Random Thoughts (April 29, 2008)

I know I promised an updated Mock Draft before Chris Berman and Mel Kiper Jr and Todd McShay and the rest of ESPN brought us 415 hours of draft coverage but I do have a valid excuse. I became engaged the previous weekend and the time to redo my mock never appeared. To be honest, I would have gone about 3-for-32 if I had attempted an update. Sadly, that would have been an upgrade over my 2-for-32 original mock draft (Jake Long to Miami and Darren McFadden to Oakland for those scoring at home). Anyways, I am happy with the selection of Jerod Mayo -- although I never doubt a Belichick/Pioli draft pick until proven to be a bust on the field, 3 Super Bowls and 4 AFC Championships give them the benefit of the doubt -- as well as third round pick Shawn Crable. It's funny how an 18-1 team -- that still should be considered a Top 10 team of all-time -- that lost only cornerback Asante Samuel is considered a question mark heading into 2008. I expect nothing less than a return to the Super Bowl with Tom Brady winning his fourth ring and third MVP trophy... No, I refuse to panic about the Celtics suddenly stunning turn for the worst in Atlanta. The Hawks -- starring Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Josh Childress -- remind me of the Dominique/Spud Webb/Kevin Willis Atlanta teams of the late 80s that were super athletic and scared C's fans everywhere until superior basketball ability put the Hawks inside the Gold Club a little earlier than they wanted. Doc Rivers knows how this story ends, C's in 6... Dirk Nowitzki for Carmelo Anthony and a future first round pick. This summer... Nice try Bruins, I'm not sold yet. Go get Marion Hossa and we'll talk... Top 5 for June's NBA Draft: Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon... On the subject of panic, I refuse to get down on the Red Sox. The bullpen has been shaky and Big Papi still hasn't been Big Papi but this team has gone from the celebrations of October right on through a hellacious April. By June 1, the Sox should be rolling... Tampa Bay Rays, AL East Champions. 2011... Enjoy Lester v. Halladay tonight...

NBA Playoff Preview

After what has been the best NBA regular season since 1993, David Stern is, as Pete Carroll used to rant, pumped and jacked. It should be an amazing two months of basketball. Every team in the Western Conference playoffs has at least 50 wins and only seven games separated the top seeded Lakers (57-25) from the eighth seeded Nuggets (50-32). The Golden State Warriors, 48-34 on the year, didn't make the playoffs but if they were in the Eastern Conference they would have home court advantage in the first round. Anything is possible. The East is not as deep but the best team in the NBA calls this conference home. The Celtics ripped through the league with a 66-16 record. The Pistons, Cavaliers and Wizards will try to stop the C's from walking through the East but it will be hard to stop KG, Truth and Jesus in May and June. EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS 1. Celtics over 8. Atlanta (4-0) 5. Washington over 4. Cleveland (4-2) 3. Orlando over 6. Toronto (4-2) 2. Detroit over 7. Philadelphia (4-3) SEMIFINALS 1. Celtics over 5. Washington (4-1) 2. Detroit over 3. Orlando (4-2) FINALS 1. Celtics over 2. Detroit (4-1) WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS 1. LA Lakers over 8. Denver (4-2) 4. Utah over 5. Houston (4-3) 6. Phoenix over 3. San Antonio 7. Dallas over 2. New Orleans (4-2) SEMIFINALS 4. Utah over 1. LA Lakers (4-3) 6. Phoenix over 7. Dallas (4-2) FINALS 6. Phoenix over 4. Utah (4-2) NBA FINALS Boston Celtics over Phoenix Suns (4-3)

NFL Mock Draft - Version 1

Like any other sports fan with too much time on his hands, I love a good mock draft. The annual NFL Draft is one week from this Saturday and in anticipation, I am unveiling my first mocking. The final "prediction" will be posted next week. 1. Miami Dolphins Jake Long, OT, Michigan 2. St. Louis Rams Glenn Dorsey, DT, Louisiana State 3. Atlanta Falcons Vernon Gholston, DE/OLB, Ohio State 4. Oakland Raiders Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas 5. Kansas City Chiefs Chris Long, DE/OLB, Virginia 6. Cincinnati Bengals (trade with NY Jets) Sedrick Ellis, DT, Southern California 7. New England Patriots Keith Rivers, LB, Southern California 8. Baltimore Ravens Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College 9. New York Jets (trade with Cincinnati Bengals) Branden Albert, OT/OG, Virginia 10. New Orleans Saints Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy 11. Buffalo Bills Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida 12. Detroit Lions (trade with Denver Broncos) Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois 13. Carolina Panthers Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State 14. Chicago Bears Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt 15. Denver Broncos (trade with Detroit Lions) Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee 16. Arizona Cardinals Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida 17. Minnesota Vikings Jeff Otah, OT, Pittsburgh 18. Houston Texans Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State 19. Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson, WR, California 20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College 21. Washington Redskins Limas Sweed, WR, Texas 22. Dallas Cowboys Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas 23. Pittsburgh Steelers Calais Campbell, DE, Miami, Fl 24. Tennessee Titans Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State 25. Seattle Seahawks Malcolm Kelly, Wr, Oklahoma 26. Jacksonville Jaguars Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina 27. San Diego Chargers Felix Jones, RB, Arkansas 28. Dallas Cowboys Andre Caldwell, WR, Florida 29. San Francisco 49ers James Hardy, WR, Indiana 30. Green Bay Packers Kenny Phillips, S, Miami, Fl 31. New England Patriots GO TO HELL MANGINI ... GO TO HELL!!! 32. New York Giants Sam Baker, OT, Southern California

Random Thoughts (April 14, 2008)

The calendar may in fact say that we are in the third week of April but any time you can take 2-of-3 from the New York Yankees, it is a great weekend... Maybe, for his own sake, Mike Timlin should have retired after last season. Timlin has earned my respect and admiration -- along with Keith Foulke, who should never hear anything negative from a true Red Sox fan, and Jonathan Papelbon, no relief pitcher has been better for the Sox when it counted -- but I think that No. 50 is just about finished... Clay Buchholz has a lot to prove, starting Wednesday night in the Bronx, but his performance on Friday night showed Boston (and New York) that this kid has the goods... Big Papi is struggling but Manny Ramirez is carrying the load. Wait until they both get hot at the same time... Yooooooouuuuuuuuuukkkkkkk... I know the Sox don't like to make long-term, big money investments in older players but they must extend Jason Varitek's contract. 'Tek isn't worth Posada money (4-years/$52-million ... actually, Posada isn't worth Posada money either) but they have to keep him for at least three more years. Hopefully something along the lines of 3-years/$36-million with some option years will do the trick... Nice to see A-Rod is already in October form... Wait a minute, yes, that was the Bruins finally beating the Montreal Canadiens last night at the Garden in Game 3 of their opening round playoff series. It felt like they hadn't beaten the Canadiens all year. Oh yeah, that's right, they hadn't done that n 2007-08. At least it won't be a sweep... Jerry York shows America that BC can win national championships. Just make sure less than 30% of the nation doesn't play that sport and BC is a true contender... I'm waiting intently for Kevin Garnett to come up with something along the lines of "Fo, Fo, Fo" to predict what the C's are going to unleash on the NBA in the playoffs. This team has that feel to it, this is a special group... The annual NFL mock draft will be up any day now... Sorry for the cheapshot earlier at the BC hockey team. It's not their fault that the football and basketball team never even get to play in the big game, let alone win a championship. The Eagles had a great 2008, winning the Beanpot, Hockey East playoff and then the national championship... Enjoy Jon Lester tonight...

Red Sox Minor League Player of the Week (April 7-13, 2008)

The Red Sox MLPotW is back, but not by popular demand. No, TheBostonInsider just wanted something to blog about on this nice Sunday morning. (Yes, I know that Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox knocked off the Yankees last night, that BC won the NCAA men's ice hockey national championship and that the Bruins lost in overtime in Montreal. I'm sticking with the guys on the farm.) The first winner of this prestigious award goes to Portland Sea Dogs starting pitcher Justin Masterson, a righthander we might be seeing sometime around July in Boston. To start the young season, Masterson is 0-0 but he does sport a 0.00 ERA in his first nine innings pitched. Masterson also has a 10-0, strikeout-to-walk ratio which is very impressive. Masterson projects to be a top of the rotation starter in the future but his biggest contribution in Boston in 2008 will most likely be out of the bullpen.

Fenway Home Opener

Fort Myers, Florida. Tokyo, Japan. Los Angeles, California. Oakland, California. Toronto, Canada. The Red Sox have literally traveled the globe the past three weeks. Yesterday, the defending World Series champions finally were able to return home to Fenway Park for the glamorous home opener. I was a tad bit skeptical that the circumstance on display yesterday would fall short of recent home openers, especially the 2005 shindig when the '04 championship team was celebrated. Now that Dr. Charles Steinberg works for the Dodgers, the Red Sox don't have an in-house P.R. guru and with the '07 championship rings being handed out, I worried that the Sox might drop the ball on the big event. I was wrong (as usual). The Red Sox did a great job of celebrating 2007 and preparing Boston for 2008. The ring ceremony, played to the tune of composer John Williams, was excellent. The flag raising, with a Rondo-sized assist from Big Papi to Johnny Pesky, was a well planned "awe shucky" kind of deal. The jet fly over was amazing, as it always is. And that first pitch... Yeah, it was special. If the comeback against the New York Yankees and sweeps of the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies weren't enough for you, 1986 officially became just another sad piece of history around 2:00 pm yesterday for Red Sox fans. The pain and suffering has finally been laid to rest. Bill Buckner, the enemy of Boston baseball fans from 1986 - 2004, has finally been absolved. In the most well thought out, Steinberg-esque, pass me a Kleenex moment of the afternoon, Buckner -- who I listed as my favorite baseball player on my 1990 Milton Pee-Wee League baseball card -- was invited back to Fenway to toss out the ceremonial first pitch. All the bad feelings toward No. 6 were nowhere to be found. Only thunderous applause from the crowds and a few tears from Buckner could be heard or seen. It was a very nice moment. To top off the day, cherry-on-a-sundae style, the Red Sox blanked the (0-7) Tigers, 5-0 behind a very solid performance from (2-0, 1.47 ERA) Daisuke Matsuzaka. With a very tough month of April facing the BoSox, every win is important. Taking care of the Tigers while they are struggling is vital, especially with the Yankees coming to town over the weekend. The playoffs might be months away but the reality is, every win in April counts just as much towards the final standings as the ones in August and September. To make the postseason in the daunting American League, the Sox need to pick up wins anyway they possibly can.

NBA 6-Pack

Between the start of the Red Sox season and the madness of the NCAA Tournament, it's almost easy to forget that the NBA playoffs start at the end of April. The playoffs promise to be fantastic. There are nine teams in the Western Conference that should win over 50 games but only eight will be in the playoffs. In the East, the Celtics and Pistons are set to resume their grudge match from the late 1980s and the Cavaliers and Magic loom as threats simply because LeBron James wear a Cleveland uniform and Dwight Howard plays in Orlando.

To get us amped up for the postseason, Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated has taken time from his busy schedule -- Ian is on his way to Portland, Oregon to take in the Nike Hoop Summit -- to answer a few of my NBA questions. Yes, the NBA 6-Pack has returned!

TBI: The Celtics have 60 wins (and counting). They have Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. They have a solid bench that provides Doc Rivers with plenty of options. Is that going to be enough to win the Larry O'Brien trophy or does this team need to make a deep run into the playoffs this year and then come back in 2008-09 to win their championship?

IT: For most of the year I figured it would be the latter, because that's how it almost always goes in the NBA: You rarely see a team win the championship immediately after a major overhaul. But in the last weeks it's become clear that the Celtics should be the favorite to reach the NBA Finals. The Pistons look like they're coasting into the playoffs again, not unlike the previous two years when they had trouble raising their intensity for the playoffs. The Celtics on the other hand are driving into the postseason. Instead of showing physical or emotional fatigue they're playing at a high level while Rondo and Perkins continue to improve, and the pickups of Cassell and PJ Brown have filled out the bench. Unless the Spurs reach the Finals, the Celtics would probably be facing a team that itself underwent major changes (Lakers or Suns) more recently than the Celtics, in which case the Celtics would actually be the more experienced team in terms of playing together for the longer span of time.

Instead of playing for next season, they need to look at this as a magic season when everything has gone the right way for them and they need to cash in now. Which is exactly how they're looking at it.

TBI: Now that Donnie Walsh is with the New York Knicks, what is going to happen to Isiah Thomas?

IT: I just can't see that he'll be back. He shouldn't want to come back as long as he's receiving a good buyout, and the Knicks need to start fresh. The honeymoon will be shortened if the papers are continuing to write about Isiah's role in the front office. He can leave the Knicks with confidence that Walsh won't trash him to the press. I think he'll move into college coaching somewhere.

TBI: What potential 50-win team in the West is going to be left out of the playoffs and why?

IT: Today it looks like Golden State will be in the lottery after the Warriors were clobbered by the Mavericks last night. Each of the three teams at risk has flaws -- the Mavericks haven't been able to integrate Jason Kidd, the talented Nuggets are inherently dysfunctional and the streaky Warriors don't defend -- and it will probably come down to the final days. There's no predicting any of it; all three teams would be fighting for homecourt advantage if they were in the East.

TBI: If the Rockets do not advance past the first round, will there be a major shakeup in Houston or will the Rockets take into account that Yao missed the playoffs and that this was the first year in Rick Adelman's system?

IT: They'll need to balance the fact that Tracy McGrady has never won a playoff series with the fact that Yao Ming's absence ruined their chances of going far. If they could ever get McGrady and Yao on the court together for a full season then they would have real hope of winning the conference. The question is whether those two players can ever realize full health. Everything else -- Adelman's coaching, the improvement of Rafer Alston, the arrival of Luis Scola -- is something on which they can build, but none of it means anything unless McGrady and Yao are available every night.

TBI: Who are your top five MVP candidates and who do you think will win the award?

IT: I still don't know who to pick. There are four guys who are all deserving -- Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and LeBron James. People will complain and have different personal ideas of what the MVP should mean, but if any one of them wins it then no one can reasonably say that he wasn't deserving. I'm guessing that Kobe will win it, the tiebreaker being that he's the best player in the league (which is different from being MVP) and that he's never so much as contended for the MVP before now. I'm going to wait until the last minute to decide.

TBI: What teams will make up the NBA's Final Four and who will David Stern hand the hardware to in June?

IT: Boston and Detroit should meet in the East, though Orlando will have a chance at upsetting the Pistons in the second round; the Cavaliers can't be discounted in the second round against Boston either, but the Celtics don't appear vulnerable to a letdown. In the West I'm going to assume that the Spurs are there against who knows which team ... the Lakers, Suns, Hornets, Jazz could all be there; even the Nuggets could go that far if they get hot. It's all going to depend on the seedings and matchups and that won't be decided until the last day. For the moment let's say Lakers-Spurs in the conference finals.Then, who knows, let's say the Celtics beat the Spurs in Game 7 in Boston ... usually in the NBA playoffs you have a good feel for which teams are going to be in the Finals but in the West this year there's no telling, so I feel like I'm throwing darts trying to pick the Finals right now.

As always, TheBostonInsider thanks Ian for his time and for his help. Check him out at Sports Illustrated and on SI.com.

Random Thoughts (April 3, 2008)

The Red Sox are already one-game up in the AL East and the talk of "magic" numbers can't be too far away. Back in reality however, the Sox have a brutal stretch of games on the horizon. They are in Toronto this weekend where they will face a very good -- good enough to win the National League good -- Blue Jays team before coming to Fenway to raise the World Series banner, hand out some rings and, oh yeah, play the loaded Tigers. After Detroit passes through Boston, the Yankees come to town. All things considered, April will be a tough month for the Sox. After looking at the schedule, if they are 17-12 going into May, I would be happy... For the few UMass hoop fans out there, make sure to watch the Minuteman take on the Ohio State Buckeyes tonight in the finals of the NIT for two reasons. The first reason is that UMass fields a very exciting team, one that was on the bubble of the NCAA's before a collapse in the first round of the Atlantic-10 conference tournament to Charlotte stamped their ticket to the NIT. Secondly, UMass coach Travis Ford may be moving on to bigger and better things in the immediate future. Ford could land himself at Marquette to replace Tom Crean or LSU to replace John Brady. Either way, tune in tonight... The NFL Draft is getting closer and the more I think about it, I would love to see the Pats move down in the first round so they can acquire more picks. If Arkansas' Darren McFadden is on the board at No. 7, Dallas owner Jerry Jones would certainly dump the two first round picks the Cowboys hold at No. 22 and 28 for the right to nab the electric tailback. The Pats need depth, especially at linebacker and in the secondary, so the more quality picks they have, the better... An NBA 6-Pack and a preview of the NBA playoffs is on the horizon... What a night of college basketball on tap for Saturday night. North Carolina-Kansas and UCLA-Memphis do not need any hype... Enjoy UMass tonight...