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On April 04 2017 04:17 Xeris wrote:
Here's my prediction: either the Raptors or Wizards will beat the Cavs in Round 2 (depending on which of them faces them), and either of them will beat the Celtics. Finals will be Warriors vs Wizards or Raptors.
Who wanna put some money on this?!
PS: Not sure why people think the West is better? I think top-level, the West is better... Warriors improved, Spurs are == to last year. The Rockets rise offset the fall of OKC. But 7/8 seed in the West are a lot less competitive than in previous years. The East has improved a lot. There are 4 legit good teams in the East now (compared to basically 1, or MAYBE 2 depending on how you feel about the Raptors the past two seasons). The middle of the pack East teams are also better this year than in previous years. West is still way better than the Eastern conference, but it's going to be cool to basically see all 4 first round matchups in the East be pretty competitive IMO. I don't think the gap between the top 4 and bottom 4 in the East are actually that big.
I can see a world in which Miami, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indiana can pose real problems in the 1st round. I'm also guessing Atlanta falls out of the playoffs.
I'll take on this. How much?
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I think we'd be rating the Cavs lower if not for Lebron. That said, I think they'll definitely make the ECF. I think only Boston and Toronto have a real shot of knocking them off.
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Lowry participated in non-contact practice yesterday. no shooting or passing with his right hand. some dribbling. Lowry says there is still some pain. he was expected to be able to start shooting in 4-5 weeks after surgery. its 5 weeks this wednesday. he had arthroscopic surgery.
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On April 04 2017 20:02 RowdierBob wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2017 04:17 Xeris wrote:
Here's my prediction: either the Raptors or Wizards will beat the Cavs in Round 2 (depending on which of them faces them), and either of them will beat the Celtics. Finals will be Warriors vs Wizards or Raptors.
Who wanna put some money on this?!
PS: Not sure why people think the West is better? I think top-level, the West is better... Warriors improved, Spurs are == to last year. The Rockets rise offset the fall of OKC. But 7/8 seed in the West are a lot less competitive than in previous years. The East has improved a lot. There are 4 legit good teams in the East now (compared to basically 1, or MAYBE 2 depending on how you feel about the Raptors the past two seasons). The middle of the pack East teams are also better this year than in previous years. West is still way better than the Eastern conference, but it's going to be cool to basically see all 4 first round matchups in the East be pretty competitive IMO. I don't think the gap between the top 4 and bottom 4 in the East are actually that big.
I can see a world in which Miami, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indiana can pose real problems in the 1st round. I'm also guessing Atlanta falls out of the playoffs. I'll take on this. How much?
$100?
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LOWRY TAKING SHOTS BEFORE THE GAME IN INDIANA ! ! ! !
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we're fucked without nurkic
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On April 05 2017 08:07 Xeris wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2017 20:02 RowdierBob wrote:On April 04 2017 04:17 Xeris wrote:
Here's my prediction: either the Raptors or Wizards will beat the Cavs in Round 2 (depending on which of them faces them), and either of them will beat the Celtics. Finals will be Warriors vs Wizards or Raptors.
Who wanna put some money on this?!
PS: Not sure why people think the West is better? I think top-level, the West is better... Warriors improved, Spurs are == to last year. The Rockets rise offset the fall of OKC. But 7/8 seed in the West are a lot less competitive than in previous years. The East has improved a lot. There are 4 legit good teams in the East now (compared to basically 1, or MAYBE 2 depending on how you feel about the Raptors the past two seasons). The middle of the pack East teams are also better this year than in previous years. West is still way better than the Eastern conference, but it's going to be cool to basically see all 4 first round matchups in the East be pretty competitive IMO. I don't think the gap between the top 4 and bottom 4 in the East are actually that big.
I can see a world in which Miami, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indiana can pose real problems in the 1st round. I'm also guessing Atlanta falls out of the playoffs. I'll take on this. How much? $100?
Good stuff, sold!
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It's either Boston or Cleveland imo, would be pretty surprised if anyone else made it that far.
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"Playing" could have a variety of definitions there.
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Anyone else here watch the channel BBallBreakdown on Youtube? He just did a nice little breakdown of the Cav's defense (or lack thereof).
+ Show Spoiler +
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0ziwyIb.jpg)
April Update (4/5/2017)
The last weeks of the season have brought forth many conversations for NBA fans. This season has had many players put up great seasons individually, so naturally has created one of the more heated MVP debates in a long time. While the cases for Harden and Westbrook seem to be carrying more momentum as the end nears, LBJ and Kawhi are still well-deserving candidates. (forgot what i was gonna link lol)
While LBJ can be a considered an MVP candidate mostly every season, the Cavaliers' sub-par defense has been a bigger story. Ranked in the bottom-third of the league, will they be able to revert back to form once the playoffs begin? Or is this their new form? Adam Mares on Vice takes a more detailed look into the reasons for their defensive struggles. Not mentioned in the piece, is that the Cavaliers are also one of the older teams in the league and have had a very tough March schedule. Once the playoffs start and one-to-two rest days in between games becomes regular, there is probably no team in the playoffs that can benefit more than Cleveland. (Rather see a video on the defense? + Show Spoiler [Thanks Nemireck] + )
This leads us to another hot topic: Player rest and days in between regular-season games. More and more teams have been resting players thinking long-term. This ultimately led to a leaked memo this season from Adam Silver to the teams urging the team governors to be more involved in these decisions. Truehoop and Habestroh dug in on the topic on his latest piece and brings up some interesting points.
