NBA Playoff Time (NFL Take a Break)

The NBA Playoffs is about to start tomorrow and I am more excited about the storylines in this playoffs than I was last year. The storylines that I find most interesting deal mostly with adversity and redemption, so without further or due here are my top storylines for the 2012 NBA playoffs.

5. Will the Spurs be able to overcome their age and win the west? Although the Spurs on average are a young team, their three headed monster is getting up there in age. And this just might be there last run at a title.

4. Will the suspension of Ron Artest cost the Lakers a title shot? With Ron Artest unleashing the elbow heard around the world that resulted in a six game playoff suspension, the timing could not be worst for the Lakers. The harm in this suspension is that it causes a ton of uneccesary adjustments to the Lakers rotation that can be problematic in the future.

3. Can Derrick Rose carry the city of Chicago to their first championship since "His Airness?"
It seems as if D. Rose has so much weight from the city of Chicago to bring them their first title since the late 90's. Will he be able to get past a myriad of Big 3's or will fatigue set in by the time the conference finals rolls around.

2. Can the stars of the Thunder coexist to reach the ultimate goal of winning a title? The Thunder co-stars are both great scorers. However, this dynamic has proved to hurt the Thunder at times. What will Skip say if the Thunder don't go all the way?

1. Will Lebron James rise or fall? With LBJ's collapse in the NBA finals last year, the entire playoffs is centered around what goes down in Miami. If LBJ fails to win a title the mainstream media and all of America will not be kind to LBJ.

Stay tuned to the NBA playoffs because it's senseless to watch NFL coverage when they aren't playing any games.

NCAA Tournament

With the start of the NCAA tournament we often get wrapped up in upsets and our brackets. However, one thing that we often overlook is how widespread the talent has been throughout all of college basketball. 15-20 years ago the best teams were rooted in having a depth of talent that overwhelmed smaller schools. But the reason why the talent pool has been so widespread lately can be defined on how coaches use to define talent versus how they currently define talent.

In the past, talent was defined by having the biggest and most physically gifted athletes on a team and then maybe surrounding that core group of gifted athletes with a few shooters. In our current version of college basketball coaches have taken the small school approach to evaluating talent; and that's by seeking the most skilled players at their position and a players athleticism is a secondary attribute.

As a result, high school players have shifted their attention from dunks and block shots to ball handling and footwork. And this has given the game an appearance of talent being more widespread but I just think that the way talent has been viewed has changed thus evening out the playing field.

Throw it down Big Fella! Throw it Down!

One of the most exhilirating feelings for a basketball player is dunking on someone. Conversely one of the most humbling feelings is getting dunked on by someone. And if you have played long enough you have been on both ends of the equation. Recently I went to LA Fitness and I got the opportunity to play a 21 (Hustle) against some of the guys at the gym. As the game got more competitive one of the guys started talking trash with me, so much so that he had his brother record the game cause he believed he would have a hightlight of me on film. Little did he know what would happen next. Take a look.

Top 5 Dunks in The 2011 NBA Playoffs

Wow this playoff season has appeared to be a post season filled with players making new posters. My top 5 dunks are based on how loud I screamed when I initially saw the dunk. Rating the dunks for the spots are as followed:

# 5 Impressive but I think I could do that.
# 4 Ok he showed me something there.
# 3 Whoa
# 2 Arghhhhhhhh did he just do that?
# 1 Screaming like a school girl cause that was the best dunk this season!

Without further or do here are the dunks:

# 5: D-Rose over Joel Anthony

# 4: Kobe Dunks over Emeka Okafor

# 3: UD over D-Rose

# 2: Taj Gibson Tip Dunk on 3 guys

# 1: Kevin Durant over Brendan Haywood

Read em' and weep.

NBA Finals Prediction

Alright now we have arrived to the 2011 NBA finals and now we are left with two teams that bring a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals with the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Miami Heat. It's easy to see how these two teams made it to the NBA Finals this season. Although these teams both had up and down seasons they were both able to get through the season with decent record. More importantly these two teams were able to get better every month of the season. Both teams also have very deep teams that make stopping their offensive output difficult for any team. The funniest thing for me this playoff season was when all the analyst were picking Portland to beat Dallas. Not realizing that the Dallas Mavericks had Jason Kidd on their team.,who in my opinion is a bonafide winner (although he has never won an NBA title). 

