Some random playoff thoughts...

....before everyone forgets about me.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas's beard is epic. He's like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with a low-post game. And damn, that thing grew faster than LeBron James.

Speaking of beards, it's a damn shame we only got to see Pau Gasol's for four games when he took the trouble to grow it all year. Guy Ritchie needs to put them both in his next movie—and I will NOT be satisfied until Z gets cast as a Bond villain, dammit.

The most prominent players in the first round? The officials, of course. Then again, with all the clotheslines and ball-grabbing going on, I had to check a few times to make sure I wasn't watching the WWE by mistake. (Chris Kaman's hair was no help there, either.)

The Clippers are in the second round of the playoffs, while the Knicks and the Celtics missed the whole shebang by a country mile. There must be a lot of older NBA fans feeling REALLY old these days.

All in all, it seems like the Nuggets would have been better off not making the playoffs at all. But hey, I guess they've got five more seasons to learn how to deal with Kenyon Martin. Unless the Knicks want him.

LeBron IS growing up fast though, huh? He's already working that baseline fallaway that Jordan didn't pick up until he was in his mid-30s. At this rate Bron's going to quit to pursue a baseball career by the time he turns 24—and he'll bat .400, hit 80 home runs and go 28-2 as a starting pitcher.

I wish the Wizards/Cavs series would go 25 games.

Imagine if Peja Stojakovic misses half the Nets series AND doesn't re-sign with the Pacers? I guess the only consolation is that Ron Artest is still as crazy as—well, crazy.

Kobe probably won't be naming any of his kids Raja.

The disparity between the top-seeded teams and lowest-seeded teams is pretty far these days. Has it always been like this? I can't remember one way or the other.

Not sure if the Spurs are going to defend their title this year, assuming they survive the Kings. Especially with the Mavericks waiting for them.

Who DOESN'T want to see a Clippers/Lakers second-round series? Well, besides Steve Nash and company, of course.