General NBA Playoffs Thread

[Heat3]

May 31st. The latest it starts is Jun3rd.

[jmbflame21]

F***, OKC folded once again. I wanted that series to go a bit longer.

Their offense was atrocious down the stretch, and it didn't help that they couldn't secure rebounds either.

Edit:
mopper8, or any one else. What is the Dallas defense ranked at?

If we make it to the Finals I don't think they'll be as good defensively as the Bulls or Celtics. But offensively they are much sharper.

Defense wins championships

[Carlos4Heat]

Mark Cuban's cockiness and pretentiousness,will come back to haunt him.The guy hasn't learned to shut his pie hole yet.

[StrawberryShake]

AAAAAAAhhhh......... its so sad to see that d-wade and company will once again step on nowitzkis throat. more than anyone in this league dirk nowitzki and and jason kidd are guys that truly deserve a ring, its bittersweet to know that the heat will not allow this

[yanggu0]

Look at it as the Heat stomping on Cuban's throat. Much easier.

Also LeBron WILL SHUT DOWN DIRK.

I promise you that. Un-guardable? Well you haven't had LeBron yet Dirk.

[Alex Trevelyan]

After watching the Mavericks close out the soft-as-wet-tissue Thunder, am I the only one who thinks (biases aside) the Mavs are in for a rude awakening in the NBA Finals? Shawn Marion was able to score 26 pts tonight. He averaged 11 ppg in the 4 previous games. OKC doesn't play any defense. They were terrible. Everyone knows Dirk is a Hall of Fame player, but his numbers are highly inflated because of the fact he's getting no resistance out there.

Looking over this Mavericks team the hype that's been building because of their performances against the Lakers and Thunder appear to me to be out of proportion to what their reality is. There is age everywhere. Dirk isn't putting up 34 ppg against the Heat. He scored 9 fewer ppg against the Lakers and their defense isn't anywhere near the Heat's (or Bulls' for that matter.) I just don't see how they can win a championship when their second-best player/scorer is Jason Terry. Against Miami's perimeter defense he's going to have a tough, tough time.

The Mavs can have no possible appreciation for how brutally tough, fast and relentless Miami's defense is, to say nothing of the mismatches that LeBron, Wade and Bosh will have on the offensive side of things. Everyone is predicting this long, protracted battle of giants, but I don't see it.

[Heat84__]

Everyone is predicting this long, protracted battle of giants, but I don't see it.

Who? When? The Mavs just won their series and the Heat's isn't even over yet. I'm too afraid of jinxing to opine on it myself.

[salqaddoumi]

Wade has an unnecessary dunk to end the Philly series and reaction is "OMG, CLASSLESS DBAG!!! HOPE HE TEARS HIS ACL" from all non-Heat fans.

Jason Terry does the EXACT same thing to the Thunder with an unnecessary dunk to close the series and there is absolute SILENCE and no mention of it.

Got to love the hypocrisy.

lol @ the beat the Heat chants in AAC during the WC Champions presentation.

[Alex Trevelyan]

Everyone is predicting this long, protracted battle of giants, but I don't see it.

Who? When? The Mavs just won their series and the Heat's isn't even over yet. I'm too afraid of jinxing to opine on it myself.

Chatter amongst the lay folk. I've heard no sentient media type as of yet make such a prediction, in fact I heard one radio guy on ESPN question whether the Mavs could win a game. But I predict we will have a bounty of predictions saying just such a thing, based mostly on Dirk's performances against the Thunder and Lakers. The Mavs are now overvalued because of the combination of the "win it for Dirk and Kidd" sentiment and his almost superhuman performances, especially his ability to impose his will on the Thunder any time he wished, which is as much a function of their defensive ineptitude and gutlessness as Nowitzki's brilliance. If this were Wall Street, Gordon Gekko would be shorting the Mavs right now.

[Johnny Firpo]

Just to clear a couple of things up. OKC had a top 5 defense after they acquired Perkins, consistently, and before this series they had the best shot defense in the playoffs, better than the Heat's, or the Bulls', also defended the 3 point line better, than the Heat, i believe. Yet they got picked apart. Dallas' offense is firing on all cylinders right now, they have by far the best offensive rating in the playoffs.

There is rarely a bad possession, they have one of the best 3-point shooting roster in the history of the NBA, and if the Heat defense has one weakness, it's defending the 3 point line. (9th in the regular season, while in the top 3-4 in every other defensive stat), and the Mavs has very good perimeter defenders this time, depth, and a very good coach, and of course Dirk. You may wanna believe it will be easy to slow him down with physical defense, but since 2006, Dirk developed probably the best mid-post game in the history of the NBA, and reacts much better to different defensive schemes.

Now, Lebron can guard him one on one? If anybody can, i believe it's him. But do you really wanna put him on Dirk the whole game? Don't get me wrong, i do think the Heat would be the favourite. They have home court advantage, an amazing defense, they have the upper hand on paper, but if you look at the matchups, and the fact that the Mavs has probably the best offense in the game right now, and a more than respectable defense... It can be close. The Heat has 2 trump cards, and a great defense, but the Mavs has their advantages as well. Anyway, you guys still not there... The Bulls can win tomorrow at their home court, and since all the games are slug fests in this series, you never know. That Bulls are in every game.

[Scum Freezebag]

A lot of Jordan's commercials suck, including this "bacon neck" one for Hanes.

they all suck. he has the personality of a log. there is always some actor with him doing most of the dialog while MJ just stares at him like he has no business being near his Airness You'd think that after like 25 years of mass media exposure he'd improve.

I have a soft spot for the McDonalds commercial with Jordan and Bird playing H-O-R-S-E, but yeah, you nailed it: his commercials are so awful because Jordan the Spokesperson is always trying to evoke Jordan the Player...which is to say, he's so consumed by infallibility. Things would be a thousand times better if he just let his guard down and learned how to poke fun at himself a little.

And I also liked his "Wanna be like Mike" Gatorade commercials, but then again, that had nothing to do with him and everything to do with a catchy jingle.

[StrawberryShake]

ilgauskas can defend dirk . he feasts on skilled, skinny euro bigs. its the truth

[Lord Hades]

“I am watching this year because I want Miami to lose so badly. I’m rooting hard against the Heat.”

—Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, on WEEI radio in Boston, talking about if he is still watching the playoffs now that the Celtics are out of it. See, a lot of you do have something in common with an NBA team owner.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -heat-fan/

[andre316]

“I am watching this year because I want Miami to lose so badly. I’m rooting hard against the Heat.”

—Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, on WEEI radio in Boston, talking about if he is still watching the playoffs now that the Celtics are out of it. See, a lot of you do have something in common with an NBA team owner.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -heat-fan/

He definitely mad, probably because Riley copied his homework but got a better grade for it.

[DrVanNostrand]

“I am watching this year because I want Miami to lose so badly. I’m rooting hard against the Heat.”

—Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, on WEEI radio in Boston, talking about if he is still watching the playoffs now that the Celtics are out of it. See, a lot of you do have something in common with an NBA team owner.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -heat-fan/

Upon hearing what his boss had to say regarding the Heat...




...shocked Danny Ainge. Was shocked.

[HIF]

If it's Choklahoma, why isn't it Chokago?