It's the 2011 NBA playoffs! Mavs Win! - Page 7

MrBug708 · 05-03-2011, 12:36 AM

That was a rough final 30 seconds

whomario · 05-03-2011, 01:43 AM

Kobe was in a nice rythm for most of the game, but 29 shots and 0 assists ? Gasol was good but for some reason they stopped going to him and he stopped being agressive which is pretty silly considering Nowitzki a) can´t guard him and b) might get tired or into foul trouble trying.
Chandler played great against Bynum, Terry actually looked decent once more and the bench overall was great. Plus Nowitzki with a good game obviously.

Groundhog · 05-03-2011, 01:51 AM

Chandler has looked pretty darn good at times this year, glad to see he finally appears healthy. Shot a pretty amazing .654 from the field this season.

RainMaker · 05-03-2011, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Good game for Atlanta. Joe Johnson has to be one of the least consistent "stars" in the league, but he poses a pretty big matchup problem for the Bulls. I doubt he shoots so well again, but I think even someone like Brewer, a pretty good defender despite the height difference, might need to get more minutes to attempt to cover him.

I thought Bogans played him the best and was hoping Thibs would go back to him. I don't think Johnson is that much of a mismatch for the team. They played Deng on him most of the night who is a quality defender. He just had it going on and sometimes good players have great games. Hoping he doesn't have 3 more.

Groundhog · 05-03-2011, 03:20 AM

Definitely have to say, Deng under Thibs is about 300x better defensively than he was under Skiles.

whomario · 05-03-2011, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Chandler has looked pretty darn good at times this year, glad to see he finally appears healthy. Shot a pretty amazing .654 from the field this season.

Well, considering 50% of his FGs were dunks that´s the least you can expect

Dallas also has pretty great spacing. But yeah, he has a kneck for moving into open space around the rim and finish (also draws fouls at a good rate) and i agree that he´s been great for much of the year

Mavs had 30 assists as well, very nice ball movement all night.

Kobe had not a single shot attempt at the rim but 22 long jumpers (16 foot out) acording to hoopdata. But then again the Mavs as a team lived on mid and long range jumpers all night as well.

How rididulous was Dirk´s wrong-legged runner with about 40 seconds to go ?

and before i forget about it : Corey Brewer !

TroyF · 05-03-2011, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whomario

Well, considering 50% of his FGs were dunks that´s the least you can expect

Dallas also has pretty great spacing. But yeah, he has a kneck for moving into open space around the rim and finish (also draws fouls at a good rate) and i agree that he´s been great for much of the year

Mavs had 30 assists as well, very nice ball movement all night.

Kobe had not a single shot attempt at the rim but 22 long jumpers (16 foot out) acording to hoopdata. But then again the Mavs as a team lived on mid and long range jumpers all night as well.

How rididulous was Dirk´s wrong-legged runner with about 40 seconds to go ?

and before i forget about it : Corey Brewer !

And there is the reason I think the Mavs will have so much difficulty in this series. They are a jump shooting team who can't get to the foul line (unless they get the refs from Game 1 of the Portland series) That means they start out in a 10 point (or more) hole to begin the game. (note: this isn't ref bashing, this is the style they play)

Last night the Mavs shot 49.4% from the floor, 45% from the three point land, and had a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. And they won by 2 points.

Looking at the other numbers, they were outscored in the paint by 10, from the line by 8, had only 5 offensive rebounds all night, and had nobody in foul trouble for the game.

I'd love to be on here thinking the Mavericks have a shot, but right now I don't see it. I hope I'm wrong.

As for the Bulls, I think they'll recover, but they need to get back to ball movement. Rose took 27 shots last night and didn't get to the line one time. (nor did he deserve to) It was the most unefficient 24 points I've ever seen.

Rose had 10 assists last night, but the overall ball movement on the Bulls right now reminds me a lot of the Iverson 76ers years. That needs to change if they want to beat Miami or Boston.

RainMaker · 05-03-2011, 11:55 AM

Bulls offense wasn't that bad. They had 21 assists and did shoot the 3 fairly well. They aren't a team that is going to be real efficient on the offensive side of the ball. If they need to score 100 to win, it's not going to be their series.

Their issue was defense and rebounding. I thought they did a good job at times and Johnson just had it going. But they came out flat early and fell into a hole. They also weren't that aggressive on the glass despite Atlanta going small. Noah and Boozer should be dominating Atlanta in that area and didn't last night.

