2008 NBA Playoff Thread

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121

[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
WhiteFlash wrote:
I’ll let you in on a little secret: Don’t argue about sports you’ve been watching for a coupla’ years. I’m not worried about intangibles. I’m not worried about anything. All I’m saying is what I’ve said repeatedly: IF the WIZARDS GET THEIR SHIT TOGETHER, THEY WIN THIS SERIES. Now go back and re-watch those last 3 Lakers title runs so you’re a little better educated next time you try and argue about basketball.

You do realize that the team you’re arguing is better has lost two straight series and is down 0-2 in a third to the team you’re arguing is worse?

It’s your position that’s on shaky ground, not Dweezil’s.[/quote]

You do realize that the WIZ were injured last year and have a less than healthy Arenas this year, right? That’s why the Cav’s win. That and the Ref’s constant knob slobbing of Lebron James. Not unlike Dweezil.

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[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
To use your arguement, if the Blazers and the Kings did infact have a better squad they would’ve won. Guess what, they didn’t and they didn’t.[/quote]

Thank you for invalidating everything you will ever say on the issue of basketball or sports in general. I think we’re done now, because you just said what is probably the stupidest thing anyone has ever said. You, to take from Charles Barkley, are the stupidest person in the history of civilization. That the idea of a team that is better on paper actually, you know, losing somehow confuses you and is antithetical to your understanding of how the world works highlights some kind of inherent ignorance of how the world works in general.

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Dweezil, I’m done with you. Until the Cav’s beat a HEALTHY wizards team, I contend the Wiz are the better team.

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How unhealthy were the Wiz in the first series 2 years ago? Sure it was closer but umm, they still lost yes?

Also just for fun, Lebron has a bad back, we played 90% of the season without Gibson and Pavlovic(key role players in last years run) and still haven’t gotten chemistry with basically a whole new team, and Z hasn’t been healthy in a decade.

125

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Dweezil, I’m done with you. Until the Cav’s beat a HEALTHY wizards team, I contend the Wiz are the better team.[/quote]

Part of being a good team is staying healthy…

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Congrats to Manu Ginobili for winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award (one vote shy of a unanimous decision):

http://www.nba.com/news/sixthman_080421.html

And a big congratulations to Kevin Garnett (my favorite player) for winning the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award:

http://www.nba.com/news/garnett_defensive_080422.html

127

[quote]escot4 wrote:
I’m extremely late on this, but I didn’t make any predictions before the playoffs started, so I’ll just do it now. So here are my predictions… taking into account what has already happened:

Round 1:
EASTERN CONFERENCE

  1. Celtics vs. 8) Hawks: Celtics in 4
  2. Pistons vs. 7) 76ers: Pistons in 6
  3. Magic vs. 6) Raptors: Magic in 5
  4. Cavs vs. 5) Wizards: Cavs in 5
    WESTERN CONFERENCE
  5. Lakers vs. 8) Nuggets: Lakers in 5
  6. Hornets vs. 7) Mavericks: Hornets in 5
  7. Spurs vs. 6) Suns: Spurs in 6
  8. Jazz vs. 5) Rockets: Jazz in 4

Round 2:
EASTERN CONFERENCE

  1. Celtics vs. 4) Cavs: Celtics in 5
  2. Pistons vs. 3) Magic: Pistons in 6
    WESTERN CONFERENCE
  3. Lakers vs. 4) Jazz: Lakers in 6
  4. Hornets vs. 3) Spurs: Hornets in 7

Conference Finals:
EASTERN CONFERENCE

  1. Celtics vs. 2) Pistons: Celtics in 6
    WESTERN CONFERENCE
  2. Lakers vs. 2) Hornets: Lakers in 6

Finals:
Celtics vs. Lakers: Celtics in 7

By the way, for league MVP I would really like to see a co-MVP between Kobe and Chris Paul. If I had to choose one, I would say Kobe, but that’s mostly because he’s been snubbed in the past. They are both very deserving of it.[/quote]

Escot!!! Good to see you again. Solid predictions my man, looks good.

And yeah, I’m torn between CP3 and Kobe also for MVP. I think Kobe might win on the basis of seniority, but we’ll find out in the coming days.

128

Now that all eight series have played at least two games, the 2nd round picture becomes a little clearer.

It’s interesting to note how, despite how close the regular season was, seven of the eight playoff series are now 2-nil.

