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2016 NBA Playoff Predictions

Wow! The 2015-2016 NBA regular season came to a conclusion last night in spectacular fashion. Kobe Bryant ended his career by scoring 60 points and willing the Lakers to victory over the Jazz. Meanwhile, Steph Curry hit his 402nd 3-point shot as the Golden State Warriors became the first NBA team to win 73 regular season games. This was the perfect finale to a great NBA regular season. Even though my Chicago Bulls are eliminated (or maybe because of it, freeing me up to root for whomever I please) I am excited for the playoffs. Here’s the playoff picture and my predictions:

Round 1
Western Conference
Golden State Warriors defeat Houston Rockets (4-0). The Rockets have no answer defensively for the Warriors’ historic offensive attack. While James Harden could conceivably score his way to one victory if the Splash Brothers have an off night, I wouldn’t count on it.
Los Angeles Clippers lose to Portland Trail Blazers (4-2). My “upset” pick in the West. In a league that increasingly values versatility, the Clippers embody comparative advantage. Paul passes, Redick shoots from outside, Griffin scores from inside, and Jordan rebounds. This won’t get it done against the Trailblazers, whose rising stars Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum look increasingly in sync.
Oklahoma City Thunder defeat Dallas Mavericks (4-0). The Thunder’s biggest challenge in the playoffs will be avoiding late-game collapses. Luckily for them, this Mavericks team probably won’t be able to keep up with the Thunder through the first three quarters.
San Antonio Spurs defeat Memphis Grizzlies (4-0). This is the most lopsided match-up in the West. The Spurs will be able to defensively lock down what little offensive firepower the Grizzlies have without much trouble.

Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Detroit Pistons (4-1). The Cavaliers don’t look very impressive for a top team outside of LeBron. But Playoff LeBron is here and he is out to dominate. The Pistons will pick up one at home in a game where LeBron clunks up too many jumpshots but that’s all they will get.
Atlanta Hawks defeat Boston Celtics (4-3). This should be the tightest first round series of the playoffs. For me this is essentially a toss-up, and I’m not sure I can even give Atlanta and edge for home court advantage given the likely energy levels in Philips and TD Garden. I don’t think the Celtics have a clear answer for Paul Millsap and Al Horford, but I’m anxious to see how Brad Stevens gameplans against them.
Miami Heat defeat Charlotte Hornets (4-1). No pun intended, the Heat are the hottest team in the East. Their recent acquisition of Joe Johnson looks like the move of the season. Jeremy Lin will have one of his great bench performances in the Hornets’ lone win.
Toronto Raptors defeat Indiana Pacers (4-0). This series is easy to write off because the Pacers just aren’t very good. But I’ll take this opportunity to say the Raptors are an enigma to me. They play with the second-slowest pace in the NBA and are middle of the pack in scoring.

Round 2
Western Conference
Golden State Warriors defeat Portland Trail Blazers (4-1). Obviously, the Warriors are the team to beat. But you need exceptional defense to beat Golden State and the Trail Blazers are lackluster on defense.
San Antonio Spurs defeat Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2). What a great match-up in the conference semi-finals. I will be rooting for Oklahoma City but they’re going to have an uphill battle. They will need their supporting cast to play above much better than they’ve shown if they are going to beat the Spurs. Also count on Westbrook for a boneheaded play in crunch time for a close loss.

Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Atlanta Hawks (4-0). Playoff LeBron will dominate a solid but average Hawks squad, aided by Kevin Love’s ability to stretch Atlanta’s strong front court out of the paint.
Toronto Raptors lose to Miami Heat (4-2). Here’s my big upset pick of the East. Again, I think the Heat are red hot and I just don’t understand the Raptors. The Heat will bring too much between Wade and Johnson’s scoring as well as Whiteside’s defense for the Raptors to handle.

Round 3
Western Conference
Golden State Warriors defeat San Antonio Spurs (4-2). This will be an epic battle. The Spurs have shown they can lock up Steph Curry from outside. I think they’ll do that again while at home, but that level of defense against Steph just isn’t sustainable for a full series. Role players for the Warriors like Iguodala, Speights, and Livingston will also come up big in this series.

Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Miami Heat (4-3). Oh man, what a match-up this will be if it happens. The Heat go from the villains of the league to America’s Team against LeBron. This would be straight out of a WWE plot and I really hope it happens. The Heat will keep it close but they don’t have the ability to truly stop LeBron in seven games.

