Disclaimer before we begin, should these teams listen to a guy who has never even cracked 40 wins in a single season? Absolutely not, but if you made it this far take a few more minutes and peruse the rest. Plus, I have traded with all 4 of these teams, and some of their key pieces today previously wore Philly red, white, and blue so I can live vicariously through each of these teams and think (however delusional) what could have been?
Alpha Conference
#3 Denver Nuggets vs #5 Los Angeles Lakers
Regular season results
12/3/34 (Denver): 112-84 Nuggets
3/8/35 (Los Angeles): 92-90 Lakers
3/12/35 (Los Angeles): 109-101 Nuggets
3/16/35 (Denver): 113-110 Nuggets
Nuggets won 3-1
Outlook for the Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets, maybe to the surprise of some, have survived back-to-back 7 game series against the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks only to see a familiar face, Jerry West and the Los Angeles Lakers. Beset by injuries at the beginning of the playoffs the Nuggets have played some hard-nosed defense and rallied around their star players David Leiker and Mo Bamba with key contributions from James Barton and a defensive renaissance from James Kirkendall who is averaging 22 points per game and an obscene 4.7 blocks per game this postseason. Many foresaw this postseason as the coming-out party for David Leiker, however, Mo Bamba deserves just as much credit for the Nuggets resurgence this postseason. Bamba has been a man possessed as the Wizards and Bucks can probably attest to now. Their gameplans simply could not contain Bamba. Big Mo is averaging a nightly double-double at 28/11 and looking ahead Bamba is more than capable to wreak havoc yet again against a rather thin Lakers’ frontcourt. The Lakers must figure out a way to limit the damage in the paint if they want to move on to the PBSL Finals.
Outlook for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Nuggets-Lakers series is definitely made for Hollywood as the storylines write themselves. The Jerry West-David Leiker matchup will definitely live up to the hype, however, while David Leiker is deservedly receiving praise for his stellar performance another young, budding superstar is showing up this postseason too, Delmar Lopez. Much to the delight of his patient owner, Lopez continues his ascent into PBSL stardom completely running roughshod over the Spurs and Pacers. But the young guys and West’s homecoming should not hog all the spotlight as another career milestone will be achieved once the Lakers take this court for Game 1 as ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich is making his first PBSL Conference Finals of his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career. West and Maravich will have their hands full guarding the ultra-athletic Leiker and Barton, but this may be their “easiest” backcourt yet as the Lakers have already faced off against the Spurs’ Johnathan Lewis/Daniel Yandell/Clifford Paugh and the Pacers’ John Stoll, Michael Camby, and Josh Jackson. The X-factor in this series might just be another reliable veteran, Patrick Edmunds. If Edmunds provides a scoring punch like he did in the Lakers-Pacers series I think the Lakers elite perimeter game can overcome the frontcourt’s lack of depth.
Prediction
The Nuggets have the edge in gameplanning with a savvy, veteran GM. TheSyndicate has found a winning formula and executed it to perfection, but greepleairport is no slouch. He has enjoyed some recent postseason success, and I trust his ability to maximize his veteran core’s strengths in what should be a very tight, highly contested series. I think Jerry West brings Leiker down to earth, albeit ever so slightly, but it will be enough to make the difference.
Keepit100’s Keepin it Real Prediction: Lakers in 7
Omega Conference
#3 Los Angeles Clippers vs #4 Dallas Mavericks
Regular season results
11/2/34 (Los Angeles): 137-131 Mavericks
11/27/34 (Dallas): 139-129 Mavericks
12/26/34 (Los Angeles): 126-110 Mavericks
2/18/35 (Los Angeles): 133-117 Clippers
3/23/35 (Dallas): 142-112 Clippers
Mavericks won 3-2
Outlook for the Dallas Mavericks
Fresh off vanquishing two of the most successful GMs in PBSL history, letsplayhorse and the Mavericks return to the Conference Finals for the 2nd time in three seasons. I imagine he hopes this year will be a little different than last time when he was swept by the eventual PBSL Champion Toronto Raptors. But make no mistake, the Mavericks have been a solid playoff team for a few years now so their success should not be a surprise to anyone in the league. I think its strengths will pose an interesting challenge to the Clippers. The game plan revolves around Jarrett Allen and his dominance inside the paint will be contested by All-League talent Glen Sabo and back-to-back-to-back MVP Boban. Allen will need help to shoulder the load in the paint so AC Williams and John Vines will need to provide more scoring than they have so far if they want to have success against the Clippers in the frontcourt. The Mavericks have a potent perimeter game with Josh Okogie, Burt Gibson, Romeo Langford, and Geoff Rickley and I think this will be an interesting test for the Clippers to contend with this series. If the Mavericks find their 3-point touch, I think they are capable of pulling off another shocker. But that is a big IF.
Outlook for the Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are no stranger to playoff success. Fresh off a Finals appearance last season, they ran it back with the same squad but upgraded at PG with superstar BDJ and made a deadline splash for Hollis Wiley. The squad is led by back-to-back-to-back MVP Boban Marjanovich and All-League talent Glen Sabo in the frontcourt. The Mavericks frontcourt will have their hands full with these two superstars and BDJ’s elite playmaking ability is the recipe for a perfect pick-and-roll offense time and time again. The Clippers will come into this series as the overwhelming favorites and deservedly so. The Clippers are definitely going to tax jail next season but when you are 8 wins away from a title, who the frye cares?
Prediction
Everyone loves a good Cinderella story and without March Madness this year the Mavericks have been a good substitute for a ragtag team of overachievers facing off against the big, bad bully on the PBSL block. I love rooting for the underdog, but I think it will soon strike midnight for the Mavs. The Clippers' strengths and its team full of bonafide star power will be just too much to overcome.
Keepit100’s Keepin it Real Prediction: Clippers in 5
Tl;dr Get ready La La Land, the Staples Center showdown nobody wants is coming soon to a PBSL simputer near you.
Good luck everyone, prove me wrong!