Arles · 05-03-2011, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TroyF

And there is the reason I think the Mavs will have so much difficulty in this series. They are a jump shooting team who can't get to the foul line (unless they get the refs from Game 1 of the Portland series) That means they start out in a 10 point (or more) hole to begin the game. (note: this isn't ref bashing, this is the style they play)

Last night the Mavs shot 49.4% from the floor, 45% from the three point land, and had a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. And they won by 2 points.

See, I disagree. The Mavs were pretty close to average when you look at their players. Dirk shoots about 51% from the field and he shot 11-22 in the game. Outside of Terry (6-10), no player was really that much better than normal. As a team, they shot 49.4% compared to the 47.5% they shoot during the season. They also made just 1 more 3 (out of 20 attempts) than their season average would dictate. Marion and Stevenson also combined to go 5-16.

What was different, though, was getting half the free throws of the Lakers in the game (they averaged 22 a game and got 11), Kobe shooting 50% from the floor on almost entirely jumpers (pretty much un-precedented for him this postseason), and everyone but Artest (1-8), Bynum (3-8) and Barnes (2-6) shot atleast 50% from the floor. The only "out of character" performance was Artest (1-8 FG, 0-3 3s), but he's certainly capable of throwing a few stinkers up there from time to time.

If Dallas gets another 10 free throws and Kobe goes back to being Kobe on jumpers, Dallas could certainly withstand a poorer shooting effort by Terry and a better one by Artest and still win.

Quote:

Looking at the other numbers, they were outscored in the paint by 10, from the line by 8, had only 5 offensive rebounds all night, and had nobody in foul trouble for the game.

Dallas is rarely in foul trouble because of their depth. For the season and playoffs, Chandler is the only one who gets 3 fouls a night (ave 3.4) and he's had 4 fouls just once in all 4 games they've played. So, if people are expecting Dirk (2.1), Terry (1.9), Kidd (1.9), Peja (1.2) or Marion (2.3) to be in foul trouble it's not likely.

Quote:

I'd love to be on here thinking the Mavericks have a shot, but right now I don't see it. I hope I'm wrong.

I think they have a shot, but they need Dirk and either Terry/Peja to be on most nights. I think the Lakers will probably win it, but before the playoffs I would have said 70-30 LA and I think it's closer to 55-45 now.

Passacaglia · 05-03-2011, 08:26 PM

What was with that iRenew Sport commercial with Rondo? First of all, it started with "professional basketball player Rajon Rondo" -- okay, so they had to explain to us who their celebrity endorsement was? Also, what was with all the darkness and low budget production?

Noop · 05-03-2011, 10:07 PM

stevew · 05-03-2011, 11:30 PM

I'd be very concerned if Westbrook was my team's point guard. He seems to have a 2 cent head on his shoulders.....admittedly i have a small sample size of his work.

Cuckoo · 05-03-2011, 11:43 PM

Nice bounce back game from OKC. Though they allowed a late Memphis run, the Thunder dominated and were the more physical and aggressive team. They're going to need to keep that up if they can get one back on the road. Nice to see them come out with a lot of energy, even though the crowd, at least on tv, looked like the least energized playoff crowd OKC has had in 2 seasons.

I thought Westbrook played decent enough, much better than the past few games. I'm hoping that whatever has been in his head is gone now.

whomario · 05-04-2011, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevew

I'd be very concerned if Westbrook was my team's point guard. He seems to have a 2 cent head on his shoulders.....admittedly i have a small sample size of his work.

Thunder won´t win on smarts and fundamentals as it is, but Westbrook definitely is a big advantage over the most dangerous oponents out there (Lakers and Heat) with his athleticism. He´s the kind of guy where you have to take the bad with the great. Normally they´d need a Point forward type of player out there, i am actually surprised they get away with so many poor passers (by comparison). Ibaka and Perkins both are shit passers, Durant is not good and Thabo is ok-good (but as he never draws any attention it doesn´t matter much).

Thunder got a huge lift from their bench, Harden was very agressive and Maynor played terrific.

Gasol and Randolph with bad night shooting and finishing (although Gasol still had a great all around game on both ends), Conley was impressive.

Groundhog · 05-04-2011, 03:17 AM

Biggest concern for the Thunder I think is that it's unlikely Randolph has another game like tonight. One stretch he missed like three shots around the basket within 3 seconds.

stevew · 05-04-2011, 06:23 AM

I decided I'm all in on Z-Bo this playoffs. I'm sure he will let me down. The Griz are a pretty likable team other than Mayo.

whomario · 05-04-2011, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevew

I decided I'm all in on Z-Bo this playoffs. I'm sure he will let me down. The Griz are a pretty likable team other than Mayo.

And even he bought into things at some point and has been surprisingly quiet about playing in a smaller role, especially with Gay out.

Randolph definitely needs to play great for them to have a shot, they aren´t unlike the Mavs in a way. Other than that they use their "presence-guy" very differently (Grizz cut like mad, Mavs shoot the 3) and thus score their points from different spots (yeah i know those are big differences

) they are actually quite comparably : no clear 2nd option, lots of contributions off the bench, offense built around 1 guy while moving the ball very well when option A isn´t there, good defense, getting out on the break.

Noop · 05-04-2011, 08:54 AM

Russell Westbrook = Stephan Marbury

He is a high volume shooter. He seems to care about his stats more then he cares about his team winning. I am not sure who told him he was equal to Durant but that person needs to be slapped.

MikeVic · 05-04-2011, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noop

Russell Westbrook = Stephan Marbury

He is a high volume shooter. He seems to care about his stats more then he cares about his team winning. I am not sure who told him he was equal to Durant but that person needs to be slapped.

Nooooo way. At least Durant and Westbrook seem like best friends. Marbury was just overall stupid.

Logan · 05-04-2011, 10:39 AM

While I don't give credit for Noop's Simmons-like analogy...but Marbury and KG seemed like best friends at one point too.

stevew · 05-04-2011, 10:45 AM

I'd like to see why the refs feel the need to give Westbrook a 50% increase in free throw attempts this year vs. his career average.

whomario · 05-04-2011, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevew

I'd like to see why the refs feel the need to give Westbrook a 50% increase in free throw attempts this year vs. his career average.

His FTA/FGA ratio is up "only" 17% compared to the first 2 years which you might still find weird but which is a far cry from the 50% on a superficial stat like FT attempts , he also has increased numbers in usage and shots inside 10 feet (both up by 21%).

There are 5 PGs that shoot more FTs per FGA btw (Billups,Sessions, lou williams, harris and stuckey) with 6 more also at 0.40 or better.

He and his increased number of FTs is not that much of an outlier.

Noop · 05-04-2011, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logan

While I don't give credit for Noop's Simmons-like analogy...but Marbury and KG seemed like best friends at one point too.

I don't read his articles. Apparently my line of thinking puts in the company of a lot of idiots. SMH.

Can I throw this out there before some other idiot says this?

Howard for Bosh.
Duncan to Miami.

I believe both of these can happen.

Noop · 05-04-2011, 01:11 PM

digamma · 05-04-2011, 01:38 PM

I'm shocked to learn that a point guard is more efficient when his team's best offensive weapon is on the floor with him.

And equally shocked to see that a team's best offensive weapon picks up more of the load when its second best offensive weapon is not on the floor.

The only number that is interesting is the +/- number, particularly for Durant without Westbrook. Not sure you can draw much from that number in isolation, but it is interesting.

whomario · 05-04-2011, 01:46 PM

pretty small sample size as well, 242 minutes (Westbrook without Durant) amounts to about 3 minutes a game over the course of the season.

on a side note i really love statcube, great tool

RainMaker · 05-04-2011, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noop

I don't read his articles. Apparently my line of thinking puts in the company of a lot of idiots. SMH.

Can I throw this out there before some other idiot says this?

Howard for Bosh.
Duncan to Miami.

I believe both of these can happen.

I thought about that too. Probably the most value the Magic could expect for Dwight. However, I don't see them trading him to a rival like the Heat, and don't see them making a deal with him unless it includes Arenas or Hedo.

Lets say Dwight says he'll play for one of the major markets. Here is what I'd do if I was the Magic.

Howard, Nelson, and Arenas to New York for Amare, Fields, Douglas, Billups, and scrubs to match salaries.

New York now has a solid big 3 that can match up with Miami. Sure Jameer Nelson isn't a superstar, but those 3 all have unique abilities and probably mesh much better. Orlando is able to dump Arenas' horrible contract and get a couple nice young role players along with Amare. Billups is an expiring contract who will come off the books in 2012. Then I would trade:

Amare and Hedo for some young players, draft picks, and a big expiring contract (to match salaries).

A team like Philly might work with a mix of Brand, Turner, and picks. Washington has some young pieces and picks too. You basically turn that final year of Dwight Howard into a bunch of young players, picks, and most importantly, getting rid of two horrible contracts.

It's not ideal, but Orlando would be in a prime position to go forward in rebuilding. Their biggest concern has to be losing Dwight and being stuck with a team that is still over the cap and has two horrible, untradeable contracts. They would not be able to rebuild for 3-4 years.

BishopMVP · 05-04-2011, 04:54 PM

No NBA games either Thursday or Friday... curious scheduling plan.

TroyF · 05-04-2011, 05:22 PM

Thoughts:

1) Arles, I hope I'm wrong on the Mavericks, but I really disagree with your analysis. I understand what Dallas shot in the regular season, but they aren't doing it on LA consistently. Everything broke right for them in game 1 IMHO and they still barely won the game. I'll be cheering like hell for them this game and series, but I hold out very little hope they'll beat LA.

2) RainMaker: I really disagree on the Bulls offense right now. They are 6th out of the 8 playoff teams left in offensive efficiency. When they are at their best they move the ball and everyone gets good looks. Right now it's Rose dominating the ball and not even attacking the basket while doing it. In the Bulls 2 playoff losses he's played over 80 combined minutes and went to the line 4 times. He needs to be in attack mode for them to be effective, not in pound the ball into the ground for 22 second and take a 3 point shot mode. When he's attacking the basket, he makes everyone around him better. He's not doing that right now.

3) Westbrook: Probably the single player I've lost the most respect for in these playoffs. In game one of the Denver series, he's on fire and hits shots he usually doesn't make and the Thunder win. He singlehandedly loses game 4 by shooting the Thunder right out of the game. Then he's terrible in game 5 and OKC only closes out because Durant and the refs bail him out. He whines more than any other player I've seen in the playoffs, yet throws more cheap shoulder blows anyone this side of Derick Fisher.

He's talented. Ridiculously talented. Long, athletic, great defender, explosive offensive player. But he looks to me like he has a ten cent head that you can get in. You better believe Phil Jackson will find his way in it if the Lakers and Thunder meet up.

Arles · 05-04-2011, 06:59 PM

I just think Dallas is a tougher matchup for LA than people realize. LA should still win, but it wouldn't shock me to see Dallas take it in 6 or 7.

Neuqua · 05-04-2011, 07:21 PM

How can you root against this guy?

TroyF · 05-04-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuqua

How can you root against this guy?

Not sure, i know I'm not. I just think he needs to play a little less like AI if the Bulls want to win from this point forward.

Neuqua · 05-04-2011, 08:01 PM

Completely agree Troy. Problem is, it seems like the rest of the Bulls hold their breath until Derrick nails a couple jumpers and ignites the crowd.

If Derrick really is hurt, than it's over. He won't admit to it, but I'm worried.

Groundhog · 05-04-2011, 08:41 PM

On a similar note, hard to hate the Thunder:

Players-only meeting unites Thunder - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

MrBug708 · 05-04-2011, 11:46 PM

*sigh*

MrBug708 · 05-04-2011, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuqua

How can you root against this guy?

Easy considering he cheated to get into college

Neon_Chaos · 05-05-2011, 12:08 AM

Lakers played like shit. They deserved to lose this one.

TroyF · 05-05-2011, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Lakers played like shit. They deserved to lose this one.

When writing up my long post above I never anticipated the Lakers would shoot 2-20 from three point land and look about as interested in winning as the Orlando Magic do.

13 points in the third quarter? I know Dallas has some bigs to help control the inside game, but 13 points? Good lord.

Go Mavericks. Keep kicking their ass. I'm pulling for you.

Arles · 05-05-2011, 12:54 AM

Mavs looked good. I'm telling you, this is a tougher matchup than people realize for LA.

HeavyReign · 05-05-2011, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhog

On a similar note, hard to hate the Thunder:

Players-only meeting unites Thunder - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

As a Sonics fan I disagree as long as they are owned by Clay Bennett.

whomario · 05-05-2011, 01:49 AM

Woot, go mavs

Nowitzki played a good solid game and reacted nicely to the added pressure by the Laker defense. At some point he´ll have to shoot in those situations but for tonight moving the ball was a good choice. A couple shots again were unreal, he´s propably the all-world player who you could use the least in instructional videos, you can´t replicate that shit.

Barea was great, give the guy another 3 inches and average-length arms and he´s a starter in this league if not more. Best 5´10-with-alligator-arms player in the world

I know it´s the "quick Point Guards are our cryptonite" Lakers but still.

One negative for the Mavs : Seems like Nowitzki needs to go back to the practice court with Kidd, extremely aparent how he went away from his new-found shooting form again, no follow-through at all on most of his shots.

I know the Lakers missed open shots from deep, but in all honesty they aren´t that reliable a shooting team anyways. Especially against a team that can somewhat match them inside (on that note : For all the flak Nowitzki has gotten for his defense over the years he´s definitely solid there now, especially in terms of positioning. Sure he doesn´t shut anyone down, but he´s good enough that you can´t "go at him" really).
They get very little penetration from their guards so if they don´t get doubled down low that makes for an uncomfortable offense for them.
Felt a bit bad for Steve Blake (who´s long been one of my favourite players) who seemed utterly flustered tonight ...
Bynum was great for them though, really enjoy him play because of his energy.

Also : What in the world was Artest thinking there at the end ? Looked like he pulled himself back at the last second as well, otherwise he would have knocked Barea out cold.

mckerney · 05-05-2011, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyReign

As a Sonics fan I disagree as long as they are owned by Clay Bennett.

I really like their players and would probably be cheering for them if they were still in Seattle, but I just can't bring myself to cheer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

RainMaker · 05-05-2011, 03:36 AM

Lakers down 2-0. Does Stern have Joey Crawford on a flight to Dallas?

Neon_Chaos · 05-05-2011, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Lakers down 2-0. Does Stern have Joey Crawford on a flight to Dallas?

I don't know about Joey, but I want Dan Crawford on that flight.

TroyF · 05-05-2011, 08:08 AM

I actually expected Artest to do something cheap to Marion on the layup a little earlier, but he gave him a normal foul.

Mavs should have sent a scrub off the bench to go after him and see if a couple of the Lakers went off as well. At the end of the day, it's just a dumb ass being a dumb ass. It'd have been interesting to see what the league would have done had Artest pulled that against Dirk or Kidd as opposed to Barea. I don't think it'll be anything more than a small fine for doing it to Barea, even with his history.

whomario · 05-05-2011, 08:44 AM

I don´t even want him suspended rooting for Dallas, you can allways count on him stopping a Laker run with some dumb ass decicion

He really is more or less a non-factor so far and i doubt that will change, mainly because there is no defensive matchup for him on the court. Marion never has the ball for more than half a second (or when posting a guard), Peja is a shooter, he can´t stay with any of the guards that handle the ball and he can´t guard Nowitzki either.
The only reason he´s playing 30+ minutes is that Barnes would have the same problem and the Lakers never play unconventional lineups.
I was shocked to see Fisher and Blake in together yesterday, but how is that going to work if you never do it over the course of the season ? (or have i missed it ?)
Has Odom even played the 3 this year ?

And i really don´t want the Lakers to have a reason for some sort of "us against the world mentality", thus would have been mad if any Mavs would have taken action there. Just keep them mellow and quietly win the series.

Arles · 05-05-2011, 08:51 AM

I agree, if you listen to Phil Jackson after the game it seemed like he almost wanted Artest to be suspended. He was like "it's probably a suspension, it looks that way after seeing the play again. What he did was uncalled for. Oh, but I hope he doesn't get suspended".

TroyF · 05-05-2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whomario

I don´t even want him suspended rooting for Dallas, you can allways count on him stopping a Laker run with some dumb ass decicion

He really is more or less a non-factor so far and i doubt that will change, mainly because there is no defensive matchup for him on the court. Marion never has the ball for more than half a second (or when posting a guard), Peja is a shooter, he can´t stay with any of the guards that handle the ball and he can´t guard Nowitzki either.
The only reason he´s playing 30+ minutes is that Barnes would have the same problem and the Lakers never play unconventional lineups.
I was shocked to see Fisher and Blake in together yesterday, but how is that going to work if you never do it over the course of the season ? (or have i missed it ?)
Has Odom even played the 3 this year ?

