2017 NBA Playoffs Thread

[OSR stands with Israel]

My preference order


1. Spurs
2. Celtics
3. Wizards



4. Cavaliers
5. Rockets
6. Warriors

[OSR stands with Israel]

So far this is the worst playoffs ever .

[OSR stands with Israel]

Seeing the Celtics get completely obliterated by LeBron is too good.

Nope it sucks

[OSR stands with Israel]

If the Warriors win tonight, then they will go up 3-0 in the Finals. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Playoffs. If the Warriors then win game 4, then they will be the first team to sweep every round of the Playoffs. They will surpass the 2001 Lakers as the best team in NBA Playoffs history.

Best team in playoff history lol


They played a Spurs team without Leonard so that 16-0 record is tainted right there.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Only way to slow down the warriors is to bring back hand checking.

[OSR stands with Israel]

If the Warriors win tonight, then they will go up 3-0 in the Finals. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Playoffs. If the Warriors then win game 4, then they will be the first team to sweep every round of the Playoffs. They will surpass the 2001 Lakers as the best team in NBA Playoffs history.

Best team in playoff history lol


They played a Spurs team without Leonard so that 16-0 record is tainted right there.

Well, even if Kawhi was injured against the Warriors, the 01 Lakers played in an era in which the first round was only best of 5 games, which made the playoffs easier for them. And actually, if the Warriors go 16-0 in the playoffs, they won't just become the best team in NBA Playoffs history, they will become the best team in NBA history. In Bill Simmons' masterwork The Book of Basketball, he writes that the 86 Celtics are the best team ever. The 17 Warriors and the 86 Celtics both have the same regular season record, so they're tied in that regard. And even if the 86 Celtics started 4 Hall of Famers in DJ, Bird, McHale, and Parrish, the Warriors arguably did too. Curry and Durant are Hall of Fame locks, and Thompson and Green are probable future Hall of Famers. The Celtics also only had one MVP caliber player in his prime, Bird, while the Warriors have two MVP caliber players in their primes, Curry and Durant. It is true that the Celtics had Hall of Famer, former MVP, and Sixth Man of the Year Bill Walton off the bench, but this is made up for by the Warriors' superior playoff record. It took the 86 Celtics 6 games to beat a Rockets team in the Finals whose best player was a 23 year old, second year, way before his prime Hakeem Olajuwon. In contrast, if the Warriors go 16-0 in the playoffs, then they will have swept a team with a top 5 player in NBA history in his prime in LeBron James. And also, a 16-0 playoff record is clearly better than a 15-3 playoff record.

If Kawhi wasnt injured the Spus probably win 2 games in that series .


2001 Lakers also faced tougher competition then the 2016 Warriors:

2001 Blazers> 2017 Blazers: Yes the Blazers then had a lot of chemistry issues, but they were still more talented then this Blazer team(This was the Blazer team which was  year removed from being a choke away from the NBA finals)

2001 Kings> 2017 Jazz: The Kings were  a team on the rise, had lots of depth , and a star in Chris Webber and were just one year away from being a team who should have won it all(if not for game 6 terrible officiating )

2001 Spurs> 2017 Spurs(Without Kawhi): That Spurs team had the twin tours and posted the best record in the NBA, and the Lakers utterly annihilated them.

2001 Sixers < 2017 Cavs- This is the only stronger team the warriors faced and the only reason they lost one game is due to Iverson going HAM in game 1.



Also I would say the 2001 Lakers would beat the 2017 Warriors as the Warriors have no one to guard Shaq , who would utterly decimate them over a 7 game series.

[OSR stands with Israel]

If Kawhi wasnt injured the Spus probably win 2 games in that series .


2001 Lakers also faced tougher competition then the 2016 Warriors:

2001 Blazers> 2017 Blazers: Yes the Blazers then had a lot of chemistry issues, but they were still more talented then this Blazer team(This was the Blazer team which was  year removed from being a choke away from the NBA finals)

2001 Kings> 2017 Jazz: The Kings were  a team on the rise, had lots of depth , and a star in Chris Webber and were just one year away from being a team who should have won it all(if not for game 6 terrible officiating )

2001 Spurs> 2017 Spurs(Without Kawhi): That Spurs team had the twin tours and posted the best record in the NBA, and the Lakers utterly annihilated them.

