2011 NBA Playoffs Thread

[desertdawg]

Bynum embarrassed me as a Lakers fan. That's the third time he's pulled that move, and it was clearly a frustration douchebag foul.

His demeanor afterwards was more telling, ripping his uni off and then just glossing it over in his post game comments and interviews.

I'm incredibly disappointed in the kid - I understand he was upset and frustrated, but you JUST. DON'T. DO. THAT. Embarrasses one of the greatest sports franchises of all time. It's worse then getting swept ugly.

Bubba seemed a lot cooler in the Gump movie.

 

[Magnus]

which team matches up better with dallas in the WCF?

OKC's westbrook would be a tough guard.

zac randolph always kills dallas too.

Honestly I fear memphis a little more than OKC, but they are both good teams.

Westbrook is tough to guard, true, but his shot and decision making is horrible as of late. If that doesn't improve, then OKC would be a better matchup. However, if it doesn't improve it would also mean that Memphis will likely win the series hah, so it goes two ways.

Memphis is... unpredictable. Noone expected them to play this good, and it all depends if they will be able to keep this good mojo going on and translate it to the finals. I doubt they will go all the way, but imo, they are more dangerous than OKC at this moment.

 

[Mainstreet]

which team matches up better with dallas in the WCF?

OKC's westbrook would be a tough guard.

zac randolph always kills dallas too.

Honestly I fear memphis a little more than OKC, but they are both good teams.

I think the key question, who does the best job of guarding Dirk? Dirk is the heart and soul of the Dallas team. If some team can render him average, they have an excellent shot at beating Dallas. I'm not sure if there is anyone that can do it, but this is where I would look.

 

[slinslin]

Dallas will choke sooner or later. I don't like them against either OKC/MEM and certainly not against Miami.

Dallas inevitable failure is the last missing piece to post-season satisfaction.

 

[Lorenzo]

Dallas will choke sooner or later. I don't like them against either OKC/MEM and certainly not against Miami.

Dallas inevitable failure is the last missing piece to post-season satisfaction.

think that is what helps this dallas team. there is so much doubt casted by people outside of their lockeroom(even in dallas) that it almost drives them to do what we've seen them do so far in the playoffs.

 

[Lorenzo]

Westbrook is tough to guard, true, but his shot and decision making is horrible as of late. If that doesn't improve, then OKC would be a better matchup. However, if it doesn't improve it would also mean that Memphis will likely win the series hah, so it goes two ways.

Memphis is... unpredictable. Noone expected them to play this good, and it all depends if they will be able to keep this good mojo going on and translate it to the finals. I doubt they will go all the way, but imo, they are more dangerous than OKC at this moment.

I argree with you 100 there. really down the stretch of the season all of the teams in the west were playing good basketball. especially 5-8. the 5-8 teams all season long didn't look like they had any shot, but late in the season they all picked their game up. memphis was no exception.

I think it is strange to see westbrook take shots from durant. I really think down the stretch of that last game the thunder were simply content to take bad (contested shots) from the outside. they looked bad.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I argree with you 100 there. really down the stretch of the season all of the teams in the west were playing good basketball. especially 5-8. the 5-8 teams all season long didn't look like they had any shot, but late in the season they all picked their game up. memphis was no exception.

I think it is strange to see westbrook take shots from durant. I really think down the stretch of that last game the thunder were simply content to take bad (contested shots) from the outside. they looked bad.

i wonder if we're staring at another Marbury-Garnett situation with Westbrook and Durant.

 

[Cheesewater]

I argree with you 100 there. really down the stretch of the season all of the teams in the west were playing good basketball. especially 5-8. the 5-8 teams all season long didn't look like they had any shot, but late in the season they all picked their game up. memphis was no exception.

I think it is strange to see westbrook take shots from durant. I really think down the stretch of that last game the thunder were simply content to take bad (contested shots) from the outside. they looked bad.

Well, the 5th seeded Nuggets looked like absolute garbage. It was mind boggling that they were a game-winning enigma after the Anthony trade but turned into a pumpkin once the first round started.

 

[Lorenzo]

I think the key question, who does the best job of guarding Dirk? Dirk is the heart and soul of the Dallas team. If some team can render him average, they have an excellent shot at beating Dallas. I'm not sure if there is anyone that can do it, but this is where I would look.

yeah that's a good point. You know that in a tough situation they are always going to get him the ball. I thought game 3 was a key turning point in this last series. LA started to double dirk and he was collapsing their defense and then he was getting an assist(or hockey assist) on almost every shot.

Honestly I think the key to dallas is their defense. they held portland and LA to 88pts per game. I think after all of these playoff seasons you are finally seeing a dallas team that does not have to score a lot of points to win games. they just need to defend and get the ball to dirk down the stretch.

 

[Lorenzo]

i wonder if we're staring at another Marbury-Garnett situation with Westbrook and Durant.

Maybe so. westbrook is almost unstoppable in the fast break. but in the halfcourt he is not as effective as durant. I think this is blatently obvious to everyone except for westbrook. it was almost embarrasing to watch it was so bad in that last game. durant had his hands up like WTF are you doing. and I heard that he has been doing that in previous games too?

 

[Lorenzo]

Well, the 5th seeded Nuggets looked like absolute garbage. It was mind boggling that they were a game-winning enigma after the Anthony trade but turned into a pumpkin once the first round started.

that was strange. but they kept winning games down the stretch. I think the lack of having a superstar player finally caught up to them in the playoffs.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Maybe so. westbrook is almost unstoppable in the fast break. but in the halfcourt he is not as effective as durant. I think this is blatently obvious to everyone except for westbrook. it was almost embarrasing to watch it was so bad in that last game. durant had his hands up like WTF are you doing. and I heard that he has been doing that in previous games too?

yeah, this was going on in the denver series as well.

 

[Mainstreet]

yeah that's a good point. You know that in a tough situation they are always going to get him the ball. I thought game 3 was a key turning point in this last series. LA started to double dirk and he was collapsing their defense and then he was getting an assist(or hockey assist) on almost every shot.

Honestly I think the key to dallas is their defense. they held portland and LA to 88pts per game. I think after all of these playoff seasons you are finally seeing a dallas team that does not have to score a lot of points to win games. they just need to defend and get the ball to dirk down the stretch.

I should have made it more specific. I meant guarding Dirk one-one-one. I've heard some say Durant might cause Dirk problems but I have never watched this match-up. At this point, I think Dirk's game has gotten better over the years in part trying to overcome past Dallas playoff failures. There is no doubt Dallas is playing excellent defense which bodes well. Playing good defense and good offense at the same time is hard to beat.

What is interesting to me, Dallas is doing this run with a veteran team promoting the argument, there is something to be said for keeping older players together as a core.

 

[BC867]

There is no doubt Dallas is playing excellent defense which bodes well. Playing good defense and good offense at the same time is hard to beat.

An NBA 2nd team all-defensive Center changes the team's long-standing image.

The Suns are on the right path.

Whether Marcin Gortat scores 12, 15 or 20 ppg, his arrival, just as Tyson Chandler's in Dallas, shouts out, "Welcome to the 21st Century."

As a Suns fan, it is enjoyable watching the Mavs turn the corner and hope that we are following in their footsteps.

 

[Lorenzo]

I should have made it more specific. I meant guarding Dirk one-one-one. I've heard some say Durant might cause Dirk problems but I have never watched this match-up. At this point, I think Dirk's game has gotten better over the years in part trying to overcome past Dallas playoff failures. There is no doubt Dallas is playing excellent defense which bodes well. Playing good defense and good offense at the same time is hard to beat.

What is interesting to me, Dallas is doing this run with a veteran team promoting the argument, there is something to be said for keeping older players together as a core.

Yeah i obviously am very proud of dirk's progress over his career. It must not be overlooked that he has always been a great playoff performer. I thought when he pretty much owned guys like kevin garnett, rasheed wallace, and scotty pippen in the playoffs(almost a decade ago) that people would laud his success.. but here we are this many years later and people are barely starting to take notice of what he has done in this league. you have guys saying that he is finally becoming a superstar...etc. then just about a month or so ago chris webber was calling him soft.

oh well...you guys know how I feel about dirk and i know phoenix suns fans respect the guy.(just like we respect nash). remember nash had that soft label in dallas too. i mean i've seen the guy pretty much get his jaw broken by karl malone's elbow and still beat the lakers(refusing to leave the game). these are some tough dudes.

Dirk is shooting over 50% from the field this year. that is pretty darn good when you consider the amount of shots and difficulty of them. He is the direct result of talent combined with absolute dedication to be the best that he can be. I'd say he's as unguardable as it gets in the NBA.

now that I'm done with my man love for dirk...no there is no way durant can guard dirk. I don't think dirk can guard durant though either. you wouldn't see those two on each other very often. dallas would put marion/brewer/stevenson/kardinal on durant.

marion has been quite a defender for dallas here. he really does a great job making these perimeter guys work for every point. just like when he would try to guard dirk in the old days. everyone talks about chandler, but I think marion is one of the top defenders in the league too.

 

[Lorenzo]

An NBA 2nd team all-defensive Center changes the team's long-standing image.

The Suns are on the right path.

Whether Marcin Gortat scores 12, 15 or 20 ppg, his arrival, just as Tyson Chandler's in Dallas, shouts out, "Welcome to the 21st Century."

As a Suns fan, it is enjoyable watching the Mavs turn the corner and hope that we are following in their footsteps.

I think it is interesting that the mavs wanted the gortat too. we tried to buy him, but the magic matched our offer...then took bass off of us too. then they traded him to you guys. ironically if we would have gotten gortat we would probably not have chandler. we would have gortat and haywood.

over the last few years the mavs roster has really gotten guys who are strong defensive players. I thought kidd's defense and rebounding was exceptional. that rebound where he boxed at gasol at the free throw line at the end of game 3 was incredible.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If LeBron's ever gonna be an uber super star, he's got to start making huge plays at the end of these games. haven't really seen it from him since that one run against the Pistons back in 2007.

And if he's NOT gonna make those plays, get out of the way and let the guy who can (Wade) make 'em.

 

[Bert]

If LeBron's ever gonna be an uber super star, he's got to start making huge plays at the end of these games. haven't really seen it from him since that one run against the Pistons back in 2007.

And if he's NOT gonna make those plays, get out of the way and let the guy who can (Wade) make 'em.

If Bosh hadn't gotten all those second chance points off James misses we might be talking about Lebrons lack of 'closer' ability yet again.

 

[Cheesebeef]

like I said, Heat in 5.

it's crazy to think this team can win the title with literally three superstars and NOTHING ELSE, but I still see it happening and then next year, if they add even just one mediocre piece, they'll probably just destroy every one for the next three years.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If Bosh hadn't gotten all those second chance points off James misses we might be talking about Lebrons lack of 'closer' ability yet again.

true... but to be fair (and i have a problem with failing to see the forrest from the trees at the end of games), going out in a huge road game after you just got your ass kicked and putting up 35, 14 and 3, while making some big plays to go along with some not so big plays is still pretty damn good.

he just doesn't have the super killer inside of him.

 

[Cheesewater]

Westbrook is a punk. I do not like him.

 

[Cheesewater]

Refs have gained control of the OKC/MEM game so Thunder fans can relax now.

 

[Cheesewater]

I cannot believe how the officials are screwing Memphis.
Perkins has basically punched Gasol TWICE in the last minute. No calls for Memphis.
It's DISGUSTING.

Stern really wants Durant to advance.

Just for the record: Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #30 John Goble, #22 Bill Spooner

 

[Cheesebeef]

CONLEY WITH THE PRAYER!

Holy crap. This has been the most exciting, unpredictable, ridiculous playoffs I can ever remember. MONUMENTAL upsets, huge comebacks, OT game galore... just awesome so far.

 

[Beaver]

Holy Crap....