NBA Playoffs

[Jaimoe]

I think the NBA playoff system is still flawed since it is ruled by television and prime time. There's still long gaps inbetween games involving big market teams such as LA and Boston, which inevitably kills momentum and general interest/drama; networks/NBC dictate when certain games are scheduled and they generally refulse to put basketball in prime time. Thankfully, smaller market matchups are closer together and are on week nights, taking a page from the far more intense NHL playoffs (although I'm pissed that the NHL set a precident in Round 1 in the Montreal-Boston series by taking three days off after game 4). BTW, GO any team not named the Heat.

[Ruckus]

Awesome Wiz!  Ahh those Mavericks now have to deal with the choke label with 3 to go.  Ya gotta like where you're at!

I agree with you Jaimoe that the scheduling is preposterous and there is no flow in a series.  That said, I've gotten used to it.  I think baseball is much worse in the sense that their post season in NO WAY replicates the nature of the regular season.  Teams with shallower rotations are rewarded with extra rest days.  I find that more of an issue because though you may have to grind out 162 games with pitching depth, in the postseason, two horses and a mediocre #3 can take you far.

[Jaimoe]

Awesome Wiz!  Ahh those Mavericks now have to deal with the choke label with 3 to go.  Ya gotta like where you're at!

I agree with you Jaimoe that the scheduling is preposterous and there is no flow in a series.  That said, I've gotten used to it.  I think baseball is much worse in the sense that their post season in NO WAY replicates the nature of the regular season.  Teams with shallower rotations are rewarded with extra rest days.  I find that more of an issue because though you may have to grind out 162 games with pitching depth, in the postseason, two horses and a mediocre #3 can take you far.

You are correct regarding MLB and I think it can also hurt certain players that thrive on  playing every or every other day (they tend to get rusty). 

I never know when the hell some NBA teams are scheduled to play their next game in the playoffs. One thing that makes the NHL playoffs so great is that you can expect games in a series to be held every other day, no matter what, with a few exceptions. You can thank the power of Hockey Night in Canada for the former because Canadians expect the game on every night and a series to resume every other day. Tonight I'm hoping for a Chicago win over those fucking Vancouver Canucks. My Bruins are kicking some Habs ass right now! Philly? Too many key injuries.

I love seeing NBA upsets so there's no freaking way I want to see the Lakers, Heat or Celtics in the finals. Throw the Knicks and Magic into the mix of teams I hate too (Raptor rivals). Go Memphis!

[Ruckus]

Man the Lakers looked terrible :'(

[capt. scotty]

Boston is definitely done...Lakeshow has more than 1 foot in the grave, but I like their chances of coming back much more than the Celts.

Miami is playing great right now, hard to not see them beating ATL or an injured-Rose Bulls squad. Its hard to say, but I think the overall level of play at this point has been much better in the West. Orlando was MIA, Boston's age is catching up with them before our eyes seemingly, and CHI needs Rose to singlehandedly win them games on a bum wheel and Boozer doing nothing. Even if OKC or Memphis end up in the finals, I wouldnt be all that surprised if they beat Miami because of the run/competition theyve gone thru to get there.

[capt. scotty]

Cant believe Lakers got swept. I wonder if theyll keep showing those 3D-Peat commercials!  ;D

West looks wide open. Cant wait for tonights BOS-MIA game, could decide the series as guaranteed MIA wins it if they win tonight, and if its 2-2 Id actually favor BOS bc I can see the Heat choking in a home game 7. Rondo was beastman coming back after that dislocated elbow the other day. Tell Richard Kimble they found the one armed man. Certainly if his left arm is that limited, I doubt he plays much, but theyre calling him a gametime decision and I cant see him not playing at least 10-15 minutes.

Hawks-Bulls series has been great. Wouldnt surprise me in the least if ATL beats them. Teague has been a great surprise for them.

I cant believe it, but Ive been much more interested in the NBA playoffs than NHL playoffs. Probably has to do with the blowout series in the East but NBA has been very good so far, and I might watch 3 games a year in the regular season and 2 are probably on Xmas

[Ruckus]

I won't even indulge the douchebags of my beloved Lakers.

