2010-11 NBA Playoffs / Finals

[Who]

A couple of other things:

(1) I liked Kevin Durant defensively on Dirk Nowitzki.

He picked a pair of poor reach in fouls but if he avoids reaching in and stops giving away those silly fouls ... I think he can give some valuable minutes defensively on Dirk. Nothing too tiring, just a five minute stretch here and there. Once maybe twice a night. When Ibaka and Collison need a rest.

(2) Jason Terry (24 points) and JJ Barea (21 points, 8-12 FGAs) where very good off the bench. They gave the offense a much needed lift when they came into the game in both halves.

(3) Terry did struggle now and then with James Harden though. Some good ball denial defense but once Harden got him in a pick and roll, or got a step on him, Harden just muscled Terry out of the way to the rim.

(4) Perk was fairly useless last night. Contributed very little to his team.

There isn't much for him to do in one-on-one defense against Tyson Chandler or Brendan Haywood and he didn't provide much in the way of help defense. And there was that one comical attempt at trying to defend Dirk Nowitzki. Only 5 rebounds in 28 minutes. Frequently a liability offensively. Weak performance and it looks like he is going to have a tough series ahead of him.

The Thunder have a lack of alternative big man options so Perk is going to have to keep a good chunk of those minutes. Their only other big men outside of Ibaka and Collison are Nazr Mohammed, Cole Aldrich and BJ Mullens. So they don't have any good alternatives there. They need another mobile big man offensively.

(5) I loved seeing Ibaka (C) and Durant (PF) on the court together in a small ball lineup in the fourth quarter. I thought they were a very effective pairing and something that OKC should continue to go throughout the series.

Ibaka to defend Dirk and Durant can comfortably defend Chandler or Haywood. Durant is also a strong rebounder when he plays the PF position so OKC shouldn't lose much on the boards. Ibaka was lethal in pick and rolls when surrounded by shooters. Opened up their offense tremendously.

That combination and the Ibaka + Collison combo look to be OKC's best big man options.

[thirstyboots18]

OKC lost to the better team, but they played hard and kept it within reach.  I love teams that never give up.  Who knows what can happen when you keep the pressure on.  Dirk is amazing with experience (he was perfect from the charity stripe, with 24 of his 48 points coming from there...who says free throws don't count?)  Durant is amazing.  Everyone played hard on both teams.  What more can you ask for?  On this night, Amazing with Experience won. 

[Celtics18]

Welcome to the big time, Serge.  He just spent seven games getting chewed up by Zach Randolph.  Now he gets the prize of a rested and hungry Dirk. 

I'll always have a spot in my heart for little Nate, but the way he got his lunch handed to him by little JJ was ugly.  When he got pulled from the game, you could see him pleading with his coach, "c'mon, give me another chance."  "Sorry, champ, not your night."

[barefacedmonk]

GO BULLS!!

[barefacedmonk]

Quick foul on LeBron...nice.

[Who]

Mike Miller needs to be in the rotation tonight. Miami needs his rebounding from the wing.

I'd also like to see Udonis Haslem step in for Jamaal Magloire. If not Haslem, I would like to see Miami use Juwan Howard. A more mobile big man.

Playing Bosh at center needs to be done more often tonight.

[barefacedmonk]

Bulls 0-8...ouch.

[barefacedmonk]

Bulls going to work on the offensive glass again.

[barefacedmonk]

Magloire again.....lol.

[barefacedmonk]

LeBron didn't sleep well, huh...so, MIA already has an excuse tonight.

[Who]

Mike Miller! Miami can't win with Magloire.

Play Mike Miller and shift LeBron to PF and Bosh to C.

[barefacedmonk]

It must have been the cold.

[barefacedmonk]

Chicago's shooting has been horrible to begin the game...and yet its a tie game.

GO BULLS!

[barefacedmonk]

Very nice pass by Noah.

[Who]

You can't have James Jones on Carlos Boozer. Put Jones on Deng.

Or preferably, stick Mike Miller in the game. You need his rebounding when you go small otherwise you are going to get pounded on the boards.