Sixers will beat Magic. Magic are a jump shooting team. They’re kinda like a warrior team with Howard. Sixers have more athletic and have the height to give orlado problems.

Looks like the T mac will finally get out of the first round. Oh, wait he’s not even playing right now. Looks like somebody’s traded in the offseason. Yao Ming and Ron Artest. I think we’ve found the new bad boys

I think Houston will run over the Blazers. Once MacGrady was done I knew they would be a force. Want to make your team better? Don’t have T-Mac on it. (On a side note, in a stroke of off-season brilliance Robert Rowell will trade Anthony Randolph and Andris Biedrins for T-Mac to resurrect the sorry Warriors franchise, after which he will be named non-GM of the year by the Houston Rockets).

I also think that the Hawks can take the Heat. O’Neal is done.

With the benefit of a couple of news stories things are not looking good for Boston.

I also think you may be wrong on the Nuggets/Hornets, but I hope not…

Sure, they may be a better team at this point had they picked Durant, but Durant may not have won Rookie of the Year on a team that was decent already and he definitely wouldn’t be 6th in the league in scoring. He took it on himself to be the best person on a terrible team, but what would his attitude have been on the Blazers? He wouldn’t dare try to take over Roy’s team. Both players dominate the ball, and you can’t have multiple players that dominate the ball playing major minutes (see Iverson in Detroit).

It would also be ridiculous to think that you could ask three young players to do the same thing that the Boston Celtics are doing, that is sacrificing stats for the better of the team. Pierce, Allen, and Garnett are all lower statistically this season than their career averages in almost every category, and especially in scoring. It is just impossible to groom three all-star caliber players on the same team from their rookie seasons on. There just aren’t enough possessions for it to happen.

Look at what happened when we added Crawford to the Warriors. Had everyone been healthy at the same time, someone would have suffered greatly in their stats. Not every player can take 15-20 shots a game. Even if Roy and Durant could have co-existed, players like Outlaw and Fernandez would have significantly less playing time, and the Blazers would have no quality rebounding on the bench (Channing Frye? please…).

i agree with you, marcus, about durant. the blazers would be such a more dangerous team with durant instead of oden. durant and roy as a 1-2 punch. who are you going to double team? both can handle and create. throw in aldridge. that could be a scary team.

which brings up this point: if oden, hailed as one of the best center prospects in a decade coming out, isn’t creating much impact in the league. how the heck is thabeet a potential top 5 pick? he’s certainly not better than oden. he’s just the next roy hibbert.

Marcus how come you don’t give Ron Artest’s contract run any credit? He has always been a me-first guy on a team missing the ultimate me-first player. this was written pre game 1 beatdown but w/ Yao and Artest I dont think the Blazers can handle them down the stretch if it is close. Can’t foul Yao at the end since he knocks down FT’s like a PG.

Love your picks but feel its going to be Rockets in 6 and both the Magic and Hornets are gonna need 7 to win it.