Post by 4th and Maine on Apr 6, 2009 17:22:54 GMT -5
We are just hours away from the college basketball 2009 National Championship game. As predicted last week here on 4th and Maine, the North Carolina Tar Heels will square off against the hometown favorite Michigan State Spartans. The game will take place in Detroit, Michigan and if the final four was any indication a good majority of the 72,000+ in attendance will be strongly behind the Spartans. However, the Tar Heels are one of the top programs in college basketball and they travel well. I expect a strong showing of their fans, perhaps a little bit better then UConn on Saturday, but not nearly enough to level it out.
The Spartans are on a roll. They have quite possibly beaten the best collection of teams in this tournament to get here. They have defeated a #3 and defending national champion in Kansas, and two #1 seeds in Louisville and Connecticut. They have come together at the right time and have played an excellent blend of defense and timely shooting to overcome the odds and carry the flag of the Big 10 to the finals.
But they are running up against the most overall talented team in college basketball. Ty Lawson has shown that he is healthy and fully capable of taking control of the game and scoring in spurts. Couple that with Tyler Hansborough's intensity and hustle and solid play by other players such as Danny Green and Wayne Ellington the Tar Heels should be too much to handle for Michigan State.
I don't think it's going to be as drastic as when these teams first played. I think the Spartans will get timely shots by Goron Suton will pull Hansborough away from the basket and allow the Spartans to penetrate. However, in the end they won't quite have enough.
I think the Tar Heels will pull away a little bit in the second half getting up by as much as 12 or 13 before Michigan State makes a little bit of a run but runs out of time.
2009 National Champion Prediction:
UNC 79-72
Quick Take Notes:
Sheffield was released from the Detroit Tigers this week with 499 Home Runs. It seemed like a cruel thing to do to a veteran so close to a huge milestone. However he was picked up by New York Mets just days later. Where does he fit? Well with the emergence of Daniel Murphy in LF this year he will probably play right field pretty regularly with the occasional day off. Sheffield should still have some good pop in his bat, and although being a defensive liability should still hit twenty to twenty five home runs. It's a nice pickup around David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran.
Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners will start season on 15 day DL. My pick for the AL West will surely be hurt early by this news. He was playing pretty well leading Japan to their second straight World Baseball Classic victory. Hopefully the return of Ken Griffey Jr. will be enough of an emotional boost as he plays his first game back in uniform and then his first game back in Safeco field. Although I don't expect to see classic kid, I do think he can pride a life early and get the Mariners through the early season without Ichiro. Griffey can hit 17-22 home runs and knock in 75-90 rbi's. Adrian Beltre will be an even bigger piece to the puzzle of Seattle is going to make the kind of run I see them making.
Jay Cutler is a little pregnant dog. Plain a simple. The Chicago Bears are feeling pure ecstasy after they finally acquired their "franchise" quarterback. Now I know Jay Cutler had a pro-bowl season last year for a team that couldn't play defense and got their offense back on the field in record times. However, this guy is a whining little cry baby. So what that you were in trade rumors, it happens to each and every superstar in the game. The media gets information and rolls with it. It's something you have to deal with. Now Chicago has mortgaged the house on you, and is going to regret it. To a certain extend it reminds me of when the Saints overpaid for Ricky Williams. Two first round picks, a third, and a serviceable QB in Kyle Orton is way too much. My question is when Cutler throws a few picks in the windy city and the Bears are 1-3 and the fans start calling for his head, is he going to have such thin skin? If he does, he'll never last and it will just be another failed Chicago QB.
The New York football Giants cut Plaxico Burress this week in the middle of all of his legal trouble. It looks as if Plaxico will go to jail, but it's not certain when. So that brings the question, will he sign elsewhere? Who knows, if he can get his legal trouble out of the way but if he does or he can get an extension, a team may take a flyer on him. A Chicago Bears or Jacksonville Jaguars kind of team. Although I don't see him signing anywhere, it should be interesting to see how it plays out.
This week the Detroit Pistons announced that guard Allen Iverson will be out for the remainder of season. The team has also fallen to 37-40 and in a tie for 7th/8th place in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls. As of now, both teams are three games ahead of the Bobcats with five to play and both should make the playoffs. They will be looking at a date with either the Cavaliers or the Celtics in the first round. Not an envious task. Meanwhile in Denver, Chauncey Billups has the Nuggets 52-26 and comfortably in the number two seed out West. If the season ended today they would be facing the Utah Jazz. But that could change several times over the next couple of days.
With big shot Billups and Carmelo playing well with J.R. Smith off the bench I have to believe that the Nuggets will get out of the first round and make a strong playoff push. One just has to ask now, do the Pistons regret this trade or what? They are coming off six straight Eastern Conference title appearances and now are struggling just to make the playoffs. I know they were trying to slash payroll but was Iverson for Billups one of the worst trades in the last ten years? I would say it is.
In our first and quite possibly only hockey note: The Boston Bruins clinched the #1 seed in the NHL's Eastern Conference this week. I am pretty stoked to hear this and look forward to the NHL playoffs. However, I think I've seen the previews for this movie before. I'll take it all in stride and take the playoffs one game at a time even going up against the eighth seed, which looks like it will be the Rangers or the Panthers. At least it won't be against the Canadians. I want to believe, just give me a reason. The Patriots, the Red Sox, and the Celtics have all won Championships in the last four years, it's your turn B's.
In case you missed it last week 4th and Maine previewed each and every team in the American League East. You can find the full previews in the Archive to the right, but here is a recap of how we predicted them:
Projected AL East Standings:
Red Sox 96-66
Rays 89-73
Yanks 87-75
Orioles 72-90
Blue Jays 69-93
Other Division Winners:
Central: White Sox
West: Mariners
Wild Card: Rays
National League:
East: Mets
Central: Cubs
West: Giants
Wild Card: Braves
Check back for full playoff predictions and the reaction to the National Championship game.
The Spartans are on a roll. They have quite possibly beaten the best collection of teams in this tournament to get here. They have defeated a #3 and defending national champion in Kansas, and two #1 seeds in Louisville and Connecticut. They have come together at the right time and have played an excellent blend of defense and timely shooting to overcome the odds and carry the flag of the Big 10 to the finals.
But they are running up against the most overall talented team in college basketball. Ty Lawson has shown that he is healthy and fully capable of taking control of the game and scoring in spurts. Couple that with Tyler Hansborough's intensity and hustle and solid play by other players such as Danny Green and Wayne Ellington the Tar Heels should be too much to handle for Michigan State.
I don't think it's going to be as drastic as when these teams first played. I think the Spartans will get timely shots by Goron Suton will pull Hansborough away from the basket and allow the Spartans to penetrate. However, in the end they won't quite have enough.
I think the Tar Heels will pull away a little bit in the second half getting up by as much as 12 or 13 before Michigan State makes a little bit of a run but runs out of time.
2009 National Champion Prediction:
UNC 79-72
Quick Take Notes:
Sheffield was released from the Detroit Tigers this week with 499 Home Runs. It seemed like a cruel thing to do to a veteran so close to a huge milestone. However he was picked up by New York Mets just days later. Where does he fit? Well with the emergence of Daniel Murphy in LF this year he will probably play right field pretty regularly with the occasional day off. Sheffield should still have some good pop in his bat, and although being a defensive liability should still hit twenty to twenty five home runs. It's a nice pickup around David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran.
Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners will start season on 15 day DL. My pick for the AL West will surely be hurt early by this news. He was playing pretty well leading Japan to their second straight World Baseball Classic victory. Hopefully the return of Ken Griffey Jr. will be enough of an emotional boost as he plays his first game back in uniform and then his first game back in Safeco field. Although I don't expect to see classic kid, I do think he can pride a life early and get the Mariners through the early season without Ichiro. Griffey can hit 17-22 home runs and knock in 75-90 rbi's. Adrian Beltre will be an even bigger piece to the puzzle of Seattle is going to make the kind of run I see them making.
Jay Cutler is a little pregnant dog. Plain a simple. The Chicago Bears are feeling pure ecstasy after they finally acquired their "franchise" quarterback. Now I know Jay Cutler had a pro-bowl season last year for a team that couldn't play defense and got their offense back on the field in record times. However, this guy is a whining little cry baby. So what that you were in trade rumors, it happens to each and every superstar in the game. The media gets information and rolls with it. It's something you have to deal with. Now Chicago has mortgaged the house on you, and is going to regret it. To a certain extend it reminds me of when the Saints overpaid for Ricky Williams. Two first round picks, a third, and a serviceable QB in Kyle Orton is way too much. My question is when Cutler throws a few picks in the windy city and the Bears are 1-3 and the fans start calling for his head, is he going to have such thin skin? If he does, he'll never last and it will just be another failed Chicago QB.
The New York football Giants cut Plaxico Burress this week in the middle of all of his legal trouble. It looks as if Plaxico will go to jail, but it's not certain when. So that brings the question, will he sign elsewhere? Who knows, if he can get his legal trouble out of the way but if he does or he can get an extension, a team may take a flyer on him. A Chicago Bears or Jacksonville Jaguars kind of team. Although I don't see him signing anywhere, it should be interesting to see how it plays out.
This week the Detroit Pistons announced that guard Allen Iverson will be out for the remainder of season. The team has also fallen to 37-40 and in a tie for 7th/8th place in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls. As of now, both teams are three games ahead of the Bobcats with five to play and both should make the playoffs. They will be looking at a date with either the Cavaliers or the Celtics in the first round. Not an envious task. Meanwhile in Denver, Chauncey Billups has the Nuggets 52-26 and comfortably in the number two seed out West. If the season ended today they would be facing the Utah Jazz. But that could change several times over the next couple of days.
With big shot Billups and Carmelo playing well with J.R. Smith off the bench I have to believe that the Nuggets will get out of the first round and make a strong playoff push. One just has to ask now, do the Pistons regret this trade or what? They are coming off six straight Eastern Conference title appearances and now are struggling just to make the playoffs. I know they were trying to slash payroll but was Iverson for Billups one of the worst trades in the last ten years? I would say it is.
In our first and quite possibly only hockey note: The Boston Bruins clinched the #1 seed in the NHL's Eastern Conference this week. I am pretty stoked to hear this and look forward to the NHL playoffs. However, I think I've seen the previews for this movie before. I'll take it all in stride and take the playoffs one game at a time even going up against the eighth seed, which looks like it will be the Rangers or the Panthers. At least it won't be against the Canadians. I want to believe, just give me a reason. The Patriots, the Red Sox, and the Celtics have all won Championships in the last four years, it's your turn B's.
In case you missed it last week 4th and Maine previewed each and every team in the American League East. You can find the full previews in the Archive to the right, but here is a recap of how we predicted them:
Projected AL East Standings:
Red Sox 96-66
Rays 89-73
Yanks 87-75
Orioles 72-90
Blue Jays 69-93
Other Division Winners:
Central: White Sox
West: Mariners
Wild Card: Rays
National League:
East: Mets
Central: Cubs
West: Giants
Wild Card: Braves
Check back for full playoff predictions and the reaction to the National Championship game.