Nothing Comes Easy, Never Give Up.!

(Below is a Mini Movie of the 2012 Playoffs Made by Me of the highlights of the 2012 Playoffs.)

          As the Playoffs Began there were 8 teams from each conference, making 16 teams in total. The most anticipated first round playoff games were the New York Knicks Vs. Miami Heat on the East and the Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. The Dallas Mavericks which Dallas had beaten Oklahoma out of the playoffs a year ago. The Series ended up with the Knicks losing in 5 games, only winning one in a best of 7 series. The Oklahoma City Thunder However went up against the Mavericks and swept them, Giving them no chance at winning. The Knicks also had many injuries including the left hand to Amare' Stoudemire as he chose to punch through a Fire extinguisher out of anger after the loss to Miami in the Second Playoff game, boy did New York Hate him for that. (Below is a picture of Amare' after the Injury and Carmelo Fighting for a Win in New York During the playoffs.)

                       
                       

       
 
   Many Surprises were in the playoffs including the Lakers getting Knocked out of it in  the 2nd round 2 years in a row.    
(Below is a picture of Kevin Durant as he was dominating the Lakers)

     



    The Playoffs were very important for teams to win a championship. In the second round it was the Oklahoma Thunder Vs. The Los Angeles Lakers, and boy was that rivalry after The Los Angeles Lakers Knocked them out of the playoffs in 2010. Back for revenge the Oklahoma City Thunder Did not  back down as they won and advanced to the Conference Finals. However The East were many injuries and most teams were banged up without a star Player, Very Disappointing. How ever The Boston Celtics and The Miami Heat advanced to the Conference Finals which Seems to be interesting as everyone Favors for Miami for the star power of Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, Boston isn't  backing down as they lead the series 3-2 only needing one more Win to Advance to the NBA Finals.    (Below is a picture as things get heated between the Miami and Boston Rivalry)
                             
  In The West Conference finals, it was no joke. Oklahoma City The Youngest Team in the NBA Advancing to the Finals and they can tell you it wasn't easy and they had to adjust very much. Facing The San Antonio Spurs who coming in to this series won 18 games in a row it was no different they beat the Thunder Twice and made it 20 games straight, The Thunder knew if they wanted to win they had to adjust. After they lost two in  row and after San Antonio won 20 in a row, they committed to put there most hardest effort in. Oklahoma City then Beat San Antonio 4 games in a row winning the series and advancing to the Finals. As Shaquille O'neal the retired Hall of Fame, Analyst says "Good Things Come to a End". 

 

 As Russell Westbrook the starting guard of the Oklahoma City Thunder says "Why Not", "Everybody said were too young inexperienced Why would they win the Championship,?" and he simply said "Why Not?". 

So now its down to one series, The Celtics and The Miami Heat, Who will win? If the Heat Win this game tonight 06/07/2012 then they play one more Game 7 06/09/2012 to see who makes the trip to the finals. If they lose then The Boston Celtics will win the Conference Finals and head to the Finals to VS. The Oklahoma City Thunder Arguably the best team in the league. Below is a picture showing Oklahoma City Thunder Holding the Conference Title trophy as they wait for there opponent and who will it be, Miami or Boston.

Dissapointments

As the 2011-2012 Season ended there were many surprises as well as many disappointing  factors throughout the NBA season. One of the Most surprising Factors was that Jeremy Lin, a Harvard graduate Brought the Knicks back into the post season after the disappointing injuries to Carmelo Anthony and Amare' Stoudemire. He and the role players for the New York Knicks Won 8 Games straight with him averaging 27 Points in that span. That's Amazing and as well as New York Going crazy with the saying "Linsanity" which he eventually trademarked and made money off of.

                                          

There were many disappointments as far as injuries go. As quick as Linsanity came, Linsanity Left. Jeremy Lin Tore his ACL in the beginning of April before the playoffs. Very Tragic to the Knicks soon as Carmelo and Amare' were to return to the team. The Knicks were never Complete. Derrick Rose the Reigning MVP of the 2010-2011 Season Tore His ACL, Twisted his Ankle, and Strained groin Hurt the #1 team in the NBA the Chicago Bulls as they didn't Have his Presence in the Postseason. Dwight Howard Injuring his back missed the entire end of the season as well as the Playoffs and this shows how these two teams would of probably been getting further if they had their superstars. Most people blame the Lockout for these injuries because players weren't physically fit when the Season began, but I Believe as a Professional Athlete you have to be training as hard as ever to do what you want and be ready for anything. After all "Hard Work Beats Talent, When Talent Fails to work Hard" Quoted by Kevin Durant as he had yet another healthy season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, No Disappointing acts on there end.
 

The Fight

As the 2011-2012 season was in progress after the lockout many players broke out and ready to play. During the prime of this season, there were many MVP candidates Including Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Lebron James of the Miami Heat, Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder & Chris Paul of the Los Angelas Clippers.(Players in order of names & teams.)  

 After Kevin Durant winning the MVP of the All Star Game many had hopes of him winning it for the season. After the season was over all those names only came down to three, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and then Lebron James. Which after Kobe's Injury came down to 2 Kevin Durant and then Lebron James.After the Judges came down to the final decision of course for his 3rd MVP Lebron James Finally won.

(Sources: NBA.COM , ESPN.COM.) (Pictures provided by Google)

Rise and Shine.

After the 2011 season, when the Dallas Mavericks won the championship and knocked Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City out of the playoffs and eventually won the NBA Championship, Kevin Durant won yet another scoring title averaging 27.1 points per game, although it went down prior to the last season, he did it once again and really broke out as a superstar. After the NBA draft they declared a Lockout because they claimed that the NBA lost money in the 2010-2011 season. That didn't stop many of the superstars on the NBA from playing, doing summer leagues, tournaments and even hosting charity events in Miami and Oklahoma. The Lockout especially didn't stop Durant coming up with a Slogan for the lockout, "Basketball Never Stops" which was also endorsed by Nike.! He even came to Rucker Park in New York City to play a tournament scoring 66 points August 1st 2011, and was named the Lockout MVP. 

Patience is a Virtue

In 2010 when Kobe pursued his 5th ring which he eventually won. The first round was very difficult for him and the Lakers going against the youngest team in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder with Kevin Durant only 22 years of age winning the scoring title for that season of 09-10 averaging 31.0 points per game they gave the Lakers hell. Losing in that series, and only there first trip to the playoffs they did pretty well and the Oklahoma City Thunder realized that was just the start of a dynasty and knew patience was the key. Practice makes Perfect and with Youth, Confidence and Room for improvement, they also knew that it wasn't there last time in the playoffs.

New Era.

As Time Goes on, Players retire, I Start to favor another, so no more M.J. Now somebody who looked up to Micheal as his Mentor was in the league, and who was that? Kobe Bryant! One of the greatest still in the game today despite his 33 years of age. He came into the league straight out of high school and played against Micheal Jordan for one year before he retired in 1998. Micheal Jordan has 6 championship rings and Kobe has 5, although he may not admit it the NBA world knows he wants to tie with Jordan's 6 or even pass it. Still in the NBA today who know's anything can  happen.
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My Love For The Game.

My Love for basketball began when and with but who else, Micheal Jordan, everybody wanted to be "Like Mike".In mine and the eyes of many other basketball fans he was the Greatest.He led the league in scoring  10 times while in the NBA and what made me like him more was his way to never be disappointing,unlike the Knicks.I Loved his sneakers,all the numbers going up to 23 to represent his number 23,and since then I been a basketball head,not favoring no other sport,just the NBA.