Let's talk Thunder/Grizzlies!  What a series!

1.  I sense a rift growing between Westbrook and Durant over shots.  In the end of game 3, Westbrook seemed liked he was intentionally throwing the game by going one on one on every possession in the 4th quarter and chucking up brick after brick.  Then Durant whines about not getting the ball at the end of overtime off the set play.  Waaah! :'(

2.  Lionel Hollins brain farted big time in the heat of the moment last night and it's not the first time he hasn't had his brain firing on all cylinders in the heat of the moment. 
Where are his assistants?  Towards the end of the 1st OT last night, Conley chucks up a three and misses under 20 seconds and the Grizzlies down one.  They also had a foul to give.  Conley gives the foul immediately on the inbound and fouls himself out.  Here, Hollins had to sub out Mayo, who had 5 fouls, for another player just to give the foul.  The Grizzlies had another timeout so even after a missed free throw, they could get Mayo back in the game.  Instead, Mayo gives the foul and fouls out.  It worked out in the short term for sure because Vazquez hit the tying three but it's still bad pressure coaching.

3.  The refs took 10 minutes to figure out the most obvious replay and still got it wrong as to the amount of time left on the clock.  Yes, Mayo threw the ball off of Harden's head.  Harden was out of bounds before he lept in the air.  Therefore, when the ball hits Harden's head, the ball is immediately out of bounds and dead.  They set the time for when the ball landed out of bounds.  I don't get it.

4.  Man I love this series.  I'm really all over the Grizzlies on this one.  Durant and Westbrook will have more chances but this is one hell of a story.  I'll be happy so long as the winner of the title comes out of the west.

[capt. scotty]

I havent seen as much of the OKC-MEM series as I would like. I have seen all the CHI-ATL and feel like thats been a real good series as well.

Im rooting for Memphis, but Im not so sure I agree with you about Durant & Westbrook having a lot of shots at titles together. Now I do think OKC will, but I think this playoffs has proven Westbrook & Durant wont be able to coexist on the same team for the long term. It would appear Westbrook has too big of an ego for that, and I dont think he likes playing second fiddle to Durant. Now maybe he changes and learns the offense needs to run thru Durant more often and that especially every game he needs his touches, but as it is I dont see Westbrook there for more than 2-3 years.

[ophidiophobia]

I havent seen as much of the OKC-MEM series as I would like. I have seen all the CHI-ATL and feel like thats been a real good series as well.

Im rooting for Memphis, but Im not so sure I agree with you about Durant & Westbrook having a lot of shots at titles together. Now I do think OKC will, but I think this playoffs has proven Westbrook & Durant wont be able to coexist on the same team for the long term. It would appear Westbrook has too big of an ego for that, and I dont think he likes playing second fiddle to Durant. Now maybe he changes and learns the offense needs to run thru Durant more often and that especially every game he needs his touches, but as it is I dont see Westbrook there for more than 2-3 years.

I agree with Westbrook having too large an ego for this team. I've watched the majority of OKC's playoffs, and it seems Westbrook thinks he is the man. He has had at least 2 games of taking more than 30 shots including 33 last night. Durant needs to step up instead of deferring to him. I think this team has enough talent to win, but the unity has looked terrible at points during the playoffs.

[capt. scotty]

I havent seen as much of the OKC-MEM series as I would like. I have seen all the CHI-ATL and feel like thats been a real good series as well.

Im rooting for Memphis, but Im not so sure I agree with you about Durant & Westbrook having a lot of shots at titles together. Now I do think OKC will, but I think this playoffs has proven Westbrook & Durant wont be able to coexist on the same team for the long term. It would appear Westbrook has too big of an ego for that, and I dont think he likes playing second fiddle to Durant. Now maybe he changes and learns the offense needs to run thru Durant more often and that especially every game he needs his touches, but as it is I dont see Westbrook there for more than 2-3 years.

I agree with Westbrook having too large an ego for this team. I've watched the majority of OKC's playoffs, and it seems Westbrook thinks he is the man. He has had at least 2 games of taking more than 30 shots including 33 last night. Durant needs to step up instead of deferring to him. I think this team has enough talent to win, but the unity has looked terrible at points during the playoffs.

