Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update.  The 7-41 Charlotte Bobcats are still in the running to succeed the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers as the worst team in NBA history and are still Kings of the Cellar.  The 11-39 Washington Wizards are 3 games behind the Bobcats and my 13-38 New Orleans Hornets are 4.5 games back.  The defending champion Minnesota Timberwolves are 25-27 and are a comfortable 16 games behind the Bobcats.  Charlotte's futility all but eliminated Minnesota's chance to collapse and repeat.
 
   This week's Honorable Mention goes to the 20-29 Golden State Warriors.  First, even though the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Bobcats all lost five straight, the Warriors lost three straight and are 2-8 in their last 10 games, including a 102-87 spanking by a banged up Hornets team.  Second, they have the best record of the teams just listed, thus earning them the honor.

Next Losses

   Charlotte went 0-4 since the last update.  They host the Denver Nuggets at home tonight and then go on a three game road trip.  The go to Detroit to face the Pistons on Saturday.  Then the go to Toronto to face the Raptors on Tuesday and to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Wednesday.  This is looking like another 0-fer week for the Bobcats.

  Washington also went 0-4 since the last update.  They host Philadelphia tonight and then play the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday.  They host the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.  I called an Upset Special against Indiana, but the Pacers won 93-89.  I'll go out on a limb and say there may be two Upset Specials.  The first could be against Milwaukee and the other against the aforementioned Pacers.  The Wizards should go at least 1-3 this week.

   New Orleans went 1-3 since the last update.  They had an upset special, but that was against Golden State and not the one I called, the Los Angeles Clippers.  The Hornets continue their western road trip when they face the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center on Saturday.  They finish their road trip on Sunday when they go to Phoenix to play the Suns.  On Wednesday, New Orleans hosts the Denver Nuggets.  Unless one of their opponents have an awful game, the Hornets' best shot at a win is against the Nuggets.  With that injury plagued lineup, the Hornets may have an 0-fer week. 

Other Thoughts

 Four of the six brackets I did for the NCAA Tournament are still in play.  If Kentucky loses tomorrow, that drops dramatically.  My worst bracket percentage 31.7% and I had Syracuse beating Kentucky for the National Championship.  In fact, Kentucky is the only team still left in that Final Four selection.  My best bracket percentage is my Upset Special bracket and it's at 99.1%.  Three of the teams I selected for that Final Four are actually in it now.  In that bracket, Ohio State is selected to win it all, beating Louisville.  My other brackets range from 63.2% to 83.8%.  My Tony Reali import bracket is at 78.8%.

   Since this is the Final Four weekend, here's a video of some of the best last second shots made in the NCAA Tournament.  I do not own the rights to any of the highlights.  YouTube member uncmann made the video.

   With all the craziness and anger going on in the world today, we need an inspirational story, and we'll stick with basketball.  This is an old CBS News story of Jason McElwain, an autistic young man who loved basketball and got his chance to play in the last game of the season.  Again, I do not own the rights to this video.

   Okay, one more inspirational story.  This one is about Free State High School's star senior player Eric Watson.  He suffered a season ending injury, a torn achilles tendon, in a previous game.  Free State faced its archrival team, Lawrence High School.  In a great show of sportsmanship, both teams put their differences aside and let him start his last game, even though he was physically unable to play.  This is total class from both teams.  Once again, I do not own the rights to the video and thanks to YouTube member ivoblues for uploading it.  Turn the audio down, because the video is loud.

Have a great weekend!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update.  The 7-37 Charlotte Bobcats lead the 11-35 Washington Wizards by 3 games for NBA's Kings of the Cellar.  My 12-35 New Orleans Hornets are a half game behind the Wizards.  Charlotte is still toying with tying or breaking the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers' worst ever 9-73 record.  The defending champion Minnesota Timberwolves are 23-25 and unless they collapse, they will not repeat as Kings of the Cellar.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Los Angeles Clippers for losing 3 straight, including a loss to Chris Paul's former team, the Hornets.  Even though the New Jersey Nets made a strong showing with 4 losses in a row, the Clippers are in playoff contention, thus earning them this week's berth.

Next Losses

   Charlotte went 1-2 since the last update.  Tonight, they face the Milwaukee Bucks at home.  Then they go to New Jersey to play the Nets tomorrow.  They return home to play the Boston Celtics on Monday and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.  The Bobcats have two possible upset specials with the Nets and Timberwolves, but if they pull off one of them, it will be against the Timberwolves at home.

   Washington went 1-3 since the last update and statistically passed the Hornets for second place.  This week, they play two games at home and two on the road.  The Wizards host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday and then go on the road Sunday to play Boston.  They return home on Monday to face the Detroit Pistons.  On Thursday, they return to Indiana to play the Pacers, who they lost to yesterday by two points.  The game against Indiana will be an Upset Special, since the Wizards lost a close one in Indy.

   New Orleans went 2-2 since the last update.  The Hornets have a tough road trip this week.  In fact, they simply have a tough week.  They host the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday and go on a three game road trip to the West Coast.  On Monday, they have a rematch with the Clippers and then they go to San Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors.  Then they go to Portland on Thursday to face the Trailblazers.  New Orleans has two chances for upset specials, depending on which team shows up.  If they play like they did when they beat the Clippers, they can pull off both upset specials.  However, if the team that lost to Charlotte shows up, then New Orleans will go 0-4.  They should get either one or two wins this week.


Other Thoughts

   Okay, who's NCAA Tournament brackets are 100%?  Definitely not mine.  This year is going like most of the others.  We all got surprised by the upsets of Missouri and Duke, as well as Louisville's upset last night.  My worst bracket is at 22.9%.  This is the bracket I picked based on who I thought would win.  In that bracket, I had Michigan State in the Final Four.  Oh well.  At least Kansas, Kentucky, and Syracuse are still alive.  My best brackets (yes, there is a tie) are at 93.2%.  I called one of them "Higher Seed Wins" and the other "Upset Special".  My higher seed bracket also had Michigan State in the Final Four, so that score should drop.  However, my upset special bracket has Ohio State, Baylor, Louisville, and Kansas in the Final Four, with Ohio State winning.  This one has hope.  The other brackets range from 33.2% to 85.7%.  I imported one bracket from Tony Reali of ESPN.  He's at 76.5% and had Missouri in the Final Four, along with Ohio State, Kentucky, and North Carolina.  This bracket could still fare well.

   The NFL nailed the New Orleans Saints for the Bounty-gate scandal.  The punishment is harsh, based on other scandals and it's now become vital that the team signs Drew Brees.  Unlike other teams, the Saints and their fans have seen more than their share of "it could be worse" seasons.  Because of that, the team could take this opportunity to get into an "us vs them" mentality and have a collective chip on their shoulder for the 2012 season.  There are some fans here who think the Saints should hire Jon Gruden to coach for the year.  Chances are, he would say no, but he would be a pretty good fit with the team.  However, Benson will probably choose either offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael or new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, even though OL coach Aaron Kromer is in the mix.

  So Peyton Manning is a Denver Bronco.  Say what you want about him, but was it wise to trade away Tim Tebow?  If Manning gets hurt, who will be his backup?  The only other QB on the roster right now is Adam Weber.  The Broncos bolstered their secondary with the signing of former Saints CB Tracy Porter.

   Speaking of Tebow,  he would be a good fit with a Jets team using the wildcat.  He still needs to work on quickening his release and his accuracy.  Maybe a quarterback controversy will light a fire under Mark Sanchez.

   Have a great weekend!!!

Last Place Update

March 15, 2012 - Welcome to the first Last Place Update for the 2012 NBA season.  The 6-35 Charlotte Bobcats lead my 10-33 New Orleans Hornets by 3 games for NBA's Kings of the Cellar, even after beating the Hornets earlier in the week.  Although it's unlikely, the Bobcats are one of two teams still in the running to match or break the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers all-time record of futility of 9-73.

   The Hornets are in kind of a statistical tie with the other team in the running to match the 1973 '76ers, the 9-32 Washington Wizards.  Again, unless one of these teams simply collapses, there is no way Washington and Charlotte won't get their tenth win, so Philly's record is safe for another season.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 24-20 NBA defending champion Dallas Mavericks.  Although they are currently have the 8th seed, they are 3-7 in their last ten games and 4-11 in their last fifteen games.



Next Losses

• Charlotte plays the aforementioned Mavericks tonight in Dallas.  Then they're at home against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday and the 76ers on Monday.
• New Orleans hosts the Wizards tonight to break that statistical tie.  On Saturday, they'll travel to New Jersey to play the Nets.
• After the Wizards play the Hornets, they'll travel to Atlanta to play the Hawks on Friday and to Memphis on Sunday to play the Grizzlies.

Other Thoughts

My NCAA Tournament brackets are done.  Hopefully they'll fare better than in past years.

Why haven't the New Orleans Saints signed Drew Brees?  This is a no-brainer.

Although owner Bud Adams of the Tennessee Titans offered Peyton Manning a contract for life, the Denver Broncos are probably a better fit for his style of play.  If he does sign with Tennessee, at least he'll have decent run support with Chris Johnson.

Hopefully this is the beginning of more entries.  Baseball and drum corps seasons are around the corner, so things should pick up.

Time to get back to work on the novel...

It's Been A While

Wow.  It's been nearly two months since my last post. 

What happened?

Actually, it's not from a lack of interest in continuing this blog.  I spent the past couple of months editing my first novel, which I hope to publish for the Kindle and Nook soon.  Since this is a one man operation, it's taking more time than expected. 

However, there are days like today where I need a break from drudgery of editing and this blog is the remedy.

So...

Time to finish my NCAA Tournament brackets and then a NBA Last Place Update!