Hoops 13-14

[Keyrock]

Round 2 is set (my projected series winners in bold):

 

Heat/Nets

Pacers/Wizards

Spurs/Blazers

Thunder/Clippers

Edited May 4, 2014 by Keyrock

[Volourn]

Heat, Pacers, Spurs, and Thunder. The four best teams.

[ShadySands]

KD MVP

 

 

Kevin Durant has plenty of NBA scoring titles. Now, he finally has an MVP trophy to go with them.

 

The Oklahoma City Thunder star received the league's top individual honor on Tuesday, earning 119 first-place votes. Miami's LeBron James, who won the last two MVP awards and four of the previous five, finished second with six first-place votes, and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers was third.

 

Durant won his fourth scoring crown in five years this season by averaging 32 points per game. He helped the Thunder finish the regular season with a 59-23 record, second best in the league, despite playing much of the season without three-time All-Star Russell Westbrook by his side because of a nagging knee injury.

 

"He's been the most consistent guy all season long," Westbrook said at the end of the regular season. "He's done a great job of leading us to where we are now. He's basically put himself in front of everybody else in the league and shown that he's the best player in the world."

 

James agreed, saying on Monday: "Much respect to him and he deserves it. He had a big-time MVP season."

Edited May 6, 2014 by ShadySands

[HoonDing]

The... Clippers? Aren't they the worst NBA team anymore?

[Keyrock]

The... Clippers? Aren't they the worst NBA team anymore?

They're in the 2nd round of the playoffs, so obviously not.  The Cippers are one of the 4 or 5 best treams in the league this year.

 

In other news, it was nice of Roy Hibbert to wake from his hibernation and show up for a game.

[Leferd]

I'm already in offseason mode. Hmm...looks like the Warriors need a new coach...and what? No draft picks this year? Swell.

[Keyrock]

Man, I don't know what to think of the Pacers.  They struggle and just barely beat the Hawks, who aren't even a mediocre team.  Then they come out flat for game 1 of the series with Washington, after that they turn it on, win 3 straight, look impressive at times, and I'm starting to think, maybe they figured this out.  Then last night they just dropped an EPIC stink bomb.  Yes, Washington playing well had something to do with it, but the Wiz didn't play THAT well, it was mostly Indiana being flat out awful.  Just awful.  Who is this team?  

 

Miami has to be loving this.  Their path to the Finals couldn't possibly be any easier.  I'd be quite surprised if they lost a total of more than 3 games before the Finals.

 

On the Western side of things, what a crazy finish in OKC last night.  After the Thunder gave away a game 4 they absolutely should have won (they were up 16 with 10 minutes to go), the Clippers gave away a game they absolutely should have won (they were up 13 with 4 minutes to go).  Yes, there was some questionable officiating in the final few seconds, but that doesn't change the fact that the Clippers flat out stopped playing the final few minutes.  It will be interesting to see how the Clips react to such a crushing defeat.  OKC picked itself up off the mat after the epic game 4 collapse, can the Clips do the same?

Edited May 14, 2014 by Keyrock

[Leferd]

Tony Brothers and Chris Paul can take solace in the fact that the other guy blew it and cost the game.

[Volourn]

"Miami has to be loving this.  Their path to the Finals couldn't possibly be any easier.  I'd be quite surprised if they lost a total of more than 3 games before the Finals."

 

Eh. Indy will take them to at least 6 games. But, Indy was never gonna beat MIA and the idoots who ever thoguht Indy was at MIA's level are stupid. How many times must MIA beat Indy in the playoffs to clinch that fact? Gonna make it a hattrick.

 

Just like people thoguht NJ had MIA's 'number' b/c they swept them in the RS. LMAO

[ShadySands]

Steve Kerr to the Warriors

 

I actually had a 3 point shooting contest against Kerr when I was in high school and he destroyed me so bad that I still feel the burn some 15 years later

[Leferd]

I'd pay to see the post practice shootaround with Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kerr.

[Keyrock]

Smart move by Steve Kerr.  The Warriors job is a much better job than the Knicks job.  Sure, with the Knicks job comes New York City, but you also get a roster in shambles, an unfavorable cap situation, and Phil Jackson, who will likely coach the team at some point, looking over your shoulder.  With the Warriors you get a young talented team that can potentially win a championship in the near future with a little help.

[ShadySands]

Why anyone goes to the Knicks on purpose I don't know

 

Second worst fans after Philly

[Volourn]

"With the Warriors you get a young talented team that can potentially win a championship in the near future with a little help."

 

Not with their current roster. They a re simply not good enough to truly compete with The Big Boys tm in a 7 game series.

[Hurlshort]

"With the Warriors you get a young talented team that can potentially win a championship in the near future with a little help."

 

Not with their current roster. They a re simply not good enough to truly compete with The Big Boys tm in a 7 game series.

 

You really think so?  They took the Clippers to 7 without their top center, and the year before they competed well with a Spurs team that swept two teams and made the finals.  What do you think needs to change on their roster?

[Leferd]

 

"With the Warriors you get a young talented team that can potentially win a championship in the near future with a little help."

 

Not with their current roster. They a re simply not good enough to truly compete with The Big Boys tm in a 7 game series.

 

You really think so? They took the Clippers to 7 without their top center, and the year before they competed well with a Spurs team that swept two teams and made the finals. What do you think needs to change on their roster?

