Time to Watch Some Serious Basketball...and NHL?!

The Final Four is finally here...well NBA style. Now the NBA Finals is the best series to be in because of what it holds but the best time to watch basketball is right now during the Conference Finals.

Spurs and the Lakers...oh my!

With the San Antonio showing why they are the defending champions against the dominating Hornets team, we now have a dream match-up of LA and SA. The last time the two teams played we were given the shot. The Lakers (with Malone, Kobe , Shaq and the Glove) went on to beat the Spurs but they lost to the Pistons. This is going to be a chance for the Lakers, who are favored by Vegas to represent the Western Conference, to go through the ultimate road block, the defending champions. This is going to be a series to remember and one that will really capture how great this NBA season really was. Lakers win this series in 6...yes on the road.

Celtics must win a road game

In the East every NBA fan got the match-up they wanted, Detroit vs. Boston. Now going into the playoffs I said the Pistons were overrated and that they have no shot in beating the Celtics. Well this thought has changed because of the Celtics lack of road basketball. I think this series will come down to the wire in most of the games and the Celtics will win one game in Boston. After going 0-6 on the road for the playoffs, the Celtics will finally win a road game in Detroit. In my opinion the Celtics are the more talented team and they will end up winning the series in 7. Look for Ray Allen to have a better series than he did against the LeBrons. Boston 4, Detroit 3.

Sid the Kid

I'm not a hockey guy by any means but I know a good thing when I see it. Sidney Crosby is something we should all be watching. I know this is obvious but this kid is special. He is the great one for the NHL. He is what the NHL is building around and he is someone we should all watch even if we don't watch hockey. Now you're probably wondering, "hockey isn't on TV." Well the Stanley Cup Finals WILL be on NBA starting with Game 3. It's stupid stuff like this that ruins potential NHL fans. The Stanley Cup Finals game 1 and game 2 will be on Versus Network! That is ridiculous. The NHL will never attract any new fans if they don't out the Stanley Cup Finals on network TV or even basic cable. Just bite the bullet and go to a sports bar for games 1 and 2. Here is a quick Sidney Crosby highlight video.

Kobe Bryant= MVP

"So go ahead, go nuts, go ape shit,
Especially in my pastel, on my bape shit,
Act like you can't tell who made this,
New gospel, homey, take six, and take this, haters.



Now that don't kill me,
Can only make me stronger.
I need you to hurry up now
'Cause I can't wait much longer.
I know I got to be right now
'Cause I can't get much wronger.
Man, I been waitin' all night now,
That's how long I've been on ya."

Kanye West- Stronger

In honor of seeing the best performer in Hip Hop last Friday, I am starting this blog post off with some Kanye West.

This also relates because all the Kobe haters can put one thing to rest, "Kobe doesn't have any MVPs."...He does now.

To celebrate here are 5 of the best Kobe videos from YouTube...Enjoy!

1. Kobe going for 81
2. A fan made video of Kobe being the best...I swear I did not make this
3. Kobe's Sexy Jumper
4. So sexy we need one more clip
5. This guys hates hate
   

NBA This...NBA That!

Well the NBA playoffs are here and like every other person I did make my NBA pre-season picks and my NBA post All-Star picks so let's look at them and see how my predictions stack up to the final standings.


Western Conference
Final Regular Season Standings /King's preseason / King's post All-star

1. LA Lakers / Suns/ Spurs
   
2. Hornets/ Spurs/ Lakers
   
3. Spurs/ Rockets/ Mavericks
   
4. Jazz/ Nuggets/ Nuggets
   
5. Rockets (home court)/ Mavericks/ Suns
   
6. Suns/ Jazz/ Jazz
   
7. Mavericks/ Warriors / Hornets
   
8. Nuggets/ Lakers / Rockets

Some notes from my Western Conference Picks

• I had the Warriors making the playoffs but that did not happen...I did not put the Warriors into my second half picks so I was correct on that one...for once in my life.
• I had the Rockets finishing in the top 4 with home court in my pre-season picks but in my post all-star I had them dropping down to 8th...I was wrong. The Rockets played some great ball and now will have to play even better against the Jazz.
  
• I thought the Lakers would suck it up and barely make the playoffs in my preseason picks...They finished no.1
  
• I picked the Suns to win it all in my preseason picks but then changed that to the Lakers.
  

NBA Playoffs Picks Western Conf.

1. Lakers beat Nuggets in 6
   
2. Dallas beats New Orleans in 7
3. San Antonio beats the Suns in 7
   
4. Utah beats Houston in 4
   

Western Conf. Semi-Finals

1. Lakers beat Utah in 6
2. Spurs beat Dallas in 7

Western Conference Finals

1. Lakers beat Spurs in 6
1. The Spurs have the hardest road to the finals and by the time they face the Lakers they will be worn down. Add the return of Bynum and this spells disaster for the Spurs. Call me a Kobe guy but being this close I like him to take over like never before...oh and he will be the MVP by now so even better.
   

Eastern Conference

Final Regular Season Standings /King's preseason / King's post All-star

1. Celtics/ Bulls/ Celtics
2. Detroit/ Celtics/ Pistons
3. Orlando/ Pistons/ Cavs
4. Cavs/ Wizards/ Magic
5. Washington/ Nets/ Raptors
6. Raptors/ Nets/ Wizards
7. 76ers/ Orlando/ Hawks
8. Hawks/ Heat/ Bulls
   

Some notes from the Eastern Conf picks

• I had the Bulls making the playoffs as the no.1 seed...They did not make the playoffs... I hate them.
• I had the Celtics finishing no.1 after the all-star break and no. 2 in preseason.
• I had the Hawks making the playoffs after the All-Star break
• I had the Heat dropping down to 8th but I don't think a lot of people had them as the crappiest team ever...or the Bulls.
  
• I put some trust in Vince Carter by putting that garbage of a team in the playoffs...man I hate VC

NBA Playoffs Eastern Conf Picks

1. Celtics over Hawks in 4
2. Detroit over 76ers in 5
3. Orlando over Raptors in 6
4. Cleveland over Washington in 7
1. I love Gilbert but LeBron in the playoffs is not a fun thing to play against.
   

Eastern Conf Semi-Finals

1. Celtics over Cavs in 6
2. Detroit over Orlando in 5

Eastern Conf. Finals

1. Celtics over Detroit in 7
1. This is going to be the series to watch! I think the Celtics will show the flaws of an overrated Detroit team. Look this team has been together for a longtime now so teams know what their weaknesses are in the playoffs...Kevin Garnett's intensity will carry them to the finals for the first time in his career.
   

NBA Finals...

Lakers over Celtics in 7

• As Kenny Smith likes to say, ITS BACK! THE NBA IS BACK!!!....This is going to be the series that captures the casual fan and puts the NBA back on the map. The Lakers vs The Celtics! Kobe vs Garnett....Phil Jackson going for no. 10 and to pass Red Auerbach...the story lines are going to be awesome! Lakers go into Boston and win the series.
  

Guest Reporting Baby

From time to time I will let some friends get in a guest report and today we start this off with Patrick in Europe. I went to UT with Patrick and he brings good insight to the blog so he has first dibs on guest reporting. Here is Patrick making his picks...

Hello!

I’m Raheel’s friend, Patrick, and he asked if I wanted to guest write and make some picks for the playoffs. I’ve been in Europe for most of the season, so this is a good chance to come keep my sanity by talking about my favorite sport. Anyways, here we go:

Eastern Conference

1st Round:
- Celtics in 5 over the Hawks
o I’m sorry Mike Bibby. Your acquisition wasn’t enough.
- Pistons in 5 over the Sixers
o I’d say 6 because the Pistons are slackers against inferior teams and the Sixers have been pleasantly surprising this year, but Detroit will want as much rest as possible for the Celtics series.
- Magic in 6 over the Raptors
o Turk for three!
- Cavs in 6 over the Wizards
o I’m sorry Soulja Boy, but you’re going to be another witness.

