Ready For Some Football

In case you missed my last post, this blog will not be up for much longer. I will be moving my posts to the Blaze's new website, which should be up and running in a few weeks. Since I will have an expanded role with the station this year, all of my posts will be related to ASU football or basketball. I'm very excited for the potential opportunities in store for me this year. I will post a link to the new website once it is up.

I got to cover Pac-10 Media Day last Thursday at the Rose Bowl for the Blaze. It was a fun experience. I was the only ASU student there, which was sort of surprising. I went straight from Media Day to San Diego for family vacation, so I didn't get to post any notes. Here are some observations from Media Day.

-For the first time since 2002, the media did not pick USC to win the conference. Instead, they went with the defending Pac-10 Champion Oregon Ducks. Here is the official poll with the total points (first place votes in parenthesis)

1. Oregon (15)...............314
2. USC (12)...................311
3. Oregon State (3).........262
4. Stanford (1)...............233
5. Arizona (2)................222
6. Washington (1)............209
7. California..................175
8. UCLA (1)....................134
9. Arizona State...............81
10. Washington State.........39

-ASU is picked to finish 9th in the conference, which is the lowest spot its had in the preseason poll since 2002, when it was also picked to finish 9th.

-Head Coach Dennis Erickson and kicker Thomas Weber represented the Sun Devils at the Rose Bowl. Erickson said the reason he chose to bring along Weber was because he is "invaluable" to the team.

-Erickson said that the offense will be the biggest factor in how successful ASU is this year. The Sun Devils have struggled mightily on the offensive side of the football in the last two years, ranking at the bottom of the conference in nearly every offenseive category. Things could be a lot better this year, however, under new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. Erickson praised the work that Mazzone has done so far, as he made clear that the offensive players have had more fun and have been more motivated under him.

-It sounds like the quarterback battle between Brock Osweiler and Steven Threet is wide open. Erickson did not give an indication as to who he will select, and he said he has no problem waiting until the final days of fall camp to make a decision.

-Finally, the Sun Devils don't seem to care about being picked to finish 9th in the conference. They have had two losing seasons in a row, which is enough to motivate them to play their hearts out this year. The players very well know that Dennis Erickson could be fired if ASU has another losing season, and as Thomas Weber put it, they are out "to shock the world."

***
Fall Camp started on Wednesday. The Sun Devils have four weeks to prepare for the start of the regular season.

I will be back at ASU next Saturday, and I will start covering practices on Monday, August 16th. I'll be posting practice news more so on my twitter page, but I will also be writing brief reports on here, until the Blaze website is ready to go.

The End Is Near

The more I promise to post, the less I actually do it. I haven't posted in over a month, which is nothing new, but you know I'm really lazy when it's the first time I've posted since the Lakers won the championship and LeBron James signed with the Miami Heat. I haven't kept up with the blog, so why should I keep it? Simply put, this blog won't last much longer, in fact I'll most likely stop posting here at the end of the summer.

I'll be moving my posts to the Blaze's new wesbite in the fall, since I will have an expanded role with the station. My posts on the Blaze website will heavily focus on ASU football and basketball since I will be covering both teams. I'm looking forward to my new role with the station, in addition to the new opportunities that will come with it.

Summer back home in Southern California has been very relaxing. I've been making frequent visits to the beach and to Dodger games. So much has gone on in the world of sports since I've been home, so I'll go ahead and give you my top five sports stories of the summer thus far.

5. Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg makes his MLB debut

4. The Lakers beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals and win their 16th championship in franchise history

3. Legendary UCLA Head Coach John Wooden passes away at age 99

2. Spain wins the 2010 FIFA World Cup

1. LeBron James leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers and signs with the Miami Heat

I can no longer promise that I will blog more often, but I'll do my best to post at least twice a week. Hold me to it.

NBA Finals Prediction

The time is finally here. We're a little under two hours away from the start of the 2010 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. I wouldn't be me unless I waited until the last possible moment to make a prediction, so here we go.

These two teams are clearly different from the last time they faced each other in the 2008 Finals. For the Lakers, they have Andrew Bynum, who did not play at all in the series two years ago. Bynum's not 100% healthy, but his presence alone should make a difference as he'll be in charge of bodying up with Kendrick Perkins, and providing length in the paint against the Celtics guards, mainly Rajon Rondo. The Lakers also have Ron Artest, who will be in charge of containing Paul Pierce, the 2008 Finals MVP. In the two meetings in the regular season, Pierce averaged 13 points and shot under 40% from the floor with Artest guarding him. I don't expect Ron to completely shut down Pierce, but I do think he'll have a decent impact on Pierce's offensive output this series.

The Celtics' bench is also not as good and as deep as it was in 2008. Instead of James Posey, PJ Brown, Eddie House, and Leon Powe, the C's now have Rasheed Wallace, Nate Robinson, Tony Allen, and Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Posey was really important for the Celtics in 2008 because he played great defense on Kobe Bryant, in addition to being a great three-point shooter.

While the points I made above are important, I think the biggest difference between now and 2008 is that the Lakers are more experienced. They know what to expect from the Celtics and won't be as shell struck as they were two years ago. The Lakers are a more physical team now than they were in 2008, and they also have the revenge factor in their heads. LA was humiliated in Boston two years ago, and obviously both sides remember that. Kobe Bryant is arguably playing his best basketball of his career, and I'm sure he will do as much as he can to make sure the Lakers don't lose to the Celtics in the Finals for the second time in three years.

