Welcome to another edition of "From the Sports Gutter." This week, the topic is NBA Playoffs. The Spurs have been the team of the decade. But with a stacked Western Conference, it will be hard for them to repeat. The Celtics should roll through the Eastern Conference, as long as they don't piss off LeBron James too much. There are plenty of other story lines in the 2008 postseason. To find out what else the sports desk thinks of the playoffs, read on.
Playoffs aren't just about who wins it all, but the memories made along the way
by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
I got into an argument with a fan about the NBA Playoffs and the importance of certain teams in this year's postseason.
I brought up the Cleveland-Washington series and was told the series wasn't worth watching, because the two teams were "irrelevant" since neither one would win the championship.
In that case, doesn't mean that all but one team is "irrelevant?" For me, the playoffs aren't just about the team that is crowned champion, but also about the ride to get there. Sure, fans of the other 15 teams will be left disappointed if their squad comes up short, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy some of the theatrics along the way.
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And in 2008, we have some of the most intriguing playoffs in years following an extremely exciting season.
Here are some of the story lines I'm most interested in following this postseason:
Cleveland vs. Washington - I know the best basketball this season has been played in the Western Conference while the Eastern Conference has been considered the junior varsity of the two leagues, but the first two games of this series were pretty amusing.
The Wizards have lived up to Charles Barkley's moniker of "dumbest team in the history of civilization" by pissing off LeBron James, who has made Washington's defense look more junior high than junior varsity. DeShawn Stevenson has to be the most foolish-looking athlete right now after calling James "overrated" and then letting him go off for 62 points in the two Cleveland wins.
This series is all but over, but it will be interesting to see if Washington has the nerve to keep up the trash talk and cheap fouls while getting eliminated by Cleveland for the third postseason in a row.
Phoenix vs. San Antonio - Coming into the playoffs, this series was thought to be the most competitive in the postseason. Game 1 certainly lived up to the hype with the Suns suffering a painful blow. Phoenix will have to show a lot more mental toughness than it has in the past if the Suns are going to advance past the defending champions.
Steve Nash has been a joy to watch since joining Phoenix, but he and Shaquille O'Neal are getting older than Geico's caveman commercials. The window is starting to close on the Suns' chances at a world championship - at least under Nash's leadership - so a loss in this year's playoffs will be more painful than usual.
On the other end of the spectrum, Tim Duncan and the Spurs would cement their status as the team of the decade with another championship. Duncan is already a future Hall of Famer and would have a legitimate claim to knock off O'Neal as the best big man of his time.
Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul - As exciting as the playoff race in the Western Conference was this season, the more entertaining race was that of Most Valuable Player. Bryant, James and Paul put up staggering numbers, while Garnett was the best player on the best team. I never liked the idea of giving a player the award just because his team posts the best record, especially when the other three were much more statistically impressive than Garnett.
Paul averaged an outstanding 21.1 points, 11.6 assists and four rebounds per game, while leading the league in steals. He was the best point guard in the league and led New Orleans to an unexpected No. 2 seed in the West. LeBron's 30 points, 7.9 assists and 7.2 rebounds was an absurd set of statistics, and his chances are hurt only by Cleveland's No. 4 seed in the East.
Kobe averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists. His numbers weren't quite as impressive as Paul's or James', but he did lead the Lakers to the West's No. 1 seed despite injuries to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
However, Paul still didn't have as strong a supporting cast as Bryant and made his teammates better. Even though the MVP is based on regular season only, it will be a thrill to see which candidate performs at the highest level during the playoffs.
Those are just a few of the things to watch for in this year's playoffs. The most important thing for fans is to soak up as much action as possible, because you never know when you will get treated to a classic like Game 1 Phoenix-San Antonio or James dunking on Stevenson, who James referred to as the 'Soulja Boy' of the NBA. At the end of the postseason, there will only be one champion, but there will be a plethora of exciting memories.
n Spurs could make a run for back-to-back NBA titles, fifth for the franchise
by Isaac Avilucea
Daily Lobo
It's time to usher in another year of NBA Playoffs.
But before I proceed to announce my champ, allow me to briefly recap the seemingly never-ending 82-game marathon the NBA likes to call a season.
The season can best be summed up by the following poem (please, hold the applause):
West is best.
East has one beast.
Except for the Boston Celtics, who finished the regular season with an NBA-best 66-16 record, the Eastern Conference looks abysmal. Two sub-.500 teams - Atlanta (37-45) and Philadelphia (40-42) - clinched the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the conference coin, the West had two teams at or above .500 that didn't make the playoffs - Golden State (48-34) and Portland (41-41). And if the NBA was anything like the college ranks and had a consolation tournament (NIT), the worst from the West would still punk the worst from the East.
Still, there are those out there who claim this is the East's year.
And while I agree the Celtics have the best shot to bring the East out from underneath the West's shadow, I'm not totally sold on them beating the West. Remember, before you Boston fans parade about proclaiming a Celtics' championship, take this into consideration: Just last year, Boston was the laughing-stock of the NBA, posting a 24-58 record that ranked second worst only to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Furthermore, it was only after the West decided to donate some talent - the Celtics acquired sharpshooter Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics and Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves - that the Celtics put together this turnaround.
Ultimately, I envision, come Finals time, Celtics fans will turn a deeper shade of green with envy as the West will exert its dominance. Coupled with that crushing Patriots Super Bowl defeat just a few months ago, Boston just might overtake Seattle as the most depressed city in America.
Really, it's just a matter of sorting through the West's worthiest candidate, which is San Antonio.
Taking a look back at how the playoffs have traditionally played out, a re-occurring pattern appears. The last time a No. 1 seed won the NBA Finals was in 2003 when the San Antonio Spurs defeated the New Jersey Nets, 4-2. Since then, the last four NBA Champions - Detroit in 2004, Spurs in 2005, Miami Heat in 2006 and Spurs again last season - have been no higher than a No. 2 seed, with Detroit winning from the No. 3 slot in '04 as well as last year's Spurs. And once again, this year's San Antonio team is a No. 3 seed.
Probably the biggest knock on this year's roster is age.
The Spurs' average player is 33. But you can look at it two ways. The Spurs are obviously old. Or the Spurs' players are a bunch of seasoned veterans who know what it takes to win come playoff time.
With guys up in their mid-30s, the concern is that San Antonio will run out of gas. Well, they looked pretty strong against Phoenix, outlasting the Suns in Saturday's 117-115 double-overtime win. Plus, the core of San Antonio's talent are relatively young in terms of basketball with Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan at only 31, 26 and 32.
I'm sure that trio isn't concerned with age but instead thinking just about adding another ring to the finger. However, it would benefit the Spurs to get to the Finals playing as few games as possible. I mean, with a watered-down East, I would be surprised if Boston failed to sweep any of those cream-puffs.
So, my prediction: San Antonio will become the first team to repeat since the Lakers three-peated in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Out of generosity, I'll give Boston two games with the Spurs winning in six. Look out Jordan and Co., this would make five for the Spurs.
