2011 NBA Playoffs Thread

[cly2tw]

great points. I hope marion and kidd get one soon too. it's almost like phoenix and the mavs are brothers lol.

I agree dirk has matured a lot over the years that is what makes him great. he's always been a big time playoff performer. I think the one playoff series where he played poorly(by his standards) was golden state. Outside of that he has really done more than his share as a superstar to lead his team. I even look at that denver series when his girlfriend was on the run and ripped him off financially. With all of this gasol apologists of off the court problems....i look back to that series and dirk averaged 34 points in that denver series when they lost(and dirk was having real problems off the court). yet the TNT set was calling him soft? early in his career he got his teeth knocked out against the spurs and still scored like 42 points and 19 boards. they lost that series in 5 games. and while bowen and marion have frustrated him he's had huge games/series' against both of those guys as well.

I think for dirk the problem for him is that he has played on too many playoff teams that have lost(most of those mavs teams played no defense either). and because of that you have a lot of people that naturally think that he is a soft guy. then when you have guys like TD...kobe...shaq winning title after title he gets bypassed. then you have guys like lebron/melo/durant that are the new market. and through all this time one of the greatest offensive players of all time is just sitting back doing what he does. I do like the fact that it seems like he is finally getting some love as an all time great.

I think we are in agreement. Not saying Dirk was always soft in the past at all. But Mavs have been the team, when you beat Dirk you beat the team. With time, he has been dealt all kind of defensive plans against and now became unfazed whatsoever. Sure, it's also crucial that the whole team is on the same page with great team defense to rely on.

 

[slinslin]

it's almost like phoenix and the mavs are brothers lol.

Uh no, I hope the Mavs don't win it. They had their chance against the weakest finals opponent you could imagine and blew it and only got there because of the injuries to Amare and Bell.
Then they choked against bad teams multiple times although they had a deep pocket owner all the time.
They don't deserve it more than we did, we always fell short due to dubious suspensions, ref scandals and untimely injuries and almost always against the eventual champion......

 

[Lorenzo]

Uh no, I hope the Mavs don't win it. They had their chance against the weakest finals opponent you could imagine and blew it and only got there because of the injuries to Amare and Bell.
Then they choked against bad teams multiple times although they had a deep pocket owner all the time.
They don't deserve it more than we did, we always fell short due to dubious suspensions, ref scandals and untimely injuries and almost always against the eventual champion......

your post reminds me of watching chad johnson ride a bull for half a second.....

 

[Cheesebeef]

bell? lol what was he going to do besides get somebody suspended or closeline dirk maybe?....amare was out that whole year so i give you that. but he was never able to carry the suns to the finals or a title all of those years. the mavs eliminated the spurs and the suns that year. you can't fault them for taking care of business whether guys were injured or not.

he got cut by the mavs. and that's what you come with. ok...i guess bell was going to stop dirk in that series.

a lot of excuses and whining coming from this poster. I think a lot of suns fans want to see kidd and marion win one. just like i was pulling for nash. but

I have no desire to see Kidd or Marion win jack squat. they were pretty much my two least favorite suns "stars" of all time.

But I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk win one. Dude's a great player, never gets in trouble with the law and has really never played with another super-super star in his entire career.

And seriously slin... saying they beat the worst WCF final team is a joke. The only reason we were in the WCF was because the seeding system was still messed up. They still beat the #1 seed in the West who won 63 games before they beat us so trying to say they didn't earn being there doesn't hold much water.

 

[Lorenzo]

ouch...deng hits a half court shot. he said thanks lebron for not playing defense. bulls winning again so far.

 

[Lorenzo]

I have no desire to see Kidd or Marion win jack squat. they were pretty much my two least favorite suns "stars" of all time.

But I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk win one. Dude's a great player, never gets in trouble with the law and has really never played with another super-super star in his entire career.

And seriously slin... saying they beat the worst WCF final team is a joke. The only reason we were in the WCF was because the seeding system was still messed up. They still beat the #1 seed in the West who won 63 games before they beat us so trying to say they didn't earn being there doesn't hold much water.

