Alright so, with the playoffs all set and ready to rumble, bring on your predictions! I'll start:

Chicago - Indiana
Chicago, 4-0. Chicago's dream-season will be tested in the playoffs, but I doubt the Pacers will be hard to beat. Rose will be MVP. Stan Van Gundy thinks Howard is just as good...but Rose will take it.

Orlando - Atlanta
Orlando, 4-1. Atlanta is always one step behind the big teams, I dont think this year will prove any different.

Boston - Knicks
Boston, 4-2. This should be interesting. Boston is not the same team without Perkins, and lately they look terrible, but playoffs are always a whole new different game. The Knicks have this new trio, but it will take more than Carmelo and Amare to beat the Celtics.

Miami - Philadelphia
Miami, 4-0. I think this will be easy for Wade and Lebron.

San Antonio - Memphis

Spurs, 4-0. Again, this should be easy.

Oklahoma City - Denver
Thunders, 4-2. Melo-less Denver is lookin alright, but OKC is strong and solid team, I even think they'll make it to the finals.

Dallas-Portland

Dallas, 4-0.

Lakers-New Orleans

Lakers, 4-0. Too many sweeps, I know, but first rounds are like that...sometimes.

So anyway, that's just my bet. What's your prediction?

Chicago takes the series in a sweep
Atlanta wins in 6 games
Boston 7 games
Miami in 6 games (sadly)
Memphis in 7 games (yea i said it)
Olkahoma City in 5 games
Dallas sweep
Lakers sweep

The Magic should be disgraced by their play yesterday. You guys are a better team than the Hawks.

I say the same for the Bulls. Sure you beat the Pacers, but they're the fucking 8th seed. If you have trouble dispatching the dregs of the lesser of the two NBA Conferences, you don't deserve to advance very far.

(Are the Magic trying to be the Dallas Mavericks of the East? Always talented, always playoff-bound, always primed to step forward and win it all finally...only to always fall short. As expected.)

since the firing of their head coach and rise of tyler hansbrough, they have been a tough team (and no where near a terrible team).

The Fakers show their true nature.
I actually think it might be better for the game if they let people fight after things like this. Would Bynum have done this to a larger player? Anyway I'm glad LA lost this series. If Bynum wanted to fight, go fight for an offensive rebound.

Buh bye, Kobe .

Kumbaya, Phil, you overrated old hippie. Now you can go smoke pot and chant to the Buddha on a nude commune somewhere for the rest of your life .

Oh lighten up .

I would if the Lakers weren't my team. For years I've been rooting for them like a sick maniac. At one point, they almost made me a rich man . However, I'm glad the Heat are still in this. Back when they won in 2006, I was heavily rooting for them. Not just because of Wade, but also because I furiously hate the Mavericks. Especially their owner. I'd like to beat him with a sock full of nickels.

Eh, I was just throwing Lilo a bone. As an ancient old Pistons fan, my man loathes the Lakers. And I can call Lilo ancient because I'm older than he is .

That's right. Not a Lakers fan...
Remember this phantom foul on Laimbeer? Worst call of all time.

Jerry West chimes in.

it would be so funny if phil decides to coach the knicks after next season

West is a class act. As a Knicks fan, I've always loathed the Lakers myself. But I always liked Jerry.

surely the Lakers took it to another level but that was not the first time I've seen a team lose without even putting up a fight lately in the NBA.

I don't watch much NBA anymore but among the few playoff games I did see this season, I've seen the Magic give up a series to the Hawks as if it was no big deal and the Knicks come out as a high school team against the Celtics, although that one I'm not sure it's the players fault or if they are really a high school team compared to a real NBA team.

these thuggish, millionaire, lackluster players finished the NBA for me. my last hope was to watch an epic Celtics-Heat series but no too...

Knicks lost because Boston was the better team.

As for your opinion about the players, let me show you the contrast: the players on the Memphis and Oklahoma City teams. Or hell even Dallas for that matter. They're hustling and haulin' ass, they want to win, they're hungry, they're not simply looking up for the next endorsement commercial shoot. (Memphis especially.)

