The Ramifications of This Year's Playoffs

This is in response to this intriguing article: http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/05/28/theres-a-lot-on-the-line-for-kobe-lebron-melo-and-d-ho/?year=2009&monthnum=05&day=28&name=theres-a-lot-on-the-line-for-kobe-lebron-melo-and-d-ho&page

The results of these playoffs will certainly have a great impact on the future configuration of the NBA.

Kobe MUST win the entire thing for him to cement his legacy as a top-8 (or even 6) player of all time. If the Lakers win this year, then they can potentially repeat, but if they don't then the perpetual expectation to win and the burden of losing deep in the playoffs two years in a row will definitely wear on the Lakers. That albatross of not winning without Shaq will only get heavier for Kobe as he progresses into his 30s. He is the only one of the four superstars who absolutely NEEDS to win the championships. The competition will only get stiffer with teams like Portland and Denver on the rise (and look out, if Houston ever gets it together).

While the book on LeBron's career is only its early stages, getting past the Magic and winning the finals will have major implications for where he spends the rest of his career and how he is viewed in the discussion of being a great closer.

As for his impending free agency, when you really analyze the Cavs they really do not have substantially more talent than other more flashy destinations. The 2008-09 Knick were better than the 08-09 Cavs without LeBron. Granted the 2010 Knicks will look completely different but it's not like LeBron would be taking money over a better chance to win if he chooses to go to NYC. Is Mo Williams really the best sidekick that LeBron could hope for?

Kobe is still viewed as a better closer than LeBron, and you can see why in the Magic series. To his credit, he closed out Game 5 beautifully but that was his only impressive fourth quarter in this entire series. While the Magic lead 3-2, all of the games that the Magic won were only one LeBron crunch time takeover from going the Cav's way.

Carmelo has much to gain from winning a championship. You can already see him rising, as many acknowledge his extremely versatile offensive game and how he has matured with the arrival of Billups. If he wins a championship then it would not be a far-fetched assertion to say that he belongs in the same class as Kobe, LeBron and D-Wade.

Dwight Howard is the youngest of the four superstars mentioned, but he can gain a lot of respect if he gets past LeBron and Kobe or Carmelo. He will have accomplished something that Shaq did not and it would place the Magic as the top dogs of the East for years to come. If they win the championship then they would do their best to retain Hedo Turkoglu and we would see a very formidable nucleus of Howard, Lewis, Turkoglu, and Jameer Nelson and servicable role players in Pietrus and C. Lee for years to come. On the other hand if they lose, then they will probably let Turkoglu and Gortat go and revert back to being perenial playoff contender with no championship potential.

A lot is at stake in these playoffs.

Los Angeles-Houston Game 7

The following are the keys to victory for each team:

LA wins if:

1) They show up and play with a sense of urgency.

Houston wins if:

1) Aaron Brooks continues to penetrate

2) Shane Battier takes and makes the 3 point shot. This will make Kobe Bryant expend some more energy on defense and reduce his prefrence to "roam" around and disrupt the passing lanes.

3) Luis Scola is a force in the post

4) Chuck Hayes stays out of foul trouble

5) Ron Artest has a good night on the offensive end

The following are things that the opposing team is hoping for:

LA hopes that:

1) Houston's offense consists of Artest endlessly dribbling the ball and looking for his shot

Houston hopes that:

1) Kobe Bryant continues to take 2 point turnaround, fadeaway jumpers with a hand in his face

2) The Lakers do not go inside to Pau Gasol

3) The Lakers believe that the Rockets are satisfied with just getting to Game 7.

Prediction:

While I first predicted that Houston would win this series in 7 games, that was before Yao went down with an injury. Once Yao went down in Game 3, I immediatly got the feeling that LA would wrap this up in 5 games.

That being said this Houston team has really impressed me. They shocked the Lakers and the rest of the world, by taking two of the next three games. They have all the intangibles that you would want in a championship team: They play hard, they play together, they're tough, they are not intimidated by anybody, etc. But, I'm going to have to go with the Lakers. As much as I hate to pick against an underdog team like the Rockets, the Lakers have shown that they can get it done when they need to (it's when they have no sense of urgency, they have a problem).