The Aaron Hernandez Case

Let me start things off by saying that in America everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So far all we have to go on is alleged events and what the police are charging Hernandez with. With that said assuming what investigators are saying is true, Mr. Hernandez is in very deep trouble and this is one of the more shocking and tragic events to happen in the sports world for quite some time.


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Allegedly Aaron Hernandez and Odin Lloyd were friends and were at Club Rumor a couple weeks ago. Lloyd supposedly was socializing with some people who Hernandez had beef with. Weeks later Hernandez was recorded on his own security system leaving his house with a gun in hand. Hernandez texted Lloyd and two other friends to meet up. Hernandez and his friends as well as Lloyd drove around in a rental vehicle discussing the events that occurred at the club. Lloyd supposedly began to feel uncomfortable with the conversation and texted his girlfriend, the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend. He said "Did you see who I was with?" "NFL". Allegedly Hernandez shot Lloyd three times and then stood over his body and shot him in the chest two more times. Later Hernandez was seen returning home on his security system with a gun in hand, heading down to his basement, and then the footage cut off for the next 8 hours or so. Lloyd's body was found not far from Hernandez's home. Hernandez then smashed his own security system and cell phone before turning them over to police. He also hired a "cleaning crew" to clean his home before investigators could search his home. Today he was formally charged with first degree murder and five other weapon related charges. If convicted Hernandez could face up to life in prison.


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 No bail was set for Hernandez. Once again as I said earlier nothing is set in stone in this case and it is not known if Hernandez pulled the trigger, was there during the killing, knew of the killing, or anything else. Earlier today after he was arrested the Patriots released Hernandez. It was a dark day in the NFL today for even having one of their own remotely associated with something like this let alone charged with murder. This type of event centered around an NFL player is uncommon and centered around a very promising young player is even more uncommon. It seems more and more common that young players find themselves caught in some form of legal trouble but being tied to a murder is very uncommon. However, I'm sure many of you recall in 2000 Ray Lewis was infamously arrested and charged with murder stemming from stabbings during a bar brawl following an Atlanta Super Bowl party.


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Lewis had his murder charge dismissed for agreeing to testifying against his two friends who committed the stabbings. Hernandez will now spend his days in jail awaiting a trial.

NBA Finals Game 7

If you missed the game last night you missed another great one. Not so much in quality of play across the board but in terms of competitiveness and emotion. It was a roller-coaster. Both teams played fairly sloppy and made a lot of mistakes but in the end the power of having the best player in the world was the difference maker for Miami. LeBron turned in 37 points and 12 boards in the 95-88 win to take their second consecutive championship. Silencing the critics once again and solidifying LeBron's place among the greatest of all time. Dwyane Wade looked like the Wade of old, going off for 23 points and 10 rebounds. Wade was all over the court making play after play. Both Batman and Robin shot the ball very well, effectively shoving the Spurs' defensive game plan back down their throats.


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The Spurs dared Wade and LeBron to shoot the ball all series and in game 7 they answered the call. The Heat were further propelled by a lights out performance by Shane Battier who nailed 6 threes. The Spurs were hanging tough though largely due to Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard quietly turning in another great performance. Danny Green stunk it up again scoring just 5 points on 1 of 12 shooting. In game 6 and 7 he scored combined 8 points on 2 for 20 something shooting. Manu played okay but turned the ball over too much and made mental errors left and right. It just never felt like the Spurs had a chance. They employed a 6 year old strategy to try to stop LeBron ignoring the fact that the King has improved greatly in the time and the fact that their nucleus that skunked LeBron and the Cavs 4-0 has only gotten older. Daring LeBron to shoot the ball would have been fine even up to 2 or 3 years ago but not anymore. You do not dare the best player in the world to shoot a wide open jumper just so he can't drive to the basket. You do not give him any room anywhere on the court. Popovich tried his best to devise a game plan to stop the King and truly I think this was a terrible game plan but it was his best option. The Spurs don't have the athletes to stuff LeBron and Wade up and down the floor so you have to either play up and allow the drive or back off and allow the jumper. They don't have the athletes to stay in their face all around the court.


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The Spurs have to feel terrible right now. "Of course they just lost the finals." That's true but it is the way that they lost the finals that makes it nauseating. They were literally 5.2 seconds away from an NBA title. They were 1 free throw away. They blew it. Then the Heat capitalized. It is a shame to see Tim Duncan go down like that in what very easily may be his last chance for another ring. The West is too good and too young for the Spurs to get there again. Let's face it they lucked out this year. The Lakers were terrible. The Warriors are young and only going to get better from their loss. The Grizzlies lucked out to be there because OKC was missing Russel Westbrook. OKC, the Clips, the Warriors, the Lakers even will all improve and get younger. The Spurs are only getting older and perhaps the bright lights that once shined on them have dimmed and perhaps this was the last ride for Duncan, Manu, and Tony. The Spurs fought hard but it very well may be their time to drift into obscurity as they try to rebuild and reload. The Miami Heat on the other hand? Have a chance now to 3-peat with their incredible nucleus.


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They will have to get bigger down low for them to take another title though. Never the less congratulations to the Miami Heat for winning their second straight title and to LeBron James for his second straight finals MVP.

NBA Finals Game 6

WOW! Oh WOW! Game 6 was quite a game. One of the best games if not the best game that I have ever seen. It was a roller coaster ride that never seemed to end. The Heat started well largely thanks to a hot start from Mario Chalmers. Chalmers had 10 points in just the first quarter, he would finish with 20. The Spurs and Heat were nearly deadlocked throughout the first half. The Spurs were powered by Tim Duncan having what started out to be a career defining game. Duncan had 25 points off of 11-13 shooting in just the first half!


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 Unfortunately for the Spurs Duncan could not continue that pace going just 2-8 with 5 points in the second half. Never the less the Spurs built a 12 point lead around the start of the fourth quarter. LeBron James' night had stalled but he shifted gears in the fourth compiling 16 points in the quarter, 12 after he lost his headband. James clanked a three to try to pull within two but Miller snagged the rebound kicked it back out to James and he drained it to pull the Heat within two. The Heat then fouled Kawhi Leonard to send him to the line. Leonard bricked the first attempt but sunk the second to make it a three point game.


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  LeBron then at the other end missed a deep three to tie but Chris Bosh snagged a miraculous rebound and kicked the ball out to Ray Allen who nailed the three under heavy pressure from the Spurs, leaving just 5 ticks left on the clock. Tony Parker then missed a buzzer beater at the other end. Fast forward to over time, with 32 seconds left and the Spurs down by one, Bosh blocked Parker's three. Moments later after Ray Allen hit two free throws to make it a 103 - 100 game, the Spurs were left with just 1 second on the clock. They almost got a five second violation on the inbound desperately waiting for Danny Green (who had an abysmal night in which he scored just three points) to get open. Green never did but he caught the pass anyway. Green fading, falling, and flailing tried to put a three up but again it was blocked by Bosh!


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 The Heat mounted a comeback and stole game 6 from the jaws of defeat. When all was said and done the San Antonio Spurs were literally 5.2 seconds away from winning the NBA title. Now both teams are 48 minutes away and we have one game to determine who will wear the crown. Heat in 7!

NBA Finals Game 5

Quite simply Game 5 went to the Spurs. The Spurs got solid contributions from all of their starters as they combined to post 107 points compared to the bench contribution of just 7. Manu Ginobili made it out to the arena for the first time in this series as he was missing in action for the previous four games. Ginob popped off 24 points to go along with 10 assists to power the Spurs to a 114 - 104 win in game 5. Tim Duncan also continued to quietly post monster numbers adding 17 points and 12 boards to the cause. Duncan, if the Spurs close the series, has quietly made a case for MVP. I think even more so than the guy getting all the hype, Danny Green. Green has caught fire in the finals, that is really all you can say.


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No one saw this coming and it probably won't happen to Green again. Let's be real, the guy is a 42% career three point shooter who averages just 8 points per game in his CAREER. In the finals he is shooting over 65% from downtown and averaging 18 points per game. That is 20+ percent higher and 10 points more per game than he has averaged in his entire 4 year career. Never the less the man is on fire right now. The main story from game 5 had to be the lackluster play from everyone on Miami not named LeBron, Wade, Bosh, or Allen. Chris Andersen, the Heat's resident enforcer and hype man, did not play. Mike Miller did not score. Haslem did not score. Battier shot just 33% from the field and Chalmers came up smaller than small as he has been all series. Chalmers went 2-10 for 7 points while posting 1 assist and 5 fouls. With the exception of Sundays win against San Antonio, which was an out of the ordinary performance, Chalmers has posted a total of 21 points in 4 finals starts. In those four games he has shot just 25% from the field. In my opinion the Heat need to bring Chalmers off the bench and reduce his minutes if they want to win this series. LeBron did not excel last night but he played well enough for the Heat to win had anyone else decided to show up.


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Wade played exceptionally well for the second night in a row. Bosh quietly had a nice game and Ray Allen erupted for 21 points. The highlight for Allen? Scoring two 4 point plays! The Big 3 posted 66 points last night and if you add in Ray Allen that is a total of 87. The other 8 players who say game action? 17 points. Exclude the garbage time three from James Jones and it was 4 other players for 14 points. I think the Heat will hold true to form a win convincingly in game 6. Thereby forcing a game 7 in Miami for the title. Seeing as the Heat can't possibly win this series in 6, I have to acknowledge that I was wrong and revise my prediction. I still think that the Heat will take the series but they will have to do it in 7 games. They will need greater contributions from the supporting cast if they are going to win this series.

