Game 58: Mavs vs Thunder

The Mavericks have a 34-23 record coming into this game. Oklahoma City has a 13-44 record and has already clinched a losing record for their first year in OK City. Oklahoma is now playing spoiler and looking at the lottery. Currently, the Thunder are tied with Washington as having the second worst record in the NBA, trailing Sacramento by two games for being the worst in the NBA. When you consider the lottery, I guess you would want to be the worst team there? I think I would... anyway. Here's the stuff for tonight's game:

Mavericks Stats 08-09

Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd	Brandon Bass
Points Per Game	24.9	18.5	9.1	8.6
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	5.1	6.2	4.5
Assists Per Game	2.3	1.7	8.4	0.6
Blocks Per Game	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.8

Dirk's numbers continue to slip. His PPG went down 0.2 from the previous game. Kidd's numbers went up 0.2 PPG from the last game, and so did Howard's PPG. Bass went up 0.1 from the previous. I would think this game would be a feast for Dirk to help bring up those numbers. Still, a trend is a trend.

Thunder Stats 08-09

Name	Kevin Durant	Jeff Green	Russell Westbrook	Nenad Krstic
Points Per Game	26.3	16.8	15.3	8.4
Rebounds Per Game	6.7	6.9	4.7	5.4
Assists Per Game	2.9	2.1	5.0	0.5
Blocks Per Game	0.8	0.5	0.2	1.1

Earl Watson leads the team with 5.8 assists per game. This team's stats reflect the 13-44 record which they carry into this game. The Thunder last played Dallas on December 13th in Dallas and lost 103-99. They still have a game to play in Oklahoma City on March 2nd.

Forecast: Mavericks should feast on this game. Look for a score of 102-89, Mavs.

Home Court

Pre-Season Game #3: Rangers vs. Cubs

The Matchup today is Feldman vs. Lilly in Surprise. Texas plays as the home team.

Both pitchers should get two innings of work today. I am not sure who else is going to get a nod for the hill, but Hamilton is batting third and Kinsler isn't starting today. Jones is batting cleanup. I don't have the time today like I normally do for this type of post, but Hamilton is batting with a hot hand and Feldman, well, I just like the way he tosses the ball. The Rangers will at worst walk away from the second inning in a tie, if not the lead. Holding the lead is a whole different issue. They have struggled thus far in the preseason holding down things.

Forecast: the impossible thing to do: predict how a preseason game is going to go down without so much as delving into statistics. Still, the Rangers are coming off a loss to Kansas City and have a 1-1 record, look for a rebound of sorts with a Ranger win that is close. Score: 5-3.

Home Plate

Countdown to Pre-Season

Pre-Season Game #1: Rangers vs. Royals

Well, this is the first pre-season game for both teams. It seems interesting to me that Hillman, the Royals manager, shifted his rotation to accomidate for the change in starting pitcher. He switched his starter when the Rangers went with Benson instead of Harrison. I do not have a picture of Benson, so I went with a baseball picture.
Actually, since I never cease... I found a picture of the fella...
Scouting Report:
Rangers: Kris Benson has a career 4.34 ERA but hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2006. His career numbers are 68-73 with 8 complete games and two shutouts. He has a 1.38 WHIP and hitters have hit him with a .267 career batting average. Benson threw batting practice on Saturday, so he won't be behind the other starters in camp when he takes the mound today. There's plenty of room for an effective Benson to claim a rotation spot with a solid spring, though it's hard to project much value beyond that given his lengthy absence and home park.

Royals: Horacio Ramirez went 1-4 with a 4.34 ERA. Ramirez is penciled in to pitch 30 pitches or two innings. He is expected to open the season in the Royals' rotation after working exclusively out of the bullpen last year. He didn't pitch against the Rangers last season, but had a 1-1 record at the All-Star break with a 1.88 ERA. In 37.1 innings, he gave up only 1 HR.

Royals to Watch:

• Jose Guillen: 3-10 with a double and a RBI.
• Coco Crisp: 4-6 with a double, a HR, and a RBI.
• Mark Teahen: 2-3 with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs.

