2011 NBA Playoffs Thread

[Lorenzo]

Actually... if the Thunder pulled that off (beating the Lakers but losing down the line), they would definitely receive praise and respect. Not the case for the Mavs however...

very true...because the mavs have a history. oddly this year is seemingly looking like 2006. mavs surprisingly taking a multiple game lead on the defending champs in the second round and the heat are looming lol. but in all seriousness...

the thunder are the new kids on the block. so winning any series at this point is a step in the right direction. although they probably will be very disappointed if they lose to the grizzlies given the 8th seed and all falling to their lap.

while it may have been a while ago...3 players on this mavs team were apart of that 2006 team. they will always carry that with them until they win a ring. dirk being the main one. people mostly remember the last 5 mins of game three in which dirk did not score and missed a key free throw.

the guy can close out game after game. but until his closes out a game that brings a title to dallas...he knows that game 3 is what people will judge him by. I think it may not be right...but it is what it is.

 

[82CardsGrad]

very true...because the mavs have a history. oddly this year is seemingly looking like 2006. mavs surprisingly taking a multiple game lead on the defending champs in the second round and the heat are looming lol. but in all seriousness...

the thunder are the new kids on the block. so winning any series at this point is a step in the right direction. although they probably will be very disappointed if they lose to the grizzlies given the 8th seed and all falling to their lap.

while it may have been a while ago...3 players on this mavs team were apart of that 2006 team. they will always carry that with them until they win a ring. dirk being the main one. people mostly remember the last 5 mins of game three in which dirk did not score and missed a key free throw.

the guy can close out game after game. but until his closes out a game that brings a title to dallas...he knows that game 3 is what people will judge him by. I think it may not be right...but it is what it is.

Yup... harsh, but very true. Dirk has to be one the greatest players of all-time never to win a ring. It's amazing to watch him work his game. I mean, there really isn't a player in the league right now (maybe Howard I guess), who can consistently defend Dirk. He's got every move and every shot in the game. He can fill it up from down low, from 12 feet away and from behind the arc.
Some would say that Nash is maybe the greatest to never win a ring, and I could go along with that... But Dirk is easily 1a to Nash's 1.

 

[Cheesebeef]

ok...whatever you say lol. I'm not argueing with you there.


what I mean is it doesn't really matter unless they win a championship. if they lose to the lakers, thunder, griz, heat, bulls, celtics, whoever it's not going to make me feel better about what they did this year. if they don't win a title this year...next year they will deal with the "choke" label. you don't get brownie points for knocking off the defending champs in the second round and losing later down the line.

going back to the regular season...everyone made a big deal about dallas losing to LA...i always defended dallas saying it didn't mean anything, and people did not agree.

But had dallas swept the series it wouldn't have meant anything either. Why? because like J-Kidd said on TNT last night. You are a soft team until you win a title. Soft teams don't win a title.

In other words the mavs don't prove jack...until they win a ring.

see, that I don't necessarily agree with. there's no shame in losing to a team that's better than you and I think the Heat ARE better than the Mavs. the shame always comes from blowing big series leads or continually getting upset. something the Mavs have been known for.

 

[Lorenzo]

see, that I don't necessarily agree with. there's no shame in losing to a team that's better than you and I think the Heat ARE better than the Mavs. the shame always comes from blowing big series leads or continually getting upset. something the Mavs have been known for.

sometimes teams win games or series because they are just better. the order doesn't really matter at the end of the day. what matters is who wins and who goes home.

you know in football there is a theory that in one game you don't always get the best team. I don't agree with that necessarily because going into a game you know what the rules are. you show up to win or you go home.

in basketball you get a series. you don't have to be perfect, but you also have to go out of your way to prove beyond doubt by beating a team multiple times in multiple venues(most of the time). if you win a 7 game series...you truly are the better team. however it plays out. you can argue semantics all you want. a lot of the fans are blaming the lakers right now, but they aren't giving dallas any credit for taking 2 games in LA.

 

[Lorenzo]

Yup... harsh, but very true. Dirk has to be one the greatest players of all-time never to win a ring. It's amazing to watch him work his game. I mean, there really isn't a player in the league right now (maybe Howard I guess), who can consistently defend Dirk. He's got every move and every shot in the game. He can fill it up from down low, from 12 feet away and from behind the arc.
Some would say that Nash is maybe the greatest to never win a ring, and I could go along with that... But Dirk is easily 1a to Nash's 1.

