Can the Celtics win a Title this Year?

     Celtics training camp has officially started and the Banner 18 buzz has been huge around Celtics' fans.
For most Celtics fans like me we expect the Celtics to win a title every year but realistically we know that's not going to happen. This year the competition for the coveted "Larry O'Brien" Trophy is more heated than ever. By my count there are at least 6 teams with a legitimate shot at winning it all(Miami,LAL,OKC,San Antonio and Boston) and then you have about 3-4 other teams who could actually beat those teams. I'm going to quickly run through the potential finals/playoff matchups and see if Boston can hang with them.
     Boston vs Miami: An ECF rematch pitting arguably the two best teams in the east. Now lasts years matchup was full of "what ifs" and injuries. Hopefully when/if these two teams meet up in the playoffs both are fully healthy. Over the last two years these two teams have played each other 18 times resulting in probably the most heated rivalry we have in this league and to make it even worse the Heat signed former "Big 3" member Ray Allen making the rivalry even bigger. The Celtics are the best equipped team in the Eastern Conference to knock off the defending champs. Danny reloaded a bench that was 2nd to last in bench scoring last year and now it seems they have the potential to be top 10 at the least. Courtney Lee and Jeff Green would be leaned on heavily this potential series to try to slow down both Wade and Lebron. Now obviously there is no way you can really slow down Lebron as he showed us this past year but Paul Pierce has proved that he can go toe to toe with Lebron. Chris Bosh and Ray Allen could potentially be the X-Factors for this team. We saw how easy it is to beat the Heat when you only have to worry about Lebron and Wade but with Chris Bosh on the court it opens up the court and helps them run their offense to perfection. Ray will definitely help this team but it remains to be seen whether Ray will get accustomed to his new rule coming off the bench but all he has to do is move without the ball and knock down open shots. Now it will obviously be a very daunting task but I think the Celtics can still hang with and beat the trio down in South Beach
     Boston vs Lakers: The most successful franchises in Basketball potentially facing off in the Finals could prove to be the exciting match up in all of sports. The Lakers were all over the headlines this past summer with their acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. Obviously those signings made fans screaming all over for another title. To be completely honest this would probably be one of the more easier match ups for the celtics. Other than Dwight Howard there is not one player match up I would be worried about if I were a Celtics fan. Kobe and Nash aren't the players they once were and it has definitely shown the past couple of years. Rondo and Bradley would definitely have the advantage defensively in my opinion because of their youth and athleticism. Dwight Howard obviously would be a huge problem defensively and on the boards but his free throw shooting makes him one of the biggest offensive liabilities in the NBA. LA did help their bench this offseason with the signing of former All Star Antawn Jamison but I still don't think that their bench can be on par with teams like OKC or San Antonio. In the end I honestly don't think the Lakers would pose that much of a threat to the Celtics. With the age of their backcourt they couldn't keep up with the speed and athleticism of the Celtics.
     Boston vs San Antonio: Now this is a finals match up I would love to see and one I thought might be possible last year. Now many people will bring up the Spurs age and I used to be one of those people. As long as Greg Popovich is the head coach this team will compete for a title. Greg Popovich was able to change this team from a defensive minded team to an offensive juggernaut seamlessly. I just can't keep this team out of this post because of him. Tony Parker had an MVP like season last year and really opened everyones' eyes(pun intended). This might be a very interesting matchup becasue of guys like Kwahi Leonard. Kwahi is a very interesting player because his game has changed so much from college to the pros. When he came out of college I though he would be more of a slasher type forward but somehow Pop got him to be a very effective spot up 3pt shooter. We know what Duncan,Parker and Ginobli are giving the spurs but if the bench doesn't play well that team just does not function very well as we saw in the Western Conference finals last year. San Antonio commands a lot of respect from the rest of the league because of their previous success but in reality they're very easy to stop. Should Boston run into them in a potential finals match up I wouldn't expect San Antonio to give them much trouble.
    Boston vs Oklahoma City: The defending Western Conference Champions pose a major threat to the rest of the league and the Celtics. The Thunder are hungry for a title and should the Celtics face them it would be a huge problem maybe even bigger than a match up with the Heat. The difference between the Thunder is that stopping their stars would be even harder than Miami. The way to stop Miami is simple in a sense, make them shoot jump shots. Now with the Thunder the problem is that they're stars love shooting jump shots. Kevin Durant is easily the worlds best scorer and can shoot it from anywhere,James Harden is a deadly spot up 3PT shooter and Russell Westbrook is almost automatic from mid-range. Not only can they hit jumpers but they can also take it to the hoop and finish at the rim. I think the Celtics would be at big disadvantage during this potential match up because of the scoring ability of OKC's stars. Right now even though I have OKC as the 2nd best team in the league I have them winning the championship next year.

