NBA 2010-2011 Thread

[Rossticles]

Bosh can't keep playing like that if they want to get by Boston and into the ECF.

 

[Brett]

I went to the Thunder game today. It was disappointing that OKC lost, but committing 18 turnovers and being outscored by around 12 points off turnovers made all the difference in the game. That many mistakes made cannot be overcome very often. I have to give it up to Memphis though, they capitalized on the mistakes and played pretty tough defense throughout the game. Z-Bo was a complete handful and even when well defended, he still drained everything. Gasol also had a fantastic game. I am looking forward to Game 2 on Tuesday and hopefully, a Thunder win.

 

[Omnis]

I hope Boston likes its chowdah. There will be plenty of it to eat when they're home watching the Finals on TV.

I'll go out on a limb and say Miami v. Memphis.

 

[JohnBM01]

I saw most of the Celtics at Heat match after watching my Astros play baseball and alternating that with the MotoGP at Portugal coverage. There were a good number of bad calls in the game that I saw. One was a Flagrant Foul that just looked like a good hard playoff foul. Then, there was one that seemed like a Heat player going for a Celtic's neck, and I think that was called a Personal Foul with Double Technical fouls handed out, as opposed to a Flagrant-2. Worst of all was an incident that led to Paul Pierce getting ejected when it looked like he didn't do much to warrant an ejection. Jeff Van Gundy did make one great point- Flagrant-1 fouls should be reviewed more like Flagrant-2 fouls are called. It was a hard foul I saw, but not a Flagrant-1.

Poor officiating can be contagious. Otherwise, great win by the Miami Heat.

 

[a6m5]

I'll go out on a limb and say Miami v. Memphis.

If you meant Chicago vs. LAL, we are on the same page, completely. j/k

It's so competitive this year, I really don't know. I do like Chicago, but they are little green. I think I still like Boston out of the East. The West, I think the Lakers will still come out on top. I'm big on Phil Jackson, so I'd like to see him go out on top, too.

 

[Rossticles]

Beat LA!

 

[a6m5]

I hate L.A. but I'm not gonna lie, I love Kobe & Phil. Sounds little gay.

 

[Paulie]

Mavs take down LA and Atlanta take down the Bulls in game 1, interesting.

 

[Rossticles]

That's 2 upsets in 1 night. Depending on what you thought of yesterday's games it could be 4 upsets in 2 nights. I definitely consider OKC's loss an upset.

As much as I hate LA, I see the loss tonight like their loss in Game 1 against NO. They will likely come back. Phil is a great coach. It will be bittersweet to see him go.

 

[Paulie]

Take THAT Boston! Garnett got mega-owned twice in this game, hilarious.

 

[a6m5]

Take THAT Boston! Garnett got mega-owned twice in this game, hilarious.

I do hate KG. Used to be someone I looked up to, but he turned into Shaq, as in over-the-top bully. Loser.

I heard from the coworker that Wade broke Ray Allen's ankle, then taunt or something to embarrass him? Not cool, Wade. Not cool.

 

[Brett]

I thought this spoke highly on Perk and part of the impact he has had on the Thunder.

OKLAHOMA CITY – After watching the Memphis Grizzlies batter his Oklahoma City Thunder in the opener of the teams’ second-round series, Kendrick Perkins knew something needed to change. So he encouraged Kevin Durant to gather the team together … and watch the game again.

Durant took Perkins’ suggestion and arranged for a players-only dinner at his house on Monday night. The team dined on a Thanksgiving-worthy spread prepared by Durant’s personal chef and watched every minute of OKC’s disheartening loss to the Grizzlies. The players stopped the video at times to discuss specific breakdowns. By the end of the evening, they were in agreement on what needed to be done to improve.

They must have been right, too. Twenty-four hours later, the Thunder walked off the court at Oklahoma City Arena with a series-evening 111-102 victory. At least a few of the Thunder thought the seeds for the victory were planted at their clear-the-air, players-only meeting, the team’s first of the season.

“Perk did it,” Durant told Yahoo! Sports. “He wanted us to do it, and everybody listens to Perk.

“We talked about how we didn’t come out with any energy. We wanted to see it over again to see that we never wanted to play like that again. That’s the kind of feeling we had coming into this game, and it helped us.

“Guys spoke up on what other guys should have done better. We made sure that we helped each other out. That’s the biggest thing.”

The Thunder had reason to want to refocus after Game 1. This is new territory for them. The franchise just won its first playoff series since moving from Seattle by closing out the Denver Nuggets last week.

The Thunder also have encountered little adversity this season – at least anything that would compare to losing the opener of their second-round series at home. OKC’s longest losing streak this season has been just three games. The most trying moment of its season was watching forward Jeff Green get traded to the Boston Celtics for Perkins.

“We haven’t had a lot of major issues,” Thunder coach Scottie Brooks said.

The Thunder fell behind the Los Angeles Lakers 2-0 in last year’s first round before losing the series in six games. No one, however, was expecting much from them. Most of them had never appeared in a playoff game before last season.

This year, the Thunder entered the postseason with much higher expectations. After having little trouble dismissing the Nuggets in five games, they opened this series as favorites. That’s why they were somewhat dazed after losing Game 1.

Perkins thought the Thunder were too relaxed in the loss and that there was some confusion over players’ roles. Since coming from Boston, Perkins has commanded a leadership presence in the locker room, yet he also understands the Thunder belong to Durant. That’s why he thought it best for Durant to set up the players-only meeting. It took just one call from Perkins to convince Durant to do so.

