2008 NBA Playoff Thread

Off Topic
81

Is it just me, or are there some teams that can make the playoffs every year, but you know for a fact they won’t win the title, or go very far in the playoffs. To me, the Wizards are a good team, but not great, and will continue to make the playoffs and keep losing out. Same with the Rockets.

The Suns look like they are on their way down the same path also. I’m thinking they are tired of playing run and gun for 82 games, then have to go to the playoffs and run with the best of the best, they’ve gotta be run down. Even with Shaq, the offense has slowed down slightly, but not to make up for the way they played earlier in the year before Shaq made his way there.

82

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Is it just me, or are there some teams that can make the playoffs every year, but you know for a fact they won’t win the title, or go very far in the playoffs. To me, the Wizards are a good team, but not great, and will continue to make the playoffs and keep losing out. Same with the Rockets.

The Suns look like they are on their way down the same path also. I’m thinking they are tired of playing run and gun for 82 games, then have to go to the playoffs and run with the best of the best, they’ve gotta be run down. Even with Shaq, the offense has slowed down slightly, but not to make up for the way they played earlier in the year before Shaq made his way there.[/quote]

It’s not just you. Somebody has to fill out the brackets.

83

All teams have been mentioned by at least one person except for the Hawks. Any Hawks fan wanna come out and show your support, even though you finished 8 games below .500 and are playing the C’s? I know there’s gotta be some love for them somewhere.

The Hawks do have a good team with Mike Bibby, Marvin Williams, Al Horford, and Josh Smith, among others, and have made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, but they are severely overmatched. This should be a good learning experience for them and they should be ready to tear it up next year.

84

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Tyler123 wrote:
Being a Torontonian I’m obviously a massive Raptors fan, which puts me in the immediate minority :o

Some general comments on the games I caught this weekend:

Cavs vs. Wiz: That game was like letting a bunch of criminals loose on one another. Did anyone see Jamison’s death stare and him mouthing “I’mma keel you mothahfucker.” All that trash talk between Arenas and James will continue to produce ridiculous 1on1 efforts.

Prediction: Cavs in 6

Suns vs Spurs: This game should have been won by Phoenix, but foul trouble on Amare basically sealed the deal for San Ant. Their goal of letting Duncan do whatever he wanted while they covered the perimeter players worked. If Nash can look for his shot as much as the pass, it should be a Suns win, finally.

Prediction: Suns in 7

Dallas vs. NO: Not sure why NO ins’t getting more credit. Chandler and West are crazy bigmen, especially since Chandler has shrugged off his ugly Bulls days and reinvented himself with CP3, who is by the way, sick. JKidd/Dirk, a solid tandem but their supporting cast of Terry/Dampier is just not enough.

Prediction: NO in 5.

UTH vs HOU: Didn’t see this game, but Utah is completely underrated and I could easily seem them winning the west. Deron Williams was unconscious this year, and if he were playing in the East, he would easily be the best PG in that conference. He may be the best PG in the West, it’s arguable. No Yao = first rd. exit.

Prediction: Utah in 4.

Philly vs Detroit: Crazy game last night. Mo Cheeks has these guys believing. Couple that with stealing a game at the Palace… Detroit is solid, no doubt, but they like to turn it on and turn it off whenever them deem it necessary. As good as Philly played down the stretch; they need big fast break/transition plays to win and big plays don’t consistently come in a 7 game set vs. the Pistons.

Prediction: Pistons in 6

As for the other games, pretty evident that Boston will sweep and I don’t like to talk Raptors playoffs, especially after a loss. Sorry if that was long, I didn’t intend it to be.

Tyler123, nice to have you on board. Not too long at all, longer posts are good with me.

Solid analysis all the way through. I didn’t see the Jamison comment, but that is very un-Jamison like, which probably makes it better for the series. Yeah, Agent Zero and the King going after each other verbally leads to some serious mono-a-mono ball. I ain’t complaining about that. I’m going Cavs in 5.

I’m still going with the Spurs in 6. I agree, NO doesn’t get enough credit, they will move on in 6, and I think the Pistons move on in 5.

As for your Raptors, Bosh is a beast (plus he has cool hair, so that’s a bonus), I think they have a chance of taking game 2, and taking it up north with home-court in their favor.[/quote]

Holy smokes, Chris Paul and Chandler were crazy last night. I can’t remember a year when so many 50 win teams are playing each other, and there are so many lopsided victories.

