nerditry

Yay to Karmaloop!

These folks offer a substantial array of clothes, sneaks, and lifestyle accessories for boys, girls, boys that wear girls’ jeans and your fly ass grandma. I see you Bubby Norma!!

As they’re carrying the new line of Retro British Knights, your friends here at the Nerd Lair wanted to embellish our previous post with some new videos from Karmaloop.

Check out Karmaloop here, enjoy the flavor there and make sure to pickup a pair so we can properly have a Hammer Dance Throwdown (no Bobby Flay).

And send pictures of your favorite old style shoes. We’ll feature any sneaker heads that want to get some shine for their collection or customs.

The white shoe with the gold BK plate. The only shoe endorsed by MC Hammer. A shoe that came out of nowhere, was part of the slap bracelet revolution and returned to nowhere for hibernation.

The late 80s and early 90s are the retro fads du jour. Plastic sunglasses with the soft neon sides are gonna be everywhere this summer. I know in the big cities, girlies are going to come out sporting spandex shorts and doing The Butt with the original E.U. (no José Manuel Barroso). I dig this style.

This is when I was first coming up and got my bike stolen. Nothing is really worse for a nine year than losing his bike. It’s how I got to school and the only real source of freedom for a kid, but more to the point it’s having to tell your folks. Unless that bike was locked up and photographed for evidence, it is 100% always your fault. The bike took me as far as the mall (across the street, but really a mile) on one side, CB Smith park on the other, Al’s Baseball Card Store, Pizza Hut (you know the lunch buffet is grizzly) and over speed bump ramps…till the lights came on. If you spent your time outside, you know when the light comes on that your ass is on borrowed time.

Back to the front, though.

British Knights were introduced via Nickelodeon, the greatest channel in the history of viewing and mostly on Double Dare if memory serves (n. Takeshi Kaga). Our (Wink Martindale + Chuck Woolery)/Dave Coulier is the immortal Marc Summers, who now controls the vast majority of what is programmed on the Food Channel. Oh, and I can’t forget sidekick Robin and her great efforts to succeed Vanna White in the pantheon.

Marc was hip, he wore jeans with a sport coat and pushed up the sleeves and kept his shoes white and too crisp for a slime-laden obstacle course. The BKs were a prize on the obstacle course, usually toward the front and I can’t think that it would have ever been awarded after the fifth obstacle. These were some fly ass high tops which were marketed directly to kids, which was different than Nike or Reebok which didn’t feature prominently outside of target audiences of adults. The tiny gold badge was a sign that you were up on what was new and matched the bling of one’s tiny gold necklace (mine included a UMiami helmet charm).

I never got a pair of these. My mom never spent more than $50 back in the day for any pair of shoes and even in high school kept it in the sub $75 range. And it’s because of that I don’t think I’m going to pimp a pair now. It would have been different if I had them and wanted to reminisce which is the same reason that you don’t see me flossing the Z Cavaricci 100-loop throwbacks or Dolphins Zubaz. I do suggest them for anyone trying to make in real early 90s and I’ll even throw in a Hypercolor shirt.

I know prices are skyrocketing, that people are making the toughest decisions of their lives and that our government continues to take its constituents for fools, caring less about us each day. We aren’t even part of that machine that drove America from it’s center, both in wealth and ideals. Like all machines, it’s being replaced by one that’s smaller, faster, more specialized. It is going to consist of two parties, the rich and everyone else.

The middle class is being readjusted to include those formerly successful in the last decade, those who dreamed atop houses with ever-climbing values, with credit cards maxed in anticipation of higher pay and cars that now display the status of someone working for their possessions.

I guess I’m somewhat fortunate in being bereft of the grand responsibilities that many of my friends have on their shoulders. There’s no son or daughter to feed or clothe, there’s no house to pay a mortgage on, I’m relatively healthy and have no ongoing medical needs and my parents are entirely self-sufficient. And it’s them that I truly worry about. I don’t know how you hide the tears and emotion to tell your kids that there isn’t $50 around for summer camp or even an extra $5 a week so a glass of milk is there each morning. How you wake up and wonder where it all went in such a short period of time and if there’s a possibility of getting it back. When the prices at Wal-Mart still don’t make ends of the belt meet up and you force yourself into situations where impulse purchase options are at their minimum.

