Shared experience

PARIS [The Monday International Show] - OK, you are right the NBA playoffs' first round wasn't all that good for me prediction-wise even though I did pick six of the eight winners.

My biggest boo-boos? Dallas and Denver! Dirk Nowitzki will not be meeting Pau Gasol and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals because, despite having a talent and depth advantage, the Dallas Mavericks couldn't match the San Antonio Spurs' shared experience of winning big games together over a decade. The Mavs weren't together long enough and therefore came apart.

Same thing between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, a series nowhere near as close as I thought it would be. For San Antonio, the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili finally got healthy together at the same crucial time! George Hill, Antonio McDyess and Richard Jefferson were good complements and came through constantly on defence and sporadically on offence.

I also over-rated the Denver Nuggets, who were too nervous playing without head coach George Karl (they had four technical fouls in Game 6) and also too dependant offensively on Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups (who will not be in a conference final for the first time since 2002!). A healthy Carlos Boozer compensated for the Utah Jazz being without Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko while the best point guard in the world right now, Deron Williams, achieved a rare series average of 25 points and 10 assists a game, wow!

Now onto the six predictions I got right even though I misjudged too often the final tally. Paul Pierce took Miami's heart with his buzzer-beating winner at the end of Game 3 and, like the Spurs, the Celtics woke up at just the right time.

I also over-estimated the Charlotte Bobcats' potential as the Orlando Magic swept them easily. Now head coach Larry Brown can choose a new destination as the players seemed content enough to have made the playoffs for the first time in club history. Orlando showed varied and impressive firepower, something that Chicago sorely lacked against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LeBron James played like the unstoppable MVP that he is, but the Bulls put up a fight with limited means as Frenchman Joakim Noah did his typical "Hate Me" routine with Clevelanders but gets my respect for standing up for his beleaguered coach, Vinny Del Negro, who did a good job despite mucho turmoil!

Some of Chicago's former offensive firepower, John Salmons, lit up the Atlanta Hawks with the help of Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino, Luc Richard M'bah a Mouté and Ersan Ilyasova, all of whom have great international experience. The Bucks' General Manager and Executive of the Year John Hammond fished a great catch in the mid-season trade waters with Salmons haha! Atlanta, eternally inconsistent, finally came out of their three-game coma in Game 6 in Milwaukee and comfortably closed out the series at home.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, like Milwaukee, came similarly close in their battle with the Lakers where a hurting Kobe Bryant intelligently deferred to Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The only thing standing between Durant and 'LeBron-like unstoppability' is learning how to attack a brute like Ron Artest with his quickness and height advantage. This will come with time.

The Phoenix Suns outlasted the hobbled yet courageous Portland Trailblazers but the Suns' recent history against the Spurs doesn't bode well for them in their conference semi-final match-up. If shared experience continues to be the key in these playoffs, then LA should meet San Antonio in an historic remake for the ages whereas an explosive Cleveland-Orlando rematch should draw a lot of pro wrestling fans to the arenas!

Imagine Superman 1 vs Superman 2 and the LeBrontosaurus vs Vinsanity - it's marquee match-up time! Who knows, the decisive duel might be between a Full Nelson and "can I keep my Mojo working" Williams!

In the final analysis, this first round of the NBA playoffs was passionate thanks to the highly-internationalised Bucks and the young Thunder's surprising resiliency but also for a highly-emotional Texas shootout.

George EDDY