The Rest of the Playoffs

This may go over like a lead balloon but for those who want to post comments/thoughts/topics/trends, etc. about ongoing series in the 2013 playoffs, this can be the place. I'll get it started with an easy one for me, as I have found this fascinating coming out of the CHI v. MIA series. Sam, feel free to can this thread before it gets started if you feel so inclined since this is non-Celtic related. I won't be offended. Here is the article:

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/9267302/2013-nba-playoffs-tom-thibodeau-chicago-bulls-fined-35k-comments

Of course this gets into the "who gets all the calls" in the playoffs discussion which we are always discussing in some form. Now as most of you know I have softened my stance on LeBron and MIA over the last year or so, but what I find ironic with the above article is that it is coming out of Chicago. The 90's Bulls were notorious for getting all the breaks on calls, so much so one player, who I can't remember, went on record saying the Bulls along with Jordan got all the calls in their favor and it is basically impossible to beat them under those conditions, or something close to that. Michael finally addressed it in an interview when asked about it and nonchalantly said, "So?!" I would appreciate it if anyone remembers the player and the exact quote and when it was made. I did like Michael's argument-ending, FU response. It was something he couldn't control and if you were going to beat the Bulls, you would have to find another way, which pretty much no one did until Michael and management said so in '98.

Fast forward 20 years later and with the shoe on the other foot, CHI is now bitching about ref calls going against them as they play against the best team in the league in the playoffs. I just wonder if I'm the only one catching the irony here. I'm sure as Celtic fans the rest of the league enjoyed our 22 years stretch where we were basically out of commission and served it up as "You've had this coming since the 60's and 70's so shut up and eat it while the rest of us win some championships."

Don't get me wrong, I want the Bulls to win, but I just find this a little amusing and hugely ironic. We all know the Bulls are going down in this series just as we knew we were going out in the first. So it probably isn't going to matter, but it appears CHI and Thibs have a very short memory and should take a look up in their rafters tonight to refresh their memory and then have a glass of shut the hell up.

db

OK, since I went to Davidson, I've got to mention Steph Curry is lighting it up against SAS right now. His play in college was highly deceptive almost to the point where you would be saying after a half, "What's all the hype about, he's just standing around not even touching the ball!!" Yet by the end of the game, he had 32 points. Since they are out on the West Coast and most of the country could care less, I don't know if that style has translated to the NBA but what he is doing is working for GSW as we speak.

Watching the GS/SA series I've got to say, both of those teams have more talent than the players the Celts had on the floor in April 2013.

Dbrown,

I wouldn't have the slightest inclination to alter, move, or scrap this thread. In fact, I've already learned something from the thread.

I have always been under the assumption that the playoffs ended when the Celtics played their last game. So are you telling me that they actually continue to play more games after the Celtics have ended their season? Why do they do that? It can't be official can it? Do pro teams continue to play, or are the dancing girls just pressed into additional action?

What a daring concept! Basketball action after the Celtics. I just can't my arms around that one. Must be a hoot! Sort of like the Globetrotters without the skills.

I'm wondering whether the rules change without the Celtics. Do teams actually play to win, or do they just try to bore one another to sudden death?

Well, I hope you and everyone else enjoys whatever eventuates post-Celtics. As for me, I've let my flossing go lately, so I'm now doing three-a-days. With all that cultivation, all my teeth have already grown an inch.

Sam

Hey, I'm with you pal. I thought everything was over, too. It was news to me as I was channel surfing and an NBA playoff game broke out!!

There appears to be some faint interest in the CHI v. MIA series in the hopes that MIA shoots themselves in the foot, but that ain't gonna happen as this year's playoff is just a 2-year parade ending in Miami.

Ugh!! You just stabbed me in the heart with the flossing innuendo! I know that's absolute curtains for you! I'll just have to hope you will check in on this thread from time to time out of curiosity from your newfound knowledge that there is more than one team/one seires in the NBA! Isn't that what all the naysayers say about all the titles we won in the 60's...there were no other teams in the league so we won by default?!!

