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My wild guess is Cleveland and LA Lakers.

Cleveland vs Dallas is my pick. Series goes to 6 games, LeBron wins.

Captain Ned wrote:

And David Stern will do whatever he can to bring that about.

Agreed. "Superstar" fouls are really turning me off to the sport.

Cleavland vs Lakers.

Cleavland wins in 6.

Duke always makes it to at least the final four, and I'm betting they'll go all the way.




/s

Cleveland will fail again. Lebron will not win a ring in Cleveland no matter who they surround him with. The west to me is a tossup besides LA of course. Cleveland doesn't want to see Orlando again or it will be the same results as last year.

BKA wrote:

Cleveland will fail again. Lebron will not win a ring in Cleveland no matter who they surround him with.

What's your reasoning? Is the East weaker than the West? Is Lebron not a champion?

The East is weaker overall than the West, and by quite a bit. However Cleveland is the best overall team right now. They built themselves around beating Orlando with their moves. The entire reason for getting Shaq was to clog the lane against Howard. Jamison is also a huge upgrade for them.

Hawkwing74 wrote:

BKA wrote:

Cleveland will fail again. Lebron will not win a ring in Cleveland no matter who they surround him with.

What's your reasoning? Is the East weaker than the West? Is Lebron not a champion?

Regular season records don't mean much in the playoffs besides homecourt. I would definitely say the West is the stronger of the two conferences. Lebron is not a champion yet, however I do believe he is the best player in the league. But I don't think he knows exactly what it takes to win (4) 7-game series in a row. Shaq will help but hes not the Shaq he used to be and I think we all can agree on that. Jamison is a streak shooter, when hes hot, hes scorching, when hes cold, hes a freezer.

I hate to say it but Dallas looks really good. I hate to say it because of Dirk. When the playoff comes its like he forgets everything he did in the regular season and chokes. Maybe now that he doesn't have to put up 40 points a night for his team to win he might, just might play some defense.

Shaq doesn't even need to be what he was in Phoenix last season. It just need to be big and get in the way of Howard. While Jamison might be streaky he is a massive upgrade compared to the rotations they were throwing out last year against Orlando. This isn't just an upgrade of Cleveland's part either. I think Orlando has one player who can ruin everything for them; Vince Carter.

Skrying wrote:

Shaq doesn't even need to be what he was in Phoenix last season. It just need to be big and get in the way of Howard. While Jamison might be streaky he is a massive upgrade compared to the rotations they were throwing out last year against Orlando. This isn't just an upgrade of Cleveland's part either. I think Orlando has one player who can ruin everything for them; Vince Carter.

I hear you, I'm waiting on Carter to get scratched by a nail or something. Its coming sooner or later, hopefully later for the Magic. Because if it happens they will miss Hedo. Cleveland is a better team, but I don't think championship ready. We shall see though. The Bulls will be a good warmup. At first I thought they might win one game, but now I'm starting to doubt that.

I think it'll be Utah or Dallas from the West... and I want to say Hawks from the East.. but we just played so badly against the Cavs and Magic thru the season (barring the last game against each) I don't think it's possible - Atlanta would have to beat both of them unless there's an upset by another East team.

So I'm going Orlando - Dallas. and Dallas to win in 7.

Lakers in 7 over Cavs.

Kobe will show the LeBron the true meaning of hunger...

Some thoughts;

1.) San Antonio is sure making my Dallas pick look worrisome.

2.) I picked up OKC as "my" team last year. They're the closest to a home team I can have in the NBA (I currently reside in southern Missouri) and I love Durant. Making me very happy right now! I still think the Lakers win but boy do I hope I'm wrong!

3.) Dwayne Wade is nuts. I feel bad that I sometimes forget about him. He's quite easily in the discussion for top 3 player in the league.

Given that LeBron James is #1, do you rank Dwayne Wade ahead of Kobe Bryant and/or Dwight Howard?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Given that LeBron James is #1, do you rank Dwayne Wade ahead of Kobe Bryant and/or Dwight Howard?

Top 5: 1. LeBron 2. Wade 3. Howard 4. Durant 5. Bryant

I might even drop Kobe out of the top 5 depending on how next year pans out. I just think he's going into the part of his career where his ability is dropping rapidly. He's also hurting his team more than ever, he's clearly not close to optimal level but he's still taking as many shots as if he was.

Da_Boss wrote:

Lakers in 7 over Cavs.

Kobe will show the LeBron the true meaning of hunger...

he'll steal LeBron's lunch money?

Even if the Thunder lose tonight to end the series, it sure gets hella crazy in the Ford Center! I wasn't lucky enough to win tickets through work or crazy enough to buy them, so I will be sitting at a bar right outside of the ford center to watch the game. It would be awesome if they could get the next 2 wins. Even if they lose in the 2nd series, to beat the lakers would be freakin sweet.

derFunkenstein wrote:

Da_Boss wrote:

Lakers in 7 over Cavs.

Kobe will show the LeBron the true meaning of hunger...

he'll steal LeBron's lunch money?

He'll steal LeBron's championship.

Captain Ned wrote:

Hell, I haven't watched the NBA since before Bird retired.

What, you don't like 10 steps and carries on every 'play'? It's ridiculous, I tried to watch it and enjoy it, I couldn't

What an amazing performance by Rondo...maybe the Cavs aren't that strong after all.

Hawkwing74 wrote:

What an amazing performance by Rondo...maybe the Cavs aren't that strong after all.

I bet on them not to get past Orlando again. If this series goes 7 games, its a toss up. I figured they would beat Boston in 6 games and its still a possibility, but not likely.

That Dallas pick sure doesn't look so good now, LOL. I'm still amazed that the Suns sent the Spurs fishing in 4 very convincing games.

Everyone was fooled by Dallas.

Rondo... sometimes he looks like the best player on the floor even with the best player in the world on it. Other nights, even nights where a win is needed, he just doesn't bring it to a level you would want. That said he's gotten better each year in the league and if he continues to improve his jumper he could entire that D-Will/CP3 conversation some day.

Speaking of point guards... Nash! I'm super excited for him. That elbow to the eye was brutal!

Game 5 and the Celtics are man handling the Cavs in Cleveland.

Terrible performance by Lebron James. The way they're playing now, I don't expect them to win 2 in a row.

Embarrassing loss.
At home.
Boston is playing like the team that won the championship.
Should be a good series with Orlando.

At the end it seemed like the Cavs didn't even care. It's one thing to give your best and lose, but that didn't seem to be the case. They looked ready for summer vacation.

Hawkwing74 wrote:

At the end it seemed like the Cavs didn't even care. It's one thing to give your best and lose, but that didn't seem to be the case. They looked ready for summer vacation.

I thought they would at least make it to the East Finals before losing. Whats really sad is he had a triple double and it still looked like he didn't do enough. They just never looked like a TEAM during the playoffs. I still like Orlando to come out of the East. This should be a great 7 game series. I so want the Suns to win but unless somebody gets hurt on the Lakers I don't see that happening.