#1 Los Angeles(57-25) vs #8 Denver(50-32)
Um...the one glaring question I have coming into this series was this...who is guarding Kobe Bryant?....and then after a second or two..I realize you can ask that for any team when playing the Lakers...so I cant really solve the league's problem...but anyways...this is what I see as the combos to go opposite Kobe(6-6,220lbs)
-Anthony Carter(6-2,195lbs)
-JR Smith(6-6,220lbs)
-Linas Kleiza(6-8,245lbs)
-Eduardo Najera(6-8,235lbs)
oh boy...they are either too small,cant play defense or too slow...but when you really think about it....Camby is the only player on the team who can play actual on ball defense..so expect alot of scoring in this one....alot....I think the duo of Carmelo and Iverson can get you atleast one game...maybe more if other people are contributing and have an actual effort for getting the ball inside(Gasol eh as a defender,lack of frontcourt depth) and one of those guys(AI or Melo) go for 40 or more(which is completely possible)
My pick...LA over Denver 4-1
#2 New Orleans (56-26) vs #7 Dallas(51-31)
This one is a little harder to throw stats at..but a couple things I go back and forth on
-New Orleans doesnt really have much playoff experience in their best players(Mike James,Bonzi Wells and Peja are really it)
-Dallas lost to Golden State last year....redemption this year?
But I do believe great players are effective in their 1st time's out..and I think Chris Paul fits the bill...the matchup with Kidd will be nice as will David West vs Dirk....and Paul really needs to stay in the game and never come out...they are a scary different team when he isnt in the game(in a bad way)but I still dont a solid stance on a pick on this series so I'll go
Dallas over NO 4-2
#3 San Antonio Spurs(56-26) vs #6 Phoenix Suns(55-27)
This is the best 1st round of the bunch...Amare/Duncan..Nash/Parker...Bell/Bowen lol...the addition of Shaq and the subtraction of Marion doesnt have the true rivalry feel to it..but the series will be good.I think the 2 X-Factors for San Antonio to move on pass Phoenix are Tony Parker and the bench...if he can be his speedy aggressive self(which he has lately) and make Nash work on the defensive end and if the bench of Ginobili,whoever plays the other guard spot
and Oberto can be the glue guys...Phoenix will be in trouble....the easy X-factor for Phoenix is Shaq....its why they brought him in here...he can single handedly change everything..if he gets double teams Amare and the shooters will get very easy looks...but he must stay out of foul trouble..this series I can say that I have no problem being wrong with but I think Phoenix exercises their demons(like Dallas did 2yrs ago) and gets by them
My pick Phoenix over San Antonio 4-3
#4 Utah(54-28) vs Houston(55-27)
This is the eh series..while Utah is hyde on the road...Houston doesnt have Yao...and Utah beat them last year with Yao....and oh yeah...T-Mac still hasnt been out of the 1st round yet...I dont have alot of analysis for this so I'll go with Utah
My Pick Utah over Houston 4-1
1 comment:
i've heard many say they think denver can beat the lakers. sure, maybe once or twice.
tmac thinks he's slick, trying to act like a great teammate by saying yao is the leader. all he's doing is trying to divert the blame from himself so when they lose, he isn't called a loser...
i didnt think dallas could beat NO...until i saw them beat NO the other night. now i don't see NO was the number one seed for so long. they looked weak. or maybe they didnt play that hard?
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