Rangers to Watch:

• Marlon Byrd: 7-23 (.304 BA) with a double, a HR, and a RBI.
• Ian Kinsler: 3-6 with a HR and 3 RBIs.
• Omar Vizquel: 3-6

This looks like it will be a fun game, even though both starters will only last two innings tops, and that probably means the hitters will be doing the same thing and get pulled five or six innings into things... if that late. Still, welcome to pre-season.Forecast: Not knowing how and when each player gets work, if they get work in the game at all, and the starters only throwing 30 pitches or so, it is almost impossible to figure out what will take place today. And then there is the question of how effective Benson will be in his 30 pitches or so... I am going to say that the Rangers will take this one, although start off slow and then tapper off once things get started. Score: Rangers win this: 6-4.

Home Plate

Game 57: Mavs vs Bucks

The loss last night puts the Mavericks in sole possession of fourth place in their division and five and a half games back of the Spurs. Dallas is currently seeded eighth place in the Western Conference with a record of 33-23. Phoenix is ninth and a game behind the Mavs. Milwaukee has a 28-31 record and sits eighth in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls are a game behind the Bucks and the Nets are two games behind them. It looks to be an interesting race to the playoffs. Whoever gets hot now, they will be the team to have momentum going into the post-season.

Mavericks Stats 08-09

Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd	Brandon Bass
Points Per Game	25.1	18.2	8.9	8.5
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	5.1	6.2	4.4
Assists Per Game	2.3	1.7	8.4	0.5
Blocks Per Game	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.7

Dirk has continues to drop on his ppg. This game is the second game in back-to-back games. They got killed by the Duncanless and Ginobililess Spurs by a margin of 93-76. They just couldn't get anything going. In the second half, they closed the margin to three before losing heart.

Bucks Stats 08-09

Name	Richard Jefferson	Charlie Villanueva	Ramon Sessions	Luke Didnour
Points Per Game	18.2	16.2	12.1	10.6
Rebounds Per Game	4.8	6.7	3.1	3.4
Assists Per Game	2.4	1.9	4.8	5.7
Blocks Per Game	0.1	0.7	0.1	0.3

These guys are without Michael Redd, who is out for the season, and Andrew Bogut, who is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his lower back. He's been gone since February 4th with the injury.

Forecast: I like the Mavericks in this one. Sure, they are tired from playing last night, but they are playing at home and they have the better team. It may be a close one, due to fatigue, but I do not think it will play as big a factor in this game as it normally would... Mavs win it with a score of 97-89.

Home Court

Game 56: Mavs at Spurs

Ah, baseball makes me want to "get back in the game" as they would say.

Mavericks Stats 08-09

Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd	Brandon Bass
Points Per Game	25.3	18.2	9.0	8.6
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	5.0	6.2	4.4
Assists Per Game	2.3	1.8	8.4	0.5
Blocks Per Game	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.7

Dirk has dropped on his ppg. With Terry out, I find it hard to say the Mavs are going to do well in this game. The Mavs (33-22) are now tied with the Hornets.

Spurs Stats 08-09

Name	Tim Duncan	Tony Parker	Michael Finley	Roger Mason
Points Per Game	20.7	20.0	9.3	12.2
Rebounds Per Game	10.7	2.8	3.4	3.2
Assists Per Game	3.8	6.5	1.5	1.9
Blocks Per Game	1.9	0.1	0.2	0.1

The Spurs are 4-3 in their last seven games. They have won their last two. Manu Ginobili is out with an injury and should be out at least another week, maybe two. I replaced Ginobili's stats with Michael Finley.

Forecast: Well, the loss of Terry is bad and the loss of Ginobili is bad for the Spurs. I think the Spurs have more depth. The Mavericks have played well without Terry... still, I am thinking the Spurs in this one. Score: 94-90.

Home Court

Pre-Season Pitching Rotation

This is just a note of the rotation going into Game #1 in the pre-season.

• #1: Matt Harrison (Wednesday)
• #2: Kevin Millwood (Thursday)
• #3: Scott Feldman (Friday)
• #4: Brandon McCarthy (Saturday)
• #5: Vicente Padilla (Sunday)

Padilla and Feldman will start an intersquad game today. Dustin Nippert, Frankie Francisco, Josh Rupe, Warner Madrigal, Derrick Turnbow, Luis Mendoza, Joe Torres, John Bannister and Omar Poveda should be getting work today in the intersquad game.

