It’s now okay to don your jerseys, authentics only please.

Keep the chatter here folks. And no switch-siding lol.

No it isn’t Lakers versus Celtics. And no it isn’t LeBron versus Kobe. But this year’s finals still features two teams that play an entertaining style of basketball focused on offensive execution, team play and athleticism. There’s still plenty of star power with Kobe and Dwight Howard, even if The King has retreated to his summer palace. And arguably, these have been the best two teams over the grueling grind that is the NBA playoffs.

In preparation for a potentially epic Finals, The Crew’s Patrick M, Sam C and MZ are breaking down the match-ups and committing their predictions to cyberspace. Listen close and take notes.

The Breakdown:

Point Guard: Rafer Alston (12.7, 2.50, 4.4*) vs. Derek Fisher (7.1, 1.8, 2.4)

Jameer Nelson may give it a go, but I think the Magic would be wise to pull a Drew Bledsoe on his ass (for this year at least.) Skip To My Lou’s performance the last two rounds has been a hidden key to the Magic’s success. He played Rajon Rondo to a virtual draw and helped Read the rest of this entry »

It’s pretty simple. If Denver wins tonight, the series is theirs. If L.A. wins tonight the series is (more than likely) theirs. Nuggets coach George Karl knows & relayed this to his team.

“My focus to our players is that this is our must-win game, almost as much as Game 4 was,” Denver coach George Karl said the day after his team had an impressive, 120-101 beatdown of Los Angeles. “You want to win there in Game 5 because history is against you in Game 7. — George Karl

Carmelo, Chauncey & J.R. will all need to be Read the rest of this entry »

The Nuggets have been on a roll so far. They’re 8-2 in the playoffs and team chemistry is at an all time high. Chauncey and Carmelo have led this healthy squad to this point, but let’s not forget the defensive contributions of Denver’s frontcourt in Kenyon Martin, Birdman and Nené. The team is tougher, more focused and just flat out better than last year’s squad. It wouldn’t be farfetched to say this is the best roster the franchise has ever seen.

All of this is fine and dandy, but is it enough to beat L.A.? Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since a “mixtape” was posted (and this one surely isn’t being posted because of the cover art). But this one has a lot of recent material, some that just dropped over the past 24-48 hours so I figured what they hell. It’s Saturday & you need music anyways. Hit the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »