NBA Playoffs 2012 - Page 27

Rebs

Pakistan10726 Posts

May 01 2012 21:16 GMT

#521

That having been said though. Do any of the other contenders possess the same qualities as those teams to T. I cant say it they do off the top of my head tbh.

And if they dont who do you reckon comes closest ? Its actually got me thinking ...

Jerubaal

United States7684 Posts

May 01 2012 22:03 GMT

#522

People argue about what MVP really means, but there seems to be an even bigger split over what COY means. More often than not the winner is the coach of the team that has the greatest improvements. This kind of screws over the coaches that have constant success. Consider that this is only Popovich's second COY. Phil Jackson only won it once. Jerry Sloan never won it.

VENDIZ

1575 Posts

May 01 2012 22:04 GMT

#523

On May 02 2012 06:11 XaI)CyRiC wrote:

Show nested quote +

I don't know if it's nerves so much as it's almost a mental block. Malone came into the league as a terrible FT shooter, and was only able to become a decent FT shooter after coming up with that long-ass mantra he would recite before every shot. There's something about taking a standing set-shot without any rhythm and having all eyes on you that makes it more than just an uncontested 15-ft shot.

It's easy to say that any player that makes it to the NBA should be able to shoot FTs at better than 60-65% (or whatever your threshold is), but the reality of it is very different. I think it's silly to attribute it to a lack of practice, particularly when it comes to star players like Shaq and D12 who know how important their FT shooting is and certainly put a lot of time into working on it.

FT shooting is very fundamental, but it's hardly the only fundamental skill many NBA players are lacking in. I'd actually argue that it's more surprising that so many players come into the league being unable to dribble the ball competently, as I believe that's something that is even more basic than FT shooting.

Well, it's the last part that leaves me dumbfounded, because it's so fundamental (and I have no doubt they work on it), but you see big men who have range (for a big man ;D) that can't put in simple FTs. I get that it's a different setting with FTs being static shooting and you might not get the same "feel for it" while shooting, but at times D12's FTs can look surprisingly normal (so you'd think he'd avg. about 65% or more, because the shot has a proper arc and a nice release) and other times he just clunks that shit like he's throwing a blazing brown paper bag full of shit :D

Vindicare605

United States16109 Posts

May 01 2012 22:05 GMT

#524

Popovich wins Coach of the Year!

Thank you NBA for finally making the right choice with one of these. Popovich deserves it!

XaI)CyRiC

United States4471 Posts

May 01 2012 22:09 GMT

#525

On May 02 2012 06:16 Rebs wrote:
That having been said though. Do any of the other contenders possess the same qualities as those teams to T. I cant say it they do off the top of my head tbh.

And if they dont who do you reckon comes closest ? Its actually got me thinking ...

The Spurs don't have the defense, but they are an offensive juggernaut who can get stops, has multiple playmakers, a postguy in Duncan, and a playoffs/finals experience advantage in terms of their top 3 and coaching.

The Heat have league-leading defense, offensive threats all along the perimeter (Chalmers, Battier, Miller, Jones, etc.), Bosh/Haslem as bigs capable of scoring, the big 3 can all score in the post, and great playermakers in Lebron and Wade. There's a reason why they're considered the favorites to win the whole thing.

The Bulls have league-leading defense, offensive threats all along the perimeter (except for Brewer, who can be balanced by their bigs), and scoring bigs in Boozer, Gibson and (to a surprising extent) Noah, post scorer in Boozer and Noah to some extent.

The Celtics still have Rondo as a gifted playmaker, the Big 3 to make up for Rondo's lack of perimeter scoring, Pierce and KG as post threats, KG and Bass as scoring bigs to match with each other or Steisma, perimeter scorers in Pietrus, Pavlovic, and Bradley to some extent, and a defense that can be downright scary at times. They obviously have issues regarding the age of the Big 3 and the quality of their role players, but they're experienced and have good coaching.

The Lakers have scoring on the perimeter (except for Ebanks, who can be compensated for with Gasol/Murphy), scoring bigs in Gasol and Bynum (mayyyybe Murphy), post scoring in their Big 3 (plus Hill has shown a nice hook shot), strong defense, and playmakers in Sessions, Kobe and Gasol.