Finals
Golden State Warriors defeat Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1). Cleveland will bring more to the table this year if their squad remains healthy, but Golden State is playing at an even higher level of greatness than they did last year. Draymond Green will give the Cavaliers fits on offense and defense while Kevin Love will choke on the big stage. Count on Tyronn Lue to make a big mistake and/or get told what to do by LeBron in a big moment during this series.

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Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

Last night Kelly and I watched the film Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. This is one of those classics you need to watch at least once in your life (94% at Rotten Tomatoes), so I’m glad I can finally check this one off the list. It was overall a fine movie worth watching. Jimmy Stewart was great as expected. I’ve always thought of myself as loving Stewart as an actor, although to be honest this might be the second movie I’ve actually seen him in. I guess he’s just that good in It’s A Wonderful Life and I’ve seen it that many times (holiday movies are like that).

I caught two allusions to Don Quixote. I’m wondering what the significance of these allusions were and if I missed any more of them. The first was straightforward, a character (I can’t remember who unfortunately) referred to Stewart’s character Jeff Smith as Don Quixote when he is first arriving to Washington. The second, which really caught my attention given the first reference, was when another character told Smith he was fighting windmills (like Quixote). I know Don Quixote is one of the most classic stories of all time but I don’t remember it that well because I read it in Spanish, not English (no kidding).

The supporting case alongside Stewart’s outstanding performance was solid throughout, especially Claude Rains as the senior Senator in Smith’s state. Rains played out the various shades of grey in his character well. This was important to the film as his character was one of very few in the film to actually have moral ambiguities to them. Smith is the white knight while Edward Arnold’s Jim Taylor is the evil cronyist industrialist. I enjoyed seeing Thomas Mitchell (who plays Stewart’s uncle Billy Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life) fill out a comedic role as reporter Diz Moore in the film.

I don’t have many movie chops when it comes to discussing elements such as camerawork and pacing, but again, I really enjoyed the film. It’s a classic good versus evil story, so there’s not much to compel you besides Stewart’s earnestness and Rain’s performance, but there’s a lot to like. I got a chuckle out of the time capsule elements to the movie, such as the Boy Rangers which Smith leads.

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Getting Fit Again: Three Months In

At the start of 2016, I set a few New Year’s Resolutions. I have never really taken New Year’s Resolutions seriously or followed through with them before. I haven’t kept up with all my resolutions this year, but I have kept up with my health and fitness resolutions. After three months, I am very proud to have hit my initial goals: to lose 25 pounds and run a 5k in 25 minutes.

To accomplish this, I was conscious of my diet and exercise (weightlifting and running) three times a week. For my diet, I aimed to eat at least 500 calories less than my total daily energy expenditure (calories out) with an emphasis on eating a lot of protein. For my workouts, I followed the Stronglifts 5×5 program while following the Couch to 5k program for running.

I have lost 30 pounds, ran a 5k in 24:37, and have surpassed novice strength benchmarks. I have enjoyed this process much more than I expected and plan to keep going. My new set of goals are to lose another 10 pounds, hit intermediate strength benchmarks, and I have considered aiming for a 10k.

While I allowed myself to fall into poor health and fitness habits a few years ago, my work over the past few months has me back in shape. It is a very powerful feeling to be in control of my body and change it to my goals. I hope to further solidify my new healthy habits for years to come.

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Protesters

Today, Students For Liberty student leaders organized an event about Free Market Environmentalism (basically, how can concerns about the environment be addressed through market rather than government means?). Two people decided to stand up, shout, and obstruct one of the speakers. Unfortunately the organizers had to call campus police so that the event could continue.

Video of the incident is available here: http://bit.ly/1M8t1VR

I find this very unfortunate for a number of reasons. First, we *want* people of varying viewpoints to attend these conferences. The event was open to anybody but attendees were simply asked to not interrupt the speakers and were welcome to civilly disagree during question and answer opportunities. Second, I think these two are doing a disservice to a cause they are passionate about (if an SFL leader did this at an event on campus, I would be embarrassed). Third, I hate having to call the police and never want it to happen at an SFL event. And finally, I fear this is part of a growing trend of college students unwilling to critically engage with views different from their own.

I hope everyone who attended the event walks away with more knowledge of free market solutions to environmental concerns, even if they disagree with those solutions.