Who has the "Clutch Gene" in The NBA?

      One of the most defining traits of  "Legends" in any sport is the ability to perform under pressure. That trait is simply called being "clutch". Now when you think of being clutch most likely you think of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. These two players are generally known as two of the greatest players when the game is on the line. I will take a look at the leagues premier players in "Clutch Time" since the 2008-2009 season.
      According to 82games.com "Clutch" is defined as 4th quarter or overtime less than 5 minutes left neither team ahead by more than five points. With that definition they compiled a handful of players' stats and averaged them out per 48 minutes.
      Kobe Bryant is considered to be the league's premier clutch player and while that may have been true a couple years ago I don't think it's true anymore.Since 2008 Kobe Bryant has averaged 56.1 points(08-09), 51.2 points(09-10),49.8 points(10-11) and 36.3 points(11-12) per 48 minutes in clutch time.Now the 2008-2011 stats are quite impressive there was a huge drop off in production this year(13.5 pts). His FG% has always been an issue since he takes so many shots. Among all players with at least 20 FGA per 48 minutes he had the 6th worst FG% in the league(.327). Now when evaluating players in "Clutch Time" it's important to take all stats into account all stats. Heres Kobe's full stat line from 82games.com: 36.3 Points, 7.8 Rebs and 6.8 Asts. Here are his Shooting Splits: .327 FG%, .214 3PT% and 80% FT. Now I'm no expert but those shooting splits seem average at best to me for a guy who's considered to be "cold-blooded". The point I'm trying to make is I think age has finally caught up with the Black Mamba and he's not the same clutch player people make him out to be.
       I'm now going to delve deep into the stats of the most scrutinized player in the league, Lebron James.
Ever since that dreadful playoff series against Boston in 2010 Lebron has been labeled as a "choker". Last season his stats were surprisingly closely similar to the stats of Kobe Bryant. Here is his full stat line: 33.2 Points,15.1 Rebs and 9.3 Asts. Now before you criticize his points average keep in mind two of his teammates are averaging 25 pts in clutch time. His stat line seems very proficient especially the Rebounds. his 15.1 Rebounds are good for 14th in the league which isn't surprising since he spent a lot of last year playing the PF position. His 9.3 Asts are the highest for a non-Point Guard which is again not surprising. Now here's where I get critical of him. His shooting splits are as equally as disappointing as Kobe's. Here they are: .386 FG%, .273 3PT FG% and a putrid 68% on FTs. What I find most surprising is that he's only 13th in FGAs per 48 minutes. Most Lebron critics are quick to point out that he won't take the last shot but for the past 3 years he's been in the the top 15 in FGAs, leading the league in 2009-10(41 FGAs). In 2009-10 Lebron was easily the best player in Clutch Time. He averaged a whopping 66.1 points(15 more than Kobe),15.9 Rebs and 8.3 Asts.
         We tend to generalize "clutch players" as guys who score the ball frequently in pressure situations. However I tend to think of "clutch players" as players who make the right play at the right time. Here are some players who I deem to be clutch but may not be seen the same way in the public eye. Rajon Rondo for the past two season has averaged 10.3 Asts and 12.8 Asts per 48 minutes in Clutch Time. Last season he was the only player averaging at least 10 Asts that didn't the ball over more than 5 times per 48 minutes(He averaged 2.4). This is one of the most surprising stat not because I didn't already know rondo could take care of the ball but that there was such a disparity between him and another great passer, Steve Nash. Nash who is usually known for his excellent playmaking skills struggled to take care of the ball averaging a staggering 8.1 TOs per 48 minutes. Rondo also happens to be the only player in the league averaging a triple double per 48 minutes.Another trait that is lost in the mix with "Clutch Play" is the defensive side of the ball. When I talk about defense I take Rebounds,Blocks and Steals in to account. Serge Ibaka averaged 19.1 Rebs, and 5.6 Blks per 48 minutes. Not surprising for the leagues leading shot-blocker. His rebounds are what really surprises me. Ibaka has never averaged more than 7 rebs per game in his short career but it seems he gobbles up more rebounds when the game is on the line. Here are some cool stats I found while exploring this site: Kyrie Irving in his rookie year averaged a whopping 56.4(led the league) points per 48 minutes, Paul Pierce is the 2nd best 3pt shooter(60%) with at least 5 3pt FGA per 48 minutes and. Warriors' SG Klay Thompson led the league in steals per 48 minutes with 4.8 steals

Boston Celtics 2012-2013 Season Preview

      The NBA season is just under 40 days from getting started.With that being the case it's only natural for me to do a preview of my favorite team. The Celtics' 2011-2012 season ended with a game 7 defeat to the eventual champion Miami Heat. Many thought that the Celtics overachieved for a team that started 0-3 and went into the All-Star break at 15-17. In the second half of the season the Celtics were among the top teams with a record of 24-10 to end the season. With the 4th spot in the playoffs they took out the Atlanta Hawks in 6 games, then finished off the Philadelphia 76ers in 7. After that we all know what happened. After the loss in the Conference Finals many people speculated whether Danny Ainge would break up the Big 3 with KG and Ray Allen being in the last year of their contracts. Well KG immediately ended any specualation about him being a free agent with him signing a 3 year $34 million deal. Ray however took a different route and decided to sign with the Miami Heat.Danny then signed Jason Terry,Courtney Lee, Dionte Christmas,Jason Collins and recently Darko Milicic. He resigned Brandon Bass, Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox. He drafted Jared Sullinger,Fab Melo and Kris Joseph. At the end it turned out to be a great offseason for the Celtics now lets hope it can be a great regular season.
        Now you would think that being a Celtics fan I think the Celtics will win it every year but that's not the case. I tend to look at things from a numbers standpoint and while I still love the Celtics the numbers just don't add up to a championship for us. With that being said they still have a shot to win it but thats only if a number of things happen. Rajon Rondo showed us in the playoffs what he is truly capable of when he's fully engaged but while he played phenomenal in the playoffs he still hasn't showed that he can be trusted to do that in the regular season. The days of Paul Pierce carrying the offense are gone and now Rondo has to be the guy that can carry this team for 48 minutes night in and night out. While his numbers may not suggest that he's an elite player in this league many people would say he is.
        The most improved aspect of this team is easily the bench and Danny really made it a point to bolster a bench that last year was pretty bad. Last year the Celtics' bench was ranked 29th in the league with an average of about 21 points per game. Well with the additions of Jason Terry,Courtney Lee, Jared Sullinger and the return of Jeff Green.With Avery Bradley being out until late december at the least Courtney Lee and Jason Terry will be very important. The Celtics' bench on paper looks like one of the best in the league.
         With all of the new additions it's really hard to determine which one will be the most important. While I love the acquisition of Jason Terry there has to be some concern with him coming off his worst shooting season since his last season in Atlanta. Though the bench scoring and leadership he will provide will outweigh his possible shooting splits.The most maligned and criticized signing by Ainge had to be the resigning of Jeff Green. Most people were in awe that Danny  Ainge would give a 4 year $34 million contract to a player coming off of season ending heart surgery. While he did overpay there was really no other option for him with there not being much left in the Free Agent market. It has been written/announced multiple times that Jeff Green over the course of his career has statiscally made his team worse when he's on the court. While that may be statiscally true it's not Jeff's fault. In his time with the Thunder Jeff Green found himself playing the Power Forward position most of the time he was playing at the same time of Kevin Durant. Jeff Green is 6'8-6'9 ft and around 230 pounds,does that seem like the build of a NBA power forward to you? For Jeff Green he was nightly going up against guys who were 40-50 lbs bigger than him, it's like asking Paul Milsap to play center every game. With all of the flaws Green has in his game he's still 6'9,athletic and can run the floor, none of those thing were present on this team last year. He'll also be able to give Pierce some much needed rest before the playoffs. I expect Terry and Green to have the biggest impact among the newcomers.

