It's the Playoffs! Round 1.
And that means it's time for predictions. Yes, I know I'm a couple days late. I always am.
Spurs (1) v Kings (8): I'm very disapointed in this series, and here's why: I really thought it was going to be the best first round series. Laughable, you ask? The defending champs versus an up and down Kings team? How could the stand a chance? I'll tell you how: matchups. Like I always say, it's all about the matchups, and let's look here:
PG: Parker v Bibby - Bibby. Any day of the week. In spite of Tony Parker having a career year.
SG: Bowen v Wells - The advantage for the Spurs is that they take Bowen out of the series by not having anyone for him to shut down. There is no offensive superstar on this team. So he stops Bonzi Wells--big deal. And I question if he's strong enough to stick Artest.
SF: Artest v Manu - Ron Ron can take care of Manu defesnively. Offensively? He'll eat Manu up, and if it's Bowen guarding him he'll still contribute something.
PF: Duncan v Abdur-Rahim/Thomas/Williamson - Since Timmy can't even move anymore, the Kings have enough bodies to pound him with to keep him from being terribly effective.
C: Whoever v Miller: Miller is head and shoulders above whatever center the Spurs run out there.
Here's the thing though: I still wouldn't have picked the Kings to win, becuase I knew Artest would do something stupid at one point. Sure, this is hindsight, but haven't you all been gearing up for Ron Ron to roid out on us? And didn't you think, "It's been long enough, and now that he's in a tough playoff series against a physical opponent, he's going to pop at some point?" Well I did. And he did. The Kings could have survived and made the series interesting even after the asswhooping in Game 1--but once Artest got suspened, that's SA up 2-0, and that's...
SPURS IN 6.
Mavericks (4) v Grizzlies (5): I think Bill Simmons put it best: these teams are almost exactly alike, except the Mavs are better in every way. Really nothing else to say.
MAVS IN 5.
Suns (2) v Lakers (7): Both of these teams qualify as "I don't think they're as good as people think they are." The Suns played the last month of the season as if they were bored and ready for the playoffs to start. That's okay if you're the Pistons, Spurs, Mavs, or Heat--lots of playoff experience there, good nucleus of guys who have played together for a couple of seasons (except Miami)--but the Suns? I don't know if they can just "turn it on".
Yes, Kobe is unstoppable, but the rest of his team still sucks. I really think this series will be decided by the refs--if Kobe gets a call every time someone looks at him, Lakers win. If it's called fairly, Suns win.
SUNS IN 7.
Clippers (6) v Nuggets (3): Just writing the seedings here made me mad. Okay moving on...
The Nuggets best jump shooter--by far--is their center, Marcus Camby. Probably their best 3 point shooter is Earl Boykins. Neither of those is a good thing. Ken is basically out. This team goes in and out funks so fast it's not even funny.
Consequently, they are playing easily the third best team in the West, and perhaps the fourth best team in the league--that's right, I might rank them higher than Miami. The Clips have home court. They are briming with the confidence Sam Cassell has brought to this team. They have their second best player from last year back at the perfect time. They're having fun, and wanting this more than anyone while doing it.
This is going to be an asswhooping.
CLIPS IN 5.
Pistons (1) v Bucks (8): A slighty underacheiving, very inconsistent team versus the best in the league. Good luck with that Bucks.
PISTONS IN 4.
Cavaliers (4) v Wizards (5): Did anyone watch the Wizards play this year? Really. This seems to be all the pundits' pick for an upset in the first round. I have a question for you:
What are you smoking?
This is not a good team. They are very up and down, play absolutely no defense, and don't rebound well. They don't have home court. The Cavs best player is much better than their best player. And like I always say, look at momentum. The Cavs are picking up steam...which means the Wiz better watch out.
CAVS IN 6.
Miami (2) v Chicago (7): God the East sucks.
MIAMI IN 5.
Nets (3) v Pacers (6): Let's see: you've got a team of guards--two of which love their jumper wayyyy to much--led by a guard who has fantastically underachieved in the playoffs for years. You've got a team with untalented, but savvy veteran guards, including the second craziest guy in the league. However, the crazy guy has some talent, and his craziness makes him a good playoff/clutch performer. You've got a team who's only big man/post presence is a Euro who had his first decent season this year--and all he could average was 13 and 7. And that's your best: after him, you've got NOTHING. You've got a team who has one of the better PF's in the league who has just got done recuperating nicely from injury, along with a good outside shooter paired along with him, along with a couple good bigs off the bench. You've got a home team that has the second worst home crowd in the league. You've got a team with a rookie that's shown some real flashes and might bring you something this year. And you've got a team that always plays well in the playoffs.
Give me the upset.
PACERS IN 7.
Spurs (1) v Kings (8): I'm very disapointed in this series, and here's why: I really thought it was going to be the best first round series. Laughable, you ask? The defending champs versus an up and down Kings team? How could the stand a chance? I'll tell you how: matchups. Like I always say, it's all about the matchups, and let's look here:
PG: Parker v Bibby - Bibby. Any day of the week. In spite of Tony Parker having a career year.
SG: Bowen v Wells - The advantage for the Spurs is that they take Bowen out of the series by not having anyone for him to shut down. There is no offensive superstar on this team. So he stops Bonzi Wells--big deal. And I question if he's strong enough to stick Artest.
SF: Artest v Manu - Ron Ron can take care of Manu defesnively. Offensively? He'll eat Manu up, and if it's Bowen guarding him he'll still contribute something.
PF: Duncan v Abdur-Rahim/Thomas/Williamson - Since Timmy can't even move anymore, the Kings have enough bodies to pound him with to keep him from being terribly effective.
C: Whoever v Miller: Miller is head and shoulders above whatever center the Spurs run out there.
Here's the thing though: I still wouldn't have picked the Kings to win, becuase I knew Artest would do something stupid at one point. Sure, this is hindsight, but haven't you all been gearing up for Ron Ron to roid out on us? And didn't you think, "It's been long enough, and now that he's in a tough playoff series against a physical opponent, he's going to pop at some point?" Well I did. And he did. The Kings could have survived and made the series interesting even after the asswhooping in Game 1--but once Artest got suspened, that's SA up 2-0, and that's...
SPURS IN 6.
Mavericks (4) v Grizzlies (5): I think Bill Simmons put it best: these teams are almost exactly alike, except the Mavs are better in every way. Really nothing else to say.
MAVS IN 5.
Suns (2) v Lakers (7): Both of these teams qualify as "I don't think they're as good as people think they are." The Suns played the last month of the season as if they were bored and ready for the playoffs to start. That's okay if you're the Pistons, Spurs, Mavs, or Heat--lots of playoff experience there, good nucleus of guys who have played together for a couple of seasons (except Miami)--but the Suns? I don't know if they can just "turn it on".
Yes, Kobe is unstoppable, but the rest of his team still sucks. I really think this series will be decided by the refs--if Kobe gets a call every time someone looks at him, Lakers win. If it's called fairly, Suns win.
SUNS IN 7.
Clippers (6) v Nuggets (3): Just writing the seedings here made me mad. Okay moving on...
The Nuggets best jump shooter--by far--is their center, Marcus Camby. Probably their best 3 point shooter is Earl Boykins. Neither of those is a good thing. Ken is basically out. This team goes in and out funks so fast it's not even funny.
Consequently, they are playing easily the third best team in the West, and perhaps the fourth best team in the league--that's right, I might rank them higher than Miami. The Clips have home court. They are briming with the confidence Sam Cassell has brought to this team. They have their second best player from last year back at the perfect time. They're having fun, and wanting this more than anyone while doing it.
This is going to be an asswhooping.
CLIPS IN 5.
Pistons (1) v Bucks (8): A slighty underacheiving, very inconsistent team versus the best in the league. Good luck with that Bucks.
PISTONS IN 4.
Cavaliers (4) v Wizards (5): Did anyone watch the Wizards play this year? Really. This seems to be all the pundits' pick for an upset in the first round. I have a question for you:
What are you smoking?
This is not a good team. They are very up and down, play absolutely no defense, and don't rebound well. They don't have home court. The Cavs best player is much better than their best player. And like I always say, look at momentum. The Cavs are picking up steam...which means the Wiz better watch out.
CAVS IN 6.
Miami (2) v Chicago (7): God the East sucks.
MIAMI IN 5.
Nets (3) v Pacers (6): Let's see: you've got a team of guards--two of which love their jumper wayyyy to much--led by a guard who has fantastically underachieved in the playoffs for years. You've got a team with untalented, but savvy veteran guards, including the second craziest guy in the league. However, the crazy guy has some talent, and his craziness makes him a good playoff/clutch performer. You've got a team who's only big man/post presence is a Euro who had his first decent season this year--and all he could average was 13 and 7. And that's your best: after him, you've got NOTHING. You've got a team who has one of the better PF's in the league who has just got done recuperating nicely from injury, along with a good outside shooter paired along with him, along with a couple good bigs off the bench. You've got a home team that has the second worst home crowd in the league. You've got a team with a rookie that's shown some real flashes and might bring you something this year. And you've got a team that always plays well in the playoffs.
Give me the upset.
PACERS IN 7.
posted by Michael Pondrom at 6:35 PM
2 Comments:
I have to say that since the move to best of seven, the first round of the NBA playoffs is by far the most boring of all the major professional sports.
Second round predictions are much more fun...and interesting.
Yes, I miss the old best of five as well Bo.
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