2017-2018 NBA Season

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Rekordy Polski
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Playoffs are here!

Post by C-Fan » 16 Apr 2018 13:40

So the first weekend of playoffs just finished, which means each series has played one game. I was able to watch pieces of a few games, and most of the Rockets-Wolves tilt which was fun. Some notables:

:arrow: LeBron lost a game in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2012. That's a pretty insane streak when you think about it. 5 seasons in a row with sweeps in the first round. I'm definitely not counting him out in the series, but this does feel like vindication that I picked the Pacers in a 7 game upset.

:arrow: Chris Paul looked like he had the yips at the end of Game 1 with some weird unforced errors that could have really cost them.

:arrow: It sounds like Kawhi is out for the playoffs. Not sure what that means for San Antonio next year or in the long run, but for this year I think it spells a 4-5 game exit. I still stand by my prediction of Warriors in 5 if no Kawhi. If the Spurs have a super disciplined game the same day the Warriors are too lax, they could take one. But there's no doubt in my mind the Warriors take the series.

:arrow: Notable the Raptors broke their game 1 curse. They had lost something crazy like 10 Game 1s in a row before this past weekend.

:arrow: Sucks that Embiid missed his first potential playoff game, but notable the Sixers won without him. His plus/minus is insane, where the Sixers are like plus 20 with him on the court and minus 20 with him off. Says a lot that Simmons and the rest of the team won a playoff game without him. Sounds like he'll miss one more game which sucks, but maybe it's just a precaution. Like, had the Sixers lost game 1 maybe Embiid would be back for this next one.

:arrow: I didn't get to watch the Blazers-Pels game, but it sounds like Davis went beast mode. Definitely want to watch at least one game of his this post season. I like my prediction of the series going 7.

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How'd my predictions for Round 1 go?

Post by C-Fan » 27 Apr 2018 09:38

The big news on my end, is that my wife got me a subscription to SlingTV for the playoffs! That’s one of those online services that lets you watch ESPN, NBA TV, TNT, etc. and also to DVR games from there. Pretty slick. So I’ve ended up watching a ton of the playoffs so far, which has been really nice. It’s especially cool on nights when the best game is on a channel I couldn’t get before.
A couple series have already wrapped up, while the rest of them are approaching closeout games. Revisiting my first round predictions for series that have now ended:
C-Fan wrote:
12 Apr 2018 09:09
Rockets vs Wolves. Predict Rockets in 5.
Yep. Right outcome, right number of games. Not that shocking though, considering it was a 1 vs. 8 matchup and the 8 seed didn’t get in until the final game of the season. Was a bit surprised how badly KAT played though. I also wasn’t really blown away by the Rockets. They had a few epic quarters, but they also looked surprisingly shaky at the end of some of these games. I wouldn’t be shocked if their second round series goes 7 if they get the Jazz.
C-Fan wrote:
12 Apr 2018 09:09
Blazer Pelicans. Blazers in 7
I was way off on this one, but so was almost everybody else. The Blazers finished the season so strong, plus they had home court. Their guards went cold though, and the Pels guards really defended the hell out of them too. Oh yeah, Davis wasn’t too shabby for the Pelicans either.
C-Fan wrote:
12 Apr 2018 09:09
Warriors-Spurs. Warriors in 5 if no Kawhi, in 6 if Kawhi is playing.
Again, I didn’t go out on much of a limb with this prediction, but it does feel nice that I called it down to the number of games.
C-Fan wrote:
12 Apr 2018 09:09
Philly over Miami in 6
Correct outcome, but Philly got it done in one less game than I predicted. I wasn’t entirely sure when Embiid would come back or how healthy he’d be, but it all worked out better than expected for Phila so they’re advancing. They’ll face either the Celtics (injured) or Bucks (bad coaching) in the next round, and either opponent will have just come off a 7 game series and be a bit beat up. So I’m really liking Philly’s chances not just at the East finals, but maybe even to the Finals themselves.

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Round 1 is done!

Post by C-Fan » 02 May 2018 13:04

Playoffs are now officially in the semis round. Fewer games, but better games. I tuned into the Raps-Cavs game last nightand the Cavs were down 10. I told my wife not to count them out though, given the Raptors history of losing to LeBron combined with their history of losing Game 1s. Crazily enough the game went to OT, and the Raps did indeed lose by 1! Kinda feel bad for them, but also kinda amazing to listen to the agonizing Raptors podcasts today as well. :lol:

So revisiting my first round predictions, now that all those series are over:
C-Fan wrote:
12 Apr 2018 09:09

WEST:
Rockets vs Wolves. Predict Rockets in 5.
Thunder-Jazz. Jazz in 5
Blazer Pelicans. Blazers in 7
Warriors-Spurs. Warriors in 5 if no Kawhi, in 6 if Kawhi is playing.
So I correctly called 3/4 of the West series, and was only off by one total game in those. I was way off in the Blazers-Pels prediction, which I covered in a previous post.
C-Fan wrote:
12 Apr 2018 09:09
EAST:
Toronto over Washington in 5
Indiana over Cleveland in 7 (!)
Philly over Miami in 6
Boston over Milwaukee in 6
Out East I also got 3/4 of the series correct, though not as lucky on calling the actual number of games needed. My Indy over Cleveland in 7 was my boldest prediction, as almost nobody picked Indy to win it much less in 7. I ended up getting it wrong, but the fact that it went 7 and was so close throughout feels like vindication.

