NBA Playoffs

[Billy Dat]

-Boston made that push at the start of the second half, but once Miami pushes it back out to 5+, they never could make a run. The Miami D was tough, especially on Ray Allen and Pierce, but I agree that Boston didn't have that next gear. They got nothing from Big Baby, and Jeff Green was invisible in the second half. Now, Boston faces a must-win in Game 3.

-One thing that's interesting about Memphis is that they barely shoot 3s, which makes it tougher to open up the inside. That being said, they don't really care and just keeping banging away. It is fun to watch ZBo's lightening quick catch, spin, triple-threat repetoire - Mason, Miles, Ryan, Josh...please take note.

[jipops]

Jeff Teague has looked like a legit NBA starter at pg while playing in place of Hinrich. Beginning the 4th quarter in Game 2 he is the leading the scorer for the Hawks. Not a bad outing facing off against the league MVP.

On another note, Deng's defense has been absolutely terrific. He is rarely ever out of position and is giving Joe Johnson fits right now.

[darjum]

Jeff Teague has looked like a legit NBA starter at pg while playing in place of Hinrich. Beginning the 4th quarter in Game 2 he is the leading the scorer for the Hawks. Not a bad outing facing off against the league MVP.

On another note, Deng's defense has been absolutely terrific. He is rarely ever out of position and is giving Joe Johnson fits right now.

I agree; I assumed G1 was an aberration and that Teague would have a stinker in G2, not so.

The difference between Deng and Williams is like night and day. This match up will help determine this series. Good to see Chicago's bigs both get 10+ boards, a good sign.

Lastly...MVP, MVP, well deserved Mr Rose.

[Starter]

This is where NCAA/ACC fans have something on purely NBA fans. Teague is a huge surprise to them, but we all know how nasty Teague was at Wake. I was surprised it took him this long to get going in the pros, though if he'd had another year of college, he'd almost certainly have had a smoother transition. Teague was a great pick, especially as late as they took him.

The Marvin Williams pick still stinks, though.

[JasonEvans]

This is where NCAA/ACC fans have something on purely NBA fans. Teague is a huge surprise to them, but we all know how nasty Teague was at Wake. I was surprised it took him this long to get going in the pros, though if he'd had another year of college, he'd almost certainly have had a smoother transition. Teague was a great pick, especially as late as they took him.

The Marvin Williams pick still stinks, though.

The pick that made me conclude that Billy Knight was actually operating without a brain in his head was when he took Josh Childress over Luol Deng. I almost stopped being a Hawks fan that day. Simply one of the worst draft decisions in NBA history.

Best part about it-- Knight said he took Childress because he liked "long" players. If Luol Deng is not the very definition of "long," I don't know what he is?!?!

As others have mentioned, the Marvin Williams pick only looks bad in hindsight. Everyone thought Williams would blossom into something special in the NBA. Of course, everyone also knew the Hawks desperately needed a PG and Chris Paul/Deron Williams were sitting there on the board just begging to be picked.

Sigh.

Shelden Williams instead of Brandon Roy is another pick that convinced me that Billy Knight was dumb as a stump.

Sigh.

-Jason "Hawks basketball, its draftsucktastic" Evans

[phaedrus]

Best part about it-- Knight said he took Childress because he liked "long" players. If Luol Deng is not the very definition of "long," I don't know what he is?!?!

Ah, this brings me back. Those long arms - they just beg for an analogy, a comparison. If only I could think of one...

Let's go with Go-Go-Gadget arms.

[CDu]

Game 2 of the Bulls/Hawks series was a bit different, although the Bulls still don't look great. Rose and Boozer do appear to be hobbled a bit by injury. Rose doesn't look confident in his ankle, and it's limiting his relentless explosiveness (which is what takes him from really good to top-5 player in the league). Unfortunately for him and for Boozer, their injuries probably won't get fully healed until the offseason (functional enough to play through, but not 100%). The Bulls did a better job on the offensive glass and the Hawks didn't hit all of their jumpers like they did in Game 1. I still think the Bulls win in 5-6 games, but the injuries to their two best scorers make it a bit more interesting.

In the nightcap, how about those Mavs? The Lakers can't seem to guard the PG position. Could they be done? I won't write them off just yet, but winning 2 of 3 in Dallas will be tough.

[superdave]

Game 2 of the Bulls/Hawks series was a bit different, although the Bulls still don't look great. Rose and Boozer do appear to be hobbled a bit by injury. Rose doesn't look confident in his ankle, and it's limiting his relentless explosiveness (which is what takes him from really good to top-5 player in the league). Unfortunately for him and for Boozer, their injuries probably won't get fully healed until the offseason (functional enough to play through, but not 100%). The Bulls did a better job on the offensive glass and the Hawks didn't hit all of their jumpers like they did in Game 1. I still think the Bulls win in 5-6 games, but the injuries to their two best scorers make it a bit more interesting.

In the nightcap, how about those Mavs? The Lakers can't seem to guard the PG position. Could they be done? I won't write them off just yet, but winning 2 of 3 in Dallas will be tough.

Hawks scoring dropped from 103 to 73, so they did not shoot as well and the Bulls played better D. It seemed like Teague was shooting too much last night and guys like Horford and Smith were taking too many outside jumpers. Those shots were going down the previous game though. My guess is the Bulls D is the difference in the series.

I was kinda surprised to see how many plays the Bulls ran for Korver. They ran like 4-5 straight sets for him at one point in the 2nd half. He's got a good looking shot, but maybe not that good. Maybe they wanted to make the Hawks' wings work extra hard on D.

[oakvillebluedevil]

D.

I was kinda surprised to see how many plays the Bulls ran for Korver. They ran like 4-5 straight sets for him at one point in the 2nd half. He's got a good looking shot, but maybe not that good. Maybe they wanted to make the Hawks' wings work extra hard on D.

Korver is a great shooter, but the best advantage of those plays is that it puts three off-ball defenders on one side of the floor. A lot of times, Rose would hit Korver off the picks, but then Korver would pass it right back. This allowed Rose to drive and play a two-man game with Deng spotting up in the corner for three.

[superdave]

D.

Korver is a great shooter, but the best advantage of those plays is that it puts three off-ball defenders on one side of the floor. A lot of times, Rose would hit Korver off the picks, but then Korver would pass it right back. This allowed Rose to drive and play a two-man game with Deng spotting up in the corner for three.

Rose also found Boozer in the blocks when his defender stepped towards Korver who was cutting through the baseline. Boozer got a layup before the defender recovered. Nice play.

[tommy]

In the nightcap, how about those Mavs? The Lakers can't seem to guard the PG position. Could they be done? I won't write them off just yet, but winning 2 of 3 in Dallas will be tough.

The Lakers haven't been able to guard the PG position for years, and they've won championships anyway. Their problem in this series has been in dealing with the Mavs' size. Between Tyson Chandler, Haywood, and Nowitzki, the Lakers are getting nothing easy inside. They're not used to that at all. Bynum has been the only bright spot, but Gasol just can't get anything decent and he's been pushed around. A lot. So when you combine that with the Lakers' abysmal three point shooting (I think their first made three came in the last 4 minutes or so last night) you have a recipe for a beat-down.

Keep in mind too that Dallas is doing this without Caron Butler, who is a very valuable piece to that team. Oh, and by the way, the Lakers will be without Ron Artest, who committed an extremely obvious and incomprehensibly stupid cheap-shot clothesline upon Barrea in the last minute of a lost-cause game, and has been suspended for Game 3. Brilliant, Ron-Ron.

[Starter]

As others have mentioned, the Marvin Williams pick only looks bad in hindsight. Everyone thought Williams would blossom into something special in the NBA. Of course, everyone also knew the Hawks desperately needed a PG and Chris Paul/Deron Williams were sitting there on the board just begging to be picked.

See, that need for a point guard was what made me even at the time give one big SMH to the Marvin Williams pick. I definitely thought he'd be better than he's been, but I viewed Paul and Deron as having just as much upside. It wasn't surprising what they did, but I hated it. (I'm a Knicks fan, by the way, but I do have a Josh Smith jersey and went to a Hawks-Celtics game down there last year. I like how the Hawks play)

[darjum]

As others have mentioned, the Marvin Williams pick only looks bad in hindsight. Everyone thought Williams would blossom into something special in the NBA. Of course, everyone also knew the Hawks desperately needed a PG and Chris Paul/Deron Williams were sitting there on the board just begging to be picked.

In the 2005 draft it was very clear Milwaukee was going to take Bogut or Williams. Bogut was the safer pick, with Williams having more upside potential. With the second pick the Hawks had to take Paul or Williams, they already had Josh Smith, Al Harrington, Josh Childress and newly signed Joe Johnson. When talent is equal (and what had Williams actually shown in his one year at UNC...that he could finish around the rim in a fast paced offense? Certainly helped his stock how UNC finished that particular year in the tournament) you then draft for need. And Atlanta moving into the 05-06 season needed a PG or a starting C, with Bogut gone they didn't need another SF/PF. It was obvious then to college and NBA fans (and yes in hindsight is even more glaring) that Atlanta may end up regretting the choice if Williams didn't turn into an out and out superstar. Had C.Paul been handed the reigns to athletes such as Smith, Childress and Johnson Atlanta's history may be very different.

I feel sorry for Hawks fans, a very long history dating back to St,Louis and the only championship belongs to Bob Pettit in 1958 and I'm sure for Atlanta residents that doesn't hold as much meaning. However it must have been exciting to live through the Dominique era, what an athlete!

[darjum]

In the nightcap, how about those Mavs? The Lakers can't seem to guard the PG position. Could they be done? I won't write them off just yet, but winning 2 of 3 in Dallas will be tough.

It was a fascinating game to watch. I'm not sure if you got to watch Heat/Celtics game 2 but I never felt the Celtics could win that game as I didn't feel they had another gear against the Heat in Miami. I felt the exact reverse with the Lakers, that they had the gears to move to but never did. It solidifies my appreciation Dirk, he is just the most amazing player. That fade away jumper off one leg is almost impossible to stop, and as one of the commentators stated (think it was Kerr): "the Lakers crowd is frightened of Dirk".

Winning 4 of 5 games is tough against the same opponent, especially when they play 3 of those 5 at home; but if any team in the playoffs gets the benefit of the doubt, it is LA. I still find Kobe the most aesthetically balanced player in the league, he so rarely seems off balance. But Pau looks off right now and if the two big men don't control the paint, then yes, it's over.

[SuperTurkey]

Wow, who expected the Lakers to fall apart like this? Given their collapse now, and the awful body language from Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol as it was going down, is there any way they win game 4?

[g-money]

Wow, who expected the Lakers to fall apart like this? Given their collapse now, and the awful body language from Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol as it was going down, is there any way they win game 4?

What was it that Shane said about vampires recently? Even down 3-0, I still think the Lakers have a pulse.

[COYS]

Uggh . . . a far more familiar Atlanta team showed up last night. At home. In the playoffs. With momentum in the series up for grabs. Seriously, how does Teague end up taking the most shots on the team? I recognize that he shot pretty well, but he should have been focused on one thing and one thing only: limiting Rose as much as possible. Let Crawford and Johnson score. Must win for the Hawks on Sunday. If Rose keeps on playing this way, however, our chances are looking much slimmer.

[darjum]

Wow, who expected the Lakers to fall apart like this? Given their collapse now, and the awful body language from Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol as it was going down, is there any way they win game 4?

Gasol in particular looks awful in his demeanor. I've rarely seen Phil so publicly challenge a player to step up.

[darjum]

Uggh . . . a far more familiar Atlanta team showed up last night. At home. In the playoffs. With momentum in the series up for grabs. Seriously, how does Teague end up taking the most shots on the team? I recognize that he shot pretty well, but he should have been focused on one thing and one thing only: limiting Rose as much as possible. Let Crawford and Johnson score. Must win for the Hawks on Sunday. If Rose keeps on playing this way, however, our chances are looking much slimmer.

Yeah, it doesn't look good, that was a horrible performance today. The inconsistency of the Hawks is so baffling.

[muzikfrk75]

Phil Jackson has never been swept in a series. Is it going to happen this series? I say yes.