Surprise who is here to play in the Conference finals.
A quick look at the matchups
DALLAS…Big challenge how Kyrie Irving-Luka Doncic handle the big boy defense Minnesota now plays. Can the Mavs bigs, Daniel Gafford-Derek Lively hold up against the Timberwolves ‘bigs’
MINNESOTA…Will Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony Towns show up for each game. No doubt fierce play from their big men but it’s not consistent. They need KAT to score consistently, and Gobert to board and block shots. An up and down series with Denver and now with Anthony Edwards running the floor like Michael Jordan, this is red-hot team
PICK: MINNESOTA
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INDIANA…Pacers great firepower improved with Pascal Siakam in the Toronto trade. They can score (116P) per game during the regular season. Defense got grittier in late season and that has made a difference. Can Myles Turner hold up against Boston bangers? Will G-TJ McConnell be as explosive as he was in Denver series?
BOSTON..It is there time to get to the final-been building for this for years-now have arrived. Do you have enough defenders to deter the trio of Tatum-Brown and not the explosive Derrick White. And then suddenly Al Horford and bench bunch make a difference too.
You may be rich, there may be alot of banners hanging from the arena rafters, you have 2-superstars under contract.
But are you really going to do this, go ahead an interview a member of the media for your vacant head coaching job.
A team with roster-chemistry and injury problems, has become a turnstile of coaching candidates, hired-fired, you know, ‘wash-rinse-spin dry’
Oh I will grant you a piece of Lakers history, they hired Pat Riley to be head coach, taking him off the TV telecasts, but this was Pat Riley, longtime player, former assistant coach became a successful head coach, and beyond that a legendary GM.
So now the Lakers, under the direction of Jeannie Buss, the advice of former player Kurt Rambis and with underperforming GM-Rob Pelinka want to interview this guy.
This guy is JJ Redick, a former NBA guard, who is now a working media member. Sure he’s played the game, knows the game, and the players in the game.
But, and it’s been a big But…he’s never coached anywhere. Not a head coach anytime-anywhere. Not someone’s assistant. Not a high school coach. Not a CYO coach.
How does he merit an interview, consideration? Because he does NBA podcasts with LeBron James?
Please tell me LeBron isn’t driving this interview. We have evidence that LeBron has influenced player deals.
You know some of the 33-players Pelinka has imported in four years, trying to find the right support talent for King James and Anthony Davis. Has any of that influence worked out?
The Lakers have a tough call to make. There are qualified candidates, 15-year veteran guard Sam Cassell-who is now a trusted assistant. Ken Atkinson, highly regarded Golden State assistant who was a head coach in Brooklyn. There are hot assistants in Denver-Dallas-Minnesota too.
The decision, hire a retread? Hire a hot untested assistant? Run the risk of getting a young coach that LeBron will walk all over. Hire a veteran and roll outb barbed wire for what will follow, veteran players going against the new coach.
But JJ Redick, an ESPN TV guy. JJ-LeBron’s media buddy. Please.
Hell maybe I am qualified to coach the Lakers. My experience level in the media is greater than his. And I even know I’m not qualified.
Jeannie Buss and front office friends. Lakers basketball has become a boondoggle as time ticks off on King James-and-AD’s career.
Lakers fans need to take a stand on this mess. This will be a mess if JJ Redick becomes head coach.
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‘WHAT A WEEKEND”
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You could cut thru the tension with a pair of scissors.
Pick any place and you could feel it…see it…experience it.
Not just the Padres-Braves game
Not even Shohei Ohtani’s game winning extra inning Dodgers hit over the Reds
But in the NBA-game seven-Denver-Minnesota..the hot and cold blowout outings by visiting teams in the other guys buildings. A wild series coming to an end and it was bitter with tons of hard fouls and trash talk. Minnesota backed up its mouthy play with defense and a big night from the bigs. The Nuggets go home angry losing 3-of these games on home floor.
Indiana getting up off the deck to beat down the battered NY Knicks, now heading to the Eastern Conference finals
In the NHL, how about the Oilers-Vancouver war, that is now headed to a 7th game. Which backup goalie would survive and advance. What about the Canucks and Oilers stars MIA some nights?