The Grizzlies have scoring on the perimeter except for Allen (who can be compensated for with Gasol and ZBo), scoring bigs and post threats in Gasol, ZBo and Speights, good defense, and playmaking from Conley and Gasol.

There are other arguable contenders, but these are the strongest in my book.

Edit: The Grizzlies have trouble with spacing sometimes with their inconsistent 3pt shooting from the perimeter, but at least their main bigs have range to maintain some spacing.

Scarecrow

Korea (South)9172 Posts

May 01 2012 22:48 GMT

#526

On May 02 2012 07:05 Vindicare605 wrote:
Popovich wins Coach of the Year!

Thank you NBA for finally making the right choice with one of these. Popovich deserves it!

Amen, Spurs were all but written off when Ginobili went down in january. I remember reading blogs about rebuilding and going for lottery picks at the time. Instead they get 50 wins in a much deeper conference. I'm a huge fan but I just didn't see the bench stepping up this much and parker having a career year. The only one able to stop the spurs win streaks this season has been Pop lol.

MassHysteria

United States3678 Posts

May 01 2012 22:58 GMT

#527

On May 02 2012 07:09 XaI)CyRiC wrote:
The Grizzlies have scoring on the perimeter except for Allen (who can be compensated for with Gasol and ZBo), scoring bigs and post threats in Gasol, ZBo and Speights, good defense, and playmaking from Conley and Gasol.

There are other arguable contenders, but these are the strongest in my book.

Edit: The Grizzlies have trouble with spacing sometimes with their inconsistent 3pt shooting from the perimeter, but at least their main bigs have range to maintain some spacing.

I just wanted to expand on this and say that the Griz probably have the best frontcourt in the whole league. Lakers have Bynum and Gasol, the best C-PF combo, but the Griz have Gaso at Cl, Z-Bo at PF, and then Gay as SF. Anyone disagree? Good job tho Cyric. TLDR for Cyric's post: They are poorly constructed. Not as bad as the Knicks, but they need some work.

Holcan

Canada2593 Posts

May 01 2012 23:05 GMT

#528

I thought that melo, amare, chandler could have been the best front court, wad proven very wrong. that being said, granger, west, hibbert is good, bynum, gasol, artest is good, bosh, haslem, lebron is good, perkins, ibaka, durant is good. there are tons of good front courts, most are compensated by one great player though. I'd say memphis and indiana have the best balance in their front court.

Ace

United States16096 Posts

May 01 2012 23:15 GMT

#529

See Holcan more proof you should listen to me!

Remember when I said it? That NY front court would be a fucking disaster. Just not enough versatility or 2 way play between the 3 of them to do anything. The guard play also kills them.

justinpal

United States3810 Posts

May 01 2012 23:25 GMT

#530

Meh, I feel like Melo and Ama're never get a chance to get in rhythm with each other because they are always injured. Ama're is not very good at sharing the inside with Chandler. Now he is out for the rest of the series. The shortened season skews the "Melo-Stat" combo statistics in my opinion. I'd like to see them healthy with a point guard before I make judgment on them. Then again, after the stunt Ama're just pulled I wouldn't mind seeing him gone either.

How can he ask fans to watch as he pulled himself out of the first round twice in a row?

XaI)CyRiC

United States4471 Posts

May 01 2012 23:43 GMT

#531

I actually think Amare and Chandler should be able to play fine together, they just haven't had the time to get comfortable with each other. Amare's struggles are tied to the fact that he's at his best with someone setting him up on offense, i.e. a skilled PG, which he hasn't really had since joining the Knicks. Lin was the first PG who could have allowed him to shine, but they had little to no time on the court together, and what time they did have was limited by Amare not being 100% and Melo being on the court at the same time with them. I don't see any reason why Chandler would negatively impact Amare's offense, and he would go a long way towards compensating for his terrible defense and rebounding.

I think the player that really makes things difficult is Melo. He's at his best when he dominates the ball, but he doesn't create offense for others when he does. Melo and Amare will never work well together because Melo doesn't (won't?) play off the ball and his game is incompatible with Amare's. The only way that would change is if Melo somehow learns how to run a P&R effectively with Amare, or is willing to give the ball up to someone else to run/create the offense (i.e. Lin) and have them set up both Melo and Amare. Don't see that happening anytime soon.