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

Overview: Lakers vs Jazz

Finally the Lakers met some resistance. They needed a tought matchup after the sunny days against the Nuggets. They couldn't get to the conference finals whithout sweeting it a little bit. Kobe continues his great postseason number wise (33.3 ppg, 6.4 apg, 6.8 rpg) and leadership wise. Odom is now pretty much excelling in his role in the triangle (finally! I know is a hard offensive scheme, but come on.. three years??) and Gasol had a decent series. The Jazz in the order hand got as far as Deron Williams could get them (21.6 ppg, 10.0 apg, 50% from three) without Boozer 'cause I know that guy being outplayed by Odom wasn't Boozer. We can't say that Boozer can't play in the offseason, that he crumbles under pressure or that he just don't want to show up when his teams needs him the most ( It will be so demoralizing for this franchise that Boozer follows Malone's trail so closely...). No, we can't say anything like that because Boozer played great last year, he was the reason why Utah got to the conference finals. I don't know what happened here.

At the end of the day the more experience, hungrier team won. The better team won


Whose fault is it? Wanna guess? Boozer. Next time, kid. Please show up.

Tied 2-2

Right now we have three series tied 2-2 with each team collapsing on the road like little girlies. Every time everybody says that the momentum has change and the "pressure is on them". The momentum thing is right in all this cases just because some team just won 2 straight games, in the case of the Spurs by double digits -after getting beatten by double digits themselves - but I've never understand the pressure is on them thing and here's why (I'll be so Hollywood if I started singing and dancing in a manly and virtuosos way after saying that) :

In Spurs-Hornets series after Paul lead the Hornets to an easy 2-0 lead the pressure was on the Spurs. After the Spurs won easily their 2 home games the pressure is now back to the Hornets just 'cause the Hornets apparently can only beat San Antonio at home. But isn't San Antonio a little bit pressured to win this game and go home to rap it up. They don't want a game 7 in New Orleans. The need this game more than the Pauleners


Same history with the Lakers and Jazz. LA dominated at home and then struggled to execute in the strech run at Utah. Now what? Whose pressure? LA? They know the can win easily there and they have played 82 games to have this home court advantage and also know they could win at Utah. What about the DWillers? They pretty much squeeze two wins at their home floor but trust me on this one they don't believe they are unbeatable at home they need a win at LA if they are going to get back at the Western Finals and should be easier to win a game 5 than a game 7, right? A game 6 win is no way a given for this guys.



Taking things to the East the Lebrons and the Big Three are also tied tow games apiece. Following common knowledge the pressure should be in the Celtics side. They have now lost two straight games and all but they have proven being unbeatable at home, just ask the Hawks, they don't need road wins to be the new champs. I have expressed by concerns about the Celtics almost on weekly basis for the last four weeks and I don't think they can defeat Detroit or whoever comes out of the West in a 7 game series playing like that on the road but they are facing Cleveland know, here it might male the trick. The Lebrons NEED this games more than Utah or San Antonio , this is a must win. They could use those two chances to take out the Celts if they win game 5 because a winning game 7 in Boston is almost an mission impossible, just ask the Hawks.



True be told. It's game 5. The pressure is on everybody.

NBA Playoffs Weekend 4

It's good to be at home, right?

My worries about the Celts are getting stronger and stronger after each passing road game. I can't believe how much a team can change their defensive intensity just because the crowd is not behind them. I know all the Western teams are in the same bagon but not quite. I'll get to that in a second, be patient. The game was ugly for the Celts and let me tell you something if they are thinking they can give Lebron confidence and some dagger back after winning 2 straight games and/or pulling for a game 7, then you are wrong. Lebron will eat you alive now that he knows he can. Don't say I didn't warn you.

You know Utah wasn't that dominant at home as you might expected from a 37-4 home team. But Deron Williams and the rest of the "Jazzers" showed something that I didn't think they had (Is possible they got it in this series) and that's poise and patient. They are different things if you look at them in a different way. The point is that Utah didn't freaked and actually controlled the final plays of the last two games. Yes, the leave Derek Fisher to bring the Lakers back but OT the court was theirs. The fact that Kobe was looking like Larry Bird helped the cause but give as much credit as possible to the Jazz.

Look , the Champs are alive. This was the game that give me some hope. It wasn't because of the 20 point differencial but because Duncan finally woke up and the Hornets looked defeated. I'm rooting for the Spurs just because, don't get me wrong I love to see Paul play and I want to see Paul play as much as I can but I'm biassed here. Sorry.


The Magic blew it. They had them but they let them go. Howard blew it. And now I'm here to pronounce, in behalf of the Basketball Gods, that the Pistons are the team to be beat... in the East.

NBA Playoffs Weekend 3

Boston got to the second round. Easily. I'm still questioning this team mental thoughness 'cause their road loasses where just lack of exectution they weren't victims of some conspiracy

The Spurs got beatten in the last couple of minutes by the Hornets. The Hornets' defense was "stingy" and the Spurs didn't help themselves by entering one of those "no offense time for us" type of groove they developed in the last month or so of the regular season. Not only they didn't contain Paul (his numbers may don't amaze you but he controlled that game) but they let West get 30 points and do whatever he wanted with the Spurs' defense. So, no defense and bad offense means 0-1 hole for the Spurs. Expect a better game for those guys today

The Pistons controlled Howard and the Magic shooters went 2 from 15. This is when Howard needs to prove that he really wants this. For me Howard and Lebron have the same problem: this game comes so easily for them, their bodies and abilities gives them so a clear advantage that most time they don't even need to try in order to have a big night and perhaps winning the game. Last year Lebron cruised for the entire first half and the Cavs still win 50 games.

Now Howard needs to get in another gear (like Lebron this year or last year conference finals) to defeat an highly superior team. Can he manhandle the Pistons like Lebron did last year? He has the potential but until he do it we'll leave it like that in "potential".


After building a 19 point lead the Lakers found themselves in a 4 point game with like 5 minutes to go. Utah never got closer because the didn't have Boozer (he fauled out somewhere around half way into the fourth quater) and the fould Kobe like 1 google times. I know Utah fouls a lot of people a lot of times (2468 times in the regular season. Numero uno in the league) but this Lakers team is a very good free throw shooting team (10th in the league) and having Boozer playing like a poor man's Antawn Jamison is not a good idea to give up so many points from the charity line.

Second Round: Lakers vs Jazz

1. Lakers (57-25) vs 4. Jazz (54-28)
Regular Season Series: LAL 3-1
Point Differencial: LAL +2.7

Two very different teams coming from tow different series. The Lakers coming from the only swept of the first round where they found very little resistent. They had to run but their half court execution gave them the series. In the other side, Utah is coming from a physical, tough 6 game series against T-Mac and the Rockets.Deron Williams was key for the Jazz in that series as he has been all season long.

The Lakers was the most impressive team in the first round, not only becuase of the swept but for their team defense, their ball movement, their bench play and the play of their two best players. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were brilliant all series long. They executed the triangle offense as crispy as I have seen since 2002. They made the extra pass and always found their spots where they could be effective at getting their offense going. The Lakers are going to need every bit of that execution to defeat a very ordened and disciplined Jazz team.


Utah plays a far more direct and effective offense (Only Okur shot less than 40% against Houston). They base the¡r offense on pick and rolls and screens to get their shooters open. Most of their players have the ability of creating their own shots so they can collapse the defense without breaking their offensive scheme. This is a very well coached team. They have a tought time getting rid of the Rockets because defensively they gave a lot of opportunities for easy shots. They need to improve that. They need to control both ends of the floor. It won't be easy against a team like the Lakers as they can generate offense from both outside and inside.

The defense of Kobe Bryant on Deron Williams is going to be one of the most important bullet points of this series. Deron Williams can shred any defense with his size and court vision. He can dominate either in transition basketball or in half court sets. Kobe defense have to deny him the open shot and the Lakers team defense need to try deny him the pick and roll. Not an easy task. Kirilenko will defend Kobe. His main reason to live and breath fron now on is avoid to Kobe take control in the fourth quater. Utah has the firepower to sustain and 40 or 50 point explosion of Kobe - as long as Gasol and the other Lakers are held in check - but no team in this league can survive a 20 point fourth quater from Kobe

The production matchup of Boozer and Gasol is also key (they are not going to defend themselves directly) as both teams need inside production to free up their outside players. Defense must respect them both.

X Factor: Utah shooters. If they are hitting their shots Deron Williams can easily dominate the entire series. He would have too many option to generate offense.

Basketball Gods' Prediction: LAL 4-2

First Round: Jazz vs Rockets

4. Jazz (54-28) vrs 5. Rockets (55-27)

Regular Season Series: UTA 2-1

Point Differencial: UTA +2.0

No Yao Ming and no Rafer Alston for a couple of games sound like a hell of a problema for Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets as they facethe second best home team in the West. One of the reason oh Houston's streak was the solid, let's face it overachieving, performance of RaferAlston and know he won't be there for the first two games. That leaves TMac to do ALL the offense creating from scoring to setting up the other Rockets 100% of the time. Their bench have to be huge and most of them are too green, Boby Jackson being the only one playoff tested.

Jerry Sloan's Utah are the good ol' hard working pick and roll team we are used to. But they are still young and some cracks are still there. Deron Williams sometimes (SOMEtimes like a very few) he doesn't show up and the entire Jazz team struggles. If TMac wants to be introduced to the second round for the first time in his life their focus should be 100% defensive -think Spurs or Pistons defensive- and principally stopping Deron Williams. Utah is not a good matchup for Houston but if they can hold DWill they have a hell of a shot. Houston is a excellent defensive team (They are number two in defensive rating) but you get the feeling that as the series grow old Jerry Sloan will made the necesary tweeks.

X Factor: Bobby Jackson. He needs to be agresive no matter what. He's going to start the games that Alston can't play and the first guy off çthe bench when Alston comes back.He needs to score and showcase that playoffs savvy the sometimes wins games.

Basketball Gods' prediction: UTA 4-2

To Do List

We are like a week and a half for the start of the playoffs and nothing is resolved in the West. I'm not even sure Dallas is going to be the 7th seed. As soon as the matchups are resolved all the blogsphore and other professional writers are going to write their predictions and some generic egocentric view of each first round match (Yeap, I'll write it too) but while we wait let's take a looksy to what each team should worry about -pesimistic thinking here- and need to address before -whisfull thinking here - going to the playoffs:

1. New Orleans: I don't want to get all basketbawful on you all but somebody need to do something about Tyson Chandler's hair. He looks like Vanilla Ice or some 80's version of Wesley Snipes. Basketball wise they are very thin in their frontcourt rotation, Melvin Ely?, Really? and Bonzi Wells ain't worth the gamble.

2. LA Lakers: Yeah, I know their second unit is great they hustle a lot and complement each other and yadda yadda yadda. Their second unit is very propense to silly and unforced turnovers. Bynum ain't coming back.

3. San Antonio Spurs: For the last two to three weeks they have beeb entering the third quater ice cold. They'd had quaters like the one at Utah and this last one against the Lakers where they go like 6 minutes without a field goal. Their defense ain't that great anymore to comeback from such holes.

4. Houston Rockets: Besides TMac nobody there can create their own shot on nightly basis. They have lot's of guns on Rafer Alston, Bobby Jackson, Luther Head and Landry but you can't say: "Well, if McGrady can play or is playing bad not worries WE KNOW that Alston/Jackson/Head/Landry will step up for us". You just can't

5. Utah Jazz: They have to play on the road. And at some point they'll face somebody in the Ginobili/Kobe/TMac/Howard/Melo/Captain Jack group of swingman they can't defend.

6. Phoenix Suns: Amare keeps getting in foul trouble and ol' Steve Nash is no longer the same. Their season depends way too much of Shaq and Grant Hill focus and health, respectively.

7. Dallas Mavs: They will have to defend somebody in the West/Gasol/Duncan/Boozer/Amare group of big men they can't defend. Why Howard hasn't figure out a way to play with Jason Kidd?

8. Denver Nuggets: For them defense is highly overrated because if you have guys like Melo and Iverson is just a matter of points. Because that's the way to the championship, right Nash/Webber/Kidd ?. They can not even defend a pick roll. And yes, zone defense is allow in the playoffs

9. Golden State Warriors: A matchup with Dallas is very unlikely and yes, zone defense is allow in the playoffs

Basketball Gods' March Madness

After last trade deadline bonanza the Basketball Gods' standings predictions went to the crapper they are so benevolent with us that they are willing to give us their predictions for the second half of March for the madness in the West and those curious Leastern teams

It's cooling off time for the Rockets:
March: 4 - 3
Record: 50 - 23

Hornets:
March: 3 - 3
Record: 48 - 24

Lakers:
March: 6- 2
Record: 51 - 23

Lots of home games for Utah:
March: 6- 0
Record: 51- 24

Suns:
March: 2 - 6
Record: 44 - 28

They need a good stretch here - and they know it - Spurs:
March: 6 - 1
Record: 50 - 24

Dallas:
March: 4 - 3
Record: 48 - 26

Every single game left in March is against the West, Warriors:
March: 3 - 4
Record: 44- 28

Five game trip in six days, Nuggets:
March: 2 - 6
Record: 42 - 32


This gives us this standings: