10 Things the Knicks Need to Do to Beat the Celtics

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Red Sox wake up, take series from Yankees

(photo courtesy of boston.com)

After scoring 16 runs in their first six games this season, the Boston Red Sox lineup finally came alive against Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and C.C. Sabathia, scoring 17 runs in the three-game set at Fenway and taking two of three games against New York.

Hitting Hughes, whose fastball has been ordinary in two starts so far this season, and Nova, who is in his first full major-league season, is no real accomplishment. That's especially true considering the Yankees bullpen came in and shut down Boston's lineup in game two once Nova was pulled.

Making Sabathia work, however, is a great sign for the Red Sox. Sabathia labored through 5.2 innings, throwing 118 pitches, allowing nine hits and walking four batters. Boston worked the count against the Yankees ace and got him out of the game before the seventh inning, allowing them to load the bases and score twice against Joba Chamberlain in the seventh.

The Yankees were able to beat up on John Lackey and Clay Buchholz in the first two games, but couldn't solve Josh Beckett in the rubber match. Beckett allowed just three baserunners in eight innings and struck out 10, a far cry from his struggles against New York in recent seasons, especially at Fenway.

Am I worried about the Yankees' bats? In a word, no. They scored at least four runs in their first eight games and were missing Alex Rodriguez in the middle of their lineup. I'm far more worried about the rotation behind Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, who has pitched surprisingly well in his two starts this season and has kept the walks to a minimum (11 innings, three BB).

It's still early in the season and it may just be a case of Hughes needed to get his arm completely loosened up, but the Yankees need him to be productive. They should be able to score enough runs during the regular season to withstand average starts from Hughes, Nova and Freddy Garcia but come playoff time, New York cannot have just two starters pitching well, especially since Burnett is no lock for consistency.

Like the Yankees, Boston has rotation issues behind ace Jon Lester. Lackey and Buchholz both struggled this weekend and while Beckett threw well, he's as much of a guarantee as Burnett in New York. Daisuke Matsuzaka has proven he's no more than a fourth or fifth starter.

The AL East will be a hitting-heavy division this season if the first week-and-a-half of the season is any indication. That still favors New York and Boston in the long run, but Toronto's lineup is dangerous and if Baltimore's young pitchers continue to throw well, they may be able boast the division's best rotation. Could the AL East be more interesting this season than people expected?

Is it time for the 0-6 Red Sox to panic?

(photo courtesy of bostonherald.com)

I saw a statistic on ESPN yesterday that said after the Red Sox 0-6 start, their projected win total dropped from around 95 to 86. The same computer decreased their chances of making the playoffs from approximately 66 percent to 36 percent. I know that simulation takes into account the fact that their current struggles make future success less likely, but those numbers seem drastic.

Through six games, most thought a team like Boston would be 4-2, much like the Yankees. Through six games, they have four fewer wins than "projected." So I ask, how does that drop their win total for the season by nine games?

I understand that they can't hit. And outside of Jon Lester's sterling start yesterday, their pitching has also struggled. But anybody who knows baseball realizes that this team isn't going to stay down for long. Not after picking up two of the top five players at their respective positions in the offseason (1B Adrian Gonzalez and OF Carl Crawford).

Starting in a little over an hour, Boston will play host to the Yankees for a three-game series at Fenway Park. Let's say they win two out of three games to climb to 2-7. New York will be 5-4, three games ahead with 153 games to play. If New York goes 85-68 to get to 90 wins, Boston needs to go 88-65 to tie the Yankees.

What I'm really trying to say is that this 0-6 start isn't half the big deal people are making it out to be. As a Yankees fan, I love to see Boston struggle. But they still scare me. Teams have made up three games in the standings in the final week of a season before, who's to say Boston can't do it in five-and-a-half months.

For comparison's sake, if this was football the Red Sox would be down big at halftime of their FIRST GAME. Because the baseball season is so long, an 0-6 start really doesn't doom a team and represents less than 1/25 of the entire season. So why the panic?

