Jerryaki
Starter
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060421
To the Spurs, who have to be mildly terrified of the Kings in Round 1, right? Bibby has been a much better playoff performer over the years than Parker. Artest could single-handedly take Ginobili out of the series. There isn't anyone on the Kings for Bruce Bowen to shut down. Brad Miller is twice as good as any Spurs center. They have three power forwards to throw at Duncan, who's playing on one leg to begin with. And given that they've only been playing with Artest for three months and would have been a 55-win team with him, it's safe to say that the Kings are the first truly dangerous 8-seed since the '99 Knicks. Yes, the '99 Knicks who made the Finals.
(One major plus for the Spurs: Can you see Rick Adelman out-coaching Gregg Popovich anytime soon? Me neither. I see this one going seven, with the Kings somehow botching the game in the final three minutes, followed by Artest committing a crazy foul after the game's over -- along the lines of Ginobili flopping to get a call, followed by Artest helping him up, then coldly body-slamming him to the ground without his facial expression ever changing -- followed by another 50-game suspension and us spending the summer talking about how crazy Ron Artest is. In other words, Game 7 should make the perfect ending to the "Rick Adelman's Greatest Playoff Collapses" DVD. I can't wait.)
To the Spurs, who have to be mildly terrified of the Kings in Round 1, right? Bibby has been a much better playoff performer over the years than Parker. Artest could single-handedly take Ginobili out of the series. There isn't anyone on the Kings for Bruce Bowen to shut down. Brad Miller is twice as good as any Spurs center. They have three power forwards to throw at Duncan, who's playing on one leg to begin with. And given that they've only been playing with Artest for three months and would have been a 55-win team with him, it's safe to say that the Kings are the first truly dangerous 8-seed since the '99 Knicks. Yes, the '99 Knicks who made the Finals.
(One major plus for the Spurs: Can you see Rick Adelman out-coaching Gregg Popovich anytime soon? Me neither. I see this one going seven, with the Kings somehow botching the game in the final three minutes, followed by Artest committing a crazy foul after the game's over -- along the lines of Ginobili flopping to get a call, followed by Artest helping him up, then coldly body-slamming him to the ground without his facial expression ever changing -- followed by another 50-game suspension and us spending the summer talking about how crazy Ron Artest is. In other words, Game 7 should make the perfect ending to the "Rick Adelman's Greatest Playoff Collapses" DVD. I can't wait.)