[0-6] The Bullets Are Back. | What Could've/Should've Been..

[kibaxx7]

Good to see the Bucks winning a playoff series

[Clutch]

If it's out of West, it's most likely Sacramento as you recently did associations with Minny,

damn. i was sure it was Wolves by hadn't realized you covered them previously

[Valor]

Lamrock = Master of Hype

Can't wait till you spill the beans and get this one going

[Lamrock]

Diary Of K. Washburn: May 16, 2010

2010 NBA Conference Semifinals

I expected this round of the playoffs to be fairly dull and one-sided, and I was half right. Thankfully, I was also half wrong. The Western Conference saw a pair of excellent series. The Lakers held off the Jazz despite an injury to Pau Gasol in seven games, while the #7 seed Blazers continued their Cinderella run with a seven-game upset over Denver. The Eastern semis were lame though. As expected, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic dispatched their less experienced (and talented) opponents handily en route to a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference finals. With the East teams reloading their rosters in the off-season, and the Lakers missing Gasol, it should be an interesting conference finals round.

[ Image ] (1) Lakers defeat (4) Jazz 4-3 [ Image ]
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The Lakers had a difficult second round match-up in the Utah Jazz. Thanks to a game two buzzer-beater and Pau Gasol tearing his achilles, the defending champions were pushed to the brink. However, with solid play from Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, and something we haven't seen from them since game 4 of the 2006 Western Conference quarterfinals (heart), they eked out a series win. LA started the series off strong with a game one victory, but a Kyle Korver buzzer-beater cost them the second game. They split the games at Energy Solutions Arena before the Lake Show got a blowout game 5 win. Things went downhill from there as Pau went down and Utah pulled out an OT win to force a game 7. Andrew Bynum's 24 point, 13 rebound, 10-12 performance would save the Lakers in the penultimate game.
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Jazz 85, Lakers 92
Jazz 98, Lakers 97
Lakers 100, Jazz 106
Lakers 107, Jazz 88
Jazz 88, Lakers 102
Lakers 99, Jazz 103 [OT]
Jazz 91, Lakers 97
Kobe Bryant: 32.0 PPG, 6.4 APG, 6.3 RPG | Deron Williams: 24.3 PPG, 11.6 APG

[ Image ] (7) Blazers defeat (2) Nuggets 4-3 [ Image ]
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Most people, myself included, thought the Blazers' season had shattered with Greg Oden's kneecap. However, Oden and the Blazers are back and better than ever. Portland stunned the Nuggets in Denver in game one, with a comfortable victory, then stunned 'em again in a grind-it-out game two. Denver promptly recovered in Game 3, but Portland struck back in game 4, thanks to the efforts of swingmen Brandon Roy and Nicolas Batum. Carmelo Anthony willed his team to a game 5 win at the Pepsi Center with 37 points, and then broke the hearts of the Blazer faithful in a double-OT game 6 win to force a seventh game. However, the Nuggets, generally celebrated for their ability to win at home, fell to 3-4 at home with a game 7 defeat (and 3-4 in the series). Portland advances with a legitimate shot at making the Finals against the Pau-less Lakers. Go Portland!
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Blazers 101, Nuggets 90
Blazers 90, Nuggets 88
Nuggets 101, Blazers 94
Nuggets 89, Blazers 100
Blazers 90, Nuggets 94
Nuggets 115, Blazers 113 [2OT]
Blazers 104[b], Nuggets 98
[b]Brandon Roy: 22.3 PPG, 7.1 APG, 5.4 RPG | Chauncey Billups, 19.0 PPG, 8.3 APG, 49% 3pt

[ Image ] (1) Cavaliers defeat (5) Bucks 4-1 [ Image ]
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Well, it was fun while it lasted. The Young Bucks defeated the washed-up Celtics in an epic first round series, but the title favorite Cleveland Cavaliers put them in their place. With a pair of victories at the Q to open the series, LeBron and co. proved that there was no reason to fear the deer. The Bucks may have taken game 3 in a tight game that went to OT, but Cleveland took care of business in games four and five to show them who was boss. LeBron was excellent as usual, while his supporting cast was serviceable. The Bucks' best player was backup point guard Luke Ridnour. (You know, he would be a good pick-up this summer....)
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Bucks 88, Cavaliers 93
Bucks 87, Cavaliers 100
Cavaliers 105, Bucks 106 [OT]
Cavaliers 99, Bucks 90
Bucks 82, Cavaliers 90
LeBron James: 31.2 PPG, 9.4 APG, 7.6 RPG | Luke Ridnour: 12.4 PPG, 7.0 APG, 25 MPG

