NBA Jam & NHL 95 Version of Final(s)

Spurs lead the Heat 2-1 in the NBA Finals.  This would be an easy 3-0 if they matched up the NBA Jam rosters...

Spurs - David Robinson & Sean Elliot

Heat - Rony Seikaly & Harold Miner

Yikes. Elliot is no superstar but Robinson dominates this to no end.  

Likely result: Spurs 4-0

The Kings lead the Rangers 3-0 and are going for the sweep tonight in the Stanley Cup Final.  What would a 7 gamer look like in NHL '95 for SEGA?

New York Rangers

Graves-Messier-Kovalev

Leetch-Zubov

Richter

Los Angeles Kings

Robitaille-Gretzky-Kurri

Blake-Zhitnik

Hrudey

What a match up.  Forwards are off the charts. Blake and Leetch are shut down. But the huge goalie advantage gives it to NY. 

Likely result: Rangers in 7

Thoughts from the Game 1's

I watched as much as I could over the weekend, and this is what I came up with.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

#1 Bulls vs. #8 Pacers (104-99 Chicago, 1-0)

Shocking. Well as shocking as it can be without the #1 overall seed actually losing. Indiana was leading from start to almost the very end. Tyler Hansborough? Where did that come from? Looked like he was playing a Tuesday night game against Clemson for a few minutes.

I thought Danny Granger summed it up best by comparing Derrick Rose to a stalker ex-girlfriend, every time you turn around she’s there, at your door wherever. I think this game will wake up the Bulls and they will win in 4 or 5.

#2 Heat vs. #7 76ers (97-89, Miami 1-0)

Give credit to Chris Bosh, ok you don’t have too, but he played well and helped the Heat avoid a loss. For the Celtics sake let’s hope Philly can win a game, or two at home, so LeBron and company have to work rather than coast into the 2nd round. I have faith the 6ers can make them fight after watching on Saturday. Game 2 is tonight.

#3 Celtics vs. #6 Knicks (87-85, Boston 1-0)

Jermaine O'Neal! Watching that game was the first time all season when I actually had a JO in Indiana flashback. The way he narrows his body and gets all skinny when he shoots and it a pretty good shot blocker. Now I don't expect that to keep up the rest of the playoffs, but it was fun nonetheless.

The Celtics were lucky in the fact that Carmelo Anthony played well for 1 quarter, and they still nearly lost the game. Melo is going to be better, however if Billups misses a game or two or just isn't effective, it may not matter.

#4 Magic vs. #5 Hawks (103-93, Atlanta 1-0)

The Hawks don’t seem to like playing with each other and they certainly don’t enjoy coaching in general, but they stole home court from Orlando. Dwight Howard 46 points 19 rebounds… in a loss. Let the big man get his and take everyone else out. It worked once, will it work again? I’m going to stick with my pick of the Magic winning this series, the Hawks self hate will overcome.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

#1 Spurs vs. #8 Grizzlies (101-98, Memphis 1-0)

How about this one? Tony Allen starting for a contender? Ok contender is a bit aggressive, but they do present some tough match ups even without Rudy Gay. Memphis get its first playoff win in franchise history (0-12 coming in), and they follow that up by giving Zach Randolph a 4-year contract extension. And you know what? I like it. Sure he seems like the obvious, pay for play guy, 1-year, incentive deals, but go for it Memphis!

It’s the same team Chris Wallace led front office that dealt Pau Gasol for nothing (although Marc Gasol has turned out pretty nice) and drafted Hasheem Thabeet #2 overall, only to pair him with another 1st rounder to get Shane Battier… back.

Manu’s elbow could be the key to this series, however I still think San Antonio advances, but they sure seem ripe for the picking.

#2 Lakers vs. #7 Hornets (109-100, New Orleans 1-0)

I thought New Orleans was the worst Western Conference Playoff team, and the only one not capable of winning a series. Winning a game I figured would be a stretch, let alone at the Staples Center. Hats off to Chris Paul. Maybe he hasn’t been as explosive as we’ve seen earlier in his career, but can we ease up on Derrick Rose is waaaaaay better than CP3, and so is Deron Williams, maybe even Russell Westbrook. Chris Paul is still here folks.

