Round 2: FIGHT!

It isn't official yet but I'm posting this anyway: the Dallas Mavericks will face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, AGAIN!

The long-awaited showdown between the Big 3 and the deepest team in the NBA!  Of course, the series holds special significance as the Heat previously robbed the Mavericks in the 2006 Finals and a win this time around would allow the Mavs a chance to even the score.  Let's just hope the refs call a fair series...

I'm so pumped for this!  ESPN loves the Heat and their "experts" will all more than likely pick them to win everything, which is fine because that will only make the victory that much sweeter.  Of course, this is the same list of "experts" who ALL picked the Lakers to beat the Mavs and were made to look like idiots when the Lakers got swept in 4 games, so...

LET'S GO MAVS!!!

NBA Playoffs: Part Deux

Alright!  First of all, for those concerned, both of my finals today went fairly well despite the lack of studying I put toward them.  But more importantly, I was able to complete the remaining 2 match-ups I had yet to finish for the NBA playoffs.  They are as follows:

GRIZZLIES VS. THUNDER

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I chose Zangief (Perhaps best known for having the most recognizable 'bulge' in video game history) to represent the Grizzlies.  I thought he was a rather bearish character and that Marc Gasol bore some resemblance to him.  I thought it particularly clever how I incorporated the Memphis logo into Zangief's chest hair.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's team colors were an almost perfect match for Vega's character's original markings.  I also thought that the speediness of Vega worked well with the thunder/lightning motif and, of course, chose Durant since he was a former Longhorn (Hook 'Em!).

HAWKS VS. BULLS

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I chose T. Hawk for the Atlanta Hawks. (For obvious reasons).

I chose M. Bison for the Chicago Bulls.  My thinking here was that the bulls were close enough to bison, in terms of species.  On top of that, the only characters remaining were Blanka, E. Honda, Dee Jay, Sagat, Balrog, and Fei Long; all of whom would not have made a lick of sense as Bull characters.  M. Bison made the most sense.  Right?

NBA Playoffs

I've got two finals tomorrow so naturally I have been looking for ANYthing to distract myself with to avoid studying.  I was in the mood to draw and thought I'd expand on what I did with the NCAA basketball tournament by doing one for the NBA Playoffs, only using Street Fighter characters this time.  Now, the NBA is already on the second round, so I'm only making characters for the 8 remaining teams.

It's getting late, and I still need to shower, so here are the first 2 match-ups:

HEAT VS. CELTICS

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I went with Dhalsim for the Heat since he can spit flame and is adorned with 3 skulls, which I have replaced here with the heads of the Big 3 (All DB's).

It seemed appropriate to give the Celtics the classic Street Fighter character of Ryu as they are 1 of the 2 original franchises still in the NBA.  Here, Paul Pierce is pictured preparing to unleash the classic "Hadouken" attack (I've been spelling that wrong for years!).

LAKERS VS. MAVS

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Since the Lakers and Celtics are longtime rivals, I thought it would work nicely to make the Lakers Ryu's rival-counterpart, Ken.  Kobe is pictured tauntingly wagging his finger, as he can sometimes be seen doing on the court (Or IN court.  BURN!).

I gave my Mavs my personal fav Street Fighter character, Guile (Blanka is a close 2nd).  I thought it would be fun to incorporate the Mavs logo into his Sonic Boom attack and also to replace the American flag tattoo with the German one.  He looks awesome.  Mel, can't possibly think that the big German is not a handsome stud in this picture!

Anywho, the remaining 2 match-ups will be coming soon.  Alright, I'm going to go shower.  I guess I'll study for that final in the morning...