(2) Magic defeat (3) Hawks 4-1
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I called it. The Hawks are not for real. The ATLiens proved that they were who we thought they were with a trio of losses decided by an average of fifteen points. The far superior Magic team decimated them. The Hawks, who got a whopping 13 points per game from upcoming free agent Joe Johnson, got a pride win at the Phillips Arena in Game 4, but everybody knew this wasn't a team that would come back from a 3-0 deficit. Atlanta nearly stole game 5 in Orlando, but they fell just short in the end. With the Magic victory, we get to see the rematch of last year's conference finals. Orlando has played great this post-season, but I think the Cavaliers will advance and with Pau out, LeBron will get his ring. Time shall tell.
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Hawks 84, Magic 104
Hawks 91, Magic 101
Magic 105, Hawks 80
Magic 87, Hawks 95
Hawks 91, Magic 92
Vince Carter: 23.4 PPG, 5.6 APG, 4.0 RPG | Josh Smith: 16.0 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 4.4 BPG

And with that, we are down to just four teams. Shaq, Antawn Jamison and LeBron James will try to get revenge on Dwight Howard and the Magic. Meanwhile, the Pau-less Lakers will try to end the run of the team formerly known as "the Frailblazers". I would love to see a Magic/Blazers final, because I hate LeBron, don't want to see LA repeat and think Portland has a slightly better chance of beating Orlando. My prediction is the contrary however. I think the Lakers and Cavaliers both advance in seven games, with LeBron coasting to his first ring in the finals. I would love to be proven wrong however.

2010 NBA Awards

With the conclusion of the conference semis, all of the awards have been announced. This year, I actually got to vote. Even though there were a couple (predictably) bad winners, I thought it was pretty cool! Here are the award winners, their stats, and the guys I voted for in parentheses:

[ Image ] Most Valuable Player: LeBron James: 29.9 PPG, 8.5 APG, 7.2 RPG .608% TS, 31.7 PER (My pick: LeBron James)
[ Image ] Rookie Of The Year: Tyreke Evans: 19.6 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.9 APG, .534% TS, 18.4 PER (My pick: Tyreke Evans)
[ Image ] Defensive Player Of The Year: Dwight Howard: 13.6 RPG, 2.8 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 95 Def. Rating (My pick: Dwight Howard)
[ Image ] Most Improved Player Of The Year: Aaron Brooks: 11.2 PPG, 3.0 APG, 12.9 PER -> 19.8 PPG, 5.2 APG, 16.0 PER (My Pick: Josh Smith)
[ Image ] Sixth Man Of The Year: Jamal Crawford: 17.5 PPG, 2.9 APG, 2.5 RPG, .579% TS, 18.5 PER (My pick: Carl Landry)
Coach Of The Year: Jerry Sloan: Jazz: 48-34 -> 52-30 (My pick: Nate McMillan)
Exec Of The Year: Sam Presti: Thunder: 23-59 -> 49-33 (My pick: Sam Presti)
All-NBA First Team: Steve Nash | Kobe Bryant | Kevin Durant | LeBron James | Dwight Howard
All-NBA Second Team: Deron Williams | Dwyane Wade | Dirk Nowitzki | Chris Bosh | Pau Gasol
All-NBA Third Team: Chauncey Billups | Joe Johnson | Carmelo Anthony | Tim Duncan | Andrew Bogut
All-Rookie First Team: Tyreke Evans | Brandon Jennings | Stephen Curry | Darren Collison | DeJuan Blair
All-Rookie Second Team: Ty Lawson | James Harden | Marcus Thornton | Omri Casspi | Jonas Jerebko
All-Defensive First Team: Rajon Rondo | Kobe Bryant | Gerald Wallace | LeBron James | Dwight Howard
All-Defensive Second Team: Chris Paul | Dwyane Wade | Ron Artest | Josh Smith | Andrew Bogut

Note: I updated the roster with two more slots. However, I hid it with spoiler tags as it gives away a key offseason event. For that reason, I left it up to you.

