2012 NBA Preview: Five Interesting Teams

Brooklyn Nets 

Joe Johnson, Kris Humphries, Brook Lopez, Deron
Williams, and Gerald Wallace
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The Nets franchise has returned to New York after spending the last 35 seasons across the Hudson River in New Jersey. the move to a new city comes with a whole new look. The face of the franchise is PG Deron Williams, who resigned with the Nets in the off-season. Unlike the last few years in NJ, Williams has a legitimate playoff team to lead. He has newly-acquired G-F Joe Johnson who is a good shooter, defensive stopper Gerald Wallace, rebounding machine Kris Humphries, and big-man Brook Lopez. This is a very good starting line-up. However, I believe they will be at their best when they put in a small line-up. Williams at PG, MarShon Brooks at SG, Johnson at SF, Wallace at PF, and Lopez or Humpfires at C.  With this line-up, they will be able to stretch the floor and get some open shots. I expect the Nets to be contenders in the East.

Detroit Pistons 

The Pistons are going through a rebuilding stage that will take another year or two until they start to make a playoff run. They need build their team around bigman Greg Monroe. Monroe is going into his third year, andlast year averaged 15.4 ppg and 9.4 rpg . This year, he needs to start averaging 20 and 10 to start to turn this team around. Backing up Monroe is rookie Andre Drummond. Drummond has the potential to be a star, but could also be a major bust. I think he will fit in well in Detroit, as he will be given time to develop as the back-up center. Detroit's backcourt of Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey can become one of the best in the league. Both are pure scorers that can drop 25 ppg when they get the shots. I would not expect much else from the team this year. 

Minnesota Timberwolves

Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love
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For the first time since the Kevin Garnett Era, the Timberwolves are relevant again. They have a face to the franchise in F/C Kevin Love and a side-kick in PG Ricky Rubio. However, both players are going to be starting the season on the bench due to injuries. Love looks to be back by late November-early December, while Rubio is projected to return in December. Until they return, the team's role player will have to step up big. Andrei Kirlinko signed with the T-Wolves in the off-season after spending a season with CSKA Moscow. He is going to be a key to the team's success as a wing player. Brandon Roy is returning to the NBA after retiring before the 2011-12 season. He needs to be a consistent scorer. Derrick Williams needs to begin to play like the number two pick he was drafted to be a year ago. With Love out, he should have time to improve. I think that if Love and Rubio return to a team that is in the playoff hunt, they will make the playoffs.

Portland Trail Blazers

Portland had a big drop-off performance last season. After having three consecutive seasons with a winning percentage higher then .585, the team from Rip City had a below .500 record. They now have a new coach and have to start over again. They still have All-Star PF LaMarcus Aldridge to build around. Aldridge is in his prime years and will be great this year. Rookie Damian Lillard was second in scoring last season in the NCAA and will bring those skills to the NBA. Lillard isn't the only good pick-up in the Draft. Meyers Leonard is going to be the a good starting center and Will Barton will be key off the bench. They resigned underrated Nicolas Batum in the off-season, who will do very well this year. If the Blazers go back to their winnings ways, they will easily make the playoffs. But, it is more likely that the season will be one of transition.

Golden State Warriors

Klay Thompson
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The Golden State Warriors can be a surprise team this year. They have a starting line-up that has the potential to be very good. They are led by PG Stephen Curry, who is a great shooter from distance and one of the better PG's in the game. But, he has some ankle issues that could flair up during the season. That is why Curry will not be the key to success this year. The key is second-year guard Klay Thompson. Thompson has the chance to be a great player and this year could be the year where he starts. Rookie  Harrison Barnes will be another good scorer on the team. If Curry, Thompson, and Barnes are all healthy and play very well, combined they could average 65-70 ppg. Golden State's post players are also good. David Lee and Andrew Boget will be rebounding machines. Golden State will come very close to making the playoffs,but will fall short. 

2012 World Series Infographic

DETROIT'S SECTION

SAN FRANSISCO'S SECTION

COMPARISONS

Picture Sources

The First BCS Poll of 2012

For the second straight week in college football, at least two top five teams lost to teams outside of the top five. Last week, Florida State lost to North Carolina State, LSU was upset by Florida, and Georgia lost to South Carolina. This week, LSU turned the tables on South Carolina by defeating them and West Viginia got blown out by Texas Tech. With the first BCS Polls just coming out, here is my review of the first released BCS poll.

SEC Pinwheel featuring all 14 teams, with half of them in
the top 25 of the initial BCS Standings
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The power of the SEC is shown in the BCS. Alabama (#1 in AP Poll, #1 in USA Today Poll,) has been dominating in every game they've played. It is clear that they are well deserving of the top spot in the BCS Poll. I am surprised that Florida (#3, #4) was ranked second. The teams they have played are a main reason for their ranking so high. They beat two one-loss teams in Texas A&M and LSU. They also have South Carolina and Georgia up next. The first two one-loss teams in the BCS Poll are LSU (#6 ,#6) and South Carolina (#9, #8) at six and seven respectively. Both are well deserving of their spots, with close losses to highly ranked teams, as stated in the first paragraph. The other SEC teams in the Poll are Georgia (#13, #12), who are 5-1 and ranked 11th in the poll, undefeated Mississippi State (#15, #16) is in the 12th spot, and 5-1 Texas A&M (#20, #19) is ranked 18th. 

The SEC team that I find most interesting is the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Last year, they were 7-6 with a 2-6 in conference record. They won their bowl game against Wake Forest. They haven't faced much competition, but their upcoming schedule is tough. The toughest part of their roster is a three week period starting on October 27th to November 10th. It starts in Tuscaloosa with a game against Alabama , then a home game vs. Texas A&M.  Next they travel to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers. They have a good running game, led by LaDarius Perkins. In three of the last four games, Perkins has rushed for over 100 yards, including 179 vs. Troy. They also have a top fight receiver in Chad Bumpkins, who currently has 6 TD catches and averages 16.7 per catches. 

West Virginia dropped massively in the polls (#5 to #17, #4 to #15) after a surprising blowout against Texas Tech (#18, #20). I thought that they had a chance to make a run for an appearance in the BCS title game. It was a very unusual loss. The Mountaineers had no turnovers and have only five less first downs then the Red Raiders. The big factors were Texas Tech's Seth Doege had about 6 more average yards per pass then Geno Smith and West Virginia had five turnovers on downs.  For any team, that is going to put them in a hole. The big loss really put them in a hole, starting the BCS Poll at 13 and most likely out of the championship equation.

During  the last few years, the Big East has been the joke of the BCS. They don't have good teams and they don't deserve a BCS Bowl bid. They lost their most successful team in West Virginia. However, they have three undefeated teams left after seven weeks, Louisville (#16, #14), Rutgers (#19, #17), and Cincinnati (#21, #18). In the BCS Poll, Rutgers placed in at 15, Louisville is 16th and Cincinnati is 21st. Each team has had victories over teams from top conferences. The Scarlet Knights' big victory was against Arkansas, Louisville had a good victory over UNC, and the Bearcats of Cincinnati beat Virginia Tech. All teams are going to face off each other and whichever one can beat each other will most likely be in the BCS.

Beau Blankenship dives for the end zone
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There is only one team in the BCS Poll from a non-BCS conference, Boise State (#24, #22) who the BCS has at 22nd. However, if any mid-major should be in the first BCS Poll of the season should be the Ohio Bobcats (#25, NR). The Bobcats are one of the twelve currently undefeated teams , the only undefeated team from a mid-major conference, and the only undefeated team not in the Poll (excluding 7-0 Ohio State, whose ineligible for a bowl game). The Bobcats have a star running back in Beau Blankenship. Blankenship is second in FBS football with 951 rushing yards and his 1075 yards from scrimmage ranks him third in the country. In six of the team's games, he had 100+ rushing yards. Against UMASS, Blankenship had an incredible game, rushing for 269 yards on 43 carries, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and 2 touchdowns. He is a top runner and if he is on, the whole team will be on.

ICC World Twenty20 Top Performers and Performances

Twenty20 cricket is a very new form of cricket, invented about 11 years. In T20 cricket, there is a maximum of twenty overs allowed and only one inning is played. The 2012 ICC World T20 is the fourth T20 World Cup and first to be held in Sri Lanka. The first T20 World Cup was in 2007, in South Africa. India defeated Pakistan to win the first ever title. The next cup was held  in 2009 in England.  Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka to win the championship. One year later, England beat Australia in the finals to win their first title. Here is our report on the top performers and performances of 2012 ICC World T20.

Shane Watson
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Shane Watson of Australia was named the Player of the Tournament. The all-rounder was the leader of the tournament in runs with 249 and had an average of 49.80 runs per match.  He was second in sixes with fifteen and tied for fifth in fours with nineteen. He also had three fifties, which tied him for first. While bowling he was second in wickets with eleven. Watson led Australia all the way to the semi-finals, where they lost to the West Indies. When Australia faced South Africa in the Super Eights, Watson had 70 runs, eight fours, and two sixes. He also had two wickets. When India went head-to-head with Australia also in the Super Eights, Watson had 72 runs, two fours, seven sixes, with 3 wickets. 

One of the more notable performances came from New Zealand's Brendon McCullum against Bangladesh in Group Play. McCullum got the only century of the tournament by scorng a total of 123 runs. He had sevens sixes and eleven fours. 

Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis was a top bowler in the tournament. In the first game of the tournament, Mendis had an outstanding performance. He had an economy rate of 2.00, which  tied for tournament best with eight runs given up in four overs, six wickets, a 4.00 strike rate, and twenty DOTS. Two of the four overs were maiden overs. Mendis led the tournament in wickets with fifteen, maidens with three, and DOT balls with 69.  He was also tied for first for most four wickets and most five wickets.

The finals of the World T20 was between the West Indies and the host Sri Lanka. Both had different trips to the finals. The West Indies were in Group B with Australia and Ireland. They lost to Australia and their match vs. Ireland was a no result do to rain. The West Indies were tied with Ireland, but made it to the next round based on having a better run rate. Sri Lanka was in Group C with South Africa and Zimbabwe. They lost to South Africa and beat Zimbabwe to make it through. Both were in Group 1 for the Super Eights. Sri Lanka won every match. The West Indies went 2-1 to make it to the semis. In the semi-finals, Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 16 runs and West Indies eliminated Australia in a blowout, winning by 74 runs. The West Indies was led by Chris Gayle.  Sri Lanka was led by Mendis and team captain Mahela Jayawardene.

Members of the West Indies Cricket Team celebrating
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In the finals, the West Indies batted first. They started off slow. There first two batters, Johnson Charles and Gayle, only scored three runs off twenty-one balls. Then came Marlon Samuels, who was on fire. Samuels scored 78 runs in 56 balls. When the West Indies got to twenty overs, their score was 137/6. For Sri Lanka, Jayawardene scored 33 runs, Kumar Sangakkara knocked in 22, and Nuwan Kulasekara scored 26 runs. However, the rest of the team couldn't score more then five runs a piece and only one player got more then ten balls thrown to them. When Sri Lanka ran out of batters, they scored 101 runs over 18.4 overs. The West Indies got the victory by 36 runs.