Then there was the arrival of Xander Schauffele in golf, arriving as a star, with a dominant win in the PGA-Championships, his first Grand Slam win ever, and how he did it. 9-birdies the first day and then a 7-birdie final day and fighting off challengers at 18 on the final afternoon.
And of course the tension at Indianapolis Speedway,…qualifying for next weekend’s 500, and doing so with on track temps at a record (130-degrees). Team Penske took the front row in record times too, as in (234mph) hot laps. The back of the field qualifying was equally gripping, 4-cars trying to make the last 3-spots. And of course, wrecks, flips and wall banging, a scene setter for next weekend’s race.
It was pressure, it was success, it was failure. What an edge of the seat Sunday it was.
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“NFL-Ranking the Schedules”
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Who has the Best 2024-NFL Schedule? Who has the Worst”
Courtesy Pro Football Focus
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NFL’s Best 2024 Schedules
Atlanta Falcons
Let’s start with this: According to Pro Football Network’s strength of schedule metrics, the Falcons will have the NFL’s easiest schedule in 2024.
New head coach Raheem Morris and quarterback Kirk Cousins won’t have to face a difficult slate as they aim to bring the NFC South crown to Atlanta for the first time since 2016. None of the Falcons’ final eight opponents made the playoffs last season.
Meanwhile, Atlanta will only play back-to-back road games once in 2024. Even then, those away matchups against the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos in Weeks 10 and 11 will lead right into the Falcons’ Week 12 bye.
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati’s schedule ranks as the fourth-easiest by our SOS metrics. While the AFC North is one of the NFL’s most competitive divisions, the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns’ schedules rank among the league’s 10 most challenging.
The Bengals will benefit from a fourth-place schedule in 2024, and they’ll also enjoy less travel time than most other teams. Cincinnati will travel just 10,611 miles next year, the second-fewest in the NFL.
Detroit Lions
The Lions will kick off the Sunday Night Football schedule with a Week 1 game against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. Jared Goff beat his former team in the NFC Wild Card Round — can he do it again in 2024?
Goff and the Detroit offense should be firing on all cylinders next season, especially after the NFL gifted them a points-friendly schedule. The Lions won’t play a game outdoors until they face the Green Bay Packers in Week 9, and they’ll only play outside three times all season.
Philadelphia Eagles
While the Eagles will have to leave the country to play the NFL’s first-ever Brazil game in Week 1, the rest of their schedule is pretty favorable.
Philadelphia’s schedule is the league’s 10th-easiest by PFN’s SOS. Nick Sirianni and Co. won’t have to face a team coming off a bye week in 2024, meaning they’ll never be at a rest disadvantage.
The Eagles get to close the season with the Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders, and New York Giants as three of their final five opponents.
NFL’s Worst 2024 Schedules
New England Patriots
It doesn’t get much worse than this. The Patriots have the hardest schedule in the NFL and will travel the fourth-most miles (25,071) in 2024.
Three of New England’s first four games are on the road, including daunting matchups against the Bengals, New York Jets, and San Francisco 49ers. The Pats get two home games after that stretch, but they’re against the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans, two of the AFC’s best clubs.
There’s no reprieve on New England’s schedule. They have a late bye (Week 14), then have to face Josh Allen and the Bills twice in three weeks to close the season. Good luck, Drake Maye!
Pittsburgh Steelers
If Mike Tomlin’s club wants to sneak into the playoffs again, it will have to overcome an overwhelming end-of-season gauntlet.
The Steelers will play seven games in 38 days from Week 11 through 17 — that’s a game every 5.43 days, on average. They’ll have two games with just four days of rest, including a Christmas Day matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here’s how Pittsburgh’s schedule concludes: vs. BAL, at CLE, at CIN, vs. CLE, at PHI, at BAL, vs. KC, vs. CIN. It’s the hardest closing stretch in the league by a wide margin.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins will take cross-country flights to face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3 and the Los Angeles Rams in Week 10. Miami reportedly preferred those West Coast games in back-to-back weeks, but the NFL scheduled them months apart.
Moreover, the Dolphins will have a 47-day stretch with one home game on the docket. From Weeks 3 through 7, Miami’s only appearance at Hard Rock Stadium will be a Week 4 Monday night game against the Tennessee Titans.
Plus, the Dolphins have post-December 1 games in cold-weather locations, with matchups against the Packers (Week 13), Browns (Week 16), and Jets (Week 17) on the docket.
Kansas City Chiefs
Although they’re the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs will face the NFL’s ninth-easiest schedule in 2024. That’s the good news.
Conversely, Kansas City is scheduled to play eight standalone games next year, more than any other team in the league. Moreover, the Chiefs have a brutal stretch near the end of the season, when they’ll face the Browns, Texans, and Steelers in a 10-day span.
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“NFL SCHEDULE..HELP YOU WIN–CAN MAKE YOU LOSE”
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The NFL schedule is out, and for some it’s an eye opener of opportunity. For others it could be a death walk. Yes everybody plays 17-games, some years you get 8-home games-9 on the road..the next year it’s reversed.
The top 3-teams, the fans favorites in Southern California, the Chargers-Rams-Raiders look as if they got strange draws in the 2024-fall schedule.
A close up look:
CHARGERS:
Yes they open with a key division rivalry game with the Raiders at home, but will it be a Raiders home game at So Fi Stadium? Yes it could be, even with the debut of Jim Harbaugh, unless the Chargers refuse to sell tickets to anyone with a tattoo or wearing Silver & Black.
The oddity in the Bolts schedule is the back to backs they play. Road games at Carolina and Pittsburgh in weeks 2-and-3. Then two in a row weeks later at Denver and Arizona. Later in the season, back to back road junkets to Atlanta and Kansas City. and they finish with road trips to New England and Las Vegas.
They do play 3-straight at home come November, and you never-ever see that, but the Titans-Bengals and Ravens come in back to back to back.
They play 4-of their final 6-on the road, a tough stretch if you are in a playoff race.
They have Justin Herbert but lots of new faces at key positions around him, and they play only 8-at home, 9-on the road. Add in if the Raiders fans over-run So Fi, the Bolts will play 10-road games.
The plus, they have the 5th easiest schedule on paper. The negative, they will travel a league high (26,803) miles this year, a far cry from the (10,100) the Washington Commanders travel.
The schedule is a bitch.
RAMS:
What a way to start the season, as Sean McVay’s men go to Detroit to face the fierce growl of the Lions. Then in week three, they are home with the 49ers. Three of the opening four are on the road, including weekend 4-in Chicago against the amped up Bears.
The end of the season has back to backs against the Bills and at San Francisco.
There are five long road hauls to the East or Central time zone
The home schedule is a dandy, with the Niners, Packers, Raiders, Miami, Eagles and the Bills.
Could be a good season if they can survive the first couple of weeks..and find the right combo to replace the retired Aaron Donald-at defensive tackle.
RAIDERS:
Only way to describe this is ‘brutal’.
Open with the Chargers in LA, but that could be a home game in all honesty.
But the Silver & Black go from facing Justin Herbert in week one, to facing Lamar Jackson in Baltimore in week two. They also get the Browns and Deshaun Watson in week four.
Midseason has back to backs with the Rams in LA and the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium, followed by a roadie to Cincinnati. That’s a tough haul.
And get this, coming out of a later bye week, they play at Miami, at Kansas City, at Tampa Bay in a four week window.
Very winnable home games with Carolina, the Steelers, Atlanta, the Jaguars and maybe the Chargers.
Antonio Pierce talks up a storm. Maxx Crosby plays with his hair on fire. But do they have enough talent?
If the Raiders fans take over So Fi Stadium when they come in to play the Bolts and Rams, Las Vegas could effectively have ’10-home games’.
But in the big picture, with decisions to be made at quarterback, finding a lead running back, and trying to build up a defense, this could be a playoff-killer of a schedule for a team trying to find traction.