How the Celtics Win the 2018 NBA Title with Patience

As soon as Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors, millions of NBA fans were ready to concede the next three or four championships to Golden State.  While they will and should be the favorites to win the title for the next few years, with a little bit of luck, the Boston Celtics could be their biggest threat as soon as next year.  Winning banner number 18 in 2018 has a nice ring to it, and it can happen by simply keeping the current roster together and adding a max free agent next summer.  No trade for Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, or Jahlil Okafor.  Just rolling with a roster that tied for the 3rd best record in the East last season that swapped Evan Turner and Jared Sullinger for Jaylen Brown and Al Horford.

I have also heard some Celtics fans clamoring to go all in right now and trade for Russell Westbrook and/or Blake Griffin, both of whom will likely be free agents next summer.  Trading for either today likely increases the Celtics to sign them next summer, but I don't see it as worth the risk.  The reason either player is even "available" is because neither of their current teams want to risk losing them for nothing next summer.  Why should the Celtics take on that risk?  Considering the likely asking cost, trading for the pair would feel an awful lot like what the Nets did to give us this trove of assets.  Let's not become the Nets.

Unlike the Warriors, the Celtics are in a great position to keep improving.  Marcus Smart is 22 and entering his third season in the NBA and was arguably the best player for the Celtics in the playoffs.  Kelly Olynyk is a seven-footer entering his fourth season and finished last season with the 16th highest 3-point percentage in the NBA.  The only other center to finish in the top 100 was new Celtic Al Horford (unless you count Draymond Green as a center, who finished 35th overall).  Jaylen Brown was just the third pick in the NBA draft and, despite your opinion on him overall, he definitely has the physical and mental traits to become a star for Boston.

RJ Hunter and Terry Rozier both had their moments as rookies last season and are both just 22 years old.  Guerschon Yabusele and Ante Zizic won't not play in America next year, but both were first round draft picks with upside.  James Young is still technically on the roster and is only 20, and could be the second coming of Gerald Green (becoming a rotation player somewhere else).  That is eight guys on the Celtics roster on a rookie contract drafted in the first round.

Since 2010, Jae Crowder went from playing in Junior College to being the Big East Player of the Year to a D-Leaguer to bench player on Dallas to a starter for Boston to arguably the best two-way player on the Celtics last season.  Crowder was physically a late bloomer in high school and has taken major strides every year he has played.  Anyone who has watched him play knows better than to bet against him continuing to imptove at age 26, not with the motor he has.  Jordan Mickey is a 22 year old second round pick that has been a shot blocking juggernaut in the NCAA, D-League, and even in the NBA in his limited minutes.

That makes 10 players on the Celtics roster that one can reasonably expect to improve over the next few years.  Smart, Crowder, and Olynyk were already key parts of a 48-win Celtics roster who, along with Brown, are candidates to take a major leap forward by the 2017-18 season into stardom.  And that's what the Celtics really need to break through both Cleveland and Golden State to raise their 18th banner, more star power.  One way to do that would be to trade for one, but the more prudent way would be to hope one of the 10 players already on the roster takes "the leap."

Kawhi Leonard was drafted 15th.  Steph Curry was drafted 7th and didn't make an All Star game until his 5th season.  Draymond Green and DeAndre Jordan were both drafted 35th overall.  Jimmy Butler, who has been constantly linked to the Celtics was drafted 30th.  All of these players came out of seemingly nowhere to become All Stars or better.  Will the same thing happen with one of the 10 Celtics players?  There's no guarantee, but it's not out of the question.  I'd rather roll with a roster that tied for third in the East, added Al Horford, and hope another star emerges rather than trade for one that kills the Celtics biggest strength over the Warriors; a deep and versatile bench that will only keep improving.

The Celtics need at least 2 more All Star level players, and one will most likely come via free agency next summer.  While there are a number of potential targets that would improve Boston, my gut tells me Gordon Hayward is most likely the max free agent Ainge signs.  Hayward will be 27 next summer, played for Stevens in college, and he may very well make his first All Star game next season.  The Celtics can add Hayward next season for nothing more than cap space, while trading for Butler or Cousins or any other player would cost cap space and young, cost controlled players who could all make that leap.  Not only that, waiting a year to truly go for the 18th banner might be the Celtics best chance anyways as the Warriors will probably reach their absolute playoff peak next season, only to begin a regression to the mean in 20017-18.

Steph Curry is set to make just over $12M next season in the last year of his contract.  Kevin Durant can also opt out of his contract next year to get a larger pay day from Golden State, or make close to $28M by opting into his deal.  It's not out of the question to think that Curry and KD will make over $60M combined next season.  When you add that to the over $34M made by Draymond Green and Klay Thompson combined, the Warriors could have $94M tied up in 4 players against a projected $102M cap.  There is a very real possibility that they lose Andre Igoudala (who will be 34 by the 2018 Finals) next summer, and will have to fill out their roster with late draft picks and ring chasing vets, all of whom are pretty much hit or miss.

