Monday, May 18, 2015
Hey Readers!
I know there aren't that many of you, but if you like what you've read on here, and would like for me to post more often, please tell people! The more views I get, the more inclined I would be to post, I have enjoyed doing this so far, and have a lot more planned, but it's kind of pointless if nobody sees it right? So thanks those of you who have been visiting and reading my stuff so far, and again if you like it, share it with everyone you know! Or at least some people. Oh, also feel free to leave comments about your thoughts on my stuff, like if you agree or disagree, or give me your own predictions if you don't agree with mine. Let me know other things you'd like to see, I know some people probably want some football posts, tell if you do! I'll do my best to honor your wishes.
2015 NBA Playoff Predictions: Conference Finals
Western Conference:
1) Golden State Warriors
2) Houston Rockets
Prediction: Warriors in 5
Why?: I picked the Warriors to win quick last round, but I should have known Memphis would show up and win more than once. The Rockets after appearing dead in the water after going down 3-1 to the Clippers, roared back and stole the series to set up a matchup between the top two teams in the better conference, and the top two vote getters in the MVP race. That's actual MVP Stephen Curry and runner-up James Harden if you somehow missed that. In the regular season the Warriors swept the Rockets, actually they destroyed them all four games winning by 11, 12, 25, and 13 points for an average margin of victory of 15.3 points. Now Houston was without Dwight for the first two games, and you may not put any stock into what happened between two playoff teams in the regular season, but there is one key point I'd like to make here. Houston won't have Patrick Beverly, who may be abysmal on offense, but is an absolute pest on defense. Now Trevor Ariza is Houston's best perimeter defender. James Harden is not the cone we all saw in last year's playoffs on defense anymore, but he's still far from a lockdown defender, as for the rest of Houston's perimeter defense? Pablo Prigioni, Jason Terry, and then Corey Brewer. Of that group, Brewer is the only good defender. Who is going to stop the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry? Sure you can put Ariza on one, but they can both go by Harden, Klay can shoot over Pablo and Jason Terry, Brewer won't play huge minutes, also if you go Harden and Ariza on Curry and Thompson, Harrison Barnes (who has stepped up in this postseason and continues to impress me) would abuse either Terry or Prigioni. And then Klay Thompson is the best two way shooting guard in the NBA, and in all four match ups between these teams this season he has done a good job getting Harden out of his rhythm. You're not going to shut him down, but Klay can definitely slow him down. Both teams like to play fast and score a lot, another bit of bad news for Houston, you can't beat the Dubs that way. Sorry for piling on you, H-town, but the only thing stopping me from calling a sweep is that it's the conference finals.
Eastern Conference:
1) Atlanta Hawks
2) Cleveland Cavaliers
Prediction: Cavs in 7
Why?: Atlanta was great in the middle of the regular season, but I don't know what to make of them in the playoffs. Sure they won both their series so far in six games each, but they didn't do it very impressively, they didn't really look like a 1 seed other than when they destroyed Brooklyn in game 6 in the first round. Washington was great this postseason, but Atlanta should have still handled them especially when John Wall was out. The Cleveland Cavaliers on the other hand have over come the Love injury and they proved that when they punked the Bulls three games in a row after Derrick Rose's buzzer beater gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead in the series. LeBron is being LeBron, and the Cavs appear to be clicking here in the playoffs. I still think Atlanta can push the series to 7, maybe even win it, if they can get back to doing what made them so great this regular season, before they went into coast mode and apparently got stuck there. They are called "Spurs-East" for a reason, and we all remember what the actual Spurs did to a LeBron lead team in the Finals last year. It's still hard for me to believe the Hawks will magically find their grove again at this point in the season and take this series from Cleveland, but hey, it's the playoffs, you never know what could happen.
2015 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: Conference Finals
Western Conference:
1) Anaheim Ducks
3) Chicago Blackhawks
Prediction: Ducks in 6
Why?: Chicago is always good, I mentioned that in ,I believe, every other series prediction I made involving the Blackhawks. That being said, the Ducks are just rampaging their way through the playoffs sweeping Winnipeg in the first round, and having little problem with a Calgary team I thought would have been tough. I'm taking the Ducks in this series because they have looked like the best team in this postseason without question so far, but I still think the Hawks will steal a few games, because let's face it, they're the Chicago Blackhawks.
Eastern Conference:
1) New York Rangers
2) Tampa Bay Lightning
Prediction: Rangers in 7
Why?: I liked the Rangers to win the Cup coming into the playoffs this season, because they were the best team, and have a lot of great players on their team. They have been a letdown for me, as a casual fan their games have been exciting because they have ALL been decided by ONE goal. However as a guy pretending to know something about hockey they have been frustrating because I expect the best team in the NHL this season to show up and win by at least two goals one of these games. I mentioned after the first round that Tampa Bay was disappointing to me, well they were great in the conference semis after taking down Montreal in 6 games. This one has become a toss up, but I'm sticking with the Rangers, even though they may never win by multiple goals, I still think they can win 4 before they lose 4.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
2015 NBA Playoffs: First Round Reactions
Surprises:
There were a few surprises in the first round in this years edition of the NBA playoffs. First and foremost my home state Milwaukee Bucks. 54 point blowout in game 6 aside, they really came out and played hard, I expected they would but I didn't think they'd be keep it up long enough to win a game, let alone two. Games 1-5 in this series were highly entertaining, and if it weren't for the forgettable implosion in game 6 I think this series would've been just as entertaining as Clippers-Spurs. Another surprise from that very series was Derrick Rose. I hoped he'd play well and he actually did for much of the series. He had some blunders (missed late free throw in game 3, got burned for game winner in game 4 after turning the ball over), but all in all I was elated to see Derrick Rose play somewhere between pre-injury D-Rose and this season's D-Rose, hopefully he can build on the Milwaukee series and continue to improve against Cleveland and beyond. Surprise three for me is the Washington Wizards, I thought they had a chance to win the series, but I never thought they would do it with a sweep, and an emphatic one at that. That being said Toronto looked horrible, but I'll get to that in a bit. Next surprise has to be the Brooklyn Nets. Not only did they play Atlanta tough in games 1-5, but they actually won the first two games in the Barclay's Center. They were not playing very good basketball for much of the season, but they played well enough to be thorns in the Hawks side, and you can say the Hawks were still stuck in cruise control like they were in almost all of April, but still a 60-win team should handle a 38-win team. Unfortunately this series was much like Bucks-Bulls as it ended with a blowout, not 54 points but 24.
Disappointments:
The Toronto Raptors. They were a Jurassic-sized disappointment as they were smashed by the Wizards much like the real dinosaurs were smashed by a comet. They let 37-year old Paul Pierce walk all over them, yeah he's a future Hall-of-Famer but still, the man is 37! I expected this to be the most competitive series in the East, even Boston was thousands of times more competitive that had more talent in it's starting five than the Celtics had on their entire roster. The Raptors played some of the worst offense I've seen a playoff team play in a while. I've seen better offense in pick up games at my local Y. Kyle Lowry was worn down, and he looked it. DeMar DeRozan, while not known for his ball-handling, looked like he never dribbled a ball before, he couldn't get anywhere. Yes Washington is solid defensive team, but they are no Chicago, Golden State, Memphis, or even Milwaukee. This team played so bad 51 year old Michael Jordan and his prized number one pick, Kwame Brown, could've joined the team and been their best players. Hell, Jordan probably would've been their leading scorer. I still can't believe how bad they played, the only reason game 1 went to overtime was because for the majority of that game Washington was equally bad. From there they went on to lose by 11, 7 (but they shot 37%), and 31. Yes in game 4, playing for only pride at that point, the Raps heroically laid down and died. A crushing disappointment not only for Raptors fans, but basketball fans, instead of a competitive series, one team was prepared and played like it mattered, and the other team was softer than a Drake hook. Unbelievable. Oh yeah, Toronto wasn't the only disappointment, though they were by far the biggest. I expected more from Portland, though it's hard to blame them due to the rash of injuries that hit them late this season. Also Dallas. Rick Carlisle is hailed as a genius and even he couldn't pull his team together to avoid a loss in a mere 5 games. Dirk looked old, the Rockets sheer athleticism of their front court alone was enough to force Carlisle to try and hide Dirk on Ariza, worked for one game, but for that one game all the Mavs played a great game, the series was competitive enough, but from a team that pushed the all-mighty Spurs to their only 7 game series last year, I expected more.
There were a few surprises in the first round in this years edition of the NBA playoffs. First and foremost my home state Milwaukee Bucks. 54 point blowout in game 6 aside, they really came out and played hard, I expected they would but I didn't think they'd be keep it up long enough to win a game, let alone two. Games 1-5 in this series were highly entertaining, and if it weren't for the forgettable implosion in game 6 I think this series would've been just as entertaining as Clippers-Spurs. Another surprise from that very series was Derrick Rose. I hoped he'd play well and he actually did for much of the series. He had some blunders (missed late free throw in game 3, got burned for game winner in game 4 after turning the ball over), but all in all I was elated to see Derrick Rose play somewhere between pre-injury D-Rose and this season's D-Rose, hopefully he can build on the Milwaukee series and continue to improve against Cleveland and beyond. Surprise three for me is the Washington Wizards, I thought they had a chance to win the series, but I never thought they would do it with a sweep, and an emphatic one at that. That being said Toronto looked horrible, but I'll get to that in a bit. Next surprise has to be the Brooklyn Nets. Not only did they play Atlanta tough in games 1-5, but they actually won the first two games in the Barclay's Center. They were not playing very good basketball for much of the season, but they played well enough to be thorns in the Hawks side, and you can say the Hawks were still stuck in cruise control like they were in almost all of April, but still a 60-win team should handle a 38-win team. Unfortunately this series was much like Bucks-Bulls as it ended with a blowout, not 54 points but 24.
Disappointments:
The Toronto Raptors. They were a Jurassic-sized disappointment as they were smashed by the Wizards much like the real dinosaurs were smashed by a comet. They let 37-year old Paul Pierce walk all over them, yeah he's a future Hall-of-Famer but still, the man is 37! I expected this to be the most competitive series in the East, even Boston was thousands of times more competitive that had more talent in it's starting five than the Celtics had on their entire roster. The Raptors played some of the worst offense I've seen a playoff team play in a while. I've seen better offense in pick up games at my local Y. Kyle Lowry was worn down, and he looked it. DeMar DeRozan, while not known for his ball-handling, looked like he never dribbled a ball before, he couldn't get anywhere. Yes Washington is solid defensive team, but they are no Chicago, Golden State, Memphis, or even Milwaukee. This team played so bad 51 year old Michael Jordan and his prized number one pick, Kwame Brown, could've joined the team and been their best players. Hell, Jordan probably would've been their leading scorer. I still can't believe how bad they played, the only reason game 1 went to overtime was because for the majority of that game Washington was equally bad. From there they went on to lose by 11, 7 (but they shot 37%), and 31. Yes in game 4, playing for only pride at that point, the Raps heroically laid down and died. A crushing disappointment not only for Raptors fans, but basketball fans, instead of a competitive series, one team was prepared and played like it mattered, and the other team was softer than a Drake hook. Unbelievable. Oh yeah, Toronto wasn't the only disappointment, though they were by far the biggest. I expected more from Portland, though it's hard to blame them due to the rash of injuries that hit them late this season. Also Dallas. Rick Carlisle is hailed as a genius and even he couldn't pull his team together to avoid a loss in a mere 5 games. Dirk looked old, the Rockets sheer athleticism of their front court alone was enough to force Carlisle to try and hide Dirk on Ariza, worked for one game, but for that one game all the Mavs played a great game, the series was competitive enough, but from a team that pushed the all-mighty Spurs to their only 7 game series last year, I expected more.
Mayweather Pacquiao Reaction
Wow. That word effectively and simply sums up the "fight of the century." However this is not a "WOW!! What a great fight by the best boxers of this generation! This fight was definantly worth the $100!" No, sadly this is a wow, I can't believe people were forced to pay that much to watch an atrocity that should in no way qualify as a boxing match. Where was the fighting? Every time Manny Pacquiao tried to swing at Floyd "(just robbed you of your) money" Mayweather, he was met with a duck and quick jab, a clinch of Manny, or he simply just backpedaled and danced around the ring. Before any member/supporter of "The Money Team" who happens to be reading this decides I have no idea what I'm talking about because that's how Floyd fights, I am fully aware that this is his strategy. It just flat out sucks, and at the same time it epitomizes Money Mayweather. It's known that the man is the quintessential coward, the fact that he is a serial woman beater is a prime example of this, it's just disappointing that in boxings biggest fight in the last 20 or so years he continued to fight like one.
You can throw all the numbers from the fight you want at me, I know Floyd landed 138 punches to Manny's 81, and the fact that Floyd even threw a few more punches than his offensive minded opponent did. But how many of those punches were combinations? How many did any real damage Pacquiao physically, not just damage his scorecard? Manny, like 47 other fighters before him, could not crack the Mayweather defense, and like almost every other big fight of his career Mayweather did just enough between, avoiding any punches and landing a counter-jab every now and again, to win the decision. Manny on the other hand actually provided some entertainment in the few times he was actually able to get in on Floyd and landed some impressive combos, but before he could really get going Mayweather predictably clinched Pacman. I should have known this fight would suck, I heard all about Mayweather's defensive tactics, he duped me into watching this disgrace to any and all fighting, just so he could play the decision and walk away with more money in one night than most people will ever have in a lifetime. Obviously he would win the decision, Manny hit air on 81% of his punches, but it feels like Manny should've won because he looked like the only one in the ring trying to actually box.
If you couldn't tell I was pro-Manny for this fight, not because of the whole "good-vs-evil" hoopla because that was really Freddie Roach and Team Pacqiao feeding America a load of crap because Manny's a bad dude too (though I still feel he is the lesser of two evils) I was sick of hearing Money claim he's the best of all time simply because he hasn't lost a professional fight. A lot of guys probably could go or could have gone unbeaten if they danced around and refused to do any real fighting. You want to know why boxing is so unpopular now? Floyd Mayweather. You could tell a lot of people hate the guy because of who he really is outside the ring, that isn't the kind of man you want to be the face of any sport. Boxing has had it's share of villains at the top, most notably (outside Mayweather) is probably Mike Tyson, but he at least fought his opponent, Tyson may have been a really messed up guy, but he was at least entertaining. Someone was going to get knocked out in a Tyson fight, whether it was Mike or who ever he was fighting.
Which brings me to my second and final point on primarily why boxing is so unpopular. Not only is the face of the sport synonymous with villain, he simply is completely boring. In a world where people expect to be forced to the edge of their seat with high octane, ultra-entertaining offensive sports, boxing's best continually delivers the opposite. Why do you think baseball is growing less popular and football and basketball continue to look for ways to increase entertainment by tweaking rules to implore more offense and a quicker pace? Mayweather the person sells more tickets and pay per view viewings because want to see him go down, however people fail to realize they will be watching Mayweather the boxer, a man who evades more punches than he does convictions, dodges more blows than Manny does taxes, and when he does hit it's sure to be quick and boring, his offense is there only so he can escape and reset his defense. Who wants to watch a sport where it's headliner throws more punches at women than he does at other actual boxers?