2nd Round:
- Celtics in 7 over the Cavs
o I know it seems obvious, but LeBron is going to dominate this series. Anytime you have the best player in a series, you have a decent chance of winning, but the Cavs are just not strong enough past Bron to win this series.
- Pistons in 6 over the Magic
o Dwight will dominate the middle and the Two Amigos (Turk and Shard) will make it rain, but they aren’t experienced enough to take down this squad.

ECF:
- Celtics in 7 over the Pistons
o KG will get neutralized by Sheed, but P Double and Jesus S. are going to make the difference. Call me crazy, but Tayshaun is not as good of a defender as people make him out to be. Sorry, I know, heresy.

Western Conference

1st Round:
- Lakers in 6 over the Nuggets
o Kobe in Colorado. I can say some foul joke, but that isn’t too tasteful and I think you all know where I’m going. Yes…
- Hornets in 7 over the Mavs
o CP3 is not going to pull the same thing that Dirk did last year. The MVP will be in the 2nd round again!
- Spurs in 6 over the Suns
o Okay, I’m a Spurs fan. Let’s get that out of the way. The Spurs have played phenomenally in the playoffs for the past few years and Ginobili is back. Even though Shaq has done something to us the past two games, I think we got this because TP and Emmanuel will carry us to the win.
- Rockets in 7 over the Jazz
o I’m going to give it to them this year. They’ve played really well at times (especially Rafer) and it’s going to be difficult, but like I tell my Houston friends, “No Yao for Boozer to dominate.” TMac, 2nd round sees you baby!

2nd Round:
- Lakers in 7 over the Rockets
o I’m sort of torn here. Rockets matchup well with them and Rafer is overachieving like a14 year olds in college, but Kobe just came off from his . I think the Lakers will win in 6 or 7 depending on how Pau deals with Mount Who-Wants-To-Sex, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rockets win this series because of the matchups. I’m going to pick the Lakers so Raheel will consider letting me post again.
- Spurs in 6 over the Hornets
o People always bring up these arguments of “the Spurs lost the season series.” I’ve seen it with the Grizzlies in 2003, the Cavs in 2007 and now with the Hornets. Please. CP3 will dominate the Spurs with their frail, frail backup points (oh dear, Jacque), but TMNT will carry us to victory. That’s right, Timothy, Manu, experieNce and Tony.

WCF:
- Spurs in 6 over the Lakers
o I’ve read a lot of reports saying that Ariza and Bynum aren’t coming back this season, so I won’t take them into consideration here. Pau is soft (I’m half-Spanish and I say this) and we got Kurt to deal with him and/or Bynum. TD is going to go nuts, Tony will score in loads and Manu will get smacked by Kobe in the eye again. Don’t think I don’t remember.

FINALS:
- Spurs in 6 over the Celtics
o Tim won’t be denied his fifth ring, ABC wants Eva in primetime more than on Sundays, Manu wants the Finals MVP he was robbed of in 2005, Pop’s got fiiiiive on it and the organization wants to finally repeat to be unanimously considered as a dynasty. It’s all in place, it’s just there for them to take it. Like Kobe.

Thanks again to Raheel for the opportunity to write this and let’s get ready for the best NBA playoffs in years!

J-Fizz

And now time for you to laugh...This is Jeremy Foster formerly of Sports Radio 610...he worked with John and Lance as their update guy and stomping boy (I know the feeling Fizz)...Well, Fizz is now moving to Phoenix so today was his last day on-air in Houston...guess where he spent it? On 1560 The Game!
This video is Fizz in a nutshell




Watch live video from 1560 The Game on Justin.tv