OFFICIAL 2010-2011 NBA PLAYOFFS THREAD : VOL. MOST. ANTICIPATED. PLAYOFFS. EVER?

[IATT]

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14


I think somebody on ESPN said that Wade and Lebron may have the same problem. Both guys are too "buddy buddy" to call each other out. You know damn well Wade wants to say something about Lebron taking the last shots.

d.wade and lebron have completely different issues.. and they were noted from the beginning of the season, they both do similar things


where as at least westbrook and durant do different things.. but both of these dudes are still growing and maturing

 

[bhzmafia14]

Originally Posted by itsaboutthattime

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14


I think somebody on ESPN said that Wade and Lebron may have the same problem. Both guys are too "buddy buddy" to call each other out. You know damn well Wade wants to say something about Lebron taking the last shots.

d.wade and lebron have completely different issues.. and they were noted from the beginning of the season, they both do similar things


where as at least westbrook and durant do different things.. but both of these dudes are still growing and maturing

I'm talking about at the end of games, they both have the same issue. They either are taking bad shots late in games or one guy is trying to be the go-to-guy with the other one just standing there. 
Most notable issue is Wade and Durant. Lebron and Westbrook seem to be taking more shots down the stretch than those two. 

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Originally Posted by rck2sactown

Originally Posted by rck2sactown

http://www.news10.net/video/liveonline/default.aspx

live stream of Mayor KJ's presser...... for those interested in the Sacto Kings situation/have time to kill

the dude with the mic is killing me right now

this was supposed to start at 11.................................. Maybe the NBA and KJ are talking about taking control of the Kings

 

[IATT]

^ our play calling at the end of games is just horrible.. like it was said above, we really only try 3 things (while mostly everyone stands around)

 

[got shoes]

Originally Posted by dland24

Originally Posted by Im Not You

If Scottie took more shots than Mike in a game you can bet your $!+ he would have let Scottie know how he felt about it with alot more sternness than KD did last night.

So wouldnt this be more a reflection of KD and coaching than Westbrook not knowing his role?  I think we are splitting hairs at this point, because I do agree with a lot of you guys.  I just think that Russy is a star too and can take over games too.  When he is having an off night and still jacking up shots, dont you think the responsibility lies in the coach to tell him to drive or pass more?  Thats all I'm saying.

I feel what your saying. Russy had an off night, he was jacking up too many shots. Should of at least been driving to the basket, then he had the audacity to shoot 3 pointer while being guarded by two people and at the same time he hasn't made one all game. KD was splashing 3's, yes Russy is a star, but he has to play his position in some key moments

 

[Deleted member 38182]

here we go now

 

[bhzmafia14]

Originally Posted by Proshares

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14

Originally Posted by rck2sactown

Every time I turn on a OKC game, I see it happening though.... maybe I just got bad timing

Exactly. 
Just imagine whats going to happen when they play a defense that doesn't give up a bunch of points. 

Why not just say "I can't wait for Memphis to play them so I can laugh at S&T once again?"

.

 I just saw this.
Naw, I'm not trying to say that. 

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Welp this was uneventful.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Annnnd Ron Artest won the citzenship award. Good for him

[h1]

[h1]Ron Artest named winner of 2010-11 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award[/h1]

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April 26, 2011 | 11:37 am

[img]http://lakersblog.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c506253ef015431f68780970c-800wi[/img]For his efforts raising awareness and funds for mental-health issues, Lakers forward Ron Artest was named Tuesday as the winner of the 2010-11 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

“Ron has such a passion for the issue and has demonstrated such leadership he was a perfect choice for such a prestigious award,

[/h1]

 

[proshares]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

As far as probability propositions go, 8-in-174 doesn't sound real hot. But those are the odds facing the 76ers, Pacers, Nuggets, Magic and Spurs after each fell behind 3-1 in their best-of-seven series. In NBA history, 174 other teams have been in that situation in a best-of-seven, and only eight lived to tell about it.



