NBA Finals Prediction: "Look at these fucking hipsters ..."

I believe I was one of perhaps like four people who did not initially predict that Miami would be meeting Oklahoma City for the NBA Championship this season (see here ... or here, for example), and I attribute that reluctance to the doubts I had about the Thunder. Talented as all hell, sure, but still need another year or two of coming up short before they get to the Finals. Or so I thought.

Most of us who are not still blinded by the rage caused by the debacle known as "The Decision" can admit that LeBron James has arguably been the best player in the league for a number of seasons now, but these playoffs have allowed another player to possibly take over that title along with the Larry O'Brien Trophy: Kevin Durant.

While I typically say how the NHL playoffs are more entertaining than the NBA playoffs right around this time of year (or so it seems), this year has indeed provided some quite stellar basketball the past few weeks. It is now only appropriate that it come down to the Heat and the Thunder.

Just to be clear, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals pulled in the highest rating ever for an NBA game on cable, and now with this level of starpower for all the marbles, we're talking about possibly the highest ratings of this century.

NHL Stanley Cup Final Prediction: In which the lowest seed ever wins the Cup

And so it comes to this. Had you asked me to write down all the possible head-to-heads for the Stanley Cup when these playoffs began and then order them in descending likelihood, I have to wonder how far this would have been from the bottom. I'd like to believe it would be closer to the middle somewhere, but I can say with tremendous certainty that it definitely would have ranked fairly low at the beginning of this season.

You're usually lucky if you get one Cinderella in the Final, and here we've technically got two.

The Devils were definitely a stronger kind of a six-seed, seeing as they did still finish the year with more than 100 points and were sort of a universal favorite to beat the Panthers in the first round. Still, very few people had them getting much further than that, let alone play in the last series of the year.

And the Kings? They had their handfuls of believers in those first two rounds before a clear majority caught on that they've been in a different gear ever since this postseason started. It's not the series many of us were expecting, but that sure as hell doesn't mean it won't be interesting.

NBA Playoff Confrence Finals Predictions: Another edition of Age & Wisdom v. Youth & Explosiveness

In the quest to crown a new NBA Champion, we are down to the final four teams. And while the Heat are certain to command a lot of attention just by still being around, the series that is likely going to feel more like the "must-see" television will be the Western Conference Finals. Indeed, I did want to use this image to indicate the marquee matchup that we're looking at, but the truth is that the Spurs and the Thunder are more than just one-dimensional teams. All four teams really are, although Miami's two at this point is barely an exception.

Anyway, the Thunder had been predominant favorites to win the West throughout the season, but it now appears that with Spurs still waiting to experience their first loss in these playoffs, many of us are acknowledging that San Antonio has reasonably established its legitimacy as the team to beat. Can the Thunder live up to their young potential? Or will the Spurs' wily veterans prove that with age comes wisdom?

Before we get to my own picks, I actually had time to compile a few other records of predictions thus far in these playoffs.

Final Thoughts on 2011-12 Chicago Blackhawks and 2011-12 Chicago Bulls: Where it all fell apart

The hopes were oh-so-high, and they came crashing down oh-so-quickly. All too quickly. As this little graphic demonstrates, it's an eerily similar pattern to the fates of three Chicago teams this past year, and for this fan, it hurts a little more when you recall that the Atlanta Braves imploded and lost a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season.

Oh, sure. Maybe I should have broken these two teams in separate posts, but really, the endings for both teams arrived much sooner than expected, separated only by a couple weeks. One set of hopes ended in April while the other's were extinguished in May when there were once again notions both could be playing in June. Two first round exits for both Chicago clubs, and now the question that needs to be asked is, "Will either one is going to be any closer to a championship next season?"

Sure, we could sit here and harp about the injustice of having to watch some thug knock the Blackhawks' top scorer out for the remainder of the playoffs on yet another unquestionable cheap shot. Or we could bemoan what might have been had the Bulls not lost both Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, but again, what might have been or what was supposed to be is rather pointless now. You have to wonder whether these teams are going to be considered contenders when next year begins.

The Braves' First Quarter: Encouraging signs?

I guess if something's going to dull the still healing wound that is both the Blackhawks and Bulls being eliminated much earlier than I'd anticipated, it might as well be good news about the Braves. Last year's disappointing finish began a pretty painful series of finishes to the respective campaigns from the Four Bs. So perhaps we're all due for a new cycle.

