Are you worried about the Suns ability to win a playoff series nowIf you are worried more today than you were a week ago Charles Barkley Hoodie, is that because it looks like the Suns first round opponent is going to be the finally-healthy defending champion Lakers Or because the Suns have suddenly started looking lost and overwhelmed by the momentEither way, the Suns are reeling on the court right now and could really use an easy first round opponent to get their playoff legs under them. Unfortunately, that might not happen. State of 2nd SeedThe Suns still have the second best record in the entire league. No one wins all their games, so it probably more okay than you think that the Suns have hit a bit of a lull when theye fairly locked in to their current seed. The Suns can almost certainly kiss the top seed goodbye. The Utah Jazz have a two-game lead on the Suns with three games to play https://www.phoenixfanstoreonline.com/Steve_Nash_Hoodie-29, and Utah schedule is sooooofffft: they host Portland tonight, then the lowly Thunder and Kings over the weekend. They ain losing 2 or 3 of those games. The Suns are pretty well locked in to the 2nd seed, but nothing is guaranteed yet. They have a 2-game lead with 3 games to go, but they have lost the season series to both the Clippers (3rd) and Nuggets (4th), so if the Suns lose their remaining games they could lose their 2nd seed as well. Those teams only have to tie the Suns record to end up with a higher seed. If the Clippers (Hornets, Rockets, Thunder) win two more games than the Suns in their last three which is entirely possible given their cake schedule the Clips will win the 2nd seed and the right to probably face the 7th seed Lakers. . . unless they rest a ton of players on the final day to tank the game for an easier opponent. If the Nuggets win all their remaining games (Wolves, Pistons, Blazers) they could overtake the Suns for 2nd seed if the Suns lose out. Depending on how the next few days shake out, that Blazers game on Sunday will be. . . interesting. The Blazers right now can finish anywhere from 5th to 7th Charles Barkley Flag. And like the Clippers, the Nuggets might want an easier opponent than a healthy Lakers team. The only guarantee right now is that the Suns cannot drop any lower than 4th, so they have guaranteed a home court advantage for at least one round. And if youe a cynical one, you might be more interested in facing the Blazers or Mavericks anyway Dario Saric Pillow Cover. However, don get too schemey on where you WANT the Suns to finish, based on their potential first round opponent. The Blazers, Mavericks and Lakers can still finish anywhere from 5th seed to 7th seed!State of the 7th seed Oh what a mishmash. Right now, with only three games to go in the regular season, it is quite possible the Suns will face any of the Blazers, Mavericks, Lakers, Warriors or Grizzlies in the first round!Only one game separates the Lakers (Rockets, Pacers, Pelicans), Mavericks (Pelicans, Raptors, Wolves) and Blazers (Jazz, Suns, Nuggets) with three games to go. And whoever ends up with the 7th seed has no choice but to play the 8th seed which can be either the Warriors or Grizzlies in a one-game-winner-takes-7th play-in!

At every step of the way on the Nets journey to Brooklyn, David Stern was there, pushing, guiding, welcoming. Although Bruce Ratner, then Mikhail Prokhorov executed the plan, it was Stern who saw the Nets future in New York. Starting in 1996, when he subtly engineered a change in territorial rights permitting the Nets to ultimately make the move through 2012 when they opened their Brooklyn arena under the league first foreign owner, Stern was there. Sergey Kushchenko, Prokhorov sports advisor and president of the Russian basketball league, summed up what Stern meant to the Nets and the NBA as he recalled his long friendship with the long-time commissioner who died Wednesday. avid Stern was a executive with a unique instinct and understanding of how basketball should develop, he looked ahead, decades ahead, Kushchenko said in statement to NetsDaily. Kushchenko would know. He worked with Stern for two decades and their relationship was crucial in getting Prokhorov a place in the NBA and the Nets a place in Brooklyn. Stern first move came 16 years before the Nets opened the doors of Barclays Center. Until 1996, the Knicks controlled the territorial rights to Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Then, the Nets ownership, known as the Secaucus Seven, saw an opportunity. The Knicks were changing hands and needed the Nets approval, so the team wrung a concession from their rivals: an end to the Knicks territorial monopoly in the city. But as more than one league source noted, Stern was the one behind the idea, wanting to give the New Jersey team more flexibility in the future. It was he who came up with the deal . . . looking decades ahead as he did with everything from expansion to TV rights. Seven years later, Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner bought the team and announced its move to Brooklyn Andre Roberson Flag. His plan rattled along as lawsuit after lawsuit was filed and the economy sputtered. Ratner had Stern support but little else. At the same time, though Stern was working other deals that ultimately got the Brooklyn move done. In the early 2000, Stern and Kushchenko, then the President of CSKA Moscow, became friendly, and the initial connections between the NBA and Prokhorov team began to take shape. Both men wanted to bring the NBA to Moscow. Before 2006, only the Hawks had ventured into the former Soviet Union and they had played in Tblisi in Georgia. Now, Russia was a republic of its own, relations between the two countries were good and a game in Moscow beckoned https://www.brooklynfanstoreonline.com/Kyrie_Irving_Flag-123. e worked closely on the NBA games in Moscow, recalled Kushchenko in his statement. t was a difficult event, which we visited several times, and always felt his support. In 2006, when we finally brought the Clippers to Moscow to play with CSKA and Khimki, avid himself flew to Moscow. And got into a huge traffic jam on the way from the airport. Then he joked that he flew from New York faster than from Sheremetyevo to the city center. But even after such an unpleasant experience, he was in great shape, held a media conference, and spoke well about the match. t first glance, the Moscow games didn seem to concern the Nets. Ratner was their beleaguered owner but Stern was, as usual, thinking of possibilities. Later in 2006, CSKA and the NBA were supposed to sign a deal that would have been unique in the annals of the NBA. As ESPN Ian Thomsen wrote in 2008, CSKA would put up close to $10 million to serve as host of NBA events in Moscow https://www.brooklynfanstoreonline.com/Mike_James_Face_Mask-130, including Basketball Without Borders and preseason exhibitions involving NBA teams. NBA and CSKA would grow the league in Russia while providing CSKA with expertise in transforming basketball into a market-based business. CSKA games would be broadcast in the U. S. on NBA TV. There was even the possibility of CSKA joining the league at a later date. It fell through at the last minute, for political reasons, but the Russian connection had been established. Thomsen quoted Kushchenko as telling Adam Silver, then Stern deputy, on worry. Wel get that done. nd in a different way, Kushchenko and Stern did just that. In 2007, Prokhorov, aided by Kushchenko and blessed by Stern, began to look closely at NBA clubs, including the Knicks. Although at that time Ratner dream was only a pit in the center of Brooklyn, the prospects for Nets looked more attractive to the Russian billionaire. Ratner was desperate to find a buyer as team losses reached $30 million annually. Enter Stern once again. The commissioner recommended Ratner to Prokhorov, who he knew from the failed 2006 deal. hen our group had the idea of buying the NBA team, it was with David that we had our first conversation, Kushchenko told NetsDaily, hen this idea seemed wild and very challenging - the American teams did not have foreign owners, but Stern took everything very well, was very open, and in the end laid the foundation for a very cool story. he ool story was Prokhorov purchase of the Nets, an agreement signed in September 2009 and completed eight months later when Ratner had cleared his final legal hurdles. The NBA had its first European owner and the promise of those first meetings between Stern and Kushchenko had borne fruit. Even though Prokhorov still had to pass a background check, Stern went out of his way in the initial press release announcing the agreement to welcome the Russian oligarch to the NBA. e are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia.

The Magic go from taking on the league hottest team to the league best team. Fresh off an ugly loss to the Nets on Thursday, the Magic now take on a Jazz team that is off to a 26-7 start, giving them the best record in the league and best start in franchise history. The Jazz actually are coming off a rare loss, after falling 124-116 to the Heat on Friday in Miami. So the Magic get them on the second night of a back-to-back and theyl look to hand Utah what would be their first back-to-back loss since early January, the only time this season that the Jazz suffered two consecutive losses. Since then, the Jazz have won 22 of 25 games. They are the only team in the league that sits in the top five in both offensive rating (116. 6, 4th best) and defensive rating , giving them a league-best net rating of 9. 3 . The Jazz, with a newfound chemistry within their All-Star backcourt of Donovan Mitchell (named an All-Star) and Mike Conley , are simply outshooting their opponents. When it comes to three-pointers, the Jazz take and make more than any team in the league, connecting on 39. 6 percent of their attempts from deep . Contributing to that is Rudy Gobert. . . yes the Rudy Gobert who has never attempted a three in his career. His impact is felt simply by his presence and his status as a high-screen-setting lob threat that causes defenders to collapse inside and leave the perimeter shooters open. The Jazz - particularly with Conley ability to move the ball and find the open man https://www.storeorlando.com/Karim_Mane_Hoodie-46, although Conley won play against the Magic - take advantage. And when they do miss, there a decent chance theyl be grabbing the rebound, with the Jazz averaging 11 offensive rebounds per, which is fourth most in the league. At the other end, Utah is limiting their opponents ability to shoot from deep, holding teams to a 35 percent shooting from three, which is fourth best in the NBA Penny Hardaway Pet Jersey, on just 31. 3 attempts per, which is the second fewest in the league. The formula is simple: take a lot more three-pointers than your opponent. Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson each take over eight attempts per game. Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic each take over six attempts per game. Joe Ingles and Royce Oeale each take over four per game. Add it all up and the Jazz have launched 1,410 three-pointers this season. Their opponents have attempted 1,034 against them. That a large margin. For an in-depth breakdown of the historic rate at which the Utah Jazz are outshooting their opponents, read this story by our friends at SLC Dunk. The Jazz, with the All-Star Gobert as the anchor in the middle, are holding opponents to 44. 3 percent shooting overall , while allowing the fewest assists per game and second-fewest defensive rebounds per game . That all bad news for a Magic team that struggles with their three-point shooting even when a team isn desperately trying to prevent them from taking any. That been particularly true over their two most recent, lopsided defeats in which the Magic combined to shoot just 31 percent from three. That, combined with Orlando turning the ball over far too much, has led to two of their uglier losses of the season. The Magic will also be down another starter, with James Ennis out with a sore calf. Ennis had been averaging 10. 2 points over his last 10 games. The focus of course will be on the battle of All-Star centers with Gobert looking to contain Nikola Vucevic https://www.storeorlando.com/Jonathan_Isaac_Face_Mask-109. Vooch struggled in two Magic losses to the Jazz last season, being held to 17 points per on 38. 2 percent shooting. Some good news is that Mo Bamba should be getting extended minute from here on out, just as he did in the loss against Brooklyn, where he received 13 minutes compared to Khem Birch six. ee gonna do it like that, I going to try to keep everybody in rhythm as best that we can, Steve Clifford told reporters after the game on Thursday. o needs the time, cause you can see obviously his conditioning level is still, through no fault of his own, but he missed so much time that he needs to be out there. And that how wee gonna do it. amba was all smiles after he was asked by Josh Robbins about getting regular playing time. . .

