NBA 2011 Playoffs Love Index -- Conference Semi-finals

OK, we're out of the first round and I better get on the stick with my updated love list.  I think I managed to see major minutes in most of the first round games thanks to that awesome lap-desk-thingy I got Kim for her birthday last year. (Hint: it looks like I'm working!)

So remember, this is not a power-ranking list or a list of who I think is going to win, but more a list of who I think "deserves" to win based on my own cockamamie ideas of basketball justice.

1) Chicago Bulls -- yes, the love here is still very strong. Thibodeau now has his Coach Of The Year award tucked away in his not-so-little belt but now things get interesting. I think I would have given the award to Lionel Hollins if it was up to me, but to be fair I still don't have much to judge Thibodeau on at this point so let's see if he deserves it! Da Bulls face a super-pesky Hawks team that has a major chip on its shoulder. No easy out. This will test D-Rose especially -- what kind of player is this guy. I would love to see him step up and take charge. So far -- halfway through the first game -- he hasn't shown up. But this isn't just about Rose for me -- I've always had a soft place in my heart for Boozer (Duke!) despite that Cleveland contract juking thing.. And I love Noah's crazy heart, and Korver the assassin, and Deng the pure shooter.. But most of all these guys play great team ball.

2) Dallas Mavericks -- Wow! In my last list these guys were #13 of #16 -- what happened?  Portland in Game 6 happened. I love Portland, and I would have loved to have seen them go on, but Roy wan't Roy and in classic Portland style, they were just not a deep team. But that said, the Mavericks came to town and closed that series out in a hostile environment. Dirk was unstoppable, and Terry (blech!) and Kidd (sweet!) were utter solids. I didn't even see a ripple of collapse, which has been the Dirk legacy. Could Kidd finally be the anchor this team needed? For all my dissing Cuban in the first round, I would love to see him with a championship -- if for no other reason than to tweak Darth Stern. Reality-check: um, I have to admit that my Laker-h8er emotions are back so Dallas might not be getting this much love if they were playing the Grizzlies, let's say..

3) Memphis Grizzlies -- Aw man, I love whatever Lionel is doing with these guys. I'm not sure how much farther they can go, but I'd love to see them play against the Mavs for the West finals. They got a running start against Oklahoma Supersonics by stealing home-court advantage yesterday. It turns out that maybe I can't look past my Sonic tears as much as I thought I could, because when I see OKC play I feel on love. Durant is fine, Westbrook is fine.. But Memphis, wow. These guys are on a tear. They have a super-scrappy defensive mind-set and are getting offensive contributions from people I've never heard of..  And they have a go-to guy in Randolph, and a great "big" in Gasol. If the Lake-n-bakes get past the Mavs (shudder) then I hope the Griz are waiting in the West.

4) Atlanta Hawks -- Just like the Grizzlies' Lionel Hollins, Larry Drew has this team en fuego. Not sure how much more on fire they could be, but apparently being disrespected by the Magic really lit them. I was happy to see them prevail in the first round and if they beat my precious Bulls, I think I'll be OK with that. I'm just not sure they have the grit to deal with a Boston (or a Chicago!) so we'll see. I'm used to thinking of this team as whiny under-achievers (Johnson, Smith, and Crawford -- sounds like a law firm!) so I'd love to remember them for something better.

5) Miami Heat -- The Heat are below my love mid-line (yeah, only 8 teams left) but they've climbed a bit. I watched them play Boston yesterday and damn if I didn't like they way they played. James Jones had a game, and he's not even one of the "big three". Come to think of it, my problems with the Heat are almost all off the court, or more specifically, what the formation of this crew means to basketball (hype before substance, talent over teamwork, clubby BFF collusion, player-first-coach-second mentaility). When I watch them play they look surprisingly like a team. I was hoping that the Celtics would beat them and clean up the bottom of my list.. but now I'm actually hoping the Heat advance past the..

6) Boston Celtics -- ..because the C's are playing (IMHO) less like a basketball team and more like the BFFy core-club with replaceable doo-wops than even the Heat!  Von Wafer?  Delonte West? Avery Bradley?  There's almost no hope that these guys will hang with KG, Pierce, Ray-Ray and Rondo.  How can this team develop any chemistry -- the core is too crusty and "indispensible"?  Time to mix it up guys, the run is over, this is just pathetic.

7) Oklahoma City Thunder -- Yeah, these guys are drifting to the bottom of my stack. It's not all the fault of Presti's Perkins thing, or even my Sonic tears of rage. I'm just not feeling it with this team. I like Scotty Brooks and want to see him do well, but I think the "darling" expectations here are crushing this team. And they feel a bit soul-less and skelator-like to me, maybe it's just what I see when watch their two best players play..

8) Los Angeles Lakers -- My favorite Laker by a long shot is Lamar Odom. Sure he won 6th man of the year, and I guess the Zenmaster should get some credit for taking some of the pressure off of this guy by making him a star bench player, but I think the Lakers would be nowhere without him. Whenever the second unit is on he gets all the big offensive boards and keeps that unit together. He's the only one who has a chance to bother Notwitzki in this Dallas series, so I expect him to get more first team minutes.  Kobe is still a hard-luck whiner, Fish is still a sanctimonious cheap-shot artist, and Pau is still the second coming of Vlade Divac -- yeah, these guy have won a couple championships, but it's been a lot of Phil magic and I don't see it again this year with this tired core unit and un-coachable lead finger-wagger.

So here are some predictions -- now that I've just finished watching each of first-games of this round..  Bulls in 7 over the Hawks, the Heat in 6 over the Celtics, the Mavs in 6 over the Lakers, and Memphis in 6 over Oklahoma City.

And yeah, just finished watching Kobe wishing he was MJ with that last minute three attempt.  Nice try dude. Clearly it's someone else's fault that shot clonked off the back rim..