Dont' hold your breath for...

This are the thing you are not going to see happening this season:

1. I don't see the Celtics repeating. The hunger will be there but the health and those lucky bounces might not be there this year. And the chances of a team as soft as the Lakers getting out of the West are very poor.

2. The Knicks wining more than 34 games. There's going to be trades, lineup shuffling, mardbury complains,etc..just keeping the drama going.

3. Jermaine O'neal is not coming back to his old form pre-melee. I like the guy, he's a great post player and we don't much of those left and I just hope he plays enough time and there's enough game in him to open up the game a little for Chris Bosh

4. Corey Maggette celebrating a championship (I know cheap shot for selecting the Warriors over the Spurs)

5. The Suns getting out of the first round. They do have enough talent in there for a 55 win season but I don't care how much the slow down I can't see Amare , Nash and Shaq defeating the Spurs, Hornets or Jazz.

6. Lebron's first ring. Might be his MVP season ( if he doesn't start cruising 20 games in the season) but Mo Williams doesn't strike as the Scottie Pippen type of player and their shooters have never been that stone cold!

7. The Pistons holding their fourth O'brien Trophy. I think this guys' run ended in Lebron's 48 point game. They need to retool and pronto.

8. The Hornets having another season like last one. Something tells me this guys are going to take a step back, maybe Chandler or West but I'm see them as a 6th or 5th seed and get kick in their buts by the Lakers or Jazz at some point in the playoffs.

9. Bibby staying in Atlanta. Come on, seriously? What's that guy doing there?!

10. Michael Beasley competing and behaving. I just get a weird vibe from this guy. When the Heat are 8-20 and the Wolves just beat the crap out of them by 36 you are going to see the real Michael Beasley

11. Gilbert Arenas earning his money. But he can write a mean wicked blog!

12. The Nuggets in the playoffs unless the new Melo Carmelo has been talking about is actually Lebron James.

13. The Blazers reaching the 40 win plateau. I know they are the fashion team and everything but Oden still not ready, although 2 block shots per game is almost a guarantee. They need to trade somebody of their young guns and again just a gut feeling they may regrese a little bit on us.

Overview: Cavs vs Wizards

What did I thought the Wizards were going to win the series? The main reason was Cleveland's big trade hadn't pay off and they had not have enough time to quite mesh. Another reason was that the Wizards' big three were almost healthy, with the exception of Arenas. And finally I felt a complete -almost complete- Wizards team was better than a meshing Cleveland team.

What went wrong? Well, I was right about some of the new cavs ( Wally World: 10.8 ppg, 35% 3FG. Ben Wallace 7.2 rpg. Joe Smith 19.5 mpg, 5.5 ppg) . Delonte West was the bright spot as he shoot 50% from downtown ( including the dagger in game 4) and did a great job running the offense.

The Wizards big three weren't quite there. Arenas was a non factor as he missed almost three games and Butler showed up for only the last three games. But the decisive issue factor with this series was that I it never crossed my mind that the Wizards' agenda was: 1) Foul Lebron, 2) Talk trash and 3) Foul Lebron. They arrived to this series ready to make a circus out of it instead of playing their possible best game.

I'm not ignoring Lebron's brilliance but we all were expecting that.


Whose fault is it? Stevenson, Haywood, Songalia. Everybody that tried to kill Lebron instead of playing him.

NBA Playoffs Weekend 1

Remember what I told you guy abou the will and all that, well the Spurs are the living proof of that. (Just add a little luck and there you have it Spurs 1 - Suns 0 )

San Antonio went to their now gamely custom of no making any shots in the second quater but thanks to foul trouble and Skinner free throws that Suns couldn't pull away. Once the Spurs got the lead reduced to like 5 points you could sense it. Duncan had the look. It took a little luck (Duncan for a three pointer?) but they pull it off. Let the rivalry continues

The fellows at Bright side of the Sun have lot's of second thoughts about the game


What to make about the Washington vs Cleveland series? At simple at his : Lebron delivered - despite and good pounding - and so far good ol' Gilberth has to eat his words


The Pistons lost . Billups missed some shots, they weren't focus (maybe) but rotations where a big if ( I know their kids are pretty good but when your lead is loosing points by posession in the fourth, I think is time for the big guns)


A game live blog of Pau's big game. Courtesy of Forums Blue and Gold

The Mavs have problems. The didn't defend Paul right (Trapping him worked last time, why not giving it a go in Game 1?) and offense were also a issue. Wes Cox at Mavs Money Ball can't be happy


Finally a good piece about playoff experience via Matt Watson at FanHouse

First Round: Cavs vs Wizards

4. Cavs (45-37) vs 5. Wizards (43-39)
Regular Season Series: TIE 2-2
Point Differencial: CLE +4.0

Here we go again. After three years this should be a rivalry but last year can't count. There was only Jamison and it wasn't even interesting. Now the Wizards are complete and almost healthy and more ready than never to face Lebron and the Cavs. This Washington team was one of the best teams last year when they were healthy. Jamison is playing better than never and Caron Butler complements him and Arenas perfectly. The Cavs in the other hand have been looking a little lost lately specially after the big trade. Wally World and Delonte West haven't shot the ball well and Big Ben looks more washed up than never (Damn, Joe Dumars you are a genius!). Last month (10-11 record) the entire team have reversed to the Paul Silas days of "Give it to Lebron and get out of the way"

Right now the Wizards are the better team but it's hard to bet against Lebron in a 7 game series when he's not facing a strong defensive team that doesn't even feature a shot blocking presence

X Factor: Wizards' D. We know they can score when they are complete but they have never been know for their defense. If the can at least closeup Cavs' shooters they have a nice chance of pulling the offset. In the season series the Cavs shot 33% from three land (season average: 36%) and scored 95,0 ppg (season average: 96,9)

Basketball Gods' prediction: WAS 4-2

Linkin Friday X

The best of the best in the blogging department (at least for me):

• Pretty talented guy making his second appearence on Linkin Friday: Ryan Parker

• Just... Out of Character

• Mark Cuban. You might not like the guy but he's as smart as they come

• Arenas aka AgentZero.

• I just find this. To bad he's done with it.
  

Not a link to a blog but still well deserving of the mention:


"I'm fucking Matt Damon". Jimmy Kimmel response was even better

Joy to the League. Part II

Indiana Pacers: Jamaal Tinsley is still alive and they are 15-13 playing in the Eastern conference.

New Jersey Nets: Richard Jefferson is becoming a scoring machine thanks in part to the way Jason Kidd is playing (11.3 ppg, 10.3 apg, 8.8 rpg, 1.8 spg). They got back Marcus Williams this past month.

Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant. Jeff Green. They're going to be in rebuilding mode for the next 3 years at least but Durant ofensive proweness will help the cause, on an off the court.

Philadelphia Sixers: Billy King is out. Andre Miller's still playing for them so there is hope that once they trade him they probabbly get something good and valuable in return.

Houston Rockets: Yao Ming generates them lots of money. They are pretty good team when TMac is healthy.

L.A. Clippers: Chris Kaman will give them some comfort in case Elton Brand leaves. Rebuilding using a big man of the 2003 class as centerpiece is not that bad.

Sacramento Kings: Ron Artest hasn't gone wild yet. They are winning a fair amount of (11 -15) games without Bibby, Martin and Shareff

Washington Wizards: Caron Butler is playing more and more like a true star which is a very good thing because they need somebody to care more on winning games than self promoting his own ass (Sorry Gilbert the Basketball Gods are huge fans of your blog and your antics and everything you do, including your game, but they do know which is you priority)

Memphis Grizzlies: New coach, new system, new star. Rudy Gay is leading the team in points (19.6 ppg ) and showing some true leadership skills. Mike Miller have also been a bright spot this season. And Gasol is happy playing with his buddy Calderon.

Chicago Bulls: They had a shot at greatness for the second time in franchise history. Now they've fired their coach and their GM likes to give gifts to everybody around the league.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Al Jefferson and the rest of the team play hard night after night and they seem like a close team.

Charlotte Bobcats: Michael Jordan called out Felton and the rest of the team. They responded with 2 straight wins. That's the best thing MJ have done for a basketball team since 1998

Miami Heat: Wade appears to be headed to the All Star game and Riley still haven't abandoned the ship.

New York Knicks: Their fans can be very organized