Post by Rommie on Aug 6, 2007 23:23:31 GMT -5
I know the playoffs have started but only the first sim. I'll still make predictions. Here they are.
Round 1
1. Spurs vs 8. Lakers
2. Warriors vs 7. Rockets
3. Suns vs 6. Nuggets
4. Sonics vs 5. Trailblazers
1. Spurs vs 8. Lakers
I really like the Lakers. I just love their talent. I really thought they would do a lot better then they did but I was wrong. They still are a threat, especially in the West, with well developed players like Amare Stoudamire, Boris Diaw, and Luol Deng. Also guys like Brandon Roy, Danny Granger, and Deron Williams could be dangerous.
However you have to love the Spurs. They are so solid across the board. They get production from every position, they have great balance. Take a look at their starters stats for the regular season:
Roko Ukic: 16 points, 8 assists
Chauncey Billups: 16 points, 2 steals
Shawn Marion: 21 points, 8 rebounds
Memo Okur: 17 points, 10 rebounds
Channing Frye: 14 points, 9 rebounds
With Shareef, Gooden, and Pietrus that isn't to bad of a bench either. They have a veteran team that sims pretty well together so it's going to be tough for the young Lakers to overcome.
Prediction: Spurs in 6
2. Warriors vs 7. Rockets
The Warriors dealt Baron Davis for Tim Duncan. It gave them a lot more balance. Kobe and Duncan has the dynamic duo with Vince Carter giving consistent scoring. Along with a solid role player like Scot Pollard. However the real key to this team is the point guard they dealt for to replace Baron, Marcus Taylor. He has done wonders for them and average 20 points and 6 assets for the season. They are tough to beat.
The Rockets have a good team, they won 46 games. Tyson Chandler is a great defender down low. Fortson, Jamison, and Marquis Daniels score the ball well. Steve Nash does a nice job of directing the team.
However when you face the Warriors, you go up against probably the best big man, Duncan, and the best perminter player, Kobe, in the league. Add in Vince and Talylor along with Pollard and that's a real tough team to beat.
Prediction: Warriors in 5
3. Suns vs 6. Nuggets
The Suns have a nice team. Wallace, Dampier, and Reggie Evans rebound the ball so well. Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady carry the scoring load and Jason Kidd is Jason Kidd. Nice team.
However I like the Nuggets more. The Suns only won one more game then them. I just think the Nuggets are deeper and have more weapons. Gasol, Ak, Smith, Stackhouse, Jackson, and West. They don't lack a low post scorer or scoring from their point guard.
Right now the Suns lead the series by one game but I still think the Nuggets win this series. I'll even say they win the next 3 games to do so.
Prediction: Nuggets in 6.
4. Sonics vs 5. Trailblazers
The Sonics and Blazers are both evenly matched talent wise IMO.
The Sonics have a nice back court that is small, quick, and they get production out of it. Allen Iverson is probably the best little man at scoring the ball Jason Terry is one hell of a shooter. I gotta like Grant Hill and Al Harrington who can score on the blocks. Brad Miller is a good center and Calvin Booth gives them defense and rebounding. They have a good team.
The Trailblazers have themselves a tough physical duo down low. Emeka Okafor and Desagna Diop are both big and physical to deal with down low, especially for a team that is rather small like the Sonics. DeShawn Stevenson and Larry Hughes give them depth at shooting guard and Stephon Marbury is a 20 point scoring point guard.
Because the Sonics are not so physical I like the Blazers. The Sonics best post scores are Al 6'11 and 250 lbs is nice but Lamar is a tough match up for him, and then Grant Hill is just 6'8 and 227 lbs. There is Brad Miller but he isn't as much of a score, he is more of a glue guy who does everything. Then you have little Allen Iverson taking a beating all series and I think the Blazers win this series but not without a fight from the Sonics.
Prediction: Blazers in 7
Round 2
1. Spurs vs 5. Trailblazers
2. Warriors vs 6. Nuggets
1. Spurs vs 5. Trailblazers
This should be a very interesting match up.
I would love to see Marbury chase Roko Ukic around the court. Although Roko has to do the same thing at the other end he would be tough for Stephon with his long arms and quickness.
Billups is just 6'3 but he is very strong, and just a good athlete all around and a flat out good basketball player, think Joe Dumars. Larry Hughes and DeShawn Stevenson could give him some trouble but you know that Pietrus is just waiting to show his stuff so the Spurs might have a bit of a secret weapon to use if need be. Pietrus hasn't play a lot of minutes but he is capable of it and can give energy and defense.
The small forward match up is where it is really interesting, IMO. Two of the most unique small forwards in the BBS. Shawn Marion is one of the better rebounds at the position, especially for his size. He can also score inside or shoot the ball from the perminter. He is excellent on defense as well. With that being said Lamar Odom is long, athletic, and versatile. Will be a tough match up for Shawn. Odom scores from everywhere and has point guard abilities. It will be tough for Shawn to deal with.
