OFFICIAL 2010-2011 NBA PLAYOFFS THREAD : VOL. MOST. ANTICIPATED. PLAYOFFS. EVER?

i think some ppl misconstrued what i meant when i referenced carlisle running to the media about collison's defense on dirk

I WANT a more vocal coach who will do something like that for his star.. someone who will force the league's hand when it comes to how teams are defending KD



seriously it's either teams are grabbing him or hitting him off of every screen or they flop whenever KD goes to push off
 
Why are the Bulls fans and ESPN commentators saying the fan in the Noah incident should've been removed?
Apparently, the fan said something about Noah's mother but when Bron went back to Cleveland (and almost every road game this year), the crowd chanted vile things (about his mother) and the many other things said that were similar to the Noah incident.

Where was the uproar about fan behavior then? Or is it that since Bron is the "villain" its okay to trash his mom?

Just curious about the different reactions.
 
Originally Posted by Tunnel Vision

Why are the Bulls fans and ESPN commentators saying the fan in the Noah incident should've been removed?
Apparently, the fan said something about Noah's mother but when Bron went back to Cleveland (and almost every road game this year), the crowd chanted vile things (about his mother) and the many other things said that were similar to the Noah incident.

Where was the uproar about fan behavior then? Or is it that since Bron is the "villain" its okay to trash his mom?

Just curious about the different reactions.
Click to expand...
Well, in Noah's case he reacted to that fan which led to his fine.

'Bron did/does get fan abuse but since he's never reacted, or at least his reactions were never caught.  It's a completely different situation and iff he ever did react it's possible that there'd be some commentary/uproar over fan behavior.
 
Was up to see the Mavs comeback in the 4th, only to fall asleep during overtime.
laugh.gif
 
30t6p3b.gif


Great comeback by the Mavs.

Dirk was beastly in the 4th.
 
We've contained one of the best SGs in Kobe Bryant.
We've contained one of the best SFs in Durant.
We've contained one of the better PFs in LMA.

If only we can find a way to contain all of them at once..
laugh.gif


As far as match-ups on D...

Kidd/Stevenson on Wade
Marion on Bron
Tyson/Dirk on Bosh.

I don't want to hear that Wade would expose Kidd either,
laugh.gif
.

Same thing we did with OKC and Russ, we can do with the Heat and Wade.

I don't want to start talking prematurely though, I don't want to be one of those teams that have their opponent come back and win three straight.
frown.gif
laugh.gif
 
Caron coming back soon?  IMO he can change the series even if he plays 20 mins per game.
 
Rose/Russy.

Spoiler [+]
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The narratives couldn't be more opposite.



Yet, once again, the career paths of Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose couldn't be more similar.



Big picture, these are two of the most unique players in history -- big, athletic, score-first point guards with shaky jump shots but spectacular finishing skills -- and I have a feeling we're going to be watching them in May and June for much of the next decade. Chicago and Oklahoma City were first and second in the Future Power Rankings that colleague Chad Ford and I compiled in March, and it seems inevitable that at some point these two forces of nature will collide in the Finals.



Statistically, they couldn't be more alike, either. They were second and third in the league in usage rate (after Kobe Bryant) and finished within one-hundredth of a point of each other in PER. Rose was first team All-NBA, Westbrook was second. Each is 6-foot-3, was born in late 1988 and was drafted in 2008.



It's somewhat jarring, then, that the narratives about their respective games are so opposed -- suffice it to say that commentators are not pondering trade scenarios for Rose. In fact, Rose's high-usage, middling-efficiency game is viewed as heroic on a Bulls team that surprisingly posted the best record in the league, earning him the MVP award as a result. But on a team with Kevin Durant, Westbrook's similar approach is seen as at best imperfect and at worst downright counterproductive.



Their situations are more similar than you think, however. Westbrook has better weapons alongside him, without question, but those weapons have a curious inability to get themselves open, which often leaves Westbrook in the exact same situation as Rose: holding the bag as the shot clock ticks down. Westbrook is also the more extreme of the two in playing this style -- he takes a higher proportion of his shots at the basket, draws more fouls, shoots worse from outside and makes more questionable decisions.



