February 2018 – Sports Chatter with MJD

5 Predictions for the Second Half of the NBA Season

The trade deadline and NBA All Star Game have both passed which means the NBA Playoffs are less than 2 months away. The second half starts back up tomorrow. Here are 5 bold predictions I have for the second half…

1.The Oklahoma City Thunder rip off a win streak of 10+ games and finish with the 3rd seed in the Western Conference.

Photo Credit: Opencourt Basketball

The Thunder have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NBA this year. They’re a combined 4-1 against the Rockets, Warriors, and Spurs, the top 3 teams in the West. Yet they’re a combined 4-7 against the Mavs, Magic, Nets, and Lakers… some of the worst teams in the league. They’ve clearly shown they play up to their level of competition. Now it’s time to show they no longer will play down to their competition. I’m confident that reigning MVP Russell Westbrook will demand that his teammates bring their full focus every night in the second half of the season. Although they’ve slipped a little in the last month or so, they’ve been one of the best defensive teams in the league and have lost many close games. These types of things usually find a way to balance out and I believe this will happen for OKC, as they end up ripping off a big win streak and finishing 3rd in the West. It won’t be easy though, as they will play the Rockets, Warriors and Spurs two times each.

2. The race for the #1 seed in the East comes down to the final week of the season… and the Cavs who currently sit 6.5 games behind the Raptors for the 1st seed, make a serious run at it.

Photo Credit: USA Today

Right now the Raptors sit first in the East with a 2 game lead over the Celtics, followed by LeBron and the Cavs who are 6.5 games out of first. I believe this race is a long way from over and before it’s all said and done, the Cavs could still steal the first seed. I am buying into LeBron’s new supporting cast and believe that the Cavs are a real threat to represent the East in the NBA Finals again. I think the All-Star break has come at a great time for the Celtics, as it appears 2nd year Guard Jaylen Brown and Rookie Forward Jayson Tatum have hit a bit of a wall recently. The time off should do them well and help the Celts gear up for a second half run to the #1 seed. Finally, the Raptors are in the midst of their best season in the franchise’s existence and have been arguably the most consistent team in the conference. The Celts and Raptors play twice between March 31st and the end of the regular season (April 18^th). The Raptors and Cavs also square off once in April. I have a feeling these specific match-ups will decide who takes the #1 seed in the East. Don’t underestimate the importance of the #1 seed this year. Two of these teams will have to battle in the 2nd round of the playoffs, while the #1 seed will most likely have a much easier match-up, most likely against the Bucks, Wizards, or Pacers.

3. Isaiah Thomas shines with the Lakers and helps to salvage some of his value as he prepares to hit free agency this summer… but not before Lavar Ball tries to throw IT under the bus for bad shot selection or missing a game winning shot.

Photo Credit: Slam Magazine

It’s no secret that this has been the “season from hell” for Isaiah Thomas. First, he gets traded from the city and team he loved, the Boston Celtics. Then he misses the first 3 months of the season due to his groin injury. Finally, he gets traded again and as nothing more than a throw-in to a team who won’t be making the playoffs this year. It’s not all negative for IT in his new situation with the Lakers. First, his dad grew up a huge fan of the team and Isaiah actually wanted to sign with the Lakers a few years back. Second, the situation isn’t that unlike the time he was traded from the Suns to the Celtics. The Lakers are a young team with a lot of up and coming talent to support him, combined with low overall expectations. Although, it’s not an entire roster of scrubs. Finally, the team is going to lean on him to score a lot, similar to the Celtics and not what LeBron needed in Cleveland. I think IT will be rejuvenated and shine with the Lakers. It’s a much better situation than people probably realize. It won’t come without some controversy though. Is there any doubt that Lavar Ball doesn’t come out after a game and rip IT? The dialogue will go something like this “Some players on the team are shooting the ball too much man! They’re worried about getting paid in the offseason! Not my boy, he just wants to win and make the team better. He needs to have the ball in his hands at the end of the game.”

4. Ben Simmons runs away with Rookie of the Year.

Photo Credit: FanRag Sports

If I made this prediction back in November, everyone would have said, “wow way to really go out on a limb MJ.” Fast forward a few months and everyone is all aboard the Donovan Mitchell train for Rookie of the Year. While Mitchell has been absolutely phenomenal, the Sixers have a better record than the Jazz and sit inside the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Meanwhile the Jazz, led by Mitchell have been on fire, winning 11 games in a row. They still sit outside the playoff picture and I believe this will remain the case at the end of the season. Meanwhile, I think Simmons will come out extremely motivated in the second half, to prove the “haters” wrong in not voting him into the All Star Game. He hit a bit of a rookie slump in January. Some people said, “The league was starting to figure him out.” He seems to be breaking past it in February, as illustrated by his triple-double in the final game before the All-Star Break. He’s also had a few double-doubles and another near triple-double in February.

5. The Sacramento Kings easily coast to the worst record in the league, giving them the best chance at landing the #1 pick in the June Draft.

Photo Credit: LA Times

I’m going to try and keep this short since no one cares about the Sacramento Kings. I have to sadly admit I’ve actually watched the Kings play twice this year. It’s honestly a miracle that they only have the 5th worst record in the league. They’ve somehow won 18 games. Outside of maybe Zach Randolph and Vince Carter, I’m not sure a casual NBA fan could name one player on the Kings… and unfortunately it’s not 2007 so Vince Carter and Zach Randolph headlining your team isn’t a good thing. They just traded their former starting Point Guard George Hill to Cleveland. They’ve already started resting veterans like Zach Randolph in the second half of back-to-back games, illustrating that they’re fully embracing tanking and going after the worst record in the league. I don’t think the Kings win more than 5 games for the rest of the season, easily giving them the worst record in the league.

The race to the end of the season should be interesting. There are still a lot of unanswered questions this season. Will the Rockets find a way to take the 1st seed in the West? Can LeBron and the Cavs maintain their hot streak and steal the 1st seed in the East? Will the 76ers finally make the playoffs? Will Lonzo Ball comeback soon and have a big 2nd half of his rookie year? Is the MVP award James Harden’s to lose? We’ll have all these answers in the next few months. Be sure to keep your eyes open for my NBA Playoff Preview come April!

If You Haven’t Bought Stock in the Rhode Island Rams, the Time is Now

For those of you who may or may not know me, I’ve gone on rants about how this is “our year” regarding the Rhode Island basketball program multiple times over the last few years. The team finally broke-through last year and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1999 squad which was led by Lamar Odom. Last year’s team upset the 6th seeded Creighton Blue Jays in the big dance. Rhody would go on to lose a heart-breaker to the Oregon Ducks in the next round. The Ducks ended up getting all the way to the Final Four.

Coming into this season, the expectations for the Rams were sky high. They were projected to win the A-10 and numerous analysts had them ranked inside the Top 25. So far they’ve lived up to all the expectations and more.

The Rhode Island Rams are up to #16 in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings and #14 in the USA Today Top 25. Most college basketball analysts have them slotted in around a 5 seed in their projected NCAA field. Their win streak is up to 16 games in a row, tied for longest in the country. They’re one of 6 teams left that are undefeated in conference play at 13-0 in the A-10.

This team is led by a group of close knit seniors and a top 5 backcourt in the nation. There are a few cliches that come to mind when talking about winning formulas in March. Two of the biggest are “great guard play” and “senior leadership/experience.” We’ve seen this come to fruition many times over the last few years. Take for example the 2011 and 2014 UConn national championship teams which were led by guards Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier respectively. They almost single handily carried their teams to national title. Also, the last 4 “Most Outstanding Players of the Final 4” have been guards as well (Joel Berry – UNC, Ryan Arcidiacono, Senior – Villanova, Tyus Jones – Duke, and Shabazz Napier, Senior – UConn).

URI has arguably the deepest backcourt in the country. They’re led by senior Jared Terrell. Terrell is the odds on favorite to win the A-10 player of the year. He’s top 10 in the conference in points per game, 3P%, Steals, and FT%. After Terrell they’re filled with experience in seniors EC Matthews, Jarvis Garrett and Stan Robinson. Matthews and Robinson are both former top 100 recruits.

They also have sophomore Jeff Dowtin and Freshman Daron “Fatts” Russell in the backcourt. Dowtin is #3 in the country in assist/turnover ratio, averaging 4.58 assist for every turnover he commits. Meanwhile the 5″10 Fatts (5″10 is very generous… I think he’s closer to 5″8) has some people calling him a “young A.I.” and Coach Danny Hurley has said he will be one of the best players in the A-10 in the next few years. As respected college basketball insider Jon Rothstein always says of Fatts…

Beyond that, Coach Danny Hurley is highly regarded as the best coach in the Atlantic-10 and has received more national hype than any of us could have imagined. He is undoubtedly in the running for “Naismith Coach of the Year.”

