A few quick thoughts on the NBA and NHL playoffs that I'm either missing or watching in the background as I have breakfast and lunch in Australia/Japan.
Despite my interest level being higher in the NHL, since it started so late due to the lockout and is just starting the 2nd round, I have fewer thoughts on it than the NBA playoffs, so let's get the NHL out of the way.
= I feel like there have been more OT games this year than normal, which makes me even more sad for missing them, but they have been bananas so far. My favorite was that we had three OT games on either the first or second night of the playoffs.
= I feel bad for hte Capitals, who took over the front spot on the mantle from the Sharks as playoff disappointments after getting Halaked in the 1st round in 2010, and then took it back after the Canucks had their brief spell in the last two years. Losing game 7's is never easy, especially at home. True, they were embarrassingly bad in Game 7, but they easily could have won that series in 6. Lundqvist was just awesome to close out that series.
= Yes, Alexander Ovechkin disappeared in this series, but the only reason the Caps made the playoffs was because he was Ovie of old the last 20 games or so. As a Peyton Manning playoff defender, and acknowledging that one player in hockey has little power (other than the goalie), I'm an Ovie supporter, and when he was truly dominant back in 2006-2009, he had good postseasons. This wasn't one of them, but let's not discount what he did this regular season.
= I can't stand the Bruins. It's odd, because the Devils have never played against this current iteration of the Bruins in teh playoffs (we beat the Thornton-era Bruins 4-1 back in 2003 in the 1st round on the way to winning the Cup). I still can't stand those little bastards they have on that team. The worst is Brad Marchand, one of the pestiest pests I've seen since Sean Avery (albeit way more talented). The Bruins, after losing Phil Kessel by trade and losing Marc Savard to concussions transitioned from a fun, fast team to a pest-filled physical team, and it's helped them in the playoffs, but man I cannot stand them. So much so that I'm actively rooting for the Rangers for the first time in my life.
= I can't stand the Kings either for what they did to my Devils (that said, they deserved that series), and now they're doing it to the Sharks. I've been a semi-Sharks fan for years, predicting glory for them as far back as 2004 when they lost to the Flames in the conference finals. I've gotten past being deflated by disappointments, but this team is good enough and this season is cooky enough for them to go on a run, and those Kings are still there.
= I got many of my preseason predictions wrong (I chose the Hurricanes to win the Eastern Conference), but I nailed my Blackhawks prediction. Seeing the highlights and the stat sheet of their Game 1 win just shows how much of a machine that team is. They aren't as deep or complete as the 2010 Cup winning team, but I don't think that great of a team can exist anymore. This Hawks team is as good as it gets.
Anyway, let's get to the NBA
= I think LeBron James is better than Kevin Durant (and everyone else), but I don't think its fair to use the Thunders' flameout to Memphis after losing Westbrook as evidence. Many compare what the Thunder just did to what LeBron did with Cleveland, but there are a lot of factors at play. Namely:
1.) LeBron's Cavs teammates were better than what people remember. Yes, he dragged a really bad team to the finals, but that was a really weak East that year (the best team had 52 wins). He had great regular seasons in 2008-09 and 2009-10 with the supposedly awful supporting casts, but those supporting casts were probably better than the Westbrook-less Thunder supporting cast for Durant. Ibaka is probably better than Varejao (or Shaq in 2010), but LeBron had a good Moe Williams, had decent role guys in Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Z Ilgauskas in 2009 and then add a good Antawn Jamison for 2010. Those supporting casts were better than Ibaka, Kevin Martin, the battered remains of Kendrick Perkins, Derek Fisher and Co.
2.) The West now is a lot better than the East then. The three best teams LeBron had to face in the East in his time there were the 2005-06 Piston, 2007-08 Celtics and 2008-09 Magic. Guess what? He lost to all three. Yes, he took the first two to 7 games, but he still lost, just like Durant just did. And yes, he dominated the 2009 Magic, but that was the Magic's defensive plan, to make LeBron do EVERYTHING, and tire him out and then launch threes and bang Howard inside all day. It's why they easily won that series (the Cavs needed a come-from-behind game-winning shot in Game 2 to avoid being swept). Anyway, this Grizzlies team is good, finishing with a record four games worse than the healthy Thunder. Losing to this Grizzlies team really isn't any worse than losing to the 2009-10 Celtics in Round 2.
