2011-2012 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread

[JMobile]

Boy I was way wrong on that Heat game. Perhaps Heat want to win it in Miami? But Amar'e is back. Nuggets still alive.

 

[SAIYANS]

Perk is out 10-14 days. :Vickie:

Second round has back to backs this year so he could be out to game 5 or 6 YES

 

[The Cork]

My Cavs didn't make it.

Somebody give me a team to bandwagon for the playoffs.

Thinking the Clippers. Anyone but L.A Rapists.

 

[Andrew]

My Cavs didn't make it.

Somebody give me a team to bandwagon for the playoffs.

Thinking the Clippers. Anyone but L.A Rapists.

Boston or OKL

 

[The Cork]

Hate old ass Celtics.

Ok I support OKC now. Woo Durant & Westbrook.

 

[SAIYANS]

CP3 flopped on a ref, lol

 

[SAIYANS]

Lakers didn't deserve the W but boy they got two good looks. Silver lining is Ron is back the whole second round now

 

[PHX]

He'll be back for this series imo cause I'm still sticking with my predict of this going 7 games.

 

[PHX]

: at that jacket Rondo had on wtf was that.

 

[SAIYANS]

Shit Rondo as trying to be a pimp but no one touches Nick Young

 

[PHX]

That little kid even knew Nick Young looked like a damn fool.

 

[SAIYANS]

That's 70s pimping ... Even had some taco meat showing

Takes true SWAG to rock that head high

 

[Big Red Jericho Punk]

Five things that have stood out to me since Friday for playoffs. This is from my blog The Uncommon One: Serving Justice

1. The quick playoff exit of the Dallas Mavericks was pretty shocking even though I predicted they were going to lose in Game 4 last Friday. The only time I've ever witnessed a championship team get eliminated in the first round by getting swept was the 2007 Miami Heat (horrible team to watch as a fan). Unlike Game 3, the Mavericks didn't lay down but they couldn't contain Kevin Durant or James Harden. I had a feeling Harden was due for a break out game and he finally did it with 29 points on 11-16 shooting which is ridiculous. Oklahoma City shot 52 percent while Dallas shot just 41 percent which told the story. Dallas has shot poorly all series with veterans like Jason Kidd and Jason Terry having horrible series. Delonte West has been a non factor and Shawn Marion lost his defensive presence after Game 2. It all fell apart in the end for Dallas who simply played a team that had more talent and was more hungrier. Dallas ran into a rough matchup and I knew it wasn't going to last long but the fact that they couldn't win one game after playing them so well in the first two games in Oklahoma City is pretty shocking.

2. Even though I'm positive that the series will end today, Carmelo Anthony deserves his due. I'm aware that he can be considered a coach killer (good luck in your future endeavors D'Antoni) and played poorly most of the season (barley shooting 40 percent) but Carmelo went on a tear in April. He was easily the most valuable player in April and it showed with the award. Even though he's been horrible through the first three games of the playoffs, Carmelo was absolutely unstoppable in Game 4. Carmelo couldn't be contained and it wasn't just because of his shooting but he was becoming a play maker. He was finding people open like Amarie Stoudmire who somehow showed up and played an efficient game. He even made a pass to Mike Bibby and Bibby hit a huge three. Carmelo hasn't played well in the playoffs through out his career but he truly delivered last Sunday and deserves his praise.

3. Even though they lost last night, the 76ers have been impressive in the playoffs. They are up 3-2 headed into Philadelphia for a pivotal Game 6 against the Bulls. I got to see good part of Game 3 and some of tonight's game even though it was really ugly. The 76ers still deserve their praise of taking care of their home court and making fans believe that they can beat the number one seed that still played at a high level without their franchise player for a good chunk of the season. Spencer Hawes has really broke out in this series with back to back 20 point games and being a force everywhere on the court. He has developed into a solid spot shooter from anywhere on the court and has been a defensive force with blocked shots. Hawes has been the break out star for the 76ers that I'm sure nobody expected especially missing most of the season. Jrue Holiday also gets credit for becoming a game changer from not only his driving ability but also his assists. Philadelphia has been a joy to watch and I'm really pulling for them to pull that huge upset because nothing is better than seeing the 8th seed beating the 1st seed as a fan. Hopefully the 76ers can get over the horrific shooting performance from tonight and finish the Bulls off in their home court for Game 6.

4. The series has been very interesting so far as expected but it hasn't gone like most people said it would go. I'm happy to say that my pick of the Clippers beating Memphis is looking good after seeing the Clippers taking care of business at their home court. My playoff preview received a lot of praise other than the Clippers pick which received a lot of criticism. I knew Memphis was a solid team but I didn't expect this much backlash from picking the Clippers. I've been right so far thanks to Chris Paul showing why you never pick a team led by Paul to go one and done. Also it's thanks to Memphis' brutal outside shooting that I was concerned about from the start. Game 4 was an absolute treat especially to see Blake Griffin have a monster game. Blake has been criticized all season despite putting up excellent numbers for not improving his game. He proved with toughness and grit that he can still put up huge numbers in playoff games while being efficient against the best. The Clippers made the Grizzles an outside shooting team which led to some awful shot selection for Rudy Gay who has struggled this series. Then they forgot that Marc Gasol can score and he hasn't been used properly. The Clippers are out smarting the Grizzles which is shocking considering Vinny Del Negro is their coach and he's not very good. I'm not sure the Clippers can keep this going in the next round because two main scorers and a bunch of inconsistent role players don't create much success but right now the Clippers stars are playing as well as anyone while Memphis is having an identity crisis getting players involved.

5. San Antonio dominated like I expected in the first round with a complete sweep of the Jazz. The matchup was shown from the start with Tony Parker dominating the series due to the lack of point guard play in Utah. Utah tried very hard in Game 4 and Al Jefferson showed fire with a huge performance despite saying that the Spurs will win the NBA Finals. Game 4 was a gritty win but the Spurs have looked very good so far with their deep rotation. The Spurs know they're going to have different players stepping up whether its Thiago Splitter or Gary Neal or Stephen Jackson. It has been a different occurrence every game which shows how good the Spurs are. This team looks scary right now because they're going to get plenty of rest that a veteran team needs in the playoffs and they don't seem on stopping this hot streak that leads back to early April. Manu Ginobili had a strong series as well and continues to show that he is the ultimate game changer off the bench. This team is going to be a tough out and they finally have people believing in them after questions about how the team is aging.

 

[PHX]

Close out games are easy right Bynum? lol

 

[SAIYANS]

Literally was so pissed at Pau and Andrew that I was speechless. My family was like what is wrong and words couldn't come out ... I threw the fucking remote, got something to drink, and walked off (got to apologize for that). If they both play average, they win that game.

Enter Ron Artest