Playoffs Have Begun

Saturday April 16, 2011 marked the beginning of the NBA playoffs for most teams.  Of all Saturday's games, the most intriguing was probably the Bulls/Pacers game.  The Bulls are the number 1 overall seed in the entire playoffs.  They found themselves trailing nearly the entire game until the favorite for MVP, Derrik Rose compiled a few of his 39 points to pull the Bulls into a tie.  He then blocked the shot of a Pacers player and preceded to drive down the court and kick the ball to Kyle Korver who hit the go-ahead three pointer that eventually led the Bulls to victory.  What are you thoughts on the rest of the playoffs?  Who's going to take it all?

M.Hillwig

Sights set on a higher seed.

With two games remaining the Pens look to snag 2nd or possibly 1st place in the Eastern Conference.  They must win their next games along with some help from inter-state rival Philly.  As it stands right now, Washington is in first place with 105pts. Philly is in 2nd place with 103, Boston has 3rd place locked with a division title and 99 points.  Then comes the Penguins in 4th with 102.  They can finish the year with 106.  They Flyers recently lost to the Ottawa Senators to help the Pens close the gap.  Their next game is against the Buffalo Sabres who have played the flyers very well.  With a loss by Philly and a win from the Pens this friday in Long Island, the Pens will have second place.  Do you think they can pull it off?

M.Hillwig

Bucco's are back!

This past weekend the Pittsburgh Pirates began there 2011 campaign against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley field.  The Pirates took the series 2 games to 1 losing their only game in the final innings after a solid outing from ace Paul Maholm.  The Pirtaes (surprisingly) seem to have the Cubs' number, always playing well against them.  I, personally like what I saw from the bucco's this past weekend.  I may be bold for this, but call me optomistic.  With this club I think the Pirates can win 75 games this year.  Let me hear what you think.

M.Hillwig

Scoring woes continue

With the playoffs starting in just a short 11 days, the Penguins find themselves losing their last 2 games to the Flyers and the Lightning.  Since the loss of superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, the Penguins find it very difficult to score.  This hasn't been too detremental since the Penguins defense ranks among the tops in the NHL.  However, the Playoffs are an entirely different animal.  You can't afford to go 0-5 on the powerplay night in and night out as the penguins have been doing.  The Pens last 4 wins came by way of a shootout, the playoffs do not use shootouts, they have continuous overtimes.  Does this mean trouble lies ahead for the Pens?  Lets hear what you think?

M.Hillwig