Then down low it's Frye/Okur vs Okafor/Diop. I like the Spurs bigs in this series. You don't need much defense for Okafor and Diop and Okur is a good perminter shooter who will pull Okafor or Diop outside of the point giving the Spurs a huge advantage.
I love both teams but I have been supporting the Spurs, I think they are underrated.
Prediction: Spurs in 7
2. Warriors vs 6. Nuggets
Marcus Taylor has been playing out of his mind. I think he keeps it up. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are the best at what they do. Vince Carter can a threat to score. Scot Pollrad does his job so well.
I like the Nuggets talent and I hate to make this short but there is no reason for it to be long.
Prediction: Warriors in 5
Western Conference Finals
1. Spurs vs 2. Warriors
What a match up this will be. The two best teams in the West. Although as much as I love the Spurs the Warriors were without their best, second best whatever, player in Tim Duncan for a lot of games and only finished with one less win.
Marcus Taylor doesn't have great ratings to be honest. But he puts up numbers. Not to look at what teams and players have done the first 3 games of the playoffs but Taylor has been tearing it up in the playoffs. He has made the Baron Davis trade work IMO. With that said Roko Ukic is a good point guard. I think that if Taylor keeps up his excellence it's a pretty even match up.
I really like Chauncey Billups but he is no match for Kobe Bryant. The Spurs are really going to have to play some great team defense. I don't know that this will happen, at least not good enough to contain Kobe.
I think Shawn Marion can take care of Vince. Unless maybe the Spurs move Marion on Kobe but assuming that Marion is guarding Carter I think Marion will contain him and tear him up on offense. I would be interested to see if they move Marion to the two and Billups to the three, in this series it wouldn't be a disadvantage IMO.
Scot Pollard will have a tough time guarding Memo. However Pollard is just a role player, important but they can afford him to spend 5 fouls on Memo and beat him up a little bit.
Then you have Tim Duncan. He will be guarded by Channing Frye. Now I like Frye, he is nice all around. However he is just no match for Tim Duncan. TD = bigger and better.
I really like the Spurs, I've said this many times already. However the Warriors have superstars that can bring championships. With that said...
Prediction: Warriors in 6
So there you have it. I'm tired after working all freaking day so I hope I didn't screw up who should be playing who. Good luck to all the teams.
Round 1
1. Spurs vs 8. Lakers
2. Warriors vs 7. Rockets
3. Suns vs 6. Nuggets
4. Sonics vs 5. Trailblazers
1. Spurs vs 8. Lakers
I really like the Lakers. I just love their talent. I really thought they would do a lot better then they did but I was wrong. They still are a threat, especially in the West, with well developed players like Amare Stoudamire, Boris Diaw, and Luol Deng. Also guys like Brandon Roy, Danny Granger, and Deron Williams could be dangerous.
However you have to love the Spurs. They are so solid across the board. They get production from every position, they have great balance. Take a look at their starters stats for the regular season:
Roko Ukic: 16 points, 8 assists
Chauncey Billups: 16 points, 2 steals
Shawn Marion: 21 points, 8 rebounds
Memo Okur: 17 points, 10 rebounds
Channing Frye: 14 points, 9 rebounds
With Shareef, Gooden, and Pietrus that isn't to bad of a bench either. They have a veteran team that sims pretty well together so it's going to be tough for the young Lakers to overcome.
Prediction: Spurs in 6
2. Warriors vs 7. Rockets
The Warriors dealt Baron Davis for Tim Duncan. It gave them a lot more balance. Kobe and Duncan has the dynamic duo with Vince Carter giving consistent scoring. Along with a solid role player like Scot Pollard. However the real key to this team is the point guard they dealt for to replace Baron, Marcus Taylor. He has done wonders for them and average 20 points and 6 assets for the season. They are tough to beat.
The Rockets have a good team, they won 46 games. Tyson Chandler is a great defender down low. Fortson, Jamison, and Marquis Daniels score the ball well. Steve Nash does a nice job of directing the team.
However when you face the Warriors, you go up against probably the best big man, Duncan, and the best perminter player, Kobe, in the league. Add in Vince and Talylor along with Pollard and that's a real tough team to beat.
Prediction: Warriors in 5
3. Suns vs 6. Nuggets
The Suns have a nice team. Wallace, Dampier, and Reggie Evans rebound the ball so well. Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady carry the scoring load and Jason Kidd is Jason Kidd. Nice team.
However I like the Nuggets more. The Suns only won one more game then them. I just think the Nuggets are deeper and have more weapons. Gasol, Ak, Smith, Stackhouse, Jackson, and West. They don't lack a low post scorer or scoring from their point guard.
