WEST PREVIEW-LINGY DING DONG

There’s nothing like the Wild Wild West when it comes to NBA basketball. We all love the up and down style the west brings. The competitiveness. The star players. The stacked teams. Outside of Lebron and D Wade, there’s not much happening out East. But out west, outside of the Spurs and their boring basketball, there’s not much that’s NOT happening.

Kobe, Ron Ron, Bynum emerging as a star to lead the favorite Lakers. Dirk having a career year. Nash and Amare. Carmelo and Chauncey. Roy and LaMarcus. Kevin Durant. Deron and Boozer. And of course let’s not forget 2 of the best white big men, Birdman and Kaman.

Is this going to be another year where a team with a 50-32 record misses the playoffs? Is this going to be the year that the Clippers finally live up to the hype? To answer the first question, yes. the second….no.

Predictions:

1. Lakers – way too much talent plus they are the DEFENDING CHAMPS

2. Denver – Melo is putting up MVP type numbers and with Mr. Big Shot running the point, look for this team to make a run for the title

3. Dallas – with Dirk taking the summer off, he is going to make a run at the MVP trophy and lead his team to a potential title. When Howard returns healthy, look out for the Mavs

4. Portland – most talent top to bottom but do they have enough experience? My guess is no.

5. San Antonio – they’ll always be there but they don’t have the youth to last through 4 rounds of the playoffs

6. Utah – very talented team with 2 stars and depth, but they just don’t have enough to topple the big dogs in the west

7. Phoenix – hot start ends in cold finish and another early exit for the Suns

8. Oklahoma City – Durant is becoming one of the best in the league and will lead his team to the playoffs.


Lakers v OKC – a laugher for the Lakers in this sweep

Denver vs Phoenix – in one of the most exciting, high scoring series ever, the Birdman proves to be too much for Amare and the Nuggets take it 4-2

Dallas vs Utah – another exciting series with scoring everywhere. Young vs old with Kidd vs Williams. Dirk vs boozer. What more could you ask for? In the end, Dirk proves to be too much as the Mavs take it 4-3.

Portland vs San Antonio – Spurs run out of gas and Portland’s depth and youth is the difference.

2nd Round

Lakers vs Portland – Portland gives the Lakers a scare after taking game 1. Kobe realizes that he’s only got a couple more good years in him and kicks it into high gear to lead the Lakers to a 4-3 win.

Dallas vs. Denver – in one of the best playoff match ups in NBA history, Denver and Melo prove to be too much and Chauncey acts as Robert Horry and seals the deal late in game 7.


Finals

Lakers vs Denver – Lakers take the first 2 games and it appears there is too much size with Pao and Bynum. However, the Nuggets make some defensive changes and the Birdman proves to be the difference shutting down the Lakers inside presence. The Lakers still win a close one in Denver, and seem to be in control. However, Kobe once again returns to the resort where he got in trouble and does it again. He loses focus and this helps the Nuggets finally make the next step and win the series on the Lakers home floor in 7.