The fact is the NBA is getting boring and predictable. Right now, the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs are definitely going to meet in the NBA Finals. The Spurs are also destined to win the whole thing. And these two – they are the most boring basketball teams I have ever seen.

Why don’t we watch? The East is always a boring conference, save for Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls Dynasty in the 90’s and last year’s titlist Miami Heat and its star Dwyane Wade. Why should we watch LeBron James and his Cavs teammates? LBJ holds the ball 90% of Cleveland’s possession. His teammates can’t seem to find the hoop. Detroit is so methodical, that their game has become similar as life’s home-work-home routine. Well, for most people.

Then there’s the Utah Jazz and San Antonio in the West. These two don’t belong in the “Wild Wild West” actually. For neophyte NBA observers, they may mistake these two as Eastern teams, since they play the really lackluster type of play. “Alright guys, let’s hold the ball, play the full 24 seconds, get the ball to the post, screen a little, dish out if the shot isn’t there, or back on your man Tim, Carlos.” They run this play all the time. Not to mention, the Spurs cheated their way here. How much are they paying you Stu (Jackson)?

Last year, I sided with the Miami Heat and witnessed one of the more exciting Finals in recent years. Not to mention, NBA had the best playoffs in recent memory last postseason. This season is far from it. No wonder the NBA’s ratings have plummeted down to the grave. Even San Antonio natives failed to appear in Game One of the Western Conference Finals. They are smart enough to realize that their team is boring and dirty. Not worth the ticket and the time!

I thought that the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers would have arranged their Eastern Finals showdown a little earlier. Instead, we see the Chicago Bulls and the New Jersey Nets rising from a seemingly-deep grave in brilliant fashion, challenging their respective nemesis.

The Pistons were an impressive 7-0 to start the postseason. They won it all, the first three against the young hapless Bulls. They won by an average of 18 points. Whoa! Those five veterans were impressive, playing like the champions they deserve to be. But for the past two games, they seemed to lose interest. Their average losing margin is 15.5. The Bulls were firing from all cylinders, winning by as much as 16 at Detroit!

Now, everyone is talking about the Chicago, and how this post-Jordan team will become the first in history to come back from a 0-3 deficit. For me though, it ain’t gonna happen. I believe Detroit will wake up from its slumber and finish this thing off in six. They are just too smart to realize that they should stop fooling around. They will wrap-up the series at the Windy City tomorrow.

As for the other series, the Nets have a chance to become the ninth team in NBA history to win a series being down 1-3. I have faith in New Jersey. Before the season began, the Nets were on top of my list. They have a big chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, after a three-year absence. Those first three quarters of Game Five proved that they can indeed dominate! The Cavs just don’t have the balls to finish a series. Not yet!

The cast for the Eastern Conference Playoffs has been completed for some time now, but the match-ups have yet to be determined. Most teams, especially the Central Division, are still battling for two of the top four slots, and gain home court advantage. Detroit has clinched the top spot, but Cleveland is just a half game behind Chicago for the second seed.

Out West however, the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers are slugging it out for the eighth and last spot. Hell, the Clippers may even snatch the seventh spot if the Lakers lose their last assignment. Right now, the Warriors own that eighth spot at 40-40, just one game ahead of the Clippers (39-41). The Warriors have won their last three games, while the Clippers lost four of its last six, a bad omen for the Los Angeles boys.

The Clippers would love to go back-to-back in postseason wars. The last time they did that was in the 1991-93 seasons. They have Phoenix and New Orleans as their last assignments. A lone win, coupled with two Golden State losses, will catapult them to the play-offs since they own the tie breaker.

The Warriors, on the other hand, will clinch that play-off spot if they win their last two games. Thus, in any scenario, they need to win their last two meetings, one with Dallas and the other with Portland, to avoid any complications.

For me, I would like Golden State to go to the play-offs. Why? First, their coach, Don Nelson, was the one who brought the Dallas franchise back to life as he stirred the Mavericks to successive play-off appearances from 1999-2005, after the ballclub has stayed in limbo for a decade. What drama would emanate if Nelson faces his former team. It is also important to note that Nelson was the last coach to guide the Warriors franchise to their postseason appearance back in 1993-94 when his General Manager, Chris Mullin, was still playing for him.

Second, Golden State holds the edge against Dallas in their season series. And only two other teams have won twice against the Mavericks. They are Phoenix and Utah. But the Warriors may sweep Mark Cuban’s boys tomorrow, and hold that psychological advantage coming into the first round.

Lastly, I would love to see another running team making it to the postseason. That will really make it more exciting. Imagine Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, the Lakers and Golden State Warriors in the play-offs and eventually beating methodical and boring ballclubs like the Jazz and the Spurs. I would just love to see that.

I was watching a tribute special for the Chicago Bulls of the 90’s Friday night, and the show made me reminisce of the excitement, thrills and goosebumps of those times. I was just eleven years old when the Jordan-led Bulls won their first championship against, ironically, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls lost the first game in Chicago, when Jordan muffed the potential game-winning jumper. Chicago then swept the next four games.

But before the Bulls dominated the NBA in the 90’s, they underwent through a lot of struggles, obstacles and hindrances. The biggest hindrance of them all were Isiah Thomas and the “Bad Boys” of Detroit. They faced the Pistons twice in the Eastern Conference Finals for two straight postseasons, and twice they were denied the right to go to the NBA Finals. They were also criticized as being just a Michael Jordan team. Detroit swamped on Jordan in almost every possession to the frustration of His Airness. They even named one of their defensive set, the “Jordan trap.” As Joe Dumars used to exclaim, “95% of the time, the ball goes to Jordan, and in the other 5%, the ball ends up in his hands anyway.”

With that mind, Coach Jackson and his assistant Tex Winter constructed a set of offensive plays which would involve all five players on the floor. They called it, the “Triangle Offense.” And the result, the Bulls became a different team at the onset of the 1990-91 season. Jordan did not have to score 35 points every game. Forwards Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant became a force of their own. Center Bill Cartwright became a post option, and guard John Paxson became so deadly, that he made his guards pay when they left him wide open.

Â

All five guys became threats, that it became hard to stop the rampaging Bulls. Not to mention the contribution of their bench players, especially that of Randy Levingston, who at some nights, energized the team leading to victories. The Bulls cruised to a 61-win season, and swept the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls dominated the decade winning six championships in eight years.

Similarly, the Los Angeles Lakers are seemingly gearing towards that same fate. After winning three titles in 2000-2002, the Lakers lose to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of 2003, and lost the championship ring to the Pistons in 2004. Jackson, dominant center Shaquille O’Neal, starters Robert Horry, Rick Fox and Derek Fisher, all significant contributors in their three-peat, left the Lakers in the 2004-05 season. The team was entrusted solely to Kobe Bryant. Former Houston Rockets champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich and Frank Hamblen took turns in guiding the Lakers that season to no avail. They failed to reach the postseason wars for the first time in more than ten years in franchise history.

Then, Jackson came back to the Lakers fold last season, and led Los Angeles back to the playoffs. They gave the Phoenix Suns a scare, even leading 3-1 at one point in the series. They faltered in the end loosing three straight. But the pieces are slowly molded into the Lakers system. It was the start of greater things to come.

Bryant last season had to score 35 points a night for the Lakers to reach the playoffs, much like what Jordan had to do in his time. This season, though, Bryant is just averaging 21 points per game. And they have an awesome 7-3 record to start the season. Lamar Odom has become the star everyone expected him to be. He has transformed to be the all-around player supporting Bryant as Pippen was for Jordan. He has racked impressive numbers in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and threes. Luke Walton has scored more than 20 points thrice this season (this early), and Smush Parker is contributing heavy numbers from the guard spot. Kwame Brown has produced double-doubles. Vladimir Radmanovic, Jordan Farmar, Brian Cook and Maurice Evans have steadily performed well for Jackson.