3.) Westbrook's injury happened in the playoffs. Durant didn't have a whole season to adjust to having a lousy supporting cast, neither did Scott Brooks - who I'm not sure is good enough to adjust to it anyway.
= I don't know if the Spurs can beat the Grizzlies, but what they did in Game 5 against the Warriors should be submitted to the HOF for Popovich brilliance along with the 2005 series against the Suns and what he did in the 2007 playoffs. He limited Curry, Thompson and Bogut to just 15 points total. Just awesome.
= I'm started to get freaked out at the similarities between the Patriots and the Spurs. Both won three (or in the Spurs' case four) titles with a defense-first mentality, then because of aging and changing personnel, they morphed into brilliant offensive machines that dominated regular seasons but couldn't finish the deal in the playoffs. They both had one transcendant generational-player. Now, the switch to offense first enabled Brady to really explode, and Duncan didn't really benefit from the switch to an offense first system; and Duncan was far better during the title years than BRady was during the Pats dynasty, but it still holds. Also, they both have unquestionably the best coach in the league, a crotchety old man who's a genius but doesn't have the best PR abilities (both PR faces are assumed reportedly assumed fronts, too). It's really just scary when you look at it.
= Pacers vs. Heat (and I'm assuming the Pacers close out the Knicks) is going to be interesting. The Heat should win, but the Pacers will do what the Bulls did to them, but only with a better team with more size (a Heat weakness) and an even better defense. The Pacers owned the Heat early this season, but lost to them badly in one of the Heat's signature performances in their 27-game win streak. The Heat are on an ungodly run, but the Pacers do pose some problems. The Pacers lack of a bench will probably kill them, but if they play their best, they have a shot.
Anyway, back to my trip....
Despite my interest level being higher in the NHL, since it started so late due to the lockout and is just starting the 2nd round, I have fewer thoughts on it than the NBA playoffs, so let's get the NHL out of the way.
= I feel like there have been more OT games this year than normal, which makes me even more sad for missing them, but they have been bananas so far. My favorite was that we had three OT games on either the first or second night of the playoffs.
= I feel bad for hte Capitals, who took over the front spot on the mantle from the Sharks as playoff disappointments after getting Halaked in the 1st round in 2010, and then took it back after the Canucks had their brief spell in the last two years. Losing game 7's is never easy, especially at home. True, they were embarrassingly bad in Game 7, but they easily could have won that series in 6. Lundqvist was just awesome to close out that series.
= Yes, Alexander Ovechkin disappeared in this series, but the only reason the Caps made the playoffs was because he was Ovie of old the last 20 games or so. As a Peyton Manning playoff defender, and acknowledging that one player in hockey has little power (other than the goalie), I'm an Ovie supporter, and when he was truly dominant back in 2006-2009, he had good postseasons. This wasn't one of them, but let's not discount what he did this regular season.
= I can't stand the Bruins. It's odd, because the Devils have never played against this current iteration of the Bruins in teh playoffs (we beat the Thornton-era Bruins 4-1 back in 2003 in the 1st round on the way to winning the Cup). I still can't stand those little bastards they have on that team. The worst is Brad Marchand, one of the pestiest pests I've seen since Sean Avery (albeit way more talented). The Bruins, after losing Phil Kessel by trade and losing Marc Savard to concussions transitioned from a fun, fast team to a pest-filled physical team, and it's helped them in the playoffs, but man I cannot stand them. So much so that I'm actively rooting for the Rangers for the first time in my life.
= I can't stand the Kings either for what they did to my Devils (that said, they deserved that series), and now they're doing it to the Sharks. I've been a semi-Sharks fan for years, predicting glory for them as far back as 2004 when they lost to the Flames in the conference finals. I've gotten past being deflated by disappointments, but this team is good enough and this season is cooky enough for them to go on a run, and those Kings are still there.
= I got many of my preseason predictions wrong (I chose the Hurricanes to win the Eastern Conference), but I nailed my Blackhawks prediction. Seeing the highlights and the stat sheet of their Game 1 win just shows how much of a machine that team is. They aren't as deep or complete as the 2010 Cup winning team, but I don't think that great of a team can exist anymore. This Hawks team is as good as it gets.
Anyway, let's get to the NBA
= I think LeBron James is better than Kevin Durant (and everyone else), but I don't think its fair to use the Thunders' flameout to Memphis after losing Westbrook as evidence. Many compare what the Thunder just did to what LeBron did with Cleveland, but there are a lot of factors at play. Namely:
1.) LeBron's Cavs teammates were better than what people remember. Yes, he dragged a really bad team to the finals, but that was a really weak East that year (the best team had 52 wins). He had great regular seasons in 2008-09 and 2009-10 with the supposedly awful supporting casts, but those supporting casts were probably better than the Westbrook-less Thunder supporting cast for Durant. Ibaka is probably better than Varejao (or Shaq in 2010), but LeBron had a good Moe Williams, had decent role guys in Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Z Ilgauskas in 2009 and then add a good Antawn Jamison for 2010. Those supporting casts were better than Ibaka, Kevin Martin, the battered remains of Kendrick Perkins, Derek Fisher and Co.
2.) The West now is a lot better than the East then. The three best teams LeBron had to face in the East in his time there were the 2005-06 Piston, 2007-08 Celtics and 2008-09 Magic. Guess what? He lost to all three. Yes, he took the first two to 7 games, but he still lost, just like Durant just did. And yes, he dominated the 2009 Magic, but that was the Magic's defensive plan, to make LeBron do EVERYTHING, and tire him out and then launch threes and bang Howard inside all day. It's why they easily won that series (the Cavs needed a come-from-behind game-winning shot in Game 2 to avoid being swept). Anyway, this Grizzlies team is good, finishing with a record four games worse than the healthy Thunder. Losing to this Grizzlies team really isn't any worse than losing to the 2009-10 Celtics in Round 2.
3.) Westbrook's injury happened in the playoffs. Durant didn't have a whole season to adjust to having a lousy supporting cast, neither did Scott Brooks - who I'm not sure is good enough to adjust to it anyway.
= I don't know if the Spurs can beat the Grizzlies, but what they did in Game 5 against the Warriors should be submitted to the HOF for Popovich brilliance along with the 2005 series against the Suns and what he did in the 2007 playoffs. He limited Curry, Thompson and Bogut to just 15 points total. Just awesome.
= I'm started to get freaked out at the similarities between the Patriots and the Spurs. Both won three (or in the Spurs' case four) titles with a defense-first mentality, then because of aging and changing personnel, they morphed into brilliant offensive machines that dominated regular seasons but couldn't finish the deal in the playoffs. They both had one transcendant generational-player. Now, the switch to offense first enabled Brady to really explode, and Duncan didn't really benefit from the switch to an offense first system; and Duncan was far better during the title years than BRady was during the Pats dynasty, but it still holds. Also, they both have unquestionably the best coach in the league, a crotchety old man who's a genius but doesn't have the best PR abilities (both PR faces are assumed reportedly assumed fronts, too). It's really just scary when you look at it.
= Pacers vs. Heat (and I'm assuming the Pacers close out the Knicks) is going to be interesting. The Heat should win, but the Pacers will do what the Bulls did to them, but only with a better team with more size (a Heat weakness) and an even better defense. The Pacers owned the Heat early this season, but lost to them badly in one of the Heat's signature performances in their 27-game win streak. The Heat are on an ungodly run, but the Pacers do pose some problems. The Pacers lack of a bench will probably kill them, but if they play their best, they have a shot.
Anyway, back to my trip....