Well, Westbrook is their PG so he's naturally going to have the ball more than Durant. I dont think Durant is deferring to him much if at all, Westbrook just isnt getting him the ball enough, for even stretches at a time which just should never happen. Not to mention Westbrook's ballhoggin of late has limited Harden's touches as well.

They might survive this series, but yeah, this shooting contest between Westbrook and Durant is going to shoot them in the foot because no way they beat Dallas when Westbrook is shooting 30 shots a game with Dallas playing this good. Plus OKC has no one remotely close to being able to cover Dirk.

[Ruckus]

I havent seen as much of the OKC-MEM series as I would like. I have seen all the CHI-ATL and feel like thats been a real good series as well.

Im rooting for Memphis, but Im not so sure I agree with you about Durant & Westbrook having a lot of shots at titles together. Now I do think OKC will, but I think this playoffs has proven Westbrook & Durant wont be able to coexist on the same team for the long term. It would appear Westbrook has too big of an ego for that, and I dont think he likes playing second fiddle to Durant. Now maybe he changes and learns the offense needs to run thru Durant more often and that especially every game he needs his touches, but as it is I dont see Westbrook there for more than 2-3 years.

I agree with Westbrook having too large an ego for this team. I've watched the majority of OKC's playoffs, and it seems Westbrook thinks he is the man. He has had at least 2 games of taking more than 30 shots including 33 last night. Durant needs to step up instead of deferring to him. I think this team has enough talent to win, but the unity has looked terrible at points during the playoffs.

Well, Westbrook is their PG so he's naturally going to have the ball more than Durant. I dont think Durant is deferring to him much if at all, Westbrook just isnt getting him the ball enough, for even stretches at a time which just should never happen. Not to mention Westbrook's ballhoggin of late has limited Harden's touches as well.

They might survive this series, but yeah, this shooting contest between Westbrook and Durant is going to shoot them in the foot because no way they beat Dallas when Westbrook is shooting 30 shots a game with Dallas playing this good. Plus OKC has no one remotely close to being able to cover Dirk.

You sure know a lot for someone who hasn't been watching the series as much as he'd like to. ;D
I'm not sure what the local press is saying but Durant's frustration was apparent and it seems like Brooks has no control over Westbrook.  But they could run some more plays for Durant because he has been struggling to get off quality shots with Allen guarding him.  Waaaah :'(

[Tracy 2112]

Congratulations to the Heat as the beat the #3 seed Celtics who played with a one armed point guard.

I swear, the older I get, the less I understand these millionaire athletes and their over the top reactions to beating teams they are favored to beat, in the 2nd round   :-\

[capt. scotty]

Congratulations to the Heat as the beat the #3 seed Celtics who played with a one armed point guard.

I swear, the older I get, the less I understand these millionaire athletes and their over the top reactions to beating teams they are favored to beat, in the 2nd round   :-\

Does it really happen that often?! I agree about last night, and Lebron's "apology" is a friggin joke, but cant really think of many teams celebrating earlier than going to the finals/WS/super bowl/etc. Yeah, Bart Scott and the Jets celebrated a lot after beating the Patsies, but no one gave them a chance to win that one either.

Since the Heat cant play LA, I hope D-Rose slays them and makes Lebron wish he went to Chicago instead of Miami, which even if Miami does win it all this year, I think it wouldve been much smarter for his longterm career and ability to win 3+ championships to go and play with a 22yr old Rose than a 29yr old Wade.

[capt. scotty]

Westbrook has the first Game 7 Triple Double since Pippen in '92 and joins Scottie, Bird, Worthy, and West as the only player with a TripDoub in Game 7...Amazing how good OKC can be when 'brook only socres 13pts  ;)

[iLikeBeer]

I felt like LeBron was very foolish  in his actions after the Heat knocked off his arch nemesis in the Celts.  Maybe if that series win would have put the Heat in the actual NBA finals I could understand that sort of celebration.  But, the Heat still have to get by the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals and if they manage that, then they still have to get past the winner of OKC/Dallas in the NBA Finals.

BTW, it looks as if the Heat forgot to show up yesterday as Chicago took the Heat to the woodshed in a royal ass kicking in Game 1 which was thoroughly enjoyable to watch!   ;D  I had felt that the Bulls had the pieces in place to at least slow down the Heat's big 3 and I felt the wildcard in this series would be Derrick Rose as I don't think Miami has anyone capable of contatining Rose. 

And Rose came through for me last night with 28 points.  And while I was surprised to see Bosch have the game he did, the two biggest pieces of the big 3 struggled.

I'm hoping for a 4 game sweep in this one!  LeBron can take his apology and go to hell for all I care

[Ruckus]

I felt like LeBron was very foolish  in his actions after the Heat knocked off his arch nemesis in the Celts.  Maybe if that series win would have put the Heat in the actual NBA finals I could understand that sort of celebration.  But, the Heat still have to get by the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals and if they manage that, then they still have to get past the winner of OKC/Dallas in the NBA Finals.

BTW, it looks as if the Heat forgot to show up yesterday as Chicago took the Heat to the woodshed in a royal ass kicking in Game 1 which was thoroughly enjoyable to watch!   ;D  I had felt that the Bulls had the pieces in place to at least slow down the Heat's big 3 and I felt the wildcard in this series would be Derrick Rose as I don't think Miami has anyone capable of contatining Rose. 

And Rose came through for me last night with 28 points.  And while I was surprised to see Bosch have the game he did, the two biggest pieces of the big 3 struggled.

I'm hoping for a 4 game sweep in this one!  LeBron can take his apology and go to hell for all I care

What a fantastic performance by the Bulls, a true team!  I completely agree with you about the matchups but then again, who can ever contain Rose who is the most explosive player I have EVER seen.  Whereas the Bulls have Deng with length to bother James and Rose or Bogans on Wade, no one will prevent penetration by Rose.  That said, however obvious it may sound, game 2 looms huge.  You don't want Miami going back home with confidence.  Continue to let their self doubt in the clutch fester within.

Taj Gibson anyone? :o :o

[Tracy 2112]

Taj Gibson anyone? :o :o

yeah, that late game dunk was just spectacular. A little more spectacular than the dunk over Wade. The Bulls are a fun team to watch and the Heat are fun to root against.

I would enjoy the Heat losing to the Bulls just a little more than I enjoyed the Lakers getting trounced by the Pistons in 04.

[Ruckus]

Taj Gibson anyone? :o :o

yeah, that late game dunk was just spectacular. A little more spectacular than the dunk over Wade. The Bulls are a fun team to watch and the Heat are fun to root against.

I would enjoy the Heat losing to the Bulls just a little more than I enjoyed the Lakers getting trounced by the Pistons in 04.

Man why you gotta go and bring up old Laker shit? :embarassed:

After the first Taj dunk over Wade, I turned to my girlfriend and a friend that if the Bulls win the series, that might end up being the signature play.  Then the second dunk happened, at which point I lept out of my seat  and ran back and forth through my kitchen and living room completely losing my shit.  No replay does that dunk justice but in real time, the power and emphasis with which he threw it down! :o

I take great pleasure in watching Lebron James fail.

[Tracy 2112]

  Then the second dunk happened, at which point I lept out of my seat  and ran back and forth through my kitchen and living room completely losing my shit.  No replay does that dunk justice but in real time, the power and emphasis with which he threw it down! :o

Let me make myself clear: I totally did not see that dunk coming and I let out a spontaneous yell that woke up my dogs and made my wife enter the man cave to see if I was OK. I made her stay up to see the highlight.

[Ruckus]

  Then the second dunk happened, at which point I lept out of my seat  and ran back and forth through my kitchen and living room completely losing my shit.  No replay does that dunk justice but in real time, the power and emphasis with which he threw it down! :o

Let me make myself clear: I totally did not see that dunk coming and I let out a spontaneous yell that woke up my dogs and made my wife enter the man cave to see if I was OK. I made her stay up to see the highlight.

Yep, so right.  That dunk came out of NOWHERE!

Mmmmm....Tracy's man cave ;D