NBA Grab Bag

We have made it through the first week of the 2009-2010 NBA season. Here are a few of my observations early on.

The Celtics (5-0), Nuggets (4-0), and Suns (4-0) are the only remaining unbeaten teams.
The Nets (0-4), Pacers (0-3), and Warriors (0-2) are the only teams still in search of their first win.

Allen Iverson is already making comments about he is not a 6th man, and how frustrated he was sitting on the bench in his first game back with the Grizzlies. Didn't he know he was coming off the bench? I knew he was coming off the bench. But for the next month or so I don't think it would be a bad idea to start AI and Mayo along with Gay, Randolph (21.5-9.5 thru 4), and Gasol. Just try it.

One of my favorite players in this year's draft, Brandon Jennings, looks like the real deal. Obviously only 3 games in but 22 points and 5.3 assists. I was watching the Bucks/Bulls last night and without Redd in the lineup they just wait for Jennings to do something, they have nothing else.

Carmelo looks like a man possessed. Leading the league in scoring, went for 40+ twice in four games.

Kings guard Kevin Martin dropped 48 in a win over the aforementioned Iverson and the Grizz.

Gerald Wallace and Luol Deng have both posted 20-20 games already. Each had 24 points and 20 rebounds to be exact.

Quentin Richardson (with the Heat after getting passed around in the off season) actually looks like he's in shape. Double-double 18-10 in his last game. Must be a contract year... yes it is!

#2 overall pick by Memphis, Hasheem Thabeet is averaging 8.3 minutes per game, and did not get on the court in the Grizzlies only win in four chances so far this year.

Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul do not like each other. Apparently Rondo told Paul, "I have a ring, and you will never get one." Well as true as that may be, come on. We don't need to go over this but Rondo plays with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen... Paul's been working with David West (who he made an All-Star), Tyson Chandler up until this year, and Mo-Pete. Chris Paul is the best point guard in the NBA period. But if Rondo thinks he can get under his skin... well then maybe I see the point.

In 2 games (who the hell made the GS schedule) Andris Biedrins is 8-9 from the field good for 88.89%, can he keep that up?

And you, keep checking back in to the Brief for more "NBA Grab Bags" throughout the year.

-Keefe

Keefe's Pick 3 for Week 8/ Halloween

Ravens (-3) over Broncos

Texans (-3.5) over Bills

Colts (-13) over 49ers

Last week: 2-1

Overall: 7-11

Halloween Pick 3:

Movies:

1. Halloween (1978)

2. Scream

3. The Shining

Villians:

1. Michael Myers

2. Catherine Tramell (Basic Instinct)

3. Dracula

Candy:

1. 3 Musketeers

2. Snickers

3. Reese's

Happy Halloween from all of us at The Sports Brief!

-Keefe

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: Eastern Conference

Yesterday I gave you the Western Conference from top to bottom, today it's the Eastern Conference. Tomorrow I will conclude my 2009-2010 NBA Preview with Awards, Conference Finals match ups, and of course the NBA Champion. To the East!

Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Orlando Magic
4. Washington Wizards
5. Miami Heat
6. Chicago Bulls
7. Toronto Raptors
8. Indiana Pacers
9. Atlanta Hawks
10. Detroit Pistons
11. New York Knicks
12. Philadelphia 76ers
13. Charlotte Bobcats
14. Milwaukee Bucks
15. New Jersey Nets

1. Celtics
Who's Back: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, Eddie House
Who's New: Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, Sheldon Williams, Lester Hudson

Turns out Glen Davis is even a bigger idiot then we thought. The big fella who signed a 2 year $6.5 million dollar deal in the off season was messing around with a friend and broke his thumb, he is now out 6-8 weeks. Not good, when it would have been ideal to ease KG back from his injury. This is annoying, but I still think the C's are the best in the East when healthy.

2. Cavaliers
Who's Back: LeBron James, Mo Williams, Big Z, Boobie Gibson, Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson
Who's New: Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon

Everyone is talking about Shaq, but I think their best moves this off season were the signings of Parker and Moon. Two guys with some size at the 2-3 spot who can knock down the 3. Delonte West is an unknown, so suddenly those guys are even more important. And of course they have LeBron.

3. Magic
Who's Back: Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Marcin Gortat
Who's New: Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass, Ryan Anderson, Jason Williams (white one out of Florida, not the one who killed his driver or the one who ruined his NBA career wrecking a motorcycle.)

The East is clearly a 3 team race, and each team went out and tried to improve their club. Orlando is the defending Eastern Conference champions... which no one seems to remember. I like the addition of Vince, and Barnes and Bass were 2 guys I really wanted the Celtics to bring in. So even though they lose Hedo, I think the Magic are even better than they were last year. (Note: Rashard Lewis out the first 10 games after getting busted for roids.)

4. Wizards
Who's Back: Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, Nick Young, Andray Blatche, DeShawn Stevenson
Who's New: Mike Miller, Randy Foye

If healthy this is a scary team, but of course, they are never healthy. Season hasn't even started and Jamison is already expected to miss the first 8-13 games. Gilbert played in only 2 last year, making it a lost year. When they go small thought look out: Arenas, Foye, Miller, Butler, Jamison... fun to watch, should be the highest scoring trio in the league too with Gilbert, Caron, and Antawn.

5. Heat
Who's Back: Everyone
Who's New: Q

D-Wade is the 2nd best player in the NBA in my mind. If he can get anything out of Jermaine O'Neal and Haslem up front, and if 2nd year players Beasley and Chalmers get better they should be a playoff team.

6. Bulls
Who's Back: Derrick Rose, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller
Who's New: James Johnson, Jannero Pargo, Taj Gibson

Ben Gordon is gone, but I expect Derrick Rose to be even better than his Rookie of the Year campaign a season ago. They still got Hinrich coming off the bench and a pair of 1st round picks (Johnson & Gibson) who should contribute. Normally this might not be a playoff team, but the East is weak.

7. Raptors
Who's Back: Chris Bosh. Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani
Who's New: Hedo Turkoglu, DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli, Jarret Jack, Amir Johnson, and Sports Brief favorite Antoine Wright

If they put it all together this could be a tough team, but thats a big if. DeRozan may have been the best athlete in the draft, how will he develop? Is this Bosh's farewell season in Toronto? Does he go out with a bang or 1st round play off exit... again.

8. Pacers
Who's Back: Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, T.J. Ford, Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert, Jeff Foster
Who's New: Dahntay Jones, Tyler Hansbrough, Earl Watson

Like in the West I had to go with a sleeper to make the playoffs. This pick is based soley on how good I think Danny Granger is. Because the East has only 3 dominate teams, I believe 1 elite player can get his team into the playoffs (See: Wade, Rose, Bosh... now Granger.)

9. Hawks
Who's Back: Everyone
Who's New: Jamal Crawford, Joe Smith

Yes Joe Johnson should be on the same list as Granger, Bosh, and Rose, but I have a feeling the Hawks fall off a bit this year. They've gotten better each of the last 4 seasons, however I believe they have hit a wall. How much further can they get with a core group of Bibby (aging), Johnson (legit), Marvin Williams (sucks), Josh Smith (all over the place), and Horford (above average rebounder)?

10. Pistons
Who's Back: Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Kwame Brown, Jason Maxiell, Will Bynum
Who's New: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox

Detroit forgot that all the good free agents were next off season and blew all of their money on Gordon and Villanueva this year. I just don't like this team. I wish a hardy goodluck to 1st year coach John Kuester.

11. Knicks
Who's Back: David Lee, Wilson Chandler, Al Harrington, Danilo Gallinari, Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson, Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry
Who's New: Darko!, Jordan Hill

Trivia question, who led the NBA in double-doubles last year? Answer: David Lee. Pretty ridiculous considering Lee plays in the same league as Dwight Howard. 1st round pick (8th overall) Jordan Hill has "a ways to go" according to head coach Mike D'Antoni, that sums up the entire squad I'd say. They'll score a lot and lose a lot. What happens if they don't get LeBron? Could Gallinari break out this year?

12. 76ers
Who's Back: Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, Samuel Dalembert, Willie Green, Marreese Speights
Who's New: Jason Kapono, Rodney Carney, Jrue Holliday

Andre Miller is gone, meaning Lou Williams gets the job at point. What about 1st round pick Jrue Holliday? Well the guy who I said needed to return to school more than any other underclassmen, did not play in a single preseason game for Philly, and not because of injury, but rather he is so far out from the rotation. Nice.

13. Bobcats
Who's Back: Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, Vlad Radmanovic, D.J. Augustin, Nazr Mohammed
Who's New: Tyson Chandler, Gerald Henderson

Still everytime I hear the name Bobcats or see their uniforms I have to convince myself it's an NBA team. Seems more like an NBDL or Arena Football or something. Raja Bell is putting off surgery, but if he reinjures his left wrist he could be out for good. Okafor out Chandler in, means less than their 35 wins from a season ago.

14. Bucks
Who's Back: Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut, Luke Ridnour, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Who's New: Hakim Warrick, Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino, Kurt Thomas, Ersan Ilyasova

They lose Villanueva and Sessions from a 34 win team, of course Michael Redd played just 33 games due to injury. Speaking of injury former 1st rounder Joe Alexander (who sucks) is out 8-12 weeks. I do like Brandon Jennings a lot, and he is a reason to watch a Bucks game this year.

15. Nets
Who's Back: Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Yi Jianlian, Bobby Simmons, CDR, Josh Boone
Who's New: Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams, Skip to my Lou, Russian Owner

Like the Kings, Bucks, and T-Wolves, NJ should watch a lot of college basketball this year. There is a tremendous Freshmen class this year with the likes of Wall, Favors, Cousins, Henry, Sidney, and Stephenson. Goodluck Nets!

-Keefe

Enjoy the 1st Night of the NBA Season! Celtics/ Cavs, Wizards/Mavs, Rockets/ Blazers, and Lakers/ Clippers. I'll have all the awards and pick my NBA Champ tomorrow.

BJal's Lock du Suck - Monday, October 26

I didn't get this up before the game, and I apologize for that, but BJal texted me on my way home from work today with his pick. Here's his text, word for word...

"I have been picking opposites...I'm going with Washington tonight..."

That's awesome. I referenced in a post yesterday that he would be better off picking opposite of what he really thought. Apparently he got so bad, and in such a rut that he was doing exactly that...and still losing. As my buddy Kevin's dad once told him during a rough patch, it gets so bad "you can't even pick your nose." That statement pretty much sums up where BJal is right now. If he flipped a coin with heads on both sides and called heads, it would be tails.

To sum up tonight's game, Washington still sucks and so does BJal at picking games. I checked the line on Bodog, they were getting 9 points. So close, yet so far. The best part is the over/under was 38.5. For those of you that put your mortgage on the under, you know all too well that a Jason Campbell TD pass with less than 2 minutes left, in a 27-10 game and clearly garbage time, made it a 27-17 and...wait for it...brought the point total to...44!!! You have to love it, unless of course you bet the under.

Anyway, we'll continue to throw our support behind BJal because well, if we don't, he'll have nothing except the distant memory of no-hitting me and Kevin's legendary All-Star team back in Little League. Even though we crushed his team in the loser's bracket a day later and went on to the win the title, the fact that he no-hit our team was one of the greatest athletic accomplishments in the history of the world. It was unheard of during those days, and impossible feat, a dream that he made a reality. Hopefully by mentioning this it boosts his morale and helps get him back on the winning track.

I wonder if he'll pick another opposite tomorrow...

-Bess

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

Let's hear it for Brazil!

The 2016 Summer Olympics, Pele, the Brazilian Women's soccer team, so why not add 2 of the very best in the world of mixed martial arts. Saturday night in Los Angeles the undefeated Lyoto Machida put his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship belt on the line against the 18-3 and former Pride Grand Prix Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. I was going to bet on Shogun and his +375 line, however I am at odds with my previously bet taking website, so decided to not wager on the fight.

I am glad that I didn't, because I would have lost my mind, in addition to $25-$50 bucks. (I'm not going to bet the house on an underdog, no matter how good the feeling, just can't do it.) Shogun lost the fight to Machida by unanimous decision 48-47 on all the judges scorecards.

I felt that Shogun definitely won 2 rounds, Machida definitely won 1 run with 2 being toss ups, apparently those 2 went to the defending champ. It looks as though we could see an automatic rematch between these two Brazilian fighters, and that makes sense on a bunch of levels. Rampage Jackson appears to still be retired (the next best 205 pound fighter in the world), and middleweight champ Anderson Silva, who embarrassed former champ Forrest Griffin has said he would not fight his friend and training partner Machida.

Who else is deserving of a shot? Rashad Evans? Not right now he's not. Wanderlei Silva? Nope. Keith Jardine? No thanks, and on down the line. Because it was such a close decision, I love the idea of Machida vs. Shogun II.

In addition to Brazil, let's hear it for Tristan Besse who went 9-2 on his UFC 104 picks including a perfect 5-0 on the main card. Certainly better than BJal's Lock du Jour and Keefe's Pick 3.

-Keefe

*Keefe's 2009-2010 NBA Preview Coming Soon...