The Boston lineup will be fine, there's no doubt in my mind about that. So will Jon Lester and to a lesser extent, Clay Buchholz. But John Lackey? Josh Beckett? Daisuke Matsuzaka? Those three are legitimate reasons to worry for Red Sox fans, but the Yankees have similar issues at the back end of their rotation.

If Boston gets swept at home by New York to fall to 0-9, then there may be some reason to panic. A seven-game lead after the season's first nine games is a much bigger hole than three or four, particularly when the team you're chasing is just as good if not better on paper.

For anybody who was wondering, I don't count the Orioles as a legitimate threat. Their young pitching has been superb so far and guys like Zach Britton, Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta come with high upside. But let's not forget how good the Blue Jays were early last season, only to fall off as the season wore on.

There's a good reason the AL East is arguably the best division in baseball year in and year out and Baltimore will find out that it's hard to stay at the top when you have to deal with the Yankees and Red Sox all season.

Even with an 0-6 start, Boston is likely to end up near the top of this division with the Yankees in the end. The only question is whether they can overtake them or clinch a Wild Card berth in the American League. But it's way too early for Sox fans to panic, as much as I love to see turmoil in Boston.

What to make of the Mets?

(photo courtesy of nj.com)

Through five games, the Mets are tied for second in the NL East with the Marlins at 3-2. They won two of three games against Florida in their opening series, boucing back from an Opening Day loss to win the last two.

Mike Pelfrey started on Opening Day with Johan Santana on the DL and many thought his success last season would lead to the former first-round pick taking another step forward this season. The early returns have not been promising.

The Mets are 0-2 when Pelfrey starts and 3-0 when anybody else starts. It's a small sample size, but he's allowed at least five earned runs in both of his 2011 starts and is coming off a two-inning, eight-hit, six-run debacle in Philadelphia. Pelfrey was much better at home (2.83 ERA) last season than on the road (4.95 ERA) and not coincidentally, both of his starts this season have been away from pitcher-friendly Citi Field.

Jonathon Niese, R.A. Dickey and new addition Chris Young all pitched well in between Pelfrey's starts, with Niese and Dickey picking up where they left off last season. Young was in trouble in almost every inning but has always been a pitcher who puts runners on base and makes pitches when it counts. Citi Field will help him put together a solid season barring health, which is always the concern with him.

The bullpen has been solid so far, allowing just seven runs in 19.2 innings and despite Francisco Rodriguez blowing his lone save opportunity so far, the Mets rallied to win that game in extra innings behind David Wright, who is hitting .364 with one home run, five RBI and a .962 OPS early in the season.

Ike Davis leads the team with a .368 batting average and should improve on his rookie numbers, while Willie Harris has been a surprising early-season contributor in place of the injured Jason Bay. Carlos Beltran has struggled so far, but that is no surprise while he works his way back to full-time duty.

Overall, I've been slightly impressed with what I've seen from the Mets so far, with the obvious exception of Pelfrey. Why the Mets inexplicably chose over Andrew McCutchen in 2005 because they thought Lastings Milledge (ha!) was a better version of McCutchen I will never know. When you're wrong, you're wrong.

This team showed some fight last night climbing back from Pelfrey's 7-0 deficit to tie the game in the fifth, but lost the lead right back and couldn't recover. Either way, it's nice to see a team many project for nothing show the heart to fight against the big, bad Phillies.

Most people think the Mets major competition this year will be the Nationals - for last in the NL East. I think they are far better than Washington and could even beat out the Marlins for third in the division. I don't think they can outpace Philadelphia or Atlanta, but this team has a shot to beat last year's 79-83 record and finish above .500.

Five reasons the Knicks want the Heat in round one

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Butler dooms themselves with record-setting shooting woes

(photo courtesy of nytimes.com)

Last night's national championship game may have been the ugliest in NCAA history, dating back to the prehistoric days before the three-pointer and pure athleticism dominated the game. Butler shot under 19 percent and made just three two-point field goals all game! Pathetic.

There was something about this Connecticut team heading into the tournament that intrigued a lot of people, me included. They came off a historic conference tournament run to win the Big East, the nation's best conference.

If you disagree with that statement, understand that Connecticut was 9-9 in conference play, finished ninth in the Big East and won a national title. They were 17-0 this season in games against non-Big East opponents.

Butler had another great run as an under-seeded mid-major and Brad Stevens, Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack and the rest of the Bulldogs deserve a lot of credit. They just ran into a more talented team that could match their will to win.

They also ran into a team with a bonafide superstar in Kemba Walker. I wrote in my tournament preview that Walker was the type of player that could carry an otherwise average team deep in the tournament, a la Carmelo Anthony and Stephen Curry. Lo and behold, he made me look smart.

Walker shot just 5-for-19, but this was the first time this tournament Butler had to worry about a player of his caliber. Neither Old Dominion, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Florida or VCU had a player who could dominate like Walker.

Despite his struggles, Walker showed how important stars are in the game of basketball, maybe moreso in college with the talent disparity being greater than it is in the NBA. I like Jeremy Lamb but outside of him, the Huskies lack scoring alongside Walker. Butler did a good job defensively making Walker work for shots, but that left other players open to do some damage.

Connecticut's role players did enough to win, but if Butler could have shot even 30 percent from the field they would have won this game. Their defense was outstanding but even if you hold a team in the 50's, you still need to score that much yourself. Their lack of a superstar on offense (sorry Matt Howard, you proved why you're not a pro) cost them when it mattered most.

That's not to take anything away from the Bulldogs, who had another great run. With the way they defend, this is a team built for March Madness and if they continue to recruit guys who will work defensively and make plays, they will continue to outperform their seed come tournament time.

Until they find that one big-time offensive player (like Gordon Hayward last season) to make their title dreams come true, they will continue to fall short. Defense takes you far in March, but you still need to put the ball in the basket. Last night Butler couldn't, and that was the ultimate downfall of the underdog.

Teixeira's homer binge propels Yanks to 2-1 start

(photo courtesy of newyork.cbslocal.com)

To say Mark Teixeira struggled last April would be an understatement. Teixeira has always been a slow starter, but his .136 batting average, two home runs and nine RBI marked the worst April of his career.

This season, Teixeira homered in all three of the Yankees games in their opening series against Detroit and his RBI total (seven) is just two less than he had all of last April. If Teixeira can keep this momentum going, who's to say he can't contend for the American League MVP award?

Teixeira is widely known around the league as a second-half player but if he puts together an MVP-caliber first half, what will he do for an encore after the All-Star Break? This is the same player who finished second in the 2009 MVP balloting behind Twins catcher Joe Mauer after hitting .200 with three home runs and 10 RBI that April. He finished 2009 with 39 home runs and 122 RBI.

Combine a big season from Teixeira with Robinson Cano, who was third in MVP balloting last season and a healthy Alex Rodriguez and there is no lineup in baseball that can compete with the Yankees, both in the middle of the order and top to bottom. Not even Boston, who just finished getting swept by last year's AL champion Texas.

Other encouraging signs from Opening Weekend for the Yankees:

-A.J. Burnett had a strong outing on Saturday despite fighting a cold. He lasted just five innings and allowed three earned runs, but his six strikeouts compared to just one walk was very encouraging, especially after he struck out 11 and walked none in 13 spring innings.

If Burnett can bounce back and Phil Hughes can pitch like he did in the first half of 2010, the Yankees rotation come playoff time won't be as bad as most people think. Hughes will need to bounce back from allowing two home runs to Miguel Cabrera in his next turn, but more importantly he needs to regain the 2-3 miles per hour he's lost on his fastball.

-The bullpen looks dominant. And with the question marks surrounding New York's rotation, their relievers will be key this season. The combination of Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera is baseball's best in the eighth and ninth innings and if Joba Chamberlain can pitch up to his potential in the seventh, the Yankees can turn most of their games into six-inning affairs for opposing lineups.

-Russell Martin looks fresh and Jorge Posada looks locked in at DH. Martin is hitting the ball well and even stole third base on Opening Day, showing signs that he can tap into some of the potential he showed in his first three major league seasons.

Posada had two homers in Sunday's game and without the wear and tear of catching five times a week and an increase in at-bats, he could see a return to the 25-homer level he hasn't hit since 2003.