I’m begging you to read the responses to this ABC News article about thrift and how people are doing their best to make their lives tolerable in a shit economy. I’ll be cutting back for me and evaluating how my purchases can be most efficient and for everyone that’s struggling and still doing their best. These are our neighbors, our parents, relatives, best friends.

Boycott ethanol, plant a garden for OUR eventual victory and let’s work together. If you want to grow your own food, hit me up and I’ll send some packets. It’s time to take our republic back.

ABC News : Food prices skyrocket; How can you save?

Comments and personal accounts

By Fraser MacK

First off, I fully believe that an actual Cavalier would kick the ass of an actual Wizard, so we’ll be calling Washington the Bullets from now on, I don’t know why they didn’t call themselves that in the first place. Now let’s get to the teams.

Cleveland is trying to make their way back to the Finals and Lebron is playing the best basketball of his career. The rest of his team is pretty crappy though; Delonte West, Devin Brown, Ben Wallace and Big Z round out the starting 5 and none of them would start on any other playoff team, with the exception of Big Z just because of the dearth of centers around the league. However, they have proven that they can win with just Lebron and some dudes, so who’s to say they can’t do it again. The Cavs do play good defense and are the best rebounding team in the conference, both by number and differential. Their shooting percentages are not bad, but not great either and they have one of the fewest team assist totals in the league, not surprising because their offense consists of give the ball the Lebron and everyone else stand around and watch, which isn’t necessarily a bad offensive scheme.

Washington, on the other hand, is surprising many by being so competitive without their best player almost all season. Agent Zero is back, but obviously not at 100% and his teammates have learned to play without him. Caron Butler continues his meteoric rise to superstardom, averaging a Lebron-like 20/7/5; Antawn Jamison had another solid year despite no one outside of his immediate family even knowing how the spell his name; and the kids really stepped up. Andray Blatche started out the year great, but tapered off towards the spring, still he looks like a valuable piece moving forward. Oleksy Pecherov and Nick Young also contributed in key areas. The area where Washington has a clear advantage is coaching, Eddie Jordan has shown he is among the elite coaches in the league, while Mike Brown still looks Frodo in Lord of the Rings half the time, scared $#&@less and obviously out of his league. The way for Washington to win this series is not to shut down Lebron, not gonna happen. Let Lebron get his 30, but stop the other guys from being heroes. No Boobie Gibson threes, no Ben Wallace offensive putbacks, no Big Z pick and pops.

The Bullets have what it takes and if they can get 16 and 6 out of Gilbert in 28 minutes or so, they have a really good shot. This Cavs team is worse than last years, which was probably the worst team to ever make the finals. If the Cavs want to avoid an embarrassing first round exit, they need to take and make threes. Washington is the worst perimeter defensive team in the conference, giving up an astounding 8.3 threes a game (that’s 25 points for you Mathletes out there). This has been a nice little playoff rivalry over the past few years, but it looks like the Cavs are going to win it again, Lebron is just too good.
Prediction: Cavs in 5

Rebuttal : Evan D
The Wizz have Caron/Antawn/Gilbert/Big Oily/DeBeard. The Cavs have Lebron James…Lebron James. I’d like to use the Michael Jackson defense to say that Michael made Off the Wall and last year LeBron made Game 5 against Detroit. Right now, we’re in like 1980/81. LeBron is a couple of years off releasing Thriller.

In closing your honor, this series goes 7 games and the Cavs win. But they will lose in the second round. Michael Jackson made Thriller.

(Editor’s note : Beau and Fraser are brothers, divided by their allegiances. Fraser and I live in Orlando, where hell is continuously reinvented by tourists).

By Beau MacK

On Sunday the Toronto Raptors will step onto the court in Orlando to face off against the Magic in the first game of their 7 game playoff series. As a Raptors fan this is actually a matchup I am looking forward to. Two of the premier young big men in the game squaring off to see who can get there team into the second round of the playoffs for the first time in years. Now, to understand how this series will unfold we need to look at how the teams match up, as well as how they fared against each other during the regular season. Since the Magic won the regular season series 2-1 let’s start with the player matchups at the PG position.

TJ Ford / Jose Calderon vs Jameer Nelson / Carlos Arroyo

This is one of the easiest of the matchups to call. The Raptors clearly have the advantage here with arguably the best PG tandem in the NBA. In order for the Raptors to win this series they will need stellar play from both of their PGs as they wear out Nelson and Arroyo. Don’t be surprised to see Calderon getting the bulk of the minutes for the Raptors after his stellar performance in the Raptors only win against the Magic in February.

