Memphis Grizzlies advance to the Western Conference Finals

     If you had told me at the beginning of the 2012-13 NBA Season that the Memphis Grizzlies would make it to the Western Conference Finals, I would have called you crazy. Well it looks like I am the crazy one as the Grizzlies beat the top seed Oklahoma City Thunder last night to advance to their first Conference Finals appearance in franchise history.

            On January 30^th, the Grizzlies put themselves in a deep hole when they traded their leading scorer F Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors as a part of a three-team deal. The Grizzlies did acquire F Tayshaun Prince in the deal, a guy who has a lot of championship experience but trading their leading scorer was a shocker to the basketball community. The Grizzlies thrived all season long on their defense. The Grizzlies would go on to lead the league in opponent points per game at just over 89 per game. C Marc Gasol became the first European to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, averaging under 8 boards and 1.74 blocks per game and G Tony Allen made the NBA All Defensive First Team and G Mike Conley and Gasol made the Defensive Second Team.

            The Memphis Grizzlies do not have a dominant player as any one of their starters can be the leading scorer in any game. They don’t have a flashy player and do not play a style of basketball that will get you out of your seats. They love to play physical and like to slow the game down and feed the ball to their big men.

            The Grizzlies entered the playoffs as the #5 seed and opened the playoffs against the #4 Los Angeles Clippers, a team who had just won their first division title in franchise history. The Grizzlies got themselves in a hole as they dropped the first two games in LA before winning the next four and advancing to the Semifinals against #1 seed Thunder. A big part of the Grizzlies success against the Thunder was their ability to shut down F Kevin Durant, perhaps the best shooter in the NBA.

            After advancing to their first Conference Finals in team history, the Grizzlies are looking to extend their best season in franchise history and will now get some much-needed rest as they await the winner of the San Antonio Spurs/ Golden State Warriors series. 

             image was used from bleacherreport.com

My storylines after the first five weeks of the 2013 MLB Season

         It has been just a little over a month since the 2013 MLB season started and there have been several storylines thus far. Here are the ones that stood out to me:

Justin Upton’s numbers are not as good as they seem.

 After the first month of the season, lots of baseball fans think that Atlanta Braves OF Justin Upton would win the NL MVP if the season were to end today. Yes, Upton had a great first month of the season with his major league leading 12 home runs, but he doesn’t have the numbers to win the MVP right now. Of his 12 home runs, only one has been with a runner on base. Yes that it is not is fault but Upton only has 21 RBIs right now. Upton is batting .178 with runners on base this season and .190 with runners in scoring position.  Upton has almost twice as many strikeouts, 41, than RBIs. His .269 batting average this season is close to his career .278 average and if Upton wants to become an MVP recipient, he will have to lower his strikeouts and improve his average with runners on. By the way, Upton returns to face his old team the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight in Phoenix.

Miguel Cabrera can accomplish the AL Triple Crown for a second straight year.

 During his 2012 AL MVP season, Detroit Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera became the first AL player to hit for the Triple Crown since Boston Red Sox LF Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. After watching him accomplish it last year, I already knew that he could do it this year. Cabrera is apart of one of the major’s most dangerous lineups and with newly acquired OF Tori Hunter in front of him and the powerful 1B Prince Fielder behind him allowing him to easily lead the AL in RBIs. He is currently first in the AL with 40. Miguel Cabrera also does not strikeout. Cabrera is the opposite of Upton as he currently has twice as many RBIs as he has strikeouts. He also leads the AL in batting average with .376. There is no doubt that Cabrera is the game’s best hitter buts it’s how he does it that makes him so dangerous. He can hit the ball to anywhere in the field and is batting .521 with runners in scoring position. It will not surprise me if at the end of the 2013 MLB season, Cabrera leads the AL in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are in deep trouble.

Currently sitting in fourth place in the AL West and 10 games behind the Texas Rangers are the Angels. Entering this season, I knew that Angels were going to have trouble with their rotation because they didn’t really have one. Although the signing of CF Josh Hamilton highlighted the 2012 offseason, I still believe that their offseason was a disappointment because they didn’t address any of their pitching needs. They lost three of their starting pitchers from last year as Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, and Zach Greinke all found new homes this season. After Jered Weaver went on the 15-day DL with a broken left elbow in April, the Angels were left with one of the worst starting pitching staffs in baseball. The Angels are currently 27^th in the MLB with a team era of 4.59. Tommy Hanson has the team’s lowest era and it is just under four runs per game. Bottom line is that the Angels are headed for a long, disappointing season if they don’t make any trades and pick up some quality pitchers. Oh, and their big offseason acquisition Hamilton is batting a horrendous .203 so far this season. 

       images were used from bleacherreport.com and usatoday.com

Why Dwight Howard should re-sign with the Lakers

       It has been only three days since the Los Angeles Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and the question on everyone’s mind regarding the Lakers is: Will Dwight Howard return to the Lakers next year or will he join another team? Howard is a free agent after this season and a season that started with goals of winning a ring ended by being called a “nightmare.” In the end, I believe that it is best for Howard to remain with the Lakers.

            Howard came over to the Lakers last offseason in the blockbuster trade that sent Andrew Bynum to the 76ers, Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets, and Aaron Afflalo to the Magic among others. Immediately after Howard arrived in LA, there were expectations to win a title in 2012-2013. Howard was coming off of back surgery and the organization wasn’t sure if Howard would be able to play on opening night. He was ready on opening night and played 76 games this season although he dealt with shoulder injuries all season.

            In the first half of the season, Howard struggled to get adjusted to coach Mike D’Antoni’s system as he told reporters on numerous occasions that he was frustrated because he wasn’t getting the ball. Howard ended the season averaging 17.1 points per game, his lowest average since 06-07 with the Magic. He led the league in rebounds with 12.4 per game and was 5^th in blocks with 2.45 per game. But Howard finished the regular season strong, averaging 19.4 points per game in the final two months as the Lakers desperately tried to make it into the playoffs.

            So why should Howard come back to LA? If Dwight Howard wants to go down as one of the greatest centers of all-time, he should stay in LA. The Lakers are one of the most storied franchises in NBA history and if he stays, Howard will become the face of the team. Yes, I just said that. Howard became the leader of the team when Kobe Bryant went down with his Achilles injury in April and Kobe doesn’t have that much time left in him. His contract ends after next year and I believe he will retire if the Lakers win a ring. GM Mitch Kupchak has expressed his support for wanting Howard back and Kobe will be ready to hand over the throne to Howard. Kupchak will then build the team around Howard and maybe bring another superstar to LA, maybe CP3 or LeBron? There is also a difference in the contract Howard can get. If Howard signs with the Lakers, it will most likely be a five-year contract worth over $110 million. If he goes to another team, the max he can sign for is 4-years, worth $87.6 million.

            Dwight Howard is frustrated after such a tumultuous season. I have never season a season like the 2012-13 Laker season and I know that if Howard re-signs with the Lakers, he will become one of the greatest centers in Laker history. I know that Dwight is mad but his decision should be made soon. Sign with the Lakers and become the next Kareem or Wilt or Shaq.

            

            images were used from nba.si.com and usatoday.com