So the Bulls and the Celtics series has FINALLY ended with the good guys coming out on top!!! With Boston winning and the Hawks pulling out the “W” over Miami, the door has opened to the glorious second round of the playoffs. As I love to do, I am going to force feed you all my theories on how these series will play out and then when I am horribly wrong, I will blame it all on you!!!
Orlando vs. Boston
If Kevin Garnett were able bodied (don’t they have cortisone in Boston?) I wouldn’t even waste my massively valuable time writing up this synopsis but since he isn’t, here I GO!!! After a long series with Chicago we learned a few things about the “new” Celts, #1 Paul Pierce isn’t as good as he thinks. Sure he made some big shots but he also effed up a lot, i.e) fouling Noah on a bonehead play that probably cost them the game if not another over time. #2 Boston can get REALLY thin, REALLY fast up front (I am really trying to get a Big Baby joke in here but I am tired) and #3 Brian Scalabrine and Tony Allen are part of an elaborate rouse by Ashton Kutcher to Punk the whole world into thinking these 2 DUDS could actually make and NBA squad. As for Orlando, I think they are way too big for the Celts but not too deep for them. If they can get O Town in foul trouble, I think they will be able to pressure their back up players into a big enough hole that they can’t recover but that is a LOOONG stretch….Magic in 6
Atlanta vs. Cleveland
If you skipped the first match up to get to this one you may want to go back to the first sentence and read slowly. My time is valuable and the Cavaliers time is too. I mean how is LeBron going to celebrate being MVP at 24 years old when he has to play these damn playoff games. Cavs = good, Hawks = not good enough. Cavs in 4
Lakers vs. Rockets
I think this is a match up I am anticipating more than most people. One of 2 of the worlds best players (depending on who you like better) vs. one of the worlds best defenders and piss off artists. And if you don’t know who I am talking about, its Yao Ming and Sasha Vujacic…..No seriously, earlier in the year Kobe vs. Artest was AWESOME and gave me my favourite clip of the year which I posted on the site here. I think people are MAJORLY looking past the Big Man and his band of merry men and just thinking LeBron/Kobe finals. Houston is here for a reason, they have a deep team filled with role players that just come to play basketball. Sure they don’t have T-Mac but T-Mac doesn’t have knees or a back so he would only slow them down. What I think this series will come down to is how well Ming can play Gasol and how bad Artest can piss off Kobe. If Ming gets in foul trouble consistently, Houston loses. If Artest can piss Kobe off enough to make him shoot 50 times and forget his teammates, I think LA loses. But…LA in 6
Denver vs. Dallas
I have previously stated my disdain for the Mavericks and their style of play and nothing afforded me more happiness then seeing them get beat on Sunday while I was nursing a WICKED hangover (THANK YOU PACQUIAO). I think Denver is WAY too deep, too dirty and too well rounded to even get sucked into the Diggler’s one man band act. Billups is better than Kidd (at this point in their career), anyone is better than JJ Barea, JR Smith is Jason Terry with attitude, Melo and Dirk are fairly even, Martin is a real thug as opposed to Josh Howard and Nene is a REAL beast as opposed to Ericka Dampier (shout out to the Big Shaqtus). I can see the Mavs lulling the Nuggets to sleep for a game or two so I will say….Denver in 6
Let me know what you guys think in the comments section….PROVE ME WRONG CELTICS!!!
Peace!
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Hard to argue with any of those picks GOAT. LeBron and the Cavs just look like a team focused and ready to roll right in to the finals with ease. The Celtics came out super flat in the first game against the Magic, which is somewhat understandable after that marathon with the Bulls, but I think it wore them out too much to withstand the physical beat down that Dwight and Hedo will be laying on their front court each night.
As for the western conference, I think game 1 was a wake-up call for the Lakers. All the hype before the playoffs of a possible LeBron vs. Kobe final I think had them overlooking the Rockets, but not anymore. Between Kobe and Phil Jackson I'm certain we will see a much more determined team come game 2, and Kobe will be the one to take Artest sailing. I don't think Denver will have much trouble with the Mavs, but Kidd has started to come into his own over the past month or so and is playing some good ball, but I don't think Dirk will be able to get anything going against the tight D that the Nuggets can throw his way. Kenyon Martin has long since been my favorite player in the league and he is not afraid to bust some skulls with a hard foul or three, and that will discourage Disco Dirk from attacking the lane and as good as a 7' foot tall jump shooter as he is, that's not going to get it done for them.
I still see little reason to think that LeBron and Kobe won't meet in the finals, but I am looking forward to the conference finals first. Magic/Cavs and Lakers/Nuggets offer some good match-ups that should lead to some entertaining games if all goes as predicted by GOAT.
I stand by my post from back All-Star time when I said Rondo was the most underrated point guard (possibly player) in the league. Finally he is getting some attention after dropping triple-doubles in the playoffs like it's going out of style.