NBA Playoffs Thread

Speaking of unimaginative offenses, the Lakers are supposedly close to hiring Mike Brown as their next coach. I'd almost rather have Randy Pfund.

 

Buss gave an interview to Playboy radio.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-jerry-buss-20110525,0,7250343.story

If the team does hire Mike Brown, then it will have deliberately punted this team's remaining window, if there is one.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers-coach-20110525,0,3161872,full.story

"Brown, 41, became the front-runner because Jim Buss, the team's executive vice president of player personnel, was impressed with his defense-minded style."

Ah, Jim Buss, how Laker fans dread the day you have sole control of the franchise.

 

Ridiculous, what would you have done different?

Maybe they overachieved because of their coach.

 

Those last two possessions by the MVP may have been poorly designed plays by the Bulls but how about Spoelstra giving the assignment to James? Looks brilliant now.

I say the Mavs win. They've got more players than the "Big 3." Dirk will abuse Bosh/Anthony. Their zone will force the Heat to shoot jumpers all day and having already played Westbrook in transition, I think they can handle the Heat in transition. Marion will have his hands full with James but he's been reborn now. Only real concern will be Peja v. James (not really, that will not happen) and Wade v. Kidd.

 

Oh, is that all?

 

No, just what comes off the top of a neophyte's head. Others, like will the Mavs be able to score? Will the Mavs bench come through like they have the whole year? Can the Mavs keep James and Wade from greatness? I thought the Bulls would, but the Bulls have depended on Boozer too much and he's killing them on the defensive end while not giving Rose the confidence to give it to Boozer in the post and play a more traditional PG.

 

The Mavs are deeper, I think, than the Heat. Of course, I would have thought the Bulls were deeper too.

 

Well, who will guard Dirk? Bosh? Or double up Dirk and leave the three-point shooters open? Mavs have more scorers than the Bulls, that's for sure. And two solid centers (one, Chandler, who can score).

 

I do agree that the Mavs are better than the Bulls. What makes Miami a troubling matchup for Dallas, to me, has been their inability to contain the dribble against OKC. OKC has been slowed down for the better part of one game -- Game 3 -- and a quarter plus OT in Game 4. The rest of the series, they've been approaching 30-point quarters.

I think Dallas can gimmick some stops. They can switch man to zone. They can change matchups and play with rotations. But bottom line, Wade and James will be such a threat off the bounce that they'll have to continue to junk their defenses, maybe more so than they have -- with mixed results -- against the Thunder. When your most likely candidates to guard James and Wade are all well past 30, you are going to have issues. The good news is, you also have some savvy with that age.

 

You can't be serious ...

 

I tend to agree. I wanted Adelman (and am still holding out hope that the Brown deal somehow falls apart). On the other hand, the Cowboys won a Super Bowl with Barry Switzer, in a sport where the head coach is even more critical. So the Lakers can still win a title with the talent they have. Of course, the Switzer hiring started the Cowboys down a road that's led to one playoff win in a decade and a half, so maybe the Lakers are on their way to being the Celtics of 1993-2008.