OT: NBA Playoffs!

L

Luftgekuehlt67

Well-Known Member
Playoffs about to kick off (well, have already kicked off I guess depending on your opinion of the validity of the play in tournament).

Fry - feel free to move this to another board, I am just posting here because I feel like the Football/Basketball boards get the most eyeballs.

Who's watching? Who ya got?

I think it's actually a pretty compelling field and we're likely to see some surprises. As a big Nuggets fan, I'm the first to admit I am the opposite of an impartial observer so take this with a grain of salt, but I really think the Nuggets could have been a legit championship contender this year if not for the atrocious injury rate they've suffered. Even with all those injuries, they've played really well. I really want to see them beat the Blazers, but I also won't be surprised (or even overly disappointed) to see the Blazers bump them off.

The superstar laden teams this year seem to have been hampered by injuries, chemistry issues, or sometimes both. It'll be interesting to see if we get some oddball outcomes. If you've ever read Dean Oliver's book, you know that, of the major sports, basketball is - statistically speaking - the most predictable, so the playoffs can feel a little "chalk" sometimes. This year might have some unpredictability (I hope).

Golden State is trailing Memphis after 3Q in the final play in game tonight. I have to say, I think it would be very, very funny to see Golden State (who would have been in as the 8 seed) get bumped by Memphis (who would have been just out). I think that would be a nightmare scenario for the NBA, who I am assuming wants badly to see GS in the field - I would love to see the whole play in nonsense (IMO) blow up in their faces!
 
Ha, Grizzlies knock off the Warriors to make it as the 8 seed. That makes me laughy, I hope the league admins are regretting their decision.

Ja Morant for the Grizzlies is a stud. Can't shoot, but damn near unstoppable at the rim. Goes 100 mph every possession, too. Played 46 minutes and scored 35. If he could develop as a passable 3 threat, he'd be an All NBA caliber guy.

Real action starts tomorrow...
 
Luftgekuehlt67 said:
Ha, Grizzlies knock off the Warriors to make it as the 8 seed. That makes me laughy, I hope the league admins are regretting their decision.

Ja Morant for the Grizzlies is a stud. Can't shoot, but damn near unstoppable at the rim. Goes 100 mph every possession, too. Played 46 minutes and scored 35. If he could develop as a passable 3 threat, he'd be an All NBA caliber guy.

Real action starts tomorrow...
Click to expand...
Ja is a younger version of Russell Westbrook. Love the kid big fan.
 
Luftgekuehlt67 said:
Playoffs about to kick off (well, have already kicked off I guess depending on your opinion of the validity of the play in tournament).

Fry - feel free to move this to another board, I am just posting here because I feel like the Football/Basketball boards get the most eyeballs.

Who's watching? Who ya got?

I think it's actually a pretty compelling field and we're likely to see some surprises. As a big Nuggets fan, I'm the first to admit I am the opposite of an impartial observer so take this with a grain of salt, but I really think the Nuggets could have been a legit championship contender this year if not for the atrocious injury rate they've suffered. Even with all those injuries, they've played really well. I really want to see them beat the Blazers, but I also won't be surprised (or even overly disappointed) to see the Blazers bump them off.

The superstar laden teams this year seem to have been hampered by injuries, chemistry issues, or sometimes both. It'll be interesting to see if we get some oddball outcomes. If you've ever read Dean Oliver's book, you know that, of the major sports, basketball is - statistically speaking - the most predictable, so the playoffs can feel a little "chalk" sometimes. This year might have some unpredictability (I hope).

Golden State is trailing Memphis after 3Q in the final play in game tonight. I have to say, I think it would be very, very funny to see Golden State (who would have been in as the 8 seed) get bumped by Memphis (who would have been just out). I think that would be a nightmare scenario for the NBA, who I am assuming wants badly to see GS in the field - I would love to see the whole play in nonsense (IMO) blow up in their faces!
Click to expand...


I don't have a clue who will be playing in the finals

Golden State had me watching NBA again when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were
playing together

Don't know if they can recapture the magic when/if Thompson comes back

They need to seriously upgrade the rest of the team other than Draymond

The Nets might be advancing to the finals, and will be fun to watch
 
I wish the regular season could match some of intensity the playoffs gives you....

Give me a Nets/Lakers final....with the Nets winning it in 6.
 
I have been watching more NBA in the last 3 days than I have in the previous 6 months.

Also nearly doubled my money on the player boosts William Hill has been offering.
 
trj said:
I wish the regular season could match some of intensity the playoffs gives you....
Click to expand...
Maybe if they didn't let every team in the playoffs it would.

Should just be the 6 division winners with the best record in each conference getting a first round bye. That would make for some good basketball during the season.
 
trj said:
I wish the regular season could match some of intensity the playoffs gives you....

Give me a Nets/Lakers final....with the Nets winning it in 6.
Click to expand...

In my opinion it has the MLB effect to it. Season's too long and too many meaningless games. Love both sports and watch them regular season, but IMO both leagues seasons seam to drag on forever. Then playoffs come around and things get exciting.

Not sure why, but regular season NHL does more for me then MLB or NBA regular seasons.
 
kicker22 said:
In my opinion it has the MLB effect to it. Season's too long and too many meaningless games. Love both sports and watch them regular season, but IMO both leagues seasons seam to drag on forever. Then playoffs come around and things get exciting.

Not sure why, but regular season NHL does more for me then MLB or NBA regular seasons.
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Part of the MLB season is having the stamina to make it through 162 games and still be rolling. Also, it's super tough to make the playoffs which adds to the excitement. In the NBA almost everybody goes and you can be several games below .500 and still get in.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I can't hardly watch regular season nba games anymore. Maybe I can get into the playoffs some if a story line catches my eye. But so far no luck yet with that.
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It sucks too, because those players are just phenomenally good at that level. They could put on a show for the ages every night but if you can go .400 and make the playoffs why bother?
 
Fryowa said:
It sucks too, because those players are just phenomenally good at that level. They could put on a show for the ages every night but if you can go .400 and make the playoffs why bother?
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I just can't... It's the same guys. Just changing teams to join their buddies. It feels like it'll be the Nets and the Lakers cause that's what the league will want... I know the Lakers lost game 1 yesterday so we'll see how that series goes but usually the NBA is just so damn predictable it's boring.

And yeah how big of an accomplishment is it to make the playoffs when half the league is in? If I watch much before the conference finals I'll be surprised.
 
Fryowa said:
Part of the MLB season is having the stamina to make it through 162 games and still be rolling. Also, it's super tough to make the playoffs which adds to the excitement. In the NBA almost everybody goes and you can be several games below .500 and still get in.
Click to expand...
Absolutely right. My issue is I simply don't have the time to follow or keep up on a daily basis the entire 162 days of the season. I still watch when I can and keep up with scores, but it's not the same passion (on my end) game to game. Playoffs are different though if the Cubs are there I won't miss a game, until they can't generate any offense and find themselves sent home.
 
Fryowa said:
Maybe if they didn't let every team in the playoffs it would.

Should just be the 6 division winners with the best record in each conference getting a first round bye. That would make for some good basketball during the season.
Click to expand...


Or have a 50 game schedule and the contraction of about 8 teams would also work. Obviously, that is never going to happen because of financial reasons.
 
Fryowa said:
Maybe if they didn't let every team in the playoffs it would.

Should just be the 6 division winners with the best record in each conference getting a first round bye. That would make for some good basketball during the season.
Click to expand...
If regular season games meant more perhaps the increased ratings revenue they would generate would offset lost revenue from fewer playoff rounds.
 
Fryowa said:
It sucks too, because those players are just phenomenally good at that level. They could put on a show for the ages every night but if you can go .400 and make the playoffs why bother?
Click to expand...

I have a couple things to say.

First, your chances of making the playoffs at .400 are pretty bad. This year in the East, you had one team make it at 4 games under .500 and one team make it at exactly .500. Fourteen of the 16 playoff teams have winning records, I can live with that. Most of the time, it's down to a big East/West disparity such as what we've seen lately with the West being the stronger conference leading to a team or two from the East making the playoffs with a sub .500 record. As a Nuggets fan, I can tell you from personal experience this phenomenon cuts both ways, like in 2017-18 when the Nuggets missed the cut despite being 10 games over .500! 46-36 is a pretty solid record to be getting excluded from the playoffs. Hell, they were fifth in their *division* that year, think about that!

That kind of parlays into the second thing I was going to say, which is I think having "a team" makes a world of difference as far as the regular season excitement level goes. Even if you are a big basketball junkie, if you don't have a specific dog in the fight, I could see things dragging on a bit. I watch every minute of every Nuggets game, even the blowouts (which are good chances to see how the reserves are coming along, who's up from the G-League, etc). If you don't have a rooting interest, that's watching paint dry grade entertainment.

More of a general comment/observation that's perhaps tangentially related, but I think the NBA is, relative to the other major sports, pretty localized. I think more so than is the case with NFL or MLB, NBA fanbases tend to be somewhat localized to their respective metro areas. I don't have any numbers to back that up, just my own observation.
 
Oof, Nets all over the Celtics. I don't think anyone was exactly predicting the Celtics as a conf finals contender or anything like that, but I'm getting sweep vibes in that series. Nets might be looking to send a message.

Speaking of sending a message, my Nuggets trounced the Blazers last night. Hot shooting and gritty D - good combo! I think a lot of the experts expect the Blazers to roll the Nuggs, something I hope Denver's taking personally. Chippy game by modern NBA standards. A couple techs and a few flagrants between the two teams.

Couple (relatively) big games in the West tonight. Suns and Mavs both have a shot to go up 2-0 against their brand name LA opponents (which I for one would love to see). The Lakers and their idiot cousins the Clippers both irritate me to no end.

Still very early. By the end of this weekend we should have some good 1st round story lines brewing.
 
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