Once again,we saw the stunning performance what LBJ did in the first quater yesterday,he dominated the first quater game.
Searching for the performance like this, also LBJ did.
Maybe we can say that LBJ's times is coming!

Recently,the rumor about transaction of T-Mac between Houston and Washington frequently came out.
We almost hope T-Mac can come back to do the show for audience by his performance,but the reality beat us by his neak body.
Sincerely hope T-Mac go well in the future!

Young Hip Hop sensation Yung Ro BP Ent. has just completed the title track for the Streetballers Movie. And of course the title name would be StreetBallers. Its also ironic that Yung Ro was a outstanding hooper in his hometown of St.Louis Mo. As a indie artist Ro has accomplished that of a signed rapper. National exposure on BET,Ozone,Vh1,Right On,and charting #3 on the Billboard hiphop and RnB. Check this young rapper out @ www.bpent.net.

Top Returnees in Conference
Patrick Christopher, California
Landry Fields, Stanford
Quincy Pondexter, Washington
Jerome Randle, California
Nic Wise, Arizona

Player of the Year
Jerome Randle, California

Player on the Rise
Klay Thompson, Washington St.

Projected Pac 10 Finish
1. UCLA 14-4
2. Arizona St. 14-4
3. Washington 12-6
4. California 12-6
5. Arizona 10-8
6. Oregon St. 8-10
7. USC 8-10
8. Washington St. 6-12
9. Stanford 4-14
10. Oregon 2-16

UCLA
Not many expect the Bruins to be a contender this year after losing Collison, Shipp, Holliday, and Aboya. However, that doesn't mean UCLA is going to rebuild, they are simply going to reload. The entire bench returns including senior Michael Roll who played well off the bench as well as the talented shooting big man in Nikola Dragovic. Combine that with a strong recruiting class featuring Tyler Honeycutt and a weak Pac 10 and UCLA can win the conference.

Arizona St.
Another team people aren't expecting a ton out of, I feel like the Sun Devils have enough to be a strong conference contender. Despite losing their identity in Harden and Pendergraph, they return the remaining three starters and the key parts of their bench. They might be somewhat weak off the bench, but should still be very sound offensively.

Washington
The Huskies return to defend their title, but they will have to do it without their two biggest weapons from a year ago in Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon. But if they can play defense like they did a year ago, they shouldn't fall too far in the standings. Senior Quincy Pondexter should provide good leadership and is one of the best returnees in the conference. Now sophomore Isaiah Thomas had an impressive freshman campaign.

California
Cal is most people's preseason pick to win the conference, but I am a bit skeptical. I won't deny the obvious talent or the amount they return - it is evident and being senior heavy will come in to play. However, they had all this talent last year and only went 22-11. Why? They don't play defense. Because of that, you can't expect a huge improvement. Just look at Notre Dame from last year.

Arizona
The Wildcats bring in ex-Xavier coach Sean Miller and he'll bring in some much needed stability and defense to an Arizona program that badly needed it. Losing Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger a year early to the NBA is a tough blow, but that's not reason to think they'll fall off the map. Nic Wise will be a star point guard for them, and a recruiting class featuring four 4-star recruits should solidify the bench.

Oregon St.
This Beavers squad will have people scratching their heads as how they could've went 0-18 in conference two seasons ago. In terms of amount of returning players and incoming class, they have the least question marks of anyone in the conference. They will continue to improve with more experience under their belt, although the lack of a marquee player will keep them from being anything special.

USC
Controversy in the offseason led to the resignation of coach Tim Floyd and the departure of any incoming commitments. Floyd's loss is a big one in my eyes because his teams were always so sound defensively. And to make things worse, USC only returns one starter. One bright spot will be the transfer of former Tar Heel Alex Stepheson, who will give the Trojans some needed height.

Washington St.
Washington St. will likely take a step into the rebuilding phase after losing a good chunk of their squad including head coach Tony Bennett. Bennett's loss is a tough one because he was a defensive specialist that got the most out of his teams. Klay Thompson is an up and coming player to build around, but he's about all they have.

Stanford
Stanford quietly won 20 games last season, but they lost too much to graduation to come close to that total this year. Starters Anthony Goods and Lawrence Hill are now gone and it's tough to replace players like that. Defense and bench play look to be the main question marks. Fortunately, senior Landry Fields gives them a go-to-guy and is one to be reckoned with.

Oregon
The Ducks were a league worst 2-16 last year, an unfamiliar spot for a team that was used to dancing in March. They do return most of their squad, but that's nothing to get too excited about. TaJuan Porter is a decent player, however, it gets pretty thin after that. Look for them to try to light it up with the trey ball because they won't be very effective down low.

Top Returnees in Conference
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Kyle Singler, Duke
Joe Trapani, Boston College

Player of the Year
Trevor Booker, Clemson

Player on the Rise
Sylven Landesberg, Virginia

Projected ACC Finish
1. Clemson 12-4
2. UNC 11-5
3. Duke 11-5
4. Florida St. 10-6
5. Wake Forest 9-7
6. Miami Fl. 8-8
7. Maryland 8-8
8. Boston College 8-8
9. Virginia Tech 7-9
10. Georgia Tech 5-11
11. N.C. State 5-11
12. Virginia 2-14

Clemson
After starting out 16-0 last season, Clemson struggled finishing the season 7-9 including a first round NCAA tourney loss to Michigan. Despite losing three starters, the Tigers will have every opportunity to win the ACC this year in part thanks to the 2nd best recruiting class in the conference that features five star recruit Milton Jennings. Trevor Booker is my pick as the best player in the conference and they'll need a big season out of him.

UNC
The defending National Champion Tar Heels had an impressive tourney run that featured six consecutive double digit wins to take home the title. At 13-3 in the ACC last season, UNC won't be handed the title by their leaguemates after losing more than any other team in the conference. Fortunately, the best recruiting class in the ACC will keep them near the top. However, the inexperience will make it tough for them to repeat.

Duke
The '08-'09 season featured a lot of ups and down for the Blue Devils as they started 18-1, then lost four of their next six before eventually winning the ACC Tourney. Making another Sweet 16 appearance would be a realistic goal as they bring back two of the best players in the conference in Singler and Scheyer. However, the losses of Gerald Henderson and Greg Paulus will make it tough on them to do much better than that.

Florida St.
The Seminoles will aim to go dancing for a second straight season after finally getting over that hump last year. Unfortunately, it ended with a 1st round loss to 12th seeded Wisconsin. The losses of senior starters Toney Douglas and Uche Echefu hurt, and Florida St. probably wasn't quite as good as their 25 wins from a year ago might lead to you believe. After all, they went 12-4 in games decided by five points or less. The return of three starters and the entire bench will help them stay competitive.

Wake Forest
Much like Clemson, the Demon Deacons started off the season hotter than anyone compiling 16 wins out of the gate including at one point the #1 overall ranking. They ended up losing four of their next six after that and lost to 13th seeded Cleveland St. in the first round of the NCAA Tourney. To make things worse, they have to replace Jeff Teague and James Johnson who went to the NBA. Wake does appear to return enough, however, to go dancing again.

Miami Fl.
A season that had high expectations ended with a disappointing NIT 2nd round exit last season for the Hurricanes. Dwayne Collins should fill his shoes just fine as the team's new best player, but he'll need some help. Sophomore DeQuan Jones was probably the biggest bust of last year's freshman class. Transfer Malcolm Grant will help fill the question mark at the point guard position.

Maryland
Maryland was a tale of two teams last season - one that looked good at times beating both teams that faced off in the National Championship and one that made you scratch your head like when they lost at home to Morgan St. and Boston College. Making a huge jump is tough to believe because they just aren't that talented. Greivis Vasquez is talented but not as good as most think and he's their only standout player. The bench leaves much to be desired as well.

Boston College
BC is the only team in the conference not to bring in any notable freshman but they don't really need it after only losing PG Tyrese Rice. Here's a team that has a couple of ugly losses the past couple of years (Harvard, Robert Morris) thanks to an always struggling defense. They will look to light up the scoreboard, and should be successful even without Rice.

