NBA 2003 Playoffs

[sensei_hanson]

The NBA postseason got underway today, with New Jersey putting a whipping on Milwaukee. The Bucks rallied a bit in the 4th quarter to cut the margin to 13. The Nets had led by as many as 31 points today. Ugly game as Payton went scoreless for three quarters, and Mutombo had his way in the paint against the four-guard sets Karl was throwing out for the Bucks.

The matchups are as follows, with my mortal lock picks in parentheses:

Detroit-Orlando (Detroit in six)
Indy-Boston (Indy in five)
N'Owleens-Philly (New Orleans in seven)
Phoenix-San Antoine (Phoenix in 6 - upset special)
Lakers-Minnesota (Lakers in 6)
Dallas-Portland (Dallas in 6)
Sacramento-Utah (Sacramento in 5)

I'm really going out on a limb taking Phoenix over San Antonio. My reasons - the Suns lead the season series 3-1. Nobody on San Antonio can contain Starbury - not Parker, not Ginobili, not Jackson. Nobody. The Spurs have choked their way out of the playoffs the last three seasons in a row. Amare Stoudamire has the physical capabilities to defend Tim Duncan in the paint. And the "x"-factor....Shawn Marion. He is going to create matchup problems for the Spurs at their weakest position - small forward.

The other series should be basic. Dallas will probably get a scare from the Jailblazers, but Portland will self-destruct right when it looks like they're capable of taking the Mavericks. The Lakers will roll over Minnesota. No problem there. Sacramento will put the Jazz into early retirement. Maybe Utah steals a game or two in Salt Lake, but that's about it.

In the east, the best series will probably be Orlando and Detroit. Detroit has a great team of role players but no superstars. Orlando has a great player surrounded by a team of mediocre role players. It'll be interesting to see if McGrady will attack the rim with such reckless abandon when he knows big Ben Wallace will be there to meet him. Methinks he'll shy away, and the Pistons will walk in 6. Indy will throttle Boston and their video-game style offense. Antoine Walker has been hobbled since the all-star break, and for the Celts to even have a sniff at beating the Pacers, he needs to be at 100% physically. New Orleans will win a tough one against Philly, just because they're bigger in the paint, and Davis will neutralize Iverson. New Jersey will roll over Milwaukee, who made too many changes at the trade deadline and still haven't learned to play with one another.

And I'll save my next round of picks to see who actually makes it through. Go Suns Go.

 

[Yoda]

Good work

That's pretty much the way I thouhgt it should go too although Philly/NO series could go either way.

What's your series for Nets over Bucks? Sweep

Sacramento-Utah serires will be a good one but I can't stand to watch Utah fake and flop all over the court just to stay in the games.

I like Sacramento and Dallas in the West and New Jersey and Indy in the east

Am I mistaken or did they not used to play 5 game series in the first round?

 

[bertrum]

My picks:

Detroit-Orlando (Detroit in 6)
Indy-Boston (Indy in 5)
N'Owleens-Philly (Philly in 7)
Phoenix-San Antoine (San Antonio in 6)
Lakers-Minnesota (Lakers in 4)
Dallas-Portland (Portland in 7) Sorry Yoda
Sacramento-Utah (Sacramento in 6)

 

[knvb]

Anyone catch McGrady's comments after the game? I always thought he was an arrogant cnut, but he went out of his way to prove it.

"I knew I had to play well because I'm the only superstar on the is team." It's important for me to carry my team to the second round because I've been knocked out three times before." Cnut.

Detroit-Orlando Pistons in 6
Indy-Boston Tics in 7
N'Owleens-Philly Philly 7
Phoenix-San Antoine San Antoine in 6
Lakers-Minnesota Lakers in 5
Dallas-Portland Dallas in 6
Sacramento-Utah Sacramento in 6

Watched the Lakers DESTROY the T-Wolves tonight. Men against boys really. Kobe was on fire. Just goes to show they absolutely floated through the season, maybe if they made the league worth winning...

 

[ParkHead]

TMac is a putz, no question there.



My late pics are,


Det in 7
Indy in 6
Phi in 5
Nets in 4

Kings in 4
Lakers in 4
Spurs in 5
Port in 7


Parkhead

 

[sensei_hanson]

Glad somebody else saw T-Mac's personal shout-out to himself during the postgame PC. How does Drew Gooden feel, putting up 18 and 14, and then hearing his teammate explain how hard it is to win with no support from his team? Donkey. It's not like McGrady is swinging by the local YMCA to pick up four players before each playoff game. Giricek can play, Gooden can play, Armstrong is a good PG. It's not the deepest team on earth, but Tracy could be in a lot of worse situations in the NBA.

Even Iverson didn't start the self-congratulatory bullshit after he dropped 55 (which gave him Philly's franchise record for playoff points in a game - more than Dr. J, more than Barkley) - he kept remarking how his teammates found him in good scoring positions, and how he couldn't have done what he did without his teammates. You know it's bad when Allen Iverson is being quoted as a team player in contrast to your comments. Nice one, T-Smack.

Lakers-TWolves was a dour affair. I think Minny is still gutted that they put up the best regular-season record in franchise history, and for a reward, they got to play the three-time defending NBA champs in the opening round. Minny will be lucky to win a game.

 

[sensei_hanson]

Looks like Minnesota is going to take a 2-1 series advantage over the Lake Show. Which is incredible given the whipping LA put on the T-Wolves in game one, which KNVB alluded to earlier in this thread. Most impressive is that they won in OT without the services of Garnett, who fouled out halfway through. KG was, however, magical again tonight. He's really stepped up when his team needed him to - back to back 30+ point performances.

Could this be the beginning of the end of the Lake Show dynasty? This is the first time they've lost consecutive playoff games since 2000 - a strech which went over 55 games. I don't know how many times Craig Sager could refer to this game as the biggest win in Timberwolve franchise history - I counted six in the overtime alone. But, really, it is a HUGE win for Minnesota and Garnett's critics. I bet the Wolves are choked that the first-round has been extended to seven games - if it was at the normal fiver, they'd be a game away from eliminating the three-time defending champs.

 

[Dapotayto]

Caught the last half of the game and I have to wonder who's paying the refs, the NBA or the Lakers? So many brutal calls allowing the Lakers to get back in it. Every time Minny got a decent lead you just knew "Oh, here comes some bogus foul calls for the Lakers. Gee, I wonder if they're going to make a miraculous comeback again?". For example, the phantom-foul call Kobe received for the 4-point play near the end of regulation. Then the T-Wolves come down, buddy is mugged (Hudson?) and there's no call. How the fcuk can one player not even touch Kobe yet be called for a foul and then ten seconds later another player receives contact and there's nothing? But still, The T-Wolves have the lead. Down come the lakers, Kobe drives to the hoop and the foul is called on Nesterovic who is standing still with his arms straight in the air. For fcuks sake! How about the last three fouls on Garnett?. Gee, trying to get K.G. out of there or what? And then later on Szczerbiak is whistled for a foul and he didn't even come close to touching the shooter on a breakaway. How the fcuk can you be a referee in the NBA and not see that there was no contact. What, did he whistle him down for jinxing the guy? If only Minnesota knew how to inbound the ball noone would have had to watch that crap. Great work by the T-Wolves to get the win without the Big Ticket on the floor in o.t. though.

 

[ParkHead]

Anytime Kobe loses it is a good thing. Hopefully he will lose two more games this series. I do not know who is worse for patting themselves on the back Kobe or Tmac.



Parkhead

 

[sensei_hanson]

"For a guy like me, who's been bounced from the first round of the playoffs three straight years, to finally get to experience the second round, it just feels great."

-Tracy McGrady, after the Magic went up 3-1 over Detroit last week.

What's that about counting yer chickens? After TMac uttered these fateful words, his Orlando team has been throttled by the Pistons and now heads back to Detroit for a huge game seven showdown. I'd like nothing more than Big Ben and the rest of his Piston teammates to send that crybaby bitch McGrady back to Orlando for another long summer of watching playoff basketball. Serves the ****y bastard right, assuming a 3-1 advantage is reason to start talking second round. War Pistons.

 

[knvb]

I was actually thinking the same thing the other night. How great was it to watch the absolute stuffing of the Orlando T-Mac's the other night.

Pistons forever.

Lakers finally won it, but it was closer than I though it was going to be after game one.

Anytime Kobe loses it is a good thing.

Keep yapping Parkputz... Keep Yapping. The man is MON-EY in the 4th quarter.

 

[ParkHead]

Putz,


Take Shaq away and the lakers simply don't win. Even with Shaq they will be beat by Sacremento this year. Come on CWEBB!! How sick was that Dunk Kobe threw down the other night driving baseline. Simply amazing.

Another beautiful thing to watch is Portland stuffing the useless Mavs. Great stuff. Hopefully the Blazers will stuff them in game seven and then all those fools who said the Mavs are a good team will eat their words. They are shite and could not stop a grade 8 girls team from scoring.


Parkhead

 

[Captain Shamrock]

They are shite and could not stop a grade 8 girls team from scoring.

You didn't see SD's grade 8 girls this year, did you?

 

[ParkHead]

Nope, I did not see the powerless SDSS grade 8 girls team this year but I still like their chances. Nowitzki and the rest of that rag tag team are so bad defensively, That A.C. Green might get lucky in a whorehouse before they stop someone.




ParkheadGoPortland

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Unlucky bastard....

 

[ParkHead]

What a shame

Looks good on Tmac. Putz.



Well the Mavs survived with a steel curtain like defensive performance. I believe the Blazers had half their points on Dunks and Layups. I really wish I could have seen Sabonis in his prime because they guy is old barely move and still was one of the best players on the court today.


I guarentee that the Kings will crush the Mavs. This series should bring back good memories of the 80's with both teams runnin and gunnin.


Parkead

 

[ParkHead]

Predictions!!

Well the second round is underway. Went 6 out of 8 in the first round, not bad. Thanks portland.


Sixers over pistons in 7

Nets over Celts in 6

Kings over Mavs in 5

Lakers over Spurs in 7


Parkhead

 

[knvb]

Predictions

8 fer 8 in round 1.

Sixers 6

Celtics 7

Kings 6

Lakers 7

I also predict, Mark Cuban either gets a T or will have a public moan about the ref's.

 

[sensei_hanson]

Five for eight in the opening round. Here are my picks for the next set - can't argue with any of Parkhead's picks for round two:

Lakers over Spurs in 7
Kings over Mavericks in 6
Philly over Detroit in 6
New Jersey over Boston in 6

That is all.

 

[ParkHead]

Actually Knvb eventhough there is nothing for you to win with these pics you still cheat!! In the first round you went 7 for 8 putz. Or is this just like your little gambling thread where you can post bets after the events. In this case you did not predict a winner in the Nets series in the first round. I am positive you would have picked the Bucks mind you.


Parkhead