Friday, May 13, 2011

Eastern Conference Finals Preview

NBA officials and television executives are probably still drunk after all of the champagne they popped when the Atlanta Hawks didn't advance to the conference finals.

MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago's media market going against the star power of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for David Stern and the NBA was no doubt an orgasm-producing outcome.

And either of those teams advancing to the championship will be great business for all parties involved, not only for this season but for future seasons as well.

Many think Miami will roll over Chicago. But don't be fooled by what we just saw in the last round.

Atlanta has as much talent as almost any team in the NBA and is a good coach away from being a legitimate contender. And Miami benefited significantly from injuries to Shaquille O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal and Rajon Rondo.

After seeing how the series played out, I would take a fully-healthy Boston team over a fully-healthy Miami team in a seven-game series.

Unfortunately for Boston, it didn't work out that way.

There is nothing to be gained from looking at Chicago's 3-0 sweep of Miami during the regular season.

LeBron James didn't play in the first game. Mike Bibby (not on the team yet) didn't play in the second. Joel Anthony didn't play in the third.

You could go back and forth with these playoff (or regular season) matchups for five hours and end up more confused than when you first started.

I wouldn't dare pick a winner in this or any other series.

The only thing I can say for sure is that it will be great television.

Comment or e-mail: thenbaoutsider@yahoo.com

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