Â

The Lakers may not be a championship contender this year, not yet. But they will be in three to four years max. Just like the Bulls then, this Laker team will hurdle every forthcoming obstacle. The Suns might be their Pistons, and the Suns may bow down in the future especially with two-time MVP Steve Nash aging. But this year, a Western Conference Finals berth is still wishful thinking. But definitely, they will reach the second round of the playoffs. (pics courtesy of topbuzz.com)

The Miami Heat wanted to celebrate on opening night as they received their championship rings, but the Chicago Bulls had other plans. The Bulls trashed the defending NBA Champions, 108-66, at Miami’s home court, the American Airlines Arena. This is the worst loss in NBA history for defending champions on opening night.

Kirk Hinrich led the Bulls with 26 points, on 10-of-18 shooting from the field, including three from beyond the arc. Fellow guard Chris Duhon also had a big night, in lieu of Ben Gordon’s absence. He added 20 points. Ben Wallace capped his Chicago debut with 5 points and 11 rebounds.

Dwayne Wade led Miami with 25 points. Center Shaquille O’Neal had an anemic performance with just 7 points and 5 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns suffered their first defeat in the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. The Lakers overcame a 26-41 deficit at the end of the first quarter. Phoenix shot all of their first nine field goals of the game. The Suns even led 58-43 at halftime.

Behind the brilliance of All-Star forward Lamar Odom, and with the absence of Kobe Bryant due to knee surgery, the Lakers stormed back, using a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to three at the end of the third canto, 70-73. Los Angeles turned things around in the fourth, leading by as much as 15. The Lakers won 114-106.

Odom led all scorers with 34 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Sophomore center Andrew Bynum added 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Reserve guard Leandro Barbosa led the Suns with 30 points. Two-time MVP Steve Nash added 15 points and 13 assists. All-Star Shawn Marion scored 16 points as well.

In his debut, after missing the whole of last season (except for just three games), Amare Stoudemire scored 6 points and grabbed a single rebound in just 11 minutes.

It can best be noted that both Chicago and the L.A. Lakers bowed down to Miami and Phoenix in round one of last season’s playoffs. The Bulls bowed down in six games to the Heat, while the Lakers gave away a 3-1 advantage, loosing three straight games against the Suns.

With Wallace, the Bulls appeared to be heading in the right direction. Look for them to give a lot of Eastern teams a hard time. They will definitely get past the first round this time. I expect them to get to the second round in the coming playoffs.

Wallace brings two things to the Bulls: greater defense and bad offense. Coach Scott Skiles must do a good job in hiding Wallace in offense, working to his strengths, which is rebounding. Expect Wallace to take a back seat in the Bulls offensive scheme. His job is to crash the boards after a Bull take a shot, for the possible offensive rebound and putback. Wallace has a 10.7 career rebounding average. Last year in Detroit, Wallace averaged 11.3 caroms a game.

Much of the Bulls offense will come from their guards, namely, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. Despite coming off the bench last season, Gordon averaged 17 points per game, while Hinrich, who had a break-out season, averaged 16 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.6 threes and 1.3 steals a game. Expect these two to increase their production this year. In Chicago’s slow down offense, they love to set screens for their two scoring options. Most of their bombs will come from the outside.

Their main concern though is their inside scoring. They just don’t have any low post threat from their big men. The bigs they added don’t have low post moves in Wallace, P.J. Brown, Michael Sweetney, Malik Allen and Victor Khryapa. All these bigs are blue-collared workers. They do the dirty things: they defend, they rebound, they fight for loose balls, they set-up screens and they provide the hustle on the floor.

And Brown is a reluctant scorer. When Jamaal Magloire got injured for a long stretch in New Orleans, it was anticipated that Brown would make-up for Magloire’s numbers. Instead, his numbers remained the same. Other Hornets like Baron Davis and David Wesley were the ones who stepped up to cover Magloire’s production. He has a career average of only 9.4 points per game, and it will stay that way or even decrease. His role would be to pluck those rebounds, and defend. He may not go for those putbacks as Wallace often does.

