DA WIRE: Detroit Pistons, Michigan Wolverines, Detroit Red Wings

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.

Da Wire: Can't Figure Out Iowa

DARIO AKA THE REALIST WRITES:

I really hated to see Michigan lose to MSU. You were converting me to a UM fan. I did not see the game but Roy said that MSU really had control and Forcier's magic was too little and too late this time. Now you have Iowa and Wisconsin leading the Big Ten with Wisconsin going to Ohio State next week. Man, it would be a travesty for Ohio State to win the Big Ten yet again. Colin Cowherd said Michigan is on it's way up and that Rodriquez will beat Ohio State consistently after next year. I don't know and we will see.



Anyhow, LSU won last week and now we get Florida without Tebow I think. It looks like LSU might be number 2 or 3 after this week with Alabama or Texas being number 1. After that, LSU plays Alabama and then it will be interesting. Anyhow, where do you see Michigan finishing now?


From: Jason Dwyer aka Da Wire



 
Yeah MSU outplayed UM for about 52 mins and then UM turned it on. Unfortunately it was too little too late. But it is only one lose and they are still doing better then what everybody thought they would do. The game against Iowa is going to be a tough one. Iowa is tough to figure out. They beat Penn State on the road and barely beat Iowa St. and Arkansas St. at home.

 I think UM has a shot at beating them as long as they can run the ball. I think the wet weather hurt UM’s speed advantage over MSU. I read an article today that said Iowa hasn’t allowed a rushing TD yet this season. So it won’t be easy. On top of that anytime you play an away game at night it is going to be even harder. I have no idea who wins this game. Like I said Iowa is hard to figure out.

 If the team that beat Penn State shows up then UM loses. If the team that barely squeaked by Iowa St. and Arkansas St. shows up then UM wins. I still think UM wins 7 to 8 games this year. Next year is the year everybody in the Big Ten should watch out, I don’t particularly care for Cowherd but I would have to agree with him on that point. LSU should beat Florida without Tebow, but I think the Crimson Tide is the team to beat, not only in the conference but in the country.

DA WIRE: MICHIGAN 4-0 LIKE I SAID

Dario Mobley aka THE REALIST writes:
Firstly, I know you have to be happy for the Lions. They ended the streak and that is great. Now, the question is how many games do you think they will win?

SECONDLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, it is still early but Michigan is #22 in the AP poll and they are gaining steam. Even though it was closer than I thought it would be, Forcier showed his "clutchness" and sometimes that is the perfect experience a young quarterback needs to prepare him for what is to come. The kid has a sparkle and he is spreading the ball around. Are you thinking BIG TEN title.................. Are you thinking maybe even more?!!!!!!




From: Jason Dwyer aka Da Wire


Yeah, I am happy as hell the lions got a win. However, I didn’t get to watch it because they couldn’t sell out. Go figure huh; they haven’t won since 2007 and a game that I picked them to win by the way I can’t watch it. I still think they only win about 3-4 games. They still have problems with their secondary. I think as the season goes along the offense will find its groove but I don’t think the defense can hold up so we should have another top draft pick again this year.

Michigan is still ranked in the top 25 which is nice to see. What is even better is all of the state fans who got all over Michigan last year and started chest pounding this year with the “we are THE university of Michigan” are a lousy 1-3. So far my record holds true because  I had them at 4-0 going into the state game with that game going either way. I like Michigan in that one because of the offense. Michigan is 8th nationally in rushing offense and to top it off, they are a no huddle team. States' defense couldn’t stop the spread of CMU at home and  I don’t think they will be able to do that against UM. Conversely, UM’s secondary is a weak spot and MSU is ranked 8th nationally in passing offense. Those are the key areas of the game that will decide who wins. I think that out of the last 39 games these two teams have played, the team with the better rushing attack has won 36 of those so the edge goes to Michigan. I think UM wins by a touchdown to make them 5-0. I think the fact that Forcier has played close games in 2 of the 4, he will be prepared mentally to playing on the road. I had Michigan finishing 7-5 to start the season but after watching them so far this year, I think they go 8-4 with a real shot at 9-3. They will not get a big ten title this year but they should contend next year for sure. By the time Forcier is a junior, they will be competing for a trip to the national title game. All of this is of course based on Forcier being healthy. If he goes down,  we are in big trouble because I don’t think Robinson is very good throwing the ball at this point in his career. I think next year he will be playing a different position like slot receiver or running back. We are supposed to get a top dual threat QB in next year’s recruiting class.





I see LSU survived a big time scare. They haven’t really been playing good this year. I don’t follow them too much but I hope it’s just them playing down to their competition. They didn’t look good against Washington and again against Miss ST.