2013-14 NBA Predictions

Western Conference                                                                                    Eastern Conference

1. Oklahoma City                                                                                          1. Miami
2. Houston                                                                                                     2. Chicago
3. LA Clippers                                                                                               3. Brooklyn
4. Memphis                                                                                                    4. Atlanta
5. San Antonio                                                                                               5. Milwaukee
6. Golden State                                                                                              6. New York
7. Minnesota                                                                                                   7. Toronto
8. Denver                                                                                                       8. Indiana

9. Utah                                                                                                           9. Cleveland
10. LA. Lakers                                                                                               10. Philadelphia
11.  Dallas                                                                                                      11. Detroit
12. Portland                                                                                                    12. Charlotte
13. Sacramento                                                                                             13. Boston
14. New Orleans                                                                                             14.  Washington
15 Phoenix                                                                                                       15. Orlando



Western Conference Quarter-Finals                                       Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals
Oklahoma City over Denver 4-1                                                          Miami over Indiana 4-1
Houston over Minnesota 4-0                                                                 Chicago over Toronto 4-2
Golden State over LA Clippers 4-3                                                      Brooklyn over New York 4-3
Memphis over San Antonio 4-2                                                            Atlanta over Miami 4-1

West6ern Conference Semi's                                                                    Eastern Conference Semi's
Oklahoma City over Memphis 4-2                                                              Miami over Atlanta 4-0
Houston over Golden State 4-1                                                                    Chicago over Brooklyn 4-2

Western Conference Final                                                                         Eastern Conference Final
Houston over Oklahoma City 4-3                                                                      Chicago over Miami 4-2


                                                                       NBA Finals
                                                              Chicago over Houston 4-2

NBA MVP Lebron James

NBA Finals MVP Derrick Rose

Sharks Bite Canucks in Season Opener

The John Tortorellaera era kicked off for the Vancouver Canucks last night in San Jose and the skillful led Sharks team outmanned the Canucks by a final score of 4-1.

A huge talking point over the offseason in Vancouver was the fact that, star goaltender Roberto Luongo was still in a Vancouver Canucks uniform. After it was determined at the trading deadline last year that he was untradeable and Luongo himself saying, “my contract sucks”. There was huge speculation of how he would preform being the starting goalie again.

Personally, I believe Luongo played well last night despite giving up four goals. He was bombarded by many San Jose scoring chances and kept the Canucks in the game until Patrick Marleau netted home the insurance marker with 5:21 to go in the game. This is where I think Luongo could have handled his emotions better. After the goal, he instantly went down on his back like he was crumbling in pain. To be fair, the goal was a huge back breaker in the game that basically sealed the deal. However, I always found it a bit immature.

When the game resumed, the San Jose fans started to get on Luongo by heckling his name. This seemed like it was more of a distraction for the rest of the team. Soon after the Sharks had a two on nothing break-a-way where Tommy Wingels scored on the rebound to make it 4-1.

Overall, I think Luongo handled him self fairly well. Early on in the game he looked poised to prove his critics wrong. He looked sharp making some big saves in the 1^st period and was able to keep the game scoreless until Jason Garrison blasted a shot home on the power play to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. As the game wore on, Luongo looked up for the task. He was in good position on the rare two minute 5 on 3 that the Canucks had to kill off in the 2^nd period when the game was tied at one.

Unfortunately, the team didn’t play that well in front of Luongo, as the Canucks were very undisciplined taking eight minor penalties including a too many men call and a roughing penalty that took the Canucks off the power play.

All in all, the Canucks maintained their composure fairly well. In spite of the team playing sloppy at times, they were able to keep calm and have their teammates pick up the slack. For example, there are a lot of bright spots from last night’s game. The Canucks Penalty kill was able to kill off all eight minor penalties. This is a great improvement from last year’s playoff series where the Sharks went 7-24 on the power play last spring on route to knocking the Canucks out of the playoffs.