Virginia Tech
The Hokies will try and put last year's dreadful finish of losing six of their final seven regular season games behind them. Losing A.D. Vassallo is a big loss but junior Malcolm Delaney is one of the conference's best players. Bench play looks to be the glaring weakness, and they will also need to develop another weapon after Delaney and Jeff Allen.

Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech fans can definitely be excited as there is some promise with this squad that was a measly 2-14 last season. However, they are still probably a year away from making some noise. They struggled in close games last season going 5-9 in games decided by five points or less. A little balance there and they will improve on that alone. In terms of amount of returning players and incoming class, they have the least question marks of anyone in the conference. But they looked downright ugly on offense last year.

N.C. State
Expectations for the Wolfpack program were high after a dazzling ACC tourney run back in '07, but they've quickly fallen back to the bottom of the conference. They don't return much or have a big incoming class, so it's hard to imagine them improving from a season ago. They do have some talent, but really need to shape up their defense.

Virginia
The Cavs return more than any team in the conference, so why do I have them dead last, you ask? Mainly because they return a lot of marginal talent. Sylven Landesberg had an impressive freshman campaign and is under a lot of people's radar, but he's about all they have. Finding a way to win four conference games again would be a surprise. New coach Tony Bennett will look to work his defensive magic with his new squad.

1. Tim Tebow | QB | Florida
Can Tebow be the first player since Archie Griffin to win 2 Heisman Trophies? Add another national championship, and he will be considered the greatest college football player ever.

2. Colt McCoy | QB | Texas
Some believe it to be Colt’s turn to win the coveted award. Props to the Longhorn QB if he can beat out the last two Heisman winners.

3. Sam Bradford | QB | Oklahoma
More impressive: 2 Heisman Trophies in 3 years or back-to-back Heisman’s? My bet is Bradford would prefer another crack at a national championship over more hardware.

4. Terrelle Pryor | QB | Ohio State
Pryor looks to build upon a stellar freshman season that saw him go 9-1 as a starter and win the Big 10 freshman of the year award.

5. Jahvid Best | RB | Cal
The nation’s leading returning rusher is arguably the most exciting player in college football. For once, we’re talking about a Pac 10 player not wearing red and gold.

Each week, BasketballForum.com’s posters vote for the top Heisman candidates. Don’t miss your chance to vote in next week’s Heisman Watch in BasketballForum.com’s College Football Forum!

Dawkins officially to Duke
The Duke backcourt got a much-needed boost this weekend after it was officially announced that Andre Dawkins will be enrolling at Duke a year early.

"We were like, 'Well, they only have two guards now,'" said Dawkins' father, also named Andre. "I ran the question by him and asked him, 'If you could go now, would you want to?' And he thought about it and said yes. So we put in a call to the Duke coaches and they became excited about the possibility."



Talk about the future Duke backcourt at BasketballForum.com!

Barnes recruiting Irving for Duke?
According to Zagsblgo.com, Harrison Barnes has recently been trying to convince Kyrie Irving to join him in Durham. However, Tom Crean and IU are hoping to get to Irving first.

Duke is also recruiting Brandon Knight as well as Irving, but IU has made Irving its priority from the beginning, the source said.

Indiana coaches tell Irving that he can be the man at that school and the “face of what Indiana basketball is bringing back.”



Duke player update from DukeBasketballReport.com (podcast)
Podcast Link

Follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/tmbbf

ESPN reporting this 4 separate times in 20 minutes was a bit too much for me. A) I really don’t think this is anyone’s business, and B) outisde the state of Kentucky, no really gives a care that this man lacks character (I think we akready were well aware of that).

Give us your thoughts on the matter. Visit the Rick Pitino thread at Basketballforum.com!

Billy the kid’s lost his shine
Speaking of Rick Pitino, one of his proteges has recently been in the news. It would seem that some down in the panhandle believe Donovan’s lost some of his magic. Will the Gators ever return to national prominence? Some say no. Gator fans are hopeful.

College Recruits in the news
After big time performances in the recent Nike and Adidas high school basketball events, several preps have attracted national attention. Discuss the possible futures of standouts such as Harrison Barnes, Kyrie Irving, CJ Leslie, Brandon Knight, and Michael Gilchrist in BBF’s High School Basketball Forum.

Maryland’s Gary Williams speaks out
After winning a national championship earlier in the decade, Gary Williams’ teams have been anything but dominant in the ACC. You have to wonder how much longer the Terps’ coach is going to have a job. Could Williams be out at season’s end if things dont get better in a hurry? Some think the only thing that’ll save Maryland’s coach is a ACC championship.

John Wall or Derrick Rose?
So what if Derrick Rose already has a NCAA Final Four, #1 NBA pick, and NBA playoff birth. John Wall is already a better player! I’m sticking by it! And this video proves it!


Twitter Updates
Basketball news updates and links regularly posted http://twitter.com/TMbbf

Some of the top young NBA talent are in Vegas this week for USA Basketball’s Mini-Camp. Here’s some of what’s been going on in Sin City…

Coach Mike Krzyzewski addresses the players:



Other Links/Video:
Jay Triano Interview (Day 2)
Rudy Gay Interview (Day 2)
A special class is the future of USA basketball (NBA.com)
Players clamoring to play for red, white, and blue on Team USA (Las Vegas Sun)

The Mets, a team battered and bruised, enter Dolphins Stadium. Inept management and injuries force the likes of Desi Relaford, Joe McEwing, and Jay Payton into the starting lineup. Tsuyoshi Shinjo even had to bat cleanup. Still, the Mets were riding an amazing winning streak of five games. The amazing streak ended that night, but the Mets wouldn't lose another game for another 12 days. Despite the 12 days without losing a game, the Mets only won five games. It was the seven baseball-less days that would render themselves considerably more important in the archives of not just baseball, but the entire United States.

The game being spoken of took place September 9th, 2001 and it was the last game the Mets would play before a horrific terrorist attack took place right in their own back yard. The images of the two most recognizable buildings in the New York City skyline set ablaze is a moment in history that no individual living within this nation will ever forget. The entire country, never mind baseball, was shut down for days and maybe even weeks and when it started back up, nothing would ever be the same.

The attack itself brought heartache in the direct moments of the tragedy and the immediate time following it. The waning months brought brotherhood, pride, and unbridled patriotism. Songs both old and new speaking of prevalence and unity rang true throughout the country without genre bias. The demand on American flags forced the simple yet elegant cloths into a state of back order. It was clear that the country hadn't been so unified since the Revolutionary days when the country fought for its annexation from tyranny and baseball, being America's past time, adopted these tremendous cultural changes. Gargantuan American flags were toted out onto the field by military members with trumpeters rendering some of the most memorable national anthems ever carried before the games. Moments of silence for fallen soldiers took place between innings. The most influential of all changes happened to the seventh inning with the performance of "God Bless America" by local heroes, heroines, and celebrities.

A year and one month later, culture began to change and patriotism started to wane as questionable military moves were made in the name of freedom and those that fell on the tragic day that brought the towers down. American citizens began to question how much of the sensation that had been carried out by the corporations and those that performed in the name of the tragic events was real and how much of it was put out to exploit emotions. The "God Bless America" tradition carried on, but something interesting happened.

No longer were the pop stars and the glamorous names performing the hallowed song. Major League Baseball seemed to shun major names to go with lower key country singers, local products, and more operatic vocalists. Apparently the only people allowed to represent America are the types that believe in the good old baseball and apple pie loving Americans. They began to essentially pander themselves toward the demographics of the mid-west, the south, and the elderly while ostracizing the youth and mainstream America in hopes of appearing more patriotic. It has failed.

