Are The Washington Wizards For Real?

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In what may be the biggest show out of the NBA Playoffs, the Washington Wizards are proving to the nation that they deserve to be in the playoffs.

So are the Washington Wizards for real or are the Chicago Bulls really that bad?


The Wizards came into the playoffs as the 5th seed out of a weak Eastern Conference. Their 44-38 record wouldn't have even got them into the playoffs if they were in the Western Conference (Eighth seed in the West, Dallas Mavericks, got into the playoffs with a 49-33 record).

 
Now they have a two game lead over the Chicago Bulls and can close out the series with two more wins. The Wizards two wins over Chicago both came at the United Center in Chicago. The next two games will be played at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The Wizards have a good chance of closing out this series in the next two games based on the fact that their record at home was the same as on the road this season, 22-19.


In the first game it was a front court domination game where Marcin Gortat and Nene controlled the paint on both sides of the court. John Wall and Bradley Beal played decent games in their first playoff appearances. However, compared to their usual numbers they actually had a sub-par performance when the Wizards shocked the state of Illinois with a 9-point win over the Bulls in game one of the series.

 
The second game is when Bradley Beal stole the show. Beal put up a game-high 26 points, just one over the Bulls leading scorer DJ Augustin who had 25 points on the night. Wall also played a better game than the first and finished with 16 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. 


Don't go counting the Bulls out just yet. There is still a lot of basketball to be played and this is a veteran led team with a lot of playoff experience. They have former coach of the year Tom Thibodeau, who has been able to continually coach his team into the playoffs even though they have been without their star player, Derrick Rose, for just about two seasons now; They also lost their second best scorer when they traded Luol Deng earlier in the season to the Cavaliers. Coach Thibodeau does it every year using a defense first approach, led by defensive player of the year Joakim Noah.


The Washington Wizards have surprised most of the nation so far and will have a chance to prove that they have what it takes to win in this series this Friday, April 25th 5:00pm PT on ESPN for what should be an excellent game 3.

NBA Playoffs - Eastern Conference 1st Round Look-In

Alright so now that all the seedings are official it is time to take a look into each match-up we have in the Eastern Conference.

Here is a look at the match-ups of the first round (ESPN's NBA playoff bracket here):

 

 

#8 Atlanta Hawks vs #1 Indiana Pacers:

Credit: Philly.com

The Hawks squeaked into the playoffs after beating out the New York Knicks for the final eighth seed out of the East. The Pacers have had their troubles these last couple months, especially Roy Hibbert who has amassed only 9 points and 12 rebounds in his last 4 games! The Atlanta Hawks best player, Al Horford, hasn't played since December 26th and he is not expected to return during their series with the Pacers. The Pacers should be able to run past the Hawks and make it to the second round. However I can see the Hawks pulling off an upset if Hibbert continues his downward spiral towards oblivion.
Prediction:
Indiana Pacers in 6 games

#7 Charlotte Bobcats vs #2 Miami Heat:

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Maybe the most hyped story of this series will be "LeBron & the Heat vs MJ's Bobcats". Lebron James will get a chance to take on a team owned by the greatest player of all time. Knowing LeBron's attitude I think it’s safe to say he will be showing his 'A' game, especially if Michael attends any of the games. This will be Michael Jordan's first playoff appearance since being the owner of the Bobcats, and the franchise's first appearance since Larry Brown coached them to their only playoff appearance in 2009-10. The Heat will run away with this series but the Bobcats should be able to sneak out one win against the champs.
Prediction:
Miami Heat in 5 games

#6 Brooklyn Nets vs #3 Toronto Raptors:

Getty Images

The Raptors are making their first playoff appearance since the end of the 2008 season. The have a young squad ready to make a statement to the NBA. Kyle Lowry has helped lead this team to the playoffs and is showing why he should have been voted an All Star this year. The Brooklyn Nets are talented, experienced, and have a coach that was just playing in the league last year. Kevin Garnett is finally getting back into the swing of things and with Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce around, the final shot will be a tough defensive match-up for the Raptors. The true match-up to watch will be Lowry against Brooklyn's Deron Williams. I expect this series to be close every game.
Prediction:
Brooklyn Nets in 7 games

#5 Washington Wizards vs #4 Chicago Bulls:

Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bulls have been able to stay around the top of the Eastern Conference even though they have been without their best player for almost 2 full seasons now. The Washington Wizards have made a return to the playoffs after a 6 year hiatus thanks to great team play and elite play from their star point guard John Wall. The Bulls have one of the best defenses in the league, led by Joakim Noah, who should win a landslide Defensive Player of the Year award. The Wizards will have the advantage on offense but Chicago's defense will figure a way to limit Wall and will be the difference maker.
Prediction:
Chicago Bulls in 6 games

What do you think will be the outcome?

