NBA 2011-2012 Season

[Greywolf2375]

For a more recent example of an elbow far more malicious than Artests, see Dwight Howard in the playoffs from 3-4 years ago. No, he didn't actually connect hard but that's irrelevant. Howard deliberately tried to injure Sam Dalembert in a non basketball move and yet he only got 1 game. And again, 7 games is not lenient in the NBA when 6 of those are potentially playoff games.

Right, but for that scenario I'd argue that the one game they gave Howard is wrong and that it should have been higher. He doesn;t have the history Artest does in this sort of situation, so they wouldn;t necessarily get the same suspension but any actions like that need to be severely punished.

[BLU-RAY]

So the play-offs probably look like this, first round:

East:

Chicago Bulls- Philadelphia

Miami Heat- New York Knicks

Indiana Pacers-Orlando Magic

Atlanta Hawks-Boston Celtics

West:

San Antonio Spurs-Utah Jazz

Oklahoma City Thunder- Dallas Mavericks

La Lakers- Denver Nuggets

Memphis Grizzlies- LA Clippers

In bold to go through per my prediction.

The Knicks have staged quite the comeback but the Miami Heat are going to be too good for them, I'd actually give them a better chance if they played the Bulls, but even they would have been the underdog.

Looks pretty accurate. I actually think that the Knicks will hang with Miami, but ultimately I don't think they can win that series. You never know, though, they have an elite post defender and a top perimeter defender, and a top scoring threat... so it's possible.

Anyway, I agree with all of your picks except for Memphis-LA, I think the Clips lose that. They have no depth, are a crap foul shooting team (except for Paul, obviously), and Memphis will kill them on the glass.

[Calibandar]

was hoping for the Magic to lose last night (a lot to hope for against the Bobcats, I know.) because I really wanted the Knicks to go up to 6, I think they could have handled the Pacers despite the widespread belief that Indiana is the sleeper threat this year. Miami is pretty much the worst case scenario for first round, I don't thik they would have beat the Bulls, but they would probably have been more competitive against them than against James and Co.

Agreed. Indiana is going to eas past Orlando without Howard, Orlando have really been poor of late. NY KNicks would have had a far better chance against the Pacers, despite the excellent team performance of the Pacers this season. That would have been 50/50. Meeting the Miami Heat is indeed a worst case scenario for them, I just don't see how the Knicks are going to take 4 victories against them, no way. This the penalty for the shit first half of the season for the Knicks.

Edit: I watched the Knicks against the Clippers without Chris Paul, and Memohis vs Clippers was already the closest of all the first round encounters, I can see Memphis winning that just as well. Good team, very sturdy. Not as full of highlights as the Clippers are, but probably better all around.

[Relic]

As a rabid life long Knicks fan i can confidently say that beating Miami in a 7 game series would be nothing short of a miracle.

[Morpheus]

I really wish Woodson would consider bringing Amar'e off the bench, just let Melo play his game unimpeded as long as he keeps delivering like he has this past month, that way Stoudemire can be a solid and consistent force when Melo sits unlike JR Smith who can be great or utter shit from game to game.

[Minaku]

After seeing the first round matchups I can safely say that this year's Finals will be wide open for me. Every team I could remotely root for will be out in the first round.

[Greywolf2375]

OK, starting with the bad:

Congrats Charlotte - at least you set the record. If you have won, you'd have been just another horrible team.

Playoffs:

Bulls -76ers: Bulls in 5

Heat - Knicks: Heat in 6 (I think the pure hatred NYers have for the Heat gets them a win)

Pacers-Magic: No Superman, no chance - Pacers in 5

Hawks - Celtics: C's in 6

Spurs - Jazz: Spurs in 5

Thunder - Mavs: OKC in 5 (oops, edit needed)

Lakers - Nuggets: Lakers in 6, we'll see what the Artest suspension does

Grizz - Clips: Grizz in 6, Grizz at home is a huge advantage and they've been in the playoffs...ever.

[Morpheus]

Most of that sounds about right to me, except for the Mavs over OKC I don't think they have what it takes to make another strong run this year, they lost too many important pieces, most notably Chandler. OKC I think will at the very least see the conference finals, but for now I see things going according to script with a Heat/Thunder final (I would love for that expectation to be proven wrong though)

[Greywolf2375]

Most of that sounds about right to me, except for the Mavs over OKC I don't think they have what it takes to make another strong run this year, they lost too many important pieces, most notably Chandler. OKC I think will at the very least see the conference finals, but for now I see things going according to script with a Heat/Thunder final (I would love for that expectation to be proven wrong though)

That's cuz that is a typo on my part. I like Dirk, but yeah, they don't have the mojo this time. I'll change that.

[Maithanet]

Not a very exciting first round. I suppose there's always some foregone conclusion sorta games, but I feel like the 1-8 and 3-6 matchups in both conferences are pretty uninteresting. In the West, Thunder-Mavs might be interesting just because it's the defending champs, but they can't hang with OKC anymore. Clips-Grizz should be competitive and decent to watch, but since neither of those teams has any real chance of winning the West, it is hard to get too excited.

