Posted on 5/16/2007 8:05:35 PM

NBA Playoff Betting Odds – The Big “Story”

By Jeremy Allingham

The first round is always the best round of any league’s playoffs. There are the most teams, the most games, the most excitement and, of paramount importance, the most ongoing stories.

The worst part about the subsequent rounds is that the number of games and related stories diminishes, while the number of reporters stays the same or gets bigger. Whereas we started with 16 teams vying for the title (and the benefit of an amazing Golden State story), we now have only three remaining series.

What are the most important stories??? The most important stories are A) Who will win and advance? B) Who will come up big in the clutch? And C) Who will falter when it matters most?

The problem is that these stories tell themselves during the action of the actual game. On off-days reporters are left grasping to come up with a story that has substance – more than just foreshadowing and speculation. So what happens when something even remotely interesting happens on a day off? Mayhem. Pandemonium.

 

Of course, Robert Horry’s flagrant foul on Steve Nash was a story, as was the ensuing melee, but EVERYONE knew for sure that Horry would be suspended, and most suspected that Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw would miss a game for leaving the bench.

These are things we knew.

Still, when announced, these items become MASSIVE stories. The rule says when you leave the bench you get suspended for one game. Pretty simple. Big Shot Bob got the punishment he deserved for a bonehead move - end of story.

The most hilarious aspect of this situation is that I would bet good money that this yarn gets more ink than will anything anyone writes about the winner of the NBA title after it’s decided next month.

If you’re still interested in the actual playing of the games, you can pick up the Suns to win this series at BetUS.com’s Sportsbook at +115,

Warriors Done

What an amazing, bizarre run by the Golden State Warriors. They manhandle the NBA regular season’s best team in 6 games and then head into the second round to face what by all accounts was an inferior Utah Jazz team, but lose in five games.

 

This kind of result clearly lends itself to a team with the Warriors’ insane style of play. With such a frantic, freewheeling pace, you know GS is going to either fire on all cylinders – making shots, making easy buckets while running the floor, OR, they’re going to be sloppy – missing open jumpers, making poor decisions and turning the ball over.

It’s the team’s schizophrenic nature that gives it such charm and likeability, but also ultimately led to its demise. With dynamic and streaky personnel like Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson, Golden State needs a couple of steady double-double big men to hold it down consistently on the inside.

That way, when the hit-and-miss shooting cools down, they have a better option than Andris Biedrins or Al Harrington on the inside. We’re not talking a superstar post player here either. Even a poor man’s Carlos Boozer would do – someone who gets to the glass and can score when given the opportunity in the low-post.

It’ll be very interesting to see what Don Nelson and Golden State do next year, saddled with much higher expectations on a game-to-game basis.

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