THE DIRKINATOR

So, I guess Dirk is getting rid of the label of him being "soft." Last night in game 1 versus the Oklahoma City Thunder after having 8 days off...he decided to go for 48. You would think after having so many days off before playing again, he would be off a tad bit. NOPE...12- 15 from the field, and just 24-24 from the stripe, which is a new NBA PLAYOFF RECORD. It didn't matter who was guarding him. About 4 Thunder players got a chance to guard him...NO BUENO!! Everybody basically lined up and grabbed a number. Ibaka...NEXT...KD...NEXT...Collison...NEXT...Sefolosha...NEXT!!! It was unbelievable...will it happen again, I doubt it. Im just glad I was in front of the television when it happened.

                      NBA....WHERE AMAZING HAPPENS

JORDAN BRAND ADDS MAYA

The Jordan Brand is one of the biggest if not the biggest shoe companies ever....and they decided to add one of the most phenomenal women athletes EVER. Former UConn Huskies 4 time All- American, Maya Moore was added to Jordan Brand today. She is the only female athlete to be apart of this brand. A few other players are, Derek Jeter (NY Yankees), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets), Carmelo Anthony (NY Knicks),  Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat). I mean its only fitting...she wears #23, she is one of the all time winners in NCAA history, and one of the greatest work ethics a player can have. If this doesn't change the image of women's basketball, I don't know what will. Congrats Maya, #WINNING

TRUE HOOP TV

I would like to give a special #shoutout to True Hoop TV for giving me an opportunity to to share my thoughts on the 2011 playoffs. True Hoop TV is ran through ESPN, and that was an honor to me. They didn't have to respond back to me or even let me submit a video, but they did and i'm thankful for that. You can follow them on twitter @truehooptv. Hopefully I can get back on there again and just make this a regular thing. If you missed the video, here you go!!

                   http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6541780

And then there were FOUR

The "Final Four" in the NBA is set...in the Western Conference you got the young and talented Oklahoma City Thunder vs the gritty and battled tested Dallas Mavericks. In the Eastern Conference, like I said in my last blog...you got the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat, enough said!!!

After the Thunder hammered the Grizzles in game 7 Sunday 105-90, the young guns are headed to the Western Conference Finals!!! Kevin Durant put the team on his back (not in his backpack), by scoring 39 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. His running mate Russell Westbrook recorded just the 5th triple double ever in Game 7 history. He tallied 14 points,10 rebounds, and 14 assists. The most recent player to do it, was Scottie Pippen in 1992. It seems as if the Thunder have peaked a year earlier than expected. The Dallas and OKC is going to be very intriguing. You can catch game 1 action Tuesday night at 9:30 on ESPN. Miami lost to the opening game to Chicago last night 103-82. Chris Bosh had a good game scoring 30 and grabbing 9 boards, but Wade and James combined scored 33 on 34% shooting. Thats not going to cut it throughout this series and I'm sure they know that, so I'm looking forward to a better outing by the two superstars Wednesday night at 8:30. 

Another Heavyweight GONE

This might have been the last we've seen of the Big 3 in boston but who knows. The series was shorter than some expected, but the Boston Celtics were eliminated by the most hated team in the NBA...the Miami Heat. It only took 5 games to do it, but at the end of the series you could see a sense of relief by LeBron James as he kneeled down after the game was over and took a moment to his self. I guess you can say he got the "monkey off his back" after losing to the C's in previous play off matchups. You could make the same argument for Dwyane Wade, who faced the C's in the first round of last seasons playoffs. The Big 3 of the Heat aka "THE HEATLES" said the reason they came together is because of Boston's Big 3 (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett). LeBron stated, "Seeing guys make sacrifices to come together and play as one. They set the blueprint and went out there and did it. The won a championship. They competed every year." Some say the injury to Rondo hurt their chances of beating the Heat, but I think differently. That discussion could go on for days, so im not getting into that...the Heat won, series over...ON TO THE NEXT ROUND!! Lastly, Heat fans...please stop moving out the way when FLASH comes flying through the crowd, we need him...I mean the TEAM needs him, so they continue there quest to winning a championship this year.

   

The next round for the Heat should be another battle as they take on D.Rose and the Bulls. This is the Bulls first time in the Conference Finals since that one guy....number 23, i think he has a statue outside the United Center....he goes by the name of G.O.A.T. OR Michael Jordan, which ever you'd like to call him. This should be a fun series...it has all the hype surrounding it. You have 2 of Chicago's sons in D.Rose and D.Wade...D.Rose this years MVP (and the youngest EVER)...LeBron and the "decision" not to play with the Bulls this year, the same with Bosh and Wade...and lastly, Miami lost all 3 meetings this year versus the Bulls, by a combined 8 points!! One game LBJ didnt play...another Bosh was 1-18...and the other, LeBron missed a game winning shot. So..the anticipation is there!!

             

                   NBA...WHERE CHICAGO HAPPENS

DOWN GOES THE LAKERS....DOWN GOES THE LAKERS

There WILL BE a NEW CHAMPION in the NBA this year!!! The Los Angeles Lakers were swept..that's right, swept in the western conference semi finals. The Dallas Mavericks might just broken up a team that would've been a dynasty if they 3PEATED! The red hot shooting of Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic off the bench killed LA. Combined they shot 15-16 from 3 in game 4...and the bench scored 86 points. LA scored 86 for the game!! The low point of the game came when Andrew Bynum gave a "peoples elbow" to the rib cage of Mavs 5'7 guard (if that) JJ Barea. At that moment, Bynum removed his jersey and walked towards the locker room...maybe his last time wearing the purple and gold again. It was sad to see them go out like that, but sometimes emotions get the best of you. But all good things must come to an end....just in a 36 point blow out!! #GONEFISHING

ON TO THE NEXT ROUND....

Sorry for the delay with my blogs...but with all the basketball that was on, having a girlfriend, and dealing with LIFE itself, a brother was busy!!! But now that Im back on here again, let me update you on the first round of the NBA PlayOffs if you don't know the scoop yet.

In the West, some call it a surprise...I don't, the 8th seeded Memphis Grizzles defeated the best team in the West (record wise 61- 21) San Antonio Spurs in 6 games. It should've been 5 games if it wasn't for one unbelievable shot by Manu Ginobili on the right side of the court fading away, with 7'1 Marc Gasol all in his mug!! That would eventually lead to a Gary Neal 3 pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime where the Spurs took control to force a game 6 at the Fed Ex Center in Memphis where they came up short....SPURS GONE FISHING!!! San Antonio isn't alone though...The 2 time defending champions (Lakers) sent Chris Paul and the Hornets on vacation and Dirk and the Mavs finally won a first round series and sent Lamarcus Aldridge and the Trail Blazers on a trip, and last an certainly not least, the KD and the Thunder sent George Karl and the Nuggets back home!!

Now for the Eastern conference....D.Rose and the Bulls beat the Pacers in 5 games. The first 4 games were very close...but no cigar. See ya Indiana!! The Celtics put the Knicks out in 4 games....clean sweep. The injury of Chauncey Billups hurt the Knicks a lot. Also, Amare wasn't healthy after getting back spasms. Melo was Melo, with a performance that wont be forgotten. 42pts, 17rebs, and 6 assists. But, it wasn't enough. Atlanta put out the Orlando Magic in 6 games. They really out played them in every game, except for game 5 when they got mollywhopped. Now the question is, what does Dwight Howard do after this season? Where is he going to take his "talents" to? And I guess he can cut that terrible goatee now...UGHHHH!!! The 76ers put up a good fight against the Heat, but they lost in 5 games as well. Doug Collins did a good job with the young talent he had this year. Coach of the Year in my book, but I'm sure Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau will get that. Miami needs to play more consistently in this next round against am experienced Celtics team. If not...BYE!! 

You can catch NBA Countdown and all the NBA action on channel 7 starting with: 

OKC Thunder vs Memphis Grizzles - 1:00pm

Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics - 3:30pm