With Playoffs looming

[Commish]

While this LBA season has been one of many lows the losing of hall of fame caliber gms such as Duncan, to Aflags to danhiggins we have weathered the storm and added some new blood in mops and cb24 who take over the Knicks and Sonics. then we got a great return of Bjscho to take over the very storied Milwaukee Bucks franchise.

Things will continue to evolve as they always do in the LBA, but with the regular season and the last sim on the way the playoffs seem to be something that all teams are and should be excited about. The story lines have been thought out whether Joe and his very well put together team would be the top seed of the East and win yet another championship for the Raptors, or would the New Jersey Nets overcome the odds with their addition of Kobe to give them a very good 3 pronged attack as they want to get to the promise land. The Cleveland Cavaliers last season they had almost a completely different squad than they do now, from the trading of Kobe and Webber to the Lakers for Alonzo Mourning, Wally Szczerbiak, and Elton Brand made the Cavs a lot better team with 2 premiere big men down low and a SG that could fill it up as a proven star in the league. Then they dealt their starting point guard Penny Hardaway to the Hawks for Chauncey Billups making their team younger and more potent if that was something that they didn't already exhibit before hand.

Many others made numerous trades which is always exciting to see how those deals will work out for those teams. Looking at the Eastern Conference the current playoff seedings look like so,

1. Cavs 65-12
2. Nets 53-22
3. Raps 56-21
4. Magic 51-23
5. Bullets 50-23
6. Heat 49-27
7. Bucks 48-27
8. Hawks 46-30

The current match ups in the East look to be very compelling.

(1)Cavs vs (8)Hawks (Cavs won season series 3-0)
(4)Magic vs (5)Bullets (Magic won season series 2-1)
(3)Raptors vs (6)Heat (Raptors won season series 2-1)
(2)Nets vs (7) Bucks (Nets won season series 2-1)

It really shows how deep and how competitive the East is this season when a team can be 16 games over .500 and be the 8th seed.

The current match ups in the West look to be very compelling as well.

(1)Lakers vs (8)Blazers (Blazers won series 3-0)(possible upset perhaps)
(4)Grizzlies vs (5) Warriors (Grizzles won series 2-1)
(3)Jazz vs (6)Mavs (Jazz won series 2-1)
(2)Rockets vs (7)Sonics (Rockets won series 3-0)

There could definitely be some game 7's in the first round of the Western playoffs. Which always leads to excitement.

Here is how I see the playoffs working out first in the East.

Cavs over Hawks in 6
Magic over Bullets in 7
Nets over Bucks in 6
Raps over Heat in 5

Cavs over Magic in 6
Raps over Nets in 7

Cavs over Raps in 7

Here is how I see the playoffs in the West.

Blazers over Lakers in 7
Grizzlies over Warriors in 5
Jazz over Mavs in 6
Rockets over Sonics in 4(only 1st round sweep)

Grizzlies over Blazers in 6
Rockets over Jazz in 6

Rockets over Grizzlies in 7

Here is the how the finals will shape up if all predictions come to pass:

Cavs over Rockets in 6.

Good luck to all the teams in the playoffs it should definitely be an interesting ride.

[bjscho23]

Bucks sneak up and win the whole thing.....bjscho23 crowned with glory and looks glorious in his crown.

[The Miami Heat]

forgot this one: lbabasketball.com/boxes/87-9.html

i think its hard to argue against the Cavs or Raps in the East. I like the Grizz or Jazz out west. good article. playoffs should be exciting.

[Trailblazers]

I think the West is wide open, but I like the Rockets out West. The East has a lot of good teams, but there are still some dominant teams. I am picking the Cavs to pull out the East over the Nets.

[Pistons]

I'm really liking my chances for my team now that weare healthy.

Magloire has missed the entire 2nd half of the season so far. With the trade for Chandler, Magloire can now move to PF. Walker can finally play SF.

Jamison comes off the bench.

Let's just hope my lineup gels quickly.

[Timberwolves]

id love to see a new team like rockets come out of it

[Ex-Rockets]

I don't know if my team is deep enough to make it to the finals. Hopefully though, we can make it happen. Tmac will take over.

[daeggs5]

just can't wait til draft

[seergobin]

I haven't been this excited for a sim playoffs in a long time... provided every team stays healthy, the east will be ridiculously competitive.