Sentences of persuasion

Are you picking Philly to make the Eastern finals?  Think again:

In a league in which you need a proven crunch-time guy to battle the
other proven crunch-time guys in the last three minutes of close games,
they don’t have a proven crunch-time guy. (And don’t tell me it’s
[Elton] Brand. I watched him for four years on the Clippers; he’s not that type
of player.) Fundamentally, this can’t work for anything beyond 45-47
wins and maybe a second-round appearance … and that’s before you factor
in the skewed level of expectations already in place, or the fact that,
again, they just spent $83 million to reunite the best two guys on a
27-win Clippers team from 2003. I just don’t see it.

I’m picking the Wizards to tank and making no other predictions.  The interesting question is whether Cleveland will deal for Allen Iverson.  Here is much more.  You’ll also find this excellent sentence:

Jamaal Tinsley is a sunk cost.