Yet Rose isn't known as the Human Assist either -- his assist ratio this season, believe it or not, was worse than Westbrook's. This is one of many reasons why I wonder, and will continue to wonder, if we'd see each in the exact opposite light if they switched teams.



Putting aside that conjecture, let's snap back to the present, where we see another great parallel between Rose and Westbrook: Both are shooting blanks in the conference finals, and as a result the Bulls and Thunder have their backs against the wall. Rose is shooting 25-of-64 (39.1 percent) in three games against Miami, while Westbrook is 25-of-72 (34.7 percent) in four games against Dallas.



Once again, each is creating a multitude of shots: They're first and second in playoff usage rate.



Converting shots? Not so much. Rose's postseason true shooting percentage is 51.7 despite his facing some pretty light opposition in the first two rounds, while Westbrook has labored to a 50.1 true shooting percentage.



Additionally, Westbrook has provided more fodder for criticism with a spiking turnover rate -- in the playoffs, he is averaging 5.3 miscues per game and has more turnovers than assists. While it's easy to pile up turnovers with seven games against Memphis' handsy defense, this is still unacceptable.



But to me, the shooting story is the one that really gets interesting. For Westbrook, it's amazing how badly his jump shot has gone off the rails in the postseason. He isn't a good shooter in normal circumstances, but he isn't this awful. In the regular season he was about a 1-in-3 proposition from beyond 15 feet, making 36.0 percent of his shots from 16-23 feet and 33 percent of his 3s.



But in his past 12 playoff games, Westbrook has made only 15 of 56 jump shots (26.8 percent) in the 16-23 foot range, and just 8 of 32 3-pointers. These have nearly all been wide-open shots, too, as opponents continually go under screens and dare him to shoot from outside. Yet since the first two games against Denver, he has been unable to take advantage. As a result, he is shooting a ghastly 34.7 percent for the playoffs. Only his tremendous ability to draw fouls -- he is averaging 11 free throw attempts a game in the postseason -- salvages his stat line.



As for Rose, his floater game has deserted him. As our Tom Haberstroh noted on Twitter, Rose made 57.5 percent of his shots from 3-9 feet in 2009-10, but only 39.7 percent this season and just 32 percent in the playoffs.



And that improved long-range jumper he flashed in the regular season? Not sure where that went. Rose is shooting 26.2 percent on 3s in the playoffs on six attempts a game; even if you subtracted out some 70-foot end-of-the-quarter heaves, it's still a big step back from the regular season.



Rose has made his midrange J against Miami (9-of-19), but as with Westbrook this is the shot opponents want him to take; he made only 38.0 percent from 16-23 feet in the regular season. (Westbrook made 36.0 percent.)



For both, it's the shots at the rim that have been harder to come by and harder to convert. The Miami series has been a steady series of Rose's drives to the rim being snuffed by extra Miami defenders, a theme that will sound familiar to anyone watching the Thunder the past few weeks. Each player shot 60 percent at the rim in the regular season while drawing piles of fouls, but opponents are taking this away and inducing jump shots.



In addition to the cold shooting, both Rose and Westbrook are facing another opponent for the first time: scrutiny. Rose evaded it all year with the Bulls' surprise ascent, but I saw a couple of commentators compare him to Westbrook (in unflattering terms, of course) after some wild shot attempts in Game 3.



Meanwhile, many fans and observers are getting their first extended look at Westbrook and wondering why so many "plays" consist of 15 seconds of dribbling and a missed jump shot. Having taken in heavy doses of OKC the past few weeks, I can tell you that Durant's and James Harden's faltering efforts to move off the ball explain a decent chunk of this, but it's also fair to describe Westbrook's decision-making as badly needing improvement.



So get your shots in now, everyone -- it's only going to get harder from here. Both players are 22, both are ferocious competitors and both are still learning on the fly. Right now Rose is the golden boy and Westbrook is the metaphorical redheaded stepchild, but in the big picture they're birds of a feather. In time, once they figure out what teams are doing to them and come back with better tactics and better jump shots, they're going to be impossible to contain.



Even for each other when they meet head-to-head in the Finals. Which, despite their hiccups in these conference finals and their diametrically opposite narratives, remains a very strong possibility in the near future.
 
Miami will no doubt have trouble with the Mavs' zone defense. Dallas' zone is the probably the best in the league because they actually practice and utilize it often to make up for some of their lateral-quickness challenged players (personally I loathe the zone, and think it's bush league). Don't know if that will be enough to overcome Miami's triumvirate, though. Jason Terry would have to be at his absolute best.
 
as much as i wanna talk about the finals.... we need to win game 4 first... rose is gonna put up monster #'s this game, we just need to contain everyone else...
dirk is straight up unstoppable, i still wonder how in the hell that shot went in...
30t6p3b.gif
the fade away with 1 leg up..
 
I think Dallas wins the Finals easy.
Unlike Chicago, Dallas Offense is
eek.gif
With shooters everywhere.

Would be funny seeing Lebron be 0-2 in the Finals
laugh.gif
 
I have a hard time seeing the Mavs stopping LeBron and Wade. And yes, JA I realize the Mavs have withstood Aldridge, Kobe, Pau, Durant and Westbrook so far in the playoffs blah blah blah.
 
Originally Posted by nicedudewithnicedreams

Even though I want to see a Mavs/Heat re-match, I think we are kinda talking prematurely right now. 
grin.gif
Click to expand...
this.

Bulls win tonight, series swings back in their favor.
 
Originally Posted by PMatic

I have a hard time seeing the Mavs stopping LeBron and Wade. And yes, JA I realize the Mavs have withstood Aldridge, Kobe, Pau, Durant and Westbrook so far in the playoffs blah blah blah.
Click to expand...
No I definitely understand where you're coming from.

What I would like for our chances, is that we haven't lost to them at all since the 06 Finals. That includes the LeBrons.

I desperately want Caron back for that series though, even if it's only 12-15 minutes a game.

DESPERATELY want him back.

The other series, it was whatever, but Caron? We need him bad.
 
What does beating the 2008 Miami Heat during the regular season have to do with this current team?
 
I think it refers to the nightmares they all had of 06 and the mental recovery of just seeing those jerseys again, and not losing to them. 

Course, if it goes the other way, hello all new nightmares. 

I love sequels. 
laugh.gif
pimp.gif
 
That's all I was really referring to.

We've had a mental toughness about playing the Heat every since we lost to them.

We are tough and ready to win.

Also, I hate the Finals home/away lineup.

But, I think it would heavily favor the team with the lower seed.

Split one at their house, then go home for THREE STRAIGHT HOME GAMES?

Eh.
 
The middle 3 don't always work out so easy though.  It's the exact same as the first 2 split really.  Only now you have THREE chances to get one road win.  That's all it takes. 

Games 1 and 7 are still home games for the higher seed.  That is an advantage no matter how sliced. 
 
No Josh Howard to call timeouts though.

No nervous coaching breakdowns from Avery Johnson.

No Erick Dampier being a even bigger stiff.



All in all, the Mavs should like their chances this time around.
 
it's just gonna be very hard to contain those three at the same time. bosh and haslem will do a good job on dirk too.
 
Originally Posted by CP1708

The middle 3 don't always work out so easy though.  It's the exact same as the first 2 split really.  Only now you have THREE chances to get one road win.  That's all it takes. 

Games 1 and 7 are still home games for the higher seed.  That is an advantage no matter how sliced. 
Click to expand...
Still though, I don't understand why go away from 2-2-1-1-1. It works so well. 2-3-2 just doesn't make sense to me. 2-2-1-1-1 is PERFECT.

it's just gonna be very hard to contain those three at the same time. bosh and haslem will do a good job on dirk too.



Heard that all post-season.
laugh.gif
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted by DubA169

it's just gonna be very hard to contain those three at the same time. bosh and haslem will do a good job on dirk too.
Click to expand...

no they wont, Dirk is gonna crap on Miami just like hes done to every other team.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest News

View All News

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

Site contents may not be incorporated into AI training data or any other derivative works without prior express written consent.

Links to participating merchants may generate referral or affiliate commissions that help support our community. See our policies for details. NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom