NBA Playoffs first round.

The NBA playoffs are very exciting this year. Teams are showing who made it because they are able and willing to win, while others are falling to there own failure of what they are missing. Which team is has the best performance, who had the worst. lets find out?

In the west, We have the Warriors VS the Clippers.The series has been exciting between the 1th place vs the 8th place. The warriors lead but the Clippers have shown nothing but will to win even with lack of talent on there roster. They have had a great showing vs the best team in NBA history. Losing in 6 games to the warriors there is nothing but is for this team. In the 2th place vs 7th place match up  The Nuggets vs the Spurs. This series is a odd but competitive one. The nuggets played well in the regular season  and the the spurs have experience in the past couple years. what wins talent or experience in the match up. The answer is talent. Denver is going to the second round. The next one is Portland vs the Thunder. the match up is was 3th place vs 6th place. The series ended in 4-1 end because of the great play of Damien lillard and CJ McCollum. They just took over the entire series. The last one in the west was 4th place vs 5th place. Rockets vs the Jazz was a competitive round but short. The round ended with a 4-1 victory for the Rockets. The Jazz Showed great promise in every game. They can be real threats in the future. The Rockets also look like one of the favorites for the ring.

In the east it is a shake up. 1th place vs 8th place battle is the Bucks vs the Pistons. The truth is this series was all the Bucks because the Pistons were playing with a one legged Blake Griffin. The Bucks dominated the Pistons handily. Raptors vs the Magic was 5 game series. Lots of ups and downs. The 2th place vs the 7th place teams is a round that was one sided by the end of it. Raptors losing one game made hard on the Magic after wards. The next round was 3th place vs 6th place, the Sixers vs the Nets.lots of drama came from this but in the end the talent of the Sixers beat out the Nets. Nets won only the first game but that didn't change the fate of the placement that the Sixers were better. the last round is 4th place vs the 5th place. The Celtics pacers. the weired thing is the pacers were not a very good team because their best Victor Oladipo was injured. They have played so well in the first half that they keep their high position. But in the series it was nothing but a sweep.

The next rounds are going some epic battles. I'm looking forward to the Houston vs warriors match up in the west. In the east, I'm looking forward to the Celtics and Bucks round. these rounds will prove who is really good now. One step closer to the great time of the finals and people can play hard to get there. 

Biggest NFL 1st Round Stories

Cardinals Take Kyle Murray First Overall
Whenever you take any player first overall in any draft it will automatically be the biggest story in that draft. This pick has more controversy and back story to it than the average picks. Last year the Cardinals took Josh Rosen with the 10th overall pick, with the idea being that he'll be quarterback of the future. With Murray being taken first overall it sent the message to Rosen and the league that the Cardinals are going to look towards moving on from him. The reported teams interested in Rosens are the Dolphins, Giants (who currently have 2 quarterbacks they believe in on the roster), and the Chargers. All of these teams are only interested in him for only being a backup, meaning they'll never truly get the value they were hoping for. Murray is going to be given the keys to this franchise and given the opportunity to prove himself.

Oakland Raiders Take A Player Way Too High
The Raiders had selected Clelin Ferrell at 4th overall, the NFL mock draft had him going 21st overall and Bucky Brooks had him going 17th overall. The Raiders took this player way too high, especially considering that Josh Allen was still there. Allen is considered to be one of the best players in this draft and instead of picking him, the Raiders went against everyone's opinion and drafted Ferrell. Oakland has to hope Jon Gruden knows what he's doing.

New York Giants Take Daniel Jones
Every single New York Giant fan lost their mind tonight when the Giants passed on Josh Allen and Dwayne Haskins and took Daniel Jones. Jones was drafted because of his high praise from the Mannings. Haskins was by far the best qb left and Allen is the best defender in the draft, but the Giants decided to go against conventional wisdom. Jones will have a lot on his plate to prove to Giant fans that he is the quarterback they want to lead them to the future, Eli Manning has confirmed he is fine with the Giants pick and is willing to do whatever is best for the team.

Dwayne Haskins Drops To 15th
Haskins should have been the second quarterback taken in the draft and by every experts opinion he's the 2nd best quarterback in this years draft. Haskins now has a chip on his shoulder and is ready to prove to the Giants for years to come that they made the wrong decision. The Giants worst nightmare came to truth tonight when Haskins was drafted in the same division as them. Haskins even said "The  league done messed up."

Steelers Trade Up To Get A Defensive Player
The Steelers traded their 20th, 50th and a 2020 third round pick to the Broncos for the 10th overall pick. With this pick they got Devin Bush, linebacker out of Michigan. The Steelers has had a huge problem on defense and it has often been their Achilles heel to their great offensive teams. Stephen A. Smith tweeted that he loved that the Steelers had moved up tonight to get Bush. He is going to be a great player for the Steelers and is going to be a great addition to their defense.

Blake Griffin Injury Update!

The Detroit Pistons announced Wednesday that forward Blake Griffin underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure on his left knee in Los Angeles, California.
Griffin had surgery to repair damage in his left knee that hampered him throughout the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. Although he finished out the Piston's first-round series loss to Milwaukee with two solid performances, he missed the first two games and was limited by pain while on the court. With an entire summer to recover, there's no reason to expect Griffin to not be ready for the 2019-20 season.

 The procedure addressed the issue causing soreness in the knee during the club’s final two weeks of the season and playoffs. Griffin is not expected to miss any planned offseason training or preparation for the 2019-20 NBA season.

This season the six-time All-Star became the first Pistons player in franchise history to post averages of 24 plus points, seven-plus rebounds and five-plus assists during the regular season. He made a career-high 189 3-pointers, which was the second-highest total for three-point field goals made in franchise history.  Griffin’s 24.5 points per game tied for the ninth-highest scoring average recorded in team history and his 21 games with 30 plus points was the most since the 2000-01 season.

The New York Giants Are The Biggest Joke In The NFL

Ever since Tom Coughlin was fired from being the head coach of the Giants, the franchise has progressively gotten worst. The biggest mistake the Giants have ever done was hire Dave Gettleman as the GM, who has quickly became the worst GM in the NFL.

Ever since Odell Beckham Jr was traded the fans approval of Gettleman has been at an all-time low. Odell Beckham was a fan favorite and someone who the fans wanted to see lead them into the future. Odell was the best player by far on the team. Recently Gettleman has came out saying that Odell Beckham was a cultural problem for the team. Beckham responded on Twitter by tweeting "Ask any one of my teammates of who I was as a [teammate] and a man and a person... yes I'm cancer to a place that's ok [with] losing because I want to win that BADDD. Ur absolutely correct!" Many of the Giants players seemed content with losing and Odell was often painted by the media as a "cry baby" with how passionate he was about winning. All he wanted to do was help the Giants win a Super Bowl and the Giants made no moves to prove that they were ready to try to win.

During a News Conference with Dave Gettleman said that "You can't draft for need. You get screwed every time. You'll make a mistake." In the NFL you draft for need, every single one of the best teams in the league draft for need. That's like the Packers drafted a quarterback because he's the best player available, even though they have Aaron Rodgers. If you're going to draft for simply who the best player is instead of drafting for need than go to the NBA where you can get away with that.

Eli Manning is a huge reason why the Giants are looked at as a joke around the league. Eli Manning has won 2 Super Bowl MVPs and is beloved for what he did with the Giants. Eli is going to go down as the greatest Giants QB in history and no one can take away his accomplishments for the team, but at some point you need to retire. Eli Manning is a shell of what he use to be and doesn't look like he's improving at all. He can't get out of the pocket and if he's faced with any pressure he folds and throws an intercept or just accepts the sack. Manning is way too slow to ever run away from any defender ever. Eli Manning needs to retire.

On Thursday, the Giants will have 12 picks in the draft and they can't screw this up. They have successfully lost their best player and keep holding onto the hops that their 38 year old QB can recreate the magic he use to have. The Giants have become the biggest joke in the NFL and needs to fire their GM.

Portland is blazing.

