NBA Blog

because it appears to be up and running as of late. 

Marc Iavaroni has taken the healm of the Memphis Grizz (as noted in my completely satirical comments yesterday).  Now a few minutes ago, my cell phone rang with the update that Jim O'Brien is the new coach of the Indiana Pacers.  I wonder if he can convince Jermaine O'Neal he should stay?

And, to make things a little more interesting, the entire populus of Gator-land (and all the annoyingness that comes with those crazy people) is up in a tizzy (not a clue if this is a word, but I'm deposition punch-drunk at this point in the day/week) because Billy Donovan (the artist formerly known as Billy "I'm buying a house in Lexington, because I'm going to coach the 'cats" Donovan in these parts) has received a contract offer from the Orlando Tragic starting at $6 million per year.  My former roommate, a dorky Gator himself, continuously told me that Florida could afford any bidding war with an NBA franchise.  Well, my so-called friends, let the bidding begin.

I had an entire post ready with possible destinations for Kobe, but then I got home last night and saw that some people had already written the same thing.  Who cares that I had a deal between Dallas and L.A. that would have exchanged Dirk and Jason Terry for Kobe and Vlad Radmanovic.  I think that would have worked out well for both teams.  Nevermind though. 

And forget that I had Paul Pierce, Bassy Telfair's expiring deal, and the number 5 pick this year going to L.A. for Kobe in Celtic green.  (Sure Kobe doesn't want to go to another young team, but a backcourt of Kobe and Rajon Rondo would be nearly impossible to score on, and having a budding All Star in Al Jefferson in the post would have made winning the division a cakewalk). 

So what if a deal of Kobe and Vlad Radmanovic for Marion, Raja Bell, Eric Piatkowski's expiring deal, pick #24 and a future first would have enabled Phoenix and the Clippers to get a deal done. 

Also, I am certain that you do not want to hear about the Clippers-Lakers swap that would keep Kobe in Los Angeles.  Financially speaking, moving Kobe and Maurice Evans for Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Aaron Williams' expiring deal and a future number 1 would work, but I won't talk about it.

Nobody wants to hear about how a possible Kobe to New Jersey for Vince Carter (sign and trade), Bostian Nachbar, pick #17, and a future number one pick would move two All Stars to different divisions.

And last, but not least, forget about Atlanta offering up Joe Johnson, Josh Smith (or Marvin Williams), Lorenzon Wright's expiring contract, and pick #11 for Kobe and pick #19.  That just wouldn't help out Atlanta (starting five of Conley, Kobe, Childress, Williams, Pachulia), the Lakers (starting five of Farmar [or Acie Law if chosen at 11], Johnson, Odom, Smith, and Bynum, wow, young and talented), or the NBA (save a failing franchise like the Hawks).

Therefore, I won't bother you with any of this.  Instead, I am going to offer up my first version of the Mock Draft.  (Instead of bombarding you with one thing already over-publicized, I will give you another over-publicized topic).

Round 1
1.  Bosto...whoops...Portland - Greg Oden, C
2.  Seattle - Kevin Durant, F
3.  Atlanta - Brandan Wright, PF (I'm convinced that Billy Knight can actually pass on Conley)
4.  Memphis - Mike Conley, PG
5.  Boston - Al Horford, PF/C
6.  Milwaukee - Corey Brewer, G/F
7.  Minnesota - Jeff Green, SF
8.  Charlotte - Julian Wright, SF
9.  Chicago - Joakim Noah, C
10.  Sacramento - Yi Jianlian, PF/C
11.  Atlanta - Acie Law, PG
12.  Philadelphia - Al Thornton, PF
13.  New Orleans - Rudy Fernandez, SG
14.  L.A. Clippers - Thaddeus Young, SG/SF
15.  Detroit - Nick Young, SG
16.  Washington - Spencer Hawes, C
17.  New Jersey - Jason Smith, PF
18.  Golden State - Sean Williams, C
19.  L.A. Lakers - Rodney Stuckey, SF
20.  Miami - Tiago Splitter, PF/C
21.  Philadelphia- Marco Bellinelli, SG
22.  Charlotte - Gabe Pruitt, G
23.  New York - Josh McRoberts, F
24.  Phoenix - Daquean Cook, SG
25.  Utah - Morris Almond, SG
26.  Houston - Javaris Crittenton, PG
27.  Detroit - Ante Tomic, C
28.  San Antonio - Taurean Green, PG
29.  Phoenix - DeVon Hardin, C
30.  Philadelphia- Aaron Gray, C

