Basketball

[Meddling Mike]

With the Super Bowl being a bigger disappointment than game 7 of the 2003 ALCS and some time to kill until Baseball Spring Training gets underway I decided to plunge myself into the only convenient major sport: Basketball.

Fortunately, the Celtics picked a great time to become relevant again by selling out it's youth movement/draft picks for KG and Ray Allen. So far so good. The Celtics:
1) Have the best record in basketball
2) 16-0 against the West, including wins over the Mavs and Spurs with KG on the bench.
3) Seem capable of winning without their top tier stars. They're 3-1 without Ray Allen and 6-2 without KG.
4) Getting big contributions from some of the remaining youth with Rajon Rondo and Glen "Big Baby" Davis

I haven't been this excited about the Green since Larry Bird was playing.

[ErkBek]

The Celtics obviously have the East. Really no contest there.

The West is really were the action is at. My pick to come out of the West is LA (no surprise there). Kobe is playing like the league's MVP this year, Bynum was playing amazing before the injury, and LA dumped their $10 million shitter, Kwame Brown, for All-star Gasol (how lucky!).

I'm liking the Suns/Heat trade more and more. You can tell Marion is sick of the Suns when he's happy about being traded to a team with the worst record in the league (or maybe he just really likes the city of Miami?). Hopefully we'll get to see Shaq in action soon.

The Spurs are just the Spurs, the most boring team in basketball. Now that LA actually has 2 good big men they should be able to dispose of these chumps.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

First, I'm no sports analyst, and I don't know as much about basketball as I do other sports, but here are my predictions:

East: This probably goes to Boston if they stay healthy. Otherwise, I give it to the Pistons. They are a very consistent team and they play good defense. Plus they're what, 20-4 at home?

West: What a conference! From what I've seen, I like New Orleans. Chris Paul is absolutely amazing. Ofcourse this doesn't mean the Spurs or the Lakers (now with Gasol) can't take it. And now, there are rumors that Kidd is going to Dallas. Can you imagine a team with Dirk and Kidd? Insane. I question the Shaq/Marion trade, but we'll see how that turns out.

Championship: Boston vs. New Orleans.

Although deep down, I want the Nuggets to win!

[ErkBek]

Can you imagine a team with Dirk and Kidd? Insane.

Dirk and Nash were on the same team for while. They couldn't beat the Spurs or the Lakers then. 

[Meddling Mike]

The Celtics obviously have the East. Really no contest there.

I actually think the East is wide open right now. The Celtics have had trouble with the Pistons (1-1), Wizards (1-2), Cavs (1-2) and the Magic (1-2), all of whom are well on pace to make the playoffs.

[Lou]

I agree that the East is fairly open.

With Arenas healthy, the wizards are a lot better. Lebron is obv Lebron, and therefore the Cavs are always in it. Detroit has played some pretty good ball, winning something like 10 in a row.

I don't think you can read too much into the Celtics beating the Spurs the other day. While I can appreciate that KG was out, and that is huge, Tony Parker was out for the Spurs, and that is also pretty significant.

And that's who I like out of the West. Until someone can show they will be able to take the Spurs in a seven game series, I don't see the dynasty ending any time soon.

Suns prob get better with a HEALTHY Shaq. Doesn't appear the Kidd trade will happen. Gasol makes the Lakers tough as shit. When they get Bynum back, they are even better.

New Orleans, Bob? Really?