Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.4.2012
Boston Celtics 93, Miami Heat 91 (Series tied 2-2)
The Miami Heat hit the urgency button just a little too late, and although they erased and 18 point deficit, came up short in overtime. Lebron James (29 pts) fouled out in the extra session, the first time he's done so as a member of the Heat.
Rajon Rondo lead the Celtics with 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final 3 baskets for Boston. The series now shifts to Miami for game five, a game which the Heat will likely win, and place the Celtics in a must win situation back in Boston for game six.
FYI: I gave a categorical guarantee that the Heat would win this series, and I'm not the slightest bit shaken with the series tied at 2-2. The NBA loves playoff series to extend to 6 or 7 games in order to generate substantially more revenue. Am I saying the Heat purposely lose on occasion, no. It's more like a prosperous coincidence.
Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.3.2012
Dublin, Ohio
Tiger Woods finished in amazing style, with birdies on three of the last four holes, including a miracle chip on 16, en route to winning at the Memorial. Woods finished -9 for the tournament, and Tiger's 73rd career victory ties him with Jack Nicklaus for second all time, behind only Sam Sneed with 82.
Jack Nicklaus, who hosted this tournament said of Tiger's final round, 16th hole birdie, "I've seen a lot of shots in golf, I don't think I've ever seen a better one." When asked if he's back, Tiger replied, "I won", he joked with a smile. "I'm sure by Tuesday I'll be retired and done, and by the time I tee it up at the U.S open (at Olympic Club in San Francisco in 11 days) it might be something different. But I'll let you guys figure that out".
Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.3.2012
Meet Brennan Boesch. He's an average to slightly below average outfielder. He has three stolen bases, but he's not exactly a speed demon. He has mediocre power with 5 round trippers, and 19 rbi. So, what keeps Brennan starting in right-field, lack of an alternative? Certainly not his .229 batting average. Is Brennan Boesch your Tiger?
Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.3.2012
Just what the Tigers didn't need, Justin Verlander (5-4 2.67) going human on them. With all that is wrong with Detroit, Justin Verlander going 0-3 in last three starts, and giving up 8 earned runs in his last 12 innings, is the last thing the Tigers wanted or needed. The Tigers lost to the Yankees today, 5-1, and only managed four hits off Yankees starter Phil Hughes, who, entered the game with an era over 5.00, and went nine complete today.
The Tigers open a three game series in Detroit versus Cleveland Tuesday night.
Box Score Standings Tigers 25-29
Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.3.2012
Make no mistake, Joe Dumars must cleanup the mess that is the Detroit Pistons, and he must do so this off-season. As the championship season of 2004 fades farther and farther into the rear view mirror, Joe needs to prove that "one and done" 04 season, was not an aberration.
Dumars makes the perfect Piston's team President. He possess eloquence and class in abundance, he has Pistons Championship hardware in abundance too, both as a player and executive, but this is the NBA where winning, and winning now, is imperative. The occasional 3-5 year rebuilding program is permissible, and Joe has been given that, and it's now time to win, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Detroit holds the ninth selection in the 2012 NBA Draft and will land a very good power forward or center, to form a front line with Greg Monroe and Tayshaun Prince. Jonas Jerbko will be first forward off the pine, and Rodney Stuckey and Brandon Knight will man the guard positions. This will be a very strong first six players for the Pistons, and should make them shoe-ins to make the playoffs.
The Pistons will have several strong draft possibilities at #9, among them are Tyler Zeller and James McAdoo , both from the North Carolina Tar Heels. I don't see anyway Joe messes up this selection, as he's been known to do in the past. Assuming the draft proceeds as splendidly as planned, Joe's chief test will be cleaning up the rest of the roster. I recently heard Joe say something to the effect that he's gone wrong when he brought in players that really were not about "Pistons basketball". I think Joe is using code to describe players that do not work hard enough defensively, or enough to win in the NBA. Specifically, Dumars is talking about guys like Charlie (the villan) Villanueva and Ben (there done that) Gordon. Both need to be eliminated from this roster, come hell or high-water.
This is your challenge Joe Dumars, and I sincerely hope you are successful in meeting it. If you are not, however, it will be time for accountabilty.
Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.3.2012
Oklahoma City Thunder 109, San Antonio Spurs 103 (Series tied 2-2)
The Oklahoma City Thunder rode Kevin Durant's 36 and Serge Ibaka's 26 to a homecourt victory last night, setting up what is sure to be a very dramatic best of three remaining, starting with a huge game five in San Antonio Monday night. After months of jockying during the regular season, and formality type opening playoff rounds, the two best teams in the West will have things decided in a best of three. Each possession from here on out matters, and matters a lot. The remaining games of this series are certain to be what make the NBA great, and the reason why, I love this game!
The Spurs continue to hold homecourt, and the Thunder will not win this series (as I predicted) without winning at least one game in San Antonio. Beating the Spurs at home, with all the pressure in the world resting upon them, is a tall task for a young Thunder team, and they will either leave a historic mark or they will not. As I wrote when I first predicted a Thunder victory in this series, I believe Durant, Harden, and Westbrook are special talents (particularly 23 year old, three time NBA scoring champion, Durant), and that they will defeat an older, less hungry Spurs team.
Gene Pritchard, truthatarian.com 6.3.2012
They've changed the way they measure major league homeruns, but Miguel Cabrera (.323-11-44) hit two massive homeruns, no matter what measurement you use. Officially, both in excess of 435 feet. Jim Leyland said of the blasts, "that was a lot of footage, to say the least, but that's just what that guy's capable of doing".
Miguel's heroics make him our www.SeeburgersCheeseburgers.com star of the game, and were part of a wild night in Detroit that saw Jose Valverde (3-1 4.64 9 saves) blow a save opportunity, and then end up with the win, on Omar Santos (.200-0-1) sac fly in the bottom of the ninth. Santos had been having a difficult night defensively, allowing five stolen bases and committing two errors.
Rick Porcello (3-4 4.86) started and pitched very well versus a formidable Yankees lineup, allowing only one run in six rain delayed innings.
Box Score Standings Tigers 25-28
(contributer)
The Golden State Warriors received the seventh pick in this year's NBA Draft. This
draft has been viewed as one of the deepest that the NBA has seen in a while
(although only time will tell about this year's projected talent pool) and many
GMs are doing everything they can to get into the Top 10 and make an impact on
their franchise. The Warriors, however, according to The Contra Costa
Times have four picks in the draft (#7, 30, 36 and 52) and would like to add an
athletic small forward to their line up which includes Steph Curry, Klay
Thompson, David Lee and Andrew Bogut. If you haven't guessed already, GSW is
thinking about making a play for the Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith and may
be willing to part with the seventh pick to get him.
The Warriors also have an interest in Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala,
Memphis' Rudy Gay, Portland's Nick Batum and Indiana's Danny
Granger. Iguodala and Granger both had good post seasons and may be
considered crucial to the moving forward of both of their respected franchises,
so the option for them to be moved may be out the window. Josh, on the other
hand, has been trying to get out of Philips Arena for a while and the it has
been noted about the love/hate relationship he has with the city. Smith
is coming off of an All Star caliber year, but he was snubbed for maybe the
second year in a row (part of the problem is that he feels that the Hawks
franchise doesn't stand up for him in those times) so his value is as high as
its ever been. With a coach like Mark Jackson in Golden
State, J-Smoove might actually become the player that many of us in Atlanta
know that he can be.
With the number seven pick in the draft the Hawks can address their issues of
finding a center or adding a scorer. Depending on when(if) the trade goes down,
Atlanta could use their two first
round picks for one major draft position or use one of the picks to make a
deal for a player on another team.
There are many possibilities for the Atlanta Hawks if they want to
make a play to shake up the team. Continue to check in here as we explore all
the options that Atlanta could make to help make a deeper playoff run in the
2012-13 season.