Floyd announced he will fight one more fight in September then retire. Unfortunately it's almost guaranteed not to be "Mayweather Pacquiao II" because the man is too prideful to take a chance that Pacquiao may get the better of him in a rematch, he'll probably fight the number 82 boxer in the world, bore the world to a victory (by decision), and then leave only to make headlines for more domestic abuse cases where he won't get convicted. So in conclusion, the fight was so bad that it produced the rant you just read, and it made me wish I had watched Saturday Night Live, or the replay of Cippers-Spurs game 7 instead.
Here are some great stories from Deadspin:
http://deadspin.com/floyd-mayweather-is-a-coward-1701842801
http://deadspin.com/this-is-how-las-vegas-protects-floyd-mayweather-1699848463
http://deadspin.com/dont-believe-the-hype-mayweather-pacquiao-is-not-good-1696609726
You can throw all the numbers from the fight you want at me, I know Floyd landed 138 punches to Manny's 81, and the fact that Floyd even threw a few more punches than his offensive minded opponent did. But how many of those punches were combinations? How many did any real damage Pacquiao physically, not just damage his scorecard? Manny, like 47 other fighters before him, could not crack the Mayweather defense, and like almost every other big fight of his career Mayweather did just enough between, avoiding any punches and landing a counter-jab every now and again, to win the decision. Manny on the other hand actually provided some entertainment in the few times he was actually able to get in on Floyd and landed some impressive combos, but before he could really get going Mayweather predictably clinched Pacman. I should have known this fight would suck, I heard all about Mayweather's defensive tactics, he duped me into watching this disgrace to any and all fighting, just so he could play the decision and walk away with more money in one night than most people will ever have in a lifetime. Obviously he would win the decision, Manny hit air on 81% of his punches, but it feels like Manny should've won because he looked like the only one in the ring trying to actually box.
If you couldn't tell I was pro-Manny for this fight, not because of the whole "good-vs-evil" hoopla because that was really Freddie Roach and Team Pacqiao feeding America a load of crap because Manny's a bad dude too (though I still feel he is the lesser of two evils) I was sick of hearing Money claim he's the best of all time simply because he hasn't lost a professional fight. A lot of guys probably could go or could have gone unbeaten if they danced around and refused to do any real fighting. You want to know why boxing is so unpopular now? Floyd Mayweather. You could tell a lot of people hate the guy because of who he really is outside the ring, that isn't the kind of man you want to be the face of any sport. Boxing has had it's share of villains at the top, most notably (outside Mayweather) is probably Mike Tyson, but he at least fought his opponent, Tyson may have been a really messed up guy, but he was at least entertaining. Someone was going to get knocked out in a Tyson fight, whether it was Mike or who ever he was fighting.
Which brings me to my second and final point on primarily why boxing is so unpopular. Not only is the face of the sport synonymous with villain, he simply is completely boring. In a world where people expect to be forced to the edge of their seat with high octane, ultra-entertaining offensive sports, boxing's best continually delivers the opposite. Why do you think baseball is growing less popular and football and basketball continue to look for ways to increase entertainment by tweaking rules to implore more offense and a quicker pace? Mayweather the person sells more tickets and pay per view viewings because want to see him go down, however people fail to realize they will be watching Mayweather the boxer, a man who evades more punches than he does convictions, dodges more blows than Manny does taxes, and when he does hit it's sure to be quick and boring, his offense is there only so he can escape and reset his defense. Who wants to watch a sport where it's headliner throws more punches at women than he does at other actual boxers?
Floyd announced he will fight one more fight in September then retire. Unfortunately it's almost guaranteed not to be "Mayweather Pacquiao II" because the man is too prideful to take a chance that Pacquiao may get the better of him in a rematch, he'll probably fight the number 82 boxer in the world, bore the world to a victory (by decision), and then leave only to make headlines for more domestic abuse cases where he won't get convicted. So in conclusion, the fight was so bad that it produced the rant you just read, and it made me wish I had watched Saturday Night Live, or the replay of Cippers-Spurs game 7 instead.
Here are some great stories from Deadspin:
http://deadspin.com/floyd-mayweather-is-a-coward-1701842801
http://deadspin.com/this-is-how-las-vegas-protects-floyd-mayweather-1699848463
http://deadspin.com/dont-believe-the-hype-mayweather-pacquiao-is-not-good-1696609726
2015 NBA Playoff Predictions: Conference Semifinals
Western Conference:
1) Golden State Warriors
5) Memphis Grizzlies
Prediction: Warriors in 5
Why?: I was almost burned picking the Warriors to sweep the Pelicans, but thanks to the Warriors incredible resiliency they did sweep New Orleans. Golden State proved they're not just a flashy, finesse, 82-game running highlight reel that wouldn't hold up in the post season. They faced serious adversity from a game Pelicans team that gave them fits at times in that series, they won game 3 on a 20 point comeback driven by toughness (and an absolutely incredible shot by Steph). That same resiliency is why I am confident in saying the Dubs will have little issue handling the slow
and Conley-less Grizzlies. Golden State went 2-1 and their two wins saw them smashing the Grizz, except for the fourth quarter of the third game in which the Warrior reserves nearly blew a 93-66 lead. Steph Curry dropped 38, while handing out 10 assists in a 107-84 waxing in the Grind House. Memphis won the first meeting, also in Memphis, by 7 thanks in large part to one of, if not the best showing from Vince Carter this season, and the Warriors not playing up to their usual standard. And if we're being honest a blown travel call that resulted in a petty tech given to Andre Iguodala. I credit Memphis for pretty easily handeling Portland, but Golden State proved they can be a matchup nightmare for Memphis, that plus no Mike Conley equals Golden State swiflty advancing to the West Finals.
2) Houston Rockets
3) Los Angeles Clippers
Prediction: Rockets in 7
Why?: I loved how the Clippers played against the Spurs in the only series that went 7 games this first round. The Rockets dismantled a 50-win Dallas team that felt like it was slowly falling apart with the Rondo Drama, and on defense an old Dirk was being exposed like a creepy man beneath a trench coat. I think this series could still go either way because they are very evenly matched. Both have exceptionally athletic front courts in Dwight and Josh Smith (I know he doesn't start), and Blake and DeAndre. Both have elite superstar guards in CP3 and James Harden. Both have older 3 and D small forwards in Barnes and Ariza. Also both are not very deep. I say Rockets win because as of now Glen Davis and Chris Paul are hurt. Paul put on an Isaiah Thomas-like performance, seemingly stepping it up with his bad hamstring, like how Thomas took over in the finals on a bum ankle. However it will be seen on Monday if, like Isaiah, the injury limits and badly hurts CP3's game, if he plays at all in game 1 Monday. Big Baby's injury hurts the Clips because they have no real quality reserve big men behind him, that Doc is willing to give extended minutes to. If you thought Dirk had trouble with the Houston bigs, Hedo Turkoglu and Spencer Hawes will have an equally hard time, if not an even harder time, containing them. Also the Clippers ended their series last night and have to play tomorrow, the Rockets were done early last week so they are rested, the Clippers are unhealthy and unrested, so I think Houston will win this series, but will be pushed by the Clips.
