NBA Playoffs Start Today!!!

[metaldude26]

So pumped!!!

I've been out on the NBA since March Madness because of the overlap of college ball and fantasy hockey playoffs but I'm back in all the way. Who do you guys like? I think that the Thunder-Heat rematch is virtually a lock but the West is still pretty darn interesting because there are some teams that can give the Thunder but they may lose in round one. For instance Golden State could beat Denver even though Denver is a really bad matchup for OKC. San Antonio should stomp on LA but their injuries make that questionable and the Clips and Griz are going to abuse each other before they can escape round one.

Here are my picks for round one - I've bet all of these:

WEST

Thunder over Rockets 4-0.
Spurs over Lakers 4-3.
Nuggets over Warriors 4-3.
Clippers over Grizzlies 4-3.

EAST

Heat over Bucks 4-0
Celtics over Knicks 4-2
Pacers over Hawks 4-1
Bulls over Nets 4-2

[bondon]

But if you ask Brandon Jennings the Bucks are taking the Heat in 6 games LOL

[metaldude26]

But if you ask Brandon Jennings the Bucks are taking the Heat in 6 games LOL

He says weird things. He once compared playing in Milwaukee to playing in Rome.

[SixtyPercentOfTheTime]

He once compared playing in Milwaukee to playing in Rome.

Must have been the architecture.

[metaldude26]

Welp, there goes my Celtics in six "prediction". They are not winning four of the next five. Still possible to take it in seven though. Either way, great start to the playoffs. It doesn't get much better than a raucous MSG crowd.

[bondon]

Welp, there goes my Celtics in six "prediction". They are not winning four of the next five. Still possible to take it in seven though. Either way, great start to the playoffs. It doesn't get much better than a raucous MSG crowd.

Wow looks like Melo just completely took over that game. 36 points 4 steals 6 boards 4-6 from 3 and 6-6 from the line.

And how big of a find has Chris Copeland been. Geeze, ever since getting a shot with Melo out of the lineup this dude has been nothing but money for them. I know on the score sheet he was 0-3 today but the guy has been a force for this team. Imagine finding two diamonds in the rough in two consecutive years (Lin last year)

[metaldude26]

Wow looks like Melo just completely took over that game. 36 points 4 steals 6 boards 4-6 from 3 and 6-6 from the line.

And how big of a find has Chris Copeland been. Geeze, ever since getting a shot with Melo out of the lineup this dude has been nothing but money for them. I know on the score sheet he was 0-3 today but the guy has been a force for this team. Imagine finding two diamonds in the rough in two consecutive years (Lin last year)

If you are looking for a standout performer for the Knicks today look no further than Kenyon Martin. I was wondering all year why a contender didn't pick him up. Also, Kidd defensively down the stretch made some huge swipes.

Melo honestly didn't do that much in the second half but he was money to kickstart the game.

[bondon]

Only managed to catch the first couple of quarters of the Clippers/Grizz game last night. The Grizzlies really screwed themselves with all of those early fouls (Randolph/Conley/Allen).

Clippers are just too deep of a team for the Grizzlies to fend off though IMO. I think their starting five matches up pretty well against each other but beyond that the Clippers have so much more quality depth.

Kind of lame that there were no upset wins last night. Golden State made it close.

And wow Andre Miller. I remember playing NBA2005 with the Nuggets team that had guys like Miller/Melo/Martin and Earl Boykins lol....

[metaldude26]

David Lee out for the playoffs. http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=421369

There goes pretty much any chance of Golden State pulling the upset.

[bondon]

Tip for Dwight Howard.

If you're frustrated that teams are hacking you intentionally to put you on the line, here's a tip.

Learn how to shoot a ****ing free throw.

Instead of flying elbows. Dwight is honestly one of the dirtiest players in the league. Dude throws elbows all over the place intentionally on a regular basis.

[metaldude26]

Tip for Dwight Howard.

If you're frustrated that teams are hacking you intentionally to put you on the line, here's a tip.

Learn how to shoot a ****ing free throw.

Instead of flying elbows. Dwight is honestly one of the dirtiest players in the league. Dude throws elbows all over the place intentionally on a regular basis.

Yeah that will never make sense to me. You are paid gazillions of dollars to play basketball and somehow shooting free throws doesn't get perfected? The only thing is that I'm pretty sure he has a mental block. You can see that he's not like Shaq where the concept just baffles him. Dwight actually has solid form. He just cannot perform the skill with the lights and the fans and the pressure. He should be like a 70% guy.

[metaldude26]

Also, I loathe Patrick Beverley.

[Ross The Boss Palmer]

Yeah that will never make sense to me. You are paid gazillions of dollars to play basketball and somehow shooting free throws doesn't get perfected? The only thing is that I'm pretty sure he has a mental block. You can see that he's not like Shaq where the concept just baffles him. Dwight actually has solid form. He just cannot perform the skill with the lights and the fans and the pressure. He should be like a 70% guy.

Those big guys are so strong that it's very difficult to develop their fine motor skills to gently launch the ball with the correct amount of force to reach the trajectory and actually going into the hoop. It's like us normal sized people trying to throw a balloon into a hoop. Not so easy.

[metaldude26]

Those big guys are so strong that it's very difficult to develop their fine motor skills to gently launch the ball with the correct amount of force to reach the trajectory and actually going into the hoop. It's like us normal sized people trying to throw a balloon into a hoop. Not so easy.

I'd agree with you if Dwight didn't have good form. The issue isn't that he's so big he can't control his limbs. Dwight's not actually a 7-footer. He's friggin huge but he's not so huge that it's a problem like it was for Shaq. The reason Dwight is in the NBA making the big bucks is because he's not only huge but he's also got the fine motor skills to perform at that size. I've seen him knock down 15-foot shots with ease, even going off glass. Too big isn't his issue. He has confidence issues at the line and lacks focus. It's not dissimilar from Tim Duncan who is a great shooter. He's always had this weird thing where if he misses the first free throw of a half he'll struggle at the line for the rest of the half. If he hits the first he's locked in. And it's all mental.

[JagrBomb]

i dont know if i can play basketball yet alone watch another game, i cant stop thinking about ware's leg incident.