2001 Sixers < 2017 Cavs- This is the only stronger team the warriors faced and the only reason they lost one game is due to Iverson going HAM in game 1.

Even if the Warriors had an unfair advantage due to the Kawhi injury, the Lakers had an unfair advantage due to bad officiating. The 2001 Eastern Conference Finals officiating was widely recognized as being biased toward the Sixers. If the officiating had been better, then the Bucks would've won game 7 and gotten to the NBA Finals. They would've stood a better chance against the Lakers then the Sixers. This is because the Bucks won both of their regular season meetings against the Lakers, while the Sixers only won one of their regular season meetings against the Lakers. With regard to the teams that the Lakers faced being better than the teams that the Warriors faced, the Warriors still would've most likely swept all of those teams if they faced them.

Also I would say the 2001 Lakers would beat the 2017 Warriors as the Warriors have no one to guard Shaq , who would utterly decimate them over a 7 game series.

The 2001 Lakers wouldn't know how to guard the 2017 Warriors, because back in 2001 no team was built around shooting threes like the 2017 Warriors are. Also, Draymond Green could guard Shaq, even if there is a height difference. Green is, after all, one of the best defenders in the league and a leading DPOY candidate. In addition, who would guard Durant and Curry? Kobe would probably guard one of them, but then the other one would go off. And if he guarded Durant, the height difference would be too much for him. And of course there is also Klay Thompson, who a 37 year old Ron Harper would be completely unable to guard. Additionally, a traditional big man like Horace Grant wouldn't stand a chance guarding Draymond Green out on the three point line. Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, who are both solid, good defenders, could take turns guarding Kobe. The Warriors would also destroy the Lakers with their depth. So in short, the Warriors would absolutely beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. It would also be important, though, to know whether the series would be played with the pre-2005 handchecking rules or the post-2005 handchecking rules. This would make a big difference in the series, as the pre-2005 handchecking rules would benefit the Lakers, while the post-2005 handchecking rules would benefit the Warriors.

Shaq obliterated DPOY Dikembe who is one of the greatest defensive  players ever . I'd draymond tries to guard Shaq he will get dominated everytime as once Shaq gets into position in the paint it's all over .

https://youtu.be/NKICLZfKMG0




https://youtu.be/TO8AgrPmMUw

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBA needs to bring back handchecking this offeseason

[OSR stands with Israel]

Cavs in 7. Lebron the GOAT.

LeBron is not the GOAT. In fact, he is not even a top 3 player of all time. Jordan, Russell, and Kareem are all better than him.

Shaq is even better then him , if you look at peak or even prime.


This is my all time top 10 list:

1. Jordan
2. Magic
3. Russell
4. Kareem
5. Shaq
6. Lebron
7.Duncan
8. Bird
9. Kobe
10. Wilt

[OSR stands with Israel]

Cavs in 7. Lebron the GOAT.

LeBron is not the GOAT. In fact, he is not even a top 3 player of all time. Jordan, Russell, and Kareem are all better than him.

s


Shaq is even better then him , if you look at peak or even prime.

No, Shaq is not better than him. Lebron is a top 5 player of all time, while Shaq is not even a top 10 player of all time.

LMAO , Peak Shaq was the most dominant player in NBA history(with the exception of Jordan) . Just look at his NBA finals stats from 2000-2002, they are insane . Shaq I believed for 10 straight seasons averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds a game and in the playoff elevated his game.


Here are his stats: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/onealsh01.html


If Shaq is not a top 10 player, I wanna ask you how is Kobe better then him(Shaq has 3 finals mvp's , Kobe has 2).  


Shaq from 1995-2004(his prime) : has only two black marks (Im talking abut playing bad not wins or losses) , the 1997 series vs the Jazz and 1999 vs the Spurs


Lebron from 2009-present : he has 3 black marks, the 2010 series vs boston(where he choked badly in the last two games, even game 6 when he had 9 turnovers) , the 2011 NBA finals, and even the 2014 Finals(Where he seemed to put up stats in garbage time, and played horrific defense ).

[OSR stands with Israel]

Cavs in 7. Lebron the GOAT.