#3 Mavericks vs. #6 Trail Blazers (89-81, Dallas 1-0)

This could be a classic case of everyone picks the “underdog,” making them not the underdog any longer, and they end up losing to the original favorite. Teams 5-8 in the West were hoping to get Dallas. Well Portland did, what can they do with them? As Bill Simmons pointed out in his recent podcast, the Mavs have the best player in this series (Dirk) but Portland might have the next 4 (Aldridge, Wallace, Miller, Camby?) It’s debatable.

Wes Mathews is a good player who had a poor Game 1. Brandon Roy is a total wild card. His injuries knocked him down from a potential Top 10 player, to the team’s 7th man.

As poor as Dirk’s supporting cast is, I believe in this series, he can win 3 games while his supporting cast can take 1. Hey J. Kidd had 24 points in Game 1. Jason Terry is capable of 30 one night, and I’m probably the only person in the country that thinks Shawn Marion could slap up a 20-12 in one of these games.

#4 Thunder vs. #5 Nuggets (107-103, OKC 1-0)

This is the series (outside of Boston-New York obviously) that I am the most interested in watching, and will find ways to be in front of the TV for every minute.

Funny how the 4 playoff teams that really changed at the deadline are involved in 2 series. The Nuggets made a franchise altering deal with the Knicks, and the Celtics shocked their own fans… and players, by trading with the Thunder. A couple months later and you get Celtics-Knicks and Thunder-Nuggets.

I like watching Perkins play. I never, ever, thought I would say that. I yelled at every moving offensive screen, every time he put it on the floor near the basket and did his infuriating “gather move.” But now that he’s gone, I’m like, “Wow look at that screen! Did you see that board? There’s the scowl!” The question remains with OKC, how far can Durant-Westbrook carry them as their only offensive options?

As for Denver, it’s amazing how they don’t have a single star player but can still go a legit 11 deep with each guy bringing their own flavor. George Karl has them meshing well, but you got to wonder if it’s just a fun regular season team that surprised, only to bow out in the playoffs.

If the first weekend is any indication of how the rest of the 2011 post season is going to be, we are in store for one of the all time greatest. I’ll be back throughout the playoffs with scattered thoughts.

Keefe's 2009-2010 NBA Preview: Awards & Champion

Awards:

MVP: LeBron James, Cavaliers
Rookie of the Year: James Harden, Thunder
6th Man: Manu Ginobili, Spurs
D-Player: LeBron James, Cavaliers
Coach: Flip Saunders, Wizards

All-NBA 1st Team
LeBron James, Cavaliers
Tim Duncan, Spurs
Dwight Howard, Magic
Kobe Bryant, Lakers
Dwyane Wade, Heat

All-NBA 2nd Team
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
Paul Pierce, Celtics
Pau Gasol, Lakers
Gilbert Arenas, Wizards
Chris Paul, Hornets

All-NBA 3rd Team
Kevin Garnett, Celtics
Kevin Durant, Thunder
Chris Bosh, Raptors
Deron Williams, Jazz
Brandon Roy, Blazers

All-Rookie 1st Team
James Harden, Thunder
DeMar DeRozan, Raptors
Tyreke Evans, Kings
DeJuan Blair, Spurs
Brandon Jennings, Bucks

All-Rookie 2nd Team
Blake Griffin, Clippers (out min. 6 weeks)
Terrence Williams, Nets
Stephen Curry, Warriors
Jonny Flynn, Timberwolves
Chase Budinger, Rockets

East All-Stars
Starters:
LeBron James, Cavaliers
Kevin Garnett, Celtics
Dwight Howard, Magic
Dwyane Wade, Heat
Gilbert Arenas, Wizards

Reserves:
Paul Pierce, Celtics
Joe Johnson, Hawks
Danny Granger, Pacers
Vince Carter, Magic
Chris Bosh, Raptors
Derrick Rose, Bulls
Brook Lopez, Nets

West All-Stars
Starters:
Tim Duncan, Spurs
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
Pau Gasol, Lakers
Kobe Bryant, Lakers
Chris Paul, Hornets

Reserves:
Kevin Durant, Thunder
Brandon Roy, Blazers
Deron Williams, Jazz
Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
Richard Jefferson, Spurs
Tony Parker, Spurs
Emeka Okafor, Hornets

Playoffs:

West: Spurs over Lakers
East: Celtics over Magic

Finals: Spurs over Celtics

-Keefe

Keefe's 2009-2010 NBA Preview: Western Conference

Believe it or not the NBA season kicks off tomorrow night with can't miss double header on TNT. Kevin Garnett (healthy-ish), Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen take on LeBron James and his new teammate Shaquille O'Neal as the Cavs host the Celtics. Then the defending champion Lakers with new small forward Ron Artest face this year's #1 pick Blake Griffin and the Clippers in an all LA showdown. (Normally the Clippers would be hard to justify as being a part of a can't miss double dip, but with Griffin, an in shape Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, and of course an 0-0 record with the whole season ahead of them, I'm going to include them.

I'm going to break down my NBA Preview into 3 parts; Western Conference, Eastern Conference, and Awards. For each conference I will rank the teams 1-15 in the order I believe they will finish then go team-by-team with a quick look of "Who's Returning," "Who's New," and basically why they will finish in X place. Let's dive right in with a look at the West.

Western Conference

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Los Angeles Lakers
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. Utah Jazz
5. New Orleans Hornets
6. Portland Trail Blazers
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Oklahoma City Thunder
9. Golden State Warriors
10. Los Angeles Clippers
11. Houston Rockets
12. Phoenix Suns
13. Memphis Grizzlies
14. Minnesota Timberwolves
15. Sacramento Kings

1. Spurs
Who's Back: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Roger Mason, Matt Bonner
Who's New: Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair

The Spurs to me, are the team to beat. All the attention will be on the Lakers, as it should being the defending champs, but look at what San Antonio did in the off season. Adding a scorer like RJ with size and intellegence of McDyess, then getting the steal of the draft in the 2nd round with Blair. Unreal. If Manu is healthy they are my pick.

2. Lakers
Who's Back: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton
Who's New: Ron Artest

The Champs basically swapped Trevor Ariza for Ron Arest. Who's a better player, easy it's Artest, but who's a better fit, we will see. You can't top what Ariza helped do last year (win a title). Artest will be asked to play D and hit the open 3, and you know it will always being interesting when Ron is involved.

3. Mavericks
Who's Back: Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Erick Dampier, J.J. Barea (shout out Northeastern)
Who's New: Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas

It's not a young team. They know they need to win now. It will be fun to see how they match up with the Lakers & Spurs, the two teams that are standing in the way of the rest of the teams on this list. Maybe it's just my obsession with Marion, and him once again playing with a terrific passing point guard but I think the Mavs can be great. Do you think this lineup will cause match up problems galore for opposing teams: Kidd, Terry, Howard, Marion, Dirk... yeah me too.

4. Jazz
Who's Back: Everyone
Who's New: No one

Jerry Sloan brings back the entire crew, for better or worse. Paul Millsap can afford his own meals now, but he'll still likely come off the bench behind Carlos Boozer who is clearly the X factor on this team. Deron Williams is the 2nd best point guard in the league, and he and Boozer can be a deadly 1-2 punch, if Boozer is healthy and plays with some fire.

5. Hornets
Who's Back: Chris Paul, David West, Peja Stojakovic, Mo-Pete, James Posey, Julien Wright, Hilton Armstrong
Who's New: Emeka Okafor

Okafor for Tyson Chandler should give the Hornets more scoring and consistency. I like the move bringing in a double-double machine, takes pressure off of David West as well. How good can Chris Paul be? (22.8 points, 11 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.77 steals last year).

6. Trail Blazers
Who's Back: Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, The Vanilla Gorilla Joel Pryzbilla, Nicolas Batum
Who's New: Andre Miller

I've read a lot of people saying they don't like the Andre Miller move. I'm not ready to write it off. Portland almost landed Hedo Turkoglu in the off season, but that likely would have sent Rudy Fernandez back to Spain, I'm calling a monster year out of Rudy.

7. Nuggets
Who's Back: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Birdman, Renaldo Balkman
Who's New: Aaron Afflalo, Ty Lawson

They won't be as good as they were last year, but still a playoff team in my mind simply because they have Melo and Billups. 7th and 8th seed looks like a terrible place to be, you have to play either the Lakers or Spurs and you miss out on the lottery.

8. Thunder
Who's Back: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha, Shaun Livingston
Who's New: James Harden

Might not be ready to make the step to the post season this year, but I'm going to take them sneaky into the 8th spot. One of the most fun teams in the league to watch with rising superstar Kevin Durant. I also absolutely love the pick of James Harden as well. OKC lucked out with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet, because that made sure the Thunder didn't make that mistake.

9. Warriors
Who's Back: Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Randolph, Andris Biedrins, Corey Maggette, Anthony Morrow, Kelenna Azubuike
Who's New: Stephen Curry

Golden State is a tough team to predict. They could finish as high as 6th or as low as 13th. I'll put them at 9, I love their style, fun to watch. I'm not as high on Curry as most. (Stephen Curry pronounced Steph-En, spelled same way as Stephen Jackson, pronounced Steven... someones wrong.)

10. Clippers
Who's Back: Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby, Chris Kamen, Ricky Davis
Who's New: Blake Griffin, Sebastian Telfair, Rasual Butler, Craig Smith

The talent is there, but so is Mike Dunleavy. If Baron doesn't mail it in and Camby and Kamen stay relatively healthy this could be a playoff team with the addition of the only can't miss rookie in last June's draft.

11. Rockets
Who's Back: Aaron Brooks, Shane Battier, Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry
Who's New: Trevor Ariza, Chase Budinger, David Andersen
Who's Hurt: Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady

The Warriors were the toughest team in the West to predict, the Rockets are just the toughest team in the West. They fought hard in the playoffs last year even without Yao and T-Mac. Sure they could do it again, but 82 games is a long season, their lack of talent has to catch up with them.

12. Suns
Who's Back: Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa
Who's New: Channing Frye, Earl Clark

Steve Kerr = great shooter, awesome color commentator, horrible GM. Too bad because it was fun to watch Steve Nash on a good team.

13. Grizzlies
Who's Back: Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Darrell Arthur
Who's New: Zach Randolph, Allen Iverson, Hasheem Thabeet, Sam Young

Wow. I count 4 guys who can get you 22+ points per game, but how many will when they're all playing together. Say what you want but I would be hard pressed to turn away from a game that had Gay, Mayo, AI, and Randolph playing together. Of course I'll be hard pressed to find a Grizzlies game unless I spring for the League Pass. I don't like the Thabeet pick as I mentioned before, not a horrible player, but #2 overall that's tough to live up too. Also I bet Bill Simmons could be right about contender getting Rudy Gay for 50 cents on the dollar during the year.

14. Timberwolves
Who's Back: Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes
Who's New: Jonny Flynn, Ramon Session, Wayne Ellington, Damien Wilkins, Ryan Hollins

Kurt Rambis takes over a team that had 24 wins last season and completely botched the 2009 NBA Draft. Ricky Rubio will be playing over seas for the next couple of years while the T-Wolves continue to lose games and look bad doing it. Al Jefferson back from injury... player prop for you: Jefferson Points + Rebounds per game over/under Minnesota Wins + 10.

15. Kings
Who's Back: Kevin Martin, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes, Andres Nocioni, Beno Udrih, Francisco Garcia
Who's New: Tyreke Evans, Jon Brockman, Desmond Mason

The Kings are terrible. Martin can score, and I think Evans will have great rookie numbers because not 1 of his games will matter. Is it too soon to start working out John Wall, Derrick Favors, and DeMarcus Cousins?


There you have it the 2009-2010 Western Conference through the eyes of Rich Keefe. I'll have the breakdown of the Eastern Conference coming soon.

-Keefe

Memorial Weekend was a Sporgasm

-Keefe

What a weekend it was in the sports world. There truly was something for everyone the past 4 days. I break it down in the events I had no interest in, some interest, and all my interest. It’s like being in a huge arcade, you got more games than you know what to do with, so you stick to what you know and try to use your time in there wisely. You’re not going to stumble around plugging coins into every loud machine with bright lights. No, you’re going to seek out the Tekken, Time Crisis, Mortal Kombat, and Ms. Pac-Man.

This first group of sporting events I associate with those stupid “games” that you can win an obscene amount of tickets/ tokens. All you have to do is like freeze a coin with you mind and presto. It only takes one, but you end up losing like 5-10 bucks, saying “you’re so close.” Well I have given up on those machines much like the following events from the weekend.
The Indy 500, NASCAR’s Coke 600, the College Lacrosse Final 4, and the Stanley Cup Finals. I extend a hardy handshake to Scott Dixon, Kasey Kahne, Syracuse University, and the Detroit Red Wings. That’s really all I have to say to all of them. Nice work.

