NY OTA's

Giants:

Although the Giants have won 2 Superbowls in recent memory, they have struggled in the other years. The team fired offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and hired Ben McAdoo from Green Bay, the first major firing of someone who was part of the championships. McAdoo brings a simple offense that is far less reliant on option routes. They lacked depth at the receiver position, and Cruz and Nicks missed time in the offseason last year. This led to a lack of continuity with the offense. The new offense will likely improve the fate of the offense because Manning will have a better idea of where his receivers are, but it is still new terminology to learn. This may have a negative impact in the short term. Although they lost Nicks to the Colts, drafting Odell Beckham Jr. with the 12^th pick was a nice pickup. The LSU receiver is smaller than Nicks, but he is faster and could potentially be a better playmaker. He will flourish in this offense if he stays healthy. The o-line will be better because McAdoo didn’t have much talent in Green Bay either, but the running game needs to take a huge step forward. I was never a fan of David Wilson even before the fumbles, and the fact that Peyton Hillis is still on the team indicates a problem at the position. Drafting Boston College rookie RB Andre Williams in the fourth round could be a steal, but he must be used as a prototypical power back. Despite being a Heisman finalist, he fell due to his inability to catch passes/run routes.

The defense will look different this year, in both names and philosophy. They notably lost defensive linemen Justin Tuck and Linval Joseph, leading to opportunity for second year players Johnathan Hankins and Damontre Moore. They signed Robert Ayers from Denver, who had a solid 29 combined tackles and 5.5 sacks last year. The secondary added Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from Denver and Walter Thurmond from Seattle. This should improve the secondary, which was never stellar due to the Giants’ d-line obsessed system. More will be asked of the linebackers and secondary, which can only have positive effects.

Jets:

Coming into the season for the Jets, the biggest question is whether or not the offense can take the next step.  The QB battle between Geno Smith and Michael Vick is intriguing, as well as the acquisitions of WR Eric Decker and RB Chris Johnson. Adding Johnson makes the Jets running attack one of the best in the league. They were sixth in the league in rushing last season, and now they have a legit 3-headed monster with Johnson, Bilal Powell, and Chris Ivory. The receivers have been a problem for a while now, with Jeremy Kerley being the only one who showed promise. Decker put up gaudy numbers last year, but he was playing with Peyton Manning. One can hope that this experience will bring high football I.Q. to the team, but he is limited physically. Rookie WR Shaquelle Evans from UCLA could end up being a factor. Stephen Hill has been a complete non-factor, having only 44 receptions and 4 touchdowns in 2 years. Rookie TE Jace Amaro from Texas Tech will be the x-factor for this offense if they have one. He was widely considered to be the second best receiving TE in the draft behind Eric Ebron, but he fell to the second round nonetheless. The TE position will be huge for the passing game, especially since Jeff Cumberland took positive strides as well.

Rex Ryan coached teams always have great defenses, and last year was an example. They were 11^th in overall defense, but third in rushing yards allowed. Their front seven was unstoppable, stacked with stars like Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, Quinton Coples, David Harris, and Calvin Pace. They still struggle in the secondary, however, and they seemingly could have done more to fix it. Drafting FS Calvin Pryor from Louisville in the first round was huge, but the cornerback position is still suspect. They need Dee Milliner to take a huge step in his second year, but the Jets have zero depth at the position. Kyle Wilson has never become great, and acquisitions like Ras-I Dowling will not have much effect. The Jets are much better than people give them credit for, but not quite good enough to overtake New England atop the AFC East.

NBA Finals 2014

Courtesy of Inner-City Newspaper

The Finals are here, and hopefully they are better than the Conference Finals. The Heat took care of Indiana pretty easily, while the Spurs eventually emerged over the Thunder in the ultimate see-saw series. LeBron James now has a long history against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, facing them in the Finals for the third time. This is a rematch of the Finals from last year, which was one of the most entertaining in recent memory. This year will not be as close, however.

The Heat have two ball dominant players like OKC, but they do not solely rely on them. The Thunder won a lot of games based on the talent of Durant and Westbrook, but the role players usually became non-existent. The Heat gets contributions from their role players, even if they do not appear on the stat sheet. It may be a drive by Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole, a screen by Birdman or Udonis Haslem, or a 3-point shot by Battier or Allen. Everyone touches the ball, making them tough to defend. 

Kawhi Leonard is going to make the difference in how much of a chance the Spurs have to win. Leonard is averaging 13.3 ppg in the playoffs, which is a huge improvement over recent years. Despite his newfound offense, Leonard’s defensive prowess is why he will likely have to guard LeBron James most of the time. This will make it hard for Leonard to have energy on both sides of the court. He offense is paramount because of how much the Spurs need Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili offensively. Parker is not 100% physically, and Ginobili disappeared in the Finals last year. Chris Bosh is averaging an impressive 15.2 ppg and has a better 3-point % than LeBron in the playoffs, but he can disappear during stretches of games. Due to the system Spurs coach Gregg Popovich runs, the scoring gets spread around evenly. No one averages more than 20 ppg, but Parker, Duncan, Ginobili, Leonard, and Boris Diaw are all averaging double-digits. Their next four scorers are Danny Green (9.3), Tiago Splitter (7.9), Patty Mills (6.5), and Marco Belinelli (5.7). 

I felt all along that if this rematch happened, it would come down to who was healthier between Parker and Dwyane Wade. The answer still remains to be seen, but Wade appears to have the edge. He has been playing stellar basketball in these playoffs, so it will be interesting to see how much he has left in the tank. San Antonio has the clear size advantage, averaging almost 10 more rebounds per game than Miami. But Miami has the ability to do what hurt the Spurs most against OKC, which is getting out in transition. The Spurs age will show late in the series.

There is a reason teams do not three-peat. There is a reason teams do not appear in the finals four straight years. The physical tolls these playoff runs take are unbearable, and the Heat is basically the same team they were in 2011. Coach Erik Spoelstra wisely managed Wade’s minutes during the regular season, although doing so may have cost them the one-seed. It is paying dividends now, because Wade is the reason they are here. Rashard Lewis has emerged as an important defender for Miami, despite being an afterthought the last two years. The real key to this series is what I mentioned before: transition points. The Spurs overcame this against the Thunder because they knew they would eventually be able to coax Durant and Westbrook into making mistakes. The Heat will not make these mistakes because their stars are champions, and their role players can pick up the slack. The Spurs came so close last year because Wade did not play well. LeBron seems to be more focused than ever, possibly because this team can become a dynasty if they win. Everyone knows what to expect from LeBron, so the success of the Heat depends on everyone else. When Wade is clicking, they are impossible to stop. Although common sense says the Heat should be exhausted, I am picking them. Miami wins in 6.

Photos courtesy of bleacherreport.com