LeBron is not the GOAT. In fact, he is not even a top 3 player of all time. Jordan, Russell, and Kareem are all better than him.

s


Shaq is even better then him , if you look at peak or even prime.

No, Shaq is not better than him. Lebron is a top 5 player of all time, while Shaq is not even a top 10 player of all time.

LMAO , Peak Shaq was the most dominant player in NBA history(with the exception of Jordan) . Just look at his NBA finals stats from 2000-2002, they are insane . Shaq I believed for 10 straight seasons averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds a game and in the playoff elevated his game.


Here are his stats: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/onealsh01.html


If Shaq is not a top 10 player, I wanna ask you how is Kobe better then him(Shaq has 3 finals mvp's , Kobe has 2). 


Shaq from 1995-2004(his prime) : has only two black marks (Im talking abut playing bad not wins or losses) , the 1997 series vs the Jazz and 1999 vs the Spurs


Lebron from 2009-present : he has 3 black marks, the 2010 series vs boston(where he choked badly in the last two games, even game 6 when he had 9 turnovers) , the 2011 NBA finals, and even the 2014 Finals(Where he seemed to put up stats in garbage time, and played horrific defense ).

As Bill Simmons explains in The Book of Basketball, Kobe is better than Shaq due to his effort level. Kobe is one of the most competitive players in NBA history, while Shaq, writes Simmons in The Book of Basketball, "turned out to be the least competitive superstar of his era." And even if Shaq was one of the most dominant players in NBA history, Simmons also writes in The Book of Basketball that Shaq was "dominant, but not the best." Also, LeBron is definitely better than Shaq. LeBron has 4 MVPs, is possibly the greatest all-around player of all time, and made 7 straight finals. Additionally, he consistently made lousy teams with a bad supporting cast into contenders. Shaq, on the other hand, couldn't win a championship without Kobe and has only one MVP.
Anyway, here is my all time top 10 list:
1. Jordan
2. Russell
3. Kareem
4. LeBron
5. Duncan
6. Kobe
7. Magic
8. Bird
9. Wilt
10. Hakeem
The player that I have on my list that replaces Shaq on your list is Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem is better than Shaq because while they are both great offensive players, Hakeem is one of the greatest defensive players of all time. Shaq, though he is a pretty good defensive player, is definitely not on the level of Hakeem. Hakeem also destroyed Shaq in the 1995 Finals, and his championship teams had a much worse supporting cast than Shaq's championship teams. Shaq got to play with Kobe on all three of his championship teams. Hakeem, though, was stuck with Otis Thorpe as the second best player on the 1994 Rockets and 32-year-old Clyde Drexler as the second best player on the 1995 Rockets. These two players are definitely not on the level of Kobe.

Thats a big myth, heres the stats for that series(where Hakeem was facing a young Shaq):

Hakeem: 32.8 PPG ,11.5 RPG, 5.5 APG ,2.0 SPG, 2.0 BPG ,48.3 FG%
Shaq: 28 PPG , 12.5 RPG ,6.3APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.5 BPG, 59.5 FG %

Yah Hakeem barely outplayed a third year Shaq.


Shaq in his peak utterly dominated one of the greatest defenders ever in Mutombo(2001 finals) .


I would argue Shaq went as far as possible , as you could take his team from 1995-2005.


From 1995-1999 he didnt have a good enough team around him to win(he lost to a great rockets team, the GOAT team , a Jazz team that nearly beat Jordan's Bulls twice, and a Spurs team that went 15-2 in the playoffs).


From 2000-2002 they won a title , and in 2000 he didnt even have that great of a team(Kobe averaged I believe only 22 PPG that year, and 15 PPG in the finals).

In 2003 the entire Laker team besides Shaq and Kobe were absolutely  terrible and yet they still nearly took down the Spurs that year(If Horry 3 went down)

In 2004 Kobe shot the lakers out of the pistons series shooting 22 PPG on 38% shooting while Shaq averaged 26.6 PPG on 62% shooting and yet Kobe took more shots.


In 2005 Shaq took that pistons team to 7 games despite wade getting injured in that same series.




If you want me to list Kobe from 2003-2013 I would sure be happy too