and Conley-less Grizzlies. Golden State went 2-1 and their two wins saw them smashing the Grizz, except for the fourth quarter of the third game in which the Warrior reserves nearly blew a 93-66 lead. Steph Curry dropped 38, while handing out 10 assists in a 107-84 waxing in the Grind House. Memphis won the first meeting, also in Memphis, by 7 thanks in large part to one of, if not the best showing from Vince Carter this season, and the Warriors not playing up to their usual standard. And if we're being honest a blown travel call that resulted in a petty tech given to Andre Iguodala. I credit Memphis for pretty easily handeling Portland, but Golden State proved they can be a matchup nightmare for Memphis, that plus no Mike Conley equals Golden State swiflty advancing to the West Finals.2) Houston Rockets
3) Los Angeles Clippers
Prediction: Rockets in 7
Why?: I loved how the Clippers played against the Spurs in the only series that went 7 games this first round. The Rockets dismantled a 50-win Dallas team that felt like it was slowly falling apart with the Rondo Drama, and on defense an old Dirk was being exposed like a creepy man beneath a trench coat. I think this series could still go either way because they are very evenly matched. Both have exceptionally athletic front courts in Dwight and Josh Smith (I know he doesn't start), and Blake and DeAndre. Both have elite superstar guards in CP3 and James Harden. Both have older 3 and D small forwards in Barnes and Ariza. Also both are not very deep. I say Rockets win because as of now Glen Davis and Chris Paul are hurt. Paul put on an Isaiah Thomas-like performance, seemingly stepping it up with his bad hamstring, like how Thomas took over in the finals on a bum ankle. However it will be seen on Monday if, like Isaiah, the injury limits and badly hurts CP3's game, if he plays at all in game 1 Monday. Big Baby's injury hurts the Clips because they have no real quality reserve big men behind him, that Doc is willing to give extended minutes to. If you thought Dirk had trouble with the Houston bigs, Hedo Turkoglu and Spencer Hawes will have an equally hard time, if not an even harder time, containing them. Also the Clippers ended their series last night and have to play tomorrow, the Rockets were done early last week so they are rested, the Clippers are unhealthy and unrested, so I think Houston will win this series, but will be pushed by the Clips.
Eastern Conference:
1) Atlanta Hawks
5) Washington Wizards
Prediction: Hawks in 7
Why?: Wizards were ultra-impressive in destroying a Raptors team that looked just plain horrible. The Hawks were actually very disappointing in their 6-game series against a Brooklyn group that I honestly expected to look plain horrible (which they did in game 6). Atlanta looked like they forgot it was the playoffs and they can stop coasting until that game 6, and credit Brooklyn for actually playing very good basketball for 5 games in that series. Atlanta has to pick up their intensity because you know the Wizards will bring it and give the Hawks a fight. They have all the confidence in the world after what they did to Toronto. Washington does have a big advantage in their big combo of Gortat and Nene, but the Hawks have faced front courts bigger than theirs almost all year, and they have a 60-22 record to show for it, so I don't think that will be as big a factor as some might. I believe the Hawks won't dominate, but will do just enough to advance to the East Finals where they will face either Cleveland or Chicago.
2) Cleveland Cavaliers
3) Chicago Bulls
Prediction: Bulls in 7
Why?: I've liked the Bulls to come out of the East for a while, even though they've had a lot of injuries and have been up and down this season. Kevin Love is a huge loss for Cleveland, his size, rebounding, and shooting are huge for what they do, now they'll have to likely give a lot more minutes to Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, or if they go small Iman Shumpert. Also J.R. Smith out for two games is big because he stretches the defense as well, now the Bulls can pack it in a little more and take away driving lanes for Kyrie and LeBron. Cavs can't put LeBron on Rose like he did for the Heat in the 2011 East Finals, because Kyrie is a shaky-at-best defender. You leave him on Rose, and Rose has an easier time getting to the rim, put him on Butler and same for Butler, you put him on Dunleavy and he can shoot right over Kyrie, and Irving might get a forearm to the jaw, which I'm sure David Blatt does not want. Don't get me wrong, Cleveland is still ultra talented but they lose almost any depth they have with the Love injury/Smith suspension, but Chicago (on paper) is just as talented, and much deeper despite Thibodeau's tendency to over play his starters. The key to me is Chicago's intensity, if they come out like they did in games 1-5 vs Milwaukee against Cleveland they might get swept; but if they play like they did in game 6, with high intensity and great ball movement on offense, they may not win a game by 54 but I think they will win this series.
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