Foreign Players in the NBA Draft

Whether you like it or not (and a lot of people really don't), foreign-born players play an increasingly large role in the NBA. You only have to look as far as this year's finals to confirm that. Each team has two non-Americans starting - Tony Parker and Fabricio Oberto for the Spurs, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Sasha Pavlovic for the Cavs. Both teams also have an import that they rely on heavily off the bench - Manu Ginobli and Anderson Varejao - and Beno Udrih plays a small, but important role for the Spurs. It's far from a stretch to say that neither team would be where they are based solely on their domestic talent.

Foreign-born players are also playing an increasing role in the NBA Draft, with three of the last five top picks being non-Americans. Drafting foreign players has one particularly compelling advantage for teams - as long as they offer the player a qualifying contract offer, the player remains their property as long as he keeps playing in his home league. That means that a team can stash talent they don't need now, instead of having to sign them or cut them like they do with American players.

That being said, this year's draft does not offer the best crop of foreign talent that we have seen. There is definitely no Yao Ming or Andrea Bargnani, and fewer than normal players that are potential long-term difference makers. There are a few interesting possibilities, though. Here's a look at six foreign names that you will probably hear on draft day:

Yi Jianlian, China - The appeal of this player is obvious - he's seven feet tall and athletic. The forward is willing to go to the boards as you would expect with his size, but he can also pull up and shoot effectively. He has a couple of knocks against him - he needs to polish his defensive play, and he is so scrawny that he'll taking a beating if he doesn't add muscle - but he is intriguing enough that a team will happily take him on. He'll very likely be the first foreign-born player chosen, and the lottery seems probable.

Tiago Splitter, Brazil - If this name seems familiar, it's because he has flirted with the draft for several years. He always gets talked about but then withdraws before he can be picked. He is 22 now, though, so his inclusion this year is automatic. Though he was born in Brazil, Splitter has been a star if Spain for a while now. He's a 6'11" player that can bring solid defense to any forward position. He seems to have offensive skills, but he's rarely relied on to use them for his team, so the scope of his scoring talent is unclear. What is clear is that he will be a valuable defender and rebounder whenever he comes over here to play. His draft position will be hurt by the likely difficulty of getting him away from his Spanish club. That means that the team that picks him will have to be patient.

Ante Tomic, Croatia - 7'1" centers are always in demand. His size and his apparent but raw ability will ensure that he gets picked, and likely later in the first round. Again, though, Tomic will appeal to a team without a burning need. He's only 20 and he needs to be significantly bigger and stronger if he wants to survive in the NBA. Right now his body reminds you of Shawn Bradley, and that's not a compliment.

Marco Bellinelli, Italy - He's a 21-year-old shooting guard that is a star for both his club team and the Italian national squad. He struggled with his shooting early in the season, but showed both skill and maturity by rebounding nicely from those problems. When he plays for Italy internationally he is asked to shoot too much, and his percentage suffers. On a team where he has some support he could be a dangerous scoring threat that could ease the pressure on the team's inside game. Like seemingly every European player, Bellinelli needs to get stronger and bigger, but he has the athleticism and shooting touch to hear his name called late in the first round or early in the second.

Marc Gasol, Spain - This player's family tree makes him an intriguing prospect. Yes, he is one of those Gasols. Pau's younger brother was unspectacular in high school in Memphis, and underwhelming early on in his career in Spain, but he got a chance to play on the Spanish national team thanks to injuries, and he made the most of it. He's a 7-foot center that has shown increasing ability despite playing limited minutes. He's the definition of a project, but a patient team may take a flier on him given his pedigree.

Ali Traore, Ivory Coast - Traore, who plays in France, improved his prospects dramatically with his play at the pre-draft camp in Florida. He was the second leading scorer there, and he shot the lights out (70 percent for the week). He's a power forward that can dribble and score, and that's likely more than enough to earn him a late first round or early second round selection. He could potentially come over this year, but will more likely stay in France for a year or two of further conditioning.

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2010 Atlanta Falcons Predictions

The Atlanta Falcons will head into the 2010 season with one thing in mind, win the NFC South. The Falcons battled through a lot of injuries to key players in 2009, but still managed to finish the season 9-7. I think there are a lot of people sleeping on the Falcons in 2010. They have a much easier schedule to manage this season, and have made some nice moves this offseason and should head into the season relatively healthy. Here is a quick look at the 2010 Atlanta Falcons, plus my prediction on where they finish in the NFC South.

Offense:

The Falcons have one of the premier quarterbacks in the league in Matt Ryan, who is entering just his third season in the NFL. Ryan played like a veteran in 2009, throwing for 2,916 yards with 22 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions. Watch out for a monster season from Ryan in 2010.

The Falcons will need running backs Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood to stay healthy in 2010. Turner was out for five games in 2009, while Norwood missed six games. When healthy these two backs form a great 1-2 punch and a running duo that can have the Falcons near the top of the NFL in rushing.

No big changes on the outside for the Falcons. Roddy White has emerged into one of the top receivers in the game, and is coming off a 85 catch season for 1,153 yards and 11 scores. The Falcons would like to see more out of No.2 receiver Michael Jenkins this season, especially with all the attention White and tight end Tony Gonzalez get from opposing teams defensive backs.

The offensive line remains intact heading into the 2010 season, and the only player to miss more than two games on the line was right guard Harvey Dahl. The Falcons are very solid at the two tackle positions with Sam Baker and Tyson Clabo. With veteran center Todd McClure the only starter with more than four years of experience, this unit should just keep getting better and better over the next few seasons.

Defense:

The Falcons are hoping that they will get a full season out of defensive tackle Peria Jerry this season, as Jerry played in just two games in 2009 before tearing his ACL. Jerry has the ability to really make a big impact on the defense if he is able to come in healthy and ready to go. and Jonathan Babineaux is penciled in as the other starter, while Thomas Johnson will either be used as a backup or starter if Jerry isn't ready. The Falcons have to be hoping that with improved play in the middle, veteran defensive end John Abraham will be able to jump that sack total back up in 2010. Abraham went from 16.5 sacks in 2008 to just 5.5 in 2009. Kroy Biermann, Jamaal Anderson, and Chauncey Davis will compete for the other starting end spot in training camp.

The Falcons used their first round pick on outside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, and they believe this kid is going to be a star in this league for years to come. Curtis Lofton is stapled in as the starter at middle linebacker, and Mike Peterson and Stephen Nicholas are both back at the two outside spots, but don't be surprised if Weatherspoon ends up starting for Nicholas.

The Falcons were not good against the pass last season, as they finished the year 28th in pass defense. They added corner Dunta Robinson this offseason, and he should instantly make this group better. Brian Williams entered the 2009 season as one of the starters at corner, but is coming off an ACL tear, so it could end up being Brent Grimes, who started nine games in 2009. No changes were made at safety, as free safety Thomas DeCloud and free safety Erik Coleman are both back.

Prediction - 2nd NFC South: I still have this team finishing behind the Saints, but I would not be surprised at all if this team surpassed my expectations and won the division in 2010. Without question they need a big season out of Turner if they are going to win the division. Easily could see this team winning 10-11 games in 2010.

For a complete look at the upcoming season, be sure to check out our 2010 NFL predictions. If you plan on betting the NFL this season, be sure to check out our live NFL odds page each and every week!

NFL AFC Conference Championship 2011

What a wild weekend the divisional round of the playoffs have been. The incoming Super Bowl favorite Patriots were knocked out by the smash mouth Jets. While the other number one seed, Atlanta, fell to the extremely hot Packers at home. As expected the Bears pulled through at home in convincing fashion to the overachieving Seahawks. Lastly, Big Ben Roethlisberger came through in the waning moments of the game to dismantle a strong effort from the hardnosed Ravens. As blazing as the Packers are right now, it's hard to see them go down against the Bears but then again we all know the saying, "any given Sunday." Not many people expected the AFC Championship game to be played without the Patriots but it's going to be one heck of a show down between the Jets and the Steelers.

AFC Championship Game:

Let's start with the home team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After trailing 21-7 in the first half to the Ravens at home last Saturday it looked like the Steeler's offensive line had finally been exposed and they were heading for an early playoff exit. Little did we know that in the second half the traditional Steelers defense would step up and send the Raven's offense cold just like the weather was. The whole team stepped up to the challenge while riding the shoulders of Big Ben for the last drive and the eventual win. Now onto next week with their matchup against the Jets. We all know that the offensive line is soft, but with the superb play of Roethlisberger they are ALWAYS in the game for he can perform in the toughest situations possible. With Troy Polamalu back at safety, cradling the Steelers D it's hard to imagine them giving any big plays to the Jets. Look for them to harass Mark Sanchez and shut down the efficient running game of the Jets.

