Which Top 3 Seed is in the most trouble? (1st round, NBA)

BarryLyndon · #1 04-23-2007, 10:31 AM

Which Western/Eastern Conference Beast is in serious trouble?:

Dallas: Soundly Defeated by Golden State Last night, and Al Harrington shot only 3-14; Monta Ellis scored less than 10.

San Antonio: Shot 7 - 10 FT for the entire game; Duncan and Ginobli looked flat.

Phoenix: Team looks like a [censored]' mess.

East:

Toronto: Too bad New Jersey beat Chicago in the final game of the regular season, eh?

Cleveland: Do you think Gilbert Arenas is tilting at 5/10 NL right now?

Detroit: After this series, Dwight Howard is going to re-think his jump shot.

capone0 · #2 04-23-2007, 10:36 AM

The only teams I think are in real trouble are Toronto (NJ has a huge experience edge over them), SA and Dallas (GS matches up real well). I'm not sure if Toronto can make the adjustments but I think SA and Dallas probally can. Dirk definitely needs to step up his game for them to win. The GS series will be a long one for Dallas.

MoreWineII · #3 04-23-2007, 10:39 AM

The East teams are all pretty much the same anyway, so I'll focus on the West. Dallas is fine, I'm sticking to my guns and saying no way GS beats them. Phoenix is fine also, Kobe can't beat Phoenix by himself. That leaves SA who keeps surprising me by how creaky they look - usually they turn it on come the end of the season but they just look old and bored. My choice is SA, because though I hate Denver and don't think they are a real threat I do think they can beat SA in a series if they get hot.

barryc83 · #4 04-23-2007, 10:50 AM

Easily Toronto. They have no experience and the only way they can win is if VC sabotages the Nets. Mikki (sp?) has been huge for them and I cant go against Kidd in this series. Also, saying that the GSW "soundly defeated" DAL is a gross overstatement. Did you watch the game? It was close the whole way.

Second is SA, the nuggets are rolling right now and they match up well with SA. Ill still take the spurs in the series though, but Im rooting for AI.

capone0 · #5 04-23-2007, 10:52 AM

BarryC-Have you watched the GS-Dal matchups the last 2 seasons. They have now won 7 of 8 games in the last couple of seasons. Dallas matches up horribly with GS. They can't play Dampier and the swing guys on GS have been guarding Dirk well. I wouldn't be suprised for Dallas to roll but it's going to be really tough.

barryc83 · #6 04-23-2007, 11:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Dallas: Soundly Defeated by Golden State Last night

[/ QUOTE ]

This is right from the OP. Yes GSW won by double digits, but if you watched the whole game you know it was close the entire way. Saying that they were soundly defeated is simply incorrect.

Capone I understand they match up well with the mavs, but you really think theyre gonna win the series? How often will Dirk go 4/16? How often will the mavs shoot 35%? How often will B. Davis go for 33/14/8? GSW played a good game and deserved to win, but I still think its highly unlikely that they beat DAL. Its too big of an assumption to say that Davis will play this way the entire series. He has the skills, but for some reason he hasnt been consistent throughout his career.

MoreWineII · #7 04-23-2007, 11:11 AM

Baron Davis has a weird attitude, it's unlike anything I've ever seen from an NBA player

battschr · #8 04-23-2007, 11:17 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Baron Davis has a weird attitude, it's unlike anything I've ever seen from an NBA player

[/ QUOTE ]
Explain, please.

capone0 · #9 04-23-2007, 11:54 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Dallas: Soundly Defeated by Golden State Last night

[/ QUOTE ]

This is right from the OP. Yes GSW won by double digits, but if you watched the whole game you know it was close the entire way. Saying that they were soundly defeated is simply incorrect.

Capone I understand they match up well with the mavs, but you really think theyre gonna win the series? How often will Dirk go 4/16? How often will the mavs shoot 35%? How often will B. Davis go for 33/14/8? GSW played a good game and deserved to win, but I still think its highly unlikely that they beat DAL. Its too big of an assumption to say that Davis will play this way the entire series. He has the skills, but for some reason he hasnt been consistent throughout his career.

[/ QUOTE ]

It still doesn't explain why the Mavs have basically rolled most of the league the last 2 years and yet every time they've played Golden State, they've struggled. Why are things just going to change all of a sudden. Honestly, I think Dallas has a ton more skill than GS, I just think it'll be a very tough matchup for Dallas. Dallas gave away the last matchup of the season but they didn't in the first two.

Your explanation makes sense if you just looks at last nights game but take a look at the history of the two teams matchups the last 2 seasons.

I will say it honestly I don't like Dallas (I'm a Kings fan) but Dallas better wake up or they could be out in the first round in a HUGE upset. Dallas is the best team in the West, it doesn't mean they matchup well with every team in the West.

BarryLyndon · #10 04-23-2007, 12:01 PM

"Soundly" is the wrong term, but GS looked VERY comfortable in beating Dallas; and while close scores in games can never look too damaging to the opposing team, having no control over the pace of the game can. That being said, I don't think Dallas loses this series. If they do, though, it will be really funny to watch Cuban on the floor during game 7.

San Antonio, I feel, is going to win this series in 6 games. Denver threw at SA all that they are ever going to be able to - 30 point games by moth 'Melo and Iverson, a flurry of strong defense, and the ability the keep every Spur off the foul line for the entire game. Despite all of this, Denver won by only 6 and never had a huge lead. So, what does this say about SA? It says that even when their opponent is "on" and they are totally "off," they can keep a game close. I doubt SA will be "off" for the rest of the series, nor do I see AI and Melo hitting 30/30 every game. Unless Denver is able to find perfect answers to SA's adjustments, the Nuggets will fall apart in Game 2 and then find themselves bent over and flogged by game 6.

Phoenix is not in trouble, really, the Lakers are the weakest team in the playoffs besides Washington, IMO.

I think Toronto is in a lot of trouble - aside from Bosh, the Nets match up really well against the Raptors. Isn't TJ Ford almost the Raptor's second leading rebounder? I think it's cute that everyone considers Toronto to be the "Phoenix of the East," but in reality, if the Nets have a healthy RJ / Kidd / Carter, they are ten times the Phoenix that Toronto is. And since Toronto has no other identity to work with, NJ should beat the Raptors at their own game in, say, 6.