I would take that a step further and say nash is easily 1A to dirk's 1 lol.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yup... harsh, but very true. Dirk has to be one the greatest players of all-time never to win a ring. It's amazing to watch him work his game. I mean, there really isn't a player in the league right now (maybe Howard I guess), who can consistently defend Dirk. He's got every move and every shot in the game. He can fill it up from down low, from 12 feet away and from behind the arc.
Some would say that Nash is maybe the greatest to never win a ring, and I could go along with that... But Dirk is easily 1a to Nash's 1.

oh, I think Nash is behind Dirk on this list and Dirk is probably behind Malone and Barkley. i'd probably go Barkley, Malone, Dirk, then Nash, then Ewing on the all-time greatest who never won a title list.

 

[Lorenzo]

cheesebeef...i agree about the getting upset part.

for instance 2007 the mavs win 67 games and lose to golden state. that was disappointing and shameful.

losing to the spurs last year was disappointing, but not shameful. same for the nuggets and hornets the previous 2 seasons. the mavs wern't necessarily expected to beat those teams. especially the latter 2.

 

[Cheesebeef]

sometimes teams win games or series because they are just better. the order doesn't really matter at the end of the day. what matters is who wins and who goes home.

you know in football there is a theory that in one game you don't always get the best team. I don't agree with that necessarily because going into a game you know what the rules are. you show up to win or you go home.

in basketball you get a series. you don't have to be perfect, but you also have to go out of your way to prove beyond doubt by beating a team multiple times in multiple venues(most of the time). if you win a 7 game series...you truly are the better team. however it plays out. you can argue semantics all you want. a lot of the fans are blaming the lakers right now, but they aren't giving dallas any credit for taking 2 games in LA.

don't get me wrong here. I'm not blaming the Lakers. You get a 16 point comeback at home, you've stolen a game... you get a 16 point comeback on the road and you just flat took it. follow that up with an ass-kicking humiliation we saw in Game 2 and ALL the credit in this series goes to the Mavs at this point.

I just don't think Dirk and his boys will be scorned if they lose to the Heat.

 

[Lorenzo]

oh, I think Nash is behind Dirk on this list and Dirk is probably behind Malone and Barkley. i'd probably go Barkley, Malone, Dirk, then Nash, then Ewing on the all-time greatest who never won a title list.

I can't disagree with you there. I honestly only watched basketball from about 92 on consistently...so I missed out on a lot of barkley. I can't compare what I don't know. what I do know is that chuck could not guard dirk lol. but I don't think dirk could guard any of those guys either. even nash lol.

 

[Lorenzo]

don't get me wrong here. I'm not blaming the Lakers. You get a 16 point comeback at home, you've stolen a game... you get a 16 point comeback on the road and you just flat took it. follow that up with an ass-kicking humiliation we saw in Game 2 and ALL the credit in this series goes to the Mavs at this point.

I just don't think Dirk and his boys will be scorned if they lose to the Heat.

well maybe not. but if they lose after being up 2-0 they will be because of the history. right or wrong. I think we both agree there.

Honestly the heat/mavs would be a good matchup. dallas won both reg season games. the one in miami went down to the wire and the one in dallas was more of a convincing win for the mavs. but we all know the reg season don't mean jack. the heat look like a different team right now and I don't think they will be lacking any confidence no matter who they play.

 

[Cheesebeef]

cheesebeef...i agree about the getting upset part.

for instance 2007 the mavs win 67 games and lose to golden state. that was disappointing and shameful.

losing to the spurs last year was disappointing, but not shameful. same for the nuggets and hornets the previous 2 seasons. the mavs wern't necessarily expected to beat those teams. especially the latter 2.

in a vacuum, each one of those doesn't look terrible, but strung together, the Finals choke job, followed up by a 67 win choke job to an 8 seed followed up by back to back 5 game ass-kickings the next two years followed up by losing to a 7 seed is a pretty shameful 5 year stretch.

 

[Cheesebeef]

well maybe not. but if they lose after being up 2-0 they will be because of the history. right or wrong. I think we both agree there.

Honestly the heat/mavs would be a good matchup. dallas won both reg season games. the one in miami went down to the wire and the one in dallas was more of a convincing win for the mavs. but we all know the reg season don't mean jack. the heat look like a different team right now and I don't think they will be lacking any confidence no matter who they play.

i agree with all of this.

assuming they don't end the biggest choking dogs of all time in this series (and lord knows I'M PRAYING THEY DON'T), I'd look forward to a Heat-Mavs Final. It wouldn't be as epic as Heat-Lakers, but it would be pretty damn good basketball and at least a 6 game series.

