Around the NBA 8.0 (Playoffs Edition)

[Destructor]

honestly more interested in the rockets trailblazers game than the Heat game

after suffering through 7 months of coasting basketball and rashard lewis youre more excited for rockets-blazers than playoffs HEAT???

yes. i'm a fan of good basketball from BOTH sides

[dr3am]

The bulls "fans" at UC were leaving with 1 Min left in the 4th quarter last night and also during overtime. I guess nobody wants to talk about that or make a big fuss. One of the original bandwagoners and dick riders = bulls ****..

N the pacers... Ahh.. That arrogance.. That's playing the "right way" folks.. Don't you forget that.. If not for Mike Budenholzers's stupidity Bird would've been in jail today for strangling some of the Pacers to death.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using RealGM Forums mobile app

But nah according to Bulls fans were the "Miami-Bucks" tho, they want to rant how fans leave games early & the fan up nonsense in 2011. **** Da BULLS...Casual fans seem to forget how in the old Miami arena it was loud af & during the 04 playoffs when I first started watching the Heat & during our 06 run fans packed the arena & were loud. Ticket prices now for Heat games ain't no joke

Lance Stephenson & Turner got to hooking before the game, damn that team is so mentally weak. WIZARDS VS HEAT ECF book it boys

[SWadeUP]

Im telling you guys... If we matchup with Toronto Next series, these boards will be unbearable.

Raptor Fans are getting out of hand on the GB.

But I would agree tho, F Bos... Brooklyn.

[heat4life]

So Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner went at it during a Pacers practice not too long ago...

http://nba.si.com/2014/04/23/lance-stephenson-evan-turner-fight-indiana-pacers-practice-playoffs/

[OtW]

So Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner went at it during a Pacers practice not too long ago...

http://nba.si.com/2014/04/23/lance-stephenson-evan-turner-fight-indiana-pacers-practice-playoffs/

This would have been even funnier if they lost yesterday . Do not get me wrong, this article is still a gem and show how discombobulated the Pacers really are. They are arrogant. As wm3 said in a few posts above me, "play the right way" my ass ROFL. Unfortunately, I am not sure if ATL still wins this series. They needed that 0-2 lead to absolutely crush indiana's soul. Now, they have to win both games on their home court IMO. Because I do not see them winning this series if it goes back to Indy tied 2-2.

[AlexCRO]

Indiana wants to take us down... they are nowhere near close to us neither on the floor or up at the office... this would never happen with our current team... ud, juwan and Jones would bust the ass of that guy who tried anything like that... you are far away pacers far away from us....

[Vertical Limit]

Remember back when Chicago Bulls' fans were laughing at people who thought that John Wall could be better than Rose? Yeah, tell us how funny that is now Bulls' fans?

[HIF]

Happy for the Raps. Good win, now they need to sweep in Brooklyn.

Bulls looked cooked but it'd be nice if they can actually wear out Wall, Nene and the rest a bit.

Shame the Pacers won but they still haven't the homecourt advantage that meant so much to them.

[dr3am]

For all the criticism that Spo gets on this board from a lot of us you have to respect how he manages his players this year. Thibs gets all the credit for leading this Bulls team to great regular season records, supporting his players & making PG's like CJ Watson, Nate Robinson & DJ Augustin look good in his system (BUT) his postseason record is a joke. People wanted Spo to rest LeBron & Bosh so badly over the last 2 weeks of the regular season but look at how Thibs has managed his players, playing Jimmy Butler 53 minutes last night, Noah 46 minutes, DJ Augustin 41 minutes, Gibson 36 minutes. Imagine if Thibs was coaching this HEAT team, I bet people will be bitching about him playing LeBron, Wade & Bosh so much. Hell if he was the coach I bet LeBron & Bosh wouldn't have even sat out the final 2 games of the regular season add in with not taking off practices & Wade wouldn't have a maintenance program. I'm not saying Spo is the best coach in the league & i'm not even a real fan of Spo but Thibs gets too much of a pass by too many fans on RealGM

[PaulieWal]

For all the criticism that Spo gets on this board from a lot of us you have to respect how he manages his players this year. Thibs gets all the credit for leading this Bulls team to great regular season records, supporting his players & making PG's like CJ Watson, Nate Robinson & DJ Augustin look good in his system (BUT) his postseason record is a joke. People wanted Spo to rest LeBron & Bosh so badly over the last 2 weeks of the regular season but look at how Thibs has managed his players, playing Jimmy Butler 53 minutes last night, Noah 46 minutes, DJ Augustin 41 minutes, Gibson 36 minutes. Imagine if Thibs was coaching this HEAT team, I bet people will be bitching about him playing LeBron, Wade & Bosh so much. Hell if he was the coach I bet LeBron & Bosh wouldn't have even sat out the final 2 games of the regular season add in with not taking off practices & Wade wouldn't have a maintenance program. I'm not saying Spo is the best coach in the league & i'm not even a real fan of Spo but Thibs gets too much of a pass by too many fans on RealGM

Yeah, Thibs gets a pass on the minutes from many fans but I have visited the Bulls board and a lot of them hate on him for playing his guys a lot of minutes. When it comes to RS minutes management, Pop is the best, Thibs is probably the worst and Spo is somewhere in the middle. Overall, I liked what we did with Wade even though at times it was tough to see him miss 2-3 games in a row (outside of the hamstring injury). I still think LeBron had no business averaging 40+ minutes over the last 10 games to close out the season but at least he did get the last two games off.

