Now the Celtics beat the Lakers because of this and that ....blah blah, blah. Now, what's past is past, the Lakers lost, okay. It's in the past now. What we hoopsters should be focused on is why so many first rounders are pulling out of the draft (UNC crew, Budinger, and all), Olympic basketball, and the next season of NBA. So, let's begin the talk on next year's NBA teams:
The Team that made the most noise (and probably will):
New York Knicks: Hired the former Suns head coach, thinking of trading Randolph, buying out couple of players, etc. New York New York! Look for this team to make a positive buzz with Walsh in the office and D'Antoni making the team the next playoff regulars.
Charlotte Bobcats: Hired Larry Brown, the VP is MJ. So, besides this team being in a small town, how are they different from the other celebrity-like teams like the Knicks and the Lakers? Loof for this team to be better than last year if they can keep their core by resigning Okafor and etc.
Chicago Bulls: The coach that didn't win with MJ on the team is re-hired for another go. WIth the addition of Derick Rose, or Beasley, which ever they take will help, this team will be better and a possibly a top 5 team in the East at best. If not, back to the lottery next year boys.
Miami Heat: Talks about trading Marion, new head coach being another Riley clone...Wade coming back, Zo' coming back....So, any of these talk going to help them get out of the bottom cellars of the East? Just maybe....
Teams that will be "contenders":
Celtics: The Champs at last again 22 years later their previous championship. Look for this team to lose couple of players like House and Posey. And look for Garnett and the Big 3 to look older. I'd say if the Pistons remain the same, and LBJ not getting help again, then look for the Celtics in the 2009 Finals again.
Orlando Magics: Unlike the Spurs and the Suns, they're not old and actually plays defense. And look for Lewis and Howard to mesh better while Howard becomes the BEST center in the League quickly followed by the day by day developing Bynum.
Lakers: One Sentence: Andrew Bynum is back. Now imagine the 2008 finals if the Lakers had Bynum playing Center and Gasol playing PF and Odom playing SF. Different outcome, no?
Prediction: Another Celtics Lakers Finals with Lakers winning only because the Big 3 is old and can not contain Kobe AND Bynum at once.
In Fox Sports writer Jeff Goodman's latest post saying the Celtics is "in big trouble," today the Boston Celtics went to the Palace of Auburns and defeated the Pistons by a margin of 14 pts to lead 2-1 in the series. In a regular season game, 14 pts, may sound pretty close, but in the post season, a 14pt victory is a huge deficit.
What does this tell us readers about proffessional writers like Jeff Goodman?
1. They're not always correct.
2. Don't be too sure that a team cannot pull up an upset like today, writers.
3. Jeff Goodman doesn't know what he's talking about. Celtics is a team that only lost 6 times at home, yes. But they're also road warriors in the season and now they're showing it in the playoffs.
4. Only C. Rosen's post on games are decent.
If writers predict games without being a 100% sure, (like they always think they are) they shouldn't even post. It hurts the fans of the opposing teams. Besides, and if you get it wrong in front of millions of readers, they you look stupid.
It will be the Big Three versus the "usual" conference finalist the Pistons. Pistons have so many weapons in its starting lineup from Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Prince, and even Rasheed Wallace when he feels like it. Then they have Rodney Stuckey, a rookie guard that showed he is ready for prime time basketball along with McDyess and Maxiell grabbing boards at center. On the hand, the Pistons never faced three All-Stars in one team along with growing point guard Rajon Rondo. Now to take a closer look in what each team needs to do to win.
Pistons
Win on the road. It will come down to whether or not Billups is 100% from his injury from the second round against the Magics. The Pistons will also have problems if Wallace does not bring his A-game against Garnett because everyone knows Garnett will bring his. Wallace cannot fire 3-balls all the time and instead must bully Garnett in the paint and fight for rebounds. Prince must stop Pierce from explodding like he did against 'Bron for 41 pts, and Rip Hamilton must keep Ray Allen's MIA jumper MIA for the entire series. The bench also must provide some help with the boards and with Stuckey scoring. If the Pistons can hold serve at home and win one at the road, then it's the end of the line for the Celtics.