Benches may matter more in the regular season than the playoffs, but they still matter.  Even though Golden State should be able to keep at least two of their Big Four on the court at all times, teams have to be able to take advantage of these "bench units."  Boston has a deep enough roster to take advantage of these times, but a trade for another All Star now would kill that depth.  That being said, ultimately defeating Golden State comes down beating them when Curry, Thompson, KD, and Green are on the court with whoever their fifth player is, even if it's Shawn Bradley.

Predicting the Warriors roster past their big four for the 2017-18 season is impossible right now, but let's just assume they will find at least one above average player to close out games with.  No matter who that person ends up being, the Celtics, as currently constructed, can defend Golden State.  They may not be able to stop them, because no one will be able to fully stop that roster, but they can certainly play with them.  Why?  Because Boston has the players to defend one-on-one, their players can switch, and they're all really good on defense.

Last season the Celtics had the 4th best team Defensive Rating in the NBA, according to Baketball-Reference, and then they added Al Horford.  Avery Bradley was just named to the NBA All Defensive First Team, receiving the third most votes for the team and most of any guard.  Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford all received votes for the First Team, and Crowder even finished with more points than LeBron James.  Jordan Mickey averaged 3.6 blocks in just under 35 minutes per game as a sophomore at LSU two seasons ago, and 4.4 blocks in 33.4 minutes per game in the D-League last season.  Jaylen Brown is listed at 6'7" and is a quarter inch shy of a seven-foot wingspan according to NBA.com.  Terry Rozier was a ball thief in his sophomore season at Louisville and last year in Maine, averaging 2 and 1.9 steals per game those two seasons.

Brown, Mickey and Rozier all have to prove that they can be, at minimum, plus defenders at the NBA level, but that seems like a good bet to happen.  If at lest two of them can at least get to the 'others receiving votes' list on All Defensive team by 2017-18, and Bradley, Crowder and Horford at least maintain their current levels, the Celtics could have a historic defense led by soon-to-be perennial DPOY candidate Marcus Smart.  Maybe that is putting too much on Smart, but again, this entire piece is about everything that isn't too far-fetched to happen, actually happening.  And anyone who watched Smart play last season knows that Marcus Smart being on the doorstep of becoming the best perimeter defender in the league isn't all that far-fetched.

Between Smart, Bradley, Crowder, Brown, Mickey, Rozier and Horford, the Celtics have seven players who realistically could be in the 'others receiving votes' category for the All Defensive teams in 2007-18 at minimum.  That means seven of the Celtics rotation players could be among the best 25 or 30 defenders in the NBA.  Sure, the Warriors stars can log more playoff minutes to make up for their lack of a bench against a lot of teams, but the Celtics will make them pay for that like no other team will.

Trading for Cousins, Butler, or George likely costs at least two of Smart, Crowder, Bradley, or Brown, as well as some of the other eight first rounders on rookie deals, and future Nets picks, which could be really good picks since the Nets are kind of awful right now.  I'd love to see them max out Sully to play 22 mpg.  I'd rather just keep all of them, plus all the other rookies, and see what happens with them. Okafor wouldn't cost as much, but the odds of him becoming an elite defender are far lower than at least one of our elite defenders developing a plus offensive game.

Keep in mind that either the Celtics or Raptors, as currently constructed on July 21st, are the 2nd best team in the East, but still behind Cleveland and way behind Golden State.  Trading for Cousins, Butler, George or Okafor doesn't change that.  I'd rather see if any of the players the Celtics would lose in the move can become at least as good as at least Butler.  But by keeping everybody, and signing Hayward or another star free agent next summer, the Celtics could have an incredibly deep lineup with a closing lineup that could actually hang with Curry, Thompson, KD and Draymond as best as you could hope to.

Imagine a closing lineup of Smart, Bradley, Crowder and Horford paired with one of Hayward, Westbrook, or Griffin signed as a free agent.  Now imagine that team has a second unit of Isaiah Thomas, Rozier, Brown, Mickey and Olynyk.  Maybe that's not how it all shakes out depth wise come the 2018 playoffs based on who takes the leap, but that is quite the top 10 to have.  Remember how bad the Warriors bench may be in two seasons?  That's a roster that could not only win the 18th championship in franchise history in 2018, but would be set up to bring the franchise tally into the 20's.

At least one player on the current roster is going to take a leap within the next two years and become an All Star.  I'd rather they do it while still wearing green.  Forget trades, when's training camp start?

The Deflection Continues

If you go onto NFL.com right now, there is no mention of the fact that Broncos DE Antonio Brown is under investigation for a criminal action against a child that is "sexual in nature."  Ironically, just like with the Ray Rice elevator footage, TMZ first reported news of this investigation.  On the most recent update on TMZ, one particular comment stood out to me defending Brown:

"Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not public opinion on on TMZ comment section."

I agree fully with that statement.  I honestly hope that Brown didn't commit any of the actions he is under investigation for because if he is truly innocent, then at least one more child would've escaped abuse.  Unlike the NFL, I will wait to hear the result of the investigation to decide my future opinion on Brown.

