Rain or Shine Starting Five

Doug Kramer, Ryan Arana, Ronjay Buenafe, Gabe Norwood and TY Tang

Mga Tunay na Lalake

source: Smart Gilas Facebook Fan Page

Pinoy Fans! This is it!

Wildest Playoffs Yet

Among all my predictions for the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs, none of them came true. I would say that my predictions were based on very objective analyses - probably except for having the Hawks win it in 7 against the Bulls. But hey, more than just the twisted results, it was the way the series' transpired.

(in chronological order):

Dallas wins over LA via 4-0 sweep

Who would have thought this could happen to the defending champs? Was it a matter of time until these Lakers would burnout and not make it work? Or did the Mavs just catch up with them and finally made it over the hump? These questions came out after this shocking sweep. First of all, people had the defending champs favored against the usually choking Mavs. Second, if the Mavs had a chance, it had to be more than just 4 games right?! Right now the Mavs have the edge in experience against all the other teams left in the playoffs. Heck, Dallas is the only team left from the 2000's perennial contenders. They have the upper hand, yet this could be their last chance.

Miami wins over Boston 4-1

It was definitely a hotly contested series. The 4-1 result does not really indicate how competitive the matchup was. Most of the games were toss-ups. It was a match made in hell. When I say that, it means it was one heck of a series. Rondo's elbow. Bosh's struggles. KG's resurgence. Wade & James' domination.

Bottomline, the Heat's version of the Big Three is for real and have gone over the Celtic hump at least for this year.

Chicago wins over Atlanta 4-2

Well I guess this result wasn't much of a surprise to anyone but the way the Hawks played both at home and on the road made this series much interesting. I would have preferred a game 7 but hey, these Bulls have the number 1 seed for a reason. From the other end, the Hawks played hard and made it seem like they really are part of the mix and deserve to be in the second round. Now the MVP has the chance to spoil the Big Three from Miami's bid to become champs as early as this year.

Still in progress: Memphis and OKC goes to game 7 - first series to reach seven games this season!

Talk about a wild road to the Playoffs. People were pondering: what if we had the Hawks and the Grizzlies face off in the Finals? Well, for one moment, it seemed like almost possible.

Cheers to all basketball fans!

Who's callin' Kobe crazy?

It's so funny how people forget the fact that in a seven game series, one needs to win 4 games in order to advance. Yes, getting that 3-0 lead is something big and has never been toppled. But never ever assume that the series is over.

In the NBA, there have been 98 teams in history that had 3-0 leads and all of them went on to win their respective series. I think only the NBA has that distinction across all major sports leagues in the world - which goes to show that the league really is that tough, that teams don't choke 4 consecutive times, barring any significant injuries/comebacks.

But then again, this is the NBA and wilder things have happened. 8th seeds dominating 1st seeds. 6th seeds winning titles. 8th seeds getting to the finals. Several 3-1 leads toppled. A whole lot of 2-0 leads toppled. So why does 3-0 sound so impossible?

A 3-0 lead in a 1 vs 8 or 2 vs 7 series really does sound impossible to overcome. But hey, there have already been close calls back then. What's ironic is Dallas almost had that distinction back in 2003 when they almost blundered a 3-0 lead against the Portland Trailblazers - having to play a Game 7 after the series was supposedly "over".

I bet these Mavericks would no better. They're playing so well but they know they're still 1 win away from the Conference Finals. I understand that they have a huge advantage and yeah, I actually think they have a great chance to pull off the upset.

But then again, never assume that the series is over. Especially against the defending champs.

NBA Playoffs Conference Semis

We are now down to eight teams fighting for the NBA championship and look we have a diverse set of matchups this year. We have a bunch of surprise teams coming into the second round. Who would have thought that Memphis, OKC and Atlanta would actually dominate their first round foes. Dallas, LA, Boston and Miami were technically locked into advancing to the second round this whole time while the Bulls - are still the owners of home-court advantage. Let's quickly break things down and see which of the following teams will make it to the Conference Finals.

(1) Bulls vs (5) Hawks

Well hello there Mr. Jameer "See you next round" Nelson. Looks like you'll be seeing D.Rose on TV rather than face-to-face on-court. The young guns from Atlanta just showed how a year makes a difference. Unfortunately, Kirk Hinrich may just miss this series and this means Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford may need to exert as much effort on defending MVP Derrick Rose. Chicago has a lot of weapons and defends so well. Chicago has proven to be more than just an all about DRose but a bonafide team under Thib's system. On the other hand, the Hawks just might figure this out.

This is a bold one. Hawks in 7.

(2) Heat vs (3) Celtics

It's the matchup that every single one of us expected. It's kind of funny how the Big Three of Miami somehow modeled their decision to play together to how the Big Three from Boston ended up in the same team. Now we'll see what they are made of. This is the third time that Lebron will be facing the C's in the playoffs but now he totally upgraded his sidekicks. I expect this series to be a classic one. Once again, Rondo will be expected to be the X-factor that will bring the C's over the top. As for the Heat, they'll need the rest of their team to win this. LeBron-Wade-Bosh can easily win it for the team when they score a large chunk of the points. If one of them bogs down, expect them to lose against these gritty veterans from Boston.

Celtics in 6.

(8) Memphis vs (4) OKC

This perhaps is the most improbably Conference semis matchup in the past decade. We can probably start getting used to this because I feel a lot of potential coming from these two teams. But then again, them meeting in the second round is a clear stamp that they want to be on top now. Memphis just thrashed the Spurs' bigs. OKC's Perkins-Ibaka tandem just might be the best 5-4 combination in the league, second to Bynum-Gasol. The bigs, to me, cancel each other out. We will be left with Durant-Sefolosha-Westbrook vs Young-Allen-Conley. Flat out mismatch. Don't forget, Durant leads the league in scoring.

Thunder in 6.

(2) Lakers vs (3) Mavericks

Both these teams are in very familiar territory. This heavyweight matchup seems like an interesting one but seriously, it's the Mavs who need to make it one. These Lakers have revealed a lot of damages to their armor but they still close things out. In veteran-team matchups like these, execution and heart is the key. I don't want to keep carrying on the fact that the Mavs have been in the playoffs for quite sometime now (say 10-12 years) but never won a chip. And no, they may not use the Caron-Butler-was-injured excuse and say, "we'll be back next year" should they lose. They need to win now or break things up. Unfortunately, it will be the player of the decade playing against them across the court.

Lakers in 5.