My NBA Conference Finals Picks

It really has been a while!

School was really hectic the last few weeks and now I've had about a week or so to decompress and get back into the swing of the NBA Playoffs. I must admit, I really thought the Pacers were going to fall to the Washington Professional Basketball Team. The Pacers limped past the Hawks and they got KILLED on the boards by Marcin Gortat and company in Game 5. Roy Hibbert goes from zero points and zero boards in game one against Washington to going off for 28 a few days later! I don't get. I'm not going to buy into all the rumors of stuff between Paul George and Hibbert's Wife unless one of them were to come out publicly, which isn't going to happen. Let's dig into the Conference finals!

In the East, we have what anyone with half a brain picked back in November. The Miami Heat against the Indiana Pacers. As bad as the Pacers have played through the second half of the regular season, as shoddy as they look against the Hawks and the Wizards, they do have home court advantage against the Heat. You could argue that was the main reason that the Pacers didn't beat the Heat in the conference finals last year. Last year was Paul George's coming out party on a national stage. However, the problem is as good as he could be, he would need to play even better then he played the first few months of the regular season to even have a chance to outplay LeBron. Roy Hibbert will have a game or two where he'll have a double-double with a few blocks and he'll probably have a game where he disappears or gets into foul trouble. If Hibbert stays out of foul trouble, if Paul George can outplay LeBron (unlikely) and if Lance Stevenson can outplay D-Wade (possible if Wade's knee acts up) that's the blueprint for the Pacers to win the series. As much as I would love to see the Pacers win this series. I think it's a little crazy to pick against the Heat. Despite that it would be their fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals. I can't find the courage to pick against LeBron until he loses again. I have the Heat in six.

In the West, we have the Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the San Antonio Spurs. Both of these teams have been really good throughout the regular season. Even though the Thunder had their series with Memphis gift wrapped for them when Z-Bo was suspended for game seven of their first round series. They had some troubles throughout the regular season with Westbrook going through knee trouble. Although, it does help to have the MVP of the league as well as the scoring champion on your side. The loss of Serge Ibaka isn't going to make it any easier to get past the Spurs. Kendrick Perkins is basically useless unless Duncan only sits on the block. (But why would Duncan wanna do that when he can just go 15-18 feet from the basket?) Thabo Sefolosha is the closest thing to kryptonite when it comes to guarding Tony Parker. If Kawhi Leonard can even almost stop Kevin Durant that really helps the Spurs. If Durant does get going though, no one on the Spurs is going to be able to stop him. Heck, no one in the league can really stop him. The one big disparity to me is between the coaches. I think Pop is a much better coach then Scott Brooks. If Brooks can't get the right guys on the floor around Durant and Westbrook that could easily kill the Thunder. Although, even if Brooks makes a mistake or two, the Thunder will still have the best player on the floor in KD. I think that makes the ultimate difference in this series. I have the Thunder in seven.

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on Twitter @TheLanceMorris

Five Quick Hits On College Basketball

Hello everybody!

I hope Thanksgiving was all you wanted it to be, and if you went out for black friday I hope you didn't get into too many fights.

Lets get down to it: Five quick hits on college basketball

1. This class of college basketball talent is special.

There's no denying the freshmen hype with this college basketball class. From the likes of Kentucky's Julius Randle, Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, Jabari Parker of Duke, and Aaron Gordon out of Arizona. I'm watching Duke vs Arizona while I write this. Don't forget about sophomore star, Marcus Smart. If all of them enter the draft after this season, I think they'll all go at least in the top-ten of the draft. It might not be that big of a stretch to say they all go top five, either. I'll talk more about these guys in a bit.

2. Is Michigan State truly the best team in the country?

I'm not entirely sure. They're good. Don't get me wrong. They beat Kentucky, but the Wildcats always struggle in the early going. They have some quality players; Gary Harris, Adreian Payne, and Keith Appling are no joke. They have a top flight coach in Tom Izzo. I can't put my finger on it, but something tells me right now they won't win the title.

3. I know some people have already said this, but Aaron Gordon is basically a carbon copy of Blake Griffin.

They're similar in size.They can jump out of the gym. The potential is staring you right in the face. I think Arizona's favorite play is throw it near the rim and let Aaron Gordon find a way to score. What I've seen of him I've liked. I just hope he can expand into an all-around game.

4. I hate Duke. The crazy thing is I love Jabari Parker.

He's so good. He was the first kid in Simeon's history to start on the varsity as a freshmen. Some guy named Derrick Rose didn't even have that chance. Depending on who you asked, they probably said Parker or Wiggins was the best player in the recruiting class last year. He can play the 3,4 and even the 5 depending on the type of line-up on the floor. He can shoot from anywhere on the floor. Play with his back to the basketball as well as defend his position. What more can you ask for?

