Mentor Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 Anyone watching the playoffs this year? Who do you have winning it? It has been an interesting year, the 2 teams everyone was expecting to competed (Lakers and Nets) have been terrible. The Lakers failed to make the play in tournament and the Nets could lose in the first round against Boston (they are 2-0 down currently). So this year is pretty wide open. I did not watch much of the regular season and only watched a few of the playoff games last year, so i was not really up to date on the new talent. A few observations i have made are defenses are much better overall. For example Boston's defense against Kyrie and Durant were fantastic at times. The inside game has basically died totally, with a few exceptions such as Jokic, Giannis or Embid and players screen rolling for lobs, and even then, most of the bigs are shooting 3pts almost as much as the guards. A lot of the old stars are clearly being replaced (due to age/style of play) such as Paul is at best the 2nd or 3rd best player of his own team, Curry has been a shadow of himself. Lebron / Durant are no way near being top 3 players (which was the case when i was watching 2-3 years ago). I am actually enjoying the playoffs more than i have in the past 3 years, there is a lot more skilled players, almost everyone is an athlete. The game is faster and there is better D. Obviously, the average player today is more one dimensional, everyone is a guard who shoots and can dribble, but i guess it was clearly the direction we was moving towards, this has been the case for the past 8-10 years at least. Just now all the old school players have essentially retired and we have just the new generation who grew up with this new style. It is hard to say who i think will win it. I think Golden State have a good balance of playoff experience and youth. The Sun's made the finals last year and they are better and less injured this year, so i guess those 2 are the favorites in the west. The east, i think the Heat play very good team basketball, they are well coached and their defense is fantastic, they lack stars, but that did not stop them getting to the finals 2 years ago. I think i need to see them against a better opponent, the Hawks are not that. Among the other East teams, it is hard to say. I think the current champs (Bucks), lack depth, especially offensively, but i said that last year and they still won it. The 76ers look very good, they have 2 super stars in Harden (although he is nowhere where he was 2-3 years ago) and Embid. Their supporting cast is competent and Rivers is a decent coach. I don't know, but if i was to say, maybe Golden State, it depends on if Curry can recover enough before the finals, he was out with an injury and is coming off the bench currently, they are not winning it, if Curry cannot get his form back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllDante Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 Golden state looks like the favorite or the heat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokitren Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 5:42 AM, Mentor said: Anyone watching the playoffs this year? Who do you have winning it? It has been an interesting year, the 2 teams everyone was expecting to competed (Lakers and Nets) have been terrible. The Lakers failed to make the play in tournament and the Nets could lose in the first round against Boston (they are 2-0 down currently). So this year is pretty wide open. I did not watch much of the regular season and only watched a few of the playoff games last year, so i was not really up to date on the new talent. A few observations i have made are defenses are much better overall. For example Boston's defense against Kyrie and Durant were fantastic at times. The inside game has basically died totally, with a few exceptions such as Jokic, Giannis or Embid and players screen rolling for lobs, and even then, most of the bigs are shooting 3pts almost as much as the guards. A lot of the old stars are clearly being replaced (due to age/style of play) such as Paul is at best the 2nd or 3rd best player of his own team, Curry has been a shadow of himself. Lebron / Durant are no way near being top 3 players (which was the case when i was watching 2-3 years ago). I am actually enjoying the playoffs more than i have in the past 3 years, there is a lot more skilled players, almost everyone is an athlete. The game is faster and there is better D. Obviously, the average player today is more one dimensional, everyone is a guard who shoots and can dribble, but i guess it was clearly the direction we was moving towards, this has been the case for the past 8-10 years at least. Just now all the old school players have essentially retired and we have just the new generation who grew up with this new style. It is hard to say who i think will win it. I think Golden State have a good balance of playoff experience and youth. The Sun's made the finals last year and they are better and less injured this year, so i guess those 2 are the favorites in the west. The east, i think the Heat play very good team basketball, they are well coached and their defense is fantastic, they lack stars, but that did not stop them getting to the finals 2 years ago. I think i need to see them against a better opponent, the Hawks are not that. Among the other East teams, it is hard to say. I think the current champs (BP), lack depth, especially offensively, but i said that last year and they still won it. The 76ers look very good, they have 2 super stars in Harden (although he is nowhere where he was 2-3 years ago) and Embid. Their supporting cast is competent and Rivers is a decent coach. I don't know, but if i was to say, maybe Golden State, it depends on if Curry can recover enough before the finals, he was out with an injury and is coming off the bench currently, they are not winning it, if Curry cannot get his form back. How deeply you've looked at the teams, I've reread it twice. The thing that impressed me the most was that the teams were playing more quickly - yes, they were. And it's hard to identify a favorite right now. And LeBron is slowly fading into history... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junder Posted June 9, 2022 Report Share Posted June 9, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 8:36 PM, EllDante said: Golden state looks like the favorite or the heat The rapid growth of the online gambling industry in https://x-ica.com/bet365.html has led to discussions about the best betting sites for croatian players. Although there are many international platforms that accept creation players, Indians have opened their own local online casinos. Interestingly, while betting is considered illegal in most parts of croatia, online betting and casinos do not face legality issues. Thus, croatian players have more room to get into online betting sites and play for fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted June 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2022 I have been very impressed by Boston. I have to say, they probably deserve to win this, considering they beat the Nets, Bucks and Heat to get to the finals and it is 2-2 vs the Warriors (the favorites to win it). Watching they against the Warriors, i do have to say, i think they are the overall better team, they are more complete defensively, younger, bigger and even on offense, they have more options. Just the Warriors have the experience on their side and they can go on their "runs", especially with Curry. It is hard for me to pick a side, i do not like the Warriors (because they killed the basketball i grew up loving), but then again i am a Lakers fan, so i do not want Boston to win it, that will mean they have 18 and we have 17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllDante Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 Boston Trash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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