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NBA Playoffs Preview

NJTank

By NJTank
in Sports In General

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pmoehrin

pmoehrin

Posted
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When Miami beat the Sixers 2 of those 3 wins came at the beginning of the season when Philly got out to that 3-13 start. This is .500 basketball team in name only. They play solid defense, and do a fantastic job of spreading the ball around offensively. I would not look past Philly. They may not win the series, but I think they are going to give Miami alot of problems.

The other thing is that I think people are going to be in for a huge disapointment with the Knicks. I know people in New York were throwing Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, and Gallinari under the bus, but those are solid ballplayers and I don't feel the addition of Anthony and Billups hasn't made up for their loss. Carmelo doesen't play D, and Billups isn't the same player he was five years ago. At best the Knicks are slightly better then what they were before the Anthony deal, and a worst have regressed some. I tend to lean more towards the regessive side of things.

Going up against an experience team like Boston I think they are going to be exposed for what they are, which is a one dimensional team that's good on the offensive side of the ball, but terrible on defense. Boston is argubly the best defensive team in the league, so they will at least slow the Knicks down, and New York isn't going to have an answer defensively for what Pierce, Allen, Rondo and Garnett bring to the table. Some people are looking this as an upset, but I think its nothing more then the New York media drumming up some false hope.

Otherwise everything else is at most a game off from where I would have it so for the most part I'm agreement with those predictions.

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StillS

StillS

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Agree with most of it except for Sixers and Nuggets. Iguodala can contain Lebron, the problem is when both Lebron and Wade are on fire. Anyways with two 6th man of the year candidates coming off the bench (Lou and Young) and with better coaching sixers will steal 1. If we weren't struggling now and Iggy and Lou were healthy i think sixers could have probably pushed it to game 6.

And Nuggets team is crazy stacked. Considering they have like 7 guys capable of putting up good numbers in any given night i expect it to be a very tough 6 game series.

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pmoehrin

pmoehrin

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I think the Hawks are going to give Chicago a bit more trouble then people think, but I still think Chicago will take the series.

I also don't think the Boston/Miami series games are going to be that close. I think most of them are going to be decisive victories regardless of who wins. Miami needs to get out in transition to win, Boston needs to make it a half court game. Niether team can win playing the other's style. I still think Boston will take the series in six. Miami's lack of a PG is going to be their undoing.

Dallas just doesen't match up with LA and I think that series is pretty much over before it begins. They're might be a few close games but close isn't the same as winning. Memphis/OKC is going to be the wildcard. This is going to be the test to see if the Kendrick Perkins trade was actually a good deal. Tim Duncan is still one of the best defensive bigmen in the game today and even he couldn't do much against the Grizzlies front line. OKC is a bit faster though and it could make a difference. I'm still trying to get a feel for exactly how good this Memphis team really is, so I almost have no clue what the series will turn out like. I could see either team sweeping the other and everything in between.

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loogodude90

loogodude90

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I agree with pretty much all of your Round 2 picks, right down to the game count. I could see the LAL-DAL series possibly going to 6 games.

Also though, I wouldn't be surprised if due to referee tampering, the Heat were pushed into the next round. Today's game certainly made it seem like that may happen. And let's face it, that's probably what David Stern wants. We'll see what happens though.

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pmoehrin

pmoehrin

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I love the matchup of Miami and Chicago in the Eastern Conference Finals and I think both teams are going to pose very unique threats to the other. LeBron James has seen like a man on a mission in these playoffs and as good as the Bulls are defensively I'm not sure they are anybody for that matter is going to have an answer for that. It just seems at times he just does whatever he wants to on the court.

At the same time the Heat don't really have someone capable of checking Derrick Rose. If you watched game six, when Jeff Teague got hurt Derrick Rose just went off. At this stage of his career Mike Bibby is basically inept defensively, and Mario Chalmers isn't much better, so they are probably going to have to double team him alot which is going to leave guys open and the Bulls have some shooters from long range.

I think its going to be a very entertaining series to watch with alot of close games.

Regardless of who wins the Memphis/OKC series I don't see either team getting past Dallas. I've seen both teams make up for mental errors with hard work, but hard work only gets you so far at the end of the day. Dallas is a hungry veteran team. I would say not a good combination to go up against. For guys like Kidd, Marion, Nowitkzi, Peja, Jason Terry it could very well be their last real shot at winning a title. Billboard material won't be needed. This is I feel by far the most determined team to win, because when you've had 10+ wait til' next year's in your career, you know there aren't many left. I think whoever wins the OKC/Memphis series is going to get eaten alive in the next round.

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MDC

MDC

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I've heard a lot of people claim the Bulls have been "exposed" by the Hawks and Pacers. How so? They played them hard definitely, but what basketball strategy did they employ to stop Derrick Rose? They havent been exposed, just tested. Exposing them would mean either Atlanta or Indiana did something different that the Bulls couldnt figure out or stop. That clearly didnt happen.

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---Owner of the NHA's Philadelphia Quakers, the UBA's Chicago Skyliners, and the CFA's Portland Beavers (2010 CFA2 Champions)---

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pmoehrin

pmoehrin

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I've heard a lot of people claim the Bulls have been "exposed" by the Hawks and Pacers. How so? They played them hard definitely, but what basketball strategy did they employ to stop Derrick Rose? They havent been exposed, just tested. Exposing them would mean either Atlanta or Indiana did something different that the Bulls couldnt figure out or stop. That clearly didnt happen.

What they did was eliminate all the Bulls passing lanes and leave Derrick Rose one on one with either Teague who's an outstanding defensive player or Darren Collison who's decent defensively for a PG and you've seen how Derrick Rose has handled being covered one on one.

The Heat I don't think can do that. Mike Bibby can't check anybody let alone argubly the best offensive PG in the game today. Your probably going to see alot of double teams with Rose and switch offs to get Dwayne Wade on him. They may even go with just having Wade gurading Rose straight up alot of plays. I don't see the logic in having your worst backcourt defender guarding Rose and your best guarding Ronnie Brewer or Keith Bogans.

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pmoehrin

pmoehrin

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Mike Bibby can't check anybody let alone argubly the best offensive PG in the game today. Your probably going to see alot of double teams with Rose and switch offs to get Dwayne Wade on him. They may even go with just having Wade gurading Rose straight up alot of plays. I don't see the logic in having your worst backcourt defender guarding Rose and your best guarding Ronnie Brewer or Keith Bogans.

Just going on what I'm seeing they are double teaming Rose, but what I didn't think they would do would be switching off Bibby on the double team.

I've only seen them switch off Wade for Bibby once, so I don't think that will happen alot this series, but the fact that they did it once though says that it is in their gameplan, so you could see it more frequently later in the series.

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