There was a fair amount of drama and some good basketball being played in the past couple weeks as part of the NBA Playoffs. Even though the Bulls are no longer in, I plan on predicting everything down to the NBA Finals, if for no other reason than I like to prognosticate things.
For the most part, I share Geoffy's thoughts about this Bulls season. I'm disappointed they got ousted by the Heat again, though I expected it, and they gave the Heat a decent series. I'm immensely proud of this Bulls team for sticking together and overachieving without their best player, and I'm looking forward to next season.
So without further ado, here's how I figure the conference championships are going to play out.
I will freely admit: when it comes to LeBron James and the Miami Heat, I am probably incredibly biased. Put them against my Bulls, and that bias grows against this super team from South Beach. After seeing some video of last night's Game 3 though, I had to write something. I may not have gotten to see the game since I went to see Iron Man 3, but from what I've seen, some things need to be addressed.
Coming into this series, I didn't expect the Bulls to win. I don't think my favorite Bulls expert Geoffy did either. I did expect the Bulls to give the Heat hell, and to an extent they have. But like Geoffy said, I think the Heat have gotten into the Bulls' heads a little bit. I love the fact that this series has brought back playoff basketball from the "good old days" when Michael Jordan played, but I fear this Bulls team is going in the direction of the Bad Boy Pistons... and I'm not overly thrilled about it.
It's the playoffs; hard fouls are going to happen. You have to keep your cool through it all. Miami has lost theirs some, but the Bulls have lost theirs more. I love that there's fire in this team. That's what makes me love Joakim Noah (especially for the GIF to the right) and even though he scares me sometimes, Nate Robinson. That block on LeBron was amazing. This team is going to make Miami earn every win they get. And so far, the Heat have definitely earned their two wins in this series. LeBron raised his game a level since Game 1. Miami absolutely deserves to be up in this series, and they're clearly the best team in the league.
But there's things that continue to bother me about this Miami team, hence the title of the post. The biggest moment last night came in the 2nd quarter:
Did LeBron deserve a technical for the extra-curricular shove he put on Nazr Mohammed? Probably. Did Nazr deserve to get tossed for his shove after that? Yeah, absolutely. But when I saw this the first time, my first thought was "LeBron flopped". Yeah, Nazr should have kept his head there and not shoved LeBron. It might have changed the complexion of the game. It was dirty.
But the thing I take away even after having some second thoughts watching this YouTube video a couple times continues to be, "LeBron flopped". Even Tom Thibodeau, someone who I wouldn't necessarily expect to call out an opponent for something like that, said that there was some flopping. Think back to that game where the Bulls broke Miami's long winning streak and LeBron's flagrant foul. Boozer barely budged when LeBron ran into him. Now seemingly the strongest guy in the league, who couldn't knock over Carlos Boozer, is going to fall over after a shove? It doesn't smell right. And if you watch that Nate Robinson block again, Marco Belinelli gets the rebound and Wade flops. It's disgusting.
This Miami team, if they win the title, will probably go into lore as one of the best teams of all time, and they should. The Bulls will not go quietly and Miami will have to earn this series win. But there's a reason people hate this Miami Heat team. It's not because they're talented; I respect their talent. But this is a dirty team that whines and flops, and the ultimate thing I can say about that LeBron play above, or Wade's flop? "MJ would never have done that. Not in a million years." That is why I hate Miami, dislike James, and hate Wade. As talented as these guys are, flopping should be the farthest thing from their mind, not their go-to tactic. Play the game the right way.
I may not be a pundit when it comes to predicting things (my NCAA tournament record speaks for itself), but I think I did all right when it came to first round predictions. Six out of eight isn't too bad, and neither is successfully predicting the entire Eastern Conference for the first round (plus nailing the number of games on three of those series), so naturally I'm going to try to build on that success only to watch everything crash and burn in the next round. Hey, at least I'm honest and realistic about it.
On the whole though, most of the series went the way people were expecting things to break, though I think some people may have been surprised by Golden State Steph Curry going off like he did, and maybe the way the Clippers collapsed, so now I don't have to listen to the KTLA people go on about either Los Angeles basketball team. Good times.
