Official NBA Playoffs Thread

[Murax]

Best Frontline in the NBA: Melo, Amare, Chandler.


For one they will straight up own the paint, scoring, rebounding wise. Carmelos a great offensive rebounder and so is Chandler, and Amare is also when He wants to be. Also Amare, Melo as they showed last year against the Heat can lock down defensively when they really want to and now should be better with Amare. Our backcourt while very young (Fields, Douglas) really are perfect compliments. They defend very well, shoot very well, and don't make a lot of mistakes. This team matches up VERY well against the Heat, Celtics, Bulls in the East. Against the Bulls, poor Derrick rose will get shut down and smothered. Against the Celtics they can no longer bully us inside, and Amare/Melo will be too much for the aging KG/Pierce. The toughest matchup will be against the Heat but I think the difference will be inside play will beat outside play. Amare+Chandler are a million times better than Bosh+Joel Anthony.

[yungnfresh]

Best Frontline in the NBA: Melo, Amare, Chandler.

I'm sure Dallas' frontline (Odom, Marion & Nowitzki) has something to say about that.

Don't get me wrong, the Knicks are a lot better than they were at any point in the last 10 years but realistically speaking, they're still not even what I'd consider a contender in the Eastern conference unless the defensive culture changes. Even if it does, they have enough firepower to get past most teams, but Miami for one is too much for them to handle...cuz even if the pairing of Chandler + Stoudemire is better than Joel Anthony + Bosh, it's not enough to make up for how much better Miami's perimeter is with Wade + Lebron over Melo + Landry Fields. I'd even say the Bulls are gonna be clearly better than the Knicks once they land Rip Hamilton. I see the Knicks taking a step this year, but I don't even see them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

[Murax]

Best Frontline in the NBA: Melo, Amare, Chandler.

I'm sure Dallas' frontline (Odom, Marion & Nowitzki) has something to say about that.

Don't get me wrong, the Knicks are a lot better than they were at any point in the last 10 years but realistically speaking, they're still not even what I'd consider a contender in the Eastern conference unless the defensive culture changes. Even if it does, they have enough firepower to get past most teams, but Miami for one is too much for them to handle...cuz even if the pairing of Chandler + Stoudemire is better than Joel Anthony + Bosh, it's not enough to make up for how much better Miami's perimeter is with Wade + Lebron over Melo + Landry Fields. I'd even say the Bulls are gonna be clearly better than the Knicks once they land Rip Hamilton. I see the Knicks taking a step this year, but I don't even see them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

With the Heat I'll give You a pass. But know one thing, the Heats 'combined' talent is really not that impressive. The Heat have REDUNDANT talent and people who do not compliment each other. As great as both wade/lebron are they do not compliment each other. When one has the ball the other is completely useless and lost just look at the Dallas series. As for the Knicks While Amare plays in the post, You have Melo on the Perimeter and You got Chandler in the middle and Douglas raining thress (led the nba in 3 pointers made 2nd half of last season). In Fields You have the perfect role player. Also keep in mind Amare averaged almost 2 blocks this year, and You saw How He swatted Lebron's game winning layup last year. You also have Chandler so the Knicks can really shut down the paint against Wade/Lebron with Chandler/Amare. Still though, I'll semi give You Miami.


As for Chicago I am BAFFLED. For one the Knicks dominated them last year in the season series and they only got stronger. Secondly the Bulls have NO 2nd scorer outside of Rose. Boozer is grossly overpaid and really a role player. He doesn't demand a double team and cannot dominate a game. As long as You pack the paint against Rose and force those other Guys to beat You the Knicks will be straight. I think the Knicks could beat them in like 5 games. The only teams I think are a legit threat are Miami and Boston because of their experience only.


As for the Knicks defensive culture don't forget how huge it is to have a 7'1, freakishly athletic Center who loves playing D, and is a emotional leader. Just like He did in Dallas He will singlehandidly change the culture in NY. Also do NOT forget the possible signing of Crawford. If the Knicks get Him it is GAME OVER.

[1nemansquad]

my team to beat is still Dallas, and now that they got the best sixth man of last year things will only get better for them; my question is though, WTF were the Lakers front office thinking? it wasn't a trade, it was a "dump off"..in a trade you get something, in a dump off you get nothing, why Odom who had the best season ever last year for the Lakers? doesn't make sense at all

[yungnfresh]

Best Frontline in the NBA: Melo, Amare, Chandler.

I'm sure Dallas' frontline (Odom, Marion & Nowitzki) has something to say about that.

