A: Winner take all
Pickin' Magicians To The Seventh Power
Our Nets are out of the playoffs, but we think we should keep one of our traditions alive here at JNF - the seventh annual playoff Pickin' Magicians contest! The rules are as follows - YOU pick the winners of each series by round - the winner of this contest is the player who, at the end of the playoffs, has picked the most series correctly. Your "in x games" picks will break ties: most series picked exactly wins. If that's a tie, we'll pick the entrant who was least far off in the series he or she picked correctly (click here to see last year's game). Pithy comments not required but always appreciated.
Here are the second round entries:
Champagne
Champy's bringing up the rear, or close to it, once again. You see, you need to pay attention during the season so you can predict the playoffs, my man. Is it too early to say better luck next year?
First Round Record: 6 series correct, 0 exact
Rank: T- 9th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 6.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 7.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Magic in 7.
David Gutierrez
David finds himself at the bottom looking up, but a big round here and he's right back in it...
First Round Record: 5 series correct, 1 exact
Rank: T- 11th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 7.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Hornets in 7 .
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6.
Doug S.
Doug's looking for this third win (in 7 years), and he's off to a hot start, sitting in prime position to regain the lead from Mrs. S....
First Round Record: 7 series correct, 0 exact
Rank: 3rd
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 6.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 5 .
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6.
GMOTSL
GMOTSL says: "Ok, ol' GMOTSL is behind the eight ball thanks to his lousy Suns and Raptors picks, but he's feeling good about the second round." Go get 'em, even though the first round wasn't stellar, he's still in there swinging...
First Round Record: 5 series correct, 1 exact
Rank: T - 11th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 6. Both teams are loaded with talent and are very well coached. Both teams have great chemistry and consistency. The deciding factor? Who has home court, and who has the best player overall in the series.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6 . It comes down to balance. NO is athletic and hungry, but the San Antonio guys are wily and a better balance. It'll be an entertaining series, but this is the round where NO's "lack of experience" shows. Popovich will outcoach Byron Scott over the course of the series.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 5.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 5. Hopefully, the Pistons are finally awake. Orlando will play tough but they don't have enough depth, and the length of Prince should bother Lewis and Turkoglu enough. Will Dwight come out to guard Rasheed on the perimeter? Who will chase Rip all day? Dwight can average 20 and 15, and it won't be enough.
Jen S.
Jen. S., co-champ last year, on top of the leaderboard this year. That's what you call consistent...
First Round Record: 7 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 1st
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 5.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6 .
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6.
Joe Netsfan
Joe's sitting with Jen. S atop the leaderboard, and he wants it bad. Even though the prize won't be his, the bragging rights will...
First Round Record: 7 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 1st
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 5. Lakers are primed to make another Finals appearance, and nowhere do I see anyone able to slow them down. The Jazz certainly won't.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Hornets in 7. You would think by now that Joe would know not to pick against the Spurs, but we're liking the energy of the Hornets.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 7. A pick against LeBron is even tougher with the way the Celtics were taken to a Game 7 by Atlanta. Something tells me they've learned their lesson, and will find a way to get past LeBron and co.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 5. The Magic are a good team. The Pistons, while not a great team, are much better than the Magic.
Jon Lin
Jon isn't too far out of first place, either. Not bad for a newcomer...
First Round Record: 6 series correct, 1 exact
Rank: T- 7th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 7.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 7.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 5.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6.
Ken Gerew
Ken, being tied with Champy is never good. Time to pick it up...
First Round Record: 6 series correct, 0 exact
Rank: T- 9th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 7. As long as Utah plays home games they have a shot to win ... but the deciding game is in LA
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Hornets in 7. This is a heartbreaker .. both teams deserve to be playing for the confrenece title but someone has to lose to make it .. Paul is for real .. but so is Duncan and the Spurs ... its a coin toss for this one.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6. Boston was extended way more than I ever would have expected but still think they can handle James and the gamg ...
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6. Detroit has awoken but will again have hands full with Howard and the Magic ...
Rich McCabe
Rich is right there in striking distance of the lead...
First Round Record: 6 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 5th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 5.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 7.
Steven Charny
Steven's also right on the cusp on stardom. Here's to a big second round...
First Round Record: 6 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 5th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 6.
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 7.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6.
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 5.
Vince Vincenzo
Vince is still in it, though it's going to be a rough road...
First Round Record: 6 series correct, 1 exact
Rank: T- 7th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Jazz (5)
Pick: Lakers in 5. I'm picking the Lakers - too much talent plus they have the homecourt advantage (Utah was under .500 on the road this season).
Hornets (2) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 7. I'd love to see Chris Paul and the Hornets advance to the WC Finals, but there's just too much experience on the Spurs side to go against them. For the Spurs this postseason besides going for their 5th title in 10 years, they may have to win multiple series without the homecourt advantage to get the one for the thumb.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 6. The Celtics played like a team with little playoff winning experience against the Hawks. Will it be too much to ask to play hard for 48 minutes once on the road at least a few times in the playoffs? There's not going to be any banners going to the roof of whatever they're calling the Fleet Center these days if they mail it in on the road.
Fortunately for them, they're facing a one-dimensional team as their opponent - granted, maybe the most talented one dimension in the NBA, but still who else are the Cavs going to in the clutch?
The Celtics find a way to win in 6 and go back to the ECF - which will mean another Boston tradition (one I've vented about before here) - celebrating the meaningless "great" win from years past. It used to be Game 6 of the '75 World Series for the Sox. For the Celtics its become Game 3 of the 2002 ECF. How many times are we going to be subjected shot of Paul Pierce standing on top of the scorers table at the Fleet Center? NEWS FLASH - the Celtics then spit the bit the next three games and lost the series to our Nets! But I digress...
Pistons (2) vs. Magic (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6. The Magic move on after six straight first round defeats to meet the Pistons, who looked disinterested in the first three and a half games versus the Sixers. Once again, I'm picking the team with the most playoff experience.
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