Sunday, May 19, 2013

Conference Finals Predictions



1st Round Record (6-2)
Conf Semi’s Record (4-0)

 
Eastern Conference Finals

Indiana Pacers Vs Miami Heat

When the playoffs began The Indiana Pacers are the only team that I thought would be able to even compete for The Eastern Conference Title against The Heat and here we are the two best teams out in The East ready to battle it out. The reason why I think The Pacers are the only team from The Eastern Conference who can beat them is not only because of their play in the paint defensively and against the boards, but they have a deep bench. But their biggest weakness is their turnovers and that’s the last thing you want to do against The Heat because they will take advantage and 9 times out of 10 will score off of that turnover.  The Heat are a much better team this year than they were last year when they won the Championship, they have a much improved bench and added a couple pieces with Ray Allen and Birdman who have made some big plays when they needed to.  Overall I think the deciding factor in this series will be Dwayne Wade’s overall play because he has been injured all season and hasn’t played well at all because of it, if he can step it up even in the smallest capacity they shouldn’t have a problem, but if not this might be a tough series for The Heat. In my opinion this is going to be the first decent opponent for The Heat in the playoffs thus far so they might be caught off guard when the series starts but I have a feeling in the end they will snap out of it and win what should be a hard fought series. Their experience, Lebron having another dominant season and The Pacers turnovers will probably come back to haunt them.

Heat over Pacers 7 games

Western Conference Finals

Memphis Grizzlies Vs San Antonio Spurs

This is going to be one hell of a matchup! Both of these teams are almost identical to eachother the only difference is The Grizzlies are a younger team, but as The Spurs have shown all season long that their age is not a problem. Greg Poppovich is having one of his greatest seasons of his career as a coach, I believe, and has his team ready physically and mentally to beat every team they face no matter what the circumstances are. The Grizzlies have also been quietly dominating all season and it’s started with their play inside the paint by dominating the boards and playing great defense. I have a feeling the majority of the games in this series will be low scoring mostly dominated by the defense. Where I think The Spurs will have the edge is with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, they are more reliable in the clutch as opposed to Conley for The Grizzlies, hell even Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner are just as reliable in the clutch. The fact is The Spurs are just a deeper more experienced squad and I think that will be to their advantage in the series.

Spurs over Grizzlies 6 games

Sunday, May 5, 2013

NBA Conference Semi's Predictions



1st Round Record: (6-2)


Eastern Conference

Chicago Bulls Vs Miami Heat

The Bulls are coming into this series beat up and that’s not good since The Heat have been sitting back relaxing and preparing for their next opponent. Nate Robinson has carried The Bulls this season and looked great in the first round against The Nets, but outside of him everybody else is hurting and not playing consistent. The Heat on the other hand are looking strong, Lebron is playing well, Chris Bosh is also playing well and The bench is stepping it up. Even though Dwayne Wade has been battling injuries throughout the season everybody else has been able to step it up in his absence when he’s had to sit out. I have a feeling this will be a quick and easy series for The Heat because The Bulls are not deep enough to last an entire series against The Heat.

Heat over Bulls 5 games

Indiana Pacers Vs New York Knicks

This is going to be one hell of a matchup! Carmelo Anthony got beat up in the first round of the playoffs but it doesn’t look like it’s bad enough where it will really be effecting his play. It does look like some of the other guys on The Knicks ego’s got in the way and they did get exposed by The Celtics in situations where they shouldn’t have. Hopefully they learned from that and figured out they haven’t accomplished shit until they actually win something like a fucking Championship!! The Pacers dominated The Hawks in the first round and I believe will come into this round hungry and ready to beat The Knicks. Both of these teams can light you up on the offensive side but where I think The Pacers have the edge is on defense and in the paint. Tyson Chandler is a good player but dude is hurt and old, as well as most of the guys on The Knicks, where as The Pacers are the exact opposite they are healthy and young and will be tough to keep up with. This should be a fun series to watch, but I think The Pacers will walk away with the win.

Pacers over Knicks 7 games

Western Conference

Memphis Grizzlies Vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Well here The Grizzlies are yet again playing the role of spoiler in the playoffs. They have been doing this the past couple of seasons in the playoffs, they take on the underdog role and just straight dominate teams and take everyone by surprise and they just did it in the first round to the high powered Clippers. The Clippers aren’t a chump squad either and The Grizzlies just straight up dominated them and here they are ready to take on The Thunder. The Thunder took a major hit to their team with Russell Westbrook getting injured, now everything is on Kevin Durant and hopefully some role player can step up and help him out, but I was not convinced with what happened in the first round against The Rockets. The Thunder look like a completely different team without Westbrook and I feel like this is something The Grizzlies can take advantage of because they are on fire and are not afraid to step up and beat the best teams in the league. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol are dominating in the paint and will have the advantage here against The Thunder, they also have enough fire power to keep up with The Thunder’s high powered offense and have enough defense to contain Kevin Durant. If Westbrook was playing in this matchup I’d take The Thunder no question, but The Grizzlies are a hot team right now and I think are going to surprise people and pull the upset.

Grizzlies over Thunder 7 games

Golden State Warriors Vs San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs came out strong against The Lakers in the first round and even though The Lakers played like absolute garbage that still doesn’t take away anything from how bad The Spurs kicked their ass! Tony Parker has been balling uncontrollably this year and continues to do so in the playoffs, Manu Ginobili looks to finally be healthy and Tim Duncan is still playing strong even though he is 108 years old! Duncan absolutely killed it in the paint against two seven footers, so it is going to be interesting to see if The Warriors have an answer for all The Spurs weapons on offense and defense. In the paint is where The Spurs should really dominate, especially now that David Lee is hurt, but even if he was healthy I will take Tim Duncan any day over what Golden State has going on in the paint. Stephen Curry is also having an insane year, he has really stepped up his game and has become the leader of this Warriors squad! I really like what Mark Jackson has done with The Warriors over the last couple of seasons, he has made them a tough, competitive team who really believes in what they do. But I don’t think they have enough to beat The Spurs. The Spurs have a ton of playoff experience on their team, guys with multiple rings and Coach Pop is one of the best in the game. I think this should be another quick series for The Spurs.

Spurs over Warriors 5 games