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The Larry O'Brian Trophy. Which teams will move one step closer?
Playoffs games is like a set in tennis, a home match is a like a game on serve, if both teams hold their home games, then it goes to a 7th game (like a tie break), but if u lose a home game, you'll lose the set if u aren't able to 'break back'. I see Detroit losing a service game, and not being able to break back.
As for Lakers and Spurs, the Lakers look awesome atm but theyre against the Spurs, u can never confidently bet against the Spurs, they just know how to get it done, someway and somehow (yes referring to Robert Horry).
Heart says:
East - Pistons 4-0
West - who cares, Pistons will beat them 4-0 in the finals
Head says:
East - Celts 4-2
West - Lakers 4-3
A.
Detroit overpowered a dogged Orlando last night, 91-86 in front of their home crowd at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Eastern Conference 2nd seeds dominated the series 4-1. After a rocky start to their playoff campaign against Philadelphia, the Pistons have played inspired basketball and have been making the defensive plays and hitting their shots in crunch time. Detroit were facing a shock elimination in the first round of the playoffs, down 2-1 to Philadelphia. Since then, the Pistons have regained the form which helped them reach their 59-23 record during the regular season. Rasheed Wallace's defense on the young superstar Dwight Howard coupled with the tenacious attack on the rebounds of Jason Maxiell and Antonio McDyess kept the Magic at bay, despite Chauncey Billups out with an injury and the Magic hitting many three point shots throughout the series. Tayshaun Prince has lifted his game immensely during these playoffs on both the offensive and defensive ends and is undoubtedly the team playoff MVP so far.
Chauncey Billups slaps the hand of Antonio McDyess during the 5th match of their playoff series against Orlando. Source: Yahoo
The Pistons have now made their 6th Eastern Conference Final match in a row, matching the record set by the showtime-Lakers during the 1980's. They await the winner of the Boston vs Cleveland series, who are currently tightly locked at 2-2. Boston, the top seed of the Eastern Conference, have been struggling playing away from home. After winning their first 2 games at home, the Lebron James-led Cleveland have leveled the series.
On the Western Conference, the Lakers and Jazz are also locked at 2-2, with the Boozer-Deron Williams combo proving steadfast so far against Kobe Bryant's Lakers. Both teams had excellent home records during the regular season, and the Jazz have struggled playing away from home, however Kobe Bryant has been nursing back injury and is in doubt for their next clash tomorrow. He sat out the team's last practice session and is currently undergoing 24-hour treatment. Bryant's health will be critical for the Laker's chances of reaching the Western Conf Final.
The young New Orleans have takenk a 3-2 lead over reigning champions San Antonio, courtesy of the incredible play of David West (38 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) and the playmaking of Chris Paul (14 assists and 22 points). Despite taking a 4 point lead into the main break, the Hornets dominated in the second half to take the win 101-79. Tim Duncan has struggled during this series so far thanks to the stifling defense of Tyson Chandler. If the Spurs have any hope to resurrect this series, vintage Tim Duncan must be rekindled.
Tomorrow, Cleveland and Boston, and Utah and the Lakers battle to gain the lead in their respective series. Best of 7 advance to the Conference Finals. The Championship will be decided by a best of 7 series between the winner of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals.
A.
The New York Knicks have reportedly signed outgoing Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni to a contract worth $24 million dollars over 4 years, according to New York Times newspaper. D'Antoni fell out-of-favour with Suns management, and the final 2 years of his contract was terminated.
D'Antoni, who took over the Phoenix head-coaching role from Frank Johnson in 2003 enjoyed a successful 5 season tenure with the Suns, employing a fast-paced 'run and gun' offense, taking the Suns to 4 playoff appearances, including 2 appearances in the Western Conference Finals and 3 Pacific Division titles.
Despite D'Antoni's invigorating offense starring Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, shortfalls and lack of emphasis on team defense ultimately cut Phoenix's playoff runs short, and probably ultimately cost D'Antoni his job. Lack of team depth and excessive minutes to the team's stars also likely contributed to the Suns's failed championship runs. Management made their intentions clear, by trading away Shawn Marion, one of the centerpieces of the Suns offense, for Shaquille O'Neal before the February 08 trade deadline. The trade failed to bring the Suns any closer to a championship, as they tumbled out of contention, falling again at the hands of the defensive-minded, Tim Duncan led-San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
It is highly questionable why a team who has struggled on defense would hire an offense-minded coach who appears to have little regard for defense. On the surface, D'Antoni doesn't appear to have what it takes to bring a championship to New York. Although fruitless in their championship runs, D'Antoni's 'run and gun' offense was led by 2-time MVP Steve Nash and fueled by the athleticism of Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire, combined with the much-dependable perimeter shooting of Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa. The current New York roster littered with poor defenders and whose styles would render them very inefficient at running D'Antoni's famed up-tempo system. Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are slow plodding big men. The team's leading point guard and ex-Sun, Stephon Marbury, had a tumultuous relationship with D'Antoni while before he was traded to New York midway through the 2003-2004 season. Perhaps the only pieces of the roster suitable in D'Antoni's offense would be Jamal Crawford, a combo guard capable of lighting it up from downtown on any given night, and Quentin Richardson, an ex-Sun who has experience in D'Antoni's offense and had his best statistical season under D'Antoni in his only season with Phoenix.
Despite the team's lack of recent success, New York remains the biggest basketball stage in America. After 4 successful, yet fruitless seasons with Phoenix, D'Antoni has the opportunity to point a struggling team towards the road to finals .Don't expect miracles to happen at the Big Apple any time soon.
A's opinions:
- Expect the Knicks to bolster their team by drafting a young talented point guard. Such as Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo or Jerryd Bayless.
- Don't be shocked to see Stephon Marbury bought out or traded at some stage next season.
- Expect either one of Curry or Randolph to be moved during this offseason.
Fantasy basketball implications
- Quentin Richardson's statistics next season may resemble the type of numbers he achieved during the 04-05 season. He's certain to shoot from downtown aplenty. However managers should deal with his awful FG% by drafting or acquiring players with a great FG%, such as Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson and Tim Duncan.
- Quicker offense means less time clock spent per posession and conversely more posessions, the team's number 1 scorer Jamal Crawford could potentially reach career-best numbers in points and three-pointers made under D'Antoni
Discuss.
A.
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