Celtics
Win on the road! The team with the best record in the League had to go 7 games against the Hawks and the Cavs is simply embarassing. The Celtics must steal one at the Palace or must risk the chance of getting upsetted at home by the Pistons. Ray Allen must find his MIA jumper and shoot lights out from the perimeter and beyond and score at least 15-20pts a game to match Rip Hamilton's performance, Garnett must keep Wallace unmotivated to play big man and Pierce must pierce through Prince's long armed yet thin defense. But for the Celtics, this isn't the main concern. The biggest role comes to young point guard Rajon Rondo who must guard Mr. big shot, Billups. Cassell cannot play at a high level anymore and House has no defense in him to guard Billups. Rondo must use his speed, dogged effort, and his trash talk to keep Billups going overboard and therefore distracted.
Because home court advantage has benefited the Celtics the whole time, I'm going to have to trust that the Celtics will hold serve and barely edge out the Pistons in game 7.
Whoever wins this series will have to battle the Lakers (assuming the Spurs and/or Hornets are eliminated due to fatigue from 7 game series) for the crown of NBA Champion.
It is only 8-10 games before the money season starts in the 2007-8 NBA regular season.
Currently in the Eastern Conference, the only "true" contenders are probably the Celtics, Pistons, and the dark horses being the Cavs and the Magics. Aside from the East, the West is pact with contenders vying just for a spot in the playoffs.
Currently the Nuggets are a half game behind the Warriors for the last spot on the Western Conference playoff pictures while the Hornets are only 6 games ahead overall. That shows that this year's playoff picture is absolutely compact with big teams in one conference and the other conference teams below 0.500 are allowed to enter the money season. However, because of this, most Eastern teams will get the higher picks of this year's draft and probably bolster their rosters to make next year's playoff picture more balanced.
And so forth, this years playoff picture by today's standings:
Hornets VS Warriors: The team that traded Baron Davis and the team with the new point guard Chris Paul. Both teams are fast tempo with Hornets more inside oriented with West and Chandler and Warriors being more shooter oriented. If the Warriors pull off another upset against the first seed, then the Bay Area fans have every reason to go bananas.
Rockets VS Mavericks: Two Texax team duking it out in the first round. The Rockets will be without Yao Ming and the Mavs will likely be without Dirk, so the balance of the rosters are pretty even. It will all come down to McGrady making his shots and staying away from injury along with role players Alston and Scola doing their jobs. For the Mavs it'll be the ability of Kidd to mesh with Johnson and the players in time. If not, Mark Cuban may look like the most riskiest and the laughing stock of the League.
Lakers VS Suns: Three years straight these teams are duking it out against each other with the Suns winning both previous series. This time, with all this rivalry, their will be the Shaq-Kobe Drama mixed in with Kobe leading the Lakers along with Odom, Bynum, Gasol, and 2000-2 winning teammate Fisher against Shaq, two time MVP Nash, Bell, Amare "I should be the MVP" Stoudemire, and Diaw. Besides the Shaq/Kobe thing, there also will be the Bynum/Shaq thing between the rising star and the falling star battle of the true centers. It'll all come down to who can make the stops, and who can make the clutch shots. Look for the Zen-Master to maximize his new crop of excellent bench (last two years, they were under developed) and role players' ability again against the Suns.
Jazz VS Spurs: It'll be Tim Duncan VS Carlos Boozer, Derom Williams, top 5 point guard in the League against last year's Finals MVP PG, Tony Parker. Besides these guys getting theirs, it'll come down to whether AK47 being able to stop Manu from going on a rampage since both coaches Sloan and Pops are a master at adjusting for the money season. This series will be interesting if you're a purist like Charely Rosen since these two teams emphasize the fundamentals along with hard nose defense.
Any one of these teams actually have a good to slim chance of making it to the Finals, but give the Lakers and the Spurs the nod if they survive the first round because of their outstanding bench players and coach. The best situation is the conference finals between these two giants in a 7game third overtime game and it's only available in the NBA.
We're now about 3/4 done of the season and now to look at the league's candidates for the Most Valuable Player award.
The most likely players to get this one seems to be:
-LeBron James
-Kobe Bryant
-Kevin Garnett
-Chris Paul
To analyze their legitamacy...