I agree. there's no question that amare being out hurt the suns that year. but that doesn't diminish what the mavs did that year at all. and you made the point that i would make. they beat the best team in the WC of the decade(aside fromLA) in a game 7 in their building. how many teams do that?

the only thing that you can really say was disappointing was that they had a 2-0 series lead in the finals and couldn't close it out. I don't care who your playing...if you are up 2-0 in a series you shouldn't lose in the end...you gotta finish or you will always feel like you let one get away.

you can't say that the miami heat were weak. I wouldn't go that far. the heat were in game 7 of the ECF the year before. and d wade got hurt in game 6 and missed game 7 that year against detroit(the defending champs). they had dwade playing out of his mind and he was surrounded by a group of veterans(some hall of famers in their twilight). almost like this version of the mavs with dirk.

 

[desertdawg]

I caught part of that game last night. Dirk was amazing, when that dude is on his spot (I didn't understand why the Thunder kept letting him get to it until the refs called 5 fouls in 2 minutes) Dirk is the man.

I expect a tougher game on him, I posted before the playoffs about I didn't respect the Mavs enough to hate them. Then they swept the Lakers, with my new found respect and hatred in full bloom, (so I got that going for me) it was rough watching them stomp on Durant and the OKC.

Will the real Dork Nivistki please stand up...and put them skinny whiney arms up in the air so I can see you. Where's the guy who gets pushed around and complains all the way back down the court while the other team scores?
Will Perkins start it off? It's gonna take the whole team to punk Dirk out, but it happens every year right? Dallas hasn't won this series yet.

 

[Lorenzo]

I caught part of that game last night. Dirk was amazing, when that dude is on his spot (I didn't understand why the Thunder kept letting him get to it until the refs called 5 fouls in 2 minutes) Dirk is the man.

I expect a tougher game on him, I posted before the playoffs about I didn't respect the Mavs enough to hate them. Then they swept the Lakers, with my new found respect and hatred in full bloom, (so I got that going for me) it was rough watching them stomp on Durant and the OKC.

Will the real Dork Nivistki please stand up...and put them skinny whiney arms up in the air so I can see you. Where's the guy who gets pushed around and complains all the way back down the court while the other team scores?
Will Perkins start it off? It's gonna take the whole team to punk Dirk out, but it happens every year right? Dallas hasn't won this series yet.

they need odom and gasol to try to guard him. at least those guys could bother him and hold him to 27 a game.

i like you post though lol.

I think OKC just doesn't have a way to stop this guy. he has torched them almost every time they've played dallas since they've come to OKC(even the sonics too).

if you get too physical with dirk he gets to the line. if you aren't physical with him he shoots on you. hell it doesn't really matter what you do...if you are one on one he will get his most effecient shot off. if you double him he kicks it to a wide open shooter. I mean they just have to pick their poison at that end of the floor.

the only concern for dallas in this series is their defense. if tyson chandler is sitting on the bench in foul trouble...they are going to be in these 100 point games that we didn't see against portland and LA.

 

[Cheesebeef]

it really is amazing how the Heat have literally NOTHING on this team except the big 3. kind of a shame that Miller/Haslem's seasons were just destroyed by injuries. even with just those two guys being mediocre, I think you'd see this team be relatively unstoppable... or at least fun to watch. they're so damn boring.

 

[desertdawg]

they need odom and gasol to try to guard him. at least those guys could bother him and hold him to 27 a game.

i like you post though lol.

I think OKC just doesn't have a way to stop this guy. he has torched them almost every time they've played dallas since they've come to OKC(even the sonics too).

if you get too physical with dirk he gets to the line. if you aren't physical with him he shoots on you. hell it doesn't really matter what you do...if you are one on one he will get his most effecient shot off. if you double him he kicks it to a wide open shooter. I mean they just have to pick their poison at that end of the floor.

the only concern for dallas in this series is their defense. if tyson chandler is sitting on the bench in foul trouble...they are going to be in these 100 point games that we didn't see against portland and LA.

The way Dallas dismantled LA, I have to admit, somewhere way deep deep down inside...I do have a tiny soft spot for the Mavs. I can't stand LA, the Spurs, or Lebron James. Anybody who beats them is somewhat kinda good in my book.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

The Big 3 hadn't scored in the last 10.5 minutes before that 3 by James.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The Big 3 hadn't scored in the last 10.5 minutes before that 3 by James.

and then he scored the last 9 straight to end the game.

dude's come up huge at the end of games so far in the playoffs.

they win a road game while basically get nothing from Bosh. that's a bad sign for chicago considering role players usually play better at home.

the rest of this series is a gonna be a war. i could see this one going 7.

 

[Mulli]

Ouch. That hurt. Still like the Bulls chances.

 

[desertdawg]

Ouch. That hurt. Still like the Bulls chances.

Boozer and Noah showed up tonight, friggin Haslem did too. Bulls gotta take one in Miami.

 

[TJ]

X-factor was Udonis Haslem. Moving forward, if he plays like this, the Bulls are an afterthought

 

[Brian in Mesa]

X-factor was Udonis Haslem. Moving forward, if he plays like this, the Bulls are an afterthought

Not really - it was still up in the air (tied at 73). Bulls were actually looking good until Asik had to go to the locker room for stiches. That's when Miami was able to break through and score some at the end.

 

[Covert Rain]

Not really - it was still up in the air (tied at 73). Bulls were actually looking good until Asik had to go to the locker room for stiches. That's when Miami was able to break through and score some at the end.

I don't know. It seems like whenever Miami has one guy off the bench show up they are almost impossible to stop. It gives them enough breathing room for LeBron or Wade to close.

 

[Mulli]

Boozer and Noah showed up tonight, friggin Haslem did too. Bulls gotta take one in Miami.

No they really didn't.

 

[TJ]

I don't know. It seems like whenever Miami has one guy off the bench show up they are almost impossible to stop. It gives them enough breathing room for LeBron or Wade to close.

This

Miami's flaw is their bench. Everybody knows it. Announcers can't stop talking about it. But the team continues to defy the norm by relying heavily on the Big 3 with little depth behind them and win ball games. There is something to say about having the two best players in the league on one team with another top 15 player alongside.

As for Udonis, he is a very talented player who has not played since November. If he is close to 100%, it's as if the Heat was able to sign a free agent during the playoffs to bolster the bench.

 

[Manu4five]

Agree that Haslem is key to that series, or at least one of them. I like him and those kind of players.

 

[chickenhead]

What bugs me is that there will be continuing opportunities for vets to start taking the minimum to be bench players on the Heat in order to win a ring.

 

[Gee!]

What bugs me is that there will be continuing opportunities for vets to start taking the minimum to be bench players on the Heat in order to win a ring.

It aint just the Heat that benefits from it.. Its been happening for years with alot of teams..

 

[Bufalay]

What bugs me is that there will be continuing opportunities for vets to start taking the minimum to be bench players on the Heat in order to win a ring.

Grant Hill

 

[Lorenzo]

All great points. Haslem was a shot in the arm. he might have saved their playoff lives...then give credit to lebron for closing the game out with some cold blooded shots. if he can shoot like that late in games then they will be tough for anyone to beat.

I don't see haslem playing that well every night because chicago might adjust to him. but there is no reason to think that he can't. with all the attention that the 2 and a half men get...there's no reason to think that any solid bench player can't step up and dominate at times. haslem obviously has some swagger that the other bench guys just don't have. they almost stand around and watch the big 3 at times. I agree with cheesebeef. I think this is a war and this type of game is what we all expected to see in game 1 before chicago shocked everyone with their offense. I can see this being a long series for sure. that still favors chicago in my opinion, but now the heat are starting to make me believe that they can beat the bulls.

 

[Lorenzo]

This

Miami's flaw is their bench. Everybody knows it. Announcers can't stop talking about it. But the team continues to defy the norm by relying heavily on the Big 3 with little depth behind them and win ball games. There is something to say about having the two best players in the league on one team with another top 15 player alongside.

As for Udonis, he is a very talented player who has not played since November. If he is close to 100%, it's as if the Heat was able to sign a free agent during the playoffs to bolster the bench.

You know the mavericks went through this spell in the early 2000's. They had dirk/nash/finley...and basically crap around them. they could never win in the playoffs beyond the second round because deep teams would absolutely wear them down. they couldn't win unless all three of those guys score 25+ and still lost those games because they didn't play defense. finally when they got some depth like nick van excel they made it to the WCF, but they still would fall to deeper teams.

Now this big 3 is clearly better than that big 3 because LBJ/Dwade play defense and rebound the basketball much better(Aside from their offense). and bosh is a solid 7 footer who is a legit all star. however, i still think that if they don't squeak out a title this year(and I don't think they will) it won't be a dominate team until they surround them with vets like other championship teams have had.