THE REALIST WRITES
Okay, let's take a look a the simple ones. The Detroit Tigers cracked under the pressure and let the Minnesota Twins get into the playoffs.
The Red Wings let Sid The Kid get his first title in a seven game series.
The Lions are well................. The Lions.
Okay, now we get to the next level. Mr. Jason "Da Wire" Dwyer's last prediction on his beloved Michigan Wolverines was that they would win 7 to 8 games. Michigan plays @ Wisconsin and they play Ohio State and they are are 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the conference. Hopefully, they beat Purdue who beat Ohio State a few weeks back. Could they be looking at not being in a bowl game? I hate to say I told you so but I told you so about Rich Rodriquez. I am on the Forcier and Robinson bandwagon but not the coach my man. Michigan can possibly only win five games and be 5-7 but more likely, they will be 6-6. That is pathetic. See, I like Michigan but I don't like Rodriquez. There is something bad about a coach who has questionable integrity. He just looks like he is lost and does not know what to do.
Lastly and more importantly, the subject that I will be spending the most time on is the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons are 2-2 right now. They lose to Oklahoma City and Milwaukee. WTF? Both of those teams won't make the playoffs. They beat Memphis who will not make the playoffs. However, they had a very impressive victory over Orlando who was previously undefeated. They played that three guard alignment of Gordon, Bynum and Stuckey and got 63 points from them. Also, they got to the basket like Dwyer said and got Howard into foul trouble. Dwight Howard only played 17 minutes and they only won by 4 points so don't count on that being a trend against the Magic. Ben Gordon will have games where he shoots clutch but he will also have those pathetic shooting games. Charlie Headband-nueva is only averaging 9.8 points and 5 rebounds and shooting 34.2% from the field. Are you kidding me? His excuse is his hamstring. My advice would be to sit out and let it heal all the way before you play. I will stay with my thought that he is not worth the money he got. The inconsistency of Charlie and Gordon will cause the Pistons to barely squeak in the playoffs or maybe miss the playoffs. I believe the six teams below will make the playoffs so that leaves two spots for Detroit, Chicago, Charlotte, Toronto and Philadelphia.
Eastern Conference Playoff Teams
1) Boston
2) Orlando
3) Cleveland
4) Atlanta
5) Miami
6) Washington
Jason DA WIRE Dwyer WRITES:
I hate to agree but the tigers did collapse under pressure again, that is the second time they have done that I think they may need to make a coaching change. I don’t understand why Leyland rests his studs so much. You need to win as many games as possible and to keep sitting the big guys makes no sense especially down the stretch.
The Red Wings can’t win all of the time. I think they have earned the right to have a down year.
The Wolverines are on the right track. Everybody is expecting them to be immediate Big Ten Title contenders. It takes time to get the players that he wants in his system. The first recruiting class was primarily Lloyd Carr’s. So last year was the first year he had a full year to recruit and I think he did a pretty good job. He has two QB’s who fit the system. Forcier raised the bar after the first 4 games but the truth of the matter is that he is still only a freshman. He has played that way since the 4-0 start. They already look better on the field this year than they did last year. They beat ND, they had a chance against MSU, they had a chance against Iowa and the game against Illinois would have been different had they scored when they got the ball down to the 1 yard line. The score would have been 20-7 and that would have crushed the spirits of the Illini. However, Illinois played stout defense on the 1 yard line and totally turned the game around. I think they beat Purdue but other than that I don’t know.
And finally about the Pistons, they are 2-3 with Rip playing in only 2 of those games and they were without Prince the last two games. Yeah, they lost OKC but they are the same team that took LA to overtime. They are a team on the rise and I think they make the playoffs. The Milwaukee game was just a bad lost. However, teams lose to bad teams all of the time. The trend will continue against the Magic like it has for the past few years because they have the magic’s number. Charlie Villanueva will be fine as he is typically a slow starter and he also missed pretty much the whole preseason so he is still in preseason mode. You also state at the end of your email that the pistons might squeak into the playoffs or maybe miss the playoffs but in an earlier email you said they will not make the 8th seed in the playoffs. So which one is it “Dario Favre”?
Not only that but Washington can’t make the playoffs twice. And let’s be real, Charlotte isn’t making the playoffs.
THE REALIST WRITES:
I am sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Anyhow, I will keep it real and say that I am wavering a little on the Pistons prediction.
I did say in an earlier email that they would not make the playoffs because of Toronto. However, after looking at home the divsions again, it might be hard for three people from the Atlantic Division to go to the playoffs. Here is my updated predictions:
Division Winners
Atlantic
Boston
Central
Cleveland
Southeast
Orlando
"Wildcards"
Miami
Atlanta
Washington
Philadelphia
That leaves Chicago or Detroit by default to get in as the lower seed. Chicago does not have enough veterans so Detroit squeaks in. That is what I am sticking with unless there is a big trade at the trade deadline. Yes, I did make a mistake and put Washington in twice but although rarely, I do make mistakes sometimes. I wish you could say the same thing for the YANKEES though as they are without fault.