LBJ:
He has done everything from taking over the fourth quarters from shooting the clutch 3ball, dunking on everyone, and absolutely driving the Cavs fan crazy about their young basketball prodigy. Though LBJ is averaging 30points a game (the best in the League) and grabbing boards and assists, there's a reason why LBJ can not recieve this award yet. He has not defined himself as a MVP by winning constantly. Sure his team will make it to the playoffs, but can he once again pull off an upset against the Pistons or the Celtics in the conference finals? What does MVP mean to us? The criteria for this award is incomplete and always different each year. But the most close definition would probably mean o####reat player who carried his team to the playoffs with a winning record that has a good chance of winning it all, right? Can LBJ do it? I'm skeptical....
Kevin Garnett:
KG05 seemed like the "man" of the Boston Celtics in the first half of the season. However, until today's sudden burst of 31 points agains the Pistons, Garnett seems very passive. The Celtics can breath in now since they clincehd a playoff spot, but they're probably thinking of running for the best record in the League, which creates an opportunity for Garnett to further injure his abdominal part of his body. If the Celtics are going to have a chance to beat the Western Conference Champions, whether that will be Spurs, Lakers, Suns, Hornets, or Mavericks, Doc River must keep his superstars healthy for the rest of the season. As for Garnett as MVP, it is quite possible if he continues his outstanding performance he showed tonight against Pistons. If not, don't bet on Garnett pulling it off.
Kobe Bryant:
KB24 could have won the 2006-7 or even 2005-6 MVP trophy when he was averaging +30points per game. He has been the Lakers' foundation of the quick rebuilding process and now with Kobe, they have reached the position of challenging the League's best for the NBA title again this year. Currently Kobe stands at averaging about 28 points per game, while averaging nearly an assist more than last year's average. He has his usual number of steals and rebounds, while it could be said that he has shown more leadership with this year's group ever since he was denied his request to be traded last year. Ever since the growth of Andrew Bynum's play along with old running mate Derek Fisher's return, and the arrival of Pau Gasol from the trade last month, even Kobe believes that the Lakers have a real chance at the title this year, which is why he rejected to opt for surgury on his dislocated pinky and his torn ligament. With Kobe leading the charge by scoring his usual, passing more, and showing the winner side of his enigmatic side, Kobe Bryant perhaps could be this year's MVP if his team keeps winning and he carries them to the finals.
Chris Paul:
CP3 has been amazing for a third year point guard. Against elite teams, Chris Paul seems to raise his play to another level such as against averaging more than 15 assists against teams like the Spurs and the Mavericks. Not only does this guy pass well, but he also can bring the ball to the hole. He shown that he can score 40+ points, while getting 10+ assists. He has significantly improved his play from his injury-prone last year and seems to be a true candidate for the MVP trophy this season. However, there is a downside to Paul's game. Although Paul is brilliant against good teams, he has shown laziness or rather sluggishness against bad teams. The last time I this guy play a bad like the Grizzlies, he scored 12 points and 6 assists and the Hornets barely won. A MVP caliber player must always, no matter who the opponent is, carry his team instead of being a third option against the bad teams and being the first option against good teams. Another point is that like Dirk Nowtizki, this guy might fade in the playoffs after given the trophy. Due to the lack of experience in the playoffs, the Hornets have a chance of fading and being upsetted by teams like the Warriors, Suns, Dallas, or even the Nuggets. Perhaps awarding the Most Improved Player award to Paul this year would seem more fit.
Overall, the guys who has the most experience in the playoffs (shows clutch), carries the team to a title contending level, and shows leadership the most has to be Kobe Bryant over Kevin Garnett. Because Garnett is entering the playoffs after years of being on the bottom feed with the Wolves, he may have lost a touch along with his body starting age as shown with his latest abdominal strain injury. The Celtics also lack the experience nontheless players like Garnett, Cassell (given that if he joins the team), House, and Pierce (long time ago with Walker) are only players with playoff experience all very long time ago. Garnett also shows lack of clutchness in win/lose game situations, making Kobe a better candidate. Love him, hate him, Kobe Bryant is still currently the best player (just a hair ahead of James) to earn the MVP trophy due to his new team oriented style of play and the ability to take over win/lose games.
