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United States22883 Posts
On April 16 2009 20:24 igotmyown wrote:
Lebron is a great player, but great defensive teams with strong interior presences make him look mediocre for most of a series.
Sigh... Pistons learned it. Celtics are going to learn it.
Even without Ben, our "interior presence" was better than most of those besides the Spurs and last year's C's, and he's gotten better. Without Garnett at 100%, I see just another series for him to take over. The teams in the West can give the Cavs some trouble, but I don't think anyone in the East will. The East's teams are all too young or too old.
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well maybe if someone in the east figures out that its not a good idea idea to give mo williams 5 wide opens 3s a game they might have a chance but no one seems to have figured it out yet..... west playoffs gonna be AWESOME can't wait. don't sleep on denver for the crazy upset!
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Portland has best chance to take down Lakers in west i think. And i expect Miami beating Cle in 2nd round actually.
My bracket:
Cle>Det LA>Utah
Bos>Chi Den>NO
Orl>Phi Dal>Sas
Mia>Atl Por>Hou
Mia>Cle Por>La
Bos>Orl Dal>Den
Mia>Bos Por>Dal
And final:
Portland>Miami
This bracket will most likely wont happen but i root for Miami and Portland in this playoffs
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way to limp into the playoffs 76ers =(
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Garnett might be out for the duration
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4073024
Bill Simmons/Ric Bucher/Marc Stein had an interesting podcast, where they discussed garnett and Duncan in general. Basically, their opinion that they had was that all of the small nagging injuries and mileage on their knees just kills em, and that no one really knows what's wrong with Garnett in particular
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yea found it =D
I always listen to them hoho
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United States22883 Posts
Congratulations! You have been chosen as a preferred fan to attend the Pistons vs. Cavs playoff game on Friday, April 24th at 7 pm and test drive our available seating inventory for the 2009-10 season. As a result, you will receive 2 complimentary tickets to this game.
As part of this limited offer, you will be assigned a personal host to escort you to your seats and answer any questions you have about mini season, half season and full season ticket plans. In addition, you will be my guest at halftime in the exclusive and luxurious Club 53. During halftime I will be available to discuss ways for you to find the ideal 2009-10 Detroit Pistons ticket package that specifically fits you and your schedule.
Click here to RSVP and reserve your 2 complimentary playoff tickets to the April 24th game, or for any questions regarding this offer, please call Mike LaRocco at 248-377-8654. Offer valid until noon on Tuesday, April 21st. Ticket availability is limited to the first 100 responses.
Sincerely,
Tom Wilson
President and CEO
Palace Sports & Entertainment
I'm guessing I wasn't in the first 100, but here's hoping!
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damn Garnett out for the playoffs! FUCK
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On April 17 2009 05:18 Ace wrote:
damn Garnett out for the playoffs! FUCK
This is very very very bad for the celtics. ESPN has a couple of nice articles about why this is such a big deal.
However, I am a Cavs fan, so woo hoo!
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damn I'm upset. SO UPSET.
But you know what? I like Mo Williams.
As long as Orlando or LA doesn't win, I'll be partially happy.
But FUCK!
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On April 17 2009 04:47 Jibba wrote:
Congratulations! You have been chosen as a preferred fan to attend the Pistons vs. Cavs playoff game on Friday, April 24th at 7 pm and test drive our available seating inventory for the 2009-10 season. As a result, you will receive 2 complimentary tickets to this game.
As part of this limited offer, you will be assigned a personal host to escort you to your seats and answer any questions you have about mini season, half season and full season ticket plans. In addition, you will be my guest at halftime in the exclusive and luxurious Club 53. During halftime I will be available to discuss ways for you to find the ideal 2009-10 Detroit Pistons ticket package that specifically fits you and your schedule.
Click here to RSVP and reserve your 2 complimentary playoff tickets to the April 24th game, or for any questions regarding this offer, please call Mike LaRocco at 248-377-8654. Offer valid until noon on Tuesday, April 21st. Ticket availability is limited to the first 100 responses.
Sincerely,
Tom Wilson
President and CEO
Palace Sports & Entertainment
I'm guessing I wasn't in the first 100, but here's hoping!
that would have been sick
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O_O! Clevland can suck it
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Check out nba hotspots for mo williams.
3 point %: right corner 40-82 (.488)
right far 38-81 (.469)
center 14-37 (.378)
left far 53-127 (.417)
left corner 38-86 (.442)
Shooting almost .500 is ridiculous.
Cavs-Lakers:
Lebron's ability to handle strong interior presences and cleveland's interior presence are two independent issues. Having a strong interior presence is deters slashers and those centers/pfs who dominate inside the paint. Consider the lakers. If you don't push Gasol away from the basket, he will destroy you with his putbacks. He's too long and too skilled to defend that close. PJ Brown's job during the finals was to just keep pushing Gasol away from the basket.
