2011 NBA Playoffs Thread

[Errntknght]

It sure seems that losing Perkins hurt the Celtics but I just didn't see him having much impact on OKC ... was this one of those lose-lose deals?

 

[slinslin]

I would be surprised if the Mavs can win more than 2 games against the Heat. If they win 2 I would already say they overachieved in the series.

 

[Bert]

I would be surprised if the Mavs can win more than 2 games against the Heat. If they win 2 I would already say they overachieved in the series.

 

[Covert Rain]

I will say it again. I get the entire being young think for the Thunder but their performance down the stretch during the last 3 losses was beyond pathetic. Poor execution because of bad shot selection and way too much one on one basketball. They were so predictable .... it reminded me of D'Antoni's led Suns down the stretch of basketball games.....predictable and stubborn even when things were not working.

Durant even admitted the last game he didn't know what to do. That is coaching IMO. When your star player is out there saying he didn't know what to do and it looks like your team is improvising down the stretch of close games without a plan...that is on the coach IMO.

Good luck Mavs.

 

[Michael]

I would be surprised if the Mavs can win more than 2 games against the Heat. If they win 2 I would already say they overachieved in the series.

I don't see any different outcome, either. I don't see the Mavs having much success in stopping the Heat wings (although Marion and Stevenson aren't the worst defenders out there), and while nobody can guard Nowitzki one-on-one, the Heat's rotations are significantly crisper than OKC's. As such, Dirk will face double teams while the Mavs' shooters will still have trouble in getting open threes.

But no matter what, I haven't anticipated an NBA Finals series since the Jordan days.

Finally no Spurs or Lakers!

 

[mojorizen7]

Does anyone think that IF/and when the Mavs meet Miami in the Finals....that the '06 Finals outcome has any bearing at all on Dirk and Terry's mindset and psyche?

 

[Lorenzo]

Does anyone think that IF/and when the Mavs meet Miami in the Finals....that the '06 Finals outcome has any bearing at all on Dirk and Terry's mindset and psyche?

it already has, dirk didn't even stay through the post game trophy presentation and talked to his team about not celebrating that victory last night.

 

[Lorenzo]

I will say it again. I get the entire being young think for the Thunder but their performance down the stretch during the last 3 losses was beyond pathetic. Poor execution because of bad shot selection and way too much one on one basketball. They were so predictable .... it reminded me of D'Antoni's led Suns down the stretch of basketball games.....predictable and stubborn even when things were not working.

Durant even admitted the last game he didn't know what to do. That is coaching IMO. When your star player is out there saying he didn't know what to do and it looks like your team is improvising down the stretch of close games without a plan...that is on the coach IMO.

Good luck Mavs.

the blazers-had poor execution down the stretch in games

the defending champion lakers(with the best closer in the game and best coach of all time) had poor execution down the stretch in games.

the thunder(the team that was supposed to be the only team capable of upsetting LAL according to many) had poor execution down the stretch in games.

what was the common factor? the mavs closing them out. you can make other observations, but you have to give credit where it is due. the mavs went 12-3 in the west playoffs. in a road to the finals that was CLEARLY much more difficult than 2006 when they had some cupcake opponents.

 

[Lorenzo]

I would be surprised if the Mavs can win more than 2 games against the Heat. If they win 2 I would already say they overachieved in the series.

be prepared to be surprised then. I still feel that dallas already eliminated the best team in the NBA back in the second round of the playoffs. so now it is just about closing the deal. and they have done a great job of that so far.

The heat are playing better than expected(IMO). and the bulls are tough. but I don't know that it would be a huge shoke to see dallas beat either one of those teams. the overall team play that dallas plays is really going under the radar. at both ends of the court.

 

[Lorenzo]

I don't see any different outcome, either. I don't see the Mavs having much success in stopping the Heat wings (although Marion and Stevenson aren't the worst defenders out there), and while nobody can guard Nowitzki one-on-one, the Heat's rotations are significantly crisper than OKC's. As such, Dirk will face double teams while the Mavs' shooters will still have trouble in getting open threes.

But no matter what, I haven't anticipated an NBA Finals series since the Jordan days.

Finally no Spurs or Lakers!

I agree about the heat perimeter defense. thanks to lebron and wade they have a great perimeter defense. against dallas(if that is the matchup) they will be much more difficult than what they face against the bulls. dallas is stacked with perimeter players, but dirk, marion, chandler, and haywood can all score inside(mostly because of dirk). where they have to beat miami is in the paint. and i think they can. that will then open up the perimeter(and unlike the bulls who have one or two knock down shooters...the mavs are loaded with them). chandler will guard bosh a lot in this series and he has been very effective on skinny guys like bosh(at both ends).


we will see. I am very impressed with the heat.

 

[Covert Rain]

the blazers-had poor execution down the stretch in games

the defending champion lakers(with the best closer in the game and best coach of all time) had poor execution down the stretch in games.

the thunder(the team that was supposed to be the only team capable of upsetting LAL according to many) had poor execution down the stretch in games.

what was the common factor? the mavs closing them out. you can make other observations, but you have to give credit where it is due. the mavs went 12-3 in the west playoffs. in a road to the finals that was CLEARLY much more difficult than 2006 when they had some cupcake opponents.

You seriously trying to compare? Neither the Lakers nor the Blazers looked lost at the end of those games. Neither had their star player saying they didn't know what to do down the stretch. The Lakers and Blazers were actually still scoring at the end of those games. Neither of those teams could stop Dallas down the stretch and played horrible defense.

Not even comparable to what the Thunder showed.

be prepared to be surprised then. I still feel that dallas already eliminated the best team in the NBA back in the second round of the playoffs. so now it is just about closing the deal. and they have done a great job of that so far.

Then your delusional and have not been watching the Lakers. It's been universally recognized the Lakers were not the same Lakers almost the entire season. Leading up to the 1st half of the season everybody was asking what is wrong with the Lakers. They appeared to be righting the ship in the 2nd half but the Lakers were not the best team in the NBA.

If it makes you feel better go ahead and say it but it's not true. Both the Mavs and Heat are better teams.

 

[Russ Smith]

With all the ESPN focus on Westbrook they are giving Scott Brooks and Durant a total pass here which is ridiculous.

Brooks decision to play Maynor in the 4th quarter last night lost the game.

1) He couldn't stay in front of Barea which was the main reason he was in.
2) It forced harden to guard Marion who was too big and scored over him repeatedly.
3) It forced Durant to guard Chandler which hurt them on the glass.
4) It allowed Dallas to have Dirk guard Maynor total cupcake guard and the only time they tried to exploit it Maynor drove and shot an airball.

The key point in the game is Dallas down 2 with the ball Dirk misses a 3, Chandler is not blocked out by Durant and he contests Westbrook on the rebound. his leg trips Westbrook when they land and the ball squirts loose, no foul Dallas gets it back and Dirk hits the go ahead 3 up 1.

Down the other end Maynor shoots his airball, collison saves it but it goes to Marion. If you watch, Terry makes a brilliant veteran play and just half pass blocks half grabs Durant to screen him off the ball, Durant pushes him aside but then foolishly fouls Marion on the dunk turning a 3 point deficit into a 4 point one.

Down the other end the refs makeup for the no call on the rebound and give Westbrook 2 FT's, lead down to 2. Dirk misses but Durant doesn't block out Marion he gets his hands on it and Dirk winds up getting fouled Dallas up 4 again.

Down the other end Durant inexplicably jacks up a 27 footer that misses, harden misses his shot, game over.

So the matchup with Durant and Chandler led to a key play, Marion hurt Harden repeatedly, not having Ibaka in hurt their rebounding and interior defense.

I think maynor in game 2 was huge for them winning but last night he was the reason they lost because it shifted all the matchups and hurt them on the glass, and that's all on Scott Brooks.

And Durant was AWFUL down the stretch again, dumb foul, 2 missed blockouts and a 30 footer that he should have never taken.

And now ESPN is banging the drum to trade Westbrook.

 

[Lorenzo]

You seriously trying to compare? Neither the Lakers nor the Blazers looked lost at the end of those games. Neither had their star player saying they didn't know what to do down the stretch. The Lakers and Blazers were actually still scoring at the end of those games. Neither of those teams could stop Dallas down the stretch and played horrible defense.

Not even comparable to what the Thunder showed.



