DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NBA Continued

I'm watching too. OKC wont get far, but thats who Im rooting for.

Interesting, I suppose I could root for OKC too. I do mock "Playoff P" and his playoff struggles, but I don't dislike the guy. As for Russ, dude is a monster, nobody seems to care he averaged a triple double for a 3rd year in a row. Sure, he pads his rebounds and his teammates help him, but that can't account for all of them. He's working his tail off every night. Plus, Adams is a fun dude to watch too.

I'm hoping these teams win in the first round:

MIL over DET
TOR over ORL
PHI over BRK
IND over BOS
LAC over GSW
DEN over SAS
OKC over POR
HOU over UTA

However, I have a feeling this is how the results will play out:

MIL over DET
TOR over ORL
BRK over PHI
BOS over IND
GSW over LAC
SAS over DEN
POR over OKC
HOU over UTA

I just don't trust Philly. If Embiid were healthy they'd sweep the Nets.

I see the Warriors just lost Cousins to a torn quad. He had been a useful player for them.

Now they have their built-in excuse just in case they don't win again. That, or the league is rigged.

But, the league was only rigged in 2016, not in 2015, 2017, or 2018 though.

GSW will win/would've won with or without Cousins. It's a foregone conclusion. I'd love to be wrong.

Side note, rooting for PDX. Always liked Lillard and even more so, McCollum, local guy and a big Browns fan. Always been fascinated by the team in the Great NW.

Lillard to end that 3rd period. And before that... Wow

Lillard is an absolute beaut

Hoping I can talk bb w/out all the stupid LeBron bashing.

So, the playoffs:

--Philly is really hard to like. Embid and Simmons laughing about the dirty shot Embid had on the Allen was pathetic.

--I have no idea if they have the assets, but I would like to see AD end up w/Brooklyn. They need an inside presence. Man, Lavert and Dinwiddie are so underrated.

--Houston is looking really good right now and CP3 stays healthy, they really could beat GS. I think the Warriors would be favored, but the Rockets would have a legit chance.

--Too bad Blake can't stay healthy. He was giving The Greek Freak all he wanted.

--But yeah, The Greek Freak is unreal. What a physical specimen.

--Kyrie is a goof ball and a pouter, but he is tough in the clutch. He has no fear. That's huge in the playoffs.

--Not sure about Denver. The Joker is for real, but I don't see them as a real threat.

--That Siakim [spelling?] dude for Toronto is very impressive. He's long, quick, agile, and quick twitch. I think he can ball.


--Dang.......how did I forget Lillard. Perhaps the most underrated dude in the league. He gets a ton of pub, but he is a true star. Unlimited range, great body control, team leader, humble, clutch, etc.

SWEEEEEEP 4-0 GO CELTICS

I still hate golden state.

I do too ... they're very aggravating to watch

Damian Lillard with the game winner!!

Wow, what is that ... 10, 12 feet outside the arc?

I'm glad I saw it live. I was watching the Sharks/Knights OT and something made me flip over even though I knew it was risky because you don't take your eyes off an OT playoff NHL game 7. I saw Damian bring the ball over the time line, side step and bang. Dude is clutch (something we can't say about "Playoff P" and Westbrook).

We'll see how the Blazers handle the 2nd round though. Beating up on the Thunder wasn't too difficult.

Closer to half court than the three point line.

Dude is the hardest stop in the NBA right now. He's been dropping bombs from way outside the arc all season... and his postseason has been even more consistent.

I’m not an NBA fan but this has been the talk of the town today. Even in my predominately female filled office there was quite a buzz. One of our chaplain’s came in this morning with a big grin on her face...”did you see that game last night?!”

I had to go look up the shot to see it for myself.
Good for the Blazers. Good for Portland.

I’ll not be watching the next round of games either... but I still hope they win.

Last night's Portland vs OKC game was easily the best NBA game I have ever watched. It was exciting from the start, lead changes, OKC never letting down, Portland clawing its way back. Lillard having a game of his life and then, 5 minutes left, nothing was falling...they fell behind, but they kept their cool. 9 sec left Dame calmly dribbles down and with 1-2 seconds left unleashes a 37 footer that swishes right at 0.0! BOOMSHOCKALOCKA! Bye Bye Thunder, hello 2nd round!

Pure brilliance.

I was watching that game and fell asleep. Wish I could have watched it unfold live.

I love Lillard. I talked about him earlier. He gets a lot of pub, but I still think he is underrated.

CJ McCollum is a good dude too. From Ohio...came out to watch the Browns vs Falcons game with the Portland Browns Backers this past season. Super humble, signed a few autographs, but other than that folks left him alone and he was just another person cheering the Browns on.

People underrate him because he plays on a small market team. However, the Blazers have been an extremely successful franchise. Only one championship, but they are almost always in the playoffs...so, they are no slouches and the games are consistently sold out. As Browns fans, we all know that Free agency is difficult for small market teams as it's hard to convince big name players to come play for you.

