Eastern Playoff Outlook

The real season begins, here are my thoughts on the Leastern Conference:

Crabs vs Bulls - With Bosh sidelined I'm glad the Bulls were able to sneak into the playoffs and not make it easy for the Crabs. On paper the Crabs are hands down the favorites and with Joakim Noah becoming Cleveland Most Wanted it makes for quality watching. Crabs are deeper and with more talent and no one should expect the Bulls to take the Crabs to 7 games like they did last year. The Bulls are a good defensive team though and should not go away quietly, but unless Crabs get hammered by injuries, there won't be an upset, Lebron just has too many weapons to help him out. Even if Bulls used their youth and speed to neutrilize the 2 Crab giants, Varejao can fill in nicely. Rose will get his numbers, Mo' cannot stop him, but he will need scoring help especially from Deng and Hinrick and for their bigs to win the hustle war, again Crabs just too loaded against Bulls. Crabs in 5.

Magic vs Bobcats - I keep reading that the Magic are the most prone to an upset. I beg to differ, unless Vinsanity shows what has kept him from the current elite and totally dissappears from the series. The 'Cats make their first trip to the post season and with Captain Jack now running with the underated Wallace they should be up for the challenge. The starting 5 match up nicely, but the 'Cats don't have a lot of the pine except for Chandler who will be vital against Superman. The Magic bench can explode for runs and may play the biggest factor in this series. I expect this to be a very entertaining series but MJ's boys don't have the fire power to upset the reigning East champs, Magic in 6.

Hawks vs. Bucks - The Hawks I thought were the elite team most likely to get upset, especially against the surprsing Bucks. The season ending injury to Bucks big man Andrew Bogut really hurts them though. With the Hawks making their third straight playoffs, they know how to play in the playoffs and with the addition of Jamal Crawford have many weapons to attack the short handed Bucks. Still the Buck may have enough to make it interseting, but the Hawks earned the 3 spot and will dismiss the deer. Hawks in 6.

Leprechauns vs. Heat - I keep reading the real Celtics will show up come playoff time, well it's here, can the real boys in green show up please. I don't see how Miami can hope to steal this series, on paper Boston is superior but lately have not played near their potential. Still I don't see a sweep, and expect Wade to have the highest point average when the series wraps up. It is vital for Celtics to take care of this series quick as they will need to be in good health and rested for their date with the Crabs in the next round. Leprechauns in 5.

The top four should advance with Crabs and Magic being the favorites to compete for the East crown. If Leprechauns have any pride left though they should not make it easy for the chosen one and the Big Whatever to advance, if not they will end the current "big" three era in forgettable fashion. Crabs seem to be on track to accomplish what they failed to do last year. Too early to say, too much can go wrong in the playoffs, so I'll wait for next round to make a full analysis.