by zike_42 » Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:07 am
Even though we aren’t in the playoffs, I’m still excited about this year’s edition.
-Will the highly touted Miami Thrice come from 3rd in the East to win it?
-How will the #1 seed Chicago Bulls handle the pressure?
-And can anyone stop the Laker juggernaut?
First round first.
Eastern Conference:
#1 Chicago Bulls vs. #8 Atlanta Hawks
#2 Orlando Magic vs. #7 Milwaukee Bucks
#3 Miami Heat vs. #6 Philadelphia 76ers
#4 Boston Celtics vs. #5 New Jersey Nets
Western Conference:
#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #8 Houston Rockets
#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #7 San Antonio Spurs
#3 Portland Trailblazers vs. #6 Utah Jazz
#4 New Orleans Hornets vs. #5 Dallas Mavericks
There were no upsets in the first round with all four top seeds from both conferences going through, but it wasn’t without storylines.
The number 7 Bucks pushed the 2nd seed Magic to 7 games, where Milwaukee ran out of puff losing by 32 points.
With Greg Oden starting at PF because LaMarcus Aldridge will be out for a looooooooong time with a torn MCL puts up a 30 point, 16 rebound performance in game 7 as the #3 Trailblazers won over the #6 Jazz.
The only sweep of the first round wasn’t the Lakers (who won in 5) but the #4 Celtics, crushing the #5 Nets.
Second Round:
Eastern Conference
#1 Chicago Bulls vs. # 4 Boston Celtics
#2 Orlando Magic vs. #3 Miami Heat
Western Conference
#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #4 New Orleans Hornets
#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #3 Portland Trailblazers
Three of the four match-ups were won by the underdogs, including both #1 seeds going down.
A broken wrist to Derrick Rose couldn’t have come at a worse time as the old heads of the Celtics (plus Andrea Bargnani, who is leading the team in scoring in the playoffs with 18.1 a game) beat the young Bulls 4-1.
The Miami Thrice came though and conquered Superman and the Magic 4-1. The 3 Kings are averaging 57.5 points, 22.6 rebounds and 10.9 assists for the Heat, upstaging Dwight Howard’s 22.8 points, 15.0 rebounds and 4.1 blocks for the playoffs.
New Orleans went to Staples for a game 7 and came out on top, winning the series 4-3. The Lakers relied too much on Kobe Byrant (30 points) and Pau Gasol (22 points, 10 rebounds, 7 blocks and 5 assists) while the Hornets had 6 players in double figures with Chris Paul leading the way with 18 points and 19 assists.
The other Western Conference Semi-Final went down to a game 7, with the #2 Nuggets ousting the #3 Trailblazers 115-101. Mr. Clutch, Chauncey Billups scored 29 points and dished 10 assists to show true leadership in the crunch time.
Conference Finals:
Eastern Conference
#3 Miami Heat vs. #4 Boston Celtics
Western Conference
#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #4 New Orleans Hornets
The Heat was too strong for the ailing Celtics sweeping the series. No game was particularly close; the narrowest margin was 9 points with the other 3 being over 20.
The western semi-final wasn’t much better with the Nuggets winning 4-1. Even though Mo Williams is only playing 20 minutes a game, he is averaging 9 points and 5 assists, giving Chauncey Billups a well deserved break.
2011 NBA Finals
#3 Miami Heat vs. #2 Denver Nuggets
Point Guard
Carlos Arroyo vs. Chauncey Billups
7.9 points, 3.2 assist, 2.5 rebounds vs. 18.6 points, 7.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds
No question who wins this matchup. Arroyo is the best they could get with the money left over after the Heatles.
Winner - Denver
Shooting Guard
Dwayne Wade vs. Arron Afflalo
24.6 points, 4.5 assists, 6.4 rebounds vs. 15.5 points, 1.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds
Afflalo is a good role player, but Wade is a superstar. Look for Wade to have his way with the younger player.
Winner – Miami
Small Forward
Lebron James vs. Carmelo Anthony
17.8 points, 5.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds vs. 26.3 points, 3.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds
The match-up of the Finals. If James can neutralize Anthony, it’s game over for the Nuggets. But if Anthony can catch fire, which he can, look out Heat.
Winner - Draw
Power Forward
Chris Bosh vs. Kenyon Martin
17.8 points, 1.7 assists, 12.7 rebounds vs. 9.9 points, 1.2 assists, 9.6 rebounds
Kenyon Martin is a quality player, but you need a lock down defender to go against Bosh. Martin has a bit of mongrel in him that might upset Bosh.
Winner – Miami
Centre
Udonis Haslem vs. Nene Hilario
8.5 points, 1.4 assists, 11.5 rebounds vs. 10.5 points, 2.2 assists, 9.8 rebounds
Haslem is giving up 3 inches and doesn’t have the reach that Nene has. Denver needs Hilario to have a huge series to have a shot at this.
Winner – Denver
Bench
Carl Landry, Mario Chalmers vs. Mo Williams, Al Harrington
All-star for Denver, none for Miami. Al Harrington played well in Nene’s absence and needs to replicate that here.
Winner – Denver
Overall – Miami’s big 3, Miami Thrice, The 3 Kings, The Heatles or whatever you want to call them will be too strong. However, if Billups and Anthony can take this team on their shoulders then they could pull an upset.
Miami in 5.
Game 1 @Denver – 114-103 Miami (1-0)
Denver’s notables – Nene Hilario: 23 points, 10 rebounds; Carmelo Anthony: 11 points, 3/10 shooting.
Miami’s notables – Dwayne Wade: 31 points; Chris Bosh: 24 points, 13 rebounds
Game 2 @Denver – 101-87 Miami (2-0)
Denver’s notables – Chauncey Billups: 23points; Carmelo Anthony: 17 points, 3/11 shooting.
Miami’s notables – Chris Bosh: 21 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists
Game 3 @Miami – 127-111 Miami (3-0)
Denver’s notables – Chauncey Billups: 15 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 7 turnovers.
Miami’s notables – Dwayne Wade: 32 points; Chris Bosh: 22 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.
Game 4 @Miami – 120-87 Miami (4-0)
Denver’s notables – Mo Williams: 25 points; Carmelo Anthony: 12 points.
Miami’s notables – Lebron James: 41 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists.
Well, that wasn’t pretty. Your 2011 NBA Champions are the Miami Heat. Pretty crazy, I think if Derrick Rose didn’t get injured the Bulls would have given the Heat a huge battle, I just hope they don’t have any injuries next year.
Woo, lottery time! This is where all our (un)hard work will pay off. We have the highest chance of the #1 pick at 23.3%.
14 – Phoenix Suns (-1)
Oh no.
13 – Golden State Warriors (-1)
12 – Oklahoma City Thunder (-1)
11 – Los Angeles Clippers (-1)
10 – Memphis Grizzlies (-1)
9 – Cleveland Cavaliers (-1)
8 – Sacramento Kings (-1)
7 – Indiana Pacers (-1)
6 – Washington Wizards (-1)
5 – Detroit Pistons (-2)
Oh please no.
4 – Charlotte Bobcats (-2)
3 – New York Knicks (+12)
Oh thank god.
2 – Minnesota Timberwolves (+2)
Phew.
1 – Toronto Raptors (-)
What you just heard then was the biggest sigh ever heard on Earth. I am almost certain that Kevin King will be drafted with the #1 pick. Rajon Rondo is just too good to pick Bebutov.
Onto awards.
Most Valuable Player:
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic - 22.4 points, 1.7 assists, 14.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 3.6 blocks per game.
Great to see my 2013 pickup is going so well.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic.
No one else came close.
Sixth Man of the Year:
Greg Oden, Portland Trailblazers – 13.3 points, 0.9 assists, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 steals and 1.6 blocks.
Once Marcus Camby retires look for Oden to make the leap.
Rookie of the Year:
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings – 11.1 points, 1.8 assists, 8.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.6 blocks.
Good choice, only competition was Evan Turner.
Coach of the Year:
Monty Williams, New Orleans Hornets – 52-30 (.634).
Did well with what he had; let’s hope it’s not a fluke.
All NBA First Team:
Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
All NBA Second Team:
Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns
Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
Lebron James, Miami Heat
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
All NBA Third Team:
Deron Williams, Utah Jazz
Brandon Roy, Portland Trailblazers
Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets
Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks
Big call giving a would-be rookie an All NBA nod, and I would have put Bogut over Marc Gasol and Rajon Rondo (bias) over Deron Williams, but oh well.
All Defense First Team:
Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat
Gerald Wallace, Charlotte Bobcats
Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
All Defense Second Team:
Rajon Rondo, Toronto Raptors
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Lebron James, Miami Heat
Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks
Great to see Rondo get on there, he just needs some help around him.
All Rookie First Team:
John Wall, Washington Wizards
Evan Turner, Philadelphia 76ers
Wesley Johnson, Minnesota Timberwolves
Tiago Splitter, San Antonio Spurs
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
All Rookie Second Team:
Grevis Vasquez, Memphis Grizzlies
Xavier Henry, Memphis Grizzlies
Al-Farouq Aminu, Los Angeles Clippers
Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons
Cole Aldrich, Oklahoma City Thunder
Ed Davis was robbed, ROBBED! Ahem, anyway.
Mr. Petway calls me soon after to go over how I think the season went. I thought it was kind of rude to just phone me about something like this until he told me he was on business in Australia.
He starts, “it wasn’t a very good season, how do you think it went?”
“With what I had to deal with I thought it wasn’t too bad. I got rid of long contracts, gave us cap flexibility, got a very, very good building block in Rajon Rondo and somehow landed the number one draft pick.”
“Well, you did say that we would have cap space but I don’t really like being last in the league. Keep up the good work but if you keep up this poor play then watch out. Nothing sinister, just a warning.” He said.
“Not a problem, we should be fine. I will talk to you later.”