And i really don´t want the Lakers to have a reason for some sort of "us against the world mentality", thus would have been mad if any Mavs would have taken action there. Just keep them mellow and quietly win the series.

I don't disagree.

If If I were a coach in the NBA, I would have my 11th and 12th man ready to go at all times to charge onto the court for a situation like that. Have the two scrubs go and hope 2 or 3 Lakers rotation players step onto the court. If they don't, you lose a couple of scrubs who weren't going to play anway? Who cares.

Artest SHOULD be suspended based on prior conduct. I doubt seriously he will be and that's fine.

Mizzou B-ball fan · 05-05-2011, 09:39 AM

Thrilled with the way the Mavs are playing right now. Would love to see them in the Finals.

whomario · 05-05-2011, 10:21 AM

I wouldn´t want to be rooting for a team that stoops to theese tactics, same goes for players who think toughness has to do with tackling a 5´10 guy after the whistle or picking on European Point Guards.

Plus wouldn´t the Refs and the league then have reason to hurt the Mavs down the road ?

05-03-2011, 01:43 AM	#302
whomario Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2007	Kobe was in a nice rythm for most of the game, but 29 shots and 0 assists ? Gasol was good but for some reason they stopped going to him and he stopped being agressive which is pretty silly considering Nowitzki a) can´t guard him and b) might get tired or into foul trouble trying. Chandler played great against Bynum, Terry actually looked decent once more and the bench overall was great. Plus Nowitzki with a good game obviously. Last edited by whomario : 05-03-2011 at 01:43 AM.

05-03-2011, 01:51 AM	#303
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Chandler has looked pretty darn good at times this year, glad to see he finally appears healthy. Shot a pretty amazing .654 from the field this season. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

05-03-2011, 03:20 AM	#305
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Definitely have to say, Deng under Thibs is about 300x better defensively than he was under Skiles. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

05-03-2011, 10:07 PM	#311
Noop Bonafide Seminole Fan Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Florida	__________________ Living in an Oligarchy.

05-03-2011, 11:43 PM	#313
Cuckoo College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Edmond, OK	Nice bounce back game from OKC. Though they allowed a late Memphis run, the Thunder dominated and were the more physical and aggressive team. They're going to need to keep that up if they can get one back on the road. Nice to see them come out with a lot of energy, even though the crowd, at least on tv, looked like the least energized playoff crowd OKC has had in 2 seasons. I thought Westbrook played decent enough, much better than the past few games. I'm hoping that whatever has been in his head is gone now. __________________ Commissioner - North American Football League Dallas Cowboys GM Last edited by Cuckoo : 05-03-2011 at 11:44 PM.

05-03-2011, 12:36 AM	#301
MrBug708 Head Coach Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Whittier	That was a rough final 30 seconds

05-03-2011, 11:55 AM	#308
RainMaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	Bulls offense wasn't that bad. They had 21 assists and did shoot the 3 fairly well. They aren't a team that is going to be real efficient on the offensive side of the ball. If they need to score 100 to win, it's not going to be their series. Their issue was defense and rebounding. I thought they did a good job at times and Johnson just had it going. But they came out flat early and fell into a hole. They also weren't that aggressive on the glass despite Atlanta going small. Noah and Boozer should be dominating Atlanta in that area and didn't last night.

05-03-2011, 08:26 PM	#310
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	What was with that iRenew Sport commercial with Rondo? First of all, it started with "professional basketball player Rajon Rondo" -- okay, so they had to explain to us who their celebrity endorsement was? Also, what was with all the darkness and low budget production?

05-03-2011, 11:30 PM	#312
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	I'd be very concerned if Westbrook was my team's point guard. He seems to have a 2 cent head on his shoulders.....admittedly i have a small sample size of his work.

05-04-2011, 03:17 AM	#315
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Biggest concern for the Thunder I think is that it's unlikely Randolph has another game like tonight. One stretch he missed like three shots around the basket within 3 seconds. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

05-04-2011, 06:23 AM	#316
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	I decided I'm all in on Z-Bo this playoffs. I'm sure he will let me down. The Griz are a pretty likable team other than Mayo.

05-04-2011, 08:54 AM	#318
Noop Bonafide Seminole Fan Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Florida	Russell Westbrook = Stephan Marbury He is a high volume shooter. He seems to care about his stats more then he cares about his team winning. I am not sure who told him he was equal to Durant but that person needs to be slapped. __________________ Living in an Oligarchy.

