2010/2011 NBA Thread

[gunnar hendershow]

Memphis has been beating the teams they should be beating, and getting occasional wins against better teams, and that's likely all they need to get the 8th or 7th seed out west. Phoenix is going in the opposite direction. Houston is too. Definitely could shake up seedings out west too with a few wins late in the year.

[naiwf]

Playoff teams in alphabetical order

East - Atlanta, Boston (Atlantic winners), Charlotte , Chicago (Central winners), Miami (SE winners), Milwaukee, New York, Orlando

West - Dallas, Houston, LA Lakers (Pacific winners), New Orleans, Oklahoma City (NW winners), Portland, San Antonio (SW winners), Utah

Eastern Conference Finals: (head) Miami def. Boston in 7, (heart) Orlando def. Boston in 6

Western Conference Finals: (head) Lakers def. Utah in 6, (heart) Thundah~! def. Lakers in 7 on a last second three by the Durantula

NBA Finals: Lakers def. Miami in 6 because Miami has no size

MVP: Kevin Durant based on his 28-31 PPG, 8 RPG and Oklahoma City winning 55 games.

ROY: Blake Griffin nips John Wall

DPOY: Dwight Howard yet again

All NBA 1st Team: Bryant, Durant, Howard, James, Wade

All NBA 2nd Team: Anthony, Nowitzki, Paul, Stoudemire, Williams

It's not the AS break yet, but I feel pretty good about my predictions.

As of right now, I've got all 6 division winners, 7 of the 8 Eastern playoff teams (Philly instead of Milwaukee), and 7 of the 8 Western playoff teams (Denver instead of the Yaofree Rockets) .

Durant won't win the MVP, but Griffin has already locked up ROY. Dwight Howard should get DPOY again. The 1st team is etched in stone. The 2nd team looks good too.

My playoff results look unlikely though since I went against my gut and picked LA to win it all and Miami to beat Boston despite their lack of size. As of today Boston/San Antonio seems most likely.

[gunnar hendershow]

Since it's time...

Eastern Conference

Miami

Boston

Orlando

Chicago

Atlanta - Nailed the top 5

Milwaukee - There's still time

Charlotte

New York - Got both of these too

------------

Washington - Oops.

Indiana

Philadelphia - Switch them and Milwaukee and I'm perfect with the playoffs.

Toronto

New Jersey

Cleveland - Nobody could have picked them to be as bad as they are.

Detroit

Western Conference

LA Lakers

Oklahoma City

San Antonio

Utah

Portland

Dallas

Houston - Still in the hunt

Denver

----------

New Orleans - Only big omission

Golden State

LA Clippers

Phoenix

Minnesota

Memphis - For some reason had NO here too in my original picks, definitely meant to be Memphis though. Definitely didn't expect them to be as good as they are.

Sacramento

NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference

Miami over New York

Chicago over Atlanta

Boston over Charlotte

Orlando over Milwaukee

Miami over Chicago

Boston over Orlando

Boston over Miami - Basically think this will hold true, losing teams in round 1 might change but the top 4 will be the top 4 regardless.

Western Conference

LA Lakers over Denver

Utah over Portland

Oklahoma City over Houston

Dallas over San Antonio - Severely underestimated SA

LA Lakers over Utah - Make this LA over Dallas

Oklahoma City over Dallas - Make this SA over OKC

LA Lakers over Oklahoma City - Make this SA over LA

NBA Finals

LA Lakers over Boston - Now would pick Boston over San Antonio

[phatman]

Since others are doing this and we are pretty much midway into the season ill have a look into predictions I made at the start of teh season...

Eastern Conference

1. Miami Heat 64-18 - still expecting Heat to finish first in east, still with a pretty similar record to this one maybe something like 60-61 wins instead

2. Boston Celtics 56-26 they'll finish second, with a better record than this though probably

3. Orlando Magic 53-29 wasn't expecting them to blow up the team like they did but I guess they had to do something, they'll get bumped in the first round of playoffs now

4. Chicago Bulls 49-33 should of picked them higher but I really thought injuries would ruin this team

5. Atlanta Hawks 51-31 too inconsistent to pick any higher

6. Milwaukee Bucks 47-35 really surprised with thier lack of enthusiasm this season, thought they'd be a playoff team for sure

7. New York Knicks 43-39 yeah they'll still finish with a record similar to this just up a spot in the division

8. Indiana Pacers 41-41 started the season looking good and could finish strong but won't make it back to .500

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9. Charlotte Bobcats 41-41 had them missing out on tiebreaker with Indiana and looks like those will be the two teams fighting it out for 8th at the moment

