** Houston has the size and shooting to beat the up and coming Blazers. Ron Artest is more durable and mentally tougher than McGrady and if the Rockets are up 3-1 on someone, I believe Rockets will be able to get past the first round in the Yao era. And the Rockets’ supporting cast of Von Wafer and Carl Landry will be instrumental as well.

** Bron Bron pretty much had his way with the Pistons, and it seems the Cavs have figured out the Pistons and this series look like it will be over in five games.

** Orlando should beat Philly. The Magic can really shoot the ball, and Dwight Howard is a force.

** The Hawks should win in six games, but with Dwayne Wade anything can happen. I think Flip Murray will be an X-factor in this series. Don’t be surprised if Murray exceeds Bibby in minutes played in this series. For whatever reason, Bibby has been pedestrian versus the Heat. And if Bibby starts turning the ball over and can’t shoot from the outside EARLY, Bibby may have a shorter night. I am little worried about Michael Beasley. He is a very capable player, but Josh Smith and Marvin Williams have play up to their first round draft status and their potential. Marvin and Josh are veterans and shouldn’t be deemed as ‘young’…. Marvin has to fight his passive-aggressive nature on the court–especially as a three point shooter and Josh has to fight his emotions and resist pouting with the refs. Both of these guys are capable of shooting the three and if they are successful in doing that, the Hawks become a more dangerous team.

And for Marvin, its a big series for him and also for the aging Mike Bibby… if they both want to get an extension in the offseason, they MUST SHOW UP AGAINST MIAMI…

Wade can win a game by himself on the road or in Miami, but I will say Atlanta in six games

**

If he lets Aldrige, Oden and Presbilla (sp?) punk him out). Like he has let players like Dampier, Kirilenko (sp?) and Okur do to him in previous years then the fans and media need to come down on his head just as hard as they have come down on Mcgrady.

There is no reason Yao shouldn’t dominate the boards and the paint in this series……….no more excuses.

He will be the X-factor……trust me.

San An over Dallas in 7.

Boston over Bulls in 6.

Cleveland over Detroit in 6 (and the pistons gonna give the cavs a tough battle too).

Lakers over Utah in 6 (the refs at Utah are no joke and you know they are gonna dedicate some of those utah home games to their old owner miller)

Orlando over sixers in 7. The big monster Howard is gonna kill dalembert (sp?).

Portland over Houston in 7 (I will be happy too, because I am tired of these Rocket fans here in Dallas talking about how they are a better team without T-Mac).

Miami over Atlanta in 6. (D-wade goes 80s jordan on them in the series. Avgs. 35 ppg).

Oh and Rose is the sh^%……….and folks were and still are swearing Ricky Rubio is better then Rose.

Man they need to leave that crack alone.

Also Temple I think that Deron matches up so well with CP3 is because he is just as good plus he is even bigger then him.

CP3 will dominate the match up between him and Billups. But the difference will be Nene and bird man. The Chandler isn’t healthy and the bird man has been playing like a mad man on defense and on the boards.

Plus Peja is a shell of himself and is pretty much useless at this time in his career. Carmello can eat his @ss up plus rest on defense when guarding Peja.

Man Carmello might avg. 30 in this series easily. Now add JR smith when he is on the court with Carmello. The Hornets have no one to guard both.

My heart tells me Denver in 5 or 6. But I just want it to go 7 games. Anyway it will be an old school western shootout.

Portland has always been among the toughest arenas to play in the postseason. The Blazers usually have good teams, but they’ve only had 3 “great” teams since ’77. Two of those squads were fatally flawed with post-season self-destruct buttons. Drexler’s squads were coached by Rick “Oh, No!!! It’s the Post-Season” Adelman and featured Kevin Duckworth in the middle. The team that crashed and burned against the Lakers is really for the poster child for “WTF!!!??!?!” This team plays with the saavy and cool of the 1977 team. They’re not mature enough yet, but they have all the pieces: ball-handling, shooting, dribble-drive guys, size, bulk, speed, quickenss and youth. Tick tock — and goodnite Houston.

BTW — Nate has a Black Mustard Cool (while channeling the late Jimmy Valvano — remember?) and is a leader of men. You don’t really want to play these guys. Nate reminds me of Mike Tomlin – profiles in Quiet Power. Look out. You heard it here first.

Denver – New Orleans is tough to call — but I feel you on CP3. Thing is, CP’s game seems to be partly contingent on his ability to punk the opposition’s point guard. You ever notice how that doesn’t work against Utah? Yeah, me too. I suspect the same thing will happen againt Chauncey. He’s not as old as Jason Kidd — and he has more, tougher, nastier help than JK5 could summon in Dallas. Exhibit A: Kenyon Martin. Denver in 6.

Utah’s gotta be thinking — DAYYUM, DAYYUM, DAYYUM. I agree. C’ya!

I totally agree on San Antonio, though I could see Dallas folding its tent before Game 6.

Busy, busy.

I don’t see Miami beating Atlanta – unless Miami gets a great deal more than they’ve been getting from Jermaine O’Neal. Wade cannot do it all by himself and the Hawks have the type of youth, strength and body types to force Wade to work for his points. Atlanta can actually afford to put Joe Johnson on Wade and ask him to play chest-to-chest until the series is over. If Atlanta does that and JJ is up to the challenge, that will place a great deal of pressure on 2 ROOKIES. Joe shouldn’t try to match Wade in scoring — or even shut him down…just focus on staying in his jersey…every step of the way. If Chalmers and Beasley perform like most rookies, they’ll have two good games at home; and average to sub-par games on the road. If that happens, I like ATL — even though I don’t like ATL. ATL in 5.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Cleveland swept the Pistons. The Pistons are all SMOKE and MIRRORS. 39 wins in the East — in that division is proof positive that they’re done. Folks can blame AI if they like, but this plays as if they forgot how to win. Time to blow up the franchise and get a new look.

I agree on Boston-Chicago and I like Orlando to dispense with Chicago fairly easily. This series could actually be a coming out party for Rafer Alston. No one is talking about him much. The focus is on Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard. As talented as D Rose is, I don’t believe he’s going to run roughshod over Rafer for an entire series. I think the pride kicks in — and a guy who was very clutch in Houston demonstrates once and for all that he can play in this league.

Gimme some Magic in 5.