- OCD Hoops -

There are 8 NBA teams and 4 semi-final playoff series at this point.  With so many series going 7 games in the opening round (*record setting amount of first round game 7's), there was little to no rest for every single team (Heat had a week off, Wizards too). The NBA Playoffs can be so exciting yet quite interesting too... often giving us insight into the future's of each team, good or bad.  Look at the difference between the imploding number 1 seed Pacers barely beating a mediocre Atlanta team in 7 games and the under-appreciated Wizards healthy with Nene grooving and dominating the Bulls.  It's pretty telling of what's to come in their series. Anyway, let's take a look at each matchup and see what's likely to happen.... EASTERN CONFERENCE: #2 Miami Heat vs #5 Brooklyn Nets While the Miami Heat had a nice week off and easy 4 game series, the rest of the NBA teams in the playoffs were battling it out every other day, including the New Jersey Nets. Thi...

History has been made quite a bit in this years NBA playoffs. A playoff's so competitive that a contender for the Finals in the West could be kicked in Round 1 as a result of matchup problems... take Houston for example (their weakest position PF and then PG are the Blazer's two All-Star studs Lillard and Aldridge), resulting in a Blazer win in 6 games. I think people forgot how dominant the Blazers were to start this season, though they dropped a little bit as the season went on, they were also developing youth and rotations.  Aldridge was also hurt for a bit, which can hurt overall records (look at Memphis 29-30 game record without Marc Gasol this season). Clippers and Warriors round 1 has been really competitive, and even Dallas is giving the Spurs a run for their money. But the East seemed like Indy and Miami had it locked up, until about 3 weeks left in the season when Indy imploded.  Atlanta, the only sub .500 team in the playoffs and 8 seed in the East surprised...

2014 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER Anthony Davis 2012-2013: 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks 2013-2014: 21.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 2.9 blocks This was definitely the toughest award to give out actually.  While I basically had two guys for Defensive Player, there are many a  players having breakout seasons. From Paul George sustaining his level of play from last years playoffs and improving all around to Eric Bledsoe becoming a Sun and putting up great numbers finally getting to start and play bigger minutes to Al Jefferson, a 30+ year old veteran putting up career numbers (as a result of the Bobcats offense). Add D-League/NBA bounce-around guy Gerald Green having a great season with the Suns as a starter/6th man Shooting Guard, and almost any Sun player (Dragic, Plumlee, Morris). Andre Drummond finally started and was able to stay out of foul trouble in his second season, putting up great numbers and showing how good he will be. This year was simply...

TOP: Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Mo Williams, Josh Howard BOTTOM: David West, Leandro Barbosa, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Kaman, Kendrick Perkins, TJ Ford    Now it's hard to say with any definite tone that this upcoming NBA Draft of 2014 is going to be as good as 2003's, as I've read in numerous articles from respected reporters and scouts (Lebron, Melo, Wade, Bosh, and others noted in picture above).  Now I'm trying to do my best to stay objective, but it's hard to beat that class after reading it might be as good as some 80's draft that had so much talent and stars.  But I like comparing this years draft to 2003's (as they are similar in the young talent as well as depth) and think they are actually quite right on about the talent coming out for this year's draft, including the young freshman class that has dominated the NCAA landscape. March Madness is looking to be played at one of the highest levels it's ever been pl...

     Why don't we hear "All Dwight Howard does is dunk"? Well, in that defense, (no pun intended) Howard is the best defensive "big-man" in the game, period. Dwight is one of the top 2 rebounders in the league (Kevin Love competition) averaging 14.0 boards per game (compared to Griffin's 12.1 per game). This is what Howard can do and does best in the entire league: anchor's the defense and blocks/alters shots better than anyone in the entire NBA, thus his current third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award a portrait of his impact on the game defensively. Offensively speaking, in his 7th, hopefully (this year) to be 8th season in the NBA at age 26 he is far behind Griffin even in many aspects overall.  Both players, though, are Franchise Tag players, and will be leading teams to the Playoffs and more depending on whatever happens with the team that's put around them. I am just curious why the internet's sports population aren...