My Playoff Guess

So, I was sitting down to put together my Eastern Conference Playoff Preview, when I realised something: I really have no idea how this series is going to go. (And, before you accuse me of trying another reverse-jinx like I did against the Cavaliers, that's honestly not what I am going for here. Believe me, I fired all my reverse-jinx bullets in that series. I'm out.) I guess the main problem is that I just don't know how good this Magic team is. Yes, they ended the season on a large winning streak, but how many NBA teams are really trying the last month or so? And it's true they haven't lost yet in the playoffs, but the Bobcats and Hawks weren't exactly stiff competition. The Bobcats were way too happy just to make the playoffs and that Atlanta team couldn't roll over fast enough once they lost game one of the series. Then again, perhaps the Magic just made them look that bad. It's kind of a tough call.

Much like in the series against Cleveland, I feel like the opposing team has the best player, but the Celtics are the better team. If you were picking guys for a game you would go Howard first, but the next three (maybe four, depending on how you feel about Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson) would undoubtedly be Celtics. Also, I would put the coaching matchup at a wash because while I think Van Gundy may be the better Xs and Os coach, Doc has the ear of his players and Van Gundy wears on his guys too much. Still, Van Gundy will know enough to exploit matchups in his favor, something Mike Brown never figured out in Cleveland. If he gets them to commit to running then the Magic should take this series, cause this year athletic teams that want to run have killed the Celtics.

In the end for me the deciding factor was the way the teams met last year and using that barometer I lean towards the Celtics. It took the Magic seven games to beat the Celtics when we had to start Big Baby and our first forward off the bench was Brian Scalabrine, who doesn't even dress this year. Rasheed Wallace has appeared to care the last couple of weeks, which is encouraging because the reason we brought him here was for May, not March. Also, Vince Carter will not be given any easy baskets this series, which means he will never want to get near the paint after game 2. Nelson will give Rondo trouble, but not shut him down and Pierce won't have to kill himself guarding anyone as tough as LeBron James, so he can save some energy for the offensive end of the court. Perkins will make Howard fight for every rebound and point, which hopefully will frustrate him into some dumb fouls. Again, I don't think it will be easy, but I'm going to say the Celtics take it in 6 games.

-You ever know something is going to be terrible, but you talk yourself into it anyway? Well, I did that same thing the other night with the movie Year One. When I saw the first trailer I didn't want to see it, when it was in theatres I couldn't bring myself to go and once it came out on video I still couldn't bring myself to add it to the BlockBuster online wish list. I'm not a big Jack Black fan and even though I don't dislike Michael Cera, at this point I want to see him do something other than be the awkward teenager. Therefore I decided to skip it. However, when there is nothing on TV and it's free On-Demand, you can talk yourself into just about anything. I should have gone with my first instincts. This movie was just not funny. Honestly I think the only time I laughed was during the outtakes in the credits and they were not worth the wait. I really should have known better.