AB’s 2015 NBA Playoff Predictions : Round One

Well, here we go. Every team in the NBA has now played 82 regular season games, and 16 of the 30 teams, are in the playoffs. Some have played great from beginning to end, and some barely squeaked in, but none of that matters now. It’s a brand new season starting Saturday, We like to call it, “The Playoffs”. Last post season, we had so many exciting games, and many exciting series. If this season’s playoff season is anything close to last years, then we’re in for a real treat. Anyways, I’ll be predicting the whole first round, for both the Eastern Conference, and Western Conference. So, away we go!

Eastern Conference  (1.) Atlanta Hawks vs (8.) Brooklyn Nets. One of the biggest surprises this season, had to be the complete dominance of the Atlanta Hawks. Players like Kyle Korver, and Al Horford really stepped up for the Hawks this season, leading them to a Conference best 60-22 record this season. Head Coach Mike Budenholzer also seems to know what he’s doing, so give me the Hawks in five. (ATL 4 – BKN 1) 

(2.) Cleveland Cavaliers vs (7.) Boston Celtics. Look, I love the story of the 2014-15 Boston Celtics. I think Brad Stevens is a great coach, and still has so many great years ahead of him, and I love how they’ve been playing basketball lately, BUT… I don’t see them beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4 times. Simply because, they have Lebron James. I just don’t see it happening. I see Boston competing for a while, but at the end of the day, it won’t be enough. Give me Cavs in six. (CLE 4 – BOS 2) 

(3.) Chicago Bulls vs (6.) Milwaukee Bucks. Another great, young team that surprised a lot of people this year is the Bucks. Love what they’ve done this season, but I see a HUGE series from Pau Gasol, and the Bulls. I think defense will be another huge factor in this series. I do see the Bucks playing a close series though. Give me Bulls in seven. (CHI 4 – MIL 3) 

(4.) Toronto Raptors vs (5.) Washington Wizards. This series should be a very exciting one, and probably the best match up we have in the East. The Point Guard Battle of Raptors star Kyle Lowry, and Wizards phenomenon John Wall could be a big factor in who wins the series. Both teams have had good and bad spurts this season, and both seem pretty equal at this point heading into the Playoffs. I think that players like Bradley Beal, and Paul Pierce will need to come up big for the Wizards, and I think if they play good perimeter defense, they can win the series. Give me Wizards in seven. (WAS 4 – TOR 3)   

So there’s my Eastern Conference Predictions. I think the Hawks should steam roll the Nets, Cavaliers win a duel with the Celtics, Bulls barely escape a Bucks upset, and the Wizards win a great series against the Raptors.

Western Conference

  (1.) Golden State Warriors vs (8.) New Orleans Pelicans. Just like the Haws/Nets series, I see the 1 seed advancing pretty quickly. Tons of respect for Anthony Davis, and what the Pelicans have accomplished this season, but I don’t see them winning more than one game against Golden State. They’ve just had a really strong regular season, and as long as they have Stephen Curry, they should be fine. Give me Warriors in five. (GSW 4 – NO 1) 

(2.) Houston Rockets vs (7.) Dallas Mavericks. This could be the best series in the playoffs this year. Both teams have changed a lot since they were both eliminated from round one last season, and now get a chance to move on to the next round this season. Houston has James Harden, and Dwight Howard, while Dallas has Mont’a Ellis, Tyson Chandler, Chandler Parsons, Rajon Rondo, and Dirk Nowitzki. Yeah. Basically everyone in the Mavs starting lineup is good, and even though the Rockets are a good team, and have two great players in Harden and Howard, I just don’t think they can carry them to four wins. The Mavericks have a good, solid team, and I see them beating the Rockets in a fantastic series, that’ll come down to the wire in seven, so give me the Mavericks in seven. (DAL 4 – HOU 3) 

(3.) Los Angeles Clippers vs (6.) San Antonio Spurs. Although the San Antonio Spurs seemed so much more dominate last season, they’re really just the same team they were last year, just older. Before taking a loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday, the Spurs were on an 11 game win streak, and playing great basketball. If Kawhi Leonard can play like the star he can be, the Spurs should handle the Clippers pretty easily. If they can keep a lid on DeAndre Jordan, and Blake Griffin, they should also be fine. Rebounds will be huge though. I also want to see Tony Parker play good this series, because if he’s playing good, chances are the whole team’s going to play good. Give me the Spurs in five. (SAS 4 – LOS 1)