I have no way of knowing if the NFL had any knowledge that this investigation has been underway since November.  If they did, they were also conducting an investigation into Smith to protect the integrity of "The Shield."  At the very least, Smith was signed as a free-agent this offseason.  Shouldn't the Broncos have done some semblance of due dillagance when they signed him to see if there were any open criminal investigations against Smith?  The case was first reported to officials in Colorado, which, incase you're from Colorado and forgot because you love legalized marijuana, is where Denver is located.  But hey, at least the Broncos are looking into it now right?

Innocent or not, the Broncos failure to even know about this situation should be a huge story.  This comes on the heels of the Seahawks only asking draftee Earl Clark about his history of domestic violence.  How do these two teams protect the integrity of the game?  But somehow this isn't a big story.  How could this be?  

Maybe the NFL and the media learned their lesson with Deflect Gate, sorry, I mean Deflate Gate, and are showing restraint and not running stories about someone who, at the time I write this, is still considered innocent.  Maybe they decided after they permanently destroyed the reputation of arguably the best quarterback of all time Tom Brady, they should wait until they gather all the facts before destroying Antonio Smith's reputation.  Maybe they learned a lesson.  Something tells me though, watching the way the NFL has failed to learn from its past mistakes and mishandling of almost everything over the past several years, this is not the case.

So why aren't more people outraged by this?  Why isn't there still a link to this on ESPN's frontpage?  You have to go to their NFL tab to find a link to ESPN's coverage of this story.  The top headline on the NFL section of ESPN's website?  "Lawyers endorse Goodell hearing Brady appeal."

I want to point something out here.  Goodell has not officially announced if he will ultimately hear Brady's appeal, we just found out that his lawyers think he should.  The NFLPA officially requested Goodell remove himself on Tuesday.  So did it take Goodell's lawyers three whole days to decide Goodell should hear the appeal?  Is that why we are hearing about their council today, or was there maybe some other reason behind leaking this information today?

I have to hand it to Goodell here.  He was smart enough to announce his lawyers advice today.  Goodell could have just as easily announced "Under/Against advisement from my lawyers, I have decided to/not to hear Tom Brady's appeal."  IF the investigation into Smith results in charges being brought forth against him, Goodell still can announce is final decision on if he will hear Brady's appeal.  Once again, Goodell will use the media to focus the national spotlight on deflated footballs and not the real issues plaguing the NFL.  Once again, the NFL will win.

How much longer can this go on America?  How much longer will we be distracted enough for Roger Goodell to keep his job?  How much longer will the most popular, multi-billion dollar sport continue to condone domestic violence against women and children?  At least since it's the offseason, players aren't getting concussed in games, so the NFL has a little bit of time before they can go back to ignoring player safety issues.

Shame on Goodell and the NFL for deflecting the media's and fan's attention to the real issues at hand.  Shame on us for letting it work.  It is time for the masses to wake up.  It is time for Goodell to go.

Deflated Footballs: Deflecting our attention away from the NFL's real issues

May 11:
Back in December, the Vikings and Panthers were caught (video evidence on the sideline during the game, hardly circumstantial) heating footballs in a sub-zero game, or, you know, altering footballs.  Fittingly, Teddy Bridgewater and Cam Newton have each been suspended 4 games (luckily Cam has a fantastic backup), each team has been fined $1M, and 4 combined draft picks were lost.  Wait, no, now I remember, the league sent a memo out to remind teams they can't heat footballs.

Fittingly, when the NFL had suspicions about the Patriots under inflating footballs, they sent a memo out to its 32 teams about properly inflating footballs.  Wow, I'm off today, that didn't happen either.  Instead, the NFL forwarded the email from the Colts that raised the initial concern up the ladder without contacting the Patriots, despite the fact that the league office is supposed to work for all 32 teams equally.  In the end, due to all 11 of New England's tested footballs and three of four of Indianapolis' footballs (on one of the two testing officials gauges) being under-inflated, Tom Brady was suspended the first four games of the season.  Additionally, the Patriots organization lost a 1st and a 4th round draft pick, and was fined $1M, despite the fact that the Wells Report stated that Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft had no knowledge of the circumstantially "proved" deflation ring that Brady was running  (note: I have not read the entire report, just the executive summary).  Eight of the Colts footballs went untested, because I guess testing 23 footballs air pressure during an entire halftime would be too much to ask for right?  The Colts' under inflated footballs netted no punishment and, barring playing a pickup basketball game with Kelly Olynyk, Andrew Luck will start the season under center for Indy.

But you know what, Brady getting suspended and the Patriots losing draft picks and money isn't what angers me as a Patriots fan.  I am angry at this whole situation.

I am angry that people are condemning Brady on hearsay and because he never handed in his personal cell phone.  Funny because, much like Brady, NFL officials never handed over their personal cell phones when they were under investigation for how they handled the Rice situation.  Brett Favre never turned in his cell phone after he sent dick pics to all his buddies in the Wrangler's commercial.  People seem to forget that any text Brady may have sent the locker room guys would have also been on their phones.  

I am angry that when disproving the Patriots scientific claims that the balls started at the low end of the allowed spectrum and the weather changed the PSI, they failed to test wet footballs.  We do know that a wet football expands right?  We all remember from high school that a larger volume, all else equal, will reduce the pressure right?

