NBA Playoffs Season 2014-2015

[PhoSita]

Personally I think Doris Burke is one of the most knowledgeable and insightful basketball commentators out there, and I'm always pleased when I tune into one of the less-heralded matchups and find that TNT / ESPN has "buried" her there.

Give me Doris Burke and Hubie Brown or Doug Collins over Mike Breen, Mike Tirico, Kevin Harlan, etc, any day.


Brad Stevens is a nice story, but he's the most exciting person on the Celtics and he doesn't spend any time actually playing basketball.

I can't blame anyone for being more excited to see Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the playoffs for the first time, not to mention LeBron James, who is typically masterful in utterly demolishing first round opponents.

[jpotter33]

Boy, this Rockets/Mavs series is going to be a good one. Howard is looking excellent out there defensively, and him and Chandler are already getting chippy! lol

[jpotter33]

Also, again I'm glad Rondo decides to play defense now. He's already put more effort into his defense in this first quarter in the playoffs than he did all this year with the C's. 

[Beat LA]

Personally I think Doris Burke is one of the most knowledgeable and insightful basketball commentators out there, and I'm always pleased when I tune into one of the less-heralded matchups and find that TNT / ESPN has "buried" her there.

Give me Doris Burke and Hubie Brown or Doug Collins over Mike Breen, Mike Tirico, Kevin Harlan, etc, any day.


Brad Stevens is a nice story, but he's the most exciting person on the Celtics and he doesn't spend any time actually playing basketball.

I can't blame anyone for being more excited to see Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the playoffs for the first time, not to mention LeBron James, who is typically masterful in utterly demolishing first round opponents.

I'll give you Doug Collins, but not Hubie Brown-noser or Burke.  Besides, I forgot one of the best things she said all day.  Speaking of Pierce, "he's never been a great athlete, so I don't understand how he's managed to become 16th on the all time scoring list." I don't remember her exact words, but I do recall how she said that she was essentially stumped by Paul's scoring prowess.  How does he continue to do it?  Oh, I don't know, Doris - SKILL!? Seriously, what is the matter with these people?

That being said, I'm in agreement with you on Breen, Tirico, and Harlan, to name a few.  Ugh. 

[Who]

I really like Capela. I think he is going to be a really nice player 2-3 years down the line.

Very good combination of athleticism, physical size and disposition to play defense and rebound.

[Who]

Did Harden just pass (fumble) the ball to himself?

It didn't look like Amare touched it. Amare sure didn't react like he had touched the ball.

[Evantime34]

If the Mavs end up being done (Rondo goes to LA, Dirk retires) maybe Chandler leaves. He would be exactly what we need.

[Beat LA]

If the Mavs end up being done (Rondo goes to LA, Dirk retires) maybe Chandler leaves. He would be exactly what we need.

Please god no.

[SCeltic34]

The Mavs look pathetic.  Ball doesn't move at all.  They're fortunate to have Howard in foul trouble with 2 fouls in the first quarter, but can't capitalize on it.

[SCeltic34]

Did Harden just pass (fumble) the ball to himself?

It didn't look like Amare touched it. Amare sure didn't react like he had touched the ball.

Looked like a travel to me.  Basically passed himself the ball.

[Who]

Dirk is going to have to have to a huge series for Dallas to win this series.

I wonder how much he can outplay Terrence Jones though. I don't think Dirk is quick enough defensively to stay in front of Jones on the other end of the floor or in transition. So while Dirk is much more skilled offensively, I think he is going to concede a bunch of high quality scoring opportunities to Jones if Jones is aggressive. And I don't think Dirk can rebound with Jones either. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jones pull down 8-10rpg to Dirk's 5-6rpg.

For all the focus on how hard it will be for Houston to defend Dirk, I think it has been overlooked how much trouble Dirk could have defending Terrence Jones (or Josh Smith).

[Who]

I love Josh Smith's passing in this Houston team. They desperately needed some big man passing to make their offense (somewhat) less predictable. Still too much Harden over-dribbling but I don't think Houston can fix that until they get a quality (offensively) PG.

[Who]

Nice bounce pass in traffic off the dribble by Ariza.

[Beat LA]

Dirk is going to have to have to a huge series for Dallas to win this series.

I wonder how much he can outplay Terrence Jones though. I don't think Dirk is quick enough defensively to stay in front of Jones on the other end of the floor or in transition. So while Dirk is much more skilled offensively, I think he is going to concede a bunch of high quality scoring opportunities to Jones if Jones is aggressive. And I don't think Dirk can rebound with Jones either. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jones pull down 8-10rpg to Dirk's 5-6rpg.

For all the focus on how hard it will be for Houston to defend Dirk, I think it has been overlooked how much trouble Dirk could have defending Terrence Jones (or Josh Smith).

Or anyone, for that matter, as he's never been a good defender.  Why teams haven't attacked him relentlessly in the post over the course of his career is beyond me.  I mean, it's not like he's a shotblocker.

[Who]

Not sure why Houston are attacking with Josh Smith vs Tyson Chandler matchup instead of Terrence Jones vs Dirk Nowitzki. Smith and Jones are similar caliber scorers. Tyson Chandler is a vastly superior defender than Dirk is. Bad decision.