“We had to get a reminder and watch the film without the coaches telling us anything. We had to correct each other,” Perkins told Y! Sports.

Not wanting to go to Memphis for the next two games already down 2-0, Durant said he hadn’t faced a game as important as Tuesday’s.

“We live to see another day,” he said.

The Thunder won because they didn’t let Zach Randolph have his way with them like he did in Game 1, when he scored 34 points. Randolph made just two of his 13 shots on Tuesday and finished with 15 points.

“They played with much more urgency than we did,” Memphis center Marc Gasol said. “We didn’t play as aggressive as they did.

“I have to give them credit. They hit first tonight …”

Said Brooks: “It was important that we came out and treated it like the most important game.”

It’s easy to forget that this is a season of firsts for the Thunder. They won the Northwest Division for the first time since moving from Seattle. They won a road playoff game, then an entire playoff series, for the first time. And if they outlast the Grizzlies in this series, the Thunder will likely look back on their first players-only meeting of the season as a pivotal turning point in their development.

“It means we are really dedicated to this,” Durant said, “and we really want to be good.”

Source

 

[a6m5]

I read about it on the local site also(local paper Oregonian). Yeah, nice leadership.

Go Nugg, I mean Go Memphis!

 

[Rossticles]

Adios LA!

 

[Paulie]

I do hate KG. Used to be someone I looked up to, but he turned into Shaq, as in over-the-top bully. Loser.

I heard from the coworker that Wade broke Ray Allen's ankle, then taunt or something to embarrass him? Not cool, Wade. Not cool.

Say wha? I don't remember anything of the sort in that game, the only ankle related incident was when Big Baby fell on Chalmers, but he returned to the game after an injury time-out, I mean fair enough Glen Davis is like 8 times his size.

And yes I'm reasonably glad to see LA will possible exit early. They're just too successful too often.

 

[McLaren]

A 2-0 lead just means the higher chance of choke for Dallas. I apologize, but as much as I'd love to see them advance, they just have a nasty history of playoff games.

As for Artest, man, you couldn't have made a stupider decision. 24 seconds in the 4th & smacks JJ in the face. I hope he is suspended. Not because it'll hopefully give us a breathing room, but b/c he's a cocky player with no common sense when the game starts to get rough. I believe he also fouled Chandler early in the game as well?

 

[a6m5]

Say wha? I don't remember anything of the sort in that game, the only ankle related incident was when Big Baby fell on Chalmers, but he returned to the game after an injury time-out, I mean fair enough Glen Davis is like 8 times his size.

Broke ankle, as in crossed, crossed over. I've broken few ankles in my time with my crossover. The body turns, but the shoes are stuck to the floor.

Another guy told me about it today, but he didn't remember any taunting from Wade.

 

[Paulie]

Well I don't know, I watched the whole game and don't remember any said incident and neither does my brother who watched it with me. Now wth is this, a whole day without a game?

 

[Brett]

I do not really understand why the TV networks and the NBA thought not having a game last night was a good idea. It was definitely disappointing not having a game to watch last night, especially since the Playoffs have been amazing.

 

[a6m5]

Probably some positioning to show all the games over the weekend. I hate the milking by the NBA. Seven game series Playoff series are B.S. anyway. I wish it was like NCAA. You win, you advance, you lose, you are out. Now, that would be awesome.

 

[Brett]

I like having a multiple game series because it typically ensures the best teams advance, as a team getting hot for one game is not reflective of the talent levels of the two teams. Though, I would prefer for the first round to be best of three or five, the second round to be best of five, and the conference/overall finals to be best of seven.

 

[Rossticles]

I do not really understand why the TV networks and the NBA thought not having a game last night was a good idea. It was definitely disappointing not having a game to watch last night, especially since the Playoffs have been amazing.

It was a travel day.

 

[a6m5]

I like having a multiple game series because it typically ensures the best teams advance, as a team getting hot for one game is not reflective of the talent levels of the two teams. Though, I would prefer for the first round to be best of three or five, the second round to be best of five, and the conference/overall finals to be best of seven.

Yeah, it's just my personal taste. I love the "do or die", because it is edgier, and so much more demanding of teams.

On the length of the series, I agree with you. 3-5-7-7 would work nicely. I still can not get over the best of seven in the first round.

 

[Paulie]

One game elimination also puts a spotlight on home court advantage, I like it how it is.

Edit: Does anyone know when the draft lottery takes place?

 

[a6m5]

Edit: Does anyone know when the draft lottery takes place?

Draft is June 20-something, so I'm pretty sure it's late-May.

 

[Rossticles]

Beat LA!

My heart is racing right now. I hate the Lakers so much.

 

[a6m5]

You gotta be kidding me. You've got to be.

 

[Paulie]

Draft is June 20-something, so I'm pretty sure it's late-May.

Cool, that's this month! Toronto will likely net themselves a good pick this year, so I'm looking forward to it.
Looks like Dallas are up 3-0 on LA now, it's almost as good as done.

 

[a6m5]

Lakers are gonna have to sweep now. Damn it.

 

[Rossticles]

Words can't describe how happy I am right now. Lakers are done, Celtics are (likely) done. It's a new era of winning teams in the NBA. Grizzlies, Hawks, Bulls, Heat, and Thunder have risen from the ashes.