Any basketball fans on here?

[IdEngager]

Bynum is pretty much the one making the Lakers contenders this year. Jim Buss is still an idiot but his love affair with Bynum is paying off (even if Bynum is an immature jerk). Kobe is slowing turning into Old Kobe and Gasol is Gasol, but they should send tapes of Bynum's game to big man camps. Dude isn't particularly quick or explosive or super-powerful, but he's a big who plays big. None of this 7 foot guard stuff... he gets good post position, can finish in the middle or baseline, and defends the paint.

It sucks to see about Rose. ACLs usually take about two years to come back fully, he'll be able to play again next year but no way he has the same explosiveness. It could force him to evolve his game in the meantime. The East has pretty much opened up for Lebron to take the title anyway. The Heat really shouldn't go more than five games against anyone left in the East and anyone coming out of the West will probably be pretty beat up coming off of two or three brutal playoff series.

[Tim]

These playoffs are not getting any less interesting...

1. Stoudemire injures his hand by punching something (which is not that stupid) but that something is glass (which is). NYK are going down in four unless Carmelo pulls out another phenomenal game.
2. You know you're in trouble when your player with the most minutes and points is Glen Davis. I love Big Baby, but Orlando are just no good. And yet Indiana also appear to be bad enough to lose to them. I'll admit I have no idea who is going to win this, despite picking Indiana initially. I stand by my comment that whatever is crueler for Orlando fans will happen.
3. OKC are so awesome to watch, but you should not be winning by 1 and 3 at home in Games 1 & 2. On the other hand they do have home court advantage, so if they can just keep winning the home games they'll still take this. This is a great series already though. One of those ones where it's a shame either team has to be eliminated.

If Boston don't get to play the Heat then I agree with IdEngager that they'll blow through the East. Boston are the only team to consistently beat them this season, and the only one with the playoff experience to hold their nerve if they can take them to game 6/7. I think they're taking it this year though, I can't see anyone coming out of the West on the same high that it took Dallas to beat them last year. Well, except MAYBE the Spurs. Damn it'd be good to see a Lakers v Heat finals... Kobe for his 6th ring to tie MJ? And beat LeBron in the process? Damn. I'd just hate having to watch either team win though.

[Creatine Dreams]

The Lakers can be a threat to any team in a 7 game series. The thing is that Kobe is getting older and Bynum sometimes gets injured. Also, this is right around the time I start really paying attention to basketball. Also, it sucks that Rose got hurt.

[IdEngager]

These playoffs are simultaneously entertaining and infuriating. Watching all these teams all season, you know that no lead is safe. I don't understand how OKC can have three guys perfectly capable of getting their own shot (KD/Russy/Harden) and two guys perfectly competent at spotting up (Fisher and Ibaka) and still have the worst end of game plays this side of Vinny Del Negro or Lebron in the Finals.

That being said, I did enjoy these tweets about Amare:

Quote:@AlexKennedyNBA: It sounds like Amar'e Stoudemire punched a fire extinguisher. I was worried about Mike Bibby for a second

@AlexKennedyNBA: Landry Fields tried to punch the same fire extinguisher, but missed

@PTI: To his credit, Amare was attacking the glass.

[questra]

Dallas and NY pretty much got whitewashed today. Any way back for Dirk and the Mavs? History says no.
And where's Jeremy Lin when you need him?

Agree with Tim - a Lakers Heat finals would be awesome, but the Lakers would have to get past spurs/OKC first...
I actually think it might be OKC winning this year, unless of course Harden gets taken out by World Peace again

[Mark]

Ugh... in a Lakers/Heat finals, I think I would cheer for a terrorist attack.

[Tim]

On to round two...

For all the excitement (2 Game 7s)weirdness (Stoudemire punching his fist through glass) and misery (Rose's ACL injury) of round one, things were actually remarkably straight forward. Sure, the number one seed in the East was eliminated, but after losing Rose that wasn't unexpected. I picked the Bulls to be able to win even without him, and I stand by that... sort of. I think if they'd gone into the series without him then they would have done it. But losing him so early on was just the sort of morale-crushing blow no team could recover from. They got blown out at home in Game 2, when the hurt was at it's worst, and then managed to keep the rest close, even losing Noah at the end as well. If Rose was out well before the playoffs they'd have dealt with it ok, but this was too much to take. I'll definitely be cheering for them next season though.

And aside from that, it was pretty normal. The rest of the top seeds made it through in the East (even if Boston didn't have home court advantage they were still technically seed #4. And in the West only the Clippers upset the Grizzlies. But not really. How awesome was that series though?! Biggest comeback in playoff history, Memphis winning a crucial Game 5 at home to keep it alive, and then winning a crucial Game 6 at LA to take it back home again, only for LA to finally take it by far more than the hair's breadth their fans were probably nervously hoping was the best case scenario. Oh, and the Lakers got taken to a Game 7 and generally look like a huge mess. I give Denver their dues though.

Anyway... on to the Semis.

(4) Boston Celtics vs (8) Philadelphia 76ers.

Technically I'm cheating a bit because this series has already started, but honestly what happened in game one was of very little help for any crystal ball gazers. As they did against Atlanta in game one of the first series, Boston started poorly but still won. So maybe this means nothing. But it was at home this time, and they only won by a point. So maybe it does? Doesn't matter, now we've got home court advantage back I'm feeling confident.

Boston in 5.

(2) Miami Heat vs (3) Indiana Pacers.

Again, this series has started. Again, not much help for predictions. Pacers were competitive for most of the game and match up well against the Heat. They still lost by a bit though. If they want any chance of taking this series they need to take one game from the Heat in Miami (possible) while not giving any away at home themselves (about as likely as LeBron giving his 3rd MVP trophy back). I could see neither side winning away in this series, which means Miami's home court advantage takes it. But I think the Pacers will slip them one. So...

Heat in 6.

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs (5) LA Clippers.

CP3 is the awesomest guy in the NBA right now! Proof=

and his son is as funny as he is adorable

. Oh yeah, he's playing pretty awesomely on the court too. So it's going to hurt to see his team beaten by the Spurs. I like LA, but they don't have the all-round ability to beat the most-balanced team in the League. Maybe some more Chris Paul heroics can take them to a deciding game where he can put the cherry on the sundae, but I doubt it. See, the Spurs are an incredibly dangerous team right now because last year they had a very strong regular season, then watched it very quickly turn to nothing. But instead of beating themselves up and sliding down to something like the 3rd or 4th seed in the West, they picked themselves up and quietly decided to do it all again. They got the number one seed, played themselves into the perfect form coming into the playoffs, and then quietly dismantled the Jazz. There are three teams who worked very hard last season and ended up selling themselves short at some point in the playoffs; the Heat, the Celtics, and Miami. No way are those three teams going to let that happen again. We're definitely seeing one of the latter two in the finals, and the only way the Spurs aren't getting there too is if OKC stop them.

"Everybody know how much I hate to bust my lip"

Spurs in 6.

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder vs (3) LA Lakers

There haven't been better odds on two scorers on opposite teams both getting 40+ points in a game since LeBron had to do everything in the world for the Cavs versus Orlando and Dwight in 2009. I almost want to predict a 50 point game... Oh hell, I'll do it. Either Kobe or Durant are going to have a 50+ plus point game. You heard it here first.

This has all the makings of a classic. Kobe and Durant duel each other for scoring leader of the series, MWP, Bynum and Gasol versus Ibaka, Perkins and Harden should make for a nice physical matchup, and best of all, the Lakers will probably lose! Couldn't ask for more really. Even if LA win, then there's still a possibility they could lose to Boston in the Finals. There's no losers here folks! Well except for LA when they get beaten by...

OKC in 7.

That's a huge call by the way, because it's saying that the not-very-clutch Thunder can beat the most clutch player of our generation in a game 7. Even with that game 7 in OKC that's a huge call. TBH there's also a very good chance OKC will just blow them out of the water in like...5 games. So, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. But I pick OKC if there is a game 7! Overall I still think Miami are still going to make it to the Finals where they'll beat the Spurs. Oh, well, obviously I still think Boston will win it all. BUT. If in some crazy world they don't, then the aforementioned scenario becomes my pick.

[Mark]

Veterans have been bagging on Craig Sager for ages... Kevin Garnett and Shaq used to lay into him about his suits all the time.

I think Celtics and Heat both get through fairly easily (in 5 or 6 apiece). Clippers will give Spurs some trouble for a game or two, but they're not ready to make the leap yet, so Spurs will get through. I also think OKC will handle the Lakers pretty handily. I haven't seen many games, but from what I have seen, the Lakers haven't impressed me, the Thunder have. I say they both get through in 6.

I think it's a Heat/Spurs finals.

[Tim]

You non-believer! If anyone can take down the Heat, it's the Celtics.

[IdEngager]

I honestly think the NBA scheduled the games so close together this round because they think none of these series will be all that close.

Boston and Miami will walk through their series. Philly is too young and Miami is simply superior to Indy. Philly and Indy will each take one game where Boston looks old and Miami falls asleep at the throttle (as both teams are wont to do on occasion), but we're headed to a Boston-Miami ECF.

I honestly don't think the Lakers will be that close to the Thunder either. Remember, the Thunder beat the Lakers fairly handily twice and were up big in the game they lost despite one of their best players being knocked out of the game on a cheap shot. The Lakers struggled to beat a Nuggets team that matches up poorly with them, and the Thunder match up perfectly with the Lakers. They have three strong defensive bigs in Perkins, Ibaka, and Collison who can match up one on one with Bynum and Gasol. They won't shut them down but they can give them a tough time without help. Thabo plays Kobe as tough as anyone, and while Durant will probably get bugged by MWP's physicality, the Lakers have never had an answer for Westbrook or Harden. Thunder in 5 (my man Russy will shoot the Thunder out of one game otherwise this is a Mavs-style sweep from last year).

Can't see the Clips matching up too well with the Spurs either. CP3 is the best player on the court still but Tony Parker isn't too far behind. Biggest problem for the Clips is in late game situations, Evans-Kenyon is by far their best rebounding and defense big man combo, but basically give you no offensive threat. You can throw Griffin in with one of them like they usually do, but it's hard to rely on him late game too with his free throw problems (credit to him knocking down some big late game FTs against the Grizz though). The Spurs won't go through scoring droughts like the Grizz did in their loses. Spurs in 6, maybe 5.

[IdEngager]

Tough loss by the C's there. I liked seeing my man Jrue make some key shots there, surprised to see they made that call on the KG pick cause they've been doing that for years. I still think the C's got this series but it looks like more of a fight than I thought.

[Tim]

I don't feel so good...

[Tim]

Ugh, just lost my entire post on predictions for this. Here's a briefer version...



Boston in 6 after winning Game One or Two and then holding on to the rest of their home games.



Spurs in 5 after holding on to their home games and taking one away game.



Ouch losing all that sucks.

[Mark]

You're delusional. As much as I hate Miami and like Boston, I have to go with...

Miami in 5.
Spurs in 6.

Spurs > Miami in 6 in the finals. Making Lebron the best basketball player to ever lose in the Finals 3 times.

[IdEngager]

I was totally wrong about the East series (who woulda foreseen Bosh getting hurt though), but I was pretty much dead on about the West!

[IdEngager]

Yea, the Spurs are winning this (I'm calling this having seen a game and a half of the WCF at this point). The only thing that could possibly stand in the way are Lebron and Wade having out of this world offensive performances in the Finals and the Heat's defensive rotations being the best in the league... sorry Mark and Tim, don't see much of a shot for the Celtics to make it out as well (barring a miraculous Ray Allen ankle rejuvenation).

[Tim]

The point is not to believe that the Celtics can win. The point is to deny the knowledge of any other possibility. Boston in 4 in the finals. Calling it now.

[Mark]

I'm with you. I can't see how the Spurs don't win the championship. Their games 1 and 2 against the Thunder have been some of the best team performances I've ever seen.

[Creatine Dreams]

Rooting for the Thunder, then Miami.

Definitely not rooting for the Spurs and most definitely not rooting for the Celtics.

[Tim]

(05-31-2012 12:40 AM)Creatine Dreams Wrote:  Rooting for the Thunder, then Miami.

Definitely not rooting for the Spurs and most definitely not rooting for the Celtics.

[Creatine Dreams]

I bet you can figure out what team I root for!

[questra]

Would now say...

Spurs over Miami in 6 in the finals...

Read Bill Simmons article recently about how if the Spurs win this year, that would give Tim Duncan 5 rings and in his opinion leapfrog Duncan over Kobe in #6 for GOAT. Duncan's always so understated I didn't even realize he already has 4 rings!

[IdEngager]

As soon as I declare the Spurs are going to walk to the championship, the Thunder storm back (granted, at home) and make it a series. Finally they're playing Sefolosha bigger minutes and showing improved defensive effort.

Anyone have any other teams they would like me to jinx?

[questra]

could you jinx the Thunder pls?

*still rather sore that they (deservedly) beat the lakers

[IdEngager]

Can't do that! Westbrook is my boy! Plus he's my richest friend on Facebook, haha.