Since the schedule makers have decided that the Phillies and Yankees will only play a two-game series beginning on Saturday, rather than doing a whole new preview for the Yankees, Ie re-visited this piece from last summer when we weren entirely sure if baseball was ever going to be played.Most of what Ie written holds up because Derek Jeter will forever be overrated, and Yankees fans will forever be obnoxious braggards with no self-awareness and no sense of irony John Kruk Pet Jersey. I will provide a few updates though:The Yankees won a Wild Card berth in 2020 and then lost in the ALDS for the fourth straight year. They paid all that money to Gerrit Cole, only to end up with the same result as the three seasons prior. But hey, at least they didn lose to the Astros this time!After getting off to a 9-13 start that had their fans ready to fire the entire team https://www.philadelphiagearstore.com/Adam_Haseley_Face_Mask-178, the Yankees are now 33-30 and in third place. As is their wont, Yankees fans are still calling for everyone to be fired.For the love of God, can we please fire Boone and Cashman? This is a joke. No one is taking accountability for putting together this sucky team. You know how sometimes you see a starting pitching matchup between two aces and get excited? Unfortunately, wee not getting Cole vs. Zack Wheeler this weekend. Instead, wel get Vince Velasquez vs. Jameson Taillon, and that should cause whatever the opposite of excitement is.4. Miguel Andujar is still bad, but according to bWAR, he has not been the least valuable player on the team this year. That onor goes to outfielder Clint Frazier who has been worth a full one win BELOW replacement.And now youe fully up to date. Please enjoy the rest of the story where I rip on the Yankees and their fans...In preparation for a 2020 season that may or may not happen, Ie been going around the major leagues and spending some time hating on every team. I had started off at the bottom, but for this edition, I decided to jump around a bit and pick one of the American League better teams in 2019 Johnny Callison Hoodie. You know them, and most likely hate them: The New York Yankees!Brief history of the franchiseIf you didn know that the Yankees franchise has had some success in the past, just ask any Yankees fan, and theyl tell you. And even if you don ask them, theyl probably tell you anyway.

Ahead of today doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, the Mets have activated Jeff McNeil from the injured list and have placed Robert Gsellman on the IL Lenny Dykstra Face Mask, retroactive to June 20, with a lat strain. McNeil will be on the bench for the first game and may start the second one. Stephen Tarpley will also serve as the 27th man for the doubleheader and will wear number 46. McNeil last appeared in a game on May 16, when he injured his hamstring in the first inning of the team game against the Tampa Bay Rays and landed on the injured list shortly thereafter. On the season, the second baseman was hitting with three homers, a 106 wRC+, and a 0. 3 fWAR. McNeil played in one rehab game for High-A Brooklyn, where he went hitless in two at-bats, and he collected six hits in 15 at-bats for Triple-A Syracuse in four rehab games there https://www.newprostoreonline.com/Jose_Martinez_Pet_Jersey-262. He marks the first of the club core group to return from injury, with Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo hopefully not far behind. Meanwhile, Gsellman has taken McNeil place on the injured list. The reliever recently started the team Saturday night contest against the Washington Nationals in the second game of that doubleheader. He surrendered a leadoff home run to Kyle Schwarber and took the loss as a result. Luis Rojas specified that the right-hander has dealt with this injury in the past, and did not provide any further details on how long he might miss as a result. Tarpley will return to the Mets as the 27th man in the hopes of recording an out and eliminating of his infinite ERA. He has made several pit stops in New York this year, but his lone appearance resulted in him surrendering two earned runs without recording an out, which accounts for the unfortunate line he currently sports https://www.newprostoreonline.com/Travis_Blankenhorn_T_shirt-67.

