NY v. MIA is my pick for the Eastern Finals... I don't think anyone else can compete with either team... They're too good...
BTW, last week, my NOLA boys officially adopted the Pelicans nickname... Hopefully, this rebrand will do for us what the rebrand did for Seattle-->OKC...
The Conference Finals will be interesting, despite the stomping the Spurs gave the Grizz the other night... I expect both series to go 6 games, with us ending in a Miami-San Antonio Finals matchup... And, you should completely expect Miami to have to go all out against a great Spurs team, who continues to prove itself... And while we're talking basketball, Kevin Durant suggested people donate to the Red Cross to help the tornado victims... Then, turned around and donated $1M himself... And the only reason we know about it? The Red Cross announced that he had done so... Just one more reason to like KD...
Having picked Memphis at the beginning of the year & sticking with them at the beginning of the playoffs, I can't jump off their bandwagon now. But gee-wiz, the Spurs are playing awfully well right now & it's gonna be mighty tough for the Grizz to take them down. No matter what happens tonight, the Grizz absolutely need to win both games in Memphis in order to have a shot at taking this series. If Memphis wins tonight(in SA), but lose one in Memphis, I can't see them winning this series, IMO. And if they lose tonight & lose one in Memphis, they're surely done for. KD is a class act.
Well, SA is up 2-0 now... It's gonna be rough from here on though... The Grindhouse is not friendly to visitors, and the Grizz have the best home record in the league... But, the Spurs are playing at another level right now... It's amazing to watch... And yeah, KD is great, on & off the court...
Question: Can either Miami or Indiana really contend with San Antonio right now? The Spurs annihilated two of the best teams in the league to get to the Finals... The Pacers and the Heat are pushing each other to their limits, in a series that seems like it will go 7 games... Meanwhile, the Spurs are gonna be coming off of 10 days of rest when the Finals start... A lot of times, rest=rust... With San Antonio, however, I don't think that's the case... They're a relatively old team, and, the rest is only gonna enable them to keep up with Miami or Indiana, who, whichever team makes it out of the Eastern Finals, will still be tired from the previous series... Not to mention that the Spurs are playing some of the best basketball they've played all year... We'll see, but, after watching these Playoffs, I'm leaning more toward Duncan & Co. bringing home number 5...
I still believe Miami will go to the Finals & win it. The latest the East will finish is Monday, which will still give either the Pacers or Heat a couple of days off (Thurs.) till the Finals start. All the time the Spurs are getting off can be a double edged sword. We've seen where teams lose their edge, at least for a little while, but I kinda agree with you that the Spurs (the veterans at least) welcome the time off. It's my guess that whoever owns the home court edge in the Finals will win it, whether it's Miami vs. San Antonio or S.A vs. Indiana. And you are right, S.A.(or should I say Tony Parker) is playing magnificently.
I am absolutely thrilled the way these playoffs have turned out for my beloved Spurs. Who would have thought that Golden State would have been the toughest team they would have to get through. Crazy! In an odd way, I kinda hope my Spurs get to play Miami. I feel Indiana matches up with the Spurs better then Miami can. Miami has a glaring weakness with their bigs. The Spurs have Duncan & Tiago. Although, I do wish Tiago can finish better on the offensive end. But his defense has been excellent. The Spurs are MUCH larger then Miami. My only worry about Miami is LeBron. The Spurs have nobody that can check him. So it will be interesting to see how Pop deals with him. I say let LeBron score all he wants. As long as they are not easy layups or easy points in the block. Make him hit jumpers. And don't send too many double teams on him as well. He is too good at finding the open shooter when you commit. But much like we see in this Indiana series, the Spurs will dominate the Heat in the paint. I actually believe we may see Duncan post up a few times in that series. He hasn't had to post up the last 2 series they played. Lastly, I want Manu to score more. His playmaking ability is still there since he draws so much attention when driving to the rim, it forces an extra defender to come in and Manu can find an open shooter with a great assist. I just need him to hit more open shots and take smarter shots. Some of his shot selection these playoffs have been awful. As far as the long rest, I think that will be great for this aging team. Parker can get that sore calf to heal. And with the Finals being a 2-3-2 format, all S.A. needs to do is steal one of the first two, and they get 3 in a row at home. All that said, I can't wait for next Thursday! GO SPURS GO!!!!
