2010 NBA Playoffs thread

[NJTank]

We could be watching the final game of LeBron James in a Cavaliers home uniform, as they are really stinking it up at the Q tonight, and speaking of Q is it me or does Shaq just take up space on the floor and slow everything?

[The_Admiral]

Yes, he's been an impediment to LeBron for a good part of this season.

[TFoA]

It's Mike Brown. When Operation "LeBron is 90% of Our Offense" doesn't work, he has no backup plan. He reminds me so much of Mike Woodson that it's scary. I swear, the Hawks & Cavs run the same offense...which means that they have no offense.

[NJTank]

Well if this means the end of Shaq maybe he should play one season for the Nets in his hometown Newark.

[slightly shotgunned]

I haven't watched a whole lot of the nba this year so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but is this series so close because the Cavs were maybe looking past the Celtics or is Boston really 23 points better than Cleveland?

This is crazy.

[HedleyLamarr]

Go Boston!

[lordsketor]

Unless Cleveland somehow wins in Boston and back in Cleveland, its looking like a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Semifinals between the well-rested Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

[TFoA]

I haven't watched a whole lot of the nba this year so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but is this series so close because the Cavs were maybe looking past the Celtics or is Boston really 23 points better than Cleveland?

This is crazy.

It's been a fairly lopsided series. Boston won game 2 in Cleveland in a lopsided manner, Cleveland won game 4 in a rout, & now this. It's just been an odd series, home court hasn't helped too much at all, which is amazing considering that this is the NBA, where if you are the home team you will get a majority of the calls.

EDIT: Well, it's official. Rajon Rondo's team now has two chances to close this thing out. If Rondo has another monster game, it's gonna happen, & the biggest speculative summer in NBA history will begin, even with the playoffs going on.

[dfwabel]

I haven't watched a whole lot of the nba this year so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but is this series so close because the Cavs were maybe looking past the Celtics or is Boston really 23 points better than Cleveland?

This is crazy.

It's been a fairly lopsided series. Boston won game 2 in Cleveland in a lopsided manner, Cleveland won game 4 in a rout, & now this. It's just been an odd series, home court hasn't helped too much at all, which is amazing considering that this is the NBA, where if you are the home team you will get a majority of the calls.

EDIT: Well, it's official. Rajon Rondo's team now has two chances to close this thing out. If Rondo has another monster game, it's gonna happen, & the biggest speculative summer in NBA history will begin, even with the playoffs going on.

It has been feast/famine in this series.

It will be difficult for me to convince you TFoA, but Mike Brown is a worse head coach than Mike Woodson. Mike Brown has the leagues best player, but allows him and this "Peanut

Gallery" of West, Parker, and Sideshow Bob to do all the b-boy posing and dancing meanwhile it seems that there is NO playbook. Just "Get 23 the ball".

Also, Brown came from SAS where he was considered a great defensive coach and they cannot play defense.

Lastly, the CLE crowds are very front-running. If the Cavs/Lebron start(s) out hot, they get loud early and four players not #23 try to feed off that. However, if their shots are not falling or the visitor is hot or keeping pace, they sit down and watch as if it was a tennis match. I am not sure if that is a result from the '07 Finals, but they were awful tonight like Lebron's first half. He will blame his elbow.

[TFoA]

I haven't watched a whole lot of the nba this year so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but is this series so close because the Cavs were maybe looking past the Celtics or is Boston really 23 points better than Cleveland?

This is crazy.

It's been a fairly lopsided series. Boston won game 2 in Cleveland in a lopsided manner, Cleveland won game 4 in a rout, & now this. It's just been an odd series, home court hasn't helped too much at all, which is amazing considering that this is the NBA, where if you are the home team you will get a majority of the calls.

EDIT: Well, it's official. Rajon Rondo's team now has two chances to close this thing out. If Rondo has another monster game, it's gonna happen, & the biggest speculative summer in NBA history will begin, even with the playoffs going on.

It has been feast/famine in this series.

It will be difficult for me to convince you TFoA, but Mike Brown is a worse head coach than Mike Woodson. Mike Brown has the leagues best player, but allows him and this "Peanut

Gallery" of West, Parker, and Sideshow Bob to do all the b-boy posing and dancing meanwhile it seems that there is NO playbook. Just "Get 23 the ball".