A structured offense would help. The Warriors were 30th out of 30 teams in passes per possession. Dead last. And it's not like this is a team of ball hogs. Curry, Bogut, Lee, and Iguodala are all ++ passers for their position. For all their offensive firepower and skill level, the Warriors were the 12th ranked offensive rating in the league. This lies squarely on the coaching (and lack of depth beyond their top 6). ISOs left and right all day.

 

Lineup rotations were terrible. Substitution patterns resembled hockey line changes.

 

Kerr will install some elements of the Triangle with him. Ideally, I' d like to see a hybrid of The Run N Gun in transition and flow into the Triangle for their half court sets (in addition to include HORNS, Curry pick n roll/pop, and Elevator Door sets). This hybrid offense takes advantage of their strength in perimeter shooting, BBALL IQ, passing big men, and ball handling skills.

 

To Volo's point, The starting 5 is arguably the best in the NBA: plus/minus and pts per possession scored/allowed is the best 5 man unit in the NBA. http://i.imgur.com/Wa7hpYm.png

 

That being said, the bench outside of Green is weak. They will still need to find a reliable backup for Curry and a two way big to backup Bogut. I'd like to see growth for Harrison Barnes in his third year and an increase to 24-28 minutes for Draymond Green. That dude is a PLAYER.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Leferd

[Keyrock]

Yeah, the Dubs roster is far from perfect and they have issues to address in the offseason, every team does.  Even the remaining contenders in the playoffs, and even the team that ultimately wins the championship, be that Miami, or whoever else, has issues to address.  That said, I think nobody is going to argue against the Dubs situation being light years better than the Knicks situation.  The Dubs have a core of talented young players, including a guy who might become a top 10, possibly even a top 5 player in the NBA very soon.  The Knicks have Melo (for now) and this:

 

Edited May 15, 2014 by Keyrock

[Hurlshort]

 

That being said, the bench outside of Green is weak. They will still need to find a reliable backup for Curry and a two way big to backup Bogut. I'd like to see growth for Harrison Barnes in his third year and an increase to 24-28 minutes for Draymond Green. That dude is a PLAYER.

 

 

Is a healthy Festus Ezeli a decent backup center?

[Volourn]

"You really think so?  They took the Clippers to 7 without their top center, and the year before they competed well with a Spurs team that swept two teams and made the finals.  What do you think needs to change on their roster?"

 

Get better players.

 

 

"To Volo's point, The starting 5 is arguably the best in the NBA: plus/minus and pts per possession scored/allowed is the best 5 man unit in the NBA"

 

HAHAHAA!

 

I look at that roster and I laugh. They simply aren't good enough and will not win a championship with it as is. I just don't see them beating 4 top teams in a best of 7 series. Not gonna happen.

[Leferd]

Is a healthy Festus Ezeli a decent backup center?

Ezeli definitely missed out a year of development. He's still raw and relatively new to organized hoops. That said, he's got size and athleticism. He's also vey sharp. (His fall back if hooping doesn't work out was being an MD). As a rookie, he could defend, grab boards, and block ****s. That said he has no hands and will give you nothing offensively. He'll have a nice long career as a backup 5. Still, he is ideal as a 3rd stringer, and not as the primary backup to an injury prone Bogut.

[Keyrock]

So, after the top teams, minus Miami, struggled in the 1st round, all the teams that were supposed to make it to the conference finals made it to the conference finals.  I wasn't surprised when the Thunder struggled with the Griz, because Memphis is a nightmare matchup for OKC and Tony Allen is KD's kryptonite.  I was a little surprised when the Pacers struggled with the Hawks, despite the fact that the Pacers looked like garbage during the last month of the season, simply because the Hawks aren't even a mediocre team.  I was very surprised when the Spurs struggled with the Mavericks because, outside of Dirk (and Dirk didn't even play well during the series), that Mavs roster is a cobbled together hodgepodge of castaways duct taped together.  Kudos to Rick Carlisle for getting them to play as well as they did, and kudos to Sergeant Vincent Lamar Carter for the revival he's had this year.

 

In the end, the top 2 seeds in both conferences weathered the early storm and made it to the conference finals (likely saving Frank Vogel and Scotty Brooks' [i'm still not a fan of Scotty Brooks] jobs in the process).  

 

In the East, I still don't trust Indiana at all.  They've showed some signs of getting their **** together in the Washington series, but they've also laid down some EPIC stink bombs.  Prediction: Miami in 5

 

In the West, San Antonio is far and away the better coached team, and they a plethora of experience, but OKC has been to the conference finals 3 of the last 4 years, they have tons of experience as well, so nobody really gets an edge in that department.  Overall, I think San Antonio is a better team, but OKC is the worst case scenario matchup for them due to their athleticism.  Prediction: OKC in 6

Edited May 16, 2014 by Keyrock

[Volourn]

Yeah, it was weird how things worked out, but the top 4 teams are in the final four (I'm sure a couple of other teams could make a case they belong in the convo but oh well).

 

MIA in 6

 

OKC in 6

 

But, would not be surprised if either goes to 7. And, Indy beating MIA would be an upset. SA beating OKC would not be.

[Keyrock]

And, Indy beating MIA would be an upset. SA beating OKC would not be.

Agreed.  I would be shocked if Indy beat Miami.  I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if San Antonio beat OKC.

[Rosbjerg]

Closed due to length, new thread here.