General NBA watching thread 2010-11 edition

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Stylistic

OKC is just lazy on defense. They also take terrible quality shots. They are also soft.

We would rip a team like OKC apart - go Thunder!

[Mav Addict]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Memphis is built a lot like the Lakers - big guys, good defense, lots of transition, inside scoring...

They're probably the deepest team aside from us, but I'll take our playoff-tested veterans in a 7-game series... Memphis would be like a virgin hooking up with a porn star if they made it to the WCF.

Now I would be more inclined to take a sip if they had a health Rudy Gay

[Mav Addict]

Originally Posted by Stylistic

OKC is just lazy on defense. They also take terrible quality shots. They are also soft.

They fall in love with the jumpshot.... Kinda remind me of the Mavs 5 years ago

[LonghornDub]

I want an OKC rally here, if nothing else just to make sure the series goes deep. Still not totally sure who I want to win, but I want it to go 7.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Mav Addict

Now I would be more inclined to take a sip if they had a health Rudy Gay

Actually, they seem to be playing a lot better without him... He was kind of a ball-stopper - I wouldn't be shocked to see him traded this offseason...

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

You couldn't disagree more? Of all the things on the earth we could possibly disagree about, this is #1 on the list in terms of magnitude? Strong punch there, but somehow I doubt that.

Your point about Mavs-Lakers and Spurs-Grizzlies completely misses the mark. I didn't say championship experience is determinative of all playoff series. I didn't even say it's the most important factor. Surely not. But in the pressure of the Finals, the biggest stage, if you think it's not a huge boost to have been there before as a team, you are absolutely kidding yourself. Of course it matters. The "better team wins"---yeah, and part of being the better team is having team experience. Do you think it's just some mathematical equation where you add up all the talent on each team, and that's the "better team"?

The Mavs don't need to contain both LeBron and Wade. You don't contain both of them. Hell, I'm not even sure you contain one of them. Limit them as much as possible and shut down the other guys. Are those two going to combine for 95 a game for a 7-game series?

The first paragraph of your post is pretty misguided, too. The Celtics have four all-stars. They have a fantastic point guard (assuming he's healthy, which if they make the Finals, I'd assume he would be). You just said you didn't want to deal with Rose because we can't guard PG's, but you'd want to deal with Rondo and three other All-stars? Rose is better than Rondo, but KG, Allen, and Pierce are sure as hell better than...Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah.

And your statement about "offensive firepower" seems to beg the question. Part of the debate is whether having the best two players means you have the best team. The Heat have more offensive firepower at the top, but the Celtics' top four guys are better than anyone else on the Heat roster. The Celtics were the best FG% team in the entire league this year. No offensive firepower? Ok, then.

I absolutely agree the Heat have the two best players, and two of the top five in the league. But to act like that's everything....well, it's no different than the logic advanced to explain why the Mavs couldn't beat the Lakers in the playoffs.

Calm down dude, lol. I'm not sure what I said that offended you, but I'm sorry.

Honestly, yes I do think "championship experience" is more or less a non-factor. I've just seen the team with past championships get beat by the young up-and-comers too many times to really see it as much of a factor in an NBA series. No, I don't that it's "just some mathematical equation where you add up all the talent on each team" but I do think more often than not it's possible to look at teams on paper and look at them play over the course of a season and deduce which team will be more dangerous in playoff series.

The Celtics do have four all-stars, yes, but I don't think a single one of them is the kind of player that will wreak havoc on the Mavs' defense the way certain players have in the past(Wade himself being one of those players.) I never said that the Celtics had no offensive firepower. I just think the Heat have considerably more. Suffice it to say that I think the Heat's two hall-of-fame superstars and one all-star are more dangerous to the Mavs than the Celtics' four all-stars.

With regards to Chicago, again, you're right that the Celts' supporting cast is better, but again I worry that the Mavs would just be dominated by a player like Rose. It's not that I think the Bulls and the Heat are so much better than the Celtics. I just think the Mavs match up better with the Celtics than the Bulls or the Heat. Players like Rose are the Mavs' Achilles' heel. The Celtics have no such player.

[Underdog]

Wow, Grizz giving Thunder the same treatment Dallas just gave LA - this ain't even close... OKC's bigs are getting abused.

[Thespiralgoeson]

OKC's frontcourt is pretty damn weak.

[Mav Addict]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Actually, they seem to be playing a lot better without him... He was kind of a ball-stopper - I wouldn't be shocked to see him traded this offseason...

Rudy Gay just gotta max contract, $82 mill....Battier does not make Grizz better IMO...personally I would take Rudy over Caron

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Mav Addict

Rudy Gay just gotta max contract, $82 mill....Battier does not make Grizz better IMO...personally I would take Rudy over Caron

If the money was equal, yeah, I'd take Gay over Caron too.

And the money is a big reason why Memphis will try to move Gay - they could spend that chunk of change on better-fitting parts...

[Stylistic]

Now Memphis is showing some holes especially their interior defense which many knew was a weakness anyway, right.

[DNowitzki41mavs]

c'mon OKC, we need a 7 game series

[TripleDipping]

Don't look now. OKC making a come back.

[Stylistic]

Amazing that OKC is only down 6.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Calm down dude, lol. I'm not sure what I said that offended you, but I'm sorry.

Honestly, yes I do think "championship experience" is more or less a non-factor. I've just seen the team with past championships get beat by the young up-and-comers too many times to really see it as much of a factor in an NBA series. No, I don't that it's "just some mathematical equation where you add up all the talent on each team" but I do think more often than not it's possible to look at teams on paper and look at them play over the course of a season and deduce which team will be more dangerous in playoff series.

The Celtics do have four all-stars, yes, but I don't think a single one of them is the kind of player that will wreak havoc on the Mavs' defense the way certain players have in the past(Wade himself being one of those players.) I never said that the Celtics had no offensive firepower. I just think the Heat have considerably more. Suffice it to say that I think the Heat's two hall-of-fame superstars and one all-star are more dangerous to the Mavs than the Celtics' four all-stars.

With regards to Chicago, again, you're right that the Celts' supporting cast is better, but again I worry that the Mavs would just be dominated by a player like Rose. It's not that I think the Bulls and the Heat are so much better than the Celtics. I just think the Mavs match up better with the Celtics than the Bulls or the Heat. Players like Rose are the Mavs' Achilles' heel. The Celtics have no such player.

You didn't offend me in the least. Not sure why you think that. Sorry if I gave that impression.

Again, pointing out that experienced teams lose to inexperienced teams--even frequently (which I'm not sure is true, but let's say it is)--doesn't negate the point that experience is a factor. I don't even think you actually believe experience isn't a factor, I think you're just cutting too far against the conventional wisdom that credits experience as some end-all, be-all. I actually agree with you totally that the conventional wisdom is bogus, but I think you're taking it too far the other way.

End of the day...this game is about a lot more than who has the 1-2 most athletic or talented guys. The Pistons don't win a championship if that's what it's all about. The Spurs don't win 3 this decade. It's a team game, and I'm not at all convinced that Miami has the best team of those 3 East teams (nor even the toughest team to match up against).

Regardless, it looks like the Celtics aren't making it. Too much to overcome tonight with Rondo being hobbled, and their injury luck in general this year has just been horrible.

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by Mav Addict

Rudy Gay just gotta max contract, $82 mill....Battier does not make Grizz better IMO...personally I would take Rudy over Caron

All this time and evidence and people still aren't buying into Battier? Come on...

[Flacolaco]

I feel like I am doing myself a disservice by watching Grizz/Thunder. It's like I am getting a head start on mega-loathing both of them a week in advance.

...and I still can't figure out which one I'd rather the Mavs face.

[Mav Addict]

I see Kenny Smith drinking the Memphis koolaid...so now Memphis is the most offensive versatile team left in the playoffs .....GTFO here TNT!

No respect at all ...

[Mav Addict]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

All this time and evidence and people still aren't buying into Battier? Come on...

He proved nothing to me in Houston...

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

End of the day...this game is about a lot more than who has the 1-2 most athletic or talented guys. The Pistons don't win a championship if that's what it's all about. The Spurs don't win 3 this decade. It's a team game, and I'm not at all convinced that Miami has the best team of those 3 East teams (nor even the toughest team to match up against).

That's true enough, and were this any team other than the Mavs I would probably agree with you. I'm not necessarily thinking in terms of who is the best team overall, but rather who is more of a threat to the Mavs specifically. The Mavs' weakness defensively is against explosive slashers, and the Heat have the two best in the game. Lebron and Wade won't average 95 in a seven game series against the Mavs, but I could very easily see them averaging anywhere between 70 and 80.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Mav Addict

I see Kenny Smith drinking the Memphis koolaid...so now Memphis is the most offensive versatile team left in the playoffs .....GTFO here TNT!

No respect at all ...

Memphis is the most versatile offensive team just like Pau Gasol is the best offensive big man in the league.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

That's true enough, and were this any team other than the Mavs I would probably agree with you. I'm not necessarily thinking in terms of who is the best team overall, but rather who is more of a threat to the Mavs specifically. The Mavs' weakness defensively is against explosive slashers, and the Heat have the two best in the game. Lebron and Wade won't average 95 in a seven game series against the Mavs, but I could very easily see them averaging anywhere between 70 and 80.

I'll tell you this...if the Mavs are lucky enough to get that far, and the Heat as well, it will be just about the most intense thing ever.

[LonghornDub]

...ok that dunk by KD right now is why I kinda don't want to play the Thunder. Yikes.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Wow, a travel and an offensive goal-tend in the same possession and OKC still gets the bucket.

[TripleDipping]

Tied game y'all.

[FINtastic]

Memphis taking way too many midrange jumpers here.

[fluid.forty.one]

I want OKC.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Man, OKC is quite an enigma. I've never seen a team look sloppy and lethargic while overcoming an 18-pt deficit.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Wow, Grizz giving Thunder the same treatment Dallas just gave LA - this ain't even close... OKC's bigs are getting abused.

I rescind the above statement - the Grizzlies are NOTHING like the Mavericks...

It was an insult to my beloved Mavs to even make that comparison in the first place.

[TripleDipping]

The game is getting crazy entertaining now.

[LonghornDub]

I hate the overuse of "huge" shot and "big" shot in the playoffs. Fifty percent of shots can't be big shots.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Both teams look as if they would be hard pressed to beat the Dallas Mavericks four times out of seven. All they seem to have going for them would be the "anything could happen" cliché.

[fluid.forty.one]

Best part about watching this is knowing that the Mavs are at home, sizing up his potential opponents while getting some much needed rest.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Z-bo has definitely come back down to earth.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Perkins is getting away with murder against Gasol.

[FINtastic]

Maybe watching the Mavs in the playoffs has spoiled me, but Memphis' shot selection in the second half is enough to make me want to cry at times.

[j0Shi]

I would bet a certain amount of money that the last shot at Gasol was intentional by Perkins.

[Underdog]

Nice hard foul on Durant there...

[Thespiralgoeson]

I'm surprised Durant got up from that fall. It looked like he dislocated his knee.

[Underdog]

Vasquez thinks he's Barea... He ain't no Barea.