Basketball/NBA

[Wolfe]

Bad night for Chandler marking Bynum. Any other day Lakers would lose this one on the boards with that kind of performance.

[DucdeOrléans]

Wolfe/Abaddon (you clearly have followed the NBA way more than me this season)

Who are you guys pick for this years championship?

Lakers, Boston, San Antonio and Miami with Bulls as a dark horse?

[Wolfe]

Boston has lost it by the Perk trade which made them useless in the center and Garnett's shooting is inconsistent, Pierce can be outmarked easily by a good defender and Rondo isn't reliable with that kind of help in the paint (which is shown by the decline of his assist numbers in comparison to the parts of the season before the Perk trade).

San Antonio don't give me that feeling that they can win the title. Even the Pop always says they have to improve their defence in order to be in for contention. Manu may be having an All-Star season, but he disappears if he is outta his rhythm. And Duncan can't do it on his own having only a stretch #5 to help their scoring. Never trust Parker too.

Miami can't do it with no decent center or a somewhat defending #1 with matchups like Rose or Dwight. Maybe they could against foul prone Lakers, but not against tough D of Celtics where refs don't give calls super easy.

Bulls could be in for contention, but only if they remain consistent in each series. If their perimeter D will struggle then they could have problems. Rose and Boozer can carry their scoring, but not sure about Deng and Brewer despite them being serious shutdown machines (look up game against Atlanta). I dunno TBH, I think they have a shot, but have to show that they can do it in long series.

Myself, I think OKC shouldn't be disregarded. I think they are the only team to be able to go through 7 game series with the Lakers. Perk and Ibaka are the beastly paint D, Durant and Westbrook can easily add up to scoring and Harden has shown superb defence on Kobe in their last game.

But otherwise ? I think Lakers are in for a three-peat.

[DucdeOrléans]

Thanks for the answer. Not watched enough NBA this season so can't really comment.

But can't Boston use Shaq instead or is he finished now?

Yeah Oklahoma looks good this season (the few games I have watched with them this season, kindda reminds me of Portland last season)

What about Phoenix Suns, Orlando and Knicks?

[Wolfe]

They will use Shaq, but relying on a 38 yr old whose offensive game is as much as Mike Bibby's defence isn't a good strategy. He is a big body and with Krstic, maybe Jermaine to back up they will sustain, it just might not be enough to get it done game-in and game-out. He will get some boards, but even guarding someone like Howard he just gets fouls and is forced to the bench with hope that someone will draw some fouls on Dwight on the other end.

Suns are too up-tempo to be even a solid team. The only reliable way for them to get some points is to:
1) get Nash to jack up points
2) give some balls to a stretch #5 Frye who isn't even reliable
3) try to get some scoring off the bench with a decent #5 of Gortat who developed both his D and his offense, the guy running picks with Nash isn't far off Amare-Nash duo
Just not enough since Gortat is the only one defending in that team and getting fairly regular double-doubles.

Orlando's perimeter D is disgusting and Dwight still can't shoot free throws + would probably foul out facing LeBron or any good ball-hog athletic scorer. Otherwise you should ask Meta since he knows it better.

Knicks are mirror image of last year's Denver and if Billups doesn't do it for them then they are fucked. They have one joke of a center too. Spot 5-6 team, nothing more.

And since you brought up Portland, I think they could be in for an upset too since everyone in that team's starting 5 knows how to defend. I just don't know whether they will glue together better before the playoffs.

[Richard.H]

Good replies Wolfe. I still think it's Lakers going to the finals for the West but I still don't know what to put my money on for the Eastern Conference. Chicago looks really good but at the same time Boston is Boston and they are the most clutch team in the East.

[Abaddon]

Lakers clear favorites as far as I'm concerned. I see Boston, Chicago and OKC as biggest threats (all from LA's perspective). The Mavericks are right there as well.

Miami will not be easy for anyone with 2 stars of that calibre (I don't rate Bosh that much) but in the end they will falter against a solid team with inside presence (Bulls, Celtics, Magic, take your pick). So not a concern for LA since they won't get out of the East (would be a problem if they did, just for the sheer amount of FTs Wade + LEbron would get every game while Kobe would get murdered without getting anything, as both regular season meetings between the teams showed).

I think Chicago or Boston will come out of the East. Only teams I can see upsetting LA in the West are OKC and Dallas. But both could very well lose to San Antonio if they did beat LA, while San Antonio has no shot at beating LA. All about matchups.

[Wolfe]

Mavs are no favourites if they don't have a tough body guarding Kobe like Caron Butler used to. What happened yesterday night ? Beaubois was put on Kobe and Kobe shut him down making him 1/7 from the field, he also didn't do a great job guarding him. Then they switched to Marion marking Kobe, Beaubois getting Fisher meat and Kidd pushing around with Artest which led to a crucial offensive putback right in the end of the final quarter. If Brewer doesn't get into rotation against Lakers Mavs have no chance of getting there for West as far as I'm concerned.

As Ward said, it's all about matchups and Mavs had a good one in Butler, but he is not expected to be back in playoffs or on form. Such a shame, because this team this season has the most real and serious shot if they were all fit. And it's probably the second to last season of Kidd being here in Dallas.

[Richard.H]

Mavs are no favourites if they don't have a tough body guarding Kobe like Caron Butler used to. What happened yesterday night ? Beaubois was put on Kobe and Kobe shut him down making him 1/7 from the field, he also didn't do a great job guarding him. Then they switched to Marion marking Kobe, Beaubois getting Fisher meat and Kidd pushing around with Artest which led to a crucial offensive putback right in the end of the final quarter. If Brewer doesn't get into rotation against Lakers Mavs have no chance of getting there for West as far as I'm concerned.

As Ward said, it's all about matchups and Mavs had a good one in Butler, but he is not expected to be back in playoffs or on form. Such a shame, because this team this season has the most real and serious shot if they were all fit. And it's probably the second to last season of Kidd being here in Dallas.

Mavs have a better chance of beating Lakers than any other team in the Western Conference, I'll say that much. And no, I didn't include the Thunder because there's no way they will get any higher than 4th place, which means they will face Spurs in Conference Semifinals, and there's no way on Earth they are going to beat Spurs in a 7 game series.

[Wolfe]

In 7 game series ? No way Mavs are beating Lakers this way. Terry is a massive flop in the PO and always chokes, there hasn't been a season when he didn't choke in important games and with the amount of minutes he receives he will continue to choke Mavs scoring. Marion isn't a reliable offensive tool either, only fastbreaks and pretty sucky post game.

Thunder not sustaining 7 game series with the Spurs ? I dunno. Physically and athletically they will outlast them, but I think Duncan has enough brains to take over the paint himself so I dunno. Don't want to make a judgement on that one.

I had to pop back in just to say one thing:

The Knicks are the LARGEST, BIGGEST and undoubtedly the most crappy team in recent basketball history (aka this season ) How in the blue hell can one trail against Granger-less Indiana Pacers and put 2 of their GTGs in FT There is hardly a team I can remember to be so stupidly shite, maybe only LeBron teams were crappy enough, but Knicks ?

It's almost as funny as Orlando losing to Evans-less Sacramento at home the other day

[Richard.H]

The Knicks are the LARGEST, BIGGEST and undoubtedly the most crappy team in recent basketball history (aka this season ) How in the blue hell can one trail against Granger-less Indiana Pacers and put 2 of their GTGs in FT There is hardly a team I can remember to be so stupidly shite, maybe only LeBron teams were crappy enough, but Knicks ?

It's almost as funny as Orlando losing to Evans-less Sacramento at home the other day

. You have the best group of guys who play 100 % offense and 0 % defense. The team probably doesn't even know what the word defense is. They are the new Nuggets. Wait change that: They are the less defensive version of Nuggets, if such a thing is even possible.

[Elite-BkD]

Chicago are already top3 in the league and unlike LA or Boston, their room for and rate of improvement is frightening. La vs Chicago has to happen..the two best players and the two best teams facing off, it would a be brilliant series.

[Metaphysical]

Chicago look the class of the NBA right now, but you haveta wonder how they'll handle the playoffs.

if the Magic go to Dwight often, they stand a fantastic chance of making the Finals at least. I don't think Boston can live with him without Perk, and Miami n' Chicago definitely can't handle him. it's all on Van Gundy, though. he's got such a relentless hardon for the 3-point shot that so often Dwight gets 10 or less shots a game, which is not acceptable. he's improved at the line, having shown he can hit the FT's in the clutch. if he can stay steady at the line and the Magic plays inside-out rather than outside-in, I back them to come out of the East on his beastlyness alone. Rose will tear them apart, but I think they can handle the rest of Chicago. now whether they can beat the Lakers is another matter entirely.

the funniest thing is the Heat match up really well against the Lakers (clearly) but match up horribly against the other 3 best teams in the East. if the refs can somehow help them to the Finals and they're facing the Lakeshow (which is likely), they stand a chance. otherwise I wouldn't expect to see them make it past the Celtics, Magic or Bulls.

you'd think the Lakers will come out of the West. I mean San Antonio are the better team right now, but as Ward says in terms of matchups they ain't beatin' the Lakers. OKC could give the Lakers one hell of a fight but it all depends on how well the team gels with Perk, who is a rather new addition. if that goes smoothly then LA needs to watch the fuck out.

[Abaddon]

the funniest thing is the Heat match up really well against the Lakers (clearly) but match up horribly against the other 3 best teams in the East. if the refs can somehow help them to the Finals and they're facing the Lakeshow (which is likely), they stand a chance.

You're turning things around. They stand no chance against LA in a fairly called game, they match up great with the referees though when they play LA, which is the only reason they could possibly beat LA.

[La Furia]

. You have the best group of guys who play 100 % offense and 0 % defense. The team probably doesn't even know what the word defense is. They are the new Nuggets. Wait change that: They are the less defensive version of Nuggets, if such a thing is even possible.

I want to kill James Dolan so badly. That trade guaranteed we spend the next decade between the 6th and 3rd seed, second round of playoffs at best.

You're turning things around. They stand no chance against LA in a fairly called game, they match up great with the referees though when they play LA, which is the only reason they could possibly beat LA.

That's the only way they can beat any top team in the league. Grouping a bunch of also-rans into a "big 3" like the Heat did and the Knicks want to do is not how you build a winning team.