The Golden State Warriors, and Houston Rockets, will play a seven game series for a trip to the NBA Finals, and a chance to play either the Celtics or Cavaliers.
The Rockets are coming off of two series that they won handily in five games a piece. These series were against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz.
The Warriors also played two five game series against the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orlean Pelicans. The Rockets will have home court advantage in this series after finishing the regular season with the best record in the entire NBA. This means that should the series go seven games, the Rockets will play the last game at home.
The Warriors were happy to get Stephen Curry back in game two, of the second round, against the Pelicans. Curry has had some very good games in this last round, including a 28 point performance in his return to the lineup.
The Rockets are still reveling in their acquisition of Chris Paul this offseason.
This last offseason was all about dethroning the Warriors. Teams like the Thunder acquired stars in order to compete with the Warriors super team, of course the Thunder’s “super team” was not very super as they were knocked out in round one by the Utah Jazz.
The Celtics acquired Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who has been injured for the playoffs, and the whole year, respectively. The Celtics still managed to make the Eastern Conference finals, and may be the favorites if not for their injuries.
It is very likely that this Western Conference Finals champion will be the NBA Finals champion, as the Cavs do not have the talent to defeat either the Warriors or Rockets, and the Celtics would would need their players to magically heal right now.
The Warriors are looking to win their second straight championship, and their third championship in four years. And the Rockets are looking to win their first since the mid 90s, when Hakeem Olajuwon was the best player in the league (remember that Jordan was retired).
After everything that has happened to the city of Houston this year, the people there deserve a championship. Will the Rockets win? Will the Warriors go back-to-back? We will have to wait, but let’s hope it’s worth is.
With the beginning of the NBA Playoffs, there are teams just happy to make the playoffs, contenders for the Larry O’Brien trophy, and some unfamiliar dark horses.
Looking specifically at the Eastern Conference, starting with the matchup of the #1 seed Toronto Raptors vs. the #8 Washington Wizards. With hopes of winning the conference and moving on the Finals with a top five offense and a top five defense the Raptors are well coached and have a solid bench. The Wizards, although an 8 seed, have quite a lot of talent with John Wall running the show, and Bradley Beal topping the scoring table most nights at the shooting guard position. The Wizards were lacking offensive chemistry, and consistent communication on defense: Toronto won, 4-2.
Next, the #2 seeded Boston Celtics were matched up with the #7 Milwaukee Bucks boasting the “Greek Freak,” MVP candidate, Giannis Antetokounmpo. With the young stars of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with the veteran Al Horford, the Celtics were able to consistently score on the Bucks. Defending, however, was a far more difficult task. Antetokounmpo was finding ways to the hoop and kicking out to his shooters, Kris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon. Excellent coaching and hard-nosed defense enabled the Celtics to overcome a valiant effort from the Bucks for a 4-3 series victory.
Next, there was the matchup of the #3 seeded Philadelphia 76ers vs. the #6 seeded Miami Heat. With a top 5 defense, the Miami Heat gave the 76ers some toruble in games 2, 4, and 5, otherwise, Philadelphia cruised through and ended the Heat’s Cinderella story with the addition of experienced star Dwyane Wade late in the season.
Finally, the #4 seeded Cavaliers played the #5 seeded Indiana Pacers. This was the most interesting, gripping, intriguing series of them all. While the Cavs have the best player on the planet, and arguably the best player of all-time, Lebron James, the rest of the team was struggling quite mightily. The defense was out of sorts, and the marksmen of the team had not been hitting the net consistently after the All-Star break.
The Pacers, however, had been on a roll and everything was falling into place at the perfect time. Consequently, they were giving the Cavs lots of problems with the size of Myles Turner inside, the three point shooting of CJ Myles, Victor Oladipo, and the expert facilitation from the lightning quick Darren Collison.
Lebron had to put the Cavs on his back in order to beat the Pacers, and that he did: averaging 34.4 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Lebron almost single-handedly, with the help of Kevin Love late in the series, advanced the Cavs in a grueling seven game series.
Well, the Browns managed to mess up their draft again. The Browns are gaining a track record of drafting quarterbacks who have off the field problems. The Browns drafted Johnny Manziel only a few years ago. Manziel is still trying to work his way back into the NFL. The Browns could have easily taken running back, Saquon Barkley, with the first pick and taken Mayfield three picks later.
The New York Giants ended up getting Barkley, from Penn State. Barkley has wowed the NFL scouts with his combination of speed and cutting ability. Running backs in the NFL now have to be able to block, run, and receive passes. This is why Barkley will make a great NFL player.