Round 2
31.  Seattle - Nick Fazekas, PF
32.  Boston - Kyle Visser, C
33.  San Antonio - Derrick Byars, SF
34.  Dallas - Aaron Afflalo, SG
35.  Seattle - Aaron Brooks, PG
36.  Golden State - Jared Dudley, SF
37.  Portland - Alando Tucker, SG
38.  Philadelphia- Marcus Williams, PG
39.  Orlando - Reyshawn Taylor, SF
40.  L.A. Lakers - Bobby Brown, PG
41.  Minnesota - Glen Davis, PF
42.  Portland - Demetrius Nichols, SF
43.  New Orleans - Jermario Davidson, PF
44.  Orlando - Marc Gasol, C
45.  L.A. Clippers - Ron Lewis, SG
46.  Golden State - Ivan Radenovic, PF
47.  Washington - Jared Jordan, PG
48.  L.A. Lakers - Herbert Hill, PF
49.  Chicago - Curtis Sumpter, F
50.  Dallas - Ali Traore, PF
51.  Chicago - Ryvon Corville, PF
52.  Portland - Sun Yue, SG
53.  Portland - Ramon Sessions, PG
54.  Orlando - JR Reynolds, SG
55.  Utah - Dominic McGuire, SF
56.  Milwaukee - Mustafa Shakur, PG
57.  Detroit - D.J. Strawberry, SG
58.  San Antonio - Artem Zabelin, C
59.  Phoenix - Joseph Jones, PF
60.  Dallas - Stanko Barac, C

Also Rans: Coby Karl, Ekeme Ebekwe

Special thanks: to Toronto Raptors for not having a single selection.

Important Notes: I don't see Portland standing pat with four 2nd round selections.  I think they will use some of them to do some maneuvering back into the late 1st round.  Also, I anticipate the Spurs making a move up in the draft (by using Luis Scola's draft rights) to infuse some young talent into their roster.  This is the perfect draft to do so, because it is loaded with available talent.  I also consider Yi Jianlian to be the wildcard of the draft.  He could land anywhere from 5 on down to 15 at this point. 

Picture this:  It is late in the game.  The Grizz-faithful (all 17 of them) are on their feet cheering their team on, who is up by two with 4.7 seconds left in the game (Obviously this is a hypothetical).  The opponent has a sidelines inbounds play at halfcourt after calling timeout.  The ref (not Joey Crawford) hands the ball to the player, and the designed play goes into motion.  The always intimidating defensive presence that is Damon Stoudamire is on the inbounder (once again, hypothetical).  Rudy Gay gets caught in a double screen and his man goes to the corner where he is hit with the inbounds pass for the final shot, a three from the corner in front of the Grizz bench.  Someone from the Grizz bench goes running at him, screaming and flailing his arms.  Wait a minute?  That's the new Grizz coach, Coach Iavaroni!  (If only his team moved with such intensity and desire). 

The shot is knocked down, and Hakim Warrik catches the ball as it goes through the net.  Pau Gasol looks on in disgust from the sidelines in his street clothes.  On a lighter note, Gasol's beard is long enough that he has cereal stuck in it from his halftime snack.  Mike Miller stands on the court trying to figure out what trendy style/look he will copy next as the opponents run off the court in jubilations after avoiding going down to a 2-19 team this early in the season.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, Stromile Swift is talking to Bryant "Big Country" Reeves about how to convince the Grizz organization to continue to pay him for no reason whatsoever.  Big Country suggests signing a big deal, playing one week, and faking a career-ending injury so that Stro can become a 'front office' guy. 

