As the second round of the NBA Playoffs marches on, we break down who is and isn’t laying pipe. The Bulls are so beat up that we might see Thibs in…
As the second round of the NBA Playoffs marches on, we break down who is and isn’t laying pipe. The Bulls are so beat up that we might see Thibs in a jersey, Tiger continues dominating Sergio Garcia, and the Toronto Maple Leafs blow it, Canadian-style.
As always, listen, like, share, tweet, retweet, and stay away from Titus Young.
Full breakdown of the 1st and 2nd rounds are coming, but we wanted to make sure that we get our Round 2 opinions ingrained in your minds.
Felix’s picks:
Miami over Chicago in 5: Heart and hustle will help you beat a more talented roster as we saw in the first round. However, it will not beat a more talented team that knows how to play together. The Heat are simply too good and too mature to slack off against a Bulls team that might be playing in the wheelchair basketball league by the end of this series.
New York over Indiana in 7: Though Boston pushed them to the brink of a historic collapse, the Knicks’ talent prevailed. The Pacers had some trouble getting past a weak Atlanta team, and though they are a much better defensive team, the Knicks are simply much better scorers. I anticipate the Pacers giving New York everything they can handle, and we hopefully will see another memorable NY/Indiana playoff series.
Memphis over OKC in 7: This may be bold but the Grizzlies showed a ton of promise after dropping the first two games to the Clippers. This team is playing together and at a high level right now. Without Westbrook, the Thunder are average on the fastbreak, which was one of their strengths. The Grizzlies play elite half-court defense and I can’t wait to see the combination of Tony Allen and Austin Daye try to keep Durant in check.
San Antonio over Golden State in 6: Don’t try and convince me that the explosive shooting of the Warriors would beat the excellent perimeter defense of the Spurs. It won’t work. Popovich’s team will very rarely allow uncontested threes and while I expect the combination of Curry and Thompson to sink a number of them, it won’t be enough. Interior edge goes to the Spurs.
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Skip’s picks:
Miami – Chicago: Miami in 5. Chicago has shown a ton of heart but they are too beat up to really push the defending champions. That being said, I fully expect the Bulls to steal at least one game.
Pacers – Knicks: Should be a very closely contested series. Ultimately the Pacers have the players/ defensive philosophy to beat the Knicks. As long as the Knicks don’t get crazy hot from the three point line the Pacers should prevail in 7.
OKC – Memphis: With the loss of Westbrook and the resurgence of Z-Bo this series became much more competitive. Unless Durant goes MJ in his prime in this series, expect Memphis to win in 7.
SA-GSW: SA is the better team. As good as Steph Curry has been playing and with GSW’s home crowd, expect a competitive series. In the end SA will win, but it will be a very tough 6 game series.
Since we couldn’t get together to record a podcast this week, we wanted to make sure our opinions were shoved down your throat.
Felix’s thoughts:
EAST
Heat over Bucks in 4. This may go to 5 games if Spo decides to rest his starters in one of the games.
Knicks over Celtics in 6. Melo is on a tear as of late, and he will take his team out of the 1st round for the 2nd time in 10 seasons.
Pacers over Hawks in 6. The Hawks are so terrible to watch that I hope that it ends in 4 or 5.
Bulls over Nets in 7. So many good match-ups in this series but I think the depth of the Bulls bench holds on for the oft-injured and fatigued team.
WEST
Thunder over Rockets in 5: Rockets are fun to watch but the Thunder are too strong for them.
Spurs over Lakers in 6: No Kobe, no real shot. Only thing on the Laker’s side is the Spurs’ age and injuries.
Nuggets over Warriors in 6: Propensity to be a really fun series was high before Galinari and Faried got injured.
Grizzlies over Clippers in 7: This series is a toss-up and I give the Grizzlies the edge because Lob City will be harder to come by in the playoffs. Also free throw shooting.
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MVP: The question here is who is the runner up and I give that to Durant who has his team on top of the Western Conference despite losing the 6th Man of the Year.
DPOY: Noah was the clear winner midway through the season, but injuries and an increased level of play results in Marc Gasol winning this award.
6th Man: J.R. Smith is a talent that can expedite your loss as quickly as he can accelerate your win totals. He has done more of the latter this season for an injured Knicks team.
COY: We all know Popovich is the best Coach in the league, but they tend to get bored coronating the same guy. It physically hurts to type this but I think Spoelstra wins it.
ROY: I am embarrassed to admit that I had Thomas Robinson winning this before the season. You can’t make the argument that anyone besides Damian Lillard should win this.
Most Improved Player: Paul George. Without Granger for 95% of the season and Hibbert underplaying his max contract, George put this team on his back.
