Would the NBA playoffs be as entertaining if the NBA switched to a 1-16 format, best 16 teams get in regardless of Conference? Would it help or hurt the Orlando Magic this season? So, I went in and pulled the top 16 as of Today (March 3rd) and constructed a playoff chart.

Personal thoughts-

1-Orlando’s road got tougher

2-The 2nd round match-ups are highly entertaining

3-I would be in favor of a switch, no cake-walks if you are in an inferior division.

What are you thoughts? Would you be opposed to the change?

All data is from http://www.basketball-reference.com/

I decide to take a look at the PER of the top 4 teams in the East, I also included the popular playoff upset pick the Charlotte Bobcats.

What I discovered? That PER has high correlation with a team’s overall success, if you players perform the team performs.

Orlando- Is very balanced team, lead by Dwight’s 23.1 rating. They have 4 players over the league average, set by Hollinger (tied for 2nd in the East), and 7 players over 14 making them 1st in the East. Overall PER 14.78-2nd in the East.

Cleveland-is a top Heavy team, led by the best player in basketball Lebron James and his 31.5 rating. They have 4 players over the league average, set by Hollinger (tied for 2nd in the East) and 5 players over 14. Overall PER 15.25-1st in the East.

Atlanta-is a team driven by its Top 4 players-Smith-21.7, Johnson 19.5, Crawford 19, and Horford 18.4. They have 5 players over the league average, set by Hollinger(1st in the East) and 5 players over 14. Overall PER 14.35 3RD in the East.

Boston-is a balanced team led by their All-Star PG Rajon Rondo 20.1.  They have 4 players over the league average, set by Hollinger (tied for 2nd in the East) and 5 players over 14. Overall PER is 13.89.

Charlotte-is a team driven by their starting 5, leading the team in PER is Nazr Mohammed 21.5 PER. They have 4 players over the set league average, set by Hollinger (tied for 2nd in the East). Overall PER is 12.47.

Orlando to me has the best chance to come out of the East, they have Dwight Howard, 2nd in the East in PER, and the most balance with 7 players with a rating of 14 or greater.  Orlando needs moe production from its starting 5,  their 2nd and 3rd highest rated players are bench players, and they behind their highest paid player..

Why is Cleveland a threat? They have the best player in the league and he makes everyone better, Its Lebron or bust. You let Lebron does his thing and contain the rest.

Why is Atlanta a threat? They have 3 highly effective starters and the leading candidate for 6th man of the year candidate. They are team driven by the players from 1-6-- They are young, hungry, and very athletic. Orlando needs to go D12 early often to beat them, you get them in foul trouble, and they are vulnerable. Orlando has the better player and the better overall team from 1-10.

Why is Boston a threat? Experience, they know how to win, and their best player is PG, which Orlando struggles to guard. Positives for Boston, they have a couple of players that can defend our best player, minuses for Boston, they are getting old, and it shows. I am interest to see how they look after they trade Ray Allen.

Why is Charlotte a threat? They really aren’t a threat. They play good D and they are well coached, but they aren’t very deep or talented. In a 7 games series the better team wins 90% of the time, Orlando is clearly the better team.

Let me know what you think?

via blackathlete.net

I was talking a Magic fan buddy of mine, discussing the value of Jameer Nelson, and he said "Jameer isn't a top 15 PG". It go me thinking, so I decided to go through the NBA rosters and see if I can find 15 PG' I thought were better than Jameer.

I couldn't find 15-Here is what I got, let me know what you think.

Definitely Better 

1. Chris Paul
2. Deron Williams
3. Steve Nash
4. Rajon Rondo
5. Jason Kidd
6. Chauncey Billups
7. Tony Parker
8. Gilbert Arenas

Borderline,but I would take them over him.

1. Devin Harris
2. Brandon Jennings
3. Ty Lawson
4. Tyreke Evans
5. Stephen Curry
6. Aaron Brooks

After doing a little research I realized Jameer is an above average starting point guard. He has his faults, but he is more than serviceable. I just wish the guy would stay healthy.

Were do you rank Jameer? I have him in the 13-15 range.

1. QB-Romo’s decision making not were it needed to be, he did a good job, but he is capable of great. Out with injury for 3 games, and then played hurt every game there after.

1. RB- Marion YPC down, he played injured for all of December. Felix missed 10 games this season. Choice played well.

1. WR/TE-This group overall wasn’t bad, but injures to Miles Austin, Roy Williams, and Jason Witten affected the team. Tough to establish continuity with guys who can practice or play.

