It’s that time of the year again folks. The NBA Playoffs are about to kickoff this weekend. Even with this lockout shortened 66 game season, there were still plenty of memorable moments to look back on. Blake Griffin could make his own personal top 10 dunks of the year, but the play of the year for many is his posterization of Kendrick Perkins. Then of course, there is Ron Artest, sorry Metta World Peace, that “accidentally” elbowed James Harden in the head That gave him a 7 game suspension which makes the Lakers shorthanded to start the playoffs. The Bucks traded disgruntled guard Stephen Jackson and oft-injured center Andrew Bogut for the scoring-machine guard Monta Ellis, and young, exciting Ekpe Udoh. There were many other storylines as well.
As of Wednesday April 25, 2012, these were the playoff matchups. In the west, there is the #1 seed, San Antonio Spurs, who will play the #8 seed, Utah Jazz. Then the #2 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will play the #7, defending NBA champs, Dallas Mavericks. The #6 seeded Denver Nuggets will attempt to upset the shorthanded #3 seeded Los Angeles Lakers. Rounding out the field, there is the #4 seeded Los Angeles Clippers who will play the #5 seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
My predictions are that the Spurs win in in a close series, the Thunder blow out the MAvericks, the Lakers squeak past the Nuggets, and it is a toss up between the Grizzlies and Clippers. With all that being said, crazy stuff can happen in the playoffs. Any team can upset a higher seed at anytime. I believe the Thunder will win in a tough matchup against the Lakers, and whoever wins the Clippers-Grizzlies series beats the Spurs. I will stick with my preseason prediction of the Thunder making it through the deep Western Conference into the NBA Finals.
The East has four teams that I strongly believe can make a run for the NBA title. Those teams would be the Heat, Bulls, Celtics, and Knicks in that order. The problem is that the #1 seeded Chicago Bulls play the #8 seeded New York Knicks in the first round. The #2 seeded Miami Heat will play the #7 seeded Philadelphia 76ers in a rematch from last year’s first round. The #3 seeded Indiana Pacers will take on the #6 seeded Dwight Howard-less Orlando Magic. Finishing off the first round are the #5 seeded Atlanta Hawks who will try to upset the #4 seeded Boston Celtics.
My predictions are far more easier than in the West. I have the Bulls beating the Knicks in a very close 6 or 7 game series. The Heat will take care of business against the 76ers. Without Dwight Howard, the Pacers will have no problem dispatching the Magic. And then the older, more experienced Celtics will take care of the younger Hawks. The Heat will win a good series against a very talented Pacers squad. The Bulls will squeak past the Celtics in a very hotly contested, possibly classic series. That sets up the rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals of the Heat versus the Bulls. I believe the Heat will beat them again to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA FInals.
I stuck with my and many sportswriters early season prediction of the Durant, Westbrook, Harden led Thunder against the Wade, Lebron, Bosh led Heat in a battle for the title.
Both of these teams could win the title, but I would have to go with my favorite team, the Miami Heat. This series could also be an instant classic.
The NBA Playoffs are sure to be a great show as they always are. I can not wait for the Finals. Go Heat!

The Final Day

When the phone rang,

we knew it was trouble. 

Tearing up before my dad hung up, 

The day was eminent.

"Less than a day" he sighed.

Our vision was obscured from the tears, 

and we could not believe our ears. 

It was the last day for our mom. 

I never thought the day would come,

I had hoped and prayed to no avail.

Then my dad asked a simple question,

"Do you want to come with me?"

Never before have I faced a tougher decision,

After much deliberation, we both replied no.

At the time, I thought I was abandoning her, 

but I could not bear to observe her in that much pain.

Looking back now, I know I made the right choice.

The memory of her in her final moments would have been too much.

I love you mom and always will.

I Remember... When We Won the Regional Finals

“WE WANT JUSTIN!!! WE WANT JUSTIN!!!” the crowd roars. I looked over and bust out a huge smile. There were about four minutes left in the game and it was my time.
“Justin, we will give them what the crowd wants. Get in there.” says our coach, Mr. Ketterhagen. I jogged over to the scorer’s table to a cheering frenzy. It was my time to make my mark on this regional finals game.
But wait, I should probably start at the beginning.

Our first round game had been pushed back due to a nasty winter storm on the previous Friday. Once we beat Wayland Academy, we had a 6:00 to 8:00 practice on Sunday night. We were told that Reedsville collapses the paint, but if we made quick and decisive moves, we could beat them.

On Monday, all I could think about was the game. I have no idea what actually happened at school that day. My best guess was that we reviewed for that week’s finals.

I know that I do not get to play too much, but I was so pumped for that game. It was my last home game at Ozaukee. No matter what, I wanted to go out with a bang.

The problem was, my stomach was not feeling that great because I stupidly stuffed myself with McDonald’s with my cousin, Joey, pregame. I was also feeling the effects of the same massive sinus headache that had been nagging me all week.

I arrived at 5:40, which was five minutes early. That being said, I was the last one there. The delicious aroma of fresh popcorn in the concession stand toyed with my stomach making me regret McDonalds even more. I began warming up in the middle school gym, but every time I took a jumper, my head pounded. I was in quite a bit of pain, but once the clock started creeping closer to gametime, my adrenaline kicked into high gear. When we were getting our uniforms on, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps on my arms.
When we came together for the pregame speech, our coach’s message was simple: “You know what you have to do to beat them. We gave you the gameplan for success. No Ozaukee boys team has ever won a Regional Final before. It’s time to make history.”
We prayed and huddled before going to the floor. We were a few minutes early, so we were forced to sit outside in the hallway. A couple people made a few nervous jokes that were not too good, but it broke the ice. When we were let on the court, the small crowd that had gathered, erupted.

