World Cup Preview

Group A: 

1. Brazil, 9 points 

2. Mexico, 4 points 

3. Cameroon, 2 points 

4. Croatia, 1 point 

Group B: 

1. Spain, 7 points 

2. Chile, 3 points 

3. Australia, 2 points 

4. Netherlands, 2 points 

Group C: 

1. Columbia, 7 points 

2. Ivory Coast, 5 points 

3. Japan, 4 points 

4. Greece, 0 points 

Group D: 

1. Italy, 5 points 

2. England, 5 points

3. Costa Rica, 3 points 

4. Uruguay, 2 points 

Group E: 

1. Ecuador, 5 points 

2. Switzerland 4 points 

3. Honduras, 3 points 

4. France, 2 points 

Group F: 

1. Argentina, 9 points

2. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 4 points 

3. Nigeria, 4 points 

4. Iran, 0 points 

Group G: 

1. Germany, 7 points 

2. Ghana, 7 points 

3. Portugal, 1 point 

4. United States, 1 point 

Group H: 

1. Belgium, 7 points 

2. Algeria, 4 points 

3. South Korea, 2 points 

4. Russia, 2 points 

Round of 16 

Brazil 3-2 Chile 

Columbia 2-0 England 

Ecuador 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 

Germany 4-1 Algeria 

Spain 2-1 Mexico 

Italy 2-2 Ivory Coast (Italy 5-4 on Penalty Kick's) 

Switzerland 2-1 Argentina 

Ghana 2-0 Belgium 

Quarterfinals 

Brazil 3-2 Columbia 

Germany 2-0 Ecuador 

Italy 2-1 Spain 

Ghana 3-0 Switzerland 

Semifinals 

Germany 1-0 Brazil

Ghana 3-2 Italy 

Final 

Ghana 1-0 Germany 

NBA Finals Preview

We finally know which two teams will be in the NBA Finals, which begin on Thursday, June 5th. It will be a rematch of last year's Finals, in which the East's Miami Heat just barely defeated the West's San Antonio Spurs, coming back from down 3-2 and a 5-point deficit with 28 seconds left in Game 6. Now, the Heat are looking for a third straight title, and the Spurs are looking for revenge.

Miami Heat 

The Journey 

The Miami Heat began the year as the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. They seemed to have greatly improved themselves in free agency by signing Forward Michael Beasley and Center Greg Oden, two players who were thought to have a chance to make significant contributions off the bench. But the two averaged just 9.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in the 24.3 minutes combined to play per game. Worse than that for the team, semi-star Dwayne Wade missed 28 of the team's regular season games with injury. They were also one of the oldest team's in the league, and many people questioned whether or not they would be fresh enough to win the Eastern Conference for a third-straight year. Miami finished the season a measly 11-14, including a three-game losing streak to end the season which prevented them from getting the East's coveted #1 seed. However, they showed no signs of fatigue once the playoffs rolled around, sweeping the #7 seeded Charlotte Bobcats [who later changed their team name to the Charlotte Hornets] in 4 games, with superstar Lebron James averaging averaging 30 points per game. In the second round, it seemed they would face a formidable challenge against the Brooklyn Nets, whom they lost 4-0 to in the season series. Before the season, it was mused that the Nets could potentially upset Miami should they meet in Round Two of the playoffs. But Miami's biggest weakness is their lack of interior defense, and the Nets' best post-player, Brook Lopez, missed the series due to a broken foot. The Heat won both games by an average of 16.5 points. Traveling to Brooklyn for games 2 and 3, the Nets finally broke through and won Game 3 104-90 thanks to a team effort in which six Brooklyn players scored in double-digits. Game 4 would also be played in Brooklyn, and the Nets would have a chance to tie things up with the defending-champs. But it did not happen, as James scored a playoff-high 49 points in a 102-96 victory, which made up for the fact that the rest of the team scored just 53 points combined. The Heat managed to edge out the Nets in Game 5 96-94, despite 34 points from Brooklyn Guard Joe Johnson, to close out the series. Then, came the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers were no strangers to Miami, they'd been the team that eliminated Indiana in the past two seasons. in the Conference Semifinals in 2012, and in a thrilling 7 game series in the Conference Finals in 2014. After Dwayne Wade missed so much time with health issues, and Indiana Forward Paul George blossomed into a potential MVP candidate, the Pacers felt like this was the year they would overtake the Heat. And they certainly played like it in Game 1. Six Pacers players scored in double digits, and Indiana shot 50 percent from the field en route to a 107-96 Game 1 victory. But the Heat came storming back in Game 2 behind 22 points from James and 23 points from Wade to tie the series 1-1 with an 87-83 win. As the series headed to Miami for an important Game 3, it was announced that Pacers star Paul George  had suffered a concussion due to a play in which Dwayne Wade's knee hit his head. He did play in Game 3, however, he was not himself and shot just 5-of-13 from the field as the Heat won commandingly, 99-87, to take a 2-1 series lead, making Game 4 virtual must-win for Indiana. They did not answer. James and Center/Forward Chris Bosh combined for 57 points and Indiana Center Roy Hibbert, Miami's supposed "kryptonite," was held scoreless. The Pacers did manage to win Game 5, but it was too late. The Heat destroyed Indiana 117-92 in a closeout Game 6, at one point winning by as many as 40 [40!!!] points against the 56-26 Pacers. Now, they've established themselves as the best team in the East, and will look to win their third title in three years. Standing in there way…

San Antonio Spurs 

The Journey 

The San Antonio Spurs have been one of the best team's in the league for a long time, but they have not enjoyed the spotlight as much as the more glamorous Lakers or Celtics. They've won 4 championships under Head Coach Gregg Popovich, and now he's looking for a fifth. After a crushingly heartbreaking loss to the Miami Heat in last year's NBA Finals, San Antonio kept intact the same core, a core that continues to defy what we think of aging players. Star Tim Duncan is 38, semi-star Manu Ginobli is 36, role-player Matt Bonner is 34, and star Tony Parker is young at 32. The Spurs are the first team in NBA history to claim the best regular-season record despite not playing any players more than 30 minutes per game. That's a main reason why this team continues to contend every year, Popovich doesn't overwork his guys, and often lets them skip the second game of back-to-back games, citing an "injury" that is not really there. It also helps when you have one of the best bench-units in the league. Forwards Boris Diaw and Marco Belinelli, and Center Matt Bonner all average over 40 percent shooting from three-point range. Guards Patty Mills and Manu Ginobli average a combined 22.5 points per game to lead the backcourt off the bench. The Spurs have a large collection of players that can go out and give you 30 minutes of good basketball, and overall the San Antonio is an incredibly efficient team, with five players shooting over 50 percent from the field. Although the Oklahoma City Thunder are a much younger team than the Spurs, a 19-game winning streak towards the end of the season helped them earn the #1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, it seemed the Spurs would easily be able to beat the washed-up Dallas Mavericks, who had the #8 seed and a 49-33 record. After narrowly defeating Dallas 90-85 in Game 1 with 27 points and 7 rebounds being provided by Tim "The Big Fundamental" Duncan, San Antonio dropped the next game to the Mavericks 113-92, despite the 27 points poured in by Manu Ginobli. Heading to Dallas for Game 3, the Spurs narrowly lost a heartbreaker, 109-108. The sky was supposedly falling in San Antonio, but then the Spurs came back and just barely beat Dallas, 93-89. They won Game 5 109-103, before losing 113-111 Game 6. That set up a crucial deciding Game 7. But it was not as close as some thought it might be, San Antonio led 35-23 at the end of the 1st quarter, and 68-46 at halftime. They handily defeated the #5 seeded Portland Trailblazers in 5 games in the Conference Semifinals. They beat the rival Thunder in Games 1 and 2 of the Conference Finals by an average of 26 points, then traveled to Oklahoma City and lost Games 3 and 4 by an average of 11 points. They closed out OKC easily though winning Games 6 and 7 by an average of 16.5 points to seal their ticket to a second-straight Finals and a rematch with the Miami Heat. 

Match-ups 

Backcourt 

The Heat have an above-average backcourt led by Mario Chalmers and Dwayne Wade. However, Wade missed 28 games with a knee injury, and Chalmers has taken a step back from last year. Meanwhile, Tony Parker and Danny Green of the Spurs have been playing just as good if not better than last year. It will be an interesting matchup here, and it will be necessary for Chalmers to cancel out Green, who can get hot from three-point range at any time. Wade versus Parker will also be interesting. Parker is instrumental in orchestrating San Antonio's offense, while Wade is a dominant off-the-ball scorer. If they cancel each other out, the advantage will most definitely go to the Heat, since Parker is San Antonio's leading scorer. But it probably won't be enough. Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh are the three most consistent scorers on this Heat team, and no one else can consistently put up big numbers. If San Antonio took away one of the Heat's top scorers, at the expense of giving backup Point Guard Patty Mills more points, they would happily do that. 

