NBA conference semi-finals 2013..

NBA conference semi-finals 2013..

Lets  start with the evaluation of the round robin; where I secured 7 semifinalists but the clippers..
http://ejder-golukcetin.blogspot.com/2013/04/nba-playoffs-2013-i-love-this-game.html

There is no surprise on the east coast; seeds but brooklyn -4th; so doesnt count- have stormed out their opponents; where I missed 3 wins of the eliminated teams. miami swept the overall weakest team of the playoffs as expected; where Boston and Atlanta fought well for a well deserved 2nd win; however neither Boston is young enough to deal with Melo Co nor Atlanta is so sustainable to break the Indianas G-Bros. I would expect Chicago to cut the serie with at least one less Nets win, but you know what offence might bring you a win whereas defense would serve you for the round ;)

West coast was nonetheless a bit more challenging; 3rd and 4th seed were cleared; I captured Golden State to pass Denver but failed to see that Memphis would again be a failure for clippers. Many would remember Warriors swept top seed Dallas in 2006 (not survived that quite long but) and SniperCurry and one of my 6th man nominee J-Jack made it happen again to face San Antonio. Memphis is one of the best defense teams (with M.Gasol- defensive player of the year) and it is maybe only team other than SAS that would match up clippers in the rim as well as in the post; that brought the key of the round. Without Kobe, Nash, half of Artest, brain and soul of Gasol blah blah etc etc etc not only the playoffs but all the season was just a nightmare for Lakers and SAS was so gentle to give an end to their suffering with a sweep. As westbrook was injured I expect Houston to push Thunder to the edge but other that a great effort win thanx to Harden and Asik, they were still not ready for this level, hope to see them next year; just a note, they should add another star to the board because Lin is not that calibre..

and the present..

Miami - Chicago

For sure Noah, Deng even Nate Robinson will create more problem to Heat than the Bux, however, this will be only a better exercise for the Miami band. I expect King to lead the team for a short serie in order to again have a week break before the conference finals. Deng is one of the best matchups for King's defense, but not up to a limit to grab a couple of wins; Noah is also creating a plus difference to the rim defense and offense but Miami has much more shooting threat in the post and three with respect to last year, also Birdman will frazzle Noah as well. NBA win average for game scores less than 90 is about 0,175 whereas that of chicago is >0,6; this is the key of the serie; If only Chicago would stop at least slow down Miami then they would turn the game to their advantage.

Sweep for my heart and 4-1 for the name of my old Chicago days; but Miami will sail soon to the finals.

Knix - Pacers

I believe Pacers will be challenging the final for the revenge of the last year, that is it, I suggest Pacers would check in for the finals with 4-3 even 4-2..

Knix have one of the best transition and motion offense in the league, and this system is alive with one of the best scorers in the league, however this machine has a sustainability problem, we saw this in the Boston serie, as Melo couldnt reach his average statistics Boston returned a 3-0 serie to 3-2; with a bite of chance it might even be 3-3, however one should remember that the one who made it happen 4-2 was Melo again. Knix should push the limits to stay still against Pacers wall and keep passing till finding the most appropriate matchup instead of give-the-ball-Melo-n-see-if-he-scores game..

Pacers is one of the best defense teams; not capable of to defend Melo one2one since George is not powerful enough to push Melo out while West is not fast enough.. however, they are well organized in the paint (against Kiddo p&r's), in addition to that Hibbert would possibly dominate a half injured Chandler in the rim. They are more athletic also they like the set game, this migh result in less and less transition and fast break points for Knix. Altogether, this will result in an arc and post game for the Knix, in a good day Knix will hit the bullseye otherwise Indiana will catch the bird.


Golden State - Spurs

SAS is rich in motion offense options and aggressive in the paint defense, whereas Warriors are just in the other  direction, not not so good in the rim offense, not so creative in the set and paint game as well- (consider this would be worse against spurs) also not capable enough to defend p&r games of spurs. The best they would do is the transition and fastbreaks to fire quick blows and score. However, at that point if SAS would challenge this fast game then the break point will be the efficiency of the oakland scorers. As long as warriors score they will be in the pot, however, in case they fail, spurs would grab an easy win since...offense brings the lead but defense results in the positive balance on the game tabelle. here there is Steph-Curry on the stage - magic sniper- 44% from the arc out of 66 fires and 48% in the paint out of 144 blows; adding 10 assists, not enough so he grabbed 5 boards.. this man deserves more than a win..

Splitter came back, Ginobili rises again; both maybe more important than the Duncan & Parker Co statistics. and think about this machine is rolling with 10 players, five with +30 mins and the rest +20 mins. thats the harmony and most important difference of spurs..

Under normal conditions Spurs would possibly make a sweep, or at least 4-1. I want to see Curry in fire a little bit longer, 4-2 heart and soul..


City Thunder - Memphis

Welcome to the revenge of the 2011 west semi-finals.. This was a 7 game round, since then both teams improved, now this will be the clash of the experienced boards. This might serve us another 7 game story, if we are lucky..

In the rim memphis favored; Randolph & Gasol duo is one of the best combinations in the backyard; having a combined total of 37/17/5 (50 % shooting) in this playoffs up to now - much better than Ibaka & Perkins in terms of defense and shooting. However, this is balanced with a super hero, limitless unstoppable irrational KD35. Westbrook would be the key for a short cut to the conf-final but without him Kevins should lead and the question lies there how long they would be.. Both teams are not well equipped in the bench I believe, considering K-Martin more than a 6th man.

Memphis in 7 games, at one condition, grizzlies should be able to grap a win at the beginning of the series.