I had some interest in the Boston Red Sox and the rest of May baseball. This is like Ski-Ball. Always sounds good, and you have to do it while your there, just like keeping up with major league baseball. But come on, MLB in May? Is it really do or die? No, fantasy baseball keeps everyone interested in it before the All- Star break. The Sox took a 7 game winning streak in to their 10 game road trip. Well they got swept by the upstart Oakland Athletics. Luckily for Boston Bartolo Colon brought his A game (what a steal this guy was, doesn’t matter what happens next, but really, the Yankees didn’t need him, really? He won the Cy Young in 2005.) Anyway Colon went 7 strong and the Sox got a road win. Still the Rays are in 1st place. How bout them Rays?

Tampa Bay and Florda are currently in 1st place in their respective divisions, 1 day after Memorial Weekend. Just thought everyone should know.

The following two sports spectacles were what made this weekend so impressive. This is the Lazer-Tag, NBA Jam, and crazy Fighting/ Shooting Games. The reason you go, the reason you love sports. From Friday-Monday you had alternating Western and Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA. Lakers vs. Spurs and Celtics vs. Pistons, what it was supposed to be, the best four basketball teams in the league. And on top of that you had UFC 84 ill will on Saturday night. I’ll start with the mixed martial arts.

UFC 84 provided a number of intriguing and important match ups. How would Wanderlei Silva respond to his 3 fight losing streak? Could Tito Ortiz leave the UFC with a win over unbeaten Lyoto Machida? And who is the rightful champion at 155? Short answers: violently, no, and B.J. Penn. Slightly longer answers: Wanderlei Silva had not won a fight since July 2006. Despite losing to very tough opponents, Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, and Chuck Liddell, the buzz was that Silva is no longer the dominant fighter he was when he dominated Pride. Well Keith Jardine was coming off his most impressive victory of his career, and figured with a win over the Ax Murderer he could be in contention for a shot at the light heavyweight belt. That until he lost viciously and explosively to Silva in just 36 seconds. At one point in the match, Wanderlei had his left hand on Jardine’s throat pinning him to the mat while he pummeled him with hard right shots. It was intense. Wanderlei Silva is back!

Tito Ortiz faced the undefeated Lyoto Machida in the final fight on his UFC contract. Tito’s well documented relationship with UFC President Dana White leaves very little room for a potential return to the organization that saw him as one of their most dominant champions. Ortiz lost a 3 round decision, and nearly pulled off a late win, but Machida scrambled out of a triangle choke by Tito. It will be very interesting to see what happens to both men following that fight.

In the main event B.J. Penn defeated Sean Sherk, putting to rest the question of who the real champ is. Sherk had his belt stripped when he tested positive for steroids, and allegation he still denies. The 3rd round bell momentarily saved Sherk, but he could not get up and Penn was awarded the victory via TKO (Knee and Punches). Word is Penn would fight the winner of the August fight between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta; however in his post fight interview Penn asked the crowd if they wanted him to fight welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. The sold out arena responded with a resounding yes. Who knows perhaps Penn vs. St. Pierre II could happen.

UFC 84 overlapped with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals for about an hour and a half. And although they were not in an octagon, the fight in the Palace proved finally that the Celtics can win away from the Garden. After losing home court advantage to the Pistons in a 103-97 loss in Game 2, the pressure was squarely on the Celtics. 0-6 on the road to Atlanta and Cleveland, could they possibly win in Detroit? With their 94-80 win in Game 3 a huge weight had been lifted off the entire city of Boston. They were now guaranteed a game 5 being tied 2-2 at the very worst. Well they did lose Game 4 last night, but it is now a best of 3 series with 2 games in Boston.

Out West the Spurs lost after having a 20 point lead in Game 1 then got blow out of Cali by 30 in Game 2. But it’s still the Spurs. Ask the Hornets about being up 2-0 with big impressive numbers. I said Celtics vs. Spurs when the playoffs began and I’m going to stick with it. Would I like to see Celtics and Lakers like everyone outside of Detroit and San Antonio, of course, but how can you count out the Spurs. Game 4 tonight is going to be huge, and if Manu can play like he did on Sunday this one is probably going 7 too.

In the end it was an unbelievable sports weekend. As we look ahead here at the Sports Brief coming up on our sports schedules: NBA Conference and League Finals, MMA on CBS with Kimbo Slice this Saturday, UFC 85 June 7th, more 1st half MLB, and the June 26th NBA Draft.