2017 NBA Playoffs Discussion

The Bulls have showed. The fuck. Up. So now I'm thinking they might be a good bet. The Cavs been playing lazy. Eekin by. I watched them play the Pacers and it's just like they didn't care much..

Spurs gonna be strong too. I'm stoked to see what happens

I'm betting we see Bulls v Warriors and the Warriors get it this year.

CaptainObvious.I'm betting we see Bulls v Warriors and the Warriors get it this year.

Tbh I want the warriors to lose because I hate teams that rely on the 3pt line to win. When the warriors miss from 3, they get absolutely destroyed.

The.FishTbh I want the warriors to lose because I hate teams that rely on the 3pt line to win. When the warriors miss from 3, they get absolutely destroyed.

I dunno, as long as McGee stays strong they've got some game inside the threes

CaptainObvious.I dunno, as long as McGee stays strong they've got some game inside the threes

I live in Cleveland so obviously I want the warriors to lose. I would rather see the bulls in the finals instead of the cavs and have the warriors lose then have Cleveland win the finals again. Of course that would send an epic message to the warriors if the Cavs won again. Idk I just want the Warriors to lose lol. It would show that the NBA isnt pay to win.

The.FishI live in Cleveland so obviously I want the warriors to lose. I would rather see the bulls in the finals instead of the cavs and have the warriors lose then have Cleveland win the finals again. Of course that would send an epic message to the warriors if the Cavs won again. Idk I just want the Warriors to lose lol. It would show that the NBA isnt pay to win.

I feel ya. It's always interesting to me because I don't have allegiance to any team.

Having grown up in Utah id love to see the jazz actually make it somewhere in the playoffs. I'd like to see anyone besides the warriors win though.

AuzyHaving grown up in Utah id love to see the jazz actually make it somewhere in the playoffs. I'd like to see anyone besides the warriors win though.

I would love for some of the current underdeveloped teams actually make it somewhere. I am not super cleveland biased when it comes to the playoffs since we finally got our championship last year, plus we have the indians. Its just convenient that the home team is playing really well and we have Lebron James.

NBA is painful to watch. but that being said, i'm pullin for the raptors and wizards

I have no hope for the cavs any more

JzammyI have no hope for the cavs any more

4-0 series but ok

Warriors will go all the way and will even consider playing all their stars if things get tough.

Hoping the Jazz can pull off this series. I hate watching the Clippers whine at every call + they smell like weed.

jakelewiskithey smell like weed.

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/866860/Clippers-Are-Ugly

Lebron James always gets called when he fouls people. I don't understand why people complain about him not getting called.

so hyped about the jazz, damn the clippers and the warriors

The Bulls are officially fucked. The second they lost Rondo they lost all of the spark they had from the first two wins at MSG. Their offense has looked brutal and have lacked any movement except trying to get it to Butler. And honestly their defense has not had any chance of stopping Isaiah Thomas yet, once they do they will be feeling a lot better regarding their chances of winning the series. When you're up 2-0 in a series and now you're tied up 2-2, that is a massive shift of momentum and it is in the Celtics favor. Hoiberg needs to get his shit together and get his guys to remove their heads from their asses.

Turd.FergusonThe Bulls are officially fucked. The second they lost Rondo they lost all of the spark they had from the first two wins at MSG. Their offense has looked brutal and have lacked any movement except trying to get it to Butler. And honestly their defense has not had any chance of stopping Isaiah Thomas yet, once they do they will be feeling a lot better regarding their chances of winning the series. When you're up 2-0 in a series and now you're tied up 2-2, that is a massive shift of momentum and it is in the Celtics favor. Hoiberg needs to get his shit together and get his guys to remove their heads from their asses.

Bulls fans should be ashamed of where Fred Hoiberg has led the franchise. Especially considering that embarrassing slight on the refs and isiaiah carrying the rock? Like you complaining about travelling when jimmy butler goes to the ft line on every attempt? Pathetic but I guess it is the NBA. Funny how bulls were crying about having to play defense with thibodeau and now look where they are

EmperorKuzcoBulls fans should be ashamed of where Fred Hoiberg has led the franchise. Especially considering that embarrassing slight on the refs and isiaiah carrying the rock? Like you complaining about travelling when jimmy butler goes to the ft line on every attempt? Pathetic but I guess it is the NBA. Funny how bulls were crying about having to play defense with thibodeau and now look where they are

The bulls lost their defensive ability the second they assembled a team of three basically egocentric guards and dumped a coach that had the biggest set of balls in the NBA. Thibs was all about hard work and the players didn't like hard work, so GarPax dumped him. Oh yeah also thibs got dealt shitty hands of players and injuries and could never make it out of first round.

