Random Wax: 2018-2019 Hoops Basketball

Grabbed my second pack of the 2018-2019 Hoops basketball.  My first pack was a real dud as far as the pull went so the Hoops gods made up for it with this pack.  I really like this Jimmy Butler card but I have to figure out how to keep my scanner from cutting off those white borders.   

Two Jimmy Butler cards in this pack which makes three of his Hoops' cards on the year in just two packs.  That definitely helps my personal collection. The other cards are a purple parallel and a Lights, Camera, Action insert.

I'm seeing stars.  Again this was a great pack with plenty of star power.

Donovan Mitchell is struggling this year after a great rookie season but hopefully he can get it going.  Great photo of Blake Griffin.  I've always liked him.  The only Trail Blazer card in this pack but a good one in Jusuf Nurkic who is averaging 15 and 10 for Portland.  No Hawks this pack but I can't complain considering my pull.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

2 – Lights Camera Action

1 – Purple

1 – The Pulse

1 – Retired Legend

1 - RC

NBA Finals: Spurs vs Heat

First, I think Miami wins this series.  I also think it will go seven games.  I also think it will be a great series.  Considering my history of picking this bodes well for the Spurs.  And I will be rooting for the Spurs every bit of the way.  I'm not what I would consider a fan of the Spurs but I loved the old George Gervin, Artis Gilmore days and was a fan of many of their players over the years (Alvin Robertson, David Robinson, Sean Elliott, and others).  So I've followed them for some time and my pal Yaj is a huge fan so Spurs discussions are not hard to come by.  See Yaj's coverage of the Spurs this postseason here. 

I won't go too in depth here because, one, I'm not that smart and I really just want to throw out how I feel about the match ups.  For me this begins and ends with LeBron James.  Guarding him will fall to Kawhi Leonard.  He is a good defender but James is just short of Superman.  Good luck Kawhi.  Of course he will get help and I know Gregg Poppovich is gearing his defense to maybe not Stop LeBron but to limit the damage he does.  Make him take tougher shots, no easy drives to the basket, etc, etc.  Same think every other team has tried to do with varying success.  You just have to know he will get his 25 points, 7 boards and 6 assists.  What you don't want him to do is take over games where he elevates the Heat on his shoulder and his teammates all look the Robin to his Batman.  I think making his teammates better is his best attribute.  Bottom line:  make things tough on him while not allowing the Heat players to get into any type of rhythm.  On the other side Leonard is having a good playoffs and I hope the stress of guarding James doesn't hurt his overall play. 

Dwyane Wade must play better.  He doesn't have to score 20 a night but he must at least hit layups and those close to the basket shots he hasn't been able to hit consistently in these playoffs.  The good news is Manu Ginobli is also playing poorly so his job on defense may not be so tough.  Danny Green needs to continue his good play if Manu can't find his game.  Chris Bosh just has to show up, rebound and play a little D.  He was so outclassed by Roy Hibbert.  In this series he just can't put up any four point four rebound efforts or the Heat are in trouble and Tiago Splitter is an opponent he should be able to get his stats against.  Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole get to guard Tony Parker.  Parker is probably the hottest player coming into the Finals.  Can they keep up with him and play defense that will make him actually work?  I think they have as good a chance as any but those aren't the best odds.  Tim Duncan has the edge against any power forward (probably Udonis Haslem) Miami can put up against him.  He is running the floor great and I'm hoping he still has some water from the fountain of youth around.  How can you not like Gregg Poppovich over Eric Spolstra?  Poppovich will truly be the master if he can help San Antonio pull out a win in this series. 

I think Miami is the better team.  Much of that is because of LeBron James.  Indiana proved the Heat are flawed and can be beaten.  But they were a different type team.  I can't wait to see how this series plays out.  There will be those players who come out of nowhere and have great games and some of the stars who have bad nights.  That is normal.  It will be all the little stories inside the games that will make this special.  I am excited and can't wait. 

NBA Playoffs - 31 May 13

Been way too long since I've been on here but this month has been crazy busy.  I'm back for the moment and wanted to touch on the NBA playoffs while I have a chance.  My Hawks were thrown to the curb fairly easily by the Pacers.  I thought it would be more of a series as Atlanta has some talent and even thought they could win. I was wrong and the Hawks found a new coach and are looking for an upgrade to the roster through free agency this summer. 

The Spurs have looked great on their run past the Lakers, Warriors and Grizzlies.  For the first time I've been able to watch Tony Parker quite a bit and wow he has impressed me.  I've never sold him short but haven't been able to watch him enough to truly appreciate him.  It helps when he torched the Grizzlies as San Antonio swept their way to the NBA Finals.  My only concern for the Spurs is Manu Gionobli.  He is not playing like his old self.  I know he's dealt with some injuries but he has to be better if they expect to win their fifth championship for Tim.  Speaking of Tim Duncan I love how he is playing.  My buddy Yaj (check out his take on the Spurs here) said Tim figured out he wasn't the low post guy anymore and losing weight helped him to get up and down the court better.  I can't argue with any of that.  He is really getting up and down the court well and doesn't plant himself on the block but is still able to get his share of rebounds.  I'm not sure this team can beat Miami, if they were to play them, but I think they could give them a good run.  They have a great mix of talent that I think lends to making Miami work on both ends.  I think Indiana would be a tough matchup with the bigs but I can't see David West outplaying Duncan and while Tiago Splitter can't hang with Roy Hibbert he would be better than Chris Bosh. 

