The SeedSing 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

The courts are ready.

For my men's NCAA tournament preview this year, I'm going to do something a little different.

First off, there is no women's preview because UCONN should, and will, win it again. They are far and away the most dominant team to ever set foot on a basketball court. What they have done is nothing short of spectacular, and they should be the favorites every year no matter what the circumstance is. UCONN women's basketball is unmatched in their greatness.

For the men's tournament, last year I did a "Five Crazy Things That Will Happen". This year, I'll go region by region, pick who I think will meet up in each regional final, which team will represent said region in the Final Four, a surprise team from each region, then my Final Four, my title game matchup and my winner. I will also do Most Outstanding Player for the whole tournament. Here it goes.

Let's start with the East Region first. The overall number one seeded Villanova Wildcats are the team to beat in the East. They lost a few players from last year's title team, but they have Josh Hart back, some good younger players and Jay Wright is still their head coach. Unfortunately for Villanova, they are the one seed in the same region as the second seeded Duke Blue Devils. Duke looks excellent right now, the committee clearly wants them to win and they will get every and any call, as they always do. Wisconsin is the 8 seed in this region, and I wrote yesterday how terrible that is. The other decent seeded teams(3,4 and 5) in this region are very blah. Baylor is the 3 and they peaked too early. Florida is the 4 and while they could shock and have a deep run, I expect them to flounder, and the 5 seed is Virginia. Virginia is not a fun team, or really, a good team. The one team that I think could surprise someone in this region is SMU. They play slow basketball, but they get buckets when needed, and they have a few great players on their team. They play tough, hard nosed defense, and can win low scoring games, which they force teams to play. I inevitably see the East coming down to Duke and Villanova, and as much as I hate to pick them, Duke will be the East's representative in the Final Four. The lay out is way too beneficial and easy for them to almost walk to the Final Four.

Next we will look to the West. The West's number one seed is Gonzaga. I LOVE Gonzaga this year, but they always choke in the tournament. I hope they don't this year, but I never know with that team. Maybe Nigel Williams-Goss will propel this team to the Final Four. Arizona is the 2 and they have a chance to play in their home state if they make the Final Four. They have a very good team this year too. They also have Sean Miller as their coach. That could be their downfall. FSU is the 3, and while I like them, I feel about them like I feel about Baylor. They already balled out too soon. West Virginia is the 4 and Notre Dame is the 5. Both teams are fine, but they are susceptible to decent teams as well. Northwestern is making their first trip ever to the tournament in the West region. I see that lasting one, maybe 2 games for them. As far as my surprise team in this region, I like Xavier, finally not having expectations, to be a team that can make noise. They should easily beat Maryland in round one, I could see them easily beating the winner of FSU-Florida Gulf Coast, to make a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. In the long run, I see Gonzaga facing up against Arizona, and Gonzaga finally breaking through and making the Final Four out of the West. Don't let me down Gonzaga.

Moving over to the Midwest, Kansas is the one seed. Kansas is great. The have a great group of players, led by the presumptive player of the year in Frank Mason. But, it is still a Bill Self led Kansas team. They could just as easily go out in round 2 as they can of making it to the title game. Louisville is the 2, and while they have the goods, they looked bad at the end of the season. They blew some games late and had a very early exit from the ACC tournament. Who knows with them. Oregon is the 3, but one of their best players just tore his ACL, and Dillon Brooks cannot do it alone, try as he might. Purdue is the 4, but I have no faith in Purdue. I love their size and I think Caleb Swanigan is great, but they are so up and down, and I do not trust their outside shooting. Iowa State is the 5, and with Iowa State, I say so what. Probably the hottest team coming into the tournament, Michigan, got the 7 seed, but they have to face a very good Oklahoma State team. In fact, Oklahoma State is the one team from the Midwest that I think could make a run to the Sweet Sixteen, possibly further. They play great, extended defense and they have scorers all over the floor. I'm so pissed that Michigan has to play them in the first round. I could see Oklahoma State beating Michigan, Louisville, then either Creighton, Rhode Island or Oregon, whoever they may face in the Sweet Sixteen. That's where they'd run into a KU, who I think they will play in the Elite Eight, and KU will crush them. KU, even though they had an early exit from the Big 12 tournament and are still coached by Bill Self, will represent the Midwest in the Final Four. They remind me a lot of Villanova from last year, but with better freshman.

Finally we have the South. This is, far and away, the best and toughest region. The one is North Carolina. UNC is great. they have everything you want in a college basketball team. They can go inside and outside and they play respectable defense. Kentucky is the 2. Kentucky is LOADED with talent, albeit very young. But, John Calipari has won with young talent, and continues to win with young talent. UCLA is the 3. I mean Jesus Christ, this is a tough region. UCLA does not play a whole lot of defense, but they score a whole lot of points. They can put the ball in the basket very much. Lonzo Ball is so god damn good. I think Steve Alford has gotten a bit too much credit for this team's success, but UCLA is very good. Butler is a very underrated 4 seed. They play very sound and very strong basketball. They can beat anyone, anytime on any floor. Minnesota is too highly seeded, at 5, but they will be done after one game. Middle Tennessee will beat them. Cincinnati is the 6, and they could make a run. But, my surprise team is Wichita State. I wrote about them yesterday as well. They won 30 games this year, yet they are a 10 seed for some unknown, asinine reason. But, I could see them beating Dayton, who is also a very good team, then beating Kentucky to push to the Sweet Sixteen. In the long run, I see UNC and UCLA facing off to go to the Final Four, and UCLA to represent the hellish South region.

My Final Four is Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and UCLA. In the Duke-Gonzaga matchup, I'm riding with Gonzaga. Part of it is my incredible hatred for Duke and the other part is that I think Gonzaga will finally break through. In the other matchup, KU-UCLA, I'm going to go with KU. I love this team, and I think Frank Mason wants to go out as a champion. That being said, I'm picking the Kansas Jayhawks to win the national title. I love the makeup of this team and Frank Mason is absolutely the best college basketball player in the country. He is on a mission. Now that I'm picking them I'm sure they will get bounced early, but I have faith in this KU team. As far as Most Outstanding Player, I have Frank Mason, of course. He is the best, and most important player on the best team. He will carry this team, a la Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier, to a title. So, Rock Chalk Jayhawk to win it all this year.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. This year marks 20 straight years of Ty picking KU in the Final Four. KU has a history of dissapointing Ty. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The 2017 List of Idiotic Decisions from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee

The selection comittee is hard at work

The NCAA tournament field is set. Tomorrow I will do my full tournament preview and predictions, but today, I want to point out some teams that I think got screwed and who got a little too much credit from this dreadful selection committee. There were some big time missteps and incorrectly seeded teams for this upcoming tournament. There were also some egregious bubble teams that got left out, but not as much as usual. Let's get at it.

First and foremost, Wisconsin got royally screwed by the selection committee. This is coming from someone that is vehemently opposed to all things Wisconsin, except for the city of Madison. I loathe the Wisconsin Badgers sports programs. But, they got hosed. All season long they were the second best team in the Big Ten. Yes, the Big Ten stinks this year, but still, they had over 20 wins, and not too many, if any, bad losses. Sure, they had a rough go of it for a week near the end of the season, but an eight seed they are not. I would have been upset if they were a 7 like many predicted. Wisconsin has a good team. They should, at the very worst, be a 6 seed. To put them in the eight spot is ridiculous. They have a rough first round matchup with a decent Virginia Tech team. Then, if they beat them, they have to presumably face the overall number one seed in the tournament, Villanova. That is unfair to both teams. Both Villanova and Wisconsin had good enough seasons that they should have, on paper, an "easy" path to the Sweet Sixteen. To put Wisconsin on the 8 line is a total slap in the face of the Big Ten. Wisconsin, in my opinion, is just as good as Purdue, and Purdue got a 4 seed. That is too big a disparity between the number one and number 2 team in the Big Ten. Wisconsin got hosed more than any team in the tournament.

The second most screwed over team is Wichita State. WSU is 30-4 and they got a 10 seed. The committee claims it is due to competition, but a 10 seed, come on, that is stupid. When will the NCAA and the committee realize that WSU has a great basketball program. They are ridiculously good every year. Sure, the level of competition in their conference isn't great, but neither is Kentucky's competition in the SEC. I think WSU is going to have a deepish run in the tournament this year, but a 10 seed for a team that won 30 games is outrageous. They also have to face a very good Dayton team in round one. That is simply unfair. WSU deserves the respect from the committee that they give any major conference team. WSU is the new Gonzaga.

Going back to the Big Ten, my team, Michigan, I think should have gotten a 6 seed. They had a magical run in the Big Ten tournament. First off, I wrote this team off months ago, and they have made me look stupid. Secondly, they almost did not even make it to D.C. for the Big Ten tournament. Everyone knows the story by now. Apparently they had a team meeting and decided to fly out the next day after the crash, and they went on to win the whole Big Ten tournament. I assumed, after everything they'd been through, they would probably lose to Illinois. Instead, they smashed them by 20 points. Michigan beat Illinois so bad in fact, they fired their head coach. Then they had to face Purdue, who worried me. Michigan had a rough start, got down 9, but kept plugging along, got some stops, pushed it to overtime and eventually won. Then they barnstormed Minnesota in the first half, let them tie it up in the second half, but instead of folding, Derrick Walton Jr became possessed and lead that team to victory. Then in the final yesterday, they pretty much controlled the tempo throughout and ended up winning by 15. So, I was excited to see where the committee would put them. They gave them a 7 seed and a first round matchup with a very good, very underrated Oklahoma State team. To put it in perspective, the committee looked at Michigan, who went 24-11, won the Big Ten tournament and may be one of the hottest teams in the country right now, and only seeded them one better than Michigan State. MSU lost 14 games this year and they have beaten no one outside of the Big Ten that is any good. Yes MSU has history, but they do not belong in the tournament this year. But, the committee pretty much thinks that MSU and Michigan are relatively equal. That is insane. Michigan's first game is going to be very tough, then if they get passed Oklahoma State, they will probably have to play Louisville. That is crazy.

And quick note on MSU, they don't belong in the tournament and neither does Syracuse, no matter what Jay Bilas or Joe Lunardi say. Yes, Syracuse beat three really good teams in UNC, Virginia and Duke, but Indiana beat UNC and Kansas, and I don't hear the same stories coming in defense of Indiana as I do Syracuse. Syracuse is a mediocre team and they do not belong in the field, just like MSU shouldn't be in, and Indiana rightfully did not get selected for the tournament.

As far as some snubs, Illinois State got screwed. They are 27-6, but since they did not win their conference tournament, the committee left them out in favor of teams like MSU, Vanderbilt and Seton Hall. I do not care what conference you play in, if you win 25 plus games, you should be a solid lock to make the tournament. Illinois State is better than MSU and Vanderbilt by ten thousand miles this year. Looks like the committee still has a bias against mid major teams.

I also think California should be in the tournament. They had an up and down year, but they won 21 games, won 10 games in the Pac 12 and played tough all year. Again, they are more deserving than some other teams that got in based on history or conference.

I do think the committee got the 4 number 1 seeds correct, but to have Gonzaga as the fourth number one seed is dumb. They should have been the second number one seed, behind only Villanova. I trust Gonzaga way more than I trust UNC or KU. Gonzaga lost one game all year. Both UNC and KU lost at least 5 games and were bounced very early from their conference tournaments. Gonzaga is the second best team in the country.

I also do not think Duke deserved a one seed, much to Seth Davis' chagrin. He is the biggest Duke backer, but they are fine as a 2 seed. I'm sure they prefer it that way. They have a very easy path to the Final Four, and that is where I think the committee did everything they could to make Coach K happy. Their toughest potential matchup would be in the Elite Eight against Villanova. They will skate in their first game, easily beat the winner of Marquette-South Carolina and then crush whomever they face in the Sweet Sixteen, be it, most likely, Baylor or SMU. This is just the committee rewarding Duke without giving them a 1 seed.

I'm sure there are other teams I left out, but these are the teams I feel got unfairly treated, or too fair treatment, from the selection committee. The committee was a mess this year and it showed during the selection show yesterday. Come back tomorrow for my full tournament preview. I just had to get this off my chest today.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He left off the University Missouri being robbed of any seed in the tournament. They won 8 games this year, what else do the Tigers have to do? Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Brock Osweiler is the First Loser of NFL Free Agency

Osweiler, after the year he is having.

The NFL's free agency frenzy started yesterday, and there have already been a lot of moves, more than usual I think.

Some of these moves I have really liked for the player and the team. I love Desean Jackson to Tampa. This seems like a match made in NFL heaven. Jackson will line up opposite Mike Evans and, as much as I dislike him as a person, Jameis Winston looks to be pretty good and now has 2 great receivers with 2 differing styles that will give defensive coordinators nightmares. Brandon Marshall to the Giants on a short, financially smart deal is great as well. He gives the Giants another much needed weapon at receiver, and much like Tampa, the Giants now have 2 great options outside that will give opposing secondary's headaches. It also makes their offense much less predictable. Jacksonville has done a ton to upgrade their defense. Their offense is still horrific and will hold them back, but they have the players to have a legit top ten defense.

There are also some moves that I don't like. Brian Hoyer and Pierre Garcon to the 49ers makes no sense to me, other than the fact that the San Francisco front office has money burning a hole in their pocket. These 2 guys don't move the needle at all for the 49ers. Brian Hoyer is not a good professional QB and Garcon, who I like, is a second receiver at best. They gave him number one receiver money. The contract that Carolina gave Ryan Kalil is insane. He is an okay offensive lineman, but to give him 25 million guaranteed is outrageous. Sure, he gets to play with his brother, but still, that is way too much guaranteed money for a middle of the pack lineman. Alshon Jeffrey only getting a one year deal is bizarre to me. He could have gotten a longer deal somewhere else, but I guess he wanted to play in Philadelphia, and they only wanted to sign him for one season. The fact that Mike Glennon is making more money than Aaron Rodgers now is an absolute joke. Glennon is not a starting caliber QB. He is a second stringer at best. There's a reason the Buccaneers drafted Winston number one a few years ago. It is hilarious to me that the Bears think Glennon is worth that much money, and this will surely blow up in their face just like the Cutler deal and anyone else this team thinks they can play at QB.

But there is one deal that has me absolutely flabbergasted. I was literally shocked when the news popped up on my phone yesterday that the Texans had traded Brock Osweiler and their 2018 second round pick to the Browns for a  fourth round pick in this year's draft. This is the same Brock Osweiler that the Texans gave a 4 year, 72 million dollar contract one year ago to the day. Yes, Osweiler was atrocious this past season. Yes, he was a flash in the pan, a la Matt Flynn in Green Bay, that cashed in on a few good games, or in Flynn's case, one good game. Yes, when you can't get the ball to one of the best receivers in the game. DeAndre Hopkins, the problem lies with the QB, not the receiver. But, Osweiler's fall in just one year is unprecedented to me.

Osweiler was on top of the world at this point a year ago. He was the prize QB on the market. The Texans thought they finally found their franchise guy at the QB position. Then the season happened and Osweiler wildly underperformed. He was flat out bad. He may have been the worst starting QB in the league last year. There were times that I would have rather had Colin Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert, Blake Bortles or Trevor Siemian as my QB over Osweiler. He was so terrible. He even got replaced during the regular season by Tom Savage. Yeesh. After that benching, instead of working harder, he only got worse. He continued to doubt himself. When he was pushed back into action due to an injury to Savage, he played scared. He just didn't have the killer instinct. Sure, he won a playoff game, but it was against the Raiders who's QB broke his leg in week 16 and it wasn't due to Osweiler's play, it was the Texans defense. Hell, swap the QB's from that game, and I still think the Texans would have won with Connor Cook, and Connor Cook is dreadful.

With all that being said, this trade still shocked me. The Browns had to give up NOTHING for Osweiler, and by all accounts, Brock Osweiler will not be on the Browns for the 2017 season. They will either cut him or trade him. The Browns are in full on tank mode. The Texans clearly wanted to rid themselves of Osweiler, and they will probably end up with Tony Romo, but geeze oh man did they give up on Osweiler fast, and I don't blame them.

Brock Osweiler was so bad, I actually feel like both teams won this trade. The Texans got rid of his contract to make room for Romo or Savage, and they got a draft pick. The Browns got Osweiler, as trade bait, and a second round pick themselves. The Browns will pass off his contract to some team like the Jets or Jags that will be looking for a "quick fix" at QB, but Osweiler will just set them back further.

I wanted to compare this trade to the Pelicans trade for Boogie, but no one got fleeced here, except for Brock Osweiler. He fell so hard so fast. He is now considered a mediocre QB. I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole if I was a team in need of even a second string QB. He has to be a shell of himself from Denver. And, it's not like he set the world on fire in Denver. His play seemed better than it actually was because, A) he beat the Patriots during one regular season game and, B), his play was overshadowed by a historically great defense.

I'm sure some more crazy stuff will happen during the NFL's free agency, but nothing will compare to this bizarre trade that went down between the Texans and Browns yesterday. This was absolutely ridiculous.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has yet to put this trade through on Madden, he doesn't want to waste his time with video game Osweiler any more than the real world one.  Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

MVP or Not, Kawhi Leonard is the Best Player to Watch in the NBA

I have a new favorite NBA player.

During my childhood I was an enormous Shawn Kemp and Seattle Super Sonics fan. After he had his falling out with the Sonics and moved on to Cleveland, and later, Portland, I kind of fell off the NBA. I didn't watch it nearly as much. In high school, I got into players like Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson and Paul Pierce.

But, none of those guys held a card to Kevin Garnett. He was my new guy. I loved his tenacity and the pride and joy with which he played the game of basketball. I was crushed when he retired before this season. For the longest time, the longest since Kemp in fact, Garnett was my guy. But, after he left Boston for Brooklyn, I kind of stopped paying attention to him. T

his was when I went to Kevin Durant. I was an OKC fan and I liked what I saw from Durant as a rookie all the way to carrying that team to the Finals. I loved his game and his style. He was a better Dirk, in my opinion. Everyone knows how I feel about Durant now. He left OKC high and dry, has done nothing but complain and make childish comments about Westbrook and OKC, and now he is hurt, making him a non factor in the end of this season.

Today I realized that one guy I have watched with alarming consistency, even when he was in college, is Kawhi Leonard. I LOVE Kawhi Leonard as a basketball player. He is the definition of a guy that lets his game do the talking. He is probably the most quiet dude in the entire league. He is a bona fide star, but no one talks about him because he barely speaks. And, when he does speak, he uses very few words, but they are important and meaningful.

Kawhi Leonard has achieved a lot in his short career thus far as well. First off, he was the best guy on a really good San Diego State team. He carried that team to a deep tournament run, but no one ever talked about him as a game changer in the NBA. He was a good defender in college, but he was an underrated scorer. He didn't have the jump shot yet, but he could get to the rim. Due to his "lack" of an offensive game, he slipped in the draft, but that was a blessing in disguise because he ended up in San Antonio with Gregg Poppovich, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli.

Leonard got to learn from some of the best veterans on the most consistent team in my lifetime. The Spurs ALWAYS win 50 games. It's like death and taxes. I have come to expect it from them. As for the Spurs, I don't like or dislike them. I have watched them a ton because they were my dad's favorite team when he still watched the NBA, but I respect the hell out of them. What they have done in this day and age of NBA basketball is incredible. I was a Sonics fan, turned into an OKC fan, and now, as you all know, I have hitched my wagon to the Timberwolves, even though they have wildly underachieved this year.

Anyway, back to Kawhi.

I remember really enjoying watching him play three years ago when they smoked the Heat on their way to the title. In fact, I really liked watching him the year before when the Spurs blew the title. He was a ferocious defender. He seemed to be everywhere on the court. He was, and still is, the only guy that strikes fear in LeBron James when he sees him on the court. LeBron overpowers everyone else in the NBA, but not Kawhi. Kawhi is strong, not LeBron strong, but still strong and he doesn't back down. When he is out on the court, even though he is quiet, he knows he is the best defender, and that no one will take advantage of him. He is the one and only guy that can guard LeBron one on one in the NBA. That is why he won the Finals MVP three years ago. Sure, he was putting up points, but the fact that he made LeBron a non factor was the sole reason he won that Finals MVP, just like Andre Iguodala 2 years ago.

After that Finals, with it looking like Duncan may play only one or two more years, the Spurs, even after signing LaMarcus Aldridge, gave the keys to the team over to Kawhi. He is the guy now. In his first season as the guy, he greatly improved his offensive numbers while still being the shut down defender that he is known for. He vastly improved his jump shot. You cannot play off him now. He will crush you from the outside if you leave him alone. Then, if you try to play him close, he will scorch you on his way to the basket for an easy 2. He is the guy that the opposing team game plans around when they play the Spurs. I think this is perfect for Aldridge as well. Aldridge is a much better second option, and Kawhi has taken on that first option easily and with authority. Yes, the spurs got run off the floor by OKC last year, but it was not because of Kawhi Leonard. He came to play. He was the guy that stopped Durant, but that left Westbrook to go off. And when he would switch to Westbrook, Durant would go off. He, unfortunately for the Spurs, cannot guard everyone.

This year Kawhi Leonard has taken his game to a whole new stratosphere, without changing who he is as a person. He is a legitimate MVP candidate. He won't win it, Westbrook and Harden are putting up ridiculous numbers, and that is what seems to win the MVP, but man oh man is Kawhi a force in the league. Look at what he did the other night to the presumptive MVP favorite, Harden. First off, the Spurs came back from down 16 against the Rockets, much of that due to Leonard scoring at will. Then, the final 30 seconds of that game was just incredible, awe inspiring basketball from Leonard. To hit that three, with his team down 2, going to his left and shooting it over a 7 footer was exceptional enough. Then, the chase down block was the best chase down block since LeBron in game 7 of the Finals last year. He rendered Harden's layup useless. He sent it back like Harden stole something from him. You'd expect Leonard to be jawing and talking trash after doing this, but he did not change the expression on his face at all. He did all this with that steely demeanor that has made me an enormous fan of his.

Leonard threw himself into the MVP conversation with that performance. He may have taken Harden's spot for me, if I had a vote. Right now, my top four would be Westbrook, Leonard, James and Harden. It has to mean something when the best guy on the most consistent team continues to get better every year and is now the focal point of said team.

Kawhi Leonard is so good at basketball. He just needs to be recognized by the casual fan, not the rabid NBA fan. He is firmly my favorite player to watch and root for in the NBA now. He is so good and so understated and lets his game due the talking. He never complains to officials, yell at officials, mock other players or coaches. He just goes out and does his job. Kawhi Leonard is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. In his preseason basketball writing, Ty had a familiar name penciled in for MVP.  Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Adding Bogut and Williams Does not make Cleveland any Better

With the NBA trade deadline coming and going with a whimper, we always have players being traded then being bought out or waived by their newly acquired team. This happens every year right after, or during, the trade deadline. This year was no exception.

Many players, surprising players, were waived or just out right let go. Brandon Jennings, not Derrick Rose who deserved to waived much more, was let go by the Knicks. He quickly found a new spot in Washington, which I think is a perfect fit for him as a backup to John Wall. After the Rockets traded away a late pick and cash considerations to the Lakers for Marcus Huertas, he was immediately waived, and has yet to be picked up to the best of my knowledge. The whole Jose Calderon story is widely known NBA news for rabid NBA fans such as myself. He was waived by the Lakers, the Warriors went to sign him, did actually sign him, but when Matt Barnes was waived by the Kings, the Warriors opted for Barnes and, only 2 hours after signing him, the Warriors waived Calderon. To the Warriors credit, they did pay him 415,000 dollars and gave him the jerseys they had made for him, but they wanted Matt Barnes more. Barnes is now playing extended minutes for the Warriors due to KD's injury, and I'm sure Calderon will get picked up by some team any day now.

The 2 biggest names to be either let go outright or waived after being traded were Deron Williams, who was released by Dallas, and Andrew Bogut, who was traded to the 76ers and then immediately released. These 2 guys have had pretty steady NBA careers. Bogut is a NBA champion. At one time in the league there were conversations claiming that Deron Williams may be the best point guard in the NBA when he played for the Utah Jazz. But, that was many moons ago, and Bogut was not really a key to the Warriors title run 2 seasons ago. David Lee played more minutes in that particular finals than Bogut did. Also, Andrew Bogut has had a very hard time staying healthy for the past 5 or 6 years in the league. When he is healthy he is a great rim protector and bully. He blocks shots, grabs rebounds and gets in the head of the opposing team's center. But, he has been injured way more than he has been healthy. He got hurt in game 2 of the finals last season and was never seen again. When he was traded to Dallas at the beginning of this season he barely played. I know for a fact that he started the season on the injured list. He just cannot seem to stay off the injury report.

Deron Williams, like I said earlier, was great at one point in his career. He was an exceptional, true point guard. He looked to be the newer version of John Stockton for the Jazz. He ran that offense like a well oiled machine, and it did not hurt that he could knock down the open jumper. When he was eligible for free agency, he was looked at as a prize for whichever team signed him. In 2010, the Brooklyn, then New Jersey, Nets signed him to a max deal, and he was going to be the guy to bring a title back to the state of New York. Well, things did not work out that way. Williams seemed to become a shell of his former self. His game deteriorated each year he was a Net. His game got so bad it was painful to watch at times. It wasn't funny painful either, it was sad. He just seemed to get worse at basketball somehow when he should have been in his prime. The Nets ownership tried to help him out by bringing in guys like Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, jeopardizing their future, but none of it worked. I don't think the Nets ever made it out of the first round of the playoffs with Deron Williams as the point guard. He was released by the Nets after the 2015 season, and I think many people, myself included thought he might hang it up, but the Mavericks signed him. He had some flashes of his former self, but it was kind of like watching an aging baseball player that used to hit .335 regularly, and was now struggling to hit .250, but would go 3 for 3 every tenth game or so. He looked washed up.

This weekend, both of these guys, Williams has already made his debut, will be part of the Cavs quest to repeat, and a lot of basketball people seem to think this will put the Cavs on top as the prohibitive favorites. Me, not so much. I do not see this tilting the pendulum very much, if at all. I know KD is out, but he will be back for the playoffs. I know Kyle Lowry is out for a month, but he will back when it matters. Boston has no major players out with injury. Same with San Antonio. OKC has Russell Westbrook and only got better at the deadline. The Hawks are at full strength. I just do not see the additions of Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut making much of a difference.

First off, Bogut needs to stay healthy, and that will not happen. But how does he really fit in with this team? When Kevin Love comes back, they will have Love, Tristan Thompson and Andrew Bogut. That front line does not scare me one bit if I'm a playoff team. Bogut cannot move like he used to, and he is always hurt. Love will be coming off knee surgery, and he is already a liability on defense as it is. Tristan Thompson is a good defender and rebounding, but his offensive game is mediocre at best. I wouldn't worry too much if I were the Wizards or Raptors if they have to face the Cavs in round 2 or the Eastern Finals. I'd much rather have guys like Markeiff Morris and Marcin Gortat or Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valenciunas to go up against that Cavs front court. The only team in the East that would have trouble with the Cavs front court would be Boston. They have no rebounding or inside threat at all.

Then with Deron Williams, his addition literally does nothing for me. I don't see how he makes any kind of difference whatsoever for the Cavs. I heard someone say he is like a better version of Matthew Dellavedova. I don't know if that is supposed to be a compliment or a symbol of how far Deron Williams has fallen as an NBA player. And, Dellavedova barely saw the floor in the Finals last year because he was too slow to guard any of the Warriors guards. Guess what? Deron Williams is older and slower than Matthew Dellavedova. People have also said he will make the open shot when LeBron or Kyrie drive and dish. First off, don't they already have Kyle Korver and JR Smith for that? Second, when will Kyrie pass anyone the ball, and when LeBron goes into playoff mode, only he and Kyrie will see the ball.

