Just John

My predictions that will probably look moronic in a couple weeks: EASTERN CONFERENCE Detroit d. Orlando (4-1): Pretty lopsided series here. Talent, experience, chemistry, just about everything favors the Pistons. I think Grant Hill gets a feel-good game here, but the outcome of the series is never in doubt. Miami d. Chicago (4-3): Tough series to call here. The Bulls played Miami really well in the regular season, but I forsee some problems with their style. That rough defense isn't gonna be too beneficial for Chi-town in close games. Even though D-Wade lost a huge teammate in Joey Crawford for the postseason, I think Bavetta and Javie can pick up the slack... In all seriousness, though, The Bulls can hang with the Heat, but in crunch time, I don't see how they will stop Shaq or Wade. Heat win by hook or by crook. New Jersey d. Toronto (4-2): It's too bad things had to shift the way they did at the end of the season for the Raptors. Washington was a lame duck, and even though they'll have the chance to show up Vinsanity, I think they'd prefer the Wiz. The combo of Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson seems like enough experience and scoring power to stop the Raptors miracle run. The Nets playing good defense will also be critical to their success. Cleveland d. Washington (4-0): In the words of Tom Tolbert, this season for the Wizards "just makes you want to throw up on yourself." What a terrible way to end the season with all those injuries. The Cavs are weak-ass 2-seed, but there's no way they don't curb-stomp the Wiz in this one. WESTERN CONFERENCE Dallas d. Golden State (4-2): The Mavs may not have wanted the Clippers, but I hope they're not shrugging off their ex-coach. Nellie-ball is in full force in Oakland, and Dallas better bring their running shoes to this series. Statistically, there's very little chance of GS getting swept with the way the shoot. They'd have to really choke to not catch fire once or twice and run through the Mavs' D. Study those Phoenix tapes, Warriors. Of course, Dallas is still a much better all around team and should win, but they'll have to work for it. Houston d. Utah (4-2): You didn't think I'd pick against the Rockets, did you? But really, they should win this series. Utah's a tougher match because they can play some mean D, but I don't think they have an answer inside for Yao. Nor do they have an all-around killer like T-Mac to go to in the clutch. Utah's too young, and even though the Rockets don't have much recent playoff experience, they do have more NBA experience. San Antonio d. Denver (4-2): Denver would've been better off facing Phoenix, but I think they can still put up a fight here. With Melo and AI, you have to do something. SA should close out in 5, but they never make anything easy for themselves in the playoffs. In the end, I'm not sure they can stop Duncan, but even if they can, Parker and Ginobili are still unaccounted for. Maybe they can have one of their scrubs go tell jokes or make funny faces at Duncan while he's on the bench and hope to get him ejected. That would be their best hope to actually win the series. Phoenix d. LA Lakers (4-1): With Amare back in the middle, it won't take 7 games this year. Kobe probably pulls a miracle out of his ass in one game, but there's no question who the better team is here.

I hope no one's dumb enough to say that. Indy had some shit luck with injuries the second half of the season, but around the time of the trade, they looked like a 6-8 seed in the East for sure.

Yep, looks like a conspiracy to get GS in. While Dallas is playing the scrubs in Oakland, Phoenix is playing their starters against the Clips. Edit: But it looks like the Suns didn't hold up their end of the bargain. GS will still have to beat Portland tomorrow or hope LA loses to the Hornets. Last day of the Season and it looks like a playoff spot will still be up for grabs, as well the 2 seed in the East. Pretty good regular season, eh?

Bavetta was in charge of Game 5 of the Finals last year and Game 6 of the Lakers/Kings WCF. He sucks. I'm not too familiar with Javie's body of work, but since I know he's an NBA "veteran" official, I'll assume he's terrible too.

Man, Lil Nate's got ups, but if he wasn't like 5'5 he definitely would've been called for a foul on that play with all that body contact.

Thank god Joey Crawford's gone. He was one of the worst officials I've ever seen. No player should be kicked out of a game for laughing on the bench. Hopefully Bavetta does something really stupid in the next couple of games so we can get rid of his whistle-happy ass too.

The Yao behind-the-back dribble against Portland never gets old.

Rockets clinch HC in the first round after shooting it out with the Suns and getting the first win over Phoenix in forever. T-Mac and Yao filled up the stat sheet with a combined 73/20/10. Good thing we don't even have to worry about trying against Utah on Wednesday to give them a head start on scouting us for the playoffs. I think Houston's making it to the second round this year.

People actually like the Suns 3rd unis? The white and purple ones aren't bad, but the orange PHX? Woof. Anyway, it's nice to see some of the late season games mean something in the NBA. 2 games to go and there's still 3 spots up for grabs and 2 or 3 more places where seeding or HC can change. More good news is the Rockets found some offense against the Hornets (who always give us trouble for some reason) last night and are this close to getting HC in the first round. Problem is, the last 2 are against Phoenix and Utah themselves, so it's not quite a lock and I'd rather not have to go balls out to beat Utah before the playoffs.

An interesting note is that in each 4/5 matchup, the 5 currently has the home court advantage.

Dallas plays the winner of the Houston/Utah series.

Great day today. The Rockets FINALLY passed Utah (who's been struggling for weeks) in the win column to get on the inside track for home court in the first round. Oh, and I really want Golden State to get into the playoffs. Something tells me it'd be really fun to watch them drive Dallas nuts by not trying on D and running 'em worse than the Suns. They'd do the job for sure, but I'd love to see 'em go out there with the "fuck it, we're just gonna throw everything we've got at them anyway" attitude and just piss Dallas off before getting killed. It'd be more entertaining than the routine 4/5-game job the Clips would do, anyway.

I could totally see Toronto making it to the ECF if the standings stay the way they are. I love the current the setup in the East, because 2 of the 3 big name teams will be gone by the end of the second round, leaving the door open for Toronto to make it to their first ECF (if I'm not mistaken) or for Chicago to get back there for the first time since the Jordan years. Either way, there should be a likeable team deep in the East playoffs.

Today's afternoon game showed exactly why the Lakers should be terrified of finishing in the 7th spot instead of the 6th. Not only do they get the usual great effort by Kobe, Smush Parker plays about a million times better than normal, and they get Marion in foul trouble... But they still lose by 8. This won't be like last year when Amare's around to expose the Lakers weak front court. I guarantee it won't take the Suns 7 games to put 'em away this year.

I always thought Brewer had the most NBA potential on that team. Right now, he reminds me of Shawn Marion, though with his skill set, he could evolve into the complete wing player like Kobe or T-Mac. I hope he gets picked up by a team on the rise.

I bet the Wizards wish they could just slip out of the playoff picture altogether and avoid a sad first round sweep. Although if it guarantees Toronto an advance, I'm all for it. It also seems like Houston and Utah are both trying their hardest to get the 5th spot, instead of the 4th. The bottom of the west should be really interesting. Quite a few games between the teams in the last 10 days.

Watching Mori kill BJ Whitmer should be fun.

Yeah, the reason I brought up Deke's point average was to show that he was fairly successful offensively, as well as being one of the best defensive players in NBA history. It's like the inverse of saying "Oh, btw, MJ also averaged more than 2 steals a game." I think a better contemperary comparison for Mark Eaton is Ben Wallace.

I think any Western Triangle series could go either way, since all the teams have more than enough talent to beat anyone. I just think each team matches up better against someone else, and thus, has a better shot at winning a certain series. The great thing about the West, is that's just the top of the bracket. The lower-ranked teams still have some favorable matchups as well. For example, I think Utah could really give Phoenix trouble, and Houston always plays San Antonio tough. If the Clippers keep improving like they have been, there won't be any easy playoff rounds in the West for anyone this year.

That Spurs/Suns game kind of reminded me of their playoff series a couple years back. It stays close, but the Spurs know how to close 'em out. Spurs did a good job controlling the pace and making the game ugly in the first half, and finally to put together a good scoring run in the 3rd. I still think they have the edge on the Suns if they meet in the playoffs. The Suns are going to have a figure out a way to actually get those last few points to pull ahead of San Antonio at the end.

I think the locks are pretty much unanimous. Kobe, AI, Kidd, Duncan, Shaq, and Nash should go in with no questions asked. For those questioning Nash, consider not only his 2 MVPs, but how he was the starting PG for the league's #1 ranked offense six years in a row. The career point and assist averages should also be more than enough. As for iffy guys, I'd vote for: KG - Only knock on him his postseason success, but I think it's unfair to hold a mediocre team against his individual efforts. He's a career 20/10 guy with almost 50% FG shooting. Throw in a block or two a game to add to his defensive credentials, and he's gotta be in. Dikembe - 4 time DPOTY, one of the primeir shot blockers of his era. He also has a surprisingly decent point total for being a primarily defensive player. A solid 10/10 player with insane defensive credentials. No championships, but he does have some of that coveted "postseason validation" with a Finals appearance and an 8 over 1 win in the first round. My jury is still out on Ray Allen, T-Mac, and Vince Carter.

Not with the way they've been playing lately. I think it's more likely the Wiz drop a spot or two, then get swept quietly in the first round.

Man, the Lakers not named Kobe better get their shit together. Their playoff spot is not as safe as they might think.

Anyone have the ECW main from this week?

Living in central Missouri, I get all the Cardinals games. This year they got Joe Buck as their PBP man... I was hoping at least he'd be off the Fox mainstream telecasts, but tonight he said he'd be at the Braves/Mets game Sunday. Just what I need... An entire baseball season of Joe Buck.