The Halftime Buzz

The New NBA Playoffs Proposal By: Jacob Ortiz, ( @legionhoops ) In regards to a 16-seed playoff bracket, I think it’s unnecessary to change. I’d love to see the 16 current playoff teams get invited, and a play-in tournament for the four “bubble” western conference teams. Getting the teams to play is enough entertainment, and keeps the integrity of this season’s champion. We already have some people marking this season as an “asterisk”. Those at a disadvantage would be teams like the Lakers, Clippers, etc, in the sense that they worked hard for seeding for home court advantage, which no longer exists. However, this long hiatus does have its advantages for older teams, and they’ve had a chance to rest their bodies. 2 Teams to Watch out for By: The Halftime Buzz, ( @halftimebuzz ) Miami Heat Headlined by 5-time all-star Jimmy Butler and an experienced coaching staff, the Miami Heat are undoubtedly a team to watch out for in this year's highly anticipated NBA Playoffs. Butler, the tea...

  The Bengals' Future By: The Halftime Buzz, ( @halftimebuzz )         It has been 5 years since the Cincinnati Bengals have recorded a winning record. Fans are tired of 2-5 win seasons but that will undoubtedly change with their coaching staff and new prodigy, Joe Burrow. Burrow was the first overall pick in the most recent draft and his play should definitely be an upside for Bengals fans. The combination of Burrow and Zac Taylor should provide the Bengals fanbase with some hope for the upcoming season. With Burrow, and all of the offensive weapons surrounding them, the Bengals should be on their way to a great season. In the 2019 season the Bengals lost 8 one score games, which is half of the games played in a season. With a quarterback as talented as Joe Burrow, the Bengals could have seen 5 wins in that span of 8 games. Now, with AJ Green and John Ross healthy, Joe Burrow has a significant amount of weapons on the receiving end to make an impact immedi...

The Future of UNC Basketball By: The Halftime Buzz, ( @halftimebuzz )     According to 247Sports, UNC's basketball program has the second best 2020 recruiting class in the nation, just behind the University of Kentucky's. This class is highlighted by three top 30 ranked players and six top 100 ranked players. It starts with the #6 overall prospect, PG Caleb Love from St. Louis, Missouri. Caleb Love, at 6'3, is a score-first point guard and a great defender who has shown flashes of brilliance as a facilitator. Love posted stellar statistics last season, averaging 26.3 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game. Next is the #20 overall recruit, Day'Ron Sharpe, a physical big with a high motor who is an elite offensive and defensive rebounder. Sharpe averaged 12.8 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game on one of the best high school teams in the nation, Montverde Academy (alma mater to Ben Simmons and D'Angelo Russell). Many argue that Sharp...

Los Angeles Angels This offseason, the Angels made a splash with the signing of superstar third-baseman Anthony Rendon, who has played his entire career, thus far, for the Nationals. Rendon hit .319 last season and led the MLB in RBIs with 126 on the year, which earned him his $245 million contract over seven years this offseason. This Angels batting lineup will now be lethal and daunting for opposing pitchers as the team already has one of the MLB's greatest hitters of all time in Mike Trout. Last season, Trout hit 45 HRs, the most of his career and 5th most in the MLB last year, while just playing in 134 of the 162 games in the season. I am sure legendary Angels manager, Joe Maddon, will place Trout and Rendon back-to-back in the lineup, presumably at 3rd and 4th, to create one of the most menacing batting orders in the league this season. Furthermore, the Angels have been rehabbing Shohei Ohtani's knee and elbow, and he could soon turn into a stud in this league both on the ...

Three Teams That Will Surprise You In The 2020 Season Buffalo Bills By: The Halftime Buzz, (@halftimebuzz)     The Buffalo Bills have made some interesting moves during the offseason. In mid March, the Buffalo Bills acquired former stand out cornerback, Josh Norman. He's not the same lockdown defender he formerly was, however, Norman is still an experienced cornerback that will provide an already deep Buffalo Bills defense with a talented 8 year veteran. The Bills defense which allowed the second fewest points per game in 2019, letting opponents score an average of just 16.5 points per game, have added two more notable defensive players. First, Mario Addison. Addison, who signed a deal worth $13.25 million guaranteed, will provide the Buffalo Bills with an extremely talented defensive tackle. Last year, with the Carolina Panthers, Addison posted 9.5 sacks along with 2 forced fumbles. Also from the Panthers, Vernon Butler is on his was to Buffalo. I am expecting Butler, ...

The Modern Day Game                                                                          There have been many iconic players to come through the NBA in its nearly 75 years of official existence, but not many have changed the art of the game quite the same way as Stephen Curry. Sure, Michael Jordan put the NBA on the map, and is probably responsible for the large amounts of success the NBA has seen since the 80's and 90's. However, Jordan did not bring a new play style to the game of basketball. Dwight Howard, during his time with the Magic, created a place for big men to be the focus of a team, but that didn't last too long.      The man who is responsible for the play style of modern day basketball goes by the name of baby faced assassin. Since enteri...

Teddy Bridgewater     In the offseason, the Carolina Panthers made a monumental move in the signing of QB Teddy Bridgewater after releasing former MVP QB, Cam Newton. Bridgewater has had an up-and-down career since being drafted in 2014, mainly stamped by his horrifying ACL injury in 2015. But, Bridgewater has since rescued his career and went 5-0 in 2019 with the Saints as a replacement when Drew Brees was injured. He put up stellar numbers during his starting opportunity in New Orleans, with a total of 9 passing TDs and about 1400 passing yards. Bridgewater will bring a winning mentality and an impressive work ethic to a Carolina Panthers team that went 5-11 last season.  2020 NFL Draft      With a great offensive core in Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, and now Teddy Bridgewater, the Panthers were entering the draft focused on improving their defense. And that's exactly what they did. With the 7th overall pick in the draft, the Panthers selected DT De...

Blake Snell      Yes, not every MLB player is greedy, and it is not polite to make generalizations about people, but Rays SP Blake Snell, backed by several other MLB players, spoke out about his unwillingness to play this season for a pay cut. As if they're not making too much money already.       Snell, the Tampa Bay Rays' 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner, said during a Twitch livestream, “I gotta get my money. I’m not playing unless I get mine, OK? And that’s just the way it is for me." Snell gets paid $10 million annually, which constituted roughly $435,000 per game started, $1.67 million per game won, and $93,450 per inning pitched in 2019. Yet, Snell is unwilling to take a pay cut for hundreds of millions of fans to return to their fascination with watching the beautiful sport of baseball. Even after league officials assured the Rays' pitcher that the risk of contracting coronavirus would be significantly diminished through extreme preca...

The Revamped Arizona Cardinals      Boy, did the Arizona Cardinals have an offseason to remember. The Cardinals and their head coach, Kliff Kingsbury, have made a clear and concerted effort to let Kyler Murray know that this is his team, even going into just his second season in the NFL. As a team that went 5-10-1 last season, the Cardinals conveyed their commitment to Murray through their strong offseason, both offensively and defensively.      First off, Arizona kicked off free agency with a BOOM. This was the blockbuster trade that sent David Johnson to the Houston Texans and DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona. This was a miraculous trade for the Cardinals as they were attempting to dump Johnson's pricey contract for draft capital, but they actually ended up receiving one of the NFL's most accomplished wide receivers in the process. While David Johnson was once a star running back for the Cardinals, in 2019 he was demoted to a backup when Kenyan Drake started p...

    The King, In a League of His Own     Look, as many people say "father time is undefeated", there could just be one man who is quite on his way to defeating it. His name: LeBron James. James, who was dominating during his 18th season in the league before the season was brought to a halt due to COVID-19 worries, has not shown any signs of slowing down since he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. Although a young LeBron James was the highest recruited high schooler ever, he has blown away expectations of anybody who has had an eye on him since his early teenage years. Scouts thought they would be welcoming a future NBA superstar, but were not aware that they would be watching, arguably, the greatest basketball player ever, season after season. The question is, when will LeBron James slow down?     Not any time soon, that's when. Since being drafted, not to mention he was 19 at the time, James has not seen a season where his tota...

    Tua Tagovailoa in Miami      The Miami Dolphins selected QB Tua Tagovailoa out of the University of Alabama with the fourth overall pick in this year's draft. So, taking a QB that high up in the draft should mean they're starting him, right? Well, not necessarily.     Tagovailoa has been struggling with injuries throughout his three-year career at Alabama.  In March 2018, Tua broke his left index finger In October 2018, Tua sprained his right knee In December 2018, Tua had a left high ankle sprain  In October 2019, Tua had a right high ankle sprain In November 2019, Tua dislocated his right hip and fractured the socket in it (most serious)      The Dolphins clearly believed, even with his injury history, his talent was too hard to pass up. But, now Dolphins head coach, Brian Flores, has a decision to make: will Tua start for the Dolphins this season? There are several contrasting perspectives to this debate a...

    Jonathan Taylor in Indianapolis        With the 41st overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected standout running back Jonathan Taylor from the University of Wisconsin. This came as a surprise to many NFL fans as the Indianapolis Colts' starting running back, Marlon Mack, posted tremendous numbers in his 2019-2020 campaign. Mack finished the year with nearly 1100 yards (11th in the NFL) and 8 TDs (9th in the NFL) in just 14 games. Mack has proven to be a speedy and versatile running back for the Colts and succeeded as their every-down back for the season.     So, why would the Colts use their second pick in the draft a position that they already have filled? Potential.     Jonathan Taylor's running ability poses immense potential that the Indianapolis Colts simply couldn't pass up. Furthermore, the Indianapolis Colts ran the ball the 5th most in the NFL last year and having more talented r...

Clyde Edwards-Helaire      After an incredibly abnormal NFL draft that began on April 23, there were some questionable picks leaving many eager fans with concerns. We are going to break down one of the most highly regarded rookies and his potential going forward in the National Football League.      Arguably, the most out of the ordinary selection of the first round belongs to the reigning Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs. Although Andy Reid has proven to be one of the most respected offensive minded coaches over his 28 years coaching in the NFL, yes 28, his selection of running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been creating a lot of discussion. Prior to an unmatchable season by the LSU tigers, home of the new Chief as well as 12 other newly drafter NFL players, Helaire was not even spoken about as a first round draft pick. However, led by the magic of Joe Burrow and Steve Ensminger, the offensive coordinator, positional players on LSU gain ed lar...

The Lost Season      It has been a rough two months for NBA fans, as the league was brought to a screeching halt on May 11, 2020. After the first NBA player, Rudy Gobert, was formally diagnosed with COVID-19, the season was put on hold until further notice. Ironically, just days before being diagnosed with the virus, Gobert made sure to rub his hands all over the media microphones to simply show his immaturity in regards to understanding the seriousness of the virus. He later made an apology to fans, media, and the NBA, however, that scene will be one associated with his name for the remainder of time.  The Return?     In order to protect players, staff, and fans the NBA has temporarily suspended the 2019-2020 NBA season. There have been rumors that the NBA plans on resuming the season at a later date, that may provide fans with a summer filled with playoff basketball. However, we are assuming that a re-worked, unique playoff system would be incorporat...