Playoffs Discussion

[CelticsGM]

Friggin Kwame Brown with a series of his life!

I should have putted Hoffa at SF too...

What a great move by you, Clippers.

Now wait, you say you play Elton at SF the whole season, and this has nothing to do with Hoffa? Wow, how could i miss that stuff through all the regular season matchups we had ...

(and i'm beginning to wonder if thats's really a joke or part of your complete ignorance of other teams lineups & tactics, fully believing the Master's team can master any opponent without adjusting, and not giving a single thought on matchup advantages)

Even the Raptors do that now, after the mighty Bucks surprised them some seasons ago in a first round series ...
 

[KingsGM-old]

I won the season series 3-1 with both of us having the same strategies, had no reason to change anything, and almost swept my way to the WCF with this one. There was no need for adjusting.

[GoldenStateGM]

Almost swept???  You did not sweep anyone. Ugg  

[CelticsGM]

I won the season series 3-1 with both of us having the same strategies, had no reason to change anything, and almost swept my way to the WCF with this one. There was no need for adjusting.

Wrong.

He beat you once, at Sacto, with a different strategy than in the final matchup where you blew him away.

[CelticsGM]

I won the season series 3-1 with both of us having the same strategies, had no reason to change anything, and almost swept my way to the WCF with this one. There was no need for adjusting.

And that's exactly the problem. You do not see any need adjusting to opponents. And believe me, even the Nets study the other teams, maybe more than anyone else, to see favorable matchups, and are not shy to tweak their lineup/strategy to gain an advantage.

It's a Master's problem ...

[GoldenStateGM]

Gotta say, I was very tempted to move Nowitzki back to PF, and move Ruffin to SF to guard Brand.  Just thought that would leave me with too little shotblocking (and Dirk has alot of foul trouble this year at the power positions).  May have cost me the series, though.

Kings, you have great flexibility with your lineup (Araujo apparantly can play PF and C, McGrady and Posey can both play SF and SG, while Tinsley can probably play pretty well at both PG and SG.)  It is a great luxury to have, wish I had more of it on my squad.

[NetsGM]

Yeah, I've made a lot of adjustments in the playoffs.  I've had Pettit at both PG and SF at times in the past, flipped Dalembert and Okafor, even had Battier at SG in the past.

This year I haven't, as I didn't think it was to my advantage (for example, I thought about switching the bigger Dunleavy onto Marion, but figured that despite Marion being a huge SG, got his points on 3pt'ers and penetration.  Pettit is actually very good at denying penetration, which I know by looking at the stats of opposing SG's), but you should always look at it.

The only real change I was thinking about for the Clippers was matching up with Brand, but the only way I would really do that is by starting Gooden at SF.  But that would take too much away from what I do offensively.  I think Dunleavy's ability to create will hurt Brand, especially defensively.  Or at least I think.  We'll see.

[GoldenStateGM]

Only time it would it might have been to your advantage was with the Pacers, but Artest on Pettit instead of Marion really is not that much better

[KingsGM-old]

Almost swept???  You did not sweep anyone. Ugg  

I lost only 2 games (which would have probably been only 1 if it wasn't for the Hoffa "incident" in the first round) until the WCF. That's why i said ALMOST.

[KingsGM-old]

I won the season series 3-1 with both of us having the same strategies, had no reason to change anything, and almost swept my way to the WCF with this one. There was no need for adjusting.

Wrong.

He beat you once, at Sacto, with a different strategy than in the final matchup where you blew him away.

There is only one thing i didn't want to admit to myself. That is; i won everytime when Forston started or played more minutes then Camby. He had some monstrous games against the Clips. I was thinking until the very end about putting Danny at PF or C as a started but for some reason i went with Camby in the end.

And i don't see any way i could have adjusted my lineup against the Clips. The only thing i could have done is to put Tmac at 3. But history tells me (cause i had him there in the past) that his scoring goes way down at SF and i didn't want to put him to jeopardy of fouling out every game tryin to guard Brand. It could have been reversed situation, maybe Brand would have fouled out every game, but that was the gamble i wasn't willing to the take.

I don't think the strategies prevailed, things are simple, better defense won and Clips are certanly better defensive team then the Kings.

[ClippersGM-old]

Many times in the past I have changed my lineup in the playoffs depending on what team I play. And when I thought I created some great matchup problems for other teams, it turned against me and I lost a series I was not supposed to lose.

So this year I did not change too much... until now in the finals... and it may again turn against me! We will see what happens.

I had great playoff series against Nuggets, Warriors and Kings. Overcame homecourt disadvantage in the last two series.

Nuggets series: Alphonse Butler did a great job guarding Gordon!!! But there was just too much firepower left for the Nuggets to guard. Brand, Maggette, Brown and Chandler did what they were supposed to do.

Warriors series: Playing 4 on 5 is tough. I was really afraid of Dirk's playoff perfomances (I remember last year!) but honestly... the Warriors' center problem killed them in that series. Deng, Hinrich had very good series.

Kings series: Just a great series Kings. It could have gone either way. But I think my team is deeper.

So now... after so many years of being a top 5 team in the league, we finally made it to the Finals...

[KingsGM-old]

Yeah, this one was classic. Congrats!

[NetsGM]

This is a heavyweight title fight right here.
Losing game 1 hurt.  Lost by 4, after dominating the 2nd quarter (23-9) to come back in it, had a rought 3rd quarter (32-11).  Lost by 4.

Game 2 and 3 were blowouts.

The Clippers are an astonishing +10 in rebounds.  I've made up for it a bit with +5 in turnovers, but rebounds are something I count on.  The person who has won rebounding is 3-0 in this series.

Pettit has made Maggette his personal whipping boy.  59% shooting, 57.8% 3pt.  With I could list him as options 1, 2 and 3.

The rest of my team has been stifled by the clips.  Emeka is shooting 34.9% (he is grabbing 16.3 rpg and blocking 5 shots/game though).  Dunleavy is shooting 34.2 ppg (once again, 5.6 boards, 4 assists, 3.3 steals are nice, but need more).  Earl shooting 21.6%.  That's staggering.  Great team defense by the Clips, but my guys need to perform.  Lincoln Lord has been vastly outperforming Earl so far.

That being said, I am holding my own defensively.  Both teams are shooting 40.7% from the field,oddly.  I'm holding Chandler to ca 36.5% shooting, Brown to 23.6%, maggette to 37.5%.  

Brand's hurting, 22.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg.  As is Gordon (21 ppg, 6.7 apg, both shooting at or above 50% (50% for Brand, 53% for Gordon).

Basically, he's brought 2 people who have brought it offensively to my 1.

[HornetsGM]

Wow, kind of strange to see the Nets behind in a series. I am definitely looking forward to seeing possible adjustments and the conclusion of this series.

[KingsGM-old]

It's 3-0 Clips?!