The signing of Williams is very, very unimportant, in my opinion. In fact, the addition of these 2 guys literally does nothing to change my mind. When KD comes back, and he will come back, I still have the Warriors breezing to a NBA title. They have too much fire power, and Andrew Bogut nor Deron Williams cannot do anything to stop that. I don't get the praise that is being heaped on the Cavs front office for these signings. Prove me wrong Cleveland, but the Warriors are still my absolute favorite to win the title. Especially when KD gets back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Now that you read his thoughts on the NBA, hear him talk all about it the newest mini episode of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The NBA Trade Deadline Changed Nothing

The trade clock struck midnight on almost every NBA team

The NBA trade deadline came and went with a whimper yesterday. There were bigger trades a week ago, Serge Ibaka, and the biggest one happened an hour after the All Star game on Sunday night, Boogie Cousins, but yesterday there was a ton of build up, but nothing really happened.

As far as winners and losers go, I do not do that type of thing because there is not enough time in the season to declare if a team "won" or "lost" a trade. Sure, the Pelicans may have "won" the trade, they completely robbed the Kings, but what is their prize? A possible first round sweep at the hands of the Warriors if they are lucky enough to grab the 8 seed from the Nuggets, Trailblazers, Timberwolves or Mavericks. Yeah, the Celtics may have "lost" because they did nothing, but they are currently the second best team in the East, so no big deal.

Look, I thought that maybe Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Carmelo Anthony would get moved, but it did not happen. So what. Sure, it would have been exciting if at least one of those guys moved, but like most trade deadlines, nothing big happened. It really looked like George or Butler were going to be a Celtic in the waning moments of the deadline, but as is their new norm, the Celtics would not give up any high picks and did nothing. Danny Ainge always claims to have some big deal in place for a super star, but he is becoming the boy who cried wolf. I just do not believe any reports I read about the Celtics getting a big named player anymore. Someone always floats a story that the Celtics are finally going to make the move, but when the time comes, nothing ever happens. I'm sick of the stories and I'm sick of Danny Ainge always claiming that he is going to make a move.

What better time than now for the Celtics? Imagine if they got Paul George or Jimmy Butler. That immediately makes them a legitimate title threat. Pairing up either of those guys with Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford gives them a legit team. Both George and Butler are top 10 defenders, and they can score. This would have made it so much easier to hide Thomas on defense in the playoffs. If they were to face Toronto in a series, stick Marcus Smart on Kyle Lowry and Butler or George on DeMar DeRozan. Then, Thomas can guard some random guy like Corey Joseph. This would have made the Celtics lethal. I know they would have had to give up the coveted Nets picks they own and some young, possible stars like Jaylen Brown, Avery Bradley or Jae Crowder, but the chance to get one of these guys that are already proven, you cannot pass that up.

Sorry, that is my long winded way of saying that the Celtics missed a golden opportunity.

But, as I said, I do not pick "winners" and "losers" from the trade deadline. I like to point out which teams possibly helped themselves and who hurt themselves. We all already know that the Kings are a garbage franchise run by people who have no clue what they are doing, but they looked so god damn stupid after this deadline. They're toast. Sure, they won last night, but just wait, they will be going on something like a 10 or 12 game losing streak real soon.

I was also confused by what the 76ers and Bulls did. The 76ers have this glut of big men, but the only one they traded was Nerlens Noel. I thought for sure that Jahlil Okafor was done in Philadelphia, but he is still a 76er as we speak. The return they got for Noel was nothing too. They got Andrew Bogut, who they will buy out and release, and Justin Anderson, who may be a fine role player some day, but who knows. The Mavericks got a great defensive and rebounding big. I like this move for Dallas and hate it for the 76ers. The 76ers also traded Ersan Ilaysova for Tiago Splitter and some picks to the Hawks. Again, they traded for a big man that they're going to buy out and some second round picks. Makes no sense to me.

The Bulls, who should have moved Butler, instead sent Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson to the Thunder for Cam Payne and some dude named Joffrey. What the hell is this trade? Taj Gibson is one of the most beloved veterans in the league, and Doug McDermott isn't great, but he will hit open threes. The Bulls got a second year point guard that never plays and a dude that was the 10th or 11th guy off the bench for the Thunder. It seems like something is missing here. This trade really helps bring some more toughness and shooting to OKC. It brings nothing but questions for Chicago. Much like the 76ers stuff, this feels like it was part 1 of a 3 or 4 part deal that didn't pan out.

The Rockets made some good moves I thought, at least for the regular season. They went out and got Lou Williams for Corey Brewer and a late first rounder, and trimmed some more cap space to possibly sign a guy like Andrew Bogut by trading Tyler Ennis to the Lakers for Marcus Huertas, who they will immediately waive. Williams gives the yet another shooter. Now, at most times on the floor, the Rockets will have James Harden, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Lou Williams shooting the ball. They could go for 130 a game and I would not be surprised. The only problem, none of these guys play defense, and in the playoffs, that could spell doom. Still though, good moves for the regular season.

Besides the trades I mentioned, nothing else that big happened. Some irrelevant guys got traded for other irrelevant guys. Carmelo Anthony is still a Knick, Paul George is still a Pacer and Jimmy Butler is still a Bull. The Boogie deal was the biggest deal no matter what else happened, but I expected more from this particular deadline after Boogie got traded. I thought, especially in the East that some big time, All NBA caliber players would get moved. As I stated, Boston should have made some moves, but they are the boy who cried wolf franchise to me now. I like what Toronto did with the Ibaka trade, and don't sleep on their move to land PJ Tucker, that should look good in the long run, especially the playoffs. But, the Wizards only added one bench guy, the Hawks only added Ilaysova and every other playoff team pretty much stayed pat. I still think the Cavs are a lock to represent the East in the finals, but Toronto, not Boston anymore, looks like their biggest threat.

As for the West, no matter what the Rockets or Thunder did, doesn't matter, the Warriors are winning. Even if the Clippers added Carmelo, they cannot beat the Warriors, they proved that last night, blowing a 12 point half time lead. The Spurs never make moves because they don't have to, so them doing nothing was not surprising. The Pelicans made THE move, but, as I said, if they make the playoffs, their "reward" is a thrashing at the hands of the Warriors.

We had another trade deadline that was very ho hum, but I expected more. I expected better. Oh well, I guess we will have to wait until summer to see if some of these big names finally get moved.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty thinks the only hope for the Celtics now is if some crazy fans go out and try to kidnap LeBron James. It worked out so well in "Celtic Pride". Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Was the 2017 NBA All Star Weekend Worth a Watch?

Next year the game should be played on the blacktop of any local school

Last weekend was NBA All Star weekend. This is a three day period that I very much look forward to. I love all the extra stuff that the NBA does leading up to the All Star game on Sunday night. I watch it all. I watch the skills competition, the celebrity game, the three point contest, the rising stars game and the dunk contest. I usually find it all very, very enjoyable. In fact, I wrote last year around this time that I thought that the dunk contest was back after the show that Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon put on, even though some think that Gordon got robbed, I personally do not. For the most part, last year's skills competition, three point contest, dunk contest, I found it all very exciting. I was very hopeful that this year would be the same.

Unfortunately, All Star weekend was a pretty big let down this year. It was quite dull in fact. The rising stars game was fun, I do have to say. It was cool to see the World rising stars play the US rising stars. I like that format since the NBA is a global phenomenon. Jamal Murray looked every bit as good as people said he was leading up to the draft and Johnathan Simmons is an inspiration to guys that may not think they have a shot at the NBA, but if they put in the work, they can make it. Other than those 2, Nikola Jokic and Karl Anthony Towns were the only other standouts.

The celebrity game prior to that was a complete dud. Winn Butler from Arcade Fire takes it way, way too seriously. Master P was an absolute nightmare. Go watch the "highlights". The famous NBA impersonator, his name escapes me now, is a really good player, but he was trying way too hard to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame. The only true highlight, and what saved the game, was the 7 year old child with a rare disease coming on the court, showing some sick dribbling skills and draining his only shot attempt. That kid and that moment was great. He should have been the MVP of the game, not only for the shot, but for the whole weekend. This kid was so funny and so much fun to watch allAll Star weekend long.

Then, we went to Saturday night. I recorded all of the competition stuff because I did not want to watch commercials so I could fully enjoy each event. They started off with the skills competition, and unfortunately, that was the "best" part of the night. I like the new setup of "Bigs" versus "Littles". It's pretty cool to see these big guys, each 6'9 or taller, going up against guards who are wonderful at the skills they put in the event. I was certain that Isaiah Thomas was going to win. He did great in the first two rounds, breezing by the completion, but when he went up against Gordon Hayward, he could not knock down the three and Hayward made one on his fourth try. Kristaps Porzingis, as far as "Bigs" went, looked pretty impressive. He was dribbling by the cones easily, putting the pass through the net with no problem, making the layup and dribbling down court for the pull up three. He breezed by all the "Bigs", and faced Hayward for the title. Again, Porzingis eased his way to victory, draining a pull up three with ease. It was an okay start to the night.

But, it got worse from there.

The three point contest was next, and I was hoping for Klay Thompson to do something like he did last season, but he did not even make it out of the opening round. In fact, most of the shooters looked a bit off all night. Shots were either short or very long. On some racks guys would find a rhythm but on the next rack, they'd brick 4 of the 5 shots. Wes Matthews and CJ McCollum did not do well. As I said, Klay was bounced before the second round. The only 2 who did any good were Kyrie Irving and Eric Gordon, and that is who made it to the finals. They had a decent final, it went to a 60 second overtime, and Gordon came out on top. But, I think it was partly due to the fact that Irving got tired and knew he needed to save himself for the All Star game on Sunday night. There were no amazing numbers put up by any contestant and the final, even with an overtime, was pretty bland.

The dunk contest was next, and this was a flaming bag of garbage. First off, no Zach Lavine. He said he wasn't going to do it before he got injured, but man did the dunk contest need him. At least we had Aaron Gordon, and his first attempt, with the drone, could have been amazing. But, Gordon looked like he was tired, and he just did not have it in him to do anything coming close to what he did last year. It took him four attempts on the first try with the drone before he finally put one dunk through the hoop. By then though, he already looked defeated. Glenn Robinson III had a pretty good first round dunk, dunking over 2 people backwards, but they gave him a perfect 50. No way was that dunk a 50. DeAndre Jordan should not have been in this contest. Seven footers never really do anything great in dunk contests. They are so big and do not have to have the amazing vertical that shorter guys have to do these amazing dunks. Jordan dunked over a DJ booth, but it was not that interesting, or that hard for a pro, for that matter. He was scored accordingly. Then there was the unknown Derrick Jones Jr. All week leading up to this contest people talked about what a leaper he is, and how he was going to replace Lavine no problem. Well, his leaping ability is nothing to shake your head at. In fact, I was very impressed at how high he can jump. But, the problem, he kept missing dunks. It took him 4 attempts to put one through in the first round. This contest hearkened back to the days of Nate Robinson, who I believe one time attempted like 25 dunks before putting one in, and that is not a good thing. By the time a dunker is on his third or fourth try, as a viewer, I check out. It is not impressive to me anymore. Derrick Jones Jr eventually put down a sweet windmill off a pass off the side of the backboard that he also put between his legs, but other than that, the contest was a total waste. Glenn Robinson III won, but it was basically by default due to all the misses Derrick Jones Jr had in the final round. This dunk contest stunk. It was real bad. I knew last year's would be hard to follow up, but this was a nightmare. It was boring and pointless.

Finally, we had the All Star game on Sunday night. The game went exactly as I expected. The dunks were so much better in the game than they were in the dunk contest. Giannis Antentekoumpo threw down thunderous dunk after thunderous dunk. Anthony Davis was hammering home alley oops. LeBron was putting on a show. Steph Curry got in a few dunks. John Wall was going hard with his left hand. Any dunk in the game was better than any dunk in the dunk contest. But, a lot of dunks were missed too. That was kind of a bummer.

No defense was played, but I definitely thought that was going to happen. People that are complaining about the lack of defense are the same people that would complain if these guys went out and tried as if the All Star game is not a glorified exhibition. They are the same people that praise guys like Pete Rose when he runs over a catcher in the MLB All Star game. They are all old, curmudgeon sports writers that claim the game is not competitive and needs to be changed. It does not. The people tuning in want to see a million points. I was hopeful that at least one of the teams would eclipse 200 points. I do not expect the players to go 100 percent on defense and I expect the players to let these guys get off crazy dunks and shoot open shots. I say again, it is an exhibition game. I do not want players to hurt themselves trying too hard in the All Star game. I was completely fine with all the points and broken records and lack of defense. None of that stuff bothered me. I think it is great that Anthony Davis shattered Wilt Chamberlin's scoring total in the All Star game. I loved seeing him go for 52, in his home arena. I loved his array of dunks. I do not care that he took 39 shots. The people complaining about that need to let it go. It was known that everyone on the West was going to defer to Davis. I also loved seeing Russell Westbrook go for 40 plus, KD getting a triple double, LeBron putting on a dunk show, everything Giannis did. I thought it was a very entertaining All Star game, and the second best thing from the weekend, behind only the 7 year old kid.

2017 in New Orleans was a very inconsistent All Star weekend. There were 2 good things, the game itself and the kid, but everything else I thought was pretty rough. I wonder if this will lead to some changes. I guess we will have to wait until next year to find out. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will maybe give the NFL Pro Bowl another shot if a team can score over 200 points. Just don't get in Kirk Cousins way. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Biggest Trade in the NBA Just Happened Because the Sacramento Kings are a Joke

It is tiring trying to figure out the King's plan

I have many ideas for pieces this week, but something real big happened in the NBA last night. That means my NBA All Star weekend wrap up will have to wait, and my reviews of the season premiere of "Bar Rescue" and "John Wick: Chapter 2" will have to wait a few days.

