Assuming Boston can somehow get past Atlanta (which is not a complete guarantee) the second round field for the NBA playoffs is set. It’s time for a new set of predictions. But first, let’s review the first round.
1) How the heck is Atlanta still in this series against Boston? As a Hawks fan, I’m happy that Atlanta is showing some heart and playing with effort. If they played like that all the time, they would be a four or five seed. It’s frustrating to see this but they made it to a game seven and after seeing the first two games of the series, I thought that wouldn’t happen.
2) Boston, you have problems. Why have you looked so disorganized when the games are in Atlanta? Maybe this team peaked when they beat San Antonio, Houston and Dallas on the road earlier in the year. I think they will get past Atlanta tomorrow, but this isn’t a good sign.
3) The Nuggets proved to me once again why they’re the most disappointing team in the NBA. They didn’t bother to try to play defense against the Lakers in most of the series, check that, all of the series. And they had the nerve to talk smack to Kobe, bad move. J.R. Smith, Kobe drops 49 on you in Game 2 and you still talk crap to him, classic. George Karl is staying; Iverson has one more year on his deal so he’s still around, Carmelo? Not so sure, you heard it here first.
4) Lakers are still the favorite in the clubhouse right now.
5) Everyone needs to fall back on criticizing Tracy McGrady. The guy is doing all he can, he has just run into some bad luck in the postseason. You know who else hasn’t won a playoff series? Grant Hill, Carmelo Anthony and some others. Should he have won a playoff series by now? Probably, but his team has been the underdog in many of the series, including this one, even though the Rockets had home court.
6) Utah was efficiently good and that’s enough for me.
7) If the Suns won Game 1 of their series against the Suns, that series goes seven like I predicted. BTW, let Phoenix fire D’Antoni. I know a dozen teams that would find some him some room to be their coach. I would give more details about the fall of the Suns, but I actually think that Bill Simmons does a good job of it. Here’s the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080501
8) Duncan is a man, best power forward ever and in the top 10-15 all-time, hate if you want.
9) New Orleans showed me something taking care of Dallas like they did.
10) Josh Howard, most of life is about timing and you my friend and favorite of the Wake Nation, didn’t understand that.
11) DeShawn Stevenson, thanks for making that Cleveland/Washington series interesting. I picked the Wizards, but I underestimated how hurt Gil was and how much they lacked flow.
12) Orlando/Toronto series went like I expected. Toronto, you need to solve your point guard situation like now and Bargnani, wow, you were the first overall pick? You showed solid flashes last season, what happened?
13) Besides being a transplanted Hawks fan, I grew up in NYC, so I rep for the Knicks hard. So as hard as it is for me to say, congrats to Philly for their effort. If Philly moved up one spot and faced Orlando in the first round, I would have made that an upset pick but they got the wrong draw in Detroit. Speaking of which…
14) Stop frickin sleepwalking through playoff series. Its one thing to get lazy in the regular season like San Antonio does. The best team ever to do this was the early Shaq/Kobe teams when they won their three titles accept for the first one. You aren’t that good and it will catch up with you.
Enough about the first round, let’s get to the second round:
New Orleans vs. San Antonio: Potential for a classic. You have the legends of Wake Forest (two Wake references in one post. I didn’t even mention Darius Songaila) going at it. Let’s break up the matchups. Point guard: As out of this world as Paul is playing right now, Parker is playing just as well. Maybe it’s because he’s on the Spurs or because he’s been overexposed with his hot, but overrated and annoying wife, but Tony doesn’t get enough love when top point guards are discussed. So this matchup is a push. Rest of the backcourt: I would actually give the slight advantage to New Orleans. Frontcourts: You know my opinions of Duncan, but the rest of the Spurs are good as well. New Orleans counters with West, Chandler and a cast of others. That’s a wash as well, slightly going to the Spurs because of Mani, even though he’s a guard/forward. Coaching: Pop is a hall of famer, but Scott is good as well. I guess you have to go with Pop for respect purposes, but that’s even as well. Home court won’t come into play because the Spurs don’t care and I don’t think New Orleans will either.
I’m going with Hornets in seven, but if San Antonio wins the series, it wouldn’t surprise me at all
Los Angeles vs. Utah: I love watching Utah play, their efficiently is a joy to watch. The main question you have is whose going to guard Kobe? It would usually be AK-47, but his play has dipped. He used to be a defensive force, but that hasn’t been going on lately. But Marcel, who guards Boozer and Williams? That’s a fair point, but Los Angeles is playing so well together right now.
Lakers in six
Detroit vs. Orlando: The Pistons disgust me as I stated earlier. Orlando is playing well right now and when you get Lewis and Hedo on the perimeter that causes problems for Detroit. I like Detroit’s bench more than the Magic, so that’s a check on that side. Who guards Howard? They’ll go with a combination of guys. Howard’s free-throw shooting scares me also. But there comes a time when Detroit will waste all of our times and not make a conference finals. This is the year.
Orlando in six in a mini-upset
Atlanta/Boston vs. Cleveland: I’m assuming that Boston wins its series, but if Atlanta wins, I can see them beating Cleveland as well. LeBron is doing his thing, but I think that Boston will be energized getting past Atlanta and will actually have an easier time against Cleveland. It’s all about matchups and the athleticism of Atlanta is giving Boston trouble, but Cleveland isn’t athletic besides James. Boston will employ a team defense on LeBron and limit him as much as they can. I don’t like Cleveland’s team at all.