Here are a couple of scenarios that went through my mind before finally making a pick. Keep in mind that the homecourt format for the Finals is 2-3-2. So games one and two will be played in Los Angeles, games three through five will be played in Boston, and games six and seven will be back in Los Angeles.

- The Celtics are too good to lose the first two games at Staples Center. They were the best road team in the NBA this season, and I've got to think that they will win at least one of the games.

- The Lakers are too good to lose games three through five in Boston. I don't think the Celtics will win all three, but at the same time I don't think the Lakers can win two of the three. I've got to think the C's will win two in Boston.

- I can't imagine Kobe Bryant and the Lakers losing an NBA Championship on their homecourt, and especially to the Celtics. If Boston doesn't win this series in five games, they won't win the series at all. With that being said, one of the above scenarios won't happen, and I think it's the first one. The Lakers will win the first two games in Los Angeles. LA is 28-3 at Staples Center in the last three postseasons, and this isn't just any ordinary Finals matchup, it's the Celtics and a it's chance for revenge. The crowd will be fired up and ready to go.

- I doubt this series actually goes seven games, like most people think it will. Only three Finals matchups have gone seven games in the last 27 years.

My prediction- Lakers in six

Let The Rivalry Continue

The Los Angeles Lakers are headed back to the NBA Finals for the third straight year, and it's only fitting that their opponent is the one team that Laker fans hate the most. It's the only franchise that has more NBA Championships than the Lakers, and it's the one franchise that has caused Laker fans to despise players like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Paul Pierce. It's the franchise that has defeated the Lakers nine times in the finals, and has consequently caused misery to the Laker faithful. For the 12th time in NBA Finals history, the Los Angeles Lakers will face the Boston Celtics. These two teams have combined to win 32 of the NBA's 63 total championships, with the Celtics most recent title coming in 2008, and the Lakers' in 2009. Now the two most storied franchises in NBA history will collide once again, this time for the 2010 NBA Championship. Could you imagine it any other way?

Words really can't describe how excited I am for this matchup. There is no other team I'd rather see my Lakers face than the Celtics. Unfortunately since I'm 20 years old, I missed pretty much all of the epic battles between these two teams in the past, but I've read plenty of books and watched plenty of videos/tv/documentaries to understand just how serious this rivalry is. I wish I could have grown up watching Jerry West vs Bill Russell, and Magic Johnson vs Larry Bird, but I'll settle for watching Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol vs Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.

The only experience I've had with this rivalry since I've been alive came in 2008, when the Celtics beat the Lakers in six games to win their 17th NBA Championship. I remember game six of the series like it was yesterday. The Lakers lost by 39 points, green and white confetti was everywhere, and the Celtic fans were taunting the Laker players as they left the court, humiliated. The Celtics dominated the Lakers in every way there was to dominate. The feeling I had after game six was probably the worst feeling I've had in my 20 years as a Laker fan. I've never felt more depressed about a loss, and at the same time never had more anger towards a team or a city.

I expected the Lakers to be in the finals this year, after all they are the defending NBA champions and I knew there wasn't a team in the Western Conference that could beat them in a seven-game series. However I can't say I expected the Celtics to be in the finals, which is ironic because I've always thought that they were the best team in the East, when healthy. I just figured LeBron James and the Cavs would get there, and we would finally see the Kobe vs LeBron matchup, or that Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic would get back there and we would see a rematch of last year's finals. But I'm excited now that Lakers' opponent is indeed the Celtics.

A lot is on the line in this matchup. Not only is this a chance for the Lakers to redeem themselves from their embarrassing defeat in 2008, but it's also a chance for Kobe Bryant to cement his legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest Laker of all-time. A win would give Kobe five NBA Championships, but it would also give him a championship win over the Celtics, which is pretty much the only thing he hasn't accomplished in his illustrious career. You have to beat the Celtics if you want to be considered a true Laker great (i.e. Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Now that's not to say that Kobe won't be considered a great if the Lakers lose again, but that would be the one negative hole in his legacy, and it would be a big one.

In addition, the Celtics' big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen is getting old, and I can't imagine them being in the league much longer. This may be the last opportunity for the current group of Laker players to defeat the current group of Celtic players. If LA wins, they will have 16 NBA Championships, only one behind Boston's 17, but if the Celtics win, they will have 18 championships compared to the Lakers' 15.

This will be the seventh time in my life that I will see the Lakers compete for a championship. I've seen them win four titles, and lose out on two. The one thing I haven't seen in my 20 years as a Laker fan is a purple and gold championship victory over the green and white. I can die a happy man if that happens this year.

It's the Boston Celtics vs the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2010 NBA Championship. Could you imagine it any other way? I can't.

I'll have a prediction post up before game one, which is Thursday night in Los Angeles.

You can see more of my daily thoughts by following me on twitter

From Zero To Hero

After Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals, the game in which Derek Fisher hit the "0.4" shot, Shaquille O'Neal said, "One lucky shot deserves another." Six years later that quote came to fruition, as Ron Artest hit the game-winning layup at the buzzer last night to give the Lakers a 103-101 victory against the Phoenix Suns. The layup came after Jason Richardson banked in a three pointer to tie the game with 3.5 seconds.

