NBA Regular Season 2011/2012

buyer95

nerd69 wrote: »

it is a crime if you walked up to someone on the street and elbowed them youd get done for assault charges are a part of the game elbowing someone in the head is not

i always felt zidane should have been done for his head butt personally

Fifa gave Zidane player of the tournament if I recall corectly. You have opened a bit of a can of worms there by mentioning Zidane and leaving out the background info that led to Zidane lashing out.

In that game, Materazzi repeatedly tugged at Zidane's jersey, eventually Zidane got sick of this, and sarcastically offered to give materazzi his shirt after the game, to which materazzi replied " I prefer the whore that is your sister ." If a fellow player said that to me on a football field, the least I would be doing would be headbutting the guy.

Zidane = Legend

Artest = Psychopathic Idiot

padraig_f

buyer95 wrote: »

What do ye guys think is a better outcome for the knicks, the heat or the bulls in the 1st round? Personally I think we would have a better chance against the bulls, who would have a hard time dealing with Anthony, in his current form. Add to that Shumpert's lock down d, which will put pressure on the bulls to find other scorers, if he matches up with rose... Chandler v Noah would be a great battle too. I think that would be a great series, but for it to happen the knicks need the 8th seed, imo theres a lot to be said for tanking it against charlotte tonight,and hoping the 76ers do the business in detroit

The Heat are the most over-rated team in the playoffs and won't be getting out of the East. People keep tipping them to win, but they couldn't beat an aging Dallas team last year (standard is better this year), couldn't get the best record in East this year despite no significant injuries, and they've got worse as the season has gone on. If the Knicks don't beat them, the Pacers will.

I think the Heat make a pretty good matchup for the Knicks. Wade hasn't been great the last few weeks, and Shumpert can defend him. Chandler can guard Bosh like he did in the finals last year. Lebron will get his points, but then so will Carmelo. And you'd probably take Shumpert/JR Smith/Novak/Fields over the Heat's supporting cast.

The Heat are one of the worst teams defending the 3-pointer, which is a big weapon for the Knicks (2nd highest team in 3-point attempts), and Chicago are one of the best at defending it. Chandler guarding Noah would mean the Knicks best defender is on the Bulls lowest-scoring starter, so he'd be a bit wasted there. The Bulls offense is more balanced this season, so limiting Rose won't be as effective as last year. Also the Bulls will kill the Knicks on the boards, they're 1st in rebound differential at +6.5, Knicks are 16th at -0.1, Miami +2.1.

Wade/Lebron/Bosh haven't played together in about the last 10 games of the season and I think will be vulnerable in the opening couple of games. That's the key for the Knicks I think, to steal game 1 or 2 in Miami. I think it will be Knicks vs. Heat because it's hard to tank against the Bobcats, and the 76ers have said they prefer to play the Bulls, and have rested key players against Detroit.

leggo

padraig_f wrote: »

The Heat are the most over-rated team in the playoffs and won't be getting out of the East. People keep tipping them to win, but they couldn't beat an aging Dallas team last year (standard is better this year), couldn't get the best record in East this year despite no significant injuries, and they've got worse as the season has gone on. If the Knicks don't beat them, the Pacers will.

I think the Heat make a pretty good matchup for the Knicks. Wade hasn't been great the last few weeks, and Shumpert can defend him. Chandler can guard Bosh like he did in the finals last year. Lebron will get his points, but then so will Carmelo. And you'd probably take Shumpert/JR Smith/Novak/Fields over the Heat's supporting cast.

The Heat are one of the worst teams defending the 3-pointer, which is a big weapon for the Knicks (2nd highest team in 3-point attempts), and Chicago are one of the best at defending it. Chandler guarding Noah would mean the Knicks best defender is on the Bulls lowest-scoring starter, so he'd be a bit wasted there. The Bulls offense is more balanced this season, so limiting Rose won't be as effective as last year. Also the Bulls will kill the Knicks on the boards, they're 1st in rebound differential at +6.5, Knicks are 16th at -0.1, Miami +2.1.

Wade/Lebron/Bosh haven't played together in about the last 10 games of the season and I think will be vulnerable in the opening couple of games. That's the key for the Knicks I think, to steal game 1 or 2 in Miami. I think it will be Knicks vs. Heat because it's hard to tank against the Bobcats, and the 76ers have said they prefer to play the Bulls, and have rested key players against Detroit.

Nice analysis man. I hope you're right, but I can't help but fear that Miami will come alive in the play-offs like they did last year. Remember how underwhelming they were in the regular season then, too? And how little it mattered against Chicago.

I wouldn't rule out Boston for the East either. They're still very dangerous and, if they got a bit of momentum behind them, who knows? No team will want to play them.

Chicago are strong but they remind me of San Antonio in that they can be consistent but just seem to lack that extra oomph when it counts. They've appeared beatable when they come up against inspired opposition, and that's what the play-offs are all about...getting on a run and taking down whatever is in front of you. Same with San Antonio...as good as they are, when do you ever sit back and think, "Wow...that was an amazing performance" with them? How often have they been discussed on this topic? And yet, in the end, they coasted to the top of the West ahead of most fan's picks in OKC.

With Rose still somewhat out of sorts, the shortened season may just have sabotaged their rhythm and chances (much as I'd like to see them win, if not Orlando or the Knicks). Boston could take them down in the Conference Semis if they build up a bit of steam. Plus Rondo will be like a kid in a candy shop with all the national TV coverage he's going to be getting.

Whatever happens, I cannot wait for play-off marathons with ESPN on the big screen and a 2nd game on NBA.tv. And I shouldn't be this excited considering I'm a Magic fan and our main goal is not to get sweeped in the 1st round!

padraig_f

leggo wrote: »

Nice analysis man. I hope you're right, but I can't help but fear that Miami will come alive in the play-offs like they did last year. Remember how underwhelming they were in the regular season then, too? And how little it mattered against Chicago.

Yeah the playoffs are a different animal, and you never quite know how a team will perform in them until they start. I do think the Bulls are better this year. Last year they were mostly healthy and doing all they could to get the top seed in the regular season. And when it came to the playoffs, they didn't have an extra gear to go to.

This year it feels like they've been blowing teams out more, have had to contend with more injuries during the regular season, so I think they're capable of raising it to another level for the playoffs. Rose & Hamilton both being healthy (which they haven't been most of the season) is how I think they can raise their game. Hamilton seems to have got his game-fitness back lately, Rose hasn't played a lot of games, but looked ok last night. Offensively the Bulls haven't really reached the heights during the regular season, but I think with the starters healthy, they can.

Same with the Heat, they've had a pretty poor record since the All-Star break, but how close was that to their maximum performance? We won't really know until the playoffs start. I do think there's a problem with Wade (whether it's injury or just wearing down), and they were resting him a lot in the last few weeks, so they thought there was too. And LeBron has carried the team a lot, you wonder if he's wearing down. To me they probably look worse than this time last year, while other teams have gotten better.

padraig_f

Bulls secure best overall record, bring on the playoffs

buyer95

Big day of basketball today feel like a kid in a candy shop! Bulls - Sixers game is at 6, and Knicks - Heat is on at 8:30.Im going for the bulls and knicks

dub_skav

Are espn showing any of the playoff games or will you be watching online? Can't see anything on sky epg

UCD AFC

dub_skav wrote: »

Are espn showing any of the playoff games or will you be watching online? Can't see anything on sky epg

As far as I can see their playoff coverage begins on Monday night with NY @ Miami followed by Dallas @ OKC

Paully D

Lads, do any of you have a list of dates and times for the playoff games in Irish time (GMT)?

Cheers.

clonadlad

What streams do people use on here for games? I usually use first row sports but the quality is a bit dodgy for the bulls game now.

kmart6

Fcuk sake...Rose injured again...need to wrap him in cotton wool!

Carcharodon

Jesus Christ, LeBron is flopping all over the place, don't even think Chandlers foul on him was a flagrant, a foul alright but come on.... NY cant catch a break off the refs.
NY are really struggling at the moment.

Paully D

13 turnovers for the Knicks in the 2nd quarter. Refs aren't giving them much at all (God forbid someone try and challenge a Heat player) but that statistic is frightening.

LeBron has decided to start flopping around like a fish at any given opportunity :rolleyes: In fairness to him he's on fire.

Heat up by 23 at the half and that's that for game 1.

leggo

Sooo...the Heat are clearly bringing their A-game to the play-off. Balls.

The question is will the Knicks sulk after that and roll over for them or will they use it to drive them forward? Suppose that's been the question of their entire season.

Magic next up. Terrified. Please be gentle Pacers...:(

killwill

leggo wrote: »

Sooo...the Heat are clearly bringing their A-game to the play-off. Balls.

The question is will the Knicks sulk after that and roll over for them or will they use it to drive them forward? Suppose that's been the question of their entire season.

Magic next up. Terrified. Please be gentle Pacers...:(

The joys of being a Magic's fan!!!

I read 5 diffeent reports about Dwight Howard's availability for the playoffs but none were from the club directly.
Some are saying he needs surgery on a herniated disc, others that he is ok, what is the official stance?

Paully D

Rose is done for the season. Torn ACL.

Absolutely devastated.

kmart6

Love the way Fisher was the only OKC player who seemed to have some perspective after that win and wasn't jumping around the place, nothing won yet!

killwill

Still a huge win for OKC. Trailing all game and to turn it around like that, I would have done the same tbh. Just a bit of passion and relief!

buyer95

clonadlad wrote: »

What streams do people use on here for games? I usually use first row sports but the quality is a bit dodgy for the bulls game now.

I either use first row sports or else myp2p

killwill

buyer95 wrote: »

I either use first row sports or else myp2p

Also adthenet.tv. First row sports is my preference though.

kmart6

Shambles of a 4th quarter by Memphis!

killwill

kmart6 wrote: »

Shambles of a 4th quarter by Memphis!

They were leading by 15 or so with 5mins to go and I switched off. I presume they still won yeah?

kmart6

Nope, lost by one!

SoulGuy

Holy crap. That was a 24 point game when I went to bed.:eek:

leggo

Delighted. I like the Grizzlies, but wouldn't it make life more interesting to have the Clippers go on a play-off run? Imagine a Clippers/Lakers series in the Conference Finals.

Btw, in case anyone missed it, there's a new thread for the play-offs:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78408333#post78408333