NBA Look....

NBA Look…

Now that Blogger has resolved their issues, I can get my update out. Since I blogged last:

The Lakers have been eliminated!! In a bow that was not graceful, LA left the playoffs in a huff. I think we were all hoping for a different or at least graceful exit from the game for a coach of Phil Jackson’s stature. Even without a championship, the man deserved to leave after a hard fought series where his team was all on the same page without the antics of the last game in Dallas.

In contrast, kudos to the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics for showing that there can be a hard fought series without the aforementioned antics by the losing team. Pure class was shown by both organisations.

Congrats to Chicago for wrapping up their series against Atlanta yesterday. The Chicago-Miami affair will be well worth watching.

The last conference semi-final is about to kick off. Can Oklahoma City clinch the series and move on or will Memphis put up some resistance on their home court. I think the Grizzlies will put up a fight but bow out in a close one. This prediction could easily be reversed if Memphis gets their inside game going and the Westbrook-Durant dynamic is not in synch.

Sunday sees game one of the Bulls-Heat series. I will pick Miami to sneak into Chicago and get a first up win in a close one by 5-8 points.

Back for a check in later in the week….

Are the Lakers done?? NBA Update....

NBA Playoff Update…

As the second round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs progress, there are definitely surprises to talk about. Since I last blogged, Orlando has fallen by the wayside in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference top seed San Antonio has been eliminated by the surprising Memphis Grizzlies.

The surprised do not stop there…defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers are down 3-0 to Dallas and are on the verge of being swept out of the second round. Atlanta has given the Bulls a scare. Ditto for Memphis against Oklahoma City.

Here is an up to the minute look at where it all stands at the moment:

Eastern Conference

Chicago (1) vs. Atlanta (5)

After Atlanta jumped the Bulls 103-95 in Game 1 of the series, the Bull have ridden the coat tails of Derrick Rose to two consecutive wins including a monster 44 point effort in Game three. Rose was named the league’s MVP this week and has proven to be deserving of the award.

The board work of Joakim Noah (15 rebounds) and Taj Gibson (11 rebounds) complimented Rose nicely in Game Three. The fourth game of the series is set for Sunday night US time in Atlanta.

The Hawks are not totally done yet and they may well pull of game four to even the series going back to Chicago pending on which Hawks team you get. Chicago will eventually need more out of Carlos Boozer to continue advancing.

Miami (2) vs. Boston (3)

The “Beast of South Beach” may have been awakened!! The Heat has jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics. The series heads to Boston for game three on overnight. Boston has started to look their age and is having trouble with the penetration and quickness of Dwayne Wade.

The Celtics may win one; possibly two of the remaining games but the Heat seems to be on a mission of late.

Western Conference

Los Angeles (2) vs. Dallas (3)

The Lakers are finding the quest for a three peat difficult. After showing signs of mortality against New Orleans, they have oozed vulnerability against the seasoned Mavericks outfit.

Rather than go into the “I told you so” to friends or any perceived “Kobe Bashing” I will defer to this article from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-plaschke-lakers-20110507,0,4601320.column

A good thing for the LA future may be the stepping forward and voicing of opinion by young future leader Andrew Bynum. Hopefully the young man will stay healthy and assert himself more in the locker room as he lives up to his potential.

Other articles out of LA:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-mavericks-20110507,0,2836458.story

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-simers-20110507,0,3399927.column

The Mavericks seem to be remaining calm and focused without doing anything to arouse the beast. Owner Mark Cuban has been reserved over the course of the series for a change.

Views from the Dallas media:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20110506-three-riffic-mavs-topple-lakers-grab-commanding-3-0-series-lead.ece

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20110506-mavericks-dirk-nowitzki-we-didn_t-panic-but-we-can_t-coast-now.ece

Oklahoma City (4) vs. Memphis (8)

This one could well be the most entertaining of the conference semi-finals. So far the teams are level at 1-1 with game three set overnight in Oklahoma City. The Grizzlies actually won the regular season series and pose problems for the Thunder for the remainder of the series especially in the form of Zach Randolph.

While I think the Thunder can still pull this one out, don’t be surprised if Memphis advances.

I will be back in a few days with updates.

My original playoff picks are at:

http://cdstarrbblog.blogspot.com/2011_04_10_archive.html

NBL Final up soon on OneHD

NBL Finale hours away….

The 2010/2011 NBL basketball season will conclude this afternoon/evening when Cairns faces off against the New Zealand 

Breakers in game three of the Championship series.

The Breakers blew Cairns off the floor in game one before a double overtime thriller went the way of the Snakes to send the championship into today’s decider.

The Breakers were strong all season with three regular season wins over cairns and an easy win in Game One of the finals before the epic that was Game Two.

Ultimately though look for New Zealand to be too strong for Cairns in Auckland. Expect C.J. Bruton, Kirk Penney and crew to defend the home court with vigour.

I think earlier in the week I picked the Breakers by 10 or 12 points….I’ll stick with that.

Catch the action in Australia on OneHD from 1730 AEST.

Around the courts.....

Quick Catch up

Back to regular life and the sports world after a break for Bluesfest.

On the local scene, the Australian National Basketball League finals are underway. The New Zealand Breakers and Cairns Taipans are deadlocked at one game each in the best of three series with the decider set for Friday night in Auckland. The top seeded Breakers took game one easily 85-67. Game two in Cairns turned out to be as the Snakes forced a decider with an 85-81 double overtime win. Friday night’s action kicks off at 1930 at the North Shore Events Centre. I will go with CJ Bruton to lead a Breakers victory by 12.

