Preview of Eastern & Western Conference Finals

The Miami Heat will host the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday tipping off the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron has already said the Heat will be ready, and why wouldn't they be? They easily took care of the Bucks in the first round by means of a quick four game sweep. They dispatched the injury ridden Bulls in five games after the Bulls stole game one in Miami. It probably helped that the main source of offense for the Bulls was 5'9 Nate Robinson. The Heat basically said, "Okay. Nate Robinson is not going to be the one to beat us." And once they did, the Bulls struggled on offense. Even though they had glimpses of Richard Hamilton (I thought he was in Tom Thibodeau's doghouse) and Carlos Boozer on offense. The Heat have the chance to be put in the greatest team ever debate (at least in terms of winning percentage). We will see how they do against the Pacers this time around with both teams being subtly different.

The Heat are mostly the same cast as last season. They have a few additions in Ray Allen, Chris Andersen (Bird Man), and Rashard Lewis. Norris Cole has dramatically improved from his rookie season. Shane Battier has been okay in spurts. Dwayne Wade has added "when he's healthy" to his name. LeBron is LeBron (duh). The pacers are a little difference as well. The back up point guard roll changed from Darren Collison to D.J. Augustin. Paul George is twice the player he was last season. Danny Granger has been unable to play for a while. This year's team has also had a much larger dose of Lance Stevenson. Up until last series, Roy Hibbert has been a shell of himself. Like last year, he will be the key to the Pacers, at least having a chance in this series. The Pacers, were the best rebounding team in the NBA. On the other end of the scale, the Heat were the worst rebounding team in the league. But their poor rebounding numbers didn't keep them from having a 27 game winning streak. So, I don't know how much I would look into that. Speaking from the perspective of an Orlando Magic fan, I watched how a fully healthy Magic team was able to give the small Miami Heat team fits. Of course this is back when they had Dwight & company health. Clearly, Roy Hibbert hasn't been even a poor man's Dwight Howard. At least back when Dwight was at (what might have been) the peak of his powers a few seasons ago.

I do think the Heat will win the series, but I expect it to be a gritty, tough series. It should be a lot like last year, although it will be subtly different. I see the Heat winning in six games, again, like last season.

Game One of the Grizzles and Spurs series tipped off Sunday. The Spurs didn't even give the Grizzles a fair shot. The closest the game was just so happened to be at the opening tip.  But let's look at how the rosters changed. One more so then the other. The Grizzles made radical changes mid-season with the Rudy Gay trade. I thought there might be a chance for the Grizzles to make a run like they did in 2011 because they were set up a lot like they were when Rudy Gay was hurt. The Grizzles changed from having Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, and a couple other role players to a dramatic overhaul. They added guys like Tayshaun Prince, Jerryd Bayless, and Ed Davis among others.  But the bulk of the Grizzles success has been from the guys that were already there. Zach Randolph has been playing the best basketball of his career not counting the 2011 postseason. Marc Gasol, the newly crowned defensive player of the year, has made himself into the games best big man. He has even been a better offensive player both in scoring and his passing. And Mike Conley. Holy Crap, Mike Conley. I'm an Ohio State fan and I never would have seen this coming. I would never have thought out of Mike Conley, Greg Oden, and Daequan Cook that Mike Conley would have had the best NBA career of the group. He has been nothing short of sensational this postseason.

The Spurs are basically the same team they have been throughout their run of 50+ win seasons. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and an assortment of role players.  I don't think there's much that can be said about the Spurs that people don't already know. Tim Duncan is still a great player. Tony Parker is always solid. Manu hits big shot after, big shot. And various role players like Danny Green and Matt Bonner always seem to make an impact.

Even though the Spurs won game one with ease. I still think the Grizzles will win this series in six. I think this series may have the same blueprint as the Thunder series last year. The Spurs won their first two games at home then they lost four straight. I see the same kind of things happening in this series. I don't see how they can consistently stop Gasol and Randolph game after game. The Spurs just don't have the size to match up with the Grizzles and I think that will be the key for the Grizzles.

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