Pridict WCFinals/ECFinals and NBA Finals for 09
Posted: Fri Aug 1, 2008 9:16 am
Assuming teams stay healthy come playoffs time and through, who do you think will be in the WCF/ECF and then the Finals?
For me:
WCF: Rockets vs. Lakers
ECF: Celtics vs. Pistons
NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Pistons
WCF
Rockets (provided stay healthy) will beat out other top teams and face the Lakers because they have the offensive power (T-Mac, Artest, and Yao) and a great defensive power (Artest, Battier, Mutombo). Despite the inexperience of the playoffs, I think they've got the right pieces in place. And they also won 55 games with their star players hurt throughout last season.
Lakers on the other hand get to the WCF because of the experience they retained from last season. And they've added Bynum to the mix, with a full season under their belt with Kobe/Pau/Bynum, I think they will be experienced enough to find their way to the WCFinals. They only test I see for them is the Suns because of Suns front-court.
Lakers win against Rockets which will be a very close battle because I believe Shane Battier is the best defender to put on Kobe given a 1 on 1 situation. And I think their team defense is good enough to gear towards Kobe. But with the addition of Bynum, the Lakers have enough to take advantage. And I think the PF spot will really give Rockets problems having Scola guarding Gasol. The Rockets remind me of the Celtics a bit, they have great defense and they have a very good player coming off the bench in Battier (such as a Posey). Lakers duel it out and win in a very close series against Rockets because I think the pressure and inexperience will catch up to the Rockets.
ECF:
Obviously the East is pretty weak with only 3 contenders (if you count the Cavs in) despite a championship team from the East. So, I think the Boston Celtics will face the Pistons in the ECF.
Both teams are experienced and have a good team to get to the ECFinals and I still don't think Cavs nor Magic, or Raptors for that matter could give much trouble to these teams, although I could see the Cavs and Sixers giving a little trouble to either teams because of the abilities of LBJ and the Cavs defense, and the addition of Brand to Sixers makes them much tougher as they showed flashes in last season.
The Pistons win against the Celtics IMO. Yes the Celtics are coming off a championship year and have 3 very good players but I think their hunger has slowed down as they've accomplished their goal. And lets not forget the Pistons are also championship experienced. Stukey showed some flashes in previous season and I think they'll be in the Finals. And with the addition of Kwame Freaking Brown (yes I said it), he might not be able to handle a ball but he can sure play decent/good defense. I think he'll be able to keep Perkins in Check because of his body strength while Wallace goes to work on KG. On the other hand Boston lost 2 key pieces of their Championship run (Posey and PJ Brown) both veteran experienced players coming off the bench. Rando will improve but I don't think it'll be enough because of the loss of Posey and PJ (they brought defense, hustle, 3pt shooting, and the open 10-15 foot jumper that I don't see being replaced by any of their key bench players). I think they were key pieces Boston couldn't afford to lose coming into this season although PJ was older.
So there are my reasons as to why I think Lakers and Pistons will be in the Finals in 09 season. And if Lakers beat a healthy Rockets in the WCF, I think they're in good position because they would have to go through a very good defense (especially with Battier/Artest guarding kobe) which will give them a taste of the Finals.
For me:
WCF: Rockets vs. Lakers
ECF: Celtics vs. Pistons
NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Pistons
WCF
Rockets (provided stay healthy) will beat out other top teams and face the Lakers because they have the offensive power (T-Mac, Artest, and Yao) and a great defensive power (Artest, Battier, Mutombo). Despite the inexperience of the playoffs, I think they've got the right pieces in place. And they also won 55 games with their star players hurt throughout last season.
Lakers on the other hand get to the WCF because of the experience they retained from last season. And they've added Bynum to the mix, with a full season under their belt with Kobe/Pau/Bynum, I think they will be experienced enough to find their way to the WCFinals. They only test I see for them is the Suns because of Suns front-court.
Lakers win against Rockets which will be a very close battle because I believe Shane Battier is the best defender to put on Kobe given a 1 on 1 situation. And I think their team defense is good enough to gear towards Kobe. But with the addition of Bynum, the Lakers have enough to take advantage. And I think the PF spot will really give Rockets problems having Scola guarding Gasol. The Rockets remind me of the Celtics a bit, they have great defense and they have a very good player coming off the bench in Battier (such as a Posey). Lakers duel it out and win in a very close series against Rockets because I think the pressure and inexperience will catch up to the Rockets.
ECF:
Obviously the East is pretty weak with only 3 contenders (if you count the Cavs in) despite a championship team from the East. So, I think the Boston Celtics will face the Pistons in the ECF.
Both teams are experienced and have a good team to get to the ECFinals and I still don't think Cavs nor Magic, or Raptors for that matter could give much trouble to these teams, although I could see the Cavs and Sixers giving a little trouble to either teams because of the abilities of LBJ and the Cavs defense, and the addition of Brand to Sixers makes them much tougher as they showed flashes in last season.
The Pistons win against the Celtics IMO. Yes the Celtics are coming off a championship year and have 3 very good players but I think their hunger has slowed down as they've accomplished their goal. And lets not forget the Pistons are also championship experienced. Stukey showed some flashes in previous season and I think they'll be in the Finals. And with the addition of Kwame Freaking Brown (yes I said it), he might not be able to handle a ball but he can sure play decent/good defense. I think he'll be able to keep Perkins in Check because of his body strength while Wallace goes to work on KG. On the other hand Boston lost 2 key pieces of their Championship run (Posey and PJ Brown) both veteran experienced players coming off the bench. Rando will improve but I don't think it'll be enough because of the loss of Posey and PJ (they brought defense, hustle, 3pt shooting, and the open 10-15 foot jumper that I don't see being replaced by any of their key bench players). I think they were key pieces Boston couldn't afford to lose coming into this season although PJ was older.
So there are my reasons as to why I think Lakers and Pistons will be in the Finals in 09 season. And if Lakers beat a healthy Rockets in the WCF, I think they're in good position because they would have to go through a very good defense (especially with Battier/Artest guarding kobe) which will give them a taste of the Finals.