Much better showing… From Lonzo, but not the Lakers

Lonzo Ball’s second showing was much better in Summer League, but not even a triple-double could save the Los Angeles Lakers from their pathetic defense as they fall to the Boston Celtics 86-81 in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.

Let’s be clear, the Lakers will make the playoffs this season. They will learn not to put in a terrible effort on defense. I know they only have rookies and second year players on the summer league squad, however, I want to see the team play harder on defense. The turnovers are also a major red flag right now. I fully expect these things to be rectified by the start of the regular season.

Lonzo is the epitome of a transcendent talent and smarts. It rubs off on the rest of the team. I thought offensively the team played well, like the Houston Rockets...

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Lonzo’s First Night

Lonzo Ball wasn’t really balling tonight as the Lakers get defeated by the Clippers in Summer League’s opening night.

Ball had 5 assists and 5 points and shot mostly bricks tonight. Can’t expect everything from a rookie first night on the job. I expect Ball to be overwhelmed the opening night of the ’17-18 season, but he will come along very nicely. I expect the Lakers to be the eight seed in the Western Conference and Lonzo Ball, LaVar Ball’s son, to win Rookie of the Year.

 

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Making Baseball Fun Again (For Everyone)

Ahh. Baseball, America’s pastime, is currently a topic rarely shown at the top of sports analysis or sports news shows, so what can be done to rectify the situation? I have three steps.

1. Install a game clock to run continuously for three hours with exceptions for extra-curricular activity like slowing the game down in any way. Nine innings have to be completed at a minimum. If, after nine innings, regardless of score, there is still time on the clock, the teams should continue playing until time expires.

2. While the NFL and NHL have a frequent issue with caving in each other’s brains, baseball is like a field full of crops waiting to be harvested...

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We cannot tolerate tanking at any cost!

Tanking, a practice used by professional sports teams in America to get a top draft pick, has been a practice commonly seen in recent years. Proponents say it’s necessary to improve the team, while opponents of it say it abuses the concept of competition.

Let’s face reality, America; we can no longer tolerate tanking. It undermines the spirit of competition in a manner that is unacceptable. The 1919 Chicago White Sox tanked and threw the World Series that year. The players responsible were banned for life as a result. Another example, the 2011 Indianapolis Colts tanked so they could draft Andrew Luck. Where has that gotten them? Zero Super Bowls since he was drafted.

What should we do about tanking, you might ask? For players involved, the penalty should be a hefty fine...

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Humor Under Attack

Every Thursday night basketball fans are treated to a blooper reel known as Shaqtin’ A Fool. This segment is under attack from those on the liberal side.

Let’s face it, America; humor is not going to disappear. It is good for keeping morale up. We cannot let the McGees ruin our fun. The McGees are JaVale and his mother Pamela. They are whining about Shaquille O’Neal making fun of him frequently.

Hey, JaVale and Pamela, it’s humor. Nobody is taking it seriously. ESPN has a similar feature called “Not Top 10.” No one is complaining over that. I applaud JaVale wholeheartedly for trying so hard. He should learn to laugh at himself sometimes.

My biggest beef is with media pundits who put themselves above Shaquille’s level on the basis Shaq is only trying to have some fun...

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NFL Regular Season Recap

The 2016 NFL regular season has concluded. My biggest surprise team is the Detroit Lions. I did not have them making the playoffs this season. Kudos to their coaches for their accomplishments this season. I expect them to possibly win the NFC North in 2017 as Aaron Rodgers ages and the Viking Quarterback situation is still a bit iffy.

The biggest disappointments are the two teams I picked at the start of the season to come out of the AFC, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Oakland Raiders, for different reasons. I’ll start with the Jaguars. Their coaching rivaled the Cleveland Browns as the worst coaching in the league in ’16. QB Blake Bottles was awful; however, poor coaching likely had a lot to do with his struggles. I expect the new coach to rectify the situation...

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NBA Season Preview

I apologize for being a couple of days late, but here is my 2016-17 NBA Predictions.

Most improved team: Los Angeles Lakers

Division Winners:

Atlantic: Toronto Raptors

Central: Cleveland Cavaliers

Southeast: Atlanta Hawks

Northwest: Portland Trailblazers

Pacific: Golden State Warriors

Southwest: San Antonio Spurs

NBA Champion: Cleveland Cavaliers over San Antonio Spurs.

MVP: Kawhi Leonard

Playoff Predictions: West

1 San Antonio over 8 Houston Rockets

2 Golden State over 7 Memphis Grizzlies

3 Portland over 6 Dallas Mavericks

4 L.A. Clippers over 5 Oklahoma City Thunder

East:

1 Cleveland over 8 Miami Heat

2 Atlanta over 7 New York Knicks

3 Toronto over 6 Boston Celtics

4 Chicago Bulls over Indiana Pacers

Second Round: CLE over CHI, ATL over TOR, SAN over LAC, GS over POR.

Semis: CLE over ATL...

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2016 NFL Preview

2016 NFL Predictions

AFC East – New England

AFC South – Indianapolis

AFC North – Pittsburgh

AFC West – Kansas City

WCs – Oakland, Jacksonville

NFC East – Dallas

NFC South – Carolina

NFC North – Green Bay

NFC West – Seattle

WCs – Arizona, Minnesota

Super Bowl 51 Champion – Carolina (over New England)

First overall pick in the ’17 NFL Draft: San Francisco

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Drawing the Line

Ah, the National Anthem. Played at every sporting event in America. Is that really necessary? Is doing so an attempt to indoctrinate Americans? Should we be outraged over this practice, when conducted excessively?

The answer to all three of these questions is no.

What exactly are we trying to honor when we sing the anthem before sporting events? I get the Conference Finals and the Championship game, as well as after special (and occasionally infamous) occasions. Other than those, what are we honoring? What’s the point of doing this?

Contrary to recent belief, Americans are not indoctrinated by the anthem. If our decadence could’ve been prevented by it we’d sing it a lot more...

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Olympic Summer

Every two years, like for example, 2016 summer and 2018 winter, the world’s finest athletes converge on a city for a few weeks to prove that they are the best at their craft. Athletes like Michael Phelps come only once in a generation. He will leave behind goals for future swimmers like getting 24 medals to eclipse his mark of 23.

I don’t know much about Olympic events except for American sports lIke basketball, volleyball, and weight lifting, but I do know it is every Olympic athlete’s responsibility to try their hardest to win gold. However, some athletes go too far by using PEDs.

These cheaters need to be banned eight years if caught. Another positive test; lifetime ban. There is no place in sports for cheaters in the world...

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