Worchester,

Agreed. Except for heart. Man, I wish they would have come back and won from 26 down! I probably wouldn't have cared what happened to them after that, but it would have been poetic at the very least. We really weren't expecting a 7 seed to go very far realistically anyway, even if it is the Celtics. And NYK has blown it so many times in the first round, it at least had a long shot of happening again.

But NYK were clearly the better team. And you can't keep effing up in the 1st Round forever. SAS has their hands full. Unfortunately, there is no one that looks like they can hold a candle to MIA. They have a cakewalk to the Finals and who from the West, Golden State? OKC is out, only a matter of time, and if SAS can't close the door on GSW, the West is a disaster.

db

Dbrown,

Is is true that, when they play after the Celtics have finished for the year, they wear joke straps?

Sam

lies....

and i thought so much more of you all.

Somebody had to speak the truth around here!!

And that's about the end for CHI...Over in 5.

Next up rapidly approaching the boulevard of broken dreams....OKC.

Well since we are not talking Celtics in this thread how about those Bruins. Down 3 goals in game 7 in the 3rd period and we score three times, twice with the goalie pulled, and it goes to OT.

Bergeron scores the game winner and we have a comeback for the ages. Bring on the Rangers baby we're advancing!

Second that emotion, Bob. Go Bruins!

Sam

OKC going home earlier than expected. Going to have to be one of those teams that came back from down 3-1.

bobc33 wrote:Well since we are not talking Celtics in this thread how about those Bruins. Down 3 goals in game 7 in the 3rd period and we score three times, twice with the goalie pulled, and it goes to OT.

Bergeron scores the game winner and we have a comeback for the ages. Bring on the Rangers baby we're advancing!

What is a Bruin?

dbrown4 wrote:OKC going home earlier than expected. Going to have to be one of those teams that came back from down 3-1.

Probably but I haven't given up on them yet. They are capable of winning 3 in a row. All the games have been close I think.

If your objective is to deny Miami the championship, you should be rooting for Memphis, not OKC. With Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, Memphis can attack Miami's biggest vulnerability -- the ability to defend against bigs who are good offensively.

Without Westbrook and with a less effective Kevin Martin instead of James Harden, OKC is not nearly as good as they were last year. Memphis is easily the best bet to dethrone the Heat.

Thank Goodness for the Bruins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbsOcEm7Rzs

It is from 2007 so it is interesting now in retrospect

dbrown4 wrote:This may go over like a lead balloon but for those who want to post comments/thoughts/topics/trends, etc. about ongoing series in the 2013 playoffs, this can be the place.

I've been reluctant to post anything about the Warriors since it's a disappointing time for the Celtic faithful here. It seems like poor taste to be expressing delight about the Warriors' fortunes when half the board doesn't even care that the playoffs continue after Boston is out. So I'll attempt to respectfully temper my enthusiasm.

For fans of such a long-suffering franchise, it's been a great showing by the Dubs. I believe I've mentioned this before, but my biggest surprise is that Mark Jackson is a good coach. It shouldn't be a surprise considering that he was a point guard, the position that generates the most coaches, but as a commentator, I found him to be an empty suit with very few observations of value. Add the fact that he'd never coached before at any level, and I thought he was a disastrous hire. But he has made a team that was allergic to defense the past 35 years buy into a defensive mindset, he has his team thinking liking a unit, and they believe in him. I was particularly impressed when he barely skipped a beat after David Lee went down in the first game against Denver and refused to allow an "excuse" mindset to gain any foothold into his team's psyche. I was also impressed when they rebounded to beat the Spurs in San Antonio after the devastating game 1 loss.

Steph Curry has shown he can perform at a high level on the playoff stage, but it's hardly been just the Steph show. A key to their ability to withstand the loss of David Lee has been Andrew Bogut getting healthy enough to be effective defensively and on the boards. He's still not comfortable offensively, but they have plenty of other guys to carry that load, and his ability to block and alter shots is huge, as is his rebounding (at 11.8 RPG, he is the third leading rebounder in this year's playoffs after KG and Reggie Evans, and he is the only one remaining in the playoffs averaging double-digit rebounds).

They have a very effective trio of guards with Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jarrett Jack, and they sometimes play all three together. Carl Landry is solid off the bench. They've also gotten great contributions from three rookies -- Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Festus Ezeli.

It will be tough to get past San Antonio, but I think they'll have a good shot if they can win tonight. I don't think they can beat Memphis, and they have less of a chance against Miami than Memphis does, but I'll take whatever they (and Curry's ankles) can give. My conventional thinking was that they needed to win both games 3 and 4 at home to have a chance against San Antonio, but they have been a resilient group that is inexperienced enough to not understand (or not care) that they're defying the odds. Denver was almost as hot as Miami the second half of the season (33-8 vs. 38-3), San Antonio has a great coach and championship experience, yet here are the Warriors. Go Dubs.

outside,

I think you are correct about who is left that can even put a ding in MIA. The East can save themselves a lot of time and hassle and just fold up right now. The 4 West teams remaining are just as horrific and incapable except, like you say, MEM. Unfortunately, even if they do make it, they will fall into all the traps that 1st timers do in NBA Finals and maybe steal 1 at most 2 games and that is a stretch.

When the Celtics resurrected the term Big 3 six years ago from the 80's, we were hoping we would at least have the same results as those Larry Bird-led teams. Due to a long list of unimaginable events against us, we only got 1 title out of it, almost 2 but unfortunately, we weren't playing horseshoes or hand grenades. Lots of great teams and games, but only 1 title over the run. Now along comes MIA and their morphed version of the Big 3 and barring an Act of God, they will probably make a run at CHI's string of championships from the 90's unless LeBron takes a couple of years off to play hockey or the rest of the league steps up. This year ain't it. And next year doesn't look any better.

I'll start what we should be guessing here is how many more games the Heat will lose before they get to 16 wins...2...for a final 16-3 and that's probably 1 or 2 too many.

db

Outside,

The Warriors are a great example of putting together pieces whose individual talents may not have been so apparent effective within a group of individuals but who can work well together in complementing one another. I'm particularly happy for Bogut, who has had an extended run of bad luck. And anything that benefits the City by the Bay is a-ok with me.

Sam

Ah.....NYK are such an agonizing team to watch. Now will be the start of another 10-15 years of not being able to get out of the 2nd Round. Dave Debusschere must be rolling over in his grave.

Good for Larry! I still wish he would come back to Boston in some capacity. Is there bad blood there, Sam, for why that hasn't happened? I'm not familiar with the history on that or if there is/was any history. Just curious. I know he's from Indiana, but his NBA career was in Boston and I know everybody can't come back. Danny has.

db

Even though we say theres no good/dominant bigs, look at all the teams left, except Miami, they all have that necessary big man to be able to compete at this level: Noah, Tyson Chandler, Hibbert, Duncan, Bogut, Perk/Ibaka, Gasol/Randolph. So the only small team that has succeeded up to now is the Heat, and thats as much as David Stern making sure they get all the calls as it is on Lebron.

The two teams I'm rooting for are the Pacers and Grizzlies, love the way Grizzlies pound the offensive glass and love watching the Hound Dog Tony Allen do his thing. Hibbert has taken his game to a new level this playoffs, Paul George is the real deal on both ends, kudos to Larry Bird for the way he constructed this team, Stevenson and Hill great under the radar acquisitions. Danny so goofed on the whole smallball wave, he thought it was the new thing....well having a 37 year old PF and midget Bass playing next to him was painful to watch and wasn't fair to KG for the team to be so reliant on him, especially at this stage of his career. Its no coincidence we seem to be worst rebounding team in league a few years in a row.

cow, there's no seeming about it. It's impossible to get any OR's on our misses when at least 3 of our guys are already back over half court on defense before the ball hits the rim. There should be no excuse on the DR end, though.

Let's hope the remaining teams take note of your observation re: MIA lack of bigs and bumps them out to end what looks like the inevitable Back-to-Back titles.

BTW, when is your avatar finally going to drop that damn towel?!!