Ladies and germs....
Your 2013 CB Pick 2 CHAMPIONS!
Brooklyn Nets
I hope so, because Antoine Walker just put his future championship ring down as collateral for a horse racing bet
Let's break our inevitable ECF down now, though.
C: Chandler >> Gortat. Gortat's a nice player but doesn't do anything better than Chandler except a slight edge in shot blocking. Chandler is clearly the superior defender and rebounder, has a a 5 pt advantage in PER and over double the win shares to boot.
PF: Millsap ~= Boozer. Boozer is a better rebounder but Millsap is a better shooter, passer, and defender, and can actually hit the 3 in a pinch. I'm inclined to give Millsap a small edge, and I'm guessing most here would agree with me, but I'm willing to consider it a wash for argument's sake.
SF: Carmelo >>> Kawhi. Kawhi's a nice young role player, but still just a role player. Carmelo's a top 10 player and future HOFer at the peak of his prime. No contest.
SG: Butler <<< Kobe. I'd probably start Butler over Foye in this matchup to try and slow Kobe down. Still a major matchup advantage in Brooklyn's favor, though - Kobe is slowing down just a bit, but still a top 10-12 player of all-time. Again, no contest.
PG: Conley > Hill. Hill is a slightly better scorer and significantly better rebounder. Conley is a better distributor and a better defender. Pretty much equal as shooters. Very close but I give a small edge to Conley because defense wins made-up championships.
Benches:
Big Men: Davis + O'Neal > Blatche + Haslem. Davis is an up-and-coming big man with pretty sick advanced stats, and O'Neal is playing like his much younger self, dropping double-doubles with multiple blocks coming off Phoenix's bench. Efficiency-wise he hasn't been this effective since 2007, and that's for the entire season, not just this hot streak.
Blatche has had a rejuvenation of his own and is probably the best of the 4 this season, but Haslem has dropped off sharply and is bordering on irrelevancy. Small edge to the Knicks with 2 strong contributors over 1.
Wings: Pondexter + Foye < Barnes + Terry. Almost like the younger versions of Brooklyn's bench here. 2 40+% three point shooters and tough D from Pondexter make me want to call it a push or even give the Knicks a small edge, but respect for the veteran savvy of Brooklyn's guys and Terry's past clutch play swing this Brooklyn's way.
PG: Brooks > de Colo. Nando's still learning the NBA game, and Brooks has better stats despite getting yanked around in Sacramento, and a fair amount of playoff experience to boot.
Deep bench: Villanueva + James Johnson + Beverley >>> Camby + Toine + whoever #13 is. Pretty self-evident - won't be very relevant unless there are injuries or foul trouble, but the Knicks' better deep bench gives them lots of depth and lineup flexibility.
EDIT: Oops, forgot the most important part. KNICKS in 6 - Book it!
That's my (possibly biased, definitely half-assed) breakdown. Feel free to agree with me for TPs, or disagree and watch me get irrationally angry over nothing. Cheers!
I would see it as:
StartersC: Gortat vs Tyson = neutral. Both players very similar.
PF: Boozer vs Millsap = advantage Millsap. More well-rounded PF.
Wings: Melo/J.Bulter vs Kawhi/Kobe = cancel one another out.
PG: Conley vs George Hill = advantage M.Conley due to his superior floor game and playmaking.
No way do I think Conley is a better defender than George Hill though.
BenchC: Blatche vs JO = advantage Blatche due to his offensive prowess
PF: Haslem vs E.Davis = neutral. Two nothing players who cancel one another.
SF: Barnes vs Pondexter = neutral.
SG: Terry vs Foye = I really dislike Foye but this is a good matchup for him. Neutral.
PG: De Colo vs Brooks = advantage Brooks over De Colo. I imagine Terry will eat up these minutes though. So that matchup would be neutral.
Deep ReservesNew York = I dislike Villanueva but I think he will be quite valuable on this team. More valuable than Ed Davis in fact and should be playing ahead of Ed Davis. James Johnson gives you an advantage over Antoine. Beverley, I don't know.
Brooklyn = Camby is a very good backup big man if he can get healthy. Antoine isn't an NBA player anymore. Nobody listed for final spot.
OverallI think New York has a sizable advantage and takes the series against Brooklyn.