 

[Lorenzo]

in a vacuum, each one of those doesn't look terrible, but strung together, the Finals choke job, followed up by a 67 win choke job to an 8 seed followed up by back to back 5 game ass-kickings the next two years followed up by losing to a 7 seed is a pretty shameful 5 year stretch.

maybe so. the only year they were upset though was against the warriors. that was a true upset. johnny cochran couldn't talk his way out of that one.

losing to the spurs was an upset, but they are the spurs. pop, TD, tp, ginobli, enough said.

Losing the hornets and thunder(in convincing fashion) isn't shameful whenever you clearly see that those teams are flat out better than you. and in one series your star is averaging 35 points a game. what else can be done? luckily since then the mavs have made changes and have gotten better. but all in all is all disappointing when you lose in the playoffs like that. in a vaccum yes lol. good way to put it.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I can't disagree with you there. I honestly only watched basketball from about 92 on consistently...so I missed out on a lot of barkley. I can't compare what I don't know. what I do know is that chuck could not guard dirk lol. but I don't think dirk could guard any of those guys either. even nash lol.

to be honest, I'd probably put Chuck, Malone and Dirk all on the same level with Nash just a tad behind them. The fact that Nash could never will even ONE of his teams to a Finals appearance is what keeps him #4 on that list. I mean, even Ewing got his team there once and it wasn't like Nash didn't have 5 legitimate chances to get it done in the Conference Finals.

 

[Lorenzo]

i agree with all of this.

assuming they don't end the biggest choking dogs of all time in this series (and lord knows I'M PRAYING THEY DON'T), I'd look forward to a Heat-Mavs Final. It wouldn't be as epic as Heat-Lakers, but it would be pretty damn good basketball and at least a 6 game series.

well I agree. I know the average NBA fan would rather see lakers/heat because of the ratings...(or the networks lol).

but at the very least you have the mavericks and heat rematch which make it enticing. there will be bad blood in that series if it were to happen because of cuban lol.

 

[Lorenzo]

to be honest, I'd probably put Chuck, Malone and Dirk all on the same level with Nash just a tad behind them. The fact that Nash could never will even ONE of his teams to a Finals appearance is what keeps him #4 on that list. I mean, even Ewing got his team there once and it wasn't like Nash didn't have 5 legitimate chances to get it done in the Conference Finals.

all of these guys just happened to face teams that were just in a dynasty mode. with the exception of dallas. they lost to a one time champ. ugghh....

then nashy...i can't blame him for the 03 WCF or the 06 WCF. in both of those series he was without dirk and stat respectively. he did a pretty good job considering pushing those two to 6 games with limited personnel. poor nash...he had some crappy luck in those WCF if you throw in joe johnson and the suspensions as well. but it is what it is. you can't make excuses. just like dirk can't for losing his chance or losing all of those playoff series.

 

[Cheesebeef]

maybe so. the only year they were upset though was against the warriors. that was a true upset. johnny cochran couldn't talk his way out of that one.

losing to the spurs was an upset, but they are the spurs. pop, TD, tp, ginobli, enough said.

eh... that's an upset dude. People were talking about the Mavs going to the Conference Finals last year and that Spurs team promptly got destroyed by the Suns of all teams!

Losing the hornets and thunder(in convincing fashion) isn't shameful whenever you clearly see that those teams are flat out better than you. and in one series your star is averaging 35 points a game. what else can be done? luckily since then the mavs have made changes and have gotten better. but all in all is all disappointing when you lose in the playoffs like that. in a vaccum yes lol. good way to put it.

 

[Lorenzo]

eh... that's an upset dude. People were talking about the Mavs going to the Conference Finals last year and that Spurs team promptly got destroyed by the Suns of all teams!

yeah...that team didn't have it together last year. they had the talent no question. but they were all over the place in that series against the spurs. I agree that I expected them to beat the spurs...so I was upset lol. it looked like no one knew their role. butler scores 30 one game and then was misses a half of play in another? damp played one game...got benched in another(should have been benched entirely). terry got benched for 2 quarters for beaubois. then carlisle pulls the plug on beaubois when he was hot? carlisle was all over the place with that roster. thankfully this year has been more consistent. so we will see. not making excuses. the spurs won fair and square and the mavs were expected to win. 2 seed should win against the 7.

 

[desertdawg]

OKC has to bring it in the next 2 games on the road, losing the game at their crib to a team like Memphis is no bueno. I think Durant might be the only guy left in the playoffs that can cover and outscore Dork Nishidski. I want it to be one of the young teams, either way.