Doesn't that make an impression on you?

Never have I seen such a gutless series from a superstar in the NBA Finals as what LeBron James just did. Larry Bird, Jordan, Kobe, and Magic never had such a wretched series.

LeBron: on behalf of the city of Cleveland, you deserve EVERY bad thing and all the criticism that will be coming your way.

That video of him and Lebron mocking Dirk's sickness, and then lose the next two (games and series) is going to haunt Lebron for a very very very long time.

Stat of the night:

The better TEAM won. The old saying goes that a team is greater than the sum of its parts. Boy, was that ever true this year. The Heat may have the best individuals, but they're a long way from being the best team.

Lebron showed zero class, as usual. But I was a bit surprised that Wade stooped to Lebron's level in mocking Dirk because Wade's always been a classy kid. The legacy of the "Big Three" down there is in ruins right now. And it will stay that way until they win a championship.

Hooray for Jason Kidd. Finally!

Yay to the Cavs. I can't stand Lebron. Maybe his mother will go all ghetto on Dirk.

I can't help but think of plawrence when I hear of Jason Kidd. He was on plaw's favorite team, The Nets. Lord knows he would never get a ring playing for that team.

It has been great hearing all the national media pile on LeBron today. I truly believe that he does not understand what a true commitment it takes to be a champion. Where has the player who single-handedly beat Detroit in '07 gone? He has withered under the bright lights like no athlete other than A-Rod under the pressure.

How long until he and Wade are at odds?

I think LeBron will get a ring eventually. It takes time. I think he's still younger than Jordan by 2 years when Jordan got his first.

Sometimes people just have bad games/bad series-remember "Tragic Magic" in 1984?

I didn't take his post-game comments as offensive. He lost but life goes on. They lost to a better more cohesive team. For all intents and purposes LeBron and Wade play the same position on the floor no matter what they are called so they need to do something about that.

I didn't really care who won but I was kinda happy to see Carlisle get one if for no other reason than I thought Davidson fired him for the wrong reasons.

Fair point, but both of those players (and for that matter Dwayne Wade too) played college basketball. Jordan and Magic also played and won a national title in college.

LeBron's biggest problem is that everything about his game has come easily because of his natural talent. He was heads and tails better than anyone at the high school level, so he was never challenged until he reached the pros. But he's never had to be mentally tough. He ALWAYS caught a break in Cleveland with the excuse of "yeah, but look at the talent around him." Now LeBron has clearly run out of legitimate excuses.

His confidence was clearly damaged in this series and he could not let his natural ability to shine. Whether he wins a title or not, he still is the biggest reason why the Heat did not win this series. He played very well most of the season until this point. But when it mattered most, he CHOKED.

We had jokes all over the place, soap-operas plots and scandals, you name it. Mocking Dirk was so wrong and stupid, no argument there. But on the other hand, criticizing the heat for celebrating good momentum mid-game was no more than silly, I'll show you great athletes all over the world do that during games to motivate themselves, there's nothing wrong about that, but hey that's another storyline because they ended up losing that game... A goddamn circus cos basketball alone was just not enough. And don't get me wrong, Im in no way a fan of LeBron or the heat, but this hate-fest is getting old. Too bad there was a lot more about the heat than the Mavs.

"I asked LeBron for a dollar, and he gave me 75 cents. He doesn't have the last quarter"

"LeBron is 26, looks 36, and acts 16"

etc etc.

He's the most hated athlete, made the heat the most hated team, but the more you talk about him, the less you talk about how great was Dirk. The more you talk about the heat, the less you talk about the mavs. Maybe we should say instead how awesome were those mavs! and sadly I hardly hear that.

Now Dirk was unbelievable. Pure shooter, perhaps the best in the league together with Kobe and Durant. But not just shooting - plenty of character in every aspect of the game. And even when he had 1 for 12 in that first half, he still kept on shooting, and that's why he deserves this MVP. I'm glad he's finally champion. Terry and Kidd did their work bigtime as well, but I was mostly impressed with Barea. This little guy was fearless, from in or from outside the guy just delivered.

