Round 1 Superheroes

May 3, 20237 min read

Mmm mmm mmm- Playoffs. The best time of the year for any sport. When the real prize is on the line; when the stage is at it's highest; and when the real heroes come to claim glory.

Queue Metro Boomin's Superheroes instrumental.

Round 1 of the Hardwood Classic and The Stanley Cup has brought some solid noise. Occasional blow outs- which absolutely blow (no pun). Outside of that- pretty solid noise across the two playoffs' opening rounds as we saw upsets; unlikely outcomes; drama; and some major- major performers step up when their teams needed it the most. This read is to notice those performers and show them love for their grit and dominance on the most important stage of their profession. Shall we start things on the ice:

The Dallas Stars eliminate a 1-2 series deficit to move past the Wild in part, due to the dual efforts of their 1st line-mate stars: Tyler Sequin and Roope Hintz. Relentless power play. Relentless offense. You name it. Two marvelous performers straight up gettin' a groove on.

Roope Hintz was absolutely lights out in the opening round. Lights out! "Shining Star" Hintz finished his first round with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) to lead all Stanley Cup Playoff scorers. Roope ranks 3rd in both assists and goals as well- as he REFUSED to be tamed. Roope was playing on a whole 'notha level- and so was his line mate Tyler Seguin.

Seguin was doing the little things for Dallas. Which means- he was a pivotal piece to victory. Settin' up Hintz and co with hard skating and electric offensive playmaking. The decider in this series was the powerplay and time on attack. The two things that really stand out when you look at Seguin's importance to the series dub. Tyler lead all first round players in power play goals. Seguin's relentless attack; pummeled the hopes of the Wild and the Minnesota faithful.

If the defending champs want to advance closer to runnin' things back: then their only game plan needs to be stoppin' Dallas' dynamic duo and the Stars' powerplay attack.

Magic Mitch. Toronto is poppin' off with good energy after the Maple Leafs win their first playoff series since '04- and it was thanks to the stellar efforts of winger, Mitch Marner.

Marner was outstanding against Toronto's recent playoff nemesis- Lightning. Ranking second in points due to his playoff leading 9 assists. Settin' up his guys with electric ice IQ; pure offensive playmaking; and touch point passing. The dude was straight money. They simply don't win this series without him. Magic Mitch stepped up on multiple occasions in the 3rd period and OT of games across the series & although he may have not assisted on either of the three OT winners- his spacing and play; helped elevate his line mates to end the Lightning's season in clutch time.

Evan Bouchard take a bow, sir. Oilers are steam rollin' into the second round thanks to stardom from their magic duo & pure dominance from their best d-man.

We all know how special the duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is, and have also preached all season that they need to have better defense and more consistent play across their defensemen. Bouchard and co did exactly that in the first round for Edmonton. Bouchard was EXCELLENT. Playing as the best defender in the league as he elevated his whole team to dubs.

Bouchard lead the way for all d-man in the first round with points & assists. He ranked 3rd in points and 2nd in assists amongst ALL players. Tenacity. Strategic Motives. Elite vision. You name it- Bouchard did it. Flawless performance by the d-man to help spurt his Oilers to advancement into the second round. If they keep getting this play from Bouchard and his fellow d-man: then expect that Oilers run that everyone kind of hopes to see. Especially if you are fans of the magic duo.

Elite performances on the ice were followed up by elite performances on the hardwood. Like a few games in The Cup- the NBA playoffs have also had a few blowouts (which again, sucks). Blowouts aren't fun. Luckily despite those blowouts- we saw some pretty spectacular player performances. Let's hit my best three from the the first round of the NBA Playoffs:

Ice cold J-Brun, baby. Oh man, was he havin' the Garden and Knicks fans in a frenzy with his elite playmaking in the first round against a young and hungry Cavs squad. Big time baller. Ooooo big time baller, indeed.

