The Lakers Did It...

Well, the Lakers swept like everyone thought they would. Denver was a disgrace and George Karl needs to be fired. AI and Carmelo deserve to be cut for their performance, but we know that will NEVER happen.

I just have to ask though....
Does Kobe still want out of L.A.???
Kobe Demands A Trade!

I'm sure he wishes he would have never mentioned the word trade!! Especially with the pieces he has to work with now. It couldn't get much better for him.
The Lakers look REALLY good with Gasol....and they are going to be VERY hard to stop from getting to the Finals.

THE PLAYOFFS ARE ON!!!

Wow....who would have thought this blog would have died like it did?
My apologize guys, school and work got me busy, but I'll make sure I keep this updated as much as possible, hopefully every day the rest of the playoffs!

My Spurs and Cavaliers are close to winning their Series!!!



Here is how the 1st round is looking so far:


IN THE EAST

(seed)
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks
After tonight's game which the Hwaks won, the series is tied 2-2, which is a HUGE surprise to me!
I thought Boston was going to sweep this series!
I still like the Celtics winning in 7 games.

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers have also surprised in this series and had a 2-1 series lead before losing last night. I like the Pistons winning the next 2 games to take the series 4-2

(3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Toronto Raptors
The Magic won tonight to win the series 4-1

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards
The Cavaliers lead the series 3-1 thanks to big games in all 3 wins from Lebron, who took the smack talk from the Wizards personally. Hopefully the Wizards have learned to shut their mouth, but I think its a little to late. I see the Cavs taking the next game to win the series.

In the West

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Denver Nuggets
The two teams are playing now with the Lakers up 3-0 in the series. The Nuggets look like they have quite and are not interested in playing anymore, and this series will end tonight with a sweep.

(2) New Orleans Hornets vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
The Hornets lead the series 3-1 after they won last night in Dallas for the the first time in 10 years. The Mavericks should have easily taken this series because of experience alone, but sadly they underachieved for the 2nd straight year, and they will be going home after Game 5 on Tuesday! Of the 3 games the Hornets have won, all 3 have been wins of 10 points or more, and game 5 will be more of the same.

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Phoenix Suns
The Big Cactus, Shaquille O'Neil, was brought to Phoenix to stop Tim Duncan in the playoffs. He hasn't done his job! Every year, people right off the Spurs for some other reason, and every year, the Spurs prove them wrong. They are doing it once again this year, and won't be stopped anytime soon. The Spurs played horribly yesterday, but they will recover Tuesday night and seal the deal 4 games to 1, as they move into the Second Round, and the Sun sets in Phoenix.

(4) Utah Jazz vs. (5) Houston Rockets
This series should have been over by now, but the Jazz did something in game 3 that they almost never do:lose at home. The Jazz are too good for Houston, and this series will also end Tuesday night as Utah takes the series 4 games to 1.

The SIXERS look good!

The East is weak in the NBA this season, that is something that is certain. something else that is certain: The Pistons and Celtics will be the top two seeds in the East. After that, it look like The Magic,Cavaliers and then 4 mediocre teams. I REALLY like how the Sixers look right now. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games, and took down the defending champion spurs Saturday night. I live in Sixers country but AM CERTAINLY NOT A Sixers fan. Nonetheless, they are looking really good. They had 3 big wins last week. First they beat the Milwaukee Bucks, and then the big guys in the East, the Pistons, and they finished off their nice week Saturday night vs. the Spurs. They should play well the rest of the way. Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller (acquired from Utah when the Sixers traded Allen Iverson) are the leaders of this team, and their bench has been AMAZING as of late.

I like this team taking the #5 seed in the East

Sorry Rockets fans....

Ok Rockets fans. I gave your team no respect. Your team has won 10 GAMES with YAO. In a word, WOW. Still though... I'm not sold on them. I mean, it took them 22 wins in a row just to get first place in the Western Conference! Also, for those of you who don't pay attention to upcoming schedules...Their next game is against the 50 win Celtics, and then they play at the Hornets (#3 in the conference),Warriors (#8 in the conference), and the Suns (#5 in the conference). With that said, I believe that this week will determine who the Rockets TRULY are.It will show us whether they can win against the big boys back to back. I don't believe they can. I think they could possibly beat the Warriors, but I think the Celtics, Suns and Hornets will take them down!