1. OL-This group missed way too many assignments in pass protection and did a so-so job run blocking.

1. DL-Group stayed healthy, Rat played well, but we needed more from this group especially rush defense.

1. LB-Strongest group on the team last year.

1. Secondary-banged up-Newman missed time, Roy Williams out, Pat Watkins out, and Hamlin barely healthy enough for game day. Plus, you add in the Pac-man experiment -the suspension, the injury, and the distraction.

1. HC-I just don’t think Wade did enough to inspire the team. In my opinion he didn’t spend enough time with the defense last year. Our Defense was way too inconsistent.

1. DC-Fired for a Reason

1. OC-Good job early, but defenses caught up to his scheme.

1. Injuries-Dallas just couldn’t beat the injury bug..

After reflecting on the season, I realized that the team failed in many phases, and you can just blame one person. Everyone is scrambling looking for someone or something to blame, but the simple answer is just wasn’t our season. We had too many mental errors, too many injuries, and too many distractions. I am no longer looking for someone or something to blame, I am jsut going to chalk it up as a loss, and hope we learned from last years mistakes. Playing the blame game does us no good. The media is feeding on this..

I know Marion Barber is a good rb, a short yardage beast, a good blocking RB, with good hands, and will be a Cowboy for years to come, but after watching him last year I am not as impressed as have been in years past. So, I decided since we have 9 months until meaningful cowboy football will be played, to make a list of RB’s I rank ahead of Marion Barber and would trade Marion straight across for.

1. 1.Adrian Peterson
2. 2.Michael Turner
3. 3.DeAngelo Williams
4. 4.Brian Westbrook
5. 5.Matt Forte
6. 6.B. Jacobs
7. 7.M. Lynch
8. 8.S. Jackson
9. 9.F. Gore
10. 10.C. Portis
11. 11.R. Brown
12. 12.J. Stewart
13. 13.MJD

I rate MB3 as a top 15 RB, above average.  Your thoughts?

Continue reading this post »

I know everyone isn’t a fantasy football fan, but I love fantasy football. I decided to share my pre-contact football, top 10 RB fantasy football list with the BTB faithful, hoping to get your thoughts and insight of my list.  I know we are going to have a draft amongst us, so I am sure some of will be hesitant to comment-afraid to tip your hand. I just know my rankings change up until I have my draft, so I am not afraid to put this out there. Rankings based on 1 point per 10 yds receiving/rushing, 5 points for td’s, and 2 points for 2 point conversions. No points per reception.

1.       LaDanian Tomilson-2000 total yds 16+ tds

2.       Adrian Peterson-1800 total yds 14+ tds

3.       Stephen Jackson-1600 total yds 12+ tds

4.       Brian Westbrook 1900 total yds 10+ tds

5.       Marion Barber 1400 total yds 15+ tds

6.       Joseph Addai 1600 total yds 12+ tds

7.       C. Portis 1600 total yds 10+ tds

8.       M. Lynch 1600 total yds 10+ tds

9.       L. Johnson 1600 total yds 10+ tds

10.   W. McGahee 1500 total yds 8+ tds

I know it is early, but I decided to put together my pre-season playoff predictions. I took a look at the team’s schedule, current players, draft, and acquisitions in the off-season. My predictions are also based on team’s ability to make it through training camp and the Pre-Season healthy. There  are also a couple of things that can change during the next couple of weeks.

-Health of Peyton recent knee surgery

-Deuce and Vilma’s health, both are recovering from season ending surgeries

-Jake Delhomme is healthy

-Marshawn Lynch doesn’t get suspended

-Deion Branch is healthy

-I know there a lot more wild cards, but those are one’s I could think of off the top of my head.

Let me know your thoughts..

NFC

1.       Dallas Cowboys 14-2

2.       New Orleans Saints 12-4

3.       Seattle Seahawks 11-5

4.       Minnesota Vikings 10-6

5.       New York Giants 10-6

6.       Carolina Panthers 11-5

AFC

1.       San Diego Chargers 13-3

2.       Indianapolis colts 13-3

3.       New England Patriots 12-4

4.       Cleveland Browns 11-5

5.       Jacksonville Jaguars 12-4

6.       Buffalo Bills 10-6

I was arguing with one of my buddies last night about how good Roy Williams really is and where he ranks amongst his peers. I said he was a good strong safety, not great, but not as bad the media and football fans made him seem. So, I decided to rank out the strong safeties and see where Roy stacked up. Give me your thoughts.

