pool has been incredibly watered down by this new "one and done" culture. These kids don't go to college to learn how to play team basketball anymore, they go to increase their draft position. No one plays team basketball anymore. It's all one on one and let me show you my skills to prove that I can play at the next level. Adam Silver needs to focus more on changing the age limit rule for early entry in the draft and less on the "hack a whoever" problem. Men's college basketball is becoming a joke, and until they do something to remedy the "one and done", it will remain a big, big problem.

I really dislike college basketball at the moment.

With all that being said, I still watch because it is basketball and I love basketball. As I said before, there is no clear cut top five teams. Last year it was almost a foregone conclusion that Duke, Kentucky and Wisconsin would be three fourths of the final four. Michigan State making it was a surprise, but they are also a traditional powerhouse, so was it really that surprising? Nope. This year though, it's a total crapshoot. I bet gamblers hate how wide open it is this season. There is, at least, 10 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the final four and winning the title.

I'll start with the ACC. The ACC has the team that most consider the "best" team in North Carolina, but they just lost to an unranked Duke team at home. Sometimes UNC looks like world beaters, other days they look average. Duke has been wildly inconsistent this year. They were in the top ten, fell out of the rankings completely, then beat Virginia and UNC. They are a team that relies on streaky shooters and freshman and sophomores and their underclassmen are nowhere near as good as their underclassmen last year. Virginia has experience, but they play ugly offensive basketball. Notre Dame is okay, but they will lose an early round game in the tournament. Louisville gave themselves a bogus postseason ban, due to all their sex parties and their sex depraved head coach, but I don't think they would have made much noise in the tournament anyway. Miami may be the second best team in the ACC, but they are classic tournament chokers. everyone else is mediocre. UNC should be the cream of the crop, but I have no faith in them after what happened against Duke.

The Big East has two good teams and that's it. No disrespect to Georgetown, but they peaked early. The Big East is Villanova and Xavier. They played last night and number 5 Xavier knocked off number 1 Villanova. It was a good game, but the problem with these two teams, they always get seeded very high in the tournament and they always lose way earlier than they should. They both have experience, but like I said, that experience is used to getting knocked out of the tournament early. I'd love if they proved me and everyone else wrong and made a deep tournament run because I like both these teams, but I don't think that will happen.

The SEC has been very average this year. Kentucky was supposed to be great, signing another excellent class, but they have been one of, if no the, most inconsistent team in all of men's basketball. They have no go to scorer and their stud freshman have not lived up to the preseason hype. Texas A&M is ranked, but I couldn't tell you the name of one player on that team. LSU was supposed to be awesome since they signed Ben Simmons, the overall number one high school recruit, but they might not even make the NCAA tournament. Arkansas is mediocre, Ole Miss and Mississippi State both stink and so does the rest of the conference. Kentucky will still win the SEC, but they are not the same team that they were last year.

The Big Ten, my conference that I watch, has been very unpredictable. Michigan State is supposed to be the cream of the crop, but they've had to deal with multiple injuries and very inconsistent play. They are still really good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Iowa has come out of nowhere and put themselves into the top ten, but they have lost three straight and one of those losses was to a very bad Penn State team. Maryland, my preseason pick to win the title, has been as inconsistent as Michigan State. They started out on fire this season, climbing all the way up to the number 2 ranking, but they recently lost to a Minnesota team that was winless in Big Ten play. Michigan, my team, has been without Caris Levert for most of the season but, they've beaten the teams they are supposed to beat. But, when they played quality competition, they've been absolutely run out of the gym. Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa and Xavier all beat them by double figures and made it look easy. Indiana, the current leader of the conference, has looked good, but when they have to play on the road, they are not the same team. They get every call at home, but the road, where it's called fairly, they look average. Wisconsin has come on strong lately, but I have zero faith in them and their former coach, Bo Ryan, is a world class scumbag. Even with Indiana sitting atop the conference, Michigan State and Maryland are the two best teams in the Big Ten.

The Big 12 may be the best conference in college basketball this year. Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia, Texas and Baylor have spent the majority of the season in the top 25. Oklahoma and Kansas look really good. They are the two teams that may be the only "sure thing" in college basketball this year. The issue is that KU has a tendency to choke, and who knows with Oklahoma, especially since Buddy Hield has been in a mini slump. West Virginia plays suffocating defense, but very poor offense. Baylor seems to be good only when playing at home and Texas is still learning Shaka Smart's system.  KU has proven twice, beating Oklahoma at home and on the road, that they are still the best team in the Big 12.

The mid majors I mentioned in my preseason preview, Witchita State and Gonzaga have been major disappointments. Witchita State had everyone back from a team that almost made the final four last year, but they have been pretty mediocre this year. And Gonzaga has fallen off a cliff. I believe I had them in my preseason final four, but they have been pretty terrible this year. The mid majors are not going to crash the final four at all this year.

Even though it's been a rough year to watch, the major conferences will be well represented in the tournament and make the final four. Like I said, this season is wide open, but I will take a crack at the final four anyway. I guess, and I cannot stress how much of this is literally a guess, UNC, Michigan State, Kansas and Oklahoma will be in the final four and Oklahoma will win it all. Once again, total guess. So, there is my almost end of the regular season wrap up for men's college basketball. The one thing that will be fun, while it will still be a rough watch, at least the tournament will be exciting and all 68 teams that make it will have a shot at the title. Hell, maybe we will finally see a 16 seed beat a 1 seed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This college basketball season may provide another big upset, like the Princeton UCLA game that the head editor will not shut up about. It is your duty to follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Winners and Losers Stay the Same After the NBA Trade Deadline

Everyone kept the hands they were dealt

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone in the last week. I know that other writers write an immediate winners and losers article only minutes after the deadline happens. Me personally, I need time to think about what happened and all the player movement. I don't think you can honestly say who won or lost a trade the moment after it happens unless it's something huge. For example, when Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were traded to New York for basically nothing, the Knicks were clear winners, although they've only won one playoff series since Carmelo has been in New York. I agree more with a writer like Zach Lowe, my favorite NBA writer, that you need almost a full year or even two before you can really pick any winners or losers from the trade deadline. But, for the sake of argument, I will do my best to pick some teams that "won" the deadline, and who "lost" the deadline.

First of all, there were none of the big name moves that I and a lot of other sports writers thought would happen. I was certain that Al Horford was going to be a Celtic, I thought Jeff Teague would be gone, I was almost 100 percent certain that Dwight Howard would be anywhere but Houston and I figured LeBron would get his way and the Cavs would dump Kevin Love. None of those guys moved. I was even pretty sure that the Clippers would deal Blake Griffin because they are playing so well without him and he is a locker room problem, but no movement for Griffin. With that being said, the big names usually don't move at the trade deadline. Very rarely do we see superstars change teams with less than 30 games to go in the regular season. Why change chemistry now with so little time left in the season? By this point, we pretty much know who is going to be in the playoffs and who is going to be in the lottery. The big name guys get dealt in the offseason, right after the free agency dust settles. I do fully expect guys like Horford, Howard, Teague and Griffin to be on new teams starting next season. Hell, if the Knicks don't get any better, I wouldn't be shocked to see Carmelo get traded to a contender, The Knicks are going to go to a youth movement led by Kristaps Porzingis, and Carmelo will be 33 going into next season. the Knicks are no longer his team. And, depending on how the Cavs do, I think they will get swept in the Finals, or even beaten by Toronto in the Eastern Finals, Kevin Love could have a new team next year, if LeBron the GM gets his way.

This trade deadline featured no real superstars or team changing players. The best players that got traded were Tobias Harris to Detroit and Jeff Green to the Clippers. Those are not guys to build a team around. In Jeff Green's case, he is a good player that has a ton of upside, but he has also been traded four times in his short career. That's not a look that a player should strive for. He started his career in OKC and didn't get the minutes he needed and couldn't grow as a player. He was traded to Boston, were he would look like an all star one night and look like a 12th man the next night. He was then shipped to Memphis, were he played his best basketball, but that's not saying much. Sure, he was a decent slasher, but he missed more open jumpers than he made and he was wildly inconsistent on defense. Now, he is on the Clippers, where he is expected to take on the load until Blake Griffin comes back. I know LA fans and LA sports writers think this is a good trade, but I disagree. Green, while being a great talent, has never lived up to his high praise when he was a rookie. He is wildly inconsistent and he is not the game changer that fans and sports writers in LA think he can be. The only good that came from this trade was the Clippers unloading Lance Stephenson. The Clippers are the 4 seed right now, and they will stay there, Jeff Green will not help them leap frog the Thunder or the Spurs and no one is going to catch the Warriors. The Pistons getting Tobias Harris was a pretty good move for them. I like this trade a hell of a lot more than the Jeff Green move. Tobias Harris wasn't being used properly in Orlando and I think, with a coach like Stan Van Gundy, he will thrive alongside Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. I don't like that they had to give up Brandon Jennings, who I really, really like, but he is coming off a torn ACL and the Pistons gave Reggie Jackson a lot of money this offseason. They have moved on from Brandon Jennings. This move will firmly put the Pistons in a good playoff position, especially in the East, and Harris could help them make some early round noise.

Other than those two guys, the next biggest name to move was Markieff Morris, who was traded from Phoenix to Washington. I don't really know where he fits in DC and this felt like a desperate move by a very desperate team. Morris is a very good basketball player, but he is also a whiner and can be a malcontent. Look at all the stuff he did in Phoenix after they traded his brother. The front office in Phoenix definitely deserves blame for being shady and trading his brother after they both took discounts to play together, but the NBA is a business and shady stuff happens in business all the time. I don't see Markieff Morris making the Wizards a legit threat. John Wall deserves better help than that. Other than these three, guys like Randy Foye, who is having one of his worst statistical years, got traded from Denver to OKC for DJ Augustin. I don't think either team really gained or lost anything from this trade. The Cavs acquired Channing Frye, but he will not push them over the edge. He will not stretch the Warriors or Spurs as much as people may think. And the Bulls shipped Kirk Hinrich over to Atlanta. This trade would have been good about 6 or 7 years ago, now, who cares.

If I were to pick a "winner" from this trade deadline, I think it is pretty clear that it's the Detroit Pistons. They got a proven scorer in Harris and, if he is willing to be coached up a bit, he can turn himself into a pretty good all around NBA player. Harris next to Drummond is a pretty good and formidable front court. Phoenix, while a total disaster in every other aspect of an NBA team, at least got rid of an unhappy player that was causing problems and they got a first round pick out of him, so they may be a slight winner, and that's the only time they will be called winners this year.

As far as "losers" go, no real team did anything that will help or hurt them with player acquistions, so the only "losers" I can find are, we, the fans. Now, we should know by now that the big names get moved in the offseason, but I expected at least one big time star to get traded. Why didn't the Rockets dump Dwight Howard? Was the asking price too high, or did no one want him? I know he's a free agent this summer, but why not rent him for 30 games? All credit to Bill Simmons, why didn't the Trailblazers try and get him to help them in their playoff run? He could have helped them, and he always seems to show up and play good basketball in the playoffs and they would only have to deal with him for 30 games and they could let him walk this offseason, no problem. Or, why didn't the Celtics do something? I have read they tried, but they couldn't pull anything off. They have the most assets and Danny Ainge has been chasing a star for three years now. I thought they could have gotten Horford, Love or Blake Griffin, but they got none of them. Where we sit now, they are a three seed in the East, but with their rag tag roster, they will not beat Cleveland or Toronto. Had they added a star, I wouldn't say the same thing. And, the Knicks were quiet, but they have no assets and it would have taken them moving a big name to get another big name. Phil Jackson wasn't going to do that and had they tried to trade Carmelo, he has a no trade clause and he could have voided any trade he wanted.

