NBA Thread 2011-12

[naiwf]

Playoff teams in alphabetical order

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

West - Dallas (SW winners), Houston, LA Clippers, LA Lakers (Pacific winners), Memphis, Oklahoma City (NW winners), Portland, San Antonio

Eastern Conference Finals: Miami def. Chicago in 6

Western Conference Finals: OKC def. Memphis in 7

NBA Finals: OKC def. Miami in 7 because the Durantula outplays LeBron

MVP: Kevin Durant based on Oklahoma City ending up with the best record in the West.

ROY: Derrick Williams in a close vote over Jimmer

DPOY: Dwight Howard yet again

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

All NBA 2nd Team: Anthony, Bryant, Griffin, Rose, Westbrook

All NBA 3rd Team: Mark Gasol, Love, Nowitzki, Wall, Deron Williams

In the East I got all 3 division winners and 7/8 of the playoff teams. Orlando is in instead of Milwaukee who finished 9th.

In the West I picked Dallas instead of SA, and picked 6/8 of the playoff teams. Denver/Utah made it instead of Houston/Portland, the # 9 & 10 in the West.

I don't hate my picks for the playoffs and think they are all still mathematically possible right now.

Durant may win the MVP due to voter fatigue with LeBron.

ROY was a complete whiff. Kyrie Irving won it months ago, and the two guys I picked sucked this year especially Jimmer and his 38% shooting from the field. The ghost of Ricky Rubio was better than both of them combined.

Howard probably won't win DPOY for the same reason LeBron may not get MVP.

Wade and Kobe will probably flip flop. 'Melo and Rose have no business on the 2nd or 3rd team. Westbrook and Griffin seem about right. I don't really care about the 3rd team, but Love is probably on the 2nd one.

In short, as long as Miami does NOT win the title this will be a successful season

[gunnar hendershow]

Congratulations to the Bobcats for cementing themselves as the worst team ever.

[Blitz]

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (8) Utah Jazz

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (7) Dallas Mavericks

(3) Los Angeles Lakers v (6) Denver Nuggets

(4) Memphis Grizzlies v (5) Los Angeles Clippers

(1) Chicago Bulls v (8) Philadelphia 76ers

(2) Miami Heat v (7) New York Knicks

(3) Indiana Pacers v (6) Orlando Magic

(4) Boston Celtics v (5) Atlanta Hawks

For predictions. I'll post mine when I'm not on a phone.

EDIT: I had the 4/5 match-ups switched in each conference.

[naiwf]

Western Conference (assuming Harden is healthy)

Spurs def. Jazz in 5

Thunder def. Mavericks in 6

Lakers def. Nuggets in 6

Grizzlies def. Clippers in 6

Grizzlies def. Spurs in 7, yeah I said it.

Thunder def. Lakers in 6

Thunder def. Grizzlies in 6

Eastern Conference

Bulls sweep the 76ers

Heat def. Knicks in 5

Pacers and Magic def. NBA fans in a sweep with no star power. Indiana wins BTW.

Celtics def. Hawks in 6

Bulls def. Celtics in 6

Heat def. Pacers in 6

Heat def. Bulls in 5 because Rose will get shut down again

NBA Finals

Cabron James wins his 1st title in 6 games, but Skip Bayless may die of a heart attack so it's not all bad

The first round of these playoffs look like they will suck almost as much as the Heat winning the title.

[Plubby]

Skip Bayless is great, nay-woof

[Blitz]

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (8) Utah Jazz

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (7) Dallas Mavericks

(3) Los Angeles Lakers v (6) Denver Nuggets

(4) Memphis Grizzlies v (5) Los Angeles Clippers

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (4) Memphis Grizzlies

(3) Los Angeles Lakers v (7) Dallas Mavericks

(1) San Antonio Spurs (3) Los Angeles Lakers

(1) Chicago Bulls v (8) Philadelphia 76ers

(2) Miami Heat v (7) New York Knicks

(3) Indiana Pacers v (6) Orlando Magic

(5) Boston Celtics v (4) Atlanta Hawks

(1) Chicago Bulls v (4) Boston Celtics

(2) Miami Heat v (3) Indiana Pacers

(1) Chicago Bulls v (2) Miami Heat

(1) San Antonio Spurs (2) Miami Heat

I'm not pumped at all for these Finals as of right now. I'd love for anyone to win besides the Spurs or Heat. I can't see the Bulls winning the East with the way they are constructed. Rose will be shut down again by LeBron. I almost picked the Celtics to beat the Bulls, but I think the team defense of the Bulls will st down the old Celts. Biggest upset is Dallas v OKC, and that's probably just because I'm a huge homer.

Here's a fun simulator to run: http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/predictions. So far I've run about twenty sims and the Heat haven't won once.

What would the worst marketing match up for the Finals be? Clearly the NBA would love for the Lakers and Heat to meet in the Finals. Two huge markets led by two of the game's biggest stars. But what if it was (1) San Antonio Spurs v (3) Indiana Pacers. That's not very far-fetched and would give the NBA no big stars to market and Duncan would threaten to pull even with Kobe as far as number of rings goes.

[DYSI]

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (8) Utah Jazz

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (7) Dallas Mavericks

(3) Los Angeles Lakers v (6) Denver Nuggets

(4) Memphis Grizzlies v (5) Los Angeles Clippers

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (6) Denver Nuggets

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (5) Los Angeles Clippers

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (2) Oklahoma City Thunder

(1) Chicago Bulls v (8) Philadelphia 76ers

(2) Miami Heat v (7) New York Knicks

(3) Indiana Pacers v (6) Orlando Magic

(4) Boston Celtics v (5) Atlanta Hawks

(1) Chicago Bulls v (4) Boston Celtics

(2) Miami Heat v (3) Indiana Pacers

(1) Chicago Bulls v (2) Miami Heat

(1) Chicago Bulls v (2) Oklahoma City Thunder

I don't think the East will have any upsets in the first round, probably a lot of 5/6 game series. West is a bit more interesting, I don't see the Lakers coming out the first round because I see the Nuggets scoring them out of the building. Spurs/Thunder could go either way but I'm siding with the younger team because I don't think the Spurs will stay healthy throughout the playoffs. Bulls/Heat should be a given but I could see Rose getting banged up again if they make it all the way to the finals. Gonna go with OKC in the end with Westbrook as the MVP.

[Quom]

(1) San Antonio Spurs v (8) Utah Jazz In 6

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (7) Dallas Mavericks in 5

(3) Los Angeles Lakers v (6) Denver Nuggets in 7

(4) Memphis Grizzlies v (5) Los Angeles Clippers in 4

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (7) Denver Nuggets in 6

(8) Utah Jazz v (4) Memphis Grizzlies in 5

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (4) Memphis Grizzlies in 6

(1) Chicago Bulls v (8) Philadelphia 76ers in 5

(2) Miami Heat v (7) New York Knicks in 6

(3) Indiana Pacers v (6) Orlando Magic in 4

(4) Boston Celtics v (5) Atlanta Hawks in 5

(1) Chicago Bulls v (4) Boston Celtics in 6

(2) Miami Heat v (3) Indiana Pacers in 7

(1) Chicago Bulls v (3) Indiana Pacers in 5

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder v (1) Chicago Bulls in 6

[Panni]

Bring on the Heat! I don't really think the Knicks have much of a chance at winning this series, but they should make some noise. Given the Knick team, and the MSG crowd, Lebron & Co. were probably dying for the 76ers to take that 7 seed.

[gunnar hendershow]

Gonna pull up my original predictions to compare when I'm not on a phone.

(1) San Antonio Spurs in 5

(2) Oklahoma City Thunder in 6

(3) Los Angeles Lakers in 6

(4) Memphis Grizzlies in 6

(1) San Antonio Spurs in 7

(3) Los Angeles Lakers in 7

(3) Los Angeles Lakers in 6

(1) Chicago Bulls in 4

(2) Miami Heat in 7

(3) Indiana Pacers in 5

(4) Boston Celtics in 6

(1) Chicago Bulls in 6

(2) Miami Heat in 7

(1) Chicago Bulls in 7

(1) Chicago Bulls in 6

Lakers would win if they didn't have a terrible coach and Kobe would tie Michael, but alas life isn't fair to DMN all the time.

[Guest Mr. Smokes]

Ohh fuck..

[Guest Mr. Smokes]

Welp... the Bulls are fucked..

[Blitz]

Aaand that's why I didn't have the Bulls winning much of anything.

[Panni]

How bad did it look? Did he have to be helped off the court?

Baron Davis looking good to start off the game, hopefully Melo gets going soon.

[Blitz]

I didn't notice it twisting or anything, but he tweaked it somehow and had to be helped off the floor. I don't understand how Rose gets hurt so often when he wears more gear than an army soldier.

[Panni]

I just read on Twitter, from Chamillionare so you know it's a reliable source, that Rose has a torn ACL & MCL in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.

[The Buscher]

It's official: Rose is done for the year. Heat just clinched the title.

[Red Devil-Taker316]

It's official: Rose is done for the year. Heat just clinched the title.

The East maybe.

Gotta feel for Chicago. While they still might survive the Sixers, Boston or Atlanta should dispose of them.

[DYSI]

I knew Rose was going to go down some time during this playoffs, didn't think it was going to be the first game... I can still see them beating the 76ers but it'll probably go six or seven games. Depending on who they play in the second round, I could still see them advancing to the Conference Finals because this team had a lot of wins even when Rose was out.

The Heat/Knicks game was just ugly. Heat got all the calls but it was pretty bad how bad the Knicks played.

[Trey]

Fuck.