Odom can also dominate the boards, albeit with athleticism rather than length. If you don't keep your eye on lamar, he can have one of those 20 rebound nights.
Bynum's back and this makes opens up Gasol even more. You need a 7 footer on Gasol and you'll probably have another 7 footer on Bynum. Cleveland has Big Z and varejao, but Varejao's not going to stop bynum or gasol.
If Lakers turn the cavs into a jumpshooting team (while doing a decent job on Mo Williams) and the cavs let the lakers dominate inside, the cavs lose. Same is true vice-versa. Now if you could trade big Z, varejao, ben wallace for bynum, gasol, odom, would you do it? I thought so.
Now the cavs' best bet is that phil jackson has trouble creating enough plays for gasol/odom to be effective. This is actually reasonably likely and gasol/odom/bynum often don't reach their potential. Gasol will still put up at least 20 a game through sheer opportunism, but due to a slumping fisher and farmar, lackluster D by odom, and the Triangle's propensity to turn it over to teams that like to force steals (cavs included), some of the games will be close. If Kobe and lebron both are forced into jump shooting roles, kobe's going to hit more of those tough jumpers (maybe .400) than lebron is (generously I'd say .300).
More other factors: In a cavs-lakers game this season, big Z was popping outside and draining outside shots. Sideline reporter asked Phil Jackson how he was going to deal with that. Phil Jackson said he's ok with it and eventually big Z will get tired and start missing. Second half big Z started missing.
Phil Jackson doesn't like the 3 much, in that the lakers don't shoot a lot and don't defend against it well (advantage Mo Williams).
In a close game, Lebron's drives are more reliable than Kobe's jumper with a hand in his face, but the Lakers are more likely to grab a key offensive board to seal the game.
Lebron has had limited minutes all season, but I bet his free throw shooting will fail him in the final minutes when he is playing 40+ minutes during the playoffs.
And if the lakers' guards ever start slashing to the basket, it's game over.
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You're also aware that Kobe can shut down LeBron (and vice versa). So pretty much you'll have them playing each other to an influential/statistical standstill for the whole series probably (I'd predict there will be one game LeBron goes off and one Kobe goes off), so the series will really come down to two things:
A) How will Mo Williams play/can the Lakers close off his strong points (corner 3's) ?
B) Can Clevland do something about the Lakers "other" players (I.E, they have Gasol, Bynum, Odom, Ariza, Fisher who are all capable of giving you between 10-20 points, plus Walton, Farmar, and Vujacic off the bench) ?
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Mavs vs. Spurs
(written by a die-hard mavs fan)
whoever wrote the post above me thinks tim duncan is going to be gaurding nowitzki. thats not gonna happen. duncan would get schooled trying to defend dirk, bruce bowen always guards him when they play. at the other end, dampier or brandon bass will be guarding duncan. i think the mavericks will take it in seven games, but it will definitely be close. these two teams have had a great rivalry in the past 8 or so years, and i have yet to see a playoff series between them that didint come down to the wire. another thing that makes this match-up special is that michael finley (one of my fav players of all time) is now on the spurs. regardless of how the rest of the playoffs go, this should be one of the most exciting match-ups of the entire playoffs.
EDIT: not the post above me, i dont know where the post i was referring to is.
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On April 17 2009 07:48 Xeris wrote:
You're also aware that Kobe can shut down LeBron (and vice versa). So pretty much you'll have them playing each other to an influential/statistical standstill for the whole series probably (I'd predict there will be one game LeBron goes off and one Kobe goes off), so the series will really come down to two things:
A) How will Mo Williams play/can the Lakers close off his strong points (corner 3's) ?
B) Can Clevland do something about the Lakers "other" players (I.E, they have Gasol, Bynum, Odom, Ariza, Fisher who are all capable of giving you between 10-20 points, plus Walton, Farmar, and Vujacic off the bench) ?
I like this more than that other explanation. Basketball games rarely come down to relying on a guy to get tired, or Pau Gasol of all people playing good defense. His defense is OK, not superstar ala series changing level.
Also Ben Wallace is a problem because let's face it, Andrew Bynum is overrated. He's OK. But to think the Lakers are just going to dominate the boards against Wallace/Ilgauskus is saying a lot. The Lakers are probably more worried about how to stop Mo Williams from offering Lebron too much help.
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United States22883 Posts
Wallace has 1 leg left. I think you mean Old Iron Balls/Ilgauskus, and I agree.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/resources/2007/06/lebronwinninghoop.jpg)