This was a very uneventful and very quiet trade deadline, but they have been for the last four years. There a no real winners and losers because we just don't know how these things will pan out. Look for this summer time to be very busy with lots of big named guys finding new homes. Summer is where the action will take place.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is practicing being all excited for the trade deadline as a basketball writer, and then being disappointed as a fan. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Dwight Howard Deserves Better Than the Rockets

Where does it say these numbers will win an NBA title?

With the NBA trade deadline this Thursday, one name is being thrown around and it's a forgone conclusion that Dwight Howard is going to be traded from Houston to any number of teams. Boston, Atlanta and Toronto have all been brought up as potential landing spots. If you watch ESPN or Fox Sports News or any number of sports media outlets, they are all saying the same thing about Dwight Howard. He's a malcontent, he complains too much, he can't coexist with another star, he's too much of a diva, he's lost his dominant form from five years ago, basically he is the problem they all say. This was the case when he left Orlando in free agency. He didn't like Stan Van Gundy and he quit playing mid way through his last season. He then signed with the Lakers and his one season there was an absolute train wreck. He didn't like playing with Kobe Bryant, coaching was sub par at best and he looked genuinely unhappy that whole season.

Then the big blockbuster deal when he joined the Rockets. He was the missing piece that this team needed, or so it was thought. His first year there, they did okay, but they bowed out of the first round of the playoffs to a Thunder team that didn't have Russell Westbrook. Then, he missed the majority of the first half of last season due to many injuries. The Rockets played surprisingly well in his absence, with James Harden coming on very strong, heavily involved in the MVP race. In fact, Harden was the players choice for MVP last year. But, when they needed Dwight Howard the most, he came up pretty big for the team. He was a key cog in their run to the Western Conference Finals last year. In their three game win streak to complete their comeback against the Clippers, it was Howard, not Harden, that made the difference. He was a force on defense. He was rebounding at an extremely high rate and he was getting whatever he wanted in the post. He made DeAndre Jordan look like a rookie at times during that series. He seemed to be regaining his dominating form.

Then, this past offseason happened. James Harden decided partying and dating a Kardashian was more important than staying in playing shape. Dwight Howard seemed disinterested in even playing basketball. The Rockets traded for Ty Lawson, a deal I still very much liked at the time, but he was coming off multiple DWI and DUI offenses. Basically, this team was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The season started and they limped out of the gate. The Rockets started 4-7 and fired Kevin McHale, a move I still disagree with. Sure, it's up to the coach to come up with a good game plan and the Rockets had little to no interest in playing defense, but the players also have to be invested in getting better and staying in shape. It was clear that Harden and Howard had not done their job. But, instead of taking it on themselves, Harden and Howard blamed coaching, thus the firing of Kevin McHale happened. But, JB Bickerstaff is not the answer at head coach, and to his credit, he was put in a terrible situation. He said it himself, and I couldn't agree more, he is coaching a "broken team".

So now, sitting at 27-28 coming out of the All Star break, the Rockets are looking to make deals, although I think it's a moot point. This team, if they make the playoffs, will be out in the first round. There were reports last week saying that both Harden and Howard met late into the night with GM Daryl Morey, but I believe Harden was the only player present at that meeting. I truly believe he told Morey that it was him or Howard, that one of them has to go.

Now we get to the part where I actually defend Dwight Howard, something I never thought I would say. Sure, Howard is whiny and arrogant and self righteous, but he can still be dominant if put in the right situation. The way the Rockets run their offense is terrible for a big man like Howard. They give the ball to Harden at the top of the key, he dribbles for 15-20 seconds, then he either jacks up a contested three, or he tries to drive to the basket to draw a foul. I don't see how anyone, with Harden being the exception, would like playing in that type of offense. The Rockets are boring and they are predictable. And when you are a big man, you need touches to stay motivated. I don't care if it's just an easy dump pass to him in the high post and he kicks it back out, at least he got his hands on the ball during that possession. It's asking an awful lot, to tell your big man, hey we need you to play hovering defense, rebound at a very high rate and hustle down on offense, but there's only a 25 percent chance you will touch the ball. Any big man would laugh in the coaches face if they asked them to do that. I don't think that Howard is the real problem and I don't think getting rid of him will solve all their problems.

In my opinion, the two main problems on the Rockets are Harden and, way more importantly, Daryl Morey. Harden has been a diva since his last year in OKC. He didn't show up in the finals and when they didn't offer him a max contract, he said he felt disrespected and left in a huff. The Thunder, when healthy, are a much better team without Harden, no matter what Bill Simmons says (he does seem to have had a change of heart). And the fact that he wanted to make his "brand" bigger this offseason, that that was more important than staying in shape, tells me a lot about James Harden the player and person. He really screwed this team this offseason and he's screwing them over during the season.

Forget about the players, Daryl Morey and his analytic nonsense have been the main culprit that has caused this mess in Houston. He thought pairing a three point shooting, ball dominant two guard and a ball dominant, really good rebounding center would work because the numbers told him so. Numbers were wrong. He took a chance on Ty Lawson, even though they already have Patrick Beverly, because the numbers said having two point guards would make them more explosive. Numbers were wrong. He thought firing McHale would solve problems because McHale wasn't taking his analytics serious and that JB Bickerstaff, according to the numbers, would turn this team around. Numbers were wrong. This whole craze of analytics and numbers is about as useful as "moneyball" was in baseball. Sure, you will have a decent regular season, making the playoffs regularly, but, how many World Series have the Oakland A's won since Billy Beane took over as GM? Zero, that's how many. In fact, I don't even think they've made an ALCS in his time. The way to build a team is through developing draft picks and pairing veterans that know how to play the game. This numbers nonsense needs to go. The Warriors and Spurs don't use analytics, they just develop players and win titles.

So yes, if the Rockets do trade Dwight Howard, I hope it comes back to haunt them. I hope he gets on a team that feeds him the ball and I hope he dunks it all over James Harden and Daryl Morey and I hope he laughs while he's doing it. I cannot believe that I defended Dwight Howard, but all the problems with the Rockets don't solely lie on him. James Harden and Daryl Morey deserve the majority of the blame.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. The numbers tell him that it is time to stop watching the Rockets. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Welcome Back NBA Dunk Contest

Practicing for the 2025 dunk contest

This past Saturday, I witnessed one of the greatest dunk contests I have ever seen. The dunk contest has fallen pretty far the past decade. It was long and boring. Contestants got as many tries as they needed, dragging the contest past the two hour mark, easily. The contestants weren't that good either. Sure, you'd get a Blake Griffin, although I think he's very overrated, or a John Wall or even a Dwight Howard, but for the most part, we got guys like Nate Robinson and Terrence Ross. These guys are all phenomenal athletes and freakishly athletic, but we didn't get the stars that the fans wanted.

Back in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's, we got the biggest stars to compete in the dunk contest. Guys like Larry Nance, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter, just to name a few, regularly competed in the dunk contest. Those were some of the best competitions. The coin flip showdown between Jordan and Dominique was so, so incredible, even though Dominique got totally screwed out of the win. When Dr. J was in the contest, he was doing things no one at the time was doing. I didn't see that one live, obviously, but the videos of his dunks are awesome. When Larry Nance was in, he looked like he was floating through the air. It was majestic. Then, in 2000, I witnessed what I consider to be the greatest dunk contest ever. I don't remember the other contestants, but I sure as hell remember Vince Carter. He did some of the most incredible, mouth agape dunks I'd ever seen. The "hand in the cookie jar dunk", going between his legs on a bounce pass, throwing it off the side of the backboard, I mean, it was just insanely athletic and so impressive. I remember sharing his sentiment, after doing the windmill off the side of the backboard, that the contest was over. You could see him mouthing the words, "it's over", and he was 100 percent correct. He absolutely dominated that dunk contest. The fact that I don't even remember his competitors shows you how incredible his dunks were. After that contest, I was sure that the dunk contest was going to be as great every year. I was very wrong.

The All Star weekend dunk contest became boring, as I said before. Too long and no stars. Some will tell me that the Blake Griffin contest, when he dunked over a car, was exciting. I say you are wrong. Who cares that he jumped over a car. It would've been impressive if he dunked over the top of the car, but he went over the front hood. I bet the majority of NBA players can do that exact dunk with no problem. The Blake Griffin hype was at it's peak then, and his dunk was way overblown. Like I said, he is overrated. Some will also throw out the Nate Robinson back to back wins, but those were incredibly boring and his dunks were not even close to what Spud Webb did when he won. Spud Webb only had three chances to do his dunks. I believe that Nate Robinson, whom I enjoy, went on for almost thirty minutes before throwing down one impressive dunk. He had unlimited time and attempts. You give any NBA player that much time, they will come up with something great. Other people may even think that the Dwight Howard win was impressive, but he barely did anything. Also, he's a 7 footer, he better damn well do something impressive. But, he didn't really do anything impressive at all, unless you count wearing a Superman cape as impressive, I don't. So, yeah, the dunk contest was in a real rut.

Last season Zach Lavine of the Minnesota Timberwolves, made it kind of exciting. The pool of contestants still wasn't that good, but the highlights the next day of what Lavine did had me and a lot of others intrigued. He did some really cool stuff that kind of hearkened back to the good old days of the contest. Then came this past Saturday night. The contestants, once again, weren't household names, but two of the four are big time jumpers. Hardcore fans of the NBA know all the contestants and know that Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon are world class leapers. They can "jump out of the gym". The other two contestants, Will Barton and Andre Drummond are decent athletes too. Barton is a freakishly good jumper. No one knows him because he plays very sporadically on a pretty bad Denver Nuggets team, but he can jump. Andre Drummond is an All Star, but he's not known for his dunking ability. He's a rebounder and defender. Both Barton and Drummond failed to impress, but Barton not doing well was the only shock to me. Drummond didn't belong in this contest. Then, Lavine and Gordon owned the rest of the night. Aaron Gordon went first and his first attempt was awesome. He soared through the air and completed a bounce pass between the legs windmill. It was awesome. Then, Zach Lavine did a 360 windmill, behind the back reverse dunk. It was something I'd never seen before and I was hooked. They traded one awesome dunk after another. Gordon brought out the Magic mascot and did a between the legs grab off the mascot's head dunk. Awesome. Lavine then proceeded to catch an alley oop from the free throw line dunk. Phenomenal. Then, Aaron Gordon did the best dunk I'd seen since Vince Carter. Using his mascot again, he took the ball off his head again, but then he put the ball underneath his legs and reverse slammed the ball. It was the best dunk I have ever seen. Go watch it right now, it is so cool. Then, Lavine did some more stuff from the free throw line, including a windmill from the free throw line. That takes so much leaping ability and so much athleticism and Lavine made it look easy. The two of them traded 50's from there on out, until Lavine finally won in a dunk off. Watch the whole duel, it is awesome.

This was the best dunk contest since 2000 and probably the best dunk contest of all time. Aaron Gordon and Zach Lavine brought it back from the dead. The dunk contest was appointment TV when I was a teenager, then it was really bad for a decade plus, but if it continues to be anywhere close to where Saturday night was in the future, I will be in front of my TV every All Star weekend to see the dunk contest. It was that awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once saw the head editor to an epic double jump dunk. It is a slam dunk to follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Mid Season Checkup on Ty's NBA Predictions.

Ty's picks are actually in better shape than the hoop.

Now that we have made it to the All Star break in the NBA, I want to go back and look at my giant, 10 day NBA preview I did before the season and see how it looks now. I did get some things wrong, we all do, and I will address those first, but I feel like I picked the top teams pretty well, with one exception.

So, before I pat myself on the back, let's get to the stuff I was off base on. First of all, I was way off on the New Orleans Pelicans, the Dallas Mavericks, the Portland Trailblazers, the Houston Rockets, the Washington Wizards and the Milwaukee Bucks. In the case of the Pelicans, I thought they'd be much, much better than they've shown this season. Sure, they've suffered a plethora of injuries, but they just don't look like that good of a team right now. I watched them play the OKC Thunder last night and they got blown out. The game wasn't even competitive mid way through the third quarter. Sure, they didn't have Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, but they still have Anthony Davis, my preseason MVP and Defensive Player of the Year winner. Davis has looked good, but he was supposed to look great. He was supposed to be the new face of the NBA. He hasn't shown that he is ready to take the next step, but he still has time. This is a lost year for the Pelicans. Too many injuries and a terrible start doomed them. They should blow it up and try to get a decent pick to add next to Davis.

I also thought that the Bucks would be a much better team than they are right now. They haven't really had to deal with any injuries, they just can't play competent defense and they have no go to scorer. Giannis Antentekoumpo has not taken the leap he was expected to take, becoming kind of a nuisance. Jabari Parker has not lived up to the hype that he can be a top tier scorer and he plays no defense whatsoever. The Greg Monroe signing has been an absolute disaster and their back court is mediocre at best. They have looked pretty awful this year. They already had their highlight of their season, when they ended Golden State's perfect start.

The Washington Wizards can't stay healthy and they can't get John Wall any kind of significant help. Wall is a star. He is one of, if not the, top point guard in the NBA, but he has no help at all. Bradley Beal was supposed to be his wingman, but he can't stay healthy and when he is in there, he's been ice cold from the field. Marcin Gortat looks slow and is not scoring like he did a year ago. Nene looks disinterested and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets traded. Otto Porter Jr has been hit or miss and other than those guys, they have very average NBA players. But, it all really boils down to piss poor coaching from Randy Whitman. The fact he still has a job is ridiculous. He is the one wasting John Wall's talent. I feel bad for John Wall because he's a really great basketball player.

The Houston Rockets have been a mess from the start of preseason. James Harden decided he'd rather party than stay in shape. Dwight Howard can't get touches, but he also mopes and complains more than any NBA player I've ever watched. The trade for Ty Lawson, which I loved, has been a complete disaster. And this team, as a whole, plays absolutely no defense. The offense they run is equally terrible. I swear, they tell Harden to dribble for 20 seconds, then either shoot a 3 or try to drive to draw a foul. It's atrocious. They fired their coach after 11 games, but they haven't been any better since letting McHale go. As was reported last night, this is truly "a broken team".

Now, to get away from teams I thought would be good that aren't so good to teams that I expected to take a step back, but are playing much better than I thought. First, the Trailblazers. They traded away 4/5 of their starting lineup and made some interesting offseason moves, but damn it if it isn't kind of working for them. They lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews and Nic Batum, but still find themselves in the playoff race. If they do end up making the playoffs, it will be as an eight seed and they will get crushed by Golden State, but I thought there was no way they'd win more than 25 games this year. Damien Lillard really is that good.

The other team that I kind of crapped on, thought they were too old and that they missed out on some key free agency moves, the Dallas Mavericks, have been very competitive. Dirk is still Dirk. He is still getting 18 to 20 points per game and his jump shot is still unguardable. Wes Matthews, their only free agent signing after the DeAndre Jordan fiasco, has been great, coming off a torn ACL. He has actually looked really good, considering his injury. Chandler Parsons has been okay, he just does what he does, and that's enough for this team. But, Deron Williams has been rejuvenated by his move to Dallas. He was done in Brooklyn. His career seemed to be over, but he has played some pretty good basketball since joining the Mavericks, much to mine, and everyone else's surprise. He looks like a decent NBA point guard again. You have also got to give a lot of love to Rick Carlisle for the job he's doing with this team. He is a top of the line NBA coach. .

Now, let's get to the stuff I was on the mark with in my preseason preview. Golden State and San Antonio have been great. Golden State, whom I've written about a couple of times already, has been historically great. They are the most fun to watch NBA team that I've ever seen. Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA, no questions about it, and they also have Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut and Andre Igoudala, and I could name a lot more. They are so, so good.

The Spurs are right there as well. The Aldridge signing has been great and Aldridge has taken very easily to playing the "Spurs Way". David West, who they signed for the veterans minimum, has been a great addition as well. Then they still have Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. I know Ginobli just recently got hurt, but they can plug Patty Mills, Danny Green, or anyone on their bench to take over until Ginobli returns. Sure, they got blown out by the Warriors recently, but the Spurs save their best for the playoffs. I still really like the Spurs to compete for the title this year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been pretty good as well, yet no one is really talking about them. They won their 40th game last night and Kevin Durant looks like he is 100 percent back. To go along with Durant, Russell Westbrook is still doing all the great and reckless things he does on the court, but he's found a way for it to help his team this year. Serge Ibaka is still one of the top rim protector and he has increased his range all the way out to the three point line. Steven Adams is the new Bill Laimbeer and the rest of the team knows their place. Andre Roberson is a lock down defender, DJ Augustin and Cameron Payne are strictly there to give Westbrook short breaks. Enes Kanter is instant offense off the bench and Dion Waiters, when he is on, can score in bunches. OKC is lurking and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs if I were either San Antonio or Golden State.

In the East, there are two teams and that is it. The Cavs, another team I've written plenty about, is the best team in the East, but they have a problem with their roster and since they fired David Blatt, Tyronn Lue hasn't really set the NBA coaching world on fire. I wouldn't be surprised if they make some moves, trading guys like Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov and/or Tristan Thompson or Anderson Varajo and bringing in more shooters, but it won't matter, they will still lose in the Finals. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are great, but then you have guys like JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones that are playing critical minutes in the playoffs. LeBron the GM needs to make better player personnel decisions and sign good NBA players, not his buddies.

The other team from the East that is setting the world on fire completely took me by surprise. I thought the Toronto Raptors would be good, but not this good. DeMr DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are playing All Star level basketball, although Lowry is the only one that made the team. Jonas Valenciunas is becoming that rebounder and low post scorer that they need him to be. Corey Joseph has been awesome since he signed there this offseason, scoring points and playing good defense. DeMarre Carroll, who's been out with an injury, looked just as good as he did last year in Atlanta, playing lock down defense and hitting open shots. The Raptors have been a whole hell of a lot better than I thought they would be, especially after their rough finish in the playoffs last year, and they look like a real threat to the Cavs. I would love if the Raptors faced the Cavs in the East Finals, swept them and then get crushed by either OKC, Golden State or San Antonio. That would be hilarious to me because it would freak out David Silver and make the fans in Cleveland that much more miserable. I really, really like Toronto.

As far as award predictions, Steph Curry is the MVP. I picked Anthony Davis, but it's Curry. Emmanuel Mudiay, my preseason rookie of the year, has been hurt and can't shoot, so I will now go with Karl Anthony Towns. He is a star in the making. Kawhi Leonard is hands down the Defensive Player of the Year and Gregg Popovich has to be coach of the year. You can't give it to Steve Kerr, and Adam Silver doesn't have the cojanes to give it to Luke Walton, so it's Poppovich.

To close it all out, at the All Star break, my finals prediction is going to be Golden State and Cleveland. I know I picked San Antonio and Cleveland, and that could still happen, but Golden State is something special this year. Not only will Golden State repeat, probably sweeping the Cavs out of the Finals, but I think they will break the single season record of wins. In 1996 the Bulls finished 72-10 and I think the Warriors will finish this season at 74-8, besting them by two games. The Warriors are that good and they will finish their historic season with a second straight NBA title.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He really wanted an all Canada final of the Raptors and the Grizzlies, but then he realized that Memphis is not in Canada. He also realized their are no Grizzlies in Tennessee, no lakes in LA, and definitely no Jazz in Salt Lake City. The NBA is weird. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Do Not Change the Rules for Bad Free Throw Shooters

Plenty of open hoops to practice some free throws

So, I was reading one of my favorite websites this morning, Deadspin, and I read an article entitled, "NBA Teams Have Found Creative New Ways to Intentionally Foul " about the intentional fouling that is going on in the NBA right now to put poor free throw shooters at the line. This isn't the first I've heard about people wanting this rule changed. This is probably the one hundredth time I've heard people griping about the "hack a whoever" strategy that teams are employing. Like I said, Deadspin did a whole piece on it today, it's a great read, and I've heard sports writers and journalists I really admire like Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons also complaining about this strategy.

Well, I'm here today to tell everyone that I side with Jalen Rose on this topic. He was on some kind of NBA countdown show on ESPN and he said something along the lines that these guys are pro athletes and they should learn how to shoot free throws. He doesn't mind the "hack a whoever" strategy and neither do I. I 100 percent agree with Rose's assessment. These guys get paid millions upon millions of dollars and they can't make more than 40 percent of a shot that is about 13 feet from the rim and zero defense on them. It's a "free throw", defense is not allowed. I coach 9, 10 and 11 year olds that are better free throw shooters than these guys that get paid real money to play basketball, that's a shame. It's upsetting that such an easy shot has become so hard for particular big men, I'll get to some of them in a minute, that it literally slows this fast paced game to a halt. NBA games should take no more than 2 to 2 1/2 hours, but with this big men unable to shoot free throws, the games are stretching to 3 plus hours sometimes. That's ridiculous.

Let's look at three particular poor free throw shooting big men. First, I want to point out Shaquille O'Neal. The reason Shaq is first, no one made a stink when teams were "hack-a-shaqing" throughout his Lakers run. It was deemed "smart coaching" and a "good strategy" at the time. What's baffling about Shaq, he was a decent free throw shooter in college and his first couple of pro seasons. Then, he put more muscle on his body and he just stopped working on free throws in practice. It got so bad for him, he was literally shot putting the ball to the hoop. Still, he was about a 50 percent free throw shooter, even at his worst. It was bad, but not as bad as some current players. Shaq was also bigger than anyone playing at the time, so most of his attempts at the free throw line came on "and one" plays. He'd make his shot, usually a dunk, and only have to shoot one free throw. I mentioned Shaq first because of the double standard that is coming up with the next two players I'm going to mention.

Like I said before, when people were intentionally fouling Shaq, it wasn't that big of a deal. I don't recall anyone saying they needed to change the rule. Now, we have two of the absolute worst free throw shooters I've seen in my 20 plus years of watching NBA basketball, DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond. When these two step to the line, look away because you'll see something very ugly. The kids I coach are told to not watch the two of them play because of how poorly they shoot the ball. Now, I don't like DeAndre Jordan, that's been well chronicled on the site, but I think Andre Drummond has potential to be a game changing type of player. He has perennial all star potential and he puts up huge rebound numbers. But, his free throw shooting is so atrocious and that's holding him back from being a big time player. Just go back a couple of weeks and look at his free throw stat. He was 13 for 36. That is downright terrible. His team still won the game, but man, that's a bad, horrendous stat line. Just awful. DeAndre Jordan, he's so bad at free throw shooting, he's been pulled in critical moments of critical playoff games because his coach doesn't trust his free throw shooting. He has decent form, but the shot always goes wide, either left or right, doesn't matter, it's ALWAYS wide. I mean, he has even air balled multiple free throws in a single game multiple times. You are getting paid huge money DeAndre Jordan to play basketball, so you should never, ever air ball a free throw. Never. That is awful. How does an almost seven footer air ball a free throw? It's just appalling.

Now, these guys that want the rule changed think it's unfair to the other players on the court and it's unfair to the fan. I say, practice your god damn free throws. It's the second easiest shot in basketball, behind the layup/dunk. There's no one guarding you. You get 10 seconds to shoot the ball. All you have to deal with is some dumbass fans yelling stupid shit at you. I know you guys can dunk and rebound. I sure as hell hope you'd be good at that. Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan are both close to seven feet tall, they should be able to dunk and rebound with ease. When you're a pro, your game should be well rounded. I mean, at least Shaq made 50 percent of his free throws. Drummond and Jordan both shoot in the low 40's and I believe Drummond dipped into the mid 30's after his 23 missed free throws the other night. I'd suggest, instead of working on your next alley oop, or outlet pass off a rebound, which they both excel at, spend all of your practice time on free throws. Also, go into the gym on off days and work on your free throw shooting. You guys are pro athletes. Your only job is to make your game better.

This is why I agree with Jalen Rose. Everything I said above, he's said multiple times on multiple sports shows. The NBA shouldn't have to change their rules so these pathetic free throw shooters gain another advantage. These guys should work on their free throw shooting, or they should get used to sitting on the bench in crunch time. It's as simple as that. I really like you, everyone at Deadspin, Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons, but to suggest changing the rule is asinine. I am 100 percent on Jalen Rose's side. Learn how to shoot a god damn free throw.

That's your job.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. In 1998 he hit one hundred percent of his free throws, 2 for 2. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Congrats LeBron on Building a Perennial Runner Up

Prediction on where Cleveland will finish the season

With the news last week that the Cleveland Cavaliers fired David Blatt, I'm going to hate on the Cavs once again.

This news is not surprising, but it should be. The fact that it isn't surprising is part of the huge, huge problem that this firing shows. First of all, what else did the Cavs want from David Blatt? He won 50 plus games in his first season and the team made the finals. Sure, they lost, but they played what is looking like one of the all time great teams, the Golden State Warriors. I don't think any team was beating the Warriors last year, and no one probably will this year either. This season, they had a record of 30-11 when they fired Blatt. That was good enough for first place in the East, by two games, and fourth best overall in the league, behind only Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Many journalists and pundits will say the firing was deserved because of how handily they got beaten by both San Antonio and Golden State, but if that's the sole reason he got fired, every single other coach that doesn't coach for the Spurs or Warriors should be fired. They beat everyone all the time. They are far and away the two best teams in the NBA. Others will say that Blatt couldn't handle the egos and the big stage. Well, he guided the team to a finals appearance last year and they were firmly in first place in the East this year. He also won multiple titles as a coach overseas and he had the best wining percentage for a head coach in the NBA since Red Auerbach. He also led the Cavs to the finals after losing Kevin Love in the first round and Kyrie Irving in the first game of the finals. That sounds, at least to me, like he was doing a pretty bang up job as an NBA coach.

What this firing really boils down to is LeBron James didn't want David Blatt to be his coach, he wanted Tyronn Lue. This was evident from the first month of last season. LeBron didn't work well with Blatt and he would go to Lue, who was an assistant, whenever there was a timeout or when he was getting rest during games. It was clear after one month of games last season that James clearly favored Lue to Blatt. So, 41 games into this season, David Griffen gave in to his superstar player and got rid of the coach that he didn't like. I don't buy any of the talk coming from the ESPN moron analysts like Stephen A Smith or Brian Windhorst that LeBron had no say or no idea that they were firing Blatt. He one hundred percent knew it was coming because he told the front office to do it.

The Cavs management haven't said no to LeBron since he returned to Cleveland last season. He wanted Kevin Love, so they traded Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for him as soon as they could. How much better would the Cavs be if they kept Wiggins and signed James? LeBron and Love cannot coexist together. Love is a much better player when he can post and then float out to the three point line. That doesn't work for LeBron, he needs the lane open to go to the hoop. That's why he and Bosh meshed so well in Miami. Chris Bosh is a much better big man shooter than Love will ever be and he has a much better on court demeanor than Love has. Bosh just wants to win, Kevin Love just wants stats. I bet within two weeks, LeBron will tell the front office to trade Love because they just don't play well together and I think they legitimately dislike each other. And the front office will give their spoiled star exactly what he wants. LeBron also demanded they get another big that is defensive minded and two perimeter players so they went out and got Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith. Now, Mozgov is barely playing because he too clogs the lane, Shumpert can't stay healthy and JR Smith is wearing t shirt that say "shoot till my arm falls off". How'd that three man trade work for you in the finals LeBron? Oh yeah, you got smoked when the Warriors went small and ran all over you.

Then, this past offseason LeBron left the Cavs with little to no cap space after maxing out Love, one of the worst offseason deals, and had to resign marginal NBA players like Richard Jefferson and Matthew Dellavedova. Those are not players that will help bring a title to Cleveland. They also maxed out Tristan Thompson, who has the same agent as LeBron, and he has not lived up to the hype at all, not even close. And now, they fired Blatt to hire LeBron's buddy, Tyronn Lue. He has zero head coaching experience at any level, but the Cavs front office, AKA LeBron James, decided he was a better fit than a coach that led them to the finals and first place in the East after half this season.

In Lue's first game as head coach, playing the Bulls in Chicago, another first year coach, Fred Hoiberg, absolutely schooled him with his decision making and player personnel decisions. The Bulls dictated the flow and the pace of that game and won easily. Lue got his first win last night, but the Cavs had to go down to the wire with the Timberwolves and they are not good, not yet.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's all on LeBron James now. He can't blame the coach. When they trade Love, he can't blame the chemistry and inexperience. And when they make the finals and lose again, it will be solely on him. The Cavs have given him everything he has asked for and it all rests on him now. He has no more excuses. The media may give you a pass, but the real basketball fan knows, it all rests on you now. This is the team LeBron wants and he has no more excuses. When the Cavs make the finals and when they lose, he has to take all the blame because he is the coach, the GM and the star player of this team. No more passing the blame LeBron. Once the Cavs trade Love, this is the team you constructed.

The Cavs that will be good enough to be the runner up once again in the NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once tried to assemble his own rec league basketball team. It did not go well. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Cavaliers Will Win the East, and Get Destroyed by the West

The Cavs need more practice, and a lot more talent.

Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers got their asses handed to them by the Golden State Warriors 132-98. They gave up 132 points to an NBA team. Sure, they're the defending champions, but still, 132 points is an insane amount. That shouldn't happen to a team that is widely considered to be a championship contender.

Sure, the Cavs are good, they already have 27 or 28 wins and have won something like 12 of their last 14, but I want to focus on those two losses. They were to the Warriors last night and the San Antonio Spurs last Thursday night, the two best teams in the West and the two best teams in the NBA. Sure, they were competitive when they played the Spurs, but the Spurs pulled away from them late in the third quarter. And the Warriors absolutely man handled them last night.

In the post game press conference, LeBron James kept talking about the fact that they're a young team and they haven't experienced a lot of success and they still have a long way to go, but I've heard this song and dance from him before. In fact, I heard all the same stuff last year. I'm at the point now where I call bull shit. They have experienced success, they were in the finals last year and won two games. They are not that young. LeBron has been in the league for 12 years now, Kyrie Irving been around for at least five years and Kevin Love has been in the league for 7 years, I believe, now. The three of them have played in multiple all star games and Love and Irving got their first taste of the playoffs last year. In fact, most of the players on the Cavs have been in the NBA for awhile now. Stop with the young and inexperienced talk. The only player with any clout on the team that is young is Tristan Thompson, and he is not the world beater that LeBron and company have the media believing he is. And winning 50 plus games last year and making the finals, like I said before, equals measured success.

The only thing he said in the press conference that I agreed with was, they have a very, very long way to go. They don't use Kevin Love correctly for one. They've turned him into a three point shooting power forward. His post up game, that was unguardable while he was in Minnesota, is non existent. They don't want him clogging the lane so LeBron and Irving can drive, relegating him to the three point line. Sure, he's a good three point shooter, but he's a much better post player. Love looks lost a lot when the Cavs run their half court offense. Irving is not a point guard. He has phenomenal handles and dribbles the ball up the court, but that's not his game. He is a slasher that likes to get to the rim and can score on open jumpers. He is a two guard in a point guards body. He is a wizard with the basketball, but he is not a point guard. He's never been a good distributor and the offense doesn't run through him, it runs through LeBron. I love the way Irving plays, but he is much more suited to be a two guard. LeBron is LeBron. He's one of the best to ever play the game, but I feel like all those games and minutes that he's played is starting to wear on his body. He doesn't seem to have that quick first step anymore and he looks like a bowling ball when driving to the basket. He seems to create more contact than the players that the fouls are called on. He also cannot shoot from the outside. If I was guarding him, I'd take two steps back and let him shoot jumpers all night. That's what I'd want him to do. He's an all time great, but he hasn't looked that way so far this year.

Now, lets get to the two games I mentioned earlier. I've heard on ESPN and sports talk radio and talk shows that the East is closing the gap on the West. I've heard that the Cavs are a real threat to the Spurs, Warriors and even the Thunder, but look at the Cavs most recent losses to see how wrong these columnists and TV personalities are. They held a slim lead over the Spurs going into half time last Thursday, but then the second half started. The Spurs looked unstoppable. Tony Parker was getting to the rim at will. Aldridge was having an off night, but he was finding open shooters left and right from the post. Kevin Love was getting schooled by Tim Duncan all game. Kawhi Leonard was shutting down LeBron on defense and getting his on offense. The Spurs were clearly the superior team. Side bar, the Spurs play the most beautiful basketball I've ever seen. Their offense is so sophisticated, yet they make it look easy. I love watching the Spurs play. The Spurs dominated that second half and when the Cavs have to turn to Matthew Dellavedova and JR Smith for offense, god help them.

