2009 NBA Playoffs Open Thread III

You really aren’t showing much support for your team.

If the Lakers finally get cured of their narcolepsy, they could give Cleveland a tough time. But as of right now it looks like the Cavs are the only team that showed up to play in the playoffs (except Denver to an extent).

Cleveland still has not played a team that is willing to trap or play the type of defense that gets the ball out of LeBron’s hands. Atlanta and Detroit certainly weren’t those teams. The Lakers, Houston, Boston are the type of teams that can make life difficult for them.. Denver’s a nice redemption story for that city, but they don’t play enough defense.

But yeah, you’re on target.

I never thought he’d get there in time to make the save! And then to come back and make that putt on 18.

Which pretty much means the end.

Maybe a six game series with Cleveland, only because Orlando has played them really well this season.

For Denver, it will probably come down to how well Bynum can bang against Nene and if Odom can keep Melo in front of him. The Nuggets have the advantage at point and the Lakers have the advantage at the two spot, but let’s keep in mind Denver’s defense is nowhere near as good as Houston’s was.

I’m not going to be as stupid as Charles (who said Orlando is going to the Finals), but Orlando does present matchup problems for Cleveland. Howard can guard the paint against James’s drives, Alston and Lee/Pietrus aren’t an awful backcourt for Orlando to sport out—although if Stan keeps on trotting out JJ Orlando probably gets picked apart—and Lewis and Turkogulu won’t make it easy for James to score. Orlando is no defensive juggernaut, but if they can play over their heads a few games I can easily see them stealing 2, even 3 games.

The economy is about to collapse, he’s going to have to take what he can get.

Has one skill. He’s excellent at it, but he can ONLY score. He had one amazing game with like 30+ points, 0 rebounds and 1 assist.

and the west gets a lot of good draft picks.

Other than that, excellent Game 1, highly competitive on both sides of the ball. Carmelo was simply otherworldly. Bryant was doing his business too.

He will end up in Memphis, hate it, and decide to go back to Spain within a year. Juan Carlos Navarro all over again.

With Dallas and New Orleans on the downswing, Memphis might make some noise next year.

Which isn’t the worst idea in the world when you’re not totally certain what Ellis will be in the future.

I hear the next best alternative is Jrue Holliday, which would make Cal fans start laughing hysterically and UCLA fans turning bright red (I’m really uncertain as to how good a pro he’d be, but I’d be interested to see the Bruin trying to convert from Ben Howland grind it out ball to Nellie madness).

I honestly haven’t been watching the Magic that much, so I figured it’s just be Howard and the 4 Dwarves on the court there. Didn’t realize that Orlando had the deadly shooters on the outside to make life difficult for the Cavs.

Other things that got me:

 - Old news, I know, but dammit Lebron is a complete player. So much is made of his offensive prowess, I keep forgetting that he’s an amazing defensive player too. Ridiculous, some of those shots he was blocking.

 - Didn’t realize that Dwight Howard cries like a girl. I mean geez, yeah you got crappy calls against you (at least two of those fouls weren’t fouls) but man he looked like he was about start the waterworks out there. I guess he needs a little bit more maturing time. I mean, Lebron does too, but he wasn’t out there snifflin’ like his favorite My Little Pony just got eaten by the family dog.

 - Orlando is a tough team. Just thought it was really interesting, how they kept it tough the whole time, never gave up. and got the win on the road to hand the Cavs only their 3rd home loss all season. Huge kudos.

Also, I’m not pulling for any one team is this series.

(but i’m not saying i don’t NEED a Lakers-Cavs final, ’cause I do)

On to Game 2!

Carmelo is playing the best ball of his life. This Chauncey trade has really freed up his game; he doesn’t have to wait his turn to score with Iverson, Smith and K-Mart anymore; he’s the designated scorer now. Kleiza stepped up; no one on the Lakers seems able to guard him.

It’s just sad to see Derek Fisher out there. But the alternatives are Farmar (bleh) and Brown (untrustworthy). Gasol needed 5 fouls on Nene and Martin each to help get his 17 points. He is not helping his reputation of being a softie when he gets pounded on defense. Very passive 17-17 game.

Denver has their own problems; Kobe is going to average 35 at will. Carmelo is playing scorching hot, but this is his first time going this far into the playoffs; he’s eventually going to cool off, and then who will step up the scoring load for the Nuggets?

I feel as if the Magic(k) are the over-all better team. But the Cleveland LeBrons have, well, the better player.

…and put someone to guard the inbounds pass. Game might have turned out differently.

But yeah, both these series are going to be nail-biters, every single game. I dunno, though, I still don’t have a good feel for which of these four teams would have the edge in the Finals – they’re all good, but they all have flaws. I’m starting to think it’s the Lakers. Although I don’t know what the hell is up with Bynum, I think they’re the most well-rounded team and will get the most contribution from their bench (though clearly they have consistency issues). Orlando is looking good too, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to keep it up, especially if teams keep getting in Howard’s head. Cleveland will eventually crumble unless someone not named James or Williams gets consistent. Denver just makes too many mental mistakes, I think they’re out of it.

Only other thing I have to say is that we are seeing the new generation of basketball, and it’s awesome. Kobe, Melo, Howard, LeBron – great, great players all competing at such high levels.

Also, I haven’t watched much basketball other than the playoffs, so if my ramblings make no sense to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about, that’s why. I guess I just feel the need to mouth off because this is the most exciting basketball I’ve seen in a long time.

You can count Monday night’s game as ‘this week’ if you want, since it’s part of the holiday weekend. :-)

Why did everyone think that LA had such a great bench anyways? (And how did they win 65 games?!). Ariza, Shannon Brown, Luke Walton, Sasha, Bynum = the pu-pu platter of benches. They have no firepower like Denver, nor a world class defender like Houston, nor really much of anything.

Pau actually hasn’t been that bad (he’s had a few clunkers, but he’s an offensive machine). Who could the Lakers get for Gasol that would provide equal (or higher) value and convince Kobe they’d still be in the mix to win a title? Chris Bosh? Amare?

Also don’t forget Kobe has an opt-out clause this summer.

LOL what movie is that from?

Didn’t get to watch the 4th quarter and overtime, out with friends. Damn. Guess I don’t have much to add this time, except from what I saw Cleveland really had a strong effort tonight. Not that it mattered with the way that Pietrus and Alston were shooting – good lord. I don’t know if they can keep it up, but it’s insane! After your previous comments about how they get their open looks, I’ve been looking more for that, and you’re right, it’s impressive to see how things move off of their ball movement and penetration.

He drives a little bit more in those last few minutes rather than pulling up from 22, it’s 2-2.

Bryant with superb passes, Gasol running the screen and roll game to perfection, Odom finishing like the madman. Not to mention 9 blocks by Odom and Pau.

I think chowder said the Lakers were soft this postseason; I disagree…their effort sometimes just isn’t there, and their team isn’t as good as it was last year, and their Western Conference opponents are much tougher defensively or talentwise than it was last year.

Odom is the epitome of this Laker team—great at times, nonexistent in others. Lakers went back to the offense that’s won them plenty of games and it carried them during the critical stretch.

Speaking of twofaced, JR Smith…oh my god. What the hell was he doing tonight?

Note: Mike Wilbon is nice on PTI, but he is…uh…basketball-challenged. Definitely not qualified to be providing ‘analysis’. Even Barry’s better than him.

Great game from him, but the fact that he needed to do all that, at home, with generous officiating, to eek out a win with just two minutes.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, he’s got to do this again. And then again. I really don’t see him repeating this performance in Game 6. This series will come down to the rest of the Cavs nailing their shots, MOVING THE BALL MORE (emphasis), and Orlando not playing tight on Saturday. And even then I don’t think the Magic fear playing on the road in Game 7, especially after winning in a tougher home crowd in Boston.

Lebron just has to do too much game to game. The rest of his team has to step up too.

had a comment written, lost it when i commented on rollonubears’ post. Too tired to write again. Dammit!

1) Ouch. Come on. I’ve proven I’m not that dumb. I barely follow the NBA and even I know the series ain’t over.

Top 10 Kobe performance. Would put it higher if Denver had played well, but still. Fantastic all-around game by the Black Mamba.

The Lakers finally showed up. When you’ve got Luke Walton out there giving you good minutes and making plays, you know the team’s firing. Ariza woke up from the dead. Another strong game from Odom. And then there’s Kobe and Pau. Damn. That’s what I haven’t seen in a while. Those two can be so affectibe, and when they’re both humming along, it’s just ridiculous. This was that deep Laker bench we saw earlier in the season. They made me care again, dammit! I went from pulling for the Lakers to just wanting to see an interesting final matchup (which the Lakers weren’t showing they could give me), but they’ve shown they can play with fire again. I like it!

I gotta give some extra props to Odom for playing hurt. I know that’s what you’re supposed to do, but did you hear him talking at the trophy presentation? You could hear the pain in his voice – dude is jacked up. But he’s shown more hustle in the last two games than almost anyone on the whole team.

I think Orlando will be the bigger challenge for the Lakers – it’ll be interesting to see what they can do with Howard, ‘cause I’m honestly not sure how that’ll go. Lakers are feeling like the team to beat right now, but let’s see what Game 6 (and maybe 7) of the ECF have to show us!

I have a horrible feeling it’s going to be Cleveland-San Antonio all over again. People might be fascinated with Kobe v. Lebron, but the next seven-eight positions down LA OWNS Cleveland, in every aspect. Bynum is no great post player, but neither is Big Z. Gasol vs Varejao? Who guards Odom (he destroyed Cleveland in the regular season)? Delonte West is no Kobe stopper (I can’t imagine LeBron playing D on Kobe). Derek Fisher might be past his prime, but Mo Williams is literally the perfect matchup for him. And even though the Laker bench is nothing to gawk at, Walton, Brown, Farmar and Vujacic are way better than anything Cleveland has to offer (maybe Gibson, but not much else).

Also Cleveland’s offense is stationary, and LA’s biggest defensive weakness is penetration, breakdown of defensive rotations, leading to wide open Js. These are things Orlando excels at.

LeBron can carry the Cavs to one win. Maybe two. But it’s gonna be tough to do more than that. Orlando would provide excitement and uncertainty to the final outcome.

Join the club!

Looks like Avinash is gonna get his wish. I am kinda liking this Magic(k) team. Try to stop Howard and the sharpshooters on the outside kill you. Try to stop the sharpshooters and Howard kills you. This is the type of team the Dubs were trying to put together, except they could never get the inside precense of a Dwight Howard. Theyd have better 3 point shooters (this is based not on any stats just my conjecture) with the inside presence of a Biedrins. HUGE difference.

Nobody is doubling teaming Biedrins like they are with HOward. So, that doesnt open up the outside guys.

They need Bynum to step up now. His defense has been pooor in this playoffs. Dwight against Pau would force Pau to play both sides of the floor, and cancel out the Lakers big advantage inside…and force Kobe to score. A lot. From outside. Not what LA wants.

Also Orlando is pretty good on their defensive rotations. Of course not as good as Boston was, but they are formidable. Well coached. We’ll see.

It’s Battie, not Battier. Shane Battier plays for the Rockets.

hilarious!!

“That’s pride fucking with you. FUCK PRIDE.”

Awesome that they mentioned the crab dribble. Surprised LeBron let that one go through.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDMUs3oc0Ik

not your fault, SBN is messing it up somehow.