*My apologies if any of the stats or facts have been incorrect.
It is now past the All-Star Break and nearly a month and half before the beginning of the playoffs.
Currently in the Eastern Conference there are only two true contenders for the title while young teams like the Magic, Raptors, and Wizards going to make a buzz in the playoffs by making some heroic plays. Teams like the Hawks and Nets maybe able to sneak into the playoffs and showcase their newly acquired talents. The Caveliers will be excluded from the talk ever since the trade the Cavs made for shooters and interior defenders like Big Ben, the Cavs haven't been any better if not worse. This just simply proves that LBJ is NOT making his team better with his constant touches with the ball as Charely Rosen stated. With so much touches LBJ needs, the teammates become spectators and they do not do their jobs. So the Cavs may make it to the playoffs, but don't expect that miracle again.
Then there's the stacked Western Conference that has about 8-9 teams (depending on Rockets' reaction to Yao's injury) that are contending for 8 spots in the playoffs. Out of those 8 teams that make the playoffs, the LA Lakers, San Antonio Spurs seem like the only true contenders while teams like the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns haven't exactly adjusted to their newly acquired players completely yet. Perhaps after couple of weeks the Mavs and the Suns will show life with their new leaders, but unitl then the Lakers and the Spurs are the only true contenders in the Western Conference. Teams like the Jazz will certainly be dangerous to contenders, but due to Jazz's inability to defend the paint, players like Bynum, Gasol, and Duncan will bring them to their demise. The Hornets will ultimately fail somewhere between the conference finals and the second round mainly because of their lack of experience. Also selfish players like Bonzi Wells will probably affect the chemistry with the players and the coaches, so don't expect any NBA Final in the Big Easy.
Now, for the true contenders...
Currently, the Spurs have the best chance of winning it all since their "backbone" Tim Duncan is averaging a 20-10 a game still. The only problem is their age; it doesn't seem like a problem now, but when the grind in the playoffs come, it might haunt them. The Pistons likewise have some aging problem along with Rasheed Wallace coming in and out of the zone in games. Celtics have three all-stars and probably will meet the Piston in the Eastern Finals, but their true task is whether they can prove that star power can beat the team-oriented play of the Pistons. The Lakers are pretty strong with Kobe unaffected from his injury. Gasol is still averaging his usual numbers, and Odom is coming along with the boards to give the Lakers another chance at the offensive end. Given Andrew Bynum comes in and plays like he did before his knee injury, Phil Jackson's team will be truly the biggest test for the Spurs.
Although the Spurs have the best chance to win it all, I give my pick to the underdog the Lakers mainly because of the match up against the Spurs. Time Duncan will be against either Bynum or Gasol, both playing decent post defense. Kobe Bryant will keep both Finely and Ginobili to their minimal or vice versa, but higher the chance Manu being terrorized by Bryant. Point Guard Parker will have a festival against Derek Fisher and his aged body, but when in clutch time, expect Fisher to make more intelligent moves against the younger Finals MVP. Both Bruce Bowen and Odom are defensive specialists with Odom dominating the boards, while Bowen comes up with the steals. Both can shoot the 3 ball decently, so expect a boring matchup in the Small Foward spot.
In the Finals, given that the Lakers make it to the finals according to my prediction, they will face either Garnett or Wallace that both dominate the post, while Bynum and Gasol vice versa. Allen or Hamilton will face Kobe, with the latter proabably keeping the formers quiet. Pierce will have may chances to exploit Odom, while Prince VS Odom matchup being a boring one offensively. Fisher will school Rondo with his IQ. Billup VS Fisher will seem more interesting given the fact that both have excellent basketball IQ and the former being more clutch. All three teams have subpar benches with only the Lakers having a consistent 12point performance from Farmar, while Celtics and Piston needs one of their rookies to step up every game, which seems unlikely.
It will all come down to the Western Finals either Spurs or the Lakers, depending on who wins, that team will probably have the best chance to cream the weak Eastern Conference Champs in a 7 game series.
What I want is though a 7 game triple overtime Finals with the teams' best players putting on the best show with the dunks, blocks, crucial rebounds, clutch 3 balls, and the buzzer beaters. Only available in the National Basketball Association.