The Warriors just demolished them last night. They were hitting threes at an insane rate. They were running up and down the court with ease. They looked like they were in so much better shape than the Cavs. The Warriors suffocated them on defense. Draymond Green was shutting down all the Cavs big men and Steph Curry did Steph Curry things. As good as the Spurs looked the week before beating them, the Warriors looked better. They looked so much better than the Cavs in fact, I couldn't believe that they were on the same court. It looked like a varsity team playing a junior varsity team. The Warriors are about a thousand times better than the Cavs, even with both teams at full strength. Curry lit up Irving, Green and Barnes crushed Love all night and any number of Warriors player, be it Andre Iguodala or Barnes moving over to James or Shaun Livingston, basically anyone they threw at James, completely shut him down.

The Cavs may be the best team in the East, but stop with the talk of the East closing the gap on the West. The West's three top teams all have better records than the Cavs and I'd take any one of those teams, be it the Thunder, Spurs or Warriors, any day before I pick the Cavs. The Warriors and Spurs proved in the past five days that the East's best cannot even come close to competing with the West's best. I'm sure the Cavs will represent the East in the finals again this year, and I'm sure they'll lose to either the Spurs or the Warriors.

It will probably be a sweep too.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He has been practicing his Lebron defense and cannot wait to get his shot at the Cavs. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Thank God Kobe is Finally Leaving

The hoop will not miss Kobe, even if he misses it nearly 70% of the time

Over this past weekend Kobe Bryant announced his retirement from the NBA effective at the end of this season. I saw and read the story via The Players Tribune and my only thought was, "this was two years too late".

Now, I have a long standing dislike, some would say hatred, of Kobe Bryant the player and the person. I dislike Kobe Bryant the person because he seems like a curmudgeon that got away with sexual assault. The incident in Denver should have sent him to jail. I wholeheartedly believe that he had relations with that lady against her will and he got away with it. Why else would he buy his wife a very gaudy, very expensive piece of jewelry if he was innocent? No man or woman that is innocent would buy someone a gift to cover it up. That just doesn't happen. Then, he goes and changes his number from 8 to 24 and claims he's a new man. No, you are still the same person that forced yourself on an uncooperative woman. Daniel Tosh has a great stand up bit about him. The long and short of the bit is him changing his number and making a commercial saying things like, "hate me because I'm a champion", or "hate me because I work hard", but Tosh claims, and I agree, that, "no, we hate you because of the sexual assault". Hilarious and very, very true.

Kobe is also just a terrible teammate. I guess, this is where I transition into why I dislike Kobe Bryant the basketball player. When he first came into the league, he was gifted with having one of the greatest centers of all time fall into his lap. Shaquille O'Neal signed a free agent deal to be a Laker the year Bryant was drafted. So, Bryant should have been thrilled by this, right? The exact opposite. He constantly fought and complained with Shaq and the Laker front office. He wanted to be the man. Never mind the fact that Shaq was leading the Lakers to three consecutive titles and was opening the whole floor for Bryant, that wasn't good enough. He needed to be the franchise player. So, the Lakers caved and let Shaq walk. This was one of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen made in professional sports. A year or two after Shaq left, he went to the Miami Heat, they won a title. This was pre LeBron. This was Dwayne Wade in his prime. Wade showed how to play championship ball with Shaq. Instead of bitching and moaning about shots, he picked his spots and did whatever he had to do to win the title. After Shaq left, the newly led Kobe Bryant Lakers struggled. Sure, Bryant was putting up numbers, but the rest of the team suffered. Nobody else got the ball and when they did, if they missed a shot, Bryant gave them a death stare. They made the playoffs, but they never got out of the second round. They were languishing. 

In the summer of 2005 the Lakers rehired Phil Jackson, who said he'd never coach Kobe Bryant again. He came back to coach Kobe Bryant because that's what his girlfriend and partial owner of the Lakers, Jeanine Buss, wanted him to do. Phil Jackson is a great coach, and he gave Kobe Bryant another title, but it wasn't because Kobe Bryant willed his team to a championship, it was because the Celtics blew it. Boston should have won that series, but Kevin Garnett got hurt and Ray Allen got old and Paul Pierce cannot do it alone. Detractors and Bryant fans will scream and holler that he won that title for them and they wouldn't have been close without him, but that's not the case. Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches of all time and he figured out how to use the whole team around Bryant's ego. That's how they won that title. 

Look at the way he's "leading" this young, god awful Lakers team. Instead of mentoring the young core they have, he belittles them to the media. For example, the other night they got blown out by the Warriors and his comment was, "I could've scored 80 and it wouldn't have mattered". First of all, you can't score 80, not when you're shooting less than 35 percent from the field. Second of all, help these young guys out, don't just toss them off like trash. The Lakers have some good young players. Guys like D'Angelo Russell, Juilus Randle and Jordan Clarkson have the makings of being good NBA players, but Bryant's constant belittling is doing nothing but making these guys hate him and not perform to the best of their abilities. 

People say Kobe isa big competitor, yet look at how he handcuffed this franchise with his terrible contract. How much more money do you need? Do you need to buy your wife more gaudy jewelry? Two years, 44 million dollars. No wonder they can't sign any big time free agents. They can't afford anyone because they are paying the corpse of Kobe Bryant 20 million dollars a year. Now, he is one of the all time greats when it comes to scorers, but anyone would be if they shot the ball as much as Bryant. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I'd be willing to guess that in his 20 year career, he's led the league in attempted shots 14 or 15 times. He is also one of the most overrated defenders in the history of the NBA. The fact that he made multiple All NBA Defense teams is laughable. He made those teams because of his name, not his defensive ability. He was and still is a terrible defender. He can't guard anyone. 

To all these people coming to his defense, come on, Kobe Bryant is an asshole and you know it. You don't have to like someone because they play the same game as you. You can respect him, but you don't have to like him. And the comparisons to Michael Jordan need to stop forever. He will never be Michael Jordan. He won't even be Scottie Pippen. If Kobe Bryant played anywhere besides LA or New York, he wouldn't go down as one of the all time greats. Just think if he stayed in Charlotte, the team that drafted him. Would we still look at him as one of the greats? Even if he had the same stats? I don't think so. 

So, as I close it out, I say again, you should have quit two years ago when you blew out your Achilles. You haven't been the same competitor in ten years and you've handcuffed the Lakers franchise for the next couple of years. I hope this make you happy and I hope you retire during the year instead of at the end because you won't make it. You're either going to get hurt again, or you are going to look real bad like you have the first quarter of the season. You aren't doing anyone any favors by staying in the league. It's best for you to leave now. I can't say it enough, go away and never come back. 

Kobe will NOT be missed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He gave up Sprite and went to 7up when Kobe got his endorsement deal. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Warriors may be the best team in NBA history

Steph Curry would average over 60% on these rims

As you all know by now, I'm a HUGE NBA fan. It is on my TV whenever possible. I wrote a ten part season preview. I love the NBA almost as much as college football.

NBA basketball is getting back to the good ole days. Sure, teams don't shoot the midrange jump shot as well anymore, and if you turn on ESPN, all they show are Clippers highlights and the men's college game is becoming borderline unwatchable, with all the one and done players, but the NBA has gotten a wee bit better. It's more enjoyable to watch games now than it was 5 or 6 years ago. Most of the teams have become pretty competitive, save for the 76ers, Lakers and Nets. The East has even improved from last year. The West is still much better though and will continue to be for awhile. The Spurs signed LaMarcus Aldridge and resigned Kawhi Leonard. They also still have Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan. When the Thunder are at full strength, Durant has missed the past 10 days, they're as competitive as any team in the league. The Clippers look bad right now, much to my delight, but they will fix things and still win in the 50's. The Mavericks have played surprisingly well 15 games into the season. Dirk is still Dirk, and Wes Matthews, coming off a torn ACL, looks pretty good. The Pelicans had a terrible start, a possible playoff hopes crushing start, but Anthony Davis is back completely healthy, and they've won their past two, beating the Spurs in one of those games. The Rockets are a mess, I'll give you that. Firing Kevin McHale may prove to be a huge misstep. It's not his fault that Dwight Howard doesn't care about basketball that much anymore. And what in the world has happened to James Harden? He was the MVP runner up last year, but this year, teammates are griping about playing with him, calling him a diva and a ball hog, and he spent the entire offseason partying and not staying in shape. It's gotten so bad with him that even Bill Simmons has cooled on the Thunder trading him being the worst thing that ever happened in the NBA, and he hasn't shut up about it for five straight years. The Grizzlies and Jazz are .500 teams right now, but they, much like the Clippers, will figure it out.

All these teams pale in comparison to what the Golden State Warriors are doing right now. As you all know, the Warriors beat the Nuggets last night and tied for the best start in NBA history at 15-0. Sure, they've had some close calls to inferior teams, the Nets, but other than two or three games, they've been blowing out teams. Each win seems to be by at least ten, and the starters rest almost all of the fourth quarter. Steph Curry has been unbelievable to start the year too. He's averaging something like 33 or 34 points a game, shooting almost 50 percent from three, 60 percent from two and 90 percent from the free throw line. That's incredible! I don't know that there's ever been a 60, 90, 50 player ever. It would be astounding if Curry can accomplish that this year. He's also stepped up his game on defense as well this year. Sure, he won't be first team all defense, but second or third team is a real possibility. But, it's not just Curry winning these games. You're probably thinking, well it's him and Klay Thompson scoring in bunches. Nope, Thompson has, I don't want to say struggled, but he hasn't been scoring like he normally does. He still is playing absolute lock down defense though. That part of his game has never wavered. He's one of the best, if not the best, maybe a step behind Kawhi Leonard, the best defender in the NBA. Harrison Barnes, who turned down an extension, betting on himself, has been a beast so far. His numbers may not show it, I think he's a 14 point per game and 5 or 6 rebound per game player statistically, but what he's doing for the Warriors is awesome. He's already had two of the best dunks of the year, he's is getting to the line more frequently, and he's hitting midrange and floaters on a regular basis. He's going to get paid this offseason if he keeps this up. Draymond Green is proving that he's an elite defender, rebounder and he's becoming a pretty good scorer. He's also a total pain in the ass with the opposition, and the Warriors love that about him. I've never seen a guy under 6'8 that can guard centers like he does. It's amazing. He made the right decision to stay in Golden State. This is the perfect team for him to be on. The other players on the team are doing whatever they need to do to help this team to continue to dominate. Andrew Bogut is protecting the rim and grabbing rebounds like he has his whole career. Andre Iguodala is knocking down open threes and dominating on defense like he has his whole career. He's also taken to being a sixth man better than anyone who used to be a franchise player that I've ever seen. He clearly just wants to win. Shaun Livingston is still a point guard in a 6'7 players body. He has command of the second unit and he finds the open man every time. Festus Ezeli is still crushing it on defense for the second unit and he seems to have found a bit of a scoring touch lately. Mo Speights and Leandro Barbosa still play out of control at times, but they are both instant offense off the bench for a team that has a ton of offensive weapons. The only other bench player that kind of contributes is James Michael McAdoo and in his limited playing time, he hustles his ass off. That's great for an 11 or 12th man off the bench. You usually don't see a lot of hustle from guys that deep on the bench.