Frontcourt 

This is also an interesting matchup. The Heat have arguably the best frontcourt in the NBA with Lebron James, Udonis Haslem/Shane Battier/Rashard Lewis, and Chris Bosh. The Spurs, too, have a great frontcourt trio of Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, and Tiago Splitter. Leonard is an excellent defender, and was recently named to the All-NBA First Defensive Team. He could potentially disrupt Lebron James' offensive game, as he did inconsistently give James headaches in last year's Finals. This year, the 22-year old is a year older and a year better. In order for the Heat to win this series, James will have to average at least 30 points per game, with more than one 40-point explosion. And on the other side, the Heat have no answer for Tim Duncan, the greatest Power Forward in NBA history. Though Lebron James' mystique gives the Heat the slight edge in this category, it should be very close. 

Bench 

The Spurs have one of the best bench-units in the NBA, with Guards Patty Mills, Manu Ginobli, and Cory Joseph, Forwards Marco Belinelli, Aron Bynes, and Boris Diaw, and Centers Tiago Splitter, Jeff Ayres, and Matt Bonner. The Heat also have a deep bench, but as I elaborated on earlier, San Antonio has the best bench in the league. 

Coaching

C'mon, we all know who the better coach is. Miami's Erik Spoelstra is a good coach, but San Antonio's Gregg Popovich is the greatest coach in NBA history. 

Overall this should be a great series. But I see the Spurs winning the rematch. Danny Green gets hot, and Lebron James struggles as San Antonio wins Game 1. 

Series Prediction: Spurs in Six 

Game 1 Prediction: Spurs 109-102 Heat 

  

The Pacers offseason to-do-list

Another lost season, another lost cause. After getting BLOWN OUT by the Miami Heat 117-92, a game in which they were down by as many as 40 points, the Indiana Pacers will be headed home in the Conference Finals again, and this is the third straight year that they were eliminated by the Heat. One thing I don't quite get, though, (besides the Pacers absolute lack of effort,) is the headline on espn.com. It reads: "For a third straight year, Miami ended Indiana's season. Friday's blowout also signaled an end to the rivalry."

What?!?! The Indiana Pacers are NOT just going to fade away and wither. Maybe they would if they had an average team President. But they don't have an average President, they have Larry Legend, the greatest Small Forward of All-Time, and also one of the greatest basketball minds of All-Time. He's the one that drafted Paul George and Lance Stephenson. He's the one that signed David West. He is the person that keeps this team relevant. 

Without him, even in today's weak Eastern Conference, the Pacers would likely be lottery-bound. But The Legend has an interesting predicament here. There's no way the Pacers are beating the Heat with their current core unless they improve their offensive game, and they also MUST improve their bench which is deprived of everything but frustration. Does he keep Lance Stephenson, the annoying hothead, who sometimes can't control himself?

If I were Larry Bird, I would think long and hard about whether or not to keep Stephenson. He's a good player and has potential, as witnessed by his incredulously frustrating inconsistency and occasional dominance, but is he worth $8-12 million dollars a year? That would definitely hinder what they can do to their bench. 

Also, right before the start of the playoffs, a story broke that Stephenson and 6th Man Evan Turner, (who is supposedly the "insurance" in case they can't re-sign Stephenson, even though Turner was benched in the Conference Finals,) got into a practice-floor fistfight. As in, a brawl. This sounds dangerously like the former Ron Artest, and as the Pacers have learned from past experiences, that kind of guy on a playoff-team never works out. Especially when he's the star.

There is also the matter of Roy Hibbert. He had an outstanding first half of the season, being one of the best Center's in the league, but then, in the second half of the season and the playoffs, Hibbert was frustratingly ineffective. He did have a few monster games (Game 2 against the Wizards and Game 1 against the Heat,) but besides that, he played like a bench-warmer, and had 5 games in which he was scoreless, which SHOULD NOT happen to an All-Star who makes $15 million dollars a year. The Legend is going to have to decide whether to keep Hibbert or look to trade him.

Then, there are two more things. 

One, George Hill. He is actually a pretty effective 6th Man, at SHOOTING GUARD. Unfortunately, the Pacers have Hill in the starting lineup and at POINT GUARD, a position he cannot play efficiently, since he is not a great ball-handler. What Indiana really needs is a true Point Guard, but they may not have the cap-space to sign one in free agency, and don't have many assets with which to acquire one in a trade.

The other thing is, of course, the infamously, mediocrely deflated bench. Basically, what Indiana needs to do is completely rebuild the bench, from the ground up. A full rebuild is needed when it comes to the bench. 

Why Paul George Could One Day Be A Top-Two Player

Watching Paul George play, if you're a Pacers fan, is excruciatingly frustrating. You see, George often mistakes himself for Lebron James. When he does so he starts to delve into 1-on-1 isolation plays on offense, but when guarded by James, and already being just an average shooter, George will take many mid-range jump-shots that clank off the rim and into the hands of an obliged and waiting Heat player.

One day, George may be near the level James is at offensively. He may get there...one day. But it is not his time yet. He is just a young 24-years old, still not fully equipped with the skill and stamina it takes to guard the best player in the world almost every possession, and carry the bulk of the offensive burden.

We could say, George is just a younger Rudy Gay. But that would not be accurate. Rudy Gay was an inefficient shooter, just like George currently is. But, Rudy was also always known (and rightfully so) for being an inexplicably bad defender. That is not the case with George, one of the best defenders in today's game, despite his youth.

Rather, George is more of a rich man's Kawhi Leonard. They are both lockdown defenders, and are both inconsistent, though good, shooters. The most frustrating thing with George though, is not all the Rudy Gay type isolation monstrosities he shoots. 

No, it is that George will occasionally and randomly rip off a Lebron-esque hot-streak where he simply cannot miss a shot. We saw one of those random outbursts in Game 5 against Miami, when he scored 21 of his 37 points in the 4th quarter. That's the most points in the 4th quarter of a playoff game since a guy named Reggie Miller. You know, that guy that is one of the 10 greatest NBA players of All-Time? 

We saw a hot-streak from George similar to the one in Game 5 against the Heat (though not as spectacular), in Game 4 against the Wizards during Round Two of this year's playoffs. When George caught fire and started hitting those jump-shots that he normally misses, you just knew there was no way Indiana was losing that game. 

The challenge for George as his promising career continues to unfold dramatically, is if he can sustain those runs of excellence, and if he can exude them consistently. Because if he improves his offensive game, the sky is the limit. 

Lance's World, II

                  I got it, coach.

All-NBA Team Picks

1st Team 

Guard, Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)

Guard, Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)

Forward, Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) 

Forward, Lebron James (Miami Heat) 

Center, Joakim Noah (Chicago Bulls)

2nd Team 

Guard, James Harden (Houston Rockets) 

Guard, Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns) 

Forward, Paul George (Indiana Pacers) 

Forward, Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers) 

Center, Roy Hibbert (Indiana Pacers) 

3rd team 

Guard, Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)

Guard, John Wall (Washington Wizards)

Forward, Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)

Forward, Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) 

Center, Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets) 

All-Rookie Team 

Guard, Victor Oladipo (Orlando Magic)

Guard, Michael Carter-Williams (Philadelphia 76ers) 

Forward, Giannis Antetukuempo (Milwaukee Bucks) 

Forward, Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets)

Center, Gorgieu Deng (Minnesota Timberwolves) 

All-Defensive Team 

Guard, Tony Allen (Memphis Grizzliies)

Guard, Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls)

Forward, Paul George (Indiana Pacers) 

Forward, Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs) 

Center, Roy Hibbert (Indiana Pacers) 

Lance's World

If Paul George doesn't play on Saturday against the Heat (concussion), there's almost no way the Pacers can win.

Almost. 

I know what you're probably thinking: "How could they possibly win without Paul George, their best player?" I've got two words for you: Lance. Stephenson.

I wrote an article about the hot-headed Indiana Guard's transformation from bench-warmer to X-factor, which you can find here (link).

Right now, the Pacers' slogan is: "In Lance we trust." That's what really scares me. Last year Lance was an inconsistent, though still solid, starter for this Indiana team. Now? He's carrying the burden of not only stopping one of the most explosive scorers the game has ever seen, but also with the load of carrying the offense. 

You see, last year, when Lance played well Indiana mostly won, but even if Lance had a bad game they could still win. That is most certainly no longer the case. Even if Paul George plays, and plays well, there's no way the Pacers can survive if Lance gives them two klunkers in games 3 and 4. But Lance is different than your average inconsistent young Guard.

Because when he's at his best, he's on the same level as Lebron James and Kevin Durant. He's just never sustained it for a full game, let alone multiple games. The only way I could see the Pacers winning game 3 or 4 if George is out, is if Lance finds a way to sustain those unique outburst of excellence that he inconsistently exudes and takes the team on his back to put up 40-60 points and spur the team on until George gets back. 

The terrifying thing for Pacers fans is that Lance is arguably the most unpredictable player in the NBA. He could game out in Game 3 and go off for 60 points, or score 0 points and shoot 0-for-12 from the field. At this point, neither one of those would surprise me. As scary as it is to Pacers fans, this is Lance's game, and he's going to be the deciding factor as to whether or not Indy will go back home tied up at 2-2, or down 3-1.

It's all on Lance Stephenson. And as I've learned through his frustrating inconsistency, the only person that can stop Lance Stephenson is Lance Stephenson.