2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 6

It's Monday, but the NBA Tournament of Champions marches on to its sixth day of games.

It's still very early in the tournament, so even the teams in an 0-2 hole like the 2012 Heat or the 1985 Lakers have time to redeem themselves. Likewise, hot-starting teams like the '96 Bulls or the '95 Rockets can add to their early advantage. All get that chance today.

Groups B and C are getting their first action in three days, while Groups A and H got the standard one day off. It's all random, and since the pattern is staying in groups, no team in a given group is given an unfair advantage in terms of rest. Group H, however, gets the weird schedule quirk of having this round be the conclusion of home-and home series from Day 4.

Below, I will include links to each group's page in their respective headers so you can view scores and standings. On those pages, the team on the right will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here. Here we go.

2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 5

I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July! Continue to enjoy your weekend, and with it... enjoy some more basketball.

We're through two rounds of the 2015 NBA Tournament of Champions group stage with another dozen still to go. Several undefeated teams still remain, including nine that are playing today.

Today, we begin Round 3 of Group Play. Groups E and G are playing back to back (with Group E all finishing a home-and-home), while Groups D and F return from a day off.

Below, I will include links to each group's page in their respective headers so you can view scores and standings. On those pages, the team on the right will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here. Let's get to it.

2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 4

Happy Fourth of July! After spending last year's Fourth in Hawaii with my wife and watching fireworks on a boat, we're still going to watch fireworks... plus I'm working with some.

We're now four days into the 2015 NBA Tournament of Champions, and yesterday we had 32 teams play their second games of group play. Today, the remaining 32 catch up to the pack.

Group G returns to the court after two days off, while Groups A, E and H only had a single day. Since there's no intergroup play yet, fatigue won't play an unfair factor.

Below, I will include links to each group's page in their respective headers so you can view scores and standings. On those pages, the team on the right will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here. Enjoy the holiday basketball!

2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 3

Two days in... 32 games played. The 2015 NBA Tournament of Champions is well underway.

So on Day 3, half of the teams will play their second game of the tournament. How many teams will get off to a 2-0 start and get a good jump on the elimination round? How many will fall into an 0-2 hole that they'll need to climb out of?

Again, because of the sheer numbers, we're splitting each round up over two days and using a random number generator to decide which groups are playing on the first day of each round. This will probably mean that some teams will have to play a back-to-back, but they would follow this up with at least one day off.

So today, Group D will play back to back, while Groups B, C and F are back at it following a day off. Once again, I'll include a link in each group header to the group page so you can see the schedule and standings. On those pages, the team on the right will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here. Let's take you to court level for the tip.

2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 2

32 teams have played their opening game of the redone incarnation of the Tournament of Champions. Today, the remaining teams get their chance.

The idea behind the group play is that over the span of the month of July, the last 64 NBA champions will play 14 games in a double round robin fashion, with each round of the group play lasting two days. Yesterday, four groups were randomly picked to kick things off. Today, Groups A, D, E and G will open their play.

It's important to note again: based on the fact that I'm deciding who plays on the first day of each round by a random number generator, it's probable that some teams that play today will have to turn around and play tomorrow too. The trade off will come in where they get at least one day off following those games.

Below, I will include links to each group's page in their respective headers so you can view scores and standings. On those pages, the team on the right will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here. Let's play.

2015 NBA Tournament of Champions: Group Play Day 1

We've had a few days to get ready. And today... we begin.

Following the conclusion of the 2015 NBA Finals, I introduced the second running of the NBA Tournament of Champions. The last 64 NBA champions will all compete to find out who the best team of all time is. Will the 1996 Chicago Bulls repeat? Or will someone else find their way to the top of the mountain?

Because of the sheer volume of games, I'm spreading out each round of the double round robin over two days. That means we'll have 16 games for each of the next 28 days. In an effort to keep things fresh daily, I'm using a random number generator to pick out the teams that will be playing the first day of each round, with the remaining groups going the second day. Sometimes, this will mean playing back-to-backs, but with the tradeoff of at least one day off, perhaps two following it. After playing around with the settings, we will be following the round schedules set up by tournamentscheduler.net, since the order of games has been fully randomized.

So without further ado, let's get the tournament started. To kick things off, Groups B, C, F and H will all play. Each group header below will link to the group's page so you can view scores and standings.
The team on the right on the group page will be considered the home team for all games. All game simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. To view player and team stats for the tournament, click here.

COAS Casts a 2015 All Star Ballot

It's late June in another baseball season, Major League Baseball's All Star Game is right around the corner. With ballots coming due in a couple days, I need to vote. And I can actually do it closer to the deadline this year.

Major League Baseball has one of the more intriguing All Star Games, and also probably the most controversial. A ton of Kansas City Royals make up the American League team, something that has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. My take: this system is set up to be abused like this. I personally don't like it, as my votes go for who I think deserves to go, but I don't begrudge people for ballot stuffing to get players on their favorite teams in.

Obviously, I will still take full advantage of being able to vote 35 times, but I'm voting in an honest fashion. The players I think deserve to make it get my vote. Simple as that. Let's get to it.

American League
1B: Miguel Cabrera (DET)
2B: Jose Altuve (HOU)
SS: Jose Iglesias (DET)
3B: Manny Machado (BAL)
C: Brian McCann (NYY)
DH: Nelson Cruz (SEA)
OF: Mike Trout (LAA)
OF: Yoenis Cespedes (DET)
OF: Brett Gardner (NYY)

Most of these picks were fairly obvious. Miggy is having another good year, Manny Machado has had a monster first half, as have Brian McCann and Nelson Cruz, and Mike Trout is Mike Trout. Jose Altuve was pretty obvious too, though from there it was tricky. Jose Iglesias doesn't have much pop, but is hitting well. Then at the back, Cespedes and Gardner both have good all around numbers and make for a well rounded lineup.

National League
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (ARI)
2B: Dee Gordon (MIA)
SS: Jhonny Peralta (STL)
3B: Nolan Arenado (COL)
C: Buster Posey (SF)
DH*: Anthony Rizzo (CHC)
OF: Bryce Harper (WAS)
OF: Norichika Aoki (SF)
OF: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

Important note: the NL doesn't have a voting spot for a DH for obvious reasons, hence the asterisk. Since it's not an official vote, I'm allowing myself one homer vote for a Cub. Final side note: the designated hitter is for sissies. Anyway, Rizzo is in at DH because he shouldn't start at first over Goldschmidt, who has been amazing. Bryce Harper was the other automatic one before I even looked at numbers. From there, Nolan Arenado and Buster Posey were obvious choices, Dee Gordon felt like an "Eh, it'll work" vote at a shallow second base pool, Jhonny Peralta beat out Troy Tulowitzki, and I felt that Aoki and McCutchen were the best all around guys. I would have voted for Stanton, but as he's injured, it's a wasted vote.

The Official 2015 Confessions of a Sportscaster All Star Ballot

All of these were voted for 35 times, then another 70 times under my two other emails because why not. Most of these guys will probably not start. Odds are most, if not all, will end up playing in the All Star Game, however. That's good enough for me.

My hope still is that we have the seven Royals starting the All Star Game to force a change of some sort in the All Star Game format. I like the All Star voting; it gives the fans a choice of who they want to see play. If we keep that though, then the Game needs to go back to being an exhibition, and strictly so. No more home field advantage in the World Series. It was an interesting idea, but it allows players on teams who won't sniff the playoffs to impact the playoffs. I don't like that. Take it back to an exhibition and we're good.