Country singers are paraded out for every major event Major League Baseball has had in recent memory culminating with this year's All-Star Game. Sheryl Crowe and Sara Evans both performed at the event despite the fact that more major R. & B. or pop singers could have been found. This is the target demographic that the league wants, yet it wonders why it has a problem attracting African-American players. The fact that the winner of the home run derby and the All-Star M.V.P. award were both of African decent (Fielder is actually Canadian) will likely not be promoted by the league at all despite claims that they are trying to rejuvenate baseball within inner cities. The performing of the national anthem and "God Bless America" will be aired on every major media outlet. It's what the league wants. "America" loves baseball. Baseball loves "America." God bless "America."

The song no longer carries the same meaning as it did those vast seven years ago. While it once seemed to unify the crowd on the grounds of patriotism and honor, it now merely comes across as contrived, calculating, and capitalizing on its target demographic. It not only destroys the integrity of the song itself, but that brief moment of time demoralizes Major League Baseball by coming across as insincere rather than patriotic and destroys their opportunity to rope in the urban and mainstream members of the nation. They desperately need to go back to the historical days of "buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks" and implement a newer, fresher idea of honoring America and those fallen on September 11th, 2001. The current country bumpkin run has long since run its course.

Phil Jackson is seriously going senile. There is no other explanation for why he keeps playing Derek Fisher. Fisher is the worst defensive point guard remaining in the playoffs. He might also be the worst offensive point guard at this point, unable to make layups or jump shots. Yet Phil insists on playing him.

Are GMs allowed to cut players in the middle of the playoffs? If so, Mitch needs to cut Fisher and save Phil Jackson from himself.

After my recent claim that the Rockets would not win another game in the series and the following whooping they gave the Lakers, it would seem as though I was wrong.
Today I'm here to say that I was not, and, even though a lot of you are going to disagree, here’s why:
Yao Ming wasn't playing! How could I have possibly known that Yao Ming would not play in the game? I mean I wrote my article before Yao's injury was announced, so naturally I figured that he would be in the game. Turns out he injured his foot and is done for the series. Well, of course that changes everything! See, the Rockets are a much better team without Yao (if you haven't already, here’s where the rest of you are probably going to disagree). They're not a better team without McGrady, but they are without Yao. The fact that they're doing so well during this post season and that McGrady is injured, well, that’s just a total coincidence. Even though I've joked about it before, the Rockets would actually be doing even better with McGrady in the line-up.
With Yao though, it's a different story. It started last season, when the Rockets won, I think, 12 games in a row before Yao got injured. Then with him out of the line-up they won another 10. But not only did they win another 10 games, they also played much better basketball. Without Yao, the Rockets were actually able to run on offense. They were now able to be mobile and move quickly on defense. The Rockets offense seemed to flow a lot nicer without the big guy clogging up the middle.
Now I'm not saying that Yao is a bad offensive player, he's terrific; it's just that the Rockets didn't need him. They had great scoring options down low in Scola and Landry, and with those guys the Rockets were much quicker and versatile on offense. They also had more space to create and for McGrady, the absence of Yao allowed him to be McGrady again. It allowed him to play freely without a ball and chain around his neck. He could drive, dish and score and the ball kept on moving and moving; again: The Rockets offense just had a much nicer flow to it.

Fast forward to this year's playoffs: Replace Tracy McGrady with Aaron Brooks and you have the current Rockets team: A team whose offense just seems to flow nicely and is effective. Of course Aaron Brooks is no Tracy McGrady, but he still manages to have the Rockets play similar ball to when they had their 10 game win streak without Yao – of course having added Ron Artest doesn’t hurt either. And as far as defense goes; while Yao is a good defender against big guys, quick post players, like Gasol, can easily take advantage of him, because he is too slow to guard them. So while the Rockets might miss him on defense when they go up against teams with big strong post players (even though this situation could be handled as well), in the case of this Lakers team, Yao’s absence even helps the Rockets on the defensive end.

He could easily be Chris Rock's lost twin brother

So there you have it, even though the Rockets won and I predicted that they would not, I wasn't wrong, because now the Lakers are going up against a different, Yao-less Rockets team. I still don't think the Rockets will win the series, but they will be more competitive and I am definitely looking forward to watching Game 5.

You would figure that after a decade of writing about one player, the writer's would grasp that one player. But when it comes to ESPN apparently not.


