McCoy-Alonso trade analysis, rating and considerations

Bills side: They had some trouble on offense last year especially on the running game where they suffered 2 key injuries (Spiller and Jackson) something that lety them decide to trade a piece of a very good defense to upgrade that department even counting that both Spiller and Jackson probably won't return next season in Buffalo so they decided to trade Kiko Alonso who plays ROLB in the Buffalo 4-3 but who will play MLB in the Phila 3-4. McCoy who run for 1.319 4.2 avg per carry but only 5 TDs of course has the skills to do great in Buffalo the onbly doubt about is production came from the o-line who didn't play good last year. Rating of the trade: B+

Eagles side: They made this move for multiple reason, 1st upgrade the MLB position where DeMeco Ryan got injuried so bad last year and countin his multiples injuries in that part of his body they wanted have another choice in case the things wouldn't fix, 2nd they wanted a powerful HB aside of Sproles to get better in the redzone especially on the goaline runs, 3rd McCoy contract is very expensive and they probably realized that is not worth of it (something that i don't agree with). Kiko Alonso didn't play last year because he torn his ACL while working out in Oregon during the pre-season but he had an awesome rookie year and in that year he won the defensive rookie of the year award. For the Eagles this is an very high-risk kind of trade, 1st for the unknown conditions of Alonso, 2nd because he should have had the "rookie exploit" in that year and that means injury or not injury he should return on "earth" not playing even close to the rookie year, 3rd with not a great QB and a 32 years old Sproles as the only reliable HB in the depth chart for now it should have such a bad effect on their offense even if lead by a very good offensive coach as Chip Kelly. Rating of the trade: C-

NHL games picks 3/3/15

Nashville Predators @ NJ Devils / Nas / under 5.5

Calgary Flames @ Phila Flyers / Phi / over 5.5

Washington Capitals @ Columbus Blue Jackets / Was / under 5.5

Buffalo Sabres @ TB Lightning / TB / under 5.5

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Florida Panthers / Fla / under 5.5

Ottawa Senators @ Minnesota Wild / Min / under 5.5

NY Islanders @ Dallas Stars / NYI / over 5.5

Anaheim Ducks @ AZ Coyotes / Ana / over 5.5

LA Kings @ Edmonton Oilers / LA / over 5.5

SJ Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks / Van / under 5.5

NHL: Chicago Blackhawks 5 Carolina Hurricanes 2 recap and analysis

The game started with both teams playing aggressive and this produced breakaways shots due to the high pace of the game And especially Ward has been called to do some important stops. With 11:53 left to play in the 1st quarter Toews scored the 1st goal of the game in a breakaway 1 on 1 vs Ward who got be aren by a perfect shot under the high angle on the far side. After that goal Chicago continued to control the game and produce scoring chances who forced Ward to made other good saves, the blackhawks defense made a remarkable job to limit the Hurricanes Offense to just few long shots due to a perfect forecheck.  

Carolina started the 2nd period with the man advantage but has been Chicago the team who scored, they Did it again with their captain in the same way of the 1st one. Carolina got another PP After 2 minutes due to a goalie interference by Sharp, Hossa commited another penalty for tripping that gave the Canes a 2 men advantage but the Blackhawks penalty killers got the job done so they kept the 2 goals advantage. The Hurricanes continue to try to score gaining the control of the game but Crawford answered Great and on a breakaway Saad scored their 3rd goal of the game with a snap shot After he stayed on his shot rejected by an opponent. Chicago scored the 4th with Kruger who scored In the goal crease After a wrist shot by Shaw from the circle.The 3rd quarter started with the Hurricanes trailing by 4 and after some balanced minutes into it they finally scored the 1st goal with Liles who made a precise shot after a beautiful group action by his team who let him be in a great position to score, the opponents cheers and chances to comeback in the game ended with 12 left in the 3rd period when Hossa scored his 18th goal of the season assisted by Toews and Roszival on a wrist shot from the circle on the short side of the net. After some tries the Canes found the back of the net with Alexander Semin on a back handed shot from the goal crease well assisted by his captain Erik Staal.

Another solid win for the Blackhawks without their scoring leader Patrick Kane due to a very strong performance by the entire team especially by the defense that with their forecheck regained the possession of so many pucks that opened up a lot of counter attacks that produced scoring chances and made the difference in this game due to a very effective opportunistic nature and along with a very good performance by Crawford.

The Hurricanes have been caught too many times on counterattack and on the same time they didn't find the way to came close to Crawford and this made difficult to score for them.

My 3 stars of the game are: 3 Hossa, 2 Crawford, 1 Toews.

NBA games picks 3/3/15

Sacramento Kings @ NY Knicks / Sac by 5.5

LA Lakers @ Charlotte Hornets  / Cha by 7.5

Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavs / Cle by 8.5

Houston Rockets @ Atlanta Hawks / Hou by 0.5

Washington Wizards @ Chicago Bulls / Chi by 3.5

Utah Jazz @ Memphis Grizzlies / Mem by 10.5

Milwaukee Bucks @ Denver Nuggets / Den by 1.5

NHL games picks 2/3/15

Nashville Predators @ NY Rangers / Nas / over 5.5

Carolina Hurricanes @ Chicago Blackhawks / Chi / under 5.5

Montreal Canadiens @ SJ Sharks / SJ / over 5.5

UFC 184 Rousey vs Zingano matches analysis and considerations

Jouban vs Walsh: C, Jouban by KO in the 1st round, the american fighter won a match all fighted standing up and his Muay Thai skills let him win after just 2 minutes on the very 1st round with a very good left elbow hit right on the Walsh's head who open up the series of hits that finished the match in favor of Jouban.

Koscheck vs Ellenberger: D, Ellenberger by submission, this has been a very slow match full of greek-roman techniques and not so much striking, in the 2nd round Koscheck tried a takedown but Ellenberger who has a great defense against them closed him on a north-south choke that forced his opponents to tap out.

Holm vs Pennington: B-,  Holm won at her UFC debut by split decision after a very intense fight full of striking exchanges where Holm shown a good boxe adaptation but her opponent matched it up a way better than the most part of the people thought before the match and especially on counter-attacking she has been able to hit hard sometimes the former world champion of boxing Holly Holm. Holm didn't convince so much even if it's compared to the expectations.

Rousey vs Zingano: NC, the defending champion finished her opponent with an armlock after a explosive start by Cat Zinging who hit Ronda Rousey with a knee right on her chest but the champion shown an awesome technique along with an impressive quickness and made some transition on the ground till she closed her opponent to the armlock that ended the match in a very fast way.

NHL games picks 1/3/15

LA Kings @ Winnipeg Jets / LA / under 5.5

TB Lightning @ Florida Panthers / TB / under 5.5

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Pittsburgh Penguins / Pit / over 5.5

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Washington Capitals / Was / over 5.5

Anaheim Ducks @ Dallas Stars / Ana / over 5.5

STL Blues @ Vancouver Canucks / STL / under 5.5