Fall Sports Update
(Disclaimer-All info written in this article was written between 10/19-21 so some of the info will be outdated by the time the article is published)
MLB
The Fall sports season is going very quickly. The MLB is nearing a close. The NFL season is almost halfway through, and The NBA and NHL are just getting started again. This is one of my favorite times of year because all 4 of the major sports played in America are going on at once.
As of (October 19th) we are down to the final 4 MLB teams still in the playoff. Playing in the ALCS are the Astros and the Red Sox. The Red Sox went 92-70 in the Regular season, but somehow picked it up in the postseason. They defeated the Yankees in the single game wildcard elimination round. Then went on to defeat the defending ALCS champion Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS 3 games to 1. Now advancing one series short of the World Series, they lead the Houston Astros 2-1 in an intense ALCS series. On the other hand though the Astros have had an amazing season themselves. They went (95-67), and won their division so they got a bye in the wildcard round. They defeated the Chicago White Sox 3-1 in the ALDS, but now are staring up at the red hot Red sox down 2-1. I think that overall as a team the Astros are a better team than the Red Sox but that doesn't always matter. The Red Sox have won 9 of their last 11, and are seemingly finding their groove with 2 straight victories over the Astros. (12-3) and (9-5). Those are pretty convincing wins. Now I'm not counting the Astros out because they're a great team. I just think the 2021 ALCS champions will be the Red Sox.
Now onto the NLCS. The National league is a very strong conference with 2 teams over 105 wins. Only 1 of which is still in the Playoffs. Now really there is a decent shocker as, The Braves have made it to the NLCS with only 88 wins. Both conferences have 1 team left in the playoffs that had to play in the wildcard round. The Red Sox in the American and the Dodgers in the National. Although the Dodgers had the 2nd best record in the conference, they just happened to be in the same division as the Giants who won 107 games. Although they went on to defeat the Giants in the NLDS in a razor tight 3-2 series. Winning the closeout game 2-1. The Braves beat the St Louis Cardinals in the wild card. Then went on to defeat the Brewers (95-67) 3-1 in the NLDS. They are a pretty hot team. Now I think it would be super cool if the championship was Red Sox vs Dodgers because it would be a battle of the teams that had to play wildcard games. I also think that this is the year for that to happen. The Dodgers have had a recent history of choking in the playoffs after really good regular seasons. I don’t think that's the case this year. They Wwere built for the postseason. The Braves aren't even close to as good a team as the Giants who they beat last series. The Giants had 19 more regular season wins. My World Series prediction is Red Sox vs Dodgers.
NBA
I love the NBA, a lot, so I will probably get more statistically in depth in the box score.Now the NBA just started last night so there is not too much to talk about but there were a couple of good games last night. Starting with the NBA defending champion Milwaukee Bucks vs The Brooklyn Nets. Now let's ignore the final score for a minute and jump into the box score.
The Final score was 127-104 Bucks win. The Bucks outscored the Nets 67-44 in the 1st and 4th quarters, the most important quarters. The Bucks started strong and finished strong. Now we know the Bucks have one of the best defenses in the league, but most people would not have predicted a 20+ point victory.
Now we know the Nets load manage and Kevin Durant and James Harden neither played over 31 minutes. Patty Mills of the Nets picked back up where he left off in the Summer olympics for Australia getting 21 points. 1 more than James Harden who had 20, although Harden had 8 rebounds and assists as well. Kevin Durant had a normal KD game getting 32 points and 11 rebounds. It's not a huge surprise the Bucks won though when looking at their box score. They had 7 players with 8 or more points. They also had 10 players who contributed points to the scoreboard. The Nets fell behind with only 5 players gaining 8 or more points. The Bucks also dominated in shots. The Bucks shot up 105 shots to the Nets 84. The Nets couldn't play efficiently enough to make up the difference. The Bucks also made 77.8 percent of their 18 free throw attempts. The Nets couldn't take advantage of getting more free throws by only making 56.5 percent. The Bucks also dominated the offensive boards by getting 13 offensive rebounds to the Nets 5 and out rebounding them in total by 1o. As we know the Nets play more of an iso ball type offense but still the Bucks were able to out assist them 25-19. They outscored the Nets in the paint and had 5 less turnovers. When you really dive in, this score is meaningless. It says they only won by 23 but this game was just pure domination. I'm not gonna deep dive into the other opening day game. If you watched though, the Warriors beat the Lakers 121-114. It was a very sloppy game with 17 turnovers by both teams. Steph Curry led the Warriors offense though with a triple double of 21 points 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The Warriors won the game at the Free throw line and in the paint. They outscored the Lakers in the paint by 12 and made 25/30 free throws to the Lakers 9/19. Now I'm going to be writing an article like this once a month so I figured once a month throughout the season I would give my top 10 NBA teams. Now this is just my oponion, so I may have a team 3 that you have 7. This is what is fun about sports. Everyone has their own opinion the whole regular season but nobody knows who's gonna be right for 6 months until the playoffs are going on
Top 10 NBA teams October
1 Bucks
2 Suns
3 Lakers
4 Jazz
5 Nets
6 Hawks
7 Nuggets
8 Warriors
9 76ers
10 Mavericks
Ok now let me explain. The Bucks and the Suns both made it to the championship last year and I don't really see that much changing to either one enough that they aren't still the 2 best teams. The Bucks are clearly #1 though. I see the Lakers having a bounceback year. They lost to the Warriors yesterday I know but, it was the first game and Lebron and AD barely played preseason. The Jazz have almost the perfect recipe to win a ton of games. They shoot a lot of 3s but efficiently and play stellar defense. There young players should keep developing and improving. The reason I have them behind the Lakers is because I think if they played a series today I would have to pick Lebrons team to win, now that could change though in a couple months. I have the Nets down at 5 because I’m not really sure how they’re there gonna going to play an entire year without Kyrie. I think they will be elite. Just not elite enough to beat the top 4 teams. Hawks at 6 Nuggets at 7. They are both similar for me 2 young teams who are getting better and better. Give them more time. When Jamal Murray comes back the Nuggets could be top 5. I just want to see the postseason Hawks for a consistent month before I buy into them as top end contenders. The Warriors should be good. They play well enough in the paint. They make a good amount of 3s. Plus Klay should be coming back hopefully soon. Also Steph Curry is one of the best leaders in the sport, as long as he is there they will be winning games in Golden State. Now the Sixers at 9. Trying to speak Objectively about my favorite team. They have a lot of drama going around, with Ben Simmons and all that nonsense, I think was they trade him and get right mentally. They will go back to being a top contender. The Mavs are at 10. We know they can outscore anyone on any night. The question is can they stop anybody which is to be determined.