For years the Trailblazers have had playoff woes. Getting past the first round two times in 17 years. They have done wonderful this year in the first round vs the Thunder. But what is there reason for such a good start?

The reason its working right now is them. They have improved in many ways. Losing in the past has taught the team  how hard the playoffs are for team who are not ready for the type of basketball you must play. With every coach planning for every little detail of each team and players. The Trailblazers have faced so many great opponents. Now they have the upper hand with experience with other teams. Also besides that They had their players step up in many ways. Damian Lillard has shown he can give his team a push weather it was a basket or getting someone open for a good shot. He is showing what he is in the league. He is a top 10 player. The second part is his co-star CJ McCollum who has helped his team with scoring. Giving Damian a lift with his scoring and forcing defenses to take you seriously.

The Trail blazers are running good basketball against a team who is not ready for the hardships of the toughest part in the NBA. They have shown growth with this achievement and will continue  in my opinion.

Whose To Blame For The NBA Playoffs Rating Disaster?

Televison ratings are down 26% from 2018 and the NBA is facing a disaster currently. With ratings being down they must find someway to fix this immediately. With March Madness ratings going up by 9%, the question around the league is why are the ratings down?

The most obvious reason would be that we are entering the age of streaming where no one truly watches tv anymore. That would be a fine answer typically, but not when the ratings are down by a staggering 26%. During regular season, the views were down by only 5% which is a fixable issue. The ratings dropping in 26% should be an eye opening revolution to the league and they should work to fix this issue.

The biggest reason for the huge ratings dropping is LeBron James. He's the biggest NBA player of this generation, and the most marketable player since Michael Jordan. According to Forbes, last year the Warriors vs Cavs series in the Finals brought in an average of 17.6 million viewers. LeBron James is must watch tv, and brings in the most views, even the most casual NBA fans must watch him play.

LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers is a dream come true to the league, until they realized he didn't make the playoffs. If the Lakers made the playoffs they wouldn't have had this issue at all. March Madness ratings were way up, mainly because of the play of Zion Williamson. It should open the league's eyes to the problem they could be faced with. What happens when LeBron retires?

LeBron James is 34 years old and has been in the league for 15 seasons, entering his 16th next year. This should show the league that they need a new superstar to build their brand around. The most obvious candidate to being to make the biggest star in the league is Zion Williamson. Zion is already a stud in college and is destined to being the next superstar. Zion's best bet will be to going to the Knicks and saving New York basketball. If the Knicks can build a strong team around Zion, then the NBA will be set for when LeBron James does retire.

These television ratings for the playoffs should scare the NBA and make then prepare more for the future of the league. They need to begin to plan for when LeBron James retires because these ratings are terrible without him.

Joel Embiid Doubtful For Game 4 Return

The Philadelphia 76ers are listing Joel Embiid as doubtful for Game 4 of their first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.Embiid has been bothered by a sore left knee, but was able to play in the first two games of the series. He warmed up before Game 3 on Thursday night before it was decided that he couldn't play.Embiid worked out Friday at the 76ers' practice in New York but coach Brett Brown said he didn't know and didn't have a gut feeling about whether his All-Star center would be able to go Saturday afternoon. That would be his consecutive playoff game missed due to his knee soreness which he reported has gotten worse.

 Despite not being 100 percent, Embiid is averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game in two games vs. the Nets. He missed his first game of the postseason on Thursday, when the 76ers claimed a 131-115 victory over the Nets in Brooklyn. In Embiid's absence, Ben Simmons erupted for a career night. Simmons posted a postseason career-high 31 points, four rebounds and nine assists with Greg Monroe filling in for Embiid in the post.
Tobias Harris, who's had a relatively quiet series, totaled 29 points while JJ Redick chipped in with 26.

Heads turned when the 76ers were upset by the Nets in Game 1, but now their offensive versatility. Philadelphia could prove to be a serious threat, even without the physically imposing Embiid imposing his will on both ends. If Philadelphia can steal another win and can close this series out by game 5 Some extra rest could prove to be beneficial for Embiid and the rest of the team.