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Some people are a little down on this years NBA playoffs and I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

I realize people are busy with school, work and American Idol, but this years playoff race has been absolutely amazing and the very definition of must see TV.  With so many different things competing for our precious attention, though, I have compiled a list of the top ten reasons why you should be catching the rest of the NBA playoffs:

1] If you grew up watching basketball in the ’80s and ’90s there is a good chance you have found yourself reminiscing while watching recent games.  The amount of hard fouls and seemingly genuine distaste between players has brought old school basketball back.  If only the NBA would stop fining/suspending the hell out everyone!

2] Jumping on the NBA bandwagon is the perfect excuse to go drinking with friends after work on a Tuesday night without feeling like an alcoholic.  Down a few Jäger bombs on an ordinary weeknight and you apparently have drinking problems.  Doing the same in conjunction with your team winning and you’re just celebrating like any good fan would.

3] There are a few bona fide superstars still alive in the playoffs and one of them is Kobe Bryant.  A staple of excellent play for the last decade, the still elite Bryant can’t last forever so you better get your fill while you can.  Plus, for you casual fans, there is always a lot of drama and intrigue surrounding the Lakers, so making the transition from day-time soap watcher to Lakers aficionado is a breeze.

4] Long time NBA watchers have had a lot to enjoy in this years playoffs.  For instance, anyone who watched Boston hoist up another banner last year has had two questions on their mind since the playoffs started this year: can the Celtics repeat and will Kevin Garnett go all Willis Reed on us if Boston goes deep into the playoffs?

5] While there has certainly been a number of blowouts thus far, there have also been some legendary overtime thrillers.  The Boston/Chicago series featured many nail-biting games and will be talked about amongst hoop-heads for years to come.  With a little luck both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals will do the same.

6] Remember back in 2005 when the San Antonio Spurs beat the Detroit Pistons?  Not many people do because both teams were excellent on defense and struggled to score a lot of points.  This year is much more casual fan friendly because there have been a lot of fast paced, high scoring games.  Three teams still in the playoffs average at least 100 points per game, and all teams that have a chance to go to the conference finals average at least 94.

7] People who love to hear some solid trash talking are basking in the playoffs back and forth banter. Technical fouls have been dished out by the bushel as players try to get in each others heads. When an owner (Mark Cuban) gets into it with a player’s (Kenyon Martin) mom, you know the trash talking is top notch.

8] If the last decade belonged in part to Kobe Bryant, the next one will have its lion’s share held by Lebron James.  Voted this years regular season MVP, James somehow continues to get better despite already being one of the best players in the league.  In other words, he is reason enough to watch this years playoffs.

9] Most TV series are coming to an end, and while we will all miss our favorite shows (go Scrubs!), the playoffs can certainly help fill the void. There is plenty of action, drama, suspense and comedy (both intentional and unintentional) to help hold you over until fall.

10] The last reason is by far the most obvious: basketball is awesome.  Seeing some of the best athletes in the world go at it in one of the best sports to watch on TV is a real treat.  I defy you to not get excited when James throws down a monster dunk or when Dwight Howard swats a ball into the third row.

Take it from someone who watches a lot of basketball — it’s not possible.

Image Source: therundown.tv

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for the NBA apparel and memorabilia you need to support your favorite team.

The NBA just released the top selling jerseys for 2008-09 season.  And guess who’s #1?   Yes, it’s Kobe!  Kobe returned to his rightful place at the top of the list replacing Kevin Garnett, who was tops in 2008, of the champion Boston Celtics. I guess winning the MVP, leading the Lakers to the NBA finals, and leading Team USA to gold makes you pretty popular.  Also making the list was his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Pau Gasol coming in at #6. Here’s the rest of the top 10:

1.) Kobe Bryant
2.) Kevin Garnett
3.) LeBron James
4.) Chris Paul
5.) Allen Iverson
6.) Pau Gasol
7.) Paul Pierce
8.) Dwyane Wade
9.) Derrick Rose
10.) Nate Robinson

*this is based off the start of the 2008-09 season till January

The only player I’m surprised is not in there is Dwight Howard.  I mean, didn’t he just receive the most votes for this year’s All-Star Game? What do you think about the top 10?

“K.G., you may have won the NBA title! But my jersey is kind of a BIG DEAL!!”

