Final Thoughts on 2009-10 NBA Season: Where being right feels wrong

After two rounds of pretty lackluster basketball, the final two rounds of the NBA Playoffs finally delivered the goods—most notably this year's Finals, the same matchup I had predicted at the beginning of the year (for the second straight year). And if this post doesn't end up looking as catastrophic as the NHL Final Thoughts did, my logic was still the same in hoping that like my 2009 picks, the predicted runner-up would actually triumph once again. Instead, things ended up exactly as I pretty much feared they would, with the Lakers pretty much waltzing through the West before getting probably the stiffest challenge they've had for any of of the five titles Phil Jackson has brought to the team.

My own prognosticating this post-season was an improvement over last year's mark (and at least this year, I was no worse than Jalen Rose), but there were certainly those who did better:

1. (1) Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports: 13-2 (6)

2. (2) Tim Legler, ESPN: 12-3 (4)

 3. (5) David Thorpe, ESPN: 12-3 (3)

3. (6) Ken Berger, CBS Sports: 12-3 (3)

3. (6) John Hollinger, ESPN: 12-3 (3)

6. (3) Kenny Smith, Yahoo: 12-2 (2)
7. (8) Johnny Ludden, Yahoo: 11-4 (5)

8. (4) Chris Broussard, ESPN: 11-4 (4)
8. (10) Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports: 11-4 (4)
10. (10) Henry Abbott, ESPN: 11-4 (3)

10. (13) Chad Ford, ESPN: 11-4 (3)

 10. (13) Marc J. Spears, Yahoo: 11-4 (3)

13. (15) Greg Urbano, CBS Sports: 11-4 (2)

14. (8) Nunzio Ingrassia, CBS Sports: 10-5 (4)
15. (17) Jalen Rose, ESPN: 10-5 (3)

15. (10) YOURS TRULY: 10-5 (3)
17. (18) Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo: 9-5 (4)

18. (16) J.A. Adande, ESPN: 9-6 (3)
19. (19) Marc Stein, ESPN: 9-6 (2)
20. (19) Chris Sheridan, ESPN: 8-7 (2)

So indeed that's an improvement from the cellar spot I occupied at the end of the last year, but I blame last year's poor performance mostly on hating on the Lakers too early—even though it's something I've done seemingly all my life now. I was a bit more patient this season and didn't pick against them until the Finals—and honestly, I'd have to believe it would be Boston raising another banner had Kendrick Perkins not gone down and missed the finale.

But once again, I can't fault L.A. for being one of the few NBA teams that actually had all the weapons necessary this year. And seeing as half the league decided to basically take a pass on a title in 2010 in favor of possibly landing LeBron, I can only hope that the upcoming free agent frenzy indeed delivers the supposedly radical changes to the landscape of the league we've been hearing about all year now. I would look forward to NOT picking another Lakers-Celtics final next year—even though there's a pretty good chance both teams could be largely the same and thus still favorites to return.

The one series I wanted so badly to be wrong about ends up being one of the couple picks from the beginning of the year I actually had right (NOTE: I don't know why Blogger's HTML is so bitchy with this bullshit again ... my apologies):

Opening Round Playoffs

#1 Cavaliers over #8 Raptors in 5 games

#2 Celtics over #7 Wizards in 5 games

#3 Magic over #6 Heat in 7 games

#5 Bulls over #4 Hawks in 6 games

#1 Lakers over #8 Hornets in 6 games

#2 Spurs over #7 Suns in 5 games

#3 Nuggets over #6 Jazz in 6 games

#5 Mavericks over #4 Trailblazers in 7 games

Conference Semifinals 

#1 Cavaliers over #5 Bulls in 5 games

#2 Celtics over #3 Magic in 7 games

#1 Lakers over #5 Mavericks in 5 games

#2 Spurs over #3 Nuggets in 6 games

Conference Finals

#2 Celtics over #1 Cavaliers in 6 games

#1 Lakers over #2 Spurs in 7 games

NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers over Boston Celtics in 6 games

Luckily, this glee in Laker Nation shall be quickly forgotten around these parts. The Bulls introduced a real head coach today (OK, with admittedly no real head coaching experience, but gimme a break; this most certainly won't be Vinny Redux). The NBA Draft is tomorrow. And the LeBron sweepstakes officially kick off in about a week. Still, I begrudgingly admit that this season, Lakers fans got the most impressive title win of any they've had so far here in this 21st century.

I'm just happy that the rest of the country's already moving on to thinking about next year.