Official 2013-2014 NBA Playoffs Thread

[Miramonti]

I feel like im the only Suns fan here.

Dragic was a badass this year and was totally deserving. The Suns should have been in the running for so many awards.

COTY: Hornacek
MIP: Dragic, Markieff Morris, Gerald Green
6th man: Markieff Morris

Dragic should have been an all star this year. He was a beast while Bledsoe was out.

It's more of a shame the Suns are in the west...14 games > .500 is equivalent to 3rd best in the east. Their season is misrepresented by not making the playoffs, but in perspective, they absolutely had a great season and Hornacek could easily have gotten COTY (pops deserves it as much as anyone tho too, even if he's always a great coach.)

 

[Miramonti]

Bulls just don't have enough weapons to keep up.. Wall can't guard Augustine though.. Props for Wittman switching Ariza on him late. Gortat should also sit vs Noah and Gibson, too slow-footed (I can't believe Gortat went for Noah's fake at the free throw line.) Wall really made some great passes. As long as the Wiz can keep moving the ball on offense...get their shooters open looks, Bulls can't score enough (Bulls went almost 8 minutes without a basket to close out the 4th/OT). I'm gonna try to go on Sunday (hopefully a closeout game!)

Except for Augustine, who was handcuffed by ariza, Thibs puts 4 other defensive players on the floor, no shooters. WTF, LOL. I don't want to feed Hendrix' anti-thibs fire but if your defense is so good that you can't afford to put a shooter in, your defense ain't that good. FU Thibs!

Overall, I saw a great coach in Thibs tonight. Not Phil Jackson great, not Pops great, but Larry Brown and Lenny Wilkins great. A guy that will be able to turn around franchises and always be in high demand, but will never get them over the hump...atleast not if he keeps losing his marbles like he did last night, self-pleasuring himself with only defensive guys while crippling the team's chance at deep success in the playoffs. I'm not giving up on him, but f me, that was bs last night.

 

[HendrixFan]

Overall, I saw a great coach in Thibs tonight. Not Phil Jackson great, not Pops great, but Larry Brown and Lenny Wilkins great. A guy that will be able to turn around franchises and always be in high demand, but will never get them over the hump...atleast not if he keeps losing his marbles like he did last night, self-pleasuring himself with only defensive guys while crippling the team's chance at deep success in the playoffs. I'm not giving up on him, but f me, that was bs last night.

I agree. He is good at what he does. But what he does isn't maximizing a team's potential and seeing the big picture. Defense and rebounding will always be there with his teams. Maximum effort will always be there. It takes more than those three components to win it all in this league.

When the Bulls lose, they LOSE. There are no game to game adjustments from Thibs, there is no development over the season, for from season to season. He rolls out the same stuff everytime and when it is figured out consider it over. In 2011 they were eliminated 1-4, in 2012 they were eliminated 2-4 by a bad 76ers team, in 2013 the were eliminated 1-4, and now they are looking at an 0-2 deficit before heading out on the road.

Will it be enough to see Thibs run off after this season? I'm not sure. There is so much turmoil there with the Bulls front office sacking his friend this past offseason. The writing might be on the wall. If they can indeed bring in Melo and bring back 60% of what DRose used to be then they will need a coach that can have them do something to score points.

I crush Thibs with my comments (each playoff thread for the same reason - he never learns) because I like the guys the Bulls have and want to enjoy watching them. They have been one of my league pass team choices each of the past few years. It is a little bit of an S&M relationship I have as I torture myself game after game.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Holy balls, was I ever wrong about Portland and Houston, and I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life. Portland has absolutely no answer for Dwight Howard, who had one of the all-time greatest playoff quarters I've ever seen to open up game 2. But Houston has no one who can guard LaMarcus Aldridge, who has just been otherworldly, with back-to-back 40 point games on the road. Who does that? Apparently Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady according to TNT's helpful infographic, which isn't bad company to be in when it comes to playoff scoring records. As a Blazers fan, I'm all too aware of what happens when you start counting chickens, but this is as good a spot as we've found ourselves in since the 90s, so I'm pretty damn excited. Go Blazers!

