Yay, It's the 2010 NBA Playoffs thread!

[miami_fan]

I listened to Bill Simmons' podcast this week and he discussed this with Marc Stein. Stein asked a great question. Where are the good (great?) basketball refs? College basketball refs are horrible, so we can't grab from there. NBDL? Ummmm not so much. Where do we get the good to great basketball refs from? Why hasn't someone come up with some sort of school similar to the umpire school to create the good refs? Do we need to bring in international refs?


Dr. Sak: Start a basketball officiating school!

[korme]

Officiating basketball was the most stressful job I've ever had. Not joking.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

I have Spurs to win the series +165 and Spurs to win in 6 at +425.

The winning in 6 was a nice little bonus

[whomario]

good call ... Congrats

Ah, the Mavs ... What a disgusting performance. Gun-shy, unorganised, nervous. Great job by the role players
And did you see who freaking stepped up with balls the size of Texas ? That´s right, the Rookie. Beaubois. You play him all series and you might just win this thing.
Kidd/Barea/Terry combined : 2/16 for 5 points.
Roddy : 7-13 for 16 points.

Yeah, wise move benching him the first games ... At some point you have to go with what is working.
You know who agrees ??? Jason Terry !

"Same thing he showed us all year," Jason Terry said. "The kid can play. Now whether he's out there or not, that's another story, but the kid can definitely play. He showed it tonight. He showed it all season long."

btw : Dampier managed to go 120 minutes without a single FG and with 5 points and 4 games and some 90 minutes without a single point after game 1. That is propably some sort of record

Nowitzki with a passive first half as well, but then again all great players try to get their teammates going early and you just have to expect them to be able to do the job enough so that you can wait to attack until the 2nd half as not to give the other team time to adjust.
25 in the 2nd half for Nowitzki.
The guy averaged 27 points on 54% shooting with 1.5 TO a game ... 8.5 boards, 3 assists.

Mavs other than Nowitzki/Butler/Beaubois tonight : 6-27 for 13 points. Zero FTs. 1 made 3.

Great game by the Spurs, George Hill was the x factor in games 4 and 6 and was spectacular. Great, great player to have next to guys like Parker and Ginobili with his understanding of the game and shooting ability.

Phoenix beats Portland, Roy starts and gets the pretty predictable outcome of 4-16 shooting (1-8 from 3). Hope this doesn´t have a longterm outfall, otherwise it would go from "not really the best idea" to "most terrible idea in history" status.
Phoenix had a solid game, not more or less.

Congreat to Gentry for his great rotations all year long and his decicion to put Grant Hill on Andre Miller (or to Grant Hill for wanting to guard him as was also reported, still the coach has to go along with an idea)

Oh, and Grant Hill blocks Bayless dunk attempt : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA9AjSnXK24

whoa old man

[TroyF]

whomario,

I know the Mavs could and should have tried some different things, but I think the reality is the Spurs were just the better team. Duncan and Manu are playing at a level of top 15 players in the league right now. Parker came back from the injury strong and played great. Hill has been sensational most of the second half of the season.

That front four on its own could give the Mavs a serious run. When you add in a couple of good games from Jefferson and McDyess, I think it was too much to overcome from the beginning.

Hill was sensational on defense last night. He got me out of my seat on more than one occasion. The Suns/Spurs series is going to be epic. Provided no major injuries happen, I think the winner of that series comes out of the west. (I predicted the Suns in our playoff predictions, but this series is nothing more than a coin flip)

Cavs, Magic, Celtics, Suns, Spurs have all booked places in the final 8. The last three spots could all be taken care of tonight. My thoughts:

The Bucks and Jazz are in the same position. Both have great home courts and should advance tonight. But they also have severe pressure on them because I don't think either goes back on the road on Sunday and wins a game 7 in Denver or Atlanta. Both the Nuggets and Hawks have the talent to win the games, but I'm not sure either has the heart or the coach to win a must have road game. I think the Bucks and Jazz close it out.

The Lakers/Thunder is the most interesting one. If the Lakers hammer it inside, they should finish the Thunder off. But the Thunder play so damned good in front of that crowd. You also have the Lakers team who has an identity of just quitting on non necessary wins if they get down early. I know it's worked for them the last two years, but eventually giving away games will haunt you more than a human centipede preview. they give this one away and Durant gets hotter than the sun in a game 7? I'd be stunned if OKC won this series, but if you're the Lakers, why chance it?

I think they'll be smart and close this one out.

Cavs/Celtics starts tomorrow.

[stevew]

LeBron wins the MVP for the second time. This now secures his status as almost as good as Steve Nash.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by whomario

btw : Dampier managed to go 120 minutes without a single FG and with 5 points and 4 games and some 90 minutes without a single point after game 1. That is propably some sort of record

Well, he's managed to go the last five years without anyone realizing he was still in the NBA, so I'm not surprised.

