2011 CB Draft Eastern Playoffs: 1st Round

[wdleehi]

Who is Chicago's go to guy in the half court?

In the half-court game, Nash will penetrate and create: for Haslem via pick-and-pop, for Noah with pocket passes for close-in attempts (drawing fouls). Noah is a good passer for a big man, so I envision the extra pass to a cutting Wallace or Smith/Terry for perimeter shot attempts.

How do you trust JR Smith when his playoff numbers have been lower then his regular season number 3 straight years (with this year dropping below 10 points a playoff game)

Terry is a great insurance policy for times when Smith's shot isn't falling. I'm not worried if Smith, my #5 starter, isn't producing, because I know Terry will step up.

Granger has had no problem putting up his numbers against Wallace.  Of course that was Granger without another offensive threat like Aldridge next to him.  Wallace has put up offensive numbers against Granger as well.  Not as high as the numbers as Granger put against Wallace and not with the better defenders around Granger the Bullets have.

Granger can score on Wallace. But the recent matchups (since 2009)show Granger has made marginal impact elsewhere in the box score: poor rebounding, few assists. If Granger is the primary weapon in the Washington offense, we'll make him beat us with his shooting.

Aldridge has the offensive advantage against Haslem.  Noah and Gortat are going to be close to a statistical equal matchup.  

The Aldridge-Haslem battle will be a great one. Aldridge is certainly coming into his own as a player. I still think Haslem's toughness and physical play will wear on him during this series. I think I give the slight edge to Noah, on full, because of his defense, and the fact that he, not Gortat, will be playing alongside Nash.

The backcourt.  This is the type of matchup I drafted Dragic for.  He is to fast for Nash to keep in front of him.  Dragic is a strong attacker of the basket as a PG.  He is going to force the help defense to respond.  It will create open looks for my strong offensive players and my multiple outside shooters.  I would expect to see his minutes in this series to be pushed to the 20-25 minute range.  (at the expense of Felton)  

I think the same can be said about Nash vs. Gortat on defense. Nash is just as strong an attacker of the basket, and will force the Washington defense to respond. Nash is the old hand, Gortat the young apprentice. I am sure the master has a few tricks in his arsenal that his protege has never before seen.

As for the boards, while both teams are strong in the starting front court rebounding, the Bullets starting SG averaged 6 boards a game as a rookie.  There will be a heavy team attack on the defensive boards.  Offensively rebounding, if it is there, get it.  Otherwise, get back on defense.  

Fields' numbers, and confidence, declined after the Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony, didn't they? Was this a result of intensified pressure/scrutiny, or a self-perceived change in his role once a secondary superstar arrived on the scene? With Granger and Aldridge as the focal points of the team, will the young Fields experience a similar crisis of confidence, especially during the playoffs?

JR Smith averaged 4 rebounds in 25 minutes per game, so he's no slouch there either.

As for the pace, the Bullets feel comfortable in their ability to slow the game down to a half court style where they have the advantage.  

It's going to come down to Felton's ability to run a half-court offense vs. our strong defensive frontline and depth. I like our chances. Obviously WD likes his as well.

The offense is coming from Aldridge and Granger, not Felton. 


Fields hit the rookie wall and lost his PG (Felton)

As for the team defense responding to PG attacking, the Bullets have the ammo out there to make the other team pay.  The ability of my team to put shooters out there at any position.  Much like Dallas did to the Lakers. 

[Gainesville Celtic]

Any one of you guys considering the fact the wear and tear on D WIlliams he will take trying to lead this team all season might wear him down in the playoffs?

Yes I'm only slightly less worried about it than I'm worried about the wear and tear on Durant having to score 30+ ppg for the Nets team

[KCattheStripe]

Here's the thing MGent, beyond Tony Parker the playoff experience of the Grizzlies really isn't that more extensive than my team. Randolph and Gasol have each made one moderate Run. Courtney Lee was the 5th best player on a team that made the NBA finals. Then when you look on the bench, they really have two players who have made significant playoff contributions whereas I have 4.

4 players from your bench with significant playoff experience??

