It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So the NBA Playoffs start tomorrow. For me, this is Christmas and like a month of Jordan releases together. 4 games tomorrow, 4 more Sunday. And some of these matchups are really going to be interesting. Oklahoma City and Dallas I think is going to go 7. And don't be surprised if Dallas takes them out. This will be the Thunder's first time going into the playoffs expected to go deep. If it's 2-2 after 4 games, I think Westbrook and Durant will start to feel that pressure. Expectations can be a 1200 lb. gorilla. The other 1st round series I'm really looking forward to is Heat-Knicks. Flashback for a sec to the 1999 season. It was shortened by a lockout and the Heat's first-round opponent was......the Knicks. The Knicks had barely gotten into the playoffs and the Heat were favored by many to win the East. For those that don't remember, the Knicks won the series and ended up going to the Finals that year. Not saying it's going to happen again, but just found it ironic. Somewhere there is a LeBron hater hoping it happens so that it will justify their claims that he's a fraud. He's not a fraud. He should be MVP again. Hands down. I'm almost hesitant to make predictions because it's so tough to predict this year. I could stick to my pick from the beginning of the season: OKC vs. Miami. But you can't discount the Spurs, Lakers, or Bulls. One of those 5 teams will be the next NBA champion. It's really going to be about which superstar (LeBron,Wade, Durant, Westbrook, Parker, Kobe, or Rose) says "this is my ring". I can't wait to see it.

What's Wrong With The Heat?

So the Heat got beat by Boston by 19 points yesterday. Rondo had a triple-double. The Heat scored just 72 points. They went 10-7 in March. What's wrong with them? Nothing. They are the exact same team that went to the NBA Finals. I think people think that just because you take 2 of the top 5 players in the world and put them on the floor together it's a guaranteed ring. If that was the case there wouldn't be a lot of NBA champions. Let's face the facts, LeBron James may just be the best player in the NBA, regardless of how you feel about his "Decision" or late game miscues. Dwyane Wade is one of the best players in the league that doesn't get the shine he deserves because he plays with LeBron. Chris Bosh is an all-star at power forward and a gold medalist. Put those 3 together, championship, right? They lost in the NBA Finals for one reason. It's the one thing they're missing: chemistry. If you watch enough Heat basketball (and I do, they are spectacular at times), their offense is quite predictable. LeBron or Wade will penetrate and shoot or kick out for a 3, or Bosh will post up. Not quite the triangle. Good defensive teams (Chicago, L.A. Lakers, Boston) will find ways to make life difficult for the Big 3. All that said, I still think this team is too talented for Chicago to overtake them in the East at playoff time. I just don't know if they have what it takes to win it all in their current form. You look at Dallas last year, they always seemed to have someone ready to step up aside from Dirk. Even the Lakers recent title teams, guys like Artest, Ariza, Fisher, and Gasol came up big in crucial moments. Who is going to step up for Miami and be that consistent 10-15 a game scorer aside from the Big 3?