Turd.FergusonThe bulls lost their defensive ability the second they assembled a team of three basically egocentric guards and dumped a coach that had the biggest set of balls in the NBA. Thibs was all about hard work and the players didn't like hard work, so GarPax dumped him. Oh yeah also thibs got dealt shitty hands of players and injuries and could never make it out of first round.

Mirotic may be one of the most inept defenders in history and they trade Taj Gibson.

I'm curious as to if Steve Curr not being present will affect the warriors. I understand the players are professionals, but part of the reason the warriors lost the finals was because he didn't run plays for their hot shooters in the 4th quarter. They easily could have won game 7 if they got Draymond the ball. He dropped like 30 something points and he only got one shot in the 4th i think.

The.FishI'm curious as to if Steve Curr not being present will affect the warriors. I understand the players are professionals, but part of the reason the warriors lost the finals was because he didn't run plays for their hot shooters in the 4th quarter. They easily could have won game 7 if they got Draymond the ball. He dropped like 30 something points and he only got one shot in the 4th i think.

I dont think it will matter until the WCF or Finals. Durant is too good. They are a team of veterans that play good d and efficient offense. I honestly think the only team that will cause a problem for them would be the Cavs, Houston may win a game or two though. Jazz will probably only take a game from them if they beat the clips.

fivethiryeight has them as a 70% favorite to win it all, which is insane.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2017-nba-predictions/

The.FishI'm curious as to if Steve Curr not being present will affect the warriors. I understand the players are professionals, but part of the reason the warriors lost the finals was because he didn't run plays for their hot shooters in the 4th quarter. They easily could have won game 7 if they got Draymond the ball. He dropped like 30 something points and he only got one shot in the 4th i think.

Warriors have proved they can win without Kerr in the building. Also Kerr has shown he can coach through the pain when he wants/needs to.
It's the Warriors series to lose. They can blow it by playing too fast and turning the ball over but they won't give away a whole series.

The.FishI'm curious as to if Steve Curr not being present will affect the warriors. I understand the players are professionals, but part of the reason the warriors lost the finals was because he didn't run plays for their hot shooters in the 4th quarter. They easily could have won game 7 if they got Draymond the ball. He dropped like 30 something points and he only got one shot in the 4th i think.

Warriors have proved they can win without Kerr in the building. Also Kerr has shown he can coach through the pain when he wants/needs to.
It's the Warriors series to lose. They can blow it by playing too fast and turning the ball over but they won't give away a whole series.

The.FishI'm curious as to if Steve Curr not being present will affect the warriors. I understand the players are professionals, but part of the reason the warriors lost the finals was because he didn't run plays for their hot shooters in the 4th quarter. They easily could have won game 7 if they got Draymond the ball. He dropped like 30 something points and he only got one shot in the 4th i think.

Its not like Kerr went to Asia or Alaska. Hes still at practices, hes still in meetings. Hes just not on the bench during games. Kerr is still a very active part in the Warriors even if its not present during broadcasts. John Wooden used to say he didnt even need to show up for games because he prepares his players during practice for any situtation.

Anyone think the clips are gonna blow it up next year after they lose to the Jazz tonight?

They came out and stated they want to re-sign griffin but said nothing about cp3. Doc seems like the gm who is gonna get rid of Paul who's getting up there for his kid to be the starter.

Wow these playoffs have been boring to watch. The finals will be amazing though.

Okay somehow Marcus Smart goes 7/10 from 3 in the time than the Cavs go 0/10 and Lebron has 0 points in the final 15 min... i am disgusted. Still comical how much hate he is getting for one bad game.

The NBA is wack as fuck no parody like baseball or football

The.FishWow these playoffs have been boring to watch. The finals will be amazing though.

the boston/washington series was one of the better series ive seen in a couple years.

last night was an insane game..

hoping to see the celtics win out, i do not want to watch another cle/gsw finals

Chubz.hoping to see the celtics win out, i do not want to watch another cle/gsw finals

IT3 is out for the rest of the series which sucks. Gonna be a GSW CLE finals barring something insane happening.

Id expect the playoffs to be like this (garbage) the next few years until Lebron and Curry/Durant start aging or have an injury. the FA class next year isn't the best so there will be a ton of overpays for players who wont move the needle much for a championship. Hopefully Boston makes some moves with the #1 pick and trades a player for like Butler or George to finally make things interesting. Hopefully GSW could start losing sooner than later, their bench will likely be horrendous soon due to their stars hits on the cap.

