2012 NBA Playoff Prediction Challenge

Here's how it works. In the comments, post your picks for the winner of every round in the playoffs, along with the number of games you think each will series will go. You get 5 points for a correct pick multiplied by the round number (so 5 for the first round, 10 for the second round, and so on). You get 2 bonus points for getting the right number of games in a series you also picked correctly. So in later rounds you don't need to pick the correct opponent to get the bonus points (i.e., I picked the Bulls over the Celtics in 6, and it ends up being Bulls over Hawks in 6, I would still get 12 points.)

Since we're in a truncated season, and there's such a quick turnaround between the regular season and playoffs, I'll give everyone until the end of the day Sunday to make your picks. So I guess you could wait and see what happens in game 1 of every series first, but don't be a Bosh like that.

Here are my picks:
Bulls over 76ers in 4
The Sixers have been one of the worst teams in the NBA lately, and then Evan Turner decided to run his mouth off saying they want the Bulls? He can backtrack all he wants, he still gave a team that feels constantly disrespected despite having the best record in the NBA bulletin board material. The Bulls could win this series with a starting 5 of JL3, TBN, JFB, White Mamba, and Turkish D, and I'm only being half-facetious here. I would really like to see that series. I bet it would go 7 games.

Heat over Knicks in 5
This series will be entertaining, and I think the Knicks can steal a game, but I think all the Heat's supposed vulnerabilities are going to go away come playoff time, and the Knicks will be overmatched.

Pacers over Magic in 5
The Magic are the only team in the playoffs I'd rather play than the Sixers. Who are the threats you need to worry about? Jameer Nelson and Ryan Anderson? I think I'd rather play the Magic than the Bucks, Nets, Rockets, or Suns.

Celtics over Hawks in 6
The Celtics worry me. They're playing well at just the right time (wrong time from a Bulls fan perspective.) They match up well with the Bulls, and if any of our secondary players don't show up for the series, it could be ugly. But these are second round problems, and we're talking about the first round. The Celtics have enough to handle the Hawks. Josh Smith will help by taking stupid shots. Also, Avery Bradley will shut Joe Johnson down, and Rondo is going to own Jeff Teague.

Spurs over Jazz in 6
I like the Jazz, I think this will be one of the more entertaining series of the first round. This is not the same Spurs team that got exposed by the Grizzlies last year though. They can score with anybody, and almost have an embarrassment of wing riches with Gary Neal and Kawhi Leonard, along with the usual suspects.

Thunder over Mavs in 6
I like Dirk to steal a couple games, but this is not the same Mavs team without Tyson Chandler and JJ Barea. It is, pretty much, the same Thunder team though.

Nuggets over Lakers in 7
The only real upset I have in the first round, I think the Nuggets style is going to be hard for the Lakers to handle. And I really like the George Karl- Mike Brown matchup for the Nuggets. I realize this pick might screw me over in the long run, but I'm making it anyway.

Grizzlies over Clippers in 5
Three words: Vinny. Del. Negro.

I'll break down the 2nd rounds when I actually know them. Here are the rest of my picks, for the record:
Bulls over Celtics in 7
Heat over Pacers in 5
Spurs over Grizzlies in 6
Thunder over Nuggets in 6

Bulls over Heat in 7
Thunder over Spurs in 6

Bulls over Thunder in 7
(Three straight game 7s. I predict a lot of stress in our future. Buckle up.)

NBA/NHL Pick Challenge Updates

I hope no one minds if I combine the two contests into one post. I'll start with the NBA:

Julia 85
Ball is Life 74
Andy 72
Sam 70
BJ 64
Tristan 63
Will 57
Katz 56
Conall 56
Neal 54
Rick Reilly 44

The order is set, Julia can blow us all out by even more if the Heat win the series.

NHL-

Tristan 41
Katz 38
Conall 25
Will 11

So it seems like it's close, but I have at least 10 points coming my way for having the conference finals right at the beginning of the playoffs, so I've basically got this one wrapped up. For posterity, though, I'm sticking with my original pick of Vancouver over Boston in 6 (although I will not be rooting for that).