The main reason I'm singling out the Warriors today is, I feel like I didn't give them enough love in my preseason preview. I had them as the second best team coming into this season behind the Spurs. Time will tell, but the Warriors, right now, are far and away the best team in the NBA. They may be historically one of the greatest teams of all time if they continue to play like this. I never thought, not only would I say it, but see a team that has a chance to win as many games as the Chicago Bulls did in the 95-96 season. That was the team that went 72-10. That was unreal to watch that team play because they could've won 75 or 76 games that year. The Warriors won't win all 82 games, that's impossible, but I think they have a real chance to tie, or even surpass the Bulls team that won 72 games. Their schedule will get tougher and players will get injuries, it's a long season, but they seem to have a goal in mind. This offseason a lot of people said that they didn't earn the title, they didn't have to play all the tough teams, they faced teams with key injuries and so on and so forth. The thing that was said that really got to them, in my opinion was, that they were "lucky", and that they weren't "true" champions. First of all, that's bull shit. Any team that's won a title in any sport needs luck, be it with health of their players, bounces going their way, a player on a hot streak, any kind of luck has been involved with every champion in every sport. But saying they weren't "true" champions, that just gave a team that won 67 games and a title last year, a chip on their shoulder. Now, they don't just want to beat you, they want to destroy you. That's the killer instinct that people talk about when it comes to champions. Sure, they won last year, but they want to continue to win and they want to crush you while doing it.

I'm not a Warriors fan, I'm indifferent when it comes to the Warriors. They're a ton of fun to watch, and Steph Curry has surpassed LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the best basketball player in the world, but I'm a Thunder fan, so that's who I root for.

Oh, they are also doing this without Steve Kerr. Luke Walton has been the interim head coach while Kerr's back heals. That's crazy.

I just want to apologize to the Warriors fan base and the Warriors organization for not ranking them as the preseason number one team in the NBA. They're doing something magical right now, and this could be a historic season. Just sit back and realize when you watch the Warriors this year, you could be watching a historically great NBA team. Maybe the greatest of all time. The rest of this season will be the judge.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has seen one team go 82-0 in an NBA season, his Oklahoma City Thunder on NBA 2K13. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty takes a few guesses with his Men's College Basketball Preview

Finishing up with all my basketball previews, I'm going to preview the upcoming NCAA season. Now, before I get started. I want to point out how hard this will be for me. I was doing research last night, and during my research, I found out that I don't know many of the new "stars" in college basketball today.

That's a problem.

Men's college basketball is now being defined by this new "one and done" culture, and I hate it. There's no continuity anymore, and players come and go after one season. We don't get any sense of how good a team can truly be because of the rule that you have to be one year removed from high school before you can go pro. I wasn't a fan of the straight from high school to the pros, but the "one and done" culture may be worse. These athletes are basically rentals. A school recruits these kids knowing that they will only be there for one season, and coaches and upperclassmen don't seem to care. Every year it's a revolving door. A five star comes to a school like Duke or Kentucky or Kansas, leaves after the season and a new crop of five star recruits come in. Another thing that blows my mind, pundits and professional broadcasters can't seem to understand how a team like Wichita State or Gonzaga can compete with the blue bloods of college basketball. It's simple dummies, the Wichita State's and Gonzaga's of the world have something that these teams that play mostly freshman don't have, camaraderie. The kids playing at Wichita State or Gonzaga have been playing together for four, or at the very least, three years. They know each other and they know each others tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The teams led by freshman don't have this and it hurts them when it matters most.

Take last years Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky. Kentucky was undefeated, led by a bunch of All Americans and had just come off their closest game of the year in the Elite Eight against Notre Dame. Wisconsin steamrolled Arizona, another freshman laden team, and they were ready for Kentucky. Wisconsin was also led by a senior(Frank Kaminsky), a junior(Sam Dekker) and a slew of upperclassmen. Wisconsin beat Kentucky up and by the end of the game, the freshman at Kentucky were bruised, battered and physically and emotionally tired. Age won out. Now, that didn't work in the championship game against Duke, another team with mostly freshman, but Coach K is a better coach than Bo Ryan.

Men's college basketball is becoming tough to watch. It's a shit show of, look how high I can jump to dunk this ball, or look at how many threes I can shoot in 10 minutes, or look at the little amount of interest I show in playing defense. It's not very good. The talent is better, but the product has gotten worse. When Geno Auriemma, head coach of UConn's women's team, said that men's college basketball is unwatchable, I, at first, vehemently disagreed with him, but now, I'm coming over to his side. It's not that much fun to watch anymore.

With all this being said, I'm going to give a brief breakdown of the upcoming season and pick who I think, and it will be a flat out guess, is going to win the title. I'll also pick a player of the year as well. When researching, I stumbled upon a great article on cbssports.com, rating every team in division one basketball with a one or two sentence description of the team. I'm going to use this article, but only for the rankings.

They have UNC as their preseason number one. This team actually has one upperclassmen, Marcus Paige, on their roster. He's their point guard, and everything runs through him. If he plays well, UNC will be good, but the rest of his supporting cast are either freshman or sophomores and I know very little about them. Staying in the ACC, other good teams will be Duke, Virginia, Notre Dame and Miami. Duke lost three of their five best players to the draft, but they have a bunch of five stars coming in to take their place. They won't win the title again, but they'll be good, they always are. Virginia and Notre Dame are senior laden teams, but both lost their best players to the draft. They'll still make the tournament, but their runs won't be as deep. Miami should be better this year, they get better every year, and they should challenge UVA and Notre Dame for the third spot in the conference.

CBS's number two team is Kentucky. Yep, the same team that lost 7, I repeat 7, players to the NBA draft is preseason number two. They just did what Calipari does, and out recruited everyone and replace five five stars, with five more. Kentucky is the only SEC team that will do any sort of damage on a major scope this season. LSU does have the top incoming recruit, Ben Simmons, but he won't make them a contender in his one college season. And Vanderbilt may make some noise, but they are very, very far behind Kentucky.

Kansas was their number three team and they will be, once again, the class of the Big 12. They lost Cliff alexander and Kelly Oubre Jr to the pros, but they do get Perry Alexander back and they also have "star" freshman coming into Lawrence. The Jayhawks could, and will be challenged by Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma. Iowa State did lose their coach to the pros, but they have most of their starting five back, and that includes Georges Niang. He's one of the anomalies, and decided to stay in school to improve his game. Baylor is always lurking, and they have been for almost a decade now. It's time to take Baylor serious and stop calling them a surprise contender. And Oklahoma may have the best player in all of college basketball in Buddy Hield. He leads that team and he can do great things with the basketball.

The first Big 10 team to crack CBS's poll is Maryland, coming in at number four. Maryland surprised a lot of people last year by how well they played, and they may be the best team in all of college basketball. They did lose Dez Wells to graduation, but they have Jake Layman and Melo Trimble back. Trimble may be Hield's only competition for player of the year. The other Big 10 teams that will fight with Maryland are the usual suspects. Teams like Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan will all be tournament teams. Michigan State has a fine recruiting class coming in and Denzel Valentine is back. Indiana has one of the best offenses in the country and they have some serious recruits coming in. Ohio State will be down from where they have been, but they will still be decent. Purdue has a huge frontcourt, and they will be hard to score on in the post. And Michigan, if they can stay healthy, will be lethal from the outside.

The first Big East team to make their poll is Villanova. They're coming off a 30 plus win season and look to be in good shape once again. Georgetown and Providence will be fine, but the Big East is Villanova's to lose.

The Pac 12 should be competitive. Teams like Utah, Arizona, Oregon and California will be good. Utah did lose Delon Wright to the NBA, but Jakob Poeltl is back and he's a beast inside. Arizona replaces McDonalds All Americans with more McDonalds All Americans. Oregon is a fine team, but they're not really a threat nationally. And Cal. How in the hell is Cal in this discussion? I'll tell you how, they snagged three of the best recruits in the nation somehow, and they will be really competitive for one season. I'm sure an investigation will come out in a year or two involving Cal and recruiting violations, because they haven't been relevant since Jason Kidd played point guard for them in the 90's.

The AAC has three good teams in UConn, Cincinnati and SMU. SMU loses respect because of the sanctions just handed down, so they're not relevant. Cincinnati will win a lot of games they shouldn't, make the tournament with a decent seeding, then crap out in the first or second round. UConn is the class of the conference, and they will win it going away. They have a good recruiting class, and the best coach in their league.

Outside of the power conferences, there's only two teams that really warrant a mention. These teams are the afformentioned Wichita State and Gonzaga. Wichita State returns everybody from a team that should've made the Final Four last year, and the same goes for Gonzaga. If they're ever going to finally make the jump to elite status, this is Gonzaga's best, and probably last chance.

These are the teams I wanted to break down today. There's over 300 division one men's college basketball teams, but the ones I wrote about today, in my opinion, are the only real threats to do damage. Tell me why I'm wrong and who I left out in the comment section. For a more in depth look, if that's what you want, I suggest checking out the CBS website I mentioned earlier.

As far as predictions go, my Final Four teams, right now, are Maryland, Wichita State, Gonzaga and UNC. I think the title game will feature Gonzaga and Maryland, and I'm picking Maryland to win the whole thing. Melo Trimble will also take home player of the year. This will be a big, big season for Maryland basketball. I'll revisit this later in the season, but that's how I see things right at this very moment, 2:49pm central time on October 19th. Thanks and leave a comment telling me why I'm right or wrong.

College basketball and the NBA are almost here folks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His first big sports heartbreak happened after an ill fated time out call in the NCAA Men's Basketball championship game. I think UNC played in that game. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik 

Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: Cavaliers, Warriors, Spurs

I do believe I have mentioned that I love the NBA, and championship basketball is the best of all.

We've now reached the end of my NBA countdown. Today I will give you my number 3, 2 and 1 team. I will also give you my Finals matchup and winner and hand out all the other big awards. Let's get on with it.

Coming in at number three I have last years Eastern Conference champs, the Cleveland Cavaliers. First of all, they have the greatest player in the world in LeBron James. He is the MVP every season, but it wouldn't be fair if they gave it to him every season. He single handily won two games in the Finals last year, one of the games in Oakland. It goes without saying that, as long as he's on the Cavs, they will be one of the top teams not only in the East, but in all of the NBA. Kyrie Irving is still recovering from his knee injury last season, but when he's healthy, he's one of the better scoring guards in the league. He shoots a bit too much, but LeBron will get him to be more of a distributor. Kevin Love is coming back from his shoulder injury, but if the Cavs continue to use him like they were at the end of the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs against the Celtics, the Cavs "big three" could be unstoppable. Love is a good outside shooter, but is better with his back to the basket and stepping back to shoot threes. He's also the best outlet passer in the NBA and the Cavs are devastating when running the fast break. Timofey Mozgov is one of the better rim protectors in basketball and he's got semi decent post moves. Tristan Thompson still hasn't signed his offer and if he continues to hold out, it will be rough for himself and the Cavs. They need him for his rebounding prowess and he needs the Cavs because playing with LeBron makes everyone better. He's not a max contract player and the sooner he realizes that, the better it will be for all parties involved. Anderson Varejao comes back from injury, but that's becoming his story every year. He comes back in great shape and then he, inevitably, gets a season ending injury. He can't be counted on anymore. Matthew Dellavedova was a flash in the pan. He played two okay games, ESPN covered him like he was an All Star, and then Curry brought him back to Earth by crushing his soul at every moment possible in the Finals. He's a tenth man off the bench, at best. James Jones is too old and can't hit the open three anymore, Mo Williams is back, but he left last time around with the Cavs because he couldn't coexist with James for some unknown reason and Joe Harris is too young and inexperienced. JR Smith and Iman Shumpert are both back. Smith is an excellent streak shooter, but he fades in crucial moments and gripes about his playing situation too much. Shumpert is hurt, but when he gets back, he's this teams best defender by far. He can also hit the wide open three. They signed Richard Jefferson this offseason, but he's so old, I thought he was retired and out of the league. No one else on the bench really plays that much. The Cavs "big three" is one of the best in the league and when they're all healthy and playing their game, they are deadly. The problem lies within the rest of the team, mainly the bench. Smith needs to play hard every night, Varejao needs to stay healthy, Williams needs to find a way to coexist with LeBron and Shumpert needs to get healthy. The Cavs will win 55 or 56 games and be the clear number one seed in the East this year.

