• Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!

The NBA thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
k since these series are starting tonight.....

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (3) Orlando Magic

Okay now that the Pistons have realized the playoffs started, this should be a good series. Detroit swept this matchup a year ago but the magic are much improved with dwight going into beast mode and the inexplicable rise of HEDO not to mention "franchise" player rashard lewis. Still, Howard always seems to have trouble against the Pistons because they can frustrate him with sheed or play physical with maxiell. Detroit can also stick prince on either turkoglu or lewis depending on who has the hot hand. On offense, Orlando doesn't really have anyone to guard Billups and Hamilton. Nelson is undersized and Mo Evans and Keith Bogans are....Mo Evans and Keith Bogans. Dooling is a solid defender but he can't guard both guys and isn't as strong on offense. Besides howard, orlando doesn't really have much size since hedo and shard like to play outside the paint. Detroit can just pound it inside to sheed, maxiell and mcdyess and howard can't play too aggressively because he absolutely cannot get into foul trouble. Overall I think if Detroit shows up they should take care of business here.

Detroit in 6

(2) New Orleans Hornets vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs

Hopefully this series will live up to expectations unlike each team's first round series. Of course the first thing you have to do to beat NO is contain Chris Paul. Like they do against most superstars, the Spurs will throw Bowen on him to play physical, frustrate him and try to take him out of his game. If Paul tries to penetrate he has Duncan and kurt thomas/oberto waiting for him. The problem with the Hornets is that no one except Paul, Bonzi Wells and maybe Pargo can create their own shot so their offense can go cold if Paul is kept under control. On offense, Duncan will have his hands full with chandler who is a great post defender. The problem for NO though is the remaining two of the big 3. Paul can defend Parker but he's going to expend a lot of energy doing so which will hurt his offensive game, which the Hornets can't afford. As for Ginobili, NO really doesn't have anybody there, Mo Pete, Bonzi or Peja can't stay in front of him at all which means he can penetrate at will and get the bigs into foul trouble. Chandler really can't afford to get into foul trouble as the rest of New Orleans' bigs will get abused by Duncan. I think the only way the Hornets can win is if Bonzi Wells really steps up and has a big series. He gave the Spurs a lot of trouble a couple of years ago when he was with Sacramento but I don't see that happening again.

Spurs in 5
 
Edited for more in-depth info:

Detroit Pistons vs Orlando Magic in 5

Orlando's a much more improved team this year. Not just because they brought in Rashard Lewis (who I believe was not the ideal offseason acquisition Orlando could have made), but because Dwight Howard has simply been a monster this season. Dwight is looking to be the most dominating big man for years to come in this league, but for now, the Pistons beat them again in the playoffs. I know Orlando beat the Pistons twice in the regular season but Detroit seems to have woken up and realized they're playing in the playoffs.

Orlando really needs someone else other than Dwight Howard who resembles a low post threat, right now, Detroit's bigs can just frustrate Howard by throwing double teams at him or playing him physical. Detroit's front-court depth will give them enough options to throw at Howard without having those guys tire out quickly. No one on the Magic can guard Billups and Hamilton. Nelson gives up a lot of size to Chauncey Billups and, Mo Evans isn't that bad of a defensive player but I doubt he's quick enough to chase Hamilton around screens all game long.

I expect the Magic to take one game on their home floor but Detroit has enough depth in their frontcourt to slow down Dwight Howard for the rest of the series.

San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Hornets in 6

Hopefully this series can be much better than both of their first-round match-ups. This is a quality match-up, both teams are legit title contenders and this is actually a tough series to pick on.

Let's break down assignments, shall we. We all know that the Hornets run through Chris Paul. He's the leader of this team and he's the reason they're in the second round of the playoffs at the moment. Unlike in the Mavs series though, I don't expect Paul to be able to run amock in this series, what with Bruce Bowen going to be in his face. The other Hornets all-star, David West, could have a tough time getting his usual scoring numbers what with Duncan, Thomas, Oberto going to be guarding him. I actually expect West to struggle all throughout this 2nd round series, with the quality of low-post defense the Spurs have. The Hornets are going to have a tough time handling Manu Ginobili, Mo Pete won't be able to guard him, and neither can Peja nor Bonzi Wells. Duncan is going to be defended by Tyson Chandler, whose length, size and athleticism, should be able to slow down Duncan.

I still see the Spurs winning though. They're not going to lose on their home floor while I believe they can steal one game away from the Hornets.

LA Lakers vs Utah Jazz in 7

Homecourt advantage would play a huge part in this series. I think both teams have just as much chance of winning this series as the other.

The Lakers will have their hands full with Boozer. The Lakers are not a good defensive team and I believe that Boozer will have his way against the Lakers. The Lakers, however, will have difficulty stopping Kobe Bryant, but then again who doesn't have difficulty stopping Kobe Bryant? I actually expect 7 high scoring games in this series and no team will drop a home game. Leading to the win in 7 games by the Lakers.
 
Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic (7 games)
New Orleans Hornets vs. San Antonio Spurs (6 games)
LA Lakers vs. Utah Jazz (6 games)
 
Wow, this is going to be a tough series for the Spurs. Hornets looked real good in the 2nd half.

Go LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Celtics or Hawks? What do you guys think!? Hawks pull the greatest NBA playoff upset?
 
Money goes to Celtics.

And yes, I would love to see the Hornets beat the Spurs, mainly because not many have given them a chance this year, and my goodness, they are for real! Why isn't Chris Paul the MVP???????????????
 
Kobe shouldn't get MVP imo.

It is nice to see the Hornets win Game 1 over the Spurs; hopefully they'll be able to knock them out of the running.
 
Tim Duncan: 5 pts hahahahahahaha

the only real scare was the open 3-point looks the guards were getting but nevertheless David West was a beast and Chris Paul performed exceptionally well, especially since the Spurs' entire gameplan was "stop Chris Paul." Hornets have more perserverance than people want to give them credit for.

plus I fucking hate the dirty-ass Spurs FUCK DA SPURS HORNETS FTW
 
havoc said:
Tim Duncan: 5 pts hahahahahahaha

the only real scare was the open 3-point looks the guards were getting but nevertheless David West was a beast and Chris Paul performed exceptionally well, especially since the Spurs' entire gameplan was "stop Chris Paul." Hornets have more perserverance than people want to give them credit for.

plus I fucking hate the dirty-ass Spurs FUCK DA SPURS HORNETS FTW
Click to expand...

Yah, Bowen with his damn scissor kicks. If I was a GM...I'd still love to have him play for my team, though.
 
Ah well, would have been nice to see the upset. The Celtics are going to have a rough time next round since they aren't getting much rest...

Predictions for R2:

West

Hornets > Spurs

Spurs cheat and deserve to lose/die.

Jazz > Lakers

Unlikely, but I'd like to see the upset. Besides, the Jazz are decent.

East:

Cavaliers > Celtics

Again a bit unlikely to happen, but LeBron James is a great player, and the Celtics are bound to be tired after fighting to survive against a team with a losing record.

Pistons > Magic

Eh, a toss up here, not to sure about either. But the Pistons do have the better season record.
 
Ok so time to predict the Celts-Cavs series.

Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers in 5

I don't really see Cleveland doing much. I know they're a legit threat to win any game because they have LeBron James, but who else on that team is going to step up to help them beat the Celts? Boston is just the better team all-around. Cleveland takes one game where LeBron scores 60 points or something.
 
alright I might as well update the points on round 1, seeing as how it's over now.

overall a ton of people didn't pick # of games and almost everyone picked dallas and phoenix to win so a lot of people with not too many points

Final Results of the first round:

Celtics>Hawks in 7 (the biggest strength difference was the only 7 go figure)
Pistons>Sixers in 6
Magic>Raptors in 5
Cavs>Wizards in 6

Lakers>Nuggets in 4
Hornets>Mavs in 5
Spurs>Suns in 5
Jazz>Rockets in 6

Ancien Regime - 13 (gj picking 3 of the # of games right)
Mizuno - 10
goofball - 9
Bulblax - 8
zerowing - 7
Judgement - 7
Shinryu - 7
Jackal - 6
Aeroblacktyl - 5
Loki - 5
moot - 5
Spaceflare - 5
Zenigame - 3
DFA - 2
Captkirby - 2

also as of now you cannot post predictions for any more second round series, except the Celtics/Cavs, because it hasn't started yet.

damn I forgot to predict myself >_< uhhh celtics over cavs in 6 I guess
 
Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (7 games)
I think home-court advantage will save the Celtics again in this round.
 
SpaceFlare said:
Ok so time to predict the Celts-Cavs series.

Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers in 5

I don't really see Cleveland doing much. I know they're a legit threat to win any game because they have LeBron James, but who else on that team is going to step up to help them beat the Celts? Boston is just the better team all-around. Cleveland takes one game where LeBron scores 60 points or something.
Click to expand...


I agree with this 100 percent. The Celtics were probably too confident going in to Atlanta each time, and they won't let their gaurd down again. Plus, the Cavs aren't that good. They barely won games 1 and 4 against the Wiz, who are also not very good. Lebron is a baby who is always crying about "he's hurting me" and I don't think they can hang with the celts even in Cleveland.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top