Well, I saw a bit of the Denver v. Sonics game, and that was humiliating for Seattle.
Tonight, I see that Houston, (without Yao!) handily beat Denver.
The Western Conference is really exciting, 9 teams competing for 8 playoff spots, with the top seed only 5.5 games ahead of the 9th seed. (Unlike baseball, where after the All Star break many games are meaningless.)
The East,
there's Boston, with their media loved trio of Garnett, Allen & the other dude.
There's Orlando, who have a young star developing nicely at center, leading the league in rebounds, Dwight Howard, remember him from the FIBA tournament this past summer. I hope he's a rebound monster in China this summer for team USA.
Detroit, been there, done that, very efficient, they are no-frills, everyone knows their part, always a favorite to win the championship. Machine like, we shall call the Pistons.
And Lebron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. They just got big Ben Wallace (who used to be a defense & rebound monster, but, age and desire seem to have sapped him) in hopes of giving James some help.
In the West
Defending champ, San Antonio. Yup, they embarrassed Lebron last year.
Dallas, just traded to get excellent point guard, Jason Kidd. I think they have realized they need a tough, intelligent, point guard to help take pressure off of Dirk.
Phoenix, led by the tough, intelligent, point guard, MVP, Steve Nash (who used to play for Dallas!) What a trade. They got Shaq! Can they run & gun with the big man? I saw his first game as a Sun, going against Kobe's Lakers. Shaq had some hustle, it went better than I expected. But, Lakers won.
Lakers. I watched them beat Dallas today. And I realized, everyone seems to know their role on the team, there won't be the egos, or the fighting, everyone knows their job. When Kobe is doubled, he can go to Gasol, or Odom.
So...I predict...NBA finals...Lakers vs Celtics (wow, like old times) Lakers win. Should be very exciting.
...And ya know, after Kobe's great attitude for Team USA at the FIBA tournament, it's not so easy to hate the Lakers Team. Maybe if I watch more Lakers games, Jack Nicholson & the other Hollywood set will remind me how obnoxious they are. (Although, to Mr. Nicholson's credit, he is a true Lakers fan. I suspect most the other that go to the games, are going just to be seen.)
Posted by joncim at March 2, 2008 08:22 PM