wake.eat.sleep

I'm going to be as optimistic as everyone else and hope for a fun entertaining series. A lot of history to be made either way for both franchises.

Spurs in 7.

-- wake.eat.sleep

10!!!

The quick review? Everything is boringly falling into place.

Here are the Round 3 Quick Picks.

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...And this is probably why I wouldn't be able to do this for a living. 

Here's the quick review of my picks, and a little bit more detail:

Eastern Conference

#1 Indiana vs #8 Atlanta: Indiana in 6 - Actual Result: Indiana in 7

It turns out that Indiana has a lot more structural issues, and Atlanta is better coached than we gave them credit for. In the end, Atlanta went cold in Game 7 on a majority of open looks that were falling earlier in the series, and Indiana did what they needed to do to advance. 

#2 Miami vs #7 Charlotte: Miami in 5 - Actual Result: Miami in 4

Al Jefferson got injured in Game 1, and although he continued to play they didn't have enough to win.

#3 Toronto vs #6 Brooklyn: Brooklyn in 7 - Actual Result: Brooklyn in 7

I figured that Toronto's relative inexperience would hurt them in a long series. This series brought back the surprising return of Joe Johnson to playoff relevance.

#4 Chicago vs #5 Washington: Chicago in 6 - Actual Result: Washington in 5

I'll do a longer write up, but Washington came prepared with a better strategy and executed better throughout the series. If there was a perception that Washington would lack poise going into the playoffs, there was very little evidence of that in this series. Great start for Washington, and another disappointing playoff exit for Chicago.

Western Conference

#1 San Antonio vs #8 Dallas: San Antonio in 5 - Actual Result: San Antonio in 7

A fun, well-coached series as Carlisle did his best to find ways for Dallas to keep up with San Antonio. In the end, regular season San Antonio had more than enough in Game 7 to pull away.

#2 Oklahoma City vs #7 Memphis: Oklahoma City in 6 - Actual Result: Oklahoma City in 7

Who knows what might have been? OKC never looked comfortable against Memphis, but with Randolph suspended after throwing the punch on Adams, and Conley limited by a hamstring injury, would they have been able to win Game 7 in Oklahoma City? 

#3 Los Angeles vs #6 Golden State: Los Angeles in 7 - Actual Result: Los Angeles in 7

Off-court issues aside, this was the high scoring affair we all expected it might be. Oddly enough, I thought that Golden State's organizational issues were more internally divisive than Los Angeles'. Los Angeles at least got to bond together over their issues. 

#4 Houston vs #5 Portland: Houston in 6 - Actual Result: Portland in 7

Similar to the other 4-5 matchup, I underrated the coaching on one team. This series had some wonderful individual performances from Aldridge and Lillard. Of course, it had the fantastic end to the series:

Now what about Round 2?

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Doesn't get much simpler than this tonight: Win or the season ends.

The Bulls have lost every 1st quarter in this series. If they win tonight's quarter, they have a greater chance of winning the game. (We can worry about trying to win the series later).

Look who's on the ticket tonight:

To quote Ron Burgundy: "Boy, that escalated quickly! I mean that really got out of hand fast!"

Going into the game, I had predicted that if the Bulls couldn't win the first quarter, they wouldn't win the game. I felt that if they couldn't change the momentum of the series early on, and if they fell into Washington's pace it would be more of the same in this game.

Bulls win the first quarter, they win the game. #CHIvsWAS #ChicagoBasketball #SeeRed #GoBulls

— Wesley Rizal (@wrizal) April 25, 2014

Turns out that I am as terrible at predictions as Bradley Beal, and I couldn't be happier to be wrong!

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With no rhyme or reason, here's my quick picks for Round 1 which starts today:

Eastern Conference

#1 Indiana vs #8 Atlanta: Indiana in 6

#2 Miami vs #7 Charlotte: Miami in 5

#3 Toronto vs #6 Brooklyn: Brooklyn in 7

#4 Chicago vs #5 Washington: Chicago in 6

Western Conference

#1 San Antonio vs #8 Dallas: San Antonio in 5

#2 Oklahoma City vs #7 Memphis: Oklahoma City in 6

#3 Los Angeles vs #6 Golden State: Los Angeles in 7

#4 Houston vs #5 Portland: Houston in 6

-- wake.eat.sleep

Well, that was a lot of fun!

The very first time I went, I didn't stay very long. This time I stayed until close: 17:00 (5 pm). It was a fun time seeing stuff, hearing from fans and just being in the general atmosphere of people that enjoy the same things that you do.

I took over 1000 photos, so eventually the link above will have a lot more.

This was also physically exhausting for my feet, but I had one more event to join.

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I took my time to head back to Tokyo and returned back to Asakubashi. 

I was still pretty exhausted from my Osaka night out, so other than some small wanderings around Akiba, I called it an early night, since tomorrow would be a huge day for me.

#3dc

-- wake.eat.sleep