Then your delusional and have not been watching the Lakers. It's been universally recognized the Lakers were not the same Lakers almost the entire season. Leading up to the 1st half of the season everybody was asking what is wrong with the Lakers. They appeared to be righting the ship in the 2nd half but the Lakers were not the best team in the NBA.

If it makes you feel better go ahead and say it but it's not true. Both the Mavs and Heat are better teams.

games 1 and games 3 the lakers had big leads over the mavericks that they normally do not lose against any team. maybe you wern't watching i don't know. Kobe didn't score down the stretch in those games either, I think he may have hit one or two shots within the last few mins, but when they had to score no one did. the mavericks forced turnovers down the stretch in both of those games and dirk closed it down offensively. were we not playing the same blame game with gasol that we are now with westbrook? what about lamarcus aldridge? what happened to him as the series went on? his numbers got smaller every game too. again maybe this is more about the mavericks at both ends of the court earning these games.

either way. I agree that OKC lost a bigger lead in game 4. that was an exceptional game. not something you will typically see. it took a lot of things to go right at both ends for dallas to win that game, but they earned it even if OKC did nothing to help themselves win. but the other games wern't much different than some of the games dallas played against the other teams in the playoffs.

My opinion is that the lakers were the best team in the league. just my opinion. if I'm delusional...then there are a lot of others too. of corse after a sweep people are going to say "well they wern't that good"


they were the 2 time defending champs and they won 57 games. So when they played dallas I felt they were the best team in the league. better than miami. now miami is still playing. so the fact that I felt that the lakers were the best team is in the past. they are done and miami/chicago/dallas are all that's left.

 

[Lorenzo]

With all the ESPN focus on Westbrook they are giving Scott Brooks and Durant a total pass here which is ridiculous.

Brooks decision to play Maynor in the 4th quarter last night lost the game.

1) He couldn't stay in front of Barea which was the main reason he was in.
2) It forced harden to guard Marion who was too big and scored over him repeatedly.
3) It forced Durant to guard Chandler which hurt them on the glass.
4) It allowed Dallas to have Dirk guard Maynor total cupcake guard and the only time they tried to exploit it Maynor drove and shot an airball.

The key point in the game is Dallas down 2 with the ball Dirk misses a 3, Chandler is not blocked out by Durant and he contests Westbrook on the rebound. his leg trips Westbrook when they land and the ball squirts loose, no foul Dallas gets it back and Dirk hits the go ahead 3 up 1.

Down the other end Maynor shoots his airball, collison saves it but it goes to Marion. If you watch, Terry makes a brilliant veteran play and just half pass blocks half grabs Durant to screen him off the ball, Durant pushes him aside but then foolishly fouls Marion on the dunk turning a 3 point deficit into a 4 point one.

Down the other end the refs makeup for the no call on the rebound and give Westbrook 2 FT's, lead down to 2. Dirk misses but Durant doesn't block out Marion he gets his hands on it and Dirk winds up getting fouled Dallas up 4 again.

Down the other end Durant inexplicably jacks up a 27 footer that misses, harden misses his shot, game over.

So the matchup with Durant and Chandler led to a key play, Marion hurt Harden repeatedly, not having Ibaka in hurt their rebounding and interior defense.

I think maynor in game 2 was huge for them winning but last night he was the reason they lost because it shifted all the matchups and hurt them on the glass, and that's all on Scott Brooks.

And Durant was AWFUL down the stretch again, dumb foul, 2 missed blockouts and a 30 footer that he should have never taken.

And now ESPN is banging the drum to trade Westbrook.

I agree with you analysis. that pretty much sums it up. in game 2 I actually thought that brooks was fortunate to win with that lineup. that small lineup worked for a little while, but the mavs had opportunities late in the game to come back from that 10 point lead. ultimately they ran out of gas offensively, but I do recall dirk having 16 of his 29 points in that quarter. brooks was billed a "genius" by some people for benching westbrook, but I actually thought he was lucky. should we really be surprised by any of these results? all year long dirk averaged about a point per min played against this team. they lost all their games at home to dallas. westbrook was having idenitity problems in the prior 2 series against weaker opponents. so I'm not shocked that those issues carried over here. the lights were just a little brighter.

at the end of the day the thunder were the most difficult team for the mavs to handle at the offensive end. they had guys that could hit outside shots and penetrate the lane at will. then their big guys were active on the boards and made the mavs pay when their bigs had to rotate to guard the lane. these were problems that portland and LAL really didn't present to dallas. these are problems that either the bulls or the heat would present to dallas as well because of their dribble penetration like the thunder.

