….The NBA Play-offs So Far….
DeShawn can’t feel his face! Word to Weezy & ‘Elz! (When’s the album dropping, already?)
1. Cleveland @ Washington, Game 3….. was one of the coolest pop-culture hype sessions. Everyone from Colin Powell to Soulja Boy showed up cheering on the Wizz. Unfortunately the game wasn’t nearly as good. The Wizz completely destroyed the Cavs.
2. DeShawn Stevenson…..is one going to be a cult-hero to everyone who is sick of LeBron-mania. And he has made a name for himself with this media back-and-forth with LeBron. But what i like about him is this: The Wiz were damn scared of LeBron. No one embodied that more than Brendan Haywood. In the midst of a career season, Haywood seemed to freak out completely when he realized he had to guard LeBron off the pick-and-role in February. So in the two teams’ final game of the season, Stevenson guards LeBron, stops him, and calls him overrated. More than just creating a media frenzy, it really got his teammates fired up. They don’t seem scared of him anymore, because they trust Stevenson to deal with him, and Stevenson has the balls to do it. That and every time I make a jumpshot when i play basketball, I’m going to do that “I Can’t Feel My Face” gesture. The Wiz could lose the next two, but Stevenson’s place in lore has been solidified already. Plus when he’s on, they have the best offensive starting 5 in the East (yep, even better than the Pistons).
3. Caron Butler,……not Gilbert or LeBron, is the most important player in that series. He’s the heart-and-soul, and the leader of that team. And when he gets going, the team gets going. Sometimes when Gilbert’s hot, the rest of the team has a tendancy to stand around and bask in his glory. But when Caron’s hot, it fires everyone up. And if the Wiz are to come back and win this series, he’s gonna have to get hot three times in the next four games.
4. LeBron James…..needs to be forced into long jumpshots or sent to the line. Call it the “LeBron rules” that a very un-defensive Wiz team has used on him. It worked to smaller degrees in the first two games, but worked almost to perfection in game 3.
5. Toronto/Orlando……might be the best actual series, despite the hype around Washington/Cleveland. The Bosh/Howard matchup is great. I think they represent the future of the league, and have had a very quiet but nonetheless great, rivalry since Howard came into the league a year after Bosh. Bosh always saves his best games for Howard, and Howard has always struggled in Toronto. Could Bosh be Superman’s kryptonite? We’ll have to see. But if TJ Ford plays like he did last night, the Raps are going to win this series. But if he is rendered ineffective, they don’t have a shot.
6. Al Horford.…..is the only Hawk who seems to have the balls to stand up to KG and the Celtics. Bibby is getting demoralized by Rondo. And the thing is, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce aren’t even playing that well. The Hawks just seem to be that intimidated by KG.
7. The Sixers’ Backcourt…….can hang with the Pistons’. Its’ the front court where they’re in trouble. The Andres have/will play Rip and Chauncey to an almost standstill. But as usual, its the Sheed that will put them over the top. His play will determine how fast they eliminate Philly and have time to rest for the winner of, what looks like a long Toronto/Orlando series. If he plays as well as he can, the Sixers don’t win another game.
8. Carmelo Anthony & Allen Iverson……….are going to decide how the Nuggets fare against the Lakers. In seven game series’ its usually not the stars that decide the series, but in this case it is. It’s not necessarily anything that will sure show up in the stats columns, because they will both get their stats. But it’s how they do it. If ‘Melo decides to push the issue and go to the rack every single possession, the Lakers have no one who can stop him. If Iverson can get some of the lesser guys, like K-Mart, Camby, and Kleiza involved early, he can get this team rolling. If either of those two don’t happen, the Lakers can take this series easily. But if the both happen, and the Nuggets play just enough defense, they could pull off the upset.
9. David West…………….is actually out-playing Dirk Nowitzki. Everyone is focusing on Chris Paul and his big games, but we knew he’d out-play Kidd. But the key to New Orleans’ domination has been West’s domination of Nowitzki, which makes absolutely no sense. There is no way West should be able to defend Dirk or muscle him around in the high post. But he is. And that’s why this series could end really soon, if Dirk doesn’t get motivated quick. But the Hornets won two games at home, if they win game 3 in Dallas, it’s pretty much done. But if Dallas can pull game 3, they can comeback.
10. Carl Landry & Rafer Alston…………are the keys to the Rockets. In my estimation they are the team’s fifth and third best players. T-Mac is the main guy, Shane Battier is the all-world defender, and Scola does a lot for the team as well. But these two are the wild cards. Alston’s presence allows T-Mac room to move. He also keeps the ball-handling pressure off of Tracy. And he’s the one guy who’s not afraid to yell at McGrady. Both of these players carry a certain swagger that has missed most of the past Rockets teams. The Rockets are extremely streaky. They are just as capable of losing the first four, or winning 16 straight. They are a difficult bunch to figure out. But when Alston and Landry are on, they can beat anyone.
11. Shane Battier………..needs to guard Deron Williams. Why Adelman hasn’t gone to this yet is beyond me, but Williams has been by far, the best player in the series. Wouldn’t it make sense for the best perimeter defender in the league to guard the series’ best perimeter player?
12. Phoenix/San Antonio……………..is completely confusing. To me, the keys to the series are the Spurs’ secondary players and Phoenix’s Grant Hill/Gordon Giricek/Boris Diaw trio. Whichever of the two groups produces, will win this series. But this series is really a toss-up anyway. I underestimated the fact that the Suns couldn’t guard Parker. At this point, I really have no idea who wins this series.
