NBA Playoffs Thread

[kidcolin]

East:
DET over ORL in 5
CLE over WAS in 4
TOR over NJN in 6 (I'm going back and forth on this one).
CHI over MIA in 7

DET over CHI in 5
TOR over CLE in 6

DET over TOR in 6

West:
DAL over GSW in 6
PHX over LAL in 5
SAS over DEN in 5
HOU over UTA in 7

DAL over HOU in 6
SAS over PHX in 7

DAL over SAS in 7

Finals:
DAL over DET in 5

[Jetto]

I have SA> DET in 6 in this years finals

[Green Kool Aid]

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I have SA> DET in 6 in this years finals

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[Pudge714]

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I'm getting very, very tired of the media's love affair with the Heat. I know, they luckboxed a championship last year. But have the 5th best record in the East this year! Wade is hurt, Shaq is old, everyone else blows . They are 18th in Hollinger rank, and that sounds about right. Unless the refs decide to give Wade another ring they are out in the first round.

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I think J Williams is one of the more underreated players of this generation.

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Assani you have finally flipped me. I know think you are an elaborate troll as opposed to an idiot.

[KanMan]

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Golden State won't win that series in a million years. I watched Golden State struggle at times with Portland's JV squad last night in a game that meant everything to them.

I don't understand the delusion. ???

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I don't get it either. There really is a false sense of what really happened. The Clippers handed them the playoff spot (losing 7 of their last 10) while GS benefited from some nice timing. Just look at their games in April, I will run them off in reverse order:

Portland- 22 pt. win. The Blazers played like they had their car engines running in the parking lot last night. Did anyone watch the NOK/LAC game, the Hornets played till the last whistle, tough break clip show--though it didn't matter.

Dallas- 29 pt win. This was over at the tip-off. They faced D-leaguers and guys on the bench that have been setting season highs in minutes the last week and a half. Another win handed to them.

Minnesota- 13 pt win. This should be self-explanatory. Dallas, beat them w/ that D-league lineup by 18 so you understand how bad this team is, it is not out of the question that they have either packed it in for the lottery or just tanking it. This is actually one of their closer scores as of late.

Sacramento- 17 pt win. Sac boys are so up and down. They played one good quarter in this game and the rest was just flat out ugly. Sacramento didn't show up. They had just had a back to back with the spurs and a day off then GS whereas GS had had UTA at home and then 3 days off. Either way it wouldn't matter, Sac sucks.

Utah- 24 pt. win. Utah lost 5 of its next 6 games after wrapping up its division. This was one of those games. Another game where GS's opponent had less want to win than them. Another gift. Obviously judging by the score (and the other scores).

SA- 13 pt loss. A real game. SA is still playing for something, the second seed and they controlled every part of the game. This should make Avery's loins sweaty and warm b/c this is the game plan he will want to use.

Memphis- 12 pt. win. No need to talk about this. Memphis is terrible.

Houston- 11 pt. win. See, some of these wins look real good on paper but then when you look into it you see--McGrady 6 minutes 0 points etc. etc. Ahh an injured TMac changes everything. More that goes right for them.


That was their month of April. Do some of you think they are winning by an avg of 18 points a game b/c they are the best team in the league, I mean even the Suns didn't have stretches like that?

I will say that their small lineup, ability to get down the court, and their quickness will cause some problems for anyone. But do we all remember a few years ago when we all hated the Mavericks and picked them to win 60 games and get swept in the first round? Why was that? It was b/c Nellie's run up and down the court and play little D doesn't win postseason games.

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On March 4th, the GSDubs lost a 1-point heartbreaker to Washington and their record stood at 26-35. Our own coach aknowledged that the playoffs were out of the question.

The next night, Baron Davis came back in a road game against Detroit and for the first extended time all season, the Warriors had everyone healthy (Baron was injured and missed 20 previous games and JRich was injured and missed the first half of the season). Don Nelson shortened the rotation and defined the player's rolls. The 8 integral players in the rotation were: Boom Dizzle, JRich, SJax, Al Harrington, Biedrins, Monta, Pietrus, and Barnes. Granted, we got lucky in April to play a bunch of tanking teams. But that was not the case from March 5th to the end of the month, when we went 8-4 against some very good teams that were still playing hard. Without playing well in March, we would've never had a chance for that push in April:

@Detroit- 18 pt win. BDiddy's return pays off immediately.

Denver- 14 pt. win. This team had been killing us all year.

LAC- 10 pt. win.

@Port- 19 pt. loss. WTF LOL!? oh, I should mention, B.Diddy didn't play this game because of stiffness in his knee.

Dallas- 17 pt. win. I thought the Mavs had something to prove this game TDarko?

Minnesota- 20pt. win. Dont think Minnessota was tanking yet.

@Seattle- 1 pt. win. Baron with the game winner with 1.5 seconds left.

@Utah- 4 pt. loss. Outplayed and outhustled on the road.

Wash- 7 pt. win.

@LAL- 2 pt. loss. Al Harrington missed a 3 at the buzzer. We got swept by LAL this year.

SA- 37 pt. loss. We suck vs San Antonio, nuff said.

Pho- 5 pt. win. We were up by 23 points going into the 4th quarter before the Sun's subs got them back in the game.

The Warriors have nothing to lose in the first round vs. tha Mavs and will come out firing. If going 9-1 down the stretch and winning by an average of 18 isn't a big enough confidence boost, how about winning 5 straight vs the Mavs and employing the ex-head coach who built the now #1 seed up from the dirt.

[Billy Bibbit]

After watching last year's finals I promised myself I would never pick the Mavs to win a title until they did it. So...

1st round

Mavs
Rockets
Spurs
Suns
Pistons
Heat
Nets
Cavs

2nd round

Mavs
Suns (I have no clue who wins this but I think winner wins it all)
Pistons
Cavs

3rd round
Suns
Pistons

Champs - Suns

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Flashy white point guards are definitely prone to being seriously underrated.

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Really? I hadn't heard anything positive said about Jason Williams in at least 4 years until I raid this thread. Not that I think much of him either.

[Assani Fisher]

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I'm getting very, very tired of the media's love affair with the Heat. I know, they luckboxed a championship last year. But have the 5th best record in the East this year! Wade is hurt, Shaq is old, everyone else blows . They are 18th in Hollinger rank, and that sounds about right. Unless the refs decide to give Wade another ring they are out in the first round.

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I think J Williams is one of the more underreated players of this generation.

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LOL....yeah right.

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Seriously. He got labeled as an "all the talent in the world but would rather make great highlights than the consistent play." He then left Sacramento and went to Memphis. In Memphis, something amazing happened: HE LED THE LEAGUE IN ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO! Looking back now, that might not seem so surprising. But if you told anyone that during his Kings days they would've laughed at you. Hes really developed into a consistent player that truly sets up his teamates well.

Let me put it to you this way: When he played in Sacramento I heard tons of people say things like "If he could ever settle down and play under control, he'd be unstoppable." Well he settled down, led the league in assist to turnover ratio, won a championship(as a starter), and everyone just ignored him....always seemed kinda unfair to me. Its like he had so much talent but had to sacrifice the flashiness for the good of the team, he made that sacrifice, and then got no credit for it.

Edited to add: The season leading the league in assist to turnover ratio was in 2002-03 when he averaged 8.3 assists and 2.2 turnovers. That 3.77 ratio was by far better than any ratio that Kidd or Nash have ever had in one season.




A few weeks ago in a separate thread we got on the topic of why the Heat were struggling this year and whether or not it had more to do with the injury to Wade or Shaq. I looked up the stats and found:

Without both : 1-6
Without Wade: 11-4
Without Shaq: 18-15
With both: 7-6

That seemed rather strange and inconclusive to me. I mean, are they really better with just one of their superstars than both? Then I looked up the stats with Jason Williams and found:

Without Jason Williams: 10-14
With Jason Williams: 27-17


That seemed pretty overwhelming to me.

Note: That post was made on March 24 and the records are only accurate up until that date.



Edited to add again: On every team hes been on, hes brought the team to greater heights than before he arrived.

-Before he got to Sacramento, they were horrible and hadn't been to the playoffs in years. They made the playoffs every year he was there and become a legit contender.

-Before he got to Memphis they had NEVER been to the playoffs. But he led them to medium playoff seeds(4/5) in two straight years.

-Before Miami, they were a decent team. They obviously won a title with him.

NOW I REALIZE THAT ALL OF THOSE TEAMS HAD A LOT OF OTHER PIECES THAT ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR SUCCESS. I am, in no way, attributing it all to JW. However, I'm just pointing out that he does seem to help teams win.

[Pudge714]

Assani,
You are using the same arguments for J-Will that you are for another PG who shall remain nameless who I will not allow to hijack another decent basketball thread. You are creating conclusions based on small samples and ignoring a lot of other exterior effects.
The Kings teams got better because in J-Will's first year they added Webber, Divac and Stojakovic (eventhough he didn't play much those first couple years). That Kings team also improved the year he left, mainly because Bibby>J-will and that improvement was small I think it was 4 wins.

Those Memphis teams were bad teams for two years and than improved because of other players like Gasol, Battier, Bonzi, etc.
Your assertion that White Chocolate led them to two playoff seeds is wrong he was another cog in the machine. J-Will didn't lead them anymore than Battier led them to the playoffs.
Edit: Yes beat JoA.

[Jack of Arcades]

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A few weeks ago in a separate thread we got on the topic of why the Heat were struggling this year and whether or not it had more to do with the injury to Wade or Shaq. I looked up the stats and found:

Without both : 1-6
Without Wade: 11-4
Without Shaq: 18-15
With both: 7-6

That seemed rather strange and inconclusive to me. I mean, are they really better with just one of their superstars than both? Then I looked up the stats with Jason Williams and found:

Without Jason Williams: 10-14
With Jason Williams: 27-17


That seemed pretty overwhelming to me.


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Updated record: 33-26 with, 11-12 without.

So one set doesn't make any sense to you, so you look at another set that says something just as silly and you accept it?

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-Before he got to Sacramento, they were horrible and hadn't been to the playoffs in years. They made the playoffs every year he was there and become a legit contender.

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The year he arrived so did Peja, Webber, and Divac. Also, their two best seasons happened to year after he left.

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-Before he got to Memphis they had NEVER been to the playoffs. But he led them to medium playoff seeds(4/5) in two straight years.

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Even as you say you "realize" other people had a hand in this, you still say he "led" them. Yet it wasn't until his 3rd year that they went to the playoffs. And the year after he left the exact same thing happened as two years before: they won 49 games and then got swept in the playoffs.

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-Before Miami, they were a decent team. They obviously won a title with him.

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Before he got to Miami they won 59 games and went to game 7 of the conference finals.

[andyfox]

I'll take the Suns over the Spurs. I don't think this edition of the Spurs can beat a good team in a seven game series.