I just think this was a manner of one team being too young and not able to close games out. they could get to the free throw line, but when they needed to hit big shots it seemed like their was way too much confusion. at the mavs end it was simple. they were going through dirk for everything down the stretch. and he came through every time.

 

[Covert Rain]

games 1 and games 3 the lakers had big leads over the mavericks that they normally do not lose against any team. maybe you wern't watching i don't know. Kobe didn't score down the stretch in those games either, I think he may have hit one or two shots within the last few mins, but when they had to score no one did. the mavericks forced turnovers down the stretch in both of those games and dirk closed it down offensively. were we not playing the same blame game with gasol that we are now with westbrook? what about lamarcus aldridge? what happened to him as the series went on? his numbers got smaller every game too. again maybe this is more about the mavericks at both ends of the court earning these games.

either way. I agree that OKC lost a bigger lead in game 4. that was an exceptional game. not something you will typically see. it took a lot of things to go right at both ends for dallas to win that game, but they earned it even if OKC did nothing to help themselves win. but the other games wern't much different than some of the games dallas played against the other teams in the playoffs.

My opinion is that the lakers were the best team in the league. just my opinion. if I'm delusional...then there are a lot of others too. of corse after a sweep people are going to say "well they wern't that good"


they were the 2 time defending champs and they won 57 games. So when they played dallas I felt they were the best team in the league. better than miami. now miami is still playing. so the fact that I felt that the lakers were the best team is in the past. they are done and miami/chicago/dallas are all that's left.

Like I said, whatever makes you feel better. Some teams simply are not as good as their regular season record. The Spurs are perfect example. The Mavs and Heat are better teams then the Lakers. Kobe or Aldridge weren't saying at the ends of losses they didn't know what to do. Neither of their respective teams turned into playground improvised basketball at the end of those games. If you can't see the difference in those other series compared to the Thunder series....I can't help you. I watched every game in the playoffs so far and I can say that no team East or West with the talent level of the Thunder looked as lost and unprepared down the stretch of games then they did. You don't stop running your offense and turn everything into one on one basketball (like Durant and Westbrook did).

They talked about it on the air and now many are speculating that they were not listening to the coach down the stretch of those games. I personally think some of that was the coach but I can't prove it either way. It just seemed very familiar to the D'Antoni style of coaching down the stretch. D'Antoni was no X's and O's genius and that showed in close games. I suspect the same with Scott Brooks.

 

[Lorenzo]

Like I said, whatever makes you feel better. Some teams simply are not as good as their regular season record. The Spurs are perfect example. The Mavs and Heat are better teams then the Lakers. Kobe or Aldridge weren't saying at the ends of losses they didn't know what to do. Neither of their respective teams turned into playground improvised basketball at the end of those games. If you can't see the difference in those other series compared to the Thunder series....I can't help you. I watched every game in the playoffs so far and I can say that no team East or West with the talent level of the Thunder looked as lost and unprepared down the stretch of games then they did. You don't stop running your offense and turn everything into one on one basketball (like Durant and Westbrook did).

They talked about it on the air and now many are speculating that they were not listening to the coach down the stretch of those games. I personally think some of that was the coach but I can't prove it either way. It just seemed very familiar to the D'Antoni style of coaching down the stretch. D'Antoni was no X's and O's genius and that showed in close games. I suspect the same with Scott Brooks.

the mavs are better than the lakers now. I just meant that when the mavs played the lakers I thought the lakers were the best team in the league. now they aren't because they are eliminated. when the mavs beat the lakers I felt at that point that they could beat anyone. just so you know what I meant. I do think they can beat the heat too, but I'm not naive to the fact that the heat are a great team and could eliminate dallas.

there were a lot of good teams in the league this year. spurs, lakers, bulls, heat, mavs, celtics, thunder, mephis, magic, hawks. all of these teams were solid. not all of them can be on top at the end. some have to be eliminated.

as far as OKC....yes I agree with what you are saying. they are playing one on one basketball and they aren't making shots. chicago did the same with rose down the stretch of the last game they lost. It is weird to hear durant say he was lost. he seemed to be saying how he felt. it's not uncommon for these guys to be frustrated when they lose. if I recall when the mavs lost to phoenix that one year...dirk yelled at terry on the court. then in the post game he agreed with a reporter who questioned the front office decision to let steve nash leave the team. this was coming off of an OT game where he failed to score a point in OT if I recall. he took heat for it...that's what happens to your star player when you lose. that was the first year when dirk had the team on his back as the main star of the team. some things you just have to learn through experience of failure. then there was lebron last year with cleveland. didn't he have a game where it looked like he mailed it in? and people were knocking him? it comes with the territory of being a star when your team loses. especially when you have never won a ring.

