2013 NBA playoff thread

[Tabascocat]

They won't be able to finish it

Be nice if they had Luol Deng tonight

 

[Biggems]

I hate on him all the time in this thread but ya he sucks. It's the only reason he leads the league in points.

apparently some people lack reading comprehension and also any sense of history.

i never said Melo sucks. I said he is a volume shooter, as in he shoots a lot of shots to get his points.....and he shoots a low %, as in he doesn't make as many of his shots compared to someone like Bernard King. I used Bernard King because he was a scorer back in his day, played for the Knicks, and one year averaged over 32 pts a game. King played 14 seasons and never shot worse than 47%.

The big issue with Antony is that he refuses to pass when he has a tough, contested shot attempt. He is a glory hound. If he would play within himself more, utilize his teammates more, and stop taking so many poor and forced shots, his shooting % would probably go up, he wouldn't have to shoot as much, but he would score more.

Basically, if you have to shoot 30 times to score 30 pts, any defense will take that.

 

[jimmy40]

Kenny Smith on the Miami game, MVPU. Pretty funny.

 

[MC KAos]

I half expected us to play like crap tonight, it's all good, we gotta win the next 2 tho

 

[Biggems]

When we got down by 16 late in the 4th and we were showing zero life, I almost turned the channel to watch something else.....but I decided to keep watching......I am so happy I did....what a great win. GS is a very good team, and Jackson is a very good coach.

This looks to be a very entertaining series.

GO SPURS GO

 

[Cowboysfan570]

Spurs need to do a better job on Curry from now on if they want to have any hope of progressing past this round, but that was still probably the best game I've ever seen.

 

[Biggems]

oh and.............Da Bulls

 

[Cowboysfan570]

oh and.............Da Bulls

Any day "King James" loses is a good day for me.

 

[khiladi]

Love the excuses that the 7 day lay-off hurt them, as if Chicago never plays Miami tough. Conveniently, Miami homers forget that Miami has been "starting off slow" since the play-offs began, only to pull away from the Bucks late 3rd, early 4th. It's not like the Bulls are not suffering with injuries and are decimated because of it, more so than any team. They couldn't even get the ball up half-court in the beginning, not because of Miam, but because of the pressure of the moment of all these 'new players', as well as just stepping out of bounds consistently.

The reality is, if Miami has to play a tough defensive team, their offense just stalls, because they are forced into one-on-one action. Their basic offense outside of Lebron or Wade, is the high pick-and-roll with Bosh, and now the "Birdman". If a team is physical with them, and the refs don't call ticky-tack stuff and a lop-sided game, Miami can be frustrated.

 

[MC KAos]

Holly crap we won?!?!?!? Can't believe I fell asleep!

 

[jterrell]

Sure you can, the bulls did it in the 90s with just a 2 and 3. You can find the kukoc's and rodmans of the world on the cheap, if you have the talent at the wings it's fine. They could have had asik and harden, for example, for less than perk and ibaka, and they would be a lot better off. Ibaka is good, but he isn't Hakeem, he'll, he isn't even mutombo, his one on one D is overrated

This is simply way off base.
Not sure if you actually followed basketball in the Bulls 'Hey Day' but the bigs were huge keys. What the Bulls did without was a legit PG. You had Jordan and Pippen playing in the triangle to execute offense so they used PG as spot up 3 point shooters for floor spacing.

They had Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue and eventually Rodman inside to bang on the boards and play defense. They added Robert Parrish eventually to take this role but they kept a string of big guys.

Those teams went to the playoffs without Jordan. They were very soundly built except at PG.

Ibaka is the leagues best shot blocker 3 years running and has a very efficient offensive game. He is 23 years old.

Anyone taking Harden over him when Harden was the 6th man is just insane. That's basketball stupid.

 

[jterrell]

various playoff takes:

Miami lost when rusty but it is the best thing for them. No pressure now to be perfect, just win games. They'll win in 6.

GS losing when Curry can hit 3 pointers from mid court is a really bad sign for them. They have no chance in the series imho. SA just too mature, Pop just too good. SA just too deep.

OKC is going to be fun to watch. Now that they've matured they'll find a way to get to the WCF. Minus Westbrook tho beating the Spurs seems a long shot at best.

Which teams look most impressive in the 1st round series seldom matters as the playoffs progress. The better teams show up as adjustments get made over time. Coaching and depth play a huge role. If someone can beat the Heat it will that duo that does it like it was for the 2011 Mavs.

