The Official Playoffs Thread

[trwi7]

No, the Warriors wouldn't do that.

[Nebula1]

Nice work by the Magic. Should be a good Finals. I hope people watch it even though Lebron is out.

[paulpressey25]

No, the Warriors wouldn't do that.

Nelson wants Crawful out. I think they might do it. Hammond wouldn't have the guts since he'd know Skiles wouldn't want a coaches guy like RJ going out and a guy like Crawful coming in.

[jerrod]

I still long for the days when the Bucks have more starters who can dunk the basketball than my high-school team had. Start Ramon and get a new SG and that finally happens.

Mo and Redd were never athletic enough players. Skilled yes. Athletic enough no.

athletic like chauncey billups, hedo, derek fisher and ray allen?

mo is easily fast enough and even though redd is one of the least athletic 2's, he still gets his shot off just fine, and a lack of athleticism isn't what's stopping either of them from being a good defender.

personally, i don' care about people dunking, as long as someone can finish around the rim with a decent %, i don't think it matters how they do it

[REDDzone]

mo is easily fast enough and even though redd is one of the least athletic 2's, he still gets his shot off just fine, and a lack of athleticism isn't what's stopping either of them from being a good defender.

What is then? Effort?

Lack of effort or lack of athleticism? The former is probably even worse than the latter.

[paulpressey25]

athletic like chauncey billups, hedo, derek fisher and ray allen?

Billups = Strong (Mo and Redd are not)

Hedo = Tall with wingspan (not Mo and really not Redd even though he's 6-5")

Derek Fisher? = Strong, but he's an inferior player and probably not part of the discussion.

Ray = I think Ray is much more athletic than Redd. More hops and quicker to the ball. (and of course he is able to actually dribble with his head up)

[jerrod]

mo is easily fast enough and even though redd is one of the least athletic 2's, he still gets his shot off just fine, and a lack of athleticism isn't what's stopping either of them from being a good defender.

What is then? Effort?

Lack of effort or lack of athleticism? The former is probably even worse than the latter.

i'd say it's a combination of lack of effort (mo fighting through screens and redd in transition) and actual defensive talent (anticipation, reaction and actually caring about it)

[REDDzone]

I definitely agree that there is such a thing as defensive talent.

But I would still like to see a big, athletic backcourt for Skiles to coach and motivate into being good defensively.

[Boony]

Nice work by the Magic. Should be a good Finals. I hope people watch it even though Lebron is out.

Who?

[Nebula1]

Unfortunately this Finals will depend on the refs more than ever. They will dictate the outcome (potentially) with the way they officiate the post. I'm very curious to see if Bynum takes a quantum leap in this series.

[Wise1]

I don't think Bynum will be anything more than a foul magnet against Howard. Should be a great series though. The two best teams are represented here. Both teams earned it.

[jerrod]

athletic like chauncey billups, hedo, derek fisher and ray allen?

Billups = Strong (Mo and Redd are not)

Hedo = Tall with wingspan (not Mo and really not Redd even though he's 6-5")

Derek Fisher? = Strong, but he's an inferior player and probably not part of the discussion.

Ray = I think Ray is much more athletic than Redd. More hops and quicker to the ball. (and of course he is able to actually dribble with his head up)

i guess i don't consider strong and tall to be athleticism.

you think that at this age ray is still more athletic than redd?

my point is just that i think there's so much more to it than just saying they aren't athletic enough.

[jokeboy86]

With the way Cavs fans are going off, Michael Redd's recovery is going to be very important this off-season. The Cavs to me need frontcourt help but I don't see how they get it which is why I think they will go after Redd depending how far along he is. But knowing how Hammond felt about dealing RJ in the division, would he feel the same way about Redd.

[MikeIsGood]

This is slightly random, but it's weird to think that it's been three full seasons now since Wallace was a Piston. I bring that up because apparently he's considering retirement. Not surprised considering how much he's fallen off.

[Buck You]

Found this on the general board.

[lawrybeard]

Another great pic from the main board:

[Wise1]

Another great pic from the main board:

Now that's TNT worthy. Hilarious!

[blueedwards]

Sounds like Ben Wallace might retire now. Thats a quick $14M off the books.

[jeremyd236]

The Cavs are in bigger trouble than people realize. They need to get help for Lebron not only because they won't win next year if they dont, but he'll leave Cleveland if it doesn't happen. If they do not get at least one improvement on the starting lineup, they'll end up just like this year. It's sickening how guys like Big Z, Mo, and Delonte West thrived all season but just disppeared on Lebron in this series.

They may want Redd, but I doubt it. They need a frontcourt player beyond anything else by far. This was Big Z's last good year in my opinion. Anderson Varejo only gets you so far. Wallace will retire.

The Cavs need to somehow get a big marquee big man who can score and take pressure off Lebron. Somebody like Amare or Bosh. This will be almost impossible beacuse they've got no good pieces to trade (assuming they want to keep Mo).

[REDDzone]

The guaranteer.