Now, as for the Jets are concerned they are coming off of two huge wins against arguably the two best quarterbacks in the league. Beginning with the Wild Card round, Jets QB Mark Sanchez has shown no signs of the infamous sophomore slump. He continues to come up big in the right moments and is managing the offense better than ever with all the offensive weapons he has to play with. Who doesn't know that the Jets defense is good? But it seems they are getting better and better. To stop Tom Brady and the seventh highest scoring offense in NFL history last Sunday was no small task. Not only did they hold the Patriots to 21 points in the game, New England didn't have more than 3 points at halftime. Pittsburgh is certainly no offensive machine, so we know this battle will be won in the trenches. To be mentioned here is that the Jets have already handed the Steelers a loss in Heinz Field so the game really can go either way.

With the Steelers at home and the clutch play of Ben Roethlisberger I don't see how the Jets come out with this win. Steelers will represent the AFC in the 2011 Super Bowl.

Bo Jackson - Auburn

Bo Jackson is probably the best athlete to come out of Auburn University and is arguably one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century. Were it not for a horrific January, 1991 hip injury the Heisman Trophy winner with world class sprinter speed who was an All-Star in both the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) might have gone on to truly rewrite the definition of an all-around athlete. As an aside few people realize Jackson was also a state champion decathlete in his youth.

The Alabama native born Vincent Edward Jackson was described as a restless child with qualities not unlike those of a wild boar with an abundance of energy. Over time the comparison to a wild boar stuck and as Jackson aged the nickname was shorted simply to Bo. Growing up in McCalla, Alabama Bo excelled at sports with perhaps his most notable prep level accomplishment being that in his senior baseball season he hit an astounding 20 home runs in 25 games. Projected over a 162 game major league baseball season that rate would produce a mind blowing 130 home runs (roughly doubling the current record).

Despite being a second round draft pick by the New York Yankees right out of high school Bo Jackson instead chose to attend Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama located about 120 miles west of his McCalla home. During his stint at Auburn University from 1982 to 1985 Bo not only excelled at baseball (batting.400) and football (winning the Heisman Trophy) but even gave thought to becoming a member of the US Olympic track team when his times in the 100 meter dash indicated that he could have a promising career as a world class sprinter. Ultimately the notion of pursuing sprinting was dropped because it did not offer the same type of financial incentives as football or baseball.

After serving as an exceptional athlete at Auburn during the first half of the 1980s Bo Jackson would go on to take the professional sports world by storm throughout the remainder of the decade while playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals as an outfielder and football for the Oakland Raiders as a running back. The year 1989 was the pinnacle of the sports career of Bo Jackson when he was selected to the MLB all-star game (where he won the all-star game MVP award) and the NFL pro bowl in recognition of his accomplishments on the grid iron during the 1989 football season. Sadly a NFL playoff game hip injury on January 13, 1991 eventually resulted in the need for a hip replacement and although Bo made a short comeback in baseball for all intents and purposes the injury ushered in the end of what might have otherwise been the most prolific athletic career in history. Due to his career shortening injury Bo Jackson is often only a footnote in sports history but when considering his collegiate and dual sport professional success it is fair to say Bo Jackson was the American athlete of the 1980s just as Michael Jordan was of the 1990s and Tom Brady or Tiger Woods arguably were of the 2000s.

In May of 2009, twenty years after his illustrious 1989 sports year when Nike "Bo Knows" advertisements were everywhere, the Alabama son came home to Auburn to pass along the lessons he learned during his lifetime to a new generation by giving the commencement speech to the 2009 graduating class at Auburn University.

Rick finds stories like the tale of Bo Jackson's life to be amongst the most interesting in sports because his accomplishments, potential, and eventual fall from grace are so exaggerated that the story almost reads like a work of fiction. Rick honors the man who (along with Michael Jordan) arguably lifted Nike and sports advertising to a new level with Auburn University wallpaper on his computer screen background so that nostalgic pictures of the great two star athlete are never more than a mouse click away.

Rick asks all Bo Jackson fans to take a look at the Auburn wallpaper pictures on his webpage. Browsing the collection of photographs and forwarding this article to a friend will encourage future biographical pieces on sports stars of yesteryear.

