DougN

First Round Indiana over Atlanta in 5 Miami over Charlotte in 6 Toronto over Brooklyn in 7 Chicago over Washington in 6 San Antonio over Dallas in 5 OKC over Memphis in 4 Clippers over Golden State in 6 Houston over Portland in 5 Semi-Finals Indiana over Chicago in 7 Miami over Toronto in 6 San Antonio over Houston in 6 OKC over Clippers in 6 Conf. Finals Indiana over Miami in 7 OKC over San Antonio in 6 Finals OKC over Indiana in 5 At this point, I see Miami and Indiana as a toss-up. Indiana could catch that fire again that they had earlier in the season, but I've lost faith in them. I only see Indiana going over because they have home advantage over Miami and I see Miami getting wrecked by long series. Spurs and OKC is a toss-up too, but I think no matter what, who ever wins the West wins it all.

If Celts get anything in the top 3.....

Gah. I really wanted Bulls-Heat in the second round. Damn it. That Dallas-Memphis game looked great too tho.

I can't believe I'm going to root for the Knicks tonight....

Was there any rider on how long the team must stay in Milwaukee? I can't imagine them saying indefinitely and I'm sure there are some contingencies that can get them out if they need to.

Blake definitely improved a lot, but like the discussion with Anthony & ROY, it was more EXPECTED of him to improve which is why I don't think he'll get traction as much. That said, there's a difference in being expected to improve to "pretty much going to end up 3rd in MVP voting."

Totally forgot about Anthony Davis for some reason! Amending my pick for MIP: MIP 1. Goran Dragic 2. Anthony Davis 3. Gerald Green Still got to give it to Dragic. I understand the thought that Dragic didn't improve that much so much as he shed this so-so rep, but I do think he improved leaps and bounds and far more than Davis. Edit: I also get a little tired of the MCW talk when he's on such a bad team. The guy's a ROOKIE. It'd be different if LeBron was on a team that bad and we were talking about giving him the MVP. But MCW is a ROOKIE. This is his first year and in his first year, he was better than anyone else. It's not something to give begrudgingly because the Sixers sucked so bad and so purposefully. That's on management and we aren't giving them any awards.

All right. End of the year time. Who ya got? MVP 1. Kevin Durant 2. LeBron James 3. Joakim Noah COY 1. Gregg Poppovich 2. Jeff Hornacek 3. Dwane Casey DPOY 1. Joakim Noah 2. Roy Hibbert 3. Marc Gasol ROY 1. Michael Carter-Williams 2. Victor Oladipo 3. Trey Burke MIP 1. Goran Dragic 2. Gerald Green 3. DeAndre Jordan Sixth Man 1. Taj Gibson 2. Manu Ginobili 3. Reggie Jackson

Come on, Bulls. Pull it out. Get the 3rd seed....

I agree, but they still should try. I think the EY thing devalued the title, but I don't think TNA's problem is having a weak title. They have nobody who you can buy as champion PERIOD right now.

I read that to mean it's more of a tribute show like they did for Paul Bearer and not like they did for Owen and Eddie.

Shaq tainted his legacy a BIT jumping from team to team and being embarrassing on those teams at times. I find it very hard to rank Shaq in my opinion.

You're right that it doesn't matter...but them doing things like this isn't going to MAKE it matter.

Well, Blake Griffin wasn't performing to the level he was seen at until this past season. This season, yes, no one should be saying "lob city" in a derogatory fashion considering Blake might end up 3rd in MVP voting.

I really enjoyed the Ultimate X idea. The obviously overdid it to the point it means nothing, but those first few ones were absolutely great to me.

The Spurs are a self-fulfilling prophecy in my eyes from the way ESPN and other news outlets have talked about them over the years. I know sports writers think he's an amazing talent and one of the best of all time, but it's really only been the last two seasons where they've started to really talk about his ridiculous ability and longevity, while shying away from talking about him just as the Big Fundamental, which in my opinion, is the most backhanded compliment of all time. "Tim Duncan is fundamentally great." Fuck you. He's just great.

It's not that it's being bought by that many people, it's moreso that the people who buy TNA at this point are going to buy regardless of the main event.

It's not fucked up comparing Santino and EY because both are comedy characters. EY IS a legit underutilized, under-appreciated, and underrated wrestler and someone who deserves the belt if we base it on merits of tenure and the amount of shit he's had to eat over the years. I'm not arguing that and no one is. But they haven't treated EY as a credible wrestler since when? Ever? This is the dude that held the Knockouts Tag Titles and we're supposed to just be okay, logically, with him winning the top title. I get that it's Eric Young and it's like, "YES, THEY FINALLY GIVE THE STRAP TO SOMEONE GOOD," but he's not good in the sense that the way he's been portrayed on TV is absolute horrible. If Tyson Kidd won the title randomly tomorrow, it'd be great for the sheer moment of it all, but it'd make no fucking sense whatsoever. Granted, EY has been a consistent TV character for years whereas Tyson Kidd is not, but it just shows you that you can't just have Joe Schomo win the title just because. There's a reason the Austin Aries title switch worked and the Chris Sabin one did not and it's not because Aries is a better worker than Sabin (which he is). EY HAS been around the block and can definitely put together far better matches than Magnus. But EY is not credible. At all. At allllllll.

Big Fundamental definitely gets screwed over, in my opinion, when we talk about the best players of all time. There's no way he's not a Top 25 player.

I love how TNA is trying to give its fans feel-good moments to spike ratings. Sabin last year and EY this year. It's good that they want to "reward" the tenured stars, but it's not like they're going to pay them anymore money and if they ask for a raise, the door is thataway. As much as I've enjoyed EY over the years and thought he was underutilized, this is essentially Santino winning the TNA belt. I wish I could say it's been devalued, but this is TNA. Come on.

I always enjoyed Eddie matches. I understand what you're talking about, but for me, Eddie is vastly better than Davey.

I know it's common knowledge, but people forget just how great Pippen was that first season without Jordan. More so leading his team in every category basically.

I have at least five friends who have flip phones.

Sounded like a flip phone. I would love if Meltzer had a flip phone in 2014.

I know it's hard to say, but where would we have ranked Malone (and Stockton) if they had beaten Jordan?