NBA on TNT Analyst Charles Barkley has cajones. This obviously is not news; Sir Charles has made a long, wonderful career of being the boldest, most outspoken sports figure in the American landscape. It’s been that way for awhile.
However, this is the first time I can remember Barkley previewing a playoff series between two teams that even STARTED their previous round series.
“Cleveland and Chicago are the best two teams in the Eastern Conference, and when they play in second round, that will be the Eastern Conference Finals,” Barkley said on media conference call today.
“Cleveland would beat Golden State in The Finals if they played, but I’m not sure they’d beat San Antonio, Portland, Los Angeles or Memphis.”
Yes, that takes ONIONS!! when you consider that the Bulls opening round series versus the Milwaukee Bucks hasn’t even started yet (here’s our series preview); and the Cavs opening round series against the Boston Celtics hasn’t even started yet. Then again, Charles Barkley isn’t really going out on a limb. Not too far at least.
No one will be surprised when the two teams do meet in the second round.
Charles Barkley on the positives of some of the Bulls’ injuries: “Derrick Rose’s injury and Joakim Noah’s injury make them fresher than most guys going into the playoffs. We don’t know Chicago’s ceiling as a team since they haven’t played together for more than a few weeks. I think they have the highest ceiling in the Eastern Conference.”
GAME DATE LOCATON TIME (CDT) NETWORK
Game 1 Monday, May 4 Chicago @ Cleveland 6:00 p.m. TNT
Game 2 Wednesday, May 6 Chicago @ Cleveland 6:00 p.m. TNT
Game 3 Friday, May 8 Cleveland @ Chicago TBD ESPN
Game 4 Sunday, May 10 Cleveland @ Chicago 2:30 p.m. ABC
Game 5* Tuesday, May 12 Chicago @ Cleveland TBD TNT
Game 6* Thursday, May 14 Cleveland @ Chicago TBD ESPN
Game 7* Sunday, May 17 Chicago @ Cleveland TBD TNT
Charles Barkley on the Bulls’ size advantage: “If they could ever get healthy, they’re the best team in the Eastern Conference. No disrespect to Cleveland, but [the Bulls] have more weapons. They will have hands full with Noah and [center Pau] Gasol down low.”
Barkley on the lack of playoff experience for Cleveland’s young stars: “I think [talk of that is] a little overrated. The Cavs [didn’t miss the playoffs last year] because of [point guard] Kyrie [Irving]. The Timberwolves [didn’t miss the playoffs last year] because of [power forward Kevin] Love. Both of those guys are perennial All-Stars, and they have LeBron James, the best player in the world. [Irving and Love] will both play well. They have an easy series the first round against Boston and the second round match-up with Chicago will be tough. They won’t lose because of inexperience [if they do lose to Chicago], they’ll play well.
When asked about who the NBA’s television partners want in the Conference Finals and the FInals he said “We got screwed in that Bulls vs. Cavs is in the next round and not in the Conference Finals.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)