Where Will Carmelo Anthony Land Next Season

Carmelo Anthony is down to the last couple months on his contract with the New York Knicks and has said that he has no clue on how his free agency will play out or which team he will be suiting up for next season.

Melo and the Knicks are currently on a 7-game losing streak, their second longest losing streak of the season (NYK lost 9 straight from 11/14 - 12/01) with no signs that they will improve any time this season.

This will be Anthony's first season that he will miss the playoffs in his 11 season career. The team record isn't all Anthony's fault, especially considering he is having one of the best statistical seasons of his career.

Somethings that he doesn't have control over are things such as the Amar'e Stoudemire project, which could go down as one of the biggest waste of money on a player in Knicks history (Stoudemire is the highest paid player on the Knicks and will earn $21,679,893 this season). The play of his guards, most specifically Raymond Felton has been horrendous, and Tyson Chandler, who was the defensive player of the year before he came to New York but has been a shadow of himself this late in his career.

Carmelo has always been considered a great player but he has also been known to be a lousy leader on the court. He could of had a better influence on his team throughout season, such as having a talk with JR Smith who has become an elementary school kid on the court this season. 

He has improved from the "Kobe-esque" roll where he thought he was the only player on the court during games and he has improved his team skills but unfortunately his leadership ability has seemed to be non-existent.

Carmelo is set to make $21,388,953 this season and will be looking to increase his pay for his next contract. The Knicks will definitely have no problem handing out the big bucks to keep the 7x All Star but because of their issues with recruiting a bad group to accompany Melo, he may want to leave all the extra money on the table and look to join a club that will improve his chances of getting a ring.

If Melo does decide to stay in New York for another 5 years he would doing so with the understanding that this Knicks front office has wasted a lot of assets. The New York Knicks have traded away all of the picks they are allowed to trade up until 2018 and the same players on the roster now will not change much going into next season. It's a tough sell for New York with all of their hopes hanging on an extra $30 million they will be able to offer with the New York market to add to his profits along with owner James Dolan vying to bring another Super-Star to New York, although finding that star may be harder than it appears with their shamble of a team they have now.

The likely landing spot for Anthony should he choose to leave the "Big Apple" are the Chicago Bulls or the Los Angeles Lakers at this moment. 

However if Melo does decide sign with another team next season he will be leaving a 5-year contract worth somewhere around $130 million for only a 4-year contract worth closer to $95 million. That's a huge chunk of money he would leave on the table but when your chasing a championship, which Melo should be in full chase mode at this point of his career, I think the money should take a backseat to your legacy.

So what it all boils down to for Melo is, will he be willing to take less money for a better shot at a title or will he take the big money and become satisfied with being on a low-to-mediocre squad to finish off the prime of his career. My bet is that he takes the big money, but I really hope that I am wrong because Melo is too great of a talent to be wasted under the New York Knicks management. 

Melo end up being another great that leaves the league without a championship, following in the footsteps of Stockton, Malone, Barkley and so many other Hall of Fame players.

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NBA Contender's Picking Up Free Agent's Before Playoffs

With all the buy-outs taking place across the NBA a few playoff contender's are adding the new free agents to their squads just in time for their playoff runs.

Michael Hickey - US Presswire

The Los Angeles Clippers have added two players that will definitely help their team. The Clippers have picked up Glen "Big Baby" Davis who was bought out by the Orlando Magic, and they were also able to pick up former All Star Danny Granger, who was bought out by the Philadelphia 76ers after being traded from the Indiana Pacers in the Evan Turner trade.

The Clippers have set a tone across the NBA that they are prepared for battle with any team out there with these two key additions, and should make for a long playoff run with 1st year coach of the Clipperes,  Doc Rivers.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

The Oklahoma City Thunder were also working on adding some strength to their second team as well with the pick-up of veteran SF Caron Butler. Butler reached a buy-out with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday and was being coveted by both the Thunder as well as the two time defending champion Miami Heat. Butler ultimately decided to roll with the Thunder and informed both teams Friday morning.

Butler brings some help to a Thunder team that has relied heavily on Durant and are working on getting the rust off of Russell Westbrook. He is great with one-one-one defense and is able to knock down shots from mid-range to the deep three.

The Clippers and Thunder both made huge moves to help them thru the next couple months and they set themselves up for a great looking playoff run for both. These two teams have a very good chance to meet each other in the Western Conference Finals and these additions may be the difference in who wins and who go's home.

*This is a not a contender team but worth noting.
The Sacramento Kings are also in the works on signing PF Royce White to a 10-day contract. If you don't remember, White was originally drafted by the Houston Rockets last season but because of his anxiety and fear of flying caused a bunch of issues for the Rockets. He was traded to the 76ers and later released before the season started. White has yet to play in an NBA regular season game but has high hopes for his chances in Sacramento and hopefully can get his fears under control without the threatening of a lawsuit like he did with the Rockets.

The Eastern Conference is also in the works for some free agent pick-ups.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

The Chicago Bulls are working on signing PG Jimmer Fredette, another buy-out free agent leaving the Sacramento Kings Thursday. They are still only in talks at the moment but the deal could break within the next 24 hours.

Adding Fredette to the Bulls would a great addition. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is well regarded as a defensive minded coach but has been able to let scoring point guards flourish in his system with Derrick Rose, Nate Robinson, and DJ Augustin. The pick up would bring another scoring option to the table for the Bulls who are only averaging 98.3 points per 100 possessions, which has them ranked 28th overall and could certainly use another shooter on their roster.

(Getty Images)

The New York Knicks had reached buy-outs with a couple of their players as well earlier in the week. The Knicks released PG Beno Udrih and SF Metta World Peace on Monday. Udrih was picked up as soon as he hit the waivers by the Memphis Grizzles who were looking to grab Fredette once he hit waivers but they realized that transaction would not go thru so they decided to grab the veteran PG as their backup to Mike Conley.

World Peace has yet to sign with a team and the talk around the NBA is that he has nothing left to offer a team. Time will tell in his situation but he does have the leadership skills to be able to help a young team thru the in's and out's of championship basketball having won the NBA title with the LA Lakers in the 2010 season.

Here are the current standings for the playoffs if they were to start today 2/28/2014

Eastern Conference:

1. Indian Pacers (44-13)
2. Miami Heat (41-14)
3. Toronto Raptors (32-26)* This has to be the surprise of the season thus far.
4. Chicago Bulls (31-26)
5. Washington Wizards (30-28)
6. Brooklyn Nets (27-29)
7. Charlotte Bobcats (27-30)
8. Atlanta Hawks (26-31)

Western Conference:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-15)
2. San Antonio Spurs (41-16)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (40-18)
4. LA Clippers (40-20)
5. Houston Rockets (39-19)
6. Dallas Mavericks (36-23)
7. Golden State Warriors (35-23)
8. Phoenix Suns (33-24)

There is still a lot of basketball to be played and with some key free agent pickups to a few of these playoff teams we are going to be in for a great end of the NBA season and an even better NBA playoffs.

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Nets Continue Beginning of Nightmare Season

The Brooklyn Nets were embarrassed at the Barclay's Center bright and early on Christmas morning, losing to the Chicago Bulls 95-78.

The lack of effort from the Brooklyn Nets has been on display all season and once again showed up in this game. The Nets are currently 9-19 and playing some of the worst basketball in the entire league. They gave up 36 points in the 3rd quarter alone to a team who's leading scorer was Taj Gibson for the Bulls with 20 points along with 8 rebounds with Jimmy Butler helping the cause with 15 points of his own. Luol Deng who is only averaging 19.6 points per game and didn't even play in this game because of a left Achilles tendon is the teams leading scorer.

Seth Wenig/AP

The Nets leading scorer was Deron Williams who was able to only rack up 18 points with only 4 assists as well as 3 turnovers. The Nets bench didn't help much either, shooting 4-for-30 from the field! The Bulls are continuing their steps moving forward after losing their best player in Derrick Rose who is out with another knee injury and currently have a record of 11-16, which has them at the 9th seed out of the East. The Nets are currently tied for 11th with fellow empire state team the New York Knicks. Speaking of the Knicks, they were the next game on the Christmas slate.

After the game the reports started swirling around, just as expected when you have the media attention you get when your in the Big Apple, with talks about Jason Kidd ripping his team apart in the locker room after the game. Reports also state that Kevin Garnet backed the first year coach, expressing his displeasure with the way the team has been playing before storming off to the showers. Kidd said that the way his team responds to adversity is hard to stomach, at one point the Nets had a chance to recover a rebound that started to bounce down the court, with Reggie Evans having at least 3 steps ahead of the Jimmy Butler, and Butler beat him to the ball because Evans just quit running and began walking to the ball. Those are the kind of plays that Kidd has been stressing about with his team, and who knows what's coming next for the Nets because I doubt owner Mikhail Prokhorov will let this continue all season.

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