05-04-2011, 10:39 AM	#320
Logan Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: NYC	While I don't give credit for Noop's Simmons-like analogy...but Marbury and KG seemed like best friends at one point too.

05-04-2011, 10:45 AM	#321
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	I'd like to see why the refs feel the need to give Westbrook a 50% increase in free throw attempts this year vs. his career average.

05-04-2011, 01:11 PM	#324
Noop Bonafide Seminole Fan Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Florida	__________________ Living in an Oligarchy.

05-04-2011, 01:38 PM	#325
digamma Torchbearer Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: On Lake Harriet	I'm shocked to learn that a point guard is more efficient when his team's best offensive weapon is on the floor with him. And equally shocked to see that a team's best offensive weapon picks up more of the load when its second best offensive weapon is not on the floor. The only number that is interesting is the +/- number, particularly for Durant without Westbrook. Not sure you can draw much from that number in isolation, but it is interesting.

05-04-2011, 01:46 PM	#326
whomario Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2007	pretty small sample size as well, 242 minutes (Westbrook without Durant) amounts to about 3 minutes a game over the course of the season. on a side note i really love statcube, great tool Last edited by whomario : 05-04-2011 at 02:25 PM.

05-04-2011, 04:54 PM	#328
BishopMVP Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Concord, MA/UMass	No NBA games either Thursday or Friday... curious scheduling plan.

05-04-2011, 05:22 PM	#329
TroyF Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000	Thoughts: 1) Arles, I hope I'm wrong on the Mavericks, but I really disagree with your analysis. I understand what Dallas shot in the regular season, but they aren't doing it on LA consistently. Everything broke right for them in game 1 IMHO and they still barely won the game. I'll be cheering like hell for them this game and series, but I hold out very little hope they'll beat LA. 2) RainMaker: I really disagree on the Bulls offense right now. They are 6th out of the 8 playoff teams left in offensive efficiency. When they are at their best they move the ball and everyone gets good looks. Right now it's Rose dominating the ball and not even attacking the basket while doing it. In the Bulls 2 playoff losses he's played over 80 combined minutes and went to the line 4 times. He needs to be in attack mode for them to be effective, not in pound the ball into the ground for 22 second and take a 3 point shot mode. When he's attacking the basket, he makes everyone around him better. He's not doing that right now. 3) Westbrook: Probably the single player I've lost the most respect for in these playoffs. In game one of the Denver series, he's on fire and hits shots he usually doesn't make and the Thunder win. He singlehandedly loses game 4 by shooting the Thunder right out of the game. Then he's terrible in game 5 and OKC only closes out because Durant and the refs bail him out. He whines more than any other player I've seen in the playoffs, yet throws more cheap shoulder blows anyone this side of Derick Fisher. He's talented. Ridiculously talented. Long, athletic, great defender, explosive offensive player. But he looks to me like he has a ten cent head that you can get in. You better believe Phil Jackson will find his way in it if the Lakers and Thunder meet up.

05-04-2011, 06:59 PM	#330
Arles Grey Dog Software Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL	I just think Dallas is a tougher matchup for LA than people realize. LA should still win, but it wouldn't shock me to see Dallas take it in 6 or 7. __________________ Developer of Bowl Bound College Football http://www.greydogsoftware.com

05-04-2011, 07:21 PM	#331
Neuqua Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago, Ill	How can you root against this guy? __________________ Our Deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? Last edited by Neuqua : 05-04-2011 at 07:22 PM.

05-04-2011, 08:01 PM	#333
Neuqua Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago, Ill	Completely agree Troy. Problem is, it seems like the rest of the Bulls hold their breath until Derrick nails a couple jumpers and ignites the crowd. If Derrick really is hurt, than it's over. He won't admit to it, but I'm worried. __________________ Our Deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?

05-04-2011, 08:41 PM	#334
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	On a similar note, hard to hate the Thunder: Players-only meeting unites Thunder - NBA - Yahoo! Sports __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

05-04-2011, 11:46 PM	#335
MrBug708 Head Coach Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Whittier	sigh

05-05-2011, 12:08 AM	#337
Neon_Chaos Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Parañaque, Philippines	Lakers played like shit. They deserved to lose this one. __________________ Come and see.

