Playoffs?! You Wanna Talk About Playoffs?!

So I dropped the ball pretty hard and didn't do an NHL playoff preview (sorry Steve). Luckily for me the NBA playoffs start tomorrow and I can write about that. So here are my predictions for the first round of the NBA playoffs which will hopefully be as good as last year (the Bulls/Celtics series had at least 3 games that will forever run on ESPN Classics).

Note: How come when experts do these prediction pieces they never predict a sweep? Is it so hard to believe the Bulls/Bobcats will get swept? Sack up and pick a sweep once in a while. I know I did.

Western Conference

#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs #8 Oklahoma City Thunder

The Lakers are the defending NBA Champions and so that can only mean 1 thing, they will suffer from the "Disease of More." The "Disease of More" is a theory that Pat Riley came up with to explain why teams rarely win back to back championships. Riley points out that when a team wins a title the next season everyone wants more. Guys want more money, bench players want more minutes and everyone wants more...well everything.

The Lakers exemplify this theory perfectly. Pick any player on the team and you can see how they have changed since last season. Kobe who was praised for 'finally figuring out basketball is a team sport' last year has gone back to his selfish ballhogging ways. Because of this Pau Gasol has started to complain publicly about Kobe taking too many shots. Lamar Odom seems like basketball is the last thing on his mind and Ron Artest cares more about his reality show than he does about basketball.

What does this all add up to? It adds up to a big balled prediction by me. The Los Angeles Lakers will lose their 1st round series to the Thunder. You read it here first. Write that down and make a mental note.

Kevin Durant and company will prove too athletic, young and quick for the Lakers. Bryant will try and do his alpha dog thing but it will be in vein. Durant became the youngest player to ever win a scoring title this season and recent comments from Lakers coach Phil Jackson about how Durant gets every call will only fuel his fire.

But I don't think the series will come down to the Durant/Kobe matchup. I think the key to this series is the Russell Westbrook/Derek Fisher matchup. Westbrook is too quick and too dynamic for Fisher to guard which means Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown will be relied on heavily. Both those guys are mediocre at best and lack Fisher's ball management skills. Westbrook will drink Fisher's milkshake all series and it will be the difference.

Prediction: Thunder in 6 (if this series goes to 7 there is no chance the Thunder win in LA)

#2 Dallas Mavericks vs #7 San Antonio Spurs

Don't let this late surge by the Spurs fool you there are a dusty team, and I don't mean dusty as in awful I mean dusty as in literally covered in dust because they are so old. Tim Duncan celebrated his 82nd birthday last week and Antonio McDyess is nothing more than a chalk outline out on the court. Even their coach looks like an old man headed to Bob Evans to catch the 4:30 early bird dinner special (seriously I would be willing to bet money Greg Popovich starts his day by walking around the mall before it opens).

In all seriousness Tim Duncan is a shell of his former self and if the Spurs want to win this series they will need him to be Superman. He will have to be their main defensive weapon and their main offensive weapon and he just doesn't have enough in the tank for that. Add to that the fact Tony Parker and George Hill are injured/coming off injury and you have yourself a recipe for a 1st round exit.

As for the Mavericks well they are a juggernaut since acquiring Caron Butler and Brendon Haywood. Butler gives them another scoring option and a versatile guard who can shutdown opposing scorers, like Manu, and Heywood gives them some toughness and size down low to deal with the likes of Duncan and rookie Dejuan Blair.

I hate both these teams and the fact that one of them will be elminated after this series brings me endless joy. The fact that it will be the Spurs, who are my least favorite team in the NBA, makes it even better.

Prediction: Mavs in 5

#3 Phoenix Suns vs #6 Portland Trail Blazers

I was really looking forward to this series because I thought it would be a conflict of styles as the Suns would try and push the tempo and make the Blazers run while the Blazers would try and slow it down and make it a half court game. Then Brandon Roy got hurt and I stopped caring.