Thibs is an absolute hardass though when it comes to playing his guys minutes. There's no way Jimmy Butler should be playing all 53 minutes. I am not even saying this to save him but I don't see how a player can be effective playing all 53 minutes and not have the minutes impact his performance on the floor negatively. Then there's all the obvious issues of running a player into the ground.

The thing with Thibs and the Bulls is that in the RS they play all of their guys big minutes and most games they play at 100% but in the playoffs all teams play their guys big minutes and play hard, so the Bulls get outclassed because they don't have much talent. Still you have to give them credit for playing their last two seasons the way they did without Rose. They could have just mailed it in but beating the Nets last year was amazing and shameful for the Nets.

[dr3am]

For all the criticism that Spo gets on this board from a lot of us you have to respect how he manages his players this year. Thibs gets all the credit for leading this Bulls team to great regular season records, supporting his players & making PG's like CJ Watson, Nate Robinson & DJ Augustin look good in his system (BUT) his postseason record is a joke. People wanted Spo to rest LeBron & Bosh so badly over the last 2 weeks of the regular season but look at how Thibs has managed his players, playing Jimmy Butler 53 minutes last night, Noah 46 minutes, DJ Augustin 41 minutes, Gibson 36 minutes. Imagine if Thibs was coaching this HEAT team, I bet people will be bitching about him playing LeBron, Wade & Bosh so much. Hell if he was the coach I bet LeBron & Bosh wouldn't have even sat out the final 2 games of the regular season add in with not taking off practices & Wade wouldn't have a maintenance program. I'm not saying Spo is the best coach in the league & i'm not even a real fan of Spo but Thibs gets too much of a pass by too many fans on RealGM

Yeah, Thibs gets a pass on the minutes from many fans but I have visited the Bulls board and a lot of them hate on him for playing his guys a lot of minutes. When it comes to RS minutes management, Pop is the best, Thibs is probably the worst and Spo is somewhere in the middle. Overall, I liked what we did with Wade even though at times it was tough to see him miss 2-3 games in a row (outside of the hamstring injury). I still think LeBron had no business averaging 40+ minutes over the last 10 games to close out the season but at least he did get the last two games off.

Thibs is an absolute hardass though when it comes to playing his guys minutes. There's no way Jimmy Butler should be playing all 53 minutes. I am not even saying this to save him but I don't see how a player can be effective playing all 53 minutes and not have the minutes impact his performance on the floor negatively. Then there's all the obvious issues of running a player into the ground.

The thing with Thibs and the Bulls is that in the RS they play all of their guys big minutes and most games they play at 100% but in the playoffs all teams plays their guys big minutes and play hard, so the Bulls get outclassed because they don't have much talent. Still you have to give them credit for playing their last two seasons the way they did without Rose. They could have just mailed it in but beating the Nets last year was amazing and shameful for the Nets.

You basically nailed it...As far as the Nets-Bulls series goes last year, that was a helluva impressive series win by the Bulls, especially with Game 7 being in Brooklyn. But not to take anything away from the Bulls or Thibs but look at who was coaching the Nets last year (PJ Carlesimo) he was a terrible coach. The Nets forced a Game 7 due to their talent last year but as far as adjusting game by game & throughout the series, PJ was Mike Brown bad. That Nets team last year had 0 heart & no real leadership, which was the main reason why they went after Pierce & KG in the offseason

[PaulieWal]

You basically nailed it...As far as the Nets-Bulls series goes last year, that was a helluva impressive series win by the Bulls, especially with Game 7 being in Brooklyn. But not to take anything away from the Bulls or Thibs but look at who was coaching the Nets last year (PJ Carlesimo) he was a terrible coach. The Nets forced a Game 7 due to their talent last year but as far as adjusting game by game & throughout the series, PJ was Mike Brown bad. That Nets team last year had 0 heart & no real leadership, which was the main reason why they went after Pierce & KG in the offseason

Carlesimo is a horrible coach and Deron Williams is one of the worst max guys in recent history. Seriously, dude is a lazy guy with no heart and leadership. Brooklyn would have been much better off not getting Williams and drafting Lillard (they could have had him but gave up the pick in the Wallace trade ).

I don't like Noah because of his stupid antics and their fans but I was very impressed with them winning game 7 on the road against the Nets with Williams and Lopez .