Boston in six or Atlanta in seven.
I’ll update the blog more during these rounds, I promise.
1) How the heck is Atlanta still in this series against Boston? As a Hawks fan, I’m happy that Atlanta is showing some heart and playing with effort. If they played like that all the time, they would be a four or five seed. It’s frustrating to see this but they made it to a game seven and after seeing the first two games of the series, I thought that wouldn’t happen.
2) Boston, you have problems. Why have you looked so disorganized when the games are in Atlanta? Maybe this team peaked when they beat San Antonio, Houston and Dallas on the road earlier in the year. I think they will get past Atlanta tomorrow, but this isn’t a good sign.
3) The Nuggets proved to me once again why they’re the most disappointing team in the NBA. They didn’t bother to try to play defense against the Lakers in most of the series, check that, all of the series. And they had the nerve to talk smack to Kobe, bad move. J.R. Smith, Kobe drops 49 on you in Game 2 and you still talk crap to him, classic. George Karl is staying; Iverson has one more year on his deal so he’s still around, Carmelo? Not so sure, you heard it here first.
4) Lakers are still the favorite in the clubhouse right now.
5) Everyone needs to fall back on criticizing Tracy McGrady. The guy is doing all he can, he has just run into some bad luck in the postseason. You know who else hasn’t won a playoff series? Grant Hill, Carmelo Anthony and some others. Should he have won a playoff series by now? Probably, but his team has been the underdog in many of the series, including this one, even though the Rockets had home court.
6) Utah was efficiently good and that’s enough for me.
7) If the Suns won Game 1 of their series against the Suns, that series goes seven like I predicted. BTW, let Phoenix fire D’Antoni. I know a dozen teams that would find some him some room to be their coach. I would give more details about the fall of the Suns, but I actually think that Bill Simmons does a good job of it. Here’s the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080501
8) Duncan is a man, best power forward ever and in the top 10-15 all-time, hate if you want.
9) New Orleans showed me something taking care of Dallas like they did.
10) Josh Howard, most of life is about timing and you my friend and favorite of the Wake Nation, didn’t understand that.
11) DeShawn Stevenson, thanks for making that Cleveland/Washington series interesting. I picked the Wizards, but I underestimated how hurt Gil was and how much they lacked flow.
12) Orlando/Toronto series went like I expected. Toronto, you need to solve your point guard situation like now and Bargnani, wow, you were the first overall pick? You showed solid flashes last season, what happened?
13) Besides being a transplanted Hawks fan, I grew up in NYC, so I rep for the Knicks hard. So as hard as it is for me to say, congrats to Philly for their effort. If Philly moved up one spot and faced Orlando in the first round, I would have made that an upset pick but they got the wrong draw in Detroit. Speaking of which…
14) Stop frickin sleepwalking through playoff series. Its one thing to get lazy in the regular season like San Antonio does. The best team ever to do this was the early Shaq/Kobe teams when they won their three titles accept for the first one. You aren’t that good and it will catch up with you.
Enough about the first round, let’s get to the second round:
New Orleans vs. San Antonio: Potential for a classic. You have the legends of Wake Forest (two Wake references in one post. I didn’t even mention Darius Songaila) going at it. Let’s break up the matchups. Point guard: As out of this world as Paul is playing right now, Parker is playing just as well. Maybe it’s because he’s on the Spurs or because he’s been overexposed with his hot, but overrated and annoying wife, but Tony doesn’t get enough love when top point guards are discussed. So this matchup is a push. Rest of the backcourt: I would actually give the slight advantage to New Orleans. Frontcourts: You know my opinions of Duncan, but the rest of the Spurs are good as well. New Orleans counters with West, Chandler and a cast of others. That’s a wash as well, slightly going to the Spurs because of Mani, even though he’s a guard/forward. Coaching: Pop is a hall of famer, but Scott is good as well. I guess you have to go with Pop for respect purposes, but that’s even as well. Home court won’t come into play because the Spurs don’t care and I don’t think New Orleans will either.
I’m going with Hornets in seven, but if San Antonio wins the series, it wouldn’t surprise me at all
Los Angeles vs. Utah: I love watching Utah play, their efficiently is a joy to watch. The main question you have is whose going to guard Kobe? It would usually be AK-47, but his play has dipped. He used to be a defensive force, but that hasn’t been going on lately. But Marcel, who guards Boozer and Williams? That’s a fair point, but Los Angeles is playing so well together right now.
Lakers in six
Detroit vs. Orlando: The Pistons disgust me as I stated earlier. Orlando is playing well right now and when you get Lewis and Hedo on the perimeter that causes problems for Detroit. I like Detroit’s bench more than the Magic, so that’s a check on that side. Who guards Howard? They’ll go with a combination of guys. Howard’s free-throw shooting scares me also. But there comes a time when Detroit will waste all of our times and not make a conference finals. This is the year.
Orlando in six in a mini-upset
Atlanta/Boston vs. Cleveland: I’m assuming that Boston wins its series, but if Atlanta wins, I can see them beating Cleveland as well. LeBron is doing his thing, but I think that Boston will be energized getting past Atlanta and will actually have an easier time against Cleveland. It’s all about matchups and the athleticism of Atlanta is giving Boston trouble, but Cleveland isn’t athletic besides James. Boston will employ a team defense on LeBron and limit him as much as they can. I don’t like Cleveland’s team at all.
Boston in six or Atlanta in seven.
I’ll update the blog more during these rounds, I promise.
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