Hey, they have better odds than the Knicks.



But for Orlando in particular, this is a crushing state of affairs. I would argue the Magic have even more reason to be upset right now than San Antonio. The Grizzlies were playing extremely well at the end of the season, and even though it's a 1-versus-8 series, the difference in regular-season point differential between the two clubs was only 3.4 per game. But in the case of Orlando versus Atlanta, it's nearly double that at 6.3. Only Chicago-Indiana had a wider margin in point differential.



You'd be excused for thinking Atlanta was the one with the better scoring margin based on the first four games of this series. The Hawks would already be prepping for the second round if not for some bizarre coaching choices in the second quarter of Game 2, thanks to a shockingly good defensive effort against the league's 10th-best regular-season offense.





I've mentioned before how huge Jason Collins has been to this effort, much as he was in the four regular-season meetings between the two teams -- of which the Hawks won three. During the playoffs thus far, the Magic score 76.6 points per 100 possessions when Collins is on the court and 108.8 when he isn't, according to NBA.com StatsCube.



Yet there's another factor at work here, too, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Collins. The Magic have missed jump shots at an alarming rate, the type of short-term fluke that can sideswipe a team in a short playoff series. An Orlando team that shot 36.6 percent on 3s during the regular season is converting only 21.9 percent in the playoffs, including a dismal 2-of-23 in Game 4.



The good news for Orlando is that it's virtually impossible for them to continue shooting this awfully. Five Orlando players -- Ryan Anderson, Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, J.J. Redick and Hedo Turkoglu -- converted more than 38.0 percent of their 3s in the regular season. That quintet is a combined 15-for-83 in the playoffs, for a scintillating 18.1 percent mark.



Of course, the Hawks also played Orlando four times in the regular season and were nearly as successful at cutting off the 3 -- the Magic shot 22.6 percent in those four games. So clearly, Atlanta is doing something to eliminate the easier 3s and leave Orlando with the tougher ones. Regardless, the Magic aren't going to keep missing at such a prodigious rate; a lot of their looks have been pretty clean and just flat-out bricked.



Midrange jumpers haven't turned out much better for the Magic; they're only 20-for-63 on those shots, according to NBA.com's StatsCube. Again, their shooters are too good for such masonry to continue.



Unfortunately for Orlando, the damage may have already been done. They have to win three straight to stay alive, and the odds of doing so are tilted strongly against them. That said, I'd also be shocked if they continue to shoot 18 percent on 3s. Look for a few more jumpers to find the net tonight as they extend the series another game.



As for the rest of the action, here's a look at some of the more unusual developments thus far in the other six series that remain active:







The size advantage that wasn't



The Lakers have Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom at power forward. The Hornets have Carl Landry and Jason Smith. This should not be a fair fight.



But the second-biggest reason this series is tied after four games -- behind only the mastery of Chris Paul and his league-leading playoff player efficiency rating -- is that Landry-Smith has played Gasol-Odom to a draw.



The Lakers duo should be destroying the Hornets' pair on the boards, but they're not -- Gasol's 10.9 rebound rate in the series is barely any better than Landry's 10.7, even though Landry is several inches shorter (most in the league are dubious of his listed 6-foot-9 height), and Odom (12.1) has done little to improve the situation.



Meanwhile, Landry is averaging 17.0 points to Gasol's 12.3, and wags in Memphis are joking that they got the better brother in the trade that sent Pau to L.A. in exchange for draft picks and several players, including Marc Gasol. It turns out that Landry's edge in quickness has proved just as advantageous as Pau's superior length, especially with Gasol going through one of his maddening passive phases. His attempt to catch a pass with his face at the end of Game 4 wasn't helpful, either, but that botched reception is secondary; the real story is his inability to dominate a matchup that, on paper, he should own.



Odom is along for the ride, averaging just 11.3 points and 5.3 boards in the four games, and unfortunately the Lakers don't have enough depth of star talent to offset poor performance from two of its "big four." I still expect L.A.'s size advantage to prove telling, but it's disturbing that after four games we've seen no evidence whatsoever that they have the better pair of power forwards.





