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Official 2011-2012 NBA Playoffs Thread

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Since only Lebron can guard either Durant or Westbrook, the Heat are in huge trouble, they'll have to shore up their rotations on defense if they want to have a chance. Oh, and Wade needs to stop taking terrible shots.
 
No surprises that OKC won the first game. What is surprising is D-wade is playing pretty badly these playoffs. At least it seems that way to me. Are his stats down from last year? He's turned into a Punk the past year or two anyways so I like to see him do badly 😛
 
Am I the only one who suspects that Phil Jackson would have loved to see the Thunder fail in these finals so he could slide into that job and add to his legacy?

As a matter of fact - he probably has his eyes on both of these jobs. He can pick 'em.
 
I kinda want Lebron to get a ring but then I remember what an entitled douchebag he is.
Wade might even be worse. Dude is 30 and his game has dropped off a cliff. Can't believe Wade has ever had the nuts to call out Dirk. Wade is a has been at 30 and Dirk carried his team to a title at 33. Screw the heat.
 
Via said:
Am I the only one who suspects that Phil Jackson would have loved to see the Thunder fail in these finals so he could slide into that job and add to his legacy?

As a matter of fact - he probably has his eyes on both of these jobs. He can pick 'em.
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What are you talking about willis?

Phil can probably take Bobcats and make them into Championship team. Also he already has a legacy that very few coaches (of ANY SPORT) can EVER even match.
 
Vdubchaos said:
What are you talking about willis?

Phil can probably take Bobcats and make them into Championship team. Also he already has a legacy that very few coaches (of ANY SPORT) can EVER even match.
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Phil is obviously one of the best coaches of all time, but part of that is that he very carefully picks his spots. Having multiple HOFers on your team is a tremendous boost and one the Bobcats don't offer.

Not everyone knows how to manage talent like he does, but he always starts out with the most talented teams.
 
You can tell the heat almost revert to street ball with little coaching when games get tight. They have the talent just not the coaching behind it, Phil, or any other decent coach could take the heat to the top of the Eastern Confernce for awhile.

Problem is the raw talent hides the bad coaching most the year until playoffs.
 
Ashenor said:
You can tell the heat almost revert to street ball with little coaching when games get tight. They have the talent just not the coaching behind it, Phil, or any other decent coach could take the heat to the top of the Eastern Confernce for awhile.
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Aside from Wade the Heat shot 50% and moved the ball around very well, 29 baskets off of 18 assists. What exactly do you mean?
 
HendrixFan said:
Aside from Wade the Heat shot 50% and moved the ball around very well, 29 baskets off of 18 assists. What exactly do you mean?
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The Heat definitely have moments where they just run isolations for LeBron or Wade, dribble the clock down to 6 or so, make a move and throw up a jumper. And they're good enough that this can actually be an effective strategy. But when they're at their best, like they were in the first half, it's because they were driving the lane and dishing to Battier for unconstested threes, or getting the defense to double LeBron so Chalmers had an open lane to the rim. You cannot win playing isolation basketball. Even Jordan would kick out to Kerr and Paxson for game winners.

Isolation is fine for the regular season, but against OKC in the Finals? That's a losing strategy.
 
I'm trying to find the numbers, but I think the transition points were something like 24-4 in OKC's favor. Lebron was also publicly asking for a breather. Spol's got some work to do on the rotation and getting guys back to cover the breaks.
 
Ashenor said:
I mean its talent not coaching getting the job done. A A+ coach would have the heat winning 3 of the next 5 NBA finals.
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If Wade shoots 35% no amount of coaching can overcome that, aside from sitting him on the bench. I don't think that is realistic.

Westbrook shot 40%, so the Heat want him to keep doing that. Going into the fourth he had seven (!) more shots than Durant. What they don't want is his 11 assists. Most of those came on poor secondary help rotations, something that shouldn't be too difficult to shore up.
 
couple thoughts..

before everyone buries D.Wade - he's hurt - he had his knee drained during the Indy series - so he's clearly not at 100%

James Jones had a bad migrane headache yesterday and was unable to play - not that he's the savoir or anything, but they had planned on him being in the rotation - and quite frankly, I'd much rather see him out there than Mike (my back is broken) Miller.

Key for me in the 2nd half - 2 turnovers by OKC - even though Westbrook may look out of control at times, and take some bad shots, he can pretty much get to the basket on anyone. You can see though, he's uncomfortable making entry passes, or passes to Durant, when they are well defended, or fronted - I thought he could have rather easily hit Durant several times over the top when they were fronting him, but he looked very hesitant to even try.

The BobCats with Phil Jackson? Still a shitty team.
 
Wonder how long before Lebrick or DFade attack Spoelstra? When things aren't going good Lebrick and DW have a tendency to humiliate or flat out assault Spoelstra.
 
ok guys I'm glad the Thunder won but it's only one game. They NEED to win these first two games. It doesn't get interesting until someone loses at home
 
OILFIELDTRASH said:
Wonder how long before Lebrick or DFade attack Spoelstra? When things aren't going good Lebrick and DW have a tendency to humiliate or flat out assault Spoelstra.
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When has James ever done that? I can't recall. He's too busy trying to play the pacifist and get everyone to like him to do something else controversial.
 
HendrixFan said:
Phil is obviously one of the best coaches of all time, but part of that is that he very carefully picks his spots. Having multiple HOFers on your team is a tremendous boost and one the Bobcats don't offer.

Not everyone knows how to manage talent like he does, but he always starts out with the most talented teams.
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He was promoted to his first head coaching position, the bulls, and "picked" only one other spot. All established coaches look for a good personnel/organizational fit for their coaching style and goals, and often take much more than a year off to find it, which is all Jackson took before accepting the lakers offer. He was no fool, but I highly doubt he would have stopped coaching without the lakers opportunity.
 
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I'd also like to add - the guy that said the Heat, with an A+ coach, would win 3 of the n ext 5 NBA finals...

is OKC going to close up shop? Durant, Harden, Westbrook, Ibaka - all under 25.

I'd agree if you said these 2 teams are going to meet again in the finals, but to say any coach would guarantee Heat titles - that's a bit much to take.
 
This series may be all about Durant if he continues his dominance, but imo it can't really be emphasized enough how much Westbrook has grown into such a smarter more disciplined player.

For someone often considered to be undermining Durant, he's making much better decisions in crunch time and running the team much more effectively down the stretch imo. That's not to say he's without faults or that he always controls his emotions etc., but from where he's come from, and how young he is, he's really come a long ways in the 'intangibles' in a relatively short period of time.
 
OILFIELDTRASH said:
Wonder how long before Lebrick or DFade attack Spoelstra? When things aren't going good Lebrick and DW have a tendency to humiliate or flat out assault Spoelstra.
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wait so a single bump 2 years ago = "a tendency" in your mind? I would be surpised, except you called him Lebrick. Do you know in his ppg in elimination games is the highest in nba history? Better than even the god himself Jordan. Wade also isn't 100% right now, not to make excuses for him. But when he's back to 100% he'll be killing it again, he's not on a downward spiral, he's just playing like most INJURED players do.
 
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