[larrymcg421]

Does Milwaukee still think it's halftime?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by stevew

LeBron wins the MVP for the second time. This now secures his status as almost as good as Steve Nash.

It wasn't unanimous. 12 people voted for someone else. How are those people allowed to keep their vote?

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It wasn't unanimous. 12 people voted for someone else. How are those people allowed to keep their vote?

It's the NBA.Michael Jordan didn't win it in some years.

[RainMaker]

This game is a lot of fun. Utah crowd is crazy.

[DaddyTorgo]

OKC-LA game is very good too!

[DaddyTorgo]

poor play by the Thunder down the stretch cost them this game, and the series. letting gasol get the putback with 0.5 seconds left because you took a poor jumpshot on the prior possession

[Big Fo]

Damnit Gasol. C'mon OKC miracle shot, Derek Fisher style.

[Eaglesfan27]

What a crappy ending for the Thunder.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

What a crappy ending for the Thunder.

Seriously. Unfortunately I think they showed their age in the last minute+ of the game there with poor possessions - running the shot clock down so far and taking poor jumpers rather than going to the rim...

[TroyF]

I think the thing I'll love about these playoffs the most is seeing Utah crying like little girls when they don't get the flops they got this series. the first six minutes of the fourth quarter was reffed as poorly as I've seen any game this postseason. If you are bored and just think I'm whining, just watch the replay on espn sometime and look at the flop that drew a foul on ty lawson and then ty lawson called for a foul on a deron drive. Just comical.

The Jazz are about to be in for a very, very ugly surprise. That won't be called on Kobe, Pau or Odom.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It wasn't unanimous. 12 people voted for someone else. How are those people allowed to keep their vote?

I think you read the article wrong, he got all but 12 votes last year. Don't think the actual voting is released for this year, yet.

[MrBug708]

The refs didnt their best to extend that game to 7. Great shot by Pau though

[Young Drachma]

Zombie Sonics wouldn't quit. But nice work by Pau there at the end.

[miami_fan]

Lebron is taking this fake elbow injury a little far tonight ain't he?

[DaddyTorgo]

way to just blow the entire game there in the 3rd quarter celtics

ugh

[larrymcg421]

Doc Rivers should be fired for even thinking about putting Rasheed Wallace in the game. Every time the Celtics do that, they are basically conceding points to the other team.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Doc Rivers should be fired for even thinking about putting Rasheed Wallace in the game. Every time the Celtics do that, they are basically conceding points to the other team.

Seriously. Black hole on defense and shitty 3's.

To the credit of the announcers though, they also pointed out that as the game went on the Celtics went away from how they were getting points earlier (Rondo driving and scoring/creating) and were settling for long jumpers and a lot of iso-play. That certainly didn't help.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Doc Rivers should be fired for even thinking about putting Rasheed Wallace in the game. Every time the Celtics do that, they are basically conceding points to the other team.

Yeah, I can't believe they still play him.

[MikeVic]

So why do second round games start before the first round is over?

[Sublime 2]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Seriously. Black hole on defense and shitty 3's.

To the credit of the announcers though, they also pointed out that as the game went on the Celtics went away from how they were getting points earlier (Rondo driving and scoring/creating) and were settling for long jumpers and a lot of iso-play. That certainly didn't help.

Definitely. I think Pierce was really forcing some of his shots (which is okay when he's hitting SOME of them), which it didn't help the offense one bit.

[whomario]

Nice season by the Bucks, see you next year
Ultimately they just couldn´t overcome the total lack of any sort of inside presence on either end in the last 2 games when Atlanta finally committed to exploiting that, crashing the glass and agressively closing down on shooters defensively.
No one was hitting anything for Milkwaukee 2 straight games, all the hustle in the world can´t overcome that. After yesterdays 1st half it looked like it might, but in the end ... Too bad really ...

Bynum limping allready, not looking good... Jazz playing 4-5 on offense really with Fesenko. Kid is huge, but clearly not a well developed basketball player as of yet. Have to play him, too, with Gasol/Bynum in there, will propably see more minutes rather than less.
Artest guarding Williams, let´s see what he can still do against a quicker, smaller player. Matthews needs to attack Fisher.

[RPI-Fan]

Will the Bucks have a lot of cap room available with Redd becoming a free agent?

Given how well they played down the stretch, if they can replace Redd's contract with a second-tier free agent, they could be really really good next year.

[whomario]

They´ll be right around the cap number, Redd has a player option for next year and is then expiring in 2011.
Same for John Salmons, his only for 5.8 mio and so it´s likely he´ll want more with how well he played with the Bucks and not take it... Then they are under the cap but not enough to make a big move and i´d imagine they want to resign Ridnour as well with how well he´s played.
2011 is the Bucks offseason to strike gold with only 18 mio in salary as of now (With Bogut, Jennings, Ilyasova, Delfino under contract, that´s 2 starters and solid Top8 rotation guys if you are aiming at a deep playoff run)

Will be interesting if they try to use Redd or Gadzuric (about 7.5 mio) expiring contracts to make a move towards next years trade deadline if they are in a good position.


