2013 NBA playoff thread

[NIBGoldenchild]

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

Never have I agreed with a Cowboys fan more than this statement here.

 

[Vintage]

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.

The Bulls never had a true PG in the mold of a Steve Nash, a creator, because the triangle never called for it. You are right in that they were looking for spacing from the PG position. BJ Armstrong and Paxson fit that to a T.

But the bigs were not a huge key.

You can argue Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman. Each were important players.

But by the time Cartwright got to Chicago, his best days were behind him, in NY. Perdue was not much more than 6 fouls.

Chicago had more scoring upfront with Grant and Cartwright with their first three peat than their second 3 peat in comparison to Rodman/Longley.

Of course, Grant was neither the rebounder nor the defender that Rodman was.

And the various center's Chicago trotted out Longley, Brian Williams, etc were basically of the 6 fouls a night variety.

Chicago's first three peat was anchored at the 2-3-4.
Chicago's second three peat was still anchored at the 2-3-4.

So in that sense, I agree.

 

[Biggems]

The Bulls never had a true PG in the mold of a Steve Nash, a creator, because the triangle never called for it. You are right in that they were looking for spacing from the PG position. BJ Armstrong and Paxson fit that to a T.

But the bigs were not a huge key.

You can argue Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman. Each were important players.

But by the time Cartwright got to Chicago, his best days were behind him, in NY. Perdue was not much more than 6 fouls.

Chicago had more scoring upfront with Grant and Cartwright with their first three peat than their second 3 peat in comparison to Rodman/Longley.

Of course, Grant was neither the rebounder nor the defender that Rodman was.

And the various center's Chicago trotted out Longley, Brian Williams, etc were basically of the 6 fouls a night variety.

Chicago's first three peat was anchored at the 2-3-4.
Chicago's second three peat was still anchored at the 2-3-4.

So in that sense, I agree.

Paxson was a pretty good PG, as was Armstrong....not great, but pretty good. Paxson was better than Armstrong.

In their 2nd run, Harper played PG

PG - Harper
SG - MJ
SF - Pippen
PF - Rodman
C - Perdue/Longley

 

[MC KAos]

Bottom line is harden is a top 15 players in the nba, ibaka is not even close. It was like choosing Sam Bowie over MJ because it fit a need, to a smaller extent

 

[juck]

GSW Warriors should be up 2-0 if they weren't young and dumb:laugh2:

 

[bounce]

GSW Warriors should be up 2-0 if they weren't young and dumb:laugh2:

They had a chance to be up 2-0, but being able to hold a lead is part of the game. They had an incredible bounce-back last night after a deflating game one loss, but the fact remains, they're playing WAY over their heads right now.

They have as good of a shooting back court as I've ever seen, but they're not as good as they are in this series. Klay Thompson is not an 8-9 3pt guy.

If/when teams come down to earth and play at their normal level, I like the Spurs chances to take the series - though it's going to be a lot harder than I expected.

The Spurs need to do a better job defending the perimeter, because most of KTs attempts were wide open, and knock down their shots. Obviously they need to steal game 3 or 4 in Oakland.

 

[Noryb]

They had a chance to be up 2-0, but being able to hold a lead is part of the game. They had an incredible bounce-back last night after a deflating game one loss, but the fact remains, they're playing WAY over their heads right now.

They have as good of a shooting back court as I've ever seen, but they're not as good as they are in this series. Klay Thompson is not an 8-9 3pt guy.

If/when teams come down to earth and play at their normal level, I like the Spurs chances to take the series - though it's going to be a lot harder than I expected.

The Spurs need to do a better job defending the perimeter, because most of KTs attempts were wide open, and knock down their shots. Obviously they need to steal game 3 or 4 in Oakland.

Klay Thompson is a 40% 3pt shooter. Prior to last night he was 0 - 10 from 3's in the previous two games, it was just a matter of time before he had one of his nights were he shoots an insane % for 3s.

Like Mark Jackson said, people just don't know who the Warriors are, they play defense and shoot the rock. Have they turned it up in the playoffs? Of course they have, but this is who they are and I doubt there will be any coming down to earth moment. If the Spurs are hoping that there will be some kind of drop off in the Warriors production then they can go ahead and pack up and go fishing.

I've thought for the past few seasons that the Spurs are some "has beens" living on their reputation and their ability to consistently beat the bad teams in the NBA. I could be wrong but I just think that their stars are too old and their role players aren't good enough to win a championship, but we'll see.