Raptors are heartbreaking, as they always are. Soft, undisciplined, and no answer for Dwight Howard. With all that said, they should have won the game, both on that final shot by Bosh, and on the play before it where he drove on Howard and the refs didn’t call a foul (and somehow Howard got credited for the block, when he didn’t touch the ball).

Raptors aside, last night I was consumed by game7’s in the NHL and watching the Jays embarrass themselves again.

Solid to see there are lots of NBA fans here. Personally, I watch all sports (for the most part), religiously. I’m also incapable of sleeping in on my days off, bah!

85

[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Spurs 2, Suns 0.

Game Over, PHX.[/quote]

I wouldn’t write off the Suns just yet. The Spurs this season have shown a disturbing ability to go absolutely cold for long stretches and especially in second halves. I’m hoping for a split in Pho.but wouldn’t be shocked to see it come back to SA tied up.

I think Parker’s ability to run the lane and score seemingly at will may the key. Shaq seems to be spending a lot of time watching Parker run around him.

tGuslinger your right Houston is toast. I was trying to hold out some hope to Rockets fans. But Utah is an incredible home team.

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It’s not that 2-0 leads are insurmountable (but they’re pretty close, though: a graphic last night showed that teams that lead 2-0 win the series 94% of the time), it’s the matchups.

UT-HOU is over for reasons I’ve already mentioned.

PHX-SA is over mainly because PHX is not a gritty, tough team that can overcome a deep hole. They’re flashy front-runners.

SA, however, is the worst team in the league to dig yourselves a hole against. They didn’t win four rings in nine years by lacking a cutthroat, killer instinct. Also, it’s playoff time, and the Spurs are always significantly better in the playoffs than they were in the regular season.

Combine those two factors, and I think this series is done.

SA smells blood in the water, and I think they’ll get their kill shot vs. PHX in Game 3.

87

Isn’t it surprising that the West was so close and so competitive and most of the major match-ups split their season series but so far most of the match-ups on the west have been one-sided.

A part of me thinks that in a season this memorable, something crazy could happen in the post season, like, houston recovering from a 3-0 deficit(okay fine, that won’t happen) but something along those lines.

Have to admit, it is a little disappointing how things are falling in the first round, not just because my predictions are turning out to be way off, but because it means less good basketball to watch.

88

[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Isn’t it surprising that the West was so close and so competitive and most of the major match-ups split their season series but so far most of the match-ups on the west have been one-sided.

A part of me thinks that in a season this memorable, something crazy could happen in the post season, like, houston recovering from a 3-0 deficit(okay fine, that won’t happen) but something along those lines.

Have to admit, it is a little disappointing how things are falling in the first round, not just because my predictions are turning out to be way off, but because it means less good basketball to watch.

[/quote]

I know it looks like the first round is pretty much already decided, but you never know crazy things can happen. (Golden State vs Dallas) But in the West – I think any of the teams left after the first round have an almost equal chance at going to the finals. Right now most people are thinking the Lakers and that is certainly the safe money given the way they’ve played. But New Orleans is very impressive, Utah very good, the Spurs defending champs, I don’t think anyone would be suprised at any of those four winding up in the finals.

89

I would be pretty surprised if the Hornets come out of the West. They may have had plenty of success vs. the regular season Spurs, but they haven’t faced “The Borg” yet.

Remember, PHX went 3-1 vs. SA in the regular season, but are 0-2 and on life support now that it’s playoff time.

It took the Pistons a few tries to take out the Celtics. It took the Bulls a few tries to take out the Pistons. It took the Spurs a few tries to take out the Lakers.

I have a gut feeling, and a pile of historical examples supporting me, that this playoff season will be NO’s baptism by fire.

I would rank the likely first round survivors like this:

  1. SA
    …
  2. LAL
  3. Utah
    …
    …
  4. NO
90

Man…usually blow outs aren’t all that great…but if you’re treated to CP3 accounting for 66 points and Peja continuing his cold blooded 3 point ability…it’s pretty darn amazing to behold. And those pick and rolls with Tyson Chandler are just absolutely insane.

And I loved the Peja heads every time he made a 3 pointer. LOL. Hilarious.

I’m pretty disappointed in the Suns though. That first game was epic, but the second one last not seemed a little off too me. Seems like Nash is still trying to recover from his flu. He had a few behind the back passes that turned into turnovers. Doesn’t help any when you begin the 3rd quarter with an 0-7 start from the field (might have been more).

Here’s hoping to some solid games tonight. Hopefully Atlanta won’t put up another stinker, but I guess that was to be expected from the very get-go. There doesn’t seem to be a clear cut “go to guy” on that team. Joe Johnson and Al Horford look great, but they need a star scorer if they ever want to go anywhere IMO. They need a guy like Beasley on that team…too bad they’re not in a position to and him, though.

91

GO CELTICS!

92

As a native Houstonian, I can say with 100% certainty that the Rockets will get swept. Utah ate their lunch last year with Ming, and now he’s out. McGrady is the most self serving ball player in the league. Shoulda kept the franchise. The Wiz have bad luck. Having said that, they’re still a better team top to bottom than the Cav’s, and if they can get on track they’ll win this series. The Sun’s look a little shook, and trading Marion was an awful move, but what’s done is done. With that, They’re playing SA as well as one team can [I know about last game], and if they win the next two at home it’s going 7, with the edge to Pheonix.

I’m honestly surprised NO is kicking Dallas’ ass the way they are. I don’t like the Mav’s, but I thought they were gonna win this series. I was wrong. They’re dejected and badly need to DOMINATE the next two games to make a point, or it’s done. Philly over Detroit was cool, but that’s about all they got. Orl and the Raps is a boring series. The Nuggets are shit. On paper, one of the best starting five’s in the league. On the court, no D and too many contested 25 footers = Lakers with the W in 5. Boston sweeps ATL and get’s rested for steam rolling the east.
McGrady sucks.

93

They’re not, they can’t, they won’t.

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[quote]Dweezil wrote:
The Wiz have bad luck. Having said that, they’re still a better team top to bottom than the Cav’s, and if they can get on track they’ll win this series.

They’re not, they can’t, they won’t.[/quote]

They are the better team. Better starting 5, better bench. Every time they play the Cav’s, they’re injured. Last year, No Butler. This year, a semi-healthy Arenas coming off the bench and an oft-injured Butler. Like I said, if they can get on track [big if] they will win this series.

95

The Lakers looked good game 1 despite Kobe’s sub-par performance. I thought Kobe was going to score 40+ against our pitiful Defense.

Kobe has improved as a “team player” by leaps and bounds this season.

I think the Nuggets take game 2 (I am an optimist)

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On another note Chris Paul has been the best player in the playoffs. He is GOOD!

97

[quote]joshjuk wrote:
I think the Nuggets take game 2 (I am an optimist)[/quote]

That’s an understatement.

The Nugg’s may win but to predict it after their “performance” in game 1 is wreckless at best.

98

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
They are the better team. Better starting 5, better bench. Every time they play the Cav’s, they’re injured. Last year, No Butler. This year, a semi-healthy Arenas coming off the bench and an oft-injured Butler. Like I said, if they can get on track [big if] they will win this series.[/quote]

They are not the better team if they’re injured, they’re not the better team if they’re not winning. They’re the better team on paper (and even then it depends), which is to say they are the better team in theory. The Cavs are the better team on the court. They cannot get on track. They are down 2. This is over. The Wizards haven’t done anything with Butler, Arenas and Jamison. Maybe they’ll get a game or two if they realize they’re being embarrassed, but it’s over. It’s done. The Cavs always beat them, regardless of who’s on the court. LeBron James wants to win this series, and that’s what will happen.

99

[quote]Dweezil wrote:
WhiteFlash wrote:
They are the better team. Better starting 5, better bench. Every time they play the Cav’s, they’re injured. Last year, No Butler. This year, a semi-healthy Arenas coming off the bench and an oft-injured Butler. Like I said, if they can get on track [big if] they will win this series.

They are not the better team if they’re injured, they’re not the better team if they’re not winning. They’re the better team on paper (and even then it depends), which is to say they are the better team in theory. The Cavs are the better team on the court. They cannot get on track. They are down 2. This is over. The Wizards haven’t done anything with Butler, Arenas and Jamison. Maybe they’ll get a game or two if they realize they’re being embarrassed, but it’s over. It’s done. The Cavs always beat them, regardless of who’s on the court. LeBron James wants to win this series, and that’s what will happen.[/quote]

No, the NBA wants Lebron James to win the series. But, if the Wizards play the way they’re capable of playing they will beat the Cav’s. It’s a big if, and I’m not trying to make excuses for them, but when healthy they are a far better team. And IF they haven’t thrown in the towel yet, they’ll pull their heads out of their collective asses and do this.

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Go Hornets!!