The Lakers now lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, and are one win away from reaching the NBA Finals for the third straight year.

I was glad to see Artest redeem himself last night after the horrible offensive decision he made that could have very well cost the Lakers the game. He took a three-pointer with 51 seconds left, but more importantly when there was 23 seconds left on the shot clock. I'm sure he would have been subject to scrutiny if the Lakers lost. It seems like Artest has been trying to fit in with the Lakers all season long, and last night he finally made his mark on the team.

As happy as I am that the Lakers won, I'm also a bit nervous. LA had an 18 point lead at one point in the third quarter, yet the Suns came all the way back and nearly forced overtime. The Lakers did a much better job defensively last night than they did in Game 4, but I'm a little worried about the offense. The Suns' zone defense has really limited LA's inside game. Andrew Bynum's been a complete non-factor in games 3-5. In 19 minutes last night, Drew had two points, seven rebounds, and five fouls. People also forget that Artest's game-winning layup was just his third and fourth points of the game.

The Lakers have the opportunity to close out the series tomorrow night in Phoenix. LA is 8-1 in their last nine close out game attempts, with the lone loss coming in the Houston series last year. As much as I'd love to see the Lakers finish the series tomorrow, I think the Suns will win and force a Game 7. Phoenix's bench will play much better at home, conversely I think LA's bench will again struggle on the road. I hope I'm wrong, but the Suns are a resilient group and are a tough team to beat at US Airways Center. With the way the Suns players were acting after last night's loss and when you keep in mind that they played poorly, yet came back from 18 points down on the road, it seems like a forgone conclusion that there will be a Game 7.

On a side note, I think the Lakers are just meant to give the Suns heartbreaking defeats in the playoffs. Flashback to Kobe Bryant's game-winner in 2006, and now last night with Ron Artest.

I'm going to the Angels game tonight. I'm excited since it will be my first time at the Big A. Isn't it funny that I'm going to see the "Los Angeles" Angels, yet I have to drive all the way to Anaheim, which is an hour or so past downtown?

Summertime, and the Living's Easy

I'm enjoying my time back home in LA. It's been nice to relax after going through a stressful last couple of weeks with finals and such. I've been to the beach three times already (we all know I need to work on my tan). I'll be in St. Louis this weekend for my buddy's wedding. Still can't believe he's getting tied down at age 21, but hey, more power to him.

We're down to the conference finals in the NBA, but I'd like to talk about LeBron James before I talk about the Lakers-Suns series.

I've called LeBron "Prince James" for quite some time now, because I have always felt that he's been overhyped. Now just because I think he's overrated doesn't mean that I hate him. I respect LeBron's talent and ability, but it really annoys me when people call him the next Michael Jordan when he's won nothing in his career. The guy is unbelievable in the regular season, but for whatever reason he always seems to choke in the playoffs. I don't buy into the whole "LeBron doesn't have enough help" crap, because the Cavs had the best regular season record in the NBA the last two years. Everyone was ready to crown Cleveland as NBA Champions in the regular season, yet as soon as they lose in the playoffs LeBron all of the sudden has no help? LeBron is certainly the one player I'd love to build my team around in the regular season, but give me Kobe Bryant all day long in the playoffs because Kobe knows how to win when it matters, unlike Prince James.

The Lakers dominated the Phoenix Suns last night 128-107 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Kobe Bryant led the way with 40 points on an amazing 13-of-23 shooting, and Lamar Odom added 19 points and 19 rebounds for the defending champs, who extended their playoff winning streak to seven games. The Lakers have looked great ever since closing out Oklahoma City in the first round. If they keep playing the way they are now, then I have all the confidence in the world that they will win the championship.

A lot of my friends at ASU are Suns fans, so I'm enjoying this series all the more. I got so many texts from friends that were talking trash once the matchup was set. It amused me that Suns fans felt the need to gloat about reaching the conference finals, but I guess you don't know any better when you're a fan of a franchise that doesn't know what it's like to be successful.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at Staples Center, and I will be there in person. My friend has an extra ticket for me, so I'm pretty excited, as you can assume. The Lakers are 2-0 in playoff games that I've attended, hopefully they will be 3-0 after tomorrow night.

The Final Countdown

One videography story separates me and the end of my sophomore year of college. Halfway done with college.... I can't even write that without cringing a bit. It's amazing how fast the time has gone. I've had the time of my life these last two years at ASU, but come Wednesday I will be back in beautiful Southern California. I guess I can't complain too much since I'll be able to be at the beach on a daily basis, after all it's starting to get really hot here in Tempe. I'm still waiting to hear back for a possible summer internship. I'll keep you guys posted.

On a different subject, one win separates the Lakers from reaching the Western Conference Finals for the third straight year, as the defending champs took a commanding 3-0 series lead against the Utah Jazz with a 111-110 win tonight in Salt Lake City. No team in the NBA history has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a series, and it will more than likely stay that way.

As good as the Jazz may be, and as hard as their players might play, they simply are not in the same league as the Lakers. Take tonight as a perfect example. The Jazz shot 48% from the field, their bench outscored the Lakers' 46-22, and Andrew Bynum scored 0 points. Just about everything that could have gone the Jazz' way did, yet they still lost. Tonight was Utah's best chance to get a win in the series in my opinion. While I do think Utah can and most likely will win Game 4, I don't see this series going past five games. Looks like we're all but set for a Western Conference Finals showdown between the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.

I don't even want to talk about the Dodgers. Their performance so far this season disgusts me. I can only hope that General Manager Ned Coletti makes some moves before the trade deadline, otherwise this season could get ugly very quickly. I can also only hope that the Dodgers have at least a .500 record by June 18th, because my dad and I will be in Boston to see them take on the Red Sox at Fenway Park. If the Dodgers keep playing the way they are now, then we'll be flying out to Boston to see them get swept.

NBA Playoff First Round Predictions

My deepest apologies for the break between posts. I have been very busy with school and other related materials over the past month or so. Speaking of school, I only have three weeks left in my sophomore year at ASU. It's absolutely crazy to think that I will be halfway done with college. Where has the time gone? I'm waiting to hear back from a company for a possible summer internship. I won't say anything unless I know it's official, but I can tell you that I will be a very happy person if I land an internship at this place.

Anyways a lot has gone in the sports world since my last post. Baseball is back, the Duke Blue Devils won another NCAA Basketball Championship, and Tiger Woods made his long awaited return to golf. But above all, (at least for me) the NBA playoffs have begun, as the Los Angeles Lakers will try to repeat and win championship number 16. Here are my predictions for each matchup in the first round, beginning in the East

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs #8 Chicago Bulls- Cavs in four

#2 Orlando Magic vs # 7 Charlotte Bobcats- Magic in six

#3 Atlanta Hawks vs # 6 Milwaukee Bucks- Hawks in five

#4 Boston Celtics vs # 5 Miami Heat- Celtics in six

Western Conference

#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs #8 Oklahoma City Thunder- Lakers in five

#2 Dallas Mavericks vs #7 San Antonio Spurs- Spurs in seven

#3 Phoenix Suns vs #6 Portland Trail Blazers- Suns in five

#4 Denver Nuggets vs #5 Utah Jazz- Jazz in six

I'll be posting a lot more over the next few weeks, as I'll be writing about the Lakers and anything else that comes to mind.

Finally, I have to mention that I am hooked on the NHL Playoffs (Maybe it has to do with the fact that I finally have a team to root for in the LA Kings?) I found myself watching more of the NHL playoffs today then the NBA playoffs, which is something I thought I'd never do. The Kings have given me a reason to care about hockey. They are tied 1-1 with the Vancouver Canucks in their best of seven series. Game three is Monday night in Los Angeles, and I'll certainly be watching that over 24.

NIT Bound

As expected, the Arizona State Sun Devils were not one of the 65 teams that received an NCAA Tournament at-large bid on Selection Sunday. Instead the Sun Devils will be competing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which starts on Tuesday. ASU is one of the four #1 seeds in the 32-team tournament, and will start off by hosting the #8 seed Jacksonville Dolphins Tuesday night.

If the Sun Devils beat the Dolphins then they will move on to the round of 16, and face the winner of Seton Hall- Texas Tech, who are the #4 and #5 seeds respectively. My Sports Lounge co-host Andrew Gruman told me that ASU will likely have to play Seton Hall or Texas Tech on the road, since Wells Fargo Arena will be hosting the Women's NCAA Tournament, and the Women's NIT next weekend (Of course this is all assuming that ASU beats Jacksonville in the first place). If the Sun Devils have to go on the road, then I would not be surprised to see them lose in the round of 16, but what do I know? After all I picked ASU to beat Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament, and look what happened there.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't upset that ASU is in the NIT. It's disappointing knowing that the Sun Devils could have easily been in the NCAA Tournament. Even though ASU likely would have lost in the first round, getting to the tournament would have been a major accomplishment in itself, especially when you consider that this year's tournament berth would have come after losing James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph, who accounted for 68% of ASU's offense last year, to the NBA draft.

I'm hoping that ASU going to the NIT will send the message to Coach Herb Sendek that he needs to put together a tougher out of conference schedule. ASU has won 20 or more games in Sendek's last three seasons here in Tempe, yet they have just one NCAA Tournament appearance to show for it. A big reason for the NIT berths is because of the weak out of conference opponents that ASU plays. This season the Sun Devils played teams like Western Illinois, USC Upstate, San Francisco, and Delaware State, to name a few. That's four wins that you can essentially throw away, because the NCAA Tournament selection committee is not impressed by those cupcake opponents.

Look at the Pac-10 Champion California Golden Bears for example: They had just one more win in the Pac-10 than ASU, but they had a highly respectable out of conference schedule in which they played teams like Syracuse, Ohio State, and New Mexico, who are all teams that are a #3 seed or higher in the NCAA Tournament. Even though Cal lost all three of those games, in addition to other high RPI games, a loss to a team with a good RPI is more respectable and resinates more with the committee rather than a win over a cupcake team. Don't get me wrong, I love Coach Sendek, and he's done a marvelous job rebuilding the ASU Basketball program, but it seems to me that he and ASU favor easy wins rather than challenging themselves.

Another example of a tough out of conference schedule paying off is back in 2008, when Arizona got in the NCAA Tournament over ASU. Even though the Sun Devils had a better overall record (19-12) than Arizona (19-14) and even though the Sun Devils swept Arizona during the regular season, the Wildcats still made the NCAA Tournament over ASU. Why? Because the Cats had a top five schedule while the Sun Devils had a horrible out of conference schedule. ASU must win games and play tough competition in order to get more respect from the selection committee.

With that being said, I do believe Herb will schedule a tougher out of conference in the next couple seasons. ASU is a more established program now than it was two or three years ago, so I've got to think that big name teams will have no problem facing the Sun Devils. Not only will a tougher out of conference schedule help ASU's future tournament chances, but it will also put more people in Wells Fargo arena.

For now I'm sure the only thing Coach Sendek and company are focused on is Jacksonville. The game is Tuesday night, at 8:oo p.m. on ESPN2. Here's to hoping that ASU comes out strong and plays with some fire. Go Devils!

Crumbling on the Big Stage

I've got friends who grew up as ASU fans that have repeatedly told me that they've suffered from "ASU heartbreaks" for over 20 years. I didn't understand what they were referring to since I never really followed ASU football and basketball until last year, however after last night's Pac-10 Quarterfinal game against Stanford, I finally realized what they meant when they referred to "ASU heartbreaks."

The #2 seeded Sun Devils laid an egg last night, as they lost to the #7 seed Stanford Cardinal 70-61. I wrote in my preview of the game that the only way Stanford would win is if ASU couldn't hit their outside shots, and if Stanford was able to pick apart ASU's zone defense. Unfortunately both of those scenarios took place, as the Sun Devils shot just 39% from the field, while Stanford shot 55%. ASU committed 17 turnovers in the game, against a Stanford team that ranked last in the Pac-10 in nearly every defensive statistical category.

ASU's loss most likely means that they will not receive an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Had the Sun Devils defeated Stanford, I think they would have been in since so many other bubble teams lost yesterday. ASU will now have to wait until Selection Sunday to learn their postseason fate, but in the meantime they can reflect on how they played one of their worst games in arguably the most important game of the year. The Sun Devils beat Stanford twice in the regular season, yet when the stakes were high, they came out looking lethargic and looking like a team that figured that they would win if they simply just showed up to the arena. It looked like they were playing with no sense of urgency, where as Stanford was the team that played with more desperation, as they were up by as many as 15 points in the second half.

There are still some people that believe ASU should be in the NCAA Tournament, but to be completely honest, ASU has no business being the big dance. If you really look closely at their record and the opponents that they played, there is nothing impressive that stands out. ASU's best win of the year was against San Diego State, who's in fourth place in the Mountain West Conference. ASU had a record of 3-6 in the "big games of the year," take a look:

Duke 64- ASU 53

Baylor 64- ASU 61

ASU 55- San Diego State 52

ASU 71- Washington 46

Arizona 77- ASU 58

California 78- ASU 70

Washington 79- ASU 56

ASU 73- Arizona 69

California 62- ASU 46

Sure ASU has a 22-10 record, but seven of those wins came against garbage opponents: Western Illinois, Texas State, San Francisco, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Delaware State, UC Santa Barbara, and USC Upstate. ASU has won 20 or more games in the last three seasons, but they will only have one NCAA Tournament appearance to show for it assuming they don't get an at-large bid this year.

I think the loss to Stanford is so painful for Sun Devil fans because expectations were so low at the beginning of the season, and no one could have imagined that ASU would get over 20 wins or even be in a position to make the NCAA Tournament. The fact that ASU worked so hard to be on the verge of getting an at-large bid, then let it all slip away with a terrible effort against a terrible team is heartbreaking. Like I said before, I believe the Sun Devils would have been in the NCAA Tournament had they defeated Stanford. Could you imagine how impressive back-to-back tournament berths would have looked for the ASU program, especially considering that this year's team would have made it a year after losing James Harden and Jeff Pendegraph, who accounted for 68% of ASU's offense last year to the NBA? Instead the Sun Devils will likely settle for the NIT for the second time in three seasons, in what is certainly another case of "ASU heartbreaks."

Anyways the Pac-10 Tournament Semi-finals are tonight, and I will be there live at Staples Center. Here are my picks for the two games.

#1 Cal vs #5 UCLA: my pick- UCLA

#3 Washington vs #7 Stanford: my pick- Washington

My record in my quarterfinals picks: 3-1 (Correctly picked UCLA, Cal, and Washington. I picked ASU to beat Stanford.)

Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinals Predictions Part 2

I correctly picked both winners in the early session of the Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinals, now let's see if I can correctly pick the late session winners too. Here are my quick thoughts and predictions.

#2 Arizona State vs #7 Stanford

The Sun Devils swept the season series with the Cardinal, and what stood out in both games was the dominance of ASU senior center Eric Boateng. Take a look at his combined stats from the two meetings

14-of-14 shooting from the field

32 points

13 rebounds.

The fact is Stanford has nobody down low that can match up with Boateng, which the senior used to his advantage in both games during the regular season. Other than Landry Fields and Jeremy Green, Stanford really doesn't have anyone to turn to in a "must score situation". The Sun Devils' defense gave Stanford numerous problems during the regular season, and I expect much of the same in tonight's game. ASU has won eight of its last 10 games and has surprised everyone with their regular season accomplishments, in which they finished 22-9 a year after losing 68% of its offense to the NBA. The Sun Devils must win tonight's game if they want to get an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, and I think Pac-10 Coach of the Year Herb Sendek will have his team ready to play. A big key in determining ASU's fate will be by how well they shoot the ball from the field. The Sun Devils are 40-2 in the Herb Sendek era when they shoot 50% or better from the floor. Despite their recent struggles, Rihards Kuksiks, and Ty Abbott should pick up their play. The only way ASU will lose this game is if they struggle from the floor, and if Stanford is able to pick apart the zone defense.

My pick- Arizona State

#3 Washington vs #6 Oregon State

Washington, who has won the last six meetings against the Beavers, was a team that everyone thought would be contending for a Pac-10 Title at the beginning of the season. Now the Huskies, who were the once ranked in the top 25, must win the Pac-10 Tournament in order to be in the NCAA Tournament. Washington is led by Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas, who players that can take over a game at any given time like when the Huskies defeated the Beavers 82-70 just five days ago. Washington will also need a strong performance from Matthew Bryan-Amaning, who has formed into one of the top players for the Huskies. The key to this game is the turnovers. Oregon State is one of the best defensive teams in the Pac-10, as they implement a 1-3-1 zone that is tough to break down. Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year Seth Tarver and the Beavers led the Pac-10 in steals during the regular season, and a lot of their offense comes in transition scoring. If the Huskies turn the ball over a lot, then the Beavs could pull off the upset. Despite Washington struggling on the road this season, I still think they are the second best team in the Pac-10 behind Cal. They are very athletic, and their style of play suits very well in a tournament. Unless Washington struggles hitting their shots, I see them winning this one and moving on to the semi-finals.

My pick- Washington

Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinals Predictions

I'm back home for Spring Break. In less than two months I will be home for the summer. It's amazing how fast the time goes. It seemed like it was just the other day that I was at ASU Basketball Media Day getting ready for the 2009-2010 regular season, and now four months later it's time for the postseason tournaments.

The 2010 Pac-10 Tournament started last night with the play-in game, as the 8th seeded Oregon Ducks defeated the 9th seeded Washington State Cougars 82-80 in overtime. The quarterfinals begin in about 40 minutes, so here are my quick thoughts and predictions for each game, starting with the early session.

#4 Arizona Wildcats vs #5 UCLA Bruins:

UA defeated UCLA both times in the regular season. The two teams met in Tucson last weekend in a game that ended in dramatic fashion, as the Wildcats were down by as many as 13 points in the second half, but followed the lead of Nic Wise in a furious comeback that propelled the Cats to a 78-73 win. UCLA then proceeded to lose its following game to Arizona State, as the Bruins only managed to put up 46 points against the Sun Devils' stout zone defense. Despite the fact that UA has had UCLA's number this year, it's hard for me to envision them beating the Bruins three times in one season, and especially since UCLA is coming off of two bad losses. Ben Howland will most certainly have the Bruins ready given that he's had four days to prepare for the Cats. These two historically rich teams have a lot to play for, as winning the Pac-10 Tournament is the only way either team can make the NCAA Tournament ( Arizona has the longest NCAA Tournament appearance streak in the nation at 25). Since USC is banned from the tournament due to NCAA violations, UCLA will be the only team representing Los Angeles, and therefore will have more fans in attendance than any other team, giving them the home-court feel, which I think will help spark the Bruins to victory.

My pick- UCLA

#1 California vs #8 Oregon

This game should be an easy win for Cal, who is clearly the hottest team in the Pac-10 right now. The conference champions have won seven of their last eight games, and their margin of victory has been in double-digits for all seven of those wins. Cal also has the advantage in the fact that they will be playing an Oregon team that had to play a late overtime game less than 18 hours ago. While Oregon may have Tajuan Porter, who showed last night that he can take over a game offensively, the fact is Cal has too many weapons for most teams in the Pac-10 to handle. The Bears' big senior combination of Patrick Christopher, Jamal Boykin, Theo Robertson, and the Pac-10 Player of the Year Jerome Randle all average more than 12 points per game, and should prove to be way too much for Oregon. This should be the last game in the Ducks' season, and the last game in the Oregon coaching career of Ernie Kent.

My pick- Cal

My predictions for the late games will be coming in a couple of hours.

Trade Deadline Talk

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, and Los Angeles Clippers completed a three-way trade that sent Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair to Cleveland, Al Thornton, Zydrunas Ilgauskaus, and a 1st round pick to Washington, and Drew Gooden to Los Angeles.

This is a big move on Cleveland's part, as they are clearly doing whatever it takes to try to keep LeBron James from signing with another team this summer. By bringing in Jamison, the Cavs get a versatile 6'9 forward that averages 20.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Before they traded for Jamison, the Cavs were rumored to possibly be trading for Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns. Danny Ferry and the Cleveland management want to show LeBron that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win a title THIS season, even if it means trading away a guy in Ilgauskas who was the face of the Cavs before LeBron showed up.

On paper this looks like a great move for a Cleveland team that already has the best record in the NBA (43-11), and perhaps the best player in the game in James. But in my opinion this move may actually hurt Cleveland more than it helps them. Now you probably think I'm crazy for saying that, but let me explain my reasoning here.

I think we can all agree that Cleveland is the clear cut favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, and rightly so given the way that they have played this season. Now we can probably also agree that the team they would face should they get to the finals is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavs have beaten the Lakers twice this season, including once without their All-Star point guard Mo Williams. I think one of the main reasons why the Cavs had so much success against the Lakers is because Zydrunas Ilgauskas gave the Cavs the size to matchup with the Lakers big men, as he and Shaquille O'Neal would guard Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom is a matchup problem for any team the Lakers face, but now the Cavs just gave away one of their two seven-footers for a guy who's three inches shorter, and certainly is not as much of a presence down low.

If the Lakers and the Cavs do face each other in the finals, the Lakers will have almost every matchup to their advantage, with the exception being LeBron James and Mo Williams. Think about it, now the only true presence down low the Cavs have is Shaquille O'Neal. You can't tell me Shaq is going to play 35+ minutes in an NBA Finals game, because we all now that won't happen. He's old, and he'll get too tired if he does. In the two games against the Lakers this season, Shaq only played 22 and 28 minutes. The Lakers now have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to throw at Shaq, in addition to the 6'11 Odom who is a huge matchup problem from the start.

I'm not saying Ilgauskas was the reason why the Cavs beat the Lakers, but it certainly didn't hurt having him in the lineup. Jamison is a better scorer and rebounder on paper than Z has ever been, but you also have to consider that Jamison was the number one option on a mediocre Washington team, where as in Cleveland he could be the number three option once Mo Williams returns from his injury.

A lot of basketball experts always talk about how important team chemistry is, and how critical it is to not mess with anything when a team is rolling. The Cavs are currently on a 13-game winning streak, yet they just traded away an important piece to their team. I don't cover the Cavs and I'm not an expert, so I very well could be wrong, but I'm assuming that Ilgauskas was a great guy to have in the locker room, and that he was probably very well liked by his teammates given that he had played all of his 12 seasons in the NBA in Cleveland.

I'm not as worried about this move as other Laker fans are. The Lakers are still the team to beat, but they have clearly had problems with Cleveland this season, and that has a lot of Laker fans worried. When you really look at it, this move may have just reversed the roles and put the Lakers in the drivers seat to win another title should they face the Cavs in the finals. I could be completely wrong about all of this, but hey, only time will tell if this was the right move for Cleveland.

Dunk Contest Letdown

I'm not sure NBA in-game dunks translate well to a competition, because if that was the case then I could guarantee that Shannon Brown would have won the 2010 NBA Dunk Contest, a contest that will certainly go down as one of the worst in history. I'm not sure what went wrong with Shannon's performance. Maybe he had stage fright, or maybe he was overhyped, but one thing I don't understand is why people I'm friends with had so much hate for the Los Angeles Lakers' reserve after the contest.

For about a month and a half I had been one of many that had been hyping the movement for Shannon to be in the dunk contest. The movement simply became known as "LetShannonDunk", a website whose title states its purpose. The website got recognition shortly after its launch, as ESPN SportsCenter Anchor Robert Flores and TNT's Marv Albert and Kenny Smith gave the site shoutouts during live broadcasts. On January 18th it was announced that Shannon Brown would be a participant in the dunk contest, along with Gerald Wallace, Nate Robinson, and either DeMar DeRozan or Eric Gordon.

As soon as I found out who the other participants were, I immediately assumed Shannon would win because of one reason: he has had the best dunks of all the participants this season. From his ridiculous highlight reel poster dunk in the preseason to his dunks in which he jumps like a kangaroo , Shannon has electrified Laker fans around the world with his amazing vertical leap.

With that being said, Shannon was a huge letdown in the contest on Saturday night. Both of his dunks were subpar, at least for Shannon's standards and for dunk contest standards. His dunks were dunks that would've brought a regular season crowd to its feet, but not a crowd that was expecting to watch the best dunkers in the league.

In his first attempt, Shannon attempted a 360 Statue of Liberty, but he missed, which surprised just about everyone, including himself. He then went on to take off from the foul line area and switched from his right hand to his left hand in a dunk that scored a 38 from the judges. In his second attempt, Shannon attempted to do a double-pump dunk on an alley-oop from Kobe Bryant, but he overjumped the pass and had to settle for a left handed slam that scored a 40.

So after all of the hype and all of the expectations people had for Shannon, he didn't even make it out of the first round. Was I disappointed? Absolutely. I truly believed Shannon was going to win the contest, especially after he said a couple of weeks ago that he had some special ideas up his sleeve. But you know what? It's not the end of the world. At the end of the day the only thing I and other Laker fans hope to see Shannon do is help the Lakers win another NBA Championship. This is an obvious statement, but I'd rather see Shannon sport another ring than hoist up a slam dunk contest trophy any day of the week

I was amused over the fact that some people I go to school with thought I'd be heartbroken if Shannon didn't win the contest. A perfect example of this is with the sports director of the Blaze. He put the following on his twitter a few minutes after Shannon was eliminated: "The NBA wishes they never LetShannonDunk. He really let down his fans who supported his campaign." I found that funny because he only has 27 followers, none of whom are Laker fans other than me. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he wouldn't even know what LetShannonDunk was if he hadn't seen my tweets, so why not just joke around to my face as opposed to try to mock me indirectly?

I also heard from a friend that someone was rooting for anyone other than Shannon for the simple fact that he did not want to hear me "shoving it in everyone's face" had Shannon won. I love the fact that people know I'm a dedicated Laker fan, but come on I really wouldn't be doing much trash talking if Shannon Brown had won a dunk contest. It would have been great had it happened, but all I care about is the Lakers winning another title. Like I said before, I still believe Shannon Brown is the best in-game dunker out of the four that participated in the contest. In-game dunks may just not translate well to a competition.

