Playoff Thread

Bulls advance... And that means that the Nets are officially the mentally weakest team in NBA history...

There is a pattern here

The Clippers, Nets, and Nuggets have proven they cannot handle the adversity at all. Any little difficulty or real challenge and they folded like a house of cards. The Knicks nearly did the same thing but Boston is a mess and NY was able to overcome that.

Chicago takes on the attitude of their head coach because when you look at that team they are missing a lot of guys and/or they are all banged up. However, much like Indiana and Memphis and San Antonio their confidence and all business attitude will wear you down. They don't care about style points or the highlight reel moments but they just want to beat the hell out of you and win. The same I guess could be said for Miami but not to the extent of those other teams.

Golden State and OKC are the outliers in that their style of play usually doesn't translate well in the playoffs, but I think right now their energy and emotion have allowed them to get into the next round but I think that's where it's going to end.

Golden State is a totally different team with Bogut healthy...

That Kentucky 3 milliseconds is repeated on almost all of my time warner cable channels, almost too much.

quote:

- Andrew Bogut with 14 points, 21 boards, a handful of blocks, some tremendous passing... *sigh*

^&($%@

Bucks deserve to dwell at the bottom. Wow, does the above majorly pi$$ me off.

Bogut had his moments when he was with Milwaukee but the issue was he couldn't stay healthy.

If the Bulls win this game, it makes me even more upset. The Bulls are defining great coaching and great effort.

I love it...

Bogut playing well except at the FT line...

How the hell did Golden State lose that game? And what was Richard Jefferson doing on that last defensive series? Ever since Duke/Kentucky, every knows you guard the inbounder to prevent an uncontested pass. Jefferson backs up inside the three point lane and Leonard has an easy pass to Ginobili. Unreal.

The Bulls won the game last night basically playing 6 guys. 35 year old Nazr Mohammed played 7 minutes and Marquis Teague played 8.

C- Joakim Noah
PF- Carlos Boozer
SF- Jimmy Butler
SG- Marco Bellinelli
PG- Nate Robinson
6th man - Taj Gibson

The Bucks played 8 guys in their series against the Heat.

C- Larry Sanders
PF- Mbah a Moute
SF- Ilyasova
PG- Ellis
PG - Jennings
Bench - Dunleavy
Bench - Redick
Bench - Udoh

On paper, I might take the Bucks lineup over what the Bulls had available. Ellis and Jennings are similar players to Robinson. Sanders and Noah are comparable. Dunleavy/Redick provide what Bellinelli does. Butler was the 30th pick in the 2011 draft. Taq Gibson was the 26th in the 2009 draft.

Thibodeau is a heck of a coach and the Heat will probably win the series in 5 or 6 games.

The big difference is that when the Heat got up by 5 or 6 points in the 4th quarter against the Bucks, the Bucks packed it in. The Bulls punched them back.

And I don't think Stan Van Gundy is the kind of coach that would get anyone to play harder.

So Miami decided to thug out and they got away with it. That was some of the most disgraceful basketball I have seen since the old Pacers/Knicks, Heat/Knicks playoff series'. No longer basketball, just guys throwing people around. Disgraceful...

Miami used umbrage at how rough the Bulls played in game one to justify sledgehammer dirty play. Two Mutumbo elbows from Ray Allen.

You can't tell me that Shaq dosen't want to be in Chicago. (maybe during May.) Lebron?

Golden State is a fun team to watch. If they can rebound like they did in game 2 they have a shot against the Spurs.

Speaking of Golden State, today is the 26th anniversary of the "Sleepy Floyd Game" against the Lakers in game 4. Possibly the most "holy s**t no one can stop him" 4th quarter I've ever seen. 29 points in the 4th. 39 points in the second half. Michael Cooper couldn't stop him, Mykhal Thompson couldn't stop him, Byron Scott either. Those were three great defensive players.

Entire 4th qtr broadcast here (in 3 parts) with Greg Pappa on the call:
part 1
Part 2
Part 3

No officiating love given to the Bulls late in the game.

As we saw in the Bucks/Heat series the opposing team is not going to get the calls against LeBron and Miami.

Still, Chicago lost their composure (again) and didn't play smart basketball with some of the chippy play.

The call against Noah was a pivotal point of the game. They say you can't lose a game on one call- in a close game, one call can definitely change the game. That's what happened in that game last night...

Yeah and on another front, unless Bogut absolutely had to have a change of scenery, I'll say it again. Horrifically bad trade.

Just horrible.

The 2 calls against Bogut last night hanged that game, too. One ticky tack floor foul, and a good block called a foul. Took him out of the game, and San Antonio controlled the paint after that.

Youre wring on the Bogut trade. Bogut never would have worked in Milwaukee. He works in Oakland because that's Curry and Thompson's team. Bogur is a presence, but in Milwaukee the expectations were that he be 20-10 AND be the defensive anchor. In Oakland his role is completely different.

Bogut has never been healthy. Thought we all agreed on that?

Golden State is solid because guys like Lee and the young guards have been unreal.

By the way, Noah is a jackass. If you are going to act like a putz then don't be surprised when you get rung up or cost your team.

The Bulls played stupid basketball. It's like they knew they couldn't win playing straight up so let's just take cheap shots and talk junk. Way to go

I love it when I accidentally bump into a pretty special sports moment.

I switched over from watching a dvd to a Twilight Zone episode to regular TV just as the Pacer player was on the line, not knowing it was THREE free throws. There are 2.2 seconds left. Pacers down by 2.

He sinks all 3 FT's and so Pacers up by 1. (I am rooting for the Pacers).

And then Lebron scores as the clock runs out.

He caught the pass in the area within the free throw line and the free throw half circle and was facing toward the opposing basket. Unfortunately, the defender in my opinion really blew it. James had WAY to much space to his left. He just went for it full bore and had a layup.

Can't believe the guy gave him that space. If anything, he should have permitted the other side as surely other defenders could have collapsed and lent a hand.

Still a really cool sports moment to chance upon.

Indy definitely proved that they're game. Was pleasantly surprised that he officials weren't letting Miami get away with murder, though there were some swallowed whistles down the stretch. Both teams are so physical, you're not going to get every call.

The one thing that needs to stop is Lebron's flopping. DJ Augustine gets screened by James and he falls to the ground like he got hit by a semi??? When he got could in the 4th on a drive, he went to the ground like he got shot down by a Patriot missile. Stop flopping...

An absolutely riveting game tonight. Why can't the Bucks get a guy like Paul George? He goes toe to toe with Lebron and was tremendous. And West with the 2 decisive defensive plays. Miami has all they can handle with Indy...

Indiana has the size inside to give Miami a lot of trouble. If you are going to beat the Heat that is how you do it. Pound the ball down low because Chris Anderson and Udonis Haslem are no match for a guy like Roy Hibbert.

I blew it last night. Shut it off when James had a 3 point play to give Heat a 2 point lead with ~4m left. I told myself I did not want to see the Heat win.

Couple years ago, I saw some story on Hibbert. It talked about his dedication to the game, including being trained by a former NBA great center. Forget who it was. Obviously, having Hibbert at C is major.

Pacers just have a nice all around big team. Imagine, aren't they even playing without Granger?

George has emerged as a star because Granger was hurt. I don't know if that happens if Granger is still out there jacking ul shots, so I dont know if they're better with him or without.

Hibbert's improvement is steady and a result if hard work. And if any big man wants to improve his post game (and other elite players, like Kice) they watch film and get tutelage from the greatest post player in NBA history, Hakeem Olajuwon.

If the NBA is serious about the no flopping thing, several fines and suspensions should come out of tonight's game. It was atrocious. Wade, Battier, Anderson... There's no integrity left in the game. Even Ray Allen dos the sh*t...

It was Olajuwon, wasn't it? I thought it was.

What a great player he was.

I don't know. I tried to find something on it but couldn't. But Kobe did, and I think Lebron did too. The greatest post player to ever live.

Spurs with a chance to sweep tonight. Should happen.

NBA refs make **** up as they go, don't they?

3 officials on the court, none of them see the ball hit the rim... 24 sec violation. Heat then go on a 11-2 run. Wow...

Officials just gave a massive break to the Pacers. What a terrible call on James to essentially end the game. I guess Stern really does want a 7 game series.

A call that is never called but one that should be called, sorry stuck his leg out on the screen as happens but wish it was called more

This officiating crew had a horrible night. They blew another call on the Ray Allen tip out. The call on LeBron was a call that they can make probably 25 times a game. Chalmers st s couple of screens before that call on LeBron that would have made James Campen proud. No calls there. And if you stick your leg out, you SHOULD get a foul.

The old Spurs get a full week to rest. Should make for an interesting series no matter who survives...

That was some pretty piss poor officiating in game 4

Given the WCF are over looks like David Stern wants a 7 game series in the East