Right now the Suns lead the series by one game but I still think the Nuggets win this series. I'll even say they win the next 3 games to do so.
Prediction: Nuggets in 6.
4. Sonics vs 5. Trailblazers
The Sonics and Blazers are both evenly matched talent wise IMO.
The Sonics have a nice back court that is small, quick, and they get production out of it. Allen Iverson is probably the best little man at scoring the ball Jason Terry is one hell of a shooter. I gotta like Grant Hill and Al Harrington who can score on the blocks. Brad Miller is a good center and Calvin Booth gives them defense and rebounding. They have a good team.
The Trailblazers have themselves a tough physical duo down low. Emeka Okafor and Desagna Diop are both big and physical to deal with down low, especially for a team that is rather small like the Sonics. DeShawn Stevenson and Larry Hughes give them depth at shooting guard and Stephon Marbury is a 20 point scoring point guard.
Because the Sonics are not so physical I like the Blazers. The Sonics best post scores are Al 6'11 and 250 lbs is nice but Lamar is a tough match up for him, and then Grant Hill is just 6'8 and 227 lbs. There is Brad Miller but he isn't as much of a score, he is more of a glue guy who does everything. Then you have little Allen Iverson taking a beating all series and I think the Blazers win this series but not without a fight from the Sonics.
Prediction: Blazers in 7
Round 2
1. Spurs vs 5. Trailblazers
2. Warriors vs 6. Nuggets
1. Spurs vs 5. Trailblazers
This should be a very interesting match up.
I would love to see Marbury chase Roko Ukic around the court. Although Roko has to do the same thing at the other end he would be tough for Stephon with his long arms and quickness.
Billups is just 6'3 but he is very strong, and just a good athlete all around and a flat out good basketball player, think Joe Dumars. Larry Hughes and DeShawn Stevenson could give him some trouble but you know that Pietrus is just waiting to show his stuff so the Spurs might have a bit of a secret weapon to use if need be. Pietrus hasn't play a lot of minutes but he is capable of it and can give energy and defense.
The small forward match up is where it is really interesting, IMO. Two of the most unique small forwards in the BBS. Shawn Marion is one of the better rebounds at the position, especially for his size. He can also score inside or shoot the ball from the perminter. He is excellent on defense as well. With that being said Lamar Odom is long, athletic, and versatile. Will be a tough match up for Shawn. Odom scores from everywhere and has point guard abilities. It will be tough for Shawn to deal with.
Then down low it's Frye/Okur vs Okafor/Diop. I like the Spurs bigs in this series. You don't need much defense for Okafor and Diop and Okur is a good perminter shooter who will pull Okafor or Diop outside of the point giving the Spurs a huge advantage.
I love both teams but I have been supporting the Spurs, I think they are underrated.
Prediction: Spurs in 7
2. Warriors vs 6. Nuggets
Marcus Taylor has been playing out of his mind. I think he keeps it up. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are the best at what they do. Vince Carter can a threat to score. Scot Pollrad does his job so well.
I like the Nuggets talent and I hate to make this short but there is no reason for it to be long.
Prediction: Warriors in 5
Western Conference Finals
1. Spurs vs 2. Warriors
What a match up this will be. The two best teams in the West. Although as much as I love the Spurs the Warriors were without their best, second best whatever, player in Tim Duncan for a lot of games and only finished with one less win.
Marcus Taylor doesn't have great ratings to be honest. But he puts up numbers. Not to look at what teams and players have done the first 3 games of the playoffs but Taylor has been tearing it up in the playoffs. He has made the Baron Davis trade work IMO. With that said Roko Ukic is a good point guard. I think that if Taylor keeps up his excellence it's a pretty even match up.
I really like Chauncey Billups but he is no match for Kobe Bryant. The Spurs are really going to have to play some great team defense. I don't know that this will happen, at least not good enough to contain Kobe.
I think Shawn Marion can take care of Vince. Unless maybe the Spurs move Marion on Kobe but assuming that Marion is guarding Carter I think Marion will contain him and tear him up on offense. I would be interested to see if they move Marion to the two and Billups to the three, in this series it wouldn't be a disadvantage IMO.
Scot Pollard will have a tough time guarding Memo. However Pollard is just a role player, important but they can afford him to spend 5 fouls on Memo and beat him up a little bit.
Then you have Tim Duncan. He will be guarded by Channing Frye. Now I like Frye, he is nice all around. However he is just no match for Tim Duncan. TD = bigger and better.
I really like the Spurs, I've said this many times already. However the Warriors have superstars that can bring championships. With that said...
Prediction: Warriors in 6
So there you have it. I'm tired after working all freaking day so I hope I didn't screw up who should be playing who. Good luck to all the teams.