Hello monkeys,
What are everyone's thoughts after the first round's officially done?
Here are some of my thoughts:
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Never thought that the LA Clippers would go out in the first round... They lost against the Jazz 3-4, a team that did not even qualify for the playoffs last year. Although one has to admit, their roster became really good this year.
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MVP race just became easier. Houston blew by Thunder 4-1 and even though Westbrook collected his usual triple-double stat line, Harden was simply the better man.
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Boston v Chicago was an interesting one. Could Chicago have won if Rondo was not injured? Is his value to the team that big? Although Boston is really like a charging train right now, and they certainly threaten the defending champs from repeating.
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Cleveland and GSW, as usual, are the favorites. Let's see if we'll have a Finals rematch! Toronto may give Cleveland a slight hurdle, but my prediction would be Cleveland in 5.
Interesting match-ups to look for:
Houston v San Antonio
I'd have to say San Antonio in 7 though, this will really look like a hot series.
Love the NBA playoffs.
I'm not surprised the Clips lost to the Jazz. The Clips have a lot of talent, but they don't have depth and their talents simply aren't maximized with their current system. Blake doesn't fit with CP3 and Deandre and without them they have a talent discrepancy. Doc is as overrated as they come. Gobert is as good defensively as any interior player in the league, Hayward is a superstar even if he doesn't get the credit he deserves in Utah, and the roster is as deep as any in the NBA. They won't hang with the Warriors long, but I really like them as a basketball purist.
Ballots for the NBA MVP were due before the Rockets-Thunder series kicked off. And Westbrook was on fire at that time. On top of that, SBNation has been compiling when voters revealed their ballot and it looks like Westbrook is going to win by a sizable margin. IMO, he deserves it. He took too much on his shoulders during the series and was outplayed by Harden, but the talent margin between the two teams is so sizable I think you have to take the context into consideration. What Russ has done this year, along with the team's +/- without him, makes him the MVP in my eyes.
I think Chicago wins of Rondo isn't injured. I also think the Wizards beat the Celtics. But I haven't been a fan of the celtics all year. That said, if they can acquire Paul George in the offseason, they are likely to be the biggest threat to Lebron's reign in the east he has ever seen.
Don't see Toronto taking this to more than 5 games, they just haven't put it together, but the series will have a lot of close finishes. I think GSW blows out the Jazz. Rockets - Spurs should be nasty, which I love. And Celts-Wizards will be really entertaining. I do think the Wiz and the Spurs have the ability to pull off conference championship upsets, but I wouldn't bet on it.
All in all, should be an interesting next 6 weeks or so. Full disclaimer, I'm a huge Cavs fan and might have cried after the finals game 7 last year.
Your 2nd paragraph is well taken but with Blake the Clippers would've won that series. You say Doc is overrated yet he takes a roster you deem incompatible to 50+ wins every year. If Griffin were healthy throughout his time in LA I'd bet the Clippers would've seen a conference final if not a final by now. Doc is a Kendrick Perkins injury away from 2 NBA championships. He deserves the respect he gets. Hayward is a star not a superstar. Superstar should be reserved for the best 10-15 players in the game.
Rockets fan here but Russ is the MVP, they outscored us with him on the floor and got outscored by like 2-3 points a minute with him off. They were outscored 27-9 in 6 damn minutes Russ sat during game 5.
GO ROCKETS!!!!!
I don't know, Gobert actually only played like 6 minutes longer in the series then Blake did. I guess I think the Clips do probably win with Blake, but that's only because they have 3 of the top 4 players on the court from a talent perspective and some individual game heroics save them. But I wouldn't have been surprised either way because that Jazz team is so good defensively and much deeper than the Clips. The Clips system, with Doc, just doesn't fit those three players together. And a lot of that is on Doc not just because his coaching but also because he's the GM. I just think the team was a bit haphazardly put together in the sense that they took the best 3 players they could get without thinking about how the system works and Doc hasn't adapted, as a coach, to that issue.
Also, is ISO Joe going back in time and Joe Ingles becoming the best defender in the NBA couldn't have been predicted before the series, but Doc definitely did not adjust.
.
Anyone have more insights? Definitely did not see the Rockets-Spurs outcome coming. Spurs better step up
NBA Playoffs (Originally Posted: 05/05/2012)
What are everyone's thoughts a week into the playoffs?
Andrew Bynum is a beast. Definitely showing he's the best big in the game.