 

[Superbone]

P.S - Do Terry with his FAT head really need to dunk that last possession. Marion and Dirk is the reason i am supporting mavs, cant stand Terry.

Nope. Should have just dribbled out the clock.

 

[Superbone]

It sure seems that losing Perkins hurt the Celtics but I just didn't see him having much impact on OKC ... was this one of those lose-lose deals?

That appears to me to be the case.

But I understand Perkins isn't 100% healthy. We'll see what his effect is when he is.

 

[Lorenzo]

Nope. Should have just dribbled out the clock.

well technically he did. he waited until 0.0 to dunk it. they even reviewed the play.

 

[Superbone]

I would be surprised if the Mavs can win more than 2 games against the Heat. If they win 2 I would already say they overachieved in the series.

I've got the Mavs winning it in 6 or 7. Most likely 6.

 

[Superbone]

But no matter what, I haven't anticipated an NBA Finals series since the Jordan days.

Finally no Spurs or Lakers!

Or Celtics.

 

[Superbone]

well technically he did. he waited until 0.0 to dunk it. they even reviewed the play.

Seriously? I fast forwarded after the dunk and missed all that. Didn't know it didn't count but it really doesn't matter in the scope of things.

 

[Covert Rain]

the mavs are better than the lakers now. I just meant that when the mavs played the lakers I thought the lakers were the best team in the league. now they aren't because they are eliminated. when the mavs beat the lakers I felt at that point that they could beat anyone. just so you know what I meant. I do think they can beat the heat too, but I'm not naive to the fact that the heat are a great team and could eliminate dallas.

Keyword..."thought". Everyone thought the Spurs were back to their old form heading into the playoffs as well. When a series goes 7 games and it goes down to the wire, it will always be debated who was the better team.

When a team wins a series 4-2, 4-0 and 4-1....there is no doubt who the better team was. It's not simply because the other team was eliminated.

as far as OKC....yes I agree with what you are saying. they are playing one on one basketball and they aren't making shots. chicago did the same with rose down the stretch of the last game they lost. It is weird to hear durant say he was lost. he seemed to be saying how he felt.

Well....one thing I think we can agree on. The Heat vs Mavs should be a really good Final. I am really looking forward to it. Personally I don't think you can stop all 3 of Wade, Lebron and Bosh. All 3 are playing like All-Stars. That is too much for one team to contend with IMO.

 

[Lorenzo]

Keyword..."thought". Everyone thought the Spurs were back to their old form heading into the playoffs as well. When a series goes 7 games and it goes down to the wire, it will always be debated who was the better team.

When a team wins a series 4-2, 4-0 and 4-1....there is no doubt who the better team was. It's not simply because the other team was eliminated.



Well....one thing I think we can agree on. The Heat vs Mavs should be a really good Final. I am really looking forward to it. Personally I don't think you can stop all 3 of Wade, Lebron and Bosh. All 3 are playing like All-Stars. That is too much for one team to contend with IMO.

good points. I agree with you. I think the heat will have their toughest test of the playoffs agains the mavs(if they beat the bulls which I think we all expect to happen). but the mavs would also have their toughest test as well.

the mavs play very well at both ends. I think they are much more explosive offensively when compared to the teams the heat have faced. and they are fearless in close games because they have the league's best closer. I like the mavs to win that series, but I am a mavs fan so it's tough for me not to be biased.

 

[Mainstreet]

Personally I would be shocked if Dallas did not win the Championship this season regardless of the opponent. This Dallas team was made for the Championship and this year they can weather the challenge because of the way are put together. Dirk is playing like an MVP, they have veteran leadership, size and their depth gives them the edge. This is my prediction and I will stand by it.