Official NBA Playoffs Thread

tontoz · Post #641 » by **tontoz** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:38 am

Everyone knows Durant is a player but watching him in these playoffs has definitely elevated my opinion of him. He has been going off over and over in the 4th quarter and when the camera focuses on him after he scores his face is completely expressionless, all business.

Post #642 » by **miller31time** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:39 am

I honestly don't know what I'm rooting for more right now -- the Heat to lose or OKC to win.

OKC is absolutely winning me over. They're tough, talented and clutch as all hell.

GhostsOfGil · Post #643 » by **GhostsOfGil** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:47 am

tontoz wrote:Everyone knows Durant is a player but watching him in these playoffs has definitely elevated my opinion of him. He has been going off over and over in the 4th quarter and when the camera focuses on him after he scores his face is completely expressionless, all business.

4th quarter points: Durant: 17 Lebron: 7

Post #644 » by **Zonkerbl** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:15 am

Go OKC! Durant was awesome.

jimij · Post #645 » by **jimij** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:27 am

miller31time wrote:I honestly don't know what I'm rooting for more right now -- the Heat to lose or OKC to win.

OKC is absolutely winning me over. They're tough, talented and clutch as all hell.

That ones easy. I enjoy watching the Thunder but I love seeing the Heat get their @sses beat.

LeBron had a good game overall but come the fourth quarter tonight the only guy who resembled game six Boston LeBron was wearing white.

FAH1223 · Post #646 » by **FAH1223** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:05 am

Kenny Smith said something interesting in post game on NBA TV and that was Miami's lack of shot blocking outside of Wade/LeBron...

OKC just played against big teams in all 3 rounds... and with no legit big men in the lane, those dumpoffs are going to be routine

VictorPage44 · Post #647 » by **VictorPage44** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:09 pm

nate33 wrote:
dobrojim wrote:I wonder if Ibaka can guard LaTrav or at least make him a jump shooter.

It would be an interesting strategy for Miami to go small and play Lebron at PF again. It makes the defensive matchups so much harder for OKC. And Lebron shouldn't have too much trouble guarding Ibaka.

I've been saying that Lebron should have been playing PF for a few years now. It's damn near impossible to match up with them defensively when he does. You are forced to counter by going small yourself, which plays into Miami's hands because they don't have a center.

Like someone said, they'll just stick the PF on Battier, or one of Miami's other scrubs and put Thabo or whoever they wont on Lebron on Lebron as the 1st priority. Miami has enough self-check players that OKC could still rotate guys on Lebron without any problems. On the other hand, I dont think you want Lebron wearing himself out boxing out a guy like Ibaka on every play. Ibaka is the best offensive rebounder in the finals, if you're Miami, you can't make that Lebron's responsibility as well. He's great but that's just too big of a load to carry if he's gotta do it all on offense and play help defense for Miami.

dandrews · Post #648 » by **dandrews** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:30 pm

Durant and Westbrook get all the credit, but Sefalosha and Collison came up HUGE last night. I don't think they win without those two.

Post #649 » by **Ruzious** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:45 pm

dandrews wrote:Durant and Westbrook get all the credit, but Sefalosha and Collison came up HUGE last night. I don't think they win without those two.

Agreed. It was the depth of talent on OKC that won it. Thabo's defense on Wade moreso than on Lebron was a big factor, and Collison created so many opportunities for 2nd shots - knowing his role. And folks talk about Durant over Lebron, but Wade's lack of effectiveness - especially compared to Westbrook was key. Part of it was Thabo's defense, but Wade was failing to penetrate and took a lot of low percentage jumpers. OKC's defense is great when they take advantage of their length and ability to cover ground quickly, and that's what they did. These are 2 teams that can run and really defend better than given credit for.

