NBA Playoffs Western Conference

The NBA season is finally over and it's time for the playoffs. For any NBA fan this is the best time of the year as we are down to the best teams of the year get to show their skills against the other best teams in games that actually mean something. I'll take a look at each Western Conference playoff series, the teams, players, injuries and what I expect the outcome to be. (to check out my my Eastern Conference blog click here)

#1 San Antonio Spurs vs #8 Memphis Grizzlies 

In my opinion the Spurs have been, by far, the best team in the NBA this season; that being said they aren't the favorite to move on to the NBA Finals, mostly because the have to go through the Lakers to get there and they aren't 100% healthy. Still I see them as favorite to take this series against the Grizzlies who have been a nice surprise this season; heck they are the 8th seed and are 10 games over .500 so they aren't a bad team yet they don't have that one great player that can take over a game. I expect the Spurs to take it in 5. And really hope they move on deep into the playoffs, more into that in a bit.

#2 Los Angeles Lakers vs. Now Orleans Hornets

If you have read other blog entries you know I'm a Lakers fan so there is not much secret who my favorite will be in this series. Right about now I'm pretty scared as to how far the Lakers can go in the playoffs, it all depends on Andrew Bynum's knee; when the Lakeshow had their amazing run after the All-Star break Bynum was playing to his full potential and better than at any point in his young -albeit injury-filled- career and the Lakers were leaps and bound ahead of everyone else. While LA's doctors said Drew's injury was only a bone bruise I'm not sure about that as he has had a history of right knee issues;that being said, if Bynum can be effective the Lakers are the top title contenders. New Orleans is a solid, discrete team lead by Chris Paul and David West, their problem this series is their lack size to take on the Lakers, who even without Andrew are far bigger than the Hornets.
I really want the Spurs and Lakers to go deep into the playoffs for 2 reasons: first, this could be one of those epic historic series that people will talk about for years to come; and second, I would have the chance to go up to SA and watch a couple of games live. I'm not a fan of the LA crowd as it's mostly composed of Hollywood starts who are there more to get on camera than because they care about the team, on the other hand the San Antonio crowd is amazing, every game they play seems like a playoff game (you can check out my to blog on the Miami Heat - San Antonio game or the Los Angeles Lakers - San Antonio Spurs where I get more into depth on that topic.)
I'm taking the Lakers in a 4 game sweep.

#3 Dallas Mavericks vs #6 Portland Trailblazers

This is a pretty interesting series, I enjoy watching both teams as they play some pretty exciting ball. The Mavs are led by Dirk Nowitzki while the Blazers rely on a team of young players led by LaMarcus Aldrige along with Brandon Roy who was a superstar in the making that could never live up to full potential due to bad knees. While both teams are entertaining I don't see them making it deep into the playoffs due to a lack of depth. This series is kind of a toss-up since they are pretty evenly matched up and both teams play really good at home, therefore I expect the Mavs to take this in 7.

#4 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #5 Denver Nuggets 

This is, by far, my favorite matchup of the 1st Round in the West. While I root for the Lakers the Thunder are a favorite of mine to watch, they are a young team that has grown a lot the last couple of years and still have a ton of potential to grow more; you've got Kevin Durant, who doesn't get enough praise and publicity for the great player he is, along with Serge Ibaka, Russell Westbrook, Kendrik Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha and a bunch of great young talent, they are a great team that will only get better. On the other hand we have the Denver Nuggets who have been, in my opinion, a big surprise after the Carmelo trade; I know they got some great players in return but I did not expect them to fit in George Karl's system so fast. Both teams are quick, score a lot, shoot well, have an average defense and have great crowds that always make the games that much hotter. This series is really hard to pick but I'm taking the Thunder in 6, this pick is based on my desire for OKC to advance and nothing more.

Who are your favorite teams to win it all in 2011???

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

San Antonio trip, day 3 – LOS ANGELES LAKERS vs San Antonio Spurs

So after a Saturday of walking around and shopping in San Antonio - boy, I love this place- bought a couple of books, some clothes and a kick ass #24 Lakers jersey/tshirt (for you noobs, #24 is future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant). All in all a great day, but Sunday was the reason for this trip.

So early Sunday I catch some SportsCenter to get up date on everything sports, there is a ton of hype for the Lakers-Spurs game. At 12:30 I'm off to the AT&T Center which is about 5 minutes from the hotel and get my 8 dollar parking, pretty far but the cheapest you can get inside the Crappy Cellphone Carrier Center.

I was accustomed to arenas opening their doors about an hour and a half before game time but they make us wait for a while and open just an hour before tip-off. Waiting time was fun as there were a lot of Laker fans and had some great talks with people around me, even got invited to a party in Austin.

So finally I'm in the arena at 1:30 and a huge "Beat LA" chant starts so us Lakers fans start a "Let's go Lakers!" which was a good way to start gameday. It got even better just a minute later as Spurs cheerleaders were out signing autographs. -didn't care for the signing but looking at those hot women was something nice.

I get my butt up to my seat with a nice hot dog and a cold Bud Light. Again lots of LA fans around me which is always nice... you form this quick bond with fans when you are rooting for the visiting team, kinda like a brotherhood during and after the game.

We get lots of cheers during the player introductions. Kobe gets huge cheers and huge boos (nothing like LeBron on Friday who got booed like crazy as people don't like him nor respect him, unlike Kobe who is hated for being on the opposing team, but is respected for the kind of player he is), Manu gets the most cheers for the local team. That was about the last time the crowd was as hot.

Right from the get-go this on was in cruise-control for LA. Well not exactly as SA started out winning 2-0 but the next 11 minutes and 45 seconds was all Lakers who ended leading the 1st Q 34-13 thus opening a 21 point lead. We get more of the same in the 2Q and the LakeShow go up 28 at halftime.

Time for another beer and more of the same as the LA gets the lead up to 30 points and we see lots of bench players for both squads and the Lakers end up winning 99-83.

Final thoughts

• All in all the Lakers played a near-perfect game and San Antonio had an off night, well overdue after 22 straight home wins.


• Kobe had a nice game ending with 26 points leaving him 12 points behind Moses Malone in the all-time points scoring list (27409 to Kobe's 27397).


• A great experience as I had last seen the Lakers live about 12-14 years ago (they still played at the Forum) and I had never seen them as a visitor.


• I think I'm unbeaten when traveling to see a sporting event. SAN DIEGO @ Dallas (NFL), Charlotte @ DALLAS (NBA), Orlando @ SPURS (NBA), Nets @ MAVS, SAN DIEGO @ Houston (NFL), Charlotte @ HOUSTON (NBA), Heat @ SPURS (NBA), LAKERS @ Spurs (NBA)


• The crowd at the AT&T Center is one of the best in the NBA. Rowdy like crazy in the Miami game; against the Lakers not so much (being down 30 doesn't help) but still had a playoff atmosphere.


• Spurs still have the best record but Lakers are still the team to beat.


• Heat are so overrated.


• Will be back in San Antonio for the Playoffs when, here comes my prediction, my Lakers take on the Spurs in the Conference final. Come to think about it I'll be in San Antonio for Raw in May so maybe I'll make that trip a 2 for 1.

Pictures will be up tomorrow.

MrKhakbaz out

San Antonio trip, day 1 – Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs

I’ll start off saying that this game is somewhat of a bonus as the main reason of the trip was to see my Lakers taking on the Spurs… that being on Sunday, I thought I’d make the trip a couple of days early and enjoy the Spurs putting a whooping on the Heat (or at least that is what I hoped for).

Trip started off well as I made only an hour and a half from Monterrey to Laredo, the border crossing was only 25 minutes which is awesome, but then came the I-94 permit and its brutal 2 hour wait and 15 minute line to pay 6 freaking dollars. I’ll go on the record and say: “a 2.5 hour wait for a permit is BULL-FUCKING-SHIT… the fuck, I’m coming to spend money, to have a good time, NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT.

2 hour trip and I get to San Antonio and straight to the hotel (cheap Red Roof, yet never disappoints, best bang for the buck). Quick trip to the Riverwalk and off to the AT&T Center.

Parked pretty far but not too bad for 8 bucks, at this point it’s about 6:45pm (a bit less than 2 hours from tipoff), hoped they opened the doors 2 hours but nope. More standing around (that has been a trending thing today). So lots of standing around while I listened to a ton of “Lebron sucks” and “overrated” chants which I loved --- I think Lebron is one of the best players but a total asshole, more on that later---. This drums band starts playing and makes the wait a bit better, then comes a Spurs cheering squad and they start throwing t-shirts and I get one (day starts getting better). At 7:30 -1 hour before tipoff- doors open and we are in.

A quick tour around AT&T which is a pretty nice arena with a great atmosphere although the halls are not that big and are really crowded. Made my way up to my seat and picked up some buffalo wings and a coke (damn good combination). Got to my seat and munched my wings down.

The atmosphere was electric with tons of Lebron comments and chants. As soon as he steps on the floor the crowd is all over him. Out come Los Spurs (it was Latino night in the San Antonio, so we had El Heat and Los Spurs jerseys, along with a lot of Latin Music) and we get a huge pop by the sold out crowd. I can’t put into words the energy that was felt around the building. I found it quite funny that the song played right before the Heat introductions was one by Pitbull, it’s funny since he is from Miami (yeah weird me, but also weird they played a song that made the visiting team seem like the home team).

As always Manu Ginobili gets the biggest ovation during introductions, although the return of TP9 was well received. I can’t stress enough that the return of Parker is huge for the Spurs, although he did not look like himself from time to time he is a huge part of the team.

 The crowd was hot from the tip off and quick basket from Manu and the Spurs got the crowd hotter –If possible- going 8 for 11 from 3 point land in the 1^st quarter. So it we end the first 12 minutes with the Spurs up 36-12. The second quarter was a bit more balanced, mostly due to the Spurs lowering the intensity.

Side note:  how is it possible that in the AT&T Center my cellphone has no reception??? I guess all those bad comments about their service is true.

It ‘s not even worth the time to talk about the disaster the Heat are. For their talent level I expected so much more but you can see that they are horrible on defense: they rotation is brutal, lack of effort, poor coaching in general. On the offensive side you have 3 great players in Lebron, D-Wade and Bosh but they have no idea how to play as a team; individual talent will only take you so far but in order to win you must play as a team and have a good coach. I found it interesting that most Heat players talk to the assistants during time outs instead of Coach Spolestra, if they listen at all; most of the time the just wandered around, which I see as a sign of poor coaching, poor integration, lack of interest.

The game ended in a 30 point blowout by the Spurs, they hit 17 3 pointers (which is a team record, a nice thing to be part of live) and they handed the Heat their worst defeat of the season (which also was nice to see).

All in all it was a great day. Made it safely to beautiful San Antonio, had some great wings, some beer, saw on the greatest players ever (although I hate him off the court), got the chance to boo the hell out of him, and got to see the Spurs win big in what –in my opinion- was the hottest crowd I’ve ever been a part of.

Hope to see a Spanish edition of SportsCenter to hear the hosts say ESTA LEBRON or I WADE… a play on their names to make them sound like cursing. Funny if you speak Spanish, although I doubt they will show any good plays by El Heat –or maybe they will show that awesome And-1 play by Lebron with the 360 layup. (pics coming later)

After tonight’s game I can say: “Lebron take your talents, turn them sideways, shine them up real good, and stick them straight up your candy-ass” (Quote The Rock nevermore).

So tomorrow I got an off day -so to speak- so it’s off to shop, eat good food and enjoy San Antonio. Sunday I’m back to AT&T to watch my Lakers, this time showing no love for the home team (which I have a ton of respect as an organization and enjoy watching them) hoping to see another great game and a Lakers W.

MrKhakbaz out!!!