NBA Conference Finals Preview - by Ben Galli

Neither conference got the premier match-up most fans wanted.  We didn't get LeBron going up against his old team in the East.  You remember, the team LeBron left his current team for in 2010, the latest dramatic embarrassment on the national stage for Cleveland*.  We didn't get a match-up of the 2 best teams (and arguably 2 of the best teams of all time) in the West between Golden State and San Antonio.  But what we got, we're good with.  For the following reasons:

*At the time.  Sad, sad Cleveland.

Steph is Healthy

Steph Curry made his return from the MCL sprain that sidelined him for 6 games and he did so with a vengeance, pouring in 40 points (in 38 minutes) including an NBA record 17 in overtime. Now the doubt lingers as to whether Curry will remain healthy with his history of leg problems, but when he's on, he's the best show in sports.  And it's always a plus for the NBA when the first unanimous MVP in league history is able to play in your most important games.

Russell Westbrook is Russell Westbrook

The 2 biggest reasons why the Thunder are perennial contenders are: 1A. Kevin Durant and 1B. Russell Westbrook.  They have the luxury of having 2 of the best 5 players in the league on the same team.  We'll get to Durant later but Westbrook will be the most scrutinized and criticized player of the series, whether he deserves to be or not.  Here's a point guard that recorded the most triple doubles since Magic in 1981-82 with 18.  But he's also going to say things like this about Steph Curry, "He's not nothing I haven't seen," which won't make sense the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time you read it.  Triple doubles and triple negatives.  Never change, Russ.

Kevin Durant's last Thunder run?

Kevin Durant is kind of a good basketball player.  Until Steph Curry shot his way into our hearts., he was widely considered the 2nd best player on Earth after LeBron James.  And after spending all 9 years of his career in Oklahoma City, Durant will test free agency this summer.  I, for one, don't see him returning.  There's even rumors that he'd consider signing with Golden State or San Antonio.  For now, the former still stands on his path back to the Finals and the latter was just vanquished by his team.  It's a shame that he doesn't still play in Seattle, but when it comes to Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant is the iconic image of that franchise.  This may be the end of an era and I have a feeling that Durant will play like it.

Will Cleveland continue it's stellar run or will tragedy strike?

On one hand, Cleveland has dominated the Eastern Conference playoffs, going undefeated and setting records with its 3-point prowess.  But on the other hand, it is the said Eastern Conference and the competition is, let's say, pitiful.  We all watched (okay, most of us didn't) the Heat-Raptors series that went 7 games, featured 3 overtimes, and still didn't garner much interest.  I don't see much that we'll learn from this series except for those that will discover that Toronto has an NBA team.  The Cavs will want to keep improving and increasing hopes that it can win the title, all the while hoping that injury doesn't strike.  You can't really discuss Cleveland sports without acknowledging the past.  The strongest case the casual fan can make is that Cleveland took Golden State to 6 games last year without their 2nd and 3rd best player.  But the very fact that they lost both of those players in the playoffs is just another chapter in a long history of hope extinguished.  

Predictions

Warriors-Thunder

These are the 2 best offensive teams over the course of the regular season, so expect shots to be attempted.  As usual in the playoffs, the team that wins will be the team that makes the big shots and the big stops.  Although we didn't get the match-up of the 2 best teams over the regular season, we did get the team that many contend have the best shot to dethrone Golden State.  Having said that, Golden State did beat them in all 3 games played this year.  Despite KD averaging 35 ppg, 12rpg, and 6 apg.  The Thunder have athleticism and some potential advantages in the front court but it's more about the defense for OKC.  Russell Westbrook is a good defender but Steph Curry did average 35.0 ppg of his own against them.  It will be interesting to see the chess match between Oklahoma City's use of big men Enes Kanter and Steven Adams and if they can be forces down low, and how Golden State employs their small ball lineup.  In the end, despite some heroic efforts by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Golden State will just be too much to handle.  Warriors in 6.

Cavaliers-Raptors

There is some evidence that Toronto can challenge Cleveland, mainly rooted in the fact that they won the regular season series and had the 2nd best record in the East by 1 game.  But the evidence pointing in the other direction is overwhelming.  The Raptors were taken to 7 games by both of their playoff opponents and will be missing perhaps their most consistent postseason performer for at least the beginning of the series in Jonas Valanciunas.  And the Cavs are on fire!  Cleveland cannot look past Toronto and they'll need to play smart.  If they do so, this series will serve as a good tune-up for whoever they will face out of the West.  But the upgrade in competition is going to be telling.  The main thing for Cleveland is to continue staying healthy and keeping their shooters hot.  Sometimes a layoff can do more harm than good so Lue will have to figure that out.  Cavs in 5.

The NCP Grade the Browns' 2016 Draft - by BIG $

@northcoastposse was called a top 5 twitter follow by the actual Cleveland Browns 

Believe it or not folks, but Big $ is nothing if not a contrarian.  So it might reason that I'd steer away from draft analysis due to the sheer volume of hot takes floating around.  Over the last few years, though, a backlash has erupted over the presenting of post-draft grades.  Therefore, I felt it was my duty to steer directly into the backlash and whip up my own 2016 Browns draft report card.

In honor of the new Pencilstorm Hall of Fame class, I will be using a scale of 1-5 ice cold cans of Budweiser as my tool, with 1 can being "just not right" to 5 cans being "yessir, that's a mighty fine start."  So without further adieu, here is the NCP's assessment of Hue and the $ballers first Cleveland draft:

1st pick: Corey Coleman, WR Baylor

I truly thought we had hit the rock bottom of idiocy when some Browns fans professed faith in Johnny Football's future as an NFL QB.  New earth was dug up though, when the tweets that compared Coleman to Travis Benjamin started popping up.  Forget that Coleman is 2 inches taller and 20lbs heavier than TB, there is absolutely no way to compare their collegiate output.  Coleman is a playmaker in the OBJ, Brandon Cooks, and Jarvis Landry mold. Super-pick for a team void of playmakers

Grade: 5 cold cans of Bud   (Get some Corey before we continue.)

Just my first highlight video please like and Subscribe i don't own these clips this is for entertainment purposes only

2nd pick: Emmanuel Ogbah, edge rusher Oklahoma St.

This kid absolutely looks the part and produced big #'s in the Big 12.  He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and earns points for owning some sort of pro wrestling championship belt.  My one concern is that his motor has been questioned, which is a scary word when describing high round picks. (Click here to watch him run at the combine)

Grade: 3.5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 3: Carl Nassib, DE Penn State

High Character, High Motor, Big Frame and we Buckeye fans saw him produce in person.  Hard to knock this pick up. (Click here for highlights)

Grade: 4 cold cans of Bud

Pick 4: Shon Coleman, OT Auburn

What else can be said about a kid who beat cancer and spent his draft day with other kids fighting their own battles?  Well, he's got an ideal balance of upper body strength and athletic feet which is becoming more and more rare (see Cam Erving).  He did have an mcl issue, but that is small potatoes to this kid.  Pencil him at RT week 1.

Grade: 4.5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 5: Cody Kessler, QB USC

Did I see this coming?  No.  Do I trust Hue?  Yes.  Do I dislike Connor Cook immensely?  Definitive yes.

Grade: 3.5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 6: Joe Schobert, LB Wisconsin.

Can you have too many High motor, High character, Highly decorated players?  Probably not. "The Show" will get time inside and outside and is chomping to play special teams.

Grade: 4 cold cans of Bud

Pick 7: Ricardo Louis, WR Auburn

There are no shortage of SEC games on TV, so I've caught a few of this kid's games.  What I witnessed is a wide receiver whose hands don't seem to work correctly.  This pick was a head- scratcher.

Grade: 1 cold can of Bud

Pick 8: Derrick Kindred, S TCU

Nothing flashy here, tough kid at a position of need.

Grade: 3 cold cans of Bud

Pick 9: Seth Devalve TE/WR Princeton

Another confusing pick: injury-prone guy with chronic foot issues.  The one thing I will say is that he must of done something right to get a bunch of Harvard guys to draft a Tiger.  However, he would have been available post draft

Grade: 1.5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 10: Jordan Payton, WR UCLA

Good hands (145 catches next to 6 drops over the last 2 years).  Finds the end zone and will work the middle.  Value add all around.

Grade: 4.5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 11: Spencer Drango, OT Baylor

Another highly decorated, productive player from a solid program.  I think he'll move to OG and hold down the right side with Shon Coleman

Grade: 4 cold cans of Bud

Pick 12: Rashard Higgins, WR Colorado St.

This guy's nickname is "Hollywood Higgins."  'Nuff said

Grade: 5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 13: Trey Caldwell, CB La Tech

You can't have too many cb's in today's NFL.

