The Official Dwayne Wade <<<<<< you thread

East: Pacers, Heat, Raps (I have a hunch) Bulls.
West: Spurs, OKC (though I have concerns), Clips, Blazers.

Blue Barrett wrote:^ I believe he did that on purpose. Notice how he changes direction mid run to directly bump Rivers.

Collison? He did do it on purpose...but I mean, I find it hard to believe he just randomly did it for no reason. Collison isnt that kind of guy.

I am quite sure when on offence, Rivers did something Collison took exception to.

Rivers aint good enough for anyone to care about "taking him out".

East: Pacers, Heat, Nets, Bulls

West: Spurs, Thunder, GSW, Blazers

Spurs, OKC, Houston and Clippers

Heat, Pacers, Nets, Bulls.

Houston I think because what they do on offence translates to the playoffs more. They score alot in the paint (3rd) and the get to the line (1st) and make them despite Howard (1st).

Probably will go 6 games.


Clippers I think will take it because without Bogut, GSW wont be able to get stops on the inside at all. They will go small, play fast and score...but Jordan has every reason to dominate the glass on both ends and who is going to stop Blake? CP3 wont flop yet either.



In the East, the Raps really could make the 2nd round in theory but I am not sure how good a match up the experienced and deep Nets will be. Livingston playing key backcourt minutes and Pierce at the 4 has transformed this team. I think they been saving KG and he has more left than we realise too.

Bulls and Wiz is an intresting one indeed. I think Noah wont let them lose, just like vs the Nets last year.

izzy wrote:East: Pacers, Heat, Raps (I have a hunch) Bulls.
West: Spurs, OKC (though I have concerns), Clips, Blazers.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Raps went through tbh, just think like a lot of people that the vets on the Nets will carry them through.

Assuming Nets and Bulls do get through though, Pierce at the 4 is going to put at the ultimate test tbh.

He creates mismatches on offense but on defense he's going to have a problem dealing with Boozer and Gibson in the paint.

But i'm not going to jump to conclusions, deal with that if/when it actually happens.

As for OKC i feel you. I think its going to be a lot closer than people think wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it goes to 6 games minimum.

If the Nets go through, they face the Heat, not Bulls, no?

Oh f*ck i completely forgot they lost last night

I even posted a bloody bracket

Probably why they wanted to avoid them

The Franchise wrote:If the Nets go through, they face the Heat, not Bulls, no?

Yeah.

Raps - Nets is interesting to me from a matchup standpoint at the backcourt positions. D-Will is going need to show up big because I believe Lowry and Derozan will cause them to get into foul trouble (especially Johnson). A Livingston - D-Will backcourt just doesn't convince me tbh.

OKC - Memphis. Something about this series just seems off to me. Maybe it's from what happened last year and Scott Brooks 'play-calling' from that series. Just something seems off. Hopefully Westbrook proves to be the X-Factor, but something seems off.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
East: Pacers, Heat, Nets and Bulls

West: Spurs, OKC, Clippers and Blazers

Got the same.

I think Nets-Raps will go 6 or 7. Warriors-Clippers would be interesting but without Bogut I don't see them beating LAC.

Jabari Parker has officially declared for the draft.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-basketball/news/20140417/jabari-parker-declares-for-nba-draft/

Quite surprised in a way tbh, thought he was going to stay on for another year the way the media was going on after Duke lost.

^ was gonna post that. Glad he did because that would've screwed up the Celtics pick.

Top 3 or bust, I'd trade down otherwise(would consider Exum at 4 I guess)


I doubt he gets drafted but this guy declared, he's 7'5, 360 pounds.


But I saw him in the tournament and wasn't impressed, he can hardly move, he makes Yao look fast.

izzy wrote:

The Franchise wrote:If the Nets go through, they face the Heat, not Bulls, no?

Yeah.

Raps - Nets is interesting to me from a matchup standpoint at the backcourt positions. D-Will is going need to show up big because I believe Lowry and Derozan will cause them to get into foul trouble (especially Johnson). A Livingston - D-Will backcourt just doesn't convince me tbh.

OKC - Memphis. Something about this series just seems off to me. Maybe it's from what happened last year and Scott Brooks 'play-calling' from that series. Just something seems off. Hopefully Westbrook proves to be the X-Factor, but something seems off.

I actually love the Williams-Livingston backcourt.

Great great size, Livingston is a great passer and very akward defender and it frees Williams up to score the ball more. Plus it just speeds their entire team up alot because Johnson gets to play his more natural position IMO.