10. Washington Wizards 40-42 A little too optimistic I guess. Can't blame it all on injuries and trades either, they're just not a good team

11. New Jersey Nets 40-42 they have a better team then thier record suggests

12. Detroit Pistons 36-46 thought they'd be competitive in the east and they are doing ok for they've got right now

13. Philadelphia 76er's 31-51 doug collins has them playing some good ball at the moment and I'd be happy to see philly in the playoffs again this season

14. Cleveland Cavaliers 26-56 yeah I thought they'd be bad but not 25 losses in a row bad

15. Toronto Raptors 24-58 they really havn't done anything to make me think I shouldn't have made them the worst team in the east this season

Western Conference

1. Los Angeles Lakers 55-27 didn't think they'd be struggling this early into the season. they'd need to go 19-11 to finish with this record and that is entirely possible

2. Oklahoma City Thunder 54-28 thought they'd put it together better than they have and keep on improving but injuries have slowed them and they really can't close out close games

3. Dallas Mavericks 52-30 another 50 win season was always on the cards but god help them if Dirk goes down with a serious injury

4. Utah Jazz 51-31 never really cared for this team and they will struggle to get to 47 wins I reckon

5. Portland Trailblazers 50-32 should of picked them to be team with most injuries. 50 wins not happening and unless they make a decent trade, they'll fall out of the playoffs. maybe Roy coming back is a good thing?

6. Memphis Grizzlies 48-34 they've got a team that should make the playoffs and I'm expecting them to push hard for 8th seed

7. San Antonio Spurs 46-36 they've been on fire. almost reaching the 46 win mark already. thought they'd be too old, still think they'll bow out of the playoffs early though

8. Los Angeles Clippers 46-36 thought they'd be in a better position than they are. They've shown some good glimpses lately and they'll be in the playoffs probably next season

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9. Houston Rockets 44-38 they won't make the playoffs. another year without Yao Ming, I wouldn't expect him to be back for a playoff game ever again

10. New Orleans Hornets 41-41 wasn't expecting much and they've surprised me a little

11. Denver Nuggets 40-42 still think they'll fall if and when they trade Melo, but maybe waiting this late into the season will give them a big enough cushion to make the playoffs

12. Phoenix Suns 30-52 doing better than I thought they would but still not good enough to make the playoffs. trade Nash and rebuild.

13. Golden State Warriors 29-53 they're bad and not getting better anytime soon

14. Sacramento Kings 27-55 I can't even stand watching Sacramento play. They have to be one of the most annoying teams to watch with thier play. frustrating

15. Minnesota Timberwolves 25-57 they have the right pieces in place. I think they just need time together without injuries they need a good C though and they might make the playoffs in a couple of seasons

Playoffs

1. Miami Heat def. 8. Indiana Pacers 4-0

2. Boston Celtics def. 7. New York Knicks 4-2

3. Orlando Magic def. 6. Milwaukee Bucks 4-3

4. Chicago Bulls def. 5. Atlanta Hawks 4-2

1. Los Angeles Lakers def. 8. Los Angeles Clippers 4-3

2. Oklahoma City Thunder def. San Antonio Spurs 4-1

6. Memphis Grizzlies def. 3. Dallas Mavericks 4-3

5. Portland Trailblazers def. 4. Utah Jazz 4-2

---------------

1. Miami Heat def. 4. Chicago Bulls 4-1

2. Boston Celtics def. 3. Orlando Magic 4-3

5. Portland Trailblazers def. 1. Los Angeles Lakers 4-3

2. Oklahoma City Thunder def. 6. Memphis Grizzlies 4-2

--------------

2. Boston Celtics def. 1. Miami Heat 4-2

5. Portland Trailblazers def. 2. Oklahoma City Thunder 4-3

--------------

Boston Celtics def. Portland Trailblazers 4-1 and win NBA Title no chance that this will happen now

Edited February 9, 2011 by phatman

[naiwf]

I totally forgot Blake Griffin vs the Knicks volume 2 was tonight. I'm expecting another handful of highlight dunks on par with him baptizing Mozgov and the Gallo spinorama dunk which you can see in one of the NBA's national commercials. Yes, that's the very same commercial that starts with D-Rose dropping a two handed monster on . . . Gallinari. Poor guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHpOweVaMSg&feature=related

Edited February 9, 2011 by naiwf

[naiwf]

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/27469058

Jerry Sloan is set to resign today. Utah is currently the # 6 seed in the West, so it's not like he's in hell like Byron Scott. Wow.

[sahyder1]

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/27469058

Jerry Sloan is set to resign today. Utah is currently the # 6 seed in the West, so it's not like he's in hell like Byron Scott. Wow.

Didn't he just sign an extension?

[gunnar hendershow]

Signed the extension on Monday, resigning on Thursday. I'm not sure what this means for the Jazz this season. For the future it looks the same, we all knew Sloan was going to be gone in a few years at most. Unfortunately for their fans it probably means they'll finally be on the NBA coaching carousel, and the consistency that has been a staple in Salt Lake for 20 years is probably going to come to an end.

[naiwf]

Apparently Sloan and Deron Williams didn't like each other, and I guess he's stepping down to give the Jazz a chance to re-sign Williams when his deal runs out next season. I guess this is somewhat similar to the Young/Fisher power struggle that just exploded with the Titans in the NFL. The Jazz had better hope it doesn't end up with them losing both guys by next summer.

Edited February 10, 2011 by naiwf

[sahyder1]

Marc Stein is reporting that Williams was ignoring plays that Sloan was calling from the sidelines yesterday.

[Quom]

Trade the gobshite in a three team deal involving Melo then. I don't like attitude from someone earning a shit ton of money to do what someone tells them.

[gunnar hendershow]

Ray Allen just broke Reggie's record for career 3 pointers. He got there in roughly 300 less games than it took Miller. Big coincidence it came against LA and that Reggie was one of TNT's color guys.

[naiwf]

I love how Deron Williams is backtracking from the reports that portray him as a coach killer. I doubt he'll stay in Utah beyond next season which makes this whole thing worse for the Jazz. I think it's hilarious that he claims he didn't want Sloan gone from the team, but had no problem ignoring the plays he was calling in a game. Aside from going all Latrell Sprewell on his ass, I don't know how else you could disrespect a coach and essentially force the organization into a "it's him or me" move. Some of these players are just clueless.

[VerbalPuke]

The Pistons have finally found a buyer, as it appears Tom Gores is tentatively set to purchase the Pistons from Karen Davidson.

Now that an agreement can be reached, now I'm hoping the management (Dumars) can make a move without being handcuffed by an owner unwilling to make any moves prior to a deal being made. Of course I'm not sure if any teams are going to be interested in what we have to offer.

[Guest JukeboxHero]

Cavs and Clippers are in OT right now. The Cavs are playing like their lives depend on it.

[Panni]

I'm watching the Cavs game as well. It's hysterical how it has a "playoff atmosphere" type of feel to it.

[naiwf]

WE WANT 'MELO!

This Knicks season sure hit the shitter pretty quickly. It's time to blow up the squad and trade off role players in order to acquire Carmelo before they change the cap structure. It was one thing when they were 7 games over .500, but they're now at .500 and closing in on dropping down to the 8 seed. If they get STAT and 'Melo, CP3 will come in 2012 if possible. They're not going to win a playoff series this year anyway, so they should just do whatever they have to in order to make the deal. Tanking a 3rd season and ending up without LeBron OR 'Melo will end up with rioting all over the streets outside of MSG.

EDIT: These Cavs commentators are AWFUL. I wondered what the franchise did to deserve their fate, and learned tonight that it was done to punish those homers.

Edited February 12, 2011 by naiwf

[gunnar hendershow]

Well, sorry fans of the NBA, but there won't be a Streak vs. Streak battle this Sunday. Of course, now that the longest losing streak in NBA history has been set we can look forward to the Wiz setting the longest road losing streak.

Wizards fans will riot (well I'll riot) if they start winning and move out of position for a worthwhile draft pick. Knicks fans will start rioting if they don't sell the farm for Melo. Both fanbases are right in doing this.

[DMN in the House]

When will people realize not to talk about the Lakers being 'done' until someone beats them?

Call me when the playoffs start.

[Panni]

I was really hoping the Knicks would be able to hold onto Gallo, but as they lose these games they are also losing a ton of leverage. Denver knows the New York fans are getting impatient and putting the team in a bad bargaining position. I still say they shouldn't give up all three of Gallo/Chandler/Fields, given the position they are still in, but if that's the deal-breaker they're gonna have to pull the trigger.

Like someone mentioned earlier if they don't get Melo they will be outraged. It reminds me a lot of the Cliff Lee situation where everybody just assumed he was coming to New York and then were left shocked when he went elsewhere.