 

[HendrixFan]

Holy balls, was I ever wrong about Portland and Houston, and I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life.

I enjoyed watching the Blazers early in the season but they went cold for a few months before the playoffs started, making the league just a little bit less fun. I'm rooting for the Rockets but I don't think they'll comeback from this deficit. McHale is probably gone after this early exit and his complete lack of adjustments either in game or from game one to two.

The Blazers have geared up another level for the playoffs, which is something you always try to look for. I'm curious to see how they'll do against the Spurs in round two. They went 2-1 against SA despite playing two road games. The Spurs can defend Aldridge much better than the Rockets can but when a guy is red hot like he is, they can only limit his effectiveness. Lillard will key as the SA wing defense can't keep up with him.

If the Blazers can close out the Rockets quickly while the Spurs struggle with the Mavs, it will be huge for them. They are more youthful and energetic, and if they can catch the Spurs coming in with less rest than the Blazers it tilts the scales more in their favor.

 

[manly]

Except for Augustine, who was handcuffed by ariza, Thibs puts 4 other defensive players on the floor, no shooters. WTF, LOL. I don't want to feed Hendrix' anti-thibs fire but if your defense is so good that you can't afford to put a shooter in, your defense ain't that good. FU Thibs!

Overall, I saw a great coach in Thibs tonight. Not Phil Jackson great, not Pops great, but Larry Brown and Lenny Wilkins great. A guy that will be able to turn around franchises and always be in high demand, but will never get them over the hump...atleast not if he keeps losing his marbles like he did last night, self-pleasuring himself with only defensive guys while crippling the team's chance at deep success in the playoffs. I'm not giving up on him, but f me, that was bs last night.

To improperly borrow from another sport, IMO Thibs is a fantastic DC but he doesn't have the total package to be a great head coach. Some of these defense-first coaches forget (or don't know) that you have to score points on offense to win ballgames.

I have Larry Brown right up there with Phil, I don't know how you throw his name into the bowl with Thibs and Wilkens who's a career .500 head coach. Larry Brown has won everywhere he's been, and he's been everywhere. And I know it's just one series, but he humbled Phil's team in 2004. Brown hasn't had the luxury of top 10 all-time greats on his teams, and he doesn't stay in one place very long, or else he'd have more NBA 'ships.

 

[DesiPower]

Very interesting playoff this year, my prediction about rocket was right

I am bored of watching Spurs games, I hope they just fade away soon, I wont be able to stomach their loss against Thunders so its better they loose to Dallas or Portland.

I hope Memphis beats OKC today, that will be a stunner!

 

[darkewaffle]

Well last night didn't go as I expected. Except for the Clippers game, I just don't think GS can keep up with LAC in a 7 game series.

And while it probably didn't make a difference, it seems kind of stupid that an "out of bounds" play can't be reviewed/overturned outside of 2minutes (re: Teague 3pt make).

 

[DesiPower]

Man... it was a bad night for OKC... I mean for the 1st 3 quarters, they were missing every shot and Memphis was making every one, I almost looked like they were getting lucky and OKC was out of luck. But it was a fun to watch game, every time they loose one of these crucial games, the look on Durant and Westbrook's faces are so precious! it just makes my day. They way he dived at the end as if there's no tomorrow, and received 3 free throws for that, which was simply ridiculous, hey referees, it was already too late for them to win, next time show your true color early. Go Memphis!!!

 

[lupi]

Hopefully spurs are the next to lose se we can have them, okc, and indy all under pressure of looking at 1-3.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Hopefully spurs are the next to lose se we can have them, okc, and indy all under pressure of looking at 1-3.

All the Spurs talk online is annoying. They win one game and people act like they're in it to the finals. They happen to lose one game and people make it like they've already lost.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

All the Spurs talk online is annoying. They win one game and people act like they're in it to the finals. They happen to lose one game and people make it like they've already lost.

Beats the regular season where they consistently finish in the top 3 and no one says a peep. Why discuss a good team when you can talk about the Lakers or the Knicks?

 

[darkewaffle]

Beats the regular season where they consistently finish in the top 3 and no one says a peep. Why discuss a good team when you can talk about the Lakers or the Knicks?

Because Swaggy P!

 

[IAteYourMother]

Beats the regular season where they consistently finish in the top 3 and no one says a peep. Why discuss a good team when you can talk about the Lakers or the Knicks?

People talk about the Spurs and Pop all the fucking time. In fact, it's always about how no one ever talks about the Spurs

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I know the advanced stats guys hate Kendrick Perkins, but that's because their fancy weighting systems are based around abstract concepts like true shooting percentage and win shares and ignore the much more vital metric: how frequently does a player just up and sit on an opponent?

 

[dougp]

People talk about the Spurs and Pop all the fucking time. In fact, it's always about how no one ever talks about the Spurs

Oh look who popped into the thread.

We weren't missing you, go away.

 

[darkewaffle]

Oh oh oh! It's starting!

 

[IAteYourMother]

Apparently I've made people mad on the internet

 

[Schfifty Five]

I know the advanced stats guys hate Kendrick Perkins, but that's because their fancy weighting systems are based around abstract concepts like true shooting percentage and win shares and ignore the a much more vital metric: how frequently does a player just up and sit on an opponent?

Really hoping OKC loses the series. KD it the only person on that team I feel is deserving of a ring, but there are too many D-bags on his team for me to root for him to go all the way. Perkins is the worst. What a clown. He's just so terrible in so many ways.

 

[dougp]

Apparently I've made people mad on the internet

No, I just wanted to give you a hard time. I really don't agree with what you say, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion, of course.

You very rarely saw anything on them during their 19 game streak, casual mentions at Parker being the only all-star. Considering I frequent a Spurs site, I'm probably ODed by them compared to most people but when you have a 2 minute segment on the Spurs when they're #1 and next up is a 10 minute segment on the color of LeBron's mask - that says a lot about the media.

 

[manly]

The Spurs are "old and boring" and their HoF superstar is nicknamed Mr. Fundamental. Never mind they run a fairly sophisticated, well-paced offense nowadays.

Personally I can't forget the old stereotypes either, and won't watch the Spurs before the WCF.

If OKC doesn't get to the WCF, you have to blame Sam Presti for (trading Harden and) not amnestying Perkins. But even worse, Scott Brooks still plays that guy heavy minutes even though he's an albatross in recent seasons.

 

[IAteYourMother]

No, I just wanted to give you a hard time. I really don't agree with what you say, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion, of course.

You very rarely saw anything on them during their 19 game streak, casual mentions at Parker being the only all-star. Considering I frequent a Spurs site, I'm probably ODed by them compared to most people but when you have a 2 minute segment on the Spurs when they're #1 and next up is a 10 minute segment on the color of LeBron's mask - that says a lot about the media.

I agree to some extent, but let's be real, the media overdose of Lebron, the Lakers, and the Knicks is common to all of the other fanbases including those of the Spurs.

In any case, to talk about the playoffs, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan have been nothing short of amazing. The loss of Bogut is really apparent against that Clippers frontcourt, who've improved so much since last season.

 

[HendrixFan]

Here is a great article detailing some of the things Carlisle has been doing to stifle the Spurs. Carlisle is an ELITE coach in the NBA, and this link helps show why:

http://www.48minutesofhell.com/spurs-mavs-recap-analysis-nba-spurs-bounce-back

 

[lupi]

I'm really tired of people talking about duncan being one of the best power forwards of all time. Not only is he not near the top of that list, he's not a forward.

 

[dougp]

I'm really tired of people talking about duncan being one of the best power forwards of all time. Not only is he not near the top of that list, he's not a forward.

Yeah, no. It's been clearly outlined that he is, considering most of his game is played in the mid-range.