In the East, the Celtics-Hawks will be a good indicator on whether the Celtics have any sort of playoff run in them, but it's mostly a foregone conclusion. The Heat-Knicks is interesting, becuase the Knicks have been playing well of late and the Heat are always a good story. Nonetheless, it's probably just a question of how Miami wins, rather than if.

Maybe I'm just being pessimistic and there will be some upsets, but it really looks like this year they could have just started the playoffs with the final four teams in each conference and skipped the first round. Although now that I think about it, they could probably do that every year. I can't remember the last time that a team seeded 5-8 won the conference. Has it ever happened?

[Sir Thursday]

Not a very exciting first round. I suppose there's always some foregone conclusion sorta games, but I feel like the 1-8 and 3-6 matchups in both conferences are pretty uninteresting. In the West, Thunder-Mavs might be interesting just because it's the defending champs, but they can't hang with OKC anymore. Clips-Grizz should be competitive and decent to watch, but since neither of those teams has any real chance of winning the West, it is hard to get too excited.

In the East, the Celtics-Hawks will be a good indicator on whether the Celtics have any sort of playoff run in them, but it's mostly a foregone conclusion. The Heat-Knicks is interesting, becuase the Knicks have been playing well of late and the Heat are always a good story. Nonetheless, it's probably just a question of how Miami wins, rather than if.

Maybe I'm just being pessimistic and there will be some upsets, but it really looks like this year they could have just started the playoffs with the final four teams in each conference and skipped the first round. Although now that I think about it, they could probably do that every year. I can't remember the last time that a team seeded 5-8 won the conference. Has it ever happened?

I know the Knicks won their conference in the last lockout-shortened season despite being the 8th seed. And I think Houston won their second championship from the 6th spot. So it's not unprecidented. Hasn't happened for a while though.

[Biter]

Anyway, I agree with all of your picks except for Memphis-LA, I think the Clips lose that. They have no depth, are a crap foul shooting team (except for Paul, obviously), and Memphis will kill them on the glass.

I would consider Memphis to be the slight favorites in this series because of their depth, but I hope the Clippers win. I think it's an absolute treat to watch Griffin play.

[Commodore]

Brad Miller's final minutes

[Calibandar]

Biter

Exactly, between him and Chris Paul the Clippers have just become one of the best sides to watch. Now Memphis has a fairly entertaining side as well, especially Rudy Gay, and I like Gasol as well, he has this sluggish but very effective big man style that I like. He's an inch taller than Pau, but unlike Pau he's built like a house as well. Definitly one of the best matches in this play-offs series.

[Sir Thursday]

I'm rooting for the Grizzlies over the Clippers all the way. The Clippers have become an incredibly unlikeable team. Griffin dunks but acts like douche (and being overrated makes him much easier to root against). Their 'give Chris Paul the ball at the end of the game' strategy really annoys me too. Chris Paul is good enough to do this all game long, but only takes over when he has to. I want to see players bringing it all game long, not just when it suits them. Too often their play is all flash but no end product. Dunks only count for 2, and there's only so many times I can see Griffin's dead-eyed stare after a posterization before they make me feel cold and empty inside instead of wanting to leap off my chair. Because in the end, that's why I dislike the Clippers so much - they've somehow managed to suck the joy out of what should have been a supremely entertaining tag team.

Memphis, on the other hand, play hard every night, have the underdog spirit about them even if they're not underdogs per se. I particularly love watching them play defense - you can feel the energy they have as they scrap for steals. Watching Tony Allen completely take whoever he is marking out of the game is awesome. Their balance and relative lack of glamour makes them an appealing team to root for as well. I could never support a team from LA - they get too much coverage and support as it is (even if the Clippers are the relatively unloved of the two franchises there). Give me the Grizz any day.

ST

[Greywolf2375]

wow, the Heat are just taking the Knicks out behind the woodshed through three.

[aeu]

Feel really bad for the Bulls and Rose. I would have loved for them to win it all. Alas...

Considering who seems to have a chance at this point, i will be rooting for the Spurs.

[Greywolf2375]

Feel really bad for the Bulls and Rose. I would have loved for them to win it all. Alas...

Considering who seems to have a chance at this point, i will be rooting for the Spurs.

just saw that it was his ACL, hopefully he will be able to recover in time for a full season next year. Yeah, without him I don't see them making a challenge in the next round.

[Minaku]

I watched about 8 minutes today from the 3rd to the 4th quarter and most of those 8 minutes was spent hiding behind my hands. Please make this quick.

Also, Dwyane Wade, you fucker. Your team was leading by 30 points and you still felt the need to flop. Ass.

[BLU-RAY]

FWIW, Ser Thursday, when you go all-out all the time, you get injuries like what happened to Rose. Paul's already had one skeevy knee injury; he knkows that it's his job as the PG to get his teammates involved and get his own offense when it's absolutely critical. Not to mention that setting the narrative as one where other Clippers are scoring threats actually makes his offense available.