- The Knicks have suffocated the Celtics in the 2nd halves of both of their wins, when Jeff Green and Avery Bradley are not at the top of their games, the Celtic offense is anemic. Doubt they thought they'd be so reliant on those two.
- Keeping KG out of foul trouble has to be an imperative, for both himself and the Celtics.
- Anytime the Lakers get away from using both bigs on the low blocks, they are doomed.
- Gregg Popovich secretly loves that everyone keeps saying that Manu Ginobili is done. Manu is as competitive as anyone.
- The Clips have controlled the pace of play versus Memphis thus far. If the games make it to 100, big advantage to the Clips.
- The Bulls offense is a tough watch at times. #FreeDRose
- The Houston Rockets are a poor man's Oklahoma City Thunder.
- The NBA is unquestionably a superstars league. Certain guys get calls, while others never receive them. This works both ways, but almost always in the stars' favour. Example: Greg Smith got a taunting technical for merely flexing following an intense dunk in traffic, meanwhile Russell Westbrook screams aloud, flexes and scowls in the faces of opponents, teammates, ushers, cameramen and school children alike.
- Klay Thompson and Steph Curry might well be the best shooting backcourt in the NBA. Ever? Too Soon.
- (Pats self on back.) I was right about J.R. Smith. He won the 6th man award, and has done nothing but hit high degree of difficulty jumpers since the playoffs tipped off.
- Joakim Noah's return in game 3 provided a spiritual lift for the Bulls in the first 3 quarters, in the 4th he physically carried the team with multiple hustle plays, defensive leadership and big hoops. The box score won't show what a difference maker he was in Game 2.
- Indiana was more ready for the playoffs than their skeptics and late season slide suggested.
- Hmmm the tandem of Al Horford and Josh Smith will yet again, not yield a NBA Championship to the Atlanta Hawks franchise this season, who knew. Really thought things would be different this year. Insanity.
- Patrick Beverley may have backed down from Russell Westbrook in game 1, he was a noticeably more aggressive player in game 2, he really got his nose in there. Frustrating Westbrook at times, which I think could be a good strategy.
- The Heat shouldn't lose a game to Milwaukee, not as long as the games are 48 minutes.
- Paul George franchise player? Getting there.
- Haven't seen a lot of it, but we got a Chris Paul/ Tony Allen stand off with the game on the line Monday Night. Chris Paul 1 Tony Allen 0.
- Lakers and Spurs at opposite ends of the pool when it comes to depth. Even Joeseph has looked good at times off the Spurs bench.
- Milk Carton: T-Mac
- No 'surprises' so far and only a few of these first round match ups (DEN/GS Gm1, LAC/MEM Gm2, CHI/BKL Gm2, OKC/HOU Gm2) have provided much in the way of great entertainment. Enjoy the rest of Clippers v. Grizz, and Nuggets v. Warriors and then let's bring on a much juicier set of 2nd round match ups.
5 Playoff X-Factors to Watch - Most of the 'key' players on each of the teams are well known, it goes without saying that Lebron James is important to the Heat, as is Kevin Durant for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Here are a couple of players who, while they may fly under the radar of the post game highlight package, will be relied upon to perform in a major way if their respective team's are going fulfill their championship ambitions.
Mike Conley - Conley has been the best player on the court for the Memphis Grizzlies through the first two games, apologies to Marc Gasol. While he is admittedly a big part of the Memphis offense, he is the starting point guard and he plays the lion share of minutes there, he hardly garners the same attention or praise as the point guards he'll be potentially matched up against throughout the playoffs if the Grizz are to advance - Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, and Ty Lawson. His ability to keep those match ups as close as possible, he's played Paul very close so far, give the Grizz a huge boost if they hope to advance to the finals.
Matt Barnes - Difficult to choose which member of the Los Angeles Clipper
bench mob to choose, Bledsoe is undeniably dynamic but won't see enough
floor time because of Paul, Crawford and inexcusably Billups,; Crawford
is too easy an consistently good to be an option and Odom isn't fulfilling a large enough role yet. However, Matt Barnes is. So far Barnes has
been his usual pesky self on the defensive end, and just active enough
to make an impact on the offensive end. But if the Clippers are going to
get through the Oklahoma City Thunder and eventually the Miami Heat
they are going to lean heavily on Matt Barnes to defend the two best
players on the planet . You can bet that if the Clippers
draw the Thunder in their 2nd round match up that Barnes will see heavy
minutes covering Durant, how he performs in this role will have a big
say in how well the Clippers resist the high powered Thunder attack. Jarrett Jack - Following the season ending injury that David Lee suffered in Game 1 of the series, Jarrett Jack entered the starting line up in Game 2 for the Golden State Warriors. He was a revelation for the Warriors, who were able to play 'small ball' - their 3 guard triad darting about, spotting up and knocking down shots from all over. Jack was the key playmaker, setting up Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Jack's ability to create off the dribble and run the show relieves Curry of these duties, freeing him up to do what he does best, shoot. The absence of a healthy Kenneth Faried made it hard for the Nuggets to counter with any effective 'big' line ups and the 3 guard unit is something I expect to see a lot more of if the Warriors are going to have any success going forward in the post season.
Kenyon Martin - Kenyon Martin has been the quintessential 'reserve' unit for the aging, banged up Knicks. With Marcus Camby, Amare Stoudemire and Sheed all down for the proverbial count, the Knicks reached out to veteran big man Kenyon Martin for some serviceable play inside. Martin has meant everything and more for the Knicks since his arrival. Familiar to many of the former Nuggets on the Knicks squad, Martin gives the Knicks the added toughness on the inside they desperately needed up front. This is especially true when you consider that the consensus weakness of the Miami Heat is their lack of size, toughness and rebounding in the middle. Martin has been around the block and his familiarity, experience, and leadership will be relied upon in a major way if the Knicks should make it through the size of Indiana and meet the Heat in their challenge to take the East.
Chris "The Birdman" Anderson - Much like the Knicks sought out Martin to shore up their front line, the Heat also felt their front court lacked some depth and toughness. The Birdman has a bit of a history to say the least, despite experiencing a few bumps along the way his energy and defense have never been in question. With a solid group of veteran leaders in place, incorporating the formerly 'wild child' Anderson into the fold has been a smooth transition. Anderson has taken over the lead role of big man when the Heat occasionally go 'big' with Anderson at the 5, Bosh at the 4 and Lebron at the 3. His energy has been uber apparent thus far as he leads the postseason in player efficiency rating per 48 minutes thus far. He never needs a play called his way, yet he is continually involved in the action, especially on the defensive end and offensive glass. Anderson has to be considered a big part of the reason people feel the Heat are an even better squad this year, than they were last year. Consider, the Heat are 41-3 since Andersen joined the squad back in January. If Anderson continues to keep his motor running throughout the playoffs, expect a trip back to the Finals to be an easy ride.My Top 15 Dunks of the 2012-12 Season
15. Griffin takes the contact from Roy Hibbert and still has the strength and power to push the ball through.
14. Durant shakes Michael Beasley with a shrug of his shoulders, before extending over Gortat with for the finish.
13. Barnes explodes over Ilyasova and the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks
12 .Josh Smith catches Brook Lopez in transition.
11. Kobe reminded us he still had it a few times this year, here was one on a noted shot blocker, Josh Smith.
10. Gerald Henderson pulls a trick out of Dwight Howard's dunk comp. bag and literally 'throws ' the ball through on this finish over D12.
09 .J.R. catches one of the most acrobatic alley oops of the season against the San Antonio Spurs.
08. Jeff Green climbs the ladder on Al Jefferson and the Utah Jazz.
07. Griffin throws down a tasty windmill to top of the Jamal Crawford between the legs platter delivery.
06. Kidd Gilchrist gives us the 'little over big', dunk of the year with this abuser over Piston's 7 footer, Greg Monroe.
05. Kobe Bryant dunks on both Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries to put the Lakers up in crunch time.
04. DeMar Derozen delivers the highlight of my Toronto Raptor viewing with this embarrassment of Timofey Mosgov, putting the Russian big on yet another poster.
03. Harrison Barnes goes chest to chest with Nikola Pekovic and comes out on top in a major way.
02. Lebron James unofficially retires Jason Terry. "It looked like he jumped out of the mezzanine to dunk this ball." - Hubie Brown
01. DeAndre Jordan posterizes Brandon Knight in the Slam Dunk of the Year with a full assault alley oop slam.
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