Magic would of likely beaten the Bulls today if Howard wasn’t suspended. Doesn’t make me feel to good about that.
TBH IMO I think Dwights numerous tech fouls is what keeps him from the MVP this year. I would love to see some stats if they are out there, of how many points were scored that are directly attributable to his tech fouls - and whether any had a material effect on the outcome of the game.
Out of curiosity, what do you guys make of these stats? My attention is drawn to the ‘diffeff’ column contrasted with whether or not the Magic won that game and the number of match-ups D.Howard won.
When you look at Howard v Rose:
Howard - won 46 match-ups, Magic 24-17. lost 6 match-ups, Magic 3-3.
Rose - won 56 match-ups, Bulls 48-8. lost 18 match-ups, Bulls 8-10.
Based on these, Rose looks better on paper than Howard and his performance has a bigger impact on the outcome of the game.
Would love for some of the more educated to prove some flaws with this 
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Magic would of likely beaten the Bulls today if Howard wasn’t suspended. Doesn’t make me feel to good about that.
TBH IMO I think Dwights numerous tech fouls is what keeps him from the MVP this year. I would love to see some stats if they are out there, of how many points were scored that are directly attributable to his tech fouls - and whether any had a material effect on the outcome of the game.[/quote]
Maybe, but Bass and Anderson really stepped up today in his absence. I`m not sure how much better the Magic could have played if it were Howard out there.
The Heat-Celtics game was great too. Miami actually played with a lot of heart, and it was good to see LeBron, Wade, and even Mario Chalmers get into it with the Celtics. They didn`t let the Celtics rough them up, and the Celtics just got dominated.
If thats the way the Heat are going to play Im excited for when (if) they have a series against the Celtics. It`s gonna be much closer than people think.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Boston Red Sox 1-7[/quote]
You therajraj, you’ve turned into a real prick on this thread. What does this have to do with basketball? You’re an asshole. Fuckin punk.
I can’t tell if the NBA is turning into the WWF and the Lakers are losing to create drama for the playoffs or if there’s actual problems in LA. That was a damn good game 'til about 2 minutes to go.
[quote]randman wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Boston Red Sox 1-7[/quote]
You therajraj, you’ve turned into a real prick on this thread. What does this have to do with basketball? You’re an asshole. Fuckin punk.[/quote]
lol - relax dude. Just screwin’ with ya.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I can’t tell if the NBA is turning into the WWF and the Lakers are losing to create drama for the playoffs or if there’s actual problems in LA. That was a damn good game 'til about 2 minutes to go.[/quote]
Speaking of which, who are all of you picking to come out of the West and East?
Does the Lake Show have what it takes to get to the finals?
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I can’t tell if the NBA is turning into the WWF and the Lakers are losing to create drama for the playoffs or if there’s actual problems in LA. That was a damn good game 'til about 2 minutes to go.[/quote]
Speaking of which, who are all of you picking to come out of the West and East?
Does the Lake Show have what it takes to get to the finals?[/quote]
East: BULLS
West: Lakers
The only Eastern team who I think has a shot at beating CHI are the Celts. On the West the only team that I really think can beat LA in a 7 game series are the Thunder.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I can’t tell if the NBA is turning into the WWF and the Lakers are losing to create drama for the playoffs or if there’s actual problems in LA. That was a damn good game 'til about 2 minutes to go.[/quote]
Speaking of which, who are all of you picking to come out of the West and East?
Does the Lake Show have what it takes to get to the finals?[/quote]
Celtics/Lakers. Lakers will 3’peat.
…and those are probably my 2 least favorite teams.
[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I can’t tell if the NBA is turning into the WWF and the Lakers are losing to create drama for the playoffs or if there’s actual problems in LA. That was a damn good game 'til about 2 minutes to go.[/quote]
Speaking of which, who are all of you picking to come out of the West and East?
Does the Lake Show have what it takes to get to the finals?[/quote]
Celtics/Lakers. Lakers will 3’peat.
…and those are probably my 2 least favorite teams.[/quote]
Man, I’m not so sure. At the beginning of the year I had Orlando coming out of the East, and by mid season Boston was all but a lock to me. But, they’ve lost so much of what made them dominant that I’m not sure they’re gonna get back to the Finals. Also, I can’t peg what’s going on in LA. Bryant has not looked like himself lately and the team hasn’t been playing inspired ball for the last week or so. Can’t tell if they’re coasting ['cause before that they won, what, 15 of 16 or something?] or if there’s cause for concern. The playoffs are around the corner so I guess we’ll see soon enough. Either way, this is gonna be an awesome post-season.
I’m not going to re-predict what’s going to happen and just see if my original prediction of an Orlando-Oklahoma City Final pans out.
But I will say, why don’t we all make predictions each round and see who comes out the most successful?
For bragging rights, or maybe more
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
Celtics/Lakers. Lakers will 3’peat.
…and those are probably my 2 least favorite teams.[/quote]
Man, I’m not so sure. At the beginning of the year I had Orlando coming out of the East, and by mid season Boston was all but a lock to me. But, they’ve lost so much of what made them dominant that I’m not sure they’re gonna get back to the Finals. Also, I can’t peg what’s going on in LA. Bryant has not looked like himself lately and the team hasn’t been playing inspired ball for the last week or so. Can’t tell if they’re coasting ['cause before that they won, what, 15 of 16 or something?] or if there’s cause for concern. The playoffs are around the corner so I guess we’ll see soon enough. Either way, this is gonna be an awesome post-season.