I'm pumped that tomorrow's game starts counting... even if it is only pre-season stats.

Game 55: Mavs vs. Kings

This is simply a quick pick. The Mavs are tired from coming off a loss to the Rockets last night. My QP for this game is: Dallas Mavericks, Score: 105-98.

I like the Stars in this one: 3-1

Home Court

Game 54: Mavs at Rockets

I wanted to give an update to some teams listed on this site:

Texas Tornados: 1 Year off for facility rebuilding
Dallas Desperados: League stopped. Future unknown.
Austin Ice Bats: 1 year off for facility rebuilding
Dallas Diamonds: Season starts April 11th
Texas Wildcatters: I don’t know what in the world is going on with them. Disbanded?

Houston Comets: Disbanded from league.

The Mavericks are coming into this game winners of three of their last four games, with the last game coming against the Nets in which they won 113-98. Jason Terry is out with an injury dating back to February 7th and will be out six weeks from that date, which is March 21st. Houston has a 1/2 game lead over the Mavericks in their division. This game has a direct impact on the standings.

Mavericks Stats 08-09

Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd	Brandon Bass
Points Per Game	25.9	17.9	9.1	8.3
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	5.1	6.3	4.4
Assists Per Game	2.3	1.8	8.5	0.5
Blocks Per Game	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.7

It looks weird without Terry on this list. Still, having Brandon Bass listed on here does show that this team has some strength beyond the top four. Still, missing a guy who brings 19.9 points a game hurts.

Rockets Stats 08-09

Name	Yao Ming	Ron Artest	Luis Scola	Rafer Alston
Points Per Game	19.8	15.9	12.3	11.5
Rebounds Per Game	9.6	5.2	8.1	3.0
Assists Per Game	1.7	3.1	1.3	5.4
Blocks Per Game	1.7	0.3	0.1	0.2

The Rockets are missing Tracy McGrady. In comparison to the Mavericks Terry, Terry averages more points a game than Yao Ming. Still, McGrady puts up 15.6 points a game and averages 5 assists a game. I'm not really sure who I would prefer to have on my team, comparing the two. I know I would want Yao Ming over any center the Mavericks have right now. But that is beside the point.

Forecast: These two teams are 1-1 against each other this season. Both teams have won three of their last four, with the Mavericks loss coming against Boston and Houston's loss coming against Milwaukee. Boston has the #2 record in the NBA. Milwaukee is three games under 500 and seeded 8th in the Eastern Conference right now. The edge goes to Mavericks there. For whatever reason, my gut is saying the home team on this one. Houston has the fourth best home record in the West and seventh in the NBA. Not bad. Rockets take this one, 99-96.

Home Court

Game 57: Stars vs Oilers

I'm just going to jump right into things...

Dallas Stars Player Stats 08-09

Name	Mike Ribeiro	Loui Eriksson	Mike Modano	James Neal
Goals	13	27	14	18
Assists	37	16	23	11
Points	50	43	37	29
+/-	-7	+12	+2	-5

Brad Richards is out for six to eight weeks with a wrist injury. Brendon Morrow could return in the final week if there is a miracle. He says that it would be more likely to return during the playoffs, if the Stars make the playoffs. They are seeded sixth right now, but play an Oiler team who is seeded eighth currently. Of course, the absense of Richards changes the top four, adding Neal into the picture. Still not a bad group of guys.

Oilers Player Stats 08-09

Name	Ales Hemsky	Shawn Horcoff	Sheldon Souray	Tom Gilbert
Goals	18	13	15	3
Assists	32	25	21	31
Points	50	38	36	34
+/-	+2	+8	-6	+5

The Oilers are 2-1 this season against the Stars with Sheldon Souray leading the pack with 6 points. He has one goal and five assists. The Stars will need to watch him closely to change the trend around. The Stars won the first meeting between the two teams and the lost the next two leading into this game.

