Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

And no, that's not a Charlie Murphy reference.

You always knew it would end up this way - it just had to. With all the talk about the Jazz giving the Lakers a hard series. With all the mumbo jumbo about homecourt advantage in the playoffs. With all the hype about Chris Paul and the Hornets being the future of the league.

In the end, you knew it would have to come down to the Lakers vs Spurs. It's the equivalent of basketball destiny at its' best. The road to the NBA Finals leads through the defending champ - could it really have happened any other way?

And so, here we go again, Laker fans.

Let's break it down...

Point Guard - Derek Fisher vs Tony Parker
As much as I adore D-Fish, I have to give the edge to Parker. That being said, there definitely are games where Fish will go on a hot streak and give the team a huge lift but in the average game, he's going to have a very tough time defending Parker. And without Bynum in the back as a stopper, I look for a lot of drive and dish in the Lakers' immediate future. However, seeing how rattled got at a picture of his wife, maybe the Lakers can line up every man she's ever nailed in the front row behind the Spurs bench during home games. It's all about the in-game strategy, baby.
EDGE: SPURS

Shooting Guard - Kobe Bryant vs Manu Ginobli
Let's call a spade a spade and admit that Manu is the real starting SG for the Spurs and not Michael Finlay - although Finlay is a tough opponent as well. Manu's the master of the wild driving, weaving, throw something at the glass, crash to the floor and cry about a foul move. Kobe is... well, he's Kobe. He's the best player in the game, period.
EDGE: LAKERS

Small Forward - Vladimir Radmonovic vs Bruce Bowen
This one is a bit of a tossup. Vlad-Rad is a better offensive player than Bowen but he's still prone to the type of mental mistakes that made Phil Jackson label him a "space cadet." He can have a big impact on a game - or he can simply disappear. You just never know which Vlad will show up. Bruce Bowen won't add much on the offensive end for the Spurs but he's one of the few players in the league not afraid to play one-on-one defense against Kobe and be effective at it. That skill alone gives the Spurs the edge here.
EDGE: SPURS

Power Forward - Lamar Odom vs Tim Duncan
A month ago, I would have said this was a slam dunk category for the Spurs but Lamar has played a masterful game in these playoffs. Being slotted into the third option for scoring as helped worlds with his defense, his rebounding, and his hustle. He does a lot of the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet. Tim Duncan is... well, he's Tim Duncan. He's one of the best players in the league. As good as Odom has been, I have to give the edge to Duncan and the Spurs.
EDGE: SPURS

Center - Pau Gasol vs Fabricio Oberto
This is an easy win for the Lakers. Of course, if you're a pessimist, you look at how Bynum's injury affects this entire series. Bynum would still take this category against Oberto, Pau sliding down into the PF spot gives Duncan more trouble defensively and makes that a closer matchup, Lamar sliding into the SF spot against Bowen gives an easy win to the Lakers in that matchup. Instead of a 3-2 edge for the Spurs in the starting lineup, you have a 4-1 Laker lead. Ahhh, but it's not to be... this year at least.
EDGE: LAKERS

Bench
The sign of great Laker teams has always been a really strong bench. Whether it was the Showtime days with Byron and AC or the Shaq/Kobe Lakers with Horry and B-Shaw, when the bench was deep, the team was successful. This year is no different with the bench performing extremely well most of the year and giving the feeling that it's not so bad when Kobe goes to the bench to rest [briefly.] So, while the Lakers' bench is thriving with Walton, Farmar, Sasha, and Ronny among others - the Spurs' bench is pretty much limited to Finley and an aging [but always dangerous] Robert Horry.
EDGE: LAKERS

Coach - Phil Jackson vs Gregg Popovich
Pop is a tough, good coach - but he's no Zenmaster. Phil will have the team coached, prepared, and ready to rock for this series. It's going to be a tough series and in a tough series, I'd rather have Phil Jackson using his brain to get us an edge than Popovich.
EDGE: LAKERS

So, to wrap it up...

Lakers have an edge in Coaching, Bench, Center, and Shooting Guard.
Spure have an edge in Power Forward, Small Forward, and Point Guard.

Lakers with a 5-3 lead... but I expect this series will be even tighter than that.

My prediction?

Lakers in 6, winning on the road to close it out again.

Top Five Friday

Ok, ok... time is ticking.

By suggestion...

Top Five NBA MVP Candidates!

5. Tim Duncan
How do you not have Tim Duncan listed on any listing of MVP candidates? You can list your Dwight Howards for taking Orlando to the division title or your Tracy McGradys for that incredible winning streak or your Steve Nashs for keeping Phoenix near the top again but in the end, it's still Tim Duncan... the Spurs are still one of the best teams in the league... and he's still one of the best players in the game. He automatically makes this list for me easily.

4. Lebron James
Honestly, I'm not all that impressed with Cleveland. They made the playoffs, sure, but they're squeaking in as a four seed in an absolutely abysmal Eastern Conference. You can't deny that he's a great player and that Cleveland would be horrific without him but... come on, they're not _that_ good to bestow the MVP on him.

3. Kevin Garnett
You gotta give someone credit for the Celtics being so great this year and I guess KG is a better choice than Ray Allen, right? It's hard to really gush all over him though considering he did join Allen and Paul Pierce. Put those three on any team and I gotta think they're very competitive. I don't think KG's done enough individually to lift that team up to be worthy of the MVP nor is he the best player in the game.

2. Chris Paul
Where you run into an issue here is when you determine what makes an MVP to you. Is it the best player in the game or is it the player that if you took him off his team, his team is a low lottery team? Chris Paul has done an absolutely incredible job with the Hornets and if they managed to finish the season in the top spot of the Conference, I would have absolutely no issues with him as the MVP. I can't really make an argument against him other than he's not the best player in the game.

1. Kobe Bryant
Now, _he_ is the best player in the game. You can argue that he lifted the Lakers into the top spot in the West [with the help of a rapidly developing Andrew Bynum]. Those two things together should be enough to win the MVP for him unless the Lakers bottom out before the season's end. Kobe and Chris Paul are #1/2 in my mind and are almost interchangeable. It's hard to pick one over the other... extremely hard but with my heart wearing purple and gold, I'm picking Kobe as the MVP.