Pro Football Schedule

The time in which the pro football schedule is released is very important for football enthusiasts. It is also an important time for the gamblers who make a lot of money off of who wins and who loses. They have to know who is playing so that they know who to bet on. With the 32 different teams in the NFL there are 16 games played between each. That means the schedule is very full, providing football lovers with a lot of games to enjoy throughout football season.

Beginning the Thursday after Labor Day, the pro football schedule goes into effect and continues all the way through late December or even into early January. There's then playoffs played between six teams from both the AFC and NFC conferences. This means a total of 12 of the 32 teams make it to playoffs. These playoff games are scheduled on the pro football schedule, but it is not known until the end of the regular season what teams will be playing. These are usually called bowl games and are played until two winning teams remain. Each team is from the two conferences.

The Super Bowl

You may notice in the pro football schedule that there is a date designated for the Super Bowl. It is not known what teams will be there until the smaller bowl games come to an end and there is one team from each conference available to compete. Once the two teams are determined, then it is time for the biggest night in football. This is the night that many people, including those not too fond of the game, try to acquire tickets to enjoy the star studded and very exciting event.

Convenience

Nevertheless, the pro football schedule is very convenient so that fans know when their favorite teams are playing. They can then schedule their lives around watching the games on TV or they can work on getting tickets so that they can attend the events live. It is important that people have the right schedule so that they can make the necessary arrangements to make sure they can see their favorite football teams in action.

This means that wives can make their plans with their friends and they can become scarce when the schedule says that their husband's favorite team will be playing. That means the guys will be coming over and she may not want to be around for that. So not only does the pro football schedule work for the football fans, but it works for those who want to avoid walking into a pit of screaming sports fans cussing the refs.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about pro football schedule [http://youcallitsoccericallitfootball.info/pro-football-schedule], please visit You Call It Soccer I Call It Football [http://youcallitsoccericallitfootball.info] for current articles and discussions.

Injuries & Defense

Before we look ahead to this weekend's NFL conference championship games, let's take a look backward. What was all the talk in the NFL over the last month? Should the Colts sit their starters to have them rested for the playoffs or not? There were many people that split on the answer, but I think we'd all agree what the correct answer is: Play 'em! Or at least, rest any injured players, but don't bench the majority of starters the last two weeks of the regular season, even if everything is sewed up.

That was the position the Colts found themselves in after that 13-0 start. They had clinched everything: The division title, the bye week, home field for the postseason, the No. 1 spot. However, anyone who watched Sunday's loss to the Steelers saw an Indy team that was rusty for most of the game. Very rusty.

The Colts were out of sync most of the way in their 21-18 loss to the Steelers. Overall, having a bye week gives a team enough time, two weeks, to rest and prepare. It takes time and practice to get a team in sync because there are so many players that need to work together in unison: Blocking patterns, running backs hitting the proper holes, lineman pulling, receivers running patterns, quarterbacks getting the football to them on timing routes, etc.

Think back to the final regular season game for the Denver Broncos. Denver was a 12-point dog at San Diego in a meaningless game for the Broncos. They had everything sewed up and needed only to stay healthy. Instead, Mike Shanahan had several starters play significant first half minutes. They also played inspired football, dominating the Chargers in an impressive performance. I think back to the regular season finale a year ago when the Patriots hosted the terrible 49ers at home in a meaningless game, yet Bill Belichick played the starters for three quarters. The reason was a little different, as the Patriots played a sluggish first half, tied 3-3, as a big favorite. Belichick didn't like the performance and sent the starters back out for the second half, injuries be damned! They followed the next few weeks with dominating performances on the way to winning another Super Bowl title.

With the four remaining teams, does anything stand out? Yes, defense! Carolina and Pittsburgh are ranked No. 3 and 4 in the NFL in total defense, with the Broncos and Seahawks at No. 15 and 16. More important is run defense, and notice that all the remaining teams are in the Top 5 in the NFL at stopping the run! It goes Denver (2nd), Pittsburgh (3rd), Carolina (4th) and Seattle (5th). One of those will win the Super Bowl, so again, stuffing the run is a huge key to building a championship defense.

That hasn't translated into a significant amount of unders for those teams, but keep in mind that 6 of the 8 playoff games thus far have gone under the total. Yes, it should come as no shock that defense wins championships in all sports, once again!

Bryan Leonard is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at [http://www.procappers.com/Bryan_Leonard.htm]