Playoff Thoughts

Continuing our first round fall out column, we turn today to the Western Conference... 1.    San Antonio Spurs: That definitely smarts.  The Spurs managed a last gasp heroic regular season only to be beaten soundly in the playoffs.  The loss to the Grizz wasn't just a random upset either.  It took about half of one game to realize that Memphis was at least the equal of the Spurs talent-wise.  The real pain though was watching Tim Duncan, who just isn't the player he was.  TD is still … [Read more...] about First Round Fallout (Western Conference)

We are now into the nitty gritty of the post season...Round Two.  Before we consider some pretty interesting battles , some of the fun is to look back at the teams that were left behind and we can look to see where their playoff losses leave them.  This our annual First Round Fallout column.  And there is quite a bit of fallout in a few places, particularly San Antonio and Orlando.  Let's take a look at the losers in the East... 1.    Indiana Pacers: The Pacers played a pretty … [Read more...] about First Round Fallout (Eastern Conference)

Free agency is looming around the corner and 2009-10 will soon fade into memory.  But before we look forward, let's look back for a few moments on some of the issues raised after the Finals.  Here's a look: -Despite having the two signatures franchises meet again, the Finals were hardly classic.  While both teams were very good defensively and were leaving everything on the floor, there were few compelling moments and the most memorable moments, namely the end of Game 7, were not … [Read more...] about NBA Finals Aftermath

Lakers-Celtics, Again: Lakers-Celtics is always a fun Finals match up.  Of course, the fun was the surprise in getting this match up, more than the games that led us to this moment.  In fact, the actual games have been, for the most part, quite mundane.  Regardless of the workman like way that the Lakers and Celts have dispatched their opponents, this is a potentially very fun NBA Finals.  Predicting this NBA Finals is tough because both the Lakers and Celts struggled coming into the … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

The reactions to Cleveland's loss to Boston in Round 2 have been varied but most have been along the lines that the loss was a calamity and will set back the Cavs quite a bit.  Is this true?  Sorta.  Let's go through the loss and try to separate fact from fiction: Did the Cavs/LeBron Choke? I don't know if choke is the right word.  Clearly, the Cavs seemed to be the better team by all accounts going into the series.  There really is no one who could've predicted that the Celts … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

A quick update on Round Two...  -Celtics/Cavaliers:    A nice and shocking Game 2 win for Boston in Cleveland.  Could this augur an upset of a seven-game series?  Seems quite unlikely.  Yes, the Cavs could have issues with Rajon Rondo but he torched them just as much (if not more) in Game 1 and the Cavs still killed Boston.  The big difference in Game 2 was Rasheed Wallace.  The chances that he shoots 7-8 in another game seems highly unlikely.  The argument could be made that the Celts just … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts