NBA 2011 Playoffs

[GM Franchise]

But don't they play Detroit on April 1st and Detroit is in the Central Division...

Didn't Detroit have a mutiny and be relegated to the D-League?

[MattWard]

let it be known that the eastern confrence is having to come trough chicago to try and make it to the finals. this is the bulls year to win it all.

[Mike Storm]

Lakers are going to get their threepeat. Who do they have to go through to get to the Finals? Dallas and San Antonio are slumping and right now Denver look to be their only threat. I know the Lakers are on a 4 game losing streak but it seems like their minds are on the playoffs right now.

Bulls are going to have to go through Magic (assuming they beat Atlanta) and then either Boston or Miami. That's a tough schedule.

If Lakers sweep the first round against New Orleans and prove their not slumping, their the biggest contender in my books.

[Midas]

Can someone say wrong!

Dallas and San Antonio are slumping

Dallas Lost 3 before winning last night
San Antonio on a 3 game win streak

Laker on 4 game losing streak...

So how can you honestly say the other two are slumping when the Lakers are the one who are showing fatigue...

right now Denver look to be their only threat

Nah there you are wrong...The Lakers won't even get a chance to face Denver as OKC are going to knock them out then San Antonio and then we have OKC tearing apart the Lakers...

Mark my words buddy OKC going to the Finals....

But doesn't matter because the Bulls are going to win the entire thing... We beat Indy and then take out Orlando who cannot stop D-ROSE and then we face a beat up and battered Boston or Miami who have no chance and go to the finals...

I honestly hope the Lakers make it to the finals since I am more fearful of my Bulls playing a strong young OKC then a beat up old Lakers team for the Championship...

[Ash Bombay]

I guess since OKC is my hometown team, I should show them some love, OKC to the finals baby. Thunder Up! Durant is a beast of his own, and has a good core of solid players around him. OKC are going to be tough this year, the lost to the Lakers in a tough tough series last year, and come one offensive rebound away from a game 7. And the Lakers went on to win it all last year, and we all know how much you can change and grow in a year.

[Gary]

I dont see OKC in the finals at all, in the west there are only 2 serious contenders Lakers and San Antion, the rest even my Mavs don't have the team to take those teams down. OKC has Durant/Perkins, Dallas only has Nowitzki. Lakers have Bynum, Gasol, Artest, Odom and Bryant while the Spurs have their the same combination of Ginobli (who brings it for the playoffs), Parker and Duncan. Those are two serious teams, who KNOW what to do at playoff time.

As for east.. Bulls have already beat the Big east teams on their way to being the number 1 seed in the East. The only way Bulls lose is either a big time collapse or the Heat finally get their shit together.

[Midas]

I dont see OKC in the finals at all, in the west there are only 2 serious contenders Lakers and San Antion, the rest even my Mavs don't have the team to take those teams down. OKC has Durant/Perkins, Dallas only has Nowitzki. Lakers have Bynum, Gasol, Artest, Odom and Bryant while the Spurs have their the same combination of Ginobli (who brings it for the playoffs), Parker and Duncan. Those are two serious teams, who KNOW what to do at playoff time.

As for east.. Bulls have already beat the Big east teams on their way to being the number 1 seed in the East. The only way Bulls lose is either a big time collapse or the Heat finally get their shit together.

WESTBROOK!

[Sgt. Josh Underpants]

Yes I know I am from LA, but it is no secret I despise the Lakers, so for that reason alone, I am going for the Bulls to take the whole damn thing

[Mike Storm]

I would bet big money that OKC doesn't even make the conference finals. There is no way they are getting through both Denver and San Antonio. Lakers will get through New Orleans easy, then face Dallas in which I predict they will go through in 6-7 games.

Here's my predictions:
East
Chicago beat Indiana
Miami beat Philadelphia
Boston beat New York
Orlando beat Atlanta

Chicago beat Orlando
Boston beat Miami

Boston beat Miami

West
San Antonio beat Memphis
Lakers beat New Orleans
Dallas beat Portland
Denver beat OKC

San Antonio beat Denver
Lakers beat Dallas

Lakers beat San Antonio

Finals
Lakers beat Boston!

[Midas]

Here's my predictions:
East
Chicago beat Indiana
Miami beat Philadelphia
Boston beat New York
Orlando beat Atlanta

Chicago beat Orlando
Miami beats Boston

Chicago beats Miami

West
San Antonio beat Memphis
Lakers beat New Orleans
Dallas beat Portland
OKC beats Denver

OKC beats San Antonio
Lakers beats Dallas

OKC beats Lakers

Finals
Chicago beats OKC

[Gary]

East:
Chicago over Indiana
Miamia over Philly
Boston over NYC
Orlando beats Atlanta

Chicago over Orlando
Boston over Miami

Chicago over Boston

West:
San Antonio over Memphis
Lakers over NOLA
Dallas over Port
Denver over OKC

San Antonio over Denver
Lakers over Dallas

Lakers over San Antonio

Chicago wins.

[Gary]

Oh yeah Dallas is closer to regaining that second seed after their win and the Lakers loss tonight!

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

I would love to see the Bulls win this (hell it would be a nice windfall as well as I had a bet on them last July to win the NBA Championship this year...yeah not a Johnny come lately to the Bulls bandwagon lol), however I think being realistic there is some very tough competition in the West. The Bulls have been electric this year and have a solid bench with the likes of Gibson, Asik and Korver, but to me all three of these guys have been inconsistent for Chicago this season for various reasons...Gibson and Asik maybe because of their maturity at the NBA level and Korver because he just seems very overrated so far. This worries me is the strength of the bench down the road which is where a lot of the West teams are strong and teams such as the Heat are also strong.
I also think there is a shit load of emphasis on Derrick Rose doing this all alone it feels like sometimes. The Bulls for example didn’t exactly kill off a Howard-less Magic the other night and if Nelson would have got his shot off earlier it was a different game. Few times this season the Bulls have allowed teams to come back into a game when they have been storming away.

For years the Bulls have needed an inside presence as a scorer even before the Rose era began they were too reliant on guys like Gordon bombing from outside. Boozer to me has been a hell of a pickup in that respect, but hasn’t lived up to his billing this season but has been averaging under 18 points a game for the season and to me I would have seen him sharing a lot more of the scoring responsibility from Rose, to counter that Deng has been simply awesome to be honest, but I do fear with Booz and Noah’s injury problems this year (more the later) this might be a season TOO soon for Chicago. I think they personally need another piece to the puzzle, they definitely need to address the most famous position of the Bulls the SG in the off-season. I would also not say we need to ploy the bench with veterans cause like the Thunder I think a lot of the success has come down to having a strong group of healthy young guys who want to win and do less worrying about how they look on the court, but the Bulls need a deeper roster into the playoffs. That is how you win Championships folks...a deep bench who can give you minutes and perform well with those minutes and this is where teams like the Mavericks, Lakers, Spurs are going to be tough for the Bulls to overcome if they make it to the finals...and that is a big question for me.

I can see us taking Boston if I am honest, I think they are still a great franchise, but they made some questionable dealings earlier this year like losing Perkins being the main one for me. I do think the Heat, despite hating what they have become (and somewhat envious) are the team to beat. They have two legit superstars...the Bulls have one. They have a solid bench of veterans the Bulls have a so so bench. They have Bosh who can also turn it on when needed as well and has got very similar stats to Boozer this season being the third wheel in that equation and however...you dice Lebron James the man is a phenom on the court. They concern me and I tell you who else does...Atlanta. I can see the Hawks being a big deal in the playoffs this year and I don’t know why. I don’t think the Hawks should fear the Magic at all. They are young, hungry and have some very good players in Atlanta. Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Al Horford are a good despite the Hawks themselves being on a questionable four game slide. Jamal Crawford and our former Captain Kirk give them a pretty nice looking set of players going into the post season.

Personally...this year I think it’s going to be a toss up between the one of five things:

-   The Bulls coming out the gates and winning the whole thing a year or 2 quicker than they should have. No complaints here!
-   The Mavericks who I wouldn’t begrudge either Dirk or Kidd a ring. Chandler has been a massive boost to them as well as Stoiokovic
-   Lakers turn it on in the playoffs...bound to happen anyways
-   Heat realize they should have won 70 games plus this year and then win the whole thing and win 80 games next year
-   Spurs have one last dance in the sun...which is very possible.

That is your 5 who can win it for me without the breakdown of the seeds and what not. I am probably the biggest Bulls fan on these forums (settle down Big Midas lol I know you got your claim to bro!) and at the moment I still think we need a few jigsaw pieces left. Still I was confident at the beginning of the season and I will be cheering them on loudly in the playoffs...but I just don’t think we got the right bench in, Booze hasn’t been superstar 2, Noah has had injury worries and we might be a bit too young.

[Mike Storm]

Can you imagine if Lebron went to Chicago?

After seeing what Miami did to Boston today I have changed my mind, and I will almost every day until the last game of the finals is over. I don't know if it's because the Bulls are the new guys to the top of the East or what but despite having the best record in the East, I just don't see them making the Finals.

The Heat are a team that can be beaten and we've seen that, but I don't know about beating them 4 times out of 7. Heat/Bulls would be an incredible matchup because you've got the Heat with their superstars vs. the Bulls with their great chemistry and teamwork. Boozer takes Bosh, Rose takes Wade and it's a matter of is Lebron a big enough force to outweigh the rest of the Bulls. I dare say these playoffs will come down to who has the best defense seeing as most of these teams have great offenses these days.

If Perkins was with the Celtics I would hand them the Eastern Conference straight away but with Shaq coming back in time for playoffs, who knows.

As for the West, if my Lakers can play with some passion, that is everyone but Kobe, then I think we've got the West in the bag. The Lakers usually coast the first round so they've got until then to prove themselves in my book.

This year is the first time in about 3 years where the playoffs are actually pretty interesting in that we don't really know who's going through. Lakers are in doubt and you've got the Spurs, Dallas and OKC hunting them along with Denver being the dark horse. Rather than it being between Boston, Orlando and Cleveland we now have Boston, Miami, Orlando and Chicago as the big 4 plus New York and Atlanta as dark horses.

My predictions will surely change but this is going to be a great post season!

[Gary]

If Dallas survives the first round (they may be my favorite team but they have a tendency to fuck it up in the 1st) and Butler makes it back to the second round.. Dallas could fucking pull it through this year. Here is hoping!