As I'm sure most, if not all, NBA fans know that Boogie Cousins got traded to the Pelicans last night for next to nothing. I know that I said the biggest name was already dealt, with Serge Ibaka heading to Toronto, but this trade is, by far, the biggest trade that will happen no matter what else, if anything, happens before Thursday's deadline. Even if someone like Jimmy Butler, Paul Milsap, Blake Griffin or Gordon Hayward gets dealt, doesn't matter. Boogie is the biggest name. I did not think that Boogie would get traded this year. I figured, there is only about 25 games left in the regular season, and the Kings are somehow still in the playoff race, so I just assumed that they'd ride it out through the rest of this year.

I guess I was wrong.

The timing of the deal is incredibly weird as well. I mean, this happened literally about an hour after the All Star game ended. The All Star game was in New Orleans, so Boogie technically does not have to leave, but still, very weird timing. I did think that something was a bit off because Boogie barely played, but I assumed that he had a minor injury and that he was just resting. But, after watching the All Star game, then looking at Twitter and Bleacher Report and other sports websites, all of the sudden, I see this breaking trade. I did not believe it at first. I thought it would fall through and neither team would be able to come up with an equal deal. I mean, what do the Pelicans have that the Kings covet? Nothing besides Anthony Davis, but he is pretty much untouchable. But, much to mine and everyone else's surprise, the deal went through, and the Kings got absolutely fleeced.

More on that in a minute, I want to talk about the pairing of Boogie and Davis. On paper, this looks great. This is one of the best front court's in the history of the NBA. Two young stars, in their prime, averaging a double double each and playing exceptional on both ends of the floor. It should be an absolute slam dunk. But, the pessimist in me does not think that they will be able to coexist, and they are fighting to get the 8th spot in the West, which means they will face the Warriors in the first round, and probably get swept. If that happens, I do not see anyway that the Pelicans will be able to resign Boogie this offseason. He will want to move to a team in title contention. Davis is a great, great, great player, but he is who New Orleans needs to build around. He and Boogie essentially play the same position and the Pelicans have already tried something akin to this when they signed Omer Asik. Now, Asik is not 1/1,000th the player that Boogie is, but it is the same idea. Two big guys, one scorer and one all around guy, but it just did not work out. There was not enough space in the post. Davis can float out to the perimeter, but I think he is a much better slasher and rebounder going to the basket. Unfortunately for him, Boogie is a low post player, an absolute excellent one, and he will be clogging up that lane. So, while it looks great on paper, and I really want it to work out, I just do not think it will work. There is not enough time for them to get any continuity and they will be an easy out for a higher seeded West team, that is, if they make the playoffs. Looks great on paper, I just don't see it working on the court.

Now, the Kings. My oh my did they get absolutely robbed. This deal makes the Kings front office, and mainly Vlade Divac, look so under qualified to run a NBA team. Boogie is easily a top 10, top 5 in my personal opinion, NBA player. He is a throwback center, but he has expanded his game and he plays more defense now, and can sometimes hit a mid range jumper. The trade rumors have always been around. He is a headache, a coach killer, a ball stopper, a malcontent, everything nasty that can be said about a player has been said abut him, but it always ended with the caveat that he is an elite player. So, if you are going to trade him, you need an elite level trade package, no matter what baggage Boogie may bring with him. When the rumors started a few years back, it was always Boogie for another star, or a plethora of very high, unprotected picks. It was always looked at as a blockbuster. It needed to be big time.

What did the Kings get in return you ask? They got 2 picks, a 2017 first and second rounder, probably in the high teens in the first round and mid forties in the second round, and Buddy Hield and Tyreke Evans. The picks are fine, but not Boogie Cousins fine. As I said, if you are going to trade Boogie for picks, you need unprotected lottery picks, not some mid first rounder and mid second rounder. That is insane and stupid. Then, you get an unproven rookie, Buddy Hield. I really like Buddy Hield, and I think he can be a very good pro, but he is a rookie that has struggled so far. His shot is not falling and his defense is not up to task yet. Now, he is going to one of the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA. That will only hurt his game. He will not figure it out for awhile, if ever, playing for the Kings. They have not had a prospect grow into a decent NBA player, Boogie being the lone exception, in over a decade. Look at the list. Guys like Jimmer Fredette, Ben McLemore, Nik Stauskas, Ray McCallum Jr, Thomas Robinson, Orlando Johnson and Tyler Honeycutt. By my count, only one of those guys is still on the team, McLemore, only 2 are still in the NBA, Stauskas and Robinson, and who knows about the rest. Apparently Jimmer scored 73 points in a game in China, but he was recently cut from a D League team, so I take very little stock in his high point totals. Basically, with rookies, the Kings don't have a good track record. I feel bad for Buddy Hield.

They also got Tyreke Evans, in a return to his first team, but he is wildly inconsistent and has never really put it together in the NBA. He has moments, but more so than not, he has been a very mediocre NBA player. His addition to the trade adds nothing at all. It was basically a throw on at the last moment in some kind of saving face, but it still makes this trade look really bad.

Funny side note. People have even tried to make this trade on the video game "NBA 2K17", and the game says that the trade is too unfair for the Kings. So, that means artificial intelligence is smarter than the Kings front office.

This is an absolute disaster for the Kings. This puts their franchise even further away from rebuilding. They are going to be very, very bad for what seems to be another decade now. If they couldn't win and make the playoffs with Boogie, how on Earth are they going to win with a bunch of castoffs that haven't proven themselves in the NBA in their short careers? I mean, a starting five of Darren Collison, Ben McLemore, Buddy Hield, Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein is worse than anything the 76ers or the Lakers or even the Nets will put out on a NBA floor. This trade is real bad and real shocking. I hope, but don't think, it will work out for the Pelicans, and I know that this trade just set the Kings back for at least another decade.

The Kings got fleeced and they don't seem to care, or even realize it. At least Boogie got out of there and he may end up loving New Orleans and playing with Davis. But if he doesn't, he is a free agent and will have his pick of teams to sign with this summer. The biggest winner, by a country mile in this very bad trade, is Boogie.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is putting his name into the conversation to be the GM of the Kings. How could he do any worse. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Carmelo Anthony is not an All Star

Carmelo is not even a paper star

With Kevin Love going down with what looks to be a regular season ending surgery, the East All Stars needed to find someone else to take his place. They had any number of players to pick from. I was hoping they would not take another guard because this All Star game is filled with great guards, and much to my pleasure, they did not. But, there choice to replace Kevin Love has me really scratching my head.

How on Earth is Carmelo Anthony worthy of an All Star spot? I just do not get it. If the All Star game were just about putting "super stars" in it, then if Carmelo is an All Star, so is Dwayne Wade, LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Embiid, Dwight Howard, Tristan Thompson, Blake Griffin and Nikola Jokic. All these players are well known names to your average NBA fan, and a few are way more deserving that Carmelo, I'll touch on that in a bit, but if most of them were mentioned, people would laugh at you. But, for some inexplicably reason, Carmelo will be making his 8th straight All Star team despite the fact that he plays no defense, he shoots the ball way too much, he is not the best player on his team anymore and that team is an absolute dumpster fire.

The fact that the Knicks have an All Star is asinine. And, if the Knicks are going to have an All Star, I'd first look at Courtney Lee, who has been surprisingly consistent this year, then Kristaps Porzingis before I even mentioned Carmelo's name.

But, the NBA wants those ratings, so they figured, lets put in an aging guy, that's way past his prime, because that will give us ratings. Newsflash NBA, you guys are as popular as you've been since the Michael Jordan era. More and more people are watching the NBA now. League Pass has been an enormous boost in your popularity. The glut of good young players seems to be endless. The Warriors are must watch sports television. Russell Westbrook and James Harden have been electrifying this season. LeBron James is quietly having one of his better seasons. The Spurs are playing great. This has been a great year for the NBA,

Putting Carmelo on the All Star team definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know that the game is a pointless exhibition, but the NBA has, by far, the best All Star game. Major League Baseball's All Star game is a baseball game, so it's boring. I do not watch hockey, so I cannot comment on their All Star game. And the Pro Bowl, the Pro Bowl is by far the dumbest and most pointless of all the All Star games. But, the NBA All Star game is filled with scoring, tremendous dunks, guys going crazy scoring buckets, tons of transition and alley oops, it is just a fun game. Last year's All Star game almost had a combined 400 points, which I loved. But, for some unknown reason, after the Love injury, the powers that be decided that Carmelo Anthony was the best possible replacement in the Eastern Conference.

When I saw that Love was going to be out, I started to rack my brain thinking about who would replace him, and when I saw Carmelo's name on some lists, I literally laughed it off. I thought it was a joke. I figured that someone like Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis or Joel Embiid would be picked as the replacement. Joel Embiid was definitely the sentimental choice. He has been great when he has played this year. He looks like the real deal. I wrote awhile back that he is the one and only reason to watch the 76ers. But, he has missed a ton of games recently, and he is injured. That was his death blow to making the All Star team. He has also pulled out of all the rookie and skills stuff as well, so there's that as well. Porzingis, unfortunately for him, plays on a terrible, terrible Knicks team, and he has actually taken a step back from last year. Some of this is his fault, some is the organizations fault. He doesn't attack the glass like he did last year and he has been settling for way too many jumpers. But, he also has to play with ball stoppers all over the floor. Derrick Rose still thinks he is an All Star, he is not, and he will not even look in Porzingis direction. Carmelo, to his credit, will try and get him the ball, unless it is a crucial possession. Then, he thinks he has to do it himself, which has stunted Porzingis' growth. With all that being said, Porzingis was rightfully left off the All Star team.

The guy I think should have gotten the spot was Bradley Beal. He has been playing very good basketball this year. It seems that he and John Wall squashed whatever beef they had, and they have looked great during their recent run of wins. Beal has been healthy and has been stuffing the stat sheet. He is scoring in bunches and has looked like the players the Wizards hoped he would be when they drafted him in the lottery to pair up with John Wall. Bradley Beal is the biggest snub in this entire All Star game, in my opinion.

There are many others who should have been considered ahead of Carmelo. Some may say, what about Chris Paul? He is hurt, so it would have only been a lets put him on the team, but find a quick replacement type deal. Other may mention Andrew Wiggins, too young and hasn't fully figured it out yet, or Karl Anthony Towns, he hasn't regressed as much as Porzingis, but his numbers aren't All Star worthy yet. People might say, what about Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum? Both guys have been fine, but All Stars, no way.

I legitimately believe that Bradley Beal is the biggest snub, and the NBA could have fixed that with the Kevin Love injury. But, they decided it would be better to put a "legend" in the game. I think Carmelo Anthony is incredibly overrated. He is an elite scorer, but other than that, what has he really done? He has never been to the Finals, he has never won the MVP, he has proven he cannot be the best player on a title contender and he constantly gripes and complains that he doesn't get what he wants. He has had a very average NBA career, if you take away his offense. He is a very, very poor man's Clyde Drexler. Drexler was great, but no one ever brings him up when people talk about the greatest NBA players, and I feel like that will be Carmelo's destiny. When I tell my son about watching the NBA when he is my age, I will talk about guys like LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, all of these guys and many, many more before I even get around to Carmelo. Is he an all time great? No way. Is he an All Star this year? Absolutely not. The NBA got this very, very wrong.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He booked his ticket last year to attend the All Star Game in Charlotte. He just heard it had to be moved to New Orleans. No w why would the league do that? Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The Biggest Trade Has Already Happened in the NBA

The NBA trade deadline is approaching fast, but I think the biggest name to be traded has already happened.

There is always rumors and speculation surrounding big name players that will be the move, but I do not think that any of the big names being thrown out this year are going anywhere. I've heard Paul Milsap, Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade, Blake Griffin and, of course, Carmelo Anthony and Boogie Cousins possibly changing uniforms. Well, Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks head coach and director of player personnel, said he isn't going anywhere. The price that the Bulls will be asking for Jimmy Butler and Dwayne Wade will be much to high, especially for Wade, who is clearly on his last legs. Blake Griffin is not going anywhere until he is a free agent because the Clippers ownership is insane and they seem to think they can win a title with guys that have never gotten out of the second round of the playoffs. Boogie is not leaving unless a team offers the Kings an offer to great to pass up. It would have to be some big name guys and some very high draft picks. The teams that have the ability to offer those things won't. And the Knicks, try as they might, will not be able to unload Carmelo. They want to trade him so bad, but he has a no trade clause, so he can veto almost any deal he doesn't like, and teams that may want him won't give up what the Knicks are asking for in a trade. The Knicks want a good young player and draft picks, and Carmelo Anthony doesn't command that steep a price anymore. He is old, in NBA terms, doesn't pass the ball, doesn't play defense and can mess up team chemistry. Sorry Knicks fans, you guys are stuck with Anthony.

The big trade that already happened? Serge Ibaka to the Raptors. I think that the Serge Ibaka trade to the Raptors is the only "big name" deal that will be made. The Magic are clearly going nowhere and they knew that Ibaka would not resign with them this offseason, he will be a free agent at the end of the year.

With all that being said, and the fact that the Magic needed to move a player like Ibaka to make more minutes for Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezjona, they totally got fleeced by the Raptors. The Raptors won this trade by a mile. All they had to give up was Terrence Ross, who is a decent young player that could flourish now that he will be a main option, and a very low first round pick. I think they could have gotten more from a team like the Raptors, who want to win now, but it seems like they settled for the first deal that Toronto offered. Like I said, Ross is a fine player, but maybe the Magic should have, at the very least, mentioned names like Jonas Valenciunas, Corey Joseph or Demarre Carroll. This may have killed the deal, but I still think they should have at least asked.

On the other hand, the Raptors got one hell of a player to team up with guys like Valenciunas, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Demarre Carroll, as well as Patrick Patterson. The Raptors, at least on paper with this trade, look to be real contenders in the East. I know that they are in fifth place right now, but I think this trade could easily move them up a few spots, giving them a decided edge in the playoffs. The Cavs were just dealt an enormous blow with the news of Kevin Love's injury, the Celtics are playing great, but this move should put them on notice, the Wizards are currently playing out of their minds, but Scott Brooks will find some way to screw it up, and Atlanta will not keep up this pace for the whole season. I definitely see Toronto passing the Wizards and the Hawks, pushing them up to third. Then, what if Boston takes over the one seed from Cleveland due to the Love injury, and the Cavs decide that they don't really care about seeding in the playoffs? That could put Toronto as high as number 2, which I think is a real possibility now. It all doesn't matter, the Cavs will still represent the East in the finals, but Toronto is at least trying to make it interesting.

I love the fact that the Raptors went out and got Ibaka. He is in the perfect spot again, much like when he played with Durant and Westbrook in OKC. He will be able to fit in perfectly playing the four, next to Valenciunas. Valenciunas likes to play in the post and rebound, so that leaves Ibaka the ability to spread the floor and block shots as a help defender, which is what he does best. He has also become a decent jump shooter and three point shooter. This will help DeRozan and Lowry. They will be able to drive and kick and have the confidence that one of their big men will be able to knock down open threes and mid range jumpers. Valenciunas is not consistent enough to do this, but Ibaka is. And, as I have already stated, he is going to help them out tremendously on the defensive end of the floor. Ibaka and Valenciunas as rim protectors will put fear in opponents trying to attack the rim. Valenciunas is not great on the defensive end, but he is serviceable, and with the help coming from Ibaka, he may begin to look like a much better defender. Ibaka's presence will also help the back court. DeRozan and Lowry aren't the greatest defenders, but now with Ibaka back there they can take more chances on steals and play closer man to man defense on their opponents. DeMarre Carroll is already a very good defender, so he won't need the help, but he will get it from Ibaka anyway.

This deal has made the Raptors a much, much better team, and has further made the Magic's rebuilding stage that much longer. The Raptors definitely won this trade, and I think it is the only trade that will make any difference in the regular season. Ibaka fits in wonderfully, and he needed this trade and the Magic let him go for hardly anything. This will be the only big time deal that happens in the NBA this year, mark my words.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is ticked off that his NBA2K games never let him get away with what the Raptors got away with in this trade. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Oklahoma City was not Kind to Kevin Durant.

Many of the OKC fans were not in the mood

Saturday night was KD's first game back in OKC since he signed with the Warriors. I was as excited as anyone to see this game. I wanted to see the response and to see how he and Russell Westbrook played as opponents in OKC for the first time. The first 2 games in Oakland were blow outs, but I thought that maybe OKC would have a bigger home court advantage.

Well, that was not the case. The Warriors, after the first quarter, proceeded to dominate this game, as they should. The Warriors are the best team in the West, and all of the NBA for that matter. OKC, they are the 7th best team in the West, and probably the 10th or 11th best team in the NBA. The game went as it should have.

But, that does not mean that there wasn't any drama. The first quarter was close, and any time KD touched the ball the crowd booed him relentlessly. They also booed him pretty loud during team introductions. There was a smattering of cheers for him, but for the most part, it was all KD hate. The crowd even wore t shirts that read "KOWARD". Pretty ruthless. KD came out tight as well. He made his first shot, but missed his next 5 before putting in a mid range jumper. Westbrook did not fare much better. He looked to pass way too often and settled for jumpers. He also let Curry shoot without much pressure in the quarter.

The game was tight for the quarter until the backups came in for both teams. This was where the Warriors showed how much better they are than any team in the NBA. The Warriors bench proceeded to score at will, building a lead up to 11. Then, the starters came back in and the Warriors did not let up. They built leads of 20, then 22, all the way up to 26. Then, in a short burst, the Thunder cut the lead to 18 and this is where the fireworks started.

Westbrook, in what many fans were waiting for, started to jaw at KD, saying, "I'm coming". I loved this. He finally let his anger out and it was glorious. His team was getting killed, but he wanted KD to know that he did not need him and that he would not stop coming at him no matter the score or situation of the game. KD did a little bit of talking back, but it was in the vain of someone who hides behind their friends and tells them to "hold me back". It was weak. It proved to me that KD is not an alpha when it comes to basketball. He is a much better fit as a second or third option, which is fine, but he is no top dog. Westbrook, on the other hand, he is the alpha. He runs that team. That could have been the problem the 8 years they played together, but Westbrook is the type of player that wants to be "the guy", KD, not so much.

That is fine, but the way KD has handled himself since signing with the Warriors has been what has turned me off of him, as a person. He has constantly complained about how the outside fan views him, he continues to make snide and snark comments that are definitely about Westbrook, but he never admits to it, he talks about "playing basketball the right way" with the Warriors. Basically it has been childish remark after childish remark from a millionaire.

Then, after the game, his mother complained about the fans booing him. During the telecast, the announcers kept saying that he doesn't deserve this type of treatment and that one day the OKC fans will love him again, KD himself said how nervous he was about getting booed and that it had affected his mood prior to the game. To all this I say, boo hoo. You are a pro athlete. People are going to boo you, especially the way you left that team. They are also going to boo you because of who you signed with. KD joined a team that has won a title already, and were on the cusp of winning another one. He joined the Goliath. Hardly anyone cheers for Goliath. For him to act how he acted, I was very disappointed.

In addition to the whole Westbrook thing, but KD also went head to head with Andre Roberson after a hard foul. You are going to go after Roberson, really? That is a punk move. He would never do that to Westbrook because he is afraid of Russell Westbrook. Then, to have his teammates constantly hold him back, that is one of my biggest pet peeve's when it comes to super star athletes. I do not care if he does not want to fight, but don't act like you are some hard core dude when we all know that you are not.

To his mother, who I think is a great, great lady, she had to know that the boos were coming. It was going to happen. She must have sensed that the OKC crowd had turned on him because of how he left. I get that she is a mother and wants to protect her son, but this is what happens in pro sports. Fans are irrational assholes. I should know because I am one. I love that she wants to protect her son, but there is no way she did not know this was coming.

The game played out just like it should have, with the Warriors winning comfortably, but I left more unimpressed with KD's attitude than I did before the game. He is a hell of a player, I cannot deny that, but he has become a holier than thou cry baby since joining the Warriors. This game only made my dislike for the Warriors that much stronger, and I found myself once again rooting for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook is an awesome player who needs some help on that team, but KD is now just another guy on a team loaded with talent. Westbrook proved to me, even in a lopsided loss, that he is one of the best alpha's in the NBA and KD proved to me, in a win, that he is just happy being the third or fourth option. That is what I took away from this mid season NBA game on Saturday night.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is wondering why KD doesn't just stick to his first love, fishing. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The Falcons Continue to Make Bad Decisions with the Steve Sarkisian Hire.

Steve Sarkisian was just named Kyle Shanahan's replacement as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. You read that right. The Falcons, who were just in the Super Bowl, replaced their offensive coordinator who left to be the head coach for the 49ers with Steve Sarkisian.

I think this is absolute waste of a hire. They could have went out and got somebody who is much, much more experienced and already a professional coach. Besides one year as the Raiders QB coach in 2004, everything Sarkisian has done has been at the college level, and he was not that great when coaching college players. Now, he is taking over a Falcons offense that has the MVP, Matt Ryan, 2 great, young running backs in Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman, and probably the best receiver in the NFL right now in Julio Jones.

I ask, what makes Sarkisian the better, and more qualified, person to take this job over some available coaches? Like I said, he had very minimal success at the college level. He was part of Pete Carroll's staff at USC, first as the QB coach in 2005-06, then as the assistant head coach/QB coach/offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2008. That was where he found his most success, but looking back, I think I could have coached those 5 star athletes just as well as he did. With talent like that, it is not that hard to tell them to go out and play hard.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, the University of Washington gave him the head coaching job after the 2008 season. Washington was supposed to be the up and coming program, and Sarkisian was going to be the guy to return them to their glory days of the early 90's. Well, that did not happen. Washington was very mediocre during his tenure. They were always just on the cusp, and people always said that, "this was going to be the year for the Huskies", but they never panned out. Sarkisian was the same guy that brought a live tiger, in a cage, to a practice to prepare for an early season game against LSU. I guess he thought it would fire up his guys, but they got absolutely destroyed by LSU on that particular Saturday. It was embarrassing. In fact, besides a couple of wins against top tier opponents in his first season, in which Washington finished 5-7, his best record in the four seasons he coached there was 7-6. Not that great.

But, in what was a great fail upwards, after the Lane Kiffin debacle at USC, the Trojans decided to hire Sarkisian away from Washington in 2013. I was puzzled by this hire at the time. I figured they were getting an almost identical coach, but they claimed they were trying to get away from Lane Kiffin. Kiffin and Sarkisian are 2 great examples of guys that continue to fail up somehow. But, Sakisian was retuning home, and he was going to make USC relevant again. USC was in a rut since Pete Carroll bolted for the NFL, and I guess the higher ups figured Sarkisian would return them to glory. Well, that did not happen. He was a total disaster while the head man at USC. His life fell apart coaching there. They had the whole Josh Shaw incident, look it up, and the whole Stanford game where officials may or mat not have been contacted prior to a game to make some calls that would give USC an advantage. Then, I was actually watching this game, he was accused of being intoxicated during a game against Arizona State. I remember vividly watching and thinking to myself, he does not seem right on the sideline. He looked like, at any moment, he was going to barf all over the field, then the next second, he looked to be slurring words when speaking to his players. It was a mess. It was revealed later that he was going to take a leave of absence right after the ASU game, and check himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. During this time, Clay Helton was named interim head coach. Sarkisian was quickly fired after players and assistant coaches said that they could smell alcohol on his breath during practices.

I thought this was going to be the nail in the coffin as far as Sarkisian being a coach for any big time school, but after only one year away, Alabama hired him as an analyst for their football team. Saban was stocking his coaching staff with big names basically. Recruits love this, and Saban is no dummy. Sarkisian was basically an assistant offensive coordinator for the majority of the 2016 season. Kiffin called the plays, yes he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama, and Sarkisian gave his input. Then, as only someone like Lane Kiffin could do, he got fired after already accepting a job at Florida Atlantic, and Sarkisian was called on to be the new offensive coordinator for the national title game. I wrote about that game and how stagnant Alabama seemed on offense, and Sarkisian was the play caller. It was assumed that he would slide into Kiffin's spot, but surprisingly to me, and I bet a lot of other people, when the Falcons offensive coordinator job opened, they wasted little time hiring Sarkisian to the same position.

I do not get this hire, as I have stated throughout. I do not know what they saw in him that made them think he could lead the number one offense in football. His play calling in the title game was predictable and dreadful. How will that translate to the NFL? Not well, in my opinion. I feel like the Falcons are going to waste at least one year of 4 great offensive players in their prime. The only "sense" I can make of them picking Sarkisian to be the new offensive coordinator is that the head coach, Dan Quinn, was also a Pete Carroll guy at Seattle, and maybe they have a relationship since they both worked for him. I personally think Sarkisian is going to be very, very bad as the head play caller for the Falcons. I already thought that the Falcons would take a tiny step back after blowing the Super Bowl, but now that they hired Sarkisian, I think they will be lucky to got 9-7 next year. I mean, Julio Jones is incredible, and I love the running backs, but I think Matt Ryan played the best he will ever play, and with Sarkisian calling the plays, I think his inevitable fall back to Earth will be a fiery crash back to Earth now. This puzzled me, and I think it will, in the long run, end up hurting the Falcons.

Steve Sarkisian is not the man for this job. He would not have even been in my top 25 of candidates, but I guess he was the Falcons first, and only, choice to take over for Shanahan. I think it is going to be a nightmare.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has a bad feeling that the ghost of Bobby Petrino will not be good for Steve Sarkisian in the ATL. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The Knicks Need to Move on from the Terrible Tenure of Phil Jackson

The Knicks in the Phil Jackson Era

Phil Jackson needs to be fired.

Plain and simple, he has been an absolute disaster in his job with the Knicks. He has only made one good decision since taking the job, and he openly questioned that decision when it was made. Of course, I'm talking about drafting Kristaps Porzingis. So far, a year and a half in the league, Porzingis has been everything people hoped he would be, but he has been so much more. He attacks the offensive and defensive glass for rebounds. He has nice footwork in the post and he canstep out and hit the three. If he keeps this up, he will be in the league for a long time. But, Phil Jackson openly mocked the pick. He said that he did not think the kid would be able to cut it in the NBA. He said he was too skinny and wouldn't be able to handle the pounding. Well, a year and a half in, Porzingis is far and away the best player on that team. I mean, it is not even close.

Then, this offseason, Phil Jackson went out and traded for Derrick rose and signed Joakim Noah to a 4 year 72 million dollar contract. Lets look at the Rose trade first. Jackson traded Robin Lopez and some other young players to the Bulls for Derick Rose. I wrote at the time that I thought it was a great trade for the Bulls and a terrible trade for the Knicks. Fifty plus games into the season, I have not changed my mind. Sure, the Bulls are treading water, but the Knicks have been terrible. Derrick Rose has proven to be a ball stopper. He cannot hit jumpers, he ices out open teammates and he comes and goes as he pleases. He also makes wild claims that this is a "super team" and that he wants a 150 million dollar contract this offseason. I really liked Derrick Rose when he was first in the league, he was a wonder to watch flying to the rim, but since his last year in Chicago and this season in New York, I have been turned off by him as a player and a person. But, Phil Jackson never says a bad word about Derrick Rose.

Then, Jackson gives Jo Noah 18 million a year, and he just cannot stay on the floor. This signing was extremely puzzling to me at the time. Had it happened 5 years ago, it would have been great, Noah was a legit MVP candidate, but he has not been able to stay on the court since then, and his game has deteriorated. He does not see the floor like he used to. He is not the force on defense that he was a few years ago in Chicago. His shot it absolutely awful, see his air balled free throw a few weeks ago. He can't rebound like he used to. But, the main problem, he just cannot stay healthy. I do not have the numbers in front of me, but if I had to guess, I'd say he has played in less than 30 games this year. This signing has been terrible, and they still have 3 plus years left to pay him. But, again, Phil Jackson says nothing bad about his decision to sign Noah, and he will not openly criticize Noah.

