Ahead of the 2006 NBA Playoffs which begin today, the predictions are rolling thick and strong. Check out the Blogcritics and Marcellin Mutoni’s round 1 takes. Complete Sports has gone all the way and predicts a Detroit win:

This year, I think things may be tilted in Detroit’s favor. They’ve basically been resting for a while now, having locked up the East a while, they have home-court advantage, and their bench is better than it’s given credit for. And not to sound like a broken record, but their offense is better under Flip. Another thing is, I don’t think Rasheed Wallace will be leaving Big Shot Rob open for anymore late shots. PISTONS IN 7.

The Detroit Pistons have certainly moved from strength to strength after Brown moved on to coach the Knicks. Not many will predict any one except the Pistons or the Spurs to win the title. Can the Miami Heat or some other team tide over these two champion teams?

We will see.

When Larry Brown, ill, left mid game for the hospital, it symbolised the wreck the season has been for Brown and the Knicks. It began with much fan fare with the home coming of legendary Larry Brown to coach in his dream job. The season has ended miserably.

Michael Lee explores in The Washington Post:

The Knicks (22-57) lost their first five games of the season, went 1-12 in the month in December and 1-11 in February. They have to win two of their last three games to avoid posting the worst 82-game season in franchise history (the Knicks went 23-59 in 1985-86). Portland is the only team in the NBA with fewer wins…

The Knicks’ incredible failure has frustrated Brown, his players, their fans and people within the organization. “You see a great coach. You see so much talent and it doesn’t add up,” Knicks guard Jamal Crawford said recently…

Brown has lamented all season that he doesn’t have a pure point guard to set up teammates and make everyone better, an apparent jab at Marbury, whom Brown had issues with dating from when Brown coached him on the U.S. Olympic team that won a bronze medal in Athens in 2004. Brown and Marbury staged a weeklong war of words in March, which ended in a pseudo resolution in which Brown told Marbury that he didn’t want to trade him and Marbury said Brown “flexed his juice card real hard.”

That saga doesn’t appear to be near a conclusion, unless one of Marbury or Brown departs. Either that, or the two have to learn to find out to bring positives they both possess to an end positive result on the floor. Is Brown the only person to blame given he has been a superb coach in the past? Or is a large part of it to do with adjustments not working out.

The fans, theplayers, Brown, the hot dog seller - every one is frustrated. Knicks look to start afresh next season. How they are going to do it and overcome the current problems? It is not very simple.

Dunking is hep. Dunking excites the spectators. But how is it for the players? Marcus Thompson II writes in Contra Costa Times:

“As a lot of times, you go up to dunk and you feel like you want to break that backboard, break that rim,” said Warriors guard Jason Richardson, who with Michael Jordan is the only player to win consecutive slam dunk titles during NBA All-Star weekend. “But 10 times out of 10 you’re not. What you’re really breaking is yourself. … When you dunk it hard and come down screaming ‘Ahhhhh,’ everybody gets into it. But you’re really screaming, “Ahhhhh, my arm!’” … Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said he used to bust up his fingers until they bled. New Jersey Nets guard Vince Carter showed off the marks on his right forearm, which he stuck inside the basket during his famous jam from the 2000 dunk contest. “I dunk so hard sometimes,” Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett said, “I can’t feel my hand for a couple plays.” “One time,” Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade said, “it hurt so bad I couldn’t pick up a ball. You can mess yourself up dunking so hard.”

[Hat tip: Bessie Smith from NBA LJ]

The whole piece is a must read. Jordan was known for his dunking skills early in his career but I hardly saw him dunk when I watched him from the mid-90s. Vince Carter had promised not to dunk (as also revealed by the piece) but still does so on ocassions.

Dunking is the eye catcher in a basketball game. This means that young players who want get noticed, play for bigger teams have to either by a superstar or should know how to dunk in style. Would Varter really have drawn as much attention had he not dunked as much early on? Would he have got the sponsorship deals? Not really.

The earlier NBA gays saw glass shattered when players dunked. Thank fully this occurence is a thing of the past in the NBA and international games courtesy better equipment. However, the lower levels every where, not just in the US, hardly have as good equipment. I remember a news of some one dying trying to dunk a few years earlier. A quick google search gives me this occurence which happened about 1 and half years ago. I am sure there have been more immediate and long term injuries because of people going the dunking route.

In a game, I support dunking only when some one cannot score points via jump shots or lay ups. What is the point of dunking when there is open space and you are sure to get the two points any way? If it is too close and you feel safe regarding the two points by dunking, go for it. Else not.

The next time you see a basketball player dunk, remember the pain he goes through!

San Antonio Spurs have over taken Boston Celtics as the second best NBA team ever in terms of winning percentage. Lenny Wick points it out on Livejournal NBA community here. It shows how poor Boston has been in the years following the Lary Bird and their Championship days.

It also shows how consistently well San Antonio has been performing over the past 5 years. San Antonio hasn’t changed their team too much in a league where trades are frequent and teams hardly remain similar over a few years. The rewards have come in championships and wins. Lakers stand at the top with them maintaining some performance in the Shaq-Kobe era.

Bryant was scheduled to begin training with personal coaches Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone this week, but, in the true spirit of his new role as Olympic team captain, head coach, and lone member, he has opted to prepare for the tournament on his own time without anyone’s assistance. Starting at the end of the 2005-2006 NBA season, Bryant will practice tip-offs, work on fundamental self-inbound passes, learn how to play defense, and draw up several play formations, each of which he will be responsible for calling during the games. Although the general response among fans has been complete indifference, many players around the league have objected to the decision, saying that it is unfair to others who have worked just as hard as Bryant.

Allen Iverson had this to say:

Kobe Bryant shouldn’t be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games. I should be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games.

Stern reiterated on how 81 points would be enough to defeat most foreign teams.

Gotta love The Onion.

That was Vince Carter’s response to the 81 of Kobe Bryant. I concur.

The NBA keeps surprising me. Who would have though an Australian Andrew Bogut, an Australian, would be number 1 pick in the draft.

From NBA.com :

Short of last year’s record nine international players selected in the first round, seven players from outside the United States were chosen in the the first round this year: Andrew Bogut (Australia), Fran Vazquez (Spain), Yaroslav Korolev (Russia), Francisco Garcia (Dominican Republic), Johan Petro (France), Linas Kleiza (Lithuania) and Ian Mahinmi (France).

What interests me and most people is this though :

San Antonio has a habit of mining international gold with their less-than-desirable draft positioning. Manu Ginobili (1999, No. 57) or Tony Parker (2001, No. 28), anybody?

At No. 28 this year, the Spurs took Ian Mahinmi, an 18-year-old power forward from France. How little known was this guy? He’s not included in the official NBA Draft Media Guide and his player page on ESPN.com is bare bones. From what we’re gathering, he’s a rebounding machine ala Dennis Rodman.

Spurs have set a standard in the NBA with their draft picks and persisiting with the players they back. So we get longer contracts and lesser trades. While most NBA teams look totally different in a year or two because of the trades, Spurs have the same core bunch year in and year out, a mantra for a successful team.