I got plenty more to say about the rest of the playoffs, and the entire season, but I'll do it next time.

Speaking of that here is a column that is a version of a recent radio show Albom did..

BY MITCH ALBOM
DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

A Dallas basketball team won the NBA title last week, but to hear most people tell the story, LeBron James lost it.

They say it with glee.
"LeBron thought he was so great. Ha-ha. Look at how he messed up at the end!"

All across the country, people rejoiced in the comeuppance of LeBron and his Miami Heat teammates, who had banded together through free agency to try to build a super team. It's not exactly a crime. But the hubris they showed, people said, turned public opinion against them.

So much so that far more people were rooting for Miami to crumble than were actually passionate about Dallas winning.

At the same time, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner was embroiled in his sexting scandal. He tried to save his job. Apologized. Went to rehab. But as more naughty photos and racy messages emerged, you could hear the screams rising. "Quit! Quit! Quit!"

Finally, under the weight of that chorus, he did. And today, just a few days later, nobody cares what he does with his camera or his crotch. It's as if a thirst has been quenched.

There's a thread that runs through these two issues. Some call it "Hating On." I call it "Rooting Against." It seems this is becoming at least as popular as "Rooting For."
...
Full Column

I think a lot of the recent hatred against some celebrities is directly related to the economy being so poor. I'll bet a lot of it has to do with people envying financial security is such uncertain times. No one wants to believe that a ballplayer or an actor is worth their paycheck (and they're probably not).

But take those same people spreading the hatred around, give them a Fifth Avenue aparment or a beachfront condo on South Beach, and I'm quite certain they'd gladly let go of the hate for a chance to become one of the "beautiful people."

Sort of "The worst thing about the rich and talented is that I'm not one of them"...

What a revolting development.
I don't want any more undersized big men. We've had that for years now and it's not worked out. I want players at least 6-11 for the center/power forward spots. If we can't get that this year, trade for it later.

Scarcity of Big Men for Pistons

I do not disagree Fame. If you turned on any sports show last week, from Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Mike & Mike, to Dan Patrick, it was all about how the Heat lost rather than the credit the Mavs deserved in winning.

You say the Heat bashing is getting old and I will agree to a point. However, the Miami Heat in general and LeBron James in particular alienated a lot of fans. I would even buy the argument that the Heat are just feeling the effects of the hatred which is primarily directed toward LeBron. It was very pompous for him to go on tv with the 'decision.' Players like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett all had at least one something and never made such a spectacle out of themselves in free agency. Worse yet, James relished in the idea of teams coming in to kiss his ass while all the while he had this secret arrangement to go to Miami pre-arranged. I even made the comment to a friend that even if LeBron had resigned in Cleveland, I would have lost all respect for him as person for how he handled last summer.

But when you pose for a picture like this, acting like you have won it all before ever stepping on the court together, then I have no sympathy for the backlash that ensues.



The "problem" with LeBron and the Heat would quiet down if they would just shut up. Nobody wants to hear when Bosh said "we just want to chill." And I think LeBron's criticism is well-deserved when he talks about winning "multiple championships" and then withers away in the game's biggest stage. Like it or not, Wade, Bosh & LeBron put this target on their backs. Not so much Wade, but if LeBron just did his talking on the court, much of this media circus would quiet down.

Tell me about it...Skip Bayless makes a living out of bashing Lebron.

But yeah Goombah, I know everything you say, the only thing I complain about is that one team's issues should not overshadow the other team's success. I want more basketball and less soap operas, and to hell with Lebron James and co. I think they like the attention cos that's pretty much all they got.

If I were you or if I was a Cleveland fan, I wouldn't worry. Even if he does win it one day (and I'm not sure he will) there will always be a little asterisk saying he needed two other all-stars to get it done.

Cleveland is proud and should remain proud, whether he wins it or not. I for one would like to see the Cavs back in the playoffs, now THAT would be a story!