***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

[Johnny_87]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Mavs and Spurs in five. Yeah, and Sanjaya still has a shot at winning American Idol.

[Rocky]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Nope you can't, Suns missed some open shots. But the Lakers for some reason play good enough defense to keep them in games with the suns.

That is all we need to do, stay close and hope Kobe can clutch up the win. Today, he just went cold and tried to shoot himself out of a spell.

That's partly because Kobe, Odom, and Walton spent so much energy on the defensive end, they were spent by the end of the game offensively. Kobe's shots weren't totally off the mark. Some fell a bit short, others rattled in and out....same with Lamar. This team has terrible depth and really don't have a guy who can warm it up when Kobe's not on(ie Rafer and Head for HOU). Smush is that guy sometimes but like everybody else he's far too inconsistant.

Also, what happened to SA? Denver has a good squad(AI maybe this generation's most underappreciated legend), but that is the worst I've seen the Spurs look in years.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Mavs in 5.

[Double Eights]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

I would not be surprised to see the Warriors beat the Mavs. I'd say Golden State takes it in 6.

[Streets]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Well said, couldn't have said it any better myself. TNT just didn't do the research enough on the Warriors/Mavs regular season history.

One thing that Charles did get right though is when he said that Dallas had no leader on the floor. There was no guy who was going to take over the game in crunch time and they let it slip away. Diddy was that guy for Golden State, Dirk should have been that guy for the Mavs but he was locked up. His post game is weak (compared to other elite bigs) and he's not a great playmaker. Long athletic players give Dirk fits because they take away his strength (jumpshooting). If you can bother his shot, he doesnt have many other outs. I think this is why Dre has been saying that Dirk needs to learn to bang in the post. Any other elite could bang on the GS midgets, any other elite could post up a T-Mac. Dirk seems to have problems though. And yeah, he is just as efficient as other 4's doing what he does (shooting J's), he has a high field goal percentage and all, but what happens when you have a guy (or guys in Golden State's case) who can disrupt your shot? Dallas definately needs a strong leader on the floor.

[MagicBucsWsoxFan]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Magic have to steal one tonight if they want any shot whatsoever of keeping it a series. Blew a perfect chance saturday.

[ZB9]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

One thing that Charles did get right though is when he said that Dallas had no leader on the floor. There was no guy who was going to take over the game in crunch time and they let it slip away. Diddy was that guy for Golden State, Dirk should have been that guy for the Mavs but he was locked up. His post game is weak (compared to other elite bigs) and he's not a great playmaker. Long athletic players give Dirk fits because they take away his strength (jumpshooting). If you can bother his shot, he doesnt have many other outs. I think this is why Dre has been saying that Dirk needs to learn to bang in the post. Any other elite could bang on the GS midgets, any other elite could post up a T-Mac. Dirk seems to have problems though. And yeah, he is just as efficient as other 4's doing what he does (shooting J's), he has a high field goal percentage and all, but what happens when you have a guy (or guys in Golden State's case) who can disrupt your shot? Dallas definately needs a strong leader on the floor.

did you watch the game? They double teamed Dirk pretty much every time he touched the ball. The Warriors were sending 2 or 3 guys at him all night.

btw, what long athletic players have "given Dirk fits" in the past few seasons?

[Streets]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

This team has terrible depth and really don't have a guy who can warm it up when Kobe's not on(ie Rafer and Head for HOU). Smush is that guy sometimes but like everybody else he's far too inconsistant.

Whenever my rockets are mentioned, I always feel the need to comment. Oh well...

The Rafer Alston comment is funny to me. Alston is shooting an amazing 37.5% from the field and is a career (just to show this season is not in fact an anomoly) 38.4% shooter. I'm so glad that we have him "warming it up". Your starting point guard is shooting 43.6% from the field and is 43.4% for his career.

Head is a beast, I'm not going to lie. Battier is great too. But T-Mac and Yao are the only players on this team that can create their own offense. Chuck Hayes, Juwan, Head, Battier, and even Yao all look better playing with T-Mac. He commands the same types of defense that a Kobe does, but he passes out at the right time and hits his shooters in the corners, or Hayes streaking to the basket, or Juwan coming off a pick and pop.