I am angry that the NFL has a system in place for their footballs that would even allow for a team to consider under inflation.  When Walt Anderson, the referee for the game, was forwarded the email expressing Colts' concerned about the Patriots tampering with their footballs, how does he not record the exact PSI of every football he tested?  How does Anderson not remember which gauge he used for to test said footballs?  And how in the world was the AFC Championship Game the first time in 19 years as referee that Anderson lost track of the footballs prior to kickoff?  On the plus side, that must mean the Pats played with properly inflated footballs all the other times they drew Anderson as a ref since we know he must have properly checked all prior footballs and never let them out of his sight.  Right?

I am angry that despite basically a sting-operation being put on the Patriots, there was still only highly-questionable "evidence" against New England.  Shouldn't a sting at least produce tangible evidence?

But none of that anger comes close to the anger I feel towards the NFL, the media, and far far too many of the fans for caring about something that, per league rules, should be no more than a $25,000 fine.  I am angry that the NFL has shifted the focus away from the real issue it needs to address, its continued condoning of domestic violence, and I am angry that the media and the fans are allowing them to do so.

The NFL hired an "independent investigator" to spend over 100 days looking for evidence to prove that the Patriots under inflated footballs.  Meanwhile, when the NFL had a video of Ray Rice dragging his then fiancee out of an elevator unconscious, despite it being "more probable than not" that Rice committed an act of violence against his fiancee in that elevator, the NFL failed to even ask the casino or the police who investigated the crime for the surveillance tape.  As you should remember, Rice was initially suspended all of two games (aka half of what Brady got), that is until TMZ posted the video of what actually happened that night.  The NFL swiftly suspended Rice for the season and the Ravens quickly cut him (the Ravens, who knew exactly what happened in that video, had not already cut Rice).  If TMZ is able to get information that the NFL is not, I start to question the NFL's ability to run an actual investigation.  I suppose this is why the NFL had to hire someone to "fully" investigate the matter, because "The Shield"s credibility is non-existent (see also: concussions, replacement referees).  But hey, if the NFL was only going to investigate one of these matters fully, at least they chose to investigate deflated footballs, because who really cares about domestic violence anyways?

Remember how I mentioned that back in December the Vikings and Panthers were caught heating up their footballs?  It's almost poetic that the teams that employed Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy last season respectively were the other team to mess with their footballs this season.  If you don't know who Adrian Peterson (still a Viking) or Greg Hardy (who FYI got paid $13.1M last season basically to deal with his legal issues and not play) are or what they did last offseason, then the NFL and Roger Goodell have won.  Who am I kidding?  Either way, they already won.

The NFL won when we cared more about deflated footballs then we do about domestic violence.  How many more women and children must suffer at the hands of incredibly large, athletic, and strong men before something is done?  How many more frivolous "scandals" must the NFL create, have the media run with, and have the fans eat up to distract us from the glaring issues facing the NFL?

The sad thing is how well it is working.  I thought as a society we were smarter than this, but I guess we're not.  Who even paid any attention when the Seahawks drafted Earl Clark after he was kicked off his college team for knocking out his former girlfriend?  Or who noticed the string of players early off into their career retiring due to all the concussion issues?  Condoning domestic abuse and just not caring about concussions or player safety in the least, this is your legacy Roger Goodell.  At least you manufactured enough reports to make it seem that, at the time (let's see how these reports look in 50 years to sports historians), you handled them the right way.

I'm calling it now, if Brady appeals (which I feel he will and will take down Goodell with him, at least I hope he does), it will be heard the first week of August, and the result the 2nd week.  I have no basis in predicting this except it seems to be how the NFL operates these days.  This way, Goodell can use the media to make the fans forget that Junior Seau will be entering the Hall of Fame during the first full weekend of August.  If Goodell had cared about the players and their health and not just using them to make money, maybe Seau could have entered Canton in person.  If you don't understand what I mean by entering in person, again, the NFL has won again.

Sadly, the deflection has worked.  Gillette will be packed when the NFL season kicks off on a Thursday in September in prime time when the Patriots host the Steelers.  As of now, not only will Tom Brady miss the opener for deflating footballs, but both teams starting running backs LeVeon Bell and LeGarrette Blount will also be suspended for littering and... smoking the reefer.  But at least Ben Roethlisberger will play.  And if you don't remember what Roethlisberger did, then once again, the NFL has won. If you still can't remember, think of how Sean Connery would say "therapist" on Celebrity Jeopardy.  At least the integrity of the game has been protected.

The game is in New England.  While ideally the stadium would be empty to boycott the NFL, we all know that will not happen, because at the very least Steelers fans would buy most to all of the tickets.  Instead, I am hoping that New England fans use the nationally televised game as an opportunity to call out Goodell.  There are some months to go Patriots fans, plenty of time to think of chants, and a long game to get them all in.  I hope amongst many other chants, they show Goodell on the JumboTron (assuming he has the balls to show up or is even invited) and there is a chorus of "Fire Goodell!"