SG Position
Anthony Parker vs Maurice Evans

Once again I’m going to have to give the edge to the Raptors here and go with Anthony Parker. In their last meeting Parker dropped 19 pts, 9 reb, and 2 ast all while shooting 57.1% from the field. Both Parker and Evans are excellent 3pt shooters but I give Parker the edge on defense since in that same meeting he held Evans to 2 pts on a 1-7 shooting night.

SF Position.
Jamario Moon vs Hedo Turkoglu

This one is a pretty easy call for the Magic. Turkoglu is far more experienced, has played in big playoff games, oh, and did I mention, playing the best basketball of his life. In their last meeting Turkoglu had a ridiculous 24pts, 7 reb, 8 ast. Jamario Moon had 6 pts, 6 reb. I think that’s the most we can expect out of him. Hedo is gonna do his thing and we can only hope Jamario can make his presence felt by hitting the boards hard and playing good help defense.

PF Position.
Chris Bosh vs Rashard Lewis

The advantage here goes to the pride of Toronto, NBA All Star Chris Bosh. He missed Toronto’s last game against Orlando but in their previous meeting he dropped 40 pts and abused Dwight Howard so bad that Jeff Van Gundy said it himself. This doesn’t mean Lewis is any slouch as he had 16 pts in that same game, but he just isn’t on Bosh’s level, especially considering he’s a tweener SF/PF.

C Position
Rasho Nestorvic vs Dwight Howard

This is almost an embarrassing comparison. Dwight “Man Child” Howard easily takes this one. In their last meeting he poured in 19 pts and 14 reb. In the meeting before that 37 pts, 15 reb. Meanwhile in their last meeting Rasho put up 2 pts, 7 reb. Dwight is gonna do his thing and all we can hope for is some garbage baskets and good rebounding from Nestorovic.

Bench
I’ll give the Raptors a huge advantage here as the Magic bench is basically garbage. When Keyon Dooling is your 6th man you should be concerned about the quality of your bench. The Raptors meanwhile have Calderon, Delfino, Bargnani, and Kapono. All of these guys can come in and do some real damage.

Conclusion

I prefer to look at the season series between these two teams as 1-1 since Bosh didn’t play in one of the games and the Raptors without Bosh is like the Magic without Howard, not a playoff team. Now the first meeting was a great back and forth battle that the Magic managed to pull away with at the end. Both Bosh and Howard had good games but Bosh just always seems to get the better of Dwight. In their first meeting the Raptors were playing with a far different lineup than they did in the second game. The second game lineups were basically the same as the playoff lineups except TJ Ford wasn’t playing. This gives even more of an advantage to the Raptors. I see this series playing out as 6 high scoring games with the Raptors taking it in 6 at home. Bank on it.
Prediction : Raptors in 6

Intelligent rebuffing of the above statements after the cut.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Fraser MacK

This won’t be the slam dunk everyone says it will be. The Sixers have been one of the best teams in the conference since the All-Star break, but will they have enough to make this a series? I say yes. Let’s look at each teams’ strengths and weaknesses.

Detroit plays the best team defense in the league, their starting five have been together for a long time and they all know what to do and where to be on defense, this is important yet so often overlooked. The Pistons also move the ball well and get a lot of assists, 18 a game to be exact. Detroit also has experience on their side, this being their seventh straight trip to the post season. While the Pistons seem like an insurmountable juggernaut, they do have a few weaknesses; weaknesses that also happen to be strengths for the Sixers. Detroit lets their opponents shoot more free throws and Philly takes the most and makes the second most free throws in the league. Philly is also a great rebounding team, especially on the offensive end, where both Sam Dalembert and Reggie Evans average over 2.5 per game. As a team, the Sixers pull down almost 13 offensive boards a game. That’s 13 second chances to score or get to the line. Philly is also no slouch on the defensive end, as they are the best of the rest in the East (Detroit and Boston are 1-2 in points allowed, Philly is third).

This team does have it’s faults though. They’re as inexperienced as the Pistons are experienced, they can’t score (3rd last in conference) and they really can’t shoot (dead last in 3P%). The Pistons obviously have the better players; Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace are all recent all-stars and Tayshaun Prince is one of the league’s most underrated players. If they all play well, Philly has no chance, but… Rip Hamilton has been bothered by injuries for the last half of the year and his production has plummeted. Wallace is only grabbing 6 boards a game as a center, he’s going to have to be in double digits against an energetic Sixer front court, that not only includes Dally and Reggie, but rookie Thaddeus Young has come on of late and could be a nuisance. Andre Miller is probably the one of the only point guards who’s in Billups’ class, on both ends of the floor and Andre Iguodala is angling for Big Bucks while trying to avoid a Whammy!

This could end up being the perfect storm for the Sixers. Detroit is old and banged up, while Philly is young and athletic. If the Sixers can get to the line and make free throws and win the rebounding battle, AND either Rip or Sheed either craps the bed or gets hit by a truck, then Philly has a chance to pull the upset. This is not a Golden State-Dallas level mismatch, but enough to make you wonder.
Prediction: Detroit in 7

Rebuttal : Evan D
I see the Sixers getting into trouble against the Pistons the same way that the Magic have handled them during the regular season. Countering ball movement through the bigs. In their most recent game in Orlando, Philly received a Coming to America-style thrashing when the Magic ran their offense through Hedo and Dwight. Kicking the ball down low is going to force a collapse by the 76ers into the low post, but they really don’t have any size outside of Dalembert/Evans/Young. The Pistons are an even smarter team than the Magic and will start to push the ball back out to their shooters who are all capable from 15 feet and back. Philly is going to have to keep the clamps on a substantial number of quality reserves : Afflalo, Stuckey, Hayes (big shooter), Hunter who feel very comfortable as an offensive lead. I see the series as a test for Philly’s front line which should be their draft and free agent focus this summer and predict Detroit in 5. Watch for Jason Maxiell to drink the milkshakes of the Sixers’ entire second team.
Prediction : Detroit in 5

By Evan D

The Beast vs. the Least. The team that locked up their conference long before anyone else was thinking about seeding. It’s a study of the differences between two franchises on a similar track to end the 2006/07 campaign and how they’ve both turned the corner, but onto different sides of the street.

Let’s cliché : Defense…wins championships and no one comes remotely close to the team defense Boston has played this season. The Celtics have held opponents to just 96.1 points per 100 possessions, a full three points better than second and third place Houston and San Antonio who are known for stifling defenses. Consider that the team they are likely to face (Lakers) give up 102.8 while scoring 110.3, a difference of about 7.5 while Boston’s own differential is a staggering 11.5. Atlanta barely sniffs this type of efficiency and consistency with a negative differential of about -1.8, meaning that they play and lose a lot of close games.

Boston doesn’t often let teams hang around with them and looks to set the tone very early, getting buckets from every starter on their offense. Garnett has given his stats a vacation this year, looking for his teammates first and playing the garbage man to get all of the little things completed. Instead, Pierce and Allen have a better player than them (first time) looking to feed them on every possession, meaning Rondo is able to move through defensive and look for setup points and Kendrick Perkins often finds himself on the end of a hand-off or dump pass around the basket. I dare say that Boston’s bench doesn’t contain a lot of players the Hawks would have in prominent roles. The second line has Cassell (scorer) and House (chucker) at guards, a second defensive stopper in Posey and Big Baby/Powe up front, with both looking for rebounds and use of 6 fouls. It then, seems inevitable that Boston is going to run through these guys, but Atlanta possesses the intangibles to Boston’s stat machine.

Youth! Boston is the equivalent of Ocean’s 11 if they brought back Sinatra and the original cast a few years ago. For every few positives, there is a nag in the back of one’s mind that Ray and Sam specifically are playing on borrowed time and on shaky wheels. I feel good that Atlanta is going to get and will have to create opportunities to push the ball and force scenarios. Bibby is slower than snot in comparison to Rondo, but has a legit two inches and many lbs to force the ball lower into a half-court set. Joe Johnson should be posting Ray Allen up all game long and looking to spread the floor to get one of his bigs open near the basket. It’s going to take a team effort from the Hawks under the basket because Garnett and Pierce do well to pickup rebounds that Perkins doesn’t. Marvin Williams and Josh Smith spend too much time away from the basket when Horford is not established as dominant in the post and will have to focus on offensive rebounds to keep the game in check. Childress, Pachulia and Stoudamire will round out what could be a very short bench and I’d like to see the Hawks try to use this to their advantage. Subbing in more often to keep players fresh and making an issue out of pressing on defense and pushing quickly on offense, in a similar fashion to the Suns.

