Let's hope that the rest of the playoffs are as good as the first round this year ... this is reminding me of late 80s and early 90s in terms of quality of play. Everybody seems to have good players on their roster.
Spurs in 7 Clippers in 6
Heat in 7 Pacers in 7
Clippers aren't beating the Thunder.
Spurs 6 Thunder 6
Heat 7 Pacers 6
Picked all the right teams. Got the games right in 2 of 4. I regret picking the Heat in 7, but the series could have went a game or 2 longer. The Nets blew a decent lead in the last game.
I was 4 for 4 as well. I didn't get any of the games right but I did state I should go Miami in 5.
Heat 6 OKC 6
Calling it now we'll have at least one game in the OKC-Spurs series where the officiating gift wraps a game to OKC if not two.
Changing mine to Spurs in 6 after Ibaka injury. Although the Heat faced this same situation two years ago with Bosh going down. Lebron-Wade just stepped up. We'll see if Durant-Westbrook can do the same.
Pacers in 7 - they are built to beat Miami Spurs in 7 - Durant/Westbrook are just terrible matchups for the Spurs ... but the Ibaka injury will be enough to get them through
I don't think that Miami has anything going for them right now other than LBJ.
Indiana has 2 guys that match up very well with LBJ in George and Mr. Irrational Confidence.
Indiana can force Miami to go big - and Miami w/ LBJ at SF is nowhere close to as good as LBJ at PF.
David West and Roy Hibbert are massive problems for Miami. West in particular becomes a huge problem for Miami because if they put a smaller guy on the floor (i.e. Battier) then West can pound him. If they put the big on the floor (i.e. Haslem) then it's easier for Indiana to clog the lane and stop the drives of LBJ and Wade.
George Hill won't be exposed in this series by Chalmers/Cole.
Everything that they've done this year was tied to getting home court and beating Miami. Time for them to put up or shut up.
If Miami relies on LBJ to win the series for them, they'll lose. Wade needs to be Wade from a few years ago for them to win this series.
Tequila, it's cool that you read Zach Lowe's columns, but you're really going to bet against Lebron going for the three peat? Heat are just as set up to beat Indiana (trapping D, threes) as Indiana is set up to beat Miami. Heat in 6.
Tequila, it's cool that you read Zach Lowe's columns, but you're really going to bet against Lebron going for the three peat? Heat are just as set up to beat Indiana (trapping D, threes) as Indiana is set up to beat Miami. Heat in 6.
Bosh was turrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrible last year against the Pacers. Perhaps he plays that terrible again who knows? However, if he's knocking down open jumpers then the Pacers are in trouble.
Also last year Wade was limping into the ECF while he's been tan, rested and ready for all this time off that Spoelstra gave him not to mention these quick series.
Also Hibbert averaged 23 and 10 in last years playoffs against Miami. Is he capable of doing that? Sure. Given the way he's been playing I doubt it though.
Agree with Doogsinparadise. Not to mention Miami might be worse than last year but Lebron is somehow better than last year so Miami is more scary.
The first two numbers are Roy Hibbert against the Heat in their losses. The next two numbers are Roy Hibbert against the Heat in their wins.
The rebounding in all four games has been terrible. He's done a good job staying out of foul trouble in three of the games. However, just like his postseason he's had some extremes when playing Miami. I expect that to be the same.
No question that Hibbert has been jekyl and hyde a bit against the Heat this year ...
Funny that you mention that I read the articles by Zach Lowe - I will agree that I thought that he wrote a very good article highlighting how Indiana gives Miami trouble. But I picked Indiana a long time ago to beat Miami considering that I have a Vegas slip sitting on my counter for them to win the NBA Title.
There are a lot of teams that like to think that they match up well with Miami by making them do things that they don't like to do. Few can actually do it.
Miami is a very new age team that doesn't really care about scoring in the paint in the traditional sense of using bigs and post ups. They want the paint as open as possible because that allows LBJ and Wade to drive to the hoop at all times without obstacles.
Few teams can offer up a rim obstacle like Hibbert. Few teams can offer up a PF option like David West in tandem. Few teams have an option to guard LBJ like Paul George. Few teams have an option to stay with Wade in Mr. Irrational Confidence.
I do agree with the assessment that Indiana's got to clean up their rebounding to win this series. It would also help them out a bunch if they can find an option or two off the bench that can rise to the occasion at some point in the series.
Miami is favored by many and rightfully so. But they look very old to me and have been relying way too much on LBJ (which they have been able to get away with so far). Too many of their key contributors seem on their last legs to me. Battier looks done. Jesus Shuttlesworth can still hit the open shot but I don't see a lot more out of him at this point. I never feel like you're going to get any kind of consistency out of Chalmers or Cole. They've been resorting to using James Jones and Rashard Lewis to try to stretch the floor - both would be abused in this series.
Maybe LBJ is up to it to have another massive series and put his team on his back. But I see Wade as being more old than rested. And Bosh normally doesn't play particularly well against Indiana and is never confused with being a dominant rebounder.
This series is a lot closer than I think a lot are giving credit for. I think most think that Miami will win 1 of the first 2 in Indiana, then take 2 at home, lose game 5, and then clinch in game 6. My expectation is that we'll be 2-2 after 4 games. I do think that Miami's best chance to win the series is in 6. I also would like to see how Indiana handles having game 7 at home if it gets to that point. They've played all year working to have THAT game on their home court - can they capitalize on it?
I'd be very surprised if either series didn't go the distance. Even with the Ibaka injury, OKC is a bad matchup for the Spurs. These should be great conference finals.
Stephenson basically calling Wade out and implying he's washed up isn't the smartest move. Never wake up the Heat as that never ends well.
I also think with Wade whenever people are questioning his career he always rises up. Just remember game 7 vs Indiana last year, game 4 vs Spurs and game 7 vs Spurs. Going into all three games his career was being called out.
Comments
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200505080SAS.html
Next round.
Spurs 7 (too hard to predict)
Heat 6
Heat 6
OKC 6
Calling it now we'll have at least one game in the OKC-Spurs series where the officiating gift wraps a game to OKC if not two.
Spurs 6
Heat 5
Spurs 5
Heat 5
then spurs in 6, barring injury
Spurs in 7 - Durant/Westbrook are just terrible matchups for the Spurs ... but the Ibaka injury will be enough to get them through
HTH.
I don't think that Miami has anything going for them right now other than LBJ.
Indiana has 2 guys that match up very well with LBJ in George and Mr. Irrational Confidence.
Indiana can force Miami to go big - and Miami w/ LBJ at SF is nowhere close to as good as LBJ at PF.
David West and Roy Hibbert are massive problems for Miami. West in particular becomes a huge problem for Miami because if they put a smaller guy on the floor (i.e. Battier) then West can pound him. If they put the big on the floor (i.e. Haslem) then it's easier for Indiana to clog the lane and stop the drives of LBJ and Wade.
George Hill won't be exposed in this series by Chalmers/Cole.
Everything that they've done this year was tied to getting home court and beating Miami. Time for them to put up or shut up.
If Miami relies on LBJ to win the series for them, they'll lose. Wade needs to be Wade from a few years ago for them to win this series.
In the case of Indiana-Miami I only need one reason.
1. Lebron James- Best player on the court. Enough said about that.
Also last year Wade was limping into the ECF while he's been tan, rested and ready for all this time off that Spoelstra gave him not to mention these quick series.
Also Hibbert averaged 23 and 10 in last years playoffs against Miami. Is he capable of doing that? Sure. Given the way he's been playing I doubt it though.
Agree with Doogsinparadise. Not to mention Miami might be worse than last year but Lebron is somehow better than last year so Miami is more scary.
34 mins, 2-7 shooting, 5 points, 1 reb, 2 fouls, 2 blocks
37 mins, 10-15 shooting, 24 points, 5 rebs, 2 fouls, 1 block
34 mins, 7-15 shooting, 21 points, 4 rebs, 2 fouls, 0 blocks
The first two numbers are Roy Hibbert against the Heat in their losses.
The next two numbers are Roy Hibbert against the Heat in their wins.
The rebounding in all four games has been terrible. He's done a good job staying out of foul trouble in three of the games. However, just like his postseason he's had some extremes when playing Miami. I expect that to be the same.
Funny that you mention that I read the articles by Zach Lowe - I will agree that I thought that he wrote a very good article highlighting how Indiana gives Miami trouble. But I picked Indiana a long time ago to beat Miami considering that I have a Vegas slip sitting on my counter for them to win the NBA Title.
There are a lot of teams that like to think that they match up well with Miami by making them do things that they don't like to do. Few can actually do it.
Miami is a very new age team that doesn't really care about scoring in the paint in the traditional sense of using bigs and post ups. They want the paint as open as possible because that allows LBJ and Wade to drive to the hoop at all times without obstacles.
Few teams can offer up a rim obstacle like Hibbert. Few teams can offer up a PF option like David West in tandem. Few teams have an option to guard LBJ like Paul George. Few teams have an option to stay with Wade in Mr. Irrational Confidence.
I do agree with the assessment that Indiana's got to clean up their rebounding to win this series. It would also help them out a bunch if they can find an option or two off the bench that can rise to the occasion at some point in the series.
Miami is favored by many and rightfully so. But they look very old to me and have been relying way too much on LBJ (which they have been able to get away with so far). Too many of their key contributors seem on their last legs to me. Battier looks done. Jesus Shuttlesworth can still hit the open shot but I don't see a lot more out of him at this point. I never feel like you're going to get any kind of consistency out of Chalmers or Cole. They've been resorting to using James Jones and Rashard Lewis to try to stretch the floor - both would be abused in this series.
Maybe LBJ is up to it to have another massive series and put his team on his back. But I see Wade as being more old than rested. And Bosh normally doesn't play particularly well against Indiana and is never confused with being a dominant rebounder.
This series is a lot closer than I think a lot are giving credit for. I think most think that Miami will win 1 of the first 2 in Indiana, then take 2 at home, lose game 5, and then clinch in game 6. My expectation is that we'll be 2-2 after 4 games. I do think that Miami's best chance to win the series is in 6. I also would like to see how Indiana handles having game 7 at home if it gets to that point. They've played all year working to have THAT game on their home court - can they capitalize on it?
I'd be very surprised if either series didn't go the distance. Even with the Ibaka injury, OKC is a bad matchup for the Spurs. These should be great conference finals.
I also think with Wade whenever people are questioning his career he always rises up. Just remember game 7 vs Indiana last year, game 4 vs Spurs and game 7 vs Spurs. Going into all three games his career was being called out.
I bet Wade has a big game one.
OKGs in 8
Spurs 6 (Splurge Ibola or w/e his name is will be a loss...I guess)