  (4.) Portland TrailBlazers vs (5.) Memphis Grizzlies. Another series I’m really looking forward to. I want to see if Damian Lillard can bring the Blazers to another second round, after all, I think we all remember when he did this to the Rockets last post season in round one … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mejFtEY5faU Takes me back to the great playoffs the NBA had last year. Anyways, I think Lillard will have some magic, but the Grizzlies usually play amazing during the playoffs. Another Point Guard battle I’m looking forward to is Mike Conley vs Damian Lillard. Conley deserves more credit than he’s given, and I think both guys will have a great series. Tough for me to pick either team to dominate, so I’ll just pick one to sort of “edge” out the series. Give me the Grizzlies in seven, in what should be an AMAZING series, that should come down to the final moments as well. (MEM 4 – POR 3) 

Well, there it is, my 2015 NBA Playoff (round one) predictions. In the Eastern Conference, I have the following teams advancing :

• Atlanta Hawks (4-1)
• Cleveland Cavaliers (4-2)
• Chicago Bulls (4-3)
• Washington Wizards (4-3)

And in the Western Conference, I have these teams advancing :

• Golden State Warriors (4-1)
• Dallas Mavericks (4-3)
• San Antonio Spurs (4-1)
• Memphis Grizzlies (4-3)

Thanks for the read! Feel free to like, share, comment, or do whatever you please. Also, please follow me on twitter : ( https://twitter.com/AlexWBergeR ) Where I’ll be tweeting a lot of NBA related tweets during the playoffs. I’ll also be giving an article on my reaction to round one, and my predictions for round two next on the World of the AB. Anyways, enjoy the playoffs, and I’ll see you next time! Thanks again,

A.B

Spurs Player Profile 2 : Tiago Splitter

  The San Antonio Spurs are very well known for their mixed salad team of star players, who come from countries from all over the world. You got guys like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw from France, Marco Belinelli from Italy, and so many more, but one of the most underrated, and biggest pieces to the Spurs puzzle for success is 6″11 Brazilian Big Man Tiago Splitter. Since he was drafted by the Spurs in 2010, Tiago has become one of the Spurs biggest offensive weapons. His height and skill allow him to average 8.2 points per game. His footwork, and hook shot leave me stunned. He just makes it look so easy every game. But what really impresses me the most, is Tiago’s defensive beast. 

 The deadly combination of Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter surrounding the paint is a Block Party just waiting to happen. Night in and Night out, Tiago comes to work, and shows what he can bring to the team. Tiago may only average 4.8 rebounds per game, but sometimes, the numbers really do lie. When I watch Tiago play, it feels like he gets 4.8 rebounds per quarter. Tiago may not be putting up great numbers on paper, but his defense has gotten the Spurs to many places, and should continue to get them to many more. And even though I called the “Duncan/Splitter duo” a “Block Party”, they don’t really block that many shots, well one of them doesn’t. Duncan does a great job blocking shots, and an even better job at altering shots, making defenders take tougher shots. Which is what Tiago has been doing. It’s clear to see that Duncan has taken Tiago under his wing. Like Duncan, Tiago makes opposing players take harder shots, which of course leads to a Spurs rebound once in a while, which then leads to Spurs ball, a Spurs score, and eventually a Spurs win. Cause and Effect baby. 

 However, Tiago has been bitten by the awful Injury bug throughout his whole career in the NBA. Since entering the league, he’s only played 1/5 seasons with 65+ games. His healthiest season so far was in 2012-2013 when he played 81/82 games, other than that the game per season has all ranged around the 50’s- 60’s. But when Tiago is healthy, the Spurs are a much better team. When Splitter’s on the court, the Spurs have shown to play better, and win more games. Tiago’s fantastic offense, and dazzling defense has helped the Spurs so much, in so many ways.One huge moment Tiago had was in the 2014 NBA Finals. Tiago played great for the Spurs during those 5 games, and helped the Spurs reach their goal of yet another NBA Championship. 

 
And just because I miss the NBA Finals so much, and wanted to insert a link to this article, here’s a throwback to a Monstrous block made by Tiago in Game 4 of last years NBA Finals. It was a play that really added more confidence to the Spurs, and gave them even more momentum for the rest of that series.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFxH1-fPeXo 

 Tiago also stepped up hugely for the Spurs in their other Playoff match ups during last seasons Championship run. The way I look at it, if Tiago Splitter can play at a high and effective level, and most importantly STAY HEALTHY, then the San Antonio Spurs shot of repeating get even higher.