5. Marcus Smart made a smart move in returning to school.

Marcus Smart was pretty good last year. What do ya know, he got even better! He's averaging 22.5 ppg so far. Against Memphis, he went bonkers. He dropped 39 points. He said the major thing he wanted to work on in the offseason was his outside shooting. Last year he shot around 29%. So far, he's shooting 40%! It's a pretty small sample size, nonetheless, the kid can play!


Thanks for reading!

Follow me on Twitter @TheLanceMorris

I post when I'm announcing games with the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization as well as little tidbits about everything else going on in my life.

I have two radio shows, you can follow them on Twitter as well:
@Ball_Night Mondays at 8 AM on falconradio.org
@OrangeBrownWBGU Tuesdays at 6 PM on wbgufm.com if you're in the Bowling Green,OH area tune in live on 88.1 FM

You can also find them on the Tunein-Radio app on your smartphone.

My Thoughts on the Fielder-Kinsler Trade

It's been a while! First, I apologize; it's very easy for college to get in way. Secondly, I needed to get some thoughts out!

The trade of Prince Fielder and Ian Kinsler has to be one of the biggest MLB trades in sometime. The Tigers have been no stranger to trades the last couple of seasons. In the last few seasons, they've acquired the likes of Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Jhonny Peralta, Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez, Omar Infante, and Jose Iglesias. Guys that they've given up? Curtis Granderson, Jacob Turner, and Avisail Garcia are the only guys that have been given up that are actually relevant major leaguers. For that, credit must be given to Dave Dombrowski. He hasn't been afraid to give up guys that might be good for guys that ARE good. (Just imagine that when the Tigers traded for Miguel Cabrera, they didn't get the corpse of Dontrelle Willis.) I was a major fan of Avisail Garcia. If you don't know who he is, he's what the Tigers gave up as a part of the Jose Iglesias trade. He showed a little flash at the big league level. He honestly looks like a skinnier Miguel Cabrera at the dish. Nonetheless, he wasn't the answer for the Tigers and they knew that. Once Peralta was suspended last season, they knew they had to make at least a move for the short term, but they did much more then that! They acquired a player that was second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting and by a lot of accounts, the best defensive shortstop in baseball. As long as he is spectacular defensively he'll be a starting shortstop at the major league level. He has to be just good enough at the plate to have a lot of value.

Lets dive into the Fielder trade. I guess you could say I like Prince Fielder. In fact, I'm wearing my Prince Fielder jersey t-shirt as I'm writing this. Regardless, I LOVE THIS TRADE. It gives the Tigers much more flexibility. It allows Cabrera to go back to first base even though he player better then expected at third. I don't know if the Tigers want to resign Jhonny Peralta, but if he's willing to play third (he didn't want to in Cleveland) they should look into it. If they don't resign Peralta, it then allows the Tigers star prospect, Nick Castellanos, to go back his natural position in third base. He has been training to play the outfield since he wasn't going to unseat Cabrera at third. So that's another option. What might be the biggest part of this deal is the $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Prince Fielder's big ass contract comes off the books. He was through two years of a NINE year contract. That contract pays him a total of $214 million. That contract is more than Miguel Cabrera's deal! Kinsler makes about $13 million a year compared to Fielder's $23 million a year. This deal makes the infield defense better. The line-up will shake up a little bit. Not to mention, the Tigers will be breaking in new manager Brad Ausmus. It'll be interesting to see how the line-up falls into place. That's of course assuming Cabrera's healthy at the start of next season.

Free agency is just heating up. The biggest move will be where Robinson Cano will end up and for how much. If he gets a $300 million dollar contract I will be STUNNED. He's not that good! Has he ever tried to beat out a ground ball? I haven't seen it. There's a lot of rumors that are spread around the hot stove. Still, there are rumors that the Tigers are trying to land Joe Nathan AND Carlos Beltran.

Hold on one second.

(Pinches arm to make sure he's not dreaming)

Yep. I'm not dreaming! That would be amazing! It's still speculation, but I would be in favor of that without a doubt.

Soon (by the end of next week I swear!) I'll dive into some NBA and NCAA Basketball

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on Twitter @TheLanceMorris

I post when I'm announcing games with the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization as well as little tidbits about everything else going on in my life.

I have two radio shows, you can follow them on Twitter as well:
@Ball_Night Mondays at 8 AM on falconradio.org
@OrangeBrownWBGU Tuesdays at 6 PM on wbgufm.com if you're in the Bowling Green,OH area tune in live on 88.1 FM

You can also find them on the Tunein-Radio app on your smartphone.