Thoughts on the NBA Playoffs

Awhile back I ruminated about the NBA revival. In particular, a series of strong teams in the West, coupled with an East with the best player in the league - LaBron, the best team in the league - the Celtics, and an old, but still tough, Pistons team. After watching the Celtics and Lakers the past week, and the fairly weak exits by the Suns and the Mavs, I'm beginning to rethink my assessment.

Also, listening to Barkley and Magic on TNT last night completely tearing Boston a new asshole, it made me realize the NBA has good parity right now, but no super strong teams.

Let me break down my impressions of teams/players.

LaBron - the dude can't shoot. Much is made of this dunk (which I sort of think Garnett should of gone up and molested, but easier said...) Can't teams just follow the Boston model? Play 5 men defense on the guy and don't let him get to the basket, force him to shoot jump shots and work hard...that shot is fairly ugly...he'll hit between 20-40 percent. Big deal! As a side note, LaBron telling his mom to sit down was a totally awesome moment last night. You forget the guy is 23 years old sometimes...and also...did a guy of his size come out of a woman that size? Doesn't make genetic sense to me.

Boston - Barkley nailed it...they don't get easy baskets. They play ugly. Garnett can't score in the clutch. This team has real trouble winning close games. If they get by Cleveland - which they will - Detroit has a serious chance to beat them.

Detroit is such a weird, cocky team. They act like they're too good to be playing with the teams they're playing against and then lose. I've been on teams like this...it's awful. You hate to root for them. The thing is - they're also the most talented team in the East when Billups is playing well. They are also old, and we saw that in the Philly series...a young, run and gun, team could really give them trouble. New Orleans?

Kobe and the Lakers - If LaBron can't shoot, Kobe can't pass. LaBron's most impressive play to me last night was his drive and no-look dish to teammate for a lay up in the closing minutes. The prior night, Kobe is hurting and what does he do in the final minutes of the Utah game? Try to drive and shoot or toss up "hero" shots and miss...while you have a 7 foot offensive machine named Gasol who doesn't get a shot in the entire overtime. A great player has got to know his limitations and Kobe, to me, will never be great unless he learns to make his teammates better. Jordan forced his teammates to higher level out of fear of his wrath. Do you remember how good Scottie Pippin was back in the day? Then he goes to Portland and didn't have the same fire. Magic made everyone on his team better. So did Bird. So does Chris Paul. So does Tim Duncan. Kobe doesn't, and despite being the most talented player in the game, he somehow always seems to alienate his teammates and never trust them. It's why I can't bring myself to root for the guy.

Utah - How can you win a series when you're the lower seed and you can't win on the road? That being said, this Utah team has grown on me and I like their mix of guys. I can't see how they win a championship, however, without a great player when the league has so many great players out there.

New Orleans - My favorite team to watch. Chris Paul is unbelievable.

San Antonio - They are a really, really hard team to beat. But I don't like watching them, even though Parker and Ginobli should by all things considered, be players I like. I think my problem is with Duncan. He's a great player, but his style is slow and methodical and is a reflection of how San Antonio plays. They play like the German's play soccer, overwhelming size, strength, discipline. They don't make mistakes, don't take big risks, and allow other teams to in a way, beat themselves. In short, they are the perfect "bad guy."

Series I'd like to see:

Lakers-Hornets
Jazz-Hornets
Pistons-Boston

Hornets-Boston
Hornets-Pistons
Lakers-Boston
Cavs-Lakers