If kyrie irving keeps playing like he is then the finals could get interesting. The warriors have no bench of any kind so if they get one injury, they will definitively show some effects.

The.FishIf kyrie irving keeps playing like he is then the finals could get interesting. The warriors have no bench of any kind so if they get one injury, they will definitively show some effects.

Lol.....

Like Cleveland does? They scored 7 points last night or something absurd like that. THEY have no bench. Players not named James, Irving, or Love scored a total of 19 points last night. That's not going to win a championship.

And their defensive weaknesses got exposed last night. GS moves the ball like the Celtics did in the 1st half, except they do it an entire game and can score.

GS has KD, Steph, Klay, Dray starting with Livingston, Iggy, and West coming off the bench. GS matches up on the D end with Cleveland really well. Iggy, KD, Livingston, West, and Dray can all play D on LBJ if switches are required. Steph, Klay, Livingston, and Iggy can D up Kyrie. Dray, KD, Iggy, and West can all D up love.

LBJ can D up anyone. Kyrie, well we know he isn't solid on D so he'll likely cover Klay and occasionally Livingston and Curry. Love is stuck with PFs and Cs.

.MASSHOLE.Lol.....

Like Cleveland does? They scored 7 points last night or something absurd like that. THEY have no bench. Players not named James, Irving, or Love scored a total of 19 points last night. That's not going to win a championship.

And their defensive weaknesses got exposed last night. GS moves the ball like the Celtics did in the 1st half, except they do it an entire game and can score.

GS has KD, Steph, Klay, Dray starting with Livingston, Iggy, and West coming off the bench. GS matches up on the D end with Cleveland really well. Iggy, KD, Livingston, West, and Dray can all play D on LBJ if switches are required. Steph, Klay, Livingston, and Iggy can D up Kyrie. Dray, KD, Iggy, and West can all D up love.

LBJ can D up anyone. Kyrie, well we know he isn't solid on D so he'll likely cover Klay and occasionally Livingston and Curry. Love is stuck with PFs and Cs.

I was at the game last night since my dad got free tickets from work. They fixed their defense in the second half. The only problem was that our basline guy would play help side defense when they would drive, leaving the corner open. They made an adjustment and fixed this in the second half. The Celtics' shooting percentage tanked. I will admit that the bench was crap last night, but usually Frye and Jefferson can knock down some shots. Shumpert is an animal and will chase down on defense if necessary. Love is actually a great defender on Steph Curry if you watched the finals last year. I believe we even had Thompson on him at one point. The Cavs are very weird on predicting on how they will play. Golden state has the by far better team, but the cavs rise up in the spotlight most of the time. The warriors will probably win but it will for sure not be a clean sweep. Next year will get interesting with the max contract being raised since all of their stars will demand the max. There will probably be some trades. I think this may be the last year of Cavs vs Warriors.

The.FishI was at the game last night since my dad got free tickets from work. They fixed their defense in the second half. The only problem was that our basline guy would play help side defense when they would drive, leaving the corner open. They made an adjustment and fixed this in the second half. The Celtics' shooting percentage tanked. I will admit that the bench was crap last night, but usually Frye and Jefferson can knock down some shots. Shumpert is an animal and will chase down on defense if necessary. Love is actually a great defender on Steph Curry if you watched the finals last year. I believe we even had Thompson on him at one point. The Cavs are very weird on predicting on how they will play. Golden state has the by far better team, but the cavs rise up in the spotlight most of the time. The warriors will probably win but it will for sure not be a clean sweep. Next year will get interesting with the max contract being raised since all of their stars will demand the max. There will probably be some trades. I think this may be the last year of Cavs vs Warriors.

Yeah I watched the game too.

The Celtic's can't shoot for shit as is, take it from someone who has watched them the entire season. Without IT, when the shots don't fall, the offense dies. No one can drive and kick to help spread the floor.

The GS offense will EAT that defense alive. You're not adjusting for the inclusion of KD.

H. Barnes, while good, is no KD. His shot didn't fall last year and the Cav's left him alone once he hit that 3p line. KD is going to have to be defended by either Lebron or KLove because of his size and speed. Frye and Thompson are too slow and Shumpert and Jefferson are too small. Let's just assume it's LBJ because it always has been.

That means Steph will have to be covered by Kyrie (yikes), JR (who is surprisingly decent this year at D), Shumpert (better on Klay IMO given size) or Thompson. We can cross Thompson off that list, he'll have to cover Dray or Javale, leaving Kyrie, JR and Shumpert. Shumpert won't start, so it'll be either Kyrie or JR covering Steph to start. My guess is JR as he is better than Kyrie at D. They'll also want to keep Kyrie fresh for offense and chasing Curry around the court is sure to tire him out.

That leaves Klay to be covered by Kyrie or Shumpert. Shumpert doesn't start (and likely won't) so it means Kyrie on Klay. Klay has the size advantage here so there will need to be assistance if Klay tries to post him up.

Then there is Draymond to still worry about. Assuming LBJ is on KD, that leaves Love or Thompson. This isn't a bad match-up, but Dray is much more physical than Klove and can stretch the floor as well. That means Klove can't come over to help protect Kyrie when Klay drives or posts up.

That leaves Thompson on Javale which won't really matter because Javale is a rim guy, not a mid-range shooter. But because he is a 7 foot rim guy, Thompson can't afford to leave him alone. He needs to body him up and not let him get easy buckets from oops.

With KD, Steph, Klay, and Dray on the floor, they can run the perimeter like the Celtics did and cause switches that will be optimal match ups for O and bad for CLE D. CLE can't sag off on GS on the 3pt line like they can with the Cs, they have to play up close. But Steph, Klay, KD, and Dray can all create their own shots. Only Al and sometimes AB can with the Cs when IT isn't playing.

This means the CLE D will have to be prepared for switches and communicate well. We've seen they can't do that, and frankly haven't all season. This isn't something they'll be able to switch on and off, it takes a full season to become good at.

My guess? You'll see a lot of pick and rolls, screens, etc. to create separation for shooters and we all know what GS can do when left open. CLE will have to counteract this by playing REALLY tight man to man, but that is really tiring for an entire game. It also leaves them susceptible to quick cuts to the basket because the CLE D will be watching the ball in case the defender gets beaten on the perimeter and the GS player drives to the basket as they slide over to help. It also leaves them open to perimeter shots as well.

All in all, it is a VERY unfavorable match up and we haven't even gotten to the bench.

Livingston will have to be covered by Shumpert. He is too long for Deron Williams and too fast for Jefferson.

Iggy will have to be covered by Jefferson, Shumpert is covering Livingston and Kyle Korver isn't athletic enough.

David West will command either Korver or Frye. I believe Korver is more likely as someone will have to cover Zaza.

As a result, Zaza will likely be covered by Frye given the size match up.

This is only 4 players, meaning there will likely be 1 of the starting 4 big names on the court as well. And the thing is, it can be any single one given the versatility of those players. Every single one can play at least 2 positions, in the case of KD and Dray, almost all 5.

I'm guessing a 5 game series. 4-1 GS. Cleveland wins 1 at home, GS wins the rest.

Yes, GS has an issue with salaries next year, they'll need to figure out KD, Curry, Iggy, and Livingston. But they'll also be able to attract players at a discount (like the Patriots can in the NFL) given the fact that they're so dominant. Any veteran player who wants a ring will be willing to go there, SA, or CLE. It won't be the end of rivalry though. So long as that core 4 on GS is there, they'll contend, and as long as Love, LBJ, and Kyrie are in Cleveland, they will too. However, if PG/Hayward/Butler decides to go to Boston and they can retain their bench, it may shift somewhat on the East.

Man you really analyze the Nba. Ihave heard rumors of Klay going to the celtics. They celtics are definitely going to give the Cavs a run for their money next year and I wouldn't even be mad if they win. I just want the warriors bandwagon to die. They are possible more hated than the old Miami Heat.

The.FishMan you really analyze the Nba. Ihave heard rumors of Klay going to the celtics. They celtics are definitely going to give the Cavs a run for their money next year and I wouldn't even be mad if they win. I just want the warriors bandwagon to die. They are possible more hated than the old Miami Heat.

Ha, it's what happens when you live with a college basketball assistant coach. You hear about basketball 24/7 from November until March, and then it's NBA playoff time anyway.

Klay won't, he has a massive contract for the next couple of years. Dray and Klay are already locked up till 2021 (I believe Dray is 2022) and Steph will get a new contract this off-season, as will KD. I imagine the GS owners would be willing to pay the luxury tax up to a certain amount to keep their bench competitive and that core 4 around.

The only chance a team has of dethroning them is hoping for an injury or SA getting another star (CP3 is rumored currently) to partner along side Kawhi and LMA (if he ever returns to form). And I wouldn't count LAL out either if they get PG13. I could see Butler headed out there after his current contract runs out if PG13 is there. They'd have a nice core of PG13, D'Angelo Russel, Julius Randle, and Brandon Ingram. That'd be a solid small-ball starting 5 with Bell at the 1, Russell at the 2, Ingram at the 3, PG13 at the 4, and Randle at the 5.