Such that the small forwards for this team will play a critical role if they are to advance in the playoffs. Their legitimate post-threat is in third-year man Luol Deng. Deng and Andres Nocioni will provide the much-needed offensive support for Gordon and Hinrich. Nocioni is good cutter and a better perimeter shooter. He showed some spunk in the last two playoffs scoring critical baskets. Skiles sometimes loves to use Nocioni and even Deng at the four spot. Expect them to do the same at times this season.
Â
Deng has a lot of upsides in his game. He can post-up, he can put the ball on the floor and drive to the hoop, and he can pull-up for a jumper. The problem with Deng, however, is he doesn’t know what to do what in what situation. He’s got the tools, but they need harnessing. Well, he is just 21, so expect him to improve over the next years. Maybe, not now though.

Skiles has a deep team, but still I anticipate a regular nine-man rotation for him. Wallace will start at center. Michael Sweetney will start as power forward. He has a good perimeter jumper, plays good defense and has good rebounding numbers. I don’t see any reason to start with Brown, since he plays similar to Wallace. It would be redundant. He will provide leadership off the bench. At least Sweetney can shoot perimeter jumpers. Nocioni will start at small forward. I know Gordon used to come off the bench for Skiles, but it will change this season. He will start with Hinrich at the backcourt.

Deng and Chris Duhon will provide the offensive punch off the bench. Brown and Khryapa will rotate at the five and four spots. I like Khryapa’s game. He can defend, snag rebounds, and hit that outside three. He could be Chicago’s offensive surprise this season. Adrian Griffin, Allen and rookie Tyrus Thomas will play sparingly. Skiles may want to use one of them at certain games, depending on the opponent and game scenarios. He may use ten men in such contests.

In Skiles’ defense-oriented strategy, the lack of inside scoring wouldn’t be much of a concern. Skiles is a brilliant coach and his Bulls have overachieved the past seasons. He utilizes the strengths of his players and covers-up their weaknesses. I don’t see them running the ball that much. They will slow down the pace each time. They don’t mind playing low-scoring games. In fact, the lower the output for both teams, and the lesser the possessions, the better chance for them to win. I see a lot of screens (screen-and-roll, screen-and-pop, double-screens-and-pop) and a lot of movement without the ball. I see them making that extra pass for the cutters. A lot of give-and-go’s are installed for this team. And their big men will clean up the mess for the offensive throw-down or a re-possession (re-setting-up the play).

And they will frustrate a lot of players with their outstanding defense! They will lead the defensive field goal percentage once again with Wallace and Brown around. They have long arms in the perimeter with Khryapa and Deng.

Thus, they will be a handful for the East, and even the West. They may need to jell a little. Expect them to be soaring high by mid-December at most. They may not make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, not yet. But definitely, they will get past the first round this season. (pics courtesy of nba.com)

Â

At age 38, Kukoc can still contribute for any team. He can dribble, pass, drive and shoot the ball from long range. He is a very versatile big man. The only jinx to his armor is his defense or the lack of it. He feels that he can still play at most 20 minutes per game, but does not want to move his family away from Highland Park III in Chicago where his family has lived ever since his Bulls days. There are offers from other teams though.

Kukoc was a three-time European Player of the Year and won Olympic silver medals for Yugoslavia in 1988 and for Croatia in 1992. He joined the Bulls in 1993, during Jordan’s first year of absence. He spent six full seasons with the Bulls, before being traded to Philadelphia in the middle of the 1999-00 season. He has spent the last four years with the Bucks.

Personally, I think Kukoc is the first “Dirk Nowitzki,” a near seven-footer who can handle the ball, shoot from the perimeter, drive to the whole, and is even deadly from beyond the arc. He is a 6-11 guard so to speak, just like Nowitzki, who is a 7-footer with the skills of a guard. Kukoc was named the Sixth Man of the Year for the 1995-96 season, fittingly, when the Bulls achieved an all time record 72 wins. He helped the Bulls win three titles, thanks to long range streak shooting. For 13 NBA seasons, Kukoc has averaged 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists.