General Chat / Official NBA 2005 Playoffs Thread

First off, at the 5 spot you all can't compete.  Brian Skinner (or whatever) is no comparison to Dampier, who gets you a solid double double nightly.  Then you have good ol' Dirk, who will give Brad Miller all the problems in the world.  Josh Howard and Michael Finley will force Mobley and Peja to play D (We know they are'nt known for that), and Josh Howard will give all Peja he can hand on Defense.  Then bring Jerry Stackhouse and Marquis Daniels of the bench?  Ouch.  Sacto would not touch Dallas this year, if yall ended up playing each other Dallas would win 4-1, maybe sweep.

I never said that the Kings would win >_>......I too am confident of a Dallas victory.

I was just saying that the Mavs arent much better from last year. ((You said they were))

Yeah well most of that 9-8 is without Brad, some of it is without Peja, half of it is without Mobley, and I think Bibby missed a game too. Pretty hard to judge from that. Not to mention we've been without BJax for months and he's a double digit scorer every night. But anyway, the Kings' games has never been about matchups. You break it down man to man, and they always come out weaker. If they play well as a team, they win. Simple as that. And Skinner is only in the 5 spot because there's no Brad. This team can beat Dallas. But that all depends on Brad being healthy. And even then, he's had hardly any playing team with Skinner and Thomas in there, so the chemistry isn't there yet. I think Dallas would win the series too, I just think it would be closer than you expect.

Dallas is without a doubt better then they were last year. They're bigger, deeper, and better equipped to beat the teams in the West. Nash is a great point guard but it was a win/win situation when he left. They became more geared towards defense and the Suns became the Dallas Mavericks of old (running by teams in the regular season and getting killed when forced to slow up in the playofs). The olympic team should have proved to you that just because you have good players doesnt mean you have a good team. Dallas is much better this year, they're incredibly deep at just about every position minus the 5, but added a big man who puts up consistent double doubles. To them, that's more valuable then a run and gun point guard who obviously couldnt lead them in the playoffs.

Dallas is without a doubt better then they were last year. They're bigger, deeper, and better equipped to beat the teams in the West. Nash is a great point guard but it was a win/win situation when he left. They became more geared towards defense and the Suns became the Dallas Mavericks of old (running by teams in the regular season and getting killed when forced to slow up in the playofs). The olympic team should have proved to you that just because you have good players doesnt mean you have a good team. Dallas is much better this year, they're incredibly deep at just about every position minus the 5, but added a big man who puts up consistent double doubles. To them, that's more valuable then a run and gun point guard who obviously couldnt lead them in the playoffs.

We shall see when the time comes.
About the olympics, i didn't think that the players on the team were that great to begin with....=|

Tim Duncan. Come back. Now.




Although we did beat the Sonics last night.


I too think Dallas is better. I also think Avery Johnson as the head coach is a very good thing for them. Defense will be definately something he wants after the years playing under Pop. They might have lost Nash, but they did add players. Stackhouse has been playing very good this year, and I think Devin Harris was a great draft pick. Not sure if yall play him though. The team is very deep. Get the defense down and they might get far in the playoffs.

http://www.nba.com/g...SDAL/recap.html

Geeyowch!!!

I can't take any team seriously that has Keith Van Horn. I'm sorry I just can't. Mark Cuban doesn't help either. Nice work taken it to the Spurs though. Yeeouch.

Why not? Yeah as a star player hes horrible. As 7th or 8th man, that's a pretty damn valuable player.

Agreed. The only thing is that he has no defense, but whatever. Dallas is this year's Dark Horse NBA Champion threat, for sure.

Yup they are looking to be a lot better than last year....and my kings will probably have to play them in the first round -_-.

Yes, he is only one player, but I think if we had Tim at 100% it would be alot different. Just his presence inside on defense would help. Plus Manu wasn't 100%. But Dallas did play well and deserved to win. We just played like shit. It did get interesting at the end when the game got alittle physical. Dallas will be tough in the playoffs. They just have so much depth. What do the Spurs have? An injured Tim Duncan....and Glenn Robinson. Whoah. I am not sure about that signing. He has been playing ok for us though.

Kings looked pretty good today scoring 43 points in the third quarter vs the Lakers. Then again, it was the Lakers. AKA the No Defense Boys.

The west playoff picture is pretty much set. At least the Lakers won't be alone in disappointing teams, as the T-Wolves are all but eliminated. That means neither of last season's West Finals teams will make the playoffs this year.

And if you look at the standings, we *could* have like six teams finish with 50+ wins in the West! Talk about parity!

Haha. the Lakers suck.

Just cuz you're winning the Atlantic Division doesn't really mean... anything. You'll lose in the first round.

(Bitch)


(yes I'm bitter)

I would put some money on the Denver Nuggets right now. They are looking down right SCARY! My Kings are going to be OK, I don't see them getting past the second round (yet again). They have not played enough as a new unit to last playoff pressure (Miller and Jackson will be back, but with little to no practice time). Dallas needs another year as well, and kudos to them for promoting Avery to head coach, everyone knows he was the glue for the Spurs back in the day. But, at the end of the day it will be the Heat winning it all.

Dude... Dallas is totally the Dark Horse candidate to reach the finals and maybe even win it. Especially if Duncan stays injured, the Mavs can beat the Spurs and just about any other team in the league in a seven game series. I'm not saying it's a lock, but they may surprise a lot of people.

Denver is definitely looking dangerous, but Karl doesn't exactly have the most sterling playoff record.

Denver is good, but in a seven game series they will have some issues....

First off...their big men. They are serviceable, but they cant really compete with the Yao's and Tim Duncans of the world. Seattle would be a good first round matchup for them, because in reality that they only team they could take down in Round 1. As for Dallas being the darkhorse....perhaps....but in reality their road to the finals will go through San Antonio or Houston (Both can beat them when healthy).

You guys want an upset? Memphis over Pheonix in Round 1...7 games.

Heres West my predictions...


Memphis vs Phoenix
- Memphis 4-3

Denver vs San Antonio
- San Antonio 4-2

Houston vs Seattle
- Houston 4-2

Sacto vs Dallas
- Dallas 4-1 (Trust, this series wont be CLOSE).



Heres my East predictions....

Miami vs Detroit (It all comes down to this anyways, who cares about the other matchups).
- Detroit 4-1 (Um....see last year. thank you).

Dammit, and now Peja's injured going into the playoffs again. Right after he puts up 14 points in 8 minutes. Where's the justice? Looks like we'll be playing Seattle afterall.

PS - Detroit doesn't beat Miami in a 7 game series. Last year is irrelevant.

Memphis vs Phoenix
- Memphis 4-3

I could definitely see this, because Memphis, for some reason, has played the Suns really well. But I hope the Suns win. I love their run and gun and run some more style.

Detroit will NOT beat Miami in five. Last year, Shaq had Kobe and some old guys (Malone was injured; Payton was alright) and no one else. This year, he has Wade and an actual supporting cast.

Not to mention Dwyane Wade actually doesn't mind throwing the ball to Shaq every once in a while.

My Playoff Picks:

East 1st Round

1.Miami
8.New Jersey (yes NJ, not Cleveland)
--Miami in 5 - Figure at home Vince Carter will go for 40 or something and sneak one game in against the Heat.

4.Chicago
5.Washington
--Washington in 6 - Bulls lost leading scorer and inside threat Eddy Curry. With him they probably would have lost in 7.

3.Boston
6.Indiana
--Boston in 6 - Most people are taking Indiana in this spot. I think Pierce and Walker are just too much for Reggie. If Jermaine is healthy, switch this around.

2.Detroit
7.Philadelphia
--Detroit in 4 - Iverson will score about 40 a game. Webber will score about 12. The team will put up 65-70 points against the Pistons stifling defense.



West 1st Round

1.Phoenix
8.Memphis
--Phoenix in 6 - Memphis is deep, but they're just not as talented as Phoenix.

4.Dallas
5.Houston
--Dallas in 6 - Yao and T-Mac together will win a couple. Still, Yao's not as dominant as he needs to be and T-Mac will once again 'enjoy the second round' while losing.

3.Seattle
6.Sacramento
--Sacramento in 7 - The two weakest teams in the west in my opinion. Seattle's run and shoot offense won't work in a series, and Sacramento's whole franchise is just on the slide in my opinion. Depending on Brad Miller for an inside is not what champions are made of....so this essentially turns into Peja vs. Ray Allen in who will hit more threes. I pick Peja.

2.San Antonio
7.Denver
--Denver in 5 - San Antonio without Duncan wouldn't even make the playoffs. San Antonio with Duncan just getting back (don't know) is still gonna be a little iffy since it will take him at least a series or two to get in the groove. Match that against the hottest team in the league...and I'm taking the underdog.


East 2nd Round
1.Miami
5.Washington
--Miami in 5. Washington's a dangerous team. Would pick them against anybody except Miami or Detroit. Unfortunately they're playing Miami or Detroit.

2.Detroit
3.Boston
--Detroit in 4. - Boston just doesn't have the offense to break through Detroit's D. Easy couple rounds for Detroit...here's where the announcers and fans jump on the Detroit bandwagon and pick them to win it all again.

East Finals
1.Miami
2.Detroit
--Miami in 6. - Read first line of this post. Plus Detroit doesn't have that rejuvenated spark that they got last year from adding Rasheed Wallace midseason. Instead they have that spark that comes when Larry Brown wants to quit and doesn't know how. Plus Shaq motivated trying to show the world (aka Kobe) that he can win whenever he wants.


Western 2nd Round
1.Phoenix
4.Dallas
--Dallas in 7 - Phoenix is the old Dallas. As in, the run and gun team that doesn't play D and tries to outscore teams. Didn't work for Nash and Dallas. Won't work for Nash and Phoenix against Dallas. Exciting series though.

6.Sacramento
7.Denver
--Denver in 5 - Peja and/or Bibby will go crazy with the sick home court that Sacramento provides. Still, after a while Greg Buckner will get to Peja, and the combination of Dre Miller pounding Bibby and Boykins tiring him out, Bibby will be too frustrated to lead his team throughout the series.

Western Finals
4.Dallas
7.Denver
--Dallas in 6 - Denver's hot, but playing a little over their heads. Dallas' depth at every position carries them onto the finals.

Finals
Heat
Mavs
--Heat in 6 - Dallas is the more well rounded team. Still, the duo of Dampier and Bradley have no chance of stopping Shaq at all who will explode and win Finals MVP.