With that said I think that this Final Matchup should be a good one because it is a battle of full court flare vs. half court execution; a deep bench vs. a dynamic starting crew. A lot has been said about the Mavericks motivation for being the reason why they will win the championship. A lot has been said about the Heat's dominance in the playoffs as the reason why they will win. In my humble opinion, I believe that the Miami Heat will ultimately win the title despite The Mavericks extra motivation to win the title. Why? Because I just believe that the Miami Heat's defense is going to shut down the Dallas Maverick's bench. I also think that the Heat will give Jason Terry a hard time on both ends of the court (especially if they match Chalmers on him). As far as Dirk is concerned I don't see the Heat stopping him. However, I believe that they will be able to stop him in pivotal situations that will ultimately lead to the Dallas Mavericks demise.

When it all comes down to it although Dallas may have a deeper team, they do not have multiple players that they can turn to when it is time to close the game. It's as simple as a street ball game the team with the best two or three players that can change the outcome of the game usually wins.

Miami Heat in 6.

NBA Playoffs Predictions: Round 1

In the next 3 months the NBA playoffs will be taking over the airwaves and our lives. The NBA Playoffs in my opinion is by far the best post season among the four major professional sports in America. As far as the playoffs are concerned I believe that this year is a pretty wide open year and I don't see it being as predictable as it was the past 2-3 years. Without further or do these are my predictions for the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Starting out with the east. In the 1 vs. 8 matchup the Chicago Bulls are taking on the Indiana Pacers. With this matchup I think Derrick Rose and company are just too much for the Pacers. I do think the Pacers will take 2 games and expose some of the weaknesses that are being overlooked with the Chicago Bulls because of the well deserved love for Derrick Rose. At the 4 vs. 5 matchup I think the Orlando Magic will beat the Atlanta Hawks in 7 games. I just think that Dwight Howard will be too much for the anemic post players on the Atlanta Hawks roster. The 3 vs. 6 matchup is probably going to be the best playoff series this postseason where the Knicks take on the Celtics. Despite the Celtics recent troubles I think they will have enough to  beat the Knicks in 6 or 7 games, but mark my words this will be the series that everyone is going to be talking about this postseason. Last but not least is the 2 vs. 7 matchup where the Miami Heat will take on the Philadelphia 76ers. I honestly like the 76ers as a team. However, I'm not sure about Andre Iguodala's ability to carry the 76ers past the big 3 of the Heat. I got the Heat in 5 games.

Now for the Western Conference. In the 1 vs. 8 matchup the Spurs in my opinion will defeat the Grizzlies in 5 games. I just think that the Spurs bench is too deep for the Grizzlies and there offensive output will overbear the Grizzlies in a 7 game series. At the 4 vs. 5 matchup I like OKC over the Nuggets. I think Kevin Durant is going to have a break out postseason (I'm going to leave it at that cause I got a couple surprise picks in the next round). At the 3 vs. 6 matchup a lot of people are picking Portland to win the series. However, I'm going to go the other way and choose the Mavericks. I just think that Jason Kidd and Dirk will be able to carry the Mavs over the young Portland team in a 7 game series. For the 2 vs. 7 matchup I think the Lakers roll over the Hornets in 5 games. The Hornets will miss David West and I think the Lakers bigs are just too much for the Hornets. 

All in all, I don't really see any opportunities for upsets in the first round, however I do believe the majority of the upsets will take place in the second round. Stay tuned and enjoy the nights at the bars and the playoff parties and if you're lucky enough enjoy the games at the arena.

Time to Say Hail Mary.

I officially started going back to MAS this week and as usual the experience has been rather eye opening. So much has changed since I left three months ago. The alter is still the same and the private sanctuaries remained the same. However, there were some differences in the hallways and it seems that there are some new members that I don't recognize. Whatever the case it felt good to be back and attending MAS. Thus far I have taken three classes. Sound bites which has been a cool class in that we are learning how to refine our audio skills for video purposes. Another class I'm taking is portfolio development, this is the make or break class because MAS students must have an exceptional portfolio before graduating MAS. The other class that I had taken thus far was a brand called you. This class seems as if it will be helpful in the long run and especially helpful in getting the first job in advertising. I am hoping that this quarter at Miami Ad School (MAS) will be equally as effective as my previous quarter.

I will add that I am getting a nice consistent dose of basketball on a weekly basis. Just having the opportunity to make someone else a better player always seems to make my day.

One cool thing I want to share is this audio track that we had to listen to during our Sound Bites class and it's kind of cool. When you listen to this track close your eyes and be sure to have headphones in your ears. I think it's awesome but you be the judge.