After today's 4-3 win over the Padres, I realized that the Giants didn't win because of their manager, they won in spite of him. I won't get into the details, but it was another display of poor base running management and horrific pitcher management. He tells guys to steal at the wrong times and waits till a pitcher starts struggling late in games before he yanks him. Then a terrible Giants reliever comes in with runners aboard, guaranteeing that one will come in to score. With a lackluster offense like the Giants, runs are valuable and Bochy can't turn runs into wins, even with a good starting rotation.

Despite an unlucky draft lottery for the Clippers, they still find themselves in a favorable position to land a highly sought after point guard. With the 7th pick, they're hoping that the top 6 teams will not take all of top PGs ( Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, Eric Gordon). We know Rose and Mayo won't fall to 7th but the other two just might. If the Clips land Bayless or Gordon, they will have a very complete team up and down the roster, and they will be primed for a playoff run.

I want to wish a happy 25th to my favorite athlete. Frank, you became an elite back in no time and I hope you build on your success.

I have the Lakers vs. the Pistons in the finals. LA is the best team in the league and I just think that putting the big 3 together all at once can only go so far. The Celtics are a get-rich-quick scheme and are too good to be true, that's why I have Detroit.

I finished 26th out of 500 in my online pool for March Madness. If Memphis won, which they should have, I would have been 1st out of 500. I continue to amaze myself with such great picks.

Elton Brand returned to action last night against Seattle, scoring 19 points and collecting 5 boards, and the Clips won big. Next year they will be one of the top teams in the west with the return of EB and Shaun Livingston, not to mention the lottery pick they'll have for the upcoming draft.

Projected Starting Line-up for '08-'09: G Brevin Knight, G Corey Maggette, F Al Thornton, F Elton Brand, C Chris Kaman. Shaun Livingston, Tim Thomas, Cuttino Mobley, Lottery Pick coming off the bench. Wow.

All #1 seeds reached the final four for the first time ever. A freakish prediction on my part.