Playoffs Round 1 Discussion

[RaptorsGM]

For the first time EVER I have decided to computer recommend my game play. I figure I have nothing to lose, and I must be doing something wrong judging by my team's terrible shooting percentages in some games.

I expect to make the series with the Pistons a long series, while he expects it to be 5 games.

C: Chris Mihm vs. Dan Gadzuric - Mihm's role in this series is to rebound hard for me, and Gadzuric is a hard rebounder too, despite the B rating. Should be a good matchup, but won't be where the series is won or lost.

PF: Carlos Boozer vs. Oscar Ferry - The marque matchup. Both are great scorers, shooting a similar percentage. Both are good defenders with similar steals and blocks averages. Boozer has a big edge on rebounding, with 2 rpg more than Ferry.

SF: Drew Gooden vs. Stromile Swift - Two PF's at heart playing SF, I love it. Strom is a great defender, and a great scorer as the Pistons' second option.

SG: Lorenzo Ellis vs. Manu Giniobili. Both are good players. Ellis, I think is the catalyst for me. I need him to shoot for a high percentage if I'm going to succeed. The thing that bothers me the most is that Manu has Ellis by 5 inches.

PG: Baron Davis vs. Steve Nash. Baron is going to have to be huge for me to move on. Nash plays only C+ defense, but Baron is not a HUGE scoring threat.

Don't be surprised to see 7 games. But I'm a weak team on the road, so the edge is obviously with the Pistons.

[HornetsGM]

8 game win streak going into the playoffs and I am 3-1 against the Heat on the season (including 2 wins in the last sim.) Shaq will step it up in the playoffs, but I hope that homecourt will give me the edge I need.

[NetsGM]

Interesting matchup.  I haven't done all that well against the Wiz (2-2), and REALLY wish I had a pg who could score in this series, as that's their weak spot defensively.

[RaptorsGM]

Interesting matchup.  I haven't done all that well against the Wiz (2-2), and REALLY wish I had a pg who could score in this series, as that's their weak spot defensively.

Wonder if the Wiz will play Amare at C like he did in the last sim. Okafor and Sammy should shut him down though.

[NetsGM]

I was shocked to find how much success Okafor and Sammy had against Amare.

Amare (in 4 games):
15.7 ppg on 33.8% shooting.  9.75 rpg,

Emeka:
25.25 ppg (46.1% shooting), 13.75 rpg, 2.5 bpg.

[GrizzliesGM]

I play against the wolves and am 3-1. I lost the last one but Richardson was injured. The others wins were close. But Gasol was also out of on the wins. I think the matchup favors me.

Biedrens & Wright vs. Elson & Drew
Grizzlies easily are better at the C position where Biedrens will score.

Wallace vs. Garnet
Wolves easily win here. But i think Wallace can limit the success of Garnet, which will be the key to this series.

Posey vs. Van Horn
Wolves win this matchup, but not by much. Van Horn does not have great defense while Posey does and will be able to contain him, and score a little himself.

Jones vs. Murray & Hoiberg
Jones is easily better and should score a lot.

Williams vs. Alson
Both are great at what they do. I give Williams the edge but they will both pretty much cancel out.

Grizzlies bench vs. Wolves Bench
Grizzlies get the edge. The wolves bench is basically non-existant where as I have Wright and Walker to help.


Final Thoughts  
I am a little bias but I think my team will win. If we can stop Garnett and Van Horn, with whom we match up perfect, than the grizzlies can win the series.

[Keith]

I lost the last one but Richardson was injured

Jones vs. Murray & Hoiberg
Jones is easily better and should score a lot.

Yes and Richardson will still be injured for the series as well, and not sure if I would say jones is easily better simply due to his defense.

[NetsGM]

As I said, interesting matchup between the wiz and i

team stats are all roughly similar.  No big disparity in pts, to's, or fg%.

No shock since we went 2-2.
How we get it done, however, is completely different.

For me, Okafor and Pettit were unstoppable.
Okafor = 25.2 ppg, 13.75 rpg, 2.5 bpg, 46% shooting.
Pettit = 30.3 ppg, 4.75 rpg, 5.25 apg, 52.7% shooting, 41.2% from downtown.

Everyone else, however, was average.  Dalembert the only other one in double figures (10.5 ppg).

For the Wiz, it's the exact opposite.  Nobody dominated (highest scorer, Arenas, at 17 ppg), but 6 players averaged double figures.  

I think I should be able to take it.  I have the much better road record, have home court advantage, and had the most success defending the other team's best player.  Nets in 6.

[GoldenStateGM]

Clippers lead the season series, 3-1...  But we have not played each other since he picked up Childress, and I picked up Odom.

But Brand has had problems against Gasol this year...  Brand averages almost 5 fouls game versus Gasol.

This will be interesting, both our teams have changed alot since we last faced each other.

[GrizzliesGM]

I lost the last one but Richardson was injured

Jones vs. Murray & Hoiberg
Jones is easily better and should score a lot.

Yes and Richardson will still be injured for the series as well, and not sure if I would say jones is easily better simply due to his defense.

True. But my point was made earlier that the grizzlies still won earlier in the season when gasol out. Now that I cxan adjust my lineup accordingly, I will improve from the last loss.

[JazzGM-old]

couple things for my nuggets matchup:

Chauncey Billups is out for 6 days. Problem is they have Earl Boykins who is just as good, but they are still out a key player so it still plays to my advantage. I have determined that because of that extra depth in my backcourt, Francis' bench play (the all-time TO leader) is the key to this series.

Also, this will be the first sim since my latest trade where everyone will be healthy. I just simply don't know how good my new team can be. I ended the season pretty well and am hoping to ride on that momentum.

What I need to win: steal a game on the road while Billups is out as I'm pretty good at home too.

[PacersGM]

first round matchup with the cavs:
regular season (3-1) only loss in OT.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas vs. Chris Andersen
normally Z should have an advantage here. But he really had trouble to stay in front of my guys and box out. Foster played very well against him,so i will give him more time.
Oliver Miller vs. Jermaine O´Neal
Martin would be a tough matchup here but Miller is too slow for JO.
JO should dominate from the first second on and bring miller in foul trouble. Jamsion will give me also a great backup here.
Tayshaun Prince vs. Ron Artest
Prince is a ncie role player. For me this is the key matchup. artest is the guy who is my do it all guy. If he can play his game he will open the court with nice passes to redd and fisher. jamison will also try to post up here a little bit.
LeBron James vs. Michael Redd
my biggest problem. James is a great offense player but his defense against my SGs had been very bad.
Iggy and Redd both scored at will against him.
Andre Miller vs. Derek Fisher
Miller is the better ballhandler, but fisher is the better defender and the better shooter. so i think i can even this matchup. If Fisher is able to hit the open shots created by my trio, this series will be short.

I expect (do we play best of 7 or 5?) only one loss and to advance to the next round. the next round will be very tough since both the heat and the hornets are very strong teams.

[SunsGM]

My series against the Mave will be a tough one.

while i fully hope to win, I can be realistic and know that it will be tough to match up with the Mavs tough front line.

Dampier,Nowitski and Hoffa are monsters up front Collier, Hunter and Moiso and Nene will have their hands full with them.

Carter is a teriffic scorer, and he is matched up with Dirk who is 6 inches taller than Vince, so I give the front line matchup to Dallas

The back court is a little more evenly matched. Terry is small for a PG, but he towers over Havlicek. Kobe had a less than stellar season but i think he is a tough matchup for any Dallas defender.

hopefully i can make the series longer than 4 games and give The Mavs a good match up.

[CavsGM]

I'm the underdog in this one. It's gonna be very tough. I know O'Neal will be unstoppable, but I need Z to play just as big. I don't expect to win the series, but I think my team can make it interesting.

[RaptorsGM]

Good luck to everyone. Depending on what time the sim is run, this will most likely by my last time online, as I have to go to work.