NBA MVP Race: Who’s it Gonna Be?

What a NBA season we have had upon us. New #1 seeds in both conferences, a lot of 3 pointers made, and a lot of high scoring games. But at the end of every season, one player stands out more than the others. This season, there were a lot of players who stood out, and I mean a lot. But only one person can win the MVP award, so we have to narrow it down. Let’s take a look at my Top 3 candidates for the MVP at season’s end.

Steph Curry

If you have checked twitter or watched SportsCenter within the past 5 months, chances are you have seen someone talking about this kid. The 26 year old playing in his 5^th season has led his Golden State Warriors to a league-best 67-15 and an unbelievable 39-2 at home. Steph made an NBA-record 286 3-Pointers, beating his previous record of 272 from two years ago. Steph started 80 games for the Warriors, averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, and 2.0 steals. He shot 48.7 % from the field, and 44.3% from behind the arc, which is pretty good if you ask me. As a small point guard coming out of Davidson, I don’t think anyone expected him to have a season like this.

James Harden Although some people are mad at the Thunder for trading away Harden back in 2012, but in the long run it may have been the best thing for James Harden’s career. Ever since he has gone to Houston Rockets (2012-2013 season was his first with the team) he has started every game he has played. This season, he played all but one game and averaged 27.4 points (2^nd in the league) , 7.0 assists and 1.9 steals a game this season. He has lead his Rockets to a 56-26 record, which was good enough for a 2^nd place finish in the Western Conference. The Bearded Beast seems like sometimes he can’t be stopped, but we will see once the playoffs start.

Russell Westbrook With his teammate and last year’s MVP Kevin Durant out for most of the season, someone needed to step up big for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sadly, they didn’t make the playoffs, getting beaten out by the New Orleans Pelicans on the last day of the season, but Russell did not go down without a fight. Although he only played 67 games due to injuries, he still led the league with 28.1 points per game, and also averaged 9 assists and 7.6 rebounds. Westbrook also set an NBA Record with 11 triple-doubles this season. Eleven. That is just absurd. But with his shortened season and his Thunder not making it into the playoffs, it makes a tough case for him to win this award.

So who do I have as my winner?

Steph Curry. Led his team to an amazing record, shot the ball better than anyone that I have ever seen, and he just knows how to get his team to win. He may not lead the league in scoring or any other category, but he knows how to win basketball games, even if he doesn’t score 30+ every night. That is just my opinion, but we will have to wait and see what the writers and broadcasters decide soon enough.

Celtics Playoff Preview

After yesterday’s big win against the Toronto Raptors, the Boston Celtics have now officially clinched the 7^th seed in the Eastern Conference, and will face the Cleveland Cavaliers. The season series was split at 2 games apiece, including last week’s home-at-home where both games were won by the Celtics. But keep in mind, LeBron James sat out for the last 5 quarters of the games, and Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and J.R. Smith all sat out for the second game.

So the real question comes into play: how do we beat the powerhouse that is the Cleveland Cavaliers? They are a strong team, and even though they started the season poorly, they have been one of the best teams in the league since January. They have their Big 3 of Love, Irving and James, all who can score 20+ a night and even have Kyrie or LeBron score 40+ if needed. Plus they have former 6^th Man of the Year J.R. Smith, along with Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson and Kendrick Perkins. With all of these weapons, it seems like a hard team to stop, especially with LeBron hungry to bring a title back to his hometown team.

But I think we have a chance against this Cavs team. I guarantee no one expect the Celtics to win this series, let alone one game. How can we do it? We have to play as a team. All 15 guys need to step up and play the best basketball they can.

Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Evan Turner must continue to shoot the ball well and play strongly on both ends of the court. Tyler Zeller and Brandon Bass have to continue to stay strong inside and make it difficult when the Cavs try to drive to the basket, which happens a lot. And our bench has to continue to stay consistent and stay as a huge factor in the game. Bench players like Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk and especially Isaiah Thomas have to continue to be key players coming off of the bench and putting in good minutes.

Let us not forget one of the biggest reasons for our success. A lot of the success has come from our Head Coach Brad Stevens, and he must continue his successful coaching techniques. He has coached this team well, especially as the season was ending. He knows how to coach this team well, and has shown it with the recent success.

If Stevens makes the right decisions, and every guy on the team steps up to play their best, I believe that we can beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. It will take a lot of hard work and correct play calling, but I have faith in our young team.

Welcome to Biggie and The Beard

Hello, bloggers! Welcome to the home page for the Biggie and the Beard podcast. Currently, Beard and I are focusing on the mayhem of college finals. But once we are done with those, we will be working to get out a new podcast as soon as possible. In the meantime, please follow our Soundcloud and stay tuned for our first podcast of Summer 2015! – Biggie

https://soundcloud.com/biggie-the-beard

Check out our first podcast from December 30th of 2014.

The Celtics are Back in the Playoffs

Everyone knew that when it came to April of 2015, there was going to be some sort of playoff series. No, I’m not talking about the Frozen Four, and sadly I am not talking about the Bruins. It’s the team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since the 2012-2013 season. Yes, it is the Boston Celtics. With their current record at 38-42, the Celtics currently hold the 7^th seed in the Eastern Conference. And with the loss by the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics officially have a guaranteed playoff spot. They could finish at the 7^th seed and have to face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, or if we finish in the 8^th spot we will have to face the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “How the heck are the Celtics good enough to make the playoffs? They traded away Rondo, under .500 and have no big names on the team. How is this possible?” Well, luckily for the Celtics, the Eastern Conference is not as strong in the West, so there will be at least two teams in the playoffs that will be sub-.500 teams. And with Rondo, he was not the right fit for the team anymore. The Celtics were working on rebuilding the team and getting the young guys on the team more experience in games. With Rondo’s style of play, he and the coaching staff weren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye. So they got rid of him, and trust me, it was for the better. And now we have no big player or superstar on the team, but this team together creates their own superstar.

With all the young guys on our team, no one person on the team is seen as a “go-to” player, but a lot of guys have had their nights. Acquired from the Phoenix Suns before the trade deadline, Isaiah Thomas has been a huge asset to the playoff push. Thomas,who comes off the bench, was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading the Celtics to 3 wins with a season-high of 34 points against the Pistons last Wednesday. Evan Turner has had 3 triple doubles this season, which is tied for second in the league. And then you also have Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart who can also put the ball in the basket. Then with a front court led by Brandon Bass, along with Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Zeller, this team has the players ready to win basketball games.

And let’s not forget 2^nd year coach Brad Stevens. He has played as big of a role as any player. Coming from Butler University and back-to-back national title games, he had a lot of skepticism coming into the NBA. But after a first rough season, he seems to have found a groove, especially with this young team. He has now found a good group of guys who come to play hard every day. And that’s all we expected this season. A young team, trying to get more experience, and hopefully end up with a decent draft pick. But the playoffs are a better place to be for this team right now. Any playoff experience will be good for this team, and hopefully make this team become strong come next season.

So get your TD Garden playoff tickets. No, not the Bruins. And don’t buy Frozen Four tickets unless you want to make yourself look stupid by buying tickets for games that happened a week ago.