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San Antonio's frontcourt has imploded



The Spurs' three stars have actually been reasonably effective against Memphis -- not awesome, perhaps, but good enough. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan each have PERs in the high teens, which is very solid in a defensive series like this one. George Hill, at 19.6, has also excelled, and Gary Neal (12.6) hasn't been bad in limited minutes.



But the help for Duncan on the front line? Brutal. The Spurs' starting forwards, Antonio McDyess and Richard Jefferson, have been invisible, and they aren't getting much help from DeJuan Blair and Matt Bonner off the pine. In the last two games, Jefferson played 63 minutes and made one basket, including a bagel in Game 4; meanwhile, McDyess' main contribution in Game 4 was a full-court fling of his mouthpiece.



And defensively? Forget it. Duncan can guard only one of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, and the two are wearing out the Spurs. Just for insurance, Darrell Arthur is killing them off the bench, too. Arthur and Gasol have the two best PERs in the series and Z-Bo isn't far behind.



Here's one silver lining for the silver and black: San Antonio is a bit like Orlando in that a wide swing in 3-point percentage has made this series seem more tilted in the underdog's favor. The Spurs have made only 30.8 percent of their 3s in the series while the Griz are at 38.3 percent; in the regular season, those numbers were flipped, with San Antonio a scorching 39.7 percent and Memphis just 33.4 percent.



But like Orlando, even if the season averages restore themselves, San Antonio is unlikely to rattle off three straight wins to steal the series.





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Denver can't make free throws



The Nuggets have made only 69.2 percent from the stripe against Oklahoma City; key misses cost them in Games 1 and 3 and nearly lost Game 4 for them, too. There's a tendency to write this off as a fluke, because the Nuggets shot a respectable 76.5 percent as a team in the regular season.



That is, until you see the players that are taking the Nuggets' foul shots. Denver's regular-season mark was so good because Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups combined to take nearly half the team's attempts until the trade deadline. As you're probably aware, they aren't around anymore. So the fact that Melo hit 82.3 percent and Billups an insane 92.3 percent is irrelevant to these playoffs.



Instead, we're left with a bunch of players who shot in the low to mid-70s and a few who shoot in the 60s. Kenyon Martin (career 63.9 percent), Raymond Felton (78.6 percent), J.R. Smith (74.1 percent), Chris Andersen (64.4 percent), Nene (67.8 percent), Wilson Chandler (78.6 percent) and Ty Lawson (76.2 percent) are not money foul shooters; Danilo Gallinari (84.7 percent) is their only player who is.



So we shouldn't be shocked that Denver is barely making 2 of 3 free throws in this series. Sure, Nene's 25-of-45 performance thus far is a bit of an outlier, but so is Lawson's 18-for-18. It may improve marginally from here, but on balance, this is about what we can expect from this group of Nuggets at the stripe.





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Whither Boozer?



There are a few different reasons Indiana's series with Chicago has been closer than expected. Danny Granger has been quietly excellent all series, for starters, and the Bulls' shooting has been laughable: Only three Chicago players are shooting above 40 percent on the series, and one of them is little-used Kurt Thomas.



But undoubtedly the biggest shock has been Carlos Boozer's inability to do much of anything against a Pacers frontcourt that has never been confused with the Bad Boys. Through four games, he's averaging only 12.0 points a contest on 37.5 percent shooting; worse yet, he's turned the ball over on one possession in five.



The funny thing is that Boozer, historically, has been a very good postseason player. In his 44 playoff games with Utah, his PER essentially matched that of his regular-season numbers, which is extremely difficult to pull off because of the heightened quality of the opposition in the postseason. Chicago needs him to be the secondary go-to guy he was in the regular season, when he averaged better than a point every two minutes on 51 percent shooting. Otherwise, offense will continue to be a major struggle, and teams will feel free to load up even more on what's become a Rose-on-5 attack.





