Basketball (NBA, College, etc.)

bmwracer wrote:Lakers rout the Kings, 124-101, to win the top spot in the West... :woot: :dancing: :applaud:


Playoff time. :sweat: :fingerscrossed:

Go to one of their home games.

You might give them good luck :mrgreen:

K.T.Tran wrote:Go to one of their home games.

You might give them good luck :mrgreen:

Past history has proved the contrary. :sweat:

Playoffs are here! First Round starts today! :woot: :dancing:

Here are my predictions for the 1st round.

WEST:

L.A. over DENVER ................. in 4
DALLAS over NEW ORLEANS .. in 6
SAN ANTONIO over PHOENIX .. in 7
UTAH over HOUSTON .............. in 5


EAST:

BOSTON over ATLANTA ..... in 4
DETROIT over PHILLY ....... in 4
ORLANDO over TORONTO ... in 5
CLEVELAND over WASH ...... in 7


(WARNING: Predictions should not be used in Vegas) :beaten:



These were some pre-analysis of the teams posted earlier this month, which I promised to update:

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GS & Denver - As entertaining as they both are offensively, their utter lack of any D will make it hard to get past 1st round.

Houston - Great team chemistry, good defense, but lack of consistent scorers (T-mac can't always carry the load) make them the weakest of the West.

New Orleans - A tough out for any team they face, but MVP Chris Paul has to do everything. The team is too young with no playoff experience.

Phoenix & Dallas - Both made major mid-season trades, but style of play is still an issue. For Suns, I still have my doubts on Shaq fitting in to a running offense. Moreover, Suns still play no D. For Mavs, (see previous post).

Utah - Great at home, atrocious on the road ... an omen of things to come for the Jazz in playoffs.

TITLE CONTENDERS:

L.A. - By far the deepest team (Odom is the 4th best player on team!!). They got the Closer in Kobe, but championship hopes are dicey if Bynum + Gasol are not close to 100%.

San Antonio - Got the most experience, the best big-man (Duncan), but almost everyone is 30+ in age. Not sure if they'll have the energy to go through 3 grueling West series just to go to Finals.

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Any Thoughts/Comments?

Suns/Spurs Game 1 ............ Ummm, WHOOAAA!!

Hopefully most of y'all caught this one. Spurs won 117-115 in 2OT. But .... Duncan for 3 (1st one all year!!) to tie it up for 2nd OT. :applaud:

The whole game ... one of the best 1st round match I've seen.

Crazzzy. :shocked:

Lakers take game one from the Nuggets in a shootout, 128-114. :sweat:

But I have to disagree with adub2adub I don't think the Lakers will sweep, and I think there may be 1 or 2 upsets in the West. (but don't ask me who)

gaijinmark wrote:I think there may be 1 or 2 upsets in the West.

I'd think those would be Dallas-New Orleans and San Antonio-Phoenix...

Why is it that I want Philly to beat Detroit so much? They can't really win it all with that lineup, but their rally over the second half of the season had me pretty excited about their chances to get an upset here.

Even if they do get by, though... at the end there's still Boston. :sweat:

FarOutFreak wrote:Why is it that I want Philly to beat Detroit so much?

'Cause every one hates Detroit. :beaten:

FarOutFreak wrote:Why is it that I want Philly to beat Detroit so much? They can't really win it all with that lineup, but their rally over the second half of the season had me pretty excited about their chances to get an upset here.

I agree that Philly won't beat Detroit in the series, but you're not the only one rooting against Pistons. Many detest the Pistons for their ugly style of play and inflated heads (aka. over-arrogance).

adub2adub wrote:Many detest the Pistons for their ugly style of play and inflated heads (aka. over-arrogance).

Is the current team like that?

I thought it was just the Thomas-Salley-Rodman-Laimbeer teams from the 80's-90's that everyone despised...

bmwracer wrote:Is the current team like that?

I thought it was just the Thomas-Salley-Rodman-Laimbeer teams from the 80's-90's that everyone despised...

Not really dirty (I may be wrong), but I also think they let that championship get to their heads. Back then, they also had the presence of Ben Wallace at a time when he still pretty much cared about playing, so they really did bring a certain swagger to games. After that, things started going downhill.

I remember the 50-point dismantling by Lebron. That was a joy to watch.

FarOutFreak wrote:I remember the 50-point dismantling by Lebron. That was a joy to watch.

But did Cleveland win the game? :beaten:

There's been a number of games where Kobe dropped 50+ on a team and the Lakers still lost. :bleh:

bmwracer wrote:But did Cleveland win the game? :beaten:

There's been a number of games where Kobe dropped 50+ on a team and the Lakers still lost. :bleh:

My bad, it wasn't 50... it was 48 points. Double-OT in last year's Conference Finals. Lebron scored his team's last 25 points for the win. The Pistons could only watch him as he either drove and put it up, or got fouled. The ball wasn't going to anyone else, and the Pistons knew it, but they still couldn't put anyone on him. After that game, there was all this talk of 'Jordan-esque'.

Kobe can do that easy, but this year it seems like he won't need to. :usuck:

Lakers go two-up on the Nuggets with a 122-107 win... Kobe drops 49 on Denver. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:Lakers go two-up on the Nuggets with a 122-107 win... Kobe drops 49 on Denver. :victory:

I keep thinking how bad Denver must feel this season, given that they got Iverson prior to that and it really looked like they had a good chance to make a push this season.

And then Danny Ainge does the deal that defibrillates Boston. And then the Lakers proceed to upend the West with that insane deal for Gasol, and then every other West team follows suit with their own "need to keep up with the Lakers" trade.

And suddenly Denver is on the wrong end of an 0-2 hole against the Lakers. :sweat: Maybe next year, then?

FarOutFreak wrote:

I keep thinking how bad Denver must feel this season, given that they got Iverson prior to that and it really looked like they had a good chance to make a push this season.

And then Danny Ainge does the deal that defibrillates Boston. And then the Lakers proceed to upend the West with that insane deal for Gasol, and then every other West team follows suit with their own "need to keep up with the Lakers" trade.

Denver acquiring AI was still a good move for Nuggs. But unless the Suns and Spurs were to relocate East, the Nuggets were never gonna be close to the top in West anyway.

And suddenly Denver is on the wrong end of an 0-2 hole against the Lakers. :sweat: Maybe next year, then?

I dunno about that. Since last season, other West teams have only improved, like the Jazz, Hornets, and Lakers. With young stars like DWill, Boozer, CPaul, and Gasol, those teams aren't going to get any worse. :sweat:

maybe the nuggets need some big fat guy as center that has some talent???

K.T.Tran wrote:maybe the nuggets need some big fat guy as center that has some talent???

Oliver Miller? :mrgreen:

K.T.Tran wrote:maybe the nuggets need some big fat guy as center that has some talent???

Can they still trade for Shaq? :beaten: :hehe: