Thoughts on the first weekend of NBA Playoffs!

So the first weekend of NBA Playoffs went down, and there is much to talk about.  I have no witty opening since I am a little fired up, so I’m just going to get right to it.

Let’s start with Bulls-Nets since Derrick Rose’s ACL injury put me in such a depression I gave up blogging the entire season.  Rose has now become the source of a great controversy surrounding the Bulls as many are upset he has not returned from his injury yet, and likely won’t this season.  People are questioning Rose’s heart and toughness and trying to make him look like a bad guy because he has been cleared by doctors to play for months but won’t come back.

Call me crazy, but I feel like there is more to a return from a major injury than simply being told by doctor’s that structurally you are good to go.  If he isn’t comfortable then he isn’t comfortable.  Players like LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony have defended Rose’s decisions thus far, and you haven’t heard anything about the organization being furious with him for not playing, and his teammates all stand by him.  You only really hear the shit talking coming from fair-weather fans and idiots.

The Bulls didn’t re-sign Rose to win a title in 2013, the Bulls re-signed him to contend for years to come since he is an amazing basketball talent and if you have to sacrifice one whole season for him to come back strong then so be it.  But frontrunners seem to know what’s right for the Bulls and Rose and feel he is a dirt bag because he isn’t playing right now.  I am only mad that they would not announce Rose is out for the year months ago since they knew it all along.  I am not mad he is missing time.  Screw it, they can win next year or the year after.  I would much rather Rose take the time to get comfortable than come back too soon, a decision basically everybody but people who don’t know anything about anything sympathize with.

People are saying Rose isn’t tough and doesn’t have heart, but if you stop and think for a minute you would realize that makes no sense.  The only reason LeBron James isn’t about to win a fifth straight MVP is because Rose played out of his mind two years ago.  Fair-weather fans and idiots have short memories and now think Rose was overrated this whole time, but he was a death dealer in 2010-11 and nobody should forget it.  Then in the playoffs he badly sprained his ankle against the Pacers but kept playing and took a beating every night all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Then the next season he was nursing injuries to his back, his groin, basically his entire body.  He pushed himself hard to come back and try to win the championship, but he has no heart?  He ended up tearing his ACL because of that.  That’s a major injury, and just because Adrian Peterson could come back quick and be successful that doesn’t mean Derrick Rose is ready.  Maybe it comes from the fact I enjoy fighters like Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, but I recognize patience is extremely important and right now isn’t as important as setting up for the future.  Who is the motherfucker who has delivered again and again in big games for the Bulls and said he wants to lead them into the future?  I’ve never had reason to doubt Rose before, and just because the Bulls won’t win a championship this season I am not about to start doubting him.

So the moral of the story in terms of Bulls-Nets is that the Bulls are fucking terrible and are going to lose in six games, and I don’t feel bad that Rose won’t be playing.  Noah’s hurt, Hinrich’s hurt, Hamilton’s a walking injury, Gibson’s hurt, Deng is drained from too many minutes yet again.  Yes, the next part of Rose’s rehab is to play in a game, but if he isn’t comfortable then why rush him back to take part in the ass kicking they are going to be dealt for the next week?  And the Nets are just going to get beaten by Miami next round anyways so I won’t even bother discussing them.

The Nuggets-Warriors game was pretty wild.  Last year the Nuggets were on pace to set the world on fire until everybody got injured.  They were ready to set everybody on fire this year but things looked bad once Danilo Gallinari went down with a torn ACL and Kenneth Faried got hurt.  But the beauty of the Nuggets is that they play an amazing team game.  The Nuggets could very well make it to the Finals.  They are that good even without a superstar to lead the way.  Ty Lawson is filthy, Andre Iguodala is solid, and Andre Miller is still good.

Miller, at the age of about 867, drained the game winner with 1.3 second left to give the Nuggets the victory in Game 1.  The 37-year-old has missed six games in his entire career, and has overcome his strange Smokey Robinson voice to become one of the most reliable players of the era.  Speaking of reliability, the Warriors were dealt some damage when David Lee suffered a torn hip flexor and had to leave the game.  Lee got a whole lotta money, never really played up to it until this year, and now he goes down with an injury.  That’s a big problem for Golden State as they need all the help they can get against the amazing team game of Denver.  I figured the Nuggets could handle them before, but now with Lee out it seems like Denver just got a much easier road to the second round.

I thought I wanted to see the Knicks make it out of the East until I saw Game 1 of their series with the Celtics.  In life there are few things I hate more than the Madison Square Garden crowd.  Spike Lee is a douche, and Knicks fans suck at life.  Now that the Knicks are good, there are a lot of obnoxious frontrunners afoot.  The Garden crowd acts like their team is the best team in the universe when they are winning, then boos the team off the floor when they aren’t playing well.  Now all of a sudden they have “real” fans because they are good but you know if they get eliminated by Miami in Game 6 of the Conference Finals the Garden crowd will be booing their own players because they are morons.

Boston has had a nice run after losing Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL a few months back, but this is where the run ends.  They are a solid defensive team, but their offense is only slightly less ugly than that of the Bulls.  Even if Carmelo Anthony decides against passing and keeps shooting terribly, it will be enough to carry the Knicks since Pierce and Garnett might be cooked.  And Jason Terry was a waste of a signing.  Thanks for that amazing 0-5 performance, Jet!  Jeff Green can play his ass off in the first half all he wants, but the Knicks have too many weapons on offense and the Celtics don’t have anything.  These teams are fairly evenly matched defensively, but down the stretch in a close game New York will kill them because of weapons like Anthony and JR Smith, and that is what happened on Saturday.

The Clippers-Grizzlies series has me torn.  On one hand, I really like the Grizzlies.  I thought they would be the team to beat in the West since they play such solid defense and a good team game.  I love the Gasol-Randolph team down low, I love that they have Tayshaun Prince now, I love that Jerryd Bayless cut his hair and grew a beard and looks like Carlos Boozer.  The Grizzlies are a tough, solid team.  On the other hand, I love the Clippers.  Chris Paul is the best point guard in the league, Blake Griffin is an animal, Chauncey Billups is a good man, but Vinny Del Negro is their coach.  It will be a very entertaining series, but ultimately the Clips may pull this one out somehow.  I hope I don’t miss any games from this one.

The Hawks-Pacers series is the most uninteresting series I could ever think of.  Two teams I can’t stand in one place.  I will not talk about this further.

The Heat-Bucks series will be a source of great comedy on a game-by-game basis since Milwaukee guard Brandon Jennings said they would defeat the Heat in six games.  There isn’t much to say about this series since the Bucks are completely overmatched and will get swept.  But at least Brandon Jennings makes funnies.

I was excited for the Thunder-Rockets series until the first few minutes of last night’s game.  I stepped out of the room and missed the first few minutes of the game and walked in to see the score was 13-2 and the Rockets had not hit a field goal.  Granted it was still early, but that said everything I needed to know about the series.  The Rockets have an exciting young team, but the Thunder have been possessed all season.  Houston just doesn’t have enough to stop OKC.  Maybe they can win a game in Houston, but really the Thunder are going to jack them up since too much Houston offense revolves around James Harden isolations and missed threes.

And the last series, the best series, is the LA Lakers vs. the San Antonio Spurs. 10 years ago this would be a showdown of the West’s superpowers.  This year, it is the hobbled Lakers meeting a determined Spurs squad playing like this is their last time out.  Mike D’Antoni, so stubborn in his ways, is the reason Kobe Bryant is out.  You can’t play a guy who has 20 seasons worth the wear and tear on his body (17 seasons plus post-season and Team USA stuff) for over 40 minutes a night and rely on him to do everything.  That was how D’Antoni approached the home stretch of the season and it cost the Lakers dearly.   Steve Nash isn’t 100% and D’Antoni’s defenseless approach to the game is only going to make things worse.

The Spurs made D’Antoni’s life a living hell for most of the 2000s, and it is happening again.  Tim Duncan is playing like it is 2003 again and all signs point to this being his last run.  I have written here before about how Tim Duncan is an amazing talent, and this season only reaffirmed those statements.  He has elevated his game yet again and the Spurs are poised to dominate.  LA is a mess with no depth and no defense, so they may not have a good shot against the Spurs juggernaut.

That is it for the weekend’s games.  I will try to talk some trash about the other games this week at some point.

WrestleMania 29 Thoughts and Predictions!

We are just days away from WrestleMania 29! With three predictable main events on tap, WWE is either headed for a completely mediocre show or they might surprise us all and do some totally unexpected things. There is a lot to say, so I’m just going to get right to it.

THE UNDERCARD

Pre-Show Match – Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs. The Miz:
There is absolutely no point in having this match other than giving these guys something to do and having a match on the pre-show. Winner: Wade Barrett I guess? But they are high on Miz now. It doesn’t matter, if this match was so important it would have made the pay per view.