NBA Playoff Pick Challenge Conference Finals Update

New standings:

Andy 72 (Bulls over Thunder)
Julia 70 (Heat over Spurs)
Sam 70 (Bulls over Lakers)
BJ 64 (Lakers over Bulls)
Tristan 63 (Bulls over Thunder)
Ball is Life 59 (Lakers over Heat)
Will 57 (Bulls over Thunder)
Katz 56 (Bulls over Lakers)
Conall 56 (Bulls over Thunder)
Neal 54 (Bulls over Thunder)
Rick Reilly 44 (Bulls over Lakers) I repeat: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So there are 8 possible outcomes, here are how they all play out :
Bulls over Thunder
1. Andy
2. Tristan
3. Will
Thunder over Bulls
1. Andy
2. Tristan
3. Will
Bulls over Mavs
1. Andy
2. Sam (Sam can tie if the ECF goes 7 or the finals goes 6, and win if both are correct)
3. Tristan
Mavs over Bulls
1. Andy
2. Sam (tie if ECF goes 7)
3. BJ
Heat over Thunder
1. Julia
2. Andy
3. Tristan
Thunder over Heat
1. Andy
2. Julia (can tie if the ECF goes 7)
3. Tristan
Heat over Mavs
1. Julia
2. Ball is Life
3. Andy
Mavs over Heat
1. Julia
2. Ball is Life
3. Andy

So it's basically down to Andy or Julia (unless Sam gets really lucky), and it basically comes down to the Bulls-Heat series. I'm in your corner on this one, Andy.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 3 Update

So due to the technical difficulties I had this weekend, I didn't get a chance to put this up before the conference finals started last night. So don't pick Boston to sweep. Here are the standings:

Katz 38
Tristan 26
Conall 25
Will 11

However, my finals pick is still alive in Vancouver-Boston. Everyone else's is out (Katz- Van-Chi, Conall- Phi-Ana, Will- Chi-Phi). So I'm down 12, but have 15 extra points on the board if it pans out.

Boston over TB in 7

I should have picked TB over Washington in the first place, since I picked the Bolts as my x-factor in the East early on. I had no idea how hot their O could get, though. But I still think Tim Thomas and the Bruins D can bounce back, and good D beats good O in the playoffs.

Vancouver over SJ in 6

A battle of teams that have both almost choked away a 3-0 series lead in these playoffs. I still think the Canucks are the most complete team in the playoffs, though, and should dispatch the Sharks fairly easily.

NBA Playoffs Round 2 Update

Hey, at least we don't have to make a second set of picks this time.

Standings, (finals pick in parentheses):

Julia 38 (Heat over Lakers)
Sam 36 (Bulls over Lakers)
BJ 34 (Lakers over Bulls)
Katz 34 (Bulls over Lakers)
Neal 34 (Bulls over Thunder) OKC- Por-Chi- Bos
Andy 32 (Bulls over Thunder) OKC- Dal-Chi- Mia
Tristan 29 (Bulls over Thunder) OKC- LA- Chi-Mia
Ball is Life 27 (Lakers over Heat)
Will 25 (Bulls over Thunder) OKC- Por-Chi-Mia
Conall 22 (Bulls over Thunder) OKC-LA-Chi-Mia
Rick Reilly 22 (Bulls over Lakers) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

A little analysis:
Julia- has a nice lead, but basically lives and dies with the Heat, but if Heat make it to the finals with anyone besides the Lakers, she's in good shape.
Sam and Katz- Separated by 2, and only have one different pick the rest of the way (Sam has the Heat, Katz has the Celtics). So the other is basically eliminated after that (unless Sam is perfect with the bonus points the rest of the way)
BJ and BiL- BiL doesn't have enough unique number of games to catch BJ if it's Lakers-Celtics or (God-forbid) Lakers-Hawks, so he needs Lakers over Heat at this point. Lakers over anyone else is all BJ.
Everyone with Bulls over Thunder- Neal needs Boston to win the next round to make up for having a little too much faith in the Blazers, and then it'll come down to bonus points with either me (with Lakers over Mavs) or Andy (vice-versa). The Blazers' ineptitude eliminates Will as well. Conall could be perfect from here on out and not catch me (direct all blame to New York).
Rick Reilly- Eliminated, thanks to jumping late on the Nuggets' bandwagon. Again: HAHAHAHA!

Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 Update

Here are the current standings:

Katz 21
Conall 20
Tristan 15
Will 11

Make your next round picks by tonight! That's when Vancouver and Nashville starts.

East
Washington over TB in 7
I think the Capitals are firing on all cylinders right now. I fully expect this to be a close, high-scoring series, but I think Ovi and company will pull it out.
Boston over Philly in 6
I know Boston needs to find some more offense somewhere, but I've decided that I'm going to mostly go with the better goalie in these picks, and Tim Thomas is doing his thing right now.
West
Vancouver over Nashville in 6
Again, better goalie, as I think Borat is as good as any goalie in the league when he's not playing the Blackhawks.
Detroit over San Jose in 5
Sorry, Niemi, I still don't have faith in the team in front of you, and Detroit has found another gear in these playoffs. I think they keep it up.

NBA Pick Challenge

Alright, here's the one you've been waiting for.