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...2&sportCat=nba

"In the wake of Sunday's Game 4 disaster, when Battier and Ron Artest did guard Kobe -- and after which Magic Johnson said the Lakers defiled the team's honor -- it's a good bet Kobe will be at his contrived best in Tuesday night's Game 5. He'll probably dominate, and he'll undoubtedly let us know."

Tim Keown goes off on ******* tagents about Kobe the loss in game 4. Did he realize how Aaron Brooks went off on Derek Fisher and how that was the key to the game? How Fisher's inability to guard quick point guards and how Phil's stubborness in insisting to play Fisher was the main reason for the Lakers losing? Apparently not.

The lack of creativity of sports writer's astounds me, it's as if Tim Keown stored a ***** and moan thread about Kobe and saved it on his computer two years ago, waiting for the Laker's to lose and then submitting his article to the editor.

Tim goes on:

"But here's a radical idea: Stop with the smugness and the arrogance. Play your game and let your talent speak for itself. You might not know this, but it does a much better job than you do. And if you're not going to enjoy what you bring to the court, at least give us half a chance."

Does Tim watch basketball at all? The only superstar in the past decade that wasn't smug was Tim Duncan, and possibly his brief mentor David Robinson. Chris Paul is smug. Shaq is smug. Jordan was smug and a *******. KG goes off on childish rants against opposing team's guards because he is too much of a ***** to go up against the big boys. But we don't see article's about Paul, or KG. Because that would require real journalism. That would require going against the 10,000 previous articles that have already been written.

Bird was a voracious trash talker, same goes for Isiah Thomas, same goes for Magic Johnson. But with those ignorant rose tinted glasses these ignorant sport writers have, you would never guess it.


Tim Keown goes:

"And that's the deal about Kobe: None of us is sure. How can a guy with that much talent play with such little joy? "

Do we see articles about Tim Duncan showing so little joy on the court? No. Because it is easier to ***** mindlessly about Kobe. Would
Tim Keown prefer that Kobe act like a childlish Garnett? Kobe is analytical. That is what he is. He studies more game tape then any other player in the league. He adds new moves through analysis. Kobe Bryant is not like LeBron James. LeBron was blessed with physical ability unnatural in basketball. Kobe's physical specs are a dime a dozen in the NBA. There are numerous players in the league more athletic then he his. If you want a player that plays like a child in the wind, it's not Kobe.

But that's not what separates Kobe from the rest of the league. It's his intense focus and analytical mind. If you don't get that, than you don't get Kobe. Kobe doesn't play for the fun of the game. Kobe plays to be the best. Kobe is ruthless.

It is not Kobe's athletiscm that is transcendent, it is his dedication. The best player to compare Kobe to isn't a basketball player but a football player. It's Jerry Rice. You see, like Rice, Kobe trains in the summer more than any other player. Rice wasn't the fastest WR. Kobe isn't the fastest player in the NBA. He's not even in the top five or ten. He doesn't jump the highest. He doesn't have abnormally long limbs. He doesn't have a massive hand like Jordan that can easily palm the ball.

Kobe was blessed with an obsessive dedication to excellence in the execution of the game we call basketball. It is the only exceptional quality about him that can not be replicated.

You would think a journalist covering the sport professionally would realize that by now. The old natural talent argument doesn't hold with Kobe. It never did. At no point in his career was Kobe ever the most athletic player in the league. Vince Carter had him beat in that category every year since Kobe has been in the league. The list grew as Kobe aged. But Kobe doesn't play for kicks. When he shoots to much, it is because he thinks shooting gives the best chance of winning. When he distributes it is because he thinks it improves the odds of winning. He plays to win and win alone. He doesn't play to make friends. He doesn't play to make the world a better place. He doesn't play to be a good role model. He plays to win, to chase the dream of being the best ever (even though he will most likely not achieve this goal). It's a very individualistic thing, it's a very American thing. If you can't appreciate that, you will never appreciate Kobe. Because Kobe won't change. So either get used to it or keep regurgitating your same articles 30 times a year.

Remember how everybody went all giddy over the buzzer beater by LeBron James to end the 2nd quarter Friday night? If you haven’t seen the play yet, you can check it out right now:



It seems as though Kobe must’ve been watching Sportscenter and came up with this shot to top King James:


(the Lakers won the game, btw.)

Isn’t this just great? We got two of the greatest perimeter players of all-time outdoing each other every night. I know I wrote same thing yesterday, but I just can’t wait to see what those two are going to do when they play each other seven games in a row.

On a different note: The flagrant fouls in this league are getting way out of control. I mean there is absolutely no consistency to the rule, or how else could you explain Ron Artest getting ejected for his foul on Pau Gasol at the end of Game 3? It’s ridiculous and makes no sense at all, if the league doesn’t change the flagrant 2 that was called on that, I won’t know what to say. If they wanted to call a flagrant 2 so bad, why didn’t they suspend Rajon Rondo for throwing Kirk Hinrich into the scorers table in Game 6 of the Boston-Chicago series; one game after he whacked Brad Miller right in the face? That was another call the league totally blew, and a big one at that, as the Bulls would’ve probably won Game 7 against a Rondo-less Celtics team.
Let’s see how the league handles the flagrant foul situation for the rest of the playoffs, all I can really hope for is some consistency in the way the fouls are called.


For a direct link to the original article, simply click here

Before I start things off I want to apologize for not having written anything over the last few months and explain my absence. The reason’s simple: I just had a lot of work to do lately and writing had to take a back seat. Not that you really cared to know about that, but...it's my blog and I can write whatever I want (it's the internet, man. I have all the power in the world on here).

Anyways let’s get right back to writing about the everyday happenings of the NBA: The 2009 NBA playoffs are all around us and they have blessed us with some great, great games.
Now, before I talk about the possible Dream Finals we all might witness this year -- thanks to Nike, I now have to think of LeBron everytime I hear or say the word witness -- let me get one thing out of the way first:

The Boston-Chicago series was amazing. I don’t care if there were no major superstars involved or that the two teams were no serious contenders. What I saw over seven games in that series was just plain, good, competitive basketball. What I saw were two teams going at it leaving it all out on the court. I don’t care what nobody says; this series was entertaining and exciting, period. In 20 years when somebody asks me about the best playoff series of the past two decades, this will be one of the first ones that will come to my mind.

Alright, now that I mentioned that I wanna talk about what’s really on my mind: Does everybody realize that this year we might just have one of the greatest NBA Finals of all-time at our hands? I know that that is a big statement to make with all of the great Finals the NBA has had in its rich history, but, you know, these Finals just will be great. I’m just saying that when you get two of the greatest perimeter players of all-time battling each other on the biggest stage, it is going to epic and it is going to take its place in the ‘NBA Finals Hall of Fame’.



But before I get ahead of myself talking about the finals and all that, I might first have to take look at the teams still standing in the way of a Cavaliers-Lakers matchup (well at least in the West, that is):

The Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets. After splitting the first two games at home, are the Lakers really a shoe-in for the NBA Finals or could the Rockets pull off the upset? My answer is: ‘Yes’ the Lakers are a lock for the Finals and ‘No’ the Rockets don’t have what it takes to upset them. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that the Rockets will not win another game in this series, unless of course the great Tracy McGrady, a seasoned second-round veteran, makes a surprising comeback and propels his team to victory. But since that is highly unlikely to happen, I see the Rockets’ playoff run being over rather soon.
Which brings me to the next series:
After the Nuggets finish the Mavericks off in five, maybe six games at most, they will be the ones attempting to take down the Lakers in what should be an exciting high-scoring series, that, by the way the Nuggets are playing ball right now, I can easily see going the distance.

While the Lakers will struggle with the Nuggets over seven games, the Cavaliers will have a cakewalk to the NBA Finals, where we will finally get to see the Lakers and the LeBrons going at it on the big stage for the first and hopefully not the last time.
So get ready to witness (damn you Nike) great basketball, only in the NBA Finals, where, as by now we all know, amazing happens.


For a direct link to the original article, simply click here