Anyway, here's how I'm thinking the next couple rounds break:
So a rare glimpse into the personal life of yours truly: on my usual Fridays off, I take Logan off to school in the mornings and come home to relax a little bit. Today was a little different in that I was heading to my fiancee's house. The original reasoning for it was that they were down a car and I was taking her mom to work today to help them out. I was mistaken. Kristen had set me up: she had taken the day off of work and had completely fooled me with an elaborate plan that led to a fun afternoon, culminating in this:
My four years at North Central College on the WONC staff taught me a lot about the world of broadcasting. On air shifts were the most important thing, of course, but there was an academic side to it, with readings weekly about different broadcast-related topics, and almost all of them had something to do with the FCC. Mostly, it was about things they could fine you for (read: don't do this at WONC, lest we get levied a heavy fine and the station has to shut down), and these things appeared on tests during my time there (I take responsibility for this my senior year, since I wrote the tests).
On the broadcasting side of things in terms of being on the air (with a good concentration in sports), there were probably three major lessons I learned.
"W" is pronounced "Double-You", and anyone who pronounces it differently will be promptly corrected. It's John Madormo's pet peeve (so that's probably where I picked it up) and it probably put you on his hit list.
Don't even speculate possible reasons for why a door in a press box slams shut on air. You will incur the wrath of Naperville North's "Press Box Mom". For the record, I wasn't the speculator, but I was there when it happened, and being both the Assistant Sports Director and the guy calling the Huskies' football game the following week (against Central, no less), I was put in the unenviable position of trying to clean up that mess with the Press Box Mom (which ultimately was resolved).
"If you wouldn't say it to your grandmother, don't say it on air." -"ancient" radio proverb, regarding the use of strong language in a broadcast setting.
It's that last one that has a lot of people buzzing after the Boston Red Sox game at Fenway yesterday.
With a little bit of time today, I figured I'd try to throw out a quick playoff preview for the NBA. I'm not going to try to predict the entire tournament, but all the first round games should be a good exercise.
I'll go through each series one by one and at the end predict who I think will advance. I'll try and do separate ones for each round, though I end up falling in the group of people that think it will be Miami against probably San Antonio or Oklahoma City again in the Finals. Basketball seems easily predictable like that.
Without further ado, here's how I think the first round plays out.
Eastern Conference
(1) Miami Heat vs (8) Milwaukee Bucks
Miami, to no surprise, wound up as the consensus best team in the league and earned the top seed out east for the first time in the LeBron era. Meanwhile you have a Milwaukee team that picked up J.J. Redick at the deadline to help make a run to help Brandon Jennings out. Milwaukee might be able to make these games at least somewhat competitive but otherwise this should be over quickly. Heat in four. (2) New York Knicks vs (7) Boston Celtics
It's kind of crazy how Boston has fallen even though I think everyone expected them to fall off each of the last couple years. Without Rajon Rondo though this Celtics team is down to basically just Garnett and Pierce, though Jeff Green has had his moments. Meanwhile newly crowned scoring champ Carmelo Anthony finally seems to have a really good supporting cast around him and Mike Woodson is a good coach. The C's will make this a series but we're looking at an early exit for them this year. Knicks in six.
(3) Indiana Pacers vs (6) Atlanta Hawks
It's kind of amazing how the Hawks have been able to survive without Joe Johnson and still be a decent team, but you have to continue to credit guys like Al Horford and Josh Smith for carrying this team. Indiana survived losing Danny Granger to win the division. This tough team that plays a similar style to the Bulls likely won't have issues here. Pacers in five. (4) Brooklyn Nets vs (5) Chicago Bulls
I'm going to defer to Geoffy for most of the in-depth analysis here. In the grand scheme of things though, I think the Bulls' experience, even without Derrick Rose and possibly Joakim Noah should be enough. Angry Thibs will make sure "WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO WIN WITH." Bulls in seven.