This all part of my new evil plan see, not only will the Spurs and Lakers miss the Finals, (which is like...awesome) but I"m also doing the good old Toyota jump for joy as Phil retires to master the art of practicing tai chi and drinking chai tea...at the same time.

Spurs just aren't worthy of my jokes anymore (I'd say sorry San Antonio, but I'd be lying) , my brain is now focusing more on the "Heatred" because it's looking more and more like the Meat are going to the Finals.

As much as I dig Wade, every since Lebutt joined Miami I prefer to have my Wade via funny cell phone commercials. Bosh is good, keeps his head down and works, can't go there on him. They don't have anybody else on their team.

So if I'm haten on the Lakers and Mavs, I gotta go for OKC/Memphis in the Western Finals, that way I can hold it against any Meat fan. The fact that they didn't beat a bonafide NBA team in the Finals, so it doesn't mean anything.

Evil plan, yes, ...just a way to cope, I don't know.

 

[Lorenzo]

OKC has to bring it in the next 2 games on the road, losing the game at their crib to a team like Memphis is no bueno. I think Durant might be the only guy left in the playoffs that can cover and outscore Dork Nishidski. I want it to be one of the young teams, either way.

This all part of my new evil plan see, not only will the Spurs and Lakers miss the Finals, (which is like...awesome) but I"m also doing the good old Toyota jump for joy as Phil retires to master the art of practicing tai chi and drinking chai tea...at the same time.

Spurs just aren't worthy of my jokes anymore (I'd say sorry San Antonio, but I'd be lying) , my brain is now focusing more on the "Heatred" because it's looking more and more like the Meat are going to the Finals.

As much as I dig Wade, every since Lebutt joined Miami I prefer to have my Wade via funny cell phone commercials. Bosh is good, keeps his head down and works, can't go there on him. They don't have anybody else on their team.

So if I'm haten on the Lakers and Mavs, I gotta go for OKC/Memphis in the Western Finals, that way I can hold it against any Meat fan. The fact that they didn't beat a bonafide NBA team in the Finals, so it doesn't mean anything.

Evil plan, yes, ...just a way to cope, I don't know.

yeah...well I guess be careful what you wish for is the saying and there are some concerns with playing the thunder if you are dallas(and LA as OKC was the mainstream pick to challenge the lakers) because of westbrook. no one on the mavs/lakers roster can keep that guy in front of them. and durant has the dirk/kobe factor. scores at will sometimes. but I think memphis has inflicted more wounds on this dallas team than OKC. I don't know. I guess the winner of dallas/LA will have their hands full either way. the one thing that all of these 4 teams in the WC have in common is they have that one guy who can't be stopped. you can only hope that he has an off night.

the heat? they aren't in it yet. remember there was all this talk about them closing close games. that wasn't that long ago. this team is so polarizing(reminds me of the cowboys). they win a few games and they are paper champions. they lose a few games and the world is coming to an end. I don't know that I'm sold that they are a shoe in for the finals yet. this has to play out. its a shame there are no games tonight.....

 

[BC867]

Then again...we are talking the Mavs who have choked more than any team in recent memory.

The difference maker might be Tyson Chandler and his 9+ rebounds per game, both for the season and in the playoffs.

Just as, yup I'm gonna say it, Marcin Gortat would have been a difference maker for our reputation, if the overall roster weren't so dysfunctional.

Dallas, Utah and Phoenix have shared the reputations of playing weak in the post and remaining mediocre playoff teams.

 

[Lorenzo]

good read from the LA times...says lakers winning 6 or 7. Until proven otherwise I'd have to say I'm not convinced of the mavs yet either. I feel this mavs team is different. but this is still the lakers...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...ion-to-prove-mavs-lack-championship-heart.ece

 

[AzStevenCal]

good read from the LA times...says lakers winning 6 or 7. Until proven otherwise I'd have to say I'm not convinced of the mavs yet either. I feel this mavs team is different. but this is still the lakers...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...ion-to-prove-mavs-lack-championship-heart.ece

I think this Mavs team IS different but if this is still the same ol' Lakers, Dallas will still lose this series. However, I think the 2009/2010 Lakers were a step down from the team they had been the year before and I think that's even more true this season. Mavs win in 5.

Steve

 

[Cheesebeef]

said this right after the game and i'm sticking to it... whoever wins tonight, wins the series.

 

[Mulli]

said this right after the game and i'm sticking to it... whoever wins tonight, wins the series.

Ya, Bulls flew south for the series winner!!