Feel Free to comment and disagree! It wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong about the Rockets...

How the Rockets will remember their season.

Here is how I see the Rockets remembering their season. Now I know they have won a team record 16 games in a row, but they need Yao, especially in the playoffs to get the job done. McGrady needs a supporting cast to win. Right now, they look good, but it will fade and IF they are to win in the West, they need both McGrady and Yao Ming to play. Plus, they are in the toughest conference in the NBA, and even after 16 in a row, are only up to 5th in the conference! The Spurs, Lakers, and Jazz are just to much to contend with in the West. All 3 are playing their best basketball of the season right now. The Spurs have won 10 in a row. The Lakers have won 9 of their last 10, and the Jazz have won 7 of their last 10. These teams are stacked and 2 of these 3 WILL be playing in the Conference Finals. I see the Rockets missing the playoffs or losing in the First Round.

Poor Yao

Don't forget the Spurs!!!

Haven't people figured it out? Hasn't anyone gotten the idea that you should never say NEVER when talking about the San Antonio Spurs? Last season, everyone said they were to old to win it all. And then they did. Then this year everyone said it again, especially as they struggled through injuries to both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli for extended periods of time. And then we had the Wild Wild West trades. After these trades, many experts ranked the Spurs #4 behind the Lakers, the Suns, and the Mavericks. And yet, here the Spurs sit, in first place in the entire conference, and on an 8 game winning streak! People need to begin to understand this: STOP BETTING AGAINST THE SPURS. They ALWAYS prove you wrong and make you look stupid.

Are the Cavaliers the #2 team in the East?

Since the Cavaliers deadline deal, I have really liked what I have seen from them. Tonight they face the Celtics in Boston. I believe that if they can win this game, they become EVER SO CLOSE to being my #2 team in the East. They beat the Celtics earlier this month, and I KNOW they will do it again. Feel free to beat me over the head with a big stick if I am wrong. I'm not even kidding. Come hit me if I'm wrong. I know what all the haters are saying, "John, don't you know the Celtics are 43-12, and the Cavaliers are 32-25? Don't you understand the The Celtics win almost 80% of their games and the Cavaliers only win 57% percent of theirs?" Yes fans, I get that, but I like what the Cavaliers are doing, and I think they can take the East or at least get to the Conference Finals where they would face the Pistons. Lebron is the best player in the NBA this year and my pick for MVP, though Kobe will win it. Ok boys and girls, I'm gonna finish some studying, and then watch the tipoff of this game at 7:40 on NBATV. Here's my prediction. Cleveland wins by 3,

Final score:101-98 as Lebron drops 36 points and takes over in the 4th quarter, which the Cavs enter trailing by five.
Lebron is the best 4th quarter player in the NBA, and the Cavaliers are the best 4th quarter team, so that's where they will win this game.


Feel free to send some hate comments if I am totally wrong on this game.

If I was Damon Jones/Delonte West/Mike Brown last night.

Here are my thoughts on the Cavaliers/ Wizards game last night.

Because of the limited number of players available to the Cavaliers because of the trade discussed in my last post, they called up Damon Jones from the D-League to come play. Well many thought he would come up to play and then get sent back down once the trade becomes official and the players involved can begin playing. Well Damon had other ideas and he lit up the floor for 27 points (4 off his career high).He was amazing from beyond the arc, going 7 of 11 form 3-point land.

If I'm Delonte West, the heir to the PG throne, I'm thinking "O crap, this kid can play, He might just get that starting spot"

If I'm Damon Jones I'm thinking "Don't be giving this position away, If I get the opportunity to to play a full game, I can light it up. So don't even think about sending me back to the D-league, I'm developed enough"

If I'm Mike Brown I'm thinking "Wow, this guy can play, I need to keep him here and get him in the starting lineup"

If I'm Lebron James I'm thinking "Wow, this kid CAN PLAY, and they better keep him in here because I need some help with this team and he can contribute."


Ah, I love role playing
So anyway, great game by Damon Jones, who may earn a starting spot with this team making a run to the playoffs.

For once the East gets a deal done... will this get lebron the help he needs?