Grade: 3.5 cold cans of Bud

Pick 14: Scooby Wright, LB Arizona

I know this guy was all-world a few years ago, but the footage of him awaiting being picked seemed to indicate that he may have attempted to finish 275 of the 300 fireball shots Johnny Dbag purchased in c-bus last Thursday.  Beware of the Bro.

Grade: 1 piss warm 4 loko

Overall: I'm simply confused by this feeling of optimism.  Solid dudes, needs addressed, playmakers assembled

4 cold cans of Bud for the new regime.

Baver Answers Colin's Spring Football Questions

Colin: I cannot remember a season with so many starters leaving at the same time. Is it just me or is this exodus unprecedented? 

Baver: It’s absurd: OSU’s 9 guys leaving early just missed LSU’s record of 10. I remember when it first dawned on me last summer that Ohio St was going to lose a ton of guys early; I was thinking, “This could be crazy….maybe as many as 5 or 6 guys.”  LOLOSU’s 6 returning starters are the fewest in the nation for 2016; no, can’t remember the Bucks ever having that few.

Colin: Along those same lines, the schedule for 2016 includes road games at Oklahoma, Wisconsin (night), Penn State (night) and MSU. Once again, is it just me or is that our toughest road slate in recent memory? 

Baver: It can’t get much tougher. And will the Oklahoma game be at night? The Wisky & State Penn games are back-to-back; gonna be tough traveling to Happy Valley after playing a physical team like Wisconsin. And Sparty is again the week prior to scUM which didn’t work out so well last year.

Colin: Playing at Oklahoma so early in the season is a HUGE test for a group this young. Which position groups are you most concerned with heading into this game?

Baver: For that game? #1 concern: WR; #2: OL; #3: LB. Austin Mack and Torrance Gibson will eventually be studs, but I don’t think any wide-out will be in the groove that early in the season. O-line? 3 new starters that may or may not be able to do the job. LB? When Dante Booker replaced an injured Josh Perry last yr against State Penn, Saquon Barkley ran wild. Booker should be solid at some point, but I’m taking a wait and see approach at that Will LB spot. But, Urban has said Worley has really come on (replacing Lee) at the walk-out spot.

Colin: Which positions do you feel will be ready for that challenge so early in the season?

Baver: #1: QB (if that counts), #2: D-line, #3 ??? It’s so early, OSU is so young, and the Sooners are so good….I don’t think many of the units are truly going to being ready for OU. Thank God for Urban, as you know he will have the guys as motivated as humanly possible for the Sooners. Obviously JT is going to be ready, and I don’t think there is as much of a downgrade at D-line (from ’15) as most think. There is still plenty of experience and depth there.

Colin: When Virginia Tech beat us in 2014, the wide receiver's inexperience and inability to beat one on one coverage was a big reason why. Who do you see stepping up to make sure this doesn't happen again?

Baver: Mack is as advanced as they come for an incoming frosh. He will be a starter right out of the chute and “maybe” he and JT are in sync enough at that point to challenge Oklahoma’s D vertically. With Corey Smith and Noah Brown having caught few passes in their careers and both missing 2015 with injuries, I don’t have a lot of confidence there….at least against OU. Word on the street is that Mack is light years ahead of Gibson as a pure receiver. So, other than catching the Sooners napping with his ridiculous speed, I don’t think Gibson plays a huge role against Oklahoma. Hope I’m wrong….maybe the light bulb goes on for him in August.

Colin: Do you feel like they have got the offense play-calling situation hammered out and are we going to miss Chris Ash?

Baver: With the play calling? Yeah….maybe not Tom Herman level, but A LOT better than what we saw prior to the Michigan game last season. Ash? Yes and no. He was a great DC, but hard to see a downgrade with Greg Schiano now calling the shots on D.

Colin: How badly are we going to miss Zeke?

Baver: A lot early on, but Mike Weber will eventually be an All-Big Ten back. Love his bowling ball style.

Colin: If we didn't have J.T. , would this be a 6 loss team?

Baver: Nah….Urban wouldn’t let that happen. And I am buying the Joe Burrow hype. Loved what I read about him when OSU was recruiting him….loved what I saw on TV in the HS playoffs….loved what I saw in the spring game….and loved his demeanor in the post-game press conference. The kid “gets it.”

Colin: At this point, what is your best guess on W-L for the 2016 Ohio State Buckeyes?

Baver: 10-2. Right now, I see a loss in Norman, and 3-1 against the group of Wisky, PSU, Sparty and scUM. I do think Ohio St will be very tough for anyone to beat come November and thereafter.