Western Conference

Los Angeles Lakers vs Utah Jazz

Utah in 6

San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Hornets

Hornets in 6

Eastern Conference

Orlando Magic vs Detroit Pistons

Magic 7

Boston Celtics Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavs in 7 the real MVP WILL SHINE

Well the first round is just about in the books and what a first round it was. The first round of the NBA Playoffs didn't go exactly as planned. So lets review my picks and see how i did

Western Conference- Lakers in 6, Mavs in 7 ,Suns in 7 , Utah 6

Well i guess its a good thing I'm not a betting man right. Lakers won in 4 in dominating fashion. Then you had the Mavs who were bounced in the first round of last years playoffs. You didn't think Avery Johnson and Dirk would allow that to happen again i mean Dallas got themselves an all star PG.  Well New Orleans has there own all star PG who used and abused Jason Kidd it was very hard to watch seeing Jason Kidd getting abused trying to guard Chris Paul. I really thought when it came to San Antonio Vs Phoenix I thought phoenix would put forth a little more effort of maybe we should have know what was gonna happen when Tim Duncan drained his first 3 point shot of the year to force double overtime. Utah in 6 was the most accurate prediction for the western conference i didn't see this series being as entertaining as it was i mean Utah wasn't gonna lose another game on there home floor.

Eastern Conference- Boston in 4, Detroit in 5, Magic in 7, Cavs in 7

OK well Boston isn't exactly who we all think they are i mean your playing the Atlanta hawks. Boston didn't sweep a matter a fact this is the only series that hasn't been decided and unless you are a homer Atlanta Fan then you had this series going a maximum of 5. The big question here is " Can the Hawks go into Boston and shock the world?....... HELL NO!!!!! But onto the other series Detroit made it a little scary for awhile it was like watching a David vs Goliath match up and David wasn't going down with out a fight but this time Goliath got the best of them. You gotta take your hat off to the 76ers they did everything they could but when you have a team that plays fundamental ball and does not make to many mistakes then that makes it very difficult. Orlando won the series in 5 Chris Bosh was going to have to get some kind of help and it just wasn't there this time. When you have Dwight Howard put 20+ points and 20+ rebs per game thats hard to overcome. Lebron James  well what more can you say he is half man and half amazing he is pulling this team together and making big plays when they need him too but lebron is gonna need help as they proceed through the playoffs.

When i first heard the pick announced i was not very happy. It had nothing to do with Mcfaddens talent or ability because he is going to be a game changing player my biggest concern was the loss of Warren Sapp and how to fill the gap. Now that i was able to listen to Lane Kiffin's reasoning behind the pick it  helps me better understand exactly why they made the pick. All in all i have come to the conclusion that Mcfadden was the  correct pick at #4 Even though Glen Dorsey had dropped in our lap.

      1 Miami - Long, Jake OT, Michigan
   
      2 St. Louis - Long, Chris DE, Virginia
  
      3 Atlanta Dorsey, - Glenn DT, LSU
  
      4 Oakland Gholston, Vernon DE, Ohio State
    
     5 Kansas City Ryan, Matt QB, Boston College
  
      6 New York McFadden, Darren RB, Arkansas
 
      7 New England Ellis, Sedrick DT, Southern Cal
  
      8 Baltimore Brohm, Brian QB, Louisville
  
      9 Cincinnati Talib, Aqib CB, Kansas
 
      10 New Orleans Jenkins, Mike CB, South Florida
 
      11 Buffalo Rodgers-Cromartie, D. CB, Tennessee State
 
      12 Denver Clady, Ryan OT, Boise State
 
      13 Carolina Williams, Chris OT, Vanderbilt
 
      14 Chicago Mendenhall, Rashard RB, Illinois
 
      15 Detroit Harvey, Derrick DE, Florida
 
      16 Arizona Cason, Antoine CB, Arizona

      17 Kansas City Merling, Phillip DE, Clemson
   .
      18 Houston Otah, Jeff OT, Pittsburgh
  
      19 Philadelphia Phillips, Kenny FS, Miami
   .
      20 Tampa Bay Rivers, Keith OLB, Southern Cal
  
      21 Washington Thomas, Devin WR, Michigan State
 
      22 Dallas Sweed, Limas WR, Texas
 
      23 Pittsburgh Stewart, Jonathan RB, Oregon
  
      24 Tennessee Hardy, James WR, Indiana
  
      25 Seattle Manningham, Mario WR, Michigan
 
      26 Jacksonville Balmer, Kentwan DT, North Carolina
 
      27 San Diego Flowers, Brandon CB, Virginia Tech
 
      28 Dallas Jones, Felix RB, Arkansas
 
      29 San Francisco Groves, Quentin OLB, Auburn
 
      30 Green Bay McKelvin, Leodis CB, Troy
 
      31 New York Mayo, Jerod ILB, Tennessee

 