Goalie Comparrison

Name	Games (Starts)	Record	GAA	SV%
Marty Turco	53 (53)	27-19-7	2.81	.897
Dwayne Roloson	40 (40)	20-14-6	2.72	.916

Roloson is 1-0 against the Stars this season. The Stars won every match against the Oilers last season, according to ESPN.com. This game is the final meeting between the two teams in the regular season. It should be noted that Turco has still been playing good of late. Forecast: The Richards loss is puzzling. The Stars won against Columbus without Richards, but still, you would prefer to have Richards and Morrow on the ice if they were available. The Stars have responded well without key players. This game does have a direct impact on the standing, just like the previous game. I want to go with the Stars, but my gut tells me otherwise. Oilers take this away from the Stars, 3-2 in overtime. Johnny Out.

Home Ice

Game 53: Mavs vs. Nets

The Mavericks have gone 11-8 (31-21 overall) since my last post. They are ranked seventh in the West and wouldn't be considered a power team right now. They are ranked fourth in their division, which is led by San Antonio, followed by Houston, and then you find New Orleans in the middle, followed by this Mavericks team. The Nets are 24-29 and share the division with the Boston Celtics, which are having a superb season. Everyone is expecting a Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals again. I believe it could also have a Spurs and Cavaliers in the mix somewhere. Any four of those teams can make it to the Finals. But that doesn't have anything to do with this game.

Maverick Stats 08-09

Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Jason Terry	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd
Points Per Game	25.9	19.9	17.9	8.8
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	2.5	4.9	6.3
Assists Per Game	2.3	3.7	1.7	8.4
Blocks Per Game	0.75	0.32	0.57	0.58

It is interesting to see that majority of these numbers have slipped since the last post. Not much, really, but they have.

Net Stats 08-09

Name	Devin Harris	Vince Carter	Brook Lopez	Yi Jianlian
Points Per Game	21.8	20.8	12.3	10.5
Rebounds Per Game	3.2	5.1	8.1	6.2
Assists Per Game	6.5	4.9	0.8	1.2
Blocks Per Game	0.21	0.42	1.85	0.59

With this team being five games under, I can't believe they will hold up against the Mavericks. When I last posted on the Nets, most of these guys have slipped on their stats with the exception of Lopez. The Nets dropped two in a row and play the Rockets before they play the Mavericks. Playing back-to-back games is always tough for a team. And playing the Rockets followed by the Mavericks, well that doesn't sound easy at all.Forecast: Mavericks win this one due to a tired Nets team. Score: 101-92.

Home Court

Game 56: Stars at Columbus

The Stars seem to do better when I do not follow them. They are now ranked 6th in the west and have 61 points, putting them in a tie with Anaheim. The Stars have gone 11-5-2 since my last post on January 3rd. Needless to say, they have played some good games since I last posted on them. They are also tied in points with the Bluejackets. Three points seperate 5th place and 10th place. Wow, now that's close. Vancouver is 5th with 62 points, Edmonton is 9th with 60 points, and Minnesota is 10th with 59 points. The top four seem secure right now with 70 points or more.

Dallas Stars Player Stats 08-09

Name	Mike Ribeiro	Brad Richards	Loui Eriksson	Mike Modano
Goals	13	15	26	14
Assists	36	32	15	23
Points	49	47	41	37
+/-	-7	-3	+10	+2

The Stars look to have stronger players than the Blue Jackets. Nash is a big threat, but then so is Ribeiro and Richards. Eriksson makes a strong presense with a +10 and Modano is Modano... a legend in his own right.

Columbus Bluejackets Player Stats 08-09

Name	Rick Nash	Kristian Huselius	RJ Umberger	Jakub Voracek
Goals	23	16	17	8
Assists	28	24	13	19
Points	51	40	30	27
+/-	+7	-4	-6	+13

It's weird to have someone with 27 points be in the top four for a team this late in the season. Still, the guy is a +13, which says something about how well he plays when he is on the ice.

Goalie Comparrison

Name	Games (Starts)	Record	GAA	SV%
Marty Turco	52 (52)	26-19-7	2.83	.895
Steve Mason	36 (36)	21-12-2	2.06	.925

Steve Mason gave up three goals to the Stars in 11 minutes which was on January 31st. He got a no-decision in that game, as the Stars won that game 7-3. Mason has seven shutouts this season and a three game shutout streak to end out 2008. Turco had a five game winning streak at the end of January and one game into February. The Stars are winning with a formula of defense and scoring goals, with a 10 goal game against the NY Rangers. However, it should be noted the Stars are 1-2 in their last three and have scored only 4 goals during that time.Forecast: I like the Stars in this one. Why? Well, the three goals in 11 minutes against Mason. I think that trend will continue. Plus, this game has something riding on it in the standings. The Stars will step up against the Blue Jackets.

Home Ice

2009 Ranger Predictions

It's early. The Rangers haven't even played a pre-season game just yet.

Pre-Season Predictions

Predictor	Wins	Loses
Josh Hamilton	90	72
Nolan Ryan	86	76
Johnny Ray	82	80
Jenny Ray	70	92

I just want the Rangers to finish over 500... so I settled with a 82-80 record. Hosh Hamilton says the Rangers can even win 95 games this year, but I went with his lowest number, 90 wins. Jenny Ray, my wife, said she put the expectations low so that if the Rangers do better, see will be pleasantly surprised. I gave her a little "boo" when she told me 70 wins. Nolan Ryan says the Rangers should win at least eight more than last year, which they won 79 games... that give the Rangers 86 wins. If you have any guesses for the Rangers 2009 season, let me know. I can add them to the list. I need the quesstimate before the regular season starts.

Another Prediction

Possible Rotation

Position	Name
Ace	Kevin Millwood
#2	Vicente Padilla
#3	Matt Harrison
#4	Scott Feldman
#5	Brandon McCarthy
Long	Kason Gabbard
Set-Up	CJ Wilson
Closer	Frank Francisco

There can be some variations of this, but it looks like this would be the rotation going into the season. Eric Hurley would be in here, however, he is out for the season with an injury. Ben Sheets could figure in here later in the season if: the Rangers sign him. That would be the only requirement. Still, Paul Byrd is still out there, along with Pedro, Kenny Rogers, Mark Mulder, and Orlando Hernandez. Some of those names look better than others, but if signed, could be a spark in the rotation.

Possible Lineup

Position	Name
#1	Ian Kinsler, 2B
#2	David Murphy, LF
#3	Michael Young, 3B
#4	Josh Hamilton, CF
#5	Hank Blalock, DH
#6	Chris Davis, 1B
#7	Marlon Byrd, RF
#8	Saltalamacchia, C
#9	Elvis Andrus, SS

There are plenty of possiblities for this one. First off, Omar Vizquel could be in for shortstop instead of Elvis. Nelson Cruz and Brandon Boggs also figure in to be in the outfield... German Duran also figures in to be a utility infielder. Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez may grab some time at catcher. And that is just a few suggestions as to how things could pan out. There's one thing I also wanted to point out...

Yankee Cash

Player	Cost
AJ Burnett	82.5
Damaso Marte	12
Andy Pettitte	5.5
CC Sabathia	161
Mark Teixeira	180
TOTALS	441

Those figures are in Millions, of course. It's enough to make you sick. They also signed three other players to minor league contracts.

Home Plate

New York Yankees Sign the Dead

I really wouldn't put it past the Yankees to do these things.

Valentine's Day

Wow, I am excited that the Rangers start camp today. Maybe Ben Sheets will get a Ranger's jersey made sometime soon. Would it not be great to have Ben Sheets become a Ranger and take the hill mid to late season?
What I would like to see is the Rangers do well this year. I am only asking for a winning record. Late in the season, maybe I will raise the bar... but now, I just was a over 500 record.

Happy V-Day, everyone. Johnny Out.

Pictures of a Baseball

What is Important to Me

Well, a friend of mine asked for me to take a picture of something important to me. There was one restriction, which was it could not be a picture of family. So, what is important to me besides a relationship with God and my family? Well, friends and baseball. I figured friends would fall into the family catagory, so I took pictures of a baseball and then made a collage out of it. Here are two pictures that I made up for my friend:I think I am going to use the picture with the six pictures of the baseball.
I have many, many more pictures of this baseball... limiting it to just six or seven of the pictures I took made it a really difficult task to choose which pictures to use and which ones to not use. All in all, I took 21 pictures of a baseball in different locations and different angles. It was a fun little project. I will post more pictures of the baseball soon. Until then, enjoy.

Home Plate