NBA Finals Game 4

Towards the end of Game 3 I made a prediction that the Heat would hold true to form and win in convincing fashion following a crushing defeat. The Miami Heat made that prediction a reality by dominating the Spurs late in Game 4. LeBron James showed up to play, recording 33 points and 11 boards to go along with a pair of steals and a pair of blocks. However James was not the focal point of the Heat's resurgence. It was Dwyane Wade who stole the show. Wade returned to his old form from back in 2006 when he earned the nickname Flash for his dominating high speed performances and the epic comeback that he led in the Finals that year. Wade posted 32 points with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals, and a block. 

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Bosh tossed in another 20 points and 13 rebounds to bring the big three to a whopping total of 85 points with 30 rebounds, 10 steals, and 5 blocks. The Miami Big 3 came to play last night where as the Spurs Big 3 was missing in action. Tim Duncan turned in the best Spurs performance with 20 points but he recorded just 5 rebounds. Tony Parker impressed me in the first half with his stellar play, posting 15 points despite a pulled hamstring. However he went ghost in the second half missing all of his shots and recording 0 points. Manu Ginobili had the most abysmal performance of all of the Spurs, scoring just 5 points going 1-5 from the field and not contributing much elsewhere. On top of that the spurs' Danny Green and Gary Neal returned to reality after a ridiculous Game 3 which saw them post a combined 51 points and 13  three balls.They combined for just 23 points in Game 4. Game 4 showed me that if Miami is playing as well as they are capable that the Spurs have absolutely no answer. The Spurs lucked out in Game 1 with a miracle shot hit by Tony Parker, the Heat dominated Game 2, the Spurs got a miraculous performance by two players who posted 51 combined points when they combine to average just 20 ppg, in Game 3, the Heat dominated all facets again in Game 4. The Heat have restored home court advantage and I believe that they have found the winning recipe. On a side note to those who feel the Heat ran up the score just by keeping their starters in during the 4th quarter, you play until the final buzzer.

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 Just because Pop threw in the towel with 6 minutes left to play doesn't mean the Heat have to do the same. Plus, I recall the Spurs throwing up three pointers at the end of their Game 3 blowout when they were up by 30! So settle down with the unsportsmanlike talk. You play to win the game. My prediction stands, Heat in 6.

NBA Finals Game 3

I stand corrected. In my previous post I stated that I did not feel that the Spurs could blow out the Heat. I could not have been more wrong. The Spurs in game three did not get good performances from any of their stars but they got career nights from backup PG Gary Neal and starting SG Danny Green. The duo combined to put up 19 of the team total 32 three point attempts and managed to sink 13 of them. The rest of the team went 3 for 13 from deep. Neal and Green combined for 51 points out of the total 113 that San Antonio posted against Miami. The Heat on the other hand took less threes than the Spurs made with only 18 attempts. "Only 18 attempts", that seems like such an odd thing to say. It creates the implication that 18 three point attempts is not a lot, which compared to 32 it is not, but compared to a typical NBA game it was par for the course. The Spurs averaged just 21 attempts from deep during the regular season compared to Miami's 19. Therefore Miami matched up with their regular season attempts. The Spurs put up 11 more threes than normal. That number doesn't seem so absurd until you consider that 11 additional threes presents the opportunity for 33 more points added on to their season average 100 ppg.


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 It seems as though San Antonio has found the best way to beat the Heat and it is a bit risky. Let's face it, no one expected Danny Green and Gary Neal to steal the show last night. Just like no one expects to see a performance like that out of either one of them again. They set an NBA record for threes in a finals game, meaning the did a feat that has never been done before. Which means that the odds are not in their favor to repeat that feat again. Danny Green posted 27 points compared to a season average of 10. Gary Neal posted 24 points compared to a season average of 9. Two guys who averaged 19 points combined per game during the regular season put up 51 in a finals game. I am awestruck. The down side for Spurs fans is that if you look at the box score they got absolutely no production anywhere else, outside of a nice contribution from Kawhi Leonard. The Heat on the other hand had 43 points turned in by the big 3 and just 34 from the rest of the team. Mario Chalmers looked absolutely awful last night and couple that with the big 3 leading the team in scoring despite poor play as well and I was not shocked to see the blowout. I was just shocked to see who put up San Antonio's points to do so.


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Never the less LeBron probably won't go 7-21 again and Danny Green and Gary Neal will be lucky to post double digits let alone lead the team in scoring and combine for 51 points. I don't foresee the Spurs shooting that well from long range again. Besides, if there is one thing that is always consistent the Heat always rebound from losses well. Plus, the Heat need to take just one game in San Antonio to restore home court. Need less to say my prediction still stands, Heat in 6.