Austin- NBA Playoffs - CC

Welcome all basketball fans to Take Charge. It’s been an exciting week in the basketball world, as the NBA Playoffs are officially underway. We’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get to it. First of all, the two 1-8 seed series are insane. The Atlanta Hawks hold a 3-2 lead over the 1 seed Indiana Pacers, and they look to become the first 8 seed to ever beat a 1 seed in these playoffs. On the other side of the league, the Dallas Mavericks are tied at 2 games a piece with the San Antonio Spurs. The Eastern Conference series is strange, because I haven’t yet been able to figure out if the Hawks are going to win that series or if the Pacers are going to lose. They’ve been blown out twice, once at home. In the Pacers last home game, fans near the Indiana bench would chant “You’re supposed to be an all-star!” at Paul George when he came to the bench. Reports of Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner fighting pregame have also been brought to light. In conclusion, all is not right in Indiana. In the West, the Dallas Mavericks are simply healthy and playing the best basketball they’ve been playing all year. It’s a great series and it’ll likely see 7 games. 2 seed Oklahoma City trails Memphis 3 games to 2. That’s another crazy series that will likely see 7 games. Portland leads Houston 3-1. Miami is one of two teams to advance so far, beating the ‘Cats in 4 games. Toronto-Brooklyn is tied at two games apiece. That’s a great series as well. Athleticism vs. Experience. That’s always a good match up. I’m hoping the Nets take that series, since I think that they may be the only team in the East that can beat the Heat. The Nets swept Miami in the season series, 4-0, and I just don’t think that the Raptors match up well enough. But credit the Raptors. They had a great season. And how about the Washington Wizards. What a year for them. The Wall-Beal back court has become one of the best 1-2 combinations in basketball, right up there with Curry-Thompson. Wall’s having a great year, and their veteran leadership coming from players like Nene and Trevor Arizia have been a driving force to their advancement. And then we have the Golden State- Los Angeles series. The battle of California. Some of the best young players in the league are in this series, and it’s been a great one so far. The series is 3-2 in favor of LA. But if you want drama this is the series for you. David Sterling, the Clippers’ owner, has been under a lot of heat lately. Sterling’s girlfriend recently leaked a recording of a telephone conversation that took place between the two of them, in which Sterling told his girlfriend that he doesn’t like African Americans, and that he doesn’t appreciate them coming to the LA games. The basketball world blew up in result. LA players wore their warm ups inside out in following games to hide the Clippers logo, and they also all wore black wristbands. Coach Doc Rivers declined a chance to speak with Sterling. Commissioner Adam Silvers, as a result, banned Sterling from the NBA for life, and fined him 2.5 million dollars. Sterling is now forced to sell his organization. An organization that I might mention was purchased for 16 million dollars. It’s current worth? 600 million dollars. Call it inflation, but that’s pretty impressive. Now, Sterling, the owner, is forced to sell his 600 million dollar organization, as well as pay 2.5 million, for stating his honest opinion through a private phone conversation. To a woman who blew him in. A woman that he thought was his girlfriend. Who happens to be half Black and part Mexican. Say what you will. Those are the facts.

CC First Playoff Series Done (Edward H)

Well once again I am back from another much needing vacation. This break was much shorter than my previous vacation but was actually much more luxurious. The weather, food and beach was all fantastic, overall I can say that I have no complaints about the vacation. The only thing that could improve is my boss’s attitude toward me when I take these vacations he is very snippy and rude. But back to basketball and more importantly NBA Playoff Basketball! If have been watching lately you know just how competitive and exciting the playoffs have been. Both no. 1 seeds are fighting just to advance to the semifinals against the 8 seeds!  But one thing most people assumed happen that The Heat were going to start to pick up their games because of what is at stake and that is exactly what happened. Miami led by the best player in the game Lebron hope to make it a three peat and put their names in the history books of the NBA and signify them as a dynasty. The Heat squared off against the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round, a team that Miami was 10 -0 coming into the series against. Although many of the games were very competitive the Heat were able to take the series in 4 games and sweep Charlotte. This moves The Heat into the Eastern Conference Semifinals for fourth consecutive year and they are awaiting the winner of the Brooklyn and Toronto series. Both could be a tough matchup for the Heat but Brooklyn especially. The Nets swept the Heat in all regular season games that they faced off in. Brooklyn seems to have an answer for Lebron and the Heat and will defiantly make for a very interesting series if it happens. Another Eastern Conference first round series also just ended last night as the Washington Wizards were able to beat the Chicago Bulls in 5 games for a very rare playoff series victory. This was just Washington 3rd playoff series victory and their last since 1979 when they lost to the Seattle Supersonic in the Championship game.It's a huge step for a franchise that hadn't been to the postseason since 2008, but with Wall and Beal leading the way, they won 44 games during the regular season.Nene was recently back after being suspended for headbutting another player in game 3 of the series and was suspended for one game. The Wizards were able to win Game 4 without him, but Nene Hilario's presence was a huge reason the Wizards won Game 5 and advanced to the second round. Nene finished the night with 20 points with most of them coming with the NBA defensive player of the year Joakim Noah tightly on him. Nene seemed to be at the right spots at the right time as he came up with some big rebounds in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory for the Wizards. Washington will face off against either the Atlanta Hawks or the Indianna Pacers. Atlanta is taking it to the Pacers right now and shocking the basketball world as they are up 3-2 in the series and have a chance to seal the victory tonight at home. I would like nothing more than to watch the top seeded Pacers fall. Either way i believe that Washington is going to have enough in the tank to beat whomever they will face in the Eastern Conference semifinals and add to what is already a fantastic year and season. With such a young group of starters could the Wizards be the next uprising team in the East? It will defiantly be interesting in the next couple years to come.

Austin- NBA Playoffs begin (BB)

Hello and welcome once again to Take Charge. The college season is over, and it seems as though that all significant college players have made up their mind on whether or not to return to the college game or enter the NBA draft. Well now the NBA Playoffs are underway. The awards are also coming out, and the first 3 have been awarded. Joakim Noah took home the Defensive Player of the Year Award, receiving 100 of 125 first place votes. Spurs coach Greg Popovich was named the NBA Coach of the Year after guiding San Antonio to the league's best record (62-20). Suns Guard Goran Dragic was named the leagues Most Improved Player, after averaging 20.3 points a night. He received 65 1st place votes. Other awards will be announced later as the playoffs continue. I expect Kevin Durant to take home the MVP award. I'd say that the 6th man award is up in the air right now. It's almost relieving to say that we may see a season in which LeBron James doesn't win a championship or an award. But anyways, let's get to the playoffs. we're in the early days of the first round, and each series has seen 2 games played. First, in the East, the struggling Pacers find themselves tied at a game a piece with the Atlanta Hawks. That series could go to 7 games, as the Pacers have seem to have lost their mojo. I still think they'll pull away with the victory in the series. 5 seed Washington has a 2-0 lead on the Chicago Bulls as Kirk Henrich missed 2 free throws with 2.4 seconds left in OT last night, giving the Wizards a 2 point victory. Toronto and Brooklyn are tied at a game a piece as well. I would love to see Brooklyn beat the Raptors and take on the Heat, as the Nets won the season series 4-0 against Miami this year. On the bottom of the bracket, Miami holds a 2-0 lead on the Bobcats, and the Heat are really seeming to luck out. Charlotte's best player, Al Jefferson suffered an injury in the first game, and the 'Cats simply don't stand a chance in this series. We'll focus on the west next week, That's all for now!

Austin- Back to Basketball (BB)

Welcome back to the world of basketball. I took yet another week of as I spent my time in St. Augustine, Florida, as I awaited crucial basketball information, including decisions of college athletes as well as standings for the NBA Playoffs. First off, the 2014 NBA Draft scene seems to be just about set in stone. Jabari Parker officially declared for the draft on Wednesday, after meeting with Coach K, as did Rodney Hood. Soon after, Syracuse star Jerami Grant declared for the draft as well. There's a lot going on just in those three decisions, first off, Duke won't be that power house of a team that I mentioned in my previous blog. Okafor will still be there, but without Parker and Hood by his side, I'm not sure how successful the Devils will truly be. Next, Syracuse. The Orangemen lose 4 senior players, including CJ Fair and Baye Moussa Keita. The Orange also lose Tyler Ennis and Jerami Grant. This could be rough for 'Cuse. Considering that only 8 players see the court regularly, they lose 5 of those 8 players. Returning are Rakeem Christmas, Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije. I assume that these 3 will start. Dajuan Coleman, the sophomore big man who missed a large portion of the season last year due to injury. However, there’s already a lot of upside in the recent Syracuse offseason moves. The Orangemen signed Chris McCullough, the number 24 player on ESPN’s top 100 list. He’s an athletic power forward, and he stands 6’10 and weighs 220 lbs. The kid from the Bronx was given a scout grade of 92 and ranks 5 out of all power forwards in the high schools of the nation. Frank Howard is the next big name on the list. The combo guard has great passing and scoring abilities. It’ll be interesting to see what will come from the new recruits as next year rolls around.

