Damon Jones' Coat

before i begin i'd like to point out that this is the 9th season in a row that the mavs have won 50 games in the regular season. we are truly spoiled (thanks cuban!). you say, ok, well bring me a championship. i agree. but hey, at least we're not clippers fans.

now, onto the predictions:

mavs/spurs - mavs in 7. no manu, no win for spurs.
keys of the series:
if defense wins championships, then the mavs key to the series is none other than paddlehands. while of no use on the offensive end (though to be fair, he is an offensive rebound machine), then he earns that fat $9.5 million paycheck on the other side. all joking aside, damo did a pretty bang-up job on TIMMAY last time out (kept to 7-21 fg's), and after tony parker blows by all of our guards, he'll have to be there to clog up the middle. look, we're not gonna stop those two guys. but if we can make them be less efficient (trust me, that goes a long way) and work for their points, we'll be on our way.

so seriously, i hate using the term x-factor, but can i give a holla to j-ho? if he brings it, the jigs up for the spurs (lol justin). i wonder if the coaches told him yet that it's ok to score after the first quarter. you may hate on josh, but he's an active contributor...when he feels like it. i think this past year has shrunk that fat ass head he had after he made the allstar team, so i think he realizes the team needs him to be the josh of 2-3 years ago.

scary fact: tim duncan has never lost a first round matchup. that's why it's going to 7. but hey, good thigns come to an end. on a related note, i hate the spurs.

cavs/pistons - no chauncey, no chance. of course, if they had chauncey, they would have had home-court advantage, until the pistons inevitably do what they do, which is stop caring. the pistons have been in disarray since the beginning of the season, so despite this being a veteran team, there's no chance. cavs in 5.

celtics/bulls - acquisition of john salmons and brad miller was a midseason steal for the bulls. celts win unless derrick rose and the bunch put on jordan-esque performances against them. but let's not kid ourselves. (btw, i dare you to play ball with the flu. you'll probably die, no lie.) it'll be tougher without kg, so i'll give the bulls 1 extra game. celts in 6.
in-game note: how sick is derrick rose? he's just a rookie! you put a decent team around this kid and he'll shine. keep your eyes on this kid.)

rockets/blazers - this one is a toughie. on one hand, you have the rockets who have sick defense and yeomen's work ethic (like chinamen have). blazers have the youth to make a big splash, but have no playoff experience (that said, the rockets are forever stuck in the first round). to be fair to the rockets, this is my hardest prediction, and really could go either way. people really don't give enough credit to the rockets. though the rockets take it to 7, they don't have the closer in tmac. brandon roy establishes himself as playoff clutch and the blazers go on to meet the lakers.

cant say this is my best piece of work...written in a hurry. but anyway, i love the nba playoffs!

nba playoffs! (abbreviated version)

hopefully i'll post my real thoughts before tomorrow's 1130 am (central) start to the nba playoffs, but in short:

finals = lakers + cavs

why? simply, no one in the west is as strong as the lakers, unless the nugs get twice as athletic or the trailblazers overcome young'in syndrome and become the most darling cinderella in nba history. as for the east, since kg is now a gimp, everyone just point and laugh at the eastern conference (except for the cavs).

jury is still out on who will win this series.

what could change this almost inevitable finals matchup? this may be different with andrew bynum back, but i'm telling you, outside of kobe, the lakers are still soft and aren't that great at defense (defense wins championships dammit!). as for the cavs, cmon, outside of lebron, their starting lineup is laughable. i know he does some good "energy" stuff, but who would have thought that anderson varejao would be starting on a championship team? LOL god i just seriously laughed out loud at the thought. lebron is otherworldly and makes his teammates look better than they ever will (they should owe half their paychecks to lbj), but that's not how you win championships. luckily for them, despite what others might say, the east is still a joke to me.

f it, lakers in 6. try as lebron might, his team holds him back. they just can't match up with the lakers.

lakers, lakers, cavs, lakers, cavs, lakers.