NFL
The NFL has been happy to bring all fans back to the stadiums for this year. This was so exciting for the NFL and fans. We have only been playing for 6 weeks and already some teams have taken commanding leads. Other teams who were expected to be good are already falling behind. Let's start with our local PA teams. The Steelers and the Eagles. The Steelers are 4th in their division despite having a very ok 3-3 start to the year. They just may be playing in the best division in the league. The combined records of all the teams in the division is 15-9. This team is inconsistent. They have back to back good wins against the Seahawks (23-20) and the Broncos (27-19). They also defeated the Bills in week (23-16). Overall this team is pretty solid. Their defense is stellar but their offense needs some work. Once they get healthy I believe they are a perennial playoff team. The other team would be the Eagles. Now the Eagles aren't as much in contend mode as the Steelers. They are more of a rebuilding team. They are 3rd in their division at 2-4. The rookie wideout Devonta Smith has been pretty good so far in his rookie campaign, and Jalen Hurts has been pretty good in his first year being a fulltime starter. He has thrown 8 td to 4 int. Smith has 27 catches for 345 yards and a td. Now the only thing is the only 2 teams they have beaten are the Falcons 2-3 and the Panthers 3-3. So nothing too impressive. They are most likely still looking ahead at their 3 possible first round draft picks and building for the future. Now other than the 2 local teams several teams have proven very good vast far. I’m going to make another personal top 10 list of the top 10 NFL teams through week 6. Remember it’s just my opinion and you're entitled to yours as well.
1 Cardinals (6-0)
2 Rams ( 5-1)
3 Buccs ( 5-1)
4 Bills ( 4-2)
5 Ravens ( 5-1)
6 Packers ( 5-1)
7 Cowboys ( 5-1)
8 Chargers ( 4-2)
9 Raiders ( 4-2)
10 Browns ( 3-3)
Now this list is obviously a work in progress. I left the Titans and Bengals (4-2) off. I chose to put the Browns at 10 despite the Chiefs who also (3-3) beat them. Things change in the NFL very often. The Chiefs have not proved anything this year. Before the season, I would have had them #1 undoubtedly. Now they just aren't better than any of the teams on this list. The Raiders I might have ranked a little higher, but after the resignation of Jon Gruden, I’m not exactly sure what to think of them moving forward. If they continue playing good, they could be back on the upper part of the list. Now I have the Cardinals 1 not just because they're undefeated but they have the hottest offense in the league. Kyler Murray is leading the MVP race this year so far. They just throw the ball all over the field on everyone. Their air raidattack might be the best in the league. Their defense has also been playing very well. They blew out the Browns 37-14, and beat my number 2 team the Rams by 17 37-20. The Rams are 2 because they play very good complimentary ball. Good offense and solid defense as well. The Cardinals are the only team who really gave them fits. The Bucs are 3 simply because they lost to the Rams. If the Bucs and Rams play again it can go either way. They are so close. I feel like 4,5,6 are all like a tier. Bills, Ravens, Packers. They each know how to win and have experience winning games. They also each have a good quarterback who holds it down for these teams weekly. Lamar Jackson could possibly be in the running for MVP. After all the drama in the offseason Aaron Rogers is still having a really good year. Josh Allen is again as well showing weekly why he is one of the best qbs in the league. The Cowboys I'm not sure what to think about. They're very good. I just don't trust their defense enough yet to put them in the tier with the Packers, Ravens and Bills. The Chargers and Raiders are dead even. I think they are both currently slightly better than the Chiefs. I am not sure though how long that might continue. That's my top ten, and that's a Fall sports Update thank you! Next month I will have more top tens, a more thorough NBA update and A world series champion and possibly some Hockey.