Pretty good game in LA, Utah with a great effort in the 2nd half with a lot of guys playing great. A couple missed box-outs and a couple real brainfarts cost them the game late.
Gasol with another great game, 25/12/4 with 5 blocks. Bryant scored whenever he wanted to basically.
Ron Artest is now 6-35 from 3 in the POs, that´s Sheed-territory

[RainMaker]

I think the Bucks will make a run at Josh Childress who they were close to signing last offseason. Travis Outlaw can be a backup option. They need to re-sign Salmons too. Would give them a solid lineup for next year.

I thought Tyrus Thomas would be an interesting option for them at PF, but realized him and Skiles hate each other.

[stevew]

MVP Votes
LeBron got all but 7. Durant got 4, and Howard got 3. There is no reason those 7 people should still have votes.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by stevew

MVP Votes
LeBron got all but 7. Durant got 4, and Howard got 3. There is no reason those 7 people should still have votes.

Two people voted him 3rd place!!!!!!!!

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by stevew

MVP Votes
LeBron got all but 7. Durant got 4, and Howard got 3. There is no reason those 7 people should still have votes.

I still remember the outcry when Shaq in 2001 (or 2000, whenever it was) got all but one vote, and it was Fred Hickman from CNN. Hickman caught a lot of crap for being the lone holdout (I think he voted Iverson).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heh
Buck wild: 2 rogue deer run amok in Wis. ale house *| ajc.com
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks' rallying cry — "fear the deer" — turned into a punchline Sunday afternoon when two deer burst through the glass doors of a Menomonie restaurant as patrons watched a Bucks playoff game.

The first deer apparently hurt itself, bloodying its snout and becoming dazed, said Jay Ouellette, general manager of the Stout Ale House. Two customers were able to safely wrestle it to the ground.

The other deer fled into a private room. Cornered deer can be dangerous because they kick and bite, but a restaurant worker managed to wrestle that animal down as well, Ouellette said.

"I could tell it was starting to get a little anxious," he said. "There was definitely the possibility of injury."

The incident happened about 12:20 p.m. — shortly after the Bucks started Game 7 of their playoff series against Atlanta. There were about 30 customers in the restaurant at the time, many watching the game.

Bucks fans chant "fear the deer" in support of their team. After the deer broke in, customers joked that the cry had a new meaning to them.

"They were still kind of in disbelief, but everyone was having a good time with it," Ouellette said.

Things could have been worse for one man who narrowly avoided being hit by the charging deer.

Surveillance video shows the man pausing in the lobby before walking outside and closing the door behind him. Moments later he jumps out of the way as the two bucks slam into the doors, tearing them off their hinges and spraying a shower of glass.

Replacing the doors was expected to cost several thousand dollars, said David Burg, the restaurant's vice president of operations. Insurance was expected to cover most of the cost, he said.

[larrymcg421]

Doc Rivers once again playing with house rules by putting Rasheed Wallace into the game.

[Big Fo]

Damn, I saw the game was close at the half and went to play a game of FIFA planning to come back to watch the fourth quarter but now it's a blowout. Boston is outscoring Cleveland 28-10 so far in the third quarter.

[DaddyTorgo]

wooohooo!!

[MikeVic]

Funny, Rasheed is knocking some down.

[RainMaker]

Rondo reminds me a lot of a younger Jason Kidd.

[RainMaker]

Are Reggie and Marv going to spend the entire 4th quarter going over Lebron's fake injury?

[larrymcg421]

I think it's too late for the Celtics to give this one away, but they sure are trying.

[larrymcg421]

Whew. My heart skipped a beat when Williams launched that three that could have made it a 7 pt lead. Glad they finally settled down.

[DaddyTorgo]

apparently...yeah

[stevew]

mo williams has the destiny of being a shoot first PG on a lottery team. How we expect to rely on him for anything is beyond me.

[RainMaker]

Refs did their best to give this one to Cleveland. That's what makes this an even bigger choke.

[stevew]

Really? Cause I watched like 5-10 minutes(was working) and every call I saw went against Cleveland during that time.

[Young Drachma]

What was with the end of the 1st round and start of the 2nd round overlapping? The NBA really biffed it with that whole make the 1st round best-of-seven thing, I think it made the playoffs just seem to drag on.

[whomario]

Rajon Rondo with another great game.

And the Suns winning game 1 against the Spurs Nash with 33/10 and a really great first quarter, Stoudemire was good as well and Richardson is locked on automatic right now.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by stevew

Really? Cause I watched like 5-10 minutes(was working) and every call I saw went against Cleveland during that time.

38-18 in foul shots. 31 to 16 in fouls. First half was brutal, Celtics should have been up by 10+.