Ten days to go until playoffs! While the bottom three teams (the Lakers, Nets, and Suns) are battling it out in the great tankathon, three teams are also still fighting for that 7th and 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls, Pacers, and Heat are all tied at 40 losses, and the Bobcats are only 2 games behind.
+ Show Spoiler [Eastern Conf. Standings] +
The Western Conference has Denver and Portland fighting for that 8th spot, tied at 40 losses. Remember that these two teams made a trade right before the deadline, making it even more interesting. Losing a renewed Nurkic to injury for this final stretch might be the undoing of Portland, but let's watch and see.
+ Show Spoiler [Western Conf. Standings] +
edit-- from yesterday:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SqNwDOn.jpg) Every week I try to highlight an interesting read or graphic or video that I find... 4/4/2017:-- ![[image loading]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8k59BrXsAAEXal.jpg:large)
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On April 06 2017 06:59 Nemireck wrote:Anyone else here watch the channel BBallBreakdown on Youtube? He just did a nice little breakdown of the Cav's defense (or lack thereof). + Show Spoiler +https://youtu.be/Bm0svVeNo3s
ohh nice, I haven't but I'm def going to now.
edit: going to add the video to OP 
Edit2:misread your post, I have seen the channel but hadn't seen this vid 8D
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On April 06 2017 07:16 MassHysteria wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Every week I try to highlight an interesting read or graphic or video that I find... 4/4/2017:--
this seems to move in a similar pattern as that historical 2 point shooting thing i posted; where 2 point shooting is getting more and more accurate and being employed by teams less and less. no idea if there is any cause and effect between the 2 though. i guess during your typical NBA play there are , on average, far more guys standing near the 3 point line than in 1980. You can't really bring in an offensive rebound when you're 22+ feet from the hoop.
On April 06 2017 06:59 Nemireck wrote:Anyone else here watch the channel BBallBreakdown on Youtube? He just did a nice little breakdown of the Cav's defense (or lack thereof). + Show Spoiler +https://youtu.be/Bm0svVeNo3s
nice explanation of the in game situation precipitating the James/Thompson disagreement at 7 minutes.
thx 4 posting.
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On April 06 2017 07:23 JimmyJRaynor wrote:this seems to move in a similar pattern as that historical 2 point shooting thing i posted; where 2 point shooting is getting more and more accurate and being employed by teams less and less. no idea if there is any cause and effect between the 2 though. i guess during your typical NBA play there are , on average, far more guys standing near the 3 point line than in 1980. You can't really bring in an offensive rebound when you're 22+ feet from the hoop.
That's not the cause. It has to do with Popovich's influence once again. Teams that crash the offensive glass are prone to giving up transition baskets if they don't succeed in getting the rebound. The Spurs started having more of their players run back on defense versus getting an offensive rebound.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/14505051/transition-defense-left-offensive-rebounds-cutting-room-floor
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Really cool video. Went beyond the usual "need more effort" cliches, especially with poor Love and JR.
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On April 06 2017 07:23 JimmyJRaynor wrote:this seems to move in a similar pattern as that historical 2 point shooting thing i posted; where 2 point shooting is getting more and more accurate and being employed by teams less and less. no idea if there is any cause and effect between the 2 though. i guess during your typical NBA play there are , on average, far more guys standing near the 3 point line than in 1980. You can't really bring in an offensive rebound when you're 22+ feet from the hoop.
Ya! I actually thought of that too. I don't exactly know what the relationship is between the two or if there even is one, but it does seem like there is in some way. Trying to increase the amount of efficient shots and reducing that long-2 jumper frequency gives the feeling it would play a role in this. But so does the changes in defense, changes in the way teams play bigs, shooters going out to corners more, more small-ball lineups, etc
Lowwrryy. Hope he looks good.
Warriors resting a lot of players today. GO SUNS!
edit: D'angelo Russell out with knee stuff and Ingram on minutes restriction. Lakers stepping it up.
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Ya his whole channel is great for that stuff.
This one is pretty cool too. Shows off the same play being run throughout different games, you start to notice the play later on when you watch the team later. I like the TRoss one but this Anthony Parker loop is great too.
+ Show Spoiler +
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EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QWxEbYw.gif)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/umzcNZl.jpg)