Those ill advised signings are nothing compared to the way Jackson treats his "star" player, Carmelo Anthony. Look, I'm a big Carmelo critic, I do not think he cares about defense, I think he is a ball stopper, I think he is a ball hog, I think he takes bad shots and I do not think he can be the best player on a title contender. But, the one thing that no one can criticize about Carmelo, he is an excellent offensive player. More so, he is an elite scorer, no doubt. But, since signing him to a max deal, Phil Jackson has done nothing but openly critique and constantly try and trade Carmelo. He, it seems, is always saying something to the press about Carmelo's lack of passion and ability to lead. It is not the 90's anymore Phil Jackson, and these players today will not take that kind of shit. But, Phil Jackson cannot seem to help himself. Recently he said some nonsense about not being able to change the stripes on a leopard, or some bull shit, which was clearly a shot at Carmelo. He has also come out and constantly stated that he is doing anything and everything to trade Carmelo. It has gotten so bad, Carmelo is frustrated with the Knicks home crowd, and they have been booing him relentlessly. It is, dare I say, unfair to Carmelo Anthony. He does not deserve to be booed by his home crowd. If anything, the Knicks fans should be booing Phil Jackson for all the stupid decisions he has made since taking the job there.

Also, Phil Jackson seems to think he can get whatever he wants in a trade for Carmelo. I'm sorry, but no championship level team is going to trade a starter or key reserve for Carmelo Anthony. The Cavs aren't going to trade Kevin Love for him. The Clippers will not trade any of their three main guys for him. The Celtics aren't going to give up any of the Nets picks they have, or any young player they drafted. The Wizards aren't trading John Wall or Brad Beal for him. The list can go on and on. The Knicks are not going to get a kings ransom, the one that Phil Jackson expects, for an aging ball stopper that plays no defense. It is not happening. But, Phil Jackson is so aloof to this, he thinks he can float out big named players and people will believe him.

Well, I do not believe one single word that comes out of his mouth. Jackson has made his bed, and now he has to lay in it. Every decision, save for the one he complained about, that he has made has been terrible. He has crippled this once proud franchise. The Knicks are a joke, and that makes me, a rabid NBA fan, sad. The league is better when the Knicks are good. But, with Jackson making all the decisions on the players, they will continue to be a doormat. Do the right thing James Dolan, for once in your god damn life, and fire Phil Jackson. He tactics are old and tired and he has been a disaster. Keep Carmelo, and fire Phil Jackson. It should be the easiest decision in your NBA life.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His only memory of Phil Jackson in New York is one of failure. The glory days are long gone for Phil Jackson in MSG. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Another View of the Super Bowl

Let me get something out of the way. Ty is the best sports writer on all the internet, and any views I have on the Super Bowl are a distant second to his thoughts. I also totally agree that the game was one half of good team vs garbage team and another half of good team vs even bigger garbage team. I am also not happy that an obnoxious front runner like President Trump was able to hear about his favorite team winning the game. There were so many things to hate about another Patriots Super Bowl victory, but Ty has already covered it all.Having said that, I feel like there are two other big stories that almost no one is talking about, and this is what Super Bowl 51 should be remembered for.

First ugly fact that no one wants to accept, the Patriots won their fifth championship because of a coin toss. The outcome of Super Bowl LI was determined by a flip of chance. Never before has the biggest game of the year gone to overtime, and that was a good thing. The overtime rules of the NFL are a joke. The fact that after four quarters of play, the NFL thinks it is good competition to let one big play end the game. In the regular season, that fact is annoying. In the Super Bowl, it makes a mockery of the entire competition. Maybe the Falcons would not have scored, their offense was pretty average in the second half, but not even getting a chance to compete is idiotic. A few years back the NFL tried to fix their overtime rules, but those fixes did not work in the biggest game of the year. New England's comeback was incredible, but they won the game because their captains made the correct guess in a 50-50 game of chance. The sports press does not want to point out that the NFL let their championship get decided by a coin flip, but that is what happened. Why play any games if the Lombardi Trophy gets rewarded to the team who makes a lucky guess. I guarantee you that the NFL will have college like overtime rules within the next few years. When that day comes, everyone will recognize that the Patriots fifth title was decided on the head of a commemorative coin.

The other story no one in the sports press will talk about, but every single fan knows, is that the Patriots are known, and admitted, cheaters. The fact that the NFL has been dominated by an organization who openly cheats has not been good for the league. Many people will defend the Patriots by saying that everyone cheats. My response is that no one else gets caught as often as the Patriots do. The sports media wants to protect their cash cow that is the NFL, but the public has made up their mind. The Patriots are cheaters, and most fans of football dislike this. Boston fans are reason enough to hate any team, but the cheating in New England is the real reason everyone hates the Patriots

I personally think the Patriots cheating culture, and the sports media's willful ignorance, is not the biggest problem facing the NFL. I was rooting for the Patriots because they are unapologetic about their cheating. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has kept the Patriots cheating in the front of all league news, while he ignores the real problems in the NFL. Time after time he casually dismisses cases of domestic violence, he ignores the mental health of the players in an incredibly inhumane way, and he has no problem blaming the fans for the owners shortsightedness and greed. I dismiss the Patriots cheating, because Roger Goodell thinks it is important. Whatever Roger Goodell is fighting must be worth defending. Goodell defends domestic abusers, incompetent medical professionals, and greedy owners. Those are the things I choose to fight.

That is my view of Super Bowl LI. A game of two bad halves that came down to a damn coin toss in the end. The Falcons choked, yes. The Patriots won a record fifth title, yes. Those are instant reaction stories from the sports media. I was happy to see Roger Goodell look very uncomfortable handing the trophy over the Patriots, but if my only interest is an embarrassed buffoon, is the NFL really even worth watching? Maybe all the games can be decided on a coin toss next year, and save everyone a lot of time. I still think the Patriots will win a record sixth title. They will find a way to weight the coin on the heads side. They cheat, that is the Patriots way, and Roger Goodell is powerless before their awesomeness.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast? If you think Roger Goodell is doing a good job? Are the Patriots not cheaters? Are you Sean Spicer? I want everyone to know your thoughts . Write for us.

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A Non-Classic Super Bowl Won by the Wrong Team

Evil prevailed last night in the Super Bowl.

I know that I picked the Patriots to win, but when the Falcon went up 28-3, I was very, very happy. They had dominated that whole game up to that point. They could not be stopped on offense, going short burst drive after short burst drive, and their defense was more than up to the task of shutting down the Patriots offense. Hell, they pick sixed Tom Brady, which barely ever happens, especially in a Super Bowl. Julio Jones ended up with only 4 catches, but they were four of the greatest catches I had ever seen. Devonta Freeman and, up until he got hurt, Tevin Coleman were gashing the Patriots defense for 5 or 6 yards a carry. I mean, how on Earth could they lose, I, and I bet almost everyone else watching thought.

Then, the Falcons went into a prevent on defense. I do not know if this is from being worn out, the Patriots ran 93 plays to the Falcons 46, or the Patriots just figured it out. The Falcons also decided that they needed to keep throwing the ball instead of utilizing their extremely effective run game. This was one of the biggest brain farts in the history of pro sports that I have ever witnessed. Dan Quinn, who is a defensive guy, who had his defense playing man all game and getting pressure routinely in the first half, decided with a 25 point lead that he had to go to a prevent. This was a fine idea at the time it seemed, but when the Patriots scored a TD and a field goal to cut it to a 16 point lead, I would have applied the pressure again. But, he stuck with the prevent, much to his dismay. I was baffled why he did not go back to putting the pressure on. That is how you beat the Patriots. But, he decided that he needed to back off and play the pass. I just don't get it.

On the other side of the ball, I know that you have the MVP, Matt Ryan, and maybe the best receiver in the game in Julio Jones, but why not lean on that running game up 25 points. It had worked for them all game, but they came out and passed like they were in a shootout. The Patriots defense clamped down in the second half, but I think it would have been moot had Atlanta stuck with the run game. I only saw a few carries that went for 0 or negative yards. But Atlanta Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers about to be named new coach decided that he needed his MVP quarterback to throw the ball a bit more. All this passing led to the biggest momentum turnaround I have ever seen in a Super Bowl in my lifetime. The Patriots, down 16, blitzed a linebacker on 3rd and 1, the Falcons inexplicably put Ryan in shotgun and called a long pass play. The linebacker got through the O line with ease and strip sacked Matt Ryan, to set his team up with great field position with about 6 and a half minutes left. The Patriots turned it into a quick TD, converted the 2 point play and then we had a game.

Down 8, I was pretty sure the Falcons could still salt away the game, but they went back to throwing the ball and making stupid mistakes. First off, on that last drive of the Falcons entire season, Julio Jones made one of the greatest catches on the sideline in Super Bowl history to set his team up at the 23 yard line with less than 4 minutes left and a field goal would ice the game for them. But, the Falcons proceeded to get sacked, called for a holding penalty, never mind the fact that the refs missed a blatant face mask on the Patriots, and they were all the way back near mid field, way out of field goal range. They had to punt the ball, and they gave the Patriots a chance with over 3 minutes left. The Patriots proceeded to drive the ball 91 yards for the game tying TD and 2 point conversion. During this drive, Julian Edelman made one of the best Super Bowl catches ever, for those keeping track at home, that is 2 classic catches in one game, Tom Brady scrambled for 19 yards, which he never does, and the Falcons just could not get a break and they gave up that TD with relative ease.

With the 2 point play being so easy for them I knew then that the Patriots were gong to win, if they won the coin toss in overtime. They, of course, won the toss and Brady and James White drove that team down the field and White scored the game winning TD in overtime. The Falcons offense never got another shot with the ball. I do not know if they would have done anything with it, but they never had a chance, which makes the NFL's overtime a travesty.

Lots of people are saying that this was one of the greatest Super Bowl's ever, but I do not know if I agree. As our head editor and owner of the site told me on a call earlier today, this was a game where one team was hot in one half, and the other was hot in the second half. I totally agree with him. It was exciting, but frustrating as well. I could not believe what the Patriots were doing in the first half, and I could not believe what the Falcons did late in the second half. It was an exciting game, but I do not know if I will remember it like I remember the Broncos beating the Packers, Malcom Butler's interception 2 years ago, the 49ers crushing the Chargers, the Rams beating the Titans, the Patriots beating the Rams, all those games seem, at the moment, more important and better, in my opinion. Yes, this game cements Tom Brady as the greatest QB ever, but he was really awful in the first half. Do not forget that. He was really, really bad in that first half.

Also, do not forget that the Falcons blew this game. This is, quite possibly, the worst loss in the history of pro sports ever. The Patriots did not win, the Falcons lost. I feel real bad for my friends that are Falcons fans today. I also feel for anyone that is not a Patriots fan, which is about 95 percent of the country. This is just another sign that, sometimes, evil prevails. We got evil being dethroned when Clemson beat Alabama, but the Patriots comeback restored the Goliath in sports. I almost always root for the underdog, and the underdog looked great for 40 minutes last night, but Goliath only needed 20 minutes to comeback and win.

I guess, congrats Patriots, but I wish that the Falcons had pulled out that win. They blew it, and I felt gross after watching all the post game stuff. I felt like the wrong team won last night, but hey, that is the way it goes. But I do not think by any means that this was a "classic" game. I thought it was a game where the wrong team ended up winning.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did thoughourly enjoy seeing Tom Brady, Robert Kraft, and and Bill Belichick having a good time while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looked like the odd man out. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Charles Barkley is Right about LeBron James

It is time for Barkley and LeBron to grill up their beef

By now all NBA fans know of the spat between LeBron James and Charles Barkley. Today, I'm going to give my take on what's going on. I said on our mini podcast that I side with Charles Barkley, and while I still do, I am going to give points as to why both are right and wrong.

So, first off, LeBron has done nothing but gripe about his teammates, the lack of another playmaker, the fact that the front office has "done nothing" and so on and so forth. To all this I say, stop it LeBron. The Cavs and the front office and the GM have answered your every beck and call. When you came back 2 years ago, they traded away Andrew Wiggins to get Kevin Love. I know Love is figuring out his role with the Cavs now, but he is hurt, and I'd honestly much rather have Andrew Wiggins. He is a playmaker, a much better defender and young. Then, after getting beat by the Warriors in the finals 2 years ago, in the middle of the next season, with the best record in the East, they fired David Blatt and hired your buddy, Ty Lue. It turned out to be the right move, the Cavs went on to win the title, but still, you wanted Blatt out, and you got your wish. Then, this offseason, you wanted Mike Dunleavy on the team, the Cavs signed him and it did not work out. So, they traded Dunleavy away and got Kyle Korver for you. That has not worked out yet. I know the roster is thin, but the people who make the decisions have done everything you have wanted them to do. That is why people call you the GM and the coach, as well as the player.

Lebron is far and away the best player in the NBA, there is no question. But, this constant complaining at this point in the season, needs to stop. It seems like LeBron does this every year. He did this last year, when he took 2 weeks off, which was well deserved, but he had many complaints about the team during his mid season vacation. It just seems like that when LeBron isn't the most talked about player in basketball, he finds some way to get his name out there so everyone, me included, will talk about him.

I agree with Barkley that this makes him a whiner. In fact, I was fully on Barkley's side after LeBron came out with all his comments. I do think that LeBron whines way too much. I do think that he wants to have all the best players on his team so he doesn't have to give his full effort. I do think that he, and most NBA players, are way too friendly nowadays. I do think he blames everyone but himself, and that comes off as childish at times.

Where I disagree with Barkley, LeBron has a legitimate complaint about his playing time. He is playing way, way too many minutes. He is in fact leading the league in minutes played. That is a lot to ask from a guy that has been to 7 straight finals, played in multiple Olympics and goes extra hard in the playoffs. But, that is not Charles Barkley's fault, that is the fault of his handpicked coach and his handpicked roster. See, even when I try and find a way to agree with LeBron, I still find reasons why I think his comments were out of line. Barkley is not making him play all those minutes. That is his coach, as I already said.