Don't get me wrong, the Knicks are a lot better than they were at any point in the last 10 years but realistically speaking, they're still not even what I'd consider a contender in the Eastern conference unless the defensive culture changes. Even if it does, they have enough firepower to get past most teams, but Miami for one is too much for them to handle...cuz even if the pairing of Chandler + Stoudemire is better than Joel Anthony + Bosh, it's not enough to make up for how much better Miami's perimeter is with Wade + Lebron over Melo + Landry Fields. I'd even say the Bulls are gonna be clearly better than the Knicks once they land Rip Hamilton. I see the Knicks taking a step this year, but I don't even see them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

With the Heat I'll give You a pass. But know one thing, the Heats 'combined' talent is really not that impressive. The Heat have REDUNDANT talent and people who do not compliment each other. As great as both wade/lebron are they do not compliment each other. When one has the ball the other is completely useless and lost just look at the Dallas series. As for the Knicks While Amare plays in the post, You have Melo on the Perimeter and You got Chandler in the middle and Douglas raining thress (led the nba in 3 pointers made 2nd half of last season). In Fields You have the perfect role player. Also keep in mind Amare averaged almost 2 blocks this year, and You saw How He swatted Lebron's game winning layup last year. You also have Chandler so the Knicks can really shut down the paint against Wade/Lebron with Chandler/Amare. Still though, I'll semi give You Miami.


As for Chicago I am BAFFLED. For one the Knicks dominated them last year in the season series and they only got stronger. Secondly the Bulls have NO 2nd scorer outside of Rose. Boozer is grossly overpaid and really a role player. He doesn't demand a double team and cannot dominate a game. As long as You pack the paint against Rose and force those other Guys to beat You the Knicks will be straight. I think the Knicks could beat them in like 5 games. The only teams I think are a legit threat are Miami and Boston because of their experience only.


As for the Knicks defensive culture don't forget how huge it is to have a 7'1, freakishly athletic Center who loves playing D, and is a emotional leader. Just like He did in Dallas He will singlehandidly change the culture in NY. Also do NOT forget the possible signing of Crawford. If the Knicks get Him it is GAME OVER.

I know you're a Knicks fan but dayum

Put it this way, when you have a top 5 NBA player on your team, you have a chance to win every night. When you have 2 top 5 players on the same team, that has to be impressive even if their skillsets are redundant, if for no other reason than the defense's head is always on a swivel trying to keep track of both of them when they're on the floor at the same time. Throw in Chris Bosh, a top 20 player (and a top 10 offensive player) whos' liable to go off for 30 points on any given night (which he did twice in five games against the Bulls, one of the stingiest defenses in the NBA, in their ECF series last year), and Miami is a matchup nightmare especially for a team like the Knicks that isn't known for their stalwart defense. If you go down the rosters and match up players in order of talent on their team, Miami's talent trumps NYK's...I'm sure you'll agree Lebron is better than Melo, D-Wade is better than STAT, Bosh is better than Chandler, UD is better than Landry Fields, Mike Miller is better than Mike Bibby, Shane Battier is better than Toney Douglas...the rest of the rosters don't even need to be compared cuz they're gonna play a few minutes anyway . New York will get swept by Miami in both the season series and a playoff series if both teams go hard, and I don't even think that's a stretch whatsoever.

When it comes to Chicago, there's a reason New York was barely a .500 team while the Bulls had the best record in the entire NBA. Regular season doesn't matter...New York gave Boston fits in the regular season, but got swept by them in the playoffs. The only reason Chicago didn't sweep NYK in the playoffs is cuz they never played each other . Look at their starting 5, Noah is better than Chandler (better rebounder...defense, intensity and scoring is a wash) and the fact hat Chicago absolutely refused to include him in any trade for Melo last year shows how valuable he is, Amare is better than Boozer but the gap isn't as big as you think, Melo is better than Luol Deng and the gap is as big as you think, Rip Hamilton is a better player than Landry Fields and Rose is lightyears ahead of either Bibby or Douglas....scratch that, he's lightyears ahead of Bibby and Douglas COMBINED. The only knock on them last year was they didn't have a second scorer, which Rip gives them with a career 15 PPG scoring average. In a 7 game series, New York doesn't have the depth to compete with the league's premier teams, and the blame for that falls squarely on Melo's shoulders for making them gut their roster by losing Ray Felton, Wilson Chandler and Danillo Galinari just so Melo could land there a few months early, when he could have easily just waited til right now to sign with them straightup and still have a quality supporting cast.

New York doesn't make it out of the second round with this current lineup, cuz the East is top-heavy and NY doesn't have a complete team to compete....they'll still be exciting as hell to watch and make some elite teams sweat, but don't plan a parade anytime soon.

[yungnfresh]

my team to beat is still Dallas, and now that they got the best sixth man of last year things will only get better for them; my question is though, WTF were the Lakers front office thinking? it wasn't a trade, it was a "dump off"..in a trade you get something, in a dump off you get nothing, why Odom who had the best season ever last year for the Lakers? doesn't make sense at all

You hit the nail on the head...that trade was a salary dump and the quality of the trade reminds me of just that, a dump.