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The Blazers are getting lit



The anemic pace of the Dallas-Portland series is blinding people to just how badly the Mavs have blistered the Blazers' defense in this series. The teams are averaging just 84.7 possessions per game, easily the lowest total of the first-round series, so the scores have been in the high 80s and low 90s.



But the point totals deceive. Other than the surreal fourth quarter of Game 4, Dallas has met little resistance against a Portland side that posted solid defensive numbers in the second half of the season.



Among all playoff teams, Dallas is third in true shooting percentage and tied for first in offensive efficiency. Monday night, when the Mavs' outside shots finally missed their mark, they still destroyed Portland because they grabbed every rebound. Tyson Chandler's 13 offensive boards were the most in a playoff game in 16 years, allowing Dallas to overcome its uncharacteristic 3-of-17 3-point shooting.



And while Jason Kidd and Peja Stojakovic are likely to cool off a bit, the same can't be said of Dirk Nowitzki … or Chandler … or Shawn Marion … or Jason Terry, whom nobody on the Blazers seems particularly fit to cover. And the Mavs can still get a lot more from J.J. Barea, whose 1.23 playoff PER is the second-worst among point guards thus far.





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Miami needs a lineup change



The Heat have owned the Sixers overall in the first four games, so it's rather notable that Miami's starting lineup is getting badly outplayed -- it has been outscored 131-102 in 59 minutes, according to basketballvalue.com.



Presumably, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are not the problem, which focuses a laser beam on point guard Mike Bibby and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Looking at the regular-season data confirms the suspicion that those two aren't a great tandem; the same starting five barely had a positive plus-minus, while most other Miami lineups with James and Wade were spectacularly good.



Looking further, it appears the problem isn't Bibby or Ilgauskas, but rather using the two of them together. Both are rather immobile defensively, and in tandem they're an open invitation to run 1-5 pick-and-roll plays while Miami's three stars wait helplessly on the weak side.



A quick check of basketballvalue.com reveals that lineups with Bibby have performed much more effectively with Erick Dampier or Joel Anthony in the middle, while lineups with Ilgauskas have proved much better with Mario Chalmers at point guard. Interestingly, the Chalmers-Anthony combos were arguably even worse, so those two could stand to benefit from a switch as well.



It almost doesn't matter which of the two coach Erik Spoelstra swaps out, but given that Bibby's minus-0.29 playoff PER is the worst at his position while Ilgauskas' 22.29 is the third-best among centers, it seems Bibby is the obvious choice. Regardless, at some point Miami will need to make a change -- if leaving Bibby and Ilgauskas on the court together is this much of an issue against Jrue Holiday's pick-and-roll, one shudders to think how Rajon Rondo or Derrick Rose will carve them up in the coming rounds.

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by dland24

Westbrook shooting 30 last night is way overblown. People also forget how good he is. People calling him the "2nd option" is a subtle shot at him (yes Durant is the man, but Russ is a star too). He wont be taking 30 in a game regularly. And 30 shots or not, he didnt have a terrible game yesterday.

Oh. Really?

 

[CP1708]

The funny thing is that Boozer, historically, has been a very good postseason player. In his 44 playoff games with Utah, his PER essentially matched that of his regular-season numbers,
Huh?  Stats lyin to this man on this one. 

if leaving Bibby and Ilgauskas on the court together is this much of an issue against Jrue Holiday's pick-and-roll, one shudders to think how Rajon Rondo or Derrick Rose will carve them up in the coming rounds.
It will be very interesting to see how they defend Rondo.  I agree with Van Gundy that people need to stop playing 8 feet off him, it gives him way to much court vision to make passes.  I get that people want him to shoot, but him picking which of 4 hall of famers to feed is not too gooda look either.  (4 when Shaq is there, if that ever happens) 

 

[Deleted member 38182]

^Maybe zone the hell outta Rose

IDK

 

[IATT]

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by dland24

Westbrook shooting 30 last night is way overblown. People also forget how good he is. People calling him the "2nd option" is a subtle shot at him (yes Durant is the man, but Russ is a star too). He wont be taking 30 in a game regularly. And 30 shots or not, he didnt have a terrible game yesterday.

