A whole lot of NBA stuff

I thought it was about time that I enlighten all of you with my NBA season awards as well as post-season preview. First the Awards:

Coach of the Year: Rick Carlise, Indiana Pacers. After the brawl game, the Pacers had no business making the playoffs, and they certainly had no business making it as high as a 6th seed. This proves 2 things. One that the East is still weak, real weak. And two that Carlise is probably the best coach in the NBA.
Runner-Up: Nate McMillan, Seattle Supersonics
6th Man: Ben Gordon, Chicago Bulls. Even though Jerry Stackhouse has better numbers, since Gordon is his teams best scorer, most clutch performer and arguably his teams best player (Hinrich actually is, but that’s neither here nor there) he gets the nod.
Runner-Up: Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas Mavericks.
Rookie of the Year: Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats. This was easily the hardest category to choose. While Gordon played in more meaningful games and his team ultimately made the playoffs, Okafor was the best rookie this year. Unlike Gordon, who was surrounded by a slew of talented players, Okafor was his teams number one option and if he had an off night his team was done for. Gordon had the luxury of coming off the bench and deferring to his teammates with confidence if he was on. Okafor had no of that and still put up great numbers. Side Note: I’m really not sold on Dwight Howard.
Runner-Ups: Ben Gordon, Andre Igoudla (76ers), Josh Smith (Hawks), Dwight Howard (Magic).
Defensive Player of the Year: Tayshaun Prince, Detroit Pistions. The best perimeter defender in the league, bar none.
Runner-Ups: Bruce Bowen, Ben Wallace, Tim Duncan, Andre Igoudla.
MVP: Shaquille O’Neal, Miami Heat. If I’m a betting man I say Steve Nash takes this one, but O’Neal rightfully should win it. He’s been far more dominate, and as good as Nash has been, he’s defensive liability will be the reason the Suns don’t win it all.
Runner-Ups: Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan.

All-NBA First Team:
G Allen Iverson + Steve Nash: For my money Iverson has been the best player in the league this year, but Shaq deserves MVP, if that makes any since. It’s hard to leave Lebron off this list, but I can’t justify bumping either Nash or Iverson.
F Dirk and Amare: I know I had Tim Duncan in my MVP voting, but he’s missed to many games to be first team, although he’s still prove that he’s top 5 in MVP voting.
C Shaq: Who the hell else would be here?

All-NBA SecondTeam:
G Lebron James + Ray Allen: James is the easy pick, since he’s 5b on my all-NBA list. Allen gets the nod here because he’s led the league’s most surprising team all year and all people talk about is his contract.
F T-Mac and KG: Even though KG’s teams bombed, he’s still had a great year. Also T-Mac is a 3 in my book, so yeah.
C: Duncan: Plays PF, but he’s a center at heart, that and no other center is worthy of this spot as far as I’m concerned.
Honorable Mention: Gilbert Arenas, Tayshuan Prince, Mike Bibby, Dwayne Wade, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Reggie Miller.

Playoff Predictions:
For now I’ll just do the first round, I’ll put out the rest of my predictions later.

East:

1 Miami v. 8 New Jersey: Everyone think the Net’s will make a series of this, I have to disagree. If RJ was at full health maybe, but the Heat are going to destroy the Nets inside. Heat in 5, 7 if Shaq misses more then one game.

4 Chicago Bulls v. Washington Wizards: I like the Wizards here. First off the Bulls are banged up, Deng and Curry won’t play at all, and despite the Bulls great defense, I believe they’ll be hard pressed to stop the Wiz’s trio. Washington in 6

3 Boston v. Indiana : This is a dream match up for Indiana. While B-Town has been hot as of late, they don’t match up well with the Pacers. I also have the feeling that Reggie is going to be lights out for the entire playoffs, and the Celtics don’t play D and Jermaine O’Neal is going to destroy Boston if he stays healthy. Add in the fact that the Pacers have a slew of players who can defend Paul Pierce as well as anyone, and the Pacers should be favored in this series. Plus they’re kinda due for some good karma. Pacers in 6

2 Detroit v. 7 Philadelphia: AI is great, but the Pistons are far better then the 76ers. Prince guards Iverson, and everyone for that matter, better then anyone in the league. I don’t see the 76ers winning a game in this series unless AI goes off for at least 40, which I don’t think he’ll be able to do against Prince. C-Webb will flop in the playoffs yet again, with the only difference this time around being that his team was expected to loose. Pistons in 4

West:

1 Phoenix v. Memphis: Memphis matches up very well with the Suns, but I think they lack the offensive punch to contend w/ Phoenix. Memphis is a team that’s built for the regular season, and I they don’t have what it takes to beat the Suns 4 times in 7 games. Suns in 6

4 Dallas v. Houston: This would be a great series if Juwan Howard wasn’t injured. Now the Rockets have no one who can defend Dirk. T-Mac will try, but I doubt he’ll guard Dirk that much considering the offensive burden he has to carry. While Dallas should be a clear favorite in this series, I think Jeff Van Gundy will out-coach Avery Johnson and his humongous lips enough to make this one interesting. Dallas in 7.

3 Seattle v. Sacramento: The Kings are banged up again in the playoffs, what else is new. Yet I still like Sac-town in this series, regardless of their health issues. Mike Bibby is at his best in the playoffs and he’s going to eat up the Supersonics PGs. I also don’t like the way Seattle backed in to the playoffs. While the Kings haven’t played great, the have far more playoff experience then the Sonics. Kings in 6

2 San Antonio v. Denver: The Nuggets have arguably been the best team in the NBA since the All-Star break, it’s too bad for them that they run into the Spurs in the first round. But this is definitely the best time to play the Spurs since TD is banged up and trying to regain his rhythm. Still, I like SA in this series, mainly b/c I think Carmello is gonna get locked down by the Spurs and then he’ll force the issue to much and take his team out of a couple of games. Denver will make is one interesting, and if Anthony doesn’t try to do too much then Denver could very well pull off the upset. But I think the safer bet is Carmello over doing it and crushing the Nuggets chances. Spurs in 6

That’s all for now, and for those of you who aren’t into sports, I apologize b/c this blog will be over taken by the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future.