FANtastic!

You guys always have given me shit for still watching the NBA, and generally ignoring college basketball. And I'm the first to admit that the league struggled without Michael and the Shaq-less Lakers. But I'll be damned if the NBA may have finally returned. The 2006 Playoffs (so far) have been classic. Classic.

And in case you missed the 1st round, here's were some of observations (I'll be brief):

HEAT-BULLS
I've said once before but I really believe it - my old favorite team is one big man away from being a serious championship contender. The Baby Bulls were fun to watch - a fiesty, hustling and very fundamental team. If only they hadn't traded Elton Brand for a pick they used on Tyson Chandler. What could have been.

Shaq looked rejuvenated in Game 6. He finished with 34 and 23. Only the 6th player to ever do it in the postseason; 11th time for Shaq. It was scary to watch a man his size move that quick and with finesse. If he plays like that, the Heat will be tough for anyone to beat.

CAVS-WIZ
A great series to "witness". Why isn't someone testing LeBron for steroids? When he drives to the basket, it's like a runaway train going downhill - simply unstoppable. And whatever he said to Gilbert Arenas before GA missed the would-be gamewinning free throws, it was a throwback moment. Couldn't you see Barkley or Jordan or Bird doing the same thing back in the day? Shoutout to Antawn Jamison - nice job cutting off the baseline! I bet Dean Smith and Phil Ford rolled over in their graves when they saw him let Bron Bron drive baseline for the buzzerbeater. BTW, the Wizards are the worst defensive team I've ever seen in the playoffs.

SPURS-KINGS
Bonzi fuckig Wells. If you could name an MVP for every round, Bonzi would have been 1st round MVP. I've never seen one player singlehandedly dominate the Spurs like that. He earned himself a lot of money this offseason. I'm Isiah Thomas and the Knicks will find a way to overpay for him. Bonzi should stay off the doughnuts though - the rolls of fat on the back of his neck were pretty disturbing.
The Spurs may be vulnerable. They didn't look good after Game 1. The next series vs Dallas should be awesome now that Duncan is healthy again.

SUNS-LAKERS
A GREAT series. Phoenix almost blew the series when they handed Game 5 to LA and Kobe hit the buzzerbeater. I thought the Lakers were moving on and Phil Jackson had pulled off his greatest coaching job (when you convince a gunner like Kobe to defer to teammates like Smush Parker, Devon George and Luke Walton, you've deserve an award). But the Suns wouldn't go away. Tim Thomas saved the day in Game 6.
I thought Game 7 would be a great game. Well it could have been. But 1) Phoenix was running on all cylinders. They ran the fast break to perfection. 2) the Lakers defense was atrocious; it looked like the Suns were running layup drills. 3) Kobe completely disappeared; he scored just 1 point in the 2nd half and only took 3 shots. THREE!

Charles Barkley had an interesting theory as to why. He thought Kobe sold out his team so no one would blame him for the loss, instead theyd blame his teammates for not contributing. What a dickhead. And people thought he was an MVP? Puh-lease. Would any NBA legend take 3 shots when his team was letting a game get away in a Game 7? You think Jordan or Isiah or hell Dominque Wilkins would have only taken 3 shots? Never. Enjoy the offseason, asshole.

Early 2nd round predictions:
Pistons over Cavs in 5
Heat over Nets in 6
Clippers over Suns in 6
Spurs over Mavs in 7


JD