Austin- Ball is Life (AA)

Hello nation, I'm back as a full time blogger, after taking some time off to work on the official Online Publishing March Madness Bracket Challenge. If there's anything that I learned by doing this, it's that basketball is a truly crazy sport. Prime example? Megan Bradley wins our class bracket by basing teams on their uniforms and how much she likes the color combinations. However, she picked Ohio St to win the whole thing so I'm not really sure how she succeeded. But she did. So there's that. Next order of business: the Finals. I picked yet another incorrect game as the first group of freshmen since the Fab 5 advance to the finals. However, it wouldn't last much longer as the star-studded back court of the UConn Huskies (Shabbazz Napier and Ryan Boatright) were simply too quick and skilled to be contained by the large guards of Kentucky. The Huskies never trailed in the game, and ended up winning by 10 or 12 points. And that'll take us to the next order of business. The future of the NCAA stars. Kansas star guard Andrew Wiggins was one of the first players to declare for the NBA draft. The 6'8, 19 year old Canadian elected to go pro shortly after Kentucky was upset by 10 seed Stanford in the 2nd round. The next significant player to declare for the draft was the Jay Hawks star big man Joel Embiid. The freshman announced Wednesday that he would enter the draft after missing both of Kansas' games in the tournament due to injury. The next player to enter the draft was Kentucky Wildcat, Julius Randle. The forward averaged 15 points and 10 and a half rebounds in his only year at Kentucky. Nik Stauskas, the Michigan sharp shooter (17.5 ppg) elected to enter the draft following his sophomore year (this year). Tyler Ennis, the Syracuse guard, Doug McDermott, the Wooden Award winner also elected the draft. Now we wait on one more significant player, and he goes by the name Jabari Paker. Paker, who's known as the nations best all around player, has yet to release his future basketball intentions. If Parker elects to enter the NBA draft, we could see the best draft class since Melo, Wade, Bosh and LeBron in 2003. However, Parker is a competitor. He's got crazy potential, but he's also got unfinished business in the NCAA. To make the situation more intense, Duke has the best draft class in the nation coming next year, including Jahil Okafor. The 6'10 forward has committed to Duke, and he's one of the top dogs coming out of high school in the country. Oh, and by the way, he played high school ball with Jabari Paker last year. They were teammates and attended the same high school. With 4 recruits in the top 30, (including the number 1 and number 5 overall) Duke will be scary good. In my opinion, if Paker stays, the 2015 Blue Devils will be the best team that college basketball has ever seen. But we're a long way from 2015. Who knows what's in store for college basketball. As a Syracuse fan, I'm still waiting on Jerami Grant's decision for his basketball future. Who knows. It's going to be exciting either way. In 26 hours from now, I'll be on my way to St. Augustine, Florida, as we'll be spending a week on Cinnamon Beach. By a week from now, it's very possible that I'll disagree with everything I wrote about today. But until then, this is where I stand. Stay frosty basketball fans.

UCONN Makes Magical Journey- Z - Eddie Hutschenreuter

Hi guys I'm back at it once again to keep you updated with all things I find relevant. I am here for only a shorter blog than usually because I had a large work task this past week. Also I am very tired because yesterday all day I went trout fishing on opening day. It was very fun until I fell into a hole while walking the creek and got drenched in water and ruined my phone. Luckily i had a spare and can go to Verizon to get it switched over. But lets get back to the topic at hand and that is the amazing story that is the UCONN Huskies. UConn has made it all the way to the final four out of sixty four teams as a 7 seed. They have been playing tremendous basketball and have beaten many formidable opponents. The last game the Huskies played before the tournament was in the Big East tournament where they were absolutely destroyed by Louisville. Now they have strung together 4 victories and are still playing for a National Championship. In their first game UCONN beat St. Joe's in a close nit game. They went on to beat Villanova the second seed in their bracket and then a phenomenal Iowa State team the 3 seed in the respected bracket. Their last game was against the Michigan State Spartans who many analyzers thought were going to win the entire National Championship. They ended up battling back to beat the four seeded Spartans. Now the Huskies are in the final four and have to face the Florida Gators who have won 29 games in a row. But subsequently enough Florida's last lost came at the hands of UCONNon a buzzer beater shot by the huskies.. This game will surely be a very exciting one to watch and  personally I am rooting for the Huskies. LETS GO UCONN!