My hope is that May 11th serves as the day that sparked Goodell to be fired.  I hope Brady fights back and in the end drags the NFL through the mud on its handling of domestic abuse and player safety, and people finally force Goodell out.  This may be the spark.  The question is, will the media and fans get fired up and realize that Goodell allowing a culture condoning domestic violence to form and Goodell not caring about player safety is the problem, not a few deflated footballs.

Shame on Goodell and the NFL for deflecting the media's and fan's attention to the real issues at hand.  Shame on us for letting it work.  It is time for the masses to wake up.  It is time for Goodell to go.

3 Initial Reactions to the NCAA Championship

I will write a more about my thoughts on the Final Four soon, but here were the first three things thought in the last 3 minutes of the UNC-MSU game.

1- What?! A Big 10 team got routed in a title game?! Really?!

2- I wonder which team will win by more. UNC tonight or UConn tomorrow. Probably UConn. At least we got one championship...

3- That was a fun season. At least we got to the Final 4. And with the way UNC played, we would've had a tough time even with Dyson. I hope AJ and Thabeast come back.

Bonus- I can't wait for Opening Day!

I'm Jim Calhoun, I'll do what I want!

Amid (probably true) allegations that UConn broke NCAA recruiting rules with their pursuit of Nate Miles, the Huskies have made the Final Four for the third time in school history out of the West Regionals, winning the title in each of their first two appearances. But the coverage on UConn hasn't focused on the fact that the Huskies have been playing their best ball of the season, it has been all about the recruiting violations and first-round dehydration, fair or not.

As for the dehydration, it's no longer an issue clearly as it didn't slow UConn at all. Calhoun has had a series of health issues over his career, so let's move on to the recruiting allegations.

First of all, just incase you weren't aware, true or not, UConn won't have to forfeit any wins because of said violations. This is because Miles never suited up for UConn as he was kicked out of school before the season started. Not all that surprising considering Miles played for five different schools in his high school career.

It's also no surprise that Calhoun went after a player like him. Incredible talent but a little thug criminal. The only thing is, most of those players have worked out for Calhoun as they've proven that their ill ways were in the past. Just look at players like Caron Butler, Taliek Brown, and AJ Price as examples of kids who have had tough pasts but moved on from them. I could list more, but I'm trying to keep this post on the shorter side...

But Calhoun makes an excellent point in his defense of himself and his program. I haven't nor do I plan on reading the rules and regulations on recruiting NCAA players (that is until Kentucky changes their mind on Callipari and choses to hire me...) but I would believe that they change every season. It is entirely possible that a mistake was made. Now wether it was an honest mistake or an intentional mistake, that is where the investigation comes into play.

I was discussing this with a friend at work and he made an excellent point about all of this. In the world of Blackberrys and iPhones, what's the difference between getting an email and a text? Point of origin? Length? The fact that those who are cheap can't get emails on their phone because their phone cost them $10? (That may or may not be in reference to me spending $10 on my new phone because I don't care about my phone.)

I ask this because there is no limit on the amount of texts an athlete can receive from a coach or program yet there is on emails and calls. Things like this are why the mistake may have been of the honest variety as that seems like a random set of rules from the NCAA, especially since texts have come to dominate modern communication.

I'm not saying it was or wasn't an honest mistake, just that it could be. And besides, I'm sure every school breaks recruiting rules at times, it's just that most of them don't get caught. Everyone cheats to some degree in every sport. The Patriots aren't the only team that tapes other teams signals, they're just the ones that got caught. Why else would every coach and co-ordinator cover their mouth while calling every play?

And do you think college athletes really aren't paid? I've heard stories of athletes getting $5,000 a semester from the school for books. I spent about $3000 over eight semesters through my college career, and I wasn't a communications major. Not to mention all the athletes get "college housing" which probably consists of a plush, huge apartment that's fully furnished and probably 10 times nicer then my apartment.

The same friend I have at work always jokes with me that Calhoun has made such a great program because he pays his players enough. But he just does that to bust my chops because he knows how much of a UConn fan I am. He knows everyone gets paid, he just likes picking on UConn to bust my balls.

Again, Calhoun or another UConn official probably broke some rules. I just am annoyed that for the second year in a row, a team I support is getting attacked while pursuing a championship when allegations could be made at any time. Remember how Randy Moss beat some woman last year and the allegations came out right before the Super Bowl? Remember how they tuned out to be made up? Glad that came out right when it did. Marvin Harrison though, and the possibility that he was involved in a shooting, nah, let's just sweep that under the rug and deal with it after the season. After all, it was just a shooting right?

But because of these allegations, combined with the season UConn has had, I wouldn't be surprised to see Jim Calhoun retire after this season. The man has nothing left to prove in the coaching world. He's already in the Hall of Fame. He has pumped out NBA All Stars, champions, and future HoF'ers. He recorded his 800th win earlier this season (imagine if Miles had played and he had to give back his 800th win). He turned a small, Yankee-conference team into a national power. The man is a god in Connecticut. But most importantly, he has coached two national champions and has a shot as a third. I'd say Calhoun's legacy is secure.