Btw, was it just me, or were there a ton of phantom calls by the refs - going both ways. It seemed like they anticipated contact so many times when there wasn't any. I thought refs were taught to call what they see - not what they expect to see.

dobrojim · Post #650 » by **dobrojim** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:04 pm

In the 2nd half you could just see MIA getting tight and OKC starting
to feel like they knew they could win. Neither James nor Wade wanted
to take jumpers.

Both James and Wade were deferring to each other and/or MIA's role players.
Battier and Chalmers can only truly thrive when OKC focuses to the exclusion
of everyone else on Wade/James. James and/or Wade will have to put up
ridiculous numbers scoring for MIA to win.

OKC can beat MIA at MIA's strong point, transition.

Collison and Thabo both did a great job.

Even if Bron hasn't been the complete douche this year that he had been
up to this point, I still want him to suffer the way Elway did getting his
hat handed to him in the championship and breaking hearts all over S FLA
by bringing them so close before ultimately failing. Sorry Kev, that's just how it is.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #651 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:41 pm

FAH1223 wrote:Kenny Smith said something interesting in post game on NBA TV and that was Miami's lack of shot blocking outside of Wade/LeBron...

OKC just played against big teams in all 3 rounds... and with no legit big men in the lane, those dumpoffs are going to be routine

Miami might be better off with Joel Anthony at C and with Bosh starting at PF.

I also think they need to stick with Chalmers at PG for quickness and to keep the ball moving. And to improve their spacing. They do too much one-on-one when Wade or James is the primary ball handler. OKC isn't as easy to beat off the dribble.

Wade killed Miami yesterday IMO. An alternative the Heat could do, but they won't, would be to play Battier some at SG. Chalmers, Battier, James, Bosh, and Anthony with somewhat less Dwyane Wade might match up better for Miami. Miami is going to have to play some longer guys and with a lot of discipline at both ends or OKC is going to blow them away with their athleticism. Wade was out of control a few times and he really hurt his teammates.

Post #652 » by **nate33** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:54 pm

Sorry CCJ. Miami isn't going to do better by benching Wade in favor of Joel Anthony. Sometimes there is no magic combination of the right rotation at the right time. They just need their players to play better and OKC's players to play worse.

dobrojim · Post #653 » by **dobrojim** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:57 pm

but Harden didn't even play that well

OKC has more room to play better than MIA does.
Of course that remains to be proven on the court.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #654 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:41 pm

nate33 wrote:Sorry CCJ. Miami isn't going to do better by benching Wade in favor of Joel Anthony. Sometimes there is no magic combination of the right rotation at the right time. They just need their players to play better and OKC's players to play worse.

nate, NOBODY said bench Wade for Anthony. Bench Haslem and Battier, but be quicker to sit Wade when he is hurting the team.

The Heat IMO need to sub very liberally with Battier (playing close to 30 minutes), Haslem, Cole, and Jones over Miller who looks done to me. Wade needs to get the most rest time IMO.

Wade needs to healthy and playing with intensity at the end of games. He seems to be tired late. On top of that the offense IMO is better with James and not Wade a good bit of the time. I think they need to space the floor with Battier subbed in at SG and to let Lebron James take over. Even late in games Lebron seems to hesitate when Wade is on the floor.

So, in effect a little more Battier at the two with Wade resting is what I tried to suggest. Also, a lot less Wade at the point in favor of Chalmers makes sense. Westbrook actually was hurting the Heat by shooting outside too much when Chalmers was on him, but in the second half he took Wade to the hole a bunch.

Ultimately, if the Heat do not win the championship this season I think they need to trade just one player: Dwyane Wade.

If the Bulls are silly enough to part with Noah, that would ideal to get him and a pick for Wade. If the Heat could convince the Kings to give them Cousins and Thornton plus Garcia, that would work, too.

FAH1223 · Post #655 » by **FAH1223** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:49 pm

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
nate33 wrote:Sorry CCJ. Miami isn't going to do better by benching Wade in favor of Joel Anthony. Sometimes there is no magic combination of the right rotation at the right time. They just need their players to play better and OKC's players to play worse.

nate, NOBODY said bench Wade for Anthony. Bench Haslem and Battier, but be quicker to sit Wade when he is hurting the team.

The Heat IMO need to sub very liberally with Battier (playing close to 30 minutes), Haslem, Cole, and Jones over Miller who looks done to me. Wade needs to get the most rest time IMO.

Wade needs to healthy and playing with intensity at the end of games. He seems to be tired late. On top of that the offense IMO is better with James and not Wade a good bit of the time. I think they need to space the floor with Battier subbed in at SG and to let Lebron James take over. Even late in games Lebron seems to hesitate when Wade is on the floor.

So, in effect a little more Battier at the two with Wade resting is what I tried to suggest. Also, a lot less Wade at the point in favor of Chalmers makes sense. Westbrook actually was hurting the Heat by shooting outside too much when Chalmers was on him, but in the second half he took Wade to the hole a bunch.

Ultimately, if the Heat do not win the championship this season I think they need to trade just one player: Dwyane Wade.

If the Bulls are silly enough to part with Noah, that would ideal to get him and a pick for Wade. If the Heat could convince the Kings to give them Cousins and Thornton plus Garcia, that would work, too.

Problem with Chalmers is he makes a lot of boneheaded decisions

tontoz · Post #656 » by **tontoz** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:49 pm

dobrojim wrote:but Harden didn't even play that well

OKC has more room to play better than MIA does.
Of course that remains to be proven on the court.

Miami shot 42% from 3, OKC 29%. Miami was shooting lights out from 3 in the first half but still lost decisively. That has to be discouraging.

OKC plays with so much conviction at the end of the game, no fear or tentativeness just effort and execution. Of course it helps to have a cold blooded scorer like Durant who can make shots in anyone's face. I think it is clear his attitude is rubbing off on the other guys.

DCZards · Post #657 » by **DCZards** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:55 pm

Yup, OKC seems to be the team to beat. They are playing well and they seem much more balanced than the Heat, especially offensively. And Thabo is about as tough a defender as LeBron is going to face.

But it's one game folks. And if Miami wins the next game in OKC...the next three games are in Miami. Plus Miami--and LeBron--plays its best ball when their backs are to the wall. Witness how the Heat chewed up Indy after going down 2-1, and how they went into Boston for game six down 3-2 and thumped the Celtics, effectively breaking Boston's spirit. We'll see.

verbal8 · Post #658 » by **verbal8** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:15 am

DCZards wrote:But it's one game folks. And if Miami wins the next game in OKC...the next three games are in Miami. Plus Miami--and LeBron--plays its best ball when their backs are to the wall.

Really only 1/2 a game. The first quarter the Heat looked like they were the team to bear and the scoring in the 2nd was even.

TheKingOfVa360 · Post #659 » by **TheKingOfVa360** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:43 am

NBA Finals win-loss records and win %...

Russell: 40-23 .635%
Jordan: 24-11 .686%
Bird: 16-15 .516%
Magic: 24-27 .471%
Duncan: 16-6 .727%
Bryant: 23-15 .605%
James: 2-9 .182%

dobrojim · Post #660 » by **dobrojim** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 2:27 pm

DCZards wrote:Yup, OKC seems to be the team to beat. They are playing well and they seem much more balanced than the Heat, especially offensively. And Thabo is about as tough a defender as LeBron is going to face.

But it's one game folks. And if Miami wins the next game in OKC...the next three games are in Miami. Plus Miami--and LeBron--plays its best ball when their backs are to the wall. Witness how the Heat chewed up Indy after going down 2-1, and how they went into Boston for game six down 3-2 and thumped the Celtics, effectively breaking Boston's spirit. We'll see.

I don't think anyone believes it's over after game 1 even if we did
think it was over for OKC after game 2 vs SAN. But even if MIA wins
game 2, it'll be difficult at best for them to sweep at home.