[|)e8*]

Very realistic Awards, I can see those players and Coaches getting those awards. Damn, Lakers beat Jazz once again

[Azzdogs]

The Nuggets are out.

[hova-]

Ross is a Wizard Very realistic results in here. You made LeBron a PF?

[Lamrock]

Conference Finals results are up next. I added two guys to the roster page for those who don't want to be spoiled. Don't be so sure it's the Wizards. Season probably won't start for another weak or so. Messed something up and gotta set things up again. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised though.

[dare]

Seeing the Roster you definitely change the team a lot, my guest is still New York or Sacramento I should add Washington as well

[|)e8*]

I guess its the........Timberwolves

[Clutch]

glad Darko made the cut though now i have no clue what team you've gone with lol

[Asder]

New York Knicks

[cavs4872]

New York Knicks

That's my guess too, considering both Hughes and Milicic have been on their roster this season.

[kibaxx7]

New York Knicks

That's my guess too, considering both Hughes and Milicic have been on their roster this season.

And also Francis making a comeback.

[Valor]

Jerry Sloan finally gets his Coach of the Year award

[Lamrock]

Diary Of K. Washburn: June 4, 2010

2010 NBA Conference Finals

Thank God for Pau Gasol's injury. Doing something most thought impossible, the Blazers, sparked by the return of Greg Oden have defeated the Los Angeles Lakers to be the first #7 seed to make the NBA finals. Facing them will be the Orlando Magic, who proved they still had the Cavaliers' number. The Conference Finals likely mean two things: LeBron James will leave the Cavaliers, and the Lakers will set out to acquire the best training staff that money can buy. And so the stage is set: Orlando vs. Portland. Let's see how we got there.

[ Image ] (7) Blazers defeat (1) Lakers 4-2 [ Image ]
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When Pau Gasol tore his achilles, the Lakers' title hopes looked doomed. LA's best team managed to sneak past the Jazz in game 7, but their luck ran out against the Blazers. The Lakers started out strong, with a Game 1 victory. Then, Greg Oden and Brandon Roy went to work. After a narrow grind-it-out victory to tie the series, Portland got convincing home victories in games 3 and 4 to take a commanding 3-1 lead. The Lakers came back to win game 5, before the Blazers took game 6 at home thanks to a career high 40 points for Nicolas Batum, advancing to the Finals for the first time in 18 years. The Lakers failed to hit the century mark once in the series.
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Blazers 88, Lakers 95
Blazers 90, Lakers 88
Lakers 89, Blazers 102
Lakers 84, Blazers 95
Blazers 89, Lakers 99
Lakers 94, Blazers 102
Brandon Roy: 23.5 PPG, 7.3 APG, 5.0 RPG | Kobe Bryant: 28.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.2 SPG

[ Image ] (2) Magic defeat (1) Cavaliers 4-3 [ Image ]
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It's happened again: The Orlando Magic have upset the Cleveland Cavaliers to advance to their second consecutive Finals appearance. It didn't appear that way after the first game, in which Antawn Jamison scored 25 and Cleveland won 105-83. That would not be the case in the second game however, as the Magic used their tough D and hot three-point shooting to notch the series. The series shifted to Orlando, where the two teams split a pair of nail-biters, making it essentially a best of three series. LeBron and co. narrowly took the fifth game, but Dwight Howard enjoyed a 20-20 game 6 as Orlando forced a game 7. Disappointingly, the final game was a wash. The Magic broke the hearts of the fans at Quicken Loans Arena, destroying the home team 101-84, in what may have been LeBron's final game as a Cavalier.
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Magic 83, Cavaliers 105
Magic 100, Cavaliers 87
Cavaliers 85, Magic 95
Cavaliers 91, Magic 84
Magic 88, Cavaliers 92
Cavaliers 87, Magic 103
Magic 101, Cavaliers 84
Dwight Howard: 24.5 PPG, 15.7 RPG, 3.3 BPG | LeBron James: 27.3 PPG, 9.0 APG, 8.8 RPG

So its official: Orlando Magic vs. Portland Trailblazers will be this year's NBA Finals. Though the Blazers have been playing great, have Oden back and blew out Orlando without half their team in January, smart money's on the back-to-back conference champions. I'm thinking Magic in 6, with Dwight as Finals MVP. Oden is a fantastic defender, but Superman has been playing the best of his career. Should be a good one though. I'll be watching.

