Phillies Predictions and the arrival of the NBA... I Love This Game!

First and foremost, Thursday will bring with it the biggest baseball game this city has seen in a while... 15 years to be exact. The weather will have October written all over it, with game time temperatures expected to be in the upper 50's under clear skies. Cole Hamels will face Derek Lowe in what should end up being a pitchers duel given Hamels stellar performance at the Bank all season and Lowe's experience, and successes, in similar weather as a pitcher for the Red Sox not too far back. Don't expect to see many fireworks, despite the names on both sides of the lineup card thanks to a combination of good pitching and chilly weather. I think this game will come down to whichever team does the little things right. By that I mean which team will field ball after ball cleanly, which team will work the count, and which team will be able to mount a rally or two? I think that, given the circumstances, that team will be the Phillies. The team has proven they can play loose in a raucus environment, as evidenced by their 2 wins at home in the NLDS, and I think that the fact that the Phils bats have a little more juice than those of the Dodgers will get us the win in Game 1. Of course, the biggest reason for my optimism is Cole Hamels. This guy is filthy when he's jacked up and you can bet he'll be jacked up tomorrow night. Derek Lowe, for all his past success, has shown a few weaknesses in recent years and I think the Phils can exploit them. Final score? Phillies 4 Dodgers 2. MVP's? Cole Hamels and Jayson Werth.
On another note, I fired up my computer tonight to find that ESPN's headline story was the release of John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Ratings. This got me excited because it means my favorite sport is about to fire the starting gun on a new season (On a side note, I'll go on record saying that I like college basketball more than the NBA but basketball is basketball so I'm pumped). I'm pumped about the Sixers this year, but they will get their own post on a later date. Instead, I want to take a few paragraphs to discuss Mr. Hollinger's PER rankings and give my thoughts on a few players. As I leisurely look through the list, I'll give you the player, his ranking, and what I think. On a side note before I get to the discussion, how did the Boston Celtics get Bill Walker?? I understand that there are injury concerns but, for real, this is a case of the rich getting richer. Mark my words, he'll be an effective role player for them come March. On to the PERs:

#1 Chris Paul : A darkhorse candidate to be my favorite non-Sixer not named Kobe (I'm an unabashed fan of the greatest offensive player of this generation). It really boggles my mind that more players like him aren't out there. Chris Paul is the perfect combination of sound fundamentals and great athleticism. The sad part is that its a commentary on the state of American basketball that he seems so great. He is one helluva player, don't get me wrong, but it's sad that there are not more like him. It's not difficult. You just have to be a student of the game AND and a great athlete. All too often, the students of the game aren't great athletes today and the great athletes aren't students of the game. Wish there could be more like him. Shout out to Deron Williams.

#3 Amare Stoudemire : I've long been a fan of Amare. His combination of size and athleticism is rivaled by few. I've seen him do things that I did not think were even possible for a man of his size. He's a more complete basketball player than Dwight Howard, who is a freak in his own right, however, I'm worried about how the change of style the Suns have undergone will affect him. Anytime Shaq is on the floor, you immediately become a half court offense, which considerably diminishes the advantages Amare has on the defense. We'll see how this plays out.

#6 Kobe Bryant : As I mentioned before, I'm a huge Kobe fan. My biggest concern for guys like him, LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and any one else who played in the Olympics is how this distorted offseason will affect their regular season play. I'm not one who believes it will totally ruin their year, but it has to have an effect on these guys, one that is strong enough to dictate how they are used in the early goings of an incredibly long NBA season. In any case, I think we should be ready for Kobe to go off on the league. His supporting cast is more than respectable, they are a formidable team without him, and I think after last year's terrible Finals, Kobe wants it more than ever. He knows what he needs to do to keep his teammates happy and involved and I think he learned a lot from the Olympic experience in terms of when to take a game over. I think Kobe will really do some damage this year.

#25 Brandon Roy : While I don't have much to say about Roy, who I think is a great player with tons of upside potential, I'm using this as my opportunity to declare the Blazers as my darkhorse team. They are well built with great depth and athleticism. Their success hinges on Greg "I'm Actually 48" Oden, but I think they'll put together a solid season, so much so that I'm tabbing them as my 4 seed in the West behind LA, San Antonio, and Houston. Crazy prediction, I know, but to hell with it, I'm going all out.

#33 Monta Ellis : I just really hope a Vespa was involved in his sketchy offseason injury. Why? Can you imagine how hilarious an NBA player looks on a Vespa? This would be funny on at least 6 levels.

#46 Zach Randolph : Gotta be honest, if I were him and my official NBA player photo were under my control like a Facebook profile pic, I might as well change it to show me actually smoking an illegal green substance. Zach, have you never heard of Visine?

#'s 102 and 103 Mike Miller and Mike Dunleavy : Wow, you're both not only huge disappointments professionally but you're both incredibly ugly.

#240 Rodney Carney : I finally figured it out, he looks like Chris Rock

#321 Jason Collins : Just 3 spots behind his twin brother, bringing up the rear of the 321 player field... do you think their mother is even proud at this point??

Oh well, I apologize that it became a comedy by the end but that's what happens when Zach Randolph comes into play at #46. In any case, I'm carefully crafting an NBA prediction post, so keep your eyes open for that. Also on the horizon, college basketball predictions, more Penn State analysis, NFL discussions, and more....