Sunday, May 4, 2008

I get 100% of my nba playoff predictions right 2/3 of the time: Round 2 playoff picks






So while my much publicized Mavs vs Hornets guffaw was nothing to boast of, I did nail the other two series picking the Magic in 5 and Jazz in 6. Therefore I am the greatest prognosticator ever by far. Okay that's not true at all. Anyway before I ramble too much, here are my picks for 2 of the series next round.

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers- If you think I am already pronouncing the Celtics the winner in order to jinx their chances tomorrow afternoon in their game 7 vs the Hawks, then you obviously know me too well. Still, this is likely going to happen so here it goes.... If I may become the Sean Sailsbury (Sean want to work for us? If you ask nicely, you'll receive the vaunted SUS healthcare coverage.) of the NBA for a moment, "Celtics, hell of a big three they got there, the most impressive top 3 in the league". The Green's only weakness, as has been exposed in this series vs Atlanta, is the age of said big 3. While they have two excellent young talents in Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Rajon Rondo, the age of their big 3 has given the upstart Hawks a chance to run them out of the gym in the three games in hotlanta. The good news for the C's however is when they win Sunday (oops there I go again) they will take on a fairly old Cavs team in the next round. Yea Lebron is the best player under 26 in the league by leaps and bounds but his supporting cast is not young. Ben Wallace, Big Z and Long Island's own Wally Szerbiack (is there any team with harder to spell players than this one?) are all on the wrong side of the NBA's age curve. All of the match up advantages Atlanta had against Boston in round 1 will disappear against the older Cavs. (Editors note: except for Lebron vs whoever's on him, no?) Therefore, as great as Lebron is, he won't be able to guide his club past the big 3. Celts in 6

Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers
- Whenever I think of the Jazz, I think of the great line in the movie "Baseketball" when the narrator says, "and the Jazz moved to Utah where they don't allow music." Great stuff. Anyway, the Lakers are the best team west of San Antonio. For that matter, they're better than any team east of San Antonio. Let's just call them the league's 2nd best team. Kobe is a a title without Shaq away from being fairly compared to Jordan. Gasol, as has been discussed elsewhere in this blog, is a perfect 2nd option on a great team and Queens' own Lamar Odom has the perfect Pippen-like versatility to be the third segment of the triangle offense. He is not on Pippen's hall of fame level as a defender, or player in general, but his passing, rebounding, scoring and ball handling abilities make him a great fit for this club as its third option. (Note: Pippen was the second option in Chicago. Odom is better than any 3rd option that MJ ever had, with all due respect to the jumpshot of Dennis Rodman.)

If Tim Duncan is the big fundamental as an individual player, then the Jazz as a team can be given that moniker. They can shoot, they can pass, they play great team ball and are extremely well coached. They have the next Stockton to Malone in Deron and Boozer, and this combo should last for the next 10 years. AK-47 is a phenomenal defender and Mehmet Okur, although the franchise player of the all-pussy team, is a deadly outside shooter as is Kyle Korver. I'm going to give the Jazz 3 games in this series but I just think this is Kobe's year. Great players play great in big games. You can't measure the heart of a champion. Chicks Dig Scars. Okay that last quote was just from the Replacements and the other two were just throwing in cliches for fun. But you get the point; Kobe is good enough to win the title by himself and he has plenty of help. So he's got that going for him too, which is nice. Lakers in 7


1 comment:

devo said...

Cue asshole/solo in 3...2...1...