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.

A Must Watch

Last night's game was exhilarating, but a year from now I will probably only vaguely remember Rashard Lewis's near game winning three, LeBron James's free throw attempts at the end of regulation, or Dwight Howard laying it in while Anderson Varejao is on him like a 6 foot 11, 260 lb backpack. What will stick with me is seeing Zydrunas Ilgauskus's face in slow motion as he caught an elbow from Dwight Howard. That was hilarious!!!!!!!!!! I'll post a video or a picture as soon as I can find one.

Boston-Orlando Game 7

The following are the keys to victory for each team:

Boston wins if:

1) Ray Allen has a big time shooting night. This guy has struggled mightily in this series and yet the Celts still made it this far. If he goes off, then look for Stan Van Gundy to go into panic mode.

2) Kendrick Perkins stays out of foul trouble. He is the only guy who can capably guard Dwight Howard.

3) Glen "Big Baby" Davis can consistenly hit that 15-18 foot jumper. This will force Orlando to guard him honestly, which allows Paul Pierce more room to operate.

4) Rajon Rondo gets to the basket

Orlando wins if:

1) Hedo Turkoglu shows up. Similar to Ray, Hedo has had a sub-par series. Unlike Ray, Hedo does not solely rely on his jump-shooting abilility. When the 6-10 ball handler penetrates, there are a variety of good things that can happen: a) he is able to get a lay in or bank-shot close to the basket; b) he sucks in the defense which enables him to kick out to wide-open shooters; or c) he misses the shot, but nobody is boxing out Dwight Howard, which usually allows "Superman" to dunk it back in.

Simply put, if Hedo plays well, there is no way that Orlando loses.

2) They allow Rashard Lewis to go at Baby and Brian "Jackie Moon" Scalabrine. They simply cannot check him.

3) Dwight Howard exploits his advantages (defensive rebounding, being an all-around force on defense, staying active inside the paint, and wreaking havoc on the offensive glass) and stays away from his weaknesses (his post game).

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

Orlando hopes that:

1) Rajon settles for the jump shot

2) Stephon Marbury passes up wide open shots. Steph is a scorer at heart and his primary function off the bench is to spark the offense when Piere and/or Allen are on the bench, so when he's not taking being agressive, it ruins the flow of the Boston offense.

3) Ray Allen continues to miss

Boston hopes that:

1) Dwight Howard posts up Kendrick Perkins. Not only does this force Orlanndo into the stagnant "stand around and hope that Dwight can at least put up a lefty-running hook shot from inside the free throw line" offense, it also contains the sizable possibility that Dwight commits a turnover.

2) Hedo settles for step back, fadeaway jumpers.

Prediction:

Orlando wins. They simply are the more talented team and I think that their recovery in Game 6 proves that Orlando is ready to move on to the next series. By my count, Orlando should have won 5 out of the 6 games already. Granted, should have is different than what actually happened, but I still think that the Magic have (has?..whatever) learned from those experiences. If Orlando sticks to their game, they should win.