Thoughts on the playoffs...

Stop watching one half of a game and extraploting a hypothetical series result from it. Especially with that Warriors team that could get lackadaisical and sloppy for entire quarters and halfs at times. Even with a healthy Kawhi, the Spurs weren't beating that Warriors team in a series. As far as who they beat, the beat the teams in front of them. This is one of the weakest arguments ever made when trying to discount the achievements of a champion. You see this argument made in boxing discussions more than anything. And people have selective memories. "This team back in the day faced..." "This boxer back in the day fought..." With the exception of some of the Laker and Celtic teams that battled it out, I could point out flaws in ever team that every champion has faced on the way to the title going back 30-40 years.

Agreed that there is no such thing as a perfect champ, but there is also no denying that some champs went up against much stiffer competition than others. You look at the East back in 80’s with a loaded Sixers team and a Bucks team, and later the Pistons, full of all stars and future hall of famers, and you have to be more impressed with the titles the Celtics won in those years going toe to toe against those teams than any the Warriors won. And if you’re not, then you either don’t know basketball as much as you think you do, which I don’t think is the case with you, or you are lying to yourself.

No, you are lying to yourself. This is what I mean by revisionist history. In many cases, these teams weren't actually as good as the credit we give them. We get nostalgic and remember the teams of yesteryear as being do much better but really, like most good historic teams, there's usually one or two great players and a handful of good role players. And don't get me wrong, the hall of fame has a ton of good role players, but besides the Celtics, the Lakers, and Pistons, you don't look at these rosters top to bottom and go "Holy Shit!"

Finals will be Lakers over Bucks... Zzzzzzzzzzzz it doesnt get any more predictable than that... The Clippers have ZERO chance... There is 2 reasons they wont win, the media is all over them and if you pick them, you are a puppet that took the bait... And 2nd reason is, Leonard only wins titles in years a team is chasing a 3 peat... It is LBJ time since he will be retiring in a few years... Lakers are winning... Hopefully after the Lakers win it all, you clowns on here stop saying this sport isnt scripted... But chances are, you wont... 

Since this guy is gonna talk delusional, i may as well join him... I dont believe RW is actually injured, it is one of 2 things, he is being held out with a fake injury to either make Houston look very strong or very weak or he has covid and this is just a cover up so they dont have to shut down the entire season... The earliest he can return is for Game 5 of round 1 if he has covid.... The recovery time of his "injury" is up to 6 weeks or more, there is no way in hell he is missing 6 weeks.. So time to see when he returns, this will tell you if he was legit injured or if he tested positive and they are just using the injury as a cover up.... 

I am only doing brackets this year because of the uncertain nature of the Bubble playoffs. Hard to predict games, easier to pick series winners. I filled out 4 brackets and I have the Clippers coming out on top in all 4. In three of them they beat the Bucks and in one they beat the Raptors. I don’t have the Blazers upsetting the Lakers. That’s foolish and the series price is absurd. Lakers should be -500. Even if the Blazers hang with the Lakers and win a couple of games they’ll hit a wall a fizzle out. You don’t think the Lakers will be ready for this matchup after all the noise Portland has made? Rondo coming back could also be a big deal because if you recall he and Davis dismantled the Blazers a couple of years ago in the playoffs. Their chemistry was great and Rondo figured out how to control the pace against the Blazers, forcing them to play half court offense and taking away their transition game.

The only series I’m truly conflicted about are OKC and the Rockets, and Celtics v Raptors which is why I filled out 4 bracket cards. 

don’t disrespect my Miami heat , they can beat indy 4-0 

I have Miami advancing to play the Bucks in all scenarios, but I am a little worried. Butler is a hot head, and if he gets ejected or costs them a game the Pacers can win it. 

I have the Bucks winning it all. I have a theory tha tLA has been cursed for several years and haven’t won any significant titles as of late. Plus, I feel Leonard was on a better squad last year w/ Toronto than this LA team. Team chemistry from last year was better than this years Clippers team. 

In the end, Bucks win it. They’ve got great chemistry, great defense, and are due. Believe in the LA Curse. Clips and Lakers will have another disappointing end. 

Clear coaching advantage for the Heat over the Pacers and I dont like the way the Pacers take too many mid range jumpers..The Heat should win in 5 games perhaps? I also like the Celtics to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals as well...The Raptors have struggled this season vs good teams(expect the Lakers of course) and I know the Raptors were 1 and 3 vs the Celtics this season..Overall I like the Celtic wing players and their experience and I think they get back to the Conference Finals.. Will see 

If they don't win, will you stop saying it is scripted?

Thanks for stopping by, Bags. One of the old, sharp Gs on this site. There are two glaring problems that I see with the Bucks: 1) They don’t have a closer. They really don’t. For all the talent they have, the Celtics and Raptors have more closers (guys with ice water in their veins) than the Bucks. If they don’t have a dd lead in the last 5 minutes, they’re probably not beating the better teams with legit closers. 2) Coach Bud. Great regular season coach, but not so much during the playoffs. The Clippers have more closers and a better coach even with all their chemistry issues (which I don’t disagree with, btw).

Knowing your own weaknesses is also half the battle. Check out this article on the steps the Clippers have taken to improve team chemistry:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29669505/clippers-paul-george-kawhi-leonard-worked-chemistry-hiatus

I agree with you, buddy. But the Raptors are such a gritty team, with a coach that is good as Stevens, that the series is a toss up for me. The Heat should win, but the Pacers are dangerous, I think both the series you mentioned go 6 or 7.

As talented as they are, the Clippers will always be the Clippers.

Also, the Bucks are better than they are. They have the best defense and the best effective fg% in the league, and can shoot the 3 better than all but a few teams (clips not one of them)

The NBA is going to want their 2 golden boys, all star game captains Giannis and Lebron, in the finals. And they're gonna get all the calls to make sure that happens.

Especially with Kobe's passing they are gonna have the Lake show in there.

And not having box office sales isn't gonna make them want to shorten any series. It will go back and forth like always, because it's human nature to relax when you win and dig deep when you lose.

Houston still drained 3s all over teams when Russ was out. They wont even need him to beat OKC who has a limited offense. Covington, House, McLemore, Green all these guys can score.

Exactly. The stacked teams fail all the time. Dubs didnt even win it when they had the super team.

It's all about chemistry. Bucks and Raps have a lot of it. I think Houston has it too. Clips I dunno. Lakers had it but haven't looked like it lately.

I got nutin but love for you buddy, but you are wrong:

Motivation won’t be the same for all teams and players because of the bubble. Players have already opted out of playing in the bubble to be with their families, etc. Many have mixed feelings. You think a team down 0-2 or 3-1 in the bubble will give the same kind of effort they would under normal circumstances. I doubt it. Some might, but others will pack it in and return home to their families. 

You are also wrong about the Lakers. They just don’t have the talent. The NBA would have to put 3 Scott Fosters out there to keep them competitive against the Clippers. It ain’t happening. LBJ is too old and won’t be able to keep up the defensive intensity in a 7 game series. And the Lakers have zero depth. 

No, these are not your daddy’s Clippers. These are Jerry West’s Clippers. The man who built the Laker and Warrior dynasties. This team is in it to win it, and they’ll take no prisoners. 

I guess you didn’t read my post, forget about the stats. If this was about stats last year’s Bucks team was better than this years and should have won. The reason they didn’t is because they have no real closers. It’s win by committee for the Bucks, but there is no one go to guy you can count on to fearlessly take and make ashot in crunch time. The freak is great, when you’re up 10 with 4 to go, but not so much when down 5 with two to go. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

The Clippers have answers for every team, and can play any type of game (defensive, offensive, inside, outside, half court, transition, etc) all the other teams have to play their way to win. They can’t adapt or change on the fly because that’s not how they’re built. If plan A ain’t working, there is probably no plan B. Meanwhile, the Clippers have plan A, B, C, D, you get the point. And you know what I’m saying is the truth. So throw away all your preconceptions and prejudices regarding the Clippers (I probably hate them more than anybody in this forum) and bet with clarity. 

You guys can type

Great write up right on #43. Many do not understand how key it is to have that one guy to close, love the reference to the Greek Freak. I agree with you on the Lakers too. They look solid for ONE game but I like the Clippers in a SERIES. When I watch the Clippers, I feel they go 75% and are just as good at 75% then when others are going 110%. The NBA champs always come down to not your best 2-3 players, but the 4/5th best and the key guy off the bench. Who can the Lakers trust? Kuzma? KCP? Not happening. Lebron even said Kuzma will have to be the 3rd best player, and he is far from that as everyone knows and Lebron himself too. Reality is that AD can score 35 every game and Lebron can have 15 assists every game but the Lakers will still not be blowing teams out. 

I got the Clippers winning it all. We have yet to even see PG and Kawhi consistently dominate together and as I said before, the Clips have no even started to go 110% yet. Bucks should be able to get out of the East. If they do not, Giannis cannot be anywhere near the best player in the NBA convo. That team is built great and the East has a few solid teams but they are no deep enough to go 7 games with the Bucks. Should be a good playoffs with possible some big surprises in the bubble. BOL begginer boy 

Also for everyone who likes the Blazers in round 1, did yall see the scores? Lillard is great but they are still barely winning as a team, against sub par talent. 

Thanks for your input, buddy. I appreciate it. Good luck to you as well. And you are spot on about the Blazers. I think two games is the max they win off the Lakers, but could be one. Remember what Dame did To LA in the Kobe commemoration game? I don’t think they’ve forgotten. They will not allow him to beat them. It will have to be CJ and Mellow. 

True. It may be one of those series where Dame goes off Game 1 and wins it, and then Lakers win games 2-5. Could easily see that happen.

Whenever someone is this bullish it's like they have to convince themselves.

This idea of closers in basketball that youve invented Id be fine with, but saying the Bucks dont have guys that can finish games off is hilarious. Middleton has finished teams off all the time, see the recent Miami game. Giannis' problem at the end of games is usually FTs 

I agree the Lakers depth is atrocious and Lebron js getting old. I don't even like their squad I think AD is overrated and it was BS how he moved teams, practically tampering.

I would much rather see Clips vs Bucks. That would be a good series. But I would go with the Bucks. Their defense and chemistry is the best Ive seen of any team. I don't know why people think Doc Rivers is some genius coach, doesn't appear that way to me.