Chris Jericho vs. Fandango:
Fandango’s gimmick is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen: a dancer who is angry that people don’t say his name right. Luckily Chris Jericho is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and can carry anybody to a good match and make them look good. I’ve heard Fandango is a pretty good worker so even though this match will be short it will probably be solid. Jericho is my favorite wrestler of all time so it makes be sad, but his returns are all about making the new generation look good so very likely no surprises here. Winner: Fandango

Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls vs. Team Rhodes Scholars and the Bella Twins:
An 8-person mixed-tag with the idiotic pairing of Tensai and Brodus Clay with their dancers Cameron and Naomi against one of the best tag teams WWE has and the Bella Twins. Tensai used to be Albert, then A-Train and is one of my least favorite wrestlers ever. This match is going to be like 6 minutes long and I couldn’t care any less about it. This will be a definite “check how your fantasy baseball and basketball teams are doing” match. Winner: Team Rhodes Scholars

Ryback vs. Mark Henry:
This is going to be the worst match of the night easily, and only the second worst thing we will see behind Diddy’s musical performance. They will try real hard and in a video game this would be the sickest match ever since they could just smash shit. That won’t be how it goes down in real life. There will be some power moves, Ryback will try to lift Henry for Shellshock and will probably botch it and we’ll hear Cole be like, “Did he get all of it? I think he got all of it!” to make it not sound bad. Winner: Ryback

WWE Tag Team Champions Kane and Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler and Big E. Langston:
I would have figured Team Hell No would be broken up by now and Kane and Bryan would be going head-to-head at this show. But since they’re still together, I don’t see why Ziggler and Big E. would win the belts from them unless Ziggler would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase later in the night and walk out a double champion. I feel like if Ziggler and Langston win, it is because Team Hell No implodes, and if that happens then who do the new champs feud with? Tensai and Brodus Clay? I can’t imagine them sticking Ziggler in a situation like that when he seems ready for a big push. I see some New Years Revolution 2006 stuff happening here as Ziggler won’t care about losing since he has bigger things on his mind. I am excited to see Ziggler and Bryan working with each other at WrestleMania, though. That should be pretty exciting. Winner: Kane and Daniel Bryan

The Shield vs. Sheamus, Randy Orton, and Big Show:
This should be a pretty entertaining brawl, as all of The Shield’s matches thus far have been. There have been rumors of an Orton heel turn for a while so maybe this is where we finally see it go down, not necessarily as part of The Shield since that would be corny, but maybe they lose and he freaks out. This is one of the matches I am most excited for, and if somebody told me I’d be saying that about a match involving Orton and Big Show I would never have believed it. The Shield has been so entertaining and their hot run isn’t over yet, but more on that later. Winner: The Shield.

THE MAIN EVENTS
For these I will talk about what should happen and what probably will happen since three of the big four matches look mighty predictable and I want to play arm chair booker for a minute here.

World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger:
This match will be good but it is kind of a drag since the WHC is pretty much a secondary belt. It was defended in 18 seconds at last year’s Mania so excuse me if I don’t group it in with the magnitude of the other three remaining bouts. But as for the match itself, yikes man. Swagger’s evil, immigrant-hating, jingoist character is supposed to make him be a super heel, but Del Rio’s run as a face as gotten so stale so quickly people are actually cheering for Swagger some nights. This will probably be one of the better matches of the night since they are both good workers, but I wonder how much the crowd will really care. And with Swagger not getting punished for his DUI I am kind of bummed he still gets such a big match.

What should happen: Swagger should win and get his punishment for the DUI in the form of a shortened title reign when Dolph Ziggler cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase and becomes World Champion.

What probably will happen: Swagger will get his punishment for the DUI in the form of a shortened title reign when Dolph Ziggler cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase and becomes World Champion. WWE has been hesitant to pull the trigger on Ziggler for a while, but he got a big win over Cena at TLC in December, lasted the longest in the Rumble, and now is the time to go for it.

Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar, No Holds Barred and if Triple H loses he must retire:
Rant time. I go through phases where I love or hate Triple H, and right now is one of those times I can’t stand him at all. In the time that I have watched wrestling, I’ve seen Trips put people down way more than I’ve seen him put them over. Yes, he can work a great match when you need it but Jim Cornette basically said all that needs to be said about him.  It would make perfect sense for Lesnar to win since he is 1-1 in his return and a victory here would allow him to easily enter into more main events going forward. However, since Lesnar got the win at SummerSlam last year and Trips has his career on the line, I don’t see him putting Lesnar over again.

