For which team? Celtics?
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Official NBA 2010-11 Season Thread
- Thread starter HeroMasaki
- Start date
Statistics like them performing almost the same in the playoffs, except how the Bulls have beaten them so far in performance.
You said that the Bulls advantage at center was negligible, which shows that you actually do not really pay attention to matchups despite relentlessly hyping how important they are.
It is not important that they COULD have won. They lost every game despite shooting much better on threes and having fewer turnovers and shooting more free throws because they were relentlessly outrebounded. You are taking an edge and using bad logic to apply it to the team that the edge worked against. That has no meaning and is not logical.
@phizzlax
You can't be serious. Noah Chandler and Lopez are better than Bynum?? Gasol and maybe Hibbert at least make sense but wtf. If you had to build a team around any of these guys you pm have to take Bynum because he has the most upside and has star potential. in a team context it's more shaky but as i said bynum is top 5 right now definitely.
Check his stats post all-star break and tell me he can't be the consensus #2 sometime soon (alternatively, just watch him play). It's funny how you totally ignored team context when you cited his stats though. "LOLOL scrub stats it don't matter that he plays behind Kobe and Gasol and sometimes Odom and in the triangle offense. i bet tyson chandler would drop 18 and 10 if he was on LA"
edit: being injury prone is definitely a downer but some of those injuries are just unlucky breaks and don't have to do with his body breaking down. what a lot of people (haters) disregard is how bynum tanks through his injuries when it matters. remember when he got injured last season and still played throughout the whole finals? when he got injured before this season's playoffs he missed like a couple games and showed up for the rest of LA's run.
You can't be serious. Noah Chandler and Lopez are better than Bynum?? Gasol and maybe Hibbert at least make sense but wtf. If you had to build a team around any of these guys you pm have to take Bynum because he has the most upside and has star potential. in a team context it's more shaky but as i said bynum is top 5 right now definitely.
Check his stats post all-star break and tell me he can't be the consensus #2 sometime soon (alternatively, just watch him play). It's funny how you totally ignored team context when you cited his stats though. "LOLOL scrub stats it don't matter that he plays behind Kobe and Gasol and sometimes Odom and in the triangle offense. i bet tyson chandler would drop 18 and 10 if he was on LA"
edit: being injury prone is definitely a downer but some of those injuries are just unlucky breaks and don't have to do with his body breaking down. what a lot of people (haters) disregard is how bynum tanks through his injuries when it matters. remember when he got injured last season and still played throughout the whole finals? when he got injured before this season's playoffs he missed like a couple games and showed up for the rest of LA's run.
Performance..? I don't think you established that yet as far as playoff stats go. Defensive efficiency is pretty much tied.
I never said it was completely negligible (i've even admitted that Noah is the best shot blocker and maybe rebounding center in the series). I looked at the scoring by both Noah and Asik. It's pretty negligible from scoring, but from rebounding and blocking shots (and changing shots which don't really appear in statistics) will be a factor, I agree.
Fair enough.
Heat Heat Heat!
I'm happy I joined this bandwagon at the beginning of the year, Heat/Mavericks 2 should be kinda interesting, as I doubt the Grizzlies or OKC will get past the Mavs, and with all the extra effort the Bulls are pouring into beating just Atlanta, dunno how much energy they'll have left for Miami...will the Mavs choke against the big 3 the same way they choked to Wade/Shaq? Or will they redeem themselves finally?
I'm happy I joined this bandwagon at the beginning of the year, Heat/Mavericks 2 should be kinda interesting, as I doubt the Grizzlies or OKC will get past the Mavs, and with all the extra effort the Bulls are pouring into beating just Atlanta, dunno how much energy they'll have left for Miami...will the Mavs choke against the big 3 the same way they choked to Wade/Shaq? Or will they redeem themselves finally?
heat "fans"
maybe i'll hop on the bandwagon too if they up by 30 points in the final minutes of the last Finals game! i'll do this every year then i'll win forever
I have no shame in being on the Heat bandwagon :D
Pierce and Garnett didn't shake hands..?
I find it interesting that the Celtics played the exact same way they did in the finals. Start off quarters well, then in the second and fourth quarters, show a little weakness in rebounding, making shots, and turning the ball over. I am now convinced that game 7 was truly just their age showing.
I find it interesting that the Celtics played the exact same way they did in the finals. Start off quarters well, then in the second and fourth quarters, show a little weakness in rebounding, making shots, and turning the ball over. I am now convinced that game 7 was truly just their age showing.
Change of the guard! (don't know why people keep saying that)
Will the Hawks be in another 7 game series for the fourth consecutive year?
They better not be. They gotta lose right now so the Bulls won't be as drained when they take on Miami.
edit: omfg
http://twitter.com/#!/Mark_Travis/status/67617093918531584
ESPN's J.A. Adande reports that a source close to Dwight Howard says "Howard wants to be a Laker."
obvi it could very well be a false rumor but i couldnt help jizzing in my pants a little.
edit: omfg
http://twitter.com/#!/Mark_Travis/status/67617093918531584
ESPN's J.A. Adande reports that a source close to Dwight Howard says "Howard wants to be a Laker."
obvi it could very well be a false rumor but i couldnt help jizzing in my pants a little.
If Boozer plays like this from here on out, he'll definitely make the ECF more interesting.
Looks like the Hawks'll drop game 6. They aren't good at playing from behind usually.
Looks like the Hawks'll drop game 6. They aren't good at playing from behind usually.
bring on the Feet
bballSource Coach Nick
When #Boozer and #Bosh are on the court togeher (84 mins over 3 games), Bosh shoots 32% from field. Booz shoots 49% - KEY MATCHUP
bballSource Coach Nick
Dwyane Wade hasn't made a 3 pointer against Keith Bogans, in 49 mins over 3 gms. He's also shooting 36% from Midrange vs. Bogans
Interesting find. The more Korver stays off of Wade, the better.
When #Boozer and #Bosh are on the court togeher (84 mins over 3 games), Bosh shoots 32% from field. Booz shoots 49% - KEY MATCHUP
bballSource Coach Nick
Dwyane Wade hasn't made a 3 pointer against Keith Bogans, in 49 mins over 3 gms. He's also shooting 36% from Midrange vs. Bogans
Interesting find. The more Korver stays off of Wade, the better.
(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (2) Miami Heat
Here, we arguably have the two best defensive teams left in the playoffs. Both teams are coming in with great momentum. The Bulls have partially struggled offensively in the beginning of each of their series, but near the tail end they manage to get contributions from other players to help Rose out. On the other side, The Heat always manage to underperform in the first and third quarters in both series, but they just got finished with beating the eastern conference champions. The Celtics had one of the top-rated defenses in the league (also using the same scheme the Bulls currently use), and the Heat's big three did most of the scoring at the line and in the paint. How will the Chicago Bulls fare?
Regular Season
What's likely to happen on the perimeter?
What do the Bulls need from the perimeter?
What's the frontline like?
What I'll personally look for in this series:
Who do I feel's more likely?
The Bulls' side of things
Here, we arguably have the two best defensive teams left in the playoffs. Both teams are coming in with great momentum. The Bulls have partially struggled offensively in the beginning of each of their series, but near the tail end they manage to get contributions from other players to help Rose out. On the other side, The Heat always manage to underperform in the first and third quarters in both series, but they just got finished with beating the eastern conference champions. The Celtics had one of the top-rated defenses in the league (also using the same scheme the Bulls currently use), and the Heat's big three did most of the scoring at the line and in the paint. How will the Chicago Bulls fare?
Regular Season
One look at the regular season games tells us that the Chicago Bulls can't possibly lose, but I tend to take less stock in the regular season than most people; however, that doesn't mean trends aren't there to see. The Bulls are one of the best rebounding teams in the league (Joakim Noah is a top five rebounder IIRC) and that has stayed with them throughout these playoffs. Their offense may have left them occasionally but their rebounding has never gone away. That is one important edge many people will tell you from the regular season. Though, there are still some factors that people may want to know before looking into the regular season. LeBron and Noah/Boozer (forgot which) being absent in one of those games plus the games all being close regardless of any advantage for both sides. It stands to reason that the playoff play of these teams haven't exactly matched up perfectly with their regular season play as well. Overall, I would advise people take the regular season with a grain of salt.
What's likely to happen on the perimeter?
As far as the match-ups go, this series can go in a couple of directions at once. I think chances are, the Heat are going to outscore the Bulls on the perimeter even on a good defensive night from the Bulls. The Bulls only have two guys on the perimeter who are likely to average more than 15 points a game. The Heat have two of the league's top scorers plus higher efficiency perimeter shooters. The Bulls cannot hope to beat both Wade and LeBron on the perimeter, but they can possibly limit them. Luol Deng has matched up with LeBron last year. LeBron averaged 31.8 points and 8.2 assists. Keep in mind that this was under Vinny Del Negro; LeBron's numbers will probably decrease this time around.
Keith Bogans needs to stay on the floor as much as possible because Korver has been horrible on defense this entire playoffs, but if the Bulls can't score, they may be forced to put Korver on the floor to create some offense. I think this is the central problem the Bulls have probably ran into in some of their losses such as Game 4 in the Atlanta series. The Bulls sometimes can't generate enough offense so they are forced to sacrifice defense for shooting. It's also the reason why The Bulls have blown out teams when Bogans scores big (at least relative to his average, anyway).
Keith Bogans needs to stay on the floor as much as possible because Korver has been horrible on defense this entire playoffs, but if the Bulls can't score, they may be forced to put Korver on the floor to create some offense. I think this is the central problem the Bulls have probably ran into in some of their losses such as Game 4 in the Atlanta series. The Bulls sometimes can't generate enough offense so they are forced to sacrifice defense for shooting. It's also the reason why The Bulls have blown out teams when Bogans scores big (at least relative to his average, anyway).
What do the Bulls need from the perimeter?
So overall, I wouldn't expect the Bulls to win the perimeter side of things, and there's a good chance Rose is going to be doing a lot of things by himself if Deng does what he did last year. If Rose gets worked too much, they may not have a chance at all if he plays like a one-man machine. His efficiency will drop and so will the entire team's offense. So, Rose is definitely going to need at least some help from the perimeter whether defensively limiting the team enough to where it doesn't matter or offensively to give him the space he needs to lessen the amount of pressure on him. As for the Heat, they're going to face a better perimeter defense than the Celtics. More athleticism and length that matches their own perimeter defenders, so they aren't in the clear just yet exactly themselves.
What's the frontline like?
Up front is where the Bulls should hit Miami's weak spot for massive damage. Boozer vs Bosh is probably the match-up that can either tip the series in either team's favor. Statistically from the regular season, Boozer has done better with Bosh on the floor and Bosh has done better with Boozer off the floor (Coach Nick). This is a strange circumstance considering I'd expect Bosh to play better since Boozer tends to crumble against length and athleticism. Not to mention that Bosh doesn't even have to be defended by Boozer because Noah was defending him in the third regular season game. So, Noah/Boozer/Gibson/Asik vs Bosh/Anthony/Z/Haslem should be intriguing, but I'd favor the Bulls a tad bit due to having more length. Boozer can't be his past self, though. His defensive deficiency reputation will be tested in this series.
One other important thing I want to note here are a couple of line-ups.. What will Wade at the point be like for the Bulls? What will Miami's small ball be like for the Bulls? (Will that keep Noah/Boozer off the floor for a long time?) If Miami goes small.. it might help them up front, but we'll see.
One other important thing I want to note here are a couple of line-ups.. What will Wade at the point be like for the Bulls? What will Miami's small ball be like for the Bulls? (Will that keep Noah/Boozer off the floor for a long time?) If Miami goes small.. it might help them up front, but we'll see.
What I'll personally look for in this series:
Personally, I think the biggest questions I have about this series in terms of deciding who's more likely to win are the following:
- The Heat are going to trap Rose constantly and relentlessly due to their speed and length, so how much scoring and playmaking help will Rose get from his teammates? How much help will he get from the perimeter in general?
- Are Boozers going to booze or is Bosh going to come out like a bosh?
- Will Korver be any use in large minutes? He is their least effective defensive player but their BEST shooter from the perimeter. If the Bulls aren't making shots, imagine how much of a bind that puts Thibodeau in. Sacrifice defense for offense or sacrifice offense for defense?
- If Miami's perimeter players don't make that big of an impact, will the frontline of Miami show-up in any way possible?
Who do I feel's more likely?
With all that said, if I were a betting man.. I'd have to slightly favor the Heat mostly due to how their defense can possibly bother the Bulls offense and how much of an impact Rose has off the floor. I feel like this is the series where Rose will finally be tired. Rose doesn't have too many offensive threats outside of Boozer and relying on Boozer to be efficient enough .. well, is somewhat of a stretch for me personally (to be fair, relying on Bosh to do the same thing gives me the same strange feeling, but at least the Heat have other guys who can create). It's likely that the Bulls will once again fall into the one-man machine trap like the past series. The only difference is that I think they won't figure out how to generate offense without Rose fast enough.
There's a reason why most championship teams don't usually contain point guards that are the leading scorer or take the most shots. It's practically draining if you've played on a basketball team before. Being responsible for scoring, bringing the ball up and making physical plays drains you more than having a point guard work for your forwards or big men.
There's a reason why most championship teams don't usually contain point guards that are the leading scorer or take the most shots. It's practically draining if you've played on a basketball team before. Being responsible for scoring, bringing the ball up and making physical plays drains you more than having a point guard work for your forwards or big men.
The Bulls' side of things
It wouldn't surprise me to see the Bulls win, though. If they do win, it will be frontline dominance. Blocked shots, second chance points, and keeping the big three off the line. This can actually help the Bulls generate points if they perform at least most of these things. I simply think there probably won't be enough of these to go around.
Heat in six.
Heat in six.