2010 NBA Draft Lottery:

Looks like we aren't getting John Wall. The Indiana Pacers have won the lottery, and (presumably) will take the Kentucky point guard. They made the biggest lottery jump, and the Jazz, via the Knicks also moved up two spots. Unfortunately for the league's three worst teams, they all moved down two spots. I would love to get Evan Turner, but I don't currently have any plans of trading up. Well, you win some, you lose some I guess. Will Sit, Martti Must, Thierry Tirieux, Ray Lliach, Julian Martin and Leo Lai have all been surprise draft, and my scouts are assigned to them. Can't wait to see what they find.

1. Indiana [5]
2. Utah (via NYK) [4]
3. New Jersey [1]
4. Minnesota [2]
5. Golden State [3]
6. Sacramento [6]
7. Washington [7]
8. Detroit [8]
9. LA Clippers [9]
10. Philadelphia [10]
11. Charlotte (via CHI) [11]
12. New Orleans [12]
13. Memphis [13]
14. Houston [14]

Spots #5 and #6 updated on the roster. The rotations were shuffled a bit for the purposes of ambiguity.

[|)e8*]

OH YEA BABY LAKERS ARE OUT! AND YES! UTAH GETS THE SECOND PICK WOOT

[kibaxx7]

Great to see Portland beating LA.

[dare]

Sessions is in the line up so is it Minnesota? damn your really confusing me right now

[The X]

It's Washington like I originally predicted.

[Martti.]

My guess of Sac-town is out the window. My next is the Knicks, since you have so many new players and the Knicks had loads of cap space.

[kibaxx7]

It's still the Wizards to me

[anthony22]

my guess is the wizards too.

[Lamrock]

Diary Of K. Washburn: June 18, 2010

[ Image ]

Orlando Magic Defeat Blazers To Win NBA Championship
Dwight Howard Named Finals Most Valuable Player

[ Image ] June 17, 2010 - Dwight Howard looked crestfallen following his Magic's 22 point defeat in the opening game of their series against Cleveland. Less than a month later, Superman is back to being all smiles as usual. On the huge shoulders of Howard, the Magic bounced back from last year's Finals defeat to easily dispatch the young Blazers in five games.

The series was all Orlando from the start. The home team took game one 94-82, with five players cracking double figures, then took the second 100-85. The series then shifted to the Rose Garden, where Portland edged out the Magic 93-92 in overtime. Things would not stay rosy for long however, as Orlando annihilated Portland 105-81 in game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 lead. Orlando sealed the deal in front of the sold-out Rose Garden crowd in game five 93-82 to win the series, and their first championship in franchise history.

Howard averaged 22 points and 12 boards per game during the series, winning Finals MVP. Brandon Roy played well for Portland, averaging just under 25 points per game, and Oden averaged a double-double, but LaMarcus Aldridge let his team down. The recently extended "power" forward averaged just 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 35 minutes per game. Vince Carter and Ra$hard Lewis averaged 17 and 15 points per game respectively for Orlando. Following the loss Blazers coach Nate McMillan said "Sure, the defeat hurts, but I couldn't be prouder of my guys. We have fought adversity all year, being written off by everybody, but look at us now! NBA finalists! We'll be back next year."

Results
Blazers 82, Magic 94
Blazers 85, Magic 100
Magic 92, Blazers 93 [OT]
Magic 105, Blazers 81
Magic 93, Blazers 82

Watching the (disappointing) series between Portland and Orlando, I realized the flaw in Kevin Pritchard's master plan. He made a likable young team who made the finals. Unfortunately, they are soft. Far too soft. Look at the past few champions. The Magic are coached by Ron Jeremy, the Lakers bought Pau Gasol, and are well, the Lakers, and the Celtics are just a bunch of assholes.

I need to make a team that people will hate. I need to sign a bunch of assholes, gangstas and ballhogs. The plan is now to sign a bunch of talented guys that everybody hates, and sign a coach who can keep them all together. I will take the team's name and personality and change it to fit the team's new personality and image. I'm bringing back the Washington Bullets!

[dare]

you need some Asshole and ballhogs, try signing Sit his a perfect fit Like the return of the Bullets