Also, you and Gwyn alluded to it but man the Pacers are fakers . Their team got overrated because they took us to 7 with a hurt Wade and then had a hot start but whatever fear I had of them is all gone. I think we beat them in 6 comfortably if we meet in the ECF.

Atlanta's coach Bud was stupid yesterday. They were controlling the game until half-time but then he took out both Teague and Millsap and played them only 25 minutes through the 3rd. When Indiana went on the run he didn't put either of them back in the game. Realistically, Indy wins the series in 6 but I hope somehow the Hawks can beat them or take them to 7. Even if the Pacers beat the Hawks, are we sure that they will best the Wiz? Wall and Beal have been terrific. You know one thing I appreciate about Wall? He tries on both ends of the floor unlike Harden, Irving, and Lillard. Washington has a bright future with Wall and Beal.

[Phinsoverpats]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/mikewellsnfl/status/458772442019012608[/tweet]


They are not mentally ready yet...they have a long way to go

[Mugiwara]

The no.1 seeded team in the East is selling playoff tickets for under 10$.

And we are the 'losers' who 'dont deserve this team'.

Don't even know how to win..
Showboating against the 8 seed after splitting the games?

Fighting between themselves..

Vogel fighting for his job...

Well, they cried for attention last year. They have it.

[Bourne85]

I don't care, I'm not happy til these pacers are eliminated. Because somehow they play way above there heads vs us. No matter how bad they look, if they make it to the ECF, it's gonna be a tough series.

[Vertical Limit]

The no.1 seeded team in the East is selling playoff tickets for under 10$.

And we are the 'losers' who 'dont deserve this team'.

Don't even know how to win..
Showboating against the 8 seed after splitting the games?

Fighting between themselves..

Vogel fighting for his job...

Well, they cried for attention last year. They have it.

Indiana was in danger to be moved at one point, the city of Indianapolis resorted to begging and paying Herb Simon to stay in Indianapolis. And they still beg and pay him to stay.

I never like seeing cities get their team's removed but I can see the Pacers moving within the next decade.. Indiana locals only care for the Colts. Their biggest star ever in recent history was Reggie Miller and Reggie was hardly a star in the NBA. Great shooter but he wasn't ever a Top 15 player at any point of his career.

[AlexCRO]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/mikewellsnfl/status/458772442019012608[/tweet]


They are not mentally ready yet...they have a long way to go

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhyZFvy10iA[/youtube]

All i can say is....

PLEASE do this against us so i can see UD pummel your head Paulie...

[dr3am]

The no.1 seeded team in the East is selling playoff tickets for under 10$.

And we are the 'losers' who 'dont deserve this team'.

Don't even know how to win..
Showboating against the 8 seed after splitting the games?

Fighting between themselves..

Vogel fighting for his job...

Well, they cried for attention last year. They have it.

Indiana was in danger to be moved at one point, the city of Indianapolis resorted to begging and paying Herb Simon to stay in Indianapolis. And they still beg and pay him to stay.

I never like seeing cities get their team's removed but I can see the Pacers moving within the next decade.. Indiana locals only care for the Colts. Their biggest star ever in recent history was Reggie Miller and Reggie was hardly a star in the NBA. Great shooter but he wasn't ever a Top 15 player at any point of his career.

And don't forget about the Hoosiers. It's kind of depressing what that franchise has been through because they went from the Reggie Miller era where Indiana fans supported the team heavily to the Brawl at the Palace which turned away a lot of Indiana locals. Remember last year when George Hill was bitching about how fans were cheering about fans in Indy cheering for the Lakers? I just wish they didn't try to get into these battles about "which fans are better" because I'll admit, Heat do have a ton of bandwagon fans but at the end of the day so do the Pacers. Do fans at the AAA arive to games late? Yep but hell Bankers Field house was looking like Phillips Arena for majority of the season last year. Fans didn't come out until the playoffs & hell there were a **** load of "Let's Go HEAT" chants in Indy
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTDkQPxGnW0[/youtube]

[FlashFlare]

its one thing to showboat once in a while...but it seems like PG showboats after every make

[RJM]

That was actually pretty sad to see. Almost classless, even. Sure, someone will likely bring up the Wade 3 to put Miami up 15 in Game 2 vs. Dallas three years ago, but my response to that will be that Wade simply hit a three, left his follow-through arm up in the air, and remained with his back turned to the Mavs bench. In this instance, George drilled a three, then walked about ten or so feet towards the Hawks bench before being mobbed by his teammates. In the 90s, that's cause for a bench-clearing brawl.

You don't do that nonsense just because you're up by a substantial amount. Take that somewhere else. You do that by your own bench, not the opposing team's. That's unacceptable. For that alone, I hope the Hawks win the next two games, even though that likely won't happen.

In other news, it's interesting to see this Pacers team virtually implode after such an impressive 40-11 start to the regular season. Apparently Stephenson's head is starting to get a little big and it's starting to wear on some of the players, namely Roy Hibbert and the recently-acquired Evan Turner, who actually engaged him in fisticuffs.