New York bounced out the Cavs in swift fashion with a 4-1 series finish, with help from their true captain and floor general- Ice in his veins Jalen Brunson. Jalen's playmaking was superb & and gave the revelation that he is worth the contract. The Knicks core is made up of mostly young; talented guys who needed Brunson to keep them hot; intensified; and motivated towards victory. The young guys played great- they being Toppin; Barrett; and Hart. Those guys don't get buckets without Brunson's spacing; playmaking; and touch passing. Those cats don't fully get the confidence against the Cavs matchups, if it wasn't for Brunson's leadership and clutch buckets in pivotal situations that had game control on the line.

I use the floor general with great meaning. That's exactly what Brunson is- and was consistency throughout the playoff so far. Just an incredible round of play from the former Nova Cat- that has Knicks fans losing their wits. Brunson put the cherry on top with his electric three point celly... and if you wanna know his inspiration behind it? Don't worry about it:

616 stand up! D-Book is back to FLAMIN' in the playoffs. I'm talking flames that you can't put out- type of flamin'. Booker was electric in every fashion against the Clippers. Who, despite a 1-4 series L- had pressure on the Suns throughout every game but Game 2. They easily would have beaten the Suns if you take away Booker. You google "valuable" and Devin Booker's round 1 highlights show up on the screen.

The dude averaged 37.2 PPG in the series, including a 45 piece as well as a series clinching 47 piece. Booker seemed unstoppable on offense. D was so locked in with his shot- he was getting buckets effortlessly it seemed. Mid range game? You bet. Booker gave everyone a pure; visible; example that his mid game is the most elite mid range game in all of the NBA. Automatic. It was special to watch.

Not only was Book lights out on offense; he was stellar on defense as well. Posting up the third best steals per- averaging 2 a game. He was totally locked in. In all fashions. Everyone speaks about Durant... well this is and will remain: D-Book's team. On the straight up. That is in no way; shape; or form- a diss or degrade on KD. KD being on the court is exactly why Booker is showing this display. Without KD we see Book get way more pressure and hands in the grill. KD's presence; spacing; and elite offense makes Booker one of the best scorers in the world when he is on automatic. Don't forget about 616 Book out there... or he's going to send you and the homies PACKIN'.

Booker at 2? Someone was better than that!? Sure enough- insert Playoff Jimmy Butler. Oh my-my. What a DAWG, Playoff JB is. Phew. Jimmy Butler had one of those series that will be spoken about in basketball galore- forever. The tenacity. The grit. The BARK. Wow, what a badass performance to watch. We saw it in the bubble- this time he had sold out arenas to amaze. Butler did just that.

Butler simply took over games late and single handily advanced his Heat past the number one seeded Bucks. Playoff Jimmy posted the highest PPG of all ballers in round 1. The final three game performances is what caught my eye the most. As well as the eyes of everyone else. Game 3 he was fabulous- posting 30; on 60+ percent shooting from the field; and with a stellar 15 +/-. That performance got his dawg to really come out. Game 4 he absolutely went OFF. Bucks had major pressure and seemed like the better team all night- JB didn't give a damn. Unleashing for a playoff high 56 points- the fourth most all time in the NBA Playoffs. 21 of the points came in the 4th quarter. JB helped the Heat eliminate their largest 4th quarter deficit on the season and jammed home a banger to lift up his team to go on a 13-0 run. Butler's mentality; grit; and leadership elevated his city; team; and coaching. Spo had a play designed in clutch time that didn't have Butler taking the shot... Butler said naw; give me the shot. The rest is history. You can't sit there and not be in awe of this cat and his drive to be a champion (winner). It's so admiring. Look, I'm a gigantic MJ guy... but I was too young to actually be able to witness his greatness in the playoffs live. Only seen highlights and tape. So, for me? That was some of the greatest basketball I have ever seen from a guy in the playoffs outside of baby face Bron turning into Moses against the Pistons. Bow Mr, Butler. You are a bad-bad man.

If you don't like Butler, or Butler's competetive edge- then I think you need to start questioning your "love" for sports. Playoff Butler IS sports. Playoff Butler is what we envision a competitor to be. Very special performance. Very special athlete. Check out JB get the city and his squad GOING... yes, this is his sh**:

Can any of these guys keep up the play in round 2? We are going to see. Now the plots start to really thicken. It's Playoff time!

Round 1 Superheroes

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