Elimination

I won't miss Carmelo.

Was Toronto in the playoffs?

It's fun to watch Mark Cuban lose.

Sun's choked, the entire organization. Management, the head coach & the star players all choked. I watched the final quarter looking for Raja Bell & Boris Diaw to get it done, enough said.

1st Round Underway

I’d fire Eddie Jordan immediately following elimination. He clearly has no control of his team & it has turned into a carnival. I suppose that makes Deshawn Stevenson the bearded lady.

Who exactly does Al Horford think he is?

I really like Doris Burke.

I even like Jeff Van Gundy more. I hope he never lands a head coaching position. Actually, there is a vacancy in Washington right?

Did Sir Charles really expect Dallas to win and why was Kidd not suspended.

Suns v Spurs should be 2-2, Coach D and Amare let game 1 get away. Seems logical Kerr will defer blame and fire Coach D after the season. Coach D will head to Golden State reunite w. Shawn Marion (Shawn please opt out) and lose in the Western Conference Finals. Baron, Monte, Captain Jack, The Matrix & Al Harrington? How fun would that be? Back to reality, don’t be surprised if this goes 7 games, I expect it to.

Denver’s best case scenario was 5 games anyway, Everybody calm down.

Bravo to Houston for playing Utah so well in Salt Lake. The home court proved to be a disadvantage as Houston was home without Rafer. Probably 2-2 if this series actually started in Utah.

Philadelphia was one half of basketball from putting this series away. I said Philly in 7 and I’m sticking with it.

Looking forward to watching an Orlando game in the 2nd round.

The San Antonio Spurs put on one of the best playoff road perfomances I can remember, Not only were all three stars @ the very top of their game but Bruce Bowen masterfully shut down Steve Nash without the use of cheap and dirty tactics, we may never see the likes of that again!

"I must kill the Queen"

I woke up Sunday morning and I was Reggie Jackson in the Naked Gun, walking around my home holding a freshly sharpened sand wedge chanting in a monotone voice “I must kill Bruce Bowen, I must kill Bruce Bowen”. My hatred for Bowen runs so deep, that 20 years from now I will tell a story about the 07 playoffs, when Bowen punched Steve Nash to bloody his nose & Tim Donaghy called a foul on Nash.

I’m not blind to the fact that “Coach D” was out coached. Not blind to Amare not trusting his jump shot, the same jump shot he has worked on for two years, the same jump shot that has made him an impossible cover. He did not trust it with 10 ticks left and an uncontested 9 foot jump shot starring him in the face that would have ended the game in the 1st OT. Instead he chose to throw his body directly into Kurt Thomas like Jimmy "The Superfly" Snuka and foul himself out of the game unable to participate in the 2nd OT. But I’m also not blind to the fact that Bowen held Nash and took him to the ground in a critical inbound play in the 2nd OT. The relevance beyond the obvious free throw & the ball, is that it cost the Suns a timeout, a timeout that would have come in handy with 1.8 ticks on the clock. Bowen wasn’t even relevant to this game in any other fashion except for 1 dirty little play. I think I remember Mike Breen even saying something to the effect of that’s how San Antonio wins championships. “I must kill Bruce Bowen, I must kill Bruce Bowen”.

Meaningless Awards & Predictions

AWARDS

MVP: Chris Paul, I honestly dont even think it's a close race.
Kobe doesn't match his leadership skills.
No one wants the ball in KG's hands in crunch time, even himself.
Lebron has been hampered by Danny Ferry.

Coach of the Year: Rick Adelman.

Rookie of the year: Kevin Durant, he will flirt w. 40 ppg before he's 25.

Eastern Conference Team by position:

PG: Chauncey Billups
SG: AI2
C: KG
PF: Antawn Jamison
SF: Lebron

Western Conference Team by position:

PG: CP3
SG: Kobe
C: Tim Duncan (yes he is a center, don't believe the media guides)
PF: Amare
SF: Carmelo


PREDICTIONS

Washington @ Cleveland: Washington in 6
Phoenix @ San Antonio: SA in 7
Dallas @ New Orleans: NO in 6
Utah @ Houton: Utah in 5
Toronto @ Orlando: Orlando in 6
Denver @ LA: LA in 5
Philadephia @ Detroit: Philly in 7
Atlanta @ Boston: Boston in 4

The Mad Scientist

Don Nelson was at it again. Monday night in the Land of the Rising Sun, the SEASON on the line, trailing 71-57 @ the half. What does a coach do? The stakes are high, the chips are down & Donny Doolittle benches the best player on his team! Baron Davis benched!?! Did we not hear MVP chants throughout the year? Did Baron not average 22-8-5 for the season? This can never work!! the only explanation possible is that Don Nelson had his post game Bud Light at halftime. The funny thing, IT WORKED!!!! For a moment that is. Golden State went on to outscore the Suns 38-19 in the 3rd quarter. Even early in the 4th quarter Golden State maintained the advantage, but midway through the 4th that run was clearly over. Ok Don, your madness worked again, your team is back in the game and is still clinging to a lead. I guess its time to re-insert Baron. No? Really? Donny Boy kept Baron out of the entire 2nd half. I've never coached an NBA team and I never will but it seems to me that a veteran two time all-star point guard might come in handy down the stretch on the road. As it turned out Phoenix went on to win and we saw Baron in a Warrior uniform (in this case warm-up gear) for perhaps the LAST time. I cant imagine Baron not opting out of his contract now. The team that shocked the NBA just a year ago has potentially lost 2 of its 3 biggest guns. They let Jason Richardson go and essentially now have forced Baron out. Chris Mullen may have a lot of work to do in the off season.

Looking ahead .. Baron Davis for Lamar Odom & Vlad Rad .. think about it if the Lakers don't win a title. He's going to end up in LA one way or another, might as well be as a Laker.