Writing the Pine

NBA fans have been blessed this season to have, in my opinion, the League’s four best teams left standing in the playoffs.  David Stern and company must be ecstatic given the amount of interest in this year’s playoffs demonstrated by the ratings spike in the earlier rounds, specifically the Celtics-Bulls series as well as the Lakers-Rockets series.  The Game 6’s in both series coincidentally fell on Thursday nights in the heat of stiff prime time television competition against the likes of NBC’s The Office & 30 Rock, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, and Fox’s fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance.  As strong as the fanbases of the Lakers and Celtics are, the hatred for both franchises and cities probably far exceed these enormous fanbases.  Sports fans, passionate and casual, never seem to get sick of old David and Goliath storyline.  Could you imagine if the league allowed every team into the playoffs and the Oklahoma City Thunder took the Lakers to a seventh game?  Ratings would rival the ratings seen during the Olympics.  Okay, not quite, but Kevin Durant might be a bigger national icon than Michael Phelps for a day if the Thunder won and Robert Swift might finally be relevant on Youtube.  Poor guy only has 15 search results if you search for ‘Robert Swift Thunder’ and a measly 5 search results under ‘Robert Swift Sonics.’

It doesn’t get much bigger than Hulkamania and Andre the Giant.  Literally.

There’s no doubt that the Association is crossing its fingers for a LeBron and Kobe finals.  It doesn’t exactly play into this year’s playoff theme of David vs. Goliath, but rather a Superhero vs. Supervillain plot in a magnitude not seen in a championship match since Hulk Hogan squared off against Andre the Giant in Wrestlemania III.  Kobe haters and LeBron fans (though the amount of Kobe haters far surpasses the amount of Lebron fans) are yearning for that official passing of the torch (a LeBron dunk over Kobe would be the equivalent of Hulk’s bodyslam on the late Andre) and crowning of James as the unquestioned best player in the league.  Meanwhile, diehard Kobe fans are hopeful that a Laker championship will put that debate to rest for the time being and leave Bryant as the top dog of the Association as he chases that elusive ring sans Shaq.  Yes, that dream Finals may be on the horizon, but two Conference Finals series must be played first and here’s a preview of Western Conference Finals…

In the West, many analysts have been quick to write off the Lakers after seeing their effort fluctuate more than the colors on Craig Sager’s suits.  Pau Gasol’s play, at times, has been softer than the breasts of fellow LA comrade, Manny Ramirez. Kobe is well, being Kobe.  Meanwhile, Andrew Bynum is masquerading as Lamar Odom in big games.  As harsh as these critics have been, the Lakers have responded well in their victories, winning convincingly and teasing us with their flashes of greatness.  However, any lapses in effort will be quickly exploited in this series by the Denver Nuggets, a team that can almost match the physicality that the Houston Rockets bring and the offensive firepower that the Lakers have.  Delusional Laker fans might look to last year’s playoff series against the Nuggets and see that the Denver roster hasn’t changed too much, but I’ve always considered Chauncey Billups the most complete point guard that the L has to offer today.  There is nothing that Chauncey can’t do as a point guard, yet he always manages to fly under the radar.  He organizes his teammates in the half-court and puts them in positions to score.  He’s always been one of the better defensive guards in the league.  His shooting rivals that of Deron Williams and Steve Nash.  His ability to post up as a point guard is rare in today’s NBA game.  Simply put, he is the poor man’s Gary Payton of this NBA generation.

It’ll be impossible for the Nuggets to keep the Black Mamba in check.

We know Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant will average around 30 points for the series.   (If the Lakers meet the Magic in the Finals, Kobe might as well start a Duke mantle for all of the Coach K players that he annihilates in this year’s playoffs – Shane Battier, Dahntay Jones, JJ Redick, but I digress).  The difference makers in this series will be the play in each team’s frontcourt and bench play.  Fortunately for Pau Gasol, he won’t have to guard an opponent as offensively potent as Luis Scola the rest of this year’s playoffs.  Nene’s got game, but he doesn’t have the jump shot that Scola has.  Expect Gasol to guard Nene, allowing Andrew Bynum to roam a bit on defense, while daring Kenyon Martin to shoot on the perimeter.  The way Phil Jackson utilized Bynum in his pick and roll defense against Aaron Brooks in Game 7 could very well serve as a successful recipe in this series in defending pick and roll action against Billups and Anthony.  While the Lakers have an edge on the interior, the Nuggets have the edge in bench play.  The Nuggets’ bench is as energetic of a bunch as there is in the league.  Chris Andersen is an intimidator inside, while JR Smith and Linas Kleiza are as potent scorers as any two bench players in the league. If the Lakers’ bench dares to play uninspiredly for a stretch in any game, expect either their lead to disappear quickly or a Nuggets’ lead to balloon by the time Kobe checks back in the game at the usual 8:59 mark while giving Sasha his ‘keep my seat on the bench warm’ look.  As erratic as the Lakers have been, their bench play has been the most erratic.  Phil Jackson needs to keep a tighter leash on Jordan Farmar, Vujacic, and Luke Walton.  Shannon Brown will see extended playing time given the high level that he’s been playing at and he matches up better against Billups than any other Laker point guard (although, we might see Kobe and Trevor Ariza on Billups at certain junctures of the game).  Lamar Odom will be the X-factor off the bench.  His rebounding and dribble penetration will be necessary for the Lakers to win this series.  Should the Lakers’ bench play up to their potential, they should have no trouble matching the output of the Nuggets’ bench.

All in all, this will be a great series as many predict.  Kenny Smith characterizes this Laker team as arrogant.  I couldn’t agree more.  Having watched them all season, they’ve played up and down to their level of competition, beating the better teams (undefeated against Cleveland and Boston this season) while losing to some of the lesser teams (Sacramento and Charlotte) in the league.  The so-called “adversity” that they faced in the previous series will help them in the long run.  The Los Angeles media is merciless and they’re well aware that many have jumped off their bandwagon.  Their effort won’t be questioned in this series as they realize what they are up against.  Many fail to realize the difficulty in winning on the road in the NBA Playoffs as Phil Jackson has noted countless times.  This series will be no different.  Each team will win their home games up until Game 6, where the Lakers will eventually overwhelm the Nuggets with their potent offense and play enough defense to pull out a win and ultimately, advance to the NBA Finals.