05-05-2011, 12:54 AM	#339
Arles Grey Dog Software Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL	Mavs looked good. I'm telling you, this is a tougher matchup than people realize for LA. __________________ Developer of Bowl Bound College Football http://www.greydogsoftware.com

05-05-2011, 01:49 AM	#341
whomario Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2007	Woot, go mavs Nowitzki played a good solid game and reacted nicely to the added pressure by the Laker defense. At some point he´ll have to shoot in those situations but for tonight moving the ball was a good choice. A couple shots again were unreal, he´s propably the all-world player who you could use the least in instructional videos, you can´t replicate that shit. Barea was great, give the guy another 3 inches and average-length arms and he´s a starter in this league if not more. Best 5´10-with-alligator-arms player in the world I know it´s the "quick Point Guards are our cryptonite" Lakers but still. One negative for the Mavs : Seems like Nowitzki needs to go back to the practice court with Kidd, extremely aparent how he went away from his new-found shooting form again, no follow-through at all on most of his shots. I know the Lakers missed open shots from deep, but in all honesty they aren´t that reliable a shooting team anyways. Especially against a team that can somewhat match them inside (on that note : For all the flak Nowitzki has gotten for his defense over the years he´s definitely solid there now, especially in terms of positioning. Sure he doesn´t shut anyone down, but he´s good enough that you can´t "go at him" really). They get very little penetration from their guards so if they don´t get doubled down low that makes for an uncomfortable offense for them. Felt a bit bad for Steve Blake (who´s long been one of my favourite players) who seemed utterly flustered tonight ... Bynum was great for them though, really enjoy him play because of his energy. Also : What in the world was Artest thinking there at the end ? Looked like he pulled himself back at the last second as well, otherwise he would have knocked Barea out cold. Last edited by whomario : 05-05-2011 at 02:40 AM.

05-05-2011, 03:36 AM	#343
RainMaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	Lakers down 2-0. Does Stern have Joey Crawford on a flight to Dallas?

05-05-2011, 08:08 AM	#345
TroyF Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000	I actually expected Artest to do something cheap to Marion on the layup a little earlier, but he gave him a normal foul. Mavs should have sent a scrub off the bench to go after him and see if a couple of the Lakers went off as well. At the end of the day, it's just a dumb ass being a dumb ass. It'd have been interesting to see what the league would have done had Artest pulled that against Dirk or Kidd as opposed to Barea. I don't think it'll be anything more than a small fine for doing it to Barea, even with his history.

05-05-2011, 08:44 AM	#346
whomario Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2007	I don´t even want him suspended rooting for Dallas, you can allways count on him stopping a Laker run with some dumb ass decicion He really is more or less a non-factor so far and i doubt that will change, mainly because there is no defensive matchup for him on the court. Marion never has the ball for more than half a second (or when posting a guard), Peja is a shooter, he can´t stay with any of the guards that handle the ball and he can´t guard Nowitzki either. The only reason he´s playing 30+ minutes is that Barnes would have the same problem and the Lakers never play unconventional lineups. I was shocked to see Fisher and Blake in together yesterday, but how is that going to work if you never do it over the course of the season ? (or have i missed it ?) Has Odom even played the 3 this year ? And i really don´t want the Lakers to have a reason for some sort of "us against the world mentality", thus would have been mad if any Mavs would have taken action there. Just keep them mellow and quietly win the series. Last edited by whomario : 05-05-2011 at 08:49 AM.

05-05-2011, 08:51 AM	#347
Arles Grey Dog Software Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Phoenix, AZ by way of Belleville, IL	I agree, if you listen to Phil Jackson after the game it seemed like he almost wanted Artest to be suspended. He was like "it's probably a suspension, it looks that way after seeing the play again. What he did was uncalled for. Oh, but I hope he doesn't get suspended". __________________ Developer of Bowl Bound College Football http://www.greydogsoftware.com

05-05-2011, 09:39 AM	#349
Mizzou B-ball fan General Manager Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Kansas City, MO	Thrilled with the way the Mavs are playing right now. Would love to see them in the Finals.

05-05-2011, 10:21 AM	#350
whomario Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2007	I wouldn´t want to be rooting for a team that stoops to theese tactics, same goes for players who think toughness has to do with tackling a 5´10 guy after the whistle or picking on European Point Guards. Plus wouldn´t the Refs and the league then have reason to hurt the Mavs down the road ? Last edited by whomario : 05-05-2011 at 10:29 AM.

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