Jason Brand’s NBA All-Veterans Team
In honor of this Veterans Day, we thank the troops for their service to keep us free as I go through the best NBA players at each position who are at least 30 years old.
PG Chauncy Billups, 33 DEN
honorable mention: Steve Nash, 35 PHO, Baron Davis, 30 LAC
SG Kobe Bryant, 31 LAL
honorable mention:Ray Allen, 34 BOS, Vince Carter, 32 ORL, Manu Ginobili, 32, SAS
SF Paul Pierce, 32 BOS
honorable mention: Shane Battier, 31 HOU
PF: Dirk Nowitzki, 31 DAL
honorable mention: Kevin Garnett, 33 BOS, Antawn Jamison, 33 WAS, Rashard Lewis, 30 ORL
C Tim Duncan, 31 SAS
honorable mention: Shaquille O’Neal, 37 CLE, Marcus Camby, 35 LAC.
NFL Three For The Road With Jason Brand
1) Special teams, which is usually a strong point taken for granted by Jets fans was what killed them today. Two returns for touchdowns were too much to come back from.
2) It was just an all-around bad game for the Giants in Philadelphia. They have a lot of talent, they just need to just trust their coaches and practice hard. The Eagles are good depending on what week you play them. They have the talent to be a legit contender but let’s see if they have the psyche.
3) Brett Favre didn’t let the boo’s or emotions get to him, keeping his mind on the final goal of getting a W. His four TD’s in their big win over the Packers show that he’s still got it even at such an advanced age for the 7-1 Vikings.
Week 4 Picks
Giants -9 over Chiefs:
Some people are calling for a Giants let down on Sunday, I am not one of them. This wont be as easy as last weeks game vs. TB, but it wont be that much harder.
Jets +7 over Saints:
The number one D in the league might not be able to completely stop the number one O, but it will keep the Jets within a TD.
Texans -9.5 over Raiders:
Andre Johnson will be covered all day, so it will be up to Kevin Walter, Owen Daniels and Steve Slaton to power this offense to a big home win over Oakland.
Titans -3 over Jacksonville:
If the Titans find a way to lose this game, Jeff Fisher might start thinking about the second-coming of the Vince Young Era.
Ravens +2 over Patriots:
It’s generally a bad thing to pick the Pats at home, but they didn’t handle Rex Ryan’s D too well in the Meadowlands. Let’s see how they can handle Ray Lewis and Co this week.
Bengals -5.5 over Browns:
Cleveland is awful.
Lions +10 over Bears:
The Lions have played pretty well this year against some tough teams. They can keep this one close and low scoring.
Redskins -7 over Tampa Bay:
Even if Washington wins, if they don’t do it while covering the spread, they will be booed off of their home field again.
Colts over Seahawks:
Even with a healthy Matt Hassleback, the Colts would still get the nod.
Dolphins +2 over Bills:
With Chad injured for the year, look for Miami to rely even more on the Wildcat.
San Francisco -9.5 over Rams:
Even without Frank Gore, the ’9ers will be able to cover. The Rams will have a tough time scoring on the SF D.
Cowboys -3 over Denver:
It’s too bad Denver’s first big test will have to be a flop at home.
Chargers +6.5 over Steelers:
Pittsburgh hasn’t shown they can win without Troy. The spread is too big to take vs a talented San Diego team.
Packers -3.5 over Vikings:
The Packers D will be coming hard at Brett Favre all day. This will be an emotional, hard fought game. Easily one of the top games of the week.
Week Three Picks
Jets (-2.5) over Titans
The Titans are going to need to dig deep if they want to avoid an 0-3 start.
Houston (-4) over Jaguars
Houston’s offense had a coming out party last week, which is bad news for Jacksonville.
Philadelphia (-8) over Kansas City
The Chiefs were so bad last week against the Raiders, they’re in a lot of trouble if they have a repeat performance.
Cleveland to cover (+13.5) at Baltimore:
The Browns are bad enough to get blown out, but look for Baltimore to look more at the run than the pass this week.
Giants (-6.5) over Tampa Bay
Missing Justin Tuck would probably hurt the G-men on a normal game, but they will be able to make the Bucs look bad without him.
Detroit (+6.5) over Washington
It’s hard to have a let down game after squeaking out a win, but Washington may just have one vs Detroit on Sunday.
Green Bay (-6.5) over St. Louis
The Rams almost squeaked one out last week, but look for Green Bay to exploit all their weaknesses.
San Francisco (+7) to cover vs Minnesota
While the Vikings have a beast of a running back in AP, the 9ers have a beast of their own in Frank Gore. This should be a close game decided on who can stop the run first.
New England (-4.5) over Atlanta
Brady and Co are going to have to put up some numbers to make up for the shaky D
Chicago (-2.5) over Seattle
With the gutsy win over Pittsburgh last week, look for Chicago to have some swagger coming into this game
New Orleans (-6) over Buffalo
Drew Brees going against the 2nd worst pass defense in the NFL… and it was only a 6 point spread??
Miami (+6) over San Diego
The injuries are piling up for the Chargers. Look for the Wildcat to be run very well towards a Dolphin win this week
Pittsburgh (-3.5) over Cincinnati
Look for the Steelers to take out their frustrations of last weeks loss vs the Bengals this week
Oakland (+1.5) over Denver
Denver might be the worst 2-0 team. Look for a classic ugly AFC West battle.
Indianapolis (+2.5) over Arizona
The colts put up over 25 points last week on the ‘phins and they only had the ball for 15 minutes… This should be a high scoring affair
Carolina (+8) to cover vs Dallas
Jerry Jones will finally get his first home win in the new stadium, but it will be a nail bitter similar to last week
Week 2 Picks
Patriots 3½ Jets: Patriots: Rex Ryan admitted himself, they have a better coach and a better QB. They’ll also cover the spread.
COWBOYS 3 Giants: Giants The G-men aren’t going to give Jerry Jones the home opener he wanted.
CHIEFS 3 Raiders: Cheifs Give the home team the nod in the battle of AFC West teams who looked better than they are last week.
TITANS 6½ Texans: Titans Tennessee should be able to use the running game to keep the Houston Offense off the field. PACKERS 9 Bengals: Packers The Bengals offense looked bad last week against an average Denver D. Look for a double digit Green Bay win.
Vikings 10 LIONS: Vikings We thought Adrian Peterson had a big game LAST week….
EAGLES Pick Saints: Saints With no Donovan McNabb, this once even match up shifts to the Saints favor.
FALCONS 6½ Panthers: Panthers The Falcons are going to be the trendy pick after Jake’s putrid performance last week. John Fox will put his team in position to win this game, let alone cover the spread.
REDSKINS 10 Rams: Redskins The Rams are that bad
JAGUARS 3 Cardinals: Cardinals The Jags will see little home field advantage as Arizona shows up with their offense from last year.
49ERS 1½ Seahawks: Seahawks While SF looked really good last week, Seattle will be too much for them on both sides of the ball.
BILLS 5 Buccaneers: Buccaneers Both teams looked better than expected last week. Buffalo will win, but not cover BRONCOS 3 Browns: Broncos No team looked worse than Cleveland last weekend. Denver shouldn’t have trouble passing or running the ball. Look for rookie Knowshon Moreno to have his coming out party.
CHARGERS 3 Ravens: Ravens The Chargers will have to play a lot better if they want to beat a good Ravens team. Steelers 3 BEARS: Steelers Is it too early for Cutler to hear the boo-birds in Chicago?
Colts 3 DOLPHINS: Colts Let’s hope this Monday night game is as entertaining as last weeks’ were.