Finally a league that doesn't reseed, and we can pick every round in advance, then sit back and enjoy. Scoring is 5 points times the round, so 5-10-15-20, for you non-math-minded folk. Also pick how long every series will last for 2 bonus points. As there's an excellent chance everybody will pick a similar champion whose name rhymes with the schmicago pulls, it will probably come down to bonus points. You need to get the team correct in order to get the bonus points, but in later rounds, the team they beat does not necessarily have to be correct. (for example, you picked the Lakers over the Spurs in 6 for the western conference finals, and the Lakers end up beating the Thunder in 6, you still get the bonus points.)

Make your picks in the comments by Saturday morning. I'm way too tired right now to provide analysis, but it's coming later.

Round 1 West

Spurs over Grizzlies in 7
Thunder over Nuggets in 7
Blazers over Mavs in 6
Lakers over Hornets in 6

Round 1 East

Bulls over Pacers in 4
Magic over Hawks in 6
Celtics over Knicks in 6
Heat over Sixers in 5

Round 2 West
Thunder over Spurs in 7
Lakers over Blazers in 6

Round 2 East

Bulls over Magic in 6
Heat over Celtics in 6

Conference Finals

Thunder over Lakers in 6
Bulls over Heat in 7

Finals

Bulls over Thunder in 6

Stanley Cup Playoffs Pick Challenge

Somehow I suspect this contest will be less popular than the one that will go up later in the week...

I debated between doing this contest like I traditionally do the basketball one (5 points per winner x the round number, 2 points for getting the number of games right.) But since the NHL reseeds after each round, you could have your conference finalists playing in the 2nd round. I don't want to do it like the NFL one though, since we should still have the fun of picking the number of games in each series. So here's the compromise.

First round: 3 points per correct winner, 1 bonus point per correct number of games (winner needs to be right to earn bonus point)
Second round: 5 points per correct winner, 1 bonus point per blah blah blah...
Third round: 7 points per correct winner, 1 bonus point
Finals: 10 points, 1 bonus point

I like this since it allows the opportunity to come back in the later rounds even if you don't do great in the beginning. In addition, make your cup final picks now. 10 bonus points for picking the winner correctly, 5 for picking the correct loser (but you get 5 if your winner makes it but loses. If you somehow get the right teams in the finals but the wrong team wins, you get 10. So it's really like 5 for the two entrants in the finals, and 5 for the winner, I guess.)

Anyways, make your first round picks and your cup finals pick in the comments. If you don't sign in through gmail first, make sure to put your name somewhere in the comment. If you want to make all your picks now, that's fine, just don't come crying to me when you leave points on the table later.

My picks:

Capitals over Rangers in 6 (I was tempted, but I think the Capitals will get the playoff monkey off their back this time)
Flyers over Sabres in 5 (Flyers seem like a better team than the one we beat last year, I don't think they'll have trouble yet...)
Bruins over Canadiens in 6 (I like what I've seen from the Bruins this year. I haven't seen as many Eastern Conference games as I have Western, but every time I watch the Bruins I see a team that plays simply and doesn't make mistakes.)
Lightning over Penguins in 6 (I think the Lightning are the wildcard of the East, could get hot and just mess everything up)

Canucks over Hawks in 5 (I don't care how many voodoo dolls we shake in Luongo's direction, have you seen anything over the course of the last month that indicates we're capable of taking 4 from the best team in the NHL? I haven't. Hope I'm wrong.)
Kings over Sharks in 7 (Don't think the Sharks get their playoff monkey off their back. And I have a feeling about this Kings team, at least until they run up against the Canucks.)
Coyotes over Red Wings in 6 (Despite today's result, still don't have a lot of faith in the Red Wings, either. I feel like they're a team going in the wrong direction.)
Ducks over Preds in 5 (The Ducks are hot. A Canucks-Ducks Western Conference Final could be the Bulls-Heat of the NHL)

Stanley Cup pick: Canucks over Bruins.

Chitown-Sports Pick Challenge Super Bowl Update

Sorry this took so long. It's taken a little time to recover. Here are the point totals:

Will 9 (3 for the Steelers making the Super Bowl. As he picked them to lose, he can't get more than 3, but he pretty much seals the win, as no one else picked either team.)
Neal 5
Asher 5 (for the record, Asher got his picks of the Bears and Steelers in by phone prior to the games)
Julia 4
Katz 4
Tristan 3
GDubbs 3
Sam 3
Graham 3
BJ 2
Louis 1

So Will is the inaugural chitown-sports pick champion. If you still want to make your picks for posterity, feel free to below.

Steelers over Packers

Partially out of spite, and partially because the Steelers defense is just as solid as the Bears D is, so I expect much of the Super Bowl to look like the 2nd half of the NFC championship game, except Ben Roethlisberger is significantly better than Caleb Hanie.

Chitown-Sports NFL Pick Challenge Update 2

Well, my Super Bowl pick is shot, but that's obviously priority #8million right now. Bears! Packers! For the chance to go to the Super Bowl! And maybe play the Jets there! (But I'm getting ahead of myself.)

Current Standings, and next to it each person's Super Bowl pick (and potential remaining points. Everyone has 3 prp for the next three games, then it depends on your Super Bowl pick)

Will 5 Bears-Steelers (11 prp)
Julia 4 Patriots-Falcons (3 prp)
Asher 4 Pats-Bears (6 prp)
Katz 3 Bears-Colts (8 prp)
Neal 3 Patriots- Saints (3 prp)
Tristan 3 Patriots-Falcons (3 prp)
GDubbs 3 Patriots-Falcons (3 prp)
Sam 3 Colts-Bears (6 prp)
Graham 3 Patriots-Falcons (3 prp)
BJ 2 Patriots- Eagles (3 prp)
Louis 1 Patriots-Saints (3 prp, assuming he actually makes some picks this round)

Don't we all now wish we had more faith in the Bears? Good job, Will and Katz.

My Picks:

Bears over Packers

I mean, its not like I was going to be picking against the Bears anyway, but here are the reasons why I think the Bears stand a chance next Sunday (and not just because there's going to be some birthday magic coming my way.)
1. Cutler is looking good. He's been getting rid of the ball quickly, making good reads, pulling it down and running when the opportunity presents itself, and most importantly not forcing the ball into triple coverage. It looked like the one dumb pass this afternoon might have been Hester's fault, but other than that he couldn't have been better today.
2. The defense is working at 100%, and while our biggest defensive weakness (Tim Jennings) is exploitable, the Packers won't be running the ball anywhere and hopefully the Bears can afford to roll some coverage help his way.
3. The field conditions should work in the Bears favor. As long as Martz plays it smart and keeps the ball on the ground with Forte, the Bears should win field position battles all day (Hester will help with that as well.) Just don't try to make it a Cutler vs. Rodgers shootout, Martz. We can't win that.

Jets over Steelers

The story of the afternoon game will undoubtedly be "what happened to the Patriots," but give the Jets credit. They harassed Tom Brady all day, and he still has one of the best offensive lines in the league. The Steelers line? Not so much. Ben will be lucky to have any time at all. Of course, the reverse will be true as well, since the Steelers will get a lot more pressure on Sanchez than he faced today, but I think in a battle of defenses, I like the Jets a little more.

Remember to make your picks by the start of the Bears game Sunday (coughLouiscough)

Chitown Sports NFL Pick Challenge Update

So 3 out of the underdogs win this weekend...just not the one I chose. Crap.

The good news is the Bears get the Seahawks, who are still a game below .500 on the year. The bad news is the Seahawks looked the best out of the 4 NFC teams that played this weekend, and have already beaten us once this year. Great. Although I am starting to think a Bears-Packers NFC Championship Game on my birthday is destined to happen.

Current Standings:

Julia 3
Will 2
Graham 2
Asher 2
Katz 2
GDubbs 1
BJ 1
Louis 1
Neal 1
Tristan 0
Sam 0

My picks for this weekend, which you should obviously pick the opposite of.

Steelers over Ravens (The Ravens might keep winning just to spite me, but I think the Steelers have a little too much firepower for them)
Packers over Falcons (I know I'm going against my own Super Bowl pick here, but I really feel like Bears-Packers is going to happen.)
Bears over Seahawks (The Bears are playing much better than they did when they lost earlier in the season. And I can't believe the Bears D can play nearly as bad as the Saints D did yesterday. Against Tom Brady, maybe, but not against Hasselbeck.)
Patriots over Jets (Belichick doesn't lose games like this.)

Make your picks before the first game Saturday to be eligible for 2nd round points. If you picked the next two rounds in advance, you can go back and change them if you want, but your Super Bowl pick is locked in. And get ready for my awesome comeback.

Chi-Town Sports Football Picks Challenge

Here be the rules:

Make your Super Bowl pick in the comments below. 5 points for getting the winner right, 3 points for getting the loser right (even if you picked them to win, so if I pick Saints over Ravens, and the Saints lose to the Colts, I get 3 points.) 2 point bonus if you get both teams correct. In addition, pick each game of each weekend (no spread, just straight up winner). You get one point for each game you get correct. You don't have to be an oracle for this one, you can wait until after you know the matchups to make a pick. For example, here's mine:

Super Bowl Pick: Patriots over Falcons (sorry to pick the chalk, picking any other team just didn't sit right.)

This weekend:
Colts over Jets (If Cutler can pick apart the Jets for 38, Manning should be good for 70, easy.)
Saints over Seahawks (Even if we were doing the spread, I would still take the Saints -10.5)
Chiefs over Ravens (Ravens are overrated.)
Eagles over Packers (I think Vick will put the Eagles on his back in this one.)

Make your picks before the first game starts at 3:30 tomorrow to be eligible.