Tier 1

Bob Sanders

Tier 2

Adrian Wilson

Troy P.

D. Sharper

K. Rhodes

Roy Williams

Laron Landry

Tier 3

D. Whitner

Daron Landry

Sean Jones

Dwight Smith

R.Harrison

R. Harper

G. Wilson

Tier 4

Chris Harris

A Bigby

B. Williams

S. Knight

Y Bell

Q. MIkell

Bottom Tier

L. Milloy

CC Brown

B. Pollard

Brand McGowan

Dextar Jackson

H Abdullah

Top WR's
1.Randy Moss
2.Terrel Owens
3.Andre Johnson
4.Chad Johnson
5.Braylan Edwards
6.Steve Smith
7.Reggie Wayne
8. Anquan Boldin
9. Larry Fitzegearld
10.Roy Williams

I personally perfer the tier system, but with WR's do you rank the 1's and 2's? Do you rank 1's,2's, and 3's? So I tried to keep it simple. Give me your feedback or your Rank of WR's..

Now it is time for the Running Backs. They are a little tougher with teams moving towards two back sets.

Tier 1

LT

Adrian Peterson

Brian Westbrook

Tier 2

Larry Johnson

Stephen Jackson

Marion Barber

F. Gore

C. Portis

Tier 3

MJD

Fred Taylor

Willie Parker

J. Addai

Tier 4

Jamal Lewis

W. McGahee

M. Lynch

J. Fargas

B. Jacobs

L. White

R. Brown

E. James

L. Maroney

Tier 5

Thomas Jones

Ryan Grant

Deangelo Williams

R. Bush

C. Taylor

M. Turner

Bottom Tier

R. Johnson

S.Young

W. Dunn

J. Jones

T. Bell

C.Williams

E. Graham

Houston RB

Quarterback debate rages on- I think the tier system is a better system then a pure ranking of 1-32. Any system of rank is always up for debate, but I think a tier system for comparing players is the most effective. So, guys in the same tier get the job done on a similar level, just in different ways. For instance Romo improvises and makes plays with his mobility, as oppose to Drew Brees who gets it done as adrop back passer. That doesn’t mean Drew Brees can’t scramble out of the pocket and threw, or Romo can’t drop back and make plays, but their bread and butter are different. So I decided to take a stab at the QB’s 1st and then move on try it with RB’s next.

I guess you can debate if this is a fanshot or fanpost, but it involves Romo, so I went with post.

Tier 1

Tom Brady Peyton Manning

Tier 2 Tony Romo Ben R Drew Brees Carson Palmer D McNabb

Tier 3 Eli Manning Matt Hasselbeck David Garrad

Tier 4 Jeff Garcia P. Rivers D. Anderson M. Bulger J. Delhomme

Tier 5 Jay Cutler Vince Young M. Schaub J. Campbell T. Edwards

Bottom Tier Tavaris Jackson Matt Lienart C. Pennington/Kellen Clemons Matt Ryan B. Croyle Baltimore QB-Probably K. Boller R. Grossman J. Russell A. Rodgers J. Kitna A. Smith Miami QB

 Let me know what you think?

My 1st stab at a fanpost..

I was seating home last night thinking about how good our Defense could be next year and the thought popped in my head how valuable is Greg Ellis? Is he a top 10 pass rusher, would wenot be the same team if he went down like it 06. So, I started to come up with a list of my top 10 pass rushers in the NFL.

1.       D. Ware- beast enough said

2.       S.Merriman-back to back 12+ sacks season

3.       J. Peppers-Top 3 almost every year, had a down season-Rivals Demarcus’s talent level

4.       J. Allen- Led league in sacks last year

5.       O. Umenyiora- two 13+ sacks in 3 years, down year 2 yrs. Ago because of injury

6.       J.Taylor- body of work is huge

7.       A. Kampman-12 sacks last year, 16 year before 

8.       P. Kerney-15 sacks last year. Previous double digit sack years

9.       Kyle Vanden Bosch- 13 sacks last season and 12 three years ago.

10.   G.Ellis-13 sacks last year, solid on run defense.

After doing some research there are definitely some other players who you can arguably place in the top 10. I still think G. Ellis is arguably a top 10 Pass rusher. I think Greg is more important then some realize, this guy is terror to defend one and one. He just needs to learn how to be happy.