Welcome to the Sizzle Tournament Edition. With America currently embroiled in the
Madness we’ll take a break from rankings and take the Association back to school, so to
speak.



With playoff races in the East starting to take shape, and complete chaos in the lower
half of the West, you could say that we’re in for our own version of Madness in the NBA
for the rest of the season. Each victory will be magnified, each loss will feel significant.
Injuries will swing certain races, fatigue will settle others. And through it all, the teams
who have dominated the top of our rankings all year seem to be built with enough quality
and quantity of players to withstand the challenges of this year.
Good luck with your brackets, and enjoy the Sizzle.

Cinderellas
Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Phoenix- These teams all have a chance to crash the
Big Dance in the Eastern and Western ‘regions’. Milwaukee swung the big Bogut for
Ellis trade this week, a “win now” trade if I’ve ever seen one. Consistent scoring has
been their issue all year, and Ellis certainly solves that. Will they regret letting Bogut go
in future years, or are they selling high on the oft injured big man? Time will tell.
Minnesota may well be done thanks to the Rubio injury, but perhaps Kevin Love can will
the young Wolves to the promise land.
Does Steve Nash have one last run to add to his resume? The Suns play in the easiest
Western Division to make a move from, but they’ll have to beat some fellow playoff
contenders along the way.

Sweet Sixteen
Our current predictions for how teams will finish the season:

Eastern Region
1. Miami Heat- Southeast Champs
2. Chicago Bulls- Central Champs
3. Orlando Magic
4. NY Knicks- Atlantic Champs
5. Philadelphia 76ers
6. Indiana Pacers
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Boston Celtics

We’ve got the D’Antoni-less Knicks running down the Sixers, the Hawks fading a bit
down the stretch and the Celtics clinging to a spot in the final week to punch their dance
ticket

Western Region
1. Oklahoma City Thunder- Northwest Champs
2. L.A. Lakers- Pacific Champs
3. Memphis Grizzlies- Southwest Champs
4. L.A. Clippers
5. San Antonio Spurs
6 . Dallas Mavericks
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Houston Rockets

In the West we’ve got the Jazz, Blazers T-Wolves watching from home, the Lakers
making the most of their top heavy roster, and the young Grizzlies reeling of some long
winning streaks in the second half of the season.

One Shining Moment
The 2012 NBA Season has provided some memorable moments so far. Here are some of
the best:

The Dunk Blake Griffin gets incredibly close and uncomfortably vicious on Kendrick Perkins

The Pass Dwayne Wade’s full court pass to LeBron makes em say ‘uhhh’

The Shot Back in December Kevin Durant hit a game winner against Dallas as only he can

The Game Deron Williams puts up 57 in a do-it-all performance

The Final Four
We’ll leave you with one last prediction, the Final Four teams standing in the NBA at the
end of the season.
East: Miami vs Chicago
West: Oklahoma City vs L.A. Clippers

Defense, toughness and size in the East; finesse, high tempo and thunder dunks in the
West. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait for May Madness.