Source: ESPN.com and NBA.com

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A lot is being made of USA Olympic Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s decision not to play Jason Kidd in the final minutes of a recent exhibition game against Russia.

Kidd was supposed to be a leader of the team, who after suffering crushing defeats in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and not winning a major international tournament since 2000, is clearly in need of something. That something was supposed to be Kidd, whose experience and leadership was supposed to help transform the Redeem Team into something closer to the glory days of the Dream Team.

However, the emergence of Chris Paul and Deron Williams has at the very least made Krzyzewski and company question who will receive the bulk of the minutes and how to best integrate the other two into the lineup. What it got me thinking was who the best point guards in the league are.

So I asked myself if I had to start the next season with any point guard; who would it be? Assuming that it was for one year only and the only goal was to win a NBA championship this year, here is my list for the top four.

4] Steve Nash: Nash is difficult to peg because while he has led one of the most prolific offenses this decade, there are some questions about his defense and age. A couple years ago he would have been a lock to be number one on this list, but at age 34 the decision is complicated.

He was second in assists per game last season and has averaged at least 10 since arriving in Phoenix, but his numbers in Dallas weren’t nearly as strong. This makes one wonder how effective he will be in a more traditional offense, like the one he looks to have next year with Shaq.

3] Tony Parker: It is hard to argue against Parker’s resume. Since being drafted 28^th overall by San Antonio in 2001, Parker has won three NBA championships and was the NBA Finals MVP in 2007. He works the pick and roll as well as anybody in the league and is deadly around the basket.

One could argue that he has the benefit of playing alongside Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, but you don’t see the point guards that play with Yao Ming, Kevin Garnett or Dwight Howard on here.

2] Deron Williams: Williams is in a difficult situation. He plays for a franchise that housed one of the all-time greats in John Stockton and Williams was drafted one spot higher than Chris Paul in 2005. As a result, he will be compared to Paul his entire career, but maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

He only scored about two points less than Paul a game last season and shot slightly better than Paul from the field and from behind the arc. The greatest thing you can say about Williams at this point: it isn’t crazy to argue that one day he ends up with more hardware on his fingers and in his trophy case than Paul.

1] Chris Paul: Even with the high upside of Williams, in the last year no player in the NBA has had their stock rise higher than Paul. He’s played a huge part in reinvigorating not only the Hornets, but the city of New Orleans.

Paul was the biggest reason the Hornets secured a number two seed in the mighty western conference last year and has turned Tyson Chandler into the player the Chicago Bulls hoped he would be. If that wasn’t amazing enough, among point guards last year Paul was a statistical powerhouse – second in scoring, first in steals and first in assists (on a per/game average).

That’s good enough to be number one on my list – and if Team USA wants to bring home the gold – Krzyzewski better have Paul as first on his.

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There was some media speculation that the top of the NBA draft was facing a possible shake up, but the first three picks ended up playing out pretty much as most people thought they would.

The Chicago Bulls chose hometown hero Derrick Rose number one overall and it’s hard to argue that he is not going to be a star. One thing to consider, however, is that he lands among a Chicago backcourt already overcrowded with the likes of over-paid Larry Hughes, over-hyped Ben Gordon, and over-paid/hyped Kirk Hinrich. Plus Rose’s nickname is Pooh, making him the player most likely to have his name be the butte of a poor joke (or in this case pun).

Michael Beasley put all the speculation of Riley’s man crush on O.J. Mayo to rest when he was drafted second overall by the Heat. One thing he didn’t do is trick David Stern like he said he would. There were issues about his character going into the draft and I wonder if he was advised by his agent/entourage not to go through with the fake-handshake. Childish antics aside, he did set a record for college freshman by racking up an astounding 28 double-doubles last season and is sure to make an impact on the Heat from day one.

Here is when the draft got interesting. In front of a national TV audience and to no one’s surprise, Kevin McHale did something stupid. Despite my earnest pleas, he selected USC guard O.J. Mayo third overall. I can’t say that I was surprised – after all he did give away the beloved Kevin Garnett for 30 cents on the dollar – but at this point we all have to agree to call bad basketball decisions, McHalean decisions.

“Did you hear about that trade?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t just bad. It was a McHalean bad.”

The rumored Supersonics/Clippers trade fell through the cracks, then for some reason Seattle decided to draft Russell Westbrook about a million spots too high. Hyperbole aside (and this is coming from a Bruins fan), Westbrook wasn’t even the undeniable best point guard on his team last year.

UCLA’s Kevin Love went fifth to the Memphis Grizzlies, the place where good young talent goes to squander in irrelevance. The Clippers took sharpshooter Eric Gordon of Indiana seventh overall and I personally can’t wait for him to make his first all-star team as a member of another team.

The Bucks traded for offensive juggernaut Richard Jefferson, pairing him with Michael Redd and creating in theory a killer one-two punch. Then the Bucks made a truly McHalean pair of decisions. They drafted small forward Joe Alexander eighth overall and then proceeded to take small forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in the second round. That’s three small forwards in a span of 24 hours … what in the world were they thinking?

Other notables from the first round: Stanford center Brook Lopez dropping to 10, Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless falling to 11, Brook’s brother Robin Lopez rising to 15, and Georgetown big-man Roy Hibbert going 17.

Image Source:  Getty Images

Down with one finals and onto another.

Last night the Detroit Red Wings took home the Stanley Cup, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games with a final score of 3-2. Coming two nights after a marathon Game 5 where the Red Wings and Penguins and battled it out through three overtimes, the Penguins couldn’t rally for another win. Despite Pittsburgh riding the momentum from Game 5, the Red Wings weren’t going to let this one get away in the final seconds again, holding on and winning their fourth straight series on the road this postseason.

The Stanley Cup win marks Detroits fourth Cup in 11 seasons, placing them third all-time in Cup wins.

Now with hockey over, we can now focus on a much anticipated NBA Finals showdown between the the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. As much as I like to see Kevin Garnett get a ring, I have a gut feeling the LakeShow is going to bring another championship to Tinseltown.

To pick up some Detroit Red Wings fan gear, click here.

For Pittsburgh Penguins gear, click here.

Source: Fox Sports

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Quick recap of some sports blogs around the Net:

• Students take a school prank and dead deer too far - Doberman on the Diamond
• Jimmel Kimmel goes below the belt with a joke about Joe Theismann on MNF - Awful Announcing
• Brandon Lloyd questions Troy Aikman’s sexuality - Mister Irrelevant
• Trouble in Boston? Ray Allen thinks Kevin Garnett has a potty mouth - Larry Brown Sports
• The Dallas Cowboys win auction to buy Cowboys.com for 275K, then try to give it back - Deuce of Davenport

And this week in Smarter Sports, we talked about:

• We rejoiced and celebrated the birth of Jean-Claude Van Damme

• Tailgating with the Buffalo Bills

• I predicted the future and the curse is real. Madden cover boy Vince Young gets hurt

Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the new faces of the Boston Celtics, now have their new jersey available for purchase.

Garnett, who originally wore number 21 in Minnesota, switched over to number five since joining the Celtics and it is now available for $49.99.

And his new partner, Ray Allen’s jersey, is going for the same price, $49.99.

And here’s another deal you can take advantage of. From now and until August 31, you can take 15% off any purchase in the NBA Store, including these jerseys.

Click here to save today.

Keeping up with my Kevin Garnett theme, I noticed that Foot Locker dropped the price of the Garnett 3 men’s basketball shoe down to $49.99 from $119.99.

In addition to this discount, if you decide to buy anything else, bringing your total over $50, use this promotional code we have with Foot Locker. Just plug it in during checkout to knock off an additional $10.

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Kevin Garnett’s deal to the Boston Celtics is likely to become official when he is announced at a press conference today at 5:30 p.m. ET.

The Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves have been working out all the kinks of the deal that would send the 10-time All-Star out east. And the Timberwolves seem to have gotten quite a package in the deal.

In the trade, sources say that the Timberwolves will be getting Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, and a pair of 2009 first round draft picks.

The deal immediately makes the Celtics a contender in the weak Eastern Conference. Starting alongside Garnett will be Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, who was acquired in a draft day trade.

It’s like they have their own little mini All-Star team going over there.

I’ve never been the biggest Celtics fan, but I hope this makes them a contender again. For a team with so much tradition and history I kind of want them to start winning. Especially for those three guys who have been around for so long and who have always been good role models.

Garnett posted 22.4 points and 12.8 rebounds a game last year and will definately help the Celtics improve from their 24-58 record last year.

Source: Fox Sports
Photo Source: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen