Eastern Conference Supremacy

 With Shannon Brown re-signing with the Champs along with the addition of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, and Theo Ratliff, the Lakers will waltz through the Western Conference and make their fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. Their opponent remains to be determined as the Eastern Conference has reloaded. The Celtics, Heat, Bulls, Hawks, and Magic will beat each other up all season long but only one will face Kobe in June. Let's take a look at the contenders:

Atlanta Hawks: Swept by LeBron James the past two years the Hawks will most likely get swept this year as they have not imporved their roster during this free agancy period. Re-signing Joe Johnson was huge but a team full of wing players and an aging point guard will result in this team not representing the Eastern Conference.

Chicago Bulls: Not since Elton Brand traded to the Clippers the Bulls answered their low post answers by signing Carlos Boozer who should provide 20 points 10 rebounds at best. Chicago missed out signing JJ Reddick but added Kyle Korver for long distance shooting and Corey Brewer who's a defensive minded shooting guard. With the best young point guard in the League and Noah improving every year the Bulls should be the third or fourth best team in the East at best. CJ Watson is the backup point guard but I'm not sold on him.

Orlando Magic: Adding Chris Duhon finally give Jameer Nelson the quality backup he's needed since Rafer Alson. Re-signing JJ Reddick along with the addition of Quentin Richardson gives the Magic long distance shooting. If Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis have another disappearing act as they did against the Celtics, don't expect the Magic to return to the NBA Finals. Hopefully Superman learned some offensive moves from assistant coach Patrick Ewing.

Miami Heat: The winner of the 2010 free agency period appears to be the best team in the Eastern Conference.....on paper. The addition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh along with resigning Dwayne Wade spells trouble plus an increase in ticket sales. An extremely week bench means the three superstars will work extra hard for all 82 games. The addition of Mike Miller and the experience of Juwan Howard and Eddie House helps but not that much. Remember Wade and House are the only player on this team with championship rings.

Boston Celtics: The Black Irish are my predictions to win the  Eastern Conference. They're the only team that can play in the all-star game and legends game the same day. Adding the two O'Neals (Shaq & Jermaine) is a huge upgrade over the loss of Rasheed Wallace. Shaq will start until Kendrick Perkins returns but if he and Jermaine can play 20 minuets a game would be huge. Rondo will continue to run the team but this might be the last run for the future hall of fame line up of Shaq, KG, Pierce, and Allen.

The Black Irish

Tonight in Boston, the Black Irish aka Boston defeated the Orlando Magic in epic porpotion 94-71 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best of seven. I'm truly dissapointed in Vince Carter in this series as he was acquired by the Magic during the draft of big series like this one. As a result we've come to realize that he is not playing like the Tar Heel or Toronto Raptor version and that's Vince is just a shell of his former self. At this point is his career, he should know when to turn it on and when to rely on Lewis, Howard, or Nelson. The Magic should have won game 2 but Vince Carter had a Nick Anderson moment missing clutch free throws down the strech. Another double-double for Rajon Rondo with 11 points and 12 assist including a nasty crossover on White Chocolate Jason Williams in the first half.  It's safe to say the natives in Boston will be chanting......BEAT LA....BEAT LA......BEAT LA.....BEAT LA....starting Tuesday.

Tomorrow the Los Angeles Lakers hope to comand a 3-0 lead against the offensive minded Phoenix Suns. Unless Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire commit to defense (yeah right) this series is just about over and David Stern gets his Lakers-Celtics finals ratings bonanza.

Well, my time in Clevaland was......ok but I'm ready to get back to Chicago.