Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Widget

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Thoughts on Playoffs Eve

...by Drew.

I was going to write this earlier in the week but thank Jesus I didn’t, it’s amazing what a few thrilling overtime games on both sides of the conference can do to ruin your favored matchups but now that the field’s shaped up, it’s time to start splitting hairs on first round matchups and beyond. Or…. if you’ve been too engrossed of late, take a quick break to eat, bathe, converse with loved ones, etc.

Team(s) that could beat the Lakers:

They’re both playing each other in the first round which kind of ruins the possibilities of each team getting a shot at The LA Accused Rapists but considering one team hasn’t won a playoff series in around a decade and the other is young and inexperienced, maybe that’s the best we could hope for depending on how you look at it. Either way, the Rockets and Blazers have the best shot of stunning the Lakers on their pre-ordained return trip to the finals. Each has a deep bench that can match up well with LA’s ten-man juggernaut, play well at home and bring their own separate intangibles: Houston has Artest as a Kobe-stopper, Portland has a ride-the-coattails star in Roy (not to mention Portland’s been beating up on nearly everybody lately, even reducing LA to play dirty and drive Rudy Fernandez’s head into the ground in a blowout). And their faults can be turned into positives easily; Houston lacks a number 1 scoring option but it means they’re nothing if not diverse, Portland lacks experience but it means they have nothing to lose and everything to prove/learn in the long term. I only hope they have some gas left after their tough series. The only problem is that both of them won’t make it to the second round.

Lingering Fart ?s:

The entire Eastern Conference hinges on Kevin Garnett’s knee. Recently, I bet mostly against the Tar Heels in the NCAAs because I just wasn’t sure about Lawson’s toe, which ended up biting me in the ass. But Garnett isn’t a teenager with a jammed toe, this is in fact his first major injury and time spent away in 13 years, even if he comes back fairly able, who knows how he’ll hold up in an arduous seven game series.

Can the Cavs beat the Magic in the second round? Despite being the best in the league, the Cavs are the worst against the other top 5 teams in the league, particularly in blowouts against the Magic. Why? Because Orlando defends in transition, guards the perimeter, and uses D-Ho as a roadblock against any and all Lebron drives, which basically makes the entire team impotent. If there’s one fault with the Cavs, they are somewhat of a one-trick pony no matter how cool the trick is. Things always change in the playoffs though.

Team I’ll miss after the First Round:

The Standard did everything he could to get them in good position, but in the end, the Hornets will be undone by injuries and their lack of a reliable bench. If they won a few more games against weak opponents, they might be in better position to advance against a weaker opponent (revenge series against the Spurs maybe), instead they’re going into the playoffs injured without homecourt advantage. This isn’t to say they can’t beat the Nuggets but the odds are against Paul and co.

Team I wish would just die:

The Spurs are the before version of a herpes commercial, they won’t go away without proper medication. After they surrendered a lead to the Blazers, Ginobli went down and Duncan was hobbling, they seemed primed for a first round upset to the Blazers or Hornets but as they do, they righted the ship and now have the Southwest crown. I’d say that they could easily lose to the Mavs or even if they survive to the second round, they won’t last long but they just won’t die, most especially when I count them out. So I’m biting my tongue because I’m superstitious about jinxing.

One final regular season thought, I know they care more about winning a championship and already have homecourt advantage but why didn’t the Cavs play Lebron for a half so they could tie the Celts’ home record, even if it’s a tie, it’s still a slap in the face to the current Celtics. Their reserves almost beat the Sixers’ starters, the game would’ve been over early if Lebron played a little bit

Labels: ,