What, are you counting Darrell Arthur's and Rodney Stuckey's WHOLE combined 700 minutes of play in the playoffs?

There are words I would use to describe their playoff experience....significant isn't one of them.

Stuckey was the 6th man on an Eastern Conference Finalist. I've heard of haters gonna hate, but Dang.

Its not hate....I just think you might be twisting the facts just a lot.

I don't think that citing a player's significant playoff experience performing the role I'm asking him to is twisting the facts at all. If Stuckey being the sixth man on an Eastern Conference finalist isn't significant then I'm not sure what is. And if Marc Gasol and ZBO are suddenly savvy playoff veterans, then surely their back up Darrel Arthur is a veteran at being the third man behind a two - headed front court.

"Beyond Tony Parker..."

Ummm... Tony Parker has been the starting PG (otherwise known as "floor general - arguably the most important position to have experience at in the playoffs) on 3 championship teams AND is an NBA Finals MVP.  Downplaying that is like saying "beyond Lebron, that team isn't too good."  Well, even still, Lebron is THAT good that so matters a lot and, likewise, Tony has THAT much playoff experience that it is a huge deal.  There are only 7 active players that are Finals MVPs:  TP, Kobe, Dirk, Pierce, Duncan, Chauncey, and Wade.  Quite the company.  And Tony is only 29 years old so right in his prime.

And, how are you downplaying Courtney Lee's "the 5th best player on a team that made the NBA finals" yet you are talking up Stuckey's valuable playoff experience.  So Lee was the 5th best player on a Finals team and ECF finalist, yet that's no big deal compared to Stuckey being the 6th best player on a 1-time ECF finalist?  If Stuckey's experience is "significant" as you claim, then Lee is oozing with playoff experience.

Now KC wants you to listen, AtTargetsoI'mtobusytopostallday7893, and he wants you to listen well. You think you can come in here, not have a wrestling persona and tell KC what's what? What. In the Blue Hell. Is wrong with you? You think KC doesn't know that in his prime Tim Duncan carried that white flag wavin', frog leg eating, beautiful wife cheatin' on, son of a leper to 3 championships? You thinK KC doesn't know, that Tony Parker's NBA Finals MVP was the equivalent of Deion Branch's Superbowl MVP. " We're so tired of one of the greatest players of all time being so dominant, lets give it to the guy having a good day."

Tony Parker should get on his knees and thank his sweet lord that he was blessed to play with Tim Duncan in his prime. He should thank his sweet croissant eating, beret wearin, roody poo mamma that Tim Duncan allowed him to even touch the ball. Look what has happened every series that TP...

Excuse KC, but has there ever been a more inappropriate name for a player? Tony Parker wasn't even good enough to wipe Tim Duncan's behind!

Every series that Charmin... that's KC's new nickname for him because he's not enough of a man to be Bounty... every series that Charmin has been his team's best player they have surrendered. They surrendered to the Phoenix Suns. They Surrendered to the Memphis Grizzlies. And These Pawnstar Pacers are going to surrender just the same to KC's Celtics.

And KC is upset that you'd bring up Courtney Lee, Achtung1934. You see, KC likes Courtney Lee, thinks he's a good player a smart player. But he's not a starter. And do you know how KC knows he's not a starter? Gecause he started 1 game for the Houston Rockets, a team that couldn't even make the playoffs! KC would point out than when Rodney Stuckey, CBNBA Sixth man of the year, when his team got worse at least he cracked a starting line up.

So Attemptingtotalksomesmacktion69:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zOnLI0j_DY&feature=related

[KCattheStripe]

Here's a super long post about what Paul George did well and not so well against Derek Rose in game 2 of the playoffs:

http://nbaplaybook.com/2011/04/19/the-pacers-defense-on-derrick-rose/

That will be helpful when i have one player dominate the ball a lot... Oh wait, my starting 5 has four excellent passers.

Mighta been doing research for the next rounds....

Appreciate you doing that stat research for me pal.

[Gainesville Celtic]

Deron Williams is on a whole different level than Conley.

