The Northwest Division NBA Preview

Denver Nuggets - 38-28 record last season. 6th seed in the playoffs. Lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Ty Lawson, Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Kosta Koufos / Andre Miller, Corey Brewer, Wilson Chandler, JaVale McGee, Timofey Mozgov

Storyline/s: Their depth got an upgrade with the acquisition of Iguodala as part of their participation in the Dwight Howard deal. With the depth, who is the go-to-guy when the situation amounts itself to?

X-Factor/s: Can JaVale unlock his true potential under George Karl? A nation on the other side of the Pacific anticipates while the paperwork for his naturalization is being undertaken.

Prognosis: Exiting the first round of the playoffs.

Minnesota Timberwolves - 26-40 record last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Ricky Rubio, Brandon Roy, Andrei Kirilenko, Derrick Williams, Kevin Love / Luke Ridnour, Alexei Shved, Chase Budinger, Dante Cunningham, Nikola Pekovic, JJ Barea

Storyline/s: Kevin Love has made it known that this team needs to contend in the next few seasons. That, and the waiting for Ricky Rubio to return to the court.

X-Factor/s: How much does Brandon Roy have left in the tank? And how much does that knee have left in it?

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Oklahoma City Thunder - 47-19 record last season. Division Champions. Conference Champions. Lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

Ideal Rotation: Russell Westbrook, Kevin Martin, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins / Eric Maynor, Thabo Sefolosha, Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones III, Nick Collison, Reggie Jackson

Storyline/s: They were schooled by Miami in the finals. Humbled, yet undaunted, their quest remains in returning to that destination and finish what was started. That was until Sam Presti pulled off the James Harden trade.

X-Factor/s: All eyes now on Kevin Martin as he steps into Harden's shoes. Eric Maynor returns after rehabbing from his injury.

Prognosis: Division Champions. Conference Champions. Exiting in the NBA Finals.

Portland Trailblazers - 28-38 record last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, JJ Hickson / Ronnie Price, Sasha Pavlovic, Victor Claver, Meyers Leonard

Storyline/s: The rebuilding process has begun, with the centerpiece on Aldridge. The keys to the offense has been handed to a rookie point guard. Terry Stotts has taken over.

X-Factor/s: Wes is expected to do more this season. Nic Batum got himselft a nice contract, and with such, much is expected.

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Utah Jazz - 36-30 record last season. 8th seed in the playoffs. Lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Mo Williams, Gordon Hayward, Marvin Williams, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson / Jamaal Tinsley, Randy Foye, Alec Burks, Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors

Storyline/s: Ty Corbin remakes the backcourt, adding Mo and Randy to a potent frontcourt with All-Star caliber players. Will it be enough to stave off others who want that final slot that went to them last season?

X-Factor/s: The pressure is off Marvin Williams now, the pressure of having to live being Atlanta's 2nd overall selection in a draft that featured stud point guards in Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Let Westbrook be Westbrook

"No. Let me get this straight. What you guys say doesn't make me happy, doesn't make me sad. Doesn't do anything. It's all about my team and us winning a game. I don't have a personal challenge against you guys, and it's not me against the world. It's not the world against me. It's me and my teammates trying to win."

The quote came from Russell Westbrook in a postgame conference addressing the notion of media criticism on him as posed to him by Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports. This is how Gregg asked that question:

Russell, you've taken some heat, whether you know it or not you have, but tonight, of course, you shouldn't take a whole lot.  Was there any vindication at all?  I know you guys didn't win, but personally do you feel okay about it? 

He finished with 43 pts on 20/32 shooting. Made all three of his free throw attempts. Missed all three of his attempts beyond the arc. Grabbed 7 rebounds. Issued 5 dimes. Stole the ball once.

But most of you, especially the media, will remember his third personal foul and his third turnover. Both of those came in the dying seconds. Because this is about the narrative. That Russell can't be a point guard in this team. That Russell is shooting the ball too much. That Russell needs to defer.

Sure, the little gaffes cost them game, but with Durant effectively muzzled by Lebron James and Shane Battier, he carried the offensive load. You cannot question his effort, his aggression and his will to win.

I am really sick and tired of how some of the media have savagely attacked him and his play. I hope his effort did not go in vain in this defeat.

Skip Bayless getting owned

I only manage to listen to ESPN2's morning show First Take via podcast, so I know who Skip Bayless is from listening to him and via his twitter (@realskipbayless). He takes pride of his hometown team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he is absolutely critical of one guy in the team, Russell Westbrook. Almost each and every time he takes potshots at his shot attempts, his turnovers, his decision making... And then one time, he decides to share what he knows about running a team as a point guard to illustrate what Russell ought to be doing.

But then, a local blog in Oklahoma decided to do some digging. And it leads to this gem from Jalen Rose on First Take yesterday.



Of course, this was after Kevin Durant got sick and tired of constantly having to hear about this stuff.

So, I thank you, Jalen Rose. As you always say at the start of your Grantland podcast... "Power To The People, Give the People What They Want."

The 2011 Western Conference Finals on ESPN

I'm the Larry Bird for the new millenium, bitches.