But he has also had his issues. He has yelled and sworn at the press. I mean, you can just look back a couple of months for one example, when Calhoun tells a reporter to "just shut up" when being asked about being the highest paid state employee in Connecticut. Calhoun has also had many health issues over his tenure at UConn including a few bouts with cancer. As I alluded to earlier, he missed the first round of the NCAA's this year while being in the hospital because of dehydration. Calhoun may be the model of coaching, but not so much in the health department.

So how surprising would it be to see Calhoun retire after this season? His contract has a couple years left on it, but with everything swirling around him, how nice would it be for him to go out on top? In talking with my dad and college room mate, both die-hard UConn fans, they both see it happening if UConn wins it all, and maybe even if they don't. I'm not 100% sure on it, mainly because of how competitive Calhoun is, but I sure wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.

Only time will tell if he actually leaves, but if he leaves, he could take the success of UConn with him. The man who replaces Calhoun will be under enormous pressure in the Northeast to repeat Calhoun's success. They will need to be able to recruit all those great New York guards Calhoun has been able to continuously get to come to Storrs.

But that is in the future, the Final Four is right now. The bad thing for MSU, UNC, and Nova fans is this. UConn now has the biggest 'we gotta win this for coach' chip on their shoulder in recent memory because of all that Calhoun and the program have gone through in just the last four games. But they play the games for a reason, and a chip on your shoulder doesn't mean anything if you can't execute.

And just for the fun of it, here's some great Calhoun press conferences.

Thoughts on the Sweet 16

Two rounds are in the books in the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. And what a two rounds it's been. We've seen a double-overtime thriller between Ohio State and Siena (probably the best game so far), thirteen-seed Cleveland State upsetting the four-seed Wake Forest in the first round, and three of the four 12-seeds upsetting the five-seed they were paired with in their first round with one of those 12-seeds (Arizona) making it all the way to the Sweet 16.

What have we learned so far in the tournament? First off, it's good to be a top seed this year. For the first time ever, all 12 teams with a one-, two-, or three-seed made it to the Sweet 16. Of the two four-seeds not to make the second weekend, one was beaten by a five-seed, which isn't exactly a major upset. However, all the top-seeds haven't looked invincible, but they have won their games which will give them time to return to form.

Pittsburgh, everyone's trendy pick to win it all, hasn't looked good at all. Levance Fields' injury has to be way worse then anyone at Pitt thought it was or revealed to the press because he has looked terrible. His stats haven't looked too bad, but he just hasn't looked the player that helped lead the Panthers to their first ever #1 ranking in the polls.

It hasn't helped the Panthers that Fields' backcourt mate Jermaine Dixon has been terrible, shooting just 1-7 from the field in two games while racking up as many turnovers as assists. Not exactly what one would hope for from a player who averaged 8.7 ppg and 2.1 apg. Luckily for the Panthers, Blair has been his usual dominant self and Sam Young has been a stud in the first two games. That being said, the Panthers will need Fields to get better in a hurry and for Dixon to remember how to play ball if they want to cut the nets down in the Banknorth Garden and move on to Detroit.

UNC and Louisville have both looked impressive but somewhat vulnerable. UNC is still obviously hurting from Lawson's injury, but they've been able to overcome it. With Gonzaga on their plate however, they will need Lawson to return to form. They might have enough in them to beat the Zags with Lawson at less then his normal self, but they'll need him against the winner of Oklahoma and Syracuse.

Both Oklahoma and 'Cuse have looked pretty good in their weekend of games, but in different ways, or more, because of spectacular play from opposite positions. Blake Griffin doesn't look to be showing any lingering effects from his concussion (though that is one hard foul or dive after a loose ball from changing) and Johnny Flynn has played like he always does, great. Too bad 'Cuse still have Devendorf, otherwise I could really get behind this team.

And don't think I'm just a jaded UConn fan bashing Devendorf. In asking any of my friends what they think of Devendorf, I get one of two responses. The first is "I hate him" and the second is "Who's he? I don't care about college basketball at all. Why are you asking me this?" The second group actually I can't consider friends until March ends... I'm only half kidding. But included in the first group of Devendorf haters are Syracuse alumni. If the alumni even hate him, what chance does the nation have? Sorry Devendorf, but that's what you get for being a drug-dealer who beats women.

Duke still has yet to impress me. They were very close to being upset by Texas, and probably should have been. They have won the same way they have all year, being money from deep, but that won't last. It can't last. Can it?

I mean, Duke has gotten absolutely nothing from their front court except for foul trouble. If they go cold on a given night, their run will end. The one question remaining is, will they be able to stay hot? They've done it all season long, so how hard would it be to believe that they could keep hitting for four more games? They're still the hardest team for me to figure out because even more so then usual for a Duke team, this year's squad is entirely reliant on the deep ball.

I'm sticking with UConn, Louisville, Oklahoma, and Villanova to meet in Detroit though. You may have noticed it took me this long to mention UConn, even though they have become the clear favorites to win it all based on their domination of Chatanooga and Texas A&M. Frankly, I'm not surprised as even without Dyson I liked them to win it all, but that was before Stanley Robinson started playing to a level he is capable of athletically but has never really achieved. Plus, AJ Price has been down right nasty and is my new co-favorite to win the tournament MOP with Jeff Adrien.

But the reason I won't further discuss UConn beating Oklahoma in the finals is because UConn has already dominated the tournament, and not just because of their play. Between Jim Calhoun being in the hospital during the Chatanooga game because of dehydration and now the recruiting scandal, UConn has gotten enough publicity. Anyways, I'll probably add to that publicity anyways tomorrow...

But that's where we stand, about the same as we were a week ago. But what do you expect to happen in a tournament so devoid of upsets? The teams that were the best at the beginning are still the best (except Pitt which has lost its luster, which helps Duke, even if I don't know how they are winning) since they're all still in it. The door didn't open up randomly for anyone because all the better teams are still there.

After all, the only upset in the second round was #5 Purdue over #4 Washington. Arizona is the highest seeded team remaining at #12, but they beat #13 Cleveland State in round two. Still some great basketball being played, but the higher seeds have kept winning the nail biters. So, as this tournament advances to its second weekend with the clock past midnight on Cinderella, I still look forward to the last two weeks of the best month in sports. I suggest you do too.

March Madness

Tomorrow marks the start of my favorite sporting event of the year; the NCAA Basketball tournament. Cinderella will stay at the dance just a little bit too long before her ride becomes a pumpkin. The mighty will fall and their fans will be left to ponder what might have been. Some are already concerned they will fall into that category because they lost key players for the season. I'm looking at you UNC (Lawson), Marquette (James), and, sigh, you UConn (Dyson).

Actually, before Dominic James went out with a broken foot, Marquette was my dark horse national champion. Between Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, and James, Marquette had an incredible back court. It's still pretty good, which is why I still think they'll make some noise, but they can't fully recover without James. UNC and UConn still have enough talent even without Lawson and Dyson, plus Lawson should be back by the second weekend, which is about when UNC should need him anyways.

EAST REGION
This is a pretty top heavy bracket. After Louisville and Michigan State, I'm not all that impressed with the rest of the region. Kansas may have won the Big 12, but I don't feel like the Big 12 is all that great this season. Plus, if Blake Griffin doesn't miss games (including the Kansas game) with a concussion, Oklahoma wins the Big 12. Wake is the type of team that really annoys me come March.

Wake is hit or miss. I mean, they beat UNC, Duke, and Clemson twice. They also lost to Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, and got knocked out of the ACC tourney by Maryland in their first game. Which Wake Forest will show up? I have no idea, but I always seem to pick teams like this the wrong way. I'd rather just err on the side of caution because even if they make it a bit further then I thought, they will still throw up a stinker sooner or later and get bounced.

I like Louisville to win this bracket. They won both the regular season and tournament in by far the best conference in America in the Big East. That counts for a lot. Against most teams in the bracket also they have a coach who's been there in Rick Pitino, but Tom Izzo at MSU negates that edge. I like Louisville to beat MSU in the Elite 8 to bring Pitino to yet another Final 4. After all, Magic Johnson and Mateen Cleaves aren't walking through the door for MSU.

1st round winners: Louisville, Siena, Arizona, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Kansas, USC, Michigan State
Sweet 16: Louisville, 'Zona, WVU, MSU
Elite 8: Louisville, MSU
Net Cutters: Louisville


WEST REGION
This bracket is UConn's bracket to lose. In fact, it's Calhoun's bracket to lose. For some reason, Calhoun keeps staying with his normal offense and keeps the balls in the hands of the guards. This is all well and good because UConn has some great guards, but they have Thabeat and Adrien down low. These two bigs should be unstoppable but they don't get the ball enough to dominate.

Just look at the 6 overtime game UConn and Syracuse played. 'Cuse's bigs had fouled out, yet Thabeat and Adrien weren't getting the ball. No one on the Orange could stop them, yet the guards were dominating the ball. If UConn gets the ball down low, no team in the nation can stop them, but if they don't, the Huskies are looking at another disappointing finish.

That's the thing that scares me the most about this UConn team. Jeff Adrien is the only player on the roster who has won a post season game. Adrien made it to the Elite 8 as a freshman and lost to George Mason when Denham Brown's 3 rattled out. The next year, UConn lost to Syracuse in the Big East tourney and didn't make the NCAA. Last year, UConn again lost in the first round of the Big East tourney, and got upset but San Diego State in the NCAA's after AJ Price tore his ACL.

But then, sometimes experience is over rated. How many games did that George Mason Final Four team win before those ones? How about OSU making the finals two years ago lead by freshmen? And UConn does have Jim Calhoun, who has been there before, both times coming out of the West, and beating Duke in the Final 4. I know beating Duke doesn't mean he has any more experience then if UConn had beaten someone like UNC, Texas, Michigan State, Louisville, etc, but I just like remembering they beat Duke.

But UConn should be able to ride Thabeast and Adrien all the way to the Final Four this season. No one in the region has anything special down low, and somehow UConn got the weakest bracket. I mean seriously, Memphis? When's the last time they played someone good? Though bringing up Memphis does scare me a little bit as UConn's biggest weakness is their free throw shooting. Oh well, they won it in 2004 with their point guard and best player (Taliek Brown and Okafor) both being 50-something free throw percentage shooters.