 

[mldardy]

Carmelo "The Black Hole" Anthony has never seen a shot he wouldn't take, no matter how poor or inappropriate. He has always been a 1 on 5 type of player. This is why he will most likely never win a Championship.+

MJ was one of the biggest ballhogs of all-time, but even he passed quite a bit, especially early in games. Kobe, another all-time ballhog, made sure Shaq and Gasol got theirs.

Melo is one of the most selfish players I have ever watched....he is right up ther with Iverson and Marbury.

Well I guess it helps when MJ and Kobe played with other HOF players. Iverson did not. It amazes me and pisses me off that people continue to lump AI with Marbury. Iverson didn't have the benefit of playing with great players or good players for the majority of his career yet he still managed to carry his team to an NBA Finals and past the 1st round on multiple other occasions. Great players don't all win championships so saying some player will never win a championship doesn't mean they are selfish. Kobe is extremely fortunate to have played with Shaq and then Gasol. What happened when Kobe didn't play with those players? He either didn't make the playoffs and got beat in the first round all while taking plenty of shot. Was he selfish for doing that? No. He just didn't have any help.

 

[MC KAos]

This is simply way off base.
Not sure if you actually followed basketball in the Bulls 'Hey Day' but the bigs were huge keys. What the Bulls did without was a legit PG. You had Jordan and Pippen playing in the triangle to execute offense so they used PG as spot up 3 point shooters for floor spacing.

They had Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue and eventually Rodman inside to bang on the boards and play defense. They added Robert Parrish eventually to take this role but they kept a string of big guys.

Those teams went to the playoffs without Jordan. They were very soundly built except at PG.

Ibaka is the leagues best shot blocker 3 years running and has a very efficient offensive game. He is 23 years old.

Anyone taking Harden over him when Harden was the 6th man is just insane. That's basketball stupid.

I wish you would have lead with that, so I would have known immediately you don't know what you're talking about

 

[joseephuss]

Anyone taking Harden over him when Harden was the 6th man is just insane. That's basketball stupid.

It isn't even just about Harden vs. Ibaka. By keeping the cheaper alternative Ibaka, the Thunder can afford other decent players on the roster. They also have several future draft picks to fill out their roster. They would have far few options if they signed Harden and more holes to fill.

 

[Noryb]

various playoff takes:

GS losing when Curry can hit 3 pointers from mid court is a really bad sign for them. They have no chance in the series imho. SA just too mature, Pop just too good. SA just too deep.

I don't know, Curry has been doing that quite often lately. He shot 43% from 3 point range last night, which is slightly below his career average. Curry is simply becoming a star right before our eyes. We all knew he could shoot, but his ball handling and passing were unexpected.

To me, the difference in this game was Klay Thompson fouling out. He was making his presence felt on both ends of the court. He was killing Parker and on top of that Jack didn't have a good night. He missed some shots that he was hitting in the previous series.

It will be interesting to see how the Warriors respond but Step and Company don't come off as a team that lacks confidence. I still give them a 50% chance of winning the series. Regardless, it will be fun to watch.

 

[Kangaroo]

SA had no business winning that game last night but they did because Golden State is a young team and Mark Jackson made a big mistake he never gave Curry a rest he went 0-8 after the 3rd qtr on jump shot his legs where dead and his ball started going flat.

Both teams with long breaks looked rusty SA and Heat. The heat lost i still expect them to win the series

 

[MC KAos]

It isn't even just about Harden vs. Ibaka. By keeping the cheaper alternative Ibaka, the Thunder can afford other decent players on the roster. They also have several future draft picks to fill out their roster. They would have far few options if they signed Harden and more holes to fill.

The difference between what ibaka got and even giving harden the max was less than 3 million a year, that's not much for a team that will be over the cap regardless and only able to use the MLE and vet mins

 

[MC KAos]

@NOTSportsCenter: BREAKING: David Stern has fired the ref crew from Game 1 for violating #NBA policy and allowing the #Heat to lose

 

[joseephuss]

The difference between what ibaka got and even giving harden the max was less than 3 million a year, that's not much for a team that will be over the cap regardless and only able to use the MLE and vet mins

And they can fill spots with their extra draft picks, which don't take up the MLE and Vet mins spots. It isn't all about this season. It is about the long term future as well. The more over the cap you are, the more of a luxury tax you pay. So $3 million a year is actually more when you throw in the luxury penalty. Tough decisions have to be made. Like I said, this isn't just Harden vs. Ibaka. There is much more that goes into this.