Stretch run

PARIS (The Monday International Show) - The NBA thorough-breds are coming down the stretch of this regular season which feels as long as the Belmont Stakes but still can reserve some surprises and suspense up to the 82nd game!

The two biggest questions are who will win the East and who will finish second in the West?

Boston seems to be faltering after the Kendrick Perkins trade put a hex on their chemistry, while Chicago is constantly brilliant thanks to coach of the year Tom Thibodeau's playoff-style defense and sharing offense and MVP Derrick Rose's progress in all aspects of the game. If Michael Jordan thinks Rose is MVP and Chicago a serious candidate for the title NOW, then that's good enough for me!

Miami is making a nice comeback after hitting rock bottom in the "crying game", but their lack of shared experience will be a handicap against the big boys in the playoffs.

Let's say that an Eastern Conference Finals pitting Boston against Chicago looks probable and the home-court advantage looks decisive. The idea of LeBron meeting up with Boston in the playoffs or Joakim Noah duelling with Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett has me licking my chops already.

Other questions in the East concern whether Indiana or Charlotte will finish eighth and make the playoffs but also, will New York hold on to sixth place despite an improved Philadelphia team that coach Doug Collins has nicely molded into a winning young group.

I applaud the way the Bobcats have not given up despite the trade of their leader, Gerald Wallace, and I applaud my own prediction that Tyler Hansbrough could play at the NBA level despite all the expert doubters.

I'll conclude this Eastern Conference overview by predicting that Ettore Messina will finally be making the jump to the NBA in some capacity with either Toronto or New Jersey next season.

Let's go West,young men, and try to figure out who will finish second behind an untouchable Spurs winning machine.

The Lakers have a string of seven home games coming up and that should be the difference even though Dallas has played great all season except when Dirk Nowitzki was hurt.

French role players Roddy Beaubois and Ian Mahinmi are fitting in smoothly and Dallas has some big bodies to throw up against the Lakers' forest in the Conference Semi-Finals but if Andrew Bynum keeps up his recent level of play the Lakers should beat Dallas and San Antonio (homecourt advatage or not) to go back to the NBA Finals for Phil Jackson's last "Last dance"!

Once again Phil has gotten his team to play its best basketball as the playoffs approach, just like he said he would do.

The five to eight seeds in the West are a toss-up but the top eight seems pretty much set.

I see Kevin Durant finishing second to Rose in the MVP voting because the Thunder beautifully progressed from eighth to fourth in the conference but Rose's Chicago might go from eighth to FIRST in the East.

New Orleans, Memphis, New York, Philadelphia and, of course, Miami have also improved considerably compared to last season.

Let me add that FIBA's decision concerning Great Britain's participation in the 2012 Olympics is a golden oppurtunity for basketball to finally take off there, somewhat similar to the way the Dream Team took the NBA global in 1992.

My last comment is a message of profound friendship and respect for our Japanese friends in Sendai where I thoroughly enjoyed covering the first week of competition during the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

I discovered Japan, its people and culture at that time and was deeply touched. My heart sincerely goes out to you all.