[/quote]
Boston made a dumb trade but I still like their lineup better than Chicago’s. Chicago has just playing better ball. Come playoff time, I think it’s going to be a different story. I haven’t caught many Lakers games because they’re not on as much on East Coast cable so I’m not sure why they’ve been doing so bad. I agree this is going to be an awesome post season. I really,really want to see the Knicks play the Heat in the 1st round. I think it’d be an awesome matchup and a close series. Especially if Carmelo stays on fire.
^^^ That NY/MIA series has the potential to be the most exciting of the playoffs. It would be awesome if NY took it to 'em. What’s up with Stoudamire? Why’s he been out? I don’t know if the Bulls have the experience to take out the big dogs out East, but they’ve been playing as good of ball as any team I’ve seen all year. OKC is no joke, but I’m not sure they have the horses to beat the Lakers in a 7 game series just yet. But, like I’ve said for 2 yars now they’re the future of the NBA. I wasn’t that high on Westbrook coming out of UCLA but that dude is a beast. He might have the best first step in the NBA, and he takes contact better than any other pg in the league.
^^^ Also meant to add that losing Tony Allen is gonna hurt the C’s more than people think come playoff time. He’s as good a man perimeter defender there is in the league, and he’s tied with Bill Walker for most underrated dunker in the league as well.
A BOS-NYK is the only series I could see a first round upset be possible.
Hollinger has some interesting award picks:
ROY: Blake
ROY announcer: Harpring/jazz
COY: Bullz’ Thibideauxoughtakhdsfghghgheuaxxeu
6th man: Odom
Most improved: Grizzlies’ Arthur
Cruel World Award: Rockets
DEF POY: Howard
MVP: Howard
ExecsOY: Bulls’ Paxson & Forman
Trade of year: Melo deal
Fa OY: Grizz’ Allen
This is his ballot from the article:
Most Valuable Player: Dwight Howard, Orlando
I explained this in a lengthy column earlier this month, and while my logic has clearly displeased certain factions, it hasn’t changed any of the facts. The most notable one is that the three Florida stars – Howard, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade – were the league’s three best in the league by a fair margin, whether you want to use numbers, the much-beloved eye test or any other standard.
Howard has no chance in real life, however. For some reason, the concept that the league’s best player could be on an also-ran team remains an insurmountable hurdle (for reference, see also Kobe Bryant in 2006 and Kevin Garnett in 2005).
James and Wade land second and third on my ballot; you could reverse the order of those two and I couldn’t muster a strong argument against it. You could also call it a tie, theoretically, but I’m told the league doesn’t allow that.
Fourth and fifth is where it gets interesting for me. I had Chris Paul and Bryant in these spots a week ago. CP was leading all point guards in player efficiency rating and led the entire league in adjusted plus-minus by a wide margin entering Sunday’s games. But he was so ineffective in the most important game of the Hornets’ season Sunday – going scoreless for the first time in his career – that he played his way off my ballot.
Similarly, Bryant is barely hanging on, as his main résumé bullet point was the Lakers’ 17-1 record after the All-Star break. Er, make that 17-6. Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki – who has both an enormous plus-minus and a résumé of big shots – is making a hard push to replace him at No. 5.
And at No. 4? Derrick Rose, who moved himself up two spots on my list with a strong final week, continuing his penchant for blowing up in national TV games and precipitating an avalanche of tweets in my direction from his MVP supporters. Of course, these games don’t count extra in the standings – and looking at the 82-game body of work, the three Floridians still have him trumped.
I’ll throw in two side points that may interest only me, but what the heck. First, as near as I can tell, Rose has not spent a single second campaigning for this award, which I haven’t seen anyone write about but which is a pretty remarkable display of maturity for a 22-year-old.
Second, presuming he does win, I would not consider it a mistake on par with the Allen Iverson vote in 2002 or the second Steve Nash win in 2006. It would be more similar to Nash’s win in 2005 – a down year for MVP candidates overall, allowing the figurehead player on an emergent 60-win team to ride a wave of momentum. It may look a little weird a couple of years down the road, because it’s unlikely to be Rose’s best season, but it could easily be his only MVP award. Further, I can’t say I’m encouraged by the way we ended up here. But in the big picture, there have been far worse votes than this one.
Haven’t posted much due to changes in work schedule (unlikely to get better I’m afraid). But how bout BOS getting blown out consecutive games vs. CHI and MIA? I don’t think they tanked because I’d believe in the boogeyman before I’d believe in KG being OK with throwing a game. And yes I realized they skidded into the playoffs last year, but I think that was more about them being injured and getting healthy right as the playoffs started (my opinion).
Dwight should be MVP…you can talk all you want about SVG’s system getting a lot out of his subpar defensive players, but that entire system is built around DH.
I think the Bulls are the most complete team in the east but I’m not sure if they’re mentally ready for a deep playoff run. We may learn a lot about Rose this postseason (though we need to keep aware he is still very young and still growing). But they will have as good a shot as any team because their D is so suffocating and that’s more sustainable than offense if you’re feeling the pressure/nerves.
Don’t count out OKC in the west. I love matching up Perkins/Ibaka on Bynum/Gasol, if you can neutralize the Lakers’ advantage down low and have Westbrook do his thing where he lights up Fisher like a christmas tree, it could be a great series.
Denver is a great story but I don’t think they’ll do that much damage in the playoffs…their biggest weapon (depth) is less important in the playoffs when starters start playing a lot more minutes routinely.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
A BOS-NYK is the only series I could see a first round upset be possible.[/quote]
Ummm…yeah…riiight