Playoff Preview: Hawks vs Bucks

(3) Hawks vs (6) Bucks

I know.. I know..this is cheating. Series already 2 games old. So, Ill make it quick. Bucks have no chance without Bogut. Atlanta is too athletic and experience for Milwaukee

Basketball Gods prediction: Hawks in 5

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 7

Playoff Preview: Celtics vs Heat

(3) Celtics vs (6) Heat

One more title run? This is it for the Celtics. Whatever happens this is going to be the last time we see this Celtics group winning 50 games, having home court advantage or being "favorites" in a playoff series. I still see one more push, one more explosion in the engine room, one more stretch of good basketball. Its all about defense and Bostons has the tools to be a lock down team, specially against a one man team like the Heat. If somehow they re-encounter themselves with the defense intensity that gave them a ring a couple of years ago they could really become a spoiler for the Cavs-Magics Conference Finals everybody is yapping about.

Could also be the last time we see Miami win more than 30 games in a season. If this is Wade's last season in Miami ( I think he is staying) and if you are a fan, please enjoy this few days. You are going to miss them.

Miami is going to need 2006 Wade ( and 2006 refs. They are still there. Don't worry) . Wade have been playing at that level this year. Is a given that Wade is going to have a big series. If Boston's defensive schemes ( Tom Thibodeau time!) make him a jump shooter and/or a passer, the Celtics are going to the next round. Is that simple. If he manages to attack the basket drive after drive, the Heat are going to the next round. Boston doesn't have the big basket protectors other teams have. Perkins is the only capable enforcer down there and he is not a shot blocker. Garnett can't jump. Wallace won't even try. Its going to be up to the Allens ( yeap the other one too) Rondo and Pierce to try to maintain Wade in check.

That and a few lucky bounces and Wade's crappy supporting cast is all Boston needs to be in the next round.

Basketball Gods prediction: Celtics in 7

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 4.5

Playoff Preview: Magic vs Bobcats

(2) Magic vs (7) Bobcats

Am I the only one thinking the Magic may have some problems handling this Bobcats team? In my book Charlotte is an awfully tough team. Jax really gives them an edge and is not easy to outcoach Larry Brown you know? Stan Van Gundy is a pretty good coach and the mere quality of the Magic -and their best player- is going to give them the series. Orlando is playing amazing basketball and they haven't miss a beat since the All Star game.

Charlotte has a nice collection of big bodies to throw at Howard and getting under Howard's skin is a good way to get him off his game. Brown would make sure Wallace and Jackson attack the basket, and Howard, any chance they get.

What about Vince? Everybody have been waiting for this moment to critize and attack good ol' Vince. I like Carter. It sucks he doesn't have the thrive for glory like Kobe has. A real shame. I just hope that for a couple of months he discovers some type of hunger, like he were in a contract year, a play aggresive, smart and efficient basketball. 2 months. 1 ring. Players have been playing hard for a decades without a real chance of getting a title. It can't be that hard

This is not going to be a pretty series. They are both defensive teams so you know what that means. Hack-a-Howard is going to be in place. MJ is going to be there playing cool. Best case scenario: Jax goes all Nellie ball on Brown and ends up in the bench for the last couple of games.

Basketball Gods Prediction: Orlando in 5

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 7

Playoff Preview: Cavs vs Bulls

(1) Cavs vs (8) Bulls

All eyez on me (Gotta love that album) . This is all about Lebron. The cavs are an after thought. The Bulls are just the little mosquito on the windshield. Derrick Rose is going to have his moments, we have to let him enjoy that.

A sweep? Maybe not. The Cavs are the best team in the country with the best player. The Bulls? Well, the have a pretty good player and lost of potential. This is going to be a nice learning experience for them. I wish I could say more, the Bulls are one of my favorite teams, but if the get to steal one game would be amazing ( You know what would be cool? If the steal one on the road. Imagine ESPN if Lebron is suddenly 1-1 in a first round series going on the road. Pandemonium!)

Things to watch in this series: 1. Mo Williams. He was crap last year against Orlando. 2. Shaq. How bad in shape is he in? 3. Vinny del Negro/John Paxson. I'm voting for them to get into a fight in national TV. You know like in Game 5. The Cavs up by 15 and Chicago starters on the bench and we see Paxson coming from the tunnel running and gasping like a mad cow ready to tackle Del Negro, just to get bear hug by Del Negro and get tossed to the the second row, three rows from Stern and probably Obama. Good Stuff!! Anyhow Cavs in 5.

Basketball Gods prediction: Cavs in 5

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 8.5

Playoff Preview:Jazz vs Nuggets

(4) Jazz vs (5) Nuggets

The tale of two momentums. Utah is playing as well as any team in the league. They are not considered a good defensive team but they are pretty damn good establishing their tempo and also versatile enough to adjust to other temps when they have to. They have a great leader in Deron Williams and one of the better coaches out there. About Sloan, do we take him for granted? I mean if he wasn't Jerry freaking Sloan he would have at least 3 COY awards in the last 10 years. How did this happen?

Oh well, the other -Denver - is sinking as a rock. They totally lost their mojo when coach Karl went down and lost their toughest guy when KMart went down. Their are getting Martin back but no their mojo. I'm impressed how a team with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups can look so off in an important stretch of the season. I liked this team. For my money if they had gone for an extra big in February ( Camby, Thomas, Collison ) they would have been right there with the Lakers ( even higher considering how the Lakers are playing these days) but they did nothing and now they look like a first round exit. What a shame.

Utah have their own issues with injuries. Kirilenko won't play this series and Okur still hurt but he is scheduled to be in uniform. Carlos Boozer got his rib cage hurt or something like that. He is a big guy, I'm not even considering him being injured. How much of the momentum was killed by their last game lost of the season, the ass kicking Phoenix gave them, at home no less.

Denver and Utah are 500 road teams. Denver has come advantage and without Utah's Kirilenko there is really nobody who can stay with Carmelo. To be honest this is a toss-up and I'm thinking of giving the series to Denver just caused of the Kirilenko injury and the fact that I'm relying on Chauncey to have a good series matching somehow the damage Deron Williams is going to inflict on them.

Basketball Gods prediction: Nuggets in 7

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 6

Playoff Preview: Suns vs Blazers

(3) Suns vs (6) Blazers

Brandon Roy will be a no show for this one. The overachievers Blazers goes to war against the hottest team in the West without the best player. What a fucking shame. I'm serious, I love this Blazers teams. IMO with Roy they would had a real chance to move on to the next round but without him they have nobody who can control the tempo of the game and they are going to fall right into the hands of the trigger happy Nash led Suns.

Is there any difference between this Suns are the ones who got bounced again and again this past years? Nash is older but no slower. Amare is better offensively but not defensively. Their three point shooting attack is not as powerful but their inside games has improved .What does all this means? It means they are going to the next round with Roy or no Roy in the other side.

It's not going to be easy. Miller is big enough to slow down Nash, Camby is good enough to bother Amare and if there is a team out there who wont just roll out and play dead is this Blazers team.

At the end of the day the cruel reality tells that talent wins over heart. The Suns have the talent.

Basketball Gods prediction: Phoenix in 5

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 8

Playoff Preview: Mavs vs Spurs

(2) Mavericks vs (7) Spurs

Gotta love this Spurs. They "only" won 50 games but they are still mentioned between those teams nobody wants to face. Some night the look like they can't be beat some other nights the look plain old and tired. They don't necessary need 40 games from Manu to be contenders but they do need efficient games from Duncan, aggressive games from Richard Jefferson and more then solid games from their shooters. Is that too much to ask? Actually is not. The last month of Spurs basketball is being that. Duncan has had a couple of poor games but the other factors have been there. And the defense is always there.

Dallas? You know, on paper they look mighty good but there is something that just doesn't click with this group. Caron Butler is not the all star he was, Marion seems lost offensively sometimes, Terry's shooting touch hasn't been there all season long. The bench is good but not always there.

Still they are bigger and stronger than the Spurs and Nowitzki will be the better player on this series unless Manu goes super nova hot on them. Or Timmeh goes 2003 on all of us.

Both Tony and George Hill are hurt which takes a lot of the advantage the Spurs have on the point guard positions. San Antonio has never had a answer for Dirk and their benches are decent but unreliable. Its going to go down to execution and lucky bounces. Sucks to end a season like that.

Basketball Gods Prediction: Mavs in 7

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 7

Playoff Preview: Lakers vs Thunder

(1) Lakers vs (8) Thunder

In every piece written about playoff predictions that give this series to the Lakers the words " It won't be easy" would be printed somehow. What is wrong with the Lakers? The not only have looked disinterested, the have look BAD. Kobe is hurt and for whatever macho/I'm legend reason he wont acknowledge it. Ron Artest has look out of place all season long. Fishers sucks. Their bench sucks. Bynum just wont remain healthy for an entire season. IMO the main issues is that they keep ignoring how good Pau Gasol is, easily the second best big behind D12, and somehow he takes 8 shots less per game than the 46 FG% shooter Kobe Bryant? Do we still buy the "Kobe going to work" stuff?

If just ask me they got lucky with this match up. You know the Thunder is going to blow a game or two on poor late game execution ( They are young and naive, you know?). Westbrook hasn't look as good lately so that takes the only capable ball handler in pressure situation ( Even though he is also still pretty young) and they have shown a little tendency to drift away from their defensive execution.