Western Conference (1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs (8) Houston Rockets
After falling short in the Finals last year, Sam Presti decided to send James Harden and his beard away, and ended up in Houston where Daryl Morey looks like more of a genius than normal after rebuilding this team's core. Even with that though, I don't think Houston has the firepower to keep up with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Thunder in five. (2) San Antonio Spurs vs (7) Los Angeles Lakers
I'm not going to lie; I wanted the Lakers to miss the playoffs because of the overhyping and also because it would have been hilarious to see the Lakers without a first round pick and out of the playoffs. Given what happened to Kobe though, I'm kind of glad they did make it for him. Even with that though, I don't think the Lakers have the depth to take out the Spurs. Tony Parker has been really good, and Tim Duncan is still chugging along despite his age. Spurs in five. (3) Denver Nuggets vs (6) Golden State Warriors
Denver went on a nice little win streak for part of the year as well, and they have a very well balanced team that will be a tough out, especially with home court. This team plays pretty good defense, which is a necessity against Steph Curry. He will not make this series easy. At the end of the day though I have to go with the overall better team. Nuggets in six. (4) Los Angeles Clippers vs (5) Memphis Grizzlies
It's kind of amazing to see something of a changing of the guard in Los Angeles with the Clippers winning the division instead of the Lakers. This team continues to have its amazing moments, and Chris Paul is still up to his usual shenanigans at the point. Memphis has great defense again this year and even after trading away Rudy Gay they're a tough out. I do think the Clippers have the edge though. Clippers in seven.
Game Summary
In my first ever NHL game in person, the Blackhawks (34-5-4, 72 pts) got off to a good start and scored in the opening 5 minutes (on a power play no less!) after some good early chances. But Nashville (15-21-9, 39 pts) came back quickly and scored twice to take the lead about halfway through the first period. The Hawks were able to tie it up before the intermission though and head to the locker room at 2-2. Chicago took leads in both the second and third periods but gave up tying goals to the Preds both times. The turning point of the game came with less than a minute to go when, while still tied, Rich Clune drew blood from Marcus Kruger with a high stick, earning a double minor that carried over into the extra session. Using their stars, it only took a minute for Marian Hossa to put an end to a dramatic game.
3 Stars
Celebrating the win from the 300 level of the Madhouse.
3. Jonathan Toews (CHI): 2 A, 2 SOG, +1.The captain had a couple nice plays to help out on the pair of first period goals, and played well defensively. He was out on the ice for all 52 seconds of overtime as well. Overall a good game for him (clearly the Toews shirt I was wearing underneath my borrowed Seabrook jersey worked well.) 2. Matt Halischuk (NAS): 2 G, A, 4 SOG, +3.That's a pretty good line. Halischuk scored Nashville's first goal and I think was originally given credit for the second (though that was changed during the first intermission) but scored again in the second on a breakaway (read: defensive breakdown) and assisted on Nashville's goal in the third. This is only his second full year in the big time, but he's a talented kid. We'll be hearing from him a fair amount. 1. Duncan Keith (CHI): G, 2 A, 4 SOG, Even.Keith scored the Hawks' first goal on the power play on a nice pass from Stalberg and played pretty good defense throughout. He was also out on the ice for all of overtime and got an assist for Hossa's winner.
The Blackhawks Experience
I've been to the United Center a few times, but mostly for Bulls games (a couple of which were bonuses for getting to see Aurora Christian play Wheaton Academy there) and most recently for an MDA Muscle Walk where I got to peek in briefly on a morning skate. Being there for a Hawks game for the first time was quite the experience. Hearing the airhorn and Chelsea Dagger in person was a lot of fun, and of course, the anthem, while not quite as loud as I was expecting, was still something to behold in person.
I was at this game with my fiancee Kristen (a fellow NHL virgin coming into tonight) and her cousin, who has been to hundreds of Hawks games in her lifetime and is a die-hard who supported the team even in the lean years. Kristen is not really a sports fan by any means (so the fact that she's willing to spend the rest of her life with me is a blessing I am incredibly thankful for), but she got into the game quite a bit. Hockey is often spoken of as the best live sporting event of the four major American sports, and I think tonight proved it. Kristen knew little about hockey rules and such coming in but caught on quickly, and even said she'd go again. And so would I, in a heartbeat. We really enjoyed it.
Final Thoughts
Early this week I had been talking to Kristen's cousin about the possibility of this game being for home ice thoughout the Western playoffs, but Monday's win over Dallas and Anaheim's overtime loss to Columbus on Wednesday sealed that spot early. Either way it was good to get 2 points instead of just 1, especially on a night when Corey Crawford (23 saves) wasn't quite at his best (made some good saves, but also allowed some goals he shouldn't have). With a 6 point lead over Pittsburgh with 5 apiece left, the Hawks find themselves in the driver's seat for the President's Trophy, which would be only their second in franchise history if I counted the banners right. Obviously this scares me a bit given the bad luck Trophy winners have had in recent postseasons, but I think this Hawk team, especially when fully healthy, should be able to beat anyone in a best-of-7 series.
