NBA Finals Preview

The NBA finals is once again amongst us.  Here's a preview of the matchups presented in the starting line ups and my prediction of who will be crowned NBA champion for the 2012-2013 season.

Point Guard: By no means, am I fan of Mario Chalmers, but I will admit the dude is a tough defender and a big game player who shows up when the money's on the line just ask D. Rose and John Calipari.  On the other side of the spectrum you have Tony Parker, who was making a strong case for a regular season MVP bid before getting hit by the injury bug towards the end of the season.  Parker is probably the most productive yet underrated Point Guard of our generation and is averaging just under 22 ppg and 8 apg during the '12-13 playoffs.  I don't think there's any comparison here as Tony Parker is a top 6 PG in the league and Mario Chalmers is well Mario Chalmers

Advantage:  Tony Parker and the Spurs

Shooting Guard:  According to the numbers Danny Green is one of the best  3 pt specialist in the NBA shooting 43% from beyond the arc during the regular season and you guessed it 43% in this years playoffs.  Don't be enamored by those numbers because that isn't Green's only niche, the former UNC Tarheel is an excellent defender whose do it all defensive mentality is one of the main reasons why the Spurs are so good.  Manu Ginoboli may come off the bench but he plays starter minutes and has been rolling in these playoffs averaging just under 14 ppg. If Manu is able to score and play make the way he's capable of and avoid showing signs of a hamstring injury that plagued him during the regular season, the Spurs will be hard to beat.   On the other hand you have Dwyane Wade whose troublesome knees have had him looking like Charles Barkley after the Monstars took his talent in Space Jam of late.  If he's able to play this series the way he did in game 7 of the Indiana series, 21 points and 9 boards, expect the Heat to put extreme pressure on the Spurs.

Advantage:  Spurs 

Small Forward:  Yes Kawhii Leonard has a 7'3" wing span, which is the larger than 7 footer Andrew Bynum's, yes Leonard is an excellent defender whose improving offensive game has been an asset for the Spurs all year, but he's matched up against the best player in the World in LeBron James.

Advantage:  The King and the Miami Heat

Power Forward:  This is the position that is up for question because we really don't know who the starters could be.  Both teams slide in different players depending on match ups, and all those match ups provide different things for each team.  With this being said we should expect to see Tiago Splitter start at the 4 for the Spurs, he is an excellent low post defender, who also defends the pick and roll well and uses his 7 ft. plus frame to cause problems for opposing teams in the low post.

Advantage:  Even 

Center:  Chris Bosh is not the Chris Bosh I remember from Toronto, if he fails to grab rebounds every game in this series like he did in the Indiana series, it could be a long series for the Heat's frontline.  On the other side, Tim Duncan is arguably the best player of our generation, only one player in my opinion has been better and that's the 5x champion Kobe Bean Bryant .  At age 37 there's still no question the great impact the 4x NBA champion Duncan has both offensively and defensively for the Spurs.  Although Bosh is an NBA All Star this one's a no brainer.

Advantage:  The Big Fundamental and the Spurs 

Coaching:  Eric Spoelstra has improved as a coach every year since he's been in the league and if you watched the Eastern Conference Finals, you saw him out coach the Pacers Frank Vogel in key situations.  Coach Spo has led the Heat to 3 finals appearances in five season as Head Coach of the Miami Heat, and is one of the best young coaches in the L.  However in this case he's facing the mastermind..... Gregg Popovich who is not only a 4x NBA champion but the longest tenured coach in the NBA, the advantage is obvious.

Advantage: Spurs 

Prediction:  Spurs in 6 with Tony Parker being crowned Finals MVP and Tim Duncan possibly riding off into the sunset like Ray Lewis

2k13 Decision of Derrick Rose

Say what you want about Derrick Rose,  call him a coward, call him selfish call him exactly what adjective comes to mind but one thing you can't call him is stupid. The 2013 Decision, in which Derrick Rose opted to sit out a full year while recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in last years First Round of the NBA playoffs may have been one of the more influential decisions made by an athlete in a long time.  If you ask me the adjectives I'd use to describe the two time NBA All Star and 2011's Most Valuable Player would be somewhere along the lines of  brilliant and influential.  For once an athlete was able to stand up for himself and prove that not only does he understand the value of his career but, he also understands the business aspect of  professional sports.  Too many times we've seen athletes rush back from major injuries only to further their injuries, lose the ability to play at the level they once played at and ultimately prematurely end their career, do the names Brandon Roy, Bo Jackson,  Yao Ming or another one of Chicago's very own Gale Sayers ring a bell?  The 2013 version of The Decision finally gave athletes not only a precedent  for future decisions involving injury, but leverage to gauge their own bodies.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that every one heals differently and as athlete it's very crucial to understand that mental confidence leads to physical confidence, especially for athletes like Rose who make a living off his explosion and superior athleticism, two things a bum knee can hinder.  One must understand first and foremost professional sports is a business, each decision made in professional sports is generally in the best interest of the Owner and the money that comes out of his pocket. He has the responsibility to not only provide fans with a team that makes fans want to pay the price of admission and sit in the seats and watch a winning representative of the city, but owners are also responsible for protecting their investments which are their players.  The Bulls organization exemplified the "protection" part by allowing Rose to come back at his own pace, even if his own pace ruled out him providing a single minute for a very talented Bulls roster  who not only had a shot at winning an NBA title with him in the lineup but, nonetheless overcame several key injuries before bowing out to the defending champion Miami Heat in the 2nd round. There were no rumblings from the people who mattered most inside the organization like Bulls Chairmen Jerry Reinsdorf,  his teammates who backed his decision publicly or his Head Coach Tom Thibodeaux who said, "Right from the start, I thought Jerry set the tone for it. He made it clear about how we were going to approach it.  We were never going to rush him back. We weren't going to allow him to rush himself back. He heeded Jerry's advice right from the beginning."  The choice Rose made this season was not an easy one and although as fans we tend to let our emotions play into our thoughts about the personal decisions and performances of today's athletes, we must factor in that at the end of the day these athletes are human and they must lookout for their own best interest.