 

Thanks for the quick read, please like, comment, share and follow for more Spurs stuff, and other Sports stuff. Also please follow me on Twitter for more Sports related tweets (https://twitter.com/AlexWBergeR)! And be sure to stay tuned, because my next article should be pretty good, as I’ll be giving my 2015 NBA Playoff Predictions for the Eastern and Western Conference match ups. Where I’ll be predicting every matchup, including the NBA Finals. It Should be fun! Thanks again! And Spread the word! A.B 

Who I want the Spurs to play in Round One of the Playoffs

 

 The Spurs have had well… an interesting 2014-15 regular season to say the least. At one point, the Spurs looked like they would be only good for a 7th or 8 seed, and a future first round Playoff exit. But that was a while ago. So much has happened since the awful December of 2014, when the Spurs went 8-10 that month, and looked… well really bad. They were out of their groove, had a couple of injuries, no real team chemistry, but I think now it’s safe to say that all of that is over, as the Spurs are currently on a 10 game win streak, beating teams like the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder, and not to mention, that nine of those ten wins have been by double digits. Tony Parker‘s found his groove again, the bench is playing great, and they’ve relied heavily on the talents of future super star Kawhi Leonard, who’s been playing like the League’s Most Valuable Player during the month of April. And currently, the Spurs won a close one against probable season MVP James Harden and the Houston Rockets, which now rose the Spurs from a sixth seed to a third seed. Which can mean a lot in this wicked, and wild Western Conference. So as long as the Spurs wrap up their next two games, against the Phoenix Suns (Sunday April 12th at 7PM Eastern), and the New Orleans Pelicans (Wednesday April 15th at 8PM Eastern), then they’ll most likely get a top 4 Playoff Spot. Question is, who will they play?

 Well, as of right now, the Spurs are easily playing the best basketball in the league. Which is Not debatable. They’ve not only beaten, but CRUSHED teams that have better records, and bigger stars, and as of now, they’re the team to beat. So you’ll hear “it doesn’t matter, we’ll beat anyone” when you ask some Spurs fans who they want to play in Round One. When In reality, I actually think it matters a lot. So without further a do, here’s who I want the San Antonio Spurs to play in Round One of the NBA playoffs. 

 
The possible opponents : Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers 

 
Who I really don’t want to play at all : Dallas Mavericks  

 This may seem questionable to some, but I have my reasons. Even though the Mavs have been in a bit of a slump lately, It seems that they always play well come Playoff time, evidence of last season’s first round. Not only that, but they also seem to always play good against the Spurs. They played each other 4 times this season, splitting the season series at 2 games a piece. I just think that if the Spurs and Mavs faced off, it’d be a great series, and a very close and exciting one like last years was. A 6 or 7 game series in my mind. No Mavs please. 

 
Who I don’t want to play : Houston Rockets 

The Spurs usually find a way to take care of Houston, considering the fact that they beat them three out of the four match ups this regular season. I also think that Pop usually knows what he’s doing when we play Houston, but then again… they have James Harden. I think they have a really young team right now, but I could see a 5 to 6 game series, I think the Spurs would get the job done, but it wouldn’t be too easy. 

 

Who I wouldn’t mind playing : Los Angeles Clippers  

 If I had to pick one good Western team that stayed out of the radar this season, besides the Spurs, I’d pick the Clippers. They quietly grabbed over 50 wins, and played a good season, even with the injury of Blake Griffin. When the Spurs and Clippers face off, they usually make for close games, but I think if these two played, like my Houston-San Antonio prediction, it’d be a series of 5 to 6 games. I just don’t see a team like the Clippers beating a team like the Spurs in the post season any time soon. If the Clippers played the Spurs, I’d be okay with it. 

 
Who I want the San Antonio Spurs to play in Round One : Portland Trail Blazers  

 Yes, that’s right. If I had one choice, I’d pick the Trail Blazers. I just think that the Spurs have been on a roll lately, and would cruise past the Blazers. Portland definitely has talent with PG Damian Lillard, and PF Lamarcus Aldridge. But they also have tons of injuries like Shooting Guard Wesley Matthews, who’s probably Portland’s 3rd best player. But the number one reason I want the Trail Blazers? They already beat them last season pretty easily. Now I know that means absolutely nothing right now, but they could very much do it again. Even though they played “Eh” against Portland this season, I think that if a Playoff Series came up between the two, they’d win the series, again easily. It’s just a good matchup for the Spurs … at least I think so. Knock on wood. *knocks on wood*

 So there you have it, there’s still a couple of games to play for every NBA team, and as of now, they could mean a lot. It doesn’t just decide things like Home Court, or The best match up, it could possibly help decide this years future NBA champion team. Think about it, if a team wins a seven game series and that team was the higher seed, they might’ve won partly because they had home court advantage. Which could help them again in the long run, so these final games really do matter. There isn’t really an easy opponent in the West, just an easier opponent than others. Until then, GO SPURS GO, and please follow, like it up, and share this blog. Thanks! 

A.B