Also, Brown came from SAS where he was considered a great defensive coach and they cannot play defense.

Lastly, the CLE crowds are very front-running. If the Cavs/Lebron start(s) out hot, they get loud early and four players not #23 try to feed off that. However, if their shots are not falling or the visitor is hot or keeping pace, they sit down and watch as if it was a tennis match. I am not sure if that is a result from the '07 Finals, but they were awful tonight like Lebron's first half. He will blame his elbow.

It'll be easy for you, because I completely agree. I even said it earlier, Mike Brown reminds me so much of Mike Woodson. They're both guys that were known for their defense as assistant coaches, lo & behold, their teams end up being bad defensively & inconsistent offensively. I've said this more than a few times, watching the Cavs play offense is like watching the Hawks play offense, except the Cavs put in the LBJ23 cheat code. The fact that this team is so bad whenever LeBron has an off night should be enough to convince anybody that 1) the Cavs are NOT the best team in the East, let alone the league & 2) Mike Brown should be looking for a new job this summer.

As for the crowd, McCarthy has been all over that this entire season. As for the elbow, I'm guessing LeBron is gonna take a trip to see Dr. James Andrews before Game 6.

[NJTank]

Do you really think it was Mike Brown's fault that the Cleveland Cavaliers played like the Cleveland Cadavers.

[dfwabel]

Do you really think it was Mike Brown's fault that the Cleveland Cavaliers played like the Cleveland Cadavers.

Shouldn't a coach make adjustments to what the game presents her/him? I do.

That team went from Paul Silas, a coach who would tell a player to STUF, to Mike Brown. New ownership canned Silas, but he really had that team on their way, but Gilbert and Ferry have done what they have done to get quick pop to that team. Sure, Silas was not perfect, but he would have not allowed the locker room culture which they have to fester.

Then again, what have we seen from Lebron which displays his professional desire to win?

[The_Admiral]

LeBron would've gotten sick of Basketball's Fred Sanford by now. Mike Brown is a pretty awful coach, nevertheless.

[infrared41]

The Celtics are peaking at the right time. The Cavs have no idea how to win a game when LeBron isn't "on." That equals Celtics in 6. This thing was probably over when Boston blew out the Cavs in game 2. The Cavs are out on their feet right now. They have no idea what hit them.

[Sport]

I haven't watched a whole lot of the nba this year so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but is this series so close because the Cavs were maybe looking past the Celtics or is Boston really 23 points better than Cleveland?

This is crazy.

It's been a fairly lopsided series. Boston won game 2 in Cleveland in a lopsided manner, Cleveland won game 4 in a rout, & now this. It's just been an odd series, home court hasn't helped too much at all, which is amazing considering that this is the NBA, where if you are the home team you will get a majority of the calls.

EDIT: Well, it's official. Rajon Rondo's team now has two chances to close this thing out. If Rondo has another monster game, it's gonna happen, & the biggest speculative summer in NBA history will begin, even with the playoffs going on.

It has been feast/famine in this series.

It will be difficult for me to convince you TFoA, but Mike Brown is a worse head coach than Mike Woodson. Mike Brown has the leagues best player, but allows him and this "Peanut

Gallery" of West, Parker, and Sideshow Bob to do all the b-boy posing and dancing meanwhile it seems that there is NO playbook. Just "Get 23 the ball".

Also, Brown came from SAS where he was considered a great defensive coach and they cannot play defense.

Lastly, the CLE crowds are very front-running. If the Cavs/Lebron start(s) out hot, they get loud early and four players not #23 try to feed off that. However, if their shots are not falling or the visitor is hot or keeping pace, they sit down and watch as if it was a tennis match. I am not sure if that is a result from the '07 Finals, but they were awful tonight like Lebron's first half. He will blame his elbow.

As for the crowd, McCarthy has been all over that this entire season. As for the elbow, I'm guessing LeBron is gonna take a trip to see Dr. James Andrews before Game 6.

