Getting ready for the "real deal"... official matchups to follow. One of the interesting 1st round matchups is Dallas & G.S. Warriors... so far this year the Warriors have owned Dallas... it's not even close... they have dominated their series. Post your comments on playoff contenders/pretenders.
I really feel ya on that match-up prediction. The playoff series between these 2 teams will exactly the same as it was in the regular season except the Mavs will sweep. Fairly safe prediction, lmao.
My impression right now is that the team with the hardest road to the championship is probably the defending champs. They will have to beat the Bulls,Pistons, Cavs, and the team from the West that makes it out in order to repeat. Brings a smile to my face to think that we may be the rested ones when and if we play them in the second round. It will be a good test for Wades shoulder to get slapped and grabbed by Nocioni for a seven game series.
What an upset it would be if GState could take out Dallas. Can Utah beat Houston? I'm not so sure. The West is loaded with dangerous teams. No patsies like the East.
No way GS beats Dallas. The regular season was a fluke. Matchups smatchups...it won't happen. GS maybe wins one game. Maybe. Just no way in Hades they take the series. Utah and Houston...hmmm. Very interesting.
I;m thinkin with the warriors healthy, they are one of the few teams that may have peaked at the right time to take out Dallas. Still on the fence though it they will accomplish it or not, but it will go seven, and if the warriors do win, they probably will still stumble before they reach the WCFinals anyway. I see the Rockets taking out the Jazz who are in a slump. Got to sleep on the rest, no more predictions until tomorrow night.
Golden State should give Dallas run for their money. They have been pretty hot and in the playoffs mode for past month or so. They are fiishing year on 16-5 run that began with embarrassing of the Pistons at the Palace. They are not playing any D and that probably won't let them get far.
Yao could score 35 a game against Boozer and Okur. If Kirilenko can snap out of his season-long nap he could defend McGrady as well as anyone, but that's far from certain. I'd take Houston in 5 or 6. Cavs in 4. Bulls in 6. Raptors in 5. Mavs in 5 (Ws in 6). Lakers in 6. Spurs in 5.
The Warriors have been playing really well since they finally got healthy, but I can't see them winning more than one game against Dallas, even though they had their number during the regular season. I just noticed that the first round schedule is set up better than it was in some previous years (though maybe they already started addressing this in the last couple of seasons, I don't quite remember). There were recent seasons where some teams had to wait 4 or even 5 days in between games of their first round series, because the league didn't want any of the games overlapping on TV. This year, they have two overlapping games each weeknight in the first round, so everyone has either one or two days off in between games, which is reasonable.
Just finished my brackets, so pay attention folks. I did finish second to a fluke win by Motown Pride last year. Anyway, I have a Houston/Piston Final with T-Mac and Yao bringing home the trophy! No real upsets in my brackets, however, I look for Miami to have an easy time with the Bulls to the surprise perhaps, to a few of you. NJ/ Raptors might be the most entertaining series in the first round, I have it going 7 games with NJ winning that one. Once again a Cav`s/Pistons mstchup, this time it will determine who goes to the Finals............sorry Lebron, go do some more commercials. On the left side, the Spurs will play that hard nosed winning basketball and make it to the WC Finals. Utah and Denver will not make it out of the first round, despite the late surge by the Nuggets and the much improved play of the Jazz this season. Phoenix will be eliminated in round by SA. That leaves a "Don`t mess with Texas" WCF - Rockets/Spurs, with a surging Rocket team headed to win it all......... The other Van Gundy`s legacy is made!!!!!!
I'm waiting to see if the Raptors make it to the ECFinals. They're my surprize pick to have a decent run. I'd love to see Dallas in the finals, just don't know if they're up to it. Everybody here seems to be pickin Cleveland over the Raptors................
King James has a red carpet path to the conference finals? Maybe New Jersey will have something to say about that in the second round.
This guy is a real downer. If he wasn't so obsessed with Kobe and Lebron, maybe he would enjoy watching bball a little more.
Tay you are probably right. You would think the NBA is on the brink of disaster. there is certainly work that needs to be done with the league, but this guy paints a dim picture!
Dlev, that article was totally ignorant. Neither of my daily sports viewing/listening shows, Mike and Mike in the Morning and PTI, devote much coverage to the NBA throughout the regular season, but both of them have been talking playoffs big-time in the last few days. Where that article comes up with "there's no buzz, nobody cares, etc.", I don't know.
I was actually thinking about this the other day. To me, this post season has more intrigue than any I can remember. The reason is that we really don't have a clear cut favorite like we have in previous years. The teams that dominated the regular season have not won it before... Dallas/ Phoenix. Plus, they have a nice history between Dirk and Nash. Then you have the wiley vet teams who are pacing themselves; Detroit and San Antonio. You have the Dark horses; Houston, Chicago. And you have the unstoppable force in Shaq that provides a lot of mystery. I like the unpredictability of it. In the past, the NBA playoffs have had the least number of upsets of any major sport. That is what makes it boring.