How the Cavs can win it all.

The Cavs will win the title if LeBron keeps being LeBron and Irving and Love stay healthy and are actively involved in the offense. The surrounding players need to contribute more and keep their heads in the game. They also need to resolve this Thompson situation before the season starts.

Coming in at number 2, I have the reigning NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors didn't really change too much about their roster and this is a team coming off a 60 plus win season. They caught every break they needed, stayed healthy all season long and beat the teams they were supposed to all the way to a championship. Their best offseason decision was to resign Draymond Green. He is the perfect fit with this team. Had he gone anywhere else, it would have been a mistake for him and the Warriors would've missed him dearly. Getting rid of David Lee was a good choice too. Sure, he helped them in the Finals, but he was a huge contract wasting away on their bench. The Warriors have the best backcourt in all of the NBA. Steph Curry, the reigning MVP, is a wizard with the ball and can shoot the three from anywhere on the floor. He also has the fastest release I've ever seen. Curry is the best shooter of all time, yeah I said it. Klay Thompson is a great shooter, but he excels on defense. He locks everyone down that he guards and when he and Curry are shooting well, this team is unstoppable. Harrison Barnes didn't sign the extension the warriors offered him, betting on himself, but he's finally living up to the hype that was praised on him coming out of high school. I think the put back dunk on LeBron in the Finals gave him the extra confidence he needed. He's starting to come into his own. Andre Iguodala, the reigning Finals MVP, is back and while he's older, he still contributes on both ends of the floor. Shaun Livingston is a 6'6 back up point guard and fits in very well with what the Warriors do. Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights are a two headed monster in the frontcourt. Ezeli is a fierce defender and rebounder and Speights gets points in the paint. Andrew Bogut is still one of the best rim protectors, when healthy. Leandro Barbosa comes off the bench and he's a bowling ball that provides instant offense. The Warriors are one of the best teams in basketball, and they will win 60 games again this season. They will fight with my number one team all year long for the top spot in the West.

How the Warriors can win it all.

The Warriors will win the title if they do exactly what they did last year. They would also need every break to go their way again. It's hard to repeat in the NBA, but the Warriors could and, may do it.

Coming in at number one I have the San Antonio Spurs. This team got the premiere free agent, and they don't even really need LaMarcus Aldridge. They have an older version of him in Tim Duncan, but this feels like a passing of the torch. Duncan has been the face of the franchise for over a decade now, but when he retires, Aldridge will slide right into his place. The naysayers will say that they're too old, but that doesn't matter with the way Poppovich regulates minutes. Everyone should be fresh come playoff time. The back court still has Tony Parker and Danny Green. Parker, when healthy, is probably the smartest player in the NBA. He knows when to shoot and when to get guys involved and he runs the Spurs offense to perfection. Danny Green is an elite defender and he can hit the open three. Besides Duncan, the frontcourt has the best young small forward in Kwahi Leonard. He's an excellent offensive player, he's a great rebounder and he's the only guy that can shut down LeBron James on defense. He, along with Anthony Davis, is the next big superstar in the NBA. Duncan is Duncan. He may be playing on one leg and can barely get up and down the court, but he's one of the better low post scorers, and still protects the rim and rebounds at a high rate. Aldridge will join Duncan and Leonard in the front court and they will be an unstoppable force. Leonard will lockdown the opposition and score in double figures, Tim Duncan will do Tim Duncan things, and when Aldridge fully figures out the Spurs system, watch out. Aldridge will be an MVP caliber player in a year or two. The Spurs bench is elite. It's the best bench in basketball. Manu Ginobli, while getting older, is still a wizard with the ball, and still hits clutch shots. Boris Diaw has had a major resurgence with the Spurs and he's one of the best passing big men in the game. Patty Mills comes in the game and he can put up 20 points in 10 minutes. David West left a ton of money on the table to come and compete for a title with the Spurs. His addition is almost as big as Aldridge, but for different reasons. West is a veteran who loves to play defense, rebound and score when needed. He's a perfect fit with San Antonio. The Spurs look really, really good going into this season. Once Aldridge gets acclimated to the Spurs way of basketball, they will be dominate. I expect the Spurs to win at least 62, maybe 64 games and be the one seed in the West.

Why the Spurs will win it all.

The Spurs will win the title once Aldridge and West figure out Spurs basketball and the rest of the pieces continue to do what they've done for a decade. This team is the best coached team in the NBA and they now have, if they didn't already, the most talent in the NBA. I love this Spurs team.

That's my countdown, all 30 teams. I will revisit later in the year, but this is how I see the NBA looking right now. As for my predictions, my Finals matchup is the Spurs-Cavs and I have the Spurs winning in 6(Sorry LeBron). My MVP is Anthony Davis and he will also win Defensive Player of the Year. Coach of the year will be Erik Spoelstra simply because the Heat will be the most improved team in the NBA. And finally, Rookie of the Year will be Emmanuel Mudiay. I love the way he plays the game and while the Nuggets will be bad, he will get a ton of playing time and I think he will be good immediately.

Thanks everybody.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once drained 25 straight threes with Shawn Kemp on the Seattle Supersonics in a game of NBA Jam. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: Clippers, Thunder, Rockets

Did I mention yet that I love the NBA?

Now we are in the upper crust of the NBA. These teams today are legitimate title contenders and have a very real shot at winning the championship this year. Once again, it depends on health and breaks going their way, but each of these three teams have a real chance. Today I'm going to reveal my number 6, 5 and 4th ranked teams in the NBA.

Coming in at number 6 I have the Los Angeles Clippers. Everyone who reads my blogs knows how I feel about the Clippers. I wrote a very long piece on my irrational hatred for this team. I loathe them. I'm going to put that all aside today and judge them strictly on their recent playoff history and their current roster. Here goes nothing. The Clippers had an epic collapse in last years playoffs. They choked away a 20 point lead in the second half of a close out game and went on to lose the series. Their "stars" couldn't come through in the clutch and their coach made poor decision after poor decision. They were failures last year and I think last year was their best shot at the Finals. Sure they would have had to beat the Warriors in the West Finals, but they had their chance and blew it. Their roster is still very talented and while I really like the addition of Paul Pierce, I hate the acquisition of Lance Stephenson, and the dirty tactics they went to in keeping DeAndre Jordan. Resigning Austin Rivers was a HUGE mistake and the most blatant form of nepotism that I've ever seen and Josh Smith is no savior. With all that being said, the Clippers still have Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. As you all well know, I think both of these guys are overrated, but they are very good NBA players. Chris Paul, while moody and whiny, is one of the best point guards in the game today. He can shoot, but he'd rather find the open man for an easy basket, as a point guard should do. He's also a pretty decent defender, but watching Steph Curry destroy him with a crossover lasts season was a huge delight. He is getting older and whinier and he's played a lot of minutes in the NBA. Blake Griffin is the most puzzling "superstar" I've ever watched. Some nights he looks unstoppable, but in the playoffs, in critical moments, he fades away. Superstars rise to the challenge, but Blake Griffin does not. He's the Alex Ovechkin or Andy Dalton (ed note: The currently 6-0 Andy Dalton) of the NBA. He's great in the regular season, but shits the bed when it matters most (ed note: good point). DeAndre Jordan is a glorified rebounder and rim protector. The only reason people talk about him, or that he was offered a max contract was, ESPN puts him on their highlight reel every night. Spoiler alert ESPN, he's 7 feet tall, I'd sure hope that he'd be able to finish an alley oop. Dwight Howard owned him in the playoffs last year and he has been a top tier center since he left Orlando. He also proved how childish he truly is this offseason with the whole backing out of a contract to return to a team that he openly complained about being on. You're a joke DeAndre Jordan. JJ Redick is still just a haircut, but he's also a good shooter. That's it, just a shooter. He's a lousy defender and cannot get to the basket. Lance Stephenson replaces Matt Barnes in the starting lineup, but is that really an upgrade? The Hornets and Pacers couldn't get rid of him fast enough and now he thinks the Clippers will turn him into the "star" he claims to be. He's a classic under achiever who believes his own hype. He's mediocre at best. The addition of Paul Pierce was great. He has a great repertoire with Doc Rivers and is a clutch player. That being said, he's very, very old and I don't think he has a lot of life left in his legs. The rest of the bench is really bad for a "contending" team. When Austin Rivers is the sixth or seventh man off the bench, you have a huge problem. Jamal Crawford is still a good offensive player, but gives this team nothing else. Josh Smith, the same Josh Smith that complained about taking a pay cut this offseason, is not that good. His time in Houston last season was an anomaly. He will still shoot way too many threes and air ball free throws, but this time around it will be all over TV since he's playing in LA now. Other than those guys, and those guys aren't very good, with Pierce being the exception, the rest of the bench is god awful. The Clippers will win 48 or 49 games, but that will be a step back for them and they will be the fifth, maybe fourth seed in the West, probably the fifth though and will have a rough season. The players don't like each other, and that will finally bubble over and there will be a lot of in fighting in the Clippers locker room.

How the Clippers will win it all.

The Clippers will win the title if they can somehow forget about last years playoff collapse, all come together and leave their woes and whining at home. This team complains way too much and they're not that good anymore and they missed their best chance at a title last year.