The Knicks miss a PG bad. Some of their plays in Game 3 absolutely sucked. Would definitely not give the FT gig to Woodson. He looked lost and the isos for Melo are not doing anything. LeBron shuts him down each time whilst torching him on the other side. Love Chandler's heart and hustle though.
Like OKC but I just don't see them winning. Likewise Spurs.
I sure hope Miami does not win. Celtics should give them a tough time. Everyday and every game, I find myself despising that team even more. And I'm not even that big of a LeBron hater.
Shaq sucks on Inside.
Miami vs OKC in the finals.
OKC to take it all.
Miami is taking it.
Lakers -obv.
1)Agreed. 2) NY roaster is good but the team sux. Sweep is coming. Anthony is not valuable AT ALL for his team. 3)I hate Westbrook. I mean come on, this guy is just missing too many shot that could have maken 2points if he just handed the ball. They will have a hard time against the Spurs and I think they will lose. 4)Miami is going to win the eastern conference easily. Chigaco is out without Rose no matter than Noah just broke his hanckle. Boston has no solution to stop LBJ to crush them. 5)Agreed.
I think the final will be Spurs vs Heat and that the Heat is going to win.
i really dont think a great PG would have helped Knicks at this point. They just are not ready for the big stage yet. They need to find a way to make Melo and Stat play ball together first and foremost before thinking of winning games in the playoffs
OKC would have to go through the Lakers, Spurs, and Miami -- so they aren't winning it.
Lakers have an outside shot but them dropping one against Denver is not a good sign. Kobe just isn't as consistent as he was when he was younger...and Bynum is always going to be a liability with his lack of mental toughness. They also aren't that deep of a team, I mean c'mon, you've got Steve Blake playing significant minutes. Will be better once Artest gets back. I don't see Denver winning this but they could stretch it out, which bodes well for whoever the Lakers face next.
Miami, simply the most talented team. They were given a gift once Rose went down. They should sweep the Knicks. Then they'll still get through the Pacers with easy (5 games). I'm assuming the Celtics get through to the conf. finals which sure, they've had Miami's number in the reg season but the Celtics will be beaten down and tired by the conf. finals. Miami will advance easily.
Spurs, the only other legitimate shot at winning a title. They'll advance through the west, if OKC doesn't, but will fall to the Heat I think...should be close, but I can't see LeBron/D-Wade faltering in the finals 2 years in a row. They'll come hungrier than last year and not fuck around. Spurs have the best shot at beating Miami though, coming out of the west.
I'm gonna make a bold prediction and say Knicks beat the Heat in 5.
When I remove my Knicks fan-hood from the equation the Knicks probably get swept and lose in 5 if there is a God. Baron is a fine point guard for what they need. The key is ditch Amar'e at this point and build what you can around Melo. Say what you want about him, but hes one of the top 3-5 offensive players in the league. To discount that is stupid.
Celtics Heat in Eastern Conference Finals. I think that goes to seven games...too close to call.
Don't count out the Grizzlies even after that horrible game one loss. But in all honesty its probably an OKC Heat final unless the Spurs can beat OKC. But a Spurs Heat final would be such a boring defensive match-up. I think OKC takes the west and OKC in 6 against the Heat
I still think that Miami would be the favorite but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Boston managed to take them out in the conference finals. Boston's main weakness is their inside game, but Miami's not exactly scaring anybody in that matter either. Avery Bradley is really coming into his own too, he's turned into one of the top on-ball defenders in the league and might be able to slow Wade down a bit.
I wouldn't dismiss Memphis in the west either, aside from that game one shitshow they've been on fire recently
Bynum is a top big... When he's not being a pussy. Still not mature enough for me to consider him a true talent, you never know when he's going to collapse internally.
This is how I feel about the playoffs as a Mavs fan:
Clearly we were not going all the way this year, but doesn't change the fact that we could have easily been up 2-0 in this series...
Miami is a lock in the East and it's a toss up between OKC and the Spurs. Lakers are trash.
Miami vs OKC. Id say Miami takes it this yr.
Got Lakers - Spurs WCF and Heat - Celtics ECF. Tough to call both of them. Would love to see Heat-Lakers. But LA would get decimated. Kobe would be too determined to match LeBron/Wade and would shoot LA out of the game. Generally, that should be a very close series. Bynum should dominate.
Not counting Celtics out at all. Rondo is legit and Pierce matches well with LeBron. I think bradley has a dislocated shoulder so not sure what to make of him. Sucks that the Knicks cant play as a team. They match up pretty well with the Heat generally and why they are not playing like the Mavs did last season against the Heat, I dont know. Personnel sucks I guess. Jeremy Lin should have been back by now, and Shumpert was a huge loss. I would consider trading Amare if someone would take him. Take a loss even. Sure he might like to back at Phoenix. Really like Amare but he cannot play with Melo and trying to do that is stupid. If one has it going offensively, the other should rebound, defend, etc, but they dont seem to get that so rather another season of 42-40, trade him now.
