NBA '08 Playoff Thread

[Rumpleforeskin]

If the Hawks win in Boston, they take the series in Atlanta. No way they are going to lose after winning Game 5.

 

[Tripp McNeely]

If the Hawks win in Boston, they take the series in Atlanta. No way they are going to lose after winning Game 5.

With a young, athletic team like the Hawks, nothing is ever certain (good or bad).

 

[carson08]

A little late, but here were my predictions at the start of playoffs.

Eastern Conference:
First Round:
Boston Vs. Atlanta-Boston in 4.
Detroit Vs. Philly-Detroit in 5.
Orlando Vs. Toronto-Orlando in 6.
Cleveland Vs. Washington-Cleveland in 6.

Second Round:
Boston Vs. Cleveland-Boston in 5.
Detroit Vs. Orlando-Detroit in 5.

Conference Finals:
Boston Vs. Detroit-Boston in 6.

Western Conference:
First Round:
L.A Vs. Denver-L.A in 5.
New Orleans Vs. Dallas-Dallas in 6.
San Antonio Vs. Phoenix-San Antonio in 7.
Utah Vs. Houston-Houston in 7.

Second Round:
L.A Vs. Houston-L.A in 5.
San Antonio Vs. Dallas-San Antonio in 6.

Conference Finals:
L.A Vs. San Antonio-L.A in 7.

Finals:
Boston Vs. L.A-I'll get back to you. Either way, it's going 6 or 7 games.


So far I'm getting my winners right. I can't see Boston blowing this. They're too good.

 

[nafselon]

If the Hawks win in Boston, they take the series in Atlanta. No way they are going to lose after winning Game 5.

With a young, athletic team like the Hawks, nothing is ever certain (good or bad).

Yeah I've seen this happen with McGrady and the Magic when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Pistons. One day Drew Gooden was playing out of his mind and Gordan Giricek was hitting open looks, the next day no one could dribble without a turnover.

 

[hachat11]

I've never been completely sold as Garnett as a go-to player. He's never really proven that he is. He plays hard, shows emotion and never takes a game off, but he almost seemingly lacks that killer instinct which doesn't seem to make sense given the emotion he plays with.

I still think Pierce is the go-to guy in key situations, which can be good or bad. He went one-on-one way too much in blowing a game against the Cavs earlier this year.

I fully expect Boston to win this series - and probably in 6 - but this team looks a little shaken.

 

[terrier]

It's official: Zaza Pachulia is a punk.
That said, the Celts should not have needed that little yotch to motivate them last night.
This stuff about Paul Pierce flashing a gang sign just seems like a lot of garbage to me. But if the Bloods want to have a little chat with Pachulia and Al Horford, far be it for me to stand in the way.

 

[OnTheRiver]

The Hawks will lose the series — they're the forkin' Hawks, after all — but they do what a lot of shirtty teams do best: They expose the flaws and weaknesses of the other team so that some other collection of stiffs down the road will do the job right.

 

[Boobie Miles]

Good to see Pierce still folding the tent in the clutch.
HOW IN THE heck does Boston let anyone but Garnett touch the ball right there.

Didn't Pierce take a really shirtty team to the Eastern Conference Finals? The only knock I have on him is his inability to hit free throws. Plus, I'm pretty sure there was an arm grab there.

Antoine Walker also was on the team.

I believe Walker had already begun his descent into a big man that shot as many 3-pointers as was humanly possible, so while Walker was there, that was more of Pierce's team.

Yeah that'd be fair to call that group Pierce's team ... He averaged 25 or 26 per game that season. It wasn't a bad year for Walker though -- 22, 9 and 5

And absolutely carried the team in the playoffs.

A few other comments to catch on, did someone say Rondo is a potential Hall of Famer? Seems a tad premature.

I had no problem with the play with Pierce. I'm surprised he has such a bad rep for failing in the clutch because I've followed the team since his rookie year and I've always felt the exact opposite. The problem on that play is he was anticipating a foul that never really came, though Horford did hit him on the arm enough to make him lose control of the ball a little bit. If he was going strong the whole way though it wouldn't have been a problem.

If Garnett doesn't advance deep with this team it would be a negative mark on his legacy but he's a top 50 player all-time. Tons better than Chris Webber.

I'll admit to being shocked the Celtics lost that game last night. Atlanta is playing like a young team with nothing to lose and Boston is playing tight. Also, Paul Pierce or Posey needs to be on Johnson tomorrow night. You can probably hide Allen on Childress, but I can't take watching him get out-muscled by Johnson all night again.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

I really hope Acie Law develops into a solid point guard in the next couple of years. If he can do that and the Hawks can keep the nucleus of Johnson, Smith, Horford and Williams, they will be good and fun to watch for a long time.

Most importantly, they need to keep Mike Woodson. He's a solid guy who took over a trainwreck of a team ... maybe not the greatest coach in the world, but he's going to give you all he has and players are going to play hard for him.

No, no, no. And no.

This team finished 8 games under .500. 19th best record in the league, closer to the worst record in the league than the best.

As you're seeing over the past couple games, they have talent. They should be better than 37-45. Much better. But, to get there, they need a new coach, a new system. With Woodson, they're destined to be middle of the pack at best. Bring in the right guy, and this team can step up to a more elite status.

Hopefully, the Hawks owenership are smart enough to not make franchise decisions based solely on the previous two games.

I guess a guy who's improved that shirtbomb of a team each and every season he's been there can't get the job done. Apparently higher win totals every season makes him destined for the middle of the pack. Give me a break.

And on that note, I'm finished talking about the Hawks. Unless Dominique returns or they actually pull off this upset.

They'd have to improve to be middle of the pack.

This is a team that has had the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 11th overall draft choice over the past 5 years. They shouldn't be about incremental improvements in win totals. They ought to be at the top of the league, or at the very least the top of the Eastern Conference by now.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

If the Hawks win in Boston, they take the series in Atlanta. No way they are going to lose after winning Game 5.

Hmmm....I wonder if they were saying that in 1988

Wed, May 11, 1988 @ Boston Celtics L 101 110
Fri, May 13, 1988 @ Boston Celtics L 97 108
Sun, May 15, 1988 Boston Celtics W 110 92
Mon, May 16, 1988 Boston Celtics W 118 109
Wed, May 18, 1988 @ Boston Celtics W 112 104
Fri, May 20, 1988 Boston Celtics L 100 102
Sun, May 22, 1988 @ Boston Celtics L 116 118

 

[rube]

I really hope Acie Law develops into a solid point guard in the next couple of years. If he can do that and the Hawks can keep the nucleus of Johnson, Smith, Horford and Williams, they will be good and fun to watch for a long time.

Most importantly, they need to keep Mike Woodson. He's a solid guy who took over a trainwreck of a team ... maybe not the greatest coach in the world, but he's going to give you all he has and players are going to play hard for him.

No, no, no. And no.

This team finished 8 games under .500. 19th best record in the league, closer to the worst record in the league than the best.

As you're seeing over the past couple games, they have talent. They should be better than 37-45. Much better. But, to get there, they need a new coach, a new system. With Woodson, they're destined to be middle of the pack at best. Bring in the right guy, and this team can step up to a more elite status.

Hopefully, the Hawks owenership are smart enough to not make franchise decisions based solely on the previous two games.

I guess a guy who's improved that shirtbomb of a team each and every season he's been there can't get the job done. Apparently higher win totals every season makes him destined for the middle of the pack. Give me a break.

And on that note, I'm finished talking about the Hawks. Unless Dominique returns or they actually pull off this upset.

They'd have to improve to be middle of the pack.

This is a team that has had the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 11th overall draft choice over the past 5 years. They shouldn't be about incremental improvements in win totals. They ought to be at the top of the league, or at the very least the top of the Eastern Conference by now.

I'm going against my claim to stop Hawks talking ... sorry.
Mike Woodson doesn't pick the players my friend.
Last four choices of the Woodson era:
Al Horford
Shelden Williams
Marvin Williams
Josh Childress
--Only two of them have a shot to really do anything big, and the jury's still out on Marvin. He works with what he has ... you're unfairly pinning blame on the guy.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

If the Hawks win in Boston, they take the series in Atlanta. No way they are going to lose after winning Game 5.

Hmmm....I wonder if they were saying that in 1988

Wed, May 11, 1988 @ Boston Celtics L 101 110
Fri, May 13, 1988 @ Boston Celtics L 97 108
Sun, May 15, 1988 Boston Celtics W 110 92
Mon, May 16, 1988 Boston Celtics W 118 109
Wed, May 18, 1988 @ Boston Celtics W 112 104
Fri, May 20, 1988 Boston Celtics L 100 102
Sun, May 22, 1988 @ Boston Celtics L 116 118

That was 1988 and this is 2008. Twenty years later, we'll see what happens. I'm not a Hawks fan either, but maybe seeing it happen will be glorious.

Edit: Two words. Larry Bird.