1st round winners: UConn, BYU, Purdue, Washington, Marquette, Mizzou, Cal, Memphis
Sweet 16: UConn, Washington, Marquette, Memphis
Elite 8: UConn, Marquette
Net Cutters: UConn


EAST REGION
This has to be the toughest region. Pittsburgh, Villanova, Texas, and a very hot FSU team make this division filled with tough outs. You might've noticed I skipped Duke and Xavier. Xavier has lost two of its last three games which isn't a good. Yes, I know UConn has lost its last two games, but they were in the Big East to a fellow #1 seed and in 6 overtimes. It's not quite the same as losing in the A-10.

Yeah, I know Duke is a 2 seed. Yes, I know they beat FSU twice in the last few weeks. And yes, I know they won the ACC tournament, but honestly, I don't think they are very good. I have seen parts of at least five Duke games this season and not once did I think they looked very impressive. They can hit threes, but that's about it. I honestly don't know how they keep winning games.

I know it was December, but when I watched Texas play someone earlier this year I thought one thing to myself. "Holy crap, this team could win it all." I don't think that as much anymore because they have underperformed all season, but on a talent level, they are a top-10 team, certainly better then Duke. I just see them playing two really good games and knocking out Duke in the second round, then losing their focus in their off days and losing to Nova.

Here's the thing about Pittsburgh. I think in a format like the NBA, they win the title. I can't see a team beating them in a best of seven series, but thats why March is so much fun. One game and your out. End of story. And that's all it will take for Pitt, is one game. More specifically, one game where the refs are calling ticky-tack fouls. If Blair gets in foul trouble in a latter round, Pitt will get knocked out. It's going to happen before the Panthers can win six games, there's no way around it.

I like Nova in this region. You may be noticing a little bit of a Big East Bias here, and I can accept that. But let's be honest, the Big East is the best basketball conference. Sure, it helps when you have over 200 teams in your conference, but the top teams are really the best in the country. I mean, it's tough to argue with having three #1 seeds (first conference to ever do this) and two #3 seeds. The top teams in the mega-conference that is the Big East are sick and battle tested, end of story.

1st round winners: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Portland State, UCLA, Villanova, Texas, Duke
Sweet 16: Pitt, FSU, Nova, Texas
Elite 8: Pitt, Nova
Net Cutters: Nova


SOUTH REGION
I hope hope hope that this region goes how I think it will. I would love to see an Elite 8 game with Blake Griffin playing against Tyler Hansborough. I also hope that Lawson is fully healed by then so UNC lovers won't have that "What if?" to fall back on when they lose to Griffin. You know Lawson will play, but to what level will he be back? I'm guessing somewhere 85%, which will be just a bit less then they need him to be.

There's something different about Hansborough this year to me this year too. I don't know exactly what it is, but its there. I mean, he'll still get his stats, but I just feel like this year, that's all he'll get. Last year I felt like he would just go off for 35 and 15 if everyone else was terrible on a night to keep UNC winning. This year, I'm not as convinced. I dunno, it could just have been that in the games I saw UNC play they didn't need those performances they needed last year, but something is a little different to me.

I've liked Griffin and Oklahoma all year to make the FInal Four. The only reason their not a 1 seed is because of those games they lost without Griffin, and the unexplainable loss to Ok. State in the Big 12 tourney. Still, this team is pretty stacked, and I like Griffin to lead the Sooners to the Final Four this year.

And hey, at least I didn't go with 'Cuse to give an all Big East Final Four. But then, how can you get behind a team with Eric Devendorf on it, even if Johnny Flynn is a stud?

1st round winners: UNC, Butler, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, ASU, Syracuse, Clemson, Oklahoma
Sweet 16: UNC, Zaga, 'Cuse, Oklahoma
Elite 8: UNC, Oklahoma
Net Cutters: Oklahoma

FINAL FOUR
I like UConn and Oklahoma to make it to the championship game. UConn handled Louisville in Louisville earlier this year and again, Blake Griffin.

The championship game however is where Griffin's magic runs out. UConn has the bigs to slow him just enough. I see some foul trouble for Griffin plus him having trouble handling Adrien and Thabeet. And don't sleep on Gavin Edwards, who will get his time next season when Adrien and Thabeet are both gone. Kid always comes to play and makes some huge plays.

Also, the only big who has given Thabeet trouble is Blair. Blair does the one thing that troubles Thabeet. Blair is incredible physical. Griffin can be physical, but it's not the only thing he does. He's more of a finesse player, or at least, he tries to be. You can make up for a lot of mistakes against finesse when you're 7'3". Plus it's hard to play finesse when you're sitting on the bench.

Back in 2004 Calhoun took Okafor out of the Duke game because he had two fouls in the first and didn't let him back in. Then all of the Duke bigs got their 3rd foul in the first half and all fouled out so Okafor could dominate that game and get UConn to the title game. I see the same thing happening again.

The pick: UConn
MOP: Jeff Adrien