This is a big understatement IMO and I don't think D Will is getting the respect he deserves in this thread. This is a great subway series though.  

You can say they Same thing about the Durant and Deng match up as well.

Uh... no you cant. I respectfully disagree. Look Conley is a nice player and Durant is a superstar, but let's not get carried away.


Along with Chris Paul, Deron Williams is one of the top 2 PGs in the league. Is Conley in the top 10? In some order here are 10 better PGs:

Deron Williams
CP3
Rose
Rondo
Westbrook
Nash
Jason Kidd
John Wall
Tony Parker
Steph Curry
Billups
and of course....Kyle Lowry   

I would put Conley in the next group (#12-15) with Jameer Nelson, and Raymond Felton


Like Deron, Durant is along with Lebron, one of the top 2 SFs in the NBA.

Unlike Conley, Deng is a clear top 10 SF (I would argue top 7):

Lebron
Durant
Carmelo
Pierce

then i put Deng in the group (5-8) with: Granger, Josh Smith and Gerald Wallace -- the latter 2 playing much time at PF.

[Kane3387]

Don't forget a motivated baron Davis 

[Gainesville Celtic]

Deron Williams is on a whole different level than Conley.

This is a big understatement IMO and I don't think D Will is getting the respect he deserves in this thread. This is a great subway series though.  

You can say they Same thing about the Durant and Deng match up as well. Tim Duncan is declining and he showed that in the playoffs so I dont think you can expect the same Timmy of old.

Yes...and Rip Hamilton would have showed his decline in the playoffs... if only he could have helped his team get there 

Look, I've said all along that Duncan is not the same player and that this is D-Williams' team.... but you can't have it both ways: you can't talk about Duncan declining then ignore Hamilton's decline, instead offering such insights as "Hamilton could still be a good player".

At his peak Duncan was Top 20 all-time and now he's, what, 70% of that and a top-8 center?

At his peak, Hamilton was an borderline all-star and 3rd best player on a title-team. And now he's 70% of that and a top-25 SG?

[action781]

You listen here KC....

I'm a CHAMELEON YEAH

I'm about to turn it around 180 degrees yeah

And another 360 yeah

And then another 180!!

YEAH!  And I'm looking right into you KC yeah.  All these celticbloggers know what I'm talkin about yeah.

You're talking about, StartOrien, the greatest CB champion that has ever lived yeah.  KC is outta LINE! yeah.  Cuz the Pawnee Pacers are the greatest CB team that has ever played!  Yeah.  And they are playing right nowwww yeah.

I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can make ROMANCE YEAH!

And there ain't NOTHIN yeah romantical about what the Pacers - the greatest CB team to ever play YEAH - are gonna do to those celtics.  We're gonna get on the court yeah and we're gonna pound it down low yeah.  Greg Monroe is like a grain of sand, you wouldn't notice if you took him outta the ocean.  Marc Gasol is at the TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN yeah.

And don't get me started on Tony Parker.  NBA Finals MVPs are up with the STARS! yeah.  I'm talkin LIGHT YEARS AWAY yeah.  That's where Tony Parker is.  I'm talkin..... 19.7ppg vs. 14.3ppg in the past postseason matchup yeah... I'm talkin on 46 fg% vs. 39.5 fg% yeah.  Conley AINT STOPPIN TONY PARKER YEAH!!

You see yeah... Tony Parker has beat ALLLLLL the contenders.  He's beat steve nashhhh yeah.  He's beat Jason Kidd YEAH!  He's beat Deron Williamsss yeah.  He's beat Chris Paulllll YEAH!!  We're talkin about Tony Parker the greatest champion past present and future YEAH!  And this year....... he's bringin along the Pacers yeah.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhh yeah.  He's bringin them STRAIGHT TO THE TOP!  All these celticbloggers know what I'm talkin abooouuut yeah.

And Rodney Stuckey...  Who has he beat?  HE AIN'T NO CONTENDER!!  Eric Gordon?  HE AINT NO CONTENDER!!

Maybe I am insane... maybe i am insane.. and maybe its time for you KC to see just how INSANE I AM!  YEAHH!!!  and you're gonna wish you never saw but you DID YEAH.  


