Man versus God

The famous saying goes "man proposes, God disposes." The almighty really disposed the LA Lakers this NBA season. Just flashback to last summer when the Lakers signed Nash and then traded for Dwight Howard. All the talk was about them winning the championship. Most people didn't think they were better than the Heat or the Thunder, but a deep playoff run was almost assumed. That core of Nash, Kobe, Pau, and Dwight looked great on paper. But the games are played on the hardwood and not on paper. This group never worked as a team. Dwight was my one question mark even before the season and he proved me right. He is over-rated to begin with - a big body with great athleticism, but not enough low-post skills several years in to his NBA career. With him coming back from a serious injury, I thought things were going to be tough for him. But then Nash and Kobe never really played well together and Nash seemed to have aged 3 years in 3 months last off-season. Pau is great, but he never found his role in Mike D'Antoni's system. Of course D'Antoni never found a system for this team either. He was more lost than Pau this year with the Lakers. Kobe was his usual self, but their season really ended when he got injured with just a few games to go in the season. The Spurs put them away rather easily and the season of great hope ended in total despair with Kobe, Nash, MWP, and Steve Blake in street clothes and Darius Morris, Andrew Goudelock, and Earl Clark starting for the mighty LA Lakers. Who would have thought this would happen at the beginning of the season.

Speaking of plans not panning out, the OKC Thunder suffered a disastrous injury to Russell Westbrook. This pretty much ends their championship aspirations this season. They were fine during the regular season without James Harden, but now they wish they had him since Westbrook is gone. Kevin Durant is flying solo and he is going to crash-land soon. They will get past Houston, but it's going to be tough for Durant to take them past San Antonio, Miami, or even Memphis. This is another reminder that life can change in a second. OKC went from a championship contender to a one-man show overnight. Westbrook will be missed in these playoffs much like Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Danillo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, and David Lee. Too many injuries and one-sided match-ups resulted in somewhat of an uninspiring start to the playoffs in the first round. But now, things are heating up. One series that was fun from the first game was Warriors-Nuggets. Steph Curry is becoming a super star and a shooting star. He has had an amazing regular season and is now doing it in front of a national audience in the playoffs. When he goes on one of his hot shooting streaks, he won't remind you of anybody because I don't think there has ever been a better shooter in the league. If he keeps it up, he will retire as one of the best shooters in the history of the league. So don't miss the show when he is on TV.