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

[bhzmafia14]

Yea.
We could've saved $20M ust by giving Rudy his contract a year earlier. I believe Heisley will pay everybody though because of the potential the team has, that's the good thing. 

 

[statis22]

With the new CBA can they even afford Gasol?

 

[bhzmafia14]

Yea. Plus, he's a RFA too. At this point, I don't think Heisley cares about how close/over the cap he goes if the team is producing. I never thought this team would be a legit title contender at the beginning of the year. They are definitely surpassing my expectations and I'm glad we do have main guys locked in. They will be good for a while. 

 

[jaeevolution]

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14

Yea. Plus, he's a RFA too. At this point, I don't think Heisley cares about how close/over the cap he goes if the team is producing. I never thought this team would be a legit title contender at the beginning of the year. They are definitely surpassing my expectations and I'm glad we do have main guys locked in. They will be good for a while. 

How do you think this team will change when Rudy comes back, I can see it being both negative and positive in a few different ways.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Can't believe I hit the posting limit today

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

The Grizz been over the cap so they can't be cheap with Gasol. Looks good if he re-signs long term.

Good games tonite.

 

[statis22]

Yea but a hard salary cap changes that.

 

[bhzmafia14]

Originally Posted by JaeEvolution

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14

Yea. Plus, he's a RFA too. At this point, I don't think Heisley cares about how close/over the cap he goes if the team is producing. I never thought this team would be a legit title contender at the beginning of the year. They are definitely surpassing my expectations and I'm glad we do have main guys locked in. They will be good for a while. 

How do you think this team will change when Rudy comes back, I can see it being both negative and positive in a few different ways.

I think Memphis will become more dangerous. With Rudy going down gave our team a true identity. We were playing well prior to his injury, but Conley/Zbo/Marc wasn't looking this good. I expect us to have the same offense and Rudy will adjust to it. Hollins is good at getting players to commit to playing team basketball and I just don't see Rudy coming in trying to ruin something that's working.
Teams will have to beware doubling down low because you will have Rudy Gay (who is a better perimeter scorer/shooter) than Sam Young. Its just so much he does on the floor and he's really improved as a basketball player this season before his injury. It could possibly have a negative impact, but I think its unlikely. When you have a guy that shoots 47% from the field and 40% from downtown, you will give him the ball to take shots on the perimeter before you let Conley, Sam or Tony take a shot with the shot clock dwindling down. Every team needs a guy on the perimeter that's capable of taking over games or at least any team trying to win. 

Its crazy because you know when teams make a playoff run, they wonder what they have to do in order to take that next step and make it to the Finals. Well, Memphis doesn't have to make a trade or sign anybody. They have their guy waiting to get healthy. I don't think any team currently in the West playoff picture will be able to get a player of Rudy Gay's caliber in the off-season. I may be wrong though.

Edit:

Hate to make it a little longer 

 , but I think it wouldve had more of an egative impact if Rudy were to return THIS postseason. Being that he won't return til next season when the team goes through a full training camp (hopefully if there isn't a lockout), I think a lot of things will be worked out prior to the season. Not complete, but a work in progress.

 

[jaeevolution]

^ Heh, I don't mind the long read at all, and you pretty much said everything I was worried about, with Rudy coming back wanting to dominate the ball when that's not the Memphis offense at all. When they plug him into the current offense it'll cause nightmares for the opposition. Along with that Memphis is the most entertaining team to watch right now in the postseason and I had no idea they were so young, this team's development is looking bright.

 

[noblekane]

with the terrible laker loss. im really hoping the grizzlies win today. its been the only bright spot in the playoffs so far...

 

[noblekane]

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

I've been hearing a lot from Dallas media/coaching staff (not saying I believe this), but that they have been very comfortable with the way Peja and JET have been playing defense.

peja??? dude sucks balls on defense. did you see how easy it was for odom to get by him in the post on that last play in the fourth? 
  
also i think chandler is very overrated on the defensive end. he gets away with alot of fouls and when he doesnt hes fouling out...

i think he gets alot of credit because hes like the only mavs big who plays defense...

 

[japanair21]

Erick Dampier was our only big who played defense.

He never finished in any kind of defensive player of the year award.

No, I know Peja isn't good on D, but he's been getting praise for it from Rick at times, which boggles my mind as much as it boggles yours.

 

[noblekane]

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

Originally Posted by kvsm23vs24

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

I think it was a mistake not keeping Bynum in late.

With Chandler in the game, Pau will be a NON-FACTOR.

I'm not trying to crap on Pau saying he sucks, but Tyson can LOCK him down. And will if they have him as their Center in crunch time, because we WILL have Tyson on the floor.

Hell of a game from Tyson, Dirk, and JET. JJ also hit big shots when we looked like we were going to go out without a fight.

Kidd/JET/Marion/Dirk/Tyson. Closing out the game, every game, please.

Either way, it was a great game.

No, Pau is just acting like an idiot this year.

Oh, right, Lakers fans still discrediting our best defender, that's right.

Jesus christ.

On the few plays where Pau was on Tyson late, Tyson locked him down.

jesus christ is right. did you know for the regular season the lakers bigs have dominated the mavs bigs on offense? at a 61 for 106 clip. you can do the math. thats counting all 3 bigs for the lakers. count just bynum and gasol and they are 43 for 73.

so i would say it has more to do with gasol being winded or something.

kobe gotta make a better effort trying to get the bigs involved.... try to get gasol and bynum atleast 6 more shots.

 

[noblekane]

wow erick dampier.....lol is he still on the heat???

 

[japanair21]

Oh, so since they kicked our #!! in the regular season, because they have an off-night, it's not credit to our defense.

Even though they had how many days rest?

 

[duba169]

i turned the lakers game off because i was tired and thought the mavs wouldn't come back

damn man. need to start recording the fourth

 

[pmatic]

But the praise of Teague overlooks a knockout defensive performance by Josh Smith and Al Horford, two mobile big men long used to covering for Mike Bibby on pick-and-roll plays. These two guys, more than Teague, flummoxed Rose in half-court sets, and they did so with an entirely different strategy than Indiana used in holding Rose to 37 percent shooting in the first round. While the Pacers often trapped Rose hard on pick-and-rolls, sending him scurrying back toward midcourt, the Hawks’ big men lingered around the foul line, shadowing Rose laterally across the court until Teague could recover from the pick.

There is no perfect way to defend a guy as good as Rose. The Hawks are banking on two things here:
1) They are willing to let Rose shoot long jumpers — even three-pointers. Again, this was a theme all night, and it’s typical of the way a lot of teams defend Rose. On at least three of Rose’s three-point attempts, including one off a pick-and-roll with Luol Deng late in the game, the Hawks barely bothered to get within 10 feet of him. (Rose finished 2-of-7 from deep.)

2) Atlanta is betting that the Bulls, and Rose in particular, will not be able to take advantage of the openings that briefly present themselves on these pick-and-rolls. You can bet the Bulls’ coaching staff will hammer this theme in the next film session. The Bulls need to space the floor just a bit better, and Rose, if he’s going to pick up his dribble, has to pass the ball quickly, before the big man shadowing him can recover back into the paint.


Link

 

[lndnjs]

These are the best playoffs in years! Legendary underdog / upset /away victories... Now if only the celts can bury the cHeat and create more of a media frenzy... not gonna happen, but just sayin'

 

[jdiddy]

Nash put this on his Facebook and said.."In case you ever doubted how much I love the fans"

 

[tunnel vision]

http://www.latimes.com/sp...503,0,4815198,full.story

The Lakers didn't pound the ball down low very often, Andrew Bynum scoring eight points on three-for-eight shooting and Pau Gasol scoring 15 on five-for-10 shooting.

Bryant repeatedly said it wasn't his fault, pointing instead to the Lakers' reserves.

"It had nothing to do with me," he said. "I'm going to do what I do. I think the second unit, we've got to make a conscious effort to get the ball in to Pau and get the ball in to Andrew."
Kobe - 29 Field goals, 0 assist.

Took 11 more shots than Bynum & Gasol combined.

Made no field goals inside 11 feet either. As a leader, he can't totally deflect any blame.

Accountability?

 

[wings90]

Kobe saying "It had nothing to do with me".
Just

.

 

[hankmoody]

Bill Simmons using quotes from "The Wire" to describe the NBA playoffs... I am too excited to read this column.
The Sportswriting King stay the Sportswriting King.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

I know most of yall probably don't care/are probably sick of this.......... but it feels REALLY GOOD to wake up and not have to worry about any news on whether the team you root for is leaving or not

Having said that, I will be ticked if we take a $$%@%@% Euro

 

[pmatic]

Originally Posted by HankMoody

Bill Simmons using quotes from "The Wire" to describe the NBA playoffs... I am too excited to read this column.
The Sportswriting King stay the Sportswriting King.

Poor Westbrook.

 

[mercutio]

I was frustrated by how much Kobe dominated the ball and played in isolation, but you know what? Perhaps that was the game plan that they devised. Maybe he's not supposed to be dishing the ball to the bigs in that last game and it's planned that he's supposed to try to gun the whole game and take the Lakers to victory. "It had nothing to do with me," might be indicating that it's part of the plan, but hey, maybe Kobe is really the unapologetic egomaniac that the media portrays him to be.

At the end of the game, we still have a L. Now, it's all about adjustments, learning, and growing, and I have faith that Kobe will get the bigs more involved if that's what the game plan dictates. If the game plan is still to have Kobe gun it the whole game, then hey, we live and die by Kobe like always.

After all, these guys are the professional athletes and defending NBA champs, while we sit here and gripe as fans. It's all a matter of perspective...