Sunday, April 18, 2010

NBA Playoffs, Changing Expectations, and Other Stuff


On Thursday I laid out my picks for the first round, now after one game, I can cheerfully now have knee jerk responses to my initial predictions (and everyone else's)


Cavs in Command
On one hand the Bulls can say they outscored the Cavs over the last 3 quarters, caused 18 turnovers, and held the Cavs to 41% shooting in the second half. And yet the Bulls still lost by 13. It's unlikely the one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the league will repeat that kind of shooting performance and Lebron seemed to demonstrate in the 4rth quarter that he has another gear. The Cavs are 7-0 for playoff series in the Lebron era when they win game 1. I think I can say Cavs in 5 confidently now.

Jazz in Trouble
When I picked the Jazz in 6 I thought Kirelinko would be back (now he's probably out for the series) and I thought Okur could help (he's out for the playoffs now). Those two losses have put the Jazz in a deep hole. I have to admit that I underestimated the potential effect the speedy Ty Lawson could have for the Nuggets. I'm now predicting (is it predicting if you are constantly changing your mind?) the Nuggets in 6 or 7.

When does KG win Sportsman of the Year?
Biases out I hate bullies. Despise them. KG since coming to the Celtics has displayed all the tell tale signs of a bully. So it's an understatement that I just don't like KG. His latest antics of two obvious elbow throws got him tossed from the Heat game. It was so blatant Stern had no choice but to suspend KG for Game 2. The loss of KG opens the door a little wider for Miami to steal a game on the road. I'm sticking with Boston in 7 but here's to hoping I'm wrong.

See Dirk Score. Score Dirk Score
Dirk put together one of the most efficient scoring outbursts I've seen in awhile. 36 points on 14 shots in 40 minutes. Honestly that's about as good as you can do. The Spurs offense was good but simply not good enough to keep up with Dirk. Perhaps as importantly the Mavs played solid defense - causing 17 turnovers. I'll switch my vote to Spurs in 7.Although I'm feeling shaky on that...


Kim Kardashian Tired/Naked
We're researching feverishly why......

2 comments:

Gutsy Goldberg said...

1) Jazz are done w/ injury to Okur.
2) I hate KG. Even if the Cavs could definitely beat the Celtics, the odds must be very high that KG (and others) would lose it and just injure a bunch of Cavs for the sake of doing it.
3) Dirk was unreal. Moonbeam shots that almost hit the scoreboard were still hitting nothing but net.
4) The blazers beat the suns last night! Maybe that guy from ESPN truehoop (the only one outside of portland) was right for picking portland sans b. roy/oden/pryzbilla.

MJ said...

I love Kim Kardashian (except her personality). Love that picture.

I stand by all my predictions, except for one:

Cavs over Bulls in 4
Magic over Bobcats in 5
Hawks over Bucks in 5
Celtics over Heat in 7

West 1st Round:

Lakers over Thunder in 6
Mavs over Spurs in 6
Suns over Blazers in 5
**Nuggets over Jazz in 6**