OT: NBA Playoffs are here!

NHL playoffs started first. I will devote no LED pixels to the NBA.

Let's start with a list of my priorities: Spring practice/game >> NBA playoffs MLB regular season >> NBA playoffs NHL playoffs >> NBA playoffs I could go on, but it would just get tedious. That being said, I'll take the Cavs winning it all in 6 against the Mavs. Simply because a rhyming, Mavs-Cavs final would be epic.

Scripted reality TV at its finest...

Thunder over Bobcats in a 7-game slugfest

My Bulls sneaked in! Wooo! NBA haters move along.

Is that the league who uses the illusion of sport to sell shoes?

I had a dream last night that I ate dinner with Eva Longoria and Tony Parker and he was a complete d-bag. Suffice to say I am hoping the Mavericks defeat the Spurs in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

I was drunk and wrote this on my fb the other night. I have a feeling I'm not the only one around these parts with these feelings: Dearest NBA: Firstly I'd like to say thank you for your time. I know you're quite busy preparing a postseason that few have the ability for which to care. I also understand you care little of my opinion. I'm a 26 year old white male and obviously not in your target demographic. Frankly, we've lost our way as a couple. I guess we've known this was coming since 2004. I just don't think either one of us wanted to admit it. That said, I'm leaving you. And I feel it's only fair that I tell you why. Your policies of rewarding tanking teams is what pushed this over the edge for me. Why on earth should I be forced to be angry at the Pacers, one of my top childhood devotions along with the Super Nintendo and pudding pops, for not losing enough games to get a realistic mathematic chance at winning the lottery. Your system has been broken since they changed it. Your one and done policy is killing college basketball. I can't imagine UK fans actually being able to like that "team" Cal and Worldwide Wes threw out there this year. And I can't imagine they will like any of their teams in the near future. You, NBA, need to ditch that rule and let the kids join the league whenever they are capable of being selected and retained by a franchise in your league. It's unbelievably stupid to whore these kids out to a University for one semester (they don't have to go to class second semester) or force them to go to Europe to play for a year. Either make the minimum age 21 or axe it altogether. I can't stand how your players on the court don't constantly try. I hate how the players don't really care to play hard against one another. Instead they're hugging before and after the games. There are no longer rivalries that persist from year to year. I agree that the Heat/Knicks "rivalry" was downright painful to watch, but if the officiating had been better I bet the quality of play would have improved as well. Speaking of officiating you absolutely need to fire every official that is in service past the age of 50. There are times we all must retire from our chosen profession. Expecting 50 year old men to keep up with Lebron and Durant is absolutely stupid. Also, you need to revamp your training and evaluation system. Referees that cater to stars, call a game inconsistently, or are even suspected of fixing games should be fired immediately. Get some folks out there who take some pride in their job. And pay them a decent wage so they will keep improving for their own sake. The final straw is the luxury tax, NBA. You have welcomed your first foreign billionaire owner who will care nothing for the luxury tax. These owners (it's naive to think more aren't on their way) will begin to outspend the others and turn the league into something resembling the English Premiership. Small market teams will have no chance to compete until purchased by another billionaire. You absolutely need to hard cap the league in your next set of negotiations or you will die a quick death in the American public's eyes. So that's it, NBA. I feel you're beyond being more fan-friendly as a marketable product. I'm taking my money elsewhere. There will always be a spot in my heart for the Pacers but I can't continue under these conditions. There really is no hope for us, anymore. You've simply pushed me too far away. In before negs because I'm a Pacers fan...

nt

I know it's lame to go with best records, but I think this is the most probable outcome, and I'd be pretty happy with it. I'd love to see Bron get his first ring this year, hopefully of many, as I think the guy's a much more sympathetic character than Jordan, and I think the world could use a new GOAT.

back to back.

If you really like and watch basketball (and have moved in your intellectual capacities past "they play no defense" "it's all a 1-on-1 game" "too many THUGS!!1!"), there is almost nothing better than the NBA playoffs. These guys coast through a regular season that is entirely too long and pointless, but they turn it all the way up for these games. It's usually incredibly high quality basketball, and you get the added bonus of feeling like you're watching in a room with Chuck, Kenny and EJ half the time (and the other half, you get to listen to Van Gundy ask why Mark Jackson and Breen won't invite him to dinner - it's win-win). I get the hockey fans loving their sport (I'm a mid-level fan but very frequent player), and really get why everyone hates the regular season, but why the hate for the playoffs?

Don't think the Mavs are that good but matchups are favorable for them and they're the only healthy team in the West. Portland over Phoenix is the only major first round upset I expect.

The NBA playoffs are as legitimate as professional wrestling.

I actually care because my home team (the Atlanta Hawks) are decent and have made yet another playoff run. "Yet another" playoff run? Uh, what?

NBA PLAYOFFS!!!! THIS IS MY NCAA TOURNAMENT!! I watch every game I can, and I always get way too excited (but how can you not?). As much as I like the Cavs, and as much as they've been hyped, there are a few things that make me weary. Last year's team was, according to the numbers, much better defensively. This year's team is better offensively, but I'm of the mind that defense wins championships. Call me crazy, but I'm not a huge fan of 38 year old, coming off an injury, Shaq. Antawn Jamison is definitely an upgrade, but I think that the Magic are better than last year. I guess I'm a hypocrite, because I always laugh at those experts, and my friends, in my fantasy baseball leagues who draft Francisco Liriano every year in the hopes that THIS is the year he finally returns to form, but I think that THIS is the year the Vince Carter finally cares enough to carry a team all the way to the finals. He certainly has the talent. If you watch him night in and night out, then you understand that Vince can make shots that only one other player on the planet can make, Kobe Bryant. This is his year. Magic vs. Lakers in the finals. Sadly, even in Vince's best year, he can't match the best closer, and still the best all around basketball player in the game, Kobe Bryant (sorry 'Bron, but until you learn to shoot, you'll never better than Kobe). Lakers in 7.

The NBA playoff games.....best sleep you'll ever get!