News and Notes: NBA Playoff Edition

These players were all a part of the same draft class. Wowzers!

It's that time of year when our televisions are filled with baseball, NASCAR, golf and the NBA playoffs. I enjoy the NBA playoffs the most out of all of these. I really don't follow the NBA all that much during the regular season, but I do like to watch the highlights on Sportscenter and I try to keep up with how the teams are doing. The playoffs are set, now let the fun begin:

• My favorite dead horse to beat is back in the news. The Steelers brass is open to trade talks for Ben Roethlisberger. This follows a similar story that outlines the disgust that the city of Pittsburgh has for their once loved quarterback. They have already traded away one former Super Bowl MVP for his actions but I don't expect them to trade away Ben. I think this is a tactic to show Ben that he is not invincible like he thinks he is.
• Things are already getting testy and the playoffs haven't even started. Kevin Durant is ticked off that Lakers coach Phil Jackson claimed that Durant gets special treatment from the refs. Monster Mash and I were actually discussing how much we like Durant earlier today. I think he is a good kid and a great player. All Phil is doing is stroking the refs into giving the Lakers some extra calls when they face Oklahoma City in the first round. I doubt the Lakers will need many extra calls to go their way.
• The NCAA is banning messages written on eyeblack next season. The best known user of eyeblack as a billboard is former Gators QB and future NFL bench warmer Tim Tebow. Tebow made headlines for writing Bible verses on his eyeblack before games. Onward Christian soldier!
• Here is a complete list of the NBA playoff match-ups and their times. I think that they will play out as follows:

Western Conference:
Lakers over the Thunder
Spurs over the Mavericks
Suns over the Blazers
Jazz over the Nuggets

Eastern Conference:
Cavaliers over the Bulls
Magic over the Bobcats
Hawks over the Bucks
Celtics over the Heat

As the playoffs continue I will cover the games and keep picking until there are only two teams left. These playoffs last until June so I have plenty to write about.

P.S. What did everybody think about that awesome Kentucky news yesterday!