Why? Because it just needs to happen, to make my life complete. Oh, and Anthony needs to lead the Nets to a championship.

Everyone knows of the rumors of Carmelo coming to the Nets. And if you don’t shame on you. But if that happened, imagine how great that would be. That trade woud be up there with the Nets stealing Kidd and Carter from the Suns and Raps, respectively. I mean, Carmelo Anthony, one of the top young players in the game…for RJ? Are you kidding me? That’s a no-brainer. Carmelo’s twice the player Jefferson is. It’d be a dream for me, with my Nets-Orange fandom.

So, the other night, I caught the Lakers’ win over San Antonio, in L.A. How amazing was that? Who wasn’t surprised and amazed when the Lakers came back from a 20 point lead?! It was such a good win for L.A., though. For L.A.’s bench to make such a run, and Kobe to follow up by leading another run, thereby giving L.A. the victory was great. (As you can tell, I’m sick of San Antonio.)

Also, anyone else surprised with the improve game of Sasha Vujacic? Wow, what a player he’s become. His defense has improve greatly, and his shot selection is looking much better than it previously was. Not to mention those clutch free throws in Game 1. I used to think he was trash…I was definitely wrong about him.

Anyways, the Game 2 was tonight, and how thankful was I to hear that, while I on my walk, the Lakers had blown out the Spurs by 30 points! That’s the best thing I’ve heard since…well, since Kidd got traded for Devin Harris. I hope this trend of the Lakers whooping the Spurs continues, because I can’t stand the Spurs.

So, for the Pistons-Celtics series…shall we consider that over? With the Pistons’ win at Boston, home court advantage has shifted to the Pistons. Now, all the Pistons have to do is win at home in the rest of the series, and they’re the Eastern Conference Champs. Of course, the Pistons did lose one against the 76ers, of all teams. But Boston hasn’t won yet away from home. And I really doubt the Pistons are gonna underestimate the Celtics, as they know perfectly well what they’re capable of.

The keys to the Pistons winning this series is gonna be Chauncey and Sheed: For one, is Chauncey healthy enough to lead his team to the Finals, and will he be able to stay healthy throughout the whole series? Let’s hope so. And will Sheed step up to the call, and get the better of Garnett in the series? I think he will. He matched his average last night of 13 points, played good defense, and his teammates stepped up from the Game 1 blowout. I think that, as long as Chauncey’s fine and healthy, this series should be Detroit’s for the taking.

Since my hopes for a Hornets-Magic Finals were squashed in the second round, I’m hoping this round will make up for it, by providing with about an equally entertaining Lakers-Pistons Finals.

Well, All-NBA teams were named. And, not surprisingly, the 1st team was full of potential MVP candidates: Kobe, Paul, Garnett, Lebron, and Howard. 2nd team was pretty good, too: Nash, Deron, Dirk, Amare, and Duncan.

The third team, however, made me a bit puzzled: Mcgrady (who played through the whole 22-game win streak, OK), Paul Peirce (best team in the league, OK), and Boozer, Ginobili (?), and Yao (??). Boozer, well, I guess you could make a case for him. He played really good this year, although it could be argued that what Antawn Jamison or David West did for their teams was better and more important, considering one helped to carry his injury-depleted team, and the other helped to get his team the 2nd best record in the West. And Yao, he was a part of that 22 game win streak…although Yao couldn’t even qualify for being a scoring leader.

And Manu Ginobili? Are you kidding me? That “6th man”? I won’t even get into the fact that he shouldn’t be a 6th man. But naming him to the third team? That’s ridiculous…especially considering the SECOND BEST team in the league, Detroit, didn’t get one player on any of the teams. And on that Detroit team, Chauncey Billups, the best player on the team; the leader on the team; the guy who makes the Pistons run, and makes all those clutch shots that got them to win quite a lot of those 59 wins - was barely considered. Hell, three players (all on the same team) were chosen ahead of Chauncey - Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, and Marcus Camby. Why? Was it stats? Lack of media coverage? Or just pure ignorance? I don’t know, and I don’t really care…but it’s still pretty messed up. Chauncey is a better player, and more important to his team, than Manu Ginobili.