NO MORE QUESTIONS!!!

[KCattheStripe]

You listen here KC....

I'm a CHAMELEON YEAH

I'm about to turn it around 180 degrees yeah

And another 360 yeah

And then another 180!!

YEAH!  And I'm looking right into you KC yeah.  All these celticbloggers know what I'm talkin about yeah.

You're talking about, StartOrien, the greatest CB champion that has ever lived yeah.  KC is outta LINE! yeah.  Cuz the Pawnee Pacers are the greatest CB team that has ever played!  Yeah.  And they are playing right nowwww yeah.

I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can make ROMANCE YEAH!

And there ain't NOTHIN yeah romantical about what the Pacers - the greatest CB team to ever play YEAH - are gonna do to those celtics.  We're gonna get on the court yeah and we're gonna pound it down low yeah.  Greg Monroe is like a grain of sand, you wouldn't notice if you took him outta the ocean.  Marc Gasol is at the TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN yeah.

And don't get me started on Tony Parker.  NBA Finals MVPs are up with the STARS! yeah.  I'm talkin LIGHT YEARS AWAY yeah.  That's where Tony Parker is.  I'm talkin..... 19.7ppg vs. 14.3ppg in the past postseason matchup yeah... I'm talkin on 46 fg% vs. 39.5 fg% yeah.  Conley AINT STOPPIN TONY PARKER YEAH!!

You see yeah... Tony Parker has beat ALLLLLL the contenders.  He's beat steve nashhhh yeah.  He's beat Jason Kidd YEAH!  He's beat Deron Williamsss yeah.  He's beat Chris Paulllll YEAH!!  We're talkin about Tony Parker the greatest champion past present and future YEAH!  And this year....... he's bringin along the Pacers yeah.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhh yeah.  He's bringin them STRAIGHT TO THE TOP!  All these celticbloggers know what I'm talkin abooouuut yeah.

And Rodney Stuckey...  Who has he beat?  HE AIN'T NO CONTENDER!!  Eric Gordon?  HE AINT NO CONTENDER!!

Maybe I am insane... maybe i am insane.. and maybe its time for you KC to see just how INSANE I AM!  YEAHH!!!  and you're gonna wish you never saw but you DID YEAH.  


NO MORE QUESTIONS!!!

WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAHWOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH!WOAH!

When did the Prawnme Pacers of District 9 of become necromancers? When did these pie hating,  sons of Eunuch lepers who aren't worth the fart of that monkey from Outbreak begin consorting with the devil and practicing black magic? KC is shocked to discover that the question is no longer "What in the Blue Hell are you doing?" but " How did you escape from the blue hell?"

[action781]

Gotta say I think I made up my mind here and the winner is Indiana: Why?

1. Much better starting five.
2. Hedo Turkoglu can't cover Rudy Gay
3. I feel Greg Monroe is a rookie that had a decent second half on a horrible team that had no one else to play so he put numbers up and as SO said, I think too much of KC's argument for Monroe is centered around one game neither of them saw.
4. When rotations get shortened for the playoffs, Indiana's 3-4 bench players just look like they will make more of a difference than Boston's 3-4 bench players
5. Boston is just too inexperienced.

Actually, Ip's argument is centered around a game I saw but that's neither here nor there. Also, I don't think there's a universe in which the Papa Doc Pacers bench is better than Rodney Stuckey ( 6th man on an Eastern Conference Championship Team) Jameer Nelson ( Starting PG on an Eastern Conference Championship team), James Jones ( 7th man on an NBA Finals team) and Darrel Arthur ( 7th man on last year's Grizzlies).

Were talkin bout some pretenders here yeah.

We're talkin about 1 NBA starter, 1 guy who you say was a 7th man but I SAYYY got a bunch of DNP - Coaching Decisions in the NBA Finals yeah.  I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT DNP MEANSSSS YEAH!  Ohhhhhh but I knowww it aint good yeah.