 

[bounce]

Klay Thompson is a 40% 3pt shooter. Prior to last night he was 0 - 10 from 3's in the previous two games, it was just a matter of time before he had one of his nights were he shoots an insane % for 3s.

Like Mark Jackson said, people just don't know who the Warriors are, they play defense and shoot the rock. Have they turned it up in the playoffs? Of course they have, but this is who they are and I doubt there will be any coming down to earth moment. If the Spurs are hoping that there will be some kind of drop off in the Warriors production then they can go ahead and pack up and go fishing.

I've thought for the past few seasons that the Spurs are some "has beens" living on their reputation and their ability to consistently beat the bad teams in the NBA. I could be wrong but I just think that their stars are too old and their role players aren't good enough to win a championship, but we'll see.

I'm absolutely not discounting GSW's ability to shoot the rock. KT is a great player, and a heck of a shooter. But, there's a difference between that and a guy who goes 8-9 from distance (one off the all-time playoff record) and scores 27 by halftime. Now, a lot of blame goes to San Antonio for defending the perimeter, because most of his shots were simply wide open and a pro (especially a shooter) SHOULD knock those down. But, the law of averages says that he won't knock down 90% of them every game, wide open or not.

The Spurs definitely need to make whole-sale adjustments to beat this team. I think GSW is proving to be a lot better than your average sixth seed, but the Spurs need to adjust their plan - and Pop is one of the best at making game to game adjustments.

I'm not expecting GSW to come crashing down to earth and play like a 6th seed, but I am expecting them to not keep shooting like the greatest players who ever stepped on a basketball court. It's just not realistic for them to keep shooting ~60% as a team.

As for the Spurs being 'has beens,' that remains to be seen. They're one year removed from the WCF, and had the 3rd best record this year. Their PG was a legit MVP contender before going down, and Timmy has played like he's 28 all year. Manu is definitely falling off with age, but Kawhi has turned into a stud. Their role players might not be good enough in name power, but all they do is win.

People consider anything other than a championship to be an epic choke job for them, which means they've set the bar pretty dang high for themselves.

Do they have enough to beat the Heat? Probably not, but I don't think anyone does.

Do they have enough to get out of the West? Without a doubt.

 

[MC KAos]

I'm now legitimately concerned we might lose this series. Not because of the loss or anything the warriors backcourt is doing offensively, but our offense has been terrible. The warriors are actually shooting just as we'll in this series as they have all season, not better. The problem is the spurs shooting has gone ice cold, most specifically Manu. We will lose this series if our offense doesn't pick up, making the warriors take the ball from the baseline and not on a break off a rebound, big key to our D

 

[Noryb]

I'm absolutely not discounting GSW's ability to shoot the rock. KT is a great player, and a heck of a shooter. But, there's a difference between that and a guy who goes 8-9 from distance (one off the all-time playoff record) and scores 27 by halftime. Now, a lot of blame goes to San Antonio for defending the perimeter, because most of his shots were simply wide open and a pro (especially a shooter) SHOULD knock those down. But, the law of averages says that he won't knock down 90% of them every game, wide open or not.

The Spurs definitely need to make whole-sale adjustments to beat this team. I think GSW is proving to be a lot better than your average sixth seed, but the Spurs need to adjust their plan - and Pop is one of the best at making game to game adjustments.

I'm not expecting GSW to come crashing down to earth and play like a 6th seed, but I am expecting them to not keep shooting like the greatest players who ever stepped on a basketball court. It's just not realistic for them to keep shooting ~60% as a team.

As for the Spurs being 'has beens,' that remains to be seen. They're one year removed from the WCF, and had the 3rd best record this year. Their PG was a legit MVP contender before going down, and Timmy has played like he's 28 all year. Manu is definitely falling off with age, but Kawhi has turned into a stud. Their role players might not be good enough in name power, but all they do is win.

People consider anything other than a championship to be an epic choke job for them, which means they've set the bar pretty dang high for themselves.

Do they have enough to beat the Heat? Probably not, but I don't think anyone does.

Do they have enough to get out of the West? Without a doubt.

I agree with most of what you said but for the record the Warriors only shot 45% as a team last night. They shot 51% in game one, which they lost. I'm not sure where you are getting 60% from.

Do I believe that the Spurs can win the West? Yes I do, but I wouldn't bet on it. They did make it to the WCF last year but they had to beat the Jazz and the Clippers to get there. That's not the most difficult path to take. I said it before their ability to dominate the weaker teams in the NBA is why they've finished 1st, 1st and 3rd in the standings the last three years.