Prediction : The Celtics win the series in a 4-0 sweep and Atlanta really has a shot at taking one game at home if the lethargic Atlantans break 10,000 attendance and Boston’s bus gets lost.

Rebuttal : Fraser MacK
Of all the series, this is the one most likely to end in a sweep. You’ve got Boston, a team on a mission to bring the glory back to the Garden (I refuse to call the arena the Celtics’ play in anything but the Garden) and then, Atlanta, making it’s first trip to the playoffs since the last planetary alignment. Let’s get one thing straight, Boston is worse than their record and Atlanta is better than their record. Boston won a lot of games early because everyone on the Celtics was playing at 150% just to keep Garnett off their asses and everyone on the other team was too busy watching in awe as the media heaped Big Baby sized praise onto the new Big Three on a daily basis. That was a long sentence, but here’s an easier way to say this: Boston will win, but this series will mean more to Atlanta and their young roster. Sort of like the Magic last year, this team needs a little taste of the playoffs before they retool for next year, hopefully with a new coach and GM.

By Evan D

I almost didn’t want to write this preview. In fact, I really didn’t want to write it considering how Utah got wiped by the ascending Spurs to end the season (though it would seem without remorse) and how they played one of the ugliest games of the year against a Wanda-ugly Hornets last week (heyyyyyy). I had to get over that and wrote this Slump Buster (n. Mark Grace) in response to a potentially uninteresting Western Conference match up.

Here’s the thing about Houston, there’s nothing uniquely compelling about them anymore. In fact, the most compelling part of their story at this point is Tracy McGrady’s lack of playoff successes through his 11th season. Once the streak was over, Houston started to show the cracks in its façade : shallow bench depth, a small front court and a coach that has consistently pissed the bed come post-season. But that’s the other thing about the thing, the reasons that they should have been in Golden State’s rear view by now. Every negative was turned positive during the win streak and since. We’re small? Fine, it’s going to be the best team basketball Houston’s played since their championship run in the 90s. It’s Club Not-Seven-Feet featuring Carl Landry, Scola and Hayes accepting the challenges to guard and deny opposing front courts. Rick Adelman (Jewish? Tribe?) found the recipe that brought moderate success to Sacto, empowering a star (McGrady/Webber) to be the facilitator, instead of attempting to carry a group of capable teammates.

The player breakdown works for other series, but I think this one can be summed up tidily with the match up at the top of the key. Deron Williams cannot be guarded one-on-one or in a zone by Houston’s defense. He is 6’3” and over 200 lbs of freight train in comparison to anyone on the Houston roster. Rafer Alston is likely to miss the first two games, leaving the capable, but clearly outmatched hands of Bobby Jackson and Aaron Brooks. This isn’t to say that Adelman will run the offense through them primarily. In fact, I would say that the offense will be conducted entirely by McGrady as Point Forward in his most meaningful role. Unless McGrady guards Williams (though I can see an experimental role of switching Battier to guard the best player on the floor), the Rockets are going to have an insanely difficult time defending the various screen sets that Jerry Sloan has run since Reconstruction. And if those screens don’t free the intended player, there are plenty of guys looking to shoot, all of whom are as comfortable taking short jumpers as they are behind the arc.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Jazz blossom into their role as a perennial contender and hopefully, an eventual title winner. The Jazz are stacked top to bottom, even on their bench and will win the series in a brawl.
Prediction : Jazz in 6

Rebuttal : Fraser MacK
While I agree with your prediction, Jazz in 6 (maybe even 5 b/c of their insane home court advantage). I don’t agree with your perception of the Rockets. This is, simply put, the most well balanced team since the 03-04 Pistons. Everyone has a role and is very good at it. If Yao were in this series, it would be a toss up. Say what you want about Yao and how they played better without him, he’s still 7′6″ and 310 lbs, you’re not stopping him on the offensive end and Boozer isn’t getting quality looks on the other end shooting over Yao. But Yao isn’t playing, and despite the stellar play in the last half of the season by the Houston front court, they can’t handle Boozer, Kirilenko and Okur. This could be the year the Jazz make the leap, every other top team has a HUGE hole (Lakers: protecting the rim, Spurs: age, Suns: injury risk, Hornets: inexperience). They have a very good chance of beating the Lakers in Round 2, especially since it looks like Andrew Bynum won’t be back. Then they should be favored over either NOLA or SA/PHX. Could this be the year Sloan gets his?

