Friday, April 15, 2011

Playoffs!



Happy Valentine's Day from Zach Randolph. Or Happy The Grey Nathan Can Still Make Patrick's Pads Posts Day. I thought what better time to make a post than when I have an essay due today that I haven't started and final exams next week that I'm not prepared for. T-wah informed me that I didn't make a single post during the regular season. For that I am ashamed. At least I've made plenty of comments. But I'm still ashamed. I have a really neat idea for a post but I don't have time to write it right now. But maybe next week. So see ya later.

Just kidding. I thought with the playoffs kicking off tomorrow, it would be appropriate to write something about it. But I'm not going to do that. There are plenty of playoff preview articles out there and I don't really have time to make an original one. So instead I just want to post my predictions and encourage everyone else to do the same in the comments. But first, a picture:

Kurt Rambis and Danny Ainge might both be idiots. So this is a good picture.

Without further ado (because there's been too much ado already) I present The Grey Nathan's Playoff Picks of Pickled Peppers (because here at Patrick Ewing's Knee Pads there's no such thing as too much alliteration):

(I'll have to keep this brief because I really shouldn't be doing this right now. But I can't resist.)

THE EAST

Chicago over Indiana in 4 games.
-because the Pacers are only in the playoffs because no one else wanted to be.

Miami over Philly in 6
- I think AI will slow Lebron down. Not that much, but I think they can squeak out a couple wins and extend the series to the point that people are surprised and a little nervous that the playoffs might get ruined by a team no one wants to watch.

Boston over New York in 6
-Carmelo will have a couple games where he can't be stopped. But the rest of the team besides Amare isn't good at all.

Orlando over Atlanta in 6
- it will take them longer than it should because Atlanta has Collins. haha. But I guess he's really good at stopping DH (yes, David Humphrey) and unlike last year, if you can do that this year, the rest of the team isn't very good and will have a hard time making up for that. I'm referring to how last year Charlotte pretty much made him a non-factor, but just didn't have enough to make the rest of the team pay. I think that was a hugely underrated move. They got him in terrible foul trouble and frustrated the crap out of him. I tried to look up the stats but my feeble effort failed. If you can find it, it's more incredible than anyone said. So if you have a good defender and a decent team, you can beat the magic easily this year. I had Atlanta as my upset for a while, but I guess they suck and hate their coach. So they won't pull it off, but they'll make it harder than it should be.

SECOND ROUND

Bulls over Magic in 5
- I don't have any faith in the Magic. The Bulls are way better.

Celtics over Heat in 7
-Whoa!!! I know! I can't believe I'm doing it, but I actually believe it. The C's look terrible lately, but they always do that at the end of the year. In fact, most good teams do. Look at the Spurs and Lakers. They look awful. But none of those teams is going to be awful in the playoffs. I think experience and teamwork will pay off for the Celtics. Pierce is good enough to slow down Lebron, I hope Green and Allen can slow down Wade and help with Lebron. And Bosh is ALWAYS terrible against the Celtics. And that covers their team. I just don't think the 3 man team is going to work. Maybe that's naive or old-fashioned or just hopeful. I had given up on the Celtics until just a moment ago. I have hope that they'll turn it on in the playoffs.

ECF

Celtics over Bulls in 7
-this is hard. The Bulls are fantastic. I love watching them. They killed the Celtics a few days ago. But I really think experience will pay off and the C's will gain confidence as the playoffs progress. This one could go either way though. It'll be fun to watch.

WEST

Spurs over Grizzlies in 6
- I think the Grizz will catch them sleeping a couple times. They're weirdly good. If there's ever going to be another 8 over 1 upset anytime soon, I actually think it could happen here. I haven't seen enough of the Grizz to really believe though. From what I hear, they're really interesting. Those kinds of teams often make some noise in the first round. Maybe they'll stretch it to 7 games.

OKC over Denver in 5
- people think this series will be closer than I do. I think Denver is going to realize that they don't have a star player and then notice that OKC has two. That might happen in the first or second game of the series. I just think the good vibes of continuing on successful after the Melo thing will wear off soon.

this one's for Fats
Dallas over Portland in 7
-I don't even know if I believe this, but so many people are picking against the Mavs that they're kind of the underdogs. I think Portland matches up well against them, but Dallas has the best player in the series. LMA will pull his weight, but I think Dirk will outplay him.

LA over New Orleans in 4
-won't even be close. The Hornets aren't any good. I've only seen CP3 play twice this year, and one of the times Jose Calderon made him look like he was Ian Walker. Never a good sign. I would take it as a fluke if I hadn't heard that he's lost his step overall.

ROUND 2

San Antonio over OKC in 6
- we're all going to remember that the Spurs are good and the Thunder are overrated. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Spurs and love the Thunder, but people are still getting carried away about them. Come on Bill Simmons, OKC - Chicago final? When does it ever happen that two teams with no playoff experience beat every team with it? It's not going to happen, as much as I would love to see it.

LA over Dallas in 7
-this'll be a fun series to watch. I think Kobe has just enough left in the tank for another title run.

WCF

LA over San Antonio in 6
- I hate this series and I hope I'm wrong and that it doesn't happen. Yuck.

Finals

Boston over LA in 7
- Rematch! This was my pick at the beginning of the year, and I haven't seen quite enough to change it. I mean, I've seen a lot, and it's almost enough, but not quite. I'm not 100% convinced Boston has blown it. A couple days ago I was, so this might change. But like I said earlier, I think winning in the playoffs will help them gel, if that's the problem. They'll get their confidence back. I don't think this pick is just because I'm a Boston fan. It might be, but I really do think they have as good of a chance as anyone. And I think their experience will be a huge factor that matters more than it seems like it should. I'm probably in the minority on this one, and fair enough. It could go any number of ways. That's what makes this year's playoffs so exciting. I can't wait.

Post your picks in the comments.

12 comments:

  1. Well I think one thing is for sure: the Bulls will make it to the conference finals... Indiana and Orlando don't stand a chance (orlando maybe a slight chance if they get hot from the outside).
    I don't think the Knicks will even win one game against the celtics. The knicks are Melo/Iverson all over again. All offense, no defense.
    Where the East gets interesting is Miami vs Boston. The playoffs are all about who has that extra gear. If anyteam has an extra gear, it's Miami. Then again, it could go either way. But I think the winner of Boston/Miami series will go to the final. Experience is Huge in the playoffs, and Chicago just doesn't have it.

    The West is easy.. the Lakers can beat anyone there. And Portland will beat the mavs. I think LMA and dirk will be a wash. Beyond Dirk, the mavs are brutal on offense.

    I think that if Miami plays The lakers in the final, Miami will win. This is something that no one in the media seems to notice. The lakers suck against active rebounding/scoring wing players. That's why Wallace and Jackson destroyed them all the time, and that's why Wade and Lebron destroyed them both times this year. How else could a non-playoff team beat the lakers year after year? I don't think it's a coincidence.

    If Boston Plays the lakers in the final, I think the lakers will win. I say this assuming the lakers will have bynum and the celts won't have shaq. A rematch of last year where the lakers have Their startng Center and the celtics don't is the reverse of last year, and we all know what happened last year.
    well, there's my predictions.

    Keep fit and have fun.

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  2. I already feel uncomfortable about my picks. That's what makes this year so great I guess. I agree that the heat can beat the Lakers. And I'm worried the Celtics don't have enough offense to beat the Lakers. They probably won't even get there. AHH! Exciting!

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  3. I meant to get on here before the playoffs started, but I guess I'll just have to make my predictions after the first weekend. It was great, but it didn't really change my opinion that much.

    I can't believe that there weren't any blow outs in at all. That was pretty crazy. The upsets were cool, but in the long run I don't think they'll hold much sway, except for the Hawks. After playing in the worst playoff series of all time last year I think they may have figured out how to beat the Magic. I mean if Howard can dominate like he did in game 1 and the Magic still can't win, I don't think they have much of a chance. That team is really flawed, and unless their outside shooting starts to go in, I can see the Hawks taking them down. Memphis and New Orleans were cool wins, but I don't see either team winning those series. I would pick Memphis over NO if I had to pick one, but I'm pretty sure the Spurs and Lakers will both come back.

    I still love the Mavs, and if they can get that kind of production from Kidd through the playoffs, they're going to do pretty well. I didn't see much of the Nuggets-Thunder game, but I agree with Grey that the Nuggest are eventually going to realize that they don't have a good player, and will fall apart to a far superior Thunder team.

    As for the rest of the East, there were some good games there. I think the Celtics can beat the Knicks, but it's gonna be a tough series. I also think the Heat will beat the Sixers, but I still think they're such a weird team that I can't pick them to win it all. I really like Lebron, but besides the big 3 their team is worse than Cleveland. I mean, when your crunch time guys include Joel Anthony and Mike Bibby (who looks about 50 now), you've got some troubles.

    By far the best game was the Bulls-Pacers. I turned it on right at the end of the game when the Pacers took a 10 point lead with about 2 minutes left with an old school Tyler Hansborough scoring performance (how is that guy good?). I thought for sure the Bulls were done, but boy was I wrong. Rose just proved in those 2 minutes why he's the MVP this year. His performance at both scoring and setting up guys was amazing. Once the Bulls figure out how to win in the playoffs, which I think will happen in this series, they're going to be super dangerous. Man I love playoff time (except that most of the games are on TSN2 and SN1, which really sucks cause I don't get either of them!!!).

    I'm going to stick with my prediction of Lakers over Celtics in 6, but I now have my doubts. I think both the Bulls and Mavs could be contenders, but now's not the time to be wishy-washy, cause no one likes that!

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  4. I might be the only one, but Rose as MVP ticks me off.
    Don't get me wrong... he's definitely top 5 in the NBA. But NOT MVP.

    He's a scorer, but not the best scorer. He's a point guard, but not the BEST point guard. He Shoots a worse FG% than all the other MVP candidates. He gets less rebounds than the other MVP candidates (howard and lebron).

    The ONLY advantage he has over howard and lebron is that his team has a better record... but They only had like 4 more wins than the heat. And the record is more indicative of coach of the year rather than MVP.

    Rose is definitely one of the funnest players to watch. But his MVP run is really just a media/popularity thing and it kinda takes away from basketball.
    Anyways, just thought I'd get that out there

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  5. I kind of agree with Miller, but the real question that you didn't address is who would be the MVP then? I don't think Lebron can get it cause Wade is every bit as important to that team as he is. Howard won't get it until he starts taking things more seriously and becomes better on the offensive end. Kobe isn't even really up there and no one is gonna give it to Dirk, even though he had a great year. That pretty much leaves Durant, but he's also got Westbrook helping him out almost equally this year, and I don't think he lived up to everyone's expectations this year. I'm not a huge Rose for MVP fan either, but this seems to be a year without a strong front runner. I think the main reason he's up there is because of how the Bulls hung in there with injuries to their other two good players, and then how well they did under Rose's leadership to get that number 1 seed, when no one really expected them to. Watching his game 1 performance kind of had me sold on his MVP candidacy, but it's more of a compromise choice than anything else.

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  6. I know!! It is both awesome and sucky that there's no clearcut MVP this year. Cool that it generates so much interest and discussion. Sucky that it doesn't really feel like anyone deserves it.
    However, I think it should really be either Lebron or Howard. Lebron is BY FAR more efficient than rose and led his team to only 4 less wins than the bulls and Led a team defense without a defensive center to one of the best defenses in the league. The only thing holding him back is the Wade argument, but isn't that counter-intuitive? Shouldn't Lebron be posting Far worse numbers with another ball dominant superstar? Really, he's out of the running because the media hates him for leaving Cleveland, which is an unfortunate reason.

    If not Lebron, Howard should be the MVP. His team is TERRIBLE!! yet they made top 4 in the east. Seriously, he IS the Magic. Take him off that team and they are worse than the Raptors!! Just compare PER of Howard and Rose, it's rediculous how much higher Howard is.

    Put it this way. If you were the GM of Orlando, and Chicago offers to trade you rose for Howard straight up do you even consider it??? There's no way I would do that trade. If I was GM of Chicago in that situation I wouldn't even think twice... done deal!
    Same with Lebron, I would not trade Lebron for Rose, but I would trade rose for Lebron. (these trades are only considering individual players and not the teams, if I was Miami I would think long and hard at a deal for rose just because they need a PG so badly)

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  7. Ya I kind of agree with you on the arguments against Rose as MVP, although I think it should be Howard over Lebron. I'm not much of a stats guy, but just looking at those two teams, Howard is so much more valuable than Lebron (which seems really weird to say!). Take Lebron off the Heat and they'd still be able to make the playoffs in the East with Wade and Bosh. Take Howard off the Magic and they'd probably be worse than the Cavs this year (which is sad because that's probably what will happen in 2012 once Howard signs somewhere else). The problem with Howard as MVP is that the media seems to think that because he smiles more often than other guys (which isn't hard compared to Rose, who never smiles, ever) that he isn't serious about the game. It's complete bull crap. Watching Rose in the playoffs is making me not so mad about him possibly being the MVP (I don't think he's been in the league long enough to be MVP, when lots of other better players didn't win it at the same time), but I'd probably vote for Howard as MVP if I had a vote. Something else that's hurting Lebron is the fact that he's already won the award twice in a row, and putting him with Wade really dilutes the votes he would get. It's a weird MVP year, but I don't think I'll be too mad no matter who gets it.

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  8. I think I know who can solve this MVP debate... Razor's Reasons!

    but really, Serge Ibaka for MVP.. just kidding, but I have never really watched the guy play till the playoffs, he's awesome! and considering he's a second year player who I don't think played hardly any ball in is earlier years, he's amazing.

    How about them Grizzlies? I will crap all over my house if the grizz finish off the spurs.
    And How about Brandon Roy?? He's playing bone on bone in his knees and he single handedly won game 4. It was vintage Brandon Roy and Classic Playoff Mavericks in full force!

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  9. I hate Roy and I hate the Blazers!!!!! That game made me so angry. Why reverse the out of bounds call when there was no irrefutable evidence to do so? Why call an offensive foul on Dirk when Gerald Wallace was clearly sliding into him and moving his feet? Why design your out of timeout play while down 2 for a Jason Kidd three pointer when you have the best player in the series who pretty much can't be guarded? Man that was annoying!!!

    At least the Spurs lost too! Go Griz!

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  10. The Mavs are the best and I'm going to be sacrificing the rest of the Pad's contributors in a matter of weeks! Boo ya!

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  11. I think I'm on board with the MavERICks. They were so awesome against the Lakers. I'm happy to have been one of the few to pick them over Portland, but I don't think anyone saw them sweeping the Lakers. I think Dallas has the mojo now and they'll be back in the finals. It's looking like it might be an '06 rematch. They'll beat whoever wins the Grizz/Thunder series. I like those teams and they look evenly matched, but I don't think they're in Dallas's league. And Miami is looking scary. I really hope they don't win the championship. I'm still rooting for teamwork over two superstars. Dallas=teamwork. Go Mavs.

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  12. Sweet I love Dallas bandwagon jumpers! The only thing I'm kind of afraid of is this huge layoff between series. I know everyone talks about how good it is for guys to get some rest, but sometimes it makes them come out a little flat in the next round. I could be hard, especially if the Grizzlies win the next game and send that series to 7, which I think could very well happen. I still do think that Dallas is capable of beating either the Grizzlies or Thunder, but I just hope this huge break won't hurt them too much.

    I also think the Heat look scary. They're such a weird team. Any other team that has only 3 guys score about 90% of their points would be awful, but for some reason it seems to work with Miami. I don't think Chicago (or heaven forbid Atlanta) can stop them, and I also see an 06 remach. This time I think the Mavs can actually hold on to take them. They've got some good defenders on their team who can hopefully slow down Wade and Lebron, and then who's gonna guard Dirk? Everyone knows Bosh is a terrible defender, and the rest of their centers are about 900 years old. It would make for a good series, and I can really see it being Dallas's year!!! Boo ya!

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