Charles thinks the Clippers are gonna beat the Warriors. What a surprise. Dude is just a blind hater. You're telling me a team that perennially chokes is gonna beat a team that just won a record amount of games? Stop it. San Antonio I could see maybe, but the Clippers have no chance against them. They just don't have the depth and Griffin and Jordan won't be able to play together much in that matchup otherwise they'll just get ran off the court. He talks about how they got lucky last season. Spoken as a guy who's never won a championship. Anyone who has won a championship would say you play who's in front of you and you always need a little luck. He's pathetic.
I want Raps to win it. Timmy will finish with 5, Bron will fail again and Luke will bolt to LA . Win, win, win.
About that other game last night . . . . Still haven't watched it yet, but I taped it. At some point I'll check it out. Can't believe the Mamba overshadowing the record breaking win for GS. But then again, I can!!
Cleveland/LeBron once again gets fantastic seeding, easy road to the finals. Detroit, then Atlanta or Boston, then who cares, so lucky every season.
the question is: how is steph curry going to compete with the REAL MVP? I mean, trying to win a road game in Houston is going to be tough...wait...the REAL MVP's team finished eighth? they don't have home court in the first round? surely, they're favored in vegas due to a late season surge... egads!
Honestly they could lose to Detroit I think. Detroit is a solid team and they're well coached. Obviously they'll have to have guys play over their heads a bit, but I like what they're doing over there.
I've got the Spurs and Warriors both sweeping. Grizzlies are just too banged up. Even if healthy the Spurs would probably make quick work of them. The Rockets never developed any consistency and I don't see any reason to think they can even win a game against the Warriors. Thunder beating the Mavs in 5. Dallas just doesn't have the athleticism to matchup here. They're banged up as well. Dirk is pretty much the only one with a matchup advantage here. I just think it'll be too much on his shoulders. Blazers pushing the Clippers, but bowing it in 6. Portland doesn't have the bigs to really contend with Jordan and Griffin. Unlike the Warriors they don't have a great small ball lineup to neutralize them. Lillard and Paul will be a great matchup. Two guys who if it weren't for Steph would be MVP candidates. For this Portland team to be a fifth seed with all the players they lost just incredible. Both teams like to push the ball so it should be fun from that point. Ultimately though I think Portland still relies too much on Damian and CJ. Bright future though. Detroit will be competitive against Cleveland, but ultimately the lack of experience and the fact they really have nobody who can slow down LeBron I see the Cavs winning in 5. Drummond is a monster however and Cleveland has no one to guard him. Jackson should have no issue abusing Kyrie and I think he can get into his head and make him be a playmaker where we know he struggles. This is a five game series that could easily go six or seven. Miami and Charlotte will be a good series, but Whiteside will be the difference. Miami in 6. Charlotte has had a terrific year. They've never really been competitive in the postseason, but that should change this year. Kemba has really stepped his game up this season and will give Dragic all he can handle. Also think MKG will give Wade fits on the defensive end. Without Bosh I don't see Miami beating the Cavs or Raptors, but I just think with how dominant Whiteside is it's gonna be difficult for their man scorers to get quality looks. Hawks and C Bags is another intriguing matchup, but I just think the C Bags will be exposed in the playoffs for not having that true #1. Problem is Atlanta has same issue, but they have home court. Atlanta in 6. Raptors and Pacers. On paper Raps should win easily, but the Pacers have the best player in the series imo in Paul George so I think they can take them to seven, but Raps finally got over that first round hump.
atl/bos and mia/cha create a lot of ambivalence for me. on the one hand, i could see them being really close series, evenly matched and high energy. on the other hand, i have a hard time imagining myself watching these games. how is that possible? spurs will squash memphis like a teeny, tiny bug. the warriors will give at least one game up to houston. dal will be lucky to get one game off okc, and if they do, it will be game 4 to avoid the sweep, i think. lac/por is one i'll watch with the most interest. lillard's an assassin, and i think stotts is a much better coach than rivers. i'm guessing the clips have to run paul into the ground to win that series. the second round in the west should be super fun, though.
I think San Antonio and Golden State will make quick work of OKC and the Clippers and play an epic series in the West Finals. Diaw will be back which somewhat can limit the damage their small lineup can do. I think Kawhi is gonna take his game to another level in the playoffs and I think the Spurs win it all. Duncan gets to ride off into the sunset with a ring.
I think we can. As great as KD and Westbrook are they aren't gonna beat San Antonio or Golden State by themselves. They will wear down. It happened two years ago against San Antonio and even going back to the Finals when Harden was a no show. Ibaka isn't the same player. Looking at the rest of the roster guys like Waiters, Adams, Roberson, Morrow, and Singler just aren't very reliable. Their front office has done a horrible job surrounding them with talent.
okc's defense troubles me. on paper, it really should be pretty good, but they don't seem to make it work consistently enough to beat a good team in a long series. however, i'll be surprised if anyone makes quick work of them. they still have two of the top 5 players in the league.
OKC was a disaster in the 4th after the ASG . Overall this team has the same weaknesses for 4-5 years despite having 2 superstars . Remember when EVERYBODY thought it was only the beginning for them after the 2012 Finals loss ? They never went back to the Finals ( sure they had injuries during the playoffs but I don't think they would have made it to the last round again anyways) OKC's FO really f***ed this up
no argument about how badly their front office messed up. I just think that in the playoffs, having two first team all nba guys sorta helps.
Sure it helps, but you can't win without the Derek Fisher's, Brian Shaw's, Rick Fox's, Glen Rice's, Horace Grant's, etc. There is a reason they finished 12 games behind San Antonio and 18 behind Golden State. They aren't in the same stratosphere as those two. We saw it a few years ago you have to be able to out execute San Antonio as well as Golden State and they can't do that. Doesn't really matter if they have star power when the other team does as well and they don't share the ball like they do.
I don't think the gap is as big as the record, but it's not really worth arguing. it would be very surprising if either gs or sa wasn't in the finals.
