by Isaiah Holm

With the season tipping off tonight, NBA fans everywhere are beginning to get excited for this year. This summer’s free agency was arguably the greatest off-season free-agent market ever, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George going to the Clippers, Anthony Davis joining Lebron at the Lakers, and Kevin Durant breaking up the powerhouse Warriors and joining Kyrie Irving at the Nets. This has created insane hype for the season, as there are more than just a couple teams that are title contenders going into the 2019-2020 season. Here are The Brave News’ “way too early” predictions of what will go down: 

Western Conference Playoff Picture:

1. Houston Rockets
2. Denver Nuggets
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Portland Trailblazers
5. Utah Jazz
6. Los Angeles Lakers
7. Golden State Warriors
8. New Orleans Pelicans

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture:

1. Philadelphia 76ers
2. Milwaukee Bucks
3. Indiana Pacers
4. Boston Celtics
5. Toronto Raptors
6. Miami Heat
7. Brooklyn Nets
8. Detroit Pistons

Western Conference Champions: LA Clippers

The Clippers have a returning team filled with role players that complement their two new superstars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George perfectly. In addition, they have an amazing coach Doc Rivers which can lead them through a stacked Western Conference.

Eastern Conference Champions: Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and the return of a lineup that made the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the Bucks are the favorites to win the East. Their only real competition is the 76ers, however, they lost Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick, which will make it tough to compete with the Bucks this year.

NBA Champions: LA Clippers

Finals MVP: Kawhi Leonard

With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and a strong supporting cast, the Clippers have the perfect lineup to shut down the Bucks in the Finals. Last year Kawhi got Finals MVP and if he shuts down Giannis as he did in the Eastern Conference Finals last year with Toronto, he will get MVP honors again.

League MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis was a different beast last year in the regular season, and not much will change this year. In the regular season, there are not many teams that can stop this freak of nature. While James Harden and Anthony Davis are also favorites for this award this year, Harden is going to get fewer touches on offense due to the addition of Westbrook to the Rockets, and Davis has not played over 70 games in a season over the past 4 years.

Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Davis

If Anthony Davis can stay healthy this season, the Defensive Player of the Year award should be his. The Lakers as a whole are not a great defensive team, which should give him the opportunity to rack up stats on the defensive end.

Sixth Man of the Year: Montrez Harrell

Coming in third last year in voting, this should be the perfect year for Harrell to get this award. While Lou Williams seems like a good choice to win the award again this year, his shot attempts will most likely go down due to the addition of two superstar wings. Harrell should not have that problem as a big man.

Rookie of the Year: Ja Morant

While many are saying that Zion will run away with this award, his size and knee problems could pose an issue to win the award. Ja Morant, on the other hand, is on a bad team in Memphis and has the opportunity to put up big numbers.

Most Improved Player: Lonzo Ball

With a new environment and away from the influence of his dad, Lonzo is due for a big improvement. His janky shooting form which has held him back seems to be fixed now. If he can shoot above 33% from three and at least 75% from the free-throw line, along with his playmaking and defense abilities, Lonzo can win Most Improved Player without a doubt.

Local Takes:

Lakers

Notable Additions: Anthony Davis (Trade), Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook (FA), Danny Green (FA), and Dwight Howard (FA)

Notable Losses: Lonzo Ball (Trade), Josh Hart (Trade), and Brandon Ingram (Trade)

The Lakers dynasty has fallen on rough times over the past couple of years with them missing the playoffs the last six years. However, Laker fans can have hope this year with the addition of arguably the best big man in the game, Anthony Davis.

After the drama with the Pelicans, he was finally traded to the Lakers for their whole young core. Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball and three first-round picks were all traded to pair Anthony Davis and LeBron James together. Both are players that can carry a team to the playoffs by themselves, but now they are together which makes the Lakers another favorite in the West.

The concerns of the Lakers lie in the players surrounding the two stars. After the trade to get Anthony Davis, the Lakers were left with very few people on the roster, leading them to have to go to the leftover free agents that were still on the market. They still have Kyle Kuzma, but the point guard position is a bit shaky.

Rajon Rondo has had experience with Davis in New Orleans. However, he is getting old at 34, and the jury is still out if he can come out and be productive for them. In addition, they added big man Dwight Howard to the roster. The last time Dwight Howard was on the Lakers back in 2012, it did not go very well. What was supposed to be a big three, with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Howard, fell apart, and Howard’s career went downhill from there.

Howard’s character and back problems are supposedly fixed, but the Lakers still are worried about potential injury issues. Last year was the first year that LeBron really suffered a major injury, and Davis has always had his issues in playing a full season. With their top-heavy roster and a loaded Western Conference, if one of them gets hurt, they can risk getting a low seed, or even being on the fringes of making the playoffs.

Clippers

Notable Additions: Kawhi Leonard (FA), Paul George (Trade), Maurice Harkless (Trade), and Terence Mann (Draft)

Notable Losses: Danilo Gallinari (Trade), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Trade)

For the first year in a while, the Clippers are no longer the underdogs. To get to this point, they had to make major changes to their roster this summer.

Adding the Finals MVP in Kawhi Leonard and one of the best two-way players in the game Paul George cost the Clippers a plethora of draft picks, a fringe All-Star Danillo Gallinari and a promising rookie in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Last year, the Clippers built their identity on being a gritty team that played hard and together as a unit. With the resigning of Patrick Beverley and the additions of Kawhi and George, their identity remains unchanged even though they are no longer the underdogs of last year. Additionally, the reigning 6th man of the year Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell are still there, bringing the firepower off the bench.

The biggest worry for Clipper fans, like Laker fans, would be injuries. The star power is there, but Kawhi and George are injury prone, and the loss of one of them could knock them out of the championship race in the loaded West. However, by adding two of the best two-way players in the game to an already good roster, the Clippers are currently the favorites to come out of the gauntlet that is the Western Conference.

by Travien Sears, Assistant A+E Editor

One might say that the order restored to the football galaxy last week against JSerra found higher order on Friday night in a Brave routing of the OLu Lancers.

The now 8-0, 3-0 Bosco Braves performed as fans and football enthusiasts expected and then some against the currently 4-4, 1-2 OLu Lancers, who were coming into Friday’s game hot off of a 28-14 win against Santa Margarita. Hot themselves off of a big 49-10 win against JSerra, the Braves proved on Friday, yet again why they are ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 3 in the nation. 

“Basically our game plan for this week was to dominate from the start, and finish it off strong in the end and that’s what we did. As a team, I think we did that perfectly,” said  starting senior center Che Womack.

The Lancers’ lone light on this Friday night was a fourth quarter touchdown in garbage time. Following a pass interference penalty that put the ball at the Braves 2-yard line, freshman quarterback Carson Conklin threw for OLu’s only touchdown of the game. However, even that bright spot was short-lived. Under excessive pressure, OLu’s kicker missed the ensuing PAT.

The Braves got off to a phenomenal start, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei made three passing touchdowns in the first half alone. The first touchdown of the game was a 3-yard rush made by UCLA commit, #24 Nathaniel Jones with #17 Logan Loya following through with the clean PAT. About 6 minutes later, Uiagalelei threw a 51-yard bullet to #88 Beaux Collins for another touchdown.

Despite Collins’ touchdown happening with less than a minute on the clock in the first, the Braves couldn’t be stopped from scoring again to close the quarter. You could almost sense it in a game that was all-Braves from the get… PICK 6! #8, Tayvion Beasley followed an interception with a 20-yard return to put the Braves up 21-0.

Jabari Bates, #20, added 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second to put the Braves up 27-0. But the play of the quarter, and probably the game, was Uiagalelei’s 81-yard pass to #17, and ex-Lancer turned Bosco Brave, Logan Loya, for a touchdown.

Uiagalelei also had a 62-yard pass for #2 Kris Hudson for another touchdown in the first half, as Bosco went into the half up 42-0.

In the second half Braves brought in #12, senior quarterback Isaiah Saldana, who didn’t miss a beat with an impressive 35-yard pass to #88, Beaux Collins for a touchdown to put the score at 49-0.

Then to close out the 3rd, Oregon Ducks-commit Kris Hutson notched another touchdown grab on a 49-yard pass from Saldana, putting the Braves up an astounding 56-0.

To close out the game, the work of the younger players was recognized. Saldana, still on the field as quarterback, threw for the second largest gain of the game, a 73-yard pass to #82, sophomore Jaceon Doss for the Braves final touchdown.

“We played our hearts out tonight, and we played together as a team, and we just dominated offensively  and defensively which is what our goals were for this week,” said Stanford-commit, #60 senior offensive lineman Drake Metcalf.

This form of teamwork, sportsmanship, athleticism and drive is what will ultimately be leading  the Braves into next Friday’s match-up against bitter rival Mater Dei at home in Panish Family Stadium. The game will begin at 7:30pm. 

PREDICTED SCORE (in game preview):

Braves- 63, Lancers- 21

FINAL SCORE:

Braves- 63, Lancers- 6

by Hunter Richardson, Sports Editor

The Braves, coming off an explosive performance versus JSerra, look to avoid a trap game tonight meeting the Lancers of Orange Lutheran before the eventual game of the year next week against Mater Dei.

The Braves are coming off one of their most impressive outings last week, where they silenced anyone doubting how good this year’s squad truly is. This week Head Coach Jason Negro will need his team ready to avoid a let down against a team that has had a less than stellar season thus far in Orange Lutheran.

The Lancers of Orange Lutheran enter this game with a 4-3 record coming off a win last week by a score of 28-14 against Santa Margarita. Offense has been a bit of a struggle for the Lancers this season only averaging 20 points a game, and to beat the Braves, you must score points. Orange Lutheran has struggled against high caliber teams this season losing to Mater Dei 51-14, Narbonne 38-0, and Corona Centennial 56-14. Tonight will be a difficult task for the Lancers attempting to break this chain of lackluster performances against top teams, as they try to slow down the number two team in the country in the Braves.

Bosco comes into this game with a 7-0 record and a plus 200 point differential mostly dominating their way through this season. The main thing to focus on tonight will be if this team can handle business and not have a let down looking forward to next week’s showdown with rival Mater Dei. Coach Negro’s squad is firing on all cylinders with Mater Dei a week away from coming into Panish Family Stadium.

Tonight might be the game that the running game breaks through and has their biggest night of the season thus far, which is an area of this high powered offence has slowly progressed to where it needs to be prior to Mater Dei and the CIF playoffs. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei will also be the star of the show tonight after a six touchdown performance, look for an encore of that tonight.

One other storyline is that the Braves are returning to Orange Coast College, where they had their most difficult challenge with Servite and the officials. Braves fans will certainly have their eyes on every call made tonight after Bosco’s last appearance in this stadium where the Braves spent the night pining for calls in their favor.

The Braves take on the Orange Lutheran Lancers tonight at 7:00pm at Orange Coast College.

Final Score Prediction- Braves 63- Lancers- 21

 

by Travien Sears, Assistant A+E Editor

The Braves (6-0, 2-0) rushed right into Friday night’s Trinity League matchup on the road against the JSerra Lions (5-2, 1-1) after coming off a nail-biting 27-26 win over Servite, securing what can only be described as a “statement” win.

“There was some order restored back into the galaxy tonight,” St. John Bosco’s Head Coach Jason Negro said. “I’m really pleased with the way we played tonight. It was a very clean game, well-officiated and JSerra is a good football team. I was just really glad to get out of here with a win and stay healthy.”

The Lions had a clean and challenging receiving end that definitely woke up the Braves defenders in the start of the game, especially when the Lion’s Sammy Green returned the opening kickoff of the game an impressive 86 yards to the Braves 13-yard line which then set up quarterback General Booty who set left and executed the 13-yard touchdown pass to Chris Street putting the Lions at the best possible start of a 7-0 lead just 24 seconds into the game.

The Braves, however, couldn’t allow JSerra to keep that lead for long, putting on an absolute show on the offensive side of the ball. Braves Senior Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei found a way to almost always make his O-line look solid, from hitting up receivers, giving the ball to the RB’s or even running the ball himself. One of the most impressive and unexpected runs from Friday nights game was when Uiagalelei ran a 73-yard touchdown less than three minutes into the game to quickly tie the scoreboard at 7-7.

“That was pretty tight”, Uiagalelei said, smiling, when asked about the impressively long touchdown run. “I don’t run very much like that. I was pretty gassed at the end and I was just hoping I didn’t get caught at the 1.”

For someone that doesn’t run much like he did tonight, Uiagalelei, a Clemson commit had six total touchdowns, three passing and three rushing. He ran for 110 yards on nine carries and completed 14 out of 22 passes for 251 yards. Uiagalelei, Kris Hutson, Logan Loya, Jode Mcduffie and Rayshon Luke (who ran for a 19-yard touchdown) all scored offensively for the Braves in their 49-10 win over the Lions.

“We made them earn everything, and that’s another thing that I thought coming into the game, if we put them into situations where they had to throw the ball, it was going to be our advantage. We won first and second downs and that was big for us,” Coach Negro said.

The SJB Defense was also amazing Friday night and repeatedly shut down the JSerra offense from getting a first down much less score a touchdown. They were on point and had a phenomenal performance this game, especially after realizing and having to wake up to what the JSerra offense was capable of in the beginning of the game. 

It’s exactly these kinds of shutdown performances from the defense that are extremely important to Bosco’s success for the rest of the season games and come time for playoffs. This will be especially important against high-powered offenses that the Braves will face in remaining games. It will be absolutely crucial that they show up and show out.

Also, a huge shout out to the SJB Braves Marching Band & Color Guard, St. Joseph’s Cheer Squad and to the crowd for the energy and excitement that was present in Friday night’s game. JSerra may be a trek, but that didn’t stop the Bosco community from making the drive to support the team.

PREDICTED SCORE (in game preview):

Braves- 38, Lions- 28

FINAL SCORE:

Braves- 49, Lions- 10

 

by Hunter Richardson, Assistant Sports Editor

The Braves, coming off a tough win against Servite, head down to highly ranked JSerra tonight in one game that could turn into another classic Trinity League battle. 

The Braves survived a tight 27-26 victory against Servite in the opening game of league play. Coach Jason Negro’s team battled through tough officiating and a hostile opposing crowd to come out on top and maintain a perfect 6-0 record.

Quarterback D.J Uiagalelei had arguably his toughest outing of the season with only a 53% completion percentage in the game, while still throwing three touchdowns and preserving his zero interception statline on the season. Running back Nathaniel Jones had his breakout game of the season so far running for 82 yards on 12 carries. Defensive tackle Kobe Pepe once again led the team in tackles with eight and defensive back Jake Newman had the only interception of the game.

Week two of Trinity League play for the Braves will take place in San Juan Capistrano tonight against a tough JSerra Lions team. The Lions come into this game boasting a 5-1 record and plenty of confidence coming off a 35-3 thrashing of Santa Margarita last week in their league opener.

JSerra gave the Braves their biggest scare during the regular season last year, only losing by a score of 35-28 in a classic Trinity League game. Lions head coach Pat Harlow will be expected his team ready and confident on their home turf tonight, so the Braves are gonna have to be ready for an all out war. Prepare for another Trinity League classic between these two top teams.

The Lions pose a difficult challenge for the Braves with their physical and stout defensive line and high caliber athletes on both sides of the ball. University of California-Berkeley commit, running back Chris Street, for the Lions is one of the best players at his position in the country and plans to have a repeat performance of last year where he ran for nearly 100 yards and added on a touchdown.

The Lions run a two running back system with another stud back, Sammy Green, who has five rushing touchdowns to his name on the season. The Braves front 7 is gonna have to dominate at the line tonight and make JSerra quarterback General Booty make plays with his arm.

Coach Negro’s squad will have to be ready from the kickoff tonight in front of a hostile Lions crowd. On the field leadership from Seniors D.J. Uiagalelei and Kobe Pepe will be crucial in guiding the Braves to victory tonight in this can’t miss Trinity League matchup.

The Braves play at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano tonight at 7 PM.

Final Score Prediction- Braves 38- JSerra 28

by Lucas Garrison, Sports Editor

After what looked to be a very promising season, the Dodgers take an early exit out of the 2019 postseason. The Dodgers walked into this series against the Nationals, however, once again Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, managed himself out of the playoffs. It wasn’t just a bad call in game 5, it was a coalition of poor judgment resulting in bad calls time and time again, in this series.

The Dodgers sit today, at home, and will be asking themselves the question of what happened. How did we get ourselves in this situation? The big questions Dodger fans are asking themselves are, why is Roberts still our manager, why was Clayton Kershaw put into this situation and why can’t this team get over the hump? The sad thing is that the Dodgers seem to be stuck in this endless cycle of entering the season with huge expectations, and then just fall short every year.

The Dodgers this offseason will also have multiple questions regarding what they are going to do with this absolutely horrible pitching staff. Now, the starting pitching is just fine, they are able to go deep into games until leaving it up to their absolutely horrible bullpen. This season the bullpen seemed to be the endless cancer of this franchise. They have had to time and time again rely on players that are inconsistent, and just plain sad. Players like Pedro Baez and Joe Kelly this season left so much to be desired. Baez who was coming off of a career year a season ago, this season was unreliable, and just plain unable to get the job done. Now to Kelly the blockbuster offseason signing for the Dodgers who was supposed to bolster this bullpen, and make this Dodgers team unstoppable. However, he was unable to perform this season. All aspects of Kelly’s pitching this season resulted in complete mediocrity. 

The Dodgers can’t seem to figure out when to use and when not to use guys. This comes down to the inconsistent playcalling from the manager, Dave Roberts. Roberts isn’t horrible when it comes to managing all these personalities, and making this team solid in the regular season. However, in the postseason the last 3 years, it seems like it is impossible for him to make consistent postseason judgment calls. In Game 5 against the Nationals the question I was asking myself why isn’t Russell Martin in the starting lineup, why are we bringing Kershaw back out after he went out and closed out the inning and then why are they sending Joe Kelly out for a second inning?

The Dodgers had so many chances in this series to get things right for them to move onto the next round of the postseason. The Dodgers, this offseason, are going to have a lot of explaining to do. Dodger fans are going to want results next year. All we have heard is that we have good young talent and a very talented roster. Yet, we have nothing to show for it. It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers are able to bring in some talent for their bullpen, and potentially add another all-star pitcher. All I know is that the Dodgers must make some serious changes.

by Lucas Garrison, Sports Editor

Week Five has come to a close, and there seems to be a lot more questions than answers. The fact that the Cowboys cannot seem to defeat a quality opponent, are the Steelers down to their third-string QB, and what are we supposed to make of the Colts?

The Cowboys this season are now sitting at 3-2. The sad fact of the matter is those three wins came against the Redskins, Giants, and Dolphins. The two loses, however, came against the Saints and Packers, both of which are the only quality opponents the Cowboys have faced this year. The Cowboys this season seem to have forgotten that they have Zeke Elliott and that needs to be the forefront of their offense, especially given that he’s now the highest paid running back in the league after a long offseason hold-out.

If this team is to be more competitive, Jason Garrett and Kellen Moore need to realize that Ezekiel Elliott needs to be the number one option for them, then Dak and Amari, otherwise, this team will be unable to succeed as a viable contender for the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile in the AFC, the Steelers were hit by even more tragedy. The sad thing is that the Steelers may have just lost their back-up quarterback, Mason Rudolph, for several weeks after losing long-time franchise quarterback Ben Roethisberger. Now nothing has been confirmed, but the Steelers QB took a vicious hit from Ravens saftey, Earl Thomas.

It was an insanely scary sight, as Rudolph’s body went limp. Now there hasn’t been a verdict on how much time he will miss, if any at all. Rudolph was limited in practice this week but in pads Thursday, with an injury status listed as “questionable.”

The Steelers cannot afford to lose yet another QB this season. If so, I expect the Steelers will be unable to even go .500 on the season. The Steelers will have to really evaluate all parts of their team from the front office to key players.

Elsewhere in the AFC, the Colts are keeping the league guessing: is this team legit or trash? The Colts lost in week four to the Raiders at home, but then this week they went on the road to Kansas City, in primetime, and took down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Now the question has to be raised: Is this team able to remain a solid contender?

This team has to continue to keep the strong pressure on the pass rush, as well as, having an offense that is strongly reliant on the power run with Marlon Mack. In the passing game, with T.Y. Hilton, Devin Funchess and Parris Campbell, if they are able to run their offense this way they will be a strong offensive team. When they get back outside linebacker, Darious Leonard, the Colts will be able to round out their defense, so we can get a better look at this team.