General NBA watching thread 2007/2008

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

How does McGrady choke? He has the highest difference in points among any other NBA player during the playoffs (goes up by almost seven points over the regular season). It wasn't McGrady, but the team around him.



This year should (hopefully) be different and he finally advances to the second round.

Playoff series record 0-infinity.

[MavsFanFinley]

Originally Posted by Spurs Fan

Crappy second half yesterday. We couldn't buy a freakin' basket. Of course, it had to be against the Lakers, and on national TV, no less.

Spurs have to be concerned with the offense. Outside of the big 3 and Finley no one is scoring consistently right now. Bowen, Udoka, Thomas, Oberto have all been hit or miss. Stoudamire when given minutes has been trash. Vaughn has given some nice production but his minutes are not enough to really impact the game. Bonner is in the doghouse and it does look like Horry is done. I'm not sure what to expect from Barry but it isn't much. So the Spurs are screwed when one or two of the big are struggling.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by MavsFanFinley

Spurs have to be concerned with the offense. Outside of the big 3 and Finley no one is scoring consistently right now. Bowen, Udoka, Thomas, Oberto have all been hit or miss. Stoudamire when given minutes has been trash. Vaughn has given some nice production but his minutes are not enough to really impact the game. Bonner is in the doghouse and it does look like Horry is done. I'm not sure what to expect from Barry but it isn't much. So the Spurs are screwed when one or two of the big are struggling.

When the spurs don't hit three-pointers (or manu is on top of his game) they are very, very suspect.

With manu hobbled they would actually be the easiest out imo.

[DelNegro]

Originally Posted by MavsFanFinley

Spurs have to be concerned with the offense. Outside of the big 3 and Finley no one is scoring consistently right now. Bowen, Udoka, Thomas, Oberto have all been hit or miss. Stoudamire when given minutes has been trash. Vaughn has given some nice production but his minutes are not enough to really impact the game. Bonner is in the doghouse and it does look like Horry is done. I'm not sure what to expect from Barry but it isn't much. So the Spurs are screwed when one or two of the big are struggling.

Pretty much. If Tim, Tony and Manu have it going they can still beat anyone, but if one of them is off things just grind to a halt. They need more from Finley. Most of that supporting cast is built to do the dirty work (i.e. everything except score) and Finley is the only one capable of putting up consistent points.

Conceding a strong personal bias, I still think they can win it this year, but this is definitely the weakest Spur team in the last 6 years. If they go out early it certainly wouldn't be the biggest shock of my sports-viewing life.

[DubOverdose]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

Read the post above my own.

I'm supposed to care that he's been a lower seed? He's had talent around him. Him and Yao were supposed to win their first season together. No excuses. He's had plenty of situations where his team was up significantly and he couldn't close out.

*Dumbass bitch... nice diss

[Dim499]

Has anyone mentioned that if the Lakers lose to Sacto tomorrow it will be an impossibility for the Mavs to get the Lakers in round one.

Because then if the Mavs beat NO one day later, Dallas will be 7 and LA 1. If the MAvs lose to NO Dallas will be 8 and LA 2.

So the only thing to come out of this game could be if Dal-No is the 1v8 matchup or the 2v7 matchup (it could still be SA then).

[ghazi]

Im watching the Jazz right now, I think they're the most talented team in the NBA, although perhaps not the best.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Dim499

Has anyone mentioned that if the Lakers lose to Sacto tomorrow it will be an impossibility for the Mavs to get the Lakers in round one.

Because then if the Mavs beat NO one day later, Dallas will be 7 and LA 1. If the MAvs lose to NO Dallas will be 8 and LA 2.

So the only thing to come out of this game could be if Dal-No is the 1v8 matchup or the 2v7 matchup (it could still be SA then).

Actually, this is correct. I set it up incorrectly in the other thread. I'll go fix that now.

[GuerillaBlack]

With the way the Rockets are playing, they will not beat the Jazz in a 7-game series.

[vmac]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

With the way the Rockets are playing, they will not beat the Jazz in a 7-game series.

Sorry, but I don't think they can beat any team in a 7 game series, period.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by vmac

Sorry, but I don't think they can beat any team in a 7 game series, period.

Don't crush the kid's hopes.

[GuerillaBlack]

I think they can beat Denver and Golden State, but not anyone else. They go down 22, cut it to 12, then commit stupid turnovers and Jazz go back up to 17, then back down to 12 again. Can't crack it to under 10 yet.

[Dim499]

If you had Ramon Sessions from the Milwaukee Basketball Bucks in your "who will have a 20 assists 20 points game tonight" pool you won.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080414/CHIMIL/boxscore.html

[GuerillaBlack]

It was those turnovers in the late-3rd/early 4th that hurt the Rockets. Work on that, and Deke playing more minutes in the playoffs (as well as a healthy, non-bricking Rafer....maybe?) and I think we are in good shape for the playoffs.

[Dim499]

I love Nellie and this crazy Warriors team.

Down 12 at the half in Phoenix, Nellie benches Baron Davis at halftime for lack of effort.

And within 9 minutes Monte Ellis, Jackson and Azubukie put up a 31-11 comeback run. Such a shame they won't make the playoffs.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Dim499

If you had Ramon Sessions from the Milwaukee Basketball Bucks in your "who will have a 20 assists 20 points game tonight" pool you won.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080414/CHIMIL/boxscore.html

That line is amazing.

[GuerillaBlack]

Houston should defeat the Clippers. The Suns should defeat Portland. If Utah defeat the Spurs and the four-way tie happens, which at this point seems like the most likely scenario, the match-ups would be:

(3) Jazz v. (6) Suns
(4) Rockets v. (5) Spurs

At least, I think so:

http://www.nba.com/statistics/playoff_picture.html

b. More Than Two Teams Tied
(1) Better winning percentage in all games among the tied teams.

Wouldn't it be the same since they're all tied?

(2) Better winning percentage against teams in own division (only if all tied teams are in the same division).

Not same division. (Would never happen)

(3) Better winning percentage against teams in own conference.

Jazz would end with 34, Houston with 33, Spurs with 32 and Suns with 31.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

(1) Better winning percentage in all games among the tied teams.

Wouldn't it be the same since they're all tied?

It says games among the tied teams, i.e. how each team fared against the other three.

Unless I made a mistake, it looks like this:

UTA: 7-3
PHX: 6-5
HOU: 5-6
SAS: 4-8

so Phoenix would have HCA over Houston, and Utah would have HCA over San Antonio.

[AxdemxO]

wow Houston is still got a chance at the #1 seed...thats crazy..

just saying

[Dirkadirkastan]

What? No they don't. They can get 55 wins at the most, and one team already has 56.

I was showing the tiebreaker between the #3 through #6 seeds.

Edit: Oops.

[AxdemxO]

There go the Warriors...well damm...i kinda wanted them to make it...I am happy for Iverson and Camby..thats the only reason I dotn mind the Nuggets in there...and I actually think they can make some noise...Iversons still got a big heart even if his teammate is out driving drunk instead of focusing on BB and the playoffs

[AxdemxO]

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

What? No they don't. They can get 55 wins at the most, and one team already has 56.

I was showing the tiebreaker between the #3 through #6 seeds.

Edit: Oops.

On ESPN it says they do if things go a certain way.

am i rite or wrong

*** THEY DONT ANYMORE

[bernardos70]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the Warriors are out.

[dirno2000]

So Nellie goes down with is star point guard on the bench. It'll be interesting to see how that plays in the local media. Especially with Baron having an opt out.

[mqywaaah]

To the Warriors I say, " Good Riddance!"

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

It says games among the tied teams, i.e. how each team fared against the other three.

Unless I made a mistake, it looks like this:

UTA: 7-3
PHX: 6-5
HOU: 5-6
SAS: 4-8

so Phoenix would have HCA over Houston, and Utah would have HCA over San Antonio.

Actually, wouldn't Houston have home court over Phoenix, based on their better conference record?

EDIT: Actually, San Antonio would be the five seed and Houston the six seed. By the time Utah and Phoenix were awarded their seeds, it would be down to a two-team tiebreaker, and San Antonio wins that against Houston based on division record. So Phoenix would play the Spurs in the first round and have the home court based on head to head. Utah would play Houston, and also have the home court based on head to head.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Hmm.... I thought the four-way tiebreaker settled everything, but it would seem weird to give home court to Phoenix if Houston wins the head-to-head.

[chumdawg]

The tiebreakers just settle playoff seeding, to begin with. And they go one at a time. After a four-teamer is settled, you are left with a three-teamer, and so on until you are left with head to head.

Then each playoff matchup is looked at individually to determine home court. You can get some weird outcomes. Conceivably Utah could win the four-team tiebreaker and get the #3 seed, but then open on the road against the #6 seed if that particular matchup went in favor of the #6 seeded team when those two played head to head. (But Utah beat Houston 2-1, so in this case it doesn't.)

[Dirkadirkastan]

Yeah, I was just thinking about that. But how are we left with a three team tiebreak?

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

Yeah, I was just thinking about that. But how are we left with a three team tiebreak?

You have four teams tied for the #3 seed. You break the tie, and the winner gets that #3 seed. Now you have three teams tied for the #4 seed. You break that tie, and the winner gets the #4 seed. Now you have two teams tied for the #5 seed. You apply the two-team tiebreaker.

[some-dude]

FROM NBA.COM
------------
(2) If a tie involves more than two teams, the tie-break criteria in subparagraph b. shall be applied in the order set forth therein until the first to occur of the following:

(a) Each of the tied teams has a different winning percentage or point differential under the applicable tiebreak criterion (a “complete” breaking of the tie). In this circumstance, the team with the best winning percentage or point differential under the criterion will be awarded the best playoff position, the team with the next-best winning percentage or point differential will be awarded the next-best playoff position, and so on, and no further application of the tie-break criteria will be required.


Utah gets 3rd, then Suns, then Rockets, then Spurs.

[chumdawg]

Ah, I stand corrected.

In that case, Houston would get the home court over Phoenix in that 4/5 matchup.

[Dtownsfinest]

Damn looks like the Suns won't get a lottery pick after all this year. Still gonna be a good pick but just not lottery. Great for us and the league. Last thing they need is a lottery pick to add to their team. Gotta suck to be a Suns fan. If they lose in the 1st round they'll fill exactly like us Cowboys fans did this year.

[Dirkenstien]

Yeah I was rooting for Atlanta to get in the playoffs for this very reason.

Pheonix was sooo close to landing that early lottery pick last year but Atlanta was top three protected and ended up with the 3rd. Now the Suns won't event get a lottery pick out of it and essentially traded all-star shooting guard Joe Johnson for Boris Diaw and a late first round pick.

Ugly scenario for the Suns

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Ah, I stand corrected.

In that case, Houston would get the home court over Phoenix in that 4/5 matchup.

The four way tie breaker would settle everything standings wise. But remember, standings don't determine home court advantage, record does.

I believe once the four team tie break settles the standings, any playoff opponents left with identical records would then have home court advantage determined by the two team tie breaker.

[Underdog]

I know it's been mentioned, but how 'bout them Dubs???


April 2 - Dirk unexpectedly comes back from an high ankle sprain to pummel the Warriors 111-86...

April 14 - with the season on the line, the Great Baron Davis sits on the sideline with a COLD and watches his team get eliminated from contention by the Suns 122-116...


Justice can be so poetic sometimes...

[dude1394]

So chum...did you have any great prognositcations about the warriors starting this season?

I seem to recall you being pretty strong on their bandwagon at one point.

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by dude1394

So chum...did you have any great prognositcations about the warriors starting this season?

I seem to recall you being pretty strong on their bandwagon at one point.

42 Wins last year.

48 Wins this year.

Clearly, Nellie deserves another raise.

[jthig32]

What makes me sick is this Baron Davis thing will be swept under the rug. No one will care or even notice. Big Dumb Danny and Corby will continue to rave about what a man he is, what a killer he is.

And yet, when his team needed him most he wasn't there, for very questionable reasons.

Perfect example of ego and cocky being mistook for tough, while Dirk's humility and willingness to defer is mistaken as soft.

Good riddanced to the Warriors, they're where they belong.

[V2M]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

42 Wins last year.

48 Wins this year.

Clearly, Nellie deserves another raise.

+rep