Would anyone be surprised if Dallas won it all this season?

Fair enough, we disagree then. I don't think Portland's A-game can beat the A-game of LA, Miami, Boston or Chicago in a seven-game series. And possibly not a healthy San Antonio. Portland would need to play their A-game and hope that those teams played somewhere below their best.

 

I think its possible the Blazers could have had a similar regular season record to Miami if they had Wallace since day one. But the difference which makes Miami a contender is they relied so much on Wade and Lebron during the regular season those two had to take it easy here and there to rest. There are long road trips and back to backs. In the playoffs there are neither, those guys can play 45mpg at full intensity which will turn their performance up a notch from the regular season.

Despite the 3 goggles the Blazers were one of the worst 3pt shooting teams in the league this season. If we can't hit the outside shot the defense will pack it in on LaMarcus, Andre, Wallace causing our offense to struggle. If we can be above average from 3point land I love our chances against anyone, but to think that could happen for all of four playoff series is a pipe dream IMO.

We have a bunch of if statements that need to happen in order for us to have deep playoff success, sure its possible but I fear quite unlikely. Whereas a team like Miami just needs the big 3 to play at their average career production playoff levels to be a monster in the postseason.

 

Just about everybody would be surprised.

I actually think Dallas will beat Portland in six, but I don't see them getting past the second round.

Miami and Boston I think have more of a chance than Chicago. Boston proved last year that they can mess around for most of the second half and just ignite in the playoffs. Everything turns on Rondo, though. I have a feeling he's not healthy, and without him at full strength, they're toast. Losing Perkins hurts, but they were amazing early this season without him.
I would be very surprised, though, if Miami weren't the East's representatives in the playoffs.

 

Dallas, SA, Miami, Chicago have no chance. Dallas won't make it out of the first round. Manu is hurt and Spurs don't have the endurance to go the whole way. Boston owns LeBron and Miami has no depth whatsoever. Chicago is not experienced enough to beat a team like Boston. Doc Rivers knows how to prepare a team for the playoffs and those guys are VERY experienced. Bulls will make it to ECF but that's it. A team that no one is mentioning is Orlando who is experienced and has been to the Finals. I think they have an outside chance of getting there again. Lakers are extremely lucky because their first round opponent is the weakest in the entire playoffs. I hope I'm wrong but they'll probably sweep and be very rested for us. Portland is the ONLY team with a chance to beat the Lakers because they have size with Camby and Aldridge and three premiere defenders (Wallace, Matthews, Batum) to throw at Kobe. If Lakers beat Blazers, it's a free ride to the Finals for the Lakers.

So in conclusion, since I don't think Portland can beat Boston but they COULD beat Orlando, the only teams that I think have any chance of winning the whole thing are Portland (major longshot), Orlando (longshot), Boston, and L.A. If I'm a betting man, and I'm not, I would pick the Lakers to win it all without hesitation.

 

The Mavs' roster just doesn't scare me. It's Dirk and a bunch of role players dominated by guard/wing players. Absolutely no toughness. Yes, I would be surprised if they won it all this season. Very surprised.

 

Jinx.

 

I would be extremely surprise since we are going to eliminate them. It's going to be tough for the Mavs to win it all after being eliminated. I think that would surprise everyone.

 

I'd be plenty surprised. I'm still shocked that they sat and did nothing at the trade deadline. It's quite possible they thought getting Beaubois healthy was like acquiring another player, but I would think with him, Butler's large expiring, Stevenson's expiring, they could have made an addition to help their club out. I liked them at the beginning of the year, because I think Chandler adds a lot to their team they didn't have. But sitting on their hands will cost them.
I mean, since losing Butler, their guard rotation is kidd, Stevenson, Beaubois, terry and Barea. That's a short rotation of guards. I think they should have tried ot integrate brewer a lot quicker. he'd have been an ideal guy over Stevenson. Oh well.
yes, I'd be shocked.

 

I'd be extremely shocked; stunned actually. Out of all the teams in the west, I think only the Hornets winning it all would shock me more than Dallas. Even if Dalls gets bythe Blazers ( a big IF in my opinion). There's no way they get by the Lakers or OKC.

With the addition of Perkins, Mohammed and the emergence of Ibaka, OKC is suddenly a much more physical, better rebounding, better defending team. Dallas has no one who stands a chance in hell of stopping Durant or, especially Westbrook. Five years ago, Marion could have done a respectable job on Durant, but not now. Durant is both longer and quicker than 2011's version of the Matrix. Ten years ago, Kidd might have been able to slow down Westbrook. Not now, not even close.

I don't think Dallas could beat Denver or San Antonio in a series either. They have the same problems against all the other teams in the west (except the Hornets minus David West) as they'll have against the Blazers. Poor defense and an old, slow, undersized backcourt. Dallas will be lucky to get out of the first round. And, if they do (which I don't think they will), no way in hell, short of Kobe Bryant getting run over by a bus, do they get past the Lakers in the second round second round. So, I guess talking about how they'd match up with the Spurs, Thunder or Nuggets is pretty much moot.

And, spending even one second thinking about how'd they'd match up against any of the top teams in the East is a total waste of time. So, I won't bother to go there.

BNM

 

Not going to happen. This isn't a Double Elimination/Round Robin Tournament. In the NBA playoffs, when you lose a series you go home. So it's proposterous to suggest that Dallas will win an NBA Title this year after losing their first round series to Portland. Mark Cuban has a lot of money, but even he can't pull that off.

 

The only thing that would shock me more would be Portland winning it.

Glad to see you're already making excuses for our 5 game playoff series loss with at least 2 blowouts tough.

 

Nobody else even has a shot while we're in it.

 

Fakers vs Wheat

 

bump

 

Still would be quite surprised, but now that LA's struggles seem to be real, and not a figment based on their taking it easy during the regular season, it's more likely than I thought.

 

Funny posts:

 

Brilliant post, BNM. You should have written more words to explain this stupid post.

 

Thank you.