Midwest Sports

Minnesota Timberwolves get Naz Reid and Julius Randle back. Not sure they'll be able to afford Nickeil Alexander-Walker, but they still have a quality of bench players to rotate in including Donte DiVincenzo,  Jalen Clark, Rob Dillingham, and Terrance Shannon Jr. They'll return most of their team that made it to the Western Conference Finals the last two years.

Jayson Tatum, Damien Lillard, and Tyrese Haliburton all tore their Achilles in the playoffs this year. And they all wear number 0...

Tonight is game 7 of the NBA Finals where the Indiana Pacers take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in OKC. Can the Thunder do what they've done all year, dominate at home and play very well after a loss? Or do the Pacer continue to shock and upset their opponents? This is the 20th NBA Finals Game 7. The home team has won 15 of 19 with average margin of victory is under 7 points. The most recent was in 2016 when LeBron and the Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Steph Curry and the Warriors. Teams rarely score over 100 points.  The key going into this game is turnovers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 8 turnovers in game 6. Pacers had 32 transitional points.  I know TV ratings are down, but if your a basketball fan, this has been one hell of an NBA Finals series. 

Did Bears quarterback, Caleb Williams really say the Packers suck? The Green Bay Packers have dominated the Chicago Bears since the Favre era. Favre was 22-10 and Aaron Rodgers was 24-5 against the Bears. Congrats Caleb, you beat a Green Bay team that pulled their starters week 18 last year because they were already in the playoffs and where were you in January? Sitting on your couch.

Looks like the Green Bay Packers are working on an extension for tackle, Zach Tom. The Packers will have a lot of money invested in their offense line with Tom, Aaron Banks, and probably Elgton Jenkins.  I wouldn't be surprised if Green Bay had a top 5 offensive line this year. 

Corner, Jaire Alexander signs with the Baltimore Ravens for $4 million (worth up to $6 million).  The Green Bay Packers were set to pay him $16.15 million, but released him. You think the Packers offered him more than the Ravens?  Jaire takes a one year prove it deal and the Packers don't have to worry about his drama anymore.

The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings are two teams listed as most improved heading into 2025. Both teams improved their offensive lines. Chicago has Ben Johnson now as head coach and offensive play caller. The Vikings have an improved offensive line (possibly top 5 in the NFL) and great offensive weapons. It's scary to think the Vikings are improved after winning game 14 games last year. The question mark is second year quarterback, JJ McCarthy who had never started a game in the NFL. The NFC North will be fun to watch. I wouldn't be surprised if they have 3 playoff teams again.

Can the Indiana Pacers win game 6? Yes they can. Gainbridge Fieldhouse offered top notch home court advantage and the Pacers have shown they can bounce back from adversity throughout the season and playoffs. They have 8-9 players capable of scoring in double figures.  The Oklahoma City Thunder were the best team in the NBA throughout the season. The only series that came down to game 7 was when beat the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. They swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and beat Minnesota in 5 games in the Western Conference Finals.  The injury to Tyrese Haliburton is concerning though. I think the Pacers will be kicking themselves for not winning game 4 when they were up by 7 points with a minute to go in the game. That would of put them up 3-1 in the series and they could of possibly won at home in game 6 for the championship. Now they have to win game 6 and go to OKC in game 7. Not an easy thing to do against the Thunder. 

The talent gap between the Thunder and the Pacers may just be too big. The Pacers had a very good year, but the Thunder may be running away with this game and series. We'll see.

The Oklahoma City Thunder ended game 4 on a 17-1 run. They were down by 9 points with 2:52 left in the 4th quarter (Pacers how did you let them steal this game?). Going into this series, in the NBA Finals, teams that were down by 9 points with less than 3 minutes left were 0-182. Now that record is 2-182 (Pacers did it to the Thunder in game 1). Thunder were also down by 7 with a minute to go in the 4th quarter. SGA is the NBA MVP for a reason. He's good! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of the Thunder's final 16 points to finish the game. SGA had 35 points, Jalen Williams had 27, Alex Caruso had 20, and Chet Holmgren had 14 (along with 15 rebounds). Those 4 players scored 96 of the Thunder's 111 points (over 86% of their teams points).  Do you think the Pacers can win at least one more game in OKC? They'll have to in order to win their franchise's first NBA title. The Thunder are a tough team to beat in OKC. Game 5 tips off on Monday.  The Thunder have more star p...

Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't going anywhere. He is loyal (at least he seems more loyal then other NBA superstars). Until Giannis actually says he wants out of Milwaukee, I will assume he is staying with the Bucks. Bucks fans don't worry about Giannis. You may need to worry how long it takes for Damien Lillard to recover from his achilles injury. 

How much truth is there to the rumors of Kevin Durant to the Minnesota Timberwolves? What would the Timberwolves have to give up? They don't have a ton of draft picks. They would probably have to give up Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, and maybe Rob Dillingham. I can't see Minnesota trading Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid. Maybe teading Julius Randle.  It would be exciting watching Anthony Edwards and Kevin Durant with the rest of the Timberwolves try and win Minnesota their first ever NBA Finals Championship. 

Will the Pittsburgh Steelers get the TJ Watt contract figured out before training camp? TJ Watt isn't even the highest paid player on his team. DK Metcalf makes more per season. Don't get me wrong, DK Metcalf is a good wide out, but would you rather have DK Metcalf or TJ Watt on your team?  DK Metcalf's best stats have bee. 90 catches in a season, 1,303 yards, and 12 touchdowns...and all three if those stats were in three different seasons. TJ Watt has been Defensive Player of the Year once and AFC DPOY three additional times. Watt is almost unblockable. Offensive coordinator have to game plan for and around Watt. Side note, good luck to Steeler fans with the Aaron Rodgers drama this season. 

Who will be the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback this year? Deshaun Watson will be on the IR. Flacco is old and I doubt he will start in all 17 games. So that leaves Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.  Will the Browns trade Pickett, Gabriel, or Sanders?  Cleveland has two first round picks in 2026 too. They could get a top quarterback in next year's draft, but would they want to do that again? How many starting quarterbacks have the Browns started since 1999? A bright spot for the Browns is second year wide out, Jamari Thrash. Apparently he is doing well and primed for a breakout sophomore year. The answer to the question is 40. The Browns have had FORTY starting quarterbacks since 1999.

The abrupt retirement of center, Frank Ragnow hurt the Lions. We'll see who wins the starting center spot between Graham Glasgow and Tate Ratledge. The biggest worry is if Jared Goff's play drops off to pre Ben Johnson. Before Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator,  Goff had a 99.9 passer rating. In the three years with Johnson as the offensive coordinator, Goff had a 117.2 passer rating. Last year Detroit was first in points and second in total yards. It will be hard for new offensive coordinator, John Morton to replicate that production and success. 

Apparently the Cincinnati Bengals don't want to have a pass rush this year. Trey Hendrickson is still holding out and now they can't even sign their first round pick, Shemar Stewart.  Bengals spent all this money of the offense with Burrow, Chase, and Higgins when their offense wasn't the problem. It'll be fun to watch Bengals games this year if Hendrickson and Stewart hold out. Scores will be 55-50.

Well the Jaire Alexander drama is finally over. He still hasn't signed anywhere. The next biggest concern is offensive lineman, Elgton Jenkins. He is a hold in (he was at mandatory mini camp, but didn't participate in any in field activities). The Packers can't let this drag out. Jenkins is their most valuable offensive lineman. He can play every position on the o-line and plays them well. He was arguably one of the best guards last year and now he is switching to center.  With Jenkins in the starting lineup, the offensive line is good. Let's see if the Packers and Jenkins work out a new contract before training camp. 

Biggest news out of Minnesota is the inconsistency of JJ McCarthy. McCarthy has thrown multiple INTs. Defensive Coordinator, Brian Flores usually has pretty good defenses and defenses typically play better then offenses early in the offseason.  I wouldn't be too worried Viking fans. You want to see INTs now. This is when players are learning the play book and getting their timing down. Vikings have loaded the talent around McCarthy plus he has Head Coach, Kevin O'Connell calling plays.

Multiple reports say that Quarterback, Daniel Jones is looking good during OTAs. Anthony Richardson will be ready for training camp. Let the QB1 competition begin! It will help whoever wins the starting QB1 spot to have one of the best Running Backs in the NFL - Jonathan Taylor.  Colts are apparently one of the five overlooked teams heading into the season. 

Kansas City Chiefs are moving Kingsley Suamataia from left tackle to left guard. Head Coach, Andy Reid says he likes what he sees. Good news coming out of Chicago, apparently the growth of Caleb Williams has been noticed. It helps to have a good offensive mind like Head Coach, Ben Johnson. 

OKC has only lost 2 games in a row twice this year. Remember they won 68 games this year. Pacers are a deep team, but I expect the Thunder to come out swinging.