By Fraser MacK

A lot is going to be said about this series, what with the drama that was Bench Clearing Hold Me Back Brawl 2007. The same players are here, albeit with a new, but familiar face to the Spurs. It’s been a while since Duncan and Shaq have gone toe-to-toe, 4 years to be exact. Shaq averaged 21.5 pts, 13.2 rebs, and 3 blks that year in the playoffs, but failed to win the title. Since then, Duncan has won two titles to Shaq’s one, although Duncan still trails Shaq by a one overall. This is the reason Phoenix made that trade in February, they were thinking this match up would come in the conference finals, but defending Duncan was why Shaq was brought to the desert.

Duncan averaged a respectable 22/11/2 4 years ago, but averaged a Shaqonian 23/12/2.5 on his way to winning the title the next year, but one thing was different for that title and the 07 title for Duncan, he didn’t have to go through the Diesel. Shaq is much older and slower than he was back in 04, but has been rejuvenated by the Suns medical staff, who still deny any and all accusations that Robert Sarver is, in actuality, Ponce de Leon and has brought the fountain of youth with him to Phoenix. Shaq’s averaging a double-double for the first time in three years, not to mention his presence opens things up dramatically for Amare Stoudemire, averaging 5 more points, 3 more FG attempts and 3 more FT attempts per game since Shaq’s arrival moved him to his natural power forward. Duncan, meanwhile has been having his usual quiet MVP calibre season. This isn’t just about the big men though, as two of the league’s best point guards are also matched up here.

Tony Parker has become a great point guard. His play in last years playoffs was astounding and there’s no way Steve Nash can keep up with him. Nash does run his team better, however, so this match up is a wash. What this series really comes down to is Manu : Can Manu step up and become that guy for the Spurs (Big Shot Brob is probably better off hip-checking than shooting game winners)? Lucky for the Spurs, Manu has been playing out of his mind lately, in March and April, he averaged an Oscar Robertson like 22/5/5 while shooting over 40% from behind the arc and almost 50% from the field and almost 90% at the line. The more Manu steps up, the better shot San Antonio has of beating the Suns. Both of these teams are old and looking to make one last run, Phoenix obviously needs this much more though, which is why I see them pulling the upset and taking down the defending champs in 7 games. This will be the best series of the playoffs though, which is kind of a bummer.
Prediction : Suns in 7

Rebuttal : Evan
It’s said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, while expecting a different outcome. The logic of this statement can be applied to both the Suns and the Spurs. San Antonio still has countless doubters, though they have done the exact same thing every season and generally contend for or win the Championship. This season, they’ve been dogged by questions of age (let’s not forget that Parker and Ginobili were drafted in the new millennium) and the team’s ability to pull itself out of the funk preceding their recent surge. So while the questions are new, the response is no different, the Spurs are the epitome of team basketball and the template for the type of ball being played to high praise this season.

For Phoenix, they had done the exact same thing every year, adding good veterans to the bench, leaving the starting lineup remarkably unchanged and forsaking the benefits of having quality rookies available. Finally, Steve Kerr came to town this season and stopped the insanity. Since Fraser already covered Shaq, the key additions were Grant Hill, Gordan Giricek and DJ Strawberry, all of whom have contributed on varying levels. Grant Hill made me want to fly to the desert and just trip him once (not really) to see what sorcery has been keeping his ankle stable this season. Watching him languish in Orlando for 7 years and then take a flyer would not have been so bothersome had he not launched into a season unseen since being a Piston. His now-strained groin (which happens to me nightly) is a nagging injury for any player, and one that can continue and hamper an older player when his presence is desperately needed. Giricek is a great role player and is doing a better job as bench catalyst than Barbosa has this entire season and Strawberry just fits their tweener mold. I think that Phoenix has all of the tools, but that it’s San Antonio’s series to lose.
Prediction : San Antonio in 7

By Evan D

It’s time for Jason Kidd to pass the torch. I don’t know if he’s even going to get the faux-honor of recognizing an heir apparent and divesting himself of stature. No, it’s going to be just like the rest of the season…Chris Paul is going to rightfully steal that spot at the top of the marquee.

If this game could be Chris Paul against any one player on the Mavericks, I’d have no problem picking the Hornets in a sweep. If I wanted to play the experience card, then I’d have to give the edge to the Mavericks, though they are two seasons removed from a historic Finals collapse and subsequent ouster by the now-defunct Warriors. It’s as if this series is a tabula rasa with two sides: New Orleans is trying to write the first paragraphs of their history, while Dallas is desperate to erase the results of prior season’s disappointment.

The Hornets were a team that surprised many this season, first in their ascent to the top of the West at the All-Star break and more impressively holding that spot until the Lakers drafted and passed to clinch the Conference. The key to this was a mostly injury-free season that allowed Byron Scott to coach his players to success and those players transition to impact veterans. At the same time, it was ultimately necessary for NOLA to become a great first line because their bench needed an entire season to gel on their own. Because of the similar styles of play between the teams, I see the outcome as the direct result of individual match-ups and bench depth.

PG : Kidd/Paul
Nearly every positive action produced by Jason Kidd at this point in his career (besides rebounding), Chris Paul is doing faster, more efficiently and more often. Kidd should attempt to use his size advantage when the Mavericks run the half-court and try to get more ball screens to pull Tyson Chandler from the basket. Every single team in the league has had success with the high screen/roll, few better than NOLA. I’d like to see Dallas try to setup multiple screens to free up Howard/Nowitzki for the roll and pass into the lane.

SG: Terry/Peterson
I’d like to give this to Dallas, just because I’ve seen The Jet play a hell of a lot more than I have Mo Pete. That being said, both guys are scorers, both are looking to get shooting volume off the main scorer(s) and neither plays considerable defense. We’ll see if Pargo or Peterson is the starter, but this spot is a wash.

SF : Howard/Stojakovic
This is a substantial match-up which I would have normally given to Howard, but his season has not impressed me and Peja has improved his overall team game. Howard shouldn’t have too difficult a time guarding straight up, but has to watch out for a lot of passing over the top and recovering on passes around the perimeter. Recently, Peja has received some accolades for staying in front of his man on defense and using his 6’10” frame as a major deterrent. He had been previously known as one of the world’s few Slavic matadors.

PF : Nowitzki/West
I need Dirk to sneer. To think he’s walking around with Sam Cassell’s grapefruit sized balls, Wilt’s track record with the ladies and KG’s desire to win. I need him to get fouled and bark at the defender while he gets up and then demand the ball on the next play. I also need him to guard David West who has setup a spot near the left elbow that no defender has dared tread this season. The guy hits mid range jumpers like Rip Hamilton, but none of the opposing forwards seem to genuinely believe this. Let’s say that Dirk plays some defense, he’s going to walk a very thin line guarding a guy who can go high low at any time and plays off the position of his remaining teammates.

C : Dampier/Chandler
Erick Dampier played a single decent season in Golden State. Mark Cuban (normally a wise businessman), gave him upwards of $70M to give that exact same effort for the duration of a brand new contract. This has not yet happened. This is likely not going to happen for the start of the playoffs. He is not Bob Horry of years past who could turn on the juice when the regular season was over and become a late-game assassin. He is 7 feet of good athlete and moderately good basketball player and is set to contend against another man of equal height. Tyson Chandler is a good basketball player who has become much better this year, proving that no one is going to succeed in Chicago for the time being. If the game is harkening back to it’s ascent during the early 80s, then it’s going to take Dampier brutalizing Chandler to keep him in check. Undercuts, fouls on alley-oops, hip bumps will come a la carte, but that’s not important when you’re 15 feet from the basket. This is where Chandler has found his niche, rolling perfectly as Karl Malone did on the high screen and finishing well above the rim. Dallas will have to figure out how to defend that screen on the right hand side, while the shooters (Peja/Mo Pete/Pargo/James) spread out and West takes his place on the left elbow.
Prediction : Hornets in 7

Rebuttal : Fraser MacK
Of all the series, this one looks like the most entertaining. Chris Paul does indeed look like the next best thing and Tyson Chandler, David West and Peja Stojakovic are all top 10 at their positions. That being said, would anyone be surprised if Dallas ends up pulling the upset, can you even call it an upset?

Truth be told, I think Dallas is a few pieces short. The Kidd trade decimated their depth, which wasn’t very good to begin with, plus the average age on the Mavs has to be something like 40 (Stackhouse, Juwan Howard, Kidd and EJ all have a lot of tread on their tires). I like the Mavs to keep it competitive in every game, but they won’t win more than 1 or 2 games. They’ll lose yet again in the first round to an arguably weaker team, then stupidly fire Avery Johnson, who’ll be snapped up in 1.2 milliseconds, and be back in the lotto by 2010.