The truth is that the secret is just about out on URI. If they win out they’ll be a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Dan Hurley within the last few weeks has done interviews on SportsCenter, The Jim Rome Show, Farrell on the Bench radio show, and had a big article written on him on cbssports.com this week. Finally, this past Saturday, even College GameDay on ESPN opened up their show with Jay Williams talking about how Rhody is the best kept secret in college basketball (see below clip).

@BarstoolRhody when Rhody leads gameday as the first topic! #rhodyrhodyrhody pic.twitter.com/UQRzDZnwb4

— John W. Daley IV (@johndaley01) February 10, 2018

(Thanks to John Daley for letting me use this)

So here’s a friendly piece of advice to everyone who’s going to be filling out their brackets in a few weeks… make sure to pencil Rhode Island in at the very least advancing to the Sweet 16, because odds are they’ll be favored to get there… and don’t be surprised if they make a run to the Final Four. They have all the key ingredients to get there with great guard play, senior leadership, and top of the line coaching. This finally is the year for the program. RHODY! RHODY! RHODY!

The curious case of Malcolm Butler

There’s a lot to talk about today after last night’s loss, but nothing more noteworthy than the absence of one Malcolm Butler.

Malcolm played 98% of the defensive snaps in the first 18 games of this season. Last night he played zero. He did play one snap on special teams.

So the question is… why didn’t Butler play? There’s been a few theories on this.

The first is taking Belichick for his word that Butler’s benching wasn’t a disciplinary reason. When asked about it after the game Bill said “We put the best players out there and the game plan out there because we thought it’d be the best to win.”

Personally, I think this is complete BS. I don’t think there’s a single Pats fan who felt this was “the best decision for the team.” It’s also clear that some Patriot players feel that the benching of Butler did not put the team in the best position to win.

Former Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner put up numerous Instagram posts during the game which displayed how he was highly critical of Bill’s decision to bench Malcolm. One of them which can be seen below, was liked by defensive captain and linebacker Dont’a Hightower. It’s pretty eye opening to see a leader on the team like an Instagram post critical of his own coach (his username is boomtower). I can’t imagine Bill is too happy about this.

The other theory is that Belichick lied to everyone and the benching WAS disciplinary related. I think this was more likely. There’s already been some whispers that he missed curfew one night last week and got caught with weed when he came back late to the hotel. There haven’t been any Patriots insiders to report this yet so nothing is official on this front.

The argument against this would be then why didn’t Malcolm come out after the game and say this or hint it in his post-game comments. He knew it was the last time he’d be in the Pats locker room and he won’t be back with the team.

Instead when asked was he given a reason on why he didn’t play, Malcolm said “No.” He also said, “They gave up on me. F*** It is what it is”. He clearly was very emotional and it is interesting looking back at it that he didn’t give the media anything and basically said he doesn’t know why he was benched.

If he was indeed benched for disciplinary reasons and something to do with weed or being intoxicated, then why dress him at all for the game? Why let him play a snap on special teams? Bill should of just sent him home and put him on the inactive list for the game if he really wanted to prove a point. They had 2 corners on their practice squad they could of activated for the game.

I reserve the right to change my opinion on the following take if we get more information that Butler really crossed the line, but if he was benched because Bill really thought the combination of Eric Rowe, Johnson Bademosi, and Jordan Richards were better… or he was benched the entire game because he missed curfew and got caught with some weed, then you could make the argument Bill potentially cost them a Super Bowl victory. Of course he’s still the best coach in NFL history and I want him to come back next year, but this is something I know I won’t ever forget when looking back at this Patriots run/game and I would assume a lot of other people would agree with me as well.

I think we all know Malcolm Butler will never play another down for the Patriots and although he had a down year by his standards, I’ll miss the guy a lot. Nobody will ever forget the interception he made to win Super Bowl 49 but his legacy is more than that in my opinion.

We all know its been a rocky year for him on and off the field but for the majority of his time with the Pats, he had been the ultimate example of the “Patriot way.”

He made the roster as an undrafted free agent. He’s never been the most athletic player, or the fastest (ran a 4.62 at the NFL Combine)… but this guy competed his ass off as much as any corner in the NFL. He became so easy to root for the last few years because of how hard he played, how well he played despite being grossly underpaid, and becoming one of the better cornerbacks in the league as an undrafted free agent.

It definitely hurts to see Malcolm’s career with the Patriots to come to an end like this. I hope he finds a way to get paid this off-season and success with his next team. In the meantime, I’ll try and hold back my tears as well Malcolm.