[1nemansquad]

do you think Odom dump will backfire on the Lakers? i sure hope so, i want him to come LA and smash them; how you gona treat one of your better guys like that? specially one of the nicest guys in the league?

Once he found out they were going to get rid of him, he took matters into his own hands and went to Dallas just to say 'eff you' to the Lakers management

One more thing, Chris Paul situation, if players who want a trade off get rejected and owners as well as the head of the league can veto, shouldn't players be aware of the fact that they are going to be traded off by the clubs also?

[yungnfresh]

100% it's gonna backfire...Odom was the 3rd best player on their back-to-back championship runs and can do it all...score in the post or on the perimeter, defend almost every position, rebound, pass, make plays, create his own shot, knockdown the 3, etc. I can't think of another player at his size that can do basically everything and his contract was a bargain too. Kobe and Derek Fisher are livid at this trade cuz they both realize how important Odom was to their team dynamic, and now that they lost him, they took a HUGE step back and are a notch below OKC, Dallas and maybe even Memphis with that front-line of Marc Gasol + Zack Randolph and Rudy Gay on the perimeter.

As for the Chris Paul situation, it's unique since the Hornets are the only team that's owned by the League (basically the commissioner + the other 29 teams' owners) until they can find a buyer for it, so the NBA is in charge of basketball operations and can decide who goes where on that team...they clearly don't want to trade Paul and are asking for impossibly ridiculous trade requests from other teams, which they know no team will give, so they can keep CP3 in New Orleans until they find a buyer cuz trading him means the franchise loses purchase value.

[Jaidi]

Murax did you just copy my paragraph from the other thread ??

In that thread you were depressed about the moves and said we blew it with no CP3 and only Chandler, now the Knicks are the team to beat?

Give me credit for changing your thought process. A

Anyway this thread is 100 percent accurate. Chandler transforms this team defensively, and we are not done with the offseason. Jamal Crawford is mulling an offer, and will probably choose between the Knicks or Blazers today. We will have another legit ball handler and big scorer off the bench, 6th man of the year Iman Shumpert is a promising draft pick very athletic, can play D, and can play both the 1 and 2. Bibby is just added insurance and can shoot 3's which is always a positive in D'Antoni's system. This team can score without a doubt, if it starts to play legit D its a huge threat. Im predicting a Conference Finals appearance this year. Match up very well against Bulls, have a frontline to matchup with the Celtics, matchup well with the Heat. 48-18 regular season record which will be good enough for the second seed

As for the Bulls signing of Rip Hamilton. Count me as UNIMPRESSED. They needed a 2 who can create off the dribble for himself and ease the ballhanding duties off Rose. Rip doesn't do this, he's a below average ball handler and can't create shots for himself. I actually think a Jamal Crawford/OJ Mayo/ or even JR Smith would be much better compliments for the Bulls. The Knicks didnt beat the Celtics in the regular season IIRC. They played them tight but still eventually lost. Which is what happened in the playoffs. The lack of frontcourt defense meant we were taken to school by Garnett, made him look like an allstar. Even Bosh had huge games against the Knicks. This will be negated with Chandler for sure.

[FAH1223]

Memphis has a better frontline. ZBO, Gasol, Gay

Memphis is my sleeper to win it all this year... esp if young Conley further develops into the floor general

[Jaidi]

Memphis has a better frontline. ZBO, Gasol, Gay

Memphis is my sleeper to win it all this year... esp if young Conley further develops into the floor general

Chandler is a better defender and rebounder than Gasol. We don't need scoring from the 5.

Amare is better than ZBo.

Melo is miles ahead of Gay.


Try again

[FAH1223]

Memphis has a better frontline. ZBO, Gasol, Gay

Memphis is my sleeper to win it all this year... esp if young Conley further develops into the floor general

Chandler is a better defender and rebounder than Gasol. We don't need scoring from the 5.

Amare is better than ZBo.

Melo is miles ahead of Gay.


Try again

they have depth and other bigs to throw at there, NY doesn't have anything AND they don't got a PG

[Murax]

Jaidi,

Bro, actually I still think the Knicks screwed up BIG TIME. With Dwight forcing his way to NY, they easily could have gotten Orlando to accept a Amare for Dwight straight up, and in the Summer convince Paul to take a little percentage less than the max to play in the biggest market in the world with multiple endorsement deals. Melo+Paul+Dwight=Game Over. Still as it is though the Knicks have a great squad, but still our guard play is shaky I'll give You that.




Youngfresh,


The gap between Amare-Boozer "Not as big as You think"


Bro, do You know Amare was a MVP favorite for HALF the season with Rose? Do You know He single handidly had the Knicks as the 6th seed even WITHOUT Melo who just joined in the last 2 months of the season? In Amare You have a Guy who can DOMINATE a game straight up.