Coming in at number 5, I have the Oklahoma City Thunder. Full disclosure, this is my favorite team in the NBA. I'm a Thunder fan. This team's shot at a title fully depends on health. They haven't had their three star players all healthy, at the same time, in about three years. If healthy, the Thunder are one of the best teams in the NBA. When three of your starting five include Kevin Durant. Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, that's pretty damn impressive. Durant was the MVP of the league two years ago, but rushed back from offseason foot surgery last year and ended up missing most of last season trying to fully heal. He looks good right now, and can easily get back to being one of the three best players in the NBA, but he needs to string together a lot of games healthy before he is fully back. Russell Westbrook is a beast in every sense of the word. I used to think he was an out of control ball hog, but after watching him last year, without Durant and Ibaka for a lot of the year, I have a newfound respect in him. He's still kind of a ball hog, but he's the most in control out of control player. When he explodes to the rim, or starts a fast break, watch out, because he is going to do something special. He is the new Allen Iverson in my opinion. Serge Ibaka is one of the best defenders in basketball and can give the Thunder 17 or 18 points a night. He's worked on his outside shot and, while I feel he uses it a bit too much, he makes it at about 50 percent. I wished he played a bit more back to the basket, but that's not his game. Enes Kanter is a very good offensive player, but he cannot play professional level defense. He may be the worst defender in the NBA. Steven Adams is a good, young player still fully learning the game of basketball,  but he can be a nuisance at times, and if he wasn't on the Thunder, I probably wouldn't like him all that much. People say he's this generations Bill Laimbeer, but I feel like that's a slight to Laimbeer. Sure, he was a nuisance as well, but he was a good scorer and rebounder. He was much better at this point in his career than Adams is right now. The bench is fine. Guys like DJ Augustin, a good back up point guard, but getting older, Kyle Singler, a hustler, but not very good at any one skill, Mitch McGary, another guy with an unstoppable motor, but can't stay healthy and Nick Collison, an elder statesmen in the league, are good enough to help steal a few minutes here and there from the starters. Anthony Morrow is super interesting coming off the bench for the Thunder. He's an excellent three point shooter and can catch fire at any time, but he's a liability on defense. I think their draft pick Cameron Payne will soon take over Augustin's spot as the second team point guard, and I think he will become a valuable bench player for the Thunder. Like I said before, if the Thunder can stay healthy, they can compete with anyone at anytime or place. Their title chances lie solely on health and I see them winning 50 or 51 games and being the four seed in the West.

How the Thunder will win it all.

The Thunder will win the title if their "big three" can stay healthy and produce like they're supposed to all season and Enes Kanter and Steven Adams become unstoppable at the things they're best at, Adams being a pest on defense and Kanter scoring double figures every night. They'll need help from their bench as well, but that's a very real possibility. Thunder Up.

My number four team is the Houston Rockets. This team has all the potential in the world, it's just a matter of putting it together at the right time. James Harden leads this team and while he's a tremendous scorer, he is a lot like Blake Griffin and fades when the spotlight is on him. When playing for OKC, he was great all the way through their run to the Finals in 2012, but then he crapped out in the Finals, averaging less than 10 points per game. Same thing happened last season in the West Finals. He was bested every night by MVP Steph Curry. He's also dating a Kardashian now, so he's bound to take a dip in production, just ask Kris Humphries or Reggie Bush. Dwight Howard was, at one time, the most unstoppable force at center since Shaq. Now, he is constantly injured and making excuses. When he puts his mind to it, he's a really good player, but his head isn't always in the game. Houston needs him to focus on basketball. They have Patrick Beverly coming back at point guard, and he's a good point guard, but they traded for Ty Lawson this offseason, and he's an upgrade. Lawson will be starting over Beverly by midseason. Donatas Motiejunas is a good power forward, and if he and Howard can both stay healthy, their front court is as good, if not better than most. Trevor Ariza is still there and he's still a lock down defender and an excellent three point shooter. Ariza is a very underrated player. Jason Terry is still playing basketball, and he's still hitting clutch shots. He can't keep up on defense, but Houston doesn't ask him to do that, they need him to hit big threes. Corey Brewer is a great bench player in the NBA and people finally get to see that since he's on a good team. Both draft picks, Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell can be valuable to this team. Dekker is very athletic and can step back and hit the three and Harrell will do all the dirty work and do it happily. The Rockets are good and got a taste of a deep postseason run last year. They will win somewhere in the mid fifties, maybe 55 or 56 games and fight the Thunder for that third spot in the West.

How the Rockets can win it all.

The Rockets will win the title if Harden can perform in the clutch and Howard stays healthy and focuses on basketball solely, all season. The rest of the roster needs to keep doing what they do and the Rockets will be very good. I love the addition of Ty Lawson and I feel that he makes this team a very real threat to compete for a title.

There you have it, teams 6, 5 and 4. Tomorrow is my final NBA preseason piece and I'll give you my top three teams and all my predictions.

Who will be the champion?

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once held court 100 straight times against the editor on NBA Street. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: Bulls, Grizzlies, & Pelicans

I love watching the NBA, I especially love watching really high quality competition.

Now we are getting to the elite teams in my NBA countdown. We are officially in the top ten and every team from here on out has a legitimate shot to win the NBA title this year. They all need some breaks to go their way and health is of the utmost importance, but these teams are the cream of the crop in the NBA. On with the countdown.

Coming in at number 9 we have the Chicago Bulls. This team is the epitome of a team needing health and everything to break in their favor to win the title, but , that could happen. Let's start with the bad news about the Bulls. First, they fired Tom Thibadeau for being too tough on his players. Never mind the fact that they improved every year under him and they played some of the best team defense in all of the NBA, management felt that a hard nosed coach wasn't the right fit. So, to replace Thibadeau, they reached into the college ranks and hired former Iowa State head coach and former Chicago Bull, Fred Hoiberg to take over. I don't know if this will work, but the Bulls seem to think it will. Another bit of bad news for Chicago is all the off the court and new injury to Derrick Rose. First, he was accused of sexual assault in the offseason and I don't know if that case has been closed yet. Next, he said at the preseason meetings that he was in a contract year, and claimed that if the Bulls don't pay up, he'd think about leaving. Now, I can't think of a franchise that's been this patient with a star player, waiting for injury after injury to heal, hoping that he'd be back at full strength. They've given him all the time in the world, letting him miss seasons and multiple games during "healthy" seasons, just to get back to full strength. Now, he is out for all of the preseason and may miss opening night due to an orbital fracture. Since his MVP year, he can't stay healthy and he doesn't play like he used to. I think it's time for the Bulls to move on from Derrick Rose. This brings me to the good news, Jimmy Butler is on this team. He's the unquestioned leader of this team now, in my opinion. He's an All Star, a 20 point per game player, a lockdown defender and has a tireless work effort. Jimmy Butler is a legitimate MVP candidate. They have Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. Gasol is a great post player and fits in with what the Bulls want to do on both ends of the court perfectly. Noah, when healthy, is one of the better rebounders in the league and plays some of the best defense in all of basketball. Younger players like Doug McDermott and Tony Snell are going to get more of a chance to play with the new coaching staff. One of the knocks on Thibadeau was, he didn't like playing younger guys, well, this staff will play whoever is playing best, regardless of age. McDermott looks to be a good three point shooter, but has to work on every other aspect of his game before he's a legitimate NBA player. Snell on the other hand, he's got a quick first step, can shoot the mid range jumper, is long and lanky and plays good defense. Given more playing time, he'll continue to get better and better. Another younger player that did get critical playing time last year, Nikola Mirotic, is back and looks like a better, in shape basketball player. He's good. Aaron Brooks, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich and E'Twaun Moore all come off the bench. Brooks is a good back up point guard, Taj Gibson was, at one time, one of the better low post players in basketball, and while injuries have hampered his development, he's still pretty good. Hinrich is fine off the bench, but his best days are behind him. E'Twaun Moore is an interesting piece on this team, providing instant offense, but he's very inconsistent. Bobby Portis, the rookie from Arkansas, was a good pick by them, and I see him playing a pivotal role off the bench for the Bulls this season. The Bulls will be one of the top three seeds in the East and win 52 or 53 games this year.

How the Bulls can win it all.

The Bulls win will the title is all their pieces buys into the new coaching staff's philosophy on offense and continues to play suffocating defense. They also need a healthy, focused solely on basketball Derrick Rose to compete for the title. The Bulls will be good, it's just a matter of how good and how healthy everyone can be all season long.

Coming in at number 8 is the Memphis Grizzlies. This team is good, plays old fashioned basketball and are a tough team to face in the playoffs, but they are also getting very old and may have missed their window to win a title. They gave Marc Gasol the big contract he deserved this offseason. Gasol is probably, right now, the best center in basketball. He has great low post moves, a decent jumper, he's a good rebounder and plays good defense. Gasol is great. Mike Conley is a great point guard. He shoots the ball very well, finds the open man every time, plays good defense and runs this offense perfectly. When he needs to score, he scores, when he needs to get players involved, he gets them involved, he's the best example of how a point guard should play their position. The only problem with Conley, he gets hurt at the most inopportune times. Take last year for example, the Grizzlies are cruising in the playoffs, take a game from the Warriors in Oakland and then boom, Conley basically breaks his face. The Warriors cruised after that. Jeff Green joins Conley in the back court, and while he's extremely athletic, he's also extremely inconsistent. One night he'll go for 20 and 10, the next night, he'll foul out in 12 minutes. Zach Randolph is still there and still averaging double figures in points and rebounds and still getting on other teams nerves. He's the definitive player of how Memphis wants to play basketball. He's the inventor of their motto, "Grit and Grind". Tony Allen is exactly the same type of player as Randolph, he just happens to play guard and he's not as good a scorer. Allen is a pest on defense and that's exactly what Memphis needs from him. Coming off the bench you have guys like Beno Udrih, he's fine, but not great, Vince Carter, bless his heart that he's still playing, but he's not the same player, Courtney Lee, who's a good scorer off the bench and they signed Matt Barnes. I can't stand him, but I can't think of a better place for him to play than Memphis, he'll fit in there great. The Grizzlies will be good, and win 45 to 48 games, but, as I said before, their chance to win the title probably passed. Too many other teams in the West have gotten better and a younger than Memphis.

How the Grizzlies will win it all.

The Grizzlies will win the title if they "Grit and Grind" every team to death in the playoffs, making the games very low scoring. That's how they win in the regular season, and they'll have to do that in the playoffs to win the title, that's their only chance.

My number 7 team is the New Orleans Pelicans. They have the best young player, and future best player in the NBA in Anthony Davis. He's the best all around center in the NBA. He's a fantastic rim protector and rebounder, can fly through the air for alley oops, can shoot mid range jumpers and is now working on his three point shooting. He's already unstoppable, but add in three point shooting, he'll go down as one of the greats. I love the way Anthony Davis plays. If anyone one single player can lead his team to a title, it's him, he's that good. The problem with the Pelicans is the rest of their roster. It's a good roster, but needs to be great. Guys like Jrue Holiday, Omer Asik, Tyreke Evans, Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon have the potential, they just haven't lived up to it yet. Jrue Holiday is a really good point gurad, he just needs to get other players involved more often. If Asik can stay on the court, it would be impossible for most teams to score on him and Davis. Tyreke Evans has all the tools, he just needs to put it all together. Ryan Anderson is a great three point shooter, but he's not so good on defense, and he has a hard time staying healthy. And Eric Gordon was at one time, the next big thing. Now, he's a bench player, but he can still light up a scoreboard, if he's interested in focusing on the game. The Pelicans took a huge step forward last year, making the playoffs, and they'll continue to get better. Anthony Davis is one of the top three players in the NBA right now and he will single handily make this a 48 or 49 win team.

How the Pelicans will win it all.

The Pelicans will win the title is Anthony Davis goes on a Michael Jordanesque run in the playoffs and wins every game, making every critical play in every critical moment. It's a tall task, but he's that good.

There you have it, teams 9, 8 and 7. Come back tomorrow for 6, 5 and 4. We are truly getting to the elite of the NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is still troubled by the time the editor had Tom Chambers go for 100 on him in a Playstation game. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.