Byron Buxton has been one of the few bright spots for the Twins so far in 2021. But boy, has he ever been bright. Through 12 games played this year, Buxton is batting . 432 with an absurd 1. 456 OPS. He remained an all-world defender while adding an effective slugging approach at the plate. He tied for the league lead in fWAR at 1. 6, with two names you might know: Mike Trout and Ronald Acua Jr; this is despite playing in 5 and 4 less games than those guys, respectively. Can he keep this upThe short answer: no. Byron Buxton will not bat . 432 for the entire season, nor will he post an OPS of 1. 456 over the course of the season (both would be the highest in league history). However, it is not unreasonable to think that Buxton could lead the league in WAR if he doesn miss any long stretches of time. Buxton has never been this good, but then again, hardly anybody is this good. What most people don realize is that Buxton has been quite good for awhile now. Here his stats broken down over the last three years. In 2019 and 2020, OPS numbers of . 827 and . 844 aren 1 https://www.minnesotagearshop.com/Byron_Buxton_Flag-167. 456, but theye nothing to sneeze at. If we look at these numbers as one united sample, here what they come out to:138 games is a reasonable ull season sample size, and 5. 5 WAR is excellent. Personally, I think that it is reasonable to consider this to be 80-85% of Buxton single season ceiling. I could see him getting a few more extra base hits and hitting for a higher average, resulting in better OPS and WAR. One thing that has been clear in 2021 is that he has not been just lucking into hits and homers. He hitting the cover off the ball, as we can see from Baseball Savant:He basically in the 100th percentile of all MLB players in every metric that tells you t likely that this guy gonna get a hit . His K% is better than I expected when compared to other MLBrs, and we all know he the fastest man in baseball. Perhaps the most important thing that we can see is the trend charts at the bottom of the image. xwOBA is an advanced metric that is supposed to be indicative of the batter skill, isolating batted balls from defensive play, which takes luck out of the equation. The basic theory is that a batter cannot control what happens after he hits the ball, so this measures the skill better than average or OBP. It simply measures the exit velocity and launch angle of the batted ball, and assigns a value based on similar batted balls. If you really want to understand the ins and outs Harmon Killebrew Pillow Cover, click here. Anyway, 250 plate appearances is still a fairly small sample. Let expand that to his entire career. I am in love with this graph. What we see here is fairly linear progression from Buxton. 2018 was a completely lost season, which explains the dip, and he been off-the-charts (unsustainably) good in 2021. It been hard to realize it since wee so used to seeing him in short spurts of 25 to 30 games, but he been getting better at the plate all along. He absolutely will not end this season up near . 600, but it reasonable that he could land in the . 375-. 425 range (for context, Mike Trout has been between . 418 and . 455 every season since 2015). In conclusion, Buxton start is absolutely not sustainable. Only 135 games of this production would put him at 18 fWAR, which would be the highest of the live ball era Mitch Garver Hoodie, besting Babe Ruth best season by a full 3 fWAR. That absurdity. However, and I may be more hopeful than most, but there real reasons to believe that Buxton has made sustainable progression and will be a top-5 or 10 position player in the league for the foreseeable future (as always) if he remains healthy.

The Milwaukee Brewers organization acquired an outfielder that is slugging . 505. Well he is slugging . 505 at the AAA level. Still though, Matt Lipka has raked at AAA Reno Adrian Houser Pillow Cover. Now it looks like he will try to do the same thing in Nashville as Milwaukee picked him up in exchange for cash considerations. OF Matt Lipka has been acquired from Arizona in exchange for cash considerations. He will join nashvillesounds tomorrow. At the age of 29 Omar Narvaez Hoodie, Lipka has never seen an at-bat at the major league level. Originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves with the 35th pick in the 2010 draft, Lipka has yet to get an opportunity beyond AAA. Until 2019, Lipka swung a bit of a light stick and really did not get on base. However while with the Yankees AAA affiliate, Scraton Wilkes-Barre, he did put up a slash line of across 72 plate appearances. While with the Yankees AA affiliate, Trenton, Lipka dropped down a bunt hit in the ninth inning to break up a no-hitter. Death threats evidently came his way as a result. He did not play in 2020 as he was not picked up by the Dodgers player pool in the COVID-19 shortened season. Since there was no minor league season, he got no reps on a professional baseball field https://www.milwaukeefanstoreonline.com/Brad_Boxberger_Face_Mask-146. In 2021, however, he has put up the best numbers of his professional career. Right now he is slashing . It is possible the Brewers are looking to capture lightening in a bottle with a late-bloomer. Most likely, Lipka will serve as organizational depth. Nonetheless, David Stearns and Company are always looking to improve the Milwaukee Brewers organization, not just the Brewers team, and they likely see Lipka in that light.