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 third round entries:
Champagne
Well, Champy's paying for not doing his home work...
Cumulative Record: 9 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: 9th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Lakers in 7.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Celtics in 7.
David Gutierrez
David's still at the bottom of the JNF contest, but it wasn't from lack of effort, unlike Champy...
Cumulative Record: 8 series correct, 1 exact
Rank: 11th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Lakers in 7.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Celtics in 7.
Doug S.
The patriarch of the first family of JNF picking is right there with the missus for the final spoils. If the game ended today, there would be lots of JNF gelt in that household...
Cumulative Record: 11 series correct, 1 exact
Rank: 2nd
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (3)
Pick: Pistons in 6.
GMOTSL
GMOTSL's out of the basement with a strong second round, but in this game, you never know...
First Round Record: 9 series correct, 3 exact
Rank: 8th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Lakers in 7.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Pistons in 7.
Jen S.
Jen. S is still going strong, with another great round behind her.
First Round Record: 11 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: 1st
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Lakers in 6.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (3)
Pick: Celtics in 7.
Joe Netsfan
Joe's still grumbing to no one in particular about trusting Byron Scott's boys...when will you learn, Joe?
First Round Record: 10 series correct, 4 exact
Rank: 4th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6. Now you can call me convinced that the Spurs are the best team in the West. Sorry Kobe.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Celtics in 6. Can the Celtics survive another round? It certainly appears that Joe thinks so - looks like this is Paul Pierce's Playoff MVP to lose...
Jon Lin
Jon's proving to be successful at this game. With a bit more luck, he'd be right up there...
First Round Record: 10 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 5th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6. Just can't pick against the Spurs...
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Celtics in 7. The C's are still improving through the playoffs
Ken Gerew
Ken, being tied with Champy is never good. Time to pick it up...
First Round Record: 9 series correct, 0 exact
Rank: 10th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Lakers in 6. Have to give some credit to Kobe (boy how I hate that !) but he is playing great BUT its still not a done deal with the Spurs in the way. All 4 final teams are the cream of the crop and all can win this year. Lakers get the deciding home game but don’t think it will come to that.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Celtics in 7. Still feel that Detroit has the best 5 starters while Boston has best 3 person combo … and this will be a physical and long contest. Boston has had some issues uncovered that Detroit will pick at but still feel Boston can win this series. I don’t see either team winning a road game so it will be Boston in 7.
Rich McCabe
Rich is right there in striking distance of the lead...
First Round Record: 10 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 5th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 7.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Celtics in 7.
Steven Charny
Steven was the big time mover in the second round, currently sitting in third place. He got 3 of 4 series exactly correct. Nicely done!
First Round Record: 10 series correct, 5 exact
Rank: 3rd
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 7. Ginobili and Parker are just too tough. Could be the two most underrated and unhyped yet dominant players in the league.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs.Cavs (4)
Pick: Celtics in 7. This is a tough one. I think the C's might be out of gas--Ray Allen sure is, but I still think the home court will win out here. Wouldn't be surprised if the Pistons win it in 6 though.
Vince Vincenzo
Vince ...
First Round Record: 10 series correct, 2 exact
Rank: T- 5th
Western Conference:
Lakers (1) vs. Spurs (3)
Pick: Spurs in 6. The Lakers and Spurs have combined to win 7 of the last titles - the Shaq/Kobe Lakers being the dominant team of the early part of this decade while the Spurs have laid claim to that title lately by winning three of the last five O'Brien trophies.
If the Spurs have an answer to Kobe and make Gasol and Odom try to beat them, they'll have a good shot in beating the Lakers. Seeing how the Lakers seem to be the conventional choice (and that I need to make up some ground to win the pool) I'm betting that the Spurs can find a way.
Eastern Conference:
Celtics (1) vs. Pistons (2)
Pick: Pistons in 6. The ECF matchup everyone has been expecting since January has come to pass. The Celtics and their remarkable history, yada, yada, yada versus the Pistons who will be in the Conference Finals for a very impressive 6th straight year (just to give you an idea, in the 6 years they've played 5 different opponents - only the Heat made 2 ECF during that time).
The Celtics have looked great at home and uninterested on the road. Now they move on to a much tougher test than either the Hawks or Cavs. I'm making my pick based on the hunch that Billups' hamstring will be recovered and that Pistons experience will trump all the Celtic mystique (or hype in the case for a group of players that haven't had a history of winning rings).
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