Let's talk basketball

A lot of people may get bored by this post so if you do just click off it, I have one or two other posts you can read but those of you who know me at all understand that I am a big fan of NBA basketball so right now is a particularly favourite time of year for me.

PLAYOFF BASKETBALL!!!

The playoffs are a time where the basketball giants collide, there's no bollocks of the Lakers vs Wizards or 76ers vs Pacers. These are real teams playing every night playing for the championship.

Gotta start out with talking about my favourite team - Spurs

San Antonio are in a good position: 3-1 up against conference rivals the Dallas Mavericks, so I'm loving that, especially as a 7th seed this is a good thing. The team has struggled all year with new players and several injuries but it has all come together at the right time to make a big push, because they're 'star' player Tim Duncan, he's not the physical specimen he used to be so this could be one of the final (albeit a longshot) attempts for a championship for the big fundamental.

The favourites - Cavs

Who else could it be? For the second year running they have won the regular season with the most wins and with a healthy squad of all 15 players they should breeze through the playoffs and into the finals, the only problem being the potential upenders...

Upenders - Magic

Orlando destroyed the odds last year when they upended Cleveland en route to the finals and they reloaded this year swapping one slightly passed it all-star for a slightly more past it (but slightly hungrier) all-star in Vince Carter. Btw I still love Vince I think he has a lot to offer and they have proved it by running up to the 2nd best record in the NBA.

Other potential winners - Lakers

You can never count out Kobe. Even though there will always be the 'Jordan is better' slogan hanging over him he is the only player that I have seen that truly has the killer instinct in him that even comes close to his Airness. The problem right now is Kobe's body is falling apart just a Morris Minor going down a cobble-stone street. He only has three fingers on his shooting hand, has knee and back problems and it seems that the rest of his team only want to play when Kobe is playing well, so they'll be interesting in the final rounds but should be in the Western Conference Championship (with Spurs).

The Darkhorse - Spurs

This may be me getting a little bias excitement but I truly believe everything has come at the right time for the boys in San Antonio. When you compare the other teams in the West; Suns and Blazers are gonna beat each other up for 7 games, Denver is on the brink of being forced out by a frankly weaker Utah Jazz, and even though I really want to root for OKC I think I do have to reluctantly agree with many critics that say that they can fight but not upset the Lakers... yet. Which could leave the Spurs in the Conference finals with the Lakers which I think would be more of a chess game between the two legendary coaches rather than all out talent. So we might see San Antonio in the NBA Finals one final year, whether they'll beat Cleveland (or if anyone can) is another conversation but I'm not counting them out just yet.

Maybe there'll be an update next week, we can see how my predictions are turning out

PEACE