Ronnie Turner
In any other year, I would probably have given my nod to the NCAA Tournament. However, this year the NCAA Tournament played out mostly as it should have with all four No. 1 seeds reaching the Final Four, and there wasn’t too much excitement other than Davidson’s Cinderella run.
The NBA playoffs, however, should be way more intriguing considering that the Western Conference does not have a clear favorite to win its title. With each Western Conference playoff team at least 17 games over .500 heading into Wednesday’s regular-season finales, you can expect some tough first-round battles. The Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the West, but are no lock to reach the NBA Finals.
Boston and Detroit will probably duke it out in the Eastern Conference finals, but the Celtics would probably take that series in six games. If the Lakers face the Celtics in the finals, TV ratings will skyrocket.
Jong Lee
I have to agree with Ronnie on this one. The NBA playoffs in the Western Conference are bound to be one of the best in recent memory. With the exception of Lakers-Nuggets, each series does not have a clear favorite. Home court shouldn’t play a big part in any series because of how close every team is in the West, except for Utah that is just horrible away from home (17-23 coming into Wednesday).
What’s more interesting is that every team in the West is going into this weekend with some sort of problem. The injury bug has hit the Lakers, Spurs and Rockets, while the Suns and Mavericks have new pieces to work in. The Hornets are young, the Jazz are horrible on the road and the Nuggets play no defense.
The East, on the other hand, is a yawner. There are going to be at least two sweeps and one game going to five and the only good series there will be Cavaliers-Wizards. The only way the playoffs would be a disappointment would be if we have another Spurs-Pistons matchup.
Keith Cordero Jr.
As good as the NCAA Tournament is every year with the buzzer-beaters, upsets, and great games, this year’s NCAA tourney was boring. The NCAA’s had all chalk in the Final Four like Ronnie said with all No. 1 seeds making it, but the semifinal games were blowouts like a majority of the other games were.
The West will live up to the hype, the matchups will be great and there will be much better games in comparison to the NCAA games. I know that the Lakers have clinched the top seed, but everything else is still up for grabs as the season wraps up Wednesday night. The West’s first round will be unbelievable, with a possible Suns-Spurs matchup and another meeting between the Rockets and the Jazz.
Boston went 25-5 against the West and I think the Celtics or Pistons take the title with an easier playoff road to the Finals. Games will be great, series will be long and I like the Celtics to beat the Jazz in the NBA Finals.
Judge Dredd
This one is a no-brainer: of course the NBA playoffs will be more exciting than the NCAA Tournament.
In fact, Judge Dredd got about half way through Jong’s response and decided to give today’s victory to whoever mentioned the New Orleans Hornets the most, because he was watching New Orleans and Dallas play and the Hornets were winning at the time.
So Jong wins. Judge Dredd would like to take the rest of his space to give a shout out to the most incompetent, evil person to ever step inside of Madison Square Garden.
Isiah Thomas. Judge Dredd hopes that man develops a case of chronic diarrhea. He will never be forgiven for ruining a once proud franchise.
Judge Dredd has spoken.