One of the biggest stories in the draft was the potential selection of a one handed linebacker. Shakeem Griffin was drafted in the 5th round by the Seattle Seahawks. It just so happens that his brother is also playing for the Seahawks. Griffin has been through a lot. If he had been born with two hands, he might have been a first round pick. If I know anything about Griffin, it is that his low draft selection will only fuel his in his future career.
The NFL Draft is always very interesting, but the best part of this year’s draft was probably when the Eagles’ former kicker stood in front of Cowboys fan and pointed out to them that the last time they (the Cowboys) won a Super Bowl, the current draft format was not even in existence. Sports are fueled by competition, and sparking more hatred from the Cowboys fans may be the best way to insure that you will lose to them the next season.
The draft is over, and I for one am ready to see the season start back up. We have an interesting new crop of rookies, and with any luck they will add some intruding to this already interesting season.
I have been playing golf on the Highland Park Varsity team since 7th grade, and I’ve lettered each year. Our team has also won conference 4 times since I have been on the team. I have had the privilege to be coached by Gary Podus, who has been the Highland Park golf coach for over 40 years. He has helped me become a better golfer with his instruction and guidance. As a team, Highland Park has done very little in sections, and I, as an individual, have never made it past sections.
This winter I have been hard at work trying to better the weaker parts of my game. I have been asking my uncle, Cameron Beckman, a former PGA tour pro, and a 3-time PGA tour winner, for advice and guidance. I have been asking him for advice on my putting and short game, as this is the area I feel I am the weakest, and where I feel I lose the most strokes.
Other than Highland Park golf, I am a junior member at Southview Country Club. I have been a part of the club since the summer of 2013, and it has helped me improve my game immensely. I have worked with the Assistant Golf Professional, Will Drestch, for the past two summers. I plan to work with him more this summer before I head off to Saint John’s next fall. He has helped me with my weight shift, in my golf swing, and to achieve better body rotation through my golf swing.
As of now, I am currently a 10.5 Handicap. I mainly base this off of my scores at Southview Country Club and Highland National Golf Course. I am going to work hard to lower my handicap this summer. My goal is to have a 3 Handicap by the time I am at Saint John’s this summer. It may be a lofty goal, but through determination and hard work, I believe I can achieve it.
The Highland Park track team has had 2 outdoor meets so far, and have done a good job in both.
photo courtesy of David
Highland’s first outdoor track meet was at Roseville High School. It was a good track meet; everybody did their best. Sprinters, long distance, jumpers, and throwers did as much as they could. Everyone was showing good sportsmanship, shaking the runners hands after a race, or the jumpers hand after a good jump. Since that was the first track meet, everyone was kind of rusty. Highland placed 5th out of 8 schools overall.
Highland’s recent meet was at Harding High School; Highland competed against Harding and Como. Highland’s boys and girl came out on top with the boys earning 85 points, and the girls earning 96 points. Harding came in 2nd place, and Como Park took 3rd. Each Highland team had the fastest results in each event including the: sprinters, distance, hurdles, relays, long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot put, and discus throw.
This year’s badminton season started on March 9th, with 40 girls joining the team. The team consists of experienced players, along with new players. Most girls are freshmen, with seniors making up the smallest part of the team. The team has new singles players, and old doubles players, who have played on the team the year before. The team is split up into 3 different teams; varsity, junior varsity, and exhibition. Varsity is where the most experienced players are, and goes down from that to Junior Varsity, and Exhibition.
Practice starts at 2:20PM everyday until 4:00PM. Before going right into practice, the girls circle up and then do stretches. The stretches consist of push ups, bicycles, and running back and forth across the gym. During practice, players focus on new skills and work on getting better.
To figure out the lineup for matches, Mrs. Kramer and Mr. Chapman (coaches) hold challenges where people can challenge someone who is above them in line, to see if they can go up. The challenges are the same as an actual badminton match, you have to win 2 out of 3 games, depending on if you need to play 3 games. Each game is to 21 points, but the winner has to be 2 points ahead to be able to count it as a win.
Before going into conference matches, the coaches make non-conference matches so the new players will have a sense of what conference matches are like. Then, on the following week, conference matches start. So far, Varsity has won 2 out of 6 matches, and Junior Varsity has won 4 out of 4.
The coaches’ thoughts on this year’s team is that, everyone is hard working and dedicated, and they show up to practice everyday. They also come to just have fun and experience an athletic sport. The girls’ hopes for this year is to bring more wins, and to improve.
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