The 'real' NBA season begins Saturday. I already made my predictions, and the Clippers managed to lose enough games since then to slip to 6th from the 5th seed.
Whether or not that was done on purpose has been the source of some controversy.
But my prediction that in the Western Conference the 5 through 8 seeds will all win, stands.
The least likely to happen would be the Sacramento upset of San Antonio, but lately Sacramento has been one of the hottest teams in the league and San Antonio looks beatable.
The Clippers got the opponent they wanted, and will likely destroy Denver.
The Lakers can and will beat the Suns, so long as Odom and Brown continue the excellent play they've shown down the stretch. Placing your playoff hopes on Kwame Brown is a frightening thought, but he has the physical skills to be a monster in this league, and lately he's been showing signs that his mind is matching his body, if so the Lakers are a real threat.
Memphis will beat Dallas, but this will most likely be the most competitive series of the first round of the playoffs, but I think Memphis can pull of the upset given the talent they have across the board (though Dallas is equally talented, and more experienced, but I think the Grizzlies are going all the way to the Conference Finals)
2nd Round will feature the all-city LA v LA Staples Center battle royale along with the less exciting Sacramento v Memphis. The Clippers and Grizzlies will prevail setting up a Clippers v Grizzlies Conference Final, and the Clips will do win that series, too.
On the Eastern Conference front, I just don't care. It's Detroit from start to finish, though watching King James in the playoffs will be fun.
In the Pistons v Clippers final, the Clippers will prevail, with an exciting game 7 come from behind victory in Detroit.
Get the Red White and Blue confetti ready, it's gonna be a party in LA come June.
(so far in this ESPN.com SPORTSNATION poll, I'm in a decided minority in picking the Clips for winning it all (0.7% of 29,653 votes, shockingly the Lakers are the third choice with 9% of voters choosing them as this season's champions))
5 comments:
Okay, clearly everyone else has been too stunned to reply to this.
In the Pistons v Clippers final, the Clippers will prevail, with an exciting game 7 come from behind victory in Detroit.
The Clippers? The Clippers?! That is insane. They're still owned by Sterling, right? There is no WAY that will happen. That's as insane as predicting that the Bidwell owned Arizona Cardinals will win the Super Bowl. It's just plan wrong!
...
This has to be a joke. Yeah, a very late April Fool's Joke. Yeah that's it.
OR...
You're being held prisoner by crazed hippies, and this is your signal for help. Yes, that must be it. Gotta be!
HOLD ON, X! WE'RE COMING TO SAVE YOU!
Elton Brand re-signed, and they went and got two real live veterans (Cassell, Mobley) who didn't spend the whole season injured and sulking.
Plus Livingston will be a star in this league, and he may even do so as a Clipper.
And Chris Kaman may look a bit like a dirty hippie, but he sometimes plays like a pre-foot problems Bill Walton who just might average 20pts20rebounds for all of next season if he stays healthy.
Elgin Baylor has assembled a very talented squad, and they have an excellent coach in Mike Dunleavy.
I know it sounds like crazy talk to be this optimistic about the Clippers chances, but I've been watching them all season, and if you look at their roster 1-12 they are as deep as any team in the league (even Detroit).
What it comes down to is they finally spent some money this off season, and one of their stars actually stayed with the team.
(and had Kobe signed with them like he almost did, they would have won 60 games this season)
And if Elton Brand was on any team but the Clippers, there would be much more MVP talk about him.
I learned my lesson after ridiculing his UCLA pick, and look at the pain that band of ragamuffins (BTW Farmar and Afflalo declared...are they fleeping nuts?) caused me.
I will say nothing directly, though may post completely unrelated thoughts aat my place to avoid any continuing "Don't F with X" jinxing...
Farmar and Afflalo are nuts to think they'll be picked in the first two rounds by any sane NBA GM, but they didn't hire agents, so they retain NCAA eligibility, so they aren't too nuts.
Score at the half: SA 73, Sac 39.
You still sticking with that prediction for a Sacramento upset?
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