And we're talkin bout another bench player in Darrel Arthur and a bench player in Rodney Stuckey for a team that didn't make the playoffs...... DIDNT MAKE THE PLAYOFFSSS!




Give me sugar and give me spice, yeah, but these PAWNEE PACERS have got whats niccce yeah. 

Ohhhh yeah, nice yeah.  I'm talkin bout Jeff Teague - soon to be a starter after what he did in that Chicago series yeah.  I'M TALKIN ABOUT.... Trevor Ariza.  You say your pal Stuckey was a 6th man for a ECF finalist yeah.  well I SAY that Ariza was a starter for a championship teammmmm YEAH in 2009.  I'm talkin about a worrrrrrld champion yeah. and is still a starter for a playoff team now.  I'm talkin about Paul George, another STARTER for a playoff team yeah.  Ohhhhhhh and I'm talkin about Chuck Hayes yeah.  Chuck HAYESSSSSSS YEAH!  When we let Chuck Hayes loose on Al Horford, yeah, he's gonna make KC wish he hadn't been saying those things about the Pacers haha oh yeah.  CUZ THE PACERS.... are the reigning worrrrrld champions of the world yeah!  We're up on the mountain!  And there ain't NO comin down!!!

OHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

[StartOrien]

I love literally everything about this page.

[riah32]

Any one of you guys considering the fact the wear and tear on D WIlliams he will take trying to lead this team all season might wear him down in the playoffs?

Yes I'm only slightly less worried about it than I'm worried about the wear and tear on Durant having to score 30+ ppg for the Nets team

Why would Durant have to score 30ppg? I have lots of scoring on my team. My team is deeper than yours whcih will allow me to rest my stars. I dont think out have that much scoring outside of D Williams, Duncan and maybe  Nick Young. Even in the playoffs do you think you have enough scoring?

[riah32]

Just looked this up...Deron Williams VS Perkins, yes i know they play 2 different position but thought this kinda showed D Williams numbers with Perky in the middle.

Player G W L GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Deron Williams 9 5 4 9 37.3 5.9 12.7 .465 0.6 2.3 .238 5.6 6.4 .862 0.8 3.2 4.0 9.1 0.8 0.1 3.2 2.7 17.9
Kendrick Perkins 9 4 5 7 24.9 3.7 5.4 .673 0.0 0.0  1.9 2.7 .708 3.3 4.3 7.7 1.1 0.3 1.6 2.6 3.1 9.2

[Fafnir]

Other than a few games those numbers are going to show overwhelmingly how well Deron did against the Celtics defense overall. A lot of noise from KG and Rondo's D in those numbers (as well as overall team defense).

[Lucky17]

Anderson is better then both of your bench players.

Rebounds per 48
Anderson - 12.0
Pachulia - 12.8
Thompson - 12.5

Not a huge difference.

pts/game
Anderson - 10.6 
Pachulia - 4.4
Thompson - 8.8


Anderson when on the court, his team's offense was 4.1 points better and the defense was .7 points better

Pachulis when on the court, his team's offense was 1.5 points worse and the defense was 4.6 points worse.

Thompsons when on the court, his team's offense was 2 points better and the defense was 1.4 points better.



Throw in his ability to hit the three pointer at a .393 clip, he can open up the court. 

Anderson had the luxury of playing alongside Dwight Howard for the majority of his minutes. Without Dwight commanding double teams, or swatting shots, Anderson's offensive and defensive contributions likely suffer a decline, don't they?

For whatever reason, Pachulia's numbers take a huge hit based on a single lineup for the Hawks last year: the Hinrich/Johnson/Williams/Horford/Pachulia lineup was a net -45 (the second worst lineup Pachulia appeared in was only -13). I can't imagine that Pachulia was solely responsible for the ineffectiveness of that floor unit.

At any rate, Pachulia is not in my lineup to score. He's in there to deliver 15-18 minutes' worth of surreptitious elbows, hard fouls, and body odor to whichever Wizards player has the unfortunate luck of the draw that night. He is the basketball equivalent of a hockey goon, and a good one. He'll goad Gortat into retaliatory fouls, or exasperate Aldridge in the post.