'09 NBA Playoffs: Lebron James vs. Dwight Howard

NASA must be like a proud but yet conflicted father right now! Two of their most human-like robots will be going head to head tonight in the Eastern Conference Finals, for the NBA Playoffs. I am sure they will be watching with keen interest from the command center.

Alright...enough of the silly attempt at a joke. I think I'm the only one that gets a giggle out of calling Lebron James and Dwight Howard, NASA designed robots. Although, these two super-athletes will not actually be guarding each another; it would really please me, and any sports fan out there to see anyone of these scenarios:

• Lebron attempting a ferocious dunk on Howard
• Dwight Howard blocking Lebron on a massive dunk attempt
• Lebron absolutely obliterating Howard on a dunk
• Howard returning the favor with a two-handed dunk on Lebron's dome

Take a look at the first picture from my last post and you will notice that it is absolutely possible to sit on Howard's face with a nasty dunk. It would be a lot more exciting if it were King James in that picture instead of Kobe. I am not taking anything away from the sick dunk by Kobe but.......a robot dunking on another robot...................................okay okay, I'm really going to stop about this now.

On to the analysis/prediction:

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
1.Cleveland vs 3. Orlando
It is simply human nature to put extra emphasis on current events. It is also human nature to put blinders on when observing something or someone that is absolutely dominant. This err of the way we think dilutes our judgment and and skews our reasoning.

Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been very dominant during the season and they have been even more dominant during the playoffs. The effect that this is having on most fans and pundits is the feeling that the Cavs will be playing either the Nuggets or Lakers in the NBA Finals. Although the Orlando Magic struggles against the Celtics, this does not mean that the Cavs will sweep them like they did their first two series. Here are three reasons why this will not be a sweep for the Cavs:

1. Dwight Howard: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace will be given the unenviable task of trying to contain Howard. Big Z is not athletic enough and might just end up being dunked on at least twice a game during this series. "Mop-head" Varejao is a very crafty defender. He is not physical enough to keep up but I can count on him flopping a few times to try and get Howard in foul trouble. Big Ben!! I have a theory about Ben Wallace. This a a tad bit controversial, so please take this with a grain of salt. I think Wallace was taking performance enhancing drugs when he was with the Pistons. My theory goes further that the league must have discovered this and told him to stop without revealing it to the media. Hence the rapid drop in athletic ability that now has him playing like a shell of his former self. I will reiterate this; this is 100% my opinion and not anything based on hear-say or facts. Wallace will be useless in guarding Howard. Well, not entirely. He will be put in the game to intentionally foul Howard to force him to make his free throws.
   
2. Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkolgu, Courtney Lee and J.J Redick. These players are match up problems unlike the cast of players that the Hawks and Heat have. Atlanta and Miami have players that are athletic but can not spread the floor with good shooting. This allowed the Cavaliers to double team and provide weak side help successfully without the fear of being burned by a plethora of good shooters. With Turkoglu often playing the point and Howard requiring double teams; the Magic will have a lot of ample opportunities to take and make open three point shots. The Cavs coaching staff will have to devise a defensive strategy to slow Howard and his group of talented shooters.
3. Home court! It's a forgone conclusion that the Cavs will win their games at home. Home court in my reason why this won't be a sweep is about the Magic at home. Orlando will at least win one game at home. The Magic have only lost twice at home in this playoffs....by a total of three points.

Now that I have established that this series will not require any fan to bring a broom to a game; nor will there be a need to use the word sweep after game three in Orlando. I must now attempt to determine who will win this series.

"The Orlando Magic are going to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers" said Charles Barkley

Sir Charles made this comment right after the Orlando Magic handily beat the Celtics in game seven on Monday. Referring back to my point that we at times make statements that are influenced by the most current events. We temporarily forget the value or impact of something that happened in the recent or distant past. I think the dominant fashion in which the Magic beat the Celtics in that game made Barkley feel that victory was imminent for Orlando.

I would have agreed with him if Lebron James were 6'5 instead of 6'8. I would have agreed with Chuck if King James were 225lbs instead of 260lbs. I would have agreed with him if this was last years version of Lebron that could not shoot well from the field, instead of this years version that is proving that jump shots from fifteen to twenty nine feet (yes, twenty nine! Dude hits shots from one or two steps from mid-court) are like layups to him.

Finally, I would have agreed with Charles Barkley if Lebron James did not give me this feeling that he wants it (championship) a little bit more than Dwight Howard. I have watched every Cavs game and I have noticed a pattern with James. Whenever a team goes on a run against the Cavs; Lebron simply puts his head down and becomes aggressive. He drives to the hoop and gets a result. A basket, a foul or both. Point here is that momentum stops for the opposing team.

My prediction: Cleveland wins series 4-2

Sportacularly yours,

The Vicarious Athlete

'09 NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Finals Analysis/Predictions

It is really nice to see that the Orlando Magic finally played up to their skill level for a full forty eight minutes last night in game seven against the Boston Celtics.
Why did I pick the Celtics to win the series? Well, the one and only reason is not because I thought the C's were a better team without Kevin Garnett to beat the Magic but rather because Orlando is much like the Los Angeles Lakers in the sense that they both have a Jekyl and Hyde complex to their overall team personality. Both are very good teams that are stacked and should be putting other teams like the Celtics (sans KG) and Rockets (sans Yao Ming) away relatively easy. But for some reason they (Magic and Lakers) have been displaying a tendency to play horribly at times.

I find it utterly amazing that the four remaining teams in this years playoffs can be paired up in twos when it comes to their playing personalities. I have already alluded to the fact that Lakers and Magic are similar with their off and on play. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets are quite the opposite of them. Cleveland and Denver have relatively played at a consistent level so far. The Cavs swept the Atlanta Hawks (their second sweep in a row), while the Nuggets disposed of the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Both teams have been able to impose their will on their opponents and have won most of their games by double digits.

With the Conference Finals about to start on Tuesday, the question I have is, which team tendency/personality will be most dominant. Will the Lakers and Magic continue to play poorly at times. Will they turn it on just enough to win a series, much like the game sevens last night in which they both played really well. Will Denver and Cleveland be dominant in their respective series against the inconsistent two?

Here's what I think will happen in the West. My Eastern Conference analysis/prediction will be out by Wednesday morning.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
1. Los Angeles vs 2. Denver
In the back of my head, I am thinking that it would have been a better situation for the Denver Nuggets if the Lakers had won their series in five or six games. The fact that Kobe and his team mates had to dig deep in order to put the Houston Rockets away, means the Lakers have woken up and realized how good they are when firing on all cylinders. We all know that fear and a good kick in the butt can motivate us to take a step back and re-evaluate our approach to our situation. After cruising by the Utah Jazz in five games, the Lakers became lackadaisical in their approach against the Rockets. When the Rockets lost Yao Ming at the end of game three, a game in which they took bad shots and did not play good defense. The Lakers performance in the next game was absolutely bizarre for every one that was watching it. Their loss in game four was the much needed kick in the butt. They woke up for game five by blowing out Houston with a forty point margin. Fortunately, they lost game six......yes, I said fortunately!!! I say this because their inability to close out the Rockets in game six resulted in their elevated play in game seven.

Will game seven be the launching pad that the Lakers need in order for them beat the Nuggets?

Carmelo Anthony is flat out the best scorer in the league. I will give you guys a little while to let that sink in.............I hope that was enough time. I did not say best player. I said best scorer. Kobe can knock down his shots when he needs to. Lebron can simply out muscle almost anyone to get his shot. D-Wade does too much dribbling to get his shot and is still not much of a shooter. Carmelo Anthony is way more smoother and polished as a scorer than his counterparts. Nobody uses the jab step better than he does. His elevation and point of shot release is near perfect. If you have been paying attention like I have; you will notice that he almost never fades away for his shots. He simply uses his dribble to effectively create space and then just goes straight up for his shot.

This is not about Carmelo though. The reason I seem to be pouring out adoration for him has a more to do with how his team is a lot like him in the scoring department. The Nuggets score effortlessly against most defenses. The efficiency of Melo's Jab step brings to mind the efficiency of his supporting cast of players. Chris "Birdman" Anderson, J.R Smith and Anthony Carter are about as efficient as it gets. They play with high intensity at all times and have caused havoc on both sides of the court. Nene and Kenyon Martin are two of the most physical post defenders in the league. Dahntay Jones has surprised many people with his shooting but it's no surprise that it's his defense that will earn him the task of guarding Kobe in this series. Jones is very athletic and a good defender but the possibility of going head to head with Kobe is a daunting task. Good luck Dahntay!!!

The Lakers might have gotten the rude awakening that they needed and they will be determined not to play like they did in the Houston series. Denver has had problems with defense in the past but they have always been a good offensive team. So far, in this years playoffs, they have been tough on all facets of their defensive game. If Martin can make Dirk Nowitzki work really hard for every point that he gets, then how in the world is Pau Gasol (who is not as polished offensively as Dirk) going to be able to help the Lakers in the post. Andrew Bynum can't seem to stay out of foul trouble. Although he is much taller than Nene, I think that Nene's physical style of play will render the young Bynum helpless for the Lakers cause. Chauncey Billups is way too savvy and way too good at his job to let the recent success of the Nuggets to get in their heads. He will make sure that they are well prepared for this battle. I know Kobe is great and the Lakers "can" be explosive but the Nuggets are almost always explosive. Scoring comes naturally to the Nuggets and defense is finally something they pay a lot of attention to.
My Prediction: Nuggets win series 4-3

Sportacularly yours,

The Vicarious Athlete