By Michael Kelley ’14 & Mick Kowaleski ’14
The NBA playoffs begin April 20 and only the eighth seed is up for grabs in the Western Conference. Which team seals it? The Mike’d UP guys debate.
Kelley: A ways back, when we did our NBA predictions, I picked the Lakers to win the NBA Championship this year. And even though it seems outlandish and impossible that the Lakers will actually win, I am going to honor my initial prediction and stick by it until the very end.
So I’m picking the Lakers to win the eighth seed over the Utah Jazz and earn a first round matchup against either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder, two matchup nightmares.
Personally, I hope the Lakers play the Spurs, a team they know all too well and could beat in a seven game series. The Thunder on the other hand? Not so easy. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are matchup nightmares for the old and slow Lakers.
But with a postseason Kobe Bryant, the team’s a nightmare for any opponent and if Dwight Howard can emerge into the star he once was in Orlando, the Lakers will be truly dangerous.
Side note: Nik Vacevic now has more 30 point, 20 rebound games this season than Dwight Howard.
Kowaleski: Mike, I’d love to agree with you. I don’t want to see your preseason prediction fall out before the playoffs even start. In a perfect Mike’d UP world, the Lakers would face the Heat in the championship, leaving both of our champions to duke it out.
Unfortunately, the Lakers’ schedule might be too difficult for Los Angeles to overcome. Their final three games are against teams that have already clinched playoff berths: the Curry-led Warriors, the aforementioned Spurs, and the Houston Rockets. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz, who are competing for the eighth spot, have a much more manageable three-game stretch. They play Minnesota twice and the Grizzlies, and I think they’ll end up with a better record despite being a full game back from the Lakers. If they manage to tie LA, they’ll win tiebreakers due to the fact that they own the season series at 2-1.
Could Kobe will his team to the playoffs? Of course. The Black Mamba guaranteed the playoffs earlier this year, and I’m not going to take anything he says lightly. I hope the City of Angels is represented twice in the NBA playoffs, but the Jazz are going to make it.
The NFL Draft is less than two weeks away. In a relatively lackluster QB class, which one will come off the board first?
Kelley: There is nothing like the speculation that the NFL Draft brings. Which player your team takes is oftentimes a complete mystery. But that’s the beauty of it.
This year’s quarterback class is weak to say the least, but following up last year’s class is no easy task when Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson were selected and became instant stars.
But as for which QB will come off the board first, it’s easy. It will be Geno Smith out of West Virginia University. Yes, Matt Barkley is talented and could one day have a productive NFL career, but Smith has too much athleticism to pass up in favor of Barkley. He has ideal size for a true NFL QB and is agile enough to move around the pocket and make plays with both his legs and arms.
As for where he would be drafted? It depends. I see him going the earliest to the Jackson Jaguars with the number two selection. Other destinations include the Eagles at four, the Browns at six, or the Jets at nine. I don’t see him falling out of the top ten.
Kowaleski: Geno Smith is the easy answer. He’s probably going to be the correct answer. But I don’t think he’ll be the most successful quarterback to come out of the 2013 NFL Draft.
I see the current Cam Newton/RGIII-led spread option as a fad that’s going to be solved soon by NFL defenses. Geno Smith fits right into that mold, and he’s a pretty raw prospect.
As for Matt Barkley, I would never personally take a USC quarterback period, and certainly not in the first round. Name any hyped Southern California prospect with any reasonable NFL success. Carson Palmer? That’s the only one I can think of.
If I’m going to choose a quarterback with the best chance at prolonged success, I’m going to go with an unconventional choice in Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib. He had some decent Combine work, but may have a hitch in his delivery that could hinder his motion. However, this is merely a coaching issue that can be easily worked out. Nassib has a pro-level arm and has proven success with a program that didn’t provide him with much of a supporting cast. He’s an intelligent prospect, and won’t likely be hindered much by a lackluster performance in the Senior Bowl during his pro career.
Smith’s offense is going to be dated by the time he matures. Barkley is a USC product. FSU QB E.J. Manuel will have trouble adapting to NFL defenses. If Nassib is in the right program, he’ll achieve the most success at the pro level.
