Denver up 1-0 in the NBA Finals

 The NBA Finals have started and game two is tonight.  As the playoffs played out this is the matchup I wanted.  Denver hasn't won a championship and have one of the greatest players in the sport today.  Miami has Jimmy Butler who has willed his team to the Finals.  I love it.  Denver is the better team on paper and I think that is pretty much agreed upon.  Miami though has proven us doubters wrong series after series. I love watching Jokic and Butler play.  They are amazing in their own ways.  I've been able to see The Joker more over the last two seasons and am firmly in the camp that says he's the best player after Kevin Durant (when healthy) in the league today.  And I just love Butler and have since he was with the Bulls.  To the series.  The Nuggets showed us who we thought they were in game one but like Mike Malone stated, they haven't done anything yet.  I always thought Denver wins this series but it's hard to count out Miami.  Still the Nuggets have so much talent in that starting lineup to throw at them.  Would be happy with either team winning though I lean towards the Nuggets whose fans and players deserve that first championship.

NBA Conference Finals

 

Conference Finals are here and I'm excited.  Been some fun basketball so far in the playoffs.  Not the matchups we would have put money on but these are fun no matter how we got them.  Personally, I want to see a Denver-Miami Finals.  A Lakers-Heat Finals rematch or even a Lakers-Celtics Finals would be fun too.  But for me I want Jokic and the Nuggets to get there and see Jimmy Butler get another shot at a title.

Wow this one should be fun.  I already gush about Jokic and anyone who watches him play should as well.  This should be a great matchup against Anthony Davis.  Jokic and the Nuggets may have had some second half regular season issues but both have put all that behind them in the playoffs.  This dude is amazing.  I think the Nuggets take this in six games.  Can LA win?  Of course.  I don't discount LeBron and AD but the Nuggets as a whole are a better team.

I love Jimmy Butler and he has carried the Heat in the playoffs especially after Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo went down. Who didn't think the Heat were done for at that point?  Boston is a great team and led by two superstars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylon Brown.  Maybe they haven't been on every game but they are by far much better than the Heat.  Boston should win this one in five.  Knowing Jimmy Buckets this could go seven for sure and it should be a hard fought series no matter how it ends up.

2022-2023 Portland Trail Blazers Quick Look

 Last season did not go as planned for the Trail Blazers.  Lillard only played 29 games due to injury, the GM was fired during the season, CJ McCollum was traded and the team only won 27 games, their worst in over 20 years.  Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, and Jusuf Nurkic signed new deals in the offseason.  The Lillard extension was huge as there were lots of rumors of him possibly leaving.  Simons is expected to fill McCollum's shoes.  In the draft the Blazer chose Shaedon Sharpe and Jabari Walker.  Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II joined the team as free agents.

This team will win more than 27 games this year.  How much they contend will depend on Lillard being the Lillard of old and how the new pieces in the lineup work.  I really don't know what that looks like.  Fans have had hope for Simons for years.  He did well last year with both Lillard and McCollum not playing.  What does his game look like with Dame playing?  I really like the Grant and Payton editions.  Grant can score playing SF or PF.  Payton is a great defender.  

Coach Chancey Billups has his work cut out for him.  Lots of change means figuring out how this team works together.  The starting five should be fun to watch if they all live up to expectations.  I worry about depth but most teams do.  These big contracts the starters and elite players demand make it tough.  Still the Trail Blazers are trying.  They went different.  It looks like they could be better than the Terry Stotts era teams long term but this first season could go one of many ways.  Should be fun and nerve wracking for us Portland fans.

2022-2023 Atlanta Hawks Quick Look

The 2021-2022 Atlanta Hawks, coming off an Eastern Conference Championship appearance, went 43-39 and were booted in the first round of the playoffs by Miami four games to one.  The Hawks basically ran back the same team hoping for the same results and it didn't work.  The team looked lost for much of the season.  The signed John Collins to a huge contract but it didn't fill up the stat sheet or equate to wins.  He's really athletic but that only gets you so far.  Lots of guys who could get you 10-17 points a night but no clear number two star on this team and Trae Young couldn't carry them.

In the offseason they made a pitch for KD but ended up getting rising star Dejounte Murray from the Spurs.  He's a great defender who put up amazing numbers last season (21ppg, 8rbg, 9apg).  Trae Young doesn't do defense so this is a big addition.  The other big move was moving Kevin Huerter to the Kings for Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless.  This move saves them money in the long run but did not make the team better.  And it really confused me.  I love the addition of Murray but losing Huerter makes the offseason very uneven.

Coach Nate McMillan now has to get two ball centric guards to share.  He also needs to get more from John Collins while making the role players better too.  Does De'Andre Hunter have another gear?  This team has to get better defensively and be more well-rounded on the offensive end.  Sure Murray will help but as a team they have to be really efficient and have others who can give them big points when needed.  I think Atlanta is better but the East has some really good teams at the top.  If they are the number seven seed they'll be doing good and a number six seed will be a really good year.  I'm not convinced they are there yet looking at the other teams in the conference but I can have hope.