Every series is a good series in the west. For me, the second expected storyline would be the series between Houston and Jazz, altough that wouldn't be too much of a contest like the first one.

  For Houston, despite losing Yao Ming, they managed to secure home court in the first round. But that doesn't matter. No one said they could go anywhere with Yao Ming, but everyone knows they can't be anywhere without Yao come playoffs. T-mac just doesn't have enough to pull the Rockets pass the Jazz. Unless Deke can play 20 years younger than his age, Houston minus Yao Ming turns them from one of the bigger teams into the smallest team in the league. That might work well against the Jazz since they like using Pick-n'-Rolls and Yao just get exposed to his weakest spot when he gets involved. But given the type of rebounding team and the physicality of the Jazz in general, they are going to have a hard time on both ends of the floor.

  For the Jazz, secure their home court, and try to limit turn overs on the road.

  Houston:

  Protect the boards.

  Move the ball.

  T-mac has to stop hitting iron.

 

  Utah:

  Win all home games.

  Limit turnovers on the road.

  Defend the three.

 

  Possible outcome:

  Jazz take it in five, finish it at home.

MMMMM... So tasty. Just have to use this line to express my opinion on the western conference playoff picture. It seems that it has been as great as this for a long time. As much as basketball on a whole has declined as an art form, the western conference this year might revive some of the feelings for NBA basketball. Three teams in the west have identical records couple of games before the end of the season. That did nothing but raised the expectations for the dogfights that are about to start this saturday.

  Of course, other than some die-hard fans in Detroit, most people would put the Celtics easily on top of the east and they will cruise through and wait for the dogfights in the west to be over before they can realise their championship dream once again. Congrats, Kevin, you got your Championship. Well deserved.

  Talking about the west is a completely different story. Let's see. The most storied matchup would be the 3 vs 6 where we are going to witness if the Pheonix trade for Shaq seriously worked or not. After all, they traded Shaq for no other reason than countering the great Timmy D, arguably the best player right now, although a little old. Matchup-wise, Bell would be a good option on Parker, because no one wants Hill to break his ankle trying to stick with him. That leaves Hill on Ginobili, and Hill is a good enough defender to slow down Ginobili. That obviously allows Nash to hide behind Bruce Bowen and not be exposed on the defensive end. So he gets to do more on offense. Now, Shap is obviously brought in to take care of Duncan, if everything works out, Duncan will be banned up working on O'neal. Now, that entirely leaves Stoudmare free to do what he wants to do, rebounding, help-guarding Tim Duncan ... With the type of numbers he put up since Shap came to Pheonix, everyone knows what he is going to do. On offense, they have two complete different well working systems. They can run their high powered run-and-gun when Shaq is not there. And when Nash needs a rest, Shaq will be there to allow them run a half-court inside-out offense. And with Shaq occuping the defense in the paint, Stoudmare can expect 30 point - 15 rebound averages throughout the series. Also somehow they have to find a way to involve Ginobili on the defensive side. Make him work so that he can't use everything on offense. But No.1 improvement, Shaq brings that swagger and championship experience to the Suns.

  Talking about the spurs. Their biggest disadvantage as well as their biggest advantage, is their age/experience. Defensively, Bowen would definitely take Nash. Nothing needs to be said about Bruce Bowen on defense. If he manages to knee Nash couple of times, Spurs have nothing to worry about. Ginobili might have to take Grant Hill, he is smart, but a little undersized. They might have to rely on their system and help defense to guard this former "Jordan Successor" effectively. As for their interior. I would not send Duncan off chasing Stoudmare. The best option is for the Spurs to put him one-on-one on Shaq. He can go 50 to 50 with Shaq or a little better. But at least that doesn't leave Stoudmare open for that fifteen foot jumper, that slashing dunk or oppose him to the offensive board. On offense, Parker has to penetrate, Duncan has to do what he does. But most importantly, Ginobili has to continue to be the X-factor he has been all season for the Spurs. If he can't be 100%, the Spurs will again change into that team that struggled to get up to 80 points per game. Well, everything depends on Manu for the Spurs.

  For the Suns:

    Containing Ginobili.

    Limiting turnovers.

    Someone has to step up on the bench.

  For the Spurs:

    Bowen's job on Nash.

    Ginobili's playing up to his ability.

    One of the old guys have to contribute.

  Expected outcome:

    Pheonix take the series in 7 games and lose the seond home game.

I have been so reluctant on updating my space. I finally can't hold off my interest in basetball and decide to write something about the NBA this season.

  The year 2007 has been a crazy season for Bostonians. Their own Red Sox won their second World Series in four years. THen they went from the ecstasy of 18-0 to the emotional abyss of 18-1 as the Pats fall short on their hope for perfection at the last step. But perhaps more than both of that, the acquisition of Ray Allen and subsequently Kevin Garenett and Sam Cassel by the Boston Celtics turned "The Green" back on, as they witenss the greatest single season turn around in the modern NBA era as they improved by a total of 42 more wins last season, locked up the best regular season record in the 2007-2008 season and seemingly one step away from reviving the glory of the old Russel or Bird days.

  But even the Celtics depeleted their bench as they pulled off that one for eight trade for KG. Perhaps rated the steal of the century, Los Angles finall made Staples Center once again one of the hottest spots and hardest place to play after Kupchak directed a trade that should probably rand his name alongside the likes of Steven Spilberg and such as he gave up almost nothing to get Pau Gasol to add alongside Kobe, Odom and Bynum. Now it seems like the fans can enjoy the old boston-LA rivalry for at least another four years.

  Pheonix has been an exciting team since Nash got there. But after falling short before the great Timmothy Duncan times and again, they finally decided to change their contenance. By trading O'neal and giving up perhaps one of the best finishers and fast break high flying dunker and untilmate stats guy in Shawn Marion, they formed their own SOS that had all the other teams calling abulances. Steve-O'neal-Stoudmare. That sounds so pretty. They just don't know that Boston and Lakers just got so much stronger. Bad luck. Suns.

  On the other end of the spectrum, the Mavs under their hotheaded owner Mark Cuban, gave up their most proud bench for Jason Kidd. What they don't know is, Jason is too old, and he can't help them. They are a jump shooting team at best, and that's never going to change withtheir top three scorers, Nowisky, Howard and Stackhouse using jump shots as their main weaponry. They win by hastle and just out running guys, which is also why they lost to Golden State last season. With Nowisky as their No.1 guy, they can never trade for a legitimate interior player that allows to play set offense, which makes Jason Kidd's value diminish so much. Sorry Mavs, sorry Mark, you made the wrong move.

  Of course, big names isn't the only option. Kyle Korver definitely improved the Jazz's half court offense by spacing the floor with his outside shooting. Scola gave Houston their most needed contribution at the power forward position. Rashard Lewis signed one of the biggest free agent contracts in league history to the Magic.

  There are plenty of other unbelivable things. Rockets withstood the injury of Yao and pulled off a 22 game winning streak. Wizards despite playing without at least one of Agent 0 and Caron Butler, managed to secure a spot in the east playoff race and beat Boston three out of their four meetings. Paul lead the young Hornets after Katrina to top record in the ultra competitive west. The Trailblazers managed to pull off a decent season while waiting for their first pick this year Oden to rehab and make his debut. The New-York Nickerbuckers stink like a skunk. Even Dwight Howard became the first center to win the dunk contest after his outing as "superman" which disclosed his unbelivably "low" IQ. And now everyone is raving about perhaps one of the most talented and deep Draft class in the coming year.

  What's going to happen in the playoffs? Who knows?