NBA Playoffs
aahhhhh.... it's that time of the year again. When basketball guru's start making their predictions for different matchups. When mere "stars" are truly turned into "legends". When kids really remember their dad showing the most emotion he has ever shown, towards the TV... This NBA season was full of different surprises and memorable moments. Arenas' growing infamy for being one of the most clutch players at the end of games. The Raptors surprising rise to become one of the top teams in the East. AI and Melo's partnership that became actually turned out to be something special. And there are more, smaller stories I could just go on and on about. I'm looking forward to a couple of the matchups this year because they are really interesting... let's look:
Mavs vs Warriors
Nellie's new team plays Nellie's old team that got farther than he brought them. The drama to this matchup could be turned into a soap opera. But I think that the players on each team really make the matchup interesting. The Mavs have their "Big 3" in Terry, Howard, and Dirk along with good bench players like Harris and Stackhouse. They also have the bigmen needed to bruise inside and protect the paint. They are a very well rounded team that doesn't have too many deficiencies on paper. The Warriors have a extremely potent offensive power. Baron Davis, the emerging Ellis, Jackson, J-Rich, and Harrington can all score very well. Defense is what's lacking here. Yeah, they do have Biedrins, but I don't think he will fair very well against Dallas' bigmen. There is also no one that can really defend Dirk on this team either. The question really comes down to whether or not the Warrior's 5 potent starters can wreak havoc on the offensive end against Dallas' defense. I think the Warriors might be able to pull out a game or two, seeing as how they did womp the Mavs in the regular season, but the Mavs will be too much for this inexperienced team to handle. Mavs in 5.
Suns vs Lakers
Can anyone say intense rivalry? Nash and Kobe are back at it and let's just hope that Nash doesn't try to get a charge call and end up getting posterized again. The most potent offense in the league needed 7 games to take the Lakers out last season after being down 3-1. What the heck happened? I think it was the Laker's inexperience and the fact that they tried to lean on Kobe again to carry them. Matching up players, the Suns appear to have the advantage no doubt. However, the Lakers surprised everyone last year when they went up 3-1. Fluke? I think so. It took a while, but Nash finally figured out how to deal with the pesky Smush on the offensive end. The Lakers are usually either Odom working with everyone, or everyone watching Kobe. It's never, Kobe and Odom rocking the house. I don't know if it ever will be. The X-Factor I think in this series will be Amare. Is he going to be the juggernaut he was before? Yes, he still scores, but from what I've seen, he just doesn't look like he was two years ago. He can't just take off and dunk on everyone all the time. (NOTE: I'll also take this time to shoutout to Amare because I know how big a fan he is of my blog... Dude, GO RENT SOME SHAWN KEMP TAPES TO LEARN HOW TO DUNK.) If Amare dominates the paint, the Suns will undoubtedly win this one fast. Suns in 6.
I will continue the rest of my analysis on the matchups another time...
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