Thanks for the recognition. LOL

The only reason that I love to tout the Cavs's fans fairweather nature is because those same people love to say the same things about the Cincinnati Bengals. It's hypocrisy at its finest.

Here's more (non-scientific) evidence of the fairweather fanbase: prior to game 1 against Boston there was Cavs gear everywhere on this campus. Prior to game 5 I saw less than half of that. It was like they knew something bad was going to happen.

Then you have the emotionally irrational fans including all of my friends from Cleveland saying things like "I'm done with sports", and "we need to start over...without Lebron". And then there's the completely hyperbolous, "this is just as bad as losing game 7 of the 97 world series."

come on people, the series isn't even over and you've given up.

[gingerbreadmann]

I don't think this series is over by a longshot. Elbow or no elbow, this is LeBron James and Game 3 did happen. If the C's blow Game 6 at home, I will have almost zero confidence in the prospect of a Game 7 victory (though last night and Game 2 are encouraging, and Game 1 they were there the whole way). I'm still nervous out of my pants for this series but in perspective, this team is playing better than anyone could have reasonably hoped this postseason. I'm glad they could gear up and click for one more playoff run.

I've gotta say, though, Orlando looks plain unbeatable. If I'm a Magic fan I'm extremely excited. This is why the NBA is great. I can't wait to see what will happen.

[Audiodrama]

I don't think this series is over by a longshot. Elbow or no elbow, this is LeBron James and Game 3 did happen. If the C's blow Game 6 at home, I will have almost zero confidence in the prospect of a Game 7 victory (though last night and Game 2 are encouraging, and Game 1 they were there the whole way). I'm still nervous out of my pants for this series but in perspective, this team is playing better than anyone could have reasonably hoped this postseason. I'm glad they could gear up and click for one more playoff run.

I've gotta say, though, Orlando looks plain unbeatable. If I'm a Magic fan I'm extremely excited. This is why the NBA is great. I can't wait to see what will happen.

I agree with half of this.

If I'm a Magic fan, then yes, I'd see no reason not to be elated with my team right now. They're utterly dominating anyone who steps in their path. I'm not sure Cleveland or Boston could knock them off, the way they're playing.

As for tonight, I'm actually really confident that the Celtics will put this thing away. Why? Body language. In Games 4 and 5, the Cavaliers had a defeated look on their faces. (Well, most of them did. LeBron didn't seem to care one way or the other.) I'm not sure the Celtics can make a run to another championship, but they've got enough in the tank to take down Cleveland in six games. They're playing with a hell of a lot of swagger right now.

[See Red]

I don't think this series is over by a longshot. Elbow or no elbow, this is LeBron James and Game 3 did happen. If the C's blow Game 6 at home, I will have almost zero confidence in the prospect of a Game 7 victory (though last night and Game 2 are encouraging, and Game 1 they were there the whole way). I'm still nervous out of my pants for this series but in perspective, this team is playing better than anyone could have reasonably hoped this postseason. I'm glad they could gear up and click for one more playoff run.

I've gotta say, though, Orlando looks plain unbeatable. If I'm a Magic fan I'm extremely excited. This is why the NBA is great. I can't wait to see what will happen.

I agree with half of this.

If I'm a Magic fan, then yes, I'd see no reason not to be elated with my team right now. They're utterly dominating anyone who steps in their path. I'm not sure Cleveland or Boston could knock them off, the way they're playing.

As for tonight, I'm actually really confident that the Celtics will put this thing away. Why? Body language. In Games 4 and 5, the Cavaliers had a defeated look on their faces. (Well, most of them did. LeBron didn't seem to care one way or the other.) I'm not sure the Celtics can make a run to another championship, but they've got enough in the tank to take down Cleveland in six games. They're playing with a hell of a lot of swagger right now.

Celtics look like they're going to put this away, up 12 with under four left. So what does this do to Lebron's chances of staying in Cleveland?

Heh, Celtics fans are chanting "New York Knicks! New York Knicks!" while Lebron's at the line.

[Brass]

New York Knicks.

[lordsketor]

I severely doubt LeBron is going to the Knicks, for all I know hes going to stay in Cleveland and the Knicks wont get anyone this summer.