sports sports sports sports

[Captain]

Who do you like out East this year, Iggy?  If memory serves, you were anti-Cav's last year.

[Ignatius]

I have confidence that the Cavs will make it to the Finals. Dwight Howard was a joke against the Bobcats and nobody wins championships with little more than a bunch of shooters. I don't know anything about the Celtics, Hawks or Bucks but I'm willing to bet that they all suck. How hard can it be to get the 2nd seed in that conference?

[Captain]

Rashard Lewis & Jameer Nelson are still quite potent, even if Vince is kind of a bust.  Orlando got it done in 4 without Dwight... that's what scares me.  I still have nightmares about Petrius, too (dude was hitting everything last year).

Hawks have hit their ceiling.  Sorry to any Hawks fans, but that's how I see it.  And as for the Celtics... they can be great any given day, but I don't see them sustaining it.  Still, this series will be hard fought.

[kadiekatRN]

Bucks historically are awful, and their best player, Bogut, is out for the season. 

That said, I am rooting for them because they're all I know of basketball.

[Ignatius]

I hardly ever watch hockey, but that Caps/Habs game was fantastic. There goes Washington city's least-shitty sports franchise.

[davy]

8 in a row.

[El_Josharino]

Yeah... yeah...
But better now than in September... right?

[Ignatius]

Yeah I don't think you should expect your team to hit .240 all season long. You played the Mets when they were on a roll and any 4-game series against St. Louis is tough. I remember KC and Toronto looked really good at the end of April last year. This month is a write-off. It's not like you're ten games out of the wildcard already or anything. You're not the Pirates.

[Ignatius]

Woo! The Spurs are going to Round 2. Some really good signs came out of this series, McDyess' comfortable fit into the role of pain-in-the-ass big man especially. You always want that guy who knows what he can do to help you win games without playing out of his comfort zone. My assumption that the Spurs will not win games without either RJ or George Hill asserting themselves and contributing 10 or 15 points proved true in a big way, so I hope other teams don't pick up on that.

The best thing is that the way they played was continuous with their surge at the end of the season, so it looks more like a team that's come together rather than a team with a particular psychological or matchup edge over their 1st-round opponents (which isn't to say they entirely lacked those qualities, either.)

They're not a dominant team, and the rest of the field has improved significantly since then, but this is probably the most coherent and dangerous Spurs squad since 2007.

[Ignatius]

I think they're ready for the Suns. That's a team that finished 4 games ahead of the Spurs, but they played 12 games against the Clippers, Warriors and Kings in the regular season. Matching up against Jason Richardson is a new thing, but this is a team the Spurs can beat. I'm not sold on the 'new' defensive Amar'e just yet. Even if they're a better team in the paint, we've got a good shot.

[dumbfish]

Ginobili's nasal thing was hilarious. The fans wearing mock-nasal things were sad. Reminded me of the middle-aged guy with eyeblack and a mitt at a baseball game.

[Ignatius]

San Antonio fans are absolutely obsessed with Manu Ginobili. If he didn't get the contract extension, I think half of the fanbase would quit rooting for the team or at least find themselves with a major dilemma at hand. It's different than the eyeblack to me because it's an expression of support for an individual under a particular set of circumstances rather than an attempt to identify with athletes in general. More like wearing a Ginobili jersey from his Italian club or the Argentine national team. Of course it was still an incredibly silly and silly-looking gesture.

The fact that he played as recklessly and aggressively in spite of an unprotected broken nose was pretty inspiring, at least to his teammates.

[dumbfish]

GASOL

[davy]

Braves extend winning streak to 1 game!

[El_Josharino]

And 2!

[davy]

Wooo! I'm sad that I missed today's game. I was at work. Box score had good times written all over it.

[El_Josharino]

Make that a sweep. Sure, it was the Astros, but a little momentum is all we need.

[davy]

Yeah! My schedule caused me to miss the last two games  , but I'm happy to read those box scores.

What do you think about our All-Star chances? You think Prado might sneak in as a starter if he can maintain for a few more weeks? Heyward has a good shot, too, if he can ride this wave he's on for a while.

I don't really know that anyone else deserves it. Hanson?

[Ignatius]

Prado hits plenty, but 1 HR, 6 RBI, and no steals ain't much. He's playing pretty well, but he's nowhere near Chase Utley, or Rickie Weeks. Or that guy on the Diamondbacks. And probably someone else. Maybe you can say his numbers would be better if he ever had someone else on base, but I still don't think he'd qualify to be considered among the aforementioned second basemen. If the all-star game were tomorrow, I don't know that he'd be on the roster, let alone a starter.

Heyward's almost the opposite... Huge power numbers, really bad BA. I could definitely see him sneaking in, though.

I have no idea how to gauge NL pitchers.

[davy]

Heyward's batting average ain't in the basement anymore. He's up in the .270's now, I believe.

And of course Prado's numbers would be better if he had someone on base. The Braves lead-off batting average is among the worst in the majors. He's been the only consistent player on an inconsistent team, and he's played very well defensively. I mean, sure, Utley is Utley, but Prado has 10% more at-bats and his BA is 54 points higher.

[El_Josharino]

Yeah, it'll be Utley at 2nd for sure. At this point, as long as Utley isn't bombing, he's going to get the start on his name alone. Weeks hit a little slump last week, but he's been almost as consistent as Marteeeen and has put up better power numbers. And then there's "that guy from the Diamondbacks" aka former Brave Kelly Johnson who for some reason leads the fucking NL with 9 homers when I'm not sure he's ever hit more than 8 in a season. If voting happened right now, I'm sure he'd get in, but don't be surprised if he finishes the year with 11 homers. He's always been a hot starter, just apparently moreso this year... So yeah, Prado's been solid, and he's one of my favorite dudes so far this year, but I don't think he'll get in. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Jay-Hey get in, he's among the league leaders in homers and ribbies so far. B-Mac will probably get in on his name alone, because who else in the NL is going to usurp him at catcher? I could see either Tommy H or Timmy H get in on the pitching staff, and maybe Wags if he can get a few more save opportunities in. I'm going to guess that B-Mac starts, Jay-Hey gets in as a reserve, and either Tommy or Timmy make it in as a replacement for someone who gets hurt/opts out at the last minute.

[davy]

I like McCann plenty...I just don't think he's earned it this year.

Offensively, he's been slumping. Defensively, I think he's been quite bad. I haven't seen him throw anyone out yet, but I have seen him make some pretty embarrassing mistakes.

[davy]

And yeah, what the hell is up with Kelly Johnson?

[Ignatius]

Someone called him the Aaron Hill of 2010... You figure that at least two or three guys will make that jump in performance every season, and he looks like a good bet to be one of 'em this year. Jonathan Sanchez is poised for a similar leap in improvement if he can stop walking so many dudes.

On the NBA front, boo. My contention that the Spurs can't win any games without George Hill or RJ providing around 13 points holds true, but you expect to win games when your three most experienced players have good nights. Still, we played it pretty close in spite of looking outmatched for most of the contest, and I have faith that Popovich and George Hill both learned something about the qualities of their opponents that they can use over the course of the series. There were a lot of oddly productive matchups for the Sours that I figure they'll try to exploit in the coming games.

Tony Parker's long history playing Nash made him more valuable at both ends of the court than Hill, and Bogans looked pretty effective on help defense against Stoudemire and protecting the paint from a host of mashy-slashy intruders generally.

Looking forward to game 2.

[davy]

Good win, Braves! They won in extra innings after blowing a 2-run lead in the 8th. I thought they were about to blow another one.

Big hit for Diaz in the 10th! I love it when good things happen to Matt.