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2007-2008 Memphis Grizzlies!!!!!

So I was toying around with possible trades for Kevin Garnett during some free time this afternoon (hey, it's what I do).  I just thought I would let the Suns fans know that a deal involving Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas for Kevin Garnett is financially feasible.  Although, that deal would not go down until very late in the summer because of Amare's BYC status and Kurt's Last-year status.  Kurt Thomas cannot be traded until this season is officially over and the new season begins .  Same for Amare once he gets out of base year compensation status.

There were several other deals for Garnett that worked out for Phoenix.  A package of Amare, Diaw, Jones, and Banks works as well.  WAIT, DIAW IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR TEAM!  All Suns fans would say.  Right.  That was two years ago when Amare was out for the year.  This year he was out of shape and demoted to the piont that he was barely the seventh man behind James Jones and/or Barbosa.  Moving Diaw and Amare for K.G. is an upgrade defensively.  As I have discussed before, Amare is severly lacking on the defensive end.  He makes stupid fouls for slapping, and then he gets caught fouling when he rotates lazily and is slow to get into position.  That doesn't happen with K.G. 

Anyway, my real point for this post is the complete disgrace that is the Minnesota lineup.  Look at this:

Kevin Garnett (two years left) - Superstar.  We all know that, but he has missed the postseason for three straight years.
Mark Blount (three years left) - Excellent when he wants to be.  For the other 95% of the season, he has bad hands, plays no defense, and generally appears apathetic on the court.
Ricky Davis (1 year left, so he's a gem) - Shoots way too much and way too early in the shot clock.  Selfish and probably parties too hard off the court.  His defense is severely lacking to boot.
Troy Hudson (three years left) - Turned his one solid postseason series against the Lakers (granted he was amazing for that series) into a major money deal, and has not been healthy since.  He can score, but shoots too many bad shots.  Think of an always injured version of Earl Boykins. 
Marko Jaric (four years left) - I have never seen Jaric where he looks showered and sober.  I don't know what else to say about him.  By the way, this is who they brought in to replace Sam "big cajones/big shots" Cassell.  Brilliant!
Mike James (three years left) - Shoot first point guard.  I really like his ability to score, but he just doesn't fit with this team, if you can call it that.  He would be better served playing the bootleg role of Chauncey Billups (without the defense).
Trenton Hassell (three years left) - The next jumper he hits will be the first in two years.  He's like Bruce Bowen, ten years from now, with no defense and no three point shot.  He starts by the way.
Randy Foye (three years left, rookie deal) - He should be the budding star to play alongside Garnett, but I fear he has already picked up too many bad habits from Ricky Davis, Mark Blount and Troy Hudson.  Does he flounder before he ever gets a chance?
Mark Madsen (three years left) - He's goofy, uncoordinated, and generally sucks on the court.  He makes Eduardo Najera look like Allen Iverson.  The next jumper he makes will be the first of his CAREER.  He probably belongs on the Wild roster.  Other than that, I love his game.
Rashad McCants (two years left) - Think Ricky Davis, but much shorter and younger.  He does have range though.
Justin Reed (two years left) - He is actually a great pick up.  He could be a solid role player for a winning team.  He does the hustle stuff, and would be willing to do whatever a coach asked of him.  Unfortunately, he can't turn the rest of this roster into sane basketball players.
Bracey Wright (no years left) Remember the O'Bannon brothers?  Bracey will be joining them soon in the hyped college prospect to never translate to an NBA game.
Craig Smith (one year left) Second-round steal for the 'Wolves.  Quite possibly the most tradeable asset they have.  Too bad they are over the cap and he makes nothing.

By the way, the 'Wolves refused to package Eddie Griffin in any deals for two years, because of all of his talent.  Go back through the above roster, and tell me this, where is he?  If he is not there, what did they get for him?  Oh, nothing. 

Next question, why does Kevin McHale still have a job?  Look at this mess, then think about how much they lost out on in the Joe Smith debacle.  Then realize that he did not resign Chauncey Billups.  He also drafted a Ndudi Ebi with a first round pick when they finally had one, Ebi's greatest contribution to the NBA was the fact that his first name reminded everyone of how Kevin McHale has run this franchise.  (For the slow ones out there, it is pronounced D-O-O-D-I-E!)