People see TP dribbling through the Bobcat's defense and think he's all world, while disregarding his lack of defense. Pop is doing his best to hide him but Jackson won't let him. Look at TP's FG% in the regular season over the last three seasons and compare it to his FG% in the playoffs over that same period. It's about a -5% difference. I just believe the Spurs are built for the regular season.

I like Kawhi and think he has a bright future but he is far from a stud. If he is then so is Harrison Barnes since their numbers are comparable.

 

[RastaRocket]

They had a chance to be up 2-0, but being able to hold a lead is part of the game. They had an incredible bounce-back last night after a deflating game one loss, but the fact remains, they're playing WAY over their heads right now.

They have as good of a shooting back court as I've ever seen, but they're not as good as they are in this series. Klay Thompson is not an 8-9 3pt guy.

If/when teams come down to earth and play at their normal level, I like the Spurs chances to take the series - though it's going to be a lot harder than I expected.

The Spurs need to do a better job defending the perimeter, because most of KTs attempts were wide open, and knock down their shots. Obviously they need to steal game 3 or 4 in Oakland.

I think your underrating how good Golden State really is. I think the Spurs can win but I don't know if they will.

 

[juck]

The bigger problem even more than that backcourt is gonna be the GS crowd which is hands down ridiculously loud. Best Home Crowd is NBA easily. They are insane. Cheering while up 25 with two minutes left up on their feet. If only the Cowboys fans were like this.

 

[RastaRocket]

The bigger problem even more than that backcourt is gonna be the GS crowd which is hands down ridiculously loud. Best Home Crowd is NBA easily. They are insane. Cheering while up 25 with two minutes left up on their feet. If only the Cowboys fans were like this.

Cowboys will have that stadium rocking once they have success again.

Basketball is different though; arenas get very loud and a different atmosphere.

 

[bounce]

I think your underrating how good Golden State really is. I think the Spurs can win but I don't know if they will.

I'm really not trying to underrate GSW, or overrate SA. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if GSW wins this series. And if they did, I wouldn't call it a SA choke job. GSW is one of the best shooting backcourts I've ever seen, and I'd be hard pressed to come up with another. And they're hitting their stride at the perfect time.

All I'm saying is that Golden State has shot out of their mind, even for them, in the first two games. Klay Thompson is a great shooter, but he's not a 90% shooter. Steph Curry is an amazing player, but he's not a 22 points in 6 minutes player. They're capable of it, definitely, but it's not what people should expect every game.

That said, GSW is white hot at the right time. And, in sports, it's better to be hot than to be good (not that they aren't obviously good).

 

[MC KAos]

If bogut was healthy all year the warriors would have challenged for the 3 seed. He makes them very good, without him they are basically a high powered offense with no D. It reminds me a lot of the manning colts, he is like bob sanders, just a different team when he is there

 

[Noryb]

Hat's off to the Spurs, they played great defense and TP was on fire.

 

[MC KAos]

We're not out of the woodwork yet, but a W on Sunday would put us in a dominant position in the series. Hopefully Parker will be fine, the bruise on his calf looked pretty bad

 

[bounce]

Danny Green is a perfect matchup on Curry. Long and quick and doesn't need to do much on the offensive end, so he can use his energy guarding him. At one point, Curry was 1-18 in the series when DG guarded him. Not sure what the game ended up at.

 

[MC KAos]

Loved this!

Tony Parker scored 32 points in the San Antonio Spurs' 102-92 road victory over the Golden State Warriors to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals. Before the game, nearly all of the media attention had focused on the Warriors' dynamic backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but Tony Parker reminded everyone of his presence.

After the game, Parker was asked about Curry and the other point guards in the NBA getting more attention — heck, Derrick Rose isn't even playing and he's comparatively dominating the news cycle — and Parker gave an answer he's been giving for almost a decade.

"They always forgot about me anyway," Parker said in his postgame press conference. "I play for my teammates, Coach Pop, the Spurs and the city of San Antonio."

Le bête!!!

 

[MC KAos]

Danny Green is a perfect matchup on Curry. Long and quick and doesn't need to do much on the offensive end, so he can use his energy guarding him. At one point, Curry was 1-18 in the series when DG guarded him. Not sure what the game ended up at.

He and kahwi are the big reason why we can compete against athletic teams now, we still have trouble with athletic bigs, but at least we can guard the perimeter better than we have since Bruce retired