East Finals New Jersey v Boston West Finals Sacramento v LA Lakers I'm going with: Boston in 6 Sacramento in 7
I want to say Boston in 6 or 7, but Jason Kidd may be showing me some killer instinct in the series against the Hornets. Hmm ... maybe the Nets can get out of the East. On the West, I still go for the team I dislike less, which is the Lakers. Die, Kings, die! (However, for any Eastern team to have a chance in the Finals, I would root for the Kings ... ugh ... I am )
Funny ain't I? I just don't want the Lakers to win, and I don't mind the Kings (well don't hate them as much as the Lakers). You could say it's the lesser of 2 evils.
i like the kings chemistry. they seem to genuinely like each other on and off the court. the european players especially. go kings.
Breakdown, go ahead and give it to me...Breakdown, honey take me through the night... LAKERS vs KINGS Center: Shaq, Shaq, and more Shaq. Expect the Lakers to go to the big man early and try to get Divac, a very underrated post defender, into early foul trouble. The Kings don't have the luxury of throwing a bunch of guys at Shaq, so look for him to have a huge series. Advantage...uhh, do I really have to say? PG: Mike Bibby really stepped it up against the Mavericks, showing some excellent floor leadership and great penetration ability. Derek Fisher's main job is to not make any mistakes and hit the open jumpers off Shaq double teams. Advantage - Kings SG: Kobe is probably the best player in the NBA right now. He can score from anywhere on the floor, and is now showing Jordan-esque killer instinct. Doug Christie is a good all around player, and plays great defense. He'll have his hands full guarding Kobe. Advantage - Lakers SF: Peja Stojakovic is another of those good, all around players for the Kings. He can shoot, penetrate, and play good defense. Don't underestimate Rick Fox and Robert Horry, though. Rick Fox has a great FG% and is another good perimeter, and Horry knows all about big shots in the playoffs. Peja can't leave Horry for a second late in the game. Advantage - Kings PF: Passive? Chris Webber's got yer passive right here! After a rough series against the Jazz, he smoked the Mavs, averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds to go with 54% shooting. But, how much of that was due to the uptempo style that was prominent in that series? Samaki Walker is basically there to try and slow down Webber and grab some rebounds. Advantage - Kings Bench: The Kings are a little banged up, using only six players to finish off the Mavs. The Lakers have never been known for their depth, but that hasn't stopped them on two title runs. Jackson, Turkoglu, and Pollard can all come off the bench and score immediately. The Lakers have one of the best defensive benches in the league. Advantage - Push Coaching - Say what you want about Phil, but 8 titles don't lie. He's known for a passive style, not calling a lot of timeouts when the other team goes on a run, which fits this Lakers team perfectly. Rick Adelman might be a little intimitated by Jackson, twice losing to him in the NBA Finals. Advantage - Lakers Prediction: The Lakers have to control the tempo. If they can slow the Kings down, they can take this series. For the Kings, they must stop Kobe. Shaq will get his, and the role players will do their part, but Kobe is the x-factor. Lakers in 7 low scoring games. NETS vs CELTICS Center: Tony Battie? Aaron Williams? Jason Collins? Todd MacCulloch? This definitely ain't Olajuwon vs. Shaq in the 1995 finals. Hell, I'd settle for Shawn Bradley vs. Manute Bol...at least those guys are fun to look at. Advantage - Who cares? PG: Jason Kidd is the man. Although his shooting percentage isn't the best, he just exudes leadership. Capable of scoring a triple double on any night, he'll have to step it up for New Jersey. Eric Strickland will have to crowd Jason Kidd around the perimeter and disrupt the Nets offense, and try to keep the ball out of Kidd's hands as much as possible. Advantage - Nets SG: Great Matchup. Paul Pierce an light it up in an instant, but he can also go cold just as fast. He also has a turnover problem in the playoffs, averaging 4 per game. Kerry Kittles will have to try and get Pierce in foul trouble and keep him off the floor. He'll defintely have his hands full defensively. Advantage - Celtics SF: Keith Van Horn has a nice shooting touch, and can bang inside, also. Eric Williams has a slight size disadvantage, but he's a solid defender. Advantage - Nets PF: Antoine Walker is one of the best shooting power forwards in the league, lighting it up from the 3 point line at a .418 clip in the playoffs. But, if he goes cold, the Celtics usually go cold with him. The Nets really need Kenyon's defense in this series, so he'll have to control his temper. Kenyon is good at banging down low, so he should be able to get some points down low. Advantage - Celtics Bench: These two benches really don't stand out in any category, though the Nets bench might have to step it up if Jason Kidd's head wound acts up or Martin gets into foul trouble. Advantage - Push Coaching: Two young head coaches going at it. Although Jason Kidd was second in MVP voting, Byron Scott had a lot to do with the Nets resurgence this year. Jim O'Brien is....well...at least he's not Rick Pitino! Advantage - Push Prediction: It doesn't really matter, as the winner of this series will be the official sacrificial lamb for the real NBA Finals out in California. Nets in six.
I think your overall assessment is solid, but won't Peja be out for at least 2 of the games due to his ankle injury? If so, you should probably do this part of the analysis with Turkoglu, as I believe the first 2 games will be pivitol in determining the outcome of the series.
I still think the Kings have the better bench. Robert Horry is the only good bench player, and he might start instead of Samaki Walker.
