re-seeding is extremely difficult to do when you have to schedule games to fit into a networks line-up. TNT/ESPN would be very upset if they had to wait for all 1st round matchups to complete rather than getting to fill a time slot with the 2nd round matchup that finished first.
Pretty much. To do otherwise operates on the assumptions that the higher seeded team is always the better team, and the higher seeded team is more deserving to advance to the next round, neither of which are necessarily true.
Seeding determines the initial matchups. From that point, may the best man win.
KG and Brandon Bass will have free reign as Miami doesnt have anyone to match them...If Lebron matches KG then Brandon Bass will be free with Anthony/Haslem on him which is a mismatch, otherwise KG has a mismatch.
Miami has no one to match Rondo as Chalmers and Cole cant D him up and Wade isnt a defensive player...because if you make him work on D itll take from his offense.
Paul Pierce will lose some of his offense by working as hard as he will to counter LeBron, though Pietrus will give him breaks (something they didnt have last year)
the big X factor is that Ray Allen cant check DWade...Bradley being hurt is the biggest miss in this series. Ray cant do it with his bum ankle.
Lets say though...Wade goes for 30 a game...Pierce can keep LeBron to 20ish, and the rest of the Heat cant beat the Celtics...Paul will get his customary 15, Ray will get 10, KG will average 20 and Rondo becomes the x-factor...
Miami doesnt have a good matchup with Boston because the things Boston does well the Heat dont do well...and their D matches up with 4/5 of what the Heat do well...
if Wade plays championship ball Boston loses, but if KG plays championship ball, they dont...
"It has to start somewhere It has to start somehow What better place than here? What better time than now?"
that entire post should be in purple font. i hate miami as much as anyone, but if they don't sweep Miami it's because they got overconfident/lazy in one of the games.
Quote: Western Conference Finals are going to be incredible.
Can't wait
Just. Really good basketball.
It's fantastic.
100% agreement. I'm really still up in arms as to who presents the best matchup for the Heat, though. On one hand you have SA who can grind it to a hault, move the ball really well in their half court sets, hit the mid-ranges, and play sound fundamental D, and on the other hand there's the Thunder's athleticism on the wings and in the open floor with real solid post D. PG play is pretty close to a wash (at least compared to MIA), so really, who gives them the better run for their money?
Politicians are puppets, y'all. Let's get Geppetto!
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When San Antonio and Oklahoma City open the NBA Western Conference Finals today, watch closely, Cavaliers fans.
With any luck -- and some patience -- this could be the Cavs in a few years. That's the plan, anyway.
The Spurs and the Thunder are the two teams the Cavs have patterned themselves after for a variety of reasons.
As two of the smaller markets in the league, both teams have built patiently through the draft, with stars willing to stay put and grow and, by and large, with solid citizens whose character is as strong as their skills. The Spurs are a crafty veteran team that isn't flashy but doesn't make mistakes, while the Thunder is a young, athletic squad whose talent and effort on defense and explosiveness on offense is often eye-popping.
No wonder basketball purists around the world are so eager to watch them square off.
"From a television broadcast position, we couldn't have asked for two better teams," said TNT analyst Reggie Miller during a conference call with reporters last week. "Obviously, you have the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the Western Conference, but it was really these two teams from Day One that really separated themselves in the Western Conference.
"For it to come down for all the marbles to move on to the NBA Finals . . . this is what you ask for and dream of -- to have the two best teams, one and two, go at it."
What many may not realize is that Thunder General Manager Sam Presti actually patterned his team after the Spurs.
"There's no question the influence from San Antonio is huge," said TNT analyst Steve Kerr, who played for the Cavs as well as the Spurs, during the conference call. "Sam started out as intern there. It's probably the best model that you can try to pattern your franchise after. He's done an amazing job. He's really laid that foundation, made the right [draft] picks, established the way the organization is going to go about its business, embraced the community.
"They have not skipped one step there, and Sam deserves a ton of credit."
The Cavs' links to the Spurs go back to former General Manager Danny Ferry, who joined San Antonio after 10 years of playing with the Cavs, winning an NBA title in 2003, then moving to the front office there. After five years as the Cavs' general manager, he resigned and returned to the Spurs' front office.
The common denominator between the Cleveland and San Antonio franchises is the premium put on character.
Although it made Cavs fans crazy when former General Manager Wayne Embry stressed it, his insistence on acquiring players with character resulted in the much-loved teams of the 1990s featuring Mark Price and Brad Daugherty.
As great as those teams were, they could never overcome the greatness of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, who rose to prominence at the same time. One advantage the Cavaliers have now is that if they are able to surround Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving with enough young talent in the next few years, traditional Eastern Conference powers such as Boston and Miami will be over the hill, while up-and-comers such as Chicago, Indiana and Philadelphia don't have players in the same class as Jordan, who can will their teams to win.
Many things have to go right for the Cavaliers to get from where they are now to where San Antonio and Oklahoma City currently reside. It starts with Wednesday's NBA Lottery and the upcoming NBA Draft, as the Cavs hope to build on the foundation they established with the selection of Irving and Tristan Thompson last year.
But the team believes it has the resources, the patience and the plan in place to get there.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Quote: Yeah, I don't follow the NBA draft as much as you guys, I was just going off of David Aldrige's rankings, so I could be way off.
naw, it's not way off, just need them to fall a bit from the current consensus. Leonard was thought to be a lottery pick by many until he went completely passive towards the end of the year when the Illini were fighting for a NCAA spot. someone could still take him as 7fters who can hit 15-20ft shots are not all that commond.
fab is all over the place. but, most see him as a 1st rounder because he's a legit C who can defend (take a look at the '5' today, only about 10 guys who have legitimate offense, the rest are defenders).
There were too many "I'm gonna run down the court and shoot right away" possessions from OKC on Sunday. You just can't do that all that much against San Antonio unless you are trying to ride some momentum wave. There were some really dumb shots in the last 6 or 7 minutes of that game.
I saw a little too much of the iso stuff, while San Antonio runs a lot of actual plays. It's really awesome too see. If they had NY or LA or BOS on their jersey instead of SAS, people would be sick of hearing about how good they are.
OKC definitely can get lazy when Westbrook, Harden and Durant are all on the floor together. At times, they are running picks for each other and utilizing back-picks by Perk&Ibaka to get open space on the weakside. But, too many times, they are just trying to go 1on1 or running a simple PnR rather than anything extra.
SA, on the other hand, runs the same play over and over. It just has about 15 different options and loops back to the beginning (on the other side of the key). Tony Parker has mastered the decision making for it and when their reserves are hitting the open-3's it generates, it is a thing of beauty.
They only do 2-3-2 in the Finals. I believe it is that way for geographical reasons.
On a side note these last two SA-OKC games were more like I expected this would go. OKC is just way more talented. If SA can pull off Game 5 I think we will get a 7 game series and OKC will win in game 7.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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SF MKG, Kentucky