Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Westbrook Making History

  Many players dream of breaking NBA records to solidify their mark in NBA history. On Tuesday night Russel Westbrook has gotten one step closer to cementing his name into history. Westbrook joins Oscar Robertson for most triple doubles in a season after earning his 7th straight triple double. The big O had 41 triple doubles in 1961-1962 season with the Kansas City Royals. Westbrook already has 41 triple doubles this season and has five more games left to play. Westbrook also only needs 16 more assists to average a triple double for the entire season. 

  What Westbrook is about to accomplish is unbelievable and words can't describe how he is playing. Never have I expected to ever see a player accomplish such a feat. It really takes a special and a determined player to accomplish. I honestly can't believe how Westbrook may not even be the MVP of this season. Not to take away the great play of James Harden but to average a triple double for an entire season is truly remarkable. I really do hope that Westbrook wins the MVP. It will be a great redemption story after former Teammate Kevin Durant left for Golden State. Oklahoma City Thunder are 31-10 when Westbrook has a triple double which is a 75% win percentage. Westbrook in my eyes is clearly the MVP this season.   


  

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Big Money in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Steelers were able to keep their big name stars so the team can still be elite for next season. The Steelers signed superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown for four years extension $65 million. This makes Brown the highest paid receiver to ever play the game. This well deserved because Brown has been one of the best receivers in the League for the past four years. Brown Snagged 481 receptions for  6315 yards and 43 touchdowns. Brown will continue to play for the Steelers till 2021.

Pittsburgh Steelers also put the franchise tag on running back Le'veon Bell. Bell is a fourth year pro out of Michigan ST. Bell has been monster for Steelers in his career as he already rushed for over 4000 yards and has reached the end-zone 26 times. Despite some injuries Bell has dealt with he has still been a intrigual part to the Steelers offense. Steelers offense should be a force to reckon with when they have superstars in almost every position on the offensive end. I expect to see the Steelers to be title contenders as long as they have Bell and Brown healthy in the offense. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Big Moves in the NBA

The NBA All Star weekend is over and were about to head into the second half of the season. NBA teams are going to start making trades to better their teams or to stock up on draft picks. There are some big name superstars that are going to be on the move to different teams.

Superstar DeMarcus Cousins will be leaving the Sacramento Kings and is now part of the New Orleans Pelicans. The kings traded Cousins and Omri Casspi for rookie Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and 2017 first-round pick. Cousins averaged 27.8 PPG and 10.6 RPG will be bringing help New Orleans superstar and All Star MVP Anthony Davis. Davis is already having a monster season as well who is averaging 27.7 PPG, 12 RPG. This trade makes the Pelicans a threat in the west. They will be a dominant force in the paint with the twin towers.

Other big names such as Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and Andre Drummond are also expected to be traded to other teams. This part of season will get interesting with all the trade possibilities that could arrive.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Patriots Do the Impossible

Last night Super Bowl was one of the greatest championship game to ever be played. This would be the first ever Super Bowl that went into overtime! The New England Patriots comeback from a 25 point deficit in the 2nd Half to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28. Tom Brady dominated as he threw for 466 yards, two touchdowns and interception (pick six). Brady broke two Super Bowl records for yards thrown (466) and Completions (43). James White also broke the record for most receptions (14) in the game. Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons had an excellent game as he threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan also had passer rating of 144.1 but wasn't enough to beat New England. Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons only came up with four receptions and 87 Yards. Grady Jarret of the Atlanta Falcons had tied the record with most sacks in a game (3)

If you watched this game you might as well agree with me saying this was the best Super Bowl ever. Just when you thought New England was done for the count they come roaring back and send the game to overtime. It took the New England one possession in OT to win it. Atlanta in my opinion blew the game because all they had to do was run the ball when they had the ball in field goal range with a 28-20 lead. Instead Atlanta decides to pass the ball which led to holding penalty, a sack and long 3rd down that basically would lead to a 4th down punt. Atlanta still played a great game but in my opinion should be the champion if they would of ran the ball. None the less its really sad that NFL season has came to an end but you couldn't have asked for better ending to a great NFL season. I'm already looking forward to what next season has to bring us football fans. 

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Low scoring affair in NFL Pro Bowl

The NFL Pro Bowl was played on Sunday night and went back to its original AFC vs NFC format. The NFL biggest stars were on displayed for celebration for the end of a NFL season. Both conference played their best players this year excluding any players from Patriots or Falcons due to Super Bowl. History tells that Pro Bowl is usually high scoring game but this year's game was mostly about the defense as AFC would be victorious winning 20-13 against the NFC.

AFC Pro Bowl team was headline with Denver strong defensive captains Von Miller and Aqib Talib. The AFC defense was able to hold the NFC high powered offense to only 13 points. Miller had half a sack with four tackles. Talib two pass deflections with three tackles. Lorenzo Alexander of the Buffalo Bills led the team in tackles with nine tackles with an interception. Also teammate Stephon Gilmore had one interception in the fourth quarter which sealed the victory. NFC Defense was led by Everson Griffen of the Minnesota Vikings had a great game with eight tackles and three sacks. Superstar Richard Sherman had the team's only interception.

The game really lacked offense as both teams combined for only 549 yards. AFC quarterbacks combined for only 210 passing yards. Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals led team with only 100 passing yards with a touchdown and interception. Leading rusher for the team was Miami Dolphins Jay Ajayi with only 18 rushing yards. No receiver in the game had a 100 yards receiving on neither AFC or NFC teams. The receiver to come close to that mark was NFC superstar Odell Beckham Jr with 93 yards. Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs had three receptions and a touchdown for the AFC. The NFC had a chance to tie the game but Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins threw game ending interception during a two-minute drill.

I really do hope that next year's game gets more offensive production but it was nice to see defense get some attention. I also liked how they have the festivities for the players throughout the weekend. Players were able to play dodge-ball and other skill challenges. In my opinion Pro Bowl is moving in the right direction despite the terrible offensive showing which is really great going forward.


Thursday, January 26, 2017

Ranked Teams Terrible Tuesday

College basketball top ranked teams had a rough day on Tuesday. As  #1 Villanova , #2 Kansas, and #4 Kentucky all lost on the road. This is the first time in five years that 3 of 4 top ranked teams lost on the same day. Two of the squads lost to unranked opponents. If you think the college season couldn't get any more interesting you was wrong. The top ten will look very different when the new polls after Tuesday. 

Marquette def. #1 Villanova 74-72
Villanova had control of the game in the first half leading the way 39-24. All signs were pointing toward another blowout for Villanova. But Marquette won the second half by 17 to stun the #1 team in the nation. Marquette was led by guard Katin Reinhardt who scored 19 points and dished out seven assist. Marquette shot efficiently as a team, shooting 50% from the field and 47% from three point. Villanova struggled shooting three ball only hitting 17% from downtown. Senior forward Kris Jenkins did not hit a field goal the entire game only scoring two points. Villanova will no longer be the #1 team but will probably earn a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

#18 West Virginia def. #2 Kansas 85-69
West Virginia impress the world again after beating another top ranked team for the second time this year. West Virginia beat Oregon earlier in the season when they was ranked #1 at the time. Esa Ahmad had himself a night scoring 27 points after saying his main focus improving his defense. Superstar guard Frank Mason III only scored 15 points shooting 6-16 from the field and grabbing four rebounds for Kansas. Kansas bench was another problem only producing seven points for the game. Kansas must address their struggles as they are now second in the Big 12 and will play #4 Kentucky in the SEC/Big 12 challenge.

Tennessee def. #4 Kentucky 82-80
Tennessee added Kentucky to the list of stunning upsets. Tennessee's Robert Hobbs III scored 25 to help stopped Kentucky 7 game win streak. Kentucky also streak of 7 straight games shooting 50% or better comes to a stop. Kentucky star Malik Monk scored 25 with four assist and shot 8-10 from the free throw line. But it wasn't enough to beat Tennessee as Tennessee last minute defense helped sealed the victory. Kentucky is now 7-1 conference play and will look forward to the SEC/Big 12 challenge as they face #1 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. 

Monday, January 23, 2017

Falcons and Patriots Move on to Super Bowl

The NFL conference championship weekend had different perspective to what many people had expected. I honestly did not believe that either game would have been lopsided as they were this past Sunday, Both the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots showed their dominance on their way to Super Bowl LI. Both teams won by 19 points or more and scoring more than 35 as well. The most shocking surprise of the weekend is that the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers were both no shows. 

The NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons had so much anticipation going into Sunday. But the game was all but exciting. The Falcons routed the Packers 44-21! As the Packers dug themselves a big hole allowing the Falcons to go up 31-0 by the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Aaron Rodgers didn't even throw a touchdown pass in the first half. As he only threw for 147 yards and INT in the first half. But Rodgers finished strong throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns. By the time the Packers found rhythm it was a little to late as the Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 392 yards and four touchdowns. The Falcons accounted for almost 500 yards of total offense. Julio Jones had a monster game grabbing nine receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns. The Falcons defense held Rodgers and the Packers offense in check for most of the game. Falcons defense has proven to get better as each week goes by and will need to continue their high level of play if they want a chance at a Super Bowl title. 

The AFC championship game showed us why Patriots were Super Bowl favorites from the beginning of the season. The New England Patriots dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 to move on to Super Bowl LI. Patriots crushed Steelers in all phases of the game. The Patriots Tallied up 467 yards and forced two turnovers. Tom Brady was playing great as always throwing for 384 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Chris Hogan had himself an amazing game as well catching nine passes for 180 yards and two scores. Steelers did not have the best of nights as Big Ben couldn't get much going only throwing one touchdown. Le'veon Bell also didn't see much action due to injury in the first quarter as he only carried the ball six times for 20 yards. Superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown didn't find a score either only having seven receptions for 77 yards. Steelers defense didn't have an answer for Tom Brady which ultimately led them to a defeat and short of chance at appearance of a Super Bowl.