Lesnar needs to win so he is easier to book as an animal. That loss to Cena in his return match was idiotic and that makes me think they won't know how to book him here either. The man was the UFC’s biggest PPV draw and has drawn big for WWE in his return. But we run into a problem. Anybody who acts like aside from putting over Benoit, Batista, and Shelton Benjamin that Triple H doesn’t shit all over people is living a lie since Booker T, RVD, Goldberg, and Cena all were made to look like fools against Trips. Sure Cena got the win at Mania but only after Triple H mocked his wrestling ability and made him look bad. Even Punk had to job to him two years ago despite Triple H not being a full-time guy anymore. He mocked Chris Masters for failing a Wellness test for no reason, and even kicked Wade Barrett in the nuts two weeks ago on Raw just to make himself look like a beast for no reason at all. There is no reason for Triple H to win, which means he probably will win. However, let me just toss in that this or the next match is way more deserving of the final spot on the card than the real main event.

What should happen: A Lesnar victory. You can’t keep booking somebody as a destroyer if he loses more than he wins. Triple H is moving into the front office, and a win here does nothing for him it only hurts Lesnar.

What will happen: HBK, Stephanie McMahon, and Vince McMahon will beat up on Paul Heyman and Triple H will win.

CM Punk vs. The Undertaker, Undertaker looks to go 21-0 at WrestleMania:
This will be one of Undertaker’s last matches, if not his last match. They were unsure if he would even be able to work this show, and the last couple years his matches have involved a lot of laying around tired. I don’t think he was selling a beating from Triple H two years ago, I think they just had him lay around and get smashed with a chair since he was too tired to do anything else. That said, this is the match I am most excited for since I am a huge fan of both and even if Taker can’t go like he used to, I think he’s got one more great match left in him. As messed up as it is to say this, luckily Paul Bearer died or else this feud would have been the most random thing ever. It is still pretty random but at least they have something to fight over other than Undertaker’s undefeated streak. Punk is a tremendous worker, and Undertaker literally takes the entire year off building for just this one night so I think they can do something special as long as Taker is in shape.

Undertaker really doesn’t have much left in the tank and there are all kinds of stories that Punk is banged up so who knows what they are really capable of here, but Taker’s had great Mania matches with Orton, Edge, Michaels twice, even Batista in the last decade so I think he’ll put it all out there to do it again. It is obvious that the streak isn’t going to end here, but that doesn’t make the match any less grand. WrestleMania is Undertaker’s show and working with him there is as big as having a title match. Taker may not be around much longer so we need to enjoy this while we can.

What should happen: Undertaker wins and then retires because he really has nothing left to do.

What will happen: Undertaker wins and doesn’t retire and will have some kind of bad match next year at Mania 30.

WWE Champion The Rock vs. John Cena:
I love Rock, but his current reign as WWE Champion is one of the worst I have seen. He is barely on Raw since he is promoting movies all the time and filming his stupid new reality show. This match doesn’t need the belt. Ryback should have won the Royal Rumble and should be ending CM Punk’s historic title reign at this show, and Rock and Cena could have their rematch from last year’s main event just because. But alas, it is all about money and having Rock as champion is big money for them so you can’t really be mad at WWE for this. The match will be a little lackluster since I think they did all they could do last year so there is nowhere else to take this thing. Cena has been acting a little crazy these last couple weeks, maybe hinting at a heel turn this weekend.

A Cena heel turn would be great since his character is beyond stale. With rumors CM Punk is going to take some time off after Mania, you’ll need a main event heel. Cena turning heel completely changes everything and nobody has to worry about seeing the same feuds over and over since everything will be totally shaken up. This feud has sucked this year since they are saying the same things from last year, only amended to reflect Cena’s loss. The crowd will probably be crapping all over this match since the predictable finish is that Cena will get his win back and the smark crowd will not want to see this.

What should happen: Rock should win or Cena should turn heel and cheat to win. It is so obvious that Cena will win that it can’t happen. You don’t need these guys feuding since WrestleMania 27 in an epic program to just put the most over guy in the company over even more.

What probably will happen: Cena will win clean, setting up a rubber match at Mania 30. It was so obvious Cena was going to win the Royal Rumble and it actually happened. Cena has been force fed down people’s throats for ten years, so no time to stop now. I don’t think WWE will have the stones to turn Cena heel at all, especially on the biggest show of the year.

So that is it. Hopefully we get an exciting show and hopefully we get a few surprises along the way. I mean, I’d like at least one surprise other than that increased PPV price…