Miami looks just fine in spite of the tough series with Indiana and the fact that Bosh and Dwayne Wade are not playing up to par as part of "The Big Three".  LeBron is doing his part and doing it very well.  Can he carry this team to a championship?  I think so.  He obviously needs help (like the role players actually hitting jump shots last night) but I agree he makes everyone on the team better.  He can also take over a game as he did in the 3rd quarter last night.  I think he will be a tough matchup for the Spurs while I can't say Miami has a great answer for Tony Parker.  I think Miami finishes off Indiana Saturday night but there are definitely no givens in this series. 

Indiana is playing great and I love rooting for them.  They have disappeared many times in the Miami series for quarters at a time and it has cost them the series lead.  They gave away game one in overtime letting James drive for a layup with 2 seconds left.  That was horrible to watch after they had played so well to get to that point.  I really hope they can come up with a few miracles and still pull this series out but you won't see me putting any money on it.  Not sure how their free agency situation looks for Indy but if they can keep this core together and add a piece here and there and they should be able to compete for years to come. 

New York was destined to lose after most of that team went MIA in the playoffs via injury or just plain failure. Carmelo did what he did best...try to score...but that offense has to be retooled to add other options other than one on one play..........You had to love Chicago's heart with all the injuries they faced but that second round matchup with Miami doomed them.........The Warriors were another fun team to watch and I really wanted to see them advance.  They were just overmatched by the Spurs but again another team I hope can challenge for years to come..........Boston=old.........Memphis - what the heck happened there?  They were setup for success getting to face OKC with no Russell Westbrook and a Spurs team who everyone thought their bigs could take advantage of.  I like many thought they had a better than even chance to beat the Spurs.  They just didn't show up for the series.  It has to be one of the huge disappointments of the playoffs.  I'm not sure Memphis management or fans will look too fondly on these playoffs unless they can bounce back with a better effort next year..........I think there are plenty of good games ahead in what is left of the playoffs.  I can't wait. 

Atlanta Hawks fall to Indiana Pacers 107-90 in Game 1

The Hawks go down one game to none after a tough loss to the Pacers.  Defense, free throw shooting (7-14) and shot selection were their doom.  None of the Hawks played exceptionally well.  Josh Smith played like he was Dale Ellis shooting from anywhere he touched the ball.  Of course Ellis could hit most of those shots.  The defense lacked any bite.  Jeff Teague had as good a game as any with 21 points and 7 assists.  Al Horford looked good in the first half but was not a factor in the third or fourth quarters. 

Indiana's Paul George couldn't hit a shot (3-13) but was able to drive and get to the line (17-18) finishing with 23 points.  He added 12 assists to boot.  Roy Hibbert didn't have a rebound in the first half but finished with 8 while adding 16 points.  George Hill had 18 while the rest of the starters added 13 apiece.  Just an overall solid game from Indiana.  They were the defensive team I was worried about going into this game.  Good on them. 

 

As the Czar Mike Fratello said this is only one game.  Atlanta has to know they can beat the Pacers.  They were winning early on in this game but they have to play within themselves if they expect to be winning at the end of the fourth quarter much less win the series.  Josh Smith will have to be much more of a factor.  If he can get his offense going in the post I think Atlanta has a shot.  I'll stick with my original prediction of Atlanta in five.  

NBA Playoffs

I want to look at the playoffs and give a few thoughts going in.  The Saturday games have already played so some of this may sound a little skewed.  I'll start with my Hawks. Atl-Ind - Atlanta gets Indiana in the first round.  Indy is a defensive team that as a collective play very well.  Atlanta can score but I'll be curious how Al Horford handles Roy Hibbert.  Hibbert hasn't had his best year but he can still be a force down low when he gets on a roll.  I'm thinking this will be a wash.  Neither team has an outstanding point guard (Atl - Jeff Teague/Ind - George Hill).  I like having "that guy" who can be counted on to run an offense especially when there isn't stars to make up for the lack of an established ball handler.  Power Forward David West is having a good year and the match up with Josh Smith should be a good one.  West plays a little more low post so Smith will have to play good defense.  I hope Smith remembers his is a 4 not a 3.  He can play smaller but I think Atlanta needs him to play big this series.  Atlanta is a better shooting team than the Pacers.  Their only hope is to hit outside shots which will open up play for Horford and Smith.  Again the Pacers play good defense so that could be asking a bit much.  I'll take Atlanta in five games. 

 

Mia-Mil - I'm sure Milwaukee will show up for this series but nobody might ever know.  Miami in three.

 

Chi-Bkn - I actually like the Bulls in this one though the Nets won game one.  I'll still with my original thoughts and take Chicago in five. 

 

Bos-NY - While this isn't the Boston of three years ago this should be a great series.  I like Rivers as a coach but even dinged up I think New York and Carmelo Anthony will prevail in four games. 

 

OKC-Hou - I think Houston will steal one game here but this shouldn't go more than four games.

 

LAL-SA - Best breakdown you'll get of this series is here done by my buddy Yaj.  You'll also see my comments.

 

GS-Den - I love Golden State but they'll disappoint once again.  They've already dropped one game and Denver truly is the better team.  I'll say Nuggets in four.

 

Mem-LAC - Great series here.  Clips are already up one but I wouldn't be surprised if this goes five.  Still Los Angeles will come out on top. 

 

I'll look into my crystal ball now and tell you how it all ends...by the way my crystal ball has a 99% degree failure rate...  I don't think anyone truly challenges Miami in the East and they should beat New York handily to get to the finals.  Oklahoma City will narrowly make it past LA to get to the conference finals against the Spurs who are rejuvenated by Gionobli's return.  This year the Spurs take care of business and return to the finals.  While I'll be rooting for Duncan to win his fifth ring Miami will win it all.