By Joseph Patrick Ezekiel Nezezon
So college basketball is over, congrats UCONN (and Aggie Women). The
Masters was won by Charl WHO? The baseball season is in full swing, pun intended, and
my beloved Buffalo Sabres are up 1-0 in their first round series in their quest for the cup.
What else is going on in the world of sports? The NBA playoffs begin Saturday
afternoon and there is no clear cut dominate team this year that over shadowed everyone
else. Since I love random, arbitrary numbers, lets take a look at 24 different who, what,
where, why’s and how’s, to figure out whose going to come home with ship this June.
24. The Black Mamba: Kobe Bryant is seeking his 6th ring, which will tie him
with the GOAT, and arguably send him leaping into the top 8 players of all time. He
knows what it takes to win, and he is the game’s fiercest competitor, but will his team
stay healthy (mainly Bynum) enough to get him to where he needs to be to capture his 6th
title?
23. We here at FAPTH just witnessed the greatest NBA regular season since
we’ve been fans of the game. Will the post season surpass and launch us into arguably
the greatest season in NBA history?
22. Veteran teams like the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs, have all won
championships with their current core guys. Can their older bodies take the beating and
hold up over the NBA post season to win 16 games?
21. Can teams carried by young guns such as the Bulls and the Thunder, who are
loaded with talent, maintain their composure come crunch time and rise up to the
adversity of being places they haven’t been to yet? Such as a conference championship or
the NBA finals?
20. Melo. Actaully. Fuck him. They are losing in the first round.
19. Amare. See #20
18. The Magic-Hawks series is a repeat of a 2nd round matchup from last year’s
playoffs in which the Magic swept the Hawks in 4 games, and out-scored them by over
25 points a game. Hopefully the Hawks with their well overpaid “superstar” can bring
something more to the table this year. But I doubt it.
17. Kendrick Perkins. Traded away from Boston to OKC mid-season, and the
Celtics have lost a certain tough edge about them. Will the Celtics be able to toughen up
down the stretch? And will Perk possibly provide the size and toughness that OKC will
need if they end up against the Lakers?
16. George Karl. The man is a miracle worker. Will he be able to keep the troops
rolling as they face the young guns of OKC?
15. The Miami Heat. Started 9-8, went on a tear, had a losing streak, ended up
with the 2 seed. They seem to be playing more physical and their big goons are actaully
playing like Goons (Big Z). Are they going to be able to mature and come together even
more, to get their goal of an NBA championship?
14. Dwight Howard. The man could carry Domepiece to a 6 seed in the East for
crying out loud. Will he keep his cool with those silly techs, and play in enough games
to carry his team to 16 wins.
13. Dirk Nowitzki. He is an all time great, and possibly the greatest foreign born
NBA player….EVER. Without him, the Mav’s are nothing. I hear speculation that he
needs to win a championship to verify his status in the history of the league. Funny. Karl
Malone never won but he’s still the 3rd or 4th best PF to ever play.
12. The Sabres WILL WIN the Stanley Cup. Oops, wrong sport, sorry folks.
11. In the East, the first round will be all chalk.
10. In the West, all chalk, but I fear that the Nuggets will take the Thunder to 7
games. Only first round series to do so.
9. I lied. the Portland-Dallas Series will Go 7. I don’t know who will win tho.
8. And I don’t need to tell you, cuz either team is going to lose to the Lakers in
the 2nd round.
7. Orlando will surprise CHI with a game one win, but end up losing to the Bulls
in 6.
6. The Heat and the Celtics will have one of the greatest first-two-rounds playoff
series. However, I feel the Heat will win in 7, and Lebron will average a triple double for
the series.
5. East Finals. Heat-Chicago will be one of the most entertaining, highlight reel-
containing, series we’ve seen in a long time. The Heat’s best player is better than the
Bulls’ best player. The 2nd and 3rd best players on the Heat are much better than the 2nd
and 3rd best players on the Bulls. However, the Bulls’ 4-12 are a lot better than the Heat’s
4-`12. With that being said, Rose will average over 28 a game, Lebron a 29-10-8 series,
and D-wade will average over 30 a game, and get them to the NBA finals.
4. West Finals. Tim Duncan. The Big Fundamental. Kobe Bryant. The Black
Mamba. This is going to be a tough, physical series that will come down to the 7th game.
And because the Spurs play sooooooo well at home. I give them the edge, for that reason
only. If it was going to be held on a neutral site, and they were to play 100 games, the
series would be 50-50. Spurs in 7.
3. NBA Finals. Heat-Spurs. Scout, draft, deep, re-sign, old school vs. young, “The
Decision”, “The Pact”, top heavy. Two completely different franchises, teams, type of
players. Kind water vs. fire. The Heat will try to run on the spurs, and wear their old
frames down, and it will work here and there. However, the great mind of Gregg
Popovich will coach circles around Eric Spoelstra. On the other hand. The Heat have the
two best, possibly the 3rd best if Chris Bosh doesn’t get eaten alive by the shell of Tim
Duncan, and either Lebron or D-Wade can take any Spur one on one. It’s going to go 7.
2. However, the Spurs have the much better coach in Gregg Popovich, and the
historically greater player in Tim Duncan. No game is going to be decided by more than
8 points. When it’s crunch time, the Spurs will perform better, and Popovich will make
the right changes in the game plan and make the right calls and the end of the game to
win the close ones. Like in Game 7, when the Spurs win by 6 points.
1. Manu Ginobli will win the NBA Finals MVP, and this is the first time I have
mentioned his name. Pretty deserving that he gets the number one spot then huh?
No comments:
Post a Comment