The West is all set with Denver/Dallas and Lakers/Houston. I think Denver/Dallas will be closer and Lakers/Houston will have no viewer appeal.

Cleveland will have such a long layoff from match play that they may be rusty coming into the next round.

I think both the Game 7’s in he East are going to take a tool on whoever makes it out of the round and will get chomped away by their next opponent.

Lakers/Denver for the West.

I am so glad the Lakers did not have to go back to Utah for a possible game 6. This gives them a few more days of rest and I hope Luke Walton can come back quickly. Houston will be a tough opponent, never mind the past record and Portland has somewhat owned Lakers in Portland so it will be tough no matter what. Looking forward to the next matchup.

On the home front, the Sharks were a bust once more. I don’t know what it is about them in the regular season and what happens in the post season. They just do not work at the same intensity level as the regular season. Complacency? You betcha! Now my care level in the NHL is close to ZERO!

How cool will it be if it ends up being a Lakers/Celtics finals??

I don’t know who to cheer for or even against in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, no need to mention who I support from the Western. Go Lakers!!

Not that it was not a forgone conclusion after Phil Jackson went and Shaq was traded, but now it is official - Kobe Bryant is going to stay with the Lakers.

I know a lot of people fall under the ‘anti Kobe’ and ‘pro Shaq’ category, but hey, as a Lakers fan, it is nice that at least one of the two superstars is going to stay.

Now, Kobe will feel what he had and what he took for granted - those easy passes to Shaq for dunks are not going to exist anymore. Do the Lakers have a center?

The deal is now done.

I feel bad that Shaq’s gone. Hopefully Lakers can keep Kobe.

Hey, at least Shaq did not go to Sacramento or Dallas. Phew! :-)

Rudy T and Lakers have agreed to terms and a press conference may be called tomorrow to announce the new Lakers coach.

I am not too pumped up. But let’s see how the players merry-go-round ends up at the end.

If Kobe goes to the Knicks and Shaq goes to Dallas, I will have no reason to watch the NBA next season.

My team is collapsing. Hopefully one of Shaq or Kobe will stay. That way, there will be a guy to form the team around. There is no real hope for the next season though. Esp with the hangover of the rout of this year’s finals.