Weekly SnapShots

With Chris Mullin expected to leave St. John’s, you heard it here first: Bobby Hurley is the man they want, and the perfect fit for the job. Nobody knows the fertile Tri-State area recruiting grounds the way Jersey City native does, and he can have the Johnnies at the top of the Big East in three years or less. Big time basketball is returning to New York, I promise you… read on.

Whether Zion Williamson’s parents did or didn’t get consultation fees, I don’t see how that really matters in the world of NCAA hypocrisy. You’d better believe the powers that be were disappointed that Z-Dub didn’t get to Minneapolis because it cost them millions of eyeballs and dollars. I have no problem with giving D-I athletes a stipend of some sort because they are not even close to being normal undergrads.

Congrats to the Baylor women. They have joined UConn and Notre Dame at the top of the women’s basketball world, and also appear to be well positioned to stay there for a while. That doesn’t mean Geno Auriemma and his Huskies are finished – they were vulnerable this year but they are far from done.

Unless Adam Silver wants to prop up Cleveland again with another litany of lottery wins, it’s Zion, KD, and Kyrie in NYC. It doesn’t take a frozen envelope to read the tea leaves on this one.

Okay, this might not be the place for it, but Budweiser’s piece on Dwayne Wade is must see. There are a handful of guys who are bigger than their sport, and Wade is on that very short list. I would only put Jordan, Kobe, and The Logo in front of him all-time at the two-guard, and he deserves every accolade he receives.

If you didn’t notice the Golden State Warriors blowing out the Denver Nuggets by double digits last week, and the playoff-bound Clippers by almost 30 this past Sunday; yes, NBA teams can turn it on when they feel like it. The Dubs secured home court and will cruise into the Western Conference finals.

I could go either way, but if you stuck a gun to my head, Giannis Antetokounmpo gets my MVP vote by thaaaat much over James Harden. The Milwaukee Bucks – yes, the Bucks – have become the darling of the NBA, and they weren’t supposed to be this good this fast. A new arena and arguably the brightest, most exciting young star in the league has breathed life back into this once storied, smaller market franchise.

Boogie Cousins will likely be the big man to join LeBron in LA. Jimmy Butler could come along for the ride as well, but what LeBron really needs is a pure shooter to space the floor.

How ironic – Barry Trotz’s Islanders are facing his nemesis in the first round. Although he breathed a ton of life into the Isles, expect the annual Pittsburgh Penguins/Washington Capitals spring dance to commence at the end of the month. Get your tickets, folks.

The notion that Aaron Rodgers is passive aggressive and didn’t think much of Mike McCarthy isn’t earth-shattering. It is telling, however, that a Super Bowl winning coach such as McCarthy didn’t get any serious looks during the fire and hire period of January and February. With the moves that Green Bay made in free agency, I expect the Packers to get out of this tailspin and compete for the division again, even with an unproven head coach.

It seems that the Steelers have cleaned up their fair share of drama this offseason as well. Antonio Brown can’t seem to let go and doesn’t appear to be locked in on the Silver and Black, while Bell has lobbed his own arsenal of grenades back at Pittsburgh. That said, I expect them to win their division: Cleveland is a science experiment at best, the Ravens are now without Ozzie Newsome and in the hands of a kid who can’t pass yet and puts videos on social media of going over 100 miles an hour, and the Bengals appear to be returning to their days of Ki-Jana Carter.

I have some empathy for Chris Davis, because not only does he hold the all-time o-fer streak in 150 years of baseball history, but I’m hearing that monstrous contract cost the Orioles Adam Jones. It’s sad because AJ-10 still has 3 solid years left and wanted to retire in Baltimore. Davis is cooked and the Orioles would unload him for a dozen donuts – and eat 80% of his salary.