NBA Playoffs

We Filipinos are known to be fanatics of three sports, first is boxing, second billiards and third would be basketball. We have made it to the olympics in the past consistently but because of the politics in basketball and the poor funding to train our athletes we were not able to compete in the recent olympics.

One ball game that we look up to is non other than the National Basketball Association in which we were really hooked when the Chicago Bulls are playing during the nineties with their ace player Michael Jordan. I have never lost my interest in this ball game because talents keep on coming in this game and now starts to be global. We don't usually watch the eliminations but when playoffs is about to start, thats the time when we focus on the game.


In the eliminations, there are new faces that made it to the news. One of them is non other no. 2 pick of this year's draft, Kevin Durant of the Seattle Supersonics. There is no doubt that he would win the Rookie of the Year Award. They recently trounced the Denver Nuggets (Allen Iverson's and Carmelo Anthony's team) in a sensational double overtime yesterday. Durant's team didnt make it to the playoffs because of the lack of needed support. All the rookies are the ones lifting the team. This is also because of Ray Allen leaving the team and playing for the Boston Celtics with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. The Boston Celtics is number one in this years eliminations. If they will win all their games left then they will tie the performance of the Dallas Mavericks last year (my team) which eventually lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. A real upset.

Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets made it to the news in this year's elimination. This playmaker is one of the contenders in the most coveted MVP Award. He is fighting it against Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics), Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) and Lebron James (Cleveland Cavaliers). I believe he would be voted by the majority of the press because of his outstanding performance from start to finish of the eliminations. Well Kevin Garnett will not be my choice. You would ask why? Simply because he is supported by two great players, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, that is why they are topping the scoreboards. But there are no Pierce and Allen in the Hornets line up, so this guy should really be credited. We should also look at the big trades that was made this year. Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill was traded to the Phoenix Suns. This didn't make such an impact because they lost Shawn Marion. The Dallas Mavericks acquired Jason Kidd from the New Jersey Nets. Let's see how they will work the playoffs with the addition of this veteran playmaker. They are ranked 7th in the West. They should win the remaining games for Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors are not far ahead to secure the playoffs spot. The biggest acquisition of the year would be with the Lakers when they acquired Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are really a fire on the floor. Let us see how the playoffs would fare. The Celtics is on watch because of the powerhouse line up that they have. Will they win another Championship? That is a big question. We should really watch out the playoffs and see whats gonna happen. So stick on your TV's and pop some popcorn!