playoff time. My humble predictions and analysis. If i had to pick the finals this year...its Spurs vs Miami again. But the east is open....toronto is a dark horse. Chicago too actually. PORTLAND vs HOUSTON great match up. Portland improved their defense dramatically after the all star break./ Watch wes mathews as he has shut down Harden better than any defensive player in the league. Batum is tough for Parsons, but Lopez has big trouble handling Dwight. What this means is, harden is prevented from driving as much and throwing himself at defenders.....and getting fouls. Portland is a top five offensive team.....and if Lillard gets hot, they are better than that. The Blazers are going into this as underdogs, and i think unfairly. But.....they need Aldridge to assert himself. Terrence jones had real trouble guarding him when these teams met. In fact portland has the advantage in all matches except Lopez vs Dwight. Now the benches are both underwhelming, but portland might have a slight SLIGHT edge, although Omar Asik is a beast and a big plus for houston. This comes down to coaching in a way and Stotts wins over McHale. Well, my grandmother wins over McHale. And shes dead. I think you have to watch Dwight ,,,obviously....because if portland cant contain him, then Houston wins this series. On the other side, its all about Lillard. Lin cant handle him, and Beverly has struggled some, too. Portland will no doubt slow it down a bit.......make houston set up because they turn the ball over a lot. I think Portland can win this, but they have to find a zone to stop dwight. MEMPHIS vs OKC OKC should cruise. Memphis cant score enough. Westbrook is a loose canon and its going to be interesting moving foward, but for now, frankly, Durant should win this series by himself.. This isnt the same memphis team from two years ago,. After hollinger and company came in and got Hollins fired, the Griz havent been the same. Gasol is great, but rookie Adams actually plays him tough. Memphis is going to struggle on the perimeter........and Ibaka is a nightmare for Zbo.........OKC in five. SPURS vs DALLAS.............id like to have seen Dallas vs OKC...because dallas MIGHT have had a shot, but they match up badly vs SA. But then everyone does. Props to rick carlyse getting the Mavs this far....Dirk is a monster.......but dallas defense is going to be destroyed by the cutting Spurs. Patty Mills is in the conversation for most improved....man he has been good. Kawhi set for big series. Tim is motivated. Parker and Manu both healthy. Spurs sweep. CLIPS vs GOLDEN STATE. these teams hate each other. But Bogut going down (and he must be THEE most fragile and injury prone player in history......geez) i think its tough for GS, Jermaine O Neal, 38 yrs old, has filled in great, but without Bogut, the warriors arent the same team. Iguadola though is key. He is the premier defender in the league....he might even guard BLake at times. Iguadola, statistically, makes the single biggest difference to any team in the league when hes on the court. GS is the top defensive team in the west, but they can be inconsistent, and exactly like the Clips they seem to go into slumps defensively. The Clips are a very good offensive team.....statistically the best, but.....and its a big but, they are NOT a great offensive team against teams with winning records. In other words, they have beat up on bad teams. But man, Blake has been amazing this season. CP3 and Jordan......its probably enough, even if the Clips defense has big holes. Still.........Curry is tough and if Dray Green can guard Blake at all.....a big if......the 3 point shooting of GS could make things difficult for LA. Another X factor is David Lee. If Lee regains form, then actually he can make life difficult at times for Blake....and can certainly wear him down trying to defend Lee. Klay Thompson isnt having all that good a year and the warrior bench is shit........but then the clipper bench isnt that good either. This is going to be about GS finding a renewed sense of defensive urgency. They have to attack. If you sit back and let CP3 pick you apart, and let Jordan dunk, and let Blake loose all over the lane..........then clips might just sweep. Its a very hard series to clock. The internal dissension in the Bay has been a big topic........two assistant coaches fired. And I think there is a lot of unease in the organization about Jacksons future. This series is a referendum on jackson. If he beats LA he keeps his job, if not, hes gone. Golden State though, gets up for big games. When they have had to win, they have. Iguadola is the key though, not Curry. Iguadola is a transmformational defensive player....best in the league any way you want to measure it. So this is CP3 and Blake as an offensive force, vs IGuadola and .....sadly not Bogut....but a veteran big man in ONeal as a defensive force. And dont sleep on Draymond Green. The undersized power forward is a clutch big game defender. Should be a great series.....could go either way.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:39:22 +0000
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