Hawks Bulls post Season 2017

April 14 2017

It’s a great time of the year. You have baseball, basketball playoffs and Stanley Cup Hockey. In Chicago that’s two great teams and two lousy teams .Because baseball is just starting we’ll talk Stanley Cup and basketball playoffs

Although the Blackhawks lost the first game there is no reason to panic. The Hawks can play much better than last night and you saw Nashville’s best. The Hawks are the better team and should come out flying in game 2. Earlier this season when they had six days off and were supposed to fresh, they lost 1-0 to Edmonton.  They then proceeded to win 5 straight on the road.  The only real problem is sometimes teams can ride their goalies to the cup. Crawford is that type of player. I don’t think the Predators Rinne is and the Hawks offense will figure him out.. Another problem may be the power play which looks awful. The Hawks were better 5 on 5. Nashville was probably the best team in the conference going in. It may be tough however, I think the Hawks can win on the road and reach the second round.

 Turning to basketball, the team from the West to reach the finals will probably be the Golden State Warriors. One thing I can assure you is that they won’t be playing the Bulls. The worst thing that could

happen to this team was making the playoffs and not the NBA lottery. Usually the Bulls face Lebron’s team and get bounced. This year Cleveland looks vulnerable (not that the Bulls would beat them) and it could have been interesting,

This year’s first round is against a very good Boston Celtics team. The Bulls may have split four games winning twice at the United Center, (one on a phantom foul) and getting annihilated twice in Boston. In one game the Bulls had only 29 points at halftime and didn’t score a point until 5 minutes were gone in the first quarter..So each team wins at home and the series goes seven right?  Not a chance. Playoff basketball is different and if the Bulls win one game I’d be shocked. They may win game 4 with Boston losing interest up 3-0. We’ll talk about all that ails this team and their bleak future after the draft.

Stay tuned because after the first round this becomes good theater. This is especially true with all the great teams in the Western Conference. In the East you’ve got Cleveland, Boston and my pick, the Bullets, to battle it out for the Eastern Conference title.

2017 NCAA Tournament

April 5, 2017

Every year I look forward to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The fun of filling out brackets, the one and out intensities of the games and breakout stars.  It’s called March Madness and the results prove why.

In previous years most upsets take place in the first round. Aside from a couple of games, this was not the case this year. Wild card entry USC beats SMU. Number 12 Middle Tennessee beats number 5 Minnesota. This is when the madness began.

When picking winners you can usually count on all 1 and 2 seeds making it to the sweet 16. The first game on Saturday was the shocking upset of #1 Villanova to #8 Wisconsin. You would think #2 Duke would have easy road to final four. However, they lose to #6 South Carolina. At this point, the number one and two teams don’t reach sweet 16. In a last shot thriller #3 Florida beats Wisconsin then loses to South Carolina.  A #6 team reaches the final four.

When Michigan beats Louisville another number #2 doesn’t make it to the round of 16. Oregon squeeks by Rhode Island then shoots lights out to beat Michigan.  #1 seed Kansas cruises by Purdue by double digits then gets upset by Oregon. The break out star is guard Tyler Dorsey of Oregon. Against Rhode Island, 27 points on 9-10 shooting. In sweet 16 20 points with game winning layup versus Michigan. Led team past Kansas, 14 points 4-6 from three point range. The final four has a #3 seed.

Gonzaga had the easiest time getting to finals. The competition they faced seemed to the easiest path. It might have been different if #2 Arizona doesn’t get beat by #11 Xavier. It was great to see Northwestern win a game and put a scare in Gonzaga coming back from 18 points to get it close. Blown call turns 3 point into seven point lead.

There was only one bracket where there were no upsets although Kentucky almost lost to Wichita St. to reach the sweet 16. #1 N. Carolina beat #4 Butler. #2 Kentucky beats #3 UCLA. Then in what was probably the best game of the tourney. N. Carolina beats Kentucky by one in a back and forth game with several lead changes and ties.

Gonzaga’s luck continued. After disposing of #11 Xavier they faced the lowest seed remaining. S. Carolina had some solid upset buts all good things come to an end and lost by 4. Not a great difference although I felt this game was never in doubt. In the other match up every N. Carolina run was countered by one from Oregon. Despite Tyler Dorsey going 3-10 before fouling out they only trailed by one with 5.4 seconds and the clock stopped, N. Carolina at the free throw line. After the free throws there would have been enough time to get down and shoot a 3 to tie the game. They miss the first foul shot and you’re thinking Oregon may get in the paint to tie game or go for the win with a 3 pointer. When the next free throw missed the Tar Heels got the rebound. This scenario repeated itself with 4 seconds left with Carolina getting the rebound on the second miss. The first thing Oregon works on next season is how to block out on free throws.

The final game was a real stinker. Bad play, countless fouls long timeouts. It was slow and uneventful. Someone had to win and Gonzaga with their inflated record against mediocre teams and an easy path to reach the final. N. Carolina was most likely the best team they faced all year. The Zags kept it close for the first thirty minutes and lost to the better team.

Chicago Baseball 2017

March 27, 2017

Can the Cubs do it again? Unlike the Bears this team has been built for sustainable success. They should be playing in the post season for many more consecutive years. The core group and Theo will make this happen.

The Cubs should run away from a weak Central Division. The top two teams in The East (Mets and Nats) the West (Dodgers and Giants) will duke it out for division winners and wild card teams. You never know what can happen in a short series. In the past even wild card teams have won the World Series.

However, the Cubs top three starters are better than any other team. I also think they have many more offensive weapons than all the other contenders giving them a better chance to reach the World Series. Will they win 103 games? Aside from the aforementioned teams the National League is made up of bad teams and really bad teams to beat up on.  Last year the Cubs also proved they can beat the good teams more often than not. Therefore, if they don’t win 103 it will be close. Some questions do remain:

1)      Will Schwarber leading off work?

2)      Will Heyward hit better?

3)      Will Hendricks be as good as last year?

4)      Can Wade Davis stay health?

The Chicago “loyalty trumps winning“ White Sox will open up their season at Guaranteed Rate Field.  The fact that their logo is an arrow pointing down is apropos for the Sox. Attendance will be down, their ranking will be down and the future is down in the minors.

Speaking of the future what happened to all the trades? I have the feeling the Sox are overvaluing the players they would like to get rid of. Guys like Todd Frazier who was quoted saying if I could just get my average up to .250 that would be good. Well don’t set the bar so high. You may reach it if you come to bat with no runners in scoring position. A young Matt Davidson should get his chance.

David Robertson is a one inning closer with an E.R.A. close to four and Nate Jones usually precedes him. You will never win with a bullpen that blows twenty games a year. I know bullpens are volatile. Good relievers can be good one year and bad the next year. The problem here is I don’t recall bad becoming good.

The starters are a big question mark as well. Quintana is real good but he is the only tradeable player you can get a good return on. Rodon is on the disabled list. Shields and Holland could be this year’s version of Latos and Danks.

In the East, Boston, especially if Price is healthy along with Sale and Porcello rival the Cub starters.  In the West, Texas will have Hamels for a whole year or maybe Houston can bounce back from the horrible start of last year. In the Central there are not many good teams. If the Indians pitchers are healthy they are my choice. The White Sox, last place 73-89 or worse.

Chicago Baseball Managers

March 18, 2017

Joe Maddon is a good manager. What makes him a great manager is the team Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer assembled. I’ve said this to people many times. Managers don’t win or lose games. It’s the players that pitch, hit and field.  Maddon created a good vibe that surrounds the team making it easier for his players to perform. He also makes moves that put his team in a better position to win games. However, it is the players that win the games. Maddon does make moves that make him look smarter than other managers. Pitchers batting eighth, the quick hook after three or four innings, pitchers in the outfield etc. You can try a lot of things when you have a juggernaut team racking up 103 wins. However, his managerial strategy backfired in the World Series. Maddon would have looked like a genius if his plan had worked. He took out Hendricks for Lester who was working on short rest. Next he put in an overworked Chapman, (he had pitched the night before getting 4 outs in a non-save situation), for Lester. 

The inspired speech during the rain delay was not from Maddon, but from a player. It wasn’t Maddon who tagged up from first on a long fly to right in the tenth inning. So therefore, it’s ultimately the players that won the game and championship despite the bad managerial moves. This year’s genius idea is Schwarber leading off. After the first inning he may not lead off again.  When he comes up, are the eighth and ninth hitters going to be on base so he can drive in runs? Do you want him leading off against left handed pitchers where his average dips below.150?

The Chicago “loyalty trumps winning” White Sox have their own managerial mess. Robin Ventura was the polar opposite of Joe Maddon. He would make bad moves that negatively impacted games. Bad players and poor managerial decisions is a recipe for disaster.  As for the loyalty, if Ventura doesn’t resign on his own he is still the manager. In the past, they have fired and replaced many managers. However, they never fix the real problem which is the people who work in the front office. They have their jobs until they decide to call it quits, Ron Schueler and Kenny Williams. With the exception of Jeff Torborg every manager they’ve had has had no managerial experience. So it was sort of surprising that after the extensive 24 hour search they hired a manager who has experience albeit for only one year. Hahn will tell us he knew what else was available and Renteria was the best choice. I guess the most important qualification is that he speaks Spanish. Just hope that he didn’t learn anything about managing as Ventura’s bench coach or they are in big trouble.  These same problems exist with Reinsdorf’s other team. 

