The West is gonna be sick and awesome! The East sucks and always will.

Bulls, Heat, Pacers, Celtics. Blah. Go C's to win it all though!

The Spurs *could* lose to the Jazz, but it won't happen I don't think. You are right DFS by astutely pointing ou that they are like the Grizz from last year. But the Spurs are the deepest team in the league and it's not even close. Duncan and all their studs have had extremely reduced minutes this year and should be fresh and fine.

Thunder should dispatch whomever they face. Not worried there. Thunder vs C's!!!

God I hope the Lakers lose to the Nuggets. FINGERS CROSSED!

Flop City vs the Grizz should be great. I'm really liking the Grizz to advance again this year.

daddyfatsax wrote:
Vin Baker/Derrick Coleman would be a wonderful twist to the "spoiled superstar demanding out" routine.

Hakeem, the Admiral, and MJ never demanded a trade to a better team because they weren't good enough to carry their own teams.

What I am saying categorically here is that Dwight Howard is a pansy.

College Wolf wrote:
Ok the article I just read says he will miss playoff games, but I could have sworn that today on Around the Horn they were talking about it and they were all pissed because he wasn't going to miss any of the playoffs.

I hope the Mavs take out OKC in the first round. Westbrook will find a way to screw everything up again.

I like the Grizz, Spurs, & Nuggets in the West.

C's all the way in the East, although I am neutral on the Pacers and Bulls.

roundhouse wrote:
My emotional picks:
Mavs
Grizz
Jazz
Nuggets

Chicago
NY
Indiana
Boston

Boston and Utah in the finals!

There are quietly a lot of teams worth rooting for in these playoffs.

I could see myself rooting for either UTA or SAN in that series. San Antonio has quietly become a team to appreciate after a decade of hatred. How does Popp do it? He creates NBA careers out of nothing. Potentially the best coach ever if you aren't using rings as a gauge. Maybe their FO just finds the right guys. If you were undrafted, wouldn't you want to get to the Spurs as quickly as possible so they could sprinkle their magic powder on you and make you an NBA rotation player from day 1? Screw the Thunder (luck) model. The Spurs FO absolutely knows what they are doing. Best in the league.

Both LA teams can die. Sick of the Clippers already. Blake Griffin's dunks are old news. For LAL, Artest is out and he is the one who keeps things emotional and physical in Lakers series' and starts the scuffles everyone secretly loves but pretends not to. Everyone else just sits and bitches at the refs, Love-style.

Memphis, but only for Tony Allen. He is the face of that team as far as I'm concerned. Not really, but he is the most fun to watch on MEM I think.

Boston, obvi. Can't wait.

Dallas. I want to see Dirk completely take over at least 2-3 games in the 4th quarter like he did last playoffs.

Miami swept in first round please. Nothing else to add.

Love the Pacers in the east. Physical battles in the playoffs are much more fun to watch than high scoring shootouts in my opinion.

Denver for Brewer only. Otherwise, I am jealous of their team. Traded Melo and stayed good. Always overachieving. Makes me bitter.

OKC of course, but I get the feeling everyone will be sick of them in 2-3 years and the novelty will wear off.

Should be a really good playoff run. Starters have been sitting sporadically all month so everyone should be fresh.

daddyfatsax wrote:
I love the Clay Davis "shiiiiiiiiat"

I like the Grizzlies in this series too. They are so gritty. I can't wait to watch them get nasty & physical with Blake. I can't wait to watch Foye totally fail in this series. I can't wait to read crazy Tony Allen's tweets. I can't wait to watch Z-Bo go to work.

BonK wrote:

What's going on with Z-Bo? Don't think he will be near as good as last year.
I like Memphis, Indiana, Phila, Utah. Don't like the Clippers, Chicago and the Spurs. Hate you already know which team...

Flash wrote:
Yea, it takes a while to get right after surgery like that. His mobility, balance, explosion, etc. have to get right. Considering his lack of reliance on athleticism in the first place, that makes me sad to think that Rubio might not be Rubio again until after Christmas...

daddyfatsax wrote:
That's why we should really consider a 1 year overpayment of Nash or Kidd if it is even remotely realistic (which it isn't). That way this team can at least compete worth a damn until Rubio can come back. This team completely fell apart with two shoot first PG's running the offense.

My personal preferences:

Heavily rooting for the Celtics.

Definitely rooting for the Thunder in the West (love Durantula, Perkins, Harden).

I like Indiana (play the right way, underappreciated, like Hibbert).

I kind of want the Lakers to win in the 1st round because I think Thunder/Lakers in the 2nd round would be awesome.

Definitely rooting for Memphis over Clippers (don't like Griffin or Foye, like TA, Mayo, Conley, & Z-Bo...and their style of play & grit) and whoever they get in the 2nd round between Spurs & Jazz.

Want the Knicks to upset the cHeat just because I want anyone but the cHeat to win it all.

Want Chicago to advance (JoNo & Rose rule, Thibs gets my utmost respect, have a few friends that are Bulls fans).

OKC has a lot of likeable players (other than Westbrook), but I just hate everything else about that team. #1 is obviously Clay Bennett and the way he schemed all along to snatch the team from Seattle, but also just things like their name. The "Thunder" is so awful it makes me shudder. I even avoid typing or saying it, instead just calling them OKC. No other team name in the NBA is even in the same stratosphere of awfulness as the Thunder.

I hate their uni's too. I think the logo/name/uni's make them seem kind of minor league.

No team even touches the lame/nameless/minorleague/fake-team image moreso than the Charlotte Bobcats.

But yes the Seattle thing is super dumb. And Bennett is head of the relocation committee...

Other than that, tons of reasons to pay attention to these playoffs. And so many teams could win it. Always good when that happens.