NBA Playoff Thread

[ucacm]

Rockets guard Aaron Brooks will be named the winner of the NBA Most Improved Player award on Thursday, according to a person with knowledge of the voting.

Brooks will be the first Rockets player to win one of the league’s performance awards since Steve Francis was a co-rookie of the year 10 years ago.

He averaged 19.6 points per game to mark the largest scoring increase, 8.4 points per game, of any player qualified for NBA statistics each of the past two seasons. He is one of three players that qualified for NBA statistics to increase his assists average by at least two per game, averaging 5.3 this season. He averaged 2.83 turnovers.

"Improving my assist to turnover ratio is important to me," Brooks said last week. "I have a lot of work to do. My assists are up. I don’t know about my turnovers dropping, but I’m getting better at that. I want to get stronger. I feel like I am a stronger player."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6969227.html

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

If the Lakers lose tonight, do I get to ***** about the free throw disparity, and conspiracies, and all that bunk?

 

[cwilson3]

If the Lakers lose tonight, do I get to ***** about the free throw disparity, and conspiracies, and all that bunk?

No, Stern will fine you.

 

[Blitz]

Outstanding competitive game tonight, won by San Antonio over Dallas.
Spurs have 2-1 lead, but this one's going 7, I do believe.
As was forecast, this is easily the best of the 8 first-round matchups.
Ginobili went out with a bloody cut on the bridge of his nose, but returned and made some huge plays.
Nowitzki and Duncan dueled all night and Parker was smooth throughout the fourth quarter.
This is the most dynamic rivalry in the league today.

 

[zagoshe]

What the **** is Denver doing, well, other than solidifying its reputation for being the new version of the 1990's Portland Trailblazers?

 

[Trey Beamon]

OKC up 12 on the Lakers in the second quarter ... wow. Don't know if Durant is guarding him, but Kobe's apparently only taken two shots.

There's no way the Thunder win this series, right? Right?

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Lakers are still on the bus to the arena.

They're allowing a young, athletic team to gain confidence, while they're only looking old and slow. Kobe Bryant can't adjust his game past a "Can You Top This?" contest against the opponent's best player. They have no mojo right now, and no way to slow or stop Westbrook and Durant.

They will lose this series in six games if they lose tonight.

Next year, there will be a smattering of "When did the Lakers get so old?" stories during the regular season.

 

[cwilson3]

It's going to be hard if LeBron stays in Cleveland when all the Durant fans start hating LeBron the way LeBron fans hate Kobe just because they're in the constant debate of "Who's better?" I like Durant, way more than I ever liked Kobe, pre-"The Last Season" and Colorado.

 

[mb]

They will lose this series in six games if they lose tonight.

Slow down there.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Lakers are still on the bus to the arena.

They're allowing a young, athletic team to gain confidence, while they're only looking old and slow. Kobe Bryant can't adjust his game past a "Can You Top This?" contest against the opponent's best player. They have no mojo right now, and no way to slow or stop Westbrook and Durant.

They will lose this series in six games if they lose tonight.

Next year, there will be a smattering of "When did the Lakers get so old?" stories during the regular season.

Buck up, Piotr. You sound too much like a member of Lakersground. OKC's doing what young, athletic teams have done to older, favored teams forever in the playoffs at home - remember the Kings in the first round in 2000, along with dozens of other examples? Still a lot of game left, still a lot of series left, still a lot of playoffs left. If they would be hitting their free throws, even this game tonight would be more like a 6 or 7 point game at half.

 

[Blitz]

Looking forward to Game 4 with Dallas at San Antonio tomorrow.
Go OKC, too!

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Lakers are still on the bus to the arena.

They're allowing a young, athletic team to gain confidence, while they're only looking old and slow. Kobe Bryant can't adjust his game past a "Can You Top This?" contest against the opponent's best player. They have no mojo right now, and no way to slow or stop Westbrook and Durant.

They will lose this series in six games if they lose tonight.

Next year, there will be a smattering of "When did the Lakers get so old?" stories during the regular season.

Buck up, Piotr. You sound too much like a member of Lakersground. OKC's doing what young, athletic teams have done to older, favored teams forever in the playoffs at home - remember the Kings in the first round in 2000, along with dozens of other examples? Still a lot of game left, still a lot of series left, still a lot of playoffs left. If they would be hitting their free throws, even this game tonight would be more like a 6 or 7 point game at half.

I'd be more optimistic if the Lakers hadn't played like garbage for the entire final month of the season. I was pessimistic throughout last year's playoffs as well, but that was me being a worried fandork. This time, they just lack momentum.

Can see it all happening: They lose tonight, Kobe pulls one of those "Get on my back!" games for Game Five, he can't pull it off this year due to the injuries, and they fall again.

Then in Game Six, fans of a nothing franchise (with an extremely bright future) presume to chant "Beat L.A.!" again, and the season ends.

And fans of other teams will rejoice as if a Lakers loss entitles them to hanging a banner. Sort of like when the Yankees lose.

 

[cwilson3]

The Lakers seem a lot more rattled than they should be in a hostile road arena. Then again, the Cavs pulled the same **** the other night, so did the Nuggets.

 

[Blitz]

Lakers (loathed).

.

Sort of like when the Yankees lose.

Exactly.

 

[mb]

I'd be more optimistic if the Lakers hadn't played like garbage for the entire final month of the season. I was pessimistic throughout last year's playoffs as well, but that was me being a worried fandork. This time, they just lack momentum.

Can see it all happening: They lose tonight, Kobe pulls one of those "Get on my back!" games for Game Five, he can't pull it off this year due to the injuries, and they fall again.

Then in Game Six, fans of a nothing franchise (with an extremely bright future) presume to chant "Beat L.A.!" again, and the season ends.

And fans of other teams will rejoice as if a Lakers loss entitles them to hanging a banner. Sort of like when the Yankees lose.

Damn, dude. Bitter much? Y'all *did* win it all last year, right?

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Sure. And I don't expect them to win it all this year, which I am obviously fine with. Kobe's got his post-Shaq title, the point is made. No need to be greedy. A lot of franchises have never even won one.

But I'd really prefer for them to not become the third (or is it fourth?) top seed to lose in the first round.

And if you can dispute the following statement, I'm all ears:

And fans of other teams will rejoice as if a Lakers loss entitles them to hanging a banner.

 

[Den1983]

These Lakers are lacking something indeed. Kobe doesn't look the same. Artest has played horrible, especially offensively. Fisher is old. Bynum is here and there, as is Odom.

But I do also think a lot of is the Thunder just playing fantastic basketball moreso than the Lakers playing bad basketball.

 

[Den1983]

What the **** is Denver doing, well, other than solidifying its reputation for being the new version of the 1990's Portland Trailblazers?

Sooo much talent on Denver, yet they're so mentally and physically fragile, it's frustrating. How the hell can they not put away a team missing two of its starters?

 

[zagoshe]

The Lakers will win this series, but can you remember a time when a team as talented as the Lakers just layed down and died like dogs the way the Lakers did tonight? That was a joke, they should be ashamed

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

The Lakers will win this series, but can you remember a time when a team as talented as the Lakers just layed down and died like dogs the way the Lakers did tonight? That was a joke, they should be ashamed

Yeah, I can remember.

The Lakers did the same last year against Houston, in Games Four and Six.

Then, having learned their lesson, they again capitulated to Denver in Game Four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_NBA_Playoffs

They do nothing the easy way.

On another note, thought this was amusing, from a Mark Heisler throwaway column about LeBron vs. the Bulls (and it really was a throwaway column, except to note how poorly the Bulls have done with free agent money):

"Tweeted Cavaliers play-by-play broadcaster Fred McLeod before Game 3:

"Not saying it's a fe de compli in Chicago . . . but Bulls are on page 4 of the Tribune, kicked off front page by the Cubs and NFL draft."

Yes, Fred McLeod, that's EXACTLY how "fait accompli" is spelled.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-heisler-20100425,0,2371745.column