Yeah,..I know I'm a little late, but you know this isn't my day job. So we have two conference finals that seem to be shaping up to be great. Possibly 2 7 game series. Let's start in the East:
Boston - Wow, they finally won a road game. I think they should be given the East Conference Championship just for that. KG has been solid, The Truth has been decent, and we even saw that Ray Allen is still alive (well atleast in one game). My issues with Boston start at the top. Doc, you've played your bench all year and now you're going to tighten your rotation? I know, I know, it's the playoffs,...that's what coaches do. BUT, you have guys in Powe, Davis, Allen, House, and Cassell that can produce, although I probably won't blame you for not playing Cassell as much (he hasn't been the clutch guy they thought they were going to get). Last night the Celtics just got blown out of the water in Detroit and still had opportunities to win the game at the end. Doc, loosen the reigns and let the guys play. If you can get Ray Allen to show up for 3 more games, you guys can go on to the NBA Finals.
Detroit - Did anyone realize how important one hamstring really is? Well, it's worth a lot when he's attached to the body who happens to be the head of the Pistons team. Chauncey is picking his spots, but as we can see, his shot is off right now. We all know his hammy is hurting, but Stuckey is filling in when needed. Has anyone shown more poise on the Detroit team than Stuckey and Maxiell? McDyess is the good guy that the team wants to win a ring for, and he showed up big last night. I'm not sure he's put up a 20+ points and 15+ rebound effort in a while (probably not since his rookie season, I'll get my stat guy to check. Yes, I may be low budget right now, but I have a stat guy). The Pistons seem to be on a mission to make this happen against the Celtics.
My Pick - Celtics in 7. Yes, I'm going against the Pistons. This may be more heart than head, because I want KG to win a ring. This might even make up for Barkley not getting one, but KG deserves a ring (can you feel the emotion?). The Celtics have some work to do but this can happen for them. They need some production from the bench and they need Ray Allen to get more points that shot attempts and they should advance to the NBA Finals.
Los Angeles - Well, nothing more to say really, Kobe was/is the MVP of the league. They have a bomb squad with Gasol, Odom, Walton, Radmanovic, Fisher, Vujacic, Turiaf, Farmar, and all of them are under contract (plus big Bynum is back next year). I think on talent alone the Lakers should win this series. They have the best player in the game in Kobe and he has that 'killer' in him that will not let his team lose. They have played well together and seem to have the chemistry that they have lacked in the past years. Farmar and Vujacic need to stay on their games and Odom has got to dominate his match-up, because the Spurs don't have anyone that can stop him.
San Antonio - You ever been to the Riverwalk? Nice area, good food, good fun,....and that's it. I'm not going to hide it, I don't like the Spurs. Hoped that the Hornets could have gotten them out of the way last series but it wasn't in the cards. Tim Duncan is exactly what he was 5 years ago, minus the athleticism that he's lost, a technically sound big man. If you have a post move that everyone in the gym knows you're going to use and you still use it and get the results, you are good (doesn't hurt that his basketball IQ was grown in ACC country). Tony Parker, is still the same guy that isn't the best shooter, but he seems to effortlessly get to the basket against anyone. The one person on the Spurs that gets that team going is (in my best Charles Barkley voice) Gi-n-o-b-i-l-i!!!!! He stirs the pot right now with his shooting, drives to the hole, and timely passing. Ginobili always seems to be in the middle of a Spurs run. They have a veteran-laden bench that can come in and maintain, but they often don't put up lots of numbers to get their team back into a game.
My Pick - Lakers in 7. Yes, I want to see the Lakers get to the Finals. I probably want to see the Spurs get beaten more than anything. The Lakers have all of the pieces, and we'll see what happens. The Lakers have to stop Ginobili so I expect to see the Mamba on him for the rest of the series. Odom is the key to the series, he's got to abuse whomever he turns to see when he has the ball.
Well, with all of that said,....I reserve the right to make changes to my picks, but until then I'll stick with these. It's great to be me, eh?
1 comment:
When I grow up....
Boston has yet to realize that the regular season is essentially meaningless this time of year. You might as well vacate all of those road wins during the season because they obviously learned nothing from any of them. Had "Mr. Big Shot" not tried to audition for Dancing with the Stars during that fateful game, The Big Three might just be down 3 to the Detroit Big Three (Billups, Rip and Sheed). Boston's bench is not dependable is these tough spots; hell, throw me a jersey and I'll get you 10 & 6 even at my advanced age. Detroit's bench has had the benefit of playing behind and learning from guys that epitomize the saying, "been there, done that". I'd be surprised if Boston pulled this one out in the end, but as you alluded to, one hamstring could equal a seat in front of the home theater for the finals. Besides, KG can get a ring from big Russ if he wants to. That was the biggest load of crap I've ever seen. On another note, did you hear the commentator last night on ESPN basically say that Ray Allen looked older than Sam Cassell? Damn that's bad!
They should rename the Western Conference Finals the "Flop Olympics". Anymore of that crap and I'm taking the PGP to the staduim and lettin' loose. Between Ginobili, Oberto, Bowen, Gasol and Fisher, there's more floppin' than at a fish market. It, along with the complaining on EVERY call, has ruined the series. I hope LA wins though as I'm tired of The Big Fundamental, TP's wining ass (although you can show Eva all you want to) and Bowen hitting every 3 pointer from the damn corner. By the way, hasn't anyone caught onto the fact that he can hit that damn shot? It's like daring MJ to drive to the hoop. LA should start putting the nails in the coffin tonight. Their role players are producing now just like they did in the regular season (memo to Doc Rivers).
I'd like to see Detroit & LA in the finals, Magic vs. Isaiah all over again, or something like that.
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