The NBA playoffs are right around the corner and we have some fun and entertaining match ups to look forward to at least in the west. In the east not so much so let look at how they stand right now

Western Conference

1. Los Angles Lakers vs 8,Denver Nuggets/Golden State Warriors

I believe this will be a very entertaining match up whether its Golden state or Denver. Both of theses teams play the run and gun style ball so the Lakers don't have to worry about planning for 2 different teams because theses two teams are a lot alike. The one weakness i see for both Golden State and Denver is Pau Gasol he is a monster in the paint and Denver nor golden state have anyone who can counter it. I see this series going to the Los Angels Lakers. It really does not matter who they play with a championship caliber coach and arguably the best player in the game right now the Laker's should take this series in 6.

2, New Orleans Hornets vs Dallas Mavericks

Where to start with this one on one side you have Jason Kidd and on the other you have Chris Paul who is leading the charge for his team. When Dallas first made the trade for Kidd it didn't look all that good but as we are getting closer and closer to the playoffs it looks like thing are starting to look better.As far as the Hornets are concerned wow what a story these guys have. But will that be enough to push the past one of the western conferences biggest power house's only time will tell but i got Dallas in 7 they have too much experience in the playoffs and wanna make a statement after last years collapse.

3.San Antonio Spurs vs 6. Phoenix Suns

Well well they meet again last year the spurs dodged a bullet as the suns were coming on strong and then you had Robert Horry body check Steve Nash into the announcers table. While San Antonio's Robert Horry was suspend for his involvement so were to keys players for the phoenix suns  Amare Stoudemire,Boris Diaw and it may have very well been then suspension that cost the suns the series last year. Suns in 7

4.Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets

The Utah jazz are quickly becoming one of the more dominant teams in the western conference with hard nose defense and a ground shaking offense. But When you look at the Houston Rockets you have a great coach in Rick Adelmen who has been to the playoffs many times and the western conference finals the one thing he is missing in a hall of fame coaches resume is a ring. Utah in 6

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics vs 8.Atlanta Hawks

I honestly can't see this series be anything other than a sweep on one side you have a dominant power house team on the other you have a team that making their fist playoff appearance in a very long time. i don't see how Atlanta even has a chance unless Mike Bibby goes off but that still wont be enough. Boston in 4

2. Detroit Pistons vs Philadelphia 76ers

The Detroit Piston are a team that plays fundamental ball and has one championships with that style also playing lock down defense hasn't hurt, On the other side you have the 76ers who are a up and coming team in the eastern conference but they don't have the fire power on that team to deal with what Detroit will bring Detroit in 5

3. Orlando Magic Vs Toronto Raptors

Well in this match up you gotta start out with the two superstars Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard who are two of the most dominant big men in the game while Bosh has been for some time this year he is getting back to doing what he does best and thats being a play maker. On the other side you have Dwight Howard who is so good on both ends of the floor he is absolutely amazing he plays excellent defense and uses his size and speed in the most effective way possible. Magic in 7

4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs Washington Wizards

Where to start here the Washington Wizards have been with out their all star Gilbert Areanas for a good chunk of the season. So with his return to the line will there have to be a transition in order to make it work again or is he one of those players you can put back on the floor and he fits in perfectly. As far as the Cavs are concerned Lebron James is going to need some help in order for them to make any kind of serious run whether it be from Big Z or Daniel Gibson someone besides james must step up in order to make any type of run. Cavs in 7

Come check out my weekly show the sports wrap on www.youtube.com/internhoward

I was listening to a local radio show and the host was talking about how the NBA  playoffs need to be restructured. When you look at the Western conference you have to teams struggling to make the playoffs who have 40 or more wins however when you look the abysmal Eastern conference you have teams with just over 30 wins who have almost secured their playoff positioning. So i ask how is it fair that a team with 40 wins does not get in and a team with 30 wins does??

Well here is the system that was purposed you take the conferences and throw them out the window you take the top 16 teams and go brackets style the 1 seed plays the 16 seed the 2 seed plays the 15 seed and so on. In order for this system to work the regular season would have to be changed also so that everybody plays each team the same number times.

Lets take a look at the match ups with the purposed system

Standings as of March 24th 2008 4:10pm

1. Boston 55-14
2. Detroit 49-20
3.Los Angeles Lakers 48-22
4 New Orleans 47-21
5. Phoenix 47-22
6. Houston 47-23
7. San Antonio 47-23
8.  Utah 46-25
9. Orlando46-26
10. Dallas 44-26
11. Golden State 43-26
12. Denver 42-28
13. Cleveland 40-31
14. Portland 37-33
15. Toronto 35-35
16. Philadelphia 35-35

Outside looking in

17.Sacramento 31-38
18. Atlanta 30-39

What would the playoff match ups look like

1.Boston vs 16. Philadelphia
2. Detroit vs 15.Toronto
3. LAL vs 14.Portland
4. New Orleans vs 13.Cleveland
5. Pheonix vs 12. Denver
6. Houston vs 11. Golden State
7 San Antonio vs 10 Dallas
8. Utah vs 9. Orlando

Those are not all great match ups but think about it Boston vs Philadelphia not all that interesting i understand that but Phx vs Den and SAS VS Dal 1st round match ups wow wouldn't that be entertaining. Well those are my thoughts hope you enjoyed.

The Denver Nuggets may miss the 2008 NBA Playoffs but did you know they have the 4th highest payroll in the NBA. How can a team with Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony two of the NBA top 5 scorers in the league not make the playoffs. When you look at the roster they look like a very good team you have Marcus Camby down low he can block shots and rebound he is in the top 5 in both categories then you have more role players. J.R. Smith can be a decent scoring threat from outside where he is shoot 40% so far this season. Linas Kleiza who is shooting 40% from the field and has had a few game winning shots including when Denver came to Sacramento and Linas Klezia hit a 22 foot jumper to win the game at the buzzer. Denver refused to include him in a deal that would have brought Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest to Denver so it pretty obvious they have high expectations for this young man.

Well maybe its their coach George Karl maybe hes the problem? The Denver nuggets are 5th in OPP PPG this season. So maybe Karl needs to concentrate more on the defensive end of the floor. But wait Denver leads the league in blocks per game and 3rd in rebounds per game so how can that be the coaches fault?

It is very hard to understand and see why this team may not make the playoffs yes the west is very good this year almost ridiculous but you have Carmelo Anthony, AI , Marcus Camby, J.R. Smith and a young up and comer in Linas Kleiza and still may miss the playoffs.

Please do not read into this as I'm saying Denver wont make the playoffs because thats not what I'm saying there are plenty of games to play still and Denver is only few games out of the 8th seed. What i am saying is with a talent filled roster like this team appears to have you would expect them to be a team fighting in the top 5 . well thats how i feel about this team maybe I'm wrong it wouldn't be the first time and sure wouldn't be the last.

With the NBA season quickly coming to an end who is the MVP of this season. You have several candidate who could be considered from, Kobe Bryant,Lebron James, Pau Gasol,Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett, just to name a few but what does the MVP really mean?

Does MVP mean the best individual player? Does it mean the player that makes his team better or the player that actually carry his team. This is how i see the MVP Race as of right now

1. Lebron James: PPG: 30.6 RPG: 8.1 APG 7.6

2. Kobe Bryant: PPG: 28.3 RPG 6.1 APG 5.3

3. Chris Paul : PPG: 20.9 RPG 4.0 APG 10.9

4. Dwight Howard: PPG: 21.6 RPG 14.5 APG 1.3

5. Carlos Boozer: PPG 21.5 RPG 10.8 APG 3.0

The main reason I see Lebron as the leading candidate for MVP is without him on the Cleveland Cavaliers where would they be Lebron is by far the ultimate team player. He is a player who can create his own shot or get his teammate involved in the game. He Play with high energy and is very intense on offense and defense. Also who else does Lebron have on that team Big Z thats not a lot of help and for Lebron to be as successful as he is without another true star on that team is remarkable and worthy of winning the MVP.

Kobe Bryant Has always been a amazing player. The reason i have him at # 2 is because he needs the big donminate center to help him . That is not to take away from his amazing ability and the gift to play the game . It's the fact's that show with shaq 3 ring without shaq 0 simple math if you ask me.

Chris Paul is third on my list because wow look it at where he has led his team. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that this team would be so good this late into the season Chris Paul leads this team and is responsible for where they are today in my opin ion I dont believe the hornets would be in this position without him.

I have Dwight Howard at number 4 he is dominate down low and he is just a beast to guard in the paint and he is doing all of this at a very young age . Dwight howard is by far one of the most dominate centers of this decade.

Carlos Boozer is number five because he is the finisher and he has great low post moves. With the amergence of Derron Williams at the PG position it almost looks like stockton and Malone all over again. Carlos Boozer is beast down low on every possesion. He is a very good defender and shot blocker and he does it on both ends of the floor.