So here is the latest trade that went down at 2:59 PM, one minute before the trade deadline is as follows. Next to the team name, I will give my grade for each team for this particular trade.

Cavaliers get: A-
Bulls F/C Ben Wallace
Bulls F Joe Smith
Bulls 2009 2nd-round pick
Sonics F Wally Szczerbiak
Sonics G Delonte West
Bulls get: B-
Cavaliers F Drew Gooden
Cavaliers G Larry Hughes
Cavaliers F Cedric Simmons
Cavaliers G Shannon Brown
Sonics get: D+
Cavaliers F Ira Newble
Cavaliers F Donyell Marshall
Bulls F Adrian Griffin



So here are my thoughts on this trade:

First off, I'm a fan of of Donyell Marshall, he grew up in Reading,PA, which is where I was born, so I have always liked him and followed his career. Unfortunately, he was plagued by injuries this year. It's sad to see him go from a contender to a pretender, but that's not what we are here to discuss.





Larry Hughes and Ben Wallace were in the same position: Both had signed big contracts (Hughes in 2005, Wallace in 2006) and both were getting booed terribly at home games. A chance of scenery might be good for both. Larry Hughes has played better as of late and could give he Bulls a shot at making the playoffs in the week Eastern Conference.
Wallace is very good on defense, which is just what the Cavaliers needed, but he is terrible in every other aspect of the game. Wally Szczerbiak adds 13.1 ppg to the Cavaliers , which will make up for the points per game they gave up while trading Hughes (12.3 ppg)who will need him to get at least that every night because the Cavs are very week except for Lebron. I think IF Big Ben can be the defensive presence of a few years ago, the Cavaliers are one of the top teams of the East. I also like the Points (11.3 PPG) and Rebounds (5.30 RPG) that Joe Smith will bring to this team. Delonte West will be a nice addition to come off the bench. He is averaging 6.8 PPG'sthis year, and I think he can get more minutes than the 20.8 he was getting in Seattle he should be able to bring alot more points per game to the table in Cleveland. I think he is a big piece to this trade, even if he looks like a throw in. If he gets some minutes, I think he can average about 15-20 points and be that other "go-to-guy" on this team besides Lebron. When Lebron gets double teamed you may just see it go out to Delonte. One thing that could help is if he is able to work on his Free Throw percentage. Right now for the season he is only a 66% FT shooter.
The Bulls can use Hughes, who I said before has been playing better as of late, and Gooden, to try to make a push for the playoffs along with new team mates Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng. Of course, at 9 games under .500 they shouldn't even be in the playoff discussion, but because the Eastern Conference is so TERRIBLE, they might get in. If they can 21-9 the rest of the way ( yes it's a long shot, but they play in the East so it just might happen), they're a playoff team.
The Sonics aren't going anywhere but now they just gave up some decent players and got almost nothing in return. They are the losers of this trade. Terrible move by their front office. They should at least pulled a draft pick from one of these two teams (maybe that 2nd rounder the Cavaliers got in the deal from the Bulls) or a couple 3rd rounders, OR SOMETHING! They got nothing.


Here is how I rate the Eastern Conference after these trades

1. Detroit Pistons. I know there are people hating me for not putting the Celtics #1 but the Pistons have a team full of superstars who have been NBA Champs as of late, so they have the experience factor. I'll take Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace over Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen 9 times out of 10
2. Boston Celtics. Seriously, if they had ANY playoff experience, they could have that top spot, but they don't and I think that if it comes down to it in the playoffs, the Pistons will take them out.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers. They were already one of the top 4 teams in the Eastern Conference. Before this trade, I had them right behind Dwight Howard and the high flyin' Orlando Magic. I feel like Wallace on defense and Smith and Szczerbiak on offense make this team THAT much better. Lebron finally got the pieces he wanted, though this isn't EVEN CLOSE to as good as picking up Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby, it still makes them a much better team and they have a shot to be back in the NBA Finals this year.

For more information on this trade, please go here

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3257159

My thoughts on the NBA

This blog will be my personal blog about the Nation Basketball Association (NBA)

It will be posted on as often as possible and will include my opinions, facts, news , rumors, and just about everything else you want to read.


We'll start this soon!

Thanks for reading, and here's to great second half of this NBA season as we gear up for one of the best post seasons in NBA history


GO SPURS!!!