      Obviously the most important aspect of this team is the starters but theres really nothing different to say about them. We know what we're getting every night from Pierce and KG. Rondo and Bass will do their thing in the pick and pop. When Bradley comes back he'll hopefully return to his pesky defensive ways and continue to make backdoor cuts.But what really needs to improve is the offensive rebounding. Last year they were at the bottom of the league in offensive rebounding and were historically bad when it came to Offensive Rebounding %. Sully,Wilcox,Collins and Darko will hep with the rebounding but they wont be a juggernaut on the glass and that's to be expected as they've never been one.
        Rookies + Doc Rivers = Not much playing time. That's been Doc's philosophy for the past couple of years. I think this season will be different. This is easily the best draft the Celtics have had since the 2006 draft. Jared Sullinger,Fab Melo and Dionte Christmas will all have chances to play with this team but they also need to contribute. Jared Sullinger is the most NBA ready prospect the Celtics have and will most likely contribute the most to the team. Sully will rebound,defend and give them some points while proving the 20 teams who passed on him that they were severely wrong.
        The Celtics regular season success hinges on them fending off the young teams who're hungry to knock off the Celtics from Atlantic Division supremacy. The Knicks,Nets,Sixers and Raptors all improved in hopes of winning the Division. They also still have to deal with Miami but the games against them in the regular season aren't very important compared to the playoffs if you take a look at the last 2 years.Even with the improvements the Celtics are still the class of the division and I expect Boston to win it. KG and Pierce minutes will go down. Expect KG to be in the mid to high twenties while Pierce will probably be in the low 30s when it comes to minutes.If Rondo can have the kind of stat line he had in the playoffs and improve his shooting splits he could be at the top of the MVP voting and really surprise a lot of people.With that said their regular season win total could be anywhere from 47-54 wins from the Celtics while they play their tenacious brand of basketball. Expect basketball in Boston to be very exciting this year.
     

Quick Week 2 Recap

Upsets,Penalties and Missed Field Goals. That pretty much sums up a wild week 2 in football. Here is a recap of the best games of the weekend.
          Arizona Cardinal 20, New England Patriots 18: In the most surprising upset of week 2 the Cardinals stunned the Patriots in the their home opener. For most of the game the Cardinals were putting pressure on Tom Brady racking up 4 sacks. Arizona proved the old adage that "if you put Brady under pressure he just isn't that effective" and they were able to hold him to 0 TDs until the final Quarter. If you were like most Patriots fans who were attending the game and left before it was over than you missed a great finish. With under 2 minutes left in the game with the Cardinals up by 2 RB Ryan Williams fumbled on the their own 30 and it looked like that turnover had sealed a win for the Pats. With just 6 seconds left Patriots Kicker Stephen Gostowski missed the potential game winning field goal which brought back memories of the famous "wide left" missed FG by Billy Cundiff. While it's only week 2 and the game itself may not have any playoff implications Pats fans have to be worried about star TE Aaron Hernadez who injured his ankle in the 1st quarter. Early reports indicate that Hernandez will be out for up to 6 weeks.With this win the Cardinals improve to 2-0 while the Patriots fall to 1-1. The MVP of this game had to be Cardinals Defensive End Calais Campbell who finished with 2 sacks.


          Philadelphia Eagles 24, Baltimore Ravens 23: In one of the NFL's marquee week 2 match ups it turned out to be a hard fought and physical football game. Both teams won their week 1 openers and were determined to beat the other team the good ole fashioned way. For Eagles fans it has been a very confusing two weeks. In just two weeks the Eagles have committed 9 turnovers yet they're still 2-0. In week 1 Michael Vick threw 56 TIMES and 4 of those passes were intercepted. This week was a little better but he still made those plays where you wanna say "What are you doing!?". In the first quarter Michael Vick was scrambling towards the right side and had a WIDE OPEN running lane and instead of running for some extra yards he decided to throw the ball right in to coverage and had it picked off in the endzone. The Ravens were coming off a dominant performance which made most people crown the Ravens the best team in the AFC and Joe flacco looked like his performance in the AFC championship game wasn't an aberration. However in this game he looked like his "I'm the best QB" proclamation was way off. In the end this game came down to the refs when it looked like Michael Vick  had fumbled the ball and the game away. With a look at the monitor the refs concluded that it wasn't a fumble and the Eagles were rewarded when Michael Vick ran in for the Game winning TD. While he made some boneheaded plays Vick turned out to be the MVP of this with 2 total TDs


      Pittsburgh Steelers 27, New York Jets 10: The circus rolled into Pittsburgh hoping to improve to 2-0 on the season while the Steelers were looking to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start but were without two former Defensive MVPs in Troy Polalmalu and James Harrison. In the end it didn't matter as the Steelers rolled over New York. "Big" Ben Roethlisberger had a great game, He went 24-31 for 275 yards and 2 TDs while also being impossible to tackle. Mark Sanchez was very good early on but faltered late in the game when Pittsburgh's defense really settled in. The most exciting and contrversial play came when Ryan Clark was called for Pass Interference on a play where the only time he interacted with the Receiver was when he came from the other side of the field and laid him out. This game really pointed out the glaring weakness that is the replacement refs. With this win the Steelers avoided their first 0-2 start in a decade and silenced any talk of the Steelers defense being old. While he didn't have the flashiest stats Steelers' Free Safety Ryan Clark was the MVP of this one finishing with 7 tackles and making up for the loss of Polalmalu.

Roger Goodell and his Tyrannical Power.

     Roger Goodell is considered by many to be the most powerful man in Professional Sports. He is the commissioner of the most popular sports league in North America. A league in which he yields enormous power over.

      Since 2006(When Goodell took the job as commissioner) Goodell has suspended 24 players for a total 124 games for violating the leagues player conduct policy. While I have no problems with most of the suspensions there are some that bother me. The biggest of all the suspensions and the one I have a problem with is the the "Bounty Scandal". In March the NFL released a statement saying that they had found evidence that Former Saints' Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams had orchestrated a "Bounty" System which rewarded players for their performance. It turns out that the NFL had been investigating them for over 3 years and had warned the Saints on a couple of occasions. Not long after Goodell suspended players Jonathan Vilma(Entire Season), Anthony Hargrove(8 Games), Will Smith(4 Games) and Scott Fujita(3 Games). He also went after the management and coaching staff by suspending Head Coach Sean Payton(Entire Season),Assistant Coach Joe Vitt(6 Games), GM Mickey Loomis(8 Games) and Gregg Williams(Indefinitely). Soon after a tape of a Gregg Williams Pre-game speech was released. While it may have been a bad speech never in that tape was there ever any mentioning of money changing hand between the players mentioned. Roger Goodell never released any evidence of the players mentioned receiving money. What bothers me even more is that Goodell knew about this for THREE YEARS and not once decided to do a thing about it. This past weekend it was released that the four players who were suspended for their involveent in the case won their appeal and were eligible to play in their Sunday openers. It has also come to my attention that the NFL is being sued by thousands of former players over concussions. The plaintiffs are stating that the NFL knew about the concussions that are now affecting these players and the NFL tried to cover them up and since the Bounty scandal is a matter of player safety Goodell is trying to tie up loose ends if you will.