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but it is important to remember that there are now two wild cards for the postseason, so sitting in first place after the first 41 games is certainly a good place to be. Still, my preseason picks to get into the playoffs from this division are currently in the bottom two spots instead, but I highly doubt that will stand for all that much longer. Nonetheless, the Braves rebounded quite nicely from starting the year 0-4 by winning something like 10 of their next 11.

It is largely a surprise to me that the it's the team's offense that has been propelling the success more than the pitching. The picture for this quarter's graphic comes from a wild win that happened the night of my birthday, no less. It was a wild back-and-forth with the Phillies that ended with Chipper hitting an 11th inning walk-off homer. If Atlanta continues to produce runs at this rate and the pitching indeed becomes more solid, then who's really to say what the limit is?

If the Braves can stay healthy, it certainly appears they can stay in the playoff conversation too.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Conference Finals Predictions: It's funny because I thought I couldn't do worse than last year

Sure enough, I did not get a single one of my picks right last round. While I have not been keeping up with the picks of others as diligently as I used to in the past, judging what I glanced at, it's not as though I'm the only one who did not foresee the first two rounds of the NHL playoffs unfolding like this.

The top-seeded New York Rangers have to be feeling pretty good about living up to the hype so far, and indeed the team's fans have to like the remaining competition. However, I've been among the many who've been fooled into thinking somebody's going to start lighting up Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith, the two goalies pictured in this post, sooner or later. So far, we've all been totally wrong and, as a result, when two of the best goalies in these playoffs meet in the Western Conference Finals, the winner's team won't just be playing for the Stanley Cup, but the winning goaltender will very likely be accepting the Conn Smythe.

It's been one of those rare years where every seeming underdog goes out and proves us observers and prognosticators wrong, but just for shits & giggles ...

Round Two NBA Playoffs Predictions: Suddenly less fun than previous round

The first round of the NBA Playoffs is not yet over, but the second round has already gotten underway. So I'll have to take a moment off from moping about the Bulls' bad fortune (and uncertain future) to begin making predictions for that next round.

No sense in being all salty, as surely I'll get some solid basketball viewing enjoyment from some other city's teams at some point here in the next couple weeks. In all honesty, it seems logical to assume that only another pair of catastrophic injuries to critical players can stop the Miami Heat from once again representing the Eastern Conference in this year's Finals. As for the West, well ... I'm still not so sure. Essentially between the top two seeds, but the possibility of that Western Conference Finals matchup is enticing.

Still, who's to say what can happen now? The eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers advanced despite being a pretty bad basketball team with a half-full arena, so maybe the clock has not yet struck midnight for that Cinderella (albeit one pretty ugly Cinderella). Maybe something in this round will have me less bitter come the start of the next one.

The Bulls' Fourth Quarter: Gosh, what could possibly go wrong?

Hey, look ... I'm not going to lie. The Bulls' regular season ended weeks ago and with today being the first Sunday in May, the team unbelievably might have a Final Thoughts column coming much sooner than expected. And if it happens within the next couple weeks here, as long as I'm behind, I might as well combine the Final Thoughts for both the Bulls and the Blackhawks into one post, because they're goddamn splitting images of disappointment. Welcome to summer, Chicago!

Realistically, every single time I have taken time out to focus on what the Bulls' record was at the quarter-marks of this shortened season, the question was always the same: Are they really going to be able to beat the Heat? Same question all year long.

So with the Bulls having indeed secured home with an impressive 50-16 record for the regular season, how was I feeling as we entered the playoffs? No more confident than I did last year, hence, the chosen image of the fingers (taken from here). Sure, the Sixers sounded like a far more favorable matchup than the Knicks in the first round, and maybe even the Pacers could be a bit more of a thorn in the side for Miami in the second round. 

But realistically, the team sort of stumble a bit in April to close out the year. Not only did the Bulls drop a game to the hated Heat, but they also got positively blown out by Oklahoma City, the likely team in waiting even if Chicago somehow got by Miami. 

Such talk of hypothetical Finals matchups is now, of course, silly. But they were fun to entertain back when, you know, the playoffs hadn't started yet.

Round Two NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: Favorites Fall So Soon

So, much like those NBA picks I just published, thoughts and commentary here will be forthcoming. Same goes for how everyone has fared on their picks thus far, but for now, we'll just get to an overall recap of my predictions for this next round.

Round One NBA Playoffs Predictions: Let the real Heat-hating begin

After managing to throw together a 66-game regular season, the playoffs have finally arrived. Seeing as I'm trying to post these picks from the middle of Futt Buck, Texas, (on my phone, no less) thoughts will be non-exsistent this round. I still have to post the NHL picks too, after all.