I

I think on size alone, he gets drafted..I know nothing about him, but at that size..someone has to take the gamble.

TMZ: Nick Young - 'What I'm gonna do with this shouldn't be legal'


I love this guy

The fukkery that will ensue with Kobe if he's resigned will be hilarious.

The Franchise wrote:

I actually love the Williams-Livingston backcourt.

Great great size, Livingston is a great passer and very akward defender and it frees Williams up to score the ball more. Plus it just speeds their entire team up alot because Johnson gets to play his more natural position IMO.

I

Same, not only that but it balances out the entire team. The only issue with it is Pierce at the 4 defensively could be a problem with the bigger Power Forwards.

Luckily for them most of those happen to be in the West or Indy/Chicago and i really don't see Brooklyn getting to the ECF for that to be an issue.

It's not gonna be an issue against Toronto or Miami so they are good there.

That's true.

I reckon the biggest problem is the glass for the Nets against those guys..because while Peirce cant guard Boozer or West..they cant guard him either, and he could go for 30 once or twice a series.

But no chance he can keep Boozer, West, Gibson or even Scola off the offensive glass.

They can't guard him no, but the looks Pierce is gonna get are not gonna be anywhere near as high percentage as the looks Boozer, Gibson, West, Scola and so on would get.

I would have great concerns at his ability to not only keep them off the glass but also stopping them just banging him down low.

He's not going to be able to stop that, but you are right he's going to be too skilled and too quick for them on offense so in all likely hood he's going to get open shots.

I wouldn't like that though, you need to be getting stops and you can't just be happy with mismatches at both ends even if one is in your favor.

Not like it will matter in the end because i really can't see them beating Miami despite the 4-0 regular season record, but if by some stroke of luck they did then its going to be a problem.

I get ya, but if im the Nets, I want to be beaten by Gibson, West, Scola and Boozer in the post...not George, not Lance, not even Augstin or Butler.

You can always double down if it gets too costly and make someone hit jumpers. You cant double Peirce because he plays the the elbow and Johnson, Williams will thrive more in the space.

Though granted, its not ideal obviously but we saw the Nets go big and slow with KG and Lopez and it hurts the transition offence and defence (two things the Nets are almost elite statistically)..who will they play instead?

I think Amir Johnson will be a good test, he is very difficult to control on the offensive glass and he has developed into a surprisingly good offensive player.

Oh for sure, its definitely a risk i take.

If they go back again and move Johnson back to the 2 to compensate they would probably get swept

Just something which hasn't really been tested up to the point and quite frankly i see it being a problem.

But i wouldn't want to go big again because we have seen how that works out for the Nets.

Just something i noted especially against the Knicks, Amare had his way with him and i can see other PFs in the east doing similar.

But as you say you would rather that than George going off, it is something to keep an eye on though and seeing how they adjust as the game slows down.

https://vine.co/v/M1ub5rwvZe2

The amount of times he gets burned on simple backdoor cuts is amazing.

Awful.

Him and Lin (when both are on the court) are probably the worse backcourt in the league defensively.

Perhaps Calderon and Ellis are as bad.

Who needs a deep run to prove themselves?

I'm gonna say CP3, he's a fantastic player but none of his teams have gone anywhere at some point you have to question why.

Which people will do if Clippers are bounced out early.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Who needs a deep run to prove themselves?

I'm gonna say CP3, he's a fantastic player but none of his teams have gone anywhere at some point you have to question why.

Which people will do if Clippers are bounced out early.

Definitely CP3.
Almost a decade in the league and he ain't been past the 2nd round. Unacceptable for a player that is rountinely called the 3rd best player in the league.
Clippers must get to the conference finals at least imo.

Howard. Nothing to say here we don't already know.

Deron Williams. Got max money. Star player on the Nets and he has come up so small it's unreal.

Others; Blake, Durant, Paul George, Harden.

The Franchise wrote:Awful.

Him and Lin (when both are on the court) are probably the worse backcourt in the league defensively.

Perhaps Calderon and Ellis are as bad.

Yeah those have to be the two worst. I give Ellis credit, he's putting in more effort than he did in Milwaukee. Felton/JR Smith were pretty bad this year too.

It'll be interesting to see how effective Beverley is defensively, playing with that injury. Lin will definitely have trouble with Lillard

At least Beverley is a good defender. He should be playing all of Lin's minutes in the playoffs and then some.