Without Roy Portland has 0 chance of winning. Who is going to be their crunch time scorer Andre Miller or Juwan Howard? Who is going to put the clamps on Amare and challenge Channing Frye on the perimeter? The fact that Blazers fans are excited about the return of Nicolas Batum should be a giant red flag.

Phoenix isn't without injuries of their own however as center Robin Lopez is out with a back injury but they should be fine without him for the 1st round. Steve Nash and Amare will control this series and the Suns bench which features Grant Hill and Jared Dudley should be more than enough firepower to end this quickly.

Prediction: Suns in 5

#4 Denver Nuggets vs #5 Utah Jazz

Unfortunately the main storyline of this series is that George Karl will not be able to coach Denver because he will be undergoing treatment for cancer. Hopefully the Nuggets can make it out of the 1st round which might allow Karl to return court side. But in order to do that Carmelo Anthony is going to have to step up his game and Chauncey Billups will have to play the best basketball of his life.

Let's start with Melo. At the end of last season and the beginning of this one it seemed as if he had made 'the leap' and was ready to become a superstar. He was making big plays and was hitting clutch shots every night all the while being a vocal leader. Then some unknown event occurred and he reverted back to his old self, which is just another great NBA player but not the kind that can put a team on his back and carry them through a series. If the Nuggets are going to be successful they need Melo to snap out of his current funk.

But Melo's efforts will be for not if Billups mails it in. Billups is not only charged with the toughest defensive assignment, stopping Deron Williams, but he is also the 'pseudo coach' with Karl away from the team. The team will be relying on Billups to make smart decisions and step up in Karl's absence and if he can't do that then the Nuggets are screwed.

Injuries are key in this series as the Nuggets are missing JR Smith and the Jazz are missing Carlos Boozer. Also Kenyon Martin is coming off an injury as is Andrei Kirilenko so that is worth noting, probably in a better way than I just noted it.

Prediction: Nuggets in 7

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs #8 Chicago Bulls

If the Cavs lose even 1 game in this series I will be shocked. Shocked. The Bulls barely scraped their way into the playoffs and are a .500 team. The Cavs are the best team in the NBA and have the best player in the NBA. They are a solid defensive team and with the addition of Antawn Jamison they are more versatile than ever.

For me this playoffs is all about LeBron James. I will be watching every series but all I really care about is whether James wins an NBA Championship because that will answer a lot of questions. I have my doubts that James cares more about things outside of basketball than he does about the game and the way he plays in these playoffs will either prove me right or prove me wrong. I want to see him go to another level where he averages triple doubles and has 5 or 6 plays a game that just rip the heart out of the other team. This season he shown flashes of indescribable talent and I want him to unleash that in these playoffs.

The Chicago Bulls will end up being James' victims and will left a bloody mess afterwards but Bulls fans can take solace in the fact that this time next year they will have an improved team with at least 1 max-contract free agent, maybe even 2.

Prediction: Cavs in 4

#2 Orlando Magic vs #7 Charlotte Bobcats

If you think the Cavs are going to steamroll the Bulls wait until you see what the Magic do to the Bobcats. This is going to be a slaughter. Someone tell me 1 way the Bobcats win a game that doesn't involve the entire Magic team being killed in some sort of 'We are Marshall' incident. It just doesn't happen.

Is Gerald Wallace or Stephen Jackson going to take over a game? Not a chance. The Bobcats are a team of opportunity. They played in the Eastern Conference and took advantage of the opportunities to play the Nets, Knicks, 76ers and Wizards to build their record. They have a decent enough team and they will definitely make Orlando work for their wins but they don't have the talent to hang with the Magic.

So this is a warning to all you Bobcats 'fans' you may now exit the bandwagon. I hope you enjoyed your ride.

Prediction: Magic in 4

#3 Atlanta Hawks vs #6 Milwaukee Bucks

One of the most unfortunate injuries in recent memory is Andrew Bogut going down last week with a nasty arm injury. At the time the Bucks looked like a serious threat going into the playoffs and people everywhere were buying into the new slogan, "Fear the Deer."