Game 1 has passed by and what a game that was. You could call it the Dirk Nowitzki Experience, where whatever Oklahoma City put up did not stand a chance. Even their coach, Scotty Brooks, said it. Lost in the DNE was that Kevin Durant was not all too shabby either.

After the jump is the much belated preview of the NBA Western Conference Finals.




Schedule of Games: All games in Eastern Time

Game 1 - Tue May 17 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM 121-112 win for Dallas.
Game 2 - Thu May 19 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM
Game 3 - Sat May 21 Dallas at Oklahoma City 9:00PM
Game 4 - Mon May 23 Dallas at Oklahoma City 9:00PM
Game 5 * Wed May 25 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM
Game 6 * Fri May 27 Dallas at Oklahoma City 9:00PM
Game 7 * Sun May 29 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM
*if necessary

Unlike the Eastern Conference, it's simply an alternating setup and no events that could possibly disturb the cycle are present. What helps is their proximity to each other makes it conducive. (Oklahoma City is just three hours away from Dallas-Forth Worth.)

Regular Season Matchup: Dallas won the first two meetings before Oklahoma City got theirs in their final encounter. Interesting to note that all games came before the trade of Kendrick Perkins. In addition, both of Dallas' wins have been with Caron Butler on the roster before he got hurt, and Dirk did not play in that final meeting.

What should Dallas do? Feed Dirk. The German shooting machine has totally been as efficient, like what the German stereotype of their industry. The Thunder are befuddled as they try to defend him in Game 1. JJ Barea has been running rings as of late and in Game 1, OKC failed to keep him in check. Dallas also has been great with the three-pointer, predicated on by Jason Terry and Jason Kidd.

What should Oklahoma City do? Still, the major elephant in the room remains to be the Westbrook shot selection process. Russell needs to make those shots and at the same time, find opportunities that would make Durant feel comfortable with. Focus on the defensive end is also a need, considering all their games against the Mavs have been high-scoring affairs.

X-Factor/s: A pair of guards off the bench for both teams need to contribute well for the success of both teams. On one side, JJ Barea has been great in the playoffs, while James Harden for the Thunder has been the offensive oomph from the bench, considering they start off with Thabo.

The pick: Dallas in 6. Dirk is primed for a return run to the Finals. This is another learning experience that would be for the benefit of Durant, Westbrook and the others, knowing that next season is the leap to becoming one of the favorites to win the title in 2012.

Western Conference Playoff Manuscript

Well, this was supposed to be the playoff preview for the Western Conference, but since I'm posting this already after the Lakers get bounced (I predicted the Lakers to supposedly advance in 6, so I am terribly wrong in this case), might as well do a little revisionism and post-script action.

So, let's go straight to the nitty gritty.




2 - Los Angeles Lakers vs 3 - Dallas Mavericks

Regular Season Analysis: The Lakers held a 2-1 edge in the regular season, winning the last 2 meetings. Dallas did not shoot well in their regular season losses against LA. Peja Stojakovic only played in the third and final game.

What went wrong for Los Angeles: True to form to their regular season, save for Lamar Odom, the bench was relatively non-existent.That already put more pressure on everyone, especially with Pau Gasol, who already has been receiving major flak based on his performance in the previous series.

What went right for Dallas: Dallas stroked it from long distance. They tied a playoff record with 20 three-point conversions in a game during Game 4. To put it into comparison, the Lakers converted just 15 threes for THE ENTIRE SERIES. And when you watched the game, most of those were coming off good screens and great execution. The Jet went bananas in the last game, 32 points off a record-tying nine three point conversions. Also give credit to how the Mavericks defended Kobe and made it difficult for him to score. Barea has been a pest and made things brutal for Laker defenders to the point they had Ron Artest guard him.


Man of the Series: Dirk Nowitzki has been great all series long. Unstoppable from Games 1-3. He was there in Game 4, but the BTS took care of things in that one to the point that he was pretty much irrelevant.

4 - Oklahoma City Thunder vs 8 - Memphis Grizzlies

Regular Season Matchup: The Grizzlies have a 3-1 edge in their regular season duels. It is important to note that Rudy Gay only played in the first 2 games before his season-ending surgery. In addition, they only met once after the trade deadline that netted Kendrick Perkins for Oklahoma City and Shane Battier for Memphis. Memphis won said particular meeting. All games were relatively close, with winning margins of 4-9 points. Each team scored in triple digits in all the games.

Keys for the Thunder: Shot selection. The white elephant in the room has been Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant's shot attempts. The issue is not that, because Kevin is a guy that does not really that vocal in demanding the ball. The issue is and remains to be on the decision-making Russell conducts in the process.

Keys for the Grizzlies: Paint dominance. They have two of the better (possibly the best remaining in the postseason) low post scoring options in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Mike Conley has played within himself and controlled the ebb and flow of how things roll.

X-Factor/s: It's all about the Celtic championship pride running down the veins of Kendrick Perkins and Tony Allen on each side.

Prediction: Oklahoma City in 6.