Agggghhhhh!  Why am I still working in a law firm in Kentucky, when he gets to run an NBA franchise?  I don't care that he is one of the 5 best power forwards of all time, and yes I have a list:

1.  Tim Duncan
2.  Karl Malone
3.  Kevin McHale
4.  Charles Barkley
5.  Kevin Garnett
...
1,098,000.  Me (in high school)
1,098,001.  Mark Madsen

Enjoy the weekend.  Peace out!

It is a little too early for me to do a mock draft.  I'll leave that to Chad Ford, it is his job after all. 

However, I will go on record right now with a way to keep the Sonics in Seattle.  It goes a little something like this:

1. Land the Number 2 pick in this year's Draft.  Check.

2.  Draft Kevin Durant.  Inevitable Check.

2a.  Start Durant at small forward 

3.  Re-sign Rashard Lewis.

4.  Move Rashard Lewis to the four.

5.  Move Chris Wilcox to the center position.

6.  Hire Iavoroni from Phoenix to be the head coach.

7.  Put Nick Collison on the trade block to see what type of swing man you can bring in to the mix. (Perhaps a swap for the versatile Gerald Wallace, Andres Nocioni  or Adam Hermann.)

8.  Bring Robert Swift and Johan Petro off the bench for some size.

9.  Run and gun like the Phoenix Suns.

If they do all of that, the Sonics will sell their arena out every night, and would be a matchup nightmare for nearly ever team in the league.  Remember how well they did when they were running lineups of Ridnour, Allen, Lewis, and Radmanovic?  It will be like that except much, much better. 

So Portland won the Oden sweepstakes which will give them one of the most formiddable front court for the next 10 years.  I really do think that.  Aldridge and Oden will be amazing together.  Aldridge has a smooth jumper from 15 feet and will be a great high post complement to Oden's interior game. 

Honestly, though, Portland is set up for a lot of things this summer, and could seriously shake up the draft.  All the talk has been about Oden, but let us not forget that all the wheeling and dealing Portland did last year not only netted them two of the best rookies last season in Roy and Aldridge, it also allowed them to acquire four 2nd Round picks in this season's NBA Draft.  Everyone agrees that this is one of the most loaded draft classes in a long time, and Portland could use that to their advantage by either stockpiling sleeper picks, or combining picks and players like Magloire, Pryzbilla, or Fred Jones to bring in some more players. 

Zach Randolph is a very tradable commodity.  Then again, so are Joel Pryzbilla and Jamal Magloire.  Sure, Magloire looked like a stiff on the decline last season, but he is still a decent big man.  Last time I checked, there was a serious shortage of those, and serviceable big men are valuable assets.  I think Portland could use some small forward help, and there are two potential sign-and-trade players out there, Rashard Lewis and Gerald Wallace. 

There is also the possibility of trying to combine some of those second round picks to trade into the late first round to get another solid player, if there is a guy available.  Portland could once again be the most active team during the Draft, despite being completely set with the first overal pick.  The options really are endless for Portland right now, and they had no problem wheeling-and-dealing last summer.  With four second round picks, Jones, Pryzbilla, Outlaw, Magloire, and Randolph as potential trade bait, Portland could really shake things up this summer.

Last night provided a new twist for me.  For the past two years, I watched the NBA Lottery in the confines of my penthouse suite (I had 1/2 of then entire upstairs at our rental house).  I watched in my own room because I lived with three SEC fans (two Florida fans, and for the record, Florida fans are less tolerable than Kentucky fans) who thought the NBA was terrible.  Did I think of them as mentally incompetent for such heresy?  Yes, but I chose to watch the past lotteries comfortably instead of listening to them complain.

Well, this year, I watched the NBA Lottery with my soon-to-be wife at our house.  We both got home early enough to have a nice taco salad dinner, and then we popped in disk number 2 of the first season of 24.  We watched one episode that left her on the edge of her seat, so obviously we HAD to watch the next episode as well.  Before we jumped into the second hour of the disk, I flipped to the Lottery which I was recording (I love TiVo, I know I mentioned this before, but I still feel obligated to express my gratitude) and fast-forwarded to the start of the Lottery process.  I even skipped the David Stern interview.  (I watched it later, no worries).  As the lottery process started, and the Clippers landed the 14th pick, I told her that was where they were expected to land.  Then the next 5 places were rattled off, and I continued to explain the odds for each team to select in the first three places.  I had to be sure to let her know that it was a weighted process for the first three places, and then picks 4 through 14 went according to the team's previous record. 

Keep in mind, I wrote an entire law review article (just missed the publishing cut) for my law review on the possibility of Stern and the NBA pushing for an age limit requirement for the NBA Draft two years ago.  This article was based on the Maurice Clarett decision and antitrust laws, and I pushed for a two-year removed from high school cap.  Several months after I wrote the article (that nobody saw), Stern and the NBPA agreed on a one-year requirement, and I secretly patted myself on the back for my analysis.  Anyway, as an introduction to the article, I broke down the history of the NBA Draft Lottery process and how the lottery process came to be.  (For more information on how the Lottery works, go here: http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/history/draft/lottery.htm)

When the Celtics were announced at the fifth spot and the Grizzlies were announce at the fourth spot, I thought of four things: 1) I'm going to be reading a depressing Sports Guy article tomorrow; 2) holy schnikes the Sonics, Blazers, and Hawks possibly won Oden; 3) Patrick Ewing is really big, not Charles Barkley big, but close (lingering thought from his interview); and 4) why did the Grizzlies send Jerry West when he already left the team? 

Anyway, this required further discussion on how the Hawks managed to land two Lottery picks.  I had to explain the fact that Larry Bird and the Pacers owed their pick to Atlanta, unless it landed in the top-3.  Therefore, Larry had to pray to himself, as the Basketball Jesus, that he would get a top-3 pick or lose it to the ATL.  Then, I had to explain that Atlanta lucked out, because they would have sent their pick to Phoenix if they did not land in the top-3, because of a previous trade.  We were possibly watching a juvenation of the ATL Hawks franchise, since they could land Oden and possibly Conley, Jr.  This required some further explanation about the previous trades, and why top-3 picks are protected.  Needless to say, I found the whole thing interesting.  I even paused during the commercial break to try to better explain the whole process, which resulted in a frustrated look and the following statement (paraphrased), "Can we finish this, because I want to see what happens to Jack Bauer's family."  By this time I realized that I was better off explaining the events from the previous seven minutes to the Schnauzer's, Reese and Sam, than to her.  (Those were her dogs before, I have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that I can't seem to pry from my parents grip.) 

All in all, I enjoyed the Draft Lottery (our subsequent hour of Bauer, and the Spurs game), and am looking forward to the fall-out in the coming weeks.  I am also interested to see if the Blazers try to move Zach Randolph to completely eliminate their recent troubled history and bring in some proven veteran winners/leaders and run with their core of Oden, Aldridge, Roy, Jack, Outlaw, and Webster. 

I'll be back in a few days with a preliminary Mock Draft, followed by a second Mock Draft after workouts, and then a final Mock Draft right before the real draft.  Then I'll create my own buzzword to use in my player analysis, something like starlikelengthability.  Isn't that what everybody is supposed to do? 

This is the biggest NBA Draft Lottery ever.  Seriously, only two lotteries have compared to this one, 1997 (where the Celtics were the favorites to land Tim Duncan, and 2003 (henceforth referred to as the "Darko Lott"... I mean the "King James Lottery").  It is interesting to note that the Celtics have been involved in two of these lotteries.  Will they be hurt again?  If so, I think the loyal ESPN.com readers will be served with a never-ending supply of Sports Guy articles on the tragic destruction of the once-proud Celtics.  At least the Red Sox are winning though, and that could salvage some articles.

Anyway, in honor of tonight's festivities, I think I will talk about my five favorite potential lottery picks:

1.  Greg Oden - I jumped on the Kevin Durant bandwagon, and watched every Texas game that I could (I like the Longhorns anyway, so it was an added incentive).  However, Oden is so good.  He's a monster defensively (I keep thinking about his two-handed block of Brewer in the national title game).  He's also an excellent athlete.  He runs the court well, and can jump through the roof.  I think a lot of people will be shocked at how talented he is offensively in the post, because, by my count, we've only seen one or two real games of Greg Oden.  In one of those games, the aforementioned national title game, Oden put up 25 and 13 despite the fact that the Buckeyes forgot he was on the court because they were too busy hoisting stupid threes.  Oh yeah, and those 25 points came while being guarded by Noah, Horford, and Richard.  Last I checked, two of those three were also in the lottery.  He's young, he's talented, and he's a great kid.  What is there not to love. 

2.  Kevin Durant - He will lead all rookies in scoring next year, without a doubt.  He is very close to Carmelo Anthony right now, minus the strength which will come.  Durant is much better outside shooter than 'Melo was, though, and he has better length to get his shots off with both hands, which makes him extra dangerous.  I would not be surprised to see him post better than 20 points per game next season.

3.  Al 'Tito' Horford - Horford has the most NBA-ready body out of any of the lottery picks with the exception of Oden.  The man will come in ready to crash the boards and throw his body around.  He has also added a nice 12- to 15-foot shot, which means he won't have to camp in the low post.  If he can get coupled with another athletic big (Milwaukee or Minnesota would be great fits), then Horford could be a monster.

4.  Corey Brewer - He reminds me so much of the pre-choke Latrell Sprewell.  When Spre was young, he could guard anybody on the court, shoot from everywhere, move the ball, beat everybody in transition, and showed no fear.  If Brewer's ability can translate to the same type of play on the NBA level, he will be an All Star in short time.  Let's just hope he doesn't pick up all of 'Spree's traits.

5.  (Tie) Acie Law, Jeff Green, Julian Wright - Wright and Green are versatile, consistent players.  Perhaps they are just one notch below Brewer on the athleticism scale, but I think they both have more refined games at this point.  Both of these guys are fundamentally solid, and if you are sitting at the 5-8 spot, I don't see how you can pass on someone who could be a solid player for your franchise for 8-9 years.  Law on the other hand, reminds me of a young Sam Cassel.  Maybe his shot is ugly, but he has shown the cajones that Sam always displayed at the end of games.  He will take over in the crunch time and carry teams on his back.  Right now I keep seeing mock drafts placing Law at number 14 for the Clippers.  If he falls that far, 10 teams are really going to be kicking themselves next season. 

Two guys I would avoid:

1.  Joakim Noah - He's Mikki Moore.  Seriously, he is.  Their hair is even similar.  Why would you take a role player at 4-7 who will flounder if he is in the wrong system?  If I'm Phoenix and I have a loaded roster, I would snag him if Brewer was gone, but that is because he would fit well in the up and down system.  He would also come off the bench like Stephen Hunter did a few years ago.  In my opinion, that is where he belongs, and he should not go to a team in need of a starter who will provide big numbers.

2.  Spencer Hawes - When you are a 7'0" white guy, and Chad Ford starts his analysis off you like this, "Hawes doesn't have the athletic upside of many of the top prospects in the draft...", I'm not touching you. 

Enjoy the show tonight. 

***Addendum***

I have one more quick thing to talk about.  How come nobody has talked about the fact that the Atlanta Hawks, the franchise in the most disarray (Seattle and Memphis are just behind them), the franchise that has been so inept at the NBA Draft in recent years (passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams for starters), could possibly land the number 1 and 11 picks? 

They could instantly nab Oden and Conley, pairing Oden with his childhood friend and the guy he has said he desperately to play with at the NBA level.  The Hawks would instantly be one of the top four teams in the East, and would have the potential to have three All Stars (Conley, Oden and Johnson) with the two Joshes and Zaza to boot. 

Their G.M. has screwed up every deal I can think of in recent history, and could luck into these two picks.  That blows my mind.  Yet, nobody has mentioned this anywhere.  Of course, this won't happen, because I am sure that the Hawks have already promised to take Spencer Hawes with the number 1 overall pick, if he is still on the board. 

So at the start of the season I went with a bold pick to be the NBA Champs.  I went with the Western Conference team with a burgeoning star at power forward, a center with the ability to score, a solid defensive shooting guard who could knock down the three ball, a lock-down defender at the small forward, a young dynamic point guard with an incredibly bright future, a solid bench, and a tough, hard-nosed scorer as their sixth man.  Nope, I did not choose the Utah Jazz.  I chose the other Western Conference team that had all those pieces, Los Angeles Clippers, in the hopes that the Clips would build off their earlier successes and make a push for a title for the first time ever.  Whoops.  Here we sit with the Utah Jazz on the verge of making a title run, and I did not see how good that team was going to be.  The sad part about all this, I do not like the Jazz, but man are they ever tough.  They even made the smart decision to change their uniforms to help them win a title, which is a theory I have long held.  (I will write about this some time, but for now, think Colorado Avalance, Denver Broncos, Steve Young's San Francisco 49ers' title, and a handful of others).  Too bad they had to run into San Antonio (who I would have picked, but did not want to seem like a homer who writes how awesome his team is).  Despite missing the prediction for the first game, I do not see the Jazz pulling off the upset.  They will win Game 3 in Utah, but that will be all.  Spurs in 5 games.

As for my other half of the preseason predictions, I had the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the Eastern Conference.  After watching LeBron coast through some of these playoff games, and multiple regular season games, I am not convinced that this team can beat Detroit, especially after adding Chris Webber.  However, I did pick them at the start, and I fell compelled to ride it out.  Therefore, I will have to back my man, Mike Brown, and hope that Sasha Pavlovic's newfound heart can help the Cavs pull this out.  Cavs in 7.

I cannot believe it.  With a never-ending contingent of truly good guys, I have had the benefit of rooting for a team i loved and a bunch of people I truly liked.  How could anyone ever say a negative thing about Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Avery Johnson, Terry Porter, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, or any of the other big names the Spurs have had over the past 12 years.  Sure we had our brief stints with sordid characters, Rod Strickland was a mess as a Spur, David Wingate actually had criminal charges brought against him while he was a Spur, but after the Dennis Rodman debacle, the Spurs made the decision to avoid any and all questionable characters.  Even when Stephen Jackson was in San Antonio, he was a model citizen.  He could drive us bonkers with some of his pouting, but he was fearless on the court.  During his tenure with the Spurs, there was not a chirp about any off-the-cour issues.  Keep in mind, the Spurs worked out at Incarnate Word and then my school, Trinity University, so I had more than enough time to see these guys in action.  Other than parking illegally outside of the gym, which we all did anyway, there were no transgressions whatsoever.  We even had the opportunity to talk to these guys in the weightroom, in the training room, and in the gym.  Steve Smith was incredibly nice, and my roommate Caz actually had a 45-minute conversation with Avery Johnson after one of our football practices.  Caz loved him, and he was a Rocket fan.  These guys were and are truly nice guys. 

But now, in light of the Phoenix series, I apparently root for the new bad guys of the league.  Can it be possible that people hate the Spurs for rattling off fundamentally solid 60+ win seasons?  I have heard detractors before, but that was all because the Spurs were boring and never ran.  This team can get up and down the court with the best of them.  Now, though, the Spurs are a dirty, physical team.  Ha.  I laugh at such nonsense. 

I can only hope that the Spurs will finish this series tonight, so the world will have an opportunity to watch a truly physical series between the Spurs and the Jazz.  The Jazz are coached by one  of the toughest men in the league, and they play the most physical brand of basketball in the NBA.  That will be exciting to watch.  I'm sure the frontrunner fans (you know those guys who put their Laker and Maverick jerseys in the attic and purchased a Suns and Warriors jersey after round 1) won't enjoy the series as much, but I think it will be awesome to watch.