Maddux Sports Blog

I want to look at tonight’s NBA Draft a bit, but first a couple of quick stories to touch on:

• I love the Shaq trade for Cleveland. He’s obviously not the man he was, but he’ll fit well with LeBron, they gave nothing of significance up for him, and they aren’t tied to him long term. The guy knows how to win, and he’s hard to contend with inside. I could see him liking the idea of going out on top, and this is as good a spot as any outside of the Lakers or the Spurs (two places he really isn’t going) to do so.
• I was very interested to see Lleyton Hewitt pull a big upset of the number five seed off today, and look pretty darned good doing it. He’s in a soft draw, and could easily get to the quarterfinals. He’s traditionally been good at Wimbledon, and he has rediscovered some lost form recently. He’s not going to win it, but I see him winning a few more games.

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It’s amazing to me how uncompetitive this round of the NHL playoffs is. I felt confident that the finals this year was going to be a rematch of last year, but I thought that Detroit and Pittsburgh would at least have to fight for their berth. The game this afternoon was so one-sided it wasn’t even entertaining. I actually felt bad for the Blackhawks. Yesterday was just as bad – Pittsburgh never gave Carolina a chance. You never want a team to look past their current opponent, but I’m certainly looking to the next round. I definitely like Pittsburgh to win it all – Detroit is beat up, and Pittsburgh’s top two players are playing truly spectacular hockey right now.

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