I would rank the remainder of the first round like this, going from “signed, sealed, delivered locks” to “still have some intrigue left”:

  1. C’s 2, Hawks 0

  2. Jazz 2, Rockets 0

  3. Spurs 2, Suns 0

  4. Lakers 2, Nuggets 0
    ^Those series are done. They’ve just gotta play out the string.

  5. Pistons 1, Sixers 1
    ^Pistons shouldn’t lose to Philly, but can’t call it over when it’s still 1-1. Still, their attitude of “We can turn it on when we want to” looms as a pretty ominous sign for the later rounds.

  6. Hornets 2, Mavs 0
    ^Hornets are in good shape. But if Dallas pops out of their two-year funk, they are still one of the most talented and seasoned teams in the league while NO are playoff newbies.

  7. Magic 2, Raptors 0

  8. Cavs 2, Wizards 0
    ^It would not be a stunner to see either Toronto or Washington storm back to take their respective series. But, obviously, they’ve gotta take the Game 3’s.

129

Huge win for Houston.

I still seriously doubt that they can come all the way back, but at least they’ve got a fighting chance now.

130

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

And yeah, I’m torn between CP3 and Kobe also for MVP. I think Kobe might win on the basis of seniority, but we’ll find out in the coming days.[/quote]

Kenny Johnson made a pretty good point on a recent edition of Inside the NBA. He argued that Kobe is MVP due to the fact that, for the first half of the season, KG was the favorite, in the second half of the season, CP3 was the favorite, but throughout the entire season, Kobe has consistently been 2nd mention.

Combine that to the fact that he brought the Lakers to the top of the West, and that the Lakers held the top spot in the West longer than any other team(which is a major accomplishment given how close of a race it was). He should deserve it right then and there. Throw in the “Oh yeah, and he was playing with an injured hand and an injured squad” and it completely seals it.

CP3’s passing abilities have made many headlines, but if he is such a great facilitator then why are the Hornets 14th in the league for assists? When a player is passing and leading to scoring opportunities, it gets other players involved. CP3 has a lot of assists largely because he and Tyson Chandler connect for so many alley-oops. Meanwhile, Kobe has made the Lakers one of the best passing/assist teams in the league. You may have seen their inside passing against Denver recently. But it has been the same story against the Hornets, Spurs, Jazz, Mavericks, Suns…etc.

And those are my thoughts on the MVP race.

The Only reason why I wouldn’t give it to Kevin Garnett(whom I highly respect as a player) is because the C’s still dominated when he was injured. They dominate when he has a big game, when he has a small game, when he’s there or not. They are a stacked, efficient, talented unit with no one element being a clearly defined “best”.

131

Thursday, 4/24/08 Recap:

  1. Raptors defeat 3) Magic 108-94: TJ Ford had 21 points and Jose Calderon added 18 points off the bench and the Raptors have made it a series at 2-1. Hedo Turkoglu had 26 points and Dwight Howard added 19 and 12 for the Magic in defeat.

  2. Wizards defeat 4) Cavs 108-72: DeShawn Stevenson had 19 points, and four other teammates scored in double figures as the Wiz crush the Cavs and make the series 2-1. LeBron James had 22, but received little help, along with a Wizards team who shot lights out.

  3. Rockets defeat 4) Jazz 94-92: Tracy McGrady scored 27 points, including 7 points in the fourth quarter, and the Rockets steal one on the road to make the series 2-1. Deron Williams had a monster game with 28 and 12 assists in the loss.

Stud of the Night: Tracy McGrady. His 27 points, including most importantly, breaking out of a fourth quarter slump, helped the Rockets do something they didn’t do at home: win a game.

132

[quote]Malevolence wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:

And yeah, I’m torn between CP3 and Kobe also for MVP. I think Kobe might win on the basis of seniority, but we’ll find out in the coming days.

Kenny Johnson made a pretty good point on a recent edition of Inside the NBA. He argued that Kobe is MVP due to the fact that, for the first half of the season, KG was the favorite, in the second half of the season, CP3 was the favorite, but throughout the entire season, Kobe has consistently been 2nd mention.

Combine that to the fact that he brought the Lakers to the top of the West, and that the Lakers held the top spot in the West longer than any other team(which is a major accomplishment given how close of a race it was). He should deserve it right then and there. Throw in the “Oh yeah, and he was playing with an injured hand and an injured squad” and it completely seals it.

