After months of whirlwind travel, the Musings is back with a vengeance to scour the NBA for tidbits of delight.  The playoffs are in full swing, but I?m just not feeling it this time around. Does anyone else feel like the postseason is already determined? Something crazy like 80% of the teams that have won the Title have been #1 or #2 seeds.

? What I learned this week:  The NBA playoff system is a lot like half the Knicks roster, just plain dumb.

o Some cat in the NCAA dunk contest last night dunked from the foul line with both hands and then nearly went between the legs from the foul line. Holy crap.  
o Anyone else think if the Kings had pulled the trigger on the deal we all knew was coming back in November that they would be the 6th seeded team right now?  
o The Clippers most actually be taken seriously at this point. Wonder if Jack Nicholson will change in his purple and gold. At least Frankie Muniz is happy, that kid needs a break to go his way. Little punk.

? Amare Stoudemire?s comeback lasted all of three games.  After signing a max deal, Black Jesus himself returned too early and then had to shelf it for the rest of the regular season and eye the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs, if the Suns can make it that far.  And my entire fantasy season was based on his return to catapult me through the playoffs.  Thanks for nothing, Jeebus.

? Without the unbalanced scheduling system of the MLB, what exactly is the point of awarding division winners the top three seeds in the conference playoffs?  Either Dallas or San Antonio is going to finish a full 18 games better than the Denver Nuggets yet the Nuggets will be the third-seeded team in the playoffs and one of the BEST TWO teams in the NBA will be relegated to 4th.  If you?re going to re-seed for home court after the first round anyway why in the hell do we have to make the Mavs and Spurs play in the 2nd round?  

? Stevie Wonder won his 2nd straight MVP award, making him only the 3rd PG to win MVP and 4th player overall to win back-to-back. And he did all of this while making Boris Diaw the MIP and elevating James Jones the way he did for Q-Rich and JJ.  If he could ever tack on a Championship they?d rename a town after him. Wait, they already did in Tennessee.

? With the LeBrons clinching, we?re going to see great basketball again, I can feel it.  Just like when Jordan burst onto the scene, King James is going to shine brighter than Dwyane Wade can even imagine in his first playoff experience.  You are going to see him raise his game to a level previously thought to be unattainable by such a young superstar.  And they?ll probably lose in 5 because they don?t have anyone else who can compete with Detroit.

? This just in: Apparently Zeke and the ?brain? trust over at MSG did have something more in the cooker back on deadline day. Seems they had agreed to a deal with the Blazers to send Penny Hardaway?s expiring contract and the Spurs 2006 1st round pick obtained in the Nazr Mohammed deal in exchange for overpaid Theo Ratliff (2 years $23.3 mil) and the mercurial and bug-eyed Darius Miles (4 years, $34 mil).  God I wish that had gone through.  But do you know what this tells me?  Isiah is so stupid that he just wanted to get something done, anything.  The trade was shot down by Blazers billionaire owner Paul Allen b/c of his love for the useless, meandering, near-worthless SF Miles.  Isiah should thank his lucky Starbury?s Allen is as deluded about Miles as Thomas is. An excerpt of the convo between Thomas and Orlando:  ?Who? Francis? Nah.  For Hardaway? Do you want Ariza too? No, the Blazers are actually keeping Miles. I know, bizarre!  Okay, we?ll do it, but you have to promise to not play Ariza too much this year, he?s actually pretty good.?
 
? Playoff predictions:  I hate predications, mostly because I?m always wrong. But especially in the NBA, they?re pointless because very rarely is there a shocking, jaw-dropping upset. Sure, the Bucks won a game against Detroit and Chicago gave the Heat a series, sort of, but after the dust settles, it?s the same teams everyone expected, and just not that exciting really. So here we go for Round 2:

o Pistons over LeBrons in 6. I?ll give the Cavs two wins (I don?t even know why) to push it to 6, but that?s as far as I?m willing to go. Another 2 years before they can be considered a threat.

o New Jersey over Miami in 7. The Nets peaked at the right time, R-Jeff?s ankle is not as worse as first feared and the Heat look old and tired. It?s been proven that one man can?t do it himself, and Wade needs some help.  Good luck getting it from GP, ?Toine and a hobbled Jason Williams (the other one).  Shaq is breaking down and though he dominates early, he?s almost a detriment at the end of a game. Besides, who?s checking VC, James Posey? Please.

o Suns beat Clippers 4-2. No, the Suns do not play defense. No, they don?t have enough size to guard Kaman and Elton. No, they don?t hit consistently enough from the outside to afford no inside presence.  But think of it this way, they aren?t the Clippers either.

o Spurs top Mavericks, 4-2. Sorry, you can?t rely on Stackhouse to hit fall-away 3-pt game winners anymore. If you ever could.  Dirk and Co. are missing a PG who can distribute on the draw and kick. Jason Terry is a gunner. And you can?t find me one guy on San Antonio that isn?t a winner. Well, maybe Rasho.

Early next week we?ll get into the post-season awards, 2nd Round of the grid and maybe even get around to beating up KG. Figuratively, of course.  For the Triumphant Return of the Weekly Musings, I?m Chris Webber saying ?FORE!?