NBA Playoffs

Some of my picks for the first round of the NBA Finals have fallen flat….there will be no NY Knicks upset of Boston in the first round!! The rest of my initial picks are here: http://cdstarrbblog.blogspot.com/2011_04_10_archive.html

Eastern Conference:

Chicago vs. Indiana

The Bulls hold a 3-1 edge and should easily clinch this series and move on.

Orlando vs. Atlanta

The Hawks are poised to reverse last year’s result against Orlando and lead the series 3-1.

Miami vs. Philadelphia

The Heat hit a road block in their quest to match Boston’s first round sweep but should clinch the series 4-1 after in the next game.

Western Conference:

San Antonio vs. Memphis

The top seeded Spurs are on the verge of elimination trialling 3-1. They may win another game or two but will find it tough to win three in a row…Memphis moves on.

Oklahoma City vs. Denver

The Thunder is on the verge of clinching with a 3-1 lead in this one.

Dallas vs. Portland

Dallas is up 3-2 but Portland has proven to be difficult for the Mavs. Can the Mavs survive the age test?

Los Angeles vs. New Orleans

The epic of Round 1, this one is delicately poised at 2-2. The Lakers are struggling and the Hornets are without David West….interesting few games coming up!! What’s your pick???

Ok, back in a few days with updates…..

NBA Playoff preview

NBA Post – Season is now here

The time for more playoff basketball is here…NBA style with the 2011 post season kicking off today. Before going forward, I will look back to my NBA preseason entry from 26 October 2010. In that, my playoff picks for the East were correct with the exception of Milwaukee and Charlotte. I was wrong on Milwaukee winning the Central Division.

In the Western Conference, take out my preseason picks of Utah and Phoenix and insert New Orleans and Memphis.

So my pick of Lakers vs. Heat final survives but there may be adjustments as I look at the first round.

Eastern Conference:

Chicago (1) 62-20 vs. Indiana (8) 37-45

This one will not be much more than a tune up for the surprisingly top seeded bulls as they go into the next round easily

Bulls win series 4-1.

Miami (2) 58-24 vs. Philadelphia (7) 41-41

The Heat has finally lived up to some of the hype in the last weeks of the season and should go on to the next round with a series win over the rejuvenated 76ers.

Miami wins series 4-0.

Boston (3) 46-26 vs. New York (6) 42-40

The Celtics showed lots of cracks in the armour late in the season while the Knicks were fine tuning their game… hmm…this could be upset of the round.

Knicks take series 4-3.

Orlando (4) 52-30 vs. Atlanta (5) 44-38

Both teams have been seen as underachievers this season but the winner of this series could go on to be the spoiler against Chicago.

Orlando takes this one 4-2.

Western Conference:

San Antonio (1) 61-21 vs. Memphis (8) 46-36

The Spurs are not completely healthy but they are a deep squad and should get through this round.

Spurs win series 4-1.

Los Angeles (2) 57-25 vs. New Orleans (7) 46-36

This could be a testy series for LA although they swept the regular season series.

LA wins 4-2.

Dallas (3) 57-25 vs. Portland (6) 48-34

Portland is a team that no one wanted to face in the first round. Dallas is a team prone to first round flops…..do the math.

Portland takes it 4-3.

Oklahoma City (4) 55-27 vs. Denver (5) 50-32

The Thunder are getting back on track and Denver has surprised since the All-Star break…good series on the way.

OKC wins 4-2.

If the predictions hold true we will have second round matches of Chicago/Orlando and Miami/NY in the East with San Antonio/OKC and LA/Portland in the West.

For the Conference Finals I would predict Chicago/Miami in the east and San Antonio/Portland in the West with Championship series of Miami vs. San Antonio where I would give the nod to Miami.

But, we will see how things pan out over the next month.

NBL Finals series on tap

NBL Finals Series underway

With basketball seasons around the globe in overload, Australia’s NBL season has reached the Semi Final stage with the top seeded New Zealand Breakers (22-6) facing the fourth seeded Perth Wildcats (16-12). The other semi matchup is an all Queensland affair with second seeded Townsville (17-11) playing number three seed Cairns 16-12).

The New Zealand/Perth matchup kicked off on Thursday night with the Wildcats shocking NZ in Auckland by a 101-78 score. The match was delicately poised at the half with the score knotted at 52. Perth held the NZ crew to 26 second half points to run out victors and gain the advantage in the series. Game two will be on Sunday afternoon with the decider, if necessary held on Wednesday night.

Cairns and Townsville kick off in a few hours with game one starting at 8pm tonight. The series will finish with games on Saturday night and Sunday if necessary.

Tune in to OneHD for the action. 

NCAA Final

NCAA Men’s Final

Well, the denouement is neigh for the 2010-2011 NCAA basketball season. Of course my bracket is shattered, of course my picks in the semi final games were wrong, of course I’ll attempt to pick the winner of the championship game and this will be my last prediction of this year’s college season.

The Final:

Butler vs. UConn

Well one UConn team has bitten the dust in the Final Four after the Husky ladies suffered a shock loss to Notre Dame in the semi finals. As for the men’s team, they come in a slight favourite over Butler although the Bulldogs are in the championship game for the second year in a row.

Prediction wise I will go with Butler due to their nucleus of players left over from last season. UConn will not get away with another bad performance like the one they put forward against Kentucky

So….

Butler wins 66-62.

My tourney picking record for 2011: 40 right-24 wrong