Oh. Really?

which part are you "oh, really"-ing?

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by itsaboutthattime

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by dland24

Westbrook shooting 30 last night is way overblown. People also forget how good he is. People calling him the "2nd option" is a subtle shot at him (yes Durant is the man, but Russ is a star too). He wont be taking 30 in a game regularly. And 30 shots or not, he didnt have a terrible game yesterday.

Oh. Really?

which part are you "oh, really"-ing?

Those... I mean I know Russ is his favorite player and all but come on atleast be a little closer to center when discussing him.

 

[aepps20]

The Oklahoma City Thunder. You never heard of them, huh? You gonna be playing for them for the next five years. You’re gonna play with some of the best young players in the world, like Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka. I know, those names mean nothing to you now. But they will.

They’re gonna love you in OKC.

…Fade out

 

[proshares]

Boozer was great in the playoffs for CP, what are you talking about?

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by Proshares

Boozer was great in the playoffs for CP, what are you talking about?

The hell? 

  Ya'll misremember.  You put length on Booz in the postseason, and he's done.  He might get volume numbers vs any bad teams he might have played, but put a 7 footer on him and he's gone.  We played him 3 years straight and he never hurt us once.  Deron was always out there by himself.  Just like Rose is now. 
  

 

[bigmike23]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

My God talk about over-exaggeration...

Yall dudes need a chill pill. RELAX.

 

[japanair21]

Among all playoff teams, Dallas is third in true shooting percentage and tied for first in offensive efficiency. Monday night, when the Mavs' outside shots finally missed their mark, they still destroyed Portland because they grabbed every rebound. Tyson Chandler's 13 offensive boards were the most in a playoff game in 16 years, allowing Dallas to overcome its uncharacteristic 3-of-17 3-point shooting.

Just need to stop turning the ball over and get to the line more.

 

[proshares]

I clearly remember him doing good against Hayes and Yao, S-Jax - Harrington - Biedrins and decent against Duncan and Oberto. That was 07.

08 he did work against Houston again and did OK against Pau in LA. Did pretty good work on your boys in 09 besides Game 5 but remember old man EVERYONE was cold that game for Utah

You forget that was when Okur was still healthily jacking up everything he touched and AK was trying to show everyone he was still useful and jacking up shots.

Boozer was just as much there as Deron. Plus, he was/is a great rebounder in those playoff series.

 

[bigmike23]

he only played avg VS the lakers.

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

he only played avg VS the lakers.

Pretty much.

 

[airmaxpenny1]

Knick fans are such clowns

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14

Originally Posted by nicedudewithnicedreams

But hey, I already mentioned that he could help the Grizz still earlier. 

Judging by that record, you don't think they were improving before he got hurt? I mean its silly to say that if he wasn't there and the team played bad it would be because Rudy was not there. Now, that the team is having success its because they don't have Rudy. Your replacing Rudy with freaking Sam Young in the starting lineup.....

And Mike Conley got him a nice contract in the beginning of the season and then settled down too. I don't pick parts of the season and make assumptions like that. Big picture for me for the most part. The team did improve during that stretch, but it wasn't like Gay turned it up another notch. More like someone else finally got some PT and Randolph was starting his Love revenge tour. 

And we all know it is never as simple as just who is replacing Gay as the starter. The team's offensive efficiency actually went up with Gay out. Defense dropped tho. Overall efficiency increased, while FGAs were the same. Gay's scoring was replaced and improved, but his defense was missed. 

But I will repeat, Gay can help the Grizz. Not like I am chewing him out like he is a negative. I am just not surprised that the Grizz has patched up the supposedly big hole with Gay out so easily.