With the NBA Playoffs starting, I was thinking about which team
would win each series in the playoffs. Of course, there are a lot of exciting
things going on right now in the playoffs, so it was hard for me to think of
which team would win series and in how many games would that team win it in. It
was very hard making these choices, and of course some were easier than others.
Plus, these are truly who I think will win, not necessarily who I want to win.
So, anyway, let me start off with the easiest ones that I could think of with
the 1 seeds vs. the 8 seeds.

In the East, the #1 seed is the Miami Heat and #8 seed is the
Milwaukee Bucks. My predictions are that Heat will win in 5 games. I really
  truly think that the Bucks can pull off one game on their home floor, but the
  Heat are too good and too talented for the Bucks, who had a losing record this
  year, but I think the Bucks could pull off one of those two home games because
  of their backcourt duo which is Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. So, my
  prediction for that series is that the Heat will win in 5 games. In the West,
  however, the #1 seed is the Oklahoma City Thunder and the #8 seed is the
  Houston Rockets. My predictions are that the Thunder will win in 6 games. The
reason why I think Houston will pull out two games is because of two words, “The
  Beard”. James Harden can definitely bring two games home to Houston, in my
  opinion. The Rockets did pull out one game out of three against the Thunder by
  two points. However, I think that the Thunder will win this series because of
  the dominance of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka. Anyway, I
  think the Thunder will win in 6 games. Next, we have the 2 seeds vs. the 7
  seeds.

In the West, the #2 seed is the San Antonio Spurs and the #7 seed
is the Los Angeles Lakers. My predictions for this series are that the Spurs
will win in 5 games. I think that the Lakers cannot pull out this series against
the Spurs without Kobe Bryant, plain and simple. I think that the Spurs have
more talent than the Lakers because of Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan. Even though
the Lakers have D-12, I just don’t think they can do it. In the East, the #2
seed is the New York Knicks and the #7 seed is the Boston Celtics. I think that
the Knicks will win this series in 5 games. I think this because Boston will
definitely win a game on their home court, in my opinion. I think the Knicks
will win this series for sure if Raymond Felton plays well and he has so far so
keep it up, RAY! After that, we have the 3 seeds vs. the 6 seeds.  

In the West, I come to my first upset prediction. The #3 seed is
the Denver Nuggets and the #6 seed is the Warriors. My prediction is that Golden
State will win in 7 games. I think that the Warriors have enough talent to pull
this off. With the dominance of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson from beyond the
arc, I think that the Warriors will win. However, I think that the Nuggets will
make it close because of their backcourt in Andre Igoudala and Ty Lawson. In my
opinion, this will be a great and fun series to watch. Again, I think that
Golden State will win in 7 games. In the East, the #3 seed is the Indiana Pacers
and the #6 seed is the Atlanta Hawks. This was one of the easiest choices to
make. I think that the Pacers will sweep the Hawks simply because of the
dominance on both ends of the floor. With a lineup of George Hill, Paul George,
Lance Stephenson, David West, and Roy Hibbert, I think that the Pacers are going
to be very difficult to stop for the Hawks. I can see Josh Smith possibly
winning a game for them, but I think it will be a sweep by the Pacers. Lastly,
we have the #4 seeds vs. the #5 seeds.

These two series are always the toughest to make,
but I made predictions, so here we go. In the East, the #4 seed is the Brooklyn
Nets and the #5 seed is the Chicago Bulls. In my opinion, I think that the Bulls
will win this is 6 games. I think this because the Bulls won the season series
3-1 and I think that they have a much better defensive team and can stop the
  scorers like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez. Another reason why I
  think the Bulls will win this series is because of the 2 young all-stars named
  Joakim Noah and Luol Deng. These two have so much talent, Deng can hit the open
  shot, Noah is a beast around the basket and getting boards. This is why I think
  the Bulls can win in 6. In the West, the #4 seed is the Los Angeles Clippers
  and the #5 seed is the Memphis Grizzlies. My last prediction for the 1st round is the
Grizzlies win this series in 7 games. I think that Mike Conley is going to take
charge and have some phenomenal games and get the ball to Zach Randolph and Marc
Gasol for easy layups, dunks and jump shots. I also think that Zach Randolph is
going to have a 35+ point game throughout the series and it will be fun to see.
I cannot wait to see this series and I am sure it will be fun to watch. Again, I
think that the Grizzlies will win against the Clippers in 7
games.

These are my predictions, but I want to know what yours are.
  Please comment below on your predictions on the playoffs and who you think will
  go to the next round. I think the Heat, Thunder, Spurs, Knicks, Pacers,
  Warriors, Bulls, and Grizzlies will all play in the Conference Semifinals.
  Thanks for reading my predictions. Please comment!  

Now from that title you are looking at I know you must be thinking that there is no way that the title is real. Well, I have come to tell you that you that it is surprisingly real. Exhibit A: Friday January 25th 2013, Utah Jazz vs. Lakers, Assists Leader: Kobe Bryant 14 assists. Exhibit B: Sunday January 27th 2013, Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Lakers, Assists Leader: Kobe Bryant 14 assists. I’m starting to see a pattern. Exhibit C: Tuesday January 29th 2013, New Orleans Hornets vs. Lakers, Assists Leader: Kobe Bryant 11 assists. By the way, in all three of the Lakers games, against the Jazz, Thunder, and Hornets, Kobe had 11 or more assists and they won all three of these games. I think that either Steve Nash told him something or he finally figured out what he has to do to help the Lakers win some games and so far it is working. Also, he got double-doubles in all three of these games with points and assists. However, he was not sleeping on the boards either; he ended up with 9 rebounds against Utah, 9 rebounds against the Thunder, and 8 rebounds against the Hornets. He has been doing incredible!

                Many people who have heard or seen Kobe do these phenomenal performances are saying to compare him to the great Earvin “Magic” Johnson. I can agree with that, if he had done this for 20 to 30 games! I mean, I know it is impressive that he has nearly gotten three triple-doubles in the last 3 games, but he still has to prove that he has become a different person than we remember him being. You cannot just have a rookie join the NBA and get 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists in one of the games in his young career and compare him to Magic Johnson getting triple-doubles. Right? I know that Kobe is not just “some rookie”, but he still needs to prove more that he has changed. After he does that, then, we could get Kobe into the Magic Johnson triple-double conversation.

Now I liked Kobe the way he was before hitting all these ridiculous shots and doing something that we all will never forget, scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22nd, 2006. However, I do not think that those crazy, insane numbers will come from Kobe ever again. Anyway, the Lakers are currently, starting on Wednesday, January 30th, 2013, will be going on a 7 game road trip starting in Phoenix. I think they can win all 7 games if Kobe plays the way he is playing right now. The biggest thing about this is that they need to win these games because their record is 20-25 and they are 10th in the Western Conference which means that they are not in the playoffs right now and the Lakers know that they should have a playoff seed and I believe that they will fight to try and get that seed.

Anyway, back to Kobe. If he keeps this basketball where he is playing like a teammate, he can be considered as one of the top five players in all of basketball and could, once again, take the Lakers far in the playoffs. But the big question is: Can Kobe Bryant keep up the passing? Find out on ESPN at 10:30 PM ET on Wednesday, January 30th, 2013 when the L.A. Lakers play the Phoenix Suns. Let’s see what he can do! Thanks for reading!

Please comment.

After 16 years in the NBA, Kobe Bryant is feeling old. Or at least he is feeling that way about his team. The black mamba was quoted recently complaining that his team is old and tired and that is why they are losing games. Now, I may have let him slide if there weren’t other teams out there to prove him wrong. I think that age is not as important as attitude.  Maybe, that is something that Kobe should think about.

This is why. In the pre-season, I was worried about the age of the Knicks squad. I thought it was a doomed season because of the numerous veteran players acquired by the Knicks and their old age by NBA standards. Thankfully, I was wrong. What I learned is experience counts. And it counts a lot! The mature squad of the Knicks is now second in the Eastern conference and first in the Atlantic division. They have better records than much younger teams, such as the Charlotte Bobcats and the Orlando Magic. 

And don’t forget back in 2008, the Boston Celtics, who were considered old after acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, went 66 and 16 and had the best single season improvement getting 42 more wins from the previous year.  They also won the Championship that year!

I like Kobe a lot. In fact, he is one of my favorite players but I think he needs to look beyond age for any problems that his team may be having. For example, the Knicks have more than 126 years of NBA experience with their current squad versus the Lakers 106 years of NBA experience.  It seems to be working for the Knicks, so maybe it is time for Kobe to grow up a little.

Please comment.

The Knicks need more than a new uniform. They need leadership both on and off the court.  All the way from the back office to the players on the court, we need a team that will live up to the excitement of the city that never sleeps. C’mon, we are New York!

I think that the new New Yorkers, the Brooklyn Nets, have a better understanding of what being in New York means. Over the summer, they took some serious action. They beefed up their squad with Joe Johnson and resigned Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace. I think they probably now have one of the best backcourts in the league outside of Kobe and Nash on the Lakers. During the same summer months, the Knicks lost Lin and Fields, their starting back court. They reunited with former Knicks Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas while also bringing Jason Kidd onboard. All three veterans are nearing the end of their career so I am not sure how the Knicks management thinks this is a step in the right direction.  We also acquired Ronnie Brewer who still has time to develop his skills, however we only signed the 27 year old to a 1 year contract. It leaves me wondering if the future New York fans will look to the Nets to represent their great city. 

When I talk about the ’92 Dream Team, I also think about the USA team today. Sometimes I even think about having the best players from ’92 and ’12 and putting them together to make an all-time USA Team. Today, that is what I will be talking about. Let’s get this started! Chris Mullin and Christian Laettener are out of there following with Tyson Chandler and James Harden. Scottie Pippen and Russell Westbrook are out as well. Jordan, Magic, Bird, LeBron, and Kobe are in that team. D-Will shouldn’t be in there at all. Kevin Love and Andre Igoudala are not in there. John Stockton and Charles Barkley are definitely in it. Cp3 and Carmelo are in. Anthony Davis is no way no how going to be in this team. I have to make a choice to eliminate someone and Ewing is a no go for me. Also, Kevin Durant is, as well. The Admiral, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, and Karl Malone finish out the remaining spots.

One Knicks opportunity is lost almost as quick as it was found. Jeremy Lin, the sophomore star of the New York Knickerbockers, took the Big Apple by storm for 25 games in February. I cannot imagine how the Knicks would just let him go after such an amazing run that he had scoring 38 on Kobe, hitting the game winner in Toronto, and dunking it on the Wizards. The Houston Rockets offered Lin a 3YR/$25.00M contract, with the last year of his contract earning 14.8M out of the 25M. At first I thought to let him go, but then I looked back at some of the highlights with Lin doing incredible moves around people, and then I thought that he was definitely worth it. According to James Dolan, owner of the Knicks, he truly was not enough.