It's the most... wonderful time... of the year. *kick!*

That's right, baby -- it's NBA Playoff time! Tell you what -- this year, I am almost too excited about the playoffs! Yep -- oops! Officially crossed into "too excited" territory there -- I just peeed my pants a little!

So -- playoffs! I'm excited cause my team, the Timberwolves, are good. Real good. This team is easily the best Timberwolf team ever -- and it's not even close. We finished the season strong, winning must-win-game after must-win-game after must-win-game and grabbing the #1 seed in the Western Conference in the process. And the Western Conference is a major powerhouse -- stacked from top to bottom. And we, friends, were the best. The Best! *bang* *pow* That, my friends, is bad ass. Also: most regular season wins in franchise history? Doesn't hurt. Also: having the league MVP in Kevin Garnett? Hey -- that's a plus, too! Hey -- I just peeed my pants a little more!

So, how do we stack up against the Giants of the Western Conference? If you ask me, we stack up really motherfucking well! I can't even remember how many of our games down the stretch were yoooge, "must win games" -- pretty much every single game was. And we fucking won them all, bitch. We controlled our own playoff destiny down the stretch, and we controlled the shit out of it. Yeah! We've shown poise. We've locked other teams down in the 4th quarter and shown them who's boss. That's right. The boss is KG. And Sam. And Spree. (And Tony Danza -- oops!)

Let's look at the playoff draw, shall we? First off, I like the way things look for us. We're the #1 seed, going against the upstart Denver Nuggets (8 seed) in Round 1. I think we've got this one. We'll get out of the first round. I'm not worried.

Meanwhile in Round 1, the Kings (4) and Mavs (5) get to beat the crap out of each other and we'll get the winner of that series in Round 2. Let's hope we sweep and they end up in a 7 game showdown. Beat each other up, yo! In other Round 1 action, the Spurs (3) are going to kill the Grizzlies (6) and the Lakers (2) drew a tough matchup with the Rockets (7), but I think L.A. will get through it pretty nicely.

So, round 2 will look like this: Wolves vs Kings, Lakers vs Spurs. Oooh. Great matchups. The defending champion Spurs taking on the 3 time champion Lakers. I like that. They'll proceed to beat the crap out of each other -- in an epic 7 games series. Please go 7 games, y'all! Please! Meanwhile, we'll continue to put the smack down on Sacramento -- winning the series in 5 or 6 games, and then we'll ride that shit to the Western Conference Finals vs... who gives a fuck? They'll be so tired from their tough draw and beating the crap out of each other that we'll waltz through the Western Conference Finals right into the NBA Finals. Then we'll take on the Pacers or the Pistons, and, damn. We'll kick their asses, too! Bring 'em all on, bitch!

You know, I really think this team -- the Timberwolves -- should win it all. Yeah, I said it. I think this team can win it all. I think this team should win it all. We've got it. All the ingredients -- defense, rebounding, depth, clutch scorers, MVP, the hunger, the desire... it's all there! It's our year, baby.

Me? Yeah, I'm excited to watch everything unfold... especially in living motherfucking color, y'all. Lins and I bought all the tickets for the playoff games in Minneapolis. We've got 'em all! (It's great to live here. Hee.) We ordered as soon as we could, and ordered for all the rounds. First round through Finals. We've got 'em. We're so there. We are not going to miss a damn thing, thank you very much!

For everyone that's hating on the Timberwolves (I'm looking at you, Charles), just wait and see what this team does. You'll eat your words!

Go Wolves! Sam Cassell, bitch!
*e

---

ps: big thanks to the CityPages for the Minnesota Blog of the Day nod
on April 12! Thanks! Kick ass!