I'll bet you are amped...lol I love watching the Spurs play, even though make a difficult division even more difficult for my Pelicans... They're a great team, and, TBH, at this point, I think they're gonna take it home this year...
Man, I sure hope they do. Last year was such a dissapointment for me. I thought the Spurs were gonna cake walk through the playoffs on their way to the Finals. Then they lose 4 straight to OKC after coming off of that 20 game winning streak?!?! That sucked! Miami looks like they have some issues. Bosh looks awful, and Wade looks like he can barely move. Did you hear LeBron's comments after the game?? Wow. He said he had to play like he did back in Cleveland!
TBH, he did... He completely carried them in the 3rd, and you're right... Bosh and Wade are useless right now... Which is why I'm of the opinion that, if Bosh & Wade don't step it up, if Miami beats Indy, SA is gonna kill them... Especially since they're gonna be so well rested...
I think Bosh will play better IMO. But I firmly believe Wade is done. I don't know if it's his injury or what, but he looks like he can barely move out there.
Bosh might turn it up like he did in the Finals last year, but Wade is always sketchy... With him playing weak, along with Mario Chalmers being a soft player to begin with, the Heat have virtually no backcourt, and definitely no one to compete with Tony Parker... Either he'll light them up from every where, or he'll find scoring outlets around the court... Miami, if they make it, may be in trouble...
It might take 7, but I still very much like the Heat to repeat. If anyone thinks that the long layoff puts the Spurs somehow over the hump vs. the Heat, I think you may be mistaken. I think Miami's desperation mode may give them an early advantage, but we'll see. I'm fairly certain that S.A. may need to win twice in Miami, anyway. Every series takes on a life of it's own, so we'll see how this one goes.
Not to be rude, but the Heat were just able to handle a team MUCH larger than them in Indiana. It was tough, but they came out on top, and I think that San Antonio has to be worried about that. I think saying that the Heat are at a disadvantage against any team is just foolish, that's not just the Heat fan in me talking. The Heat beat San Antonio twice this season, once with Mario Chalmers, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade on the bench. Once by a score of 105-100, and once by 88-86. I think that speaks to the fact that the Heat are not at a disadvantage against the Spurs, if anything they are at an advantage.
Since the "Big 3" signed with the Heat......The Spurs and Heat have played a total of 6 times. Out of those 6 times, both squads only played with their full rosters in 2 games. In those 2 games, they finished 1-1. Heat won 1 game, Spurs won 1 game. The 2 games they played this year are meaningless. When the Spurs played in Miami, Pop sent Duncan, Manu, Parker & Green home earlier that day on a plane. And the entire second team nearly won the game against the full Heat roster in Miami. The second game, LeBron, Wade & Chalmers didn't play. Bosh hit a last second 3 to ice the game in San Antonio. Not to mention Manu was out with an injury & Tony was playing on a bum ankle. IMO, those 2 games they played this season are meaningless in regards to the series upcoming. The Pacers are not larger then the Spurs. Hibbert is 7'2". And West is 6'9". Tim Duncan & Tiago Splitter are both 6'11". And they will both be on the floor together for numerous minutes in each game. Hibbert is a young player who gave the Heat troubles playing above the rim with not many post moves. Now the Heat have to go up against arguably the greatest PF in the history of the game in Duncan with a plethora of post moves AND a good 12-16 foot shot in his game. If the Spurs can get the ball to either Timmy or Tiago in the paint coming off the pick and roll, who is going to stop them from scoring an easy layup or dunk? Bosh? Haslem? As a Spurs fan, I will gladly take my chances with that matchup. Not to mention, Parker will own Chalmers. Eventually LeBron is going to have to defend Parker because Chalmers & Cole will have troubles. But that won't happen unless it's a close game near the end of the 4th qtr. And lastly, I think the Spurs have as much if not more firepower then the Heat do in the perimeter. Spurs are scoring more points per game in these playoffs then the Heat are. The one and only X factor that I am petrified of on the Heat is LeBron. The Spurs have NOBODY that can check him and slow him down. So my approach is let him go off and make sue nobody else gets easy baskets. LeBron will not be able to beat the Spurs alone. He is going to need Wade & Bosh. I think Bosh will play better, but I believe Wade is too hobbled to be that much of a factor. With that said, I say Spurs in 6. Good luck & lets have a great series!
