So fresh off my Superbowl prediction (see previous post, NYG over Patriots by 3... mind you I Predicted a much higher score. An aside: whoever bet the over on the 12.5 point spread was dumb. I mean really 12.5 points??? The Patriots barely won by 3 the last time, what makes them think that suddenly they would get that much better??? That shoulda been easy money for you betters. Anyway...), I'm ready to predict another Champion. This time for the NBA. Late me say that the people who doubt this trade do so due to Shaq's recent health problems. In fact if this had been 2 or 3 years ago, there would have been little criticism against Sun's GM Steve Kerr. But after watching an interview with Shaq I realize that something that a lot of folks seems to not have noticed... the medical staff at Phoenix.
You see, although many people know about Amare Stoudemire's knee and "miraculous" recovery. It seems few knew why. To spare some time (and cause I can't find the specific articles I had in mind) I'll summarize: the reason Amare was able to come back to his old form (unlike many others) after that particular knee surgery had a lot do to with, his work ethic, and the Phoenix Med Staff. The approached his injury from a completly different standpoint. The didn't just try to fix the problem, but address what it was that caused it to begin with. And this is what is missing from most people's evaluation. I noticed it cause as a runner, these kind of things always catch my attention. And simply listening to what Shaq had to say about his injuries made me think.
So... here's what I predict.
The Suns will beat the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals (TV rating will be very high). Then go on to face the winner of the Celtics-Pistons Eastern Conference Finals. I'm not sure yet who will win that one. Either way, the Suns, with a healthy Shaq, an unstoppable Amare and ridiculous Nash 3s --- who is a much better 3 point shotter than Ray Allen, not to mention the fact that is the best point guard out there right now --- will win the title. Detroit doesn't have the big man to stop Shaq (or Amare) and KG in Boston can't stop both. Either way, that leaves Nash very very very OPEN. He already shoots close to 50% from the 3-point line (FG% .511, 3P% .471, FT% .903 actually -- which is way better than Ray Allen's FG% .427, 3P% .379, FT% .923 or Paul Pierce FG% .444, 3P% .371, FT% .829 or Kobe's FG% .454, 3P% .350, FT% .833 --- in fact he shots a better 3 than those player shot their easier, higher percentage 2 point shots, which includes dunks). Which means that they become unstoppable. The Spurs are getting old, Parker is injured, and this is an off year (they barely beat the Suns last year), they only seem top win every other year. Dallas is a non-factor and the Jazz are tough, but will still lose out to the Spurs.
X-Factor: Phoenix Sun's Medical staff.
My only doubt is time. Can he get healthy enough for this year? It did take Amare 2 years before he was back at full strength. Will it take until the end of next year? I hope not, but it just might.
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ሰላም ዮሃንስ