I actually know CJ. My brother coached against him and Kosto Koufous when both played for Canton GlenOak back in the day. My bro said a lot of people were down on CJ and laughed at him when he said that CJ would make it to the NBA. Kosto has much higher local expectations.

Still, having two NBA players from the same time period in Stark County, Ohio is really impressive.

CJ is an excellent player. Damian Lillard, however, is elite.

They are arguably the best backcourt in the entire league.

Agreed.

The loss of Nurkic will be hard to overcome in round 2, but...so many said they wouldn't get past OKC so it was nice to watch them prove so many wrong and in 5 games as well!

Second round thoughts:

--K. Leonard looked awesome against Philly. He's laying claim to be in the discussion as the best player in the league again. Philly is not very likeable.

--Boston killed the Bucks. I really haven't watched Milwaukee this year all that much, but man, I don't like their style. They dribble too much and play a lot of isolation. Jack up a lot of tough shots. That might work in the regular season, but not so much against a good D, and Boston played great D.

--Golden State has their own set of rules in the NBA. I hate watching them and their special privileges.

GO CELTICS

Let’s assume you’re an NBA coach and you’ve convinced your players to rarely argue or show up referees, do you think over time that would benefit the team?

I rarely see a foul without a player acting like it was the worst whistle of the decade. If your players could act like the old days and raise their arm on foul calls, would that help?

The whining doesn’t bother me because it’s ubiquitous. I kind of tune it out. However, if you really look for it, it’s annoying. I saw Marc Gasol go nuts tonight and the Raptor fans booed the call. On replay, he got arm and it was legit.

When I coached, I insisted that we didn't bash the refs. My line of reasoning was that I should teach these young men to be respectful and I also thought that the refs would be more fair if we treated them w/respect.

But, look at teams like Golden State. They flip out on almost every call. Yet, they continue to get more favorable calls than other teams. Hardin cries a lot and he gets a ton of calls. In college hoops, Duke gets a ton of calls and Coach K complains a lot during the games.

I think the NBA players are over the top w/their complaining. The arm gestures, the swearing, the personal attacks, the whining of almost every call or non-call is a turn-off.

Think about it, we're in the second round of the playoffs and guys are not getting back on defense because they are complaining about a call or non-call. That's disgusting.

I remember when that got you technical and some time on the pine. Some of this is just ridiculous. Some fans seem to live for the artificial drama. Regularly, some players do as well.

Play ball.

Good info, thanks.

GO CELTICS 2-0 Tonight

So why is the NBA assigning Scott Foster to this game. The animosity between he and James Hardin is off the charts. After all the controversy in game 1 w/the refs, the NBA comes back and assigns a ref who has a huge problem w/James Hardin and vice-versa?

That's odd.

The refs are preassigned before the series starts.

Not sure how many of you played and/or coached basketball, but man, these guys are both awesome and pathetic at the same time.

Their skill level is off the charts. Great shooters. Incredible leapers. Very fast. Athletic.

On the other hand, their fundamentals as a whole are terrible. Shot selection sucks. Not honoring each possession is rampant. Teamwork is lacking. Playing each possession like it's important does not exist.

Thanks. Some things should be corrected.

Rockets are going to be swept. The Warriors are hellbent on changing the narrative from last year that the Rockets would have beat them if CP3 had been healthy. They are done. I find it hilarious that the Rockets are creating reports and videos about the officiating when Harden has lived off those breaks for the past few years. He's either creating contact or traveling. I don't want the Warriors to advance, but I can't stand the Rockets, so I'll be glad when the other is beaten.

I think the Bucks force 6 games, but the Celts are too deep. Maybe, maybe if Brogden comes back, but he won't be in shape and doubt he can have his touch back (a 54/40/90 guy - which is awesome).

If only Embiid were healthy. He's so fun to watch, such a change from how it's all three balls all the time nowadays. I think Toronto wins in 7. I like Jimmy Butler, but I don't think he can do what he did in Game 2 consistently. He's an alpha but only some of the time. He disappears too often.

The Nuggets and Blazers series should end up being the most fun to watch. I think that'll go 7 games too. Jokic is like a taller version of Magic/Bird. The ball goes through him on almost every possession. He either scores, assists or get a rebound/putback on every offensive possession, it's crazy. Damien is insane to watch too, but I don't think they'll have enough to beat the Nuggets four times. Losing Nurkic doomed them.

I don't necessarily agree w/everything, but I appreciate a pure basketball post. Nice job.

I've had a tough time watching the NBA playoffs this year. Not having the Cavs definitely makes it tough. I also can't stand the Warriors, Rockets, and Celtics, and 1, or even 2 of those 3 will be in the nba finals.

It's definitely sour grapes, but I kinda feel like we're all waiting on the warriors to break up at this point. If Lebron and the Lakers have made it, I probably would watch them a little bit, but the hockey playoffs have been superior this year, by far.

The Warriors/Rockets games are agonizing to me ... so much emphasis on referees and whining to them every play. It's worse than I can remember