Playoff predictions can lead to surprising conclusions.
Ham's picks
Van der Brym's picks
I've made no secret of making a concerned effort to avoid the cliché sports topics in this blog, but there is a little sports junkie in all of us and we all enjoy an opportunity to argue over predictions.
I would also like to introduce a great 'friend of the blog'. Marcus Ham will occasionally contribute to the blog with his input. We are also working together to bring you a radio show-style podcast focusing on similar topics as this blog.
So here are our predictions and, I realize, my warrants an explanation.
I must admit that my NBA Playoff looks a bit more like a March Madness bracket, with 2 number threes, a number 5, and a sole number 1 in which nobody believes in my final four.
Admittedly, a pick involving one of my former home-town teams, the Wiz, is already looking bleak, but I do think this is a very unique and quite an unpredictable tournament. The favorites in this tournament are very unusual; championship teams that are led by rookie head coaches, everybody relies on threes, newly built superteams, spurs back to back – these things never happen.
Ham and I will both be quick to point out that the picks were prior to the start of the playoffs. As our Mavs and Raptors picks will show you.
Forecasting this year's playoffs is truly challenging. So, I had to ask myself a key question. Which team's championship run do I really buy. I believe the Warriors are the best team in the NBA this season. If the game was played in a European-football style season with no knock-out postseason, they would clearly dominate. However, I just can't help but to think that someone can get to the Ws when they have to play them 7 times in two weeks. And if someone can - it's Memphis. I really like Conley and I really, really like Marc Gasol, but I looove me some Z.Bo! They look healthy. Potenitall seven games of hard close-outs, in-your-face threes, elbows, bangs, grindin'. I am goin' to love that series. Everybody loves watching Curry and the Warriors, and that includes me. But I love watching the Grizz just as much. It'll be a hell of a series.
I got the Clippers winning an NBA Championship. Pause... Yup. I'm not thrilled with it. It kinda just happened that way when I picked them round by round. But I think they'll beat the Spurs. I get the sense people are picking the Spurs, because they're the Spurs and I don't but that as an argument. Bill Simmons called Kawhi Leonard Scottie Pippen the other day. Seriously? This forces me to pick up on Dan Lebatard's argument that you can be truly great but overrated at the same time, which for me, with everybody ready to make him the greatest everything of all time ever, Kawhi is. He's fantastic and he deserves the Defensive Player of the Year Award, but let's chill out for just one second before we make him Scottie. He might make me eat it this year, but I still feel good about picking the Spurs to lose in the first round even after they got the split on the road. I haven't been a huge Chris Paul fan, but he's a hell of a player and I think he's the eye on the prize this year. He has the perfect coach, but more importantly, a Blake Griffin who can bail him out down the stretch once in a while. The problem for the Clippers in recent years has been that their go to guy (pardon the pun) is 6 ft tall which makes closing out games very difficult when the whole defense can focus on you. Blake is a better player now who can score down the stretch. The challenge will be how Doc deals with DeAndre's free thrown shooting. If they can hide him enough, they might just do it.
I picked the Bulls to beat LeBron and the Cavs and eventually make it to the Finals. And I'm convinced that I'm making this pick partially because of my affection for that team and that city, along with my growing distaste for Lebron and his “larger than life persona”, I know all this. But, damn it, I think they can do it. Rose went hard again at the Bucks in Game 3. He continued the just hoopin' theme and decided if the refs didn't call a foul on one of his drives, he was goin right back in the paint to make sure he gets the bucket or makes the ref make the call. And that's precisely what Bulls fans want to see. If all players are healthy, I think Rose outplays Kyrie significantly in the series, Taj, Pau, and Noah make Love and Mozgov disappear. Jimmy Boy will do his thing offensively and is one of the three players in the NBA best equipped to guard 'Bron. Rest of the roster - I'm taking the Bulls by a landslide. Man, I hope I'm right.
I encourage people to comment. Feedback is always appreciated!
