The NBA Thread

[QUOTE=TheFeedMachi;303637]I hate watching the Eastern Conference compared to the Western Conference. It is such sloppy basketball. I honestly want Miami to make the Finals just so I can watch good basketball games in the Finals.[/QUOTE] I partially agree but I hope you're not including the Lakers in that argument.

[QUOTE=Help Desk;303677]I partially agree but I hope you're not including the Lakers in that argument.[/QUOTE] What? I am confused by what you are talking about. Are you saying the Lakers play sloppy basketball?

Yup. I hate watching the Lakers play. I blame Mike Brown.

Both teams are pretty bad. The Hawks can't win at home when the Celtics are missing their best player and their only shooter and the Celtics struggle to win at home with the Hawks missing their 3 best front court players 2 of which are in their top 3. It is quite sad as to how bad the East is. I really think that the Heat have a good shot at going 12-0 in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs because of how easy of a path they will have.

Damn Denver altitude...yes that's what I'm blaming how things are going so far on.

[QUOTE=Bacchus;303866]If the Celtics are still around they seem to match up well and really get up for the Heat. [/QUOTE] The regular season doesn't matter that much because most teams don't try every single regular season game. A game in the regular season can mean much more to 1 team than the other team. Sometimes you do see some match up problems, but a lot of times it is just effort. Last year the Heat were 1-6 against the Bulls and Celtics in the regular season and went through each of them 4-1. When I say a good chance I mean about 25-30% chance of it happening. If a team gets hot from 3, which they struggle defending, they could easily drop a game or 2, but I see no scenario in which they lose a series.

Thoughts? [url=http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/7894556/2012-nba-playoffs-lebron-james-says-there-asterisk-eventual-champion]2012 NBA playoffs -- LeBron James says there shouldn't be asterisk by eventual champion - ESPN[/url]

[QUOTE=molds13;303877]Thoughts? [URL="http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/7894556/2012-nba-playoffs-lebron-james-says-there-asterisk-eventual-champion"]2012 NBA playoffs -- LeBron James says there shouldn't be asterisk by eventual champion - ESPN[/URL][/QUOTE] To say that there should be an asterisk is stupid. Injuries are a part of sports and every team had to play the same schedule.

[QUOTE=TheFeedMachi;303878]To say that there should be an asterisk is stupid. Injuries are a part of sports and every team had to play the same schedule.[/QUOTE] I don't think it's as much about injuries as it is about the shortened season. They missed 16 games - more than enough for one team to make or miss the playoffs.

[QUOTE=molds13;303880]I don't think it's as much about injuries as it is about the shortened season. They missed 16 games - more than enough for one team to make or miss the playoffs.[/QUOTE] Did you see Houston, Phoenix, or Milwaukee doing anything in the playoffs?

[QUOTE=TheFeedMachi;303881]Did you see Houston, Phoenix, or Milwaukee doing anything in the playoffs?[/QUOTE] I don't like professional basketball - so no. I have no idea what that means.

[QUOTE=molds13;303882]I don't like professional basketball - so no. I have no idea what that means.[/QUOTE] The teams that would have missed the playoffs or made the playoffs if an additional 16 games had been played would have had no impact in the playoffs because they were average at best.

[QUOTE=TheFeedMachi;303884]The teams that would have missed the playoffs or made the playoffs if an additional 16 games had been played would have had no impact in the playoffs because they were average at best.[/QUOTE] But they still could have made the playoffs - right?

[QUOTE=molds13;303885]But they still could have made the playoffs - right?[/QUOTE] 2-3 teams had a realistic shot of making the playoffs with 16 additional games (the ones I listed in my previous post) but those teams had a 0% chance to make it to the 2nd round (without serious injuries) because they weren't any good.

[QUOTE=TheFeedMachi;303886]2-3 teams had a realistic shot of making the playoffs with 16 additional games (the ones I listed in my previous post) but those teams had a 0% chance to make it to the 2nd round (without serious injuries) because they weren't any good.[/QUOTE] I don't know if I'd give any team a 0% chance of making it to the second round. But if the teams just outside the playoffs weren't any good...I'd hate to think what the teams below them were like. While I agree that a 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs winning an NBA title (or any title) is highly unlikely, it's not impossible. I don't know about the NBA, but 7 and 8 seeds have made it to the finals before in other sports. I think LeBron James is just saying that the winner this year shouldn't have an asterisk because his team has a great shot of making the NBA finals again.

[QUOTE=molds13;303887]I don't know if I'd give any team a 0% chance of making it to the second round. But if the teams just outside the playoffs weren't any good...I'd hate to think what the teams below them were like. While I agree that a 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs winning an NBA title (or any title) is highly unlikely, it's not impossible. I don't know about the NBA, but 7 and 8 seeds have made it to the finals before in other sports. I think LeBron James is just saying that the winner this year shouldn't have an asterisk because his team has a great shot of making the NBA finals again.[/QUOTE] Well it isn't exactly 0 but it is so small that I rounded it down to 0. The NBA very rarely has low seeded teams make deep runs. In the modern NBA (1980-present) a 6 seed has won 1 NBA Title (1995 Rockets, who were the defending champions) a 7 seed has never made it to the Finals, and an 8 seed has made it to the Finals once.

Oh I like that prediction :) Even if the Heat had prevailed yesterday, the 12-0 prediction was a bit much. Lots of arguments to be made against it, but the biggest one is your basing your pick on a Big 3 with a bad supporting cast, saddled with a coach who furthermore makes bad decisions on how to best use that lineup. With LeBron and Wade on the floor James Jones should be on the floor with them way more often. If you saw the last possession against the Knicks that would also scare me as a Heat fan. You just let the so-called best player in the world stand off to the side while D-Wade dribbles around for a ****** shot? I mean, it's nothing we haven't seen before, but still.... Looking ahead to the next round the Pacers are tough, and I can see them in the very least pushing the Heat to 6 games. My hopes as purely a basketball fan is that the Heat don't win the title and therefore, justification is provided to break up the Alpha Dog alliance between Wade and LeBron. I don't think it will ever work, but we'll see. Honestly, I feel like it's a bit of a travesty that LeBron plays second fiddle to Wade.

Good times. And the Lakers have to play a Game 7 now as well.

The end to the Hawks-Celtics game was pretty disappointing. The refs botched the call at the end of the game and the Hawks showed us why they were the Hawks. The botched call was the first inbound pass where the Celtics fouled. The foul occurred before the pass was thrown so it should have been 2 FTs and the ball back. Eastern Conference basketball still sucks compared to the West. Whoever wins the West, will probably win the NBA title.

[QUOTE=Bacchus;304717]10 seconds left in a playoff game and the refs call some random offensive foul off the ball? Yikes. Talk about refs completely deciding the outcome of a game. They took what could have been an amazing suspenseful ending decided by offense or defense (the actual players) and gave Philly the game uncontested.[/QUOTE] The refs didn't decide the game, the players did. KG set an illegal screen and was called for a foul like he should have been. You have to let the players decide the game, within the framework of the rules. They should be more lenient with technical fouls in the finals minutes of close games, but they should still call the same personal fouls that they would on the first possession of the game. Points on the first possession of the game count for the same amount as they do on the last possessions.