We are still going to have at least 6 games of the beautiful game of Kevin Durant, the sometimes graceful Kobe Bryant and the bad looking but damn good post game of Pau Gasol. Also, we are going to get a lot of BITCHING! You can put whatever money on that one

Basketball Gods prediction: L.A. Lakers on 6

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 4

Playoff Previews

I've never been a "blogger" that like throwing numbers at you. I won't tell you that the Lakers have been playing .500 basketball since the all star break or the poor record the Thunder have in games decided by 5 points or less or the the low point differential Dallas is carrying into the postseason. You won't hear from me the record the Celtics have against Cleveland, Orlando and Atlanta. I'm also a fan that believes a lot in recent performances ( not including those where players are getting rest. I hate when that happens more the a couple of games but that is a tantrum for another post) and I'm always going to be a believer of the fact that matchups in any series matter most than the record or the plus/minus stats.

So, I'm presenting straight to the point NBA playoffs series previews, I won't ignores stats, but the wont tell me who is going to win. Quick. Direct. Few words. Most of them pretty little. Some preschool stuff.

Drafts 2006-2009

2006

Would you think Chris Bosh would be very happy playing with Brandon Roy? I think that’s the major effect with this class. All the others players are far from having the impact Roys has had with the Blazers. Although you could easily make a case for Rondo, after all he is the only one with a ring of these 8 players. Talking about Rondo he’s selected by the Bulls here, does the Bulls still go with Rose in a couple of years?

Championship Builders: Raptors

Biggest Jump: Paul Millsap from 47th to 6th

Pick Order. Picking Team -- Player Selected (Original Position Drafted )

1. Raptors -- Brandon Roy (6)

2. Bulls -- Rajon Rondo (21)

3. Bobcats -- Lamarcus Aldrige (2)

4. Blazers -- Andrea Bargnani (1)

5. Hawks -- Rudy Gay (8)

6. Twolves -- Paul Millsap (47)

7. Celtics -- Tyrus Thomas (4)

8. Rockets -- Randy Foye (7)

2007

Three years later and the question is not anymore Durant or Oden, now is more about if Noah and Horford are better big men than Oden. This class ( and the others coming after this) are still very recent so we still don’t have a clear idea of what are we dealing here with. This class for example, we don’t know if Brooks is going to have a more productive career than Stuckey. Brooks is right now the best player on Houston, a MIP candidate. Stuckey had a better start of his career but hasn’t being as good since the departure of Billups ( that potential he showed was the catalyst for Dumars to trade Billups to make room for Stuckey “growth” ). Players like Corey Brewer, Thaddeus Young, Brandan Wright, etc still could end up being better than the players here listed.

Championship Builders: Blazers

Biggest Jump: Aaron Brooks from 26th to 5th

Pick Order. Picking Team -- Player Selected (Original Position Drafted )

1. Blazers -- Kevin Durant (2)

2. Sonics

--

Al Horford

(

3

)

3. Hawks

--

Joakim Noah

(

9

)

4. Grizzlies

--

Greg Oden

(

1

)

5. Celtics

--

Aaron Brooks

(

26

)

6. Bucks

--

Jeff Green

(

5

)

7. Twolves

--

Mike Conley

(

4

)

8. Bobcats

--

Rodney Stuckey

(

15

)

2008

Again, still too young to judge. Westbrook could be better than Rose. Beasley could be a late boomer and Danilo Gallinari could really become a first option on a good team. We still don’t know

Championship Builders: I don't know

Biggest Jump: George Hill from 26th to 9th

Pick Order. Picking Team -- Player Selected (Original Position Drafted )

1. Bulls -- Derrick Rose (1)

2. Heat

--

Kevin Love

(

5

)

3. Twolves

--

Russel Westbrook

(

4

)

4. Sonics

--

Brook Lopez

(

10

)

5. Grizlies

--

Michael Beasley

(

2

)

6. Knicks

--

O.J. Mayo

(

3

)

7. Clippers

--

Eric Gordon

(

7

)

8. Bucks

--

Danilo Gallinari

(

6

)

9. Bobcats

--

George Hill

(

26

)

2009

Their rookie season hasn’t even ended – in some cases it hasn’t even started – but I still think Blake Griffin is going to a monster in this league.

Championship Builders: I don't know

Biggest Jump: George Hill from 26th to 9th

Pick Order. Picking Team -- Player Selected (Original Position Drafted )

1. Clippers -- Blake Griffin (1)

2. Grizzlies

--

Tyreke Evans

(

4

)

3. Thunder

--

Stephen Curry

(

7

)

4. Kings

--

Brandon Jennings

(

10

)

5. Twolves

--

Johnny Flynn

(

6

)

6. Twolves

--

DeJuan Blair

(

37

)

7. Warriors

--

Darren Collison

(

21

)

8. Knicks

--

Taj Gibson

(

26

)

9. Raptors

--

James Harden

(

3

)