March Madness

March 10, 2017

By this time next week if you’re like me you will be watching the NCAA “March Madness” tournament. Without knowing the teams here are some tips before filling out your brackets.

People love this tournament, especially the upsets. Most of these take place in the first round. In the past few years I can only remember one #2 seed losing in round one and no #1 seed ever losing in first round. Take these eight times, put them in the sweet 16 and work backwards.The final four is usually made from this group.

Back to the first round. When making picks the #3 and #4 are tough to pick against. However, each year one or more #5 teams lose to a #12. The winner will most likely lose in round 2. The #6 vs. #11, #7 vs. #10 and # 8vs.#9  games are fairly matched and you can pick either team .My advice is go with mostly favorites who will also probably lose in round 2.

When you finally reach 16 you may want to pick an upset. For the most part not all #1 seeds make the final four or final game. Teams that with good pedigrees Duke, Kentucky, Syracuse probably won’t make much noise this year. The fun team to watch will be Northwestern. Right now my pick is Villanova beating Kansas.

Now just a few words about the Bears:

The Bears finally say goodbye to the most despised man in Chicago sports, Jay Cutler.

They have signed an unproven replacement in Mike Glennon. While he may not be as talented you can rest assured he won’t be as dumb as Cutler. Throwing the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack. Not throwing into triple coverage or an area where this in no Bear receiver in the vicinity. Getting stripped sacked for a turnover. 

Glennon may be a upgrade but only as a stopgap. This year’s draft does not have any good quarterbacks to choose from.  With that said take the best athlete available with the number three pick. I’m assuming this team will be bad enough to be in a good position next year to draft a franchise quarterback.

Blackhawks

March 7, 2017

The Blackhawks are en fuego!

When you win games with Tootoo and Campbell scoring goals and one when you only play 20 minutes you know the stars are aligned for this team..

Speaking of stars, Patrick Kane is proving that he is in the top three of offensive players in hockey. He is scoring goals in bunches and adding assists throughout this hot streak. Last I checked he was in second place among point leaders, sandwiched between Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.

 Even when not scoring, Jonathan Toews may be their most valuable player. He plays both ends of the ice, wins face-offs, scores overtime winners and provides the leadership a team needs.  After an injury and a revolving door of line mates, the number one line is clicking. With a sniper in Panik and a play maker like Schmaltz, Toews has ramped up his goals and assists to add to his overall game.

Duncan Keith could be the top defenseman in the league.  An annual contender for the Norris Trophy (Defenseman of the Year) he seems to do everything right. He defends his zone and goalie, makes up-ice passes, carries the puck up and has a blazing slap shot from the point. The perfect combination of defense and offense.

Corey Crawford has been outstanding. Some nights he makes over 30 saves, of which some are spectacular. He is especially good on breakaways and in shootouts.  There are many games they might not have won without him.  It doesn’t matter that his job is easier with all the goals the offense is scoring. He makes key saves when needed. I must mention that Scott Darling has played well. However, he is a free agent and wants to be a starter getting starter’s money. This will be his last year as a Blackhawk.

Can this team avoid the bad endings they have had in past seasons? March and April have not been too kind. Can they stay this consistent through March, April, May and June?

 

NBA Purgatory

March 3, 2017

Paraphrasing a Who song, Meet the new Bulls, same as the old Bulls. Things won’t change much as long as GarPax is in charge, and with Reinsdorf’s loyalty thing, that's not happening.

Let’s take a look at the puzzling trade before the deadline. GarPax made many moves to acquire lottery pick, Doug McDermott.   He never developed into the player they envisioned, leading to his departure. It looks like they are giving his minutes to Denzel Valentine. His inconsistent three point shooting and lousy defense makes it seems like McDermott never left.

At the start of the season their aim was to make the playoffs. I don’t how trading Taj Gibson will help accomplish this goal. Granted, Gibson is going to be a free agent and the Bulls would get nothing when he left. Hence, they traded him and still got nothing.  You know how bad the players they received are when two can’t get in the rotation, which sometimes goes eleven deep. The key player, Payne, needs to be developed, which is not something this organization does. In the mean time in the last two games, in limited minutes he is 4 for 15, so he fits right in. The only positive from this is Bobby Portis got a chance. He has played well and should improve.  The fact that this took so long is a result of GarPax’s "puppet coach" [Fred Hoiberg].

However, since the last time I wrote about the Bulls they are 4-1 with impressive victories over the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, and a Lebron-less Cleveland Cavaliers. The only loss was to an under .500 Denver Nuggets. They have moved into sixth place in the lousy Eastern Conference. This puts them in a position for a first round knockout and a lower draft selection a.k.a. NBA purgatory.