The Bucks had turned into one of the best defensive teams in the league thanks to Bogut and Carlos Delfino but also had the offensive firepower to hang with most teams in the East in large part due to Brandon Jennings and mid-season acquisition John Salmons. Alas it is all for not as the Bogut injury effectively killed any chances the Bucks had of making any noise in the playoffs.

Prediction: Hawks in 5

#4 Boston Celtics vs #5 Miami Heat

For some reason everyone is picking this as their upset as they believe the Heat will beat the Celtics. I find it hard to believe that so many people could pick a team that has the corpse of Jermain O'Neal on it to beat the Celtics. Yes the Celtics have lost their swagger and yes the 'Big 3' seems to be on its last legs but come on.

The Heat don't have anyone on their team that can stop Rajon Rondo and god forbid Dwyane Wade has an off night and Michael Beasley is counted on to do anything other than supply the weed. Udonis Haslem is a solid defender but isn't good for much else and other than that it is a poo poo platter for the ages with Carlos Arroyo and Quentin Richardson.

The Celtics definitely looked awful for the second half of the season and seemed to mail in every other game but they aren't bad enough to lose to the Heat especially seeing as they have homecourt advantage. Will they win the title? Of course not but the Heat won't either because they won't get out of the 1st round.

Prediction: Celtics in 6

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More Like Chris Bitch

Chris Bosh is a bitch. There I said it.

On April 6th he got elbowed in the face 2 minutes into a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers by Antawn Jamison and did not return. He suffered a fractured nasal bone and it was unknown how long he would be out for.

I figured he would miss 1 maybe 2 games at most and would be back in time for the most important game of the Raptors season which was Sunday night against the Bulls. Needless to say I was wrong. Bosh has not returned to action and doesn't plan on playing until the playoffs starts, that is if the Raptors even make the playoffs.

But I forgot to take into account that Chris Bosh is softer than Cottonelle. Put a mask on and play basketball. You are the franchise player on a team that is fighting for a playoff spot and you're going to sit out the last 5 games of the season because you have a broken nose? Soft.

This is why I hate Chris Bosh. He demands a max contract and wants to be treated like a superstar but when it comes down to it he is just a good player on a bad team. He has no heart and folds when it counts. If he wanted to prove to everyone in Toronto, or potential suitors in the free agent market, he is indispensable and worthy of a max contract he would sack up and play out the season.

People always defend by pointing out his stats. Yes he averages a 24 and 10 but he is the primary scoring option on an awful team. The whole offensive system revolves around Bosh getting the ball. David Lee, Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph and Carlos Boozer all average at least a 20 and 10 and do it as secondary scoring options. None of those guys are "franchise players" and none of them deserve a max contract. So why does Bosh?

The correct answer is that he doesn't. His value is inflated by the Toronto media and Raptors fans. They see him get voted in a couple all-star games and all of a sudden he is this cornerstone player that the team should be built around. If he played for almost any other team his numbers would drop and he would be an afterthought to most fans.

One of my favorite sports quotes is from Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. In his introductory press conference Burke was asked about Jason Blake and whether he would remain on the team due to his recent success. To this question Burke responded, "every team has a leading scorer." This was basically Burke's way of saying Blake is awful and only did well because the rest of the team was worse than he was.

The same sentiment holds true for Bosh and the Raptors. Bosh thrives because everyone does their best to feed him the ball and create for him. Now I will concede a lot of his points come from his mid-range game, which is excellent, and his ability to get to the line but when his team is down the ball is always in his hands and he always leads the team in field goals.

As for his rebounding stats well they are a joke. He should get at least 16-20 rebounds a night considering no one else on his team can rebound worth a damn. Andrea Bargnani only gets rebounds when they fall right in his hands and everyone else on the team is too busy running up the floor to get a board. Bosh is the only Raptor who attempts to rebound and thus winds up with 10 a game.

Maybe I am being too hard on Bosh. Maybe the injury to his face is worse than is being reported but I feel like if this happened to Kobe, LeBron, Wade or Melo they would need to be physically restrained in order to miss these games. Those guys care about the game and would do anything to win, Bosh doesn't give me that impression.

LeBron is currently sitting out the last few games of the Cavs season and you can tell he is dying inside. The camera constantly shows him wincing when his team misses and getting pumped when they score. He is the most emotionally invested person in the arena and he is wearing a $6,000 suit and sitting on the sidelines.

Bosh on the other hand is back home "recovering." Not only is his face too sore to play but it is apparently so sore he can't even come to the arena and sit court side with his teammates for emotional support. Yet this is the guy that Raptors fans wanna build the team around.

I have never been a big Bosh supporter and this latest incident has just given me more reason to despise Earl Sinclair aka Chris Bosh. Not only is he the Ru Paul of Big Men but he is also a gutless whiner who leaves people hanging and can't commit to anything. It seems he has no interest in being a Raptor and supporting this team so I have no interest in supporting him.

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Mr. McNabb Goes to Washington

Yesterday it was reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN that the Philadelphia Eagles had traded quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a number of draft picks including a 2nd rounder this year (37th overall) and either a 2nd or 3rd rounder in 2011.

I was truly shocked at the announcement. I knew that there had been tonnes of rumors going around that McNabb would be traded but I didn't think it would actually happen, especially to a team in the same division.

Then again this is something that Philly fans had wanted to see for a long time as every year fans would clamor for McNabb to be traded. It seemed no matter what he did McNabb could never win over the fans who Philly. Even though he took them to the NFC Championship 5 (which is an Eagles record) times and the SuperBowl once it always seemed like it was never enough.

McNabb leaves the Eagles as the franchises all-time leader in attempts (4,303), completions (2,534), yards (29,320), and touchdowns (203). He was a Pro Bowler 6 times and is one of the best passers/rushers of all-time. I think Eagles fans are going to quickly regret running mcNabb out of town.

Here are a couple of facts about McNabb I am sure most fans don't know:

- Least-intercepted quarterback per pass attempt of all time, (4588 attempts-96 interceptions, 2.09%

- Second-best touchdown-to-interception ratio of all time, (209-96, 2.18) behind Tom Brady (217-92, 2.36)

- First NFL Quarterback ever to throw for more than 30 touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions (2004)

- One of six quarterbacks of all time to have over 25,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards (alongside Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton, Steve McNair, and John Elway)

- Currently the third-highest winning percentage among active quarterbacks (83-45-1, .647) behind Peyton Manning (119-59-0, .669) and Tom Brady (88-25-0, .779)

And now McNabb is a Redskin. He more than likely won't be able to repeat the success he had in Philly due to his age (33) and the loss of all his offensive weapons: Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek. He now goes to a team that boasts Santana Moss as its best receiver. A significant downgrade no matter how you look at it.

As for the Eagles they have handed over the offense to Kevin Kolb. Kolb is 25 and is entering his 4th season in the NFL. He was drafted 36th overall in the 2007 draft out of Houston and has never really shown any promise in the NFL. Since being drafted he has thrown 130 passes in 3 seasons. He has 4 TDs to 7 INTs and has done a better job carrying a clipboard than he has done throwing a football. Yet here he is in charge of one of the best offenses in football.

Needless to say I don't understand this decision at all.

Yes McNabb is getting older but he is still better than Kolb. Maybe Kolb has shown some promise in practice but that isn't a real game situation. The only saving grace here is that the Eagles still have Michael Vick under contract so if Kolb fails miserably, which I think he will do, then Vick can step in and save the day.

Back to the Reskins. This move makes even less sense for them as it does for the Eagles. You have a new coach and a new GM and your first major move is to bring in an aging quarterback that will have no weapons to work with? The Redskins also only have 1 draft pick in the top 100 now (#4 overall) and lots of holes that need to be filled. I think Jason Campbell is an underrated quarterback and they would have been fine with him under center for another year or two while they groomed his replacement.

I am not a fan of this deal at all. The Redskins are trying to build a team to compete right away instead of building for the future while the Eagles jettisoned the best quarterback in franchise history so Kevin Kolb could become the starter. Tell me how this is a smart trade for either party.

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