And sure, LeBron pointed out that Barkley was friendly with some of his rivals, but all of that was off the court. He may have cracked one or two jokes during a game here and there, but when they were playing, Barkley wanted to crush the team and players in front of him. There was no hugging or high fiving Jordan before games from Barkley. But, when Dwayne Wade and LeBron meet in a game in the middle of the season, they embrace like family, which is just fine, just do not try and claim that Barkley did the same stuff. He did not. I watched him obsessively because he is my all time favorite NBA player.

Also, to call him out for the whole I'm not a role model thing, that was ridiculous. That was a marketing campaign from Nike, and it was so much more memorable than any commercial you will do with the same company. I also liked the message of the I'm not a role model thing. He was flat out telling parents and fans that he is simply a basketball player, and that the parents and people in kids lives should be their role models, not an NBA player. While I may have modeled my game after Barkley's, he was never my role model. My father is my role model. So, if James thinks it is on him to be a role model, that is his deal. He doesn't need to drag Barkley into his personal decisions. And the whole spitting on a kid thing, come on with that nonsense. If he did spit on a kid, I'm sure it was on accident, and to bring it up now, that makes you sound more like a "hater" than Barkley.

All of this is just nonsense. LeBron James is above all of this. He does not need to fight with former NBA players. He is never going to change their minds, just like they are never going to change his mind. This is childish, and I feel like LeBron is starting to realize that his name isn't the biggest in the NBA anymore. He is still the best player in the world, but more people that watch and talk about the NBA want to talk about the Warriors, Russell Westbrook, Giannis Antentekoumpo, James Harden, Joel Embiid and some of the newer generation of players. This was clearly, in my opinion, just a way for LeBron to keep his name as the top story for a day or 2 on sports radio, TV and blogs. This will all be forgotten about in about a week, thankfully. But, I just need to let everyone know that I am fully on Barkley's side with this "beef".

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Hear his thoughts on all things sports by downloading the newest edition of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Midseason NBA Checkup

We have reached, actually passed by number of games, the middle of the NBA season. Most teams have played between 41 and 44 games. As I will do every year with each sport I do a preview of, I am going to do my midseason update for the NBA. Instead of going through all 30 teams individually, I have it sectioned off into 4 different groups. This makes it easier for me and an easier read for you. Alright, enough talk, lets get into it.

My first section is titled, "Team That Are Right Where They Are Supposed To Be". This section has teams like the Nuggets, Bucks, Bulls, Raptors, Celtics, Hornets, Magic, Clippers, Thunder, Lakers and Suns. Lets dive a little bit deeper into why I think these teams are right where they are supposed to be. Teams like the Bucks, Bulls, Hornets and Thunder are all right around, or just above .500. I did not expect these teams to be much better than that. Sure, some are fighting for playoff spots, but will they do any real damage? I don't think so. The Thunder are the one team I could see doing some things, they do have Russell Westbrook who is having an incredible year, but he cannot lead this team to a title, especially in the West. The Clippers are the Clippers and now Chris Paul is hurt. They will be lucky to get to the second round of the playoffs. The Bucks are okay. Giannis Antentekoumpo is a full fledged star and one of the most exciting players, and Jabari Parker seems to be figuring the game out, but outside of those 2, the Bucks are average, and their record shows that. But, Antentekoumpo has become must watch TV, and I love the fact that he is starting the All Star game. The Celtics are really good, Isaiah Thomas is an awesome scorer, but I do not expect them to push the top teams in the East. The Bulls started hot but have cooled off as of late. They just have too many old guys, and for some reason are unwilling to give the team over to their best player, Jimmy Butler. Until they do that, they will be a middling Eastern Conference team. The Hornets either can't stay heathy, or they are what they are, a .500 team that gets bounced in the first round of the playoffs every year. I'm going to go with the latter. Kemba Walker is great, but this team will not make the conference finals with him as their "go to guy". It is not happening. They'll get to the playoffs and they will exit early, that is their destiny.

The Magic, Lakers and Suns are very below average NBA teams, and that is no surpirse. Sure, the Nuggets are fighting for the 8th seed in the West, but they are 8 games below .500, have no premier scorer or defender and they, while fun to watch, are very ho hum. The Magic are much of the same. Serge Ibaka has brought nothing to that team, Elfrid Payton still hasn't figured it out, Jeff Green is doing Jeff Green things. The Magic are destined to be below .500 until they get another super star via the draft. The Lakers, after starting "strong" at 10-10, have lost 23 of their last 28 games. They are still too young, do not play much defense and they still need a few years before they get it together. The Suns stink, but they are doing that on purpose. Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player, but he is surrounded by guys like Alex Len, Dragan Bender and the corpse of the once great Tyson Chandler. The Suns are bad, but that is what everyone expected. They are in full tank mode. Good or bad, these teams are doing what I expected. 

My second section is titled, "Surprises". In this section, I have the Wizards, Kings, Heat, 76ers and Hawks. Let us first look at my bad "surprises". I thought the Kings were going to be much better this year. I did not think they would be like the 4th or 5th best team in the West, but I thought they would compete. Sure, they are in the race for the 8th seed in the West, but whatever team wins that is going to get smoked by the Warriors. I liked Mike Malone as the head coach and I thought Boogie Cousins was going to set the NBA on fire. Cousins is doing his part, but he is still a headache. Mike Malone has been less than superior as the head coach. The rest of the team is just awkward parts that do not fit. The Kings stink. I figured the Heat were going to be bad, but not this bad. They are truly awful. It doesn't help that Justice Winslow is pretty much done for the year with an injury, but everyone else on that roster is garbage, except for Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside is putting up All Star caliber numbers, but he has no help. Goran Dragic wants out of there, Tyler Johnson is incredibly overpaid and the rest of the Heat is just bad. I'm literally shocked at how bad they really are.

Now, the teams that are playing better. The Hawks, after dumping Kyle Korver, I assumed they were going to have a fire sale, but they have stayed pat, and they have looked really good. Milsap is playing great basketball. Dennis Schroder is leading the team. Dwight Howard is being quiet and averaging a double double. Tim Hardaway Jr has been very impressive lately. The Hawks are playing well, and I just assumed they were going to throw in the towel after trading Korver, but they have gone a whole different direction, and it is working for them right now. The Wizards started off terribly, but since John Wall has become unstoppable, and become an enforcer, they have played much better. They have been blowing opponents out lately too. Wall looks incredible and the rest of the team is following his lead, as they should. This is the Wizards team I expected to see from the start of the season. The final "surprise" for me is the 76ers. I have been very hard on this franchise, but when Joel Embiid plays, they look like a real NBA team. Joel Embiid is a legit up and coming star in the NBA. He is so, so good. When he doesn't play, they look like the 76ers, but since his minutes have been upped, and the fact he gets to play more games, they have looked decent. Hell, they went on a win streak recently. The 76ers are still really bad, but with Embiid continuing to get better everyday, they could return to being a playoff contender sooner rather than later.

Section 3 for my mid season update is titled, "Teams I Was Wrong About". This list has teams like the Trailblazers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Rockets, Pistons and the Pacers. The Trailblazers have been an absolute mess and I thought that they were going to take the next step after their success last season. Lillard and McCollum are a great offensive backcourt, but they play no defense. The Blazers also have no front court threats and they gave Evan Tuner way too much money. This team is going nowhere fast, and I thought that they would be firmly in the playoff race at this point. The Grizzlies have played very well despite injuries and the age of this roster. I thought that they would be a middle of pack West team, but they are fighting for that 3rd or 4th spot. Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Vince Carter are leading the way, and if I was one of the upper tier West teams, the Grizzlies would scare me a bit with their tempo and how well they play team basketball. The Pelicans have been an enigma all year. Anthony Davis started out on fire, but they weren't winning. Then, he cooled off a bit and Jrue Holiday came back and they started to play very good basketball. They dug themselves into a deep hole early on, but they are climbing their way out of it. I thought that they'd be a playoff team, which they still have a shot at, but they have such a steep hill to climb to get there. The Timberwolves, on the other hand, I thought were a year away from the playoffs, but I thought that they'd be a .500 team, at the very least. Well, they can score, but they cannot play defense, and that has killed this team. They have looked better as of late, but they still look like they are a year or two away from truly competing. The Pistons are just downright stinky on offense. I figured they would take the next step and become the 4th or 5th team in the East, but they have no offense. Reggie Jackson has been throwing up bricks since he came back from injury, Tobias Harris isn't scoring, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has not gotten better, Andre Drummond barely sees the ball in the post, this team is a mess. 

The Rockets, and the Pacers, were probably the teams I was most wrong about. I thought they were going to implode, just like they did last season, but they have been great. They are the 2nd or 3rd best team in the West, and maybe the 3rd best team in the league. James Harden at point guard has been a revelation, and they are playing this "space and pace" offense to perfection. They still think defense is optional, and I think that will doom them in the postseason, but man are they great right now. The Pacers I was wrong about, but for a different reason. I thought the Pacers had a great offseason, and that would turn into a great regular season. I picked them as the number 2 team in the East, but they have not looked good. They are in the playoffs right now, but they would be a 6th seed I think, and they have had infighting, complaints from Paul George and they just do not seem to mesh well on the court. The Rockets, for good, and the Pacers, for not so good, have made me look like an idiot.

My final section is title, "Teams I Was Right About" This list includes the Warriors, Cavs, Spurs, Jazz, Knicks and Nets. Lets get the Knicks and Nets out of the way first. The Nets are garbage. I picked them as the worst team in my preseason countdown, and they are living up to that "lofty" pick right now. They have not cracked double digit wins yet and they look like a D League team that just happens to be in the NBA. The Nets stink. A lot of people were high on the Knicks after their offseason, but I was not. I did not think bringing in oft injured old guys that were good 5 years ago was going to work, and surprise surprise, the Knicks are mediocre. Derrick Rose cannot stay healthy and just leaves the team when he feels like it. Joakim Noah has become a shell of himself. His air ball free throw last night is the best representation of where he is now and how bad the Knicks are. Carmelo wants out, but who wants a 32 year old "star" that only wants to play offense? Not a contender and I'd wager on that. The Knicks are still a long way away from competing. The Jazz are playing very good basketball like myself, and many others predicted they would. They play great team basketball, and they have a swarming defense. If this team stays together, they could be good for awhile. The Spurs are the Spurs. They play the best team basketball of any team in the NBA and they play suffocating defense. Gregg Poppovich is the best coach in the NBA, and as long as he is on the sideline, the Spurs will continue to be great. Having Kawhi Leonard is a big help too, and LaMarcus Aldridge has been great so far this season. The Cavs, while in a bit of a slump as of late, are still the Cavs. They still have LeBron, Kyrie and Kevin Love and they will breeze their way to a third straight Finals appearance. And they get JR Smith back soon. The Cavs will be just fine.

Then we have the Warriors. They are the best team in basketball, and they are just now figuring out how to play with one another. They are deadly everywhere on the floor and they play the best defense in the league. The Warriors are great and if they do not win the title this year, I'd be more shocked than Clemson beating Alabama in the College Football Playoff this year.

As far as a Finals prediction, it is going to be Cavs-Warriors part 3, and I still have the Warriors winning in 5 games. My preseason MVP was Kawhi Leonard, but it is clearly a two man race between Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and right now, I'll go with Westbrook. He is averaging a triple double after all. Defensive Player of the Year is Draymond Green, no ifs ands or buts about it. He is a Swiss army knife and plays incredible defense. Rookie of the Year is Joel Embiid, and I will hear no other arguments. He is incredible. Coach of the year has got to be Gregg Popovich. He lost Duncan, and the Spurs are still the 2nd best team, according to record, and he is the reason why.

So there you have it, my mid season update on the NBA. I'll come back when the playoffs are set, but as of right now, this is how the season has looked to me, so far.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He should not feel that bad, Houston and Indianapolis have been making people fell stupid for a variety of reasons. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Two Best Teams in the NFL Will Make for a Great Super Bowl

We hope the game day nachos live up to the great match-up

Yesterday's NFC and AFC title games were a waste of time. Both games were blowouts. The Patriots and the Falcons were clearly the 2 best teams in their respective conferences. I'm not going to do a Super Bowl preview, I already picked the Patriots to win when I did my full preview and yesterday did not change my mind. I still have the Patriots winning a close game.

What I do want to talk about today, the 2 correct teams are playing for the Super Bowl in 2 weeks. As I have already stated, the Falcons and the Patriots are the 2 best teams in the NFL this year. I'm sure some people, Roger Goodell I'm talking to your punk ass, wanted to see the Steelers beat the Patriots, but lets be real, the Patriots are a far superior team. Sure, the Steelers were riding a big win streak, and they looked great, but who did they really play to end the season or in their first 2 playoff games? I believe they ended the regular season with match-ups in the final 2 weeks against the Bengals and Browns. The Bengals were tremendous underachievers this season, it's probably due the fact they did not change their team name to the Harambe's, and they kept their games close. The Browns were the joke of the NFL this year and the Steelers needed a comeback to beat them in week 17.

In the playoffs, the Steelers got the Dolphins in round one, with a backup QB. The Steelers did what they were supposed to do to an undermanned opponent. The Dolphins, due to both injury and coaching, are not as good as the Steelers. The fact that they blew them out was a foregone conclusion. Then, against a Chiefs team, they did not even score a touchdown and they won. To this I say, they got to play playoff Andy Reid, and playoff Andy Reid is atrocious. He makes terrible decisions and outcoaches himself. Also, the Chiefs offense leaves a ton to be desired. They have no real threats on offense and the Steelers knew that, and they controlled the game. The other playoff teams in the AFC were the Texans and the Raiders. The Texans are terrible and they did not deserve a playoff spot. The Raiders starting QB broke his leg in week 16, and they played a third stringer in their playoff game. The Steelers would have easily beaten either of those teams handily.

Unfortunately for the Steelers they had to go to Foxboro and play the Patriots, who were coming off an 18 point win where people, myself included, said they looked bad. Well, last night, they looked like the Patriots. Tom Brady was whipping the ball around on a very young secondary and exploited every weakness in that young secondary. Then, when the pass game loosened up the rush, Legarette Blount, Dion Lewis and James White took over running the ball. The game was close for a half, then the Patriots seized control and never let up. Hell, with a 27 point lead, Brady was still throwing the ball. The Patriots did exactly what most should have expected. I could not believe how many "experts" thought the Steelers were going to win that game. It was a laugher from the third quarter on. The best team in the AFC is representing their conference, as they should be. 

Now lets get to my team and the ass whooping they took yesterday. If the Patriots-Steelers game was done by the third quarter, the Falcons-Packers game was done after the first drive. The Falcons went right up the field, scored a touchdown with ease and never looked back. Green Bay proceeded to miss field goals, fumble the ball, get sacked, throw picks, basically anything and everything they could to lose the game. They looked god awful yesterday and the Falcons took full advantage, as they should have.

But, looking at the teams in the NFC, who was better than Atlanta? Some may say that is was the Cowboys. I say no way. The Cowboys were paper tigers. They had a great regular season, but when they needed a playoff win, their defense and coaching reared its ugly head. Is Jason Garrett not the Andy Reid of the NFC? He puts together decent regular seasons, then always craps out in the playoffs. Jason Garrett is a bad NFL head coach.

Yesterday we saw what Atlanta can do to a terribly prepared, coached and injury riddled defense like Green Bay's yesterday. They smashed the Seahawks the previous week. They crushed Russell Wilson all game and Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the best duo in the backfield in the game right now, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, ran rough shot over them. The other 2 NFC playoff teams were the Lions and the Giants. The Lions lost 4 in a row going into the playoffs and Matt Stafford was hurt. They were doomed the moment they walked into Seattle, so just think of what that Falcons offense would have done to them. The Giants have a very good defense, but they still have Eli Manning. I do not care how good your receiving corps is when you have Eli Manning throwing the ball. The Falcons would have crushed the Giants, much like the Packers did. The Falcons were clearly the best team in the NFC.

So, while Fox may not like the matchup because it only has one "marquee" team or while Roger Goodell may be terrified of what will happen if he has to hand the Lombardi Trophy over to the Patriots or Vegas can't pick good odds or whatever other crap people may complain about, the Falcons and the Patriots are far and away the 2 best NFL teams and this is going to be a good Super Bowl. The Patriots are the Patriots, but not a lot of people know that they have the number one scoring defense in the NFL. The Patriots have a very good, very underrated defense. And the Falcons, well, they have Julio Jones and the number one scoring offense in the NFL. It is strength on strength for the Super Bowl. I love this matchup, and since I have no rooting interest, I cannot wait to watch and see what happens. I think the Patriots will win, but it would be pretty sweet if someone like Julio Jones has an epic game and somehow gets the win for the Falcons. I'm hyped for Super Bowl 51, and I think everyone else should be too.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was glad that Green Bay was out of the game so early, that freed him up to other more productive things through the night. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The Voters are Idiots. Thomas and Westbrook Deserve to be NBA All Star Game Starters

Ty is tired of the voters ruining our goven... basketball.

I had a whole mid season NBA update I was going to write today, but instead, I have to talk about the complete snubs that both Isaiah Thomas and Russell Westbrook got by being not voted as All Star starters. The mid season update will have to wait until Monday.

Let us first talk about Isaiah Thomas. No one, in the entire NBA, scores as many points as he does in the fourth quarter. If I'm correct, I believe that he is averaging 10 points per game in the fourth quarter alone. That is amazing. He gets critical points at the most crucial times in games. Some say that the Celtics don't have a go to scorer or someone they can rely on in key moments, but I beg to differ. Not only does Thomas average the 10 points per fourth quarter, he averages 28 points per game, as a 5'9 shooting guard, and 5'9 is generous. He is probably closer to 5'7 or 5'8. And he gets his points in the paint. You may see his size and expect he is a jump shooter, but he is more an attacker than a shooter. He can shoot, don't get me wrong, but he is so much more lethal going to the rim. He goes in among 6'8, 6'9, 6'10 and 7 footers and gets buckets. His first step is deadly. He has a great step back jumper that is almost as un guardable as Kareem's sky hook. The other night I watched him play the Hawks and I was blown away at how, not only efficient, but how good he was at offense. He is having an incredible year. The counter point to this, people say he doesn't play defense, but neither does Kyrie Irving, James Harden or Steph Curry, but they were voted as starters this year because of their offense. Why can't Thomas be on the same list as those guys. It's not like this is his first year as a legit scorer, he has been doing this since he was in Sacramento. Isaiah Thomas will get on the team as a reserve, but he definitely deserves to start over Kyrie Irving, and I think Irving is great, just not as good, or as important to his team, as Thomas is to the Celtics. Isaiah Thomas is the reason the Celtics have gotten better every year since Thomas was traded there, and he is now a perennial All Star, but he should have been a starter this year. It is really a shame that he is not because there is almost no one more deserving than him this year.

The reason I say almost is because of Russell Westbrook.

HOW ON EARTH IS HE NOT A STARTER ON THE WEST TEAM THIS YEAR?! HE IS AVERAGING A TRIPLE DOUBLE! HE IS CARRYING THE THUNDER BY HIMSELF! THEY LOST KD AND THEY ARE STILL A DECENT TEAM!

Sorry, I just had to yell type that.

Seriously, what else does Westbrook have to do? I get James Harden being one of the starters, he is having a tremendous year, much to mine, and a lot of other people's surprise. But, to have Steph Curry, who is a tremendous basketball player, as the other starter, that is a bad look. Steph is great. Steph is an All Star. Steph is the 2 time MVP. He has a title. But, is he the first option on his team anymore? I already mentioned that he thinks defense is optional, although he has played better this year. His numbers, for him, are down. Steph, second only to LeBron, is probably one of the most beloved NBA players, but Westbrook is unequivocally having a better season than Steph or Harden or Irving or DeRozan or Lowry or any other guard you can think of in the NBA right now. I say again, he is averaging a triple double. The last guy to do that, Oscar Robertson in the 60's. He is carrying the Thunder on his back, and then some. Who else does he have since KD left town this offseason? Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Andre Roberson are fine, but they are not the threats that these other guys have on their teams. Steph has Klay, KD and Draymond Green. Harden has bombers like Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon and also a very good, young big man, Clint Capela. Kyrie Iving has Kevin Love and LeBron. DeRozan and Lowry have each other. I mean, all those guys have much, much better teammates than Westbrook yet, the Thunder are still 7 games above .500, and they are in the thick of the playoff race in the West. I thought they would make the playoffs, but due to Westbrook's tremendous play, they are playing very decent basketball. The fact that he is not a starter is so ridiculous. I know the All Star game does not really matter, but this is supposed to be the best of the best, at least the starters, and the fact that the guy that is averaging a triple double is not a starter, that is an absolute joke. The fan vote needs to be thrown out. Clearly, we the fan, cannot get it right if the fans that voted did not vote Westbrook a starter. I totally agree with Kevin Garnett when he said that this is the biggest snub in the history of the All Star game.

Both these guys got screwed over by the fan, and I just had to get this off my chest today. Both Isaiah Thomas and Russell Westbrook will be All Stars, but they deserve, and should be, starters. No question about it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. These snubs are the worst thing that happened in America this week. Yes, nothing else terrible went down today. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Grayson Allen and Derrick Rose Represent the Dark Side of Basketball

Allen and Rose are the clouds over some bright and sunny basketball

I was going to write 2 separate pieces about 2 basketball players, but I feel like I can lump them into one piece. Each has been a headache for their teams and fans all season long. Each were once the darlings of their fan base as well, but now, they have lost a lot from the ones who once loved them. One plays college basketball, and the other was a former MVP, All Star and seemed like an all around good guy, until this season happened. I'll start with the college player first because men's college basketball is not the NBA. The NBA is more important.

We have 2 more incidents since Grayson Allen's "suspension" was ended after one game of him acting like a jackass. I know that I have ragged on this kid before, but he is such a shit head, I just can't help myself. I have to hate on this kid. So, last season, he trips the FSU player as his team is getting beat, and he is playing poorly. One time, maybe it was just a mistake. But, coming into this year, you just had the feeling that this punk was the newest Duke player to hate. He started the year as a consensus All American, and many picked him to be player of the year. Well, the season did not start as he expected, and he has let his frustrations boil over. Against Elon earlier this year, he purposefully tripped a player that beat him off the dribble, then threw a tantrum, like a spoiled rotten child, on the bench.

The ever douchey Coach K did not suspend, or even reprimand Allen on the spot, I guess he thinks he only has to reprimand kids on other teams when he gets beat in the tournament, but instead said that they will "take care of it internally". Then, when he gets pushed on the subject of this kids poor sportsmanship and behavior, he defends him, and says that at Duke, they do things their own way. What a bunch of shit. Allen was finally "indefinitely" suspended and had his captaincy taken away from him. I thought this way too little, way too late. It took all major media outlets calling this kid out before Coach K finally suspended him. I think the decision was made easier when Coach K had to announce that he was having back surgery.

Allen finally gets suspended, and surprise surprise, Duke loses their next game to Virginia Tech. With one game left before his leave of absence, Coach K lifted Allen's "indefinite" suspension, and reinserts him in the starting lineup for the very next game against Boston College. What a crock. This game was a big blowout, in Duke's favor, but Allen wasn't lighting it up like he sometimes does. He had a very mediocre game, like he has had all year. Amidst the blowout, while fighting through a screen, Allen contorted his body and stuck his right leg behind him and appeared to trip a Boston College player. Of course it was the talk of sports radio and TV the next day, but no one did anything about it. Coach K did not suspend him, the ACC said there wasn't enough evidence to suspend him, Allen just got a free pass.

Then, while getting hammered by FSU the other night, Allen was chasing a loose ball and in his attempt to save it, he physically shoved a FSU assistant coach. Many people said that this was a "hustle" play. I have played basketball for almost 30 years now, and when I have "hustle" plays, I have never shoved another player, let alone an opposing coach. This was blatant and it seems to be Allen's calling card. When things aren't going his way, he reverts to being the spoiled brat that he is, and shoves and trips the opposition. Look at all the crap that Draymond Green has to deal with, what with the constant kicking of testicles, and he is looked at as the biggest villain ever. But, I'd have to say that Allen is worse. He is not as good a basketball player, and he gives me even more reason to hate on Duke. This kid is a punk, a spoiled rich white kid that never faces consequences for his rude actions and he should not be allowed on a basketball court if he continues this nonsense. Grayson Allen is a joke.

Now, lets get to the NBA player. I think we all can agree that Derrick Rose's best days are behind him. He is not the slasher and penetrator that he was 6 years ago. He does not play the game with reckless abandon like he used to. He doesn't attack like he used to. Sure, he has flashes, but he just isn't the same player, 2 Achilles injuries will do that to anyone. He is also a very suspect jump shooter and defender, but he was always mediocre in those 2 areas. He was able to make up for it early in his career with his athleticism, but now, he is just a wasted high contract player.

Rose recently has become a bit of headache for coaches, GM's and teammates as well. His time in Chicago, at the end, was rough. I don't think he liked that the coaches and players wanted to hand the team over to Jimmy Butler, who is much better than Rose. He didn't like being marginalized, and all but forced his way out this past summer. He got traded to New York, and since the trade happened, he has flown off the rails. He called the Knicks a "super team". He showed up to his press conference dressed like I dress, and I have zero fashion sense. He openly talked about wanting big money in his next deal, and didn't seem to care if it was with the Knicks. His first impression was a disaster.

Then, when he got on the floor, the chemistry just didn't work. I know some people were high on the Knicks (ed note: I was), I was not, but he and Carmelo Anthony cannot coexist as teammates. They are both ball hogs that play no defense, but at least Carmelo can hit an 18 footer. Rose also seems to ignore big men, instead trying to go to the basket himself. When Rose is on the floor, players like Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O'Quinn barely see the ball. Those guys need to get the ball to get engaged in the game, but Rose will not give it to them. Hell, even Carmelo has tried to get the post players involved recently. But, Rose does not. He has become a ball hog when he does show up for games.

Rose has missed some time this year due to nagging injuries, but what he did the other day was bizarre. He just disappeared before a game. No call, no show. He wasn't answering his phone, or returning text messages. It was like he vanished. Eventually it surfaced that he wasn't available due to a "family emergency". Look, I hope everything is okay, but that is the type of excuse I would use when I did not want to go to one of my shifts at the various sandwich shops I worked in. Also, if I no called no showed at those menial jobs, I would have been fired. What did the Knicks do you ask? They started him the next night. Just like with Allen, Rose faced no consequence for his childish actions.

Rose said while he was away that he was contemplated retiring from the NBA. But, the very next night, he brought up his upcoming free agency and said the he wants a contract that will pay him 150 million dollars. IS HE INSANE! NO ONE IS PAYING YOU THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY DERRICK ROSE! NOT EVEN THE 76ERS! I cannot believe the foolishness coming from him right now. I do not know what happened to Derrick Rose. When he was at Memphis, and then his first couple of years in the NBA, I genuinely enjoyed watching him play. But, after the injuries, fall out in Chicago and this whole ridiculous half season in New York, I just do not care for Derrick Rose the basketball player. He appears selfish and single minded, just like Grayson Allen.

These 2 are peas in a pod, in a bad way. They are selfish assholes that think they are bigger than the game. Well, I have news for you too, you are both irrelevant and not that many people, if any, really care about you as basketball players anymore. Your time is up Derrick Rose, and Grayson Allen, you're a never was that never will be.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He urges the developers of a new NBA Jam to include a Derrick Rose / Grayson Allen team. They can trip others, throw tantrums, and disappear during points. Just like real life. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.