2008 Woodie Awards
NBA Playoff Preview
Jamie Wianecki
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Sports
In terms of record, the Eastern conference has the top two teams (Boston and Detroit) but when you look at strength of opponents, the Western conference's top teams look a lot better. Each Eastern conference team only has to play each Western conference team twice, once home and once away. Fortunately for Eastern conference teams, the NBA lets both conferences have their own playoff bracket.
This season the Hawks have been a pleasant surprise for the Eastern Conference; unfortunately they haven't been pleasant enough and are paired off with the top seeded, Boston Celtics. Both Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby have playoff experience, but we aren't talking about the same Mike Bibby who led the Sacramento Kings in the playoffs in the earlier 2000's, this Bibby had his worst season since 01-02. The duo is good but not good enough to take on the Boston Three Party of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce; Celtics in four.
The Pistons have been towards the top of not only the East, but within the top NBA teams all season. They have stayed consistent all season, and finished winning eight of their last ten. Philadelphia ended near the opposite of Detroit, finishing 3-7 in the last ten games, including that controversial loss against Cleveland. Philadelphia is athletic, but too young and inexperienced, while Detroit has too much of everything; Detroit in four.
While the top two seeds will breeze through their first round match-ups, the other games should actually be fun to watch. Orlando was this year's early surprise, leading the East until the stars realigned. They weren't projected to be this good, but it all makes sense considering Dwight Howard had career highs in points and rebounds per game with 20.7 and 10.8 respectively, and Turkoglu had career highs in points, assists, and rebounds per game with 19.5, 5, and 5.7 respectively. Chris Bosh had a great season, and Jose Calderon was a nice surprise too. You have to like the Bosh/Howard match-up in the paint, but in the end Howard is too strong and Orlando has too many other weapons; Orlando in six.
Does anyone remember last year when the Dallas Mavericks were the Final's losers from the year before? It's hard to bet against LeBron, but it's also hard to bet against Gilbert Arenas when he's this motivated. Cleveland played barely above .500 basketball since their blockbuster trade that brought Ben Wallace from Chicago and Wally Szczerbiak from Seattle. Despite Arenas only playing thirteen games this season, Washington managed to make the playoffs, and Caron Butler had his best season of his career. Denying LeBron is hard, but Wizards in a tough seven games.
This season the Hawks have been a pleasant surprise for the Eastern Conference; unfortunately they haven't been pleasant enough and are paired off with the top seeded, Boston Celtics. Both Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby have playoff experience, but we aren't talking about the same Mike Bibby who led the Sacramento Kings in the playoffs in the earlier 2000's, this Bibby had his worst season since 01-02. The duo is good but not good enough to take on the Boston Three Party of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce; Celtics in four.
The Pistons have been towards the top of not only the East, but within the top NBA teams all season. They have stayed consistent all season, and finished winning eight of their last ten. Philadelphia ended near the opposite of Detroit, finishing 3-7 in the last ten games, including that controversial loss against Cleveland. Philadelphia is athletic, but too young and inexperienced, while Detroit has too much of everything; Detroit in four.
While the top two seeds will breeze through their first round match-ups, the other games should actually be fun to watch. Orlando was this year's early surprise, leading the East until the stars realigned. They weren't projected to be this good, but it all makes sense considering Dwight Howard had career highs in points and rebounds per game with 20.7 and 10.8 respectively, and Turkoglu had career highs in points, assists, and rebounds per game with 19.5, 5, and 5.7 respectively. Chris Bosh had a great season, and Jose Calderon was a nice surprise too. You have to like the Bosh/Howard match-up in the paint, but in the end Howard is too strong and Orlando has too many other weapons; Orlando in six.
Does anyone remember last year when the Dallas Mavericks were the Final's losers from the year before? It's hard to bet against LeBron, but it's also hard to bet against Gilbert Arenas when he's this motivated. Cleveland played barely above .500 basketball since their blockbuster trade that brought Ben Wallace from Chicago and Wally Szczerbiak from Seattle. Despite Arenas only playing thirteen games this season, Washington managed to make the playoffs, and Caron Butler had his best season of his career. Denying LeBron is hard, but Wizards in a tough seven games.
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