Good post & I can't disagree with a lot of what you said. If I were a Spurs fan(I'm a Purple 'n Gold bleeder) there would be two things that would worry me. First, although I do realize that Miami won last year as the "3" of the 2-3-2 Finals format, in general, I think it's a fairly big advantage for the team with the best record. As long as you get it to the sixth game, the lesser record team has to win it on your home court & I'm not a big fan of teams losing on their home court in that situation. Just my opinion. I remember in '08 when the Lakers lost to the Celtics, I thought the Lakers had a good shot going in & then they lost the 1st game in Boston. I knew we were gut shot & were not going to win that series. Secondly, I'm an "odds" guy.I always look at betting odds & such to get a feel of whats coming. The bookies certainly don't know everything, but they are more right than wrong & aren't in it to lose money. These odds are based on $100 bets: Miami is at -210 & San Antonio is at +175. Nothing really surprising there, the Heat do have the home court. But as for MVP of the Finals, LBJ is at -500 & the next closest is Tony Parker at +500. A player for the losing team usually, or make that never, gets the MVP. If I were a Spurs fan, that would make me nervous. But maybe that's just me. Good luck to your team & let's hope for a good series.
So the Spurs were the only team between those two that had players playing with injury? Is that what you're saying? Or are you really just making excuses? I don't think the two games are meaningless, maybe not able to tell a full story Uhm, I don't think you really understood what I was saying. I said the Heat just played a team that was much taller than them. As in, the Pacers are taller than the Spurs. Which you actually helped prove for me. All that means is instead of Bosh having to D up on someome that's 3 inches taller, there'll be no height advantage. My point in this all is that Spols changed the offense and the defense to work with more fluidity against a taller team, in the Pacers. So when they get to the Spurs it won't be a huge shock to them. Yep, Tim Duncan is quite possibly the best PF of all time, I can agree with that. However, the Heat, as you've said, have quite possibly the best player in the game right now. That best player in the game is supported by D-Wade. With Tim Duncan's age he isn't going to be playing the entire game. Or Birdman. You can take your chances all you want, but you seem to think that if Tim or Tiago have the ball in their hands the game is over. I hope the Spurs are stupid enough to think the same thing. When LeBron spreads the floor, and kicks the ball out to Allen, Bosh, Battier, Chalmers, or Norris Cole then you have serious 3 point threats. All of them can, and will nail the 3. Maybe a few have been in a bit of a lull, but don't expect that to continue. The Heat also have one of the highest offensive efficiency ratings on top of being the best transition team. As stated, above and beyond what I said just now, here: Parker is playing well, damn well I would even say. I'll wait to see the games though. I really do hope the Spurs are as cocky as you are, and underestimate the heat like you do. If we followed what you're saying then there isn't a single player on the Heat team that should even bother showing up except for LeBron. The rest of the Heat are just garbage, where as the Spurs are DOMINANT. I would argue that by saying that by saying the Heat have been playing one of the better defenses in the game, which neutralized some of their scoring abilites. The Pacers were taller than the Heat in every position. The Spurs, put simply, are just not. If you think the Spurs have more firepower than the team that is ranked #1 in offensive efficiency than you go right ahead. I'm going to say that the stats, and facts say that you are wrong. Oh man I hope Popovich is dumb enough to say, "Let LeBron go off, and we'll just REALLY defend the rest of the team." The reason I say that is because Wade was hurt, but he's definitely feeling better. With this most recent 3 day break it should get even better, and he had a great game to end the Pacers series. Wade can make shots through defense, Bosh can make shots through defense, and just that will open up the outside for the 3 point threats to do their thing. I'll go with Heat in 6. Indeed, let's see what happens. Either way it should be fast paced and intense.
No, I never said that. I simply said those 2 games were meaningless. Which they were. Spurs are taller then the Heat. Just saying. Wade won't be that much of a factor. Maybe he scores decently in 1 or 2 games. His knee is too hurt for him to be explosive. Birdman?? LOLOL. Allen is done. Too old. Bosh has turned into a horrible outside shooter. Battier has yet to do anything these playoffs. Chalmers is a non factor & Cole is dynamic. But young. He will make plenty of mistakes with the big lights on. Spurs can score and keep pace with the Heat. You did see the Golden State series...............right? I'm not cocky at all. I just like the Spurs chances better with the Heat rather then the Pacers due to matchups. And lets face it. IF LeBron has to do it all like he had to against Indiana.........the Spurs will win the series. The Spurs are much better then Indiana. Just saying. Spurs are taller then the Heat. Spurs score more PPG then the Heat in these playoffs. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/stats/teamsort/NBA/T-PTSAVG/postseason?&_1:col_1=3 There is no stopping LeBron. Everybody knows this. Including Pop. But I am sure Pop is smart enough to realize that LeBron alone can NOT beat his team. Guard the Heat's shooters, make them take a bad shot & miss, and you win. Indiana simply didn't have enough firepower to beat the Heat. The Spurs have that firepower. Spurs in 6. - - - Updated - - - With all that said, I say the Heat win Game 1. But the Spurs will take Game 2.
So you're more than willing to use the most recent playoff scores, but unwilling to use the most recent regular season scores. I admit that the matchups weren't premier because of benched players on both sides, but it proved 1 thing. The Heat can beat the Spurs bench, and the Heat bench can beat the Spurs. It might not mean anything to you, but you've made it blazingly clear that you do not believe there is anyone on the Heat that can match up with anyone on the Spurs, outside of LeBron. Thanks Captain Obvious. I think I remember me saying that...twice now. I also said that the Pacers were taller than the Heat as well, at every position...and they still won. The Spurs are NOT taller than the Heat at every position, so it's not the same situation. Height doesn't bother the Heat, they can get past it. I'll take that into thought when I'm watching the game. I am going to assume, by your writing style, that you aren't a doctor. You also don't have any inside knowledge to Dwayne Wade, so you also probably don't know (*)(*)(*)(*) about how his knee is feeling. Since he came off a 21 point game, where he looked pretty good, I'm going to assume you're just talking out of your ass. Right? K. Laugh all you want, he's made almost every shot and played some great defense. Do you watch the games? Good, more non sensical "information" pulled from your anus. Noted, I'll be sure to inform Allen. Weird, I watched him drain a few threes from outside during the last round, and more than one from the perimiter. He had a rough post season so far, but he's waiting to do some damage. Well, I mean he was benched most of the last series. His size didn't make him effective against the Pacers, if he sits out this time, the Heat will find a way like they did last time. LoL, ok. Yeah, and as you like to point out, the Heat aren't Golden State, are they? The Heat are WAY better than Golden State, and your hypocrisy in your "analysis" is getting laughable. Oh wait, I mean, you probably won't see the hypocrisy anyway. pfffhahahahahahahahaha yeah you're not. Yeah, despite the facts of offensive production between the two teams, you've said that more than once. I like the Heats chances against the Spurs because I think the Heat will win. That's the way being a fan works, of course you like your teams chances. Yeah, you've said that. I got it, you think the Spurs are going to win. Check. Now let's see the games. Yeah, again, I said the Spurs are taller. I also said that Indiana is taller, and they lost. As far as the PPG, I don't really care. They weren't playing the Heat's defense and they weren't playing against the Heats, overall, best offense. So, couldn't care less. Sure they do fella, outside of the fact that the stats say otherwise. So, pretty much, just your opinion that they do. There's nothing to back it up. Thanks, I'll keep that noted. Fixed that for you. k