Suns might take him. They need to please Nash (who Knicks wont get unfortunately because they're gonna re-up Lin) and it makes sense for them as they didnt wanna max him out and now they only have to deal with last few years rather then a whole 5. Doubt it happens though.
Super depressing as a Magic fan. Didn't think we had a chance in hell without Dwight, but we have been so close in a few games. Really going back to the heart and hustle years of the post-Shaq era. Now it just feels like a waste of a season. I wish we would have known sooner so we could have tanked and gotten a half-way decent pick in the coming stacked draft.
Bynum is good, but he can't hold Howard's jockstrap.
I'm surprised there's some optimism with Boston giving Miami a hard time on the board. I really like the Celitcs (and loathe the Heat) but they're too old. If games go into OT, Celtics will run out of steam even though they play real team-bball. They may slow the Heat down one or two games but as sad as it is, Heat will likely come out on top in the East.
Just hope someone in the West can take care of them. OKC probably. Personally, I'd like to see Clippers in the finals.
Mavs getting smoked was pretty sad. But that's what happens when you have only a few members of your winning team on board. You'd think Cuban and Co would be willing to shell out the dough to continue a championship team given how much he invested already.
Cuban basically gave this year up by getting rid of his bench. They've unloaded for this past year in hopes of picking up D-Will, others this coming summer. They'll be back on top next year, no doubt.
Westbrook shoots every single shot. The whole Harden vs. Westbrook thing gets very circular because on one hand Harden has the higher seed because he has solid role scorers and the best bench for offense in the league and on the other hand he doesn't put up the stats that RW does because he just doesn't need to.
I think Harden deserves it because Westbrook CONTINUOUSLY disappears in the fourth quarter of games. Guy has no clutch gene whatsoever.
Predictions For The 2014 NBA Playoffs (Originally Posted: 04/21/2014)
Not sure how many of you monkeys are NBA fans or even basketball fans but for the people out there who are interested in this stuff, I wanted to start a thread about the playoffs. They began this past weekend and while I was and still am disappointed with the quality of teams in the East, the Western Conference promises to have amazing matchups each round. I'm going to lay out my picks for each round leading up to the finals (including the scores) and then pick my 2014 Champions.
Based on the regular season, health and the first match in each round, I am going to stick with my pick from the start of the season and say that the San Antonio Spurs are going to win it this time. They were so close the last time and I think the resolve they showed during the regular season to bounce back from that tough loss, to get the #1 seed in a tough Western Conference and all while not letting any of their major stars average more than 30 minutes per game is tremendous. They have a proven system, healthy stars and are capable of withstanding momentum shifts due to their experience and talent. Nonetheless, here are my picks for the other rounds:
West:
SAS vs DAL --> SAS in 5 HOU vs POR --> POR in 6 LAC vs GSW --> GSW in 7 OKC vs MEM --> OKC in 5
SAS vs POR --> SAS in 6 OKC vs GSW --> OKC in 5
SAS vs OKC --> SAS in 6
East:
IND vs ATL --> IND in 7 CHI vs WAS --> WAS in 6 TOR vs BKN --> BKN in 5 MIA vs CHA --> MIA in 5
IND vs WAS --> IND in 6 MIA vs BKN --> MIA in 7 IND vs MIA --> MIA in 6
Finals:
SAS vs MIA --> SAS in 6
So what do you monkeys think? Let me hear some opinions and picks.
West:
SAS vs DAL --> SAS in 4 HOU vs POR --> HOU in 7 LAC vs GSW --> GSW in 6 OKC vs MEM --> OKC in 4
SAS vs HOU --> SAS in 6 OKC vs GSW --> OKC in 6
SAS vs OKC --> SAS in 5
East:
IND vs ATL --> ATL in 6 CHI vs WAS --> CHI in 7 TOR vs BKN --> TOR in 7 MIA vs CHA --> MIA in 4
ATL vs CHI --> CHI in 7 MIA vs TOR --> MIA in 6 CHI vs MIA --> MIA in 5
Finals:
SAS vs MIA --> SAS in 6
Interesting pick with IND vs ATL. I know the Pacers are struggling right now but I think they'll turn it around soon enough.
West:
SAS vs DAL --> SAS in 5 HOU vs POR --> HOU in 7 LAC vs GSW --> GSW in 7 OKC vs MEM --> OKC in 4
SAS vs HOU --> SAS in 7 OKC vs GSW --> OKC in 6
SAS vs OKC --> OKC in 6
East:
IND vs ATL --> IND in 7 CHI vs WAS --> WAS in 6 TOR vs BKN --> BKN in 5 MIA vs CHA --> MIA in 4
IND vs WAS --> IND in 5 MIA vs TOR --> MIA in 5
IND vs MIA --> MIA in 6
Finals:
OKC vs MIA --> MIA in 7
What makes you say OKC over SAS? They're both amazing teams but don't you think SAS is a little deeper and has a more reliable system? I love KD but I'm not sure if they can get out the West
Wow. That's a short Finals Series between two good teams. You don't think Miami will have flipped the switch by then to make it more competitive?
West:
SAS vs DAL --> SAS in 5 HOU vs POR --> HOU in 7 LAC vs GSW --> LAC in 6 OKC vs MEM --> OKC in 5
SAS vs HOU --> SAS in 6 OKC vs LAC --> OKC in 6
SAS vs OKC --> OKC in 7
East:
IND vs ATL --> IND in 6 CHI vs WAS --> WAS in 7 TOR vs BKN --> BKN in 6 MIA vs CHA --> MIA in 5
IND vs WAS --> IND in 6 MIA vs BKN --> MIA in 7
MIA vs IND --> MIA in 6 Finals:
OKC vs MIA --> MIA in 7
Hmm. Maybe I'm underestimating OKC here but I do think that the winner of the West will win the Championship
@dedline interesting finals outcome... OKC in 5. I think Lebron will make the series a bit more competitive than that. 5 games is even less likely if Dwade is relatively healthy come June. Full disclosure I am not a MIA fan, just being realistic.
I will definitely give you that OKC is hungrier and it is their time. However, EGOS will be the largest thing standing in their way. Can Westbrook put aside his ego and DEFER to Durant and allow him to be the MAIN focal point... to take the final shot. If Westbrook can limit his shots (which will evidently give more shots to the more efficient Durant) then OKC will have a chance to outgun MIA in the finals. However, I don't think that Westbrook has reached this point in his career. For all the talent and basketball IQ he possesses, he still takes more than his fair share of ill advised shots.
Don't get me wrong, Westbrook is a top 3-5 point guard in the NBA, but most other top PG aren't as offensively locked in as he is (he is always offensively locked in) and they are more distributive. If and when he corrects or reduces this tendency then we can see OKC at the top of the league.
my $0.02.
I agree with most everything you said and I do think it is OKC's time per se but I think that if they get to the Finals, it'll be a lot tougher for them to beat the Heat. The West is going to be a grueling conference to get out of and I think people aren't giving SAS as much credit when it comes to making life tough for OKC. Playoffs are a different story and SAS is talented and extremely experienced. Plus I'll take Pop over Brooks any day as a coach. Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see how things play out.
LeGOAT James vs Kevin DurGOAT will be the reason why this 2017 finals will be one of the best in recent times
IT4
My observations after two games of each series:
1) I DID NOT expect that first game from the Rockets. But I also didn't expect game 2. The fact that we haven't had a close game yet in this series is not at all what I expected. On top of that, clearly the Spurs are going to play better defense than the did in game 1. But they also cannot run with the Rockets and play at that speed that they did in game 2 and win the series. Lamarcus Aldridge has to be better. The spurs have to slow the game down more. And the Tony Parker injury may be the difference. I have the Rockets in 7.
2) The amount of disrespect the Cavs seem to have for the Raptors is insane. Lebron an Kyrie are clowning, joking about drinking beer, doing harlem globetrotter alley oops, etc. It just feels like Lebron is really trying to send a message to this Raptors team. If they keep playing like this a sweep is incoming. Derozan once again has disappeared in tight spots. Lowry has been good but that injury could be an issue. Toronto is a tough place to play so I expect the Raps to get one of the two games in their city and then the cavs to close in 5.
3) I did not expect the Celtics to look this good against the Wiz. John Wall completely imploding down the stretch last night while IT took it to them was something to watch. IT looks like he's been here before, even though he hasn't, Wall and Beal look like they are running out of gas late in games and just aren't up for the moment. I expect the series to pull a little closer but I'll say Celtics in 6.
4) Warriors... nothing to say. Even without Kerr they just look dominant. I would bet on the Jazz taking one game but Warriors in 5.
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