Skip’s thoughts:
EAST
Heat over Buck in 5. Bucks have no shot!
Celtics over Knicks in 7. This one is setting up to be one of the most competitive series and I think the Celtics experience will push the Knicks to the edge. Boom!
Pacers over Hawks in 6. ATL is a sneaky tough team but ultimately I think the Pacers will pull through.
Bulls over Nets in 7. BKN seems to be peaking at the right time but Chicago is a very tough out with their lock down D.
WEST
Thunder over Rockets in 5. Houston will lose but this should be an entertaining series with Harden coming back to town. Look for Harden to have at least two games that will make OKC fans shake their heads regretting what could have been.
Spurs over Lakers in 6. The Lakers got the draw that they wanted and will do better than people expect, but Popovich has shown many a times that he is better than Mike D’Antoni.
Clippers over Grizzlies in 7. I think this will be a very competitive series but unless Z-Bo reverts back to his play from two playoffs ago they will ultimately lose.
Nuggets over Warriors in 7. Should be a highly entertaining series that will now be much closer due to the Gallinari injury. This will come down to GSW not having home court (best home crowd in the NBA).
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MVP: LBJ. Best player on the planet by a wide margin. For what it’s worth Durant had a historical season as well (90%, 50% and 40%) but it was still not even close to LBJ. If you are curious I would put CP3 third.
Coach: In my opinion this was the hardest category to pick this year. It is a three way race between George Karl, Gregg Popovich and Mike Woodson. George Karl put together one of the most entertaining and athletic teams in the West while not having a true number one star. Mike Woodson took a team full of volatile personalities with possibly the most selfish player in the NBA, Melo, and turned them into the number two seed in the East. Finally, Greg Popovich had to manage a ton of injuries, older players, and constant lineup changes. In the end I have to go with Popovich for putting one of the most consistent teams out there in the NBA despite all the inconsistencies with his roster.
Most Improved: Paul George. Possibly a little biased but he went from a good prospect to a star this year. For a non-homer pick I would go with James Harden. I think we all knew he could be a top 15 player in the NBA and he went out and proved it this year.
Rookie: Damian Lillard. Guy was so good that you forgot he was a rookie. I do feel bad for him though because it’s only a matter of time before some terrible injury happens to him…
6th Man: JR Smith. Was able to cut down on just enough of the crazy to provide scoring and stability to the second unit for the Knicks and the periods of time that Melo was hurt. Helped a surprising Knicks team hold onto the 2nd seed in the East. Jamal Crawford would be my second choice.
DPOY: Like the COTY this award is also wide open. This race can be separated into big guys, of Marc Gasol and Joakim Noah. Ultimately I think Marc wins out for being more consistent all year ( 80 games to 64 games). Among perimeter players, it is between Tony Allen and LBJ. Tony Allen is a hell of a defender, but keep in my mind LBJ is the better all-around force defensively. LBJ would also edge out Marc for the overall best defensive player of the year. His ability to guard multiple positions at a high level is unheard of and when he decides to shut someone down I don’t think there is a better person out there.
In this week’s version of the Felix & Skip Podcast, we discuss athletes pleading for work. Terrell Owens begs Vinny del Negro for a job, Vince Young tweets Larry Johnson his resume, and Manny Pacquiao might have a harder time focusing on his political career with all the ringing in his head.
As always, listen, like, share, tweet, retweet, and pick up some of Manny Pacquiao Smelling Salt, for when you get knocked the f**k out!
The Heisman coronation is right around the corner and Felix will be in New York City to make sure that Johnny Football doesn’t win. The Spurs were fined a cool quarter million dollars for pointing a gun at Joey Crawford, Brandon Marshall outs his fellow players for using the dick pill, and we have yet another overwhelmingly bloated bowl schedule.
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http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/dmx-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer
There was a major boxing match this weekend? We didn’t really notice… but we do give our 4 cents on what happened. Our insights on the French Open, Stanley Cup Finals, and of course the NBA Playoffs can be heard by clicking play. You know what would make Hard Knocks watchable this year? If the Dolphins signed Ochicinco and T.O.
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In this week’s installment, we discuss EJ’s unapproved UPTO (unpaid time off), the NBA conference finals, and Tiger getting his groove back. A couple of gentlemen were caught driving under the influence, and Justin Beiber is potentially facing jail-time!
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The Memorial Day installment of the Felix and Skip Chronicles features the NBA conference finals preview. We speak about what the remaining four teams need to do to get to the NBA Finals and who will likely make it. The Indy 500 was raced this weekend and milk was poured. Lastly, Nick Fairly needs to step up his entourage game.
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