   

While I do think the Saints had a "Bounty Sysytem" in place(Like many other teams have had in the past) and I think the Management/Coaches suspensions were justifiable I just haven't seen enough evidence to single out these players. Goodell is using this "Bounty Scandal" as leverage and it just might work.

Top 5 NBA MVP Candidates

It may be a bit premature to do a "Top 5 NBA MVP Candidates" piece but I'm bored so I'm doing it anyway.


1.Lebron James: Being the reigning NBA MVP gives you some leeway on this list. Other than that Lebron James should be on the top of every ones list just because he is the best all around player in the game. In his career he has consistently been a top scorer in the league and he's one of the best passing forwards we've seen since Bird. He's also an elite player on the defensive side of the ball consistently guarding and shutting down the other team's best player whether it's out on the perimeter or in the post. If Miami can have the same regular season success they did last year then expect Lebron to claim his 4th MVP trophy.

2.Kevin Durant: Kevin Durant is undoubtedly the best scorer in the world. He can score from literally anywhere on the court. As long as Westbrook and Harden aren't dominating the ball you can expect anywhere from 25-35 points on any given night from him. Part of what makes him so good on offense is he's unusually tall and long for a SF and with his high release point it makes it hard for players to contest let alone block his shot. Although he is an elite scorer his lack of defense is what gives Lebron the edge. It's not that he can't play defense it's just that his body isn't built to guard guys down in the post. OKC would have to win  at least 62 games next year for Kevin Durant to win the MVP

3.Chris Paul: Last year Chris Paul turned a perennial losing franchise into a top 4 playoff team in the west. It was truly remarkable what CP3 did. He is without a doubt the league's most talented point guard. He makes everyone better around him and that is the mark of a true great point guard. For CP3 to win this award the Clippers would have to finish with a top 2 seed in the west.

4.Rajon Rondo: If there was a national tv game MVP award Rondo would have definitely won it last year. As a C's fan I've watched just about every game of his career and last year there were a lot of inconsistencies. He played exceptionally well in the nationally televised games against big time opponents but against teams like Cleveland and Milwaukee he looked despondent and uninterested. In a game against Cavs Rondo was held scoreless on a night where he took just 6 shots. That can't happen this year if Rondo wants to included in the Elite group of points guards. While he already made a case for that in the playoffs with a magical playoff run. During that run he averaged 17.3 pts, 11.9 and 6.7 rebs. If he can carry those averages in to the regular season Rondo could climb in these rankings.

5.Dwight Howard: I don't know if Dwight will be healthy at the start of season but what I do know is that this guy is the single most dominant force in the NBA at his position. Any team he is on is guaranteed at least 50 wins. He's the pick and roll finisher in the league playing with the best pick and roll passer in the league. If Dwight can come back before the All-Star break and return to his dominant ways then expect him and the Lakers to make a late season surge

NFL WildCard Predictions

AFC: Buffalo Bills: Last season the Bills started off 5-2 and looked poised to make it to the playoffs. However injuries to key starters like Fred Jackson and Kyle Williams derailed those hopes. This season they're fully healthy and are welcoming a big time acquisition. In the offseason they signed star DE/LB Mario Williams to a 6 year contract worth about $100 million. Expect playoff football in Buffalo this season.

       
Denver Broncos: Fresh off of Tebowmainia the Broncos went and signed one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game in Peyton Manning. Manning coming off of 4 neck surgeries is looking to prove he hasn't lost a step and after watching that 3rd preseason game against the 49ers that looks to be true.While they may get off to a rough start expect the Broncos to get hot late and surprise teams in the playoffs.

 NFC: Chicago Bears:  The Bears started last year off 7-3 before injuries to Jay Cutler and Matt Forte ended their playoff hopes. In the offseason they acquired Pro Bowl WR Brandon Marshall and drafted WR Alshon Jeffery to pair with Jay Cutler. With Marshall and Jeffery the Bears finally have the receivers they need to compete in the NFC North.

       
  Detroit Lions: Last season Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson     had an explosive season and you can expect the same this year. While many people are concerned the Johnson will the latest victim of the  "Madden Curse" I think he'll be fine. As long as Stafford and Johson are healthy there will be playoff football in Detroit.

 

NFL Division Winners Predictions

         With the start of the NFL season almost upon us I felt the need to release my predictions for the division winners. Lets start with the AFC.


   AFC East: New England Patriots: Coming off a heartbreaking defeat to the New York Giants the Patriots were once again reward with one of the easiest schedules in the league. Led by future Hall of Famer Tom Brady the Patriots will once again be one of the best offensive teams in league and should cruise through their division

AFC South: Houston Texans: Like the Patriots the Texans have the benefit of playing in one of the least difficult divisions. With both Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson healthy the Texans seem like favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers: This year the AFC North is going to be very competitive and might just come down to the wire like last year. While the Ravens seem like the safer pick I'm not convinced that their defense can return to what it once was with  the loss of last years Defensive POY Terrell Suggs lost at least until week 6. The Steelers also have injury problems of their own with their top draft pick David DeCastro being lost for what may be the whole season. But with Todd Haley in as the new offensive coordinator the Steelers are going to throw the ball more and open up the offense for Big Ben. And don't forget about the defense, if James Harrison and Lamarr Woodley can stay healthy then I don't expect the Steelers to miss a beat.

AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs: Last year the Chiefs lost Eric Berry,Jamaal Charles and Tony Moeaki to season ending ACL injuries. That's three of their top 5 players and they still managed to win 7 games in a tightly contested division. With a full season under new coach Romeo Crennel the Chiefs look poised to make it back to the Playoffs

NFC East: New York Giants: The Giants coming off their magical playoff run the ended with a Super Bowl run should be the favorites to win their division. Eli is coming off his best statistical season in which he threw for 4933 yards good for 4th in the league. While their passing game was phenomenal last year this team is dependent on their defensive pass rush led by 3rd year sensation Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck.

NFC South: Carolina Panthers: This is one of my more bolder picks. Last year everyone was stunned by the performance of Rookie Cam Newton. Last year they were a top 5 offense with a dynamic running game.While they only won 6 games most of that can be attributed to their defense which was without All Pro Linebacker Jon Beason. This year they drafted Luke Kuechly out of Boston College and in the preseason he did not disappoint. Don't expect the Panthers to suffer a sophomore slump.

NFC North: Green Bay Packers: When you go 15-1 in the regular season and you have the leagues best QB, you should be the favorites to come out of your division. Last year Drew Brees wasn't the only QB breaking records, last year Aaron Rodgers had a league record 122 Passer Rating while throwing for 45 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. While their defense had some major problems last year they are looking to improve with the drafting of former USC linebacker Nick Perry and Charles Woodson's full time move to safety.

NFC West: San Francisco 49ers: Last year the 49ers surprised everyone and were two fumbles away from a Super Bowl appearance. They were able to keep all 11 of it's defensive starters and added some offensive weapons. In a division that always seems to change don't expect the 49ers to falter next season

My Diminishing Hatred Towards Lebron

As a celtics fan I'm supposed to hate Lebron but every year I find it harder to hate the guy. When he dropped 46 on us in game 6 of the ECF I was both angry and amazed at what I had just witnessed. The man single handedly took over in a do or die elimination game yet people still hate him. He is coming one of the greatest seasons in NBA history.People who hate Lebron and keep comparing him to Jordan or Kobe don't know anything about basketball. Jordan won one playoff game before Scottie and Phil Jackson came along. Kobe has been gifted with some of the best big men to play in the nba for the past decade while Kobe only had to go through two years of not having a good enough supporting cast, Lebron had to go through 7 years of it. I won't get in to their stats because people always find a way to pick them apart. Lebron took a team that had Daniel Gibson,Zydrunas Ilgauskas,Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden in it starting lineup to the NBA Finals. Last season he was in the top 20 in assists(17th), double doubles(16th),minutes(6th),steals(4th) and scoring(3rd). He's won 3 MVPs and he's not even 30 yet.You may hate Lebron but don't let it stop you from enjoying possibly one of the greatest players to ever play in the NBA.