I wish I had written my series predictions for the semis before they started, as it feels like cheating to write them now that the series all have at least one game in the books. FWIW, I had the Warriors over Pels, the Rockets over Jazz, Toronto over Cleveland, and Philly over Boston.

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Conference Finals have begun!

Post by C-Fan » 15 May 2018 07:04

C-Fan wrote:
02 May 2018 13:04
I wish I had written my series predictions for the semis before they started, as it feels like cheating to write them now that the series all have at least one game in the books. FWIW, I had the Warriors over Pels, the Rockets over Jazz, Toronto over Cleveland, and Philly over Boston.
So I got both West series correct, and both East series wrong. Considering the West matchups were heavy favorites, I'm not patting myself on the back for those predictions. And the East matchups I was way way off. I didn't expect Toronto to fold that spectacularly, and I honestly just thought Philly's talent advantage would outweigh Boston's team approach. It's a good thing I don't bet on these things.

Game 1 of the Conference Finals is in the books for both conferences as well. Again, I wish I had gotten down my series predictions before they started, but it's been a crazy past few days with baby emergencies, so just trust me that these were my original predictions:

:arrow: Warriors over Rockets in 5. If Durant and Steph are healthy and Draymond is playing good D, I just don't see the Rockets having enough talent to hang with them.
:arrow: Celtics over Cavs in 7. Yes, this is the third series in a row where I'm betting against peak LeBron. This time though, I think I'll be right.

Assuming these are correct, I then predict Warriors sweep the Celtics in the Finals.

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On track so far

Post by C-Fan » 22 May 2018 09:50

Been catching games here and there. Feels like they're all blowouts one way or another, which hasn't been very entertaining. Game 4 of Celtics/Cavs was really badly officiated. Most went against the Celts, but towards the end of the game there were some awful calls against the Cavs too, which leads me to believe the refs were just plain bad.

My predicitions for these series still look good:
C-Fan wrote:
02 May 2018 13:04

:arrow: Warriors over Rockets in 5.
:arrow: Celtics over Cavs in 7.
I also still think the Warriors will sweep either of the East teams in the Finals.

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Re: 2017-2018 NBA Season

Post by Asmus » 24 May 2018 23:13

So boring. I also agree that the Warriors will sweep either. Hell, the rockets might if they make the Finals.

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Finals time

Post by C-Fan » 29 May 2018 12:23

It's been a weird post season for sure. Toronto (East 1 seed) and Portland (West 3 seed) getting swept out of the playoffs was surprising. Celtics making it to game 7 of the conference finals without Kyrie or Hayward was surprising. Warriors getting pushed to 7 was also surprising. Overall I'd say there were too many blowout games so far and not enough close ones. But I've been entertained.

Revisiting my predictions:
C-Fan wrote:
02 May 2018 13:04

:arrow: Warriors over Rockets in 5.
:arrow: Celtics over Cavs in 7.

I also still think the Warriors will sweep either of the East teams in the Finals.
OK, so the Warriors did beat the Rockets, but it was a lot closer than I anticipated, going 7. Warriors just seemed more out of sync than I expected. The Celts Cavs going 7 seemed like a bold prediction, and of course me betting against LeBron for the third time in the same post season meant I was wrong for the 3rd straight time. This post season has really made me appreciate LeBron's greatness. Even haters have to admit he's top 2 all time, and his case to surpass Jordan is no longer laughable.

So here we are, looking at our 4th straight Cavs-Warriors Finals. This year though I feel like LeBron has less help than ever. I stick with my previous prediction of Warriors sweep Cavs. Of course, this is also my 4th time this post season betting against LeBron, so let's see if he proves me wrong yet again. I doubt it though.

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Hello Offseason!

Post by C-Fan » 11 Jun 2018 14:10

C-Fan wrote:
29 May 2018 12:23

Revisiting my predictions:
C-Fan wrote:
02 May 2018 13:04

I also still think the Warriors will sweep either of the East teams in the Finals.

I stick with my previous prediction of Warriors sweep Cavs.
Not patting myself on the back too hard for this one. Most pundits were calling for Warriors in 5, but pretty much nobody was predicting the Cavs would make it competitive much less win. Seems like most people had Warriors in 5 because they expected LeBron to will the Cavs to one win. I mean, he basically did in Game 1 before his teammates blew it for him. The post-Finals narrative is that LeBron punched a whiteboard in frustration after game 1 (which is honestly pretty understandable) which injured his shooting hand and therefore guaranteed the Cavs wouldn't win any subsequent games. If that's true its unfortunate (but understandable!), but it wouldn't have really changed the narrative or results much anyway.

NBA draft is in a few days. I'm not a big draft guy in general, other than to see any random trades that happen on draft night. Most people think no major moves will occur until LeBron declares what he's going to do, which makes sense. The biggest names I expect to see move are LeBron and Paul George. After that, I suppose guys like Chris Paul and DeMarcus Cousins could move too. Maybe Kawhi? That one I really have no idea on. It should be interesting to see where people end up.

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