General Sports

• 2021 NBA Play-In Tournament - The Mix

  May 17, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

   

  With yesterday being the last day of this year's 72-game NBA season, the next thing fans have to look forward to on the schedule is the play-in tournament, which officially starts tomorrow, May 18th. This is the first season where they're implementing this format, which grants an extra opportunity for teams who would ordinarily be out of the playoff picture by now.

  Here's how it works: the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th seeded teams for each conference will compete for the last two spots in this year's postseason. The 7th seed and the 8th seed will play each other, with the winner claiming a spot in the playoffs, and the 9th and 10th seed will play each other, with the loser being eliminated. The loser of the first game and the winner of the second game will then play each other for the eighth and final spot.

  For the Eastern conference, the teams who wound up in this year's play-in tournament are the Charlotte Hornets at 10th, the Indiana Pacers at 9th, the Washington Wizards at 8th, and the Boston Celtics at 7th. The Celtics in particular are a surprising addition; most fans certainly wouldn't have expected them to land the 7th seed with a .500 record at the beginning of the season, just coming off a conferences finals appearance, but here they are. Meanwhile, the Hornets and the Wizards also have a shot at making the playoffs, for the first time in quite a few years.

  For the Western conference, the teams who made the tournament are the San Antonio Spurs at 10th, the Memphis Grizzlies at 9th, the Golden State Warriors at 8th, and the Los Angeles Lakers at 7th. The Warriors missed last year's playoffs due to Curry and Klay Thompson being out with injuries; Klay is still out, but the team has bounced back with Steph at the helm. The Lakers, on the other hand, were by no means expected to be here – the defending champs with a roster straight out of 2k who debatably got a better roster in the off-season, at least on paper, are now fighting just for a playoff appearance. But things happen – injury, chemistry issues – especially since both LeBron and AD were out extensively this season. Portland's win against Denver last night was what ultimately cemented them in the play-in tournament.

  Everyone has their predictions, but what this season has taught me, with the Knicks in the fourth seed and the Jazz with the best record in the league, is that anything can happen. The play-in tournament starts tomorrow evening with the Wizards @ Celtics and the Hornets @ Pacers.

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• BallCourt - NBA Playoff Seatings | Hip Hop Rapper J Cole turns Pro | Russell Westbrook Reaches The Great O | Lamelo Ball

  May 12, 2021 CWN Publisher 0 Comments

  The World of Basketball w Coach Drew - this week, Drew invites Malik Spann from the Blitz Sports Magazine Podcast on the set.  They chop it up about all things basketball.  

  Topics include:    

  ◦    Playoff picture clearing up as Play in Tournament approaches
  ◦    Russell Westbrook reaches Oscar Robertson's record breaking levels

  ◦     Has Melo done enough to garner the ROY trophy.
  ◦    J. Cole has  gone pro
  ◦    Word from our Coach: Focus on the Fundamentals

  ◦   Revisiting the importance of HBCU's 

  Click on the image above to listen to the full podcast.

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• Is Ball in the Pelicans Future Plans

  Mar 15, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

       Since Lonzo Ball has come into the league as the number two draft pick back in 2017, it has been a difficult journey for him. Although he constantly had critics saying something about him not being as good as his dad, Lavar Ball, put him out to be, that did not knock him out of his game if anything he took the criticism as motivation to get better. He got in the weight room and bulked up which made him more of an asset on defense.

          On July 6, 2019 he got traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the New Orleans Pelicans, it was a rough start for him. He was not providing what the people wanted and the team needed from him. Though Ball was providing 7 apg , and a pedestrian 11.8 ppg. the offense looked stagnant. Maybe it was due to Zion not being healthy or Zo and BI not being comfortable in the new offense, either way the Pelicans were not happy.  The Pelicans wanted to trade him along with a couple of his other veteran teammates so the rookies can get more playing time, pretty much a rebuild type situation.  Lonzo must have taken that as an insult and completely started taking over. Game after game he was leading his team to wins, and having his career high for 3-pointers which is seven! His points per game has jumped up 3 points and his free throw percentage has gone from 56% to a  professional looking 76.7%. I know a lot of Zion fans will attribute this to Zion’s return and they will not be completely incorrect. Zion’s dominance since his return to floor has allowed Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball to spread the floor and take over. Brandon Ingram is playing the best basketball of his career and Ball has been taking over when Zion is being doubled teamed. Ever since he has been taking over games leading defensively and just looking like the all around point guard  the Pelicans want and need.

         Lonzo Ball had changed to being the main subject in talks of trades with the Pelicans to those talks being ¨fizzled down¨. That does not mean he is for sure staying on the New Orleans Pelicans, the deadline is March 25, there is a chance another team will want to put together a great offer sheet. Only time will tell what will happen next. Either way Lonzo Ball has always proven that he can get better through all the hate and criticism he constantly endure.

  

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• We Never Picked Utah.

  Mar 15, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

   

  As we approach  this year’s All Star Weekend which for a season that’s been like no other  ( shortened season, March All Star, etc.) I am comforted with a glimpse of normalcy. A peek into a different era of basketball, a glimmer of basketball nostalgia if you will. I am not speaking of the game nor the way the teams were divided but one single comment made by LeBron James during his All Star team selection show on TNT. 

   

  LeBron James and Kevin Durant were the leading vote getters for the All Star Game so naturally they would be the captains for this new pick up game pick your team scenario.  LeBron had first pick and as expected stars were taken off the board with haste by the two All Star captains. As the final picks came around a noticeable oddity had taken place. The final picks were both from currently the hottest team in the league, the Utah Jazz 27-9 (Rudy Golbert and Donovan Mitchell). When Charles Barkley  pressed LeBron on why after stating they needed size chose Domantas Sabonis from the Pacers and left Golbert as the last player on the board, LeBron responded with "You guys gotta understand, just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton was, we would never pick those guys in video games. Never." This was the statement that made me think, is this true? Have I ( a self proclaimed basketball purest) fall victim to team and location bias as so many others of my generation or was LeBron the one off. I had to explore this further. 

   I reached out to some friends of mine whom I have shared many video game and backyard experiences and we were all dumbfounded. Not once have we picked the Utah Jazz. We knew that John Stockton , Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek were more worthy an opponent for a Michael Jordan lead Chicago Bulls team than let’s say my New York Knicks at the time, but we still did not choose them.  I even recall a moment when my adolescent self was faced with a challenging decision of selecting a team during a tournament of “Bulls vs Blazers “ and was ready to end all friendships when I was stuck with the Jazz.  We would select the Bulls on NBA Jams knowing the programmers slighted their talents before we selected the Jazz.  But why though? 

   

     After asking around the consensus was that they never related to us.  Growing up a New Yorker during that time the Knicks embodied the blue collar work ethic of the city. Showtime Lakers was a nightly two hour infomercial of how great it was to be in LA. The Bulls were the epitome of team greatness. Those traits resonated with the NBA fans of the inner city. These were the traits we found in our parents , our leaders and someday grow to see in ourselves.  Utah Jazz was a great team but safe. John Stockton and Karl Malone made the pick and roll an art form. There was no flash just an efficient basketball play we use to this day.  Jeff Hornacek and Bryon Russell were both lock down defenders who both have slowed down ( I use the term loosely) Michael Jordan in a playoff game, but we just never saw them as the team that represented us. As one long time friend put it the Jazz were the Celtics of the west. 

   

    Maybe I needed LeBron to make that statement and force me to confront this hidden bias towards the Jazz. Though it may be too late for LeBron to go back and select the best player remaining on the board, it’s not too late to change the narrative. The fact remains Rudy Golbert and Donovan Mitchell were selected to the All Star game just like Stockton and Malone and as quiet as it may be kept has the best record in the league.  Maybe we need to start picking them, first.

   

   

  

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• Blitz Sports - Who Is Jalen Hurts? | James Harden from MVP to MMP (Most Missing Person)

  Dec 28, 2020 CWN Publisher 0 Comments

  This week on Blitz Sports Magazine Podcast, CEO/Publisher Malik Spann talks about football and the Eagles with Gene Clemmons from the Football Gameplan. The Jalen Hurts-Carson Wentz debate is all the rage in Philadelphia but the question many have is - Exactly - WHO is Jalen Hurts?

  Gene Clemmons says that the Eagles should look at the stats and realize that they have gold with Hurts but believes the Eagles will give Carson Wentz a chance to win his job back this season. 

  Michael Vick, who played five seasons with the Eagles, was a guest on Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED on FS1 and gave his assessment of Hurts’ performance over the past 2.5 games.

  “When you look at a guy like Jalen Hurts and his skillset and what he brings to the table, you automatically start thinking about the future, building around him and how the offense can potentially progress and what you can do in it,” said Vick. “I know if I’m thinking that way, Doug Pederson has to be thinking the same.”

  The Eagles are taking it week by week with Hurts, but the rookie is coming off a performance in which he became the first signal-caller in franchise history to score 4-total touchdowns as a rookie.

  Even though this week's matchup against the Cowboys went wrong, the consensus is that the Eagles invest in what Hurts need.

  Michael Vick says it’s all about having the right guy under center and it sounds like he believes Hurts gives the Eagles the best chance for success moving forward.

  “You can’t win if you don’t have the right guy behind center,” said Vick. “Not to say that Carson wasn’t the right guy, but it was starting to look like the paint was just running a little bit dry on the wall. Philadelphia Eagles fans probably feel like they need something new. I know that’s the way they feel and they don’t give you too much time out there.

  Additional topics in this episode:

  - Review of the Danny Garcia vs Errol Spence fight. What happens with Spence next?

  - James Harden. The Rockets took a chance on James Harden and tried to build a team around him.  Until they get what is needed to trade him, Harden should prepare to suit up.   Malik and Gene dig deep into the Harden vs Houston situation.  Is Harden going from being the MVP to the MMP (Most Missing Person?).  James Harden - Go Home

  - LeBron and the Lakers

  This and more - listen to the full podcast by clicking the image above.

  This is Fly Sports Talk not Dry Sports Talk.

   

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