One final word for those reading this: the guy who launched LetShannonDunk.com is an ASU alum, and is a friend of mine. So I hope all you morons from ASU that were mocking LetShannonDunk take that into consideration after reading this.

Second Semester

I told all of you in one of my final posts in 2009 that I would do my best to avoid month long breaks in between posts, and I apologize because I haven't lived up to that promise yet. This is my first post of 2010, so now I really mean it when I say that I will not go another month without updating this blog.

Second semester at ASU is underway, and I've had about three weeks to get adjusted to my new schedule and classes. I'm already a lot busier than I was last semester, and I'm not at my apartment nearly as much as I was in the fall. I'm writing this and listening to ESPN Radio in an edit bay on the third floor of the Cronkite School. I'll give you a little rundown of my day to day schedule so you can see what I'm up to as I did in first semester.

Monday's and Wednesday's

11:00 a.m.- I wake up, take a shower, eat some lunch, and do any homework that I forgot to do the night before, or was just too lazy to do. I'm up at 7 a.m. on Tuesday's and Thursday's, so that's why I sleep late on Monday's and Wednesday's. (I'm 20 years old, I need my rest, so cut me come slack)

1:00 p.m.- I board the shuttle headed from Tempe to Downtown Phoenix. It's about a 20 minute drive and there's usually a lot of people on the bus. There's always a person on his or her cell phone the entire ride, or a group of people talking very loud, so I pop in my Ipod touch and enjoy my playlist of Lil' Wayne and other rap artists.

1:30 p.m.- I arrive at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and usually stop at the local Starbucks for a few minutes before I start my first class.

2:00 p.m.- First class of the day: Spanish Conversation and Composition. This class is very similar to the Spanish 5 class I took in my senior year of high school, the only difference is that my professor is very attractive, so it's safe to say that I enjoy all of the hour and 15 minutes of class time.

3:15 p.m.- Class is over and I have a break until 6:20 p.m. I usually go up to the third floor of the Cronkite building and hang out in one of the edit bays, kind of like what I'm doing at this very moment. I catch up on 24 and other T.V. shows I missed, in addition to listening to LA Sports Live and the Mason and Ireland Show on 710 ESPN.

6:20 p.m.- Final class of the day: Videography. Interesting class, as I'm learning how to shoot video packages. We're learning the basics of filming since we're just starting, but we get to use very nice equipment and my professor is a videographer for Fox, so he knows what he's doing.

8:30 p.m.- Done with classes, and I get on the shuttle headed back to Tempe. I spend the remainder of the night hanging out at my apartment.

Tuesday's

7:00 a.m.- Wake up bright and early for morning class.

8:00 a.m.- On the shuttle headed back downtown, and instead of listening to my Ipod on the way, I take a 20 minute nap.

9:00 a.m.- First class of the day: World Literature. The only reason why I'm taking this class is because the professor who teaches it is the same professor I had for an English class last year. She's very easy, so I think it's safe for me to guarantee that I will get an A in this class.

10:15 a.m. Done with class, and I've got about an hour and a half break. During this time I watch a replay WWE Monday Night Raw online, since I usually don't get to watch it live since my roomates are wrestling haters.

12:00 p.m.- Final class of the day: Political Science. I'm really not into politics, so maybe this class will change my ways and I'll be motivated to pay more attention once I'm done with the class? (Psh, who am I kidding, I still won't care about politics after this class, the only reason why I'm taking it is because it's a required course.)

1:15 p.m.- Done with class for the day, on the shuttle back to Tempe.

4:15 p.m.- I arrive at the Blaze studios, and get ready for an on-air update that I do at 4:30.

5:00 p.m.- Update is done, and now I'm on-the-air for The Squared Circle, one of my two radio shows I do at the Blaze. The Squared Circle is a wrestling show, where me and my co-hosts discuss the latest news and events in the world of the WWE. Now I know you probably think that an on-air show about wrestling is a joke, but it gives me practice and let's face it, if I can talk about wrestling for an hour, then I can probably talk about anything.

6:00 p.m.- The Squared Circle is done, and now I have an hour break before I go on-the-air for The Sports Lounge. I'm hungry, so I go right across the street to the best burger joint in Tempe, The Chuckbox. I get my bacon cheeseburger and onion rings, and then head back to the Blaze to do some prep work.

7:00p.m.- I'm on-the-air for The Sports Lounge, and unlike the Squared Circle, we talk about real sports.

8:00 p.m.- Sports Lounge is done, and I head back to my apartment for the remainder of the night.

Thursday's- Same schedule as Tuesday's, except I don't have my radio shows in the afternoon/evening. My roomates and I have a tradition to go to Buffalo Wild Wings every Thursday night. We all order 24 boneless wings, eat as much as we can, and then bring the rest back as leftovers. Thursday nights also mark the beginning of the weekend for me, since I don't have any classes on Friday's.

Friday-Sunday consists of my roomates and I watching a lot of sports, catching up on sleep, and going to parties. I'm having a blast with second semester thus far, I'll keep you posted as the semester progresses.

Don't want to wait for my new posts? Then check out my twitter and become a follower to see what I'm up to on a daily basis.