Oh well, I guess these All-NBA teams aren’t much to get riled up about, anyways. After all, most of these awards are pretty much meaningless.

Wow, talk about an unexpected blowout.

Let me start this out by saying that it was unfortunate that Chauncey Billups went down for Detroit in the 1st quarter. I’m all for having both teams at 100%, and having the truly better team win the series that way. Let’s not forget, though - Brian Cook, who became an important role player off the bench for the Magic before he got injured, is not available until the next round…but hopes the join the team by the middle of this series. The Magic’s bench has been looking pretty weak this series…though, of course, Chauncey’s importance to his team is far greater than Cook’s.

Although Chauncey’s injury was unfortunate, it was clear before he went into the locker room that this game was in control by the Magic from the beginning. They limited turnovers, established Dwight in the post, attacked the rim, made three’s, and defended well throughout the game. Dwight was getting his throughout the game, and taking to the Pistons when he got the chance.

The game started out strong by Jameer: he did exactly what was needed, and built upon what he did last game. He set the tone for his team, and helped them build an early lead. Rashard knocked down 3’s throughout the game, and the whole Magic team shot the 3 ball well, making 11 of 28 three pointers.

Rodney Stuckey had his best playoff game yet - with 18 points, playing in place of Billups. He took advantage of a big size difference between Jameer and himself, and got to line to sink 9 of 9 free throws. Rip Hamilton attempted to lead the team, along with Tayshaun Prince, while Rasheed had an off game and Maxiell struggled against Howard. At one point, the Pistons, led by Hamilton, Prince, and Stuckey, valiantly attempted to make a run at the Magic without their leader on the court with them. However, it was all in vain, as the Magic built onto their lead with 3 pointers and Dwight Howard’s dominance. The bench…well, to be more specific…Keyon Dooling really helped out the Magic during that stretch as well, by knocking down shots and playing some pretty good defense on Hamilton and Stuckey.

Hedo, Rashard, and Jameer combined their abilities to be play makers for the Magic and run the team, and they did a pretty damn good job, too: 15 assists, 3 turnovers; with 1 turnover from each player. The team as a whole took care of the ball well, ending up with only 11 turnovers…compared to 19 in the previous game. That’s a huge turnaround, and if they continue this throughout the series, then the Magic’s outlook for this series looks waaay better than it did after the first two games.

I hope Chauncey Billups is okay, and feels better after this game, because this wouldn’t be a good series without him. I wish him all the best in recovering for next game…or at least by the end of the series.

Also, I feel the need to add that the Hedo to Dwight alley-oop was sick. Pretty much summed up the game in one play: great passing by the Magic players, and great play down low by Dwight.

Amid the 3rd quarter “clock error” in Game 2 was the big picture as to why the Magic lost game 2: 19 turnovers to 16 assists, bad shots, and only 23 shots at the free throw line. Compare that to Detroit’s 23 assists to 8 turnovers, good shot selection, and 28 shots at the free throw line, in which they converted 86% of them, and you’ve got another loss for the Magic at Detroit.

So what went wrong exactly? Well, to start, Orlando kept on throwing the ball away. The Pistons had some good pressure defense, and the refs were allowing contact. Therefore, bad passes, incomplete plays, and Dwight getting more turnovers than trips to the free throw line. The Pistons played aggressive defense against Hedo, and his usual 4th quarter heroics were non-existent in Game 2. The Magic did catch fire from three-point land in the 4th quarter, but they eventually cooled off and their drives to the basket produced little.

For Game 3, the Magic need to start, first and foremost, with taking care of the ball. a 16 to 19 assist-to-turnover ratio is just ugly. Stay away from turnovers. Make smart passes - don’t just throw the ball away. If Dwight’s getting double- or triple-teamed, he needs to know when to pass the ball out to the perimeter, or a cutting player (such as Maurice Evans, the recipient of many assists from Howard in the regular season and First Round of the Playoffs).

In the Playoffs, Dwight has consistently done a few things: rebound, block shots, make easy shots down low, defend well, turn the ball over, and been inconsistent at the free throw line. Against Toronto, this was fine. His teammates, along with what he was doing right, could make up for what he was doing wrong. Against Detroit, however, it’s a different story. Dwight needs to limit his turnovers, as he did in Game 1. He also needs to pull of what he did in Game 2 - and make at least 70% of free throws. What his teammates need to do is feed him the ball. We saw what happened in Game 2 when he actually got the ball in the post - when he didn’t turn it over, he established a good post presence to keep the game close.

Dwight’s teammates, on the other hand, need to do something they’ve been doing the whole season: make open shots, make good, smart plays, and stay aggressive. This includes Rashard Lewis, who needs to get aggressive when going to the basket. Instead of lightly throwing the ball up…so that it could fall off the rim, he needs to just go up and dunk it in, or muscle his opponents to get the ball to fall in. Hedo as well: in Game 2, there were frequent attempts at which he was just throwing the ball up when he got close to the rim. Normally, he makes those, but when those aren’t falling, what he needs to do is go straight into the defense, and attempt to get a foul. Zero free-throws is unacceptable for a team’s primary ball-handler and play-maker.

Jameer, as opposed to his other teammates, had a great game in Game 2 - he made shots, attacked the basket, limited turnovers. He simply needs to continue doing what he was doing for the Magic, and build onto his good game.

For Detroit to win at Orlando, they need to continue doing what they’re doing…and not let up at all. We’ve seen their Achilles heel - their “cockiness”, which shows when playing down to an opponent. They need to remember the Sixers series, and not forget that these are Playoff teams - just because you’re favored by the media, and just because you had the second best record in the league, it doesn’t mean these teams will just roll over and die. They’ll put up a good fight. Orlando knows what it takes to win, and they have good leaders in Hedo, Dwight, and Jameer. They know what their capable of, and that’s something Detroit shouldn’t forget.

Game 3 should be a good indicator in whether or not Orlando has a chance to come back in this series. These next 2 games are must-wins for them.

Welcome to The NBA: Where pegs happens. Call me peg, I’ll be your blogger for this evening.

It’s a blog about the NBA, of course. I’ll have this blog as my own personal blog, and the S2 NBA Blog for the “official” NBA Blog. Most of my blogs will be seen on both pages. For now, I’ll be writing about the Playoffs, Draft, and any other random stuff that happens at the NBA during this time

I figure I should introduce myself: my name, I’ll keep anonymous, because I guess it seems cooler that way. I live in Utica, New York, and it sucks here. Currently, the places I’d like to play basketball suck, you either get kicked out, the baskets are too shitty, or you have to wait 2 hours to get on the court. I’m hoping to relocate after I’m done with college, to somewhere down south…possibly Florida.

My interests are: basketball, females, girls, women, video games (I have a PSP), extracurricular activities every once in a while, and food (who doesn’t have food as an interest?).

I currently go to the State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNY IT), as a Computer Science major. I know a good deal about computers, I know html and java.

My favorite teams in the NBA are, first and foremost, the New Jersey Nets, but also the Seattle Supersonics in the West. As for teams currently in the playoffs, I’m rooting for a Hornets/Magic finals. I also love College Basketball, and my favorite team for life is, has always been, and always will be the Syracuse Orange. I bleed Orange.

My favorite all-time NBA player is Shawn Kemp. He was my favorite player growing up. My favorite players right now are Hakim Warrick and Sean Williams, for obvious reasons. My favorite college player of all-time has to be none other than Sherman Douglas. He was the man with Syracuse. My favorite current college player is Johnny Flynn. He’s the best player Syracuse has had since Carmelo left the building.

I also enjoy watching the Atlanta Braves play. I’m not an MLB fan, and I find watching any team other than the Braves play extremely dull. For some reason, watching the Braves play is just that cool. My favorite MLB player is Chipper Jones, always has been….because he’s just that good. I’m loving what he’s doing this season.
Thanks for visiting my blog! I’ll look forward to comments.