For My Fellow Hoops Fans:

I'm sure you'll agree to the necessity of this e-mail I sent to ESPN Australia.

"For two out of the past three weeks, you guys have screwed up the top 10 plays of the week on NBA Action. 3 weeks ago, it cut straight to Sportscentre without showing them. This week, after an overly long ad for Vancouver 2010, we were able to catch only the top 7 plays. The ONLY REASON THAT PEOPLE WATCH NBA ACTION IS FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS OF THE WEEK. After consulting everybody I know that is into basketball (i.e. a lot of people!), I can say that is a fact. We don't care about the Sounds Of The Game. We don't need to go Around The League because we already know what happened earlier in the week. We basketball fans want the TOP 10 (TEN) PLAYS OF THE WEEK. Not Sportscentre. Not the top 7 plays of the week. The TOP 10 (TEN). I think you get the drift..."

Captain. Out.

NBA Finals 2008 Preview

For the 11th time, the Boston Celtics will meet the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Lakers were composed in their dominance of the Spurs while the Celtics ultimately proved too good for the Pistons. The key to this series is going to be how Boston fares when they travel to L.A. When the Lakers have a good team it’s the toughest playoff road trip there is and I honestly can’t see Boston winning a game there. The interesting thing is that the Celtics have home court advantage after finishing with the best regular season record. They achieved this by repeatedly hammering various downtrodden Eastern Conference teams; meanwhile the Lakers battled in the tough Western Conference. The stage is set, so let’s look at the players to watch out for.

Kobe Bryant: Kobe is so good that NBA.com has set up the Ultimate Kobe Page which has everything Kobe except information about off-court indiscretions. The man is really that good. At times in his career it has seemed as if he can score at will; nowadays it seems he can score at will and can help his teammates score as well. If this man plays for the U.S.A at the Olympics, the gold medal is a foregone conclusion people. And if the Celtics can’t find a way to shut him down, so is the 2008 Championship.

Kevin Garnett: “KG” is going to have to be Finals MVP for Boston if they are going to win this series. He needs to dominate down low, dominate the boards and dominate Pau Gasol. It’s a simple plan but easier said than done. If Garnett gets into foul trouble through the series, the Celtics will be in serious trouble.

Pau Gasol: Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been critical of Gasol, especially during the playoffs. He has been upset with Gasol’s “softness”; fancy little hook shots rather than taking it strong to the rack. The reason Gasol plays this way is that he is white. If he was black he would take it to the rim but you would have to go back a long way to find a white centre who doesn’t prefer a dinky little hook shot. Nevertheless, Gasol is a seven footer who will score points, grab rebounds at both ends and fill up the middle with his size. And this is his wife:

Paul Pierce: Pierce is no doubt an important part of the Celtics line-up but will play a role that will look to compliment Garnett’s inside game. With Ray Allen struggling in the playoffs from deep, Pierce will need to get his three point shot going. His nickname “The Truth” was accorded to him after Shaq said this to a very obedient Boston reporter:

"My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the motherfucking truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."

It's hard to argue when Shaq puts it so eloquently...Lamar Odom, Vladimir Radmanovic and Derek Fisher are the other likely starters for L.A. with Allen, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins taking the tip for Boston. The bench of the Lakers runs deep. Just about everyone will get time in this series and each will have a set role. The Celtics are skinnier in terms of depth so will rely heavily on their big three.

PREDICTION: Lakers win. Most likely 4-2. Any sort of foul trouble for Boston's big men will be exploited. The Lakers bench will boast too much depth. The Celtics will go down in all three matches on the road. Kobe Bryant MVP. Series tips off in Boston, 11.a.m Friday AEST on ESPN.

NBA Conference Finals Guide

Western Conference

It's a promoter's dream in the West; the defending champion San Antonio Spurs vs the glitz and glam of the L.A. Lakers. It's a who's who of the entertainment world in the crowd for a Lakers game while the Spurs have only one high profile fan in Mrs Tony Parker, Eva Longoria. Some may say this match up is a duel between entertainment and basketbore but that cheap shot won't bother the Spurs who have won three of the last five championships.

The Lakers no doubt will be hoping that high profile fan Keith Kincaid (a.k.a Kit Ramsay) can keep it in his pants for this one ; scaring off the Laker Girls could be a PR nightmare. On the court, 2008 MVP Kobe Bryant leads the team, yes he actually leads the team these days rather than trying to outdo Shaq or score 50+ points every time he hits the floor. He is supported by Spanish centre Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and some very handy bench players.

The Spurs have Tim Duncan; possibly the most boring superstar in NBA history. Yet he's fast running out of fingers to put all his NBA Championship rings on. Running the point is the aforementioned Tony Parker with Argentinian Manu Ginobili the other main scorer for the Spurs. However, the main reason this team has been thereabouts for the last ten or so years is the strength of their bench year in, year out. There seems to be endless big game experience which they can draw from; none more so than Robert Horry. Tim Duncan is running out of fingers for his rings but Horry has only one ringless finger left; he is one of only nine players in history to win 7 or more championships and the only one of these that wasn't in the Boston Celtics team of the 1960's.

The Lakers have home court and are $1.42. The Spurs are fantastic value at $2.90 after taking out the top seed in the West in New Orleans. Game 1 is today at 11a.m. AEST at the Staples Centre where security will be keeping a close eye on this guy:

"You mustn't show it to the Laker girls!"

NBA Conference Finals Guide:

Eastern Conference Preview

You would think we'd all be thankful the two best teams in the Eastern Conference are through to this stage but it's not all good news. The reason these teams had such good win/loss records for the regular season has a lot to do with the state of the Eastern Conference itself. It's bad people; only five of the eight teams to make the playoffs in the East were above .500. Boston and Detroit played most of their matches against crappy teams from their Conference which they beat up on unmercifully. Detroit in particular took the pants from the backsides of their opponents often by restricting them to under 70 points with their miserly, junkball defense. The Pistons have a stunning record when keeping their opponents to such lowly scores which is a good thing for them considering they usually only drop in 70-80 of their own. Detroit are led by Hannibal Lecter wannabe Richard "Rip" Hamilton with a surrounding cast including Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and mollydooker Tayshaun Prince.

Hello Clarice...

Boston's big three are Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce who came to be all at the one place when the Celtics decided that after years of sucking it was time to try and buy a championship. Boston have been shabby in series wins over Atlanta and Cleveland and are as yet to win on the road during the postseason. Detroit have comfortably dispatched Washington and Orlando and have had a week off while waiting for their opponents. Both teams like to slow things up and pride themselves on the defenses so don't expect high scores. Why would I want to watch a low scoring game of basketball I hear you say? Well Detroitians are blue collar people who love to fight. Or as Russell Crowe would say "You wanna foight?!".


Boston have home court advantage for the best of seven game series and are $1.70 favourites with Detroit at $2.20. Odds of basketbrawl breaking out are shortening and Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett are on the top line of betting for K.O-ing an opponent. The series gets under way Wednesday 10 a.m. AEST with coverage for all matches courtesy of ESPN.

A Plea to Foxsports, ESPN

Why is it that the NBA Playoffs on Foxsports and ESPN are covered less than the regular season? There were at least three regular season games every week, sometimes four, and now there are only two. I was looking forward to watching plenty of competitive matches with no more Miami and Minnesota getting their asses handed to them. But no. The series' are spread out so there are matches every day at his point so the excuse that there are less teams and therefore less matches doesn't hold. The two matches being shown are on Saturday and Sunday in Australia so I miss Saturday's due to my horse racing commitments. Watching a replay is out because of Super Saturday NRL. That leaves me one match only if I don't go visit my parents or get dragged shopping with the missus on Sunday. To think that from Monday night after Monday Night Football (when it's on) to 7.30 on a Friday night I'm just sitting around with nothing to do but blog or actually do some work is depressing. C'mon Foxsports. C'mon ESPY. Give me some midweek NBA!