CP3’s passing abilities have made many headlines, but if he is such a great facilitator then why are the Hornets 14th in the league for assists? When a player is passing and leading to scoring opportunities, it gets other players involved. CP3 has a lot of assists largely because he and Tyson Chandler connect for so many alley-oops. Meanwhile, Kobe has made the Lakers one of the best passing/assist teams in the league. You may have seen their inside passing against Denver recently. But it has been the same story against the Hornets, Spurs, Jazz, Mavericks, Suns…etc.

And those are my thoughts on the MVP race.

The Only reason why I wouldn’t give it to Kevin Garnett(whom I highly respect as a player) is because the C’s still dominated when he was injured. They dominate when he has a big game, when he has a small game, when he’s there or not. They are a stacked, efficient, talented unit with no one element being a clearly defined “best”.

[/quote]

Good points made MV. I’m interested to find out who earns it. Kobe definitely deserves it. I think he’s been snubbed the past couple of years for it, even though he lead the league in scoring, and made the NBA All-First team on offense AND defense. He is WAY overdue for an MVP.

Good points made about the Celtics. When Garnett was out, the C’s were still dominant, not that they fell apart without him, like the Cavs would without LeBron. Garnett is my absolute favorite player, and I wish he’d win it every year, but you make a good case. He did win the Defensive MVP award, now he has one of each.

133

[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Huge win for Houston.

I still seriously doubt that they can come all the way back, but at least they’ve got a fighting chance now.[/quote]

Yeah I agree. Being down 2-1 is WAY better than being down 3-0. Nice to see T-Mac finally show up in the clutch. Hopefully he keeps it up.

134

[quote]deputydawg wrote:
Xeneize wrote:
The only reason I think the Nuggets could take a game is because the Lakers at times have lacked concentration. Obviously, I’m pulling for a sweep.

Xeneize:

WTF I see you live in Texas but are a Lakers fan? They’re the bad guys. They’re Hollywood. What kind of Texan are you?[/quote]

LOL, been a Lakers fan since I saw Kareem hit a sky hook at the buzzer to beat Golden State. I think that was in 1975. Didn’t live in Texas then. Don’t want to live anywhere but Texas now, but my team is always my team.

(I have a little love for the Rockets, though).

135

[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Huge win for Houston.

I still seriously doubt that they can come all the way back, but at least they’ve got a fighting chance now.[/quote]

Great to see the Rockets show some heart. Although that brick by T-Mac at the end… he owes Landry a steak dinner.

136

Wow, the Spurs are straight dominating the Suns at home. Besides me and deputydawg, I don’t think many folks had the Spurs advancing. Of course, this game (and the series) are not over yet, but if the Spurs go up 3-0, the sun will set on Phoenix’s playoff run.

137

PHX went 3-1 vs. the Spurs; however, they’re 0-3 vs. the Borg. SA terminated the Suns with extreme prejudice in PHX tonight. Game 4 is merely a formality.

Frightening development for the rest of the league that rumors of the Spurs’ demise proved to be premature. Assuming NO will hold off Dallas, the Hornets will be running into a machine in the 2nd round. I don’t like their chances at all, regardless of the regular season results. Frankly, I don’t much like Utah’s (or Houston, if they pull off the improbable) or LAL’s chances down the road either, but we’ll see.

Between Detroit’s stumbles vs. Philly and SA’s resurgence, a Celtics-Spurs Finals looks a lot more likely now then it did a couple of weeks ago.

138

Friday, April 25 recap:

  1. Sixers defeat 2) Pistons 95-75: Samuel Dalembert had a monster game with 22 points and 16 boards, and the Sixers hold the Pistons again to a poor second half and go up 2-1 in the series. Rip Hamilton led the Pistons with 23 points and 6 assists, who find themselves in a state of shock right now being down in the series.

  2. Mavericks defeat 2) Hornets 97-87: Dirk Nowitzki had a beast of a game with 32 and 19 boards, and the Mavs win at home to make the series 2-1. Jannero Pargo had 30 points off the bench, and Chris Paul was locked down most of the night (in part to Jason Terry’s defense), going for 16 and 10 dimes.

  3. Spurs defeat 6) Suns 115-99: Tony Parker went off for a playoff career high 41 points, along with 12 assists, and the Spurs are in the drivers seat up 3-0. Amare Stoudemire had 28 and 11 boards, and Steve Nash was held to only 7 points, but had 9 assists for the Suns in defeat.

Stud of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs desperately needed a win to stay in the series, and they got it thanks to a huge game from their star, and are now in the series with some momentum.

139

Bye, bye Suns…

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Put a fork in 'em.