Posts Tagged ‘Los Angeles Lakers’

Western Conference

(1) L.A. Lakers vs (8) Oklahoma City
In what would have been otherwise easy series for Lakers, the late season slumps will most definitely translate into a grueling series against an up-and-coming Thunder. Only Lakers unraveling at the seams propel Thunder into the second round. However, I take Lakers due to their home court advantage. Will Kobe Bryant’s finger be an issue?

(2) Dallas vs (7) San Antonio
This one is tricky, just because of the disparity between the second and seventh team in the West is so miniscule, any of those teams has a good chance to move on to the next round.

Mavs midseason acquisitions of Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson bolster their already solid offense. Haywood is the kind of center that Mavs haven’t had in a long time and look for him to be the difference maker.

Spurs have championship experience and they’ve been here time and time again. Gregg Popovich will find a way for his team to win, the question is are Mavs too strong this time around.

I don’t see how Mavs who have the home court advantage and have beaten the Spurs 3-1 in the season series will lose this one. But I wouldn’t totally count out the chances for an upset.

(3) Phoenix vs (6) Portland
Brandon Roy is out for the first round and he isn’t the only injured Trail Blazer. Any way, Blazers are too banged and are missing too many pieces to win this one. Phoenix is playing too well to lose. Nothing here indicates that Blazers will be able to win more than one game in this series.

(4) Denver vs (5) Utah
This would have been a great series if both teams were at full strength. Jazz have four starters that are either battling or are out with injuries: Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilineko.

AK-47 is the x factor in this series. If he comes back from his calf injury and will do a decent job guarding Carmelo Anthony, then Jazz will definitely pull what would be only listed on paper as an upset. Denver isn’t the same team that challenged the Lakers last year, unless Kenyon Martin returns at full strength and they play well under Adrian Dantley while George Karl is out.

What’s new: Tracy McGrady is unhappy with his situation in Houston. Really? It only took 5 years and now it looks like the time to dismantle the duo of Yao Ming and T-Mac. And only if it would have lasted…

There are players that go from team to team and bring success everywhere they go. Even Vince Carter, T-Mac’s cousin, brought more to the teams he played on than McGrady ever did.

Even though McGrady technically did advance into the second round of the playoffs, he did so on a technicality of being on the injured reserve list of the 2008-2009 Houston Rockets that beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, but eventually lost to Los Angeles Lakers who would become champions that year.

Maybe it’s McGrady’s faith to be matched with perennially losing teams that never do much in the playoff and then one day he will be trade, much like Kevin Garnett, to a contender and win the big one. Yet, that remains to be seen because much more deserving players have never had their chance at a championship ring.

What is wrong with the New York Knick? Is it the lack of money? Doesn’t appear so. Knicks boast one of the leagues highest team payrolls, but the return on James Dolan’s investment is iffy at best…who am I kidding, Knicks are one of the best, yet at the same time worst, franchises in all of sports.

It must be hard to stay loyal to the Knicks and support them throughout the tough years. The decline of the great New York Knickerbockers began after the 1999 season and the teams glorious run to the NBA Final’s in the lockout shortened season which I remember for a few reasons: shortly after the league and players agreed to settle their differences and save the fledgling season Michael Jordan announced his retirement, although he would come back and play for the Wizards some years later. And, that was probably the last time that I was truly be on the Knicks side.

What can you say about a franchise that trades away its iconic player? What can you say about a franchise that doesn’t hire its arguably most famous player? I wouldn’t blame Patrick Ewing for staying as far as he can from the Knicks as possible.

It still amazes me to know that New York Knicks fans haven’t started a riot because of the atrocious play of their home town squad. For an organization that boasts of great tradition Knicks haven’t been doing a great job at keeping up there with the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Take a look at the team’s last game against the Atlanta Hawks, a game in which the Knicks led by 14 points in the first half. What separates a good team from a bad team is the ability to close out the games. In their usual fashion, Knicks had their usual performance that has now become commonplace.

Late in the game against the Hawks Al Harrington fumbled the ball on a clear path to the basket and that probably killed the Knicks chances to comeback in the game which any other descent team wouldn’t let get out of hand.

Jamal Crawford, whom the Knicks traded early last season in a salary dump, certainly thought that Knicks could’ve been a better team with him on board. “Yes, we would’ve made the playoffs last year. I think 37, 38 wins is the playoffs last year. We would’ve got there.”

It will be a long time until the New York Knicks finally go back to their good old days of glory. Nothing cures past ills better than success. Fans are sure to forget about tough times when the team is winning now and then they forget about the gloomy past. A matter of concern of Knicks fans is how long will it take for their team to contend again.

The time has come. Allen Iverson could possibly be out of the NBA. Memphis Grizzlies experiment hasn’t worked out as well as everyone has hoped. Well, at least not as Iverson wanted it to be.

Relegated to coming of the bench, Iverson adjusted well to a reserve role that was never a part of his repertoire. Could a player such as Iverson ever really accept an unselfish role and be a real team player? Definitely not.

Larry Brown appeared to be the only basketball entity that was able to curtail Iverson’s whims. Thus, Iverson was able to reach the NBA Finals (eventually losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Iverson was loved in Philly, he gave the city of brotherly love his all, but apparently that was not enough. In the end he could not give himself to the city. In a city that would have lauded him as its greatest hero, maybe even greater than Rocky Marciano, Iverson could never mend himself in order to mesh with a personality that rivaled his own.

Chris Webber and Iverson could’ve taken the 76ers to the top.

Who in their right mind would want to play with Iverson? Did he solidify the Detroit Pistons? They probably wanted to trade him soon after he arrived in the Motor City.

Iverson, a player that pushes himself harder than anyone else can push themselves, is not the kind of player that demands respect and emulation. He is the prototypical ball-hog that so many of us have encountered playing on the playgrounds, the kind of player that no one wants to play with.

Iverson will probably make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, but he is not truly deserving of that honor. Being inducted into the Hall of fame should signify a player’s greatness. Great players are not judged solely on the stats that they accumulate over their careers. They are judged on the merit of their accomplishments and how positively they impacted the game. What positive impact did Iverson have?

Great players are supposed to make the people around them better. How many people can call themselves Iverson’s teammates? How many more can say that they were better of playing with Iverson?

Great players don’t always win a championship during their careers. In that way life is cruel in the way that it would play a sick joke on someone not deserving of that honor. If Iverson never wins an NBA championship throughout his illustrious (sic) career, that wouldn’t faze even one bit. But, if somehow an opportunity presents it self so that Iverson’s is close to one to that elusive dream, then failure would be a fitting joke that life can ever play on a man.