Who Can Stop Them?

    With less than 10 games left in the NBA regular season, it's time to start thinking about the playoffs. The biggest question on my mind is: Will anyone be able to slow down the top seeds in each conference, or are we destined for a Finals matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors.

If the season ended today, the first round matchups in the Eastern Conference would look like this:
(1) Atlanta Hawks v. (8) Boston Celtics
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers v. (7) Miami Heat       

(3) Chicago Bulls v. (6) Milwaukee Bucks.

(4) Toronto Raptors v. (5) Washington Wizards

    The Hawks would make quick work of the Celtics as they don't have the depth or size to hang with Atlanta. Then, the second round matchup would likely be Atlanta v. Washington. This is a matchup that Hawks fans should be worried about. Despite being fifth seed, Washington has one of the most complete starting lineups in the league with the addition of Paul Pierce. One year ago, I said that the one thing standing between the Wizards and a championship was a solid small forward, which they now have thanks to Pierce. Washington's quickness up and down the floor might also cause problems.

    If the Hawks make it out of Washington, this would likely set up a conference finals matchup with Cleveland. However, don't automatically place the Cavs in the conference finals just yet. They will likely have a tough road. LeBron James has struggled against his former team this season, and their likely second round opponent, Chicago, should have former MVP Derrick Rose back from injury by then.

    

    I am still predicting a conference final between Atlanta and Cleveland, and with the injury to Anderson Varejo, the Cavs' only true center, and the fact that Kevin Love still doesn't seem to be fitting in with his new club, it doesn't seem like Cleveland has the size to compete with the combination of Al Horford and Pero Antic for the Hawks. Send Atlanta to the Finals.

If the playoffs began today in the Western Conference, the first round matchups would look like this:

(1) Golden State Warriors v. Oklahoma City Thunder

(2) Memphis Grizzlies v. (7) Dallas Mavericks

(3) Houston Rockets v. (6) San Antonio Spurs

(4) Portland Trailblazers v. (5) Los Angeles Clippers

    The road to the NBA Finals in the West is a must harder road than in the East. Golden State's first test comes in the first round against Oklahoma City. In this matchup of MVP candidates, the absence of reigning MVP Kevin Durant will prove too large an obstacle for the Thunder to overcome.

In the second round however, the Warriors would do battle against the defending champion Spurs. Last night, Golden State won their franchise-record 60th game, and under the leadership of head coach Steve Kerr and the Splash Brothers Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the boys from the bay have seemed unstoppable in the regular season. However, the playoffs are a different animal and the Spurs have seen it all before. In the end, I think that the experience and skill of the Spurs will be the downfall of the Splash Brothers. The Spurs will also likely find their way to the finals again.

There you have it. The Hawks will make the NBA Finals and the Warriors will fall short, and the Spurs will win the West to force a date with Atlanta. While I am not ready to predict a winner in a Spurs-Hawks Finals matchup, it should be interesting nonetheless. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich and the Spurs just three short years ago. This classic teacher vs. pupil matchup would certainly be entertaining.

    With that, I leave you. See you next time and enjoy what is certain to be a fantastic NBA playoffs.

NFL Free Agency: What's Going On?

    NFL free agency began earlier this week, and this has already been one of the craziest off-seasons in recent memory. There have even been a few moves that left most football fans, including this one, scratching their heads. Let's dive right in to some of the most notable address changes and see if we can sort this out.

    Ndamukong Suh to Miami: Former Detroit Lions defensive front man, Ndamukong Suh was never expected to resign with Detroit. In fact, Suh had a deal stuck with the Miami Dolphins just hours after teams were allowed to meet with free agents. The deal happened so quickly in fact, that the NFL began an investigation into whether the Dolphins had talks with Suh before they were allowed to. If the Dolphins were found guilty of tampering, they could've lost their new star before they really got him. Ultimately, it looks like the NFL decided that the Dolphins followed the rules and signed the star defensive tackle to a contract worth $114 million with a record $60 million guaranteed. Suh said that money was the most important factor in his decision, and he certainly did get paid.

    Gore reconsiders, Johnson gets fresh start; both headed to Indy: This is another interesting story out of free agency camps-a couple actually. First, we have running back Frank Gore. After initially saying he was going to sign with Philadelphia, Gore backpedaled a few days later and signed with the Indianapolis Colts. One report was that Gore just didn't feel like it was the right move, but another report is that the  former San Francisco rusher was not comfortable with the load he'd have to shoulder in Chip Kelly's offense after recent departures of some of the Eagles' weapons. Kelly pushes guys really hard. Former Eagles star LaSean McCoy called Kelly a "hard a--". Frank Gore isn't ready to be anything but a feature back, but maybe that's not quite what he had in mind.

    After fourteen years with the Houston Texans, Andre Johnson and his old club decided to part ways after Johnson refused to take a reduced role on offense. Johnson is the Texans' all-time leader in every receiving category, but chose to sign with division rival Indianapolis this week during the first week of free agency. Johnson and Gore are two key additions to a team that was one win away from the Super Bowl a year ago.

    Eagles and 49ers falling apart: Often times, during NFL free agency, we see teams acquire players and build their teams into playoff contenders and that usually comes at the expense of other teams. In recent memory few teams have fallen harder in one week than the Eagles and 49ers have fallen this week. Having already lost their head coach to his alma mater, San Fran already knew change was coming, but they probably didn't expect this. Within the last few days, they have already lost running back Frank Gore to Philadelphia.....and then Indy. The two leaders of their defense, Patrick Willis and Justin Smith have chosen to retire, and wide receiver Michael Crabtree is unlikely to return. They have seemingly accounted for Crabtree by picking up former Baltimore wide out Torrey Smith, but the Niners have still taken a huge loss this off-season. Expect them to officially call this a rebuilding year.

    The Philadelphia Eagles have a reason to feel slighted. They traded away their star running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for virtually nothing in return. They also lost wide receiver Jeremy Maclin when he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Then, when they thought they had a replacement for him in Frank Gore, he burned them and signed with the Colts. Then, they do a quarterback swap with the Rams for Sam Bradford (more on that later) and acquired running back Ryan Matthews. So not only did the Eagles trade away their Pro Bowl backfield in QB Nick Foles and McCoy, but they replaced them with two guys who might as well be flown to Philadelphia with 'FRAGILE' stamped on their foreheads. The City of Brotherly Love seems to be looking for love in all the wrong places at the moment.

Bradford has played in 10 games since 2012 due to injury

    Signal Caller Swap: Amidst the free agent frenzy the Philadelphia Eagles surprised the league when they swapped quarterbacks with the St. Louis Rams, sending Pro Bowler Nick Foles to the Rams in exchange for former Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. I'm not saying that Bradford's not a good quarterback, but I personally don't understand this trade. The Eagles were winning with Foles before an injury ended his season. It was Mark Sanchez that blew their playoff chances. And then they go and re-sign Sanchez? I don't get it. Nothing against Sam Bradford, but he has not proven he can even stay healthy. By all indications, the Rams came out way ahead on this swap.

    As you can see, NFL free agency has already proven to be wildly unpredictable this year, and it's only been a few days. But as usual, only time will tell if these moves will pan out or if they are as crazy as they seem on the surface.