1 - I can not believe how well Teague has been playing. Hawks would have won 50-55 games if he had played this well all year. 2 - The Heat aren't better than I expected. They still play 1-on-1 ball. Man, Wade and Lebron are good but if we play our best ball, we have a chance. 3 - Dallas is the only team that is running a good looking offense. Memphis is probably 2nd. I think Dallas is my current pick to win it. Their oldsters in Dirk, Kidd, Marion are getting lots of rest right now too.
Teague has been a most unpleasant surprise. What's he shooting, 60%? Thibs' strategy coming into the series was that PG was only a defensive problem when Crawford was in the game. Instead, Teague's been their best player and a key reason that this series has been so tough. Oh, he's also made it tough to find someone for Korver to defend. Agree on the Heat. There's still only one ball and as long as this is true, while they may be very good, they'll be less than the sum of their parts. In the West, those young bucks are beating hell out of each other while the Mavs are just hangin' out. This is likely the last serious chance for the Mavs. I agree that they'll come out of the West.
Im sure like most of you guys, Im going wit the Bulls to take it until they lose. But if the heat meet the either the Mavs or Thunder (who i think will beat the grizzlies soon), who do you guys have winning? The heat can play really good lock down d at times but the mavs have the most unguardable big in the league.
My big random thought which is connected to your random thoughts: It seems that we accept the position that the best team wins a championship in basketball. It's not like that in all sports. Styles make fights in boxing, and just because boxer A beats boxer B; and boxer B beats boxer C; there's little reason to believe that Boxer A will also beat Boxer C. I think the reason most of us believe that the best team wins in basketball is that one of the most influential memories we (fans, writers, ex-players) hold is of the Michael Jordan Bulls. Those teams were just so damn good that they could beat anyone badly. I'm not sure it's right though. There have been a consistent number of upsets and higher seeds losing to lower seeds that can't just be explained by one team getting hot, injuries, or improvement in play. I think there's something to the idea that a good matchup is as important or almost as important as being "better." Bringing this back to Jeff Teague, I'm not sure he's as good as he appears against the Bulls. We know that the Bulls struggle with fast point guards. The Bulls' defense is built around funneling opposing point guards into traps with a rotating big man. Rose doesn't so much try to stop drives as push opposing guards into situations in which they cannot create. Quick point guards are able to beat our big men to their spots and have open looks. It's a structural problem. We saw this in the first round where Collison looked like Isiah Thomas. D.J. Augustine looked like an all-star against the Bulls in the regular season too. I'm guessing Teague is much less effective against a regular defense that doesn't rely as much on icing. As per the Heat, I've said all along that they are a good match up for the Bulls and am sticking to that (go homerism!) At the onset, I thought it would be Bulls-Thunder in the finals and I'm sticking with that.
I told you guys about Teague. The only way I see us beating Miami is if our defense can really shutdown their big 3. LeBron and Wade are significantly better than Johnson and Crawford. They won't be raining 3's on us so much though. We are going to need really big games from Deng, and Boozer to win, and likely another player like Noah or Korver. It'd help if Bogans consistently scores like 9 a game, too.
Good post, SST. I'm fascinated to see how Teague will do next year. I will say that Rose seemed to be able to shut down Collison when he needed to. It doesn't seem like he can shut down Teague.
My random thought: Maybe Boozer finally has his shit together? Last night felt like January all over again. He played well the night before in limited minutes too. This is important. We can get by the Hawks and Pacers with Rose shooting 10-28, but not the Heat. Last night was the first time I really felt like we were a championship team during these playoffs. Like, you know....damn, we are just good. Cant wait for the Heat.
My random thought for today is: Did anybody read the New York Times article about the game yesterday and compare it to today's version. I wish I had saved it from last night. The author, Joe Glies, spent more than two paragraphs talking about how dirty the Bulls were in playing defense. He talked about the refs swallowing the whistle numerous times, and that the poor Hawks were just manhandled...It was amazing how this guy seemed turn an awesome team game into the Bad Boys Pistons! So I went there today to quote it and express my indignation, and poof, the article had become streamlined piece with little slant. I guess the Times editor decided it wasn't a good time to become the New York Daily News Still, from the New York point of view, maybe, just maybe, the Bulls have a chance?
If "Where the hell have you been?" is love, then, well, there it is! Again, I'm thrilled with it (Boozer's outburst), and its just in time, to say the least.
There is. He looked to be on the brink of despair, but his teammates rallied, and he fought thru. Awesome job, and we need him in this upcoming series, no doubt. Just in time
My random thought for today: I wish I could be on the dais at ESPN whenever they start talking about the Heat. Let's try this article from Tom Haberstroh:
Omer Asik is a dead set defensive stud in the making. when the 2011 playoffs is all said and done he will "arrive" in league consciousness the way Serge Ibaka "arrived" last year in the playoffs for the Thunder and only got recognized for his defensive studliness in the 2nd half of this season. Do not trade this man.
I underestimated Asik earlier in the year. SST was right on top of it. I don't think anyone but Rose is untradeable although it's hard to see a scenario with us trading Deng. If someone makes the Godfather offer for Asik, you have to consider it especially if we plan on retaining Gibson. There are only so many minuets at the 4-5.
Well yeah But I called the choice of Asik and Gibson at the start of this season and hitched my wagon to Asik. I even called for Kurt Thomas ahead of Taj and got baked for it but it happened I am not anti Taj I think he's an asset but would prefer Omer and a 4th big who is a vet in the KT mould. And yes I would have traded Taj for Rudy
