Mocofun – Gamers Review

The Indiana Pacers season did not live up their standards in 08′-09′ winning only 36 games. This is not how most remember the Pacers, but the Miller days are over.

The Indiana Pacers’ Danny Granger had a breakout season, and put himself on the map as one of the best players in the NBA. Few people realize this, as the Indiana Pacers are a below average team that gets little coverage.

The Pacers defense was one of the worst in the NBA giving up more then 106 points per game for 26th in the NBA.

The Pacers have a young team with a good upside. The defense was their death blow last season giving up more points then they could score. More emphasis needs to be put on defense; we know the team can score.

His three point shooting was exceptional, as Granger averaged 2.7 three pointers made per game, and shot at a percentage that exceeded 40 percent. The Indiana Pacers were thrilled with this production and made it clear throughout the course of the season.

Granger’s 87.8 free throw percentage was also among the best in the NBA. Had the Pacers been a winning team last season, Granger would have received far more credit. Still, his game should continue to improve, and it’s only a matter of time before Danny Granger becomes a household name.

The last time the Pacers finished with a record above .500 was in the 04′-05′ season – Pacers fans would hope to avoid another sub .500 season for the fifth straight year.

The Pacers should win more then 36 games this upcoming season. The Pacers have a chance at the 8th or 7th seed even if everyone plays up to their potential and the defense improves. Granger should have an all-star season and be among the leaders in scoring once again.

For more on the Pacers, check out the Indiana Pacers forum at RootZoo Sports. Be sure to play their free sports trivia with over 60,000 questions.

The Detroit Pistons had a very disappointing season in 08′-09′. They definitely didn’t look like the Pistons of just a few seasons back.

Being 39-43, most people agree doesn’t deserve a playoff birth but since they haven’t changed the rules the Pistons had to face the number one team in the East at the time.

In are Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, two capable scorers. In is Ben Wallace, a familiar face from the past, though not nearly as effective as he used to be.

With a new season comes new hope for Pistons fans. The Pistons acquired potential all stars in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva who both are coming off their best season of their young careers.

In 08′-09′ Charlie Villanueva averaged 16 points per game, the highest of his career and at 6-11, he gives the Pistons some size up front.

This is the year nobody really knows what they will see from the Detroit Pistons. When teams get new faces people automatically assume the team will improve, that doesn’t always happen. Yes, the Detroit Pistons are a playoff team but can they compete with Boston? Cleveland? Orlando? The Pistons hope Rodney Stuckey is their franchise point guard for years to come. The Pistons still have Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince who have many playoff game experience.

One player who will need to average more in both rebounds and points is C Chris Wilcox. Wilcox has been on a few teams now since his career started in 2002, maybe Detroit is where he can finally shine as a player and contribute a good deal.

Head coach John Kuester will definitely have his hands full this season trying to acclimate the new talent with the old. Will Kuester be the coach to help the Pistons return to the top of the Eastern Conference? That’s why they play the games.

For more on the Detroit Pistons, head on over to the Pistons forumss at RootZoo Sports. Enjoy free basketball trivia and much more.

While many differ in their opinions as to who the best NFL team in each conference may be, just about everyone can agree that there are a few teams that seem to stand above the rest. Football has been exciting so far, and the rest of the season will be very interesting.

This article will break down some of the top teams in each conference, followed by a prediction as to who ends up emerging in each of the two conferences.

In the AFC, it would appear that there are a few clear contenders. First of all, the Pittsburgh Steelers have bounced back from a disappointing start, winners of 4 straight and now 5-2. They have Troy Polamalu back and the fact that they beat the Vikings shows that this team is strong.

Next on the list would be the New England Patriots. Tom Brady has shaken off some rust and is beginning to look like his old self, making the sky the limit in New England. Additionally, the Broncos can’t be forgotten about with just one loss thus far.

While all of these teams have been great, no AFC team has been as strong as the Colts. An incredibly efficient offense has dominated its opponents, thanks to the steady hand of Peyton Manning. Until the Colts lose, they’re tops in the conference.

As far as the NFC is concerned, the major story in this conference is the New Orleans Saints. This team has what may be the best offense in all of football.

Riding the success of QB Drew Brees, the offense is unstoppable and strong enough to win just about every time they play, thanks to Brees. They beat the Giants at home pretty handily, making a bold statement in the process.

Contenders to the Saints would be the Eagles, playing some great football themselves, and the Arizona Cardinals, coming off a big win in New York and winners of three straight games. The Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants are also obvious contenders as well, though their recent losses make the Saints the clear favorite thus far.

Read more of this writer’s work about plastic corrugated steel sheets and the clear plastic sheet.

The Dallas Mavericks have maintained a steady presence in the NBA’s Western Conference. After years and years of disappointing seasons, Mark Cuban’s ownership of the franchise has resulted in many positive moves.

The Mavs have fallen back the last couple seasons – they were once the frontrunner in the West but now have become an average team. It wasn’t too long ago they were going deep into the playoffs.