Amare's Stats 25 8 2 BPG
Boozer's Stats 17 9 0.3 BPG

As for Chandler Vs Forgot dudes name come on Man. Chandler was the ONE Guy that pushed Dallas over the top for a championship. Go check out Chandler's Highlights vs Miami He straight up was a monster on the boards, and in the lane being a detterent for Wade/Lebron/Bosh.


Amare OWNS Boozer
Melo OWNS Dang
Chandler Noah=WASH
Fields>Bogans


Rose OWNS Douglas/Bibby

So thats two owns and a win for the Knicks and just 1 OWN for the Bulls. Knicks in 5.

[yungnfresh]

Youngfresh,


The gap between Amare-Boozer "Not as big as You think"


Bro, do You know Amare was a MVP favorite for HALF the season with Rose? Do You know He single handidly had the Knicks as the 6th seed even WITHOUT Melo who just joined in the last 2 months of the season? In Amare You have a Guy who can DOMINATE a game straight up.

Amare's Stats 25 8 2 BPG
Boozer's Stats 17 9 0.3 BPG

As for Chandler Vs Forgot dudes name come on Man. Chandler was the ONE Guy that pushed Dallas over the top for a championship. Go check out Chandler's Highlights vs Miami He straight up was a monster on the boards, and in the lane being a detterent for Wade/Lebron/Bosh.


Amare OWNS Boozer
Melo OWNS Dang
Chandler Noah=WASH
Fields>Bogans


Rose OWNS Douglas/Bibby

So thats two owns and a win for the Knicks and just 1 OWN for the Bulls. Knicks in 5.

It's not though

I realize Amare was an MVP front-runner for half the season...but it was the half he played without Melo, and as the only threat on the roster. That's important. What happened once Melo bullied his way to MSG? Amare fell off the top 10 list of MVP candidates. A true MVP-caliber player remains one regardless of who's on the roster. Him over Boozer is still an upgrade, but it's a slight one since Amare's career averages of 21.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.5 APG and 1.5 BPG are negligibly better than Boozer's career averages of 17.3 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.5 APG and 0.5 BPG. Amare's a slightly better scorer and defender (1-on-1 though...his positional and help D still SUCK), Boozer's a slightly better rebounder and passer...I'd still take Amare over Boozer, but with hesitation since dude had microfrascture surgery on BOTH knees (when having a surgery that serious on just 1 knee makes a player risky) and has a history of back issues.

Amare's production is almost a mirror of Bosh's, with career averages of 20 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.1 BPG...they're both GOOD 4's, but not necessarily elite in the mold of Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan or even Pau Gasol. Half a season of Amare playing out of his mind on a sub-par team should be taken with a grain of salt. As Kenny Smith would say, "he was a looter in a riot"...somebody had to score and since he was the best option on that team at that time, that somebody was him and so it inflated his numbers.

As for Chicago, it might not have been a homerun but they just made a quietly huge upgrade at the 2 by adding Rip Hamilton...an energizer bunny on offense who runs around screens a la Reggie Miller/Ray Allen, has a solid mid-range game and don't forget his length at 6'7" so he can defend multiple positions on the floor. With his championship and deep playoff experience, he's easily a significant upgrade over Landry Fields (borders on ownage). More importantly, he opens up the game for the rest of the team cuz defenders can't sag off him like they regularly did against Keith Bogans or Ronnie Brewer...that means Derrick Rose will see more lanes to the basket, Boozer will have more room to work in the low post and Luol Deng won't get trapped on the baseline. Most importantly though, Rip can flat out score and that's the 1 hole that was missing from CHI's roster, a consistent 2nd scorer.

Amare > Boozer
Melo owns Deng
Chandler and Noah are a wash
Rip >>> Fields
Rose owns Bibby/Douglas

On paper, it seems like "six of one or half a dozen of the other", lakiin defense makes the difference which is why NY can't hang with CHI in a 7-game series.

[Jaidi]

^ Wallahi yung you are either a Bulls fan or you've lost it. Boozer and Amare are not in the same stratosphere. Amare is an elite scorer, and is undoubtedly in an upper echelon above Bosh. Amare is better than Bosh. Amare is unguardable offensively, especially since he's honed his midrange. Boozer can't defend either so you cant use that as a reason to rank him close to Amare. Also his career average is much closer to 25 ppg....the average of one of his injured seasons where he barely played is why its low.

Also you mightve forgetten but Amare is a DOMINANT postseason performer. This is the guy who tore Tim Duncan apart when Duncan was still elite, dropping 40 plus on him twice in the playoffs. Also dropped 40 plus on the Lakers in the WCF. Name me a single time Bosh or Boozer have ever played to a similar level in the postseason? Amare is an elite player without a doubt. The old knock on him was that he was benefiting of Steve Nash. Last year he had MVP like numbers with bums like Ray Felton and Douglas as his PG.