JVG is by no means a great offensive coach, he has no real system like the triangle, but McGrady is an extremely underrated passer/playmaker and can get his team great looks. The Rockets are not really deep. Simmons had it right in his article about the MVP saying that T-Mac did not have much to work wit when Yao went down, but still got 50 wins.

[Streets]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

did you watch the game? They double teamed Dirk pretty much every time he touched the ball. The Warriors were sending 2 or 3 guys at him all night.

btw, what long athletic players have "given Dirk fits" in the past few seasons?

Like that's an excuse. Every other elite player gets doubled and tripled all the time. Some fight through it and STILL find a way to score (like a Kobe). Some will find a way to make the pass to the open man (like a McGrady or Lebron). Some will split it and attack the basket and draw a foul (like a Wade). If you are getting tripled, 2 guys are open somewhere on the floor. But like I said, Dirk is not much of a playmaker, so if you take away his shot, theres not much to fall back on.

And yes, Dirk was great this regular season, as he usually is, so not many have his number, I'm not going to lie, but this is the post season and it is a whole different story.

[Flyboy]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

He commands the same types of defense that a Kobe does, but he passes out at the right time and hits his shooters in the corners

Interesting fact. Even though he just had ONE point in the first half against the Jazz, T-Mac still had five assists. Kobe didn't get his first assist until the 4th quarter against the Suns. Interesting, but I digress.

[ZB9]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Like that's an excuse. Every other elite player gets doubled and tripled all the time. Some fight through it and STILL find a way to score (like a Kobe). Some will find a way to make the pass to the open man (like a McGrady or Lebron). Some will split it and attack the basket and draw a foul (like a Wade). If you are getting tripled, 2 guys are open somewhere on the floor. But like I said, Dirk is not much of a playmaker, so if you take away his shot, theres not much to fall back on.

And yes, Dirk was great this regular season, as he usually is, so not many have his number, I'm not going to lie, but this is the post season and it is a whole different story.

again, did you watch the game? Dirk got most of his points last night from driving.

and the double teams are not an excuse. It's a fact. Sorry, but players dont tear usually tear up double teams. Dirk WAS finding the open man. He was making passes all over the court. I wonder what game you were watching.

The rest of the team has to step up when a player is doubled opening up the floor. but that didnt happen for Dallas yesterday obviously. However, dont expect the team to be missing so many shots for the rest of the series.

btw, Dirk was doubled quite often all season. It's not new. What was new was the entire team shooting like crap.

[ZB9]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

And yes, Dirk was great this regular season, as he usually is, so not many have his number, I'm not going to lie, but this is the post season and it is a whole different story.

what?

last year, in the postseason, Dirk lead ALL players in rebounds per game and double doubles. and he had the same 27 ppg average in the playoffs as he did in the regular season.

I dont get how you can state that Dirk wasnt good in the postseason. He was better in the postseason than he was in the regular season. and The only players that were better than Dirk overall in the playoffs last year were D-Whistle and Shaq.

[GSW]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

what?

last year, in the postseason, Dirk lead ALL players in rebounds per game and double doubles. and he had the same 27 ppg average in the playoffs as he did in the regular season.

I dont get how you can state that Dirk wasnt good in the postseason. He was better in the postseason than he was in the regular season. and The only players that were better than Dirk overall in the playoffs last year were D-Whistle and Shaq.

what does that have to do with this postseason

[ZB9]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

what does that have to do with this postseason

the post i responded to implied that Dirk is "usually" good in the regular season but the postseason is a different story for him. and that is not correct.

actually, Dirk usually raises his game in the postseason, and he probably will this season also. One game doesnt tell us that he is going to have a bad postseason

[jmood88]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

We have always used our normal lineup against the warriors and have still been having trouble. Thats why I don't blame him for experimenting.I would rather him try it and it fail in game one as opposed to game 3 or 4.

Since that's the case, I don't understand why people are saying that he's an idiot. They've lost every other game against the Warriors, why not try something different(not saying you're complaining just the other guys)?