The last two seasons have been somewhat disappointing for the Dallas Mavericks compared to seasons past. Mark Cuban has realized this, and has elected to do something about it.

In 08′-09′Dirk Nowitzki had another stellar season averaging nearly 26 points per game. While Dirk has been criticized for his leadership in the past – he still is one of the best players in the game.

Mark Cuban is a very unique owner in that he is seen just as much as his players are. Whether this hurts or helps his team win basketball games is uncertain – what is does show is that he cares a great deal about his team and tries to do what’s best for them.

Mark Cuban can’t suit up and play any games for the Mavs – what he can do is write big checks and bring quality players to the team.

Shawn Marion has been on a few teams as of late but hopefully he can find success on the Mavs. Marion is a very good player who should give the Mavs another scoring threat. This will help open things up for Dirk.

The Lakers are the favorite once again to win the West, but things can change, players can get hurt, teams that were once good the previous season aren’t so much the next, many things can happen. The Mavs hope they will rise again to the top of the West, but it won’t be easy.

For more on the Dallas Mavericks check out the Dallas Mavericks forums at RootZoo Sports. RootZoo also offers free sports trivia questions with thousands of questions!

What has become of the mighty Tennessee Titans. This is a team that opened up the season undefeated through the first two months of the NFL season in 2008.

The Titans dominated their competition during the 2008 regular season. If my memory serves me right, I think they won their first 10 games before losing one in November. This is the kind of Tennessee Titans football that I’m used to seeing, and I’m stunned to see that they’ve dropped their first two to open the season.

Many thought this was a Super Bowl team last season. I think I thought so myself. They made a few changes during the off-season that seemed positive.

The acquisition of Nate Washington at wide receiver and a few other players made it seem like this team would be just fine, despite the fact that they lost their best defender in Albert Haynseworth.

In week 1, the Titans faced a difficult challenge in visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh. Having to play the defending champions at their own field on opening night is a huge challenge in and of itself, but the Titans handled the challenge well, nearly coming away with a win against the Steelers.

With the loss of DT Albert Haynesworth, the Titans defense may not be as strong as it once was but they still have defensive skill players such as Cortland Finnegan, Chris Hope, Keith Bulluck, and Nick Harper.

I do remember the Texans generally playing competitive football against the Titans. For some reason, it seems like they have their number on offense and end up putting a lot more points on the board than most teams do. They’ll still pull out wins though. Not this time.

The Titans now have an 0-2 record to begin the 2009 NFL season and sit at the bottom of their division. Things aren’t looking so good in Nashville now.

If you’re looking for the most exciting Titans forums online, then look no further than RootZoo Sports. Be sure to check out their free free fantasy football leagues leagues that everyone’s been talking about!

The Washington Redskins haven’t started out their 09′ exactly how they anticipated. In fact, they are probably the most under achieving team in the NFL so far.

This loss might not have been the worst loss in franchise history, but it’s definitely right up there. There is no excuse in losing to the Lions really, the Washington Redskins have by far the more talented team — the most talented teams don’t always win — sometimes the team more prepared wins.

Anymore defeats by inadequate teams and the Redskins fans, front office, and head coach Jim Zorn will see their Redskins be in last place in the NFC East.

The Washington Redskins have a very tough schedule when you consider they must play the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles twice a season.

The defensive unit for Washington seemed solid on paper, but hasn’t been showing up (I don’t count the Rams game). The defenses in New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas are all stronger than that in Washington.

Their receivers (Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, etc.) are good, but not great. Maybe with a better QB, they would look great.

Their running game hasn’t been looking like it has in the past. Clinton Portis is no doubt one of the best running backs of the decade; he’s aging a bit, and seems to have lost a step.

Head Coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat if he can’t create some spark with his offense. The Redskins are a proud franchise with a rich history, if Zorn can’t produce for the Redskins fans and ownership by motivating his players he won’t last the season. The players must come ready to play and not play the blame game either as well. .

For more Redskins discussions, head on over to the Redskins forumss at RootZoo Sports, the most active sport forumss online

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the San Diego Chargers entering this new year of football. I’ve heard about Super Bowls in addition to the fact that they’re obvious NFC West favorites. After all, the Chiefs and Raiders have been consistently weak in recent years, not to mention the fact that the Broncos are a shell of what they were last year.

This is a team that has seen multiple playoff berths over the past few years, and a core of players that continues to improve. With the exception of LT, they’re a really young team on the rise.

They have everything a team needs to be a contender, QB Philip Rivers is among the best in the league, an explosive running game with Darren Sproles, Michael Bennett, and LaDaninian Tomlinson, wide receivers Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson, and a stellar defense with Shawne Merriman, Quentin Jammer, Antonio Cromarti, and Stephen Cooper.

The running game is top notch, as LaDanian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles are one of the most lethal one-two combos in pro football today.

Come week 2, with a more challenging game against a visiting Ravens team. The fact that the Chargers were at home in front of an extremely passionate fan base gives the team the edge, but they somehow lost this game to Baltimore, despite two great opportunities to score a touchdown late in the 4th quarter, either which would have given the team the win.

Turner’s career record is under .500 and if he can’t lead the Chargers to a strong playoff run with the talent the Chargers have, he might be looking at the wanted ads at the end of the season.

The AFC is extremely difficult to win this year – Baltimore Ravens have an offense for the first time, the Indianapolis Colts have Peyton Manning and always a threat, the New York Jets are improved with a top-notch defense, the New England Patriots have a healthy Tom Brady again, and the Pittsburgh Steelers should be a contender.

I do believe their offense is powerful, but not enough to make up for the weak defense. For this team to compete and live up to their expectations, the defense needs to improve immediately.

Come join the fun at RootZoo Sports and discuss the latest Chargers news on their Chargers forum. Make sure to check out the latest NFL polls as well.

The Miami Dolphins were the feel good story of the 2008 NFL season. The team finished with a 1-15 regular season record in 2007, and was written off as quite possibly the worst football team of the decade.

Things didn’t look too much brighter entering the 2008 season, nor did they look much better for Chad Pennington. Regardless, the Dolphins somehow pulled it together and became the Cinderella football team of 2008.

The duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams really came together. This opened up a ton of room for Chad Pennington as well. Anthony Fasano also stepped up as one of the top TE’s in the league. What a year it was!

The Dolphins rode the wave of enthusiasm into the 2009 season and expected big things out of an improved offense that would look to enjoy another successful football season.

After controlling the ball for 45 minutes against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football, the Dolphins could not secure the win, heartbreaking no doubt. I really thought they would get the W.

Seven points scored in a game against an average Falcons defense raised questions about the Dolphins’ offense and their effectiveness. It’s going to be a long season if they don’t get it right.

After week 3, the Dolphins looked like a hopeless team with an 0-3 record, having been 3 games behind the first place Jets. Suddenly, the Dolphins are now 2-3 and the Jets are 3-2, with the Dolphins only one game behind the Jets now.

They performed a miraculous turn around in one year; hopefully that type of magic exists with the Dolphins again. If the Dolphins somehow manage a 8-8 season, that would be considered a successful season.

For more Dolphins chatter, check out the Dolphins forumss and create your own sports polls all at RootZoo Sports.

The Atlanta Hawks were one of the more efficient teams in the NBA Eastern Conference during the 08-09 basketball season. Having built upon the modest success of the season before, the Hawks were a solid regular season team that showed potential to break through in the playoffs.

The Hawks advanced through the first round of the playoffs, defeating the Miami Heat in round one, before meeting the Cleveland Cavs in the second round. The Cavs pounced on the Hawks, easily defeating them and putting an end to what was otherwise a successful season for the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks have a very young team and looking to build even further in the 09′-10′ season. The Hawks were lead by Joe Johnson who averaged nearly 22 points per game in 79 games played.

The Hawks did improve on their previous season – many feel the Hawks took a step backwards in 09′. Not being able to win 50 games in the Eastern Conference isn’t very impressive by many accounts. If a team is a serious playoff threat -winning 50 games should be accomplished.

Joe Johnson is – while a very good player – must be put in the same sentence as Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard as one of the best players in the game if the Hawks expect to do anything this season. Joe Johnson averaged 22 points per game – Johnson must be more aggressive and average 24-25 points per game because the Hawks go in scoring droughts.

Rounding out the team are other valuable pieces, which include the ever so talented Josh Smith, point guard Mike Bibby, newly acquired Jamal Crawford, rookie Jeff Teague, and others.

The only concern I see is the lack of scoring for this team. They must improve on putting up bigger points if they want to make some noise.

Coming out of the East won’t be easy and the Hawks will have to fight and claw their way through the upcoming season.

For more Atlanta Hawks chatter, check out the Hawks forumss at RootZoo Sports, where you can also check out thousands of NBA trivia questions.

The Chicago Bulls are coming off one of their best seasons this decade despite losing in the first round against the Boston Celtics.

The Bulls are a very unique team in that when they play their best they seem as if they can beat anyone. There are also times when the Bulls play down to their competition and look awful.

If the Bulls want to challenge for the East title any time soon they will need to more consistent and beat the teams they should. It’s great to step up for the big games, but consistency is crucial.

The Bulls have one of the more exciting players in the NBA with Derrick Rose. Rose had a great rookie year and should improve even more this season.

John Salmons has his best season to date scoring’ points per game for the Bulls last season, the Bulls will need all the points they can get from him.

Also present are Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, both defensive monsters capable of rebounding, blocking shots, and more.

And then there’s Luol Deng, still only 24 years of age. He’s had some bad luck with injuries, but if Deng can stay healthy, he will add a great value to this team.

The Bulls lack a scoring big man, while they have Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller and Joakim Noah, none are low post scoring threats each time down the court. Their skills are not “low post friendly”. The Bulls big men typically get their points off rebounds and fast breaks points. This will be a problem for the Bulls now that the Cavs have Shaquille O’Neal. Brad Miller always seemed to guard Shaq well throughout his career.

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