2012 NBA Playoffs Thread

[Tricericon]

I'm not wearing any rose colored glasses just looking at things objectively. The Nuggets aren't built currently to win in the playoffs. They're basically a team full of role players. What they're missing is a alpha male superstar which they used to have in Melo. I know the Lakers lack depth, but the same was true in their championship years. The reason they won was because they always had one of the better starting 5's in the league which was able to overcome a lack of depth. A team full of role players isn't gonna beat L.A. There are some teams that definitely can take down the Lakers, but Denver isn't one of them. Miami, Boston, Chicago, San Antonio, OKC, and Memphis could all potentially beat us because they have comparable starting 5's, but superior depth and coaching.

The reason they won those championships was because they were good... that really isn't the case anymore.

Let me put it this way: Regardless of whether they are structured similarly to past Lakers champions or not, they are not nearly as good. Using the ol' quick and crude but effective stat of pyth. wins, the worst of the Lakers' five recent winner was a 51-win caliber team. This year: 36.

But I digress. The point is that LA's playoff success was predicted quite well by regular season success; there's no reason to suppose that they have some kind of superior playoff strategy that gives them the edge against a statistically superior Denver squad - the season series was very competitive as well, arguing against a strong matchup advantage for the Lakers. I think it's something like 60/40 Denver takes the series.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

The reason they won those championships was because they were good... that really isn't the case anymore.

Let me put it this way: Regardless of whether they are structured similarly to past Lakers champions or not, they are not nearly as good. Using the ol' quick and crude but effective stat of pyth. wins, the worst of the Lakers' five recent winner was a 51-win caliber team. This year: 36.

But I digress. The point is that LA's playoff success was predicted quite well by regular season success; there's no reason to suppose that they have some kind of superior playoff strategy that gives them the edge against a statistically superior Denver squad - the season series was very competitive as well, arguing against a strong matchup advantage for the Lakers. I think it's something like 60/40 Denver takes the series.

The Lakers aren't good? :laugh2:

A team with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum on its roster isn't good? Seriously pass me what you're smoking because it must be good lol. How was our success predicated by regular season success? Often times we struggled at the end of the regular season and then we turned it on in the playoffs. In 2010 we lost 6 of our last 10 and won the trophy. The Lakers won the season series and Kobe didn't even play in one of those games. In the one loss Kobe had the worst night of his career and the Lakers still nearly won. I'll say it again a team full of role players isn't beating us.

 

[MC KAos]

i think game 1 will set the tone for the spurs and lakers series, if they can come out and dominate their younger, unexperienced foes in game one, i think it will kill their confidence and probably lead to sweeps. I kind of waffle on both those series whether they will be competitive or not, but ultimately, i dont see either team winning more than 1 game in those series.

as for the mavs, i just dont think they have it in them to just all of the sudden turn it on and beat the thunder in that series, its possible, but it seems to me like they are mostly satisfied they finally got their title, at least for this year.

that grizzlies/clippers series has the potential to be epic! it seems that the grizzlies should win easily, but the best player on the court will be CP3(if he is healthy) so its hard for me to think the grizzle will easily win that series. that should be a good one, but ultimately i believe the grizzle will win because of their INSANE home court advantage.

as for the East? who cares! no drama, the favorites should advance without much fanfare, unless the knicks can steal one of the first 2 games in miami...

 

[MC KAos]

one other thing id like to add, specifically about miami...

first of all, i dont believe this team is as good as lebron's cavs teams and here is why......

lebron is a wash, wade is better than anything the cavs had, so thats the advantage the heat have over those cavs teams, but after that......

i know we like to beat up on lebron for his team's shortcomings, but i saw a stat that kind of opened my eyes a bit to their team. During last years playoffs, LEBRON AVERAGED MORE REBOUNDS THAN BOSH!!!!!! wade was less than a rebound per game behind bosh!!! the heat have NO good rebounding big men, defensive big men, NOTHING! bosh is basically an overgrown finesse small forward! so who is guarding the rim? who gets the tough rebounds? who is guarding the good post players? for the miami heat, the answer is no one.

now, i hope most of you guys know enough about basketball to realize that anderson varejao is a REALLY GOOD PF/C in terms of defense and rebounding! ive stated before how important i thought chandler was to the mavs last year, and i think that the reason the heat will NEVER be "unstoppable" as many people assumed they would be when they were assembled is because they dont have a tough rebounder/defender. In my opinion, if this team had tyson chandler, or even varejao, instead of bosh, they would be unbelievably good! Bosh's strengths bring NOTHING to this team! anything he gives them is not something they cant get from lebron!

so in conclusion, the heat might eventually get their title, but they arent getting "not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7" because they have a MAJOR weakness, and having close to 3 max players makes it close to impossible to address that glaring holes! the only way they will be the team they think they can be is by trading bosh for a defending/rebounding center. they also have terrible supporting players after their big 2.5

 

[SaltwaterServr]

The Lakers aren't good? :laugh2:

A team with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum on its roster isn't good? Seriously pass me what you're smoking because it must be good lol. How was our success predicated by regular season success? Often times we struggled at the end of the regular season and then we turned it on in the playoffs. In 2010 we lost 6 of our last 10 and won the trophy. The Lakers won the season series and Kobe didn't even play in one of those games. In the one loss Kobe had the worst night of his career and the Lakers still nearly won. I'll say it again a team full of role players isn't beating us.

You're going to find out real quick how putrid the Lakers are at the 4-11 spots.

I find it hilarious you think that the Lakers could beat the Spurs, unless you think you'll catch the Spurs having 4 of their worst games of the season so that the Lakers have some kind of chance.

Wouldn't surprise me at all to see Denver take the series in 6 games, and LA to get blown out in 5 if they'd face the Spurs.

 

[NeonNinja]

I think its hilarious that everyone is calling CLF a homer but the rest of you say LA can't even beat the Nuggets and your team is going to just roll the playoffs.

Objective talk, obsolete.

I don't have LA as the favorites or anything but they can and most likely will beat the Nugs, come on.

It's hard to tell what is going to happen in the playoffs. Last year nobody had the Mavs as the favs. I understand the hate for LA is extreme here but at least attempt to have objective discussions.

 

[Tricericon]

The Lakers aren't good? :laugh2:

A team with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum on its roster isn't good? Seriously pass me what you're smoking because it must be good lol. How was our success predicated by regular season success? Often times we struggled at the end of the regular season and then we turned it on in the playoffs. In 2010 we lost 6 of our last 10 and won the trophy. The Lakers won the season series and Kobe didn't even play in one of those games. In the one loss Kobe had the worst night of his career and the Lakers still nearly won. I'll say it again a team full of role players isn't beating us.

I did not say they weren't good - they are. I did, however, say that they are not nearly as good as previous Lakers championship teams, and not as good as the Nuggets, both of which are true statements.

As far as regular season success predicting playoff success, if you were to rank all the Laker teams starting with Phil Jackson's arrival from 1 to 13 based on ye olde point diff. + SOS, you'd get:
1. 1999-2000 (Won Finals)
***Big Drop-Off***
2. 2007-2008 (Lost Finals)
3. 2001-2002 (Won Finals)
4. 2008-2009 (Won Finals)
***Big Drop-Off***
5. 2010-2011 (Lost Conf. Semis)
***Big Drop-Off***
6. 2009-2010 (Won Finals)
7. 2003-2004 (Lost Finals)
8. 2000-2001 (Won Finals)
***Big Drop-Off***
9. 2002-2003 (Lost Conf. Semis)
10. 2005-2006 (Lost First Round)
11. 2011-2012 (????)
***Big Drop-Off***
12. 2006-2007 (Lost First Round)
***Big Drop-Off***
13. 2004-2005 (No Playoffs)

There is a definite strong positive correlation between how well they did during any given regular season and how well they did the playoffs that year.

Let me put in another way: If this Lakers team beats the Nuggets, they'll be the worst Lakers team to win a playoff series since the 1960s, save 1994-1995.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

I think its hilarious that everyone is calling CLF a homer but the rest of you say LA can't even beat the Nuggets and your team is going to just roll the playoffs.

Objective talk, obsolete.

I don't have LA as the favorites or anything but they can and most likely will beat the Nugs, come on.

It's hard to tell what is going to happen in the playoffs. Last year nobody had the Mavs as the favs. I understand the hate for LA is extreme here but at least attempt to have objective discussions.

Let them talk. Anyone who honestly believes a team full of role players is gonna beat a team with 3 all stars loses all credibility. It's just not happening. Hopefully it's at least a competitive series so MWP doesn't miss any more games after this round. I know I'm pretty much the only guy picking the Lakers to win it all which is just fine with me. These people around here should know better than anyone that being favored means absolutely nothing. Last year's Mavericks weren't even favored to win their first round series against Portland and they won the championship.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

You're going to find out real quick how putrid the Lakers are at the 4-11 spots.

I find it hilarious you think that the Lakers could beat the Spurs, unless you think you'll catch the Spurs having 4 of their worst games of the season so that the Lakers have some kind of chance.

Wouldn't surprise me at all to see Denver take the series in 6 games, and LA to get blown out in 5 if they'd face the Spurs.

I find it hilarious you think Denver is gonna beat the Lakers. Why can't the Lakers beat the Spurs? They have the huge size advantage downlow and they've got Kobe Bryant. Doesn't mean they will beat them, but they certainly could. Depth means a lot less in the playoffs when rotations tighten up. I don't see how we're putrid at all though. You have the big 3 obviously then Sessions who's shown to be a starting caliber PG, Barnes who's played well this season, Ebanks who shut down the best offensive player in the league, and Blake. That's putrid? :laugh2:

 

[Biggems]

East 1st Round:

#1 Bulls Vs #8 Sixers (Bulls Sweep)

#4 Hawks Vs #5 Celtics (Celtics In 6)

#2 Heat Vs #7 Knicks (Heat in 7)

#3 Pacers Vs #6 Magic (Pacers Sweep)

West 1st Round:

#1 Spurs Vs #8 Jazz (Spurs in 6)

#4 Grizzlies Vs #5 Clippers (Grizzlies in 7)

#2 Thunder Vs #7 Mavs (Mavs in 6)

#3 Lakers Vs #6 Nuggets (Lakers in 6)

What are your predictions?

Here's the schedule.

http://www.nba.com/playoffs/2012/series/?ls=iref:nbahpt1

Bulls in 5

Celtics in 6

Heat in 6

Pacers in 4

Spurs in 5

Grizzlies in 6

Thunder in 6

Nuggets in 6

 

[Alumni2k11]

Go Knicks.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

This year, seriously, I think the Thunder should beat the Mavs pretty handily. In fact, I think they roll along to the WCF pretty easily. They shouldn't lose more than a game in each series.

I'm a Thunder fan and I don't see that happening at all. I don't like that they have no bigs to score inside... We all know the game is different at playoff time.

And you're still wrong about Westbrook.

 

[MC KAos]

im wasnt able to watch the bulls game, what happened to D-Rose?

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Last year I was semi-trolling

This year, seriously, I think the Thunder should beat the Mavs pretty handily. In fact, I think they roll along to the WCF pretty easily. They shouldn't lose more than a game in each series.

Seriously just stop it you think they're just gonna roll over the Mavs and the Lakers?

Missed the game, but just saw on ESPN that Derrick Rose suffered a knee injury and was taken to the hospital. Wow doesn't look good hopefully he's ok and can play in the next game.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Wow Knicks are getting destroyed. 32 point lead. Melo 3/15. Heat's defense is stifling.

 

[juck]

The FT difference is like 28-5. LOL I told you Miami is getting a ring this year and Stern loves it.

 

[juck]

im wasnt able to watch the bulls game, what happened to D-Rose?

Knee,MRI. Hospital. Bulls done. Poor kid is great but too injured always.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

https://twitter.com/#!/NBCMiami/status/196344850587725824

Rose done for playoffs.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

https://twitter.com/#!/NBCMiami/status/196344850587725824

Rose done for playoffs.

Wow. Wow! Are we sure that's legit?

If so, that's terrible for him. Absolutely terrible. Hope he makes a full recovery.

I've always been surprised this doesn't happen more often in basketball, but you really don't hear about it much. Maynor for the Thunder blew his out this year, too.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Wow. Wow! Are we sure that's legit?

If so, that's terrible for him. Absolutely terrible. Hope he makes a full recovery.

I've always been surprised this doesn't happen more often in basketball, but you really don't hear about it much. Maynor for the Thunder blew his out this year, too.

Nvm the guy recanted and said Rose's injury status is unknown.