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cisternachyli
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 Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeggs wrote: | I'm starting to wonder if Miami wants the 2nd seed. 2nd seed means they will avoid having to play the Nets or the Bulls if the standings were to stay as they were. Just gotta hope that Bulls pass Toronto and get the 3rd seed. That would force Miami to play a tough Bulls series.
Current playoff bracket for the current standings are here in case anyone is interested:
http://www.nbaplayoffsbracket.com/2014/index.php |
wow, the 2 great NBA teams, the Lakers and the Celtics..are in the lottery; while the Bobcats, yes the Bobcats, are a 7th seed for the playoffs  . |
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ChrisCrossed
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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| cisternachyli wrote: | | Jeggs wrote: | I'm starting to wonder if Miami wants the 2nd seed. 2nd seed means they will avoid having to play the Nets or the Bulls if the standings were to stay as they were. Just gotta hope that Bulls pass Toronto and get the 3rd seed. That would force Miami to play a tough Bulls series.
Current playoff bracket for the current standings are here in case anyone is interested:
http://www.nbaplayoffsbracket.com/2014/index.php |
wow, the 2 great NBA teams, the Lakers and the Celtics..are in the lottery; while the Bobcats, yes the Bobcats, are a 7th seed for the playoffs . |
People don't realize that Charlotte has really improved, they became a good defensive team that just lacks fire power. They have a solid start though in Al and Kemba. |
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ReaListik
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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I equate the OKC vs Spurs match-up to being very similar to how it used to be with the Suns vs Spurs. The Suns would go off on the regular season and rail out 56+ wins with fast-paced high octane offense, and then when it came time to play the Spurs(when they were down to business).......game over.
The Spurs will probably represent the West in the Finals again.
I have an odd feeling though that LeBron will go super-saiyan again in the playoffs and get the Heat back to the Finals.
In my eyes now....Heat vs. Spurs rematch...this time hopefully the Spurs can close them out without any colossal brain sharts.
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Chronicle
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Location: Manhattan
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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| ChrisCrossed wrote: | | cisternachyli wrote: | | Jeggs wrote: | I'm starting to wonder if Miami wants the 2nd seed. 2nd seed means they will avoid having to play the Nets or the Bulls if the standings were to stay as they were. Just gotta hope that Bulls pass Toronto and get the 3rd seed. That would force Miami to play a tough Bulls series.
Current playoff bracket for the current standings are here in case anyone is interested:
http://www.nbaplayoffsbracket.com/2014/index.php |
wow, the 2 great NBA teams, the Lakers and the Celtics..are in the lottery; while the Bobcats, yes the Bobcats, are a 7th seed for the playoffs . |
People don't realize that Charlotte has really improved, they became a good defensive team that just lacks fire power. They have a solid start though in Al and Kemba. |
Steve Clifford is a legit head coach
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KBH
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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| ReaListik wrote: | I equate the OKC vs Spurs match-up to being very similar to how it used to be with the Suns vs Spurs. The Suns would go off on the regular season and rail out 56+ wins with fast-paced high octane offense, and then when it came time to play the Spurs(when they were down to business).......game over.
The Spurs will probably represent the West in the Finals again.
I have an odd feeling though that LeBron will go super-saiyan again in the playoffs and get the Heat back to the Finals.
In my eyes now....Heat vs. Spurs rematch...this time hopefully the Spurs can close them out without any colossal brain sharts. |
Except the Thunder beat the Spurs two years ago. |
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DShotMaker1824
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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Spurs vs Bulls NBA Finals
Bulls Path
Derrick Rose comes back to shock the world in the 2nd Round after they Bobcats (Who embarrassed the Heat in the 1st Round with Al Jefferson).
Then they will go to 7 games with the mighty Pacers in the Conference Finals but then Paul George will miss the game winning shot to go to the finals.
Spurs Path
They'll sweep their first 2 rounds, then go 6 games with the Thunder.
Finals
Spurs sweep the Bulls exposing how weak the Eastern Conference really was this year.
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SlickVic
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| Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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As reliable as the Spurs are at being a great team during the regular season, they seem rather unpredictable in the playoffs. They have stretches during the postseason where they appear unbeatable, only to see their fine-tuned engine sputter and stall out at some point. I'm still not sure how the managed to lose Game 6 of the Finals last year, but even writing that off as bad luck (or bad circumstance), their record the 3 postseasons prior were rather erratic:
2010: Pulls off 1st round upset against the Mavs, then proceed to get swept in the 2nd round by the Suns
2011: Earns the 1 seed, only to get beaten by the Grizzlies in the 1st Round
2012: Loses the WCF after going up 2-0 against the Thunder
I suppose injury may have a role to play in some of those as well, but that team really hasn't gotten much younger, and that's always going to be a big concern for them. So perhaps the Spurs make the Finals this year, but I could potentially see the Thunder or someone else in the West take them out. You never know when the Spurs are going to run into trouble again. |
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Aeneas Hunter
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jonnybravo
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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I think Berger's viewpoint is a tad off. Comparing them to Pop's resting of the SA guys is apples to oranges imo. He's only been doing that in the last five years when Duncan was approaching mid-30's. Parker still has been playing big minutes (when healthy). Manu's minutes have never been high. The guy is a walking injury. On the other hand, the Pacers are young and athletic as hell. Kind of an indictment if they're gassed at this point.
Like you've pointed out in another thread, PG's play has dropped off precipitously. Regression to the mean. He's still catapulted himself as a legitimate all-star and top 10 player but not even within sniffing distance of the MVP "caliber" play he showed in the first two months. This is 3 straight months of shooting 40%-41%. Horrendous. Defenses are keying in on him. Slow first step and no iso moves is going to lead to some piss poor shooting on a lot of night. I think simply, they were as dominant as they were to start the season because of PG's insane start (for his standards). Him regressing means the team isn't going to continue on that same winning pace.
Bulls went 72-10 and went full throttle without letting up. That's with a quartet of mid-30 year olds. |
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Aeneas Hunter
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Those are good points. Just the same, when I watched them, they did look gassed. But then, maybe a lot of teams are gassed about now. For the Pacers, it must be tough to work up a sense of urgency, with the Heat coming unglued down the stretch. |
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mhan00
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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| diando wrote: | Spurs vs Bulls NBA Finals
Bulls Path
Derrick Rose comes back to shock the world in the 2nd Round after they Bobcats (Who embarrassed the Heat in the 1st Round with Al Jefferson).
Then they will go to 7 games with the mighty Pacers in the Conference Finals but then Paul George will miss the game winning shot to go to the finals.
Spurs Path
They'll sweep their first 2 rounds, then go 6 games with the Thunder.
Finals
Spurs sweep the Bulls exposing how weak the Eastern Conference really was this year. |
Rose would hurt more than help if he came back in the second round. He's extremely ball dominant, he will be coming off his second no contact knee injury (that has to play havoc with his head), and he didn't look very good before his injury this season anyways. Throwing him in with a team very used to playing without him would destroy their chemistry and play. |
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Jeggs
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Pacers playing like junk, along with with George. Miami playing like junk too. Not sure what's going on with these two teams, maybe the both secretly want the 2nd seed to avoid playing the nets or Chicago. |
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Steve007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| SlickVic wrote: | As reliable as the Spurs are at being a great team during the regular season, they seem rather unpredictable in the playoffs. They have stretches during the postseason where they appear unbeatable, only to see their fine-tuned engine sputter and stall out at some point. I'm still not sure how the managed to lose Game 6 of the Finals last year, but even writing that off as bad luck (or bad circumstance), their record the 3 postseasons prior were rather erratic:
2010: Pulls off 1st round upset against the Mavs, then proceed to get swept in the 2nd round by the Suns
2011: Earns the 1 seed, only to get beaten by the Grizzlies in the 1st Round
2012: Loses the WCF after going up 2-0 against the Thunder
I suppose injury may have a role to play in some of those as well, but that team really hasn't gotten much younger, and that's always going to be a big concern for them. So perhaps the Spurs make the Finals this year, but I could potentially see the Thunder or someone else in the West take them out. You never know when the Spurs are going to run into trouble again. |
A big problem they have is the same problem the other teams in the West have. The conference is so tough. Even in 2011 when they played the 8th seeded team, that was a tough opponent. Memphis gave OKC a 7 game series in the next round. The Spurs weren't that good in 2010 so I'm not sure that even belongs on the list. They weren't even the higher seed in their first round matchup and I remember thinking they were done at the time, and not a serious threat to win the West.
I think the Spurs had weaker competition in 2012 (before they played OKC) when they played an 8th seeded Utah team and a banged up Clipper team, and the Spurs looked much better then. They also handled the Lakers without Howard and Kobe without any trouble.
If San Antonio switched places with either Indiana or Miami then I think it would be a sure thing that they make the conference finals, but in the West they are going to have to fight just to make it that far. |
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SlickVic
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Steve007 wrote: | | SlickVic wrote: | As reliable as the Spurs are at being a great team during the regular season, they seem rather unpredictable in the playoffs. They have stretches during the postseason where they appear unbeatable, only to see their fine-tuned engine sputter and stall out at some point. I'm still not sure how the managed to lose Game 6 of the Finals last year, but even writing that off as bad luck (or bad circumstance), their record the 3 postseasons prior were rather erratic:
2010: Pulls off 1st round upset against the Mavs, then proceed to get swept in the 2nd round by the Suns
2011: Earns the 1 seed, only to get beaten by the Grizzlies in the 1st Round
2012: Loses the WCF after going up 2-0 against the Thunder
I suppose injury may have a role to play in some of those as well, but that team really hasn't gotten much younger, and that's always going to be a big concern for them. So perhaps the Spurs make the Finals this year, but I could potentially see the Thunder or someone else in the West take them out. You never know when the Spurs are going to run into trouble again. |
A big problem they have is the same problem the other teams in the West have. The conference is so tough. Even in 2011 when they played the 8th seeded team, that was a tough opponent. Memphis gave OKC a 7 game series in the next round. The Spurs weren't that good in 2010 so I'm not sure that even belongs on the list. They weren't even the higher seed in their first round matchup and I remember thinking they were done at the time, and not a serious threat to win the West.
I think the Spurs had weaker competition in 2012 (before they played OKC) when they played an 8th seeded Utah team and a banged up Clipper team, and the Spurs looked much better then. They also handled the Lakers without Howard and Kobe without any trouble.
If San Antonio switched places with either Indiana or Miami then I think it would be a sure thing that they make the conference finals, but in the West they are going to have to fight just to make it that far. |
Hence the wording of 1st round upset. In 2010, I felt the Mavs had a pretty solid shot at the WCF (granted the Mavs at that time had their own troubles with the playoffs), but the Spurs pretty soundly beat them. I think that Spurs team was probably better than a lot of people gave them credit for (not to downplay what the Suns accomplished that year as well), which is what surprised me with how quickly they fell off after beating the Mavs. I do agree that team was weaker than the teams they've had since, but I still think they were a decent team of the Manu-Parker-Duncan era ('09 was a wash for them since Manu didn't even play in the playoffs that year, so I didn't go that far back).
But it seems you're largely arguing the same point as me. Bottom line, the West is tough this year, and the Spurs are far from a lock for the Finals. And to be fair, I don't really consider any one team a real favorite to make it out of the West. At least not to the extent of something like '09 and '10 where it felt the Western Conference was the Lakers to lose in those seasons. |
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Telleris
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Posts: 2371
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| jonnybravo wrote: |
I think Berger's viewpoint is a tad off. Comparing them to Pop's resting of the SA guys is apples to oranges imo. He's only been doing that in the last five years when Duncan was approaching mid-30's. Parker still has been playing big minutes (when healthy). Manu's minutes have never been high. The guy is a walking injury. On the other hand, the Pacers are young and athletic as hell. Kind of an indictment if they're gassed at this point.
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Parker doesn't play big minutes, he's only 30 mpg this year and then he was given 2 weeks off. The Pacers blew their load early, but more than that, the defensive intensity they play with is just plain exhausting to maintain through a regular season. |
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agent00tony
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| Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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| With the way Pacers are playing they would be lucky to get out the first round. |
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lakersken80
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| Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Spurs are scary good once again....people keep writing them off but they keep coming back. |
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Krispy Kreme
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Joined: 30 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:34 am Post subject: |
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Spurs in 5 over Indy.
Spurs in 6 over Miami.
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numero-ocho
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Joined: 27 Jul 2004
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | “Some selfish dudes in here,” Roy Hibbert muttered Friday night, after getting eight shots in the Pacers’ loss to the Wizards. “Some selfish dudes. I’m tired of talking about it. We’ve been talking about it for a month.” |
CBS
This is what happens when you're on the floor with the three other guys who can score (four if you count Hill).
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Dreamshake
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Joined: 05 May 2006
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| KBH wrote: | | ReaListik wrote: | I equate the OKC vs Spurs match-up to being very similar to how it used to be with the Suns vs Spurs. The Suns would go off on the regular season and rail out 56+ wins with fast-paced high octane offense, and then when it came time to play the Spurs(when they were down to business).......game over.
The Spurs will probably represent the West in the Finals again.
I have an odd feeling though that LeBron will go super-saiyan again in the playoffs and get the Heat back to the Finals.
In my eyes now....Heat vs. Spurs rematch...this time hopefully the Spurs can close them out without any colossal brain sharts. |
Except the Thunder beat the Spurs two years ago. |
That team had Harden on it. |
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Jeggs
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| I guess the question is, is Miami really playing better or is their schedule just easy? Wade's body is still an issue, so even with Indiana playing this bad, Miami isn't in the clear just yet. |
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jodeke
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Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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Indiana is having chemistry problems. They started at the wrong time of the season. I don't think they'll be able to get it together in time to make the finals.
The Spurs are being the Spurs, chugging along, not making noise, just winning and winning. They're on a 18 game winning streak as of 4/1.
Miami is in coast mode. Making the playoffs is their immediate goal, winning the Larry O'Brien the ultimate. I think they'll do it.
Spurs and Heat, Heat in six.
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shnxx
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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Indy sucks.
Heat will beat Spurs easily with the Spurs players one year older (Gino is should have started commentating in the broadcaster's booth last year but will probably do it next year) and LeBron a year wiser. |
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doughboy90650
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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| shnxx wrote: | Indy sucks.
Heat will beat Spurs easily with the Spurs players one year older (Gino is should have started commentating in the broadcaster's booth last year but will probably do it next year) and LeBron a year wiser. |
We've been saying one year older for years now and they're still here. Looks like this is their year. Spurs look good. The core maybe be older but those role players are still young. |
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No. 17
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Location: L.A
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| jodeke wrote: | Indiana is having chemistry problems. They started at the wrong time of the season. I don't think they'll be able to get it together in time to make the finals.
The Spurs are being the Spurs, chugging along, not making noise, just winning and winning. They're on a 18 game winning streak as of 4/1.
Miami is in coast mode. Making the playoffs is their immediate goal, winning the Larry O'Brien the ultimate. I think they'll do it.
Spurs and Heat, Heat in six. |
Spurs have HCA though and don't forget the revenge factor. Spurs in 7 
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