I Am Not Doing An Interview Right Now

You have to love Rondo's tenacity on and off the court. The guy does not allow anyone to push him around. He does the pushing as we all know with his Game 2 suspension. As feisty as Rondo is, he is not very intimating as the reporter films Rondo despite Rondo telling him not to. The reporter continues to film even when Rondo gets in his face. Watching the Celtics, it is easy to point out Rondo's loud, high voice. Rondo is in the spotlight. HAHAHA Rondo is hilarious!

Miami vs New York

Prediction on winning series: Heat win series in 5 games. Heat: 65% Knicks: 35% PG: Mario Chalmers PG: Baron Davis SG: Dwyane Wade SG: Iman Shumpert SF: LeBron James SF: Carmelo Anthony PF: Udonis Haslem PF: Amar'e Stoudemire C: Chris Bosh C: Tyson Chandler .Heat has been to this stage and had some success (Wade winning a title) and the rest of the crew getting to the NBA Finals last season. So this post season shouldnt be anything different from what they've already experienced from other years as they already know what needs to be done to have to return to th finals. As the Heat do not really have much of a bench they are going to primarily reply on their stars for majority of the points. We know what LeBron and Wade can do from what has been done in the past but if Miami wants a legit chance at claiming the title they'll need CONSISTENT play from Chris Bosh. One could only think that the main reason why Miami has a chance at actally claiming this year's title is the number of games played this season is far shorter then normal. So a team that utilizes their stars for 90% of their offense that would normally wear down ataround 75 games or exactly at seasons end now has enough energy and explosion to carry themselves far into this years playoffs. KnicksNew York have been riddled with injuries all season. Amar'e Stoudemire (recently back), Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Lin (still injured), Iman Shumpert (injury today) along with a couple others. However, Carmelo and compan have been red hot especially during the month of April while Melo averaged over 30PPG in the month of April. As they face off against the Heat the odds looked to be on their side as there interior defense (Amar'e and Chandler) and offense (only Amar'e) would cause problems for the dash and pass offense in Miami. Carmelo on the wing matching up against LeBron is goint to be a very intriguing matchup as both players are pure scorers who can put the ball in the basket almost at will. Jeremy Lin being out doesn't suite well with the Knicks as he [Lin] could potentially take advantage of the poor PG position in Miami. When it comes down to it, the Knicks are going to need to be on the top of their game as they appear to be a little short handed early on in this series but the possibilty of an upset is very likely. Final say: The star power meter is at full strength in South Beach and the odds look to be slightly in favor for the Heat crew.

Playoff Time

The 2012 Playoff have kicked off and it features a few teams that have not seen the playoff stage in quite some time (Pacers, Clippers, Philidelphia). Which team do you think is going to prevail? There is a lot of hunger in this years Playoffs, more than normal, as LeBron James and the Heat fight for another chance at the title. The "original" big three in Boston would like to notch another title for the ever so winning Celtics franchise. Kobe Bryant along with the two bigs down low have fought off criticism all season that they weren't capable of even getting to the playoffs. So as we kick off Playoff Saturday today lets take a more indepth look at what we can expect this year and what my predictions are each match-up. Which players will rise and which players will fall? Lets get to it as we look at every teams chance.

To Play or Not To Play?

Do you remember when Ginobili broke his arm in the last game of the 2011 regular season? It was a meaningless game as the Spurs already locked up the first seed and Phoenix was already eliminated from playoff contention. Yet Popovich decided to play the Big 3 despite resting them the night before against the Lakers. Why would he do such a thing? The answer is to remain sharp and avoid rust.

This year the Spurs face the same situation, that is end the regular season with two meaningless games. The difference is last year the Spurs were struggling down the stretch losing 8 of their last 12 games and this year the Spurs are the hottest team in basketball. Like he has done all season, Popovich must continue his balancing act and decide if the risk of possibly losing a key player to injury is worth keeping the team sharp.

In my opinion, Popovich should rest his stars just to make sure history does not repeat itself. If the Big 3 play, the worst case scenario is that they lose a key member of the team to an injury. On the other hand, the worst case scenario is the team loses some momentum heading into the playoffs and not sharp to start their series versus Utah or Denver. To me the answer is simple, the Big 3 should rest and avoid all risk as they gear up for a championship run.

Pop please rest your stars and do not do anything stupid to hurt the team's chance at a title.

That was edited right?

I've seen a lot of good passes in my day ranging from behind the back passes to alley-oop passes. The one I saw with Manu Ginobli threading the needle inside the paint to an anxious Bonner waiting for the ball to lay in, is one of the best passes I've seen in a long time. I thought it had to be edited you cant even see the ball moving he threw it so hard. After over exaggerating the one handed bullet pass I realized that has to be a top 10 play of the year nominee.

Just watching it all unfold you'd think it was a play; Tiago Splitter gets the offensive board kicks it to Manu and he send it's immediately inside with a laser beam throw (left handed I must add) to Bonner for the easy 2. The fluidity of the play was just astounding but I'm not quite sure if I'd give it the overall number one pass I've seen. I think Jason Williams elbow pass (if that even makes any sense) in the 2000 rookie game might be my personal favorite. Check it out.

Both passes were fun to watch and goes to show dunks don't always make the highlights. I know there are a ton of other great passes made by a lot of other people in the past and during this season, however, these two happen to be my personal favorite.

Visit next week for our countdown of the top ten plays of the regular season.

Sell out Saturday! (NBA by the Day)

Drum roll please (insert whatever noise you associate with a drum). Selling Travis Outlaw (SF) of the Sacramento Kings!

Sacramento lost Friday night to Oklahoma by 11 points and I must say Travis Outlaw had no part in helping the team in anyway, regain momentum to overthrow the Thunder. I mean we knew the chances of the Kings winning against a feisty Thunder team in seek of the first place spot in the west was no easy task, but they actually had a shot this game. Maybe things would have changed if Outlaws 27 minutes were to go elsewhere.

Travis Outlaw had 27 minutes. 0/6 shooting the ball with 4 rebounds and one point. That's right one point. I understand the NBA always has tough defense but in all honesty I think I could have tallied up more points then that (anyone a fan of half court shots?)

I could show his highlight of this game if your interested in wasting 12.6 seconds of your life but I'll save you the trouble. You can spend your time doing other things like perfecting that half court shot eh?!

Season averages: MPG 11.4 PPG 3.6 RPG 1.4 APG 0.4

Anyways, the award for Sell out Saturday goes to Travis Outlaw. Let's hope we don't see another abysmal performance from him again in this short season.

Tis' the Season to be Injured.

Unfortunately with the season being affected by the lockout and the season being significantly reduced to 66 games, numerous players have found it hard to stay healthy while enduring this years strenuous schedule.

Currently, there is a total of 79 players injured in the NBA and no team is excluded from this horrific stat. This season has plagued many teams by keeping key players off the court and on the bench making planning and player rotations hard to keep stable.

Durable players like Dwight Howard, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant had to sit out games in order to rest the minor injuries they've acquired over the course of the season. The most recent and unfortunate news being that Dwight Howard is out for the remainder of the season to have his back operate on for a herniated and bulging disk. This should really put into perspective how rough this season truly is. He relies purely on his athleticism and size to make moves in the low post, so hopefully having a serious injury and operation for a player who seeks contact won't disrupt his game in the future.

The only time we see these players is on the court. We all need to take into consideration the workouts they do to get stronger, the practices they try to squeeze in before a game to get on the same page, and the travel time for their away games all take a toll.

Just as my fellow writer Rick Bartra posted in his article below, the intensity of games played from now on are on the rise as the playoffs creep closer. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say I want to see every team play with all of their players healthy to see the true potential of each team.

For example the Golden State Warriors were forced to start four rookies while Nate Robinson (PG), David Lee (PF), Andrew Bogut (C), Stephen Curry (PG), and Andris Biedrins (C) were all watching from the bench in their tailored suits.

Defenses are always far greater in the playoffs than they are in the regular season and what comes along with feisty defenses is a lot of injuries. Who knows maybe the team that has the best chance of winning the finals is the team who is the healthiest. Bosh and Wade being out for a little time this season could potentially be beaten by a team like the Pacers who've adapted surprisingly quite well to Darren Collison's absence.

A team like New York, while missing Jeremy Lin, (Amar'e expected back next week) can upend the Rose-less Bulls in Chicago. Yes I know, statistically it looks like Chicago is better off without Rose, but I doubt any team is truly "better off" without their reigning MVP.

Only time can tell and the time is almost here as we all prepare for what we've been waiting for since Christmas, Playoff Basketball.

Sources:
1.http://www.betinf.com/nba_injured.htm
2.http://cache.heraldinteractive.com/blogs/sports/rap_sheet/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/red-cross-logo565.png