We had a good warm-up and went into the locker room at the six minute mark. Mr. Ketterhagen, our coach, gave the starters’ their defensive assignments and repeated the message of, “It’s time to make history.” We were pumped and ready to follow his instructions..

Following the trip to the locker room, we went back to the floor with a much more populated crowd cheering us on. Everyone got some shots in, and after draining a couple of shots, my nerves died down. By this time, my adrenaline had won the battle against my headache, causing me no problems anymore.
The horn sounded signaling there were 45 seconds before game time, so we hustled to our bench. Our coach talked to everyone, but I could not hear him over the noise of the crowd. We lined up for the National Anthem, where Justin Shininger played it on his guitar for the third time that year. I was excited to hear his awesome rendition of it. He definitely did not disappoint.
We gathered on the bench and watched Reedsville’s starters get announced by Tim Job. There was one surprise. Their starting point guard fractured his kneecap in the previous game. He had played the rest of the game on it, so we had game planned for him to be in. Mr. Ketterhagen handed out new defensive matchups as they were announced.
After that, LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem started. It was time to announce our starters. I jogged to the end of the line. Then, the goosebumps started. It was the same thing that happened everytime the starters were announced. I was the last guy in line for the shoulder bump fom Colton, Pat, Steve, and Eric. Doug and I had our own secret pregame handshake. Right, left,right, left, followed by a salute. This time there was a team huddle where we told each other things I will not repeat. It ended with a Warriors chant. The starters took their spots on the floor, and I went to the bench with the rest of the reserves. I took my usual spot between Alex and Owen. I settled in for the greatest game I have ever been a part of.

Steve won the tip, but it started very slowly. Reedsville never had the lead, but we kept it much closer than we should have. The crowd was going crazy during the game. On the bench, I get to watch the entire game and the crowd at the same time which I loved. Of course I am very biased, but I still think that we had the best fans in the CLC.  

I think we took like a 10 point lead at halftime. Our coaches told us that our defense was fantastic, but our offense was sputtering. They drew up a few plays on the whiteboard for us to run off of our offensive sets. We hustled back onto the floor and took some more game shots before the buzzer sounded. Our coaches told us, “It’s 16 minutes before we make some Ozaukee basketball history. Let’s go finish it.”

Hearing that statement, it really dawned on me and how close we were. WOW. As soon as the third quarter started, we went on a run. We were on fire. On the occasional miss, Eric or Steve would get the rebound and put it in. We picked off of all of their passes and attacked on our fast break chances from them. We made our free throws. The boisterous crowd went bananas. Steve’s uncle jumped on the court with a giant fist bump after Steve dunked on a fastbreak and was fouled. The whole bench, including the coaches, went crazy too. I lost my voice and had no feeling left in my hands from clapping and cheering so loud. It can only be described as sheer madness. Reedsville must have called three timeouts in the third quarter to try to stop the madness. It did not matter at all. After their third timeout, Reedsville settled in and made a couple of shots, but that was about it.

At the start of the fourth, Tim Job made a huge announcement, “ Eric Hartnett has now become the Ozaukee all-time scoring leader with over 1003 points.” The crowd roared, Eric gave a quick wave, and then continued playing. We had the countdown going the last few games, and he had known it was probably going to happen tonight. It was still pretty sweet to hear it announced.

We traded baskets, but we had a 20 point lead while doing it. They never threatened a comeback and were getting frustrated. Now my internal countdown began until I could play. My nerves were at an all-time high sitting on the bench, but the second I got on the court, I was just fine. Then, with about five minutes left, the nearly every game cheers of “WE WANT JUSTIN” began. They always started at some point in the 4th quarter if we were winning or losing by more than 10 or so.
Tonight the cheers were at an all-time high. Knowing it was my last home game, they were deafening. WE WANT JUSTIN!!! WE WANT JUSTIN!!!” the crowd roars. I look over and bust out a huge smile. The were about four minutes left and it was my time.

“Justin, we will give them what the crowd wants. Get in there.” says our coach, Mr. Ketterhagen. I jogged over to the scorer’s table to a cheeering frenzy. It was my time to make my mark on this regional finals game.
I came in with Owen, Hunter, Alex, and Andy to finish the game out. The crowd gave a standing ovation to the starters as they left. Before announcing who came into the game, Mr. Job announced that Eric had just set a career high in points with 30 and stood with 1,022 points in his career. The crowd responded with another deafening cheer.

Mr. Job then announced all of the reserves coming in, and saved mine for last. Then, after a slight dramatic pause, announced with the slow drawl to add even more drama to the scene, “And number 30, Justin St. Peter.” No offense to Eric, but I think my cheers might have been a little louder than his.

Those four minutes went by very quickly. Andy, Hunter, and Owen made some free throws when Reedsville tried to follow the chase and foul strategy. I grabbed a rebound and played some solid defense against their starting post until the subs came in.

Quicker than I thought, the clock expired on Reedsville’s season. The final score read Ozaukee 55, Reedsville 34. We lined up and shook hands, and went back to the bench. We listened as Mr. Job congratulated Reedsville on a great year. The entire gym applauded their effort. Then Mr. Job announced us as the first Regional Champions in the history of the school.  Mr. Ketterhagen was presented with the Regional Champs plaque and handed it to the team..

We hustled to the middle of the court, holding our plaque high for pictures. Then the students rushed the court. We joined the students and went crazy in the middle of the court. Eventually, it died down and congratulations were spread around. There were many pictures snapped, and an official team picture was taken with us holding the plaque.

The locker room was a party, and I do not think I made it home until around 10 that night (the game ended about 8:45). I came home elated and of course set a pretty awesome facebook status about it. In all seriousness, that was probably the best day of my life.