And then there were 4!

The real final 4 is about to start tomorrow night! The Orlando Magic on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers. As well as the Los Angeles Lakers at home against the Denver THUGet….I mean Nuggets. Sorry for the Freudian slip, Mark Cuban influenced me for just a second.

Here is the Classic University take on the current NBA situation, Orlando is a very deep and well coached team however Orlando does not always show up and they are very irregular at times. With attributes like these, I cannot see how they will be able to defeat the Cavs. I think Cleveland will beat Orlando in 6. I really think 5 games will do it, but these are the Conference Finals and I have to give a team more credit than that.

Orlando does not play defense well enough to stop the Cavaliers, Lebron James averages over 30 against the Magic and that is bad news. Even though I feel the Orlando Magic probably have a better team than the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Cavs are playing so well and are so focused, that I believe the Cavs win the series in 6.

Now on to the good stuff! The Denver Nuggets have been much like the Cleveland Cavaliers the entire playoffs…ON A MISSION! The Nuggets have been focused and driven and motivated to crush their opponent, not stooping to the level of their competition. That is more than I can say about Los Angeles Lakers who were taken 7 games by a Houston Rocket team that was so depleted by injuries that they actually called me last week and asked if I could play but I was busy last week.

The Rockets front office actually got upset with me, and I really think I could have contributed but my sister was getting married, you have to have priorities.

Game 7 normally is where the biggest and brightest stars shine in the NBA, but check this out…

Pau Gasol had 21 points, Trevor Ariza had 15 points, Andrew Bynum 14 points and Superstar Kobe Bryant had a whopping 14 point on 4 or 12 shooting!! Is he a role player now? Kobe Bryant scores 14 points in an elimination game 7 against Shane Battier and Laker fans are ok with this?

The Lakers are not going to have the luxury of showing up or not showing up against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers have no answer for Chauncey Billups or Carmelo Anthony, these 2 stars will be able to score at will. That half way defense they have been playing only worked for the undersized, undermanned Houston Rockets.

Personally the Lakers do not seem hungry enough to beat Denver so I think Denver wins this series in 6 games. The Lakers are what people keep calling a “FINESSE” team, well here at Classic University “FINESSE” is kind way of saying “female”.

Finesse has no place at Classic University and no place in the playoffs. That so called “FINESSE” is why the Lakers keep appearing to not appear! Finesse, just like a female, everything has to be just right for the Lakers to play up to par. In order for the Lakers to play good basketball, the lighting in the arena has to be just right, the referees have to wear the right shoes, they have to get all the right calls, the cheerleaders have to dance just right, and the teammates have to do exactly what Kobe tells them to do.

Houston exposed the Lakers but were not deep enough to finish the job…the Denver Nuggets are that team. They will finish the Lakers in 6 games and send them back to the drawing board and I can not wait!