dk7th wrote:

holfresh wrote:

dk7th wrote:

holfresh wrote:

dk7th wrote:

nykshaknbake wrote:Woody deserves heat for tonight's game. But the way you talk he's been a terrible coach all season. Your points are mostly way off and this is not even considering your man love for MDA.

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:With all those days of practice, there's no reason in the world this team should come out playing like this. This is the kind of game that people fear from WOODY. No feel or creativity on offense. POOR USE OF HIS ROSTER!!! Getting out coached by Doc in most of the quarters and now Vogel is taking him to school. He'd better get his act together or this will get ugly fast.

Please stop.

OK explain to me why this team has looked so bad in so many games this post season? That's on the Coach. I don't wanna hear no excuses for this guy when he's not performing up to par. Where is his so called "accountability" for Tyson not blocking out? Man come on and stop acting like Woody is untouchable. He's got a team to win with and so far they haven't played up to their potential and it's been CLEAR AS DAY that Woody has done a bad job at times in the playoffs.

I don't know but guys aren't hitting their shots??

You're pointing out the symptom but not the cause! The offense was moving WAY too slow and there wasn't enough ball and player movement to get the best shots. We only had a few really well executed plays and this didn't just start today. Where is the "accountability" Woody always talks about?

This man had a TON of time to get this team ready to play the Pacers and this is the best he could do? Now game 4 is a MUST WIN!!! This team can't play like this again in this series. There's literally no excuse for the team to not play their brand of BB.

I have to admit its really tough seeing u trying to hold Woody accountable when u never held MDA accountable ..

So you guys are trying to make two wrongs into a right here? If i'm wrong for supporting MDA when the team was struggling, then how does that make it ok to just ignore Woody doing a bad job. With MDA it was clear that the team was rebuilding and management never really gave him the kind of players he wanted with the exception of a few months. Then he was a lame duck coach with a petulant Franchise player and a horrible lockout shortened season, injured players trying to play their way into shape etc. What's Woody's excuse for this awful performance?

Woody has pretty much all the pieces he should need to compete at a high level and so far this team has only played well for a Quarter here and there but rarely a full game. This team needs great coaching.
Tell my why he didn't rip into Tyson for not blocking out?
Why has he coddled JR?
Why has he not made better use of his bench?
Why did the team come out in game after game playing poorly?
Why is the team being outhustled?
Why is this team struggling to run it's offense even when they have tons of time to work on it and get it right?

you presume that there's some sort of continuity between regular season and playoffs, especially the second round where the real post-season essentially begins.

there are good regular season coaches and good regular season players but that doesn't mean they will be good in the second round of the playoffs.

this is the time of the year where the "a win is a win" you hear in the regular season begins to look foolish.

So "the real post season" begins when u say it begins??

it's not about me and what i say.

it's about logic, common sense, history, and the mathematics and statistics that are derived from that history. this is what they say:

1) the expansion of the league to 30 teams dilutes the talent pool beyond the possibility of parity during the regular season.
2) the need for a revenue stream forces the league to reward mediocrity based on a diluted talent pool, where 16 of the 30 teams make it to the postseason. it works because an uneducated fanbase settles for what they deem entertainment and accepts whatever quasi-competition the nba dishes out.
3) the result is that the bottom half of the bracket tends more towards mediocrity, and, with a seven-game format, less chance of an upset the further apart the seeds are.
4) true parity tends to be seen in the semi-finals of either conference. hence coaching becomes paramount.

woodson has been annihilated in the second round both times, with 4-0 sweeps and half of those 8 games being blowouts. this is the baggage woodson has brought to the position.

i have taken pains to point this out about woodson over the entire season. i have never quite trusted his interpersonal skills-- maybe it's a little too ingratiating underneath the scowl, or a certain lassitude, among other things. whatever it may be, i believe we can all agree that his coaching will need to take a quantum leap in the next week.

i wish him luck but the crucible of the playoffs exposes weaknesses and limitations, in both players and coaches.

Did u see the Nets and Atlanta play these playoffs and how would u describe the efforts of their best players???...And who do you blame for their efforts???

U kill me with these imagined hypothesis u keep coming up with...Like Felton's playing at his ceiling during the season..Incredible...

i don't really know what you refer to when you say "hypotheses." 30 teams is a fact. allowing more than half the teams into the postseason by definition rewards mediocrity, also a fact.

the hawks and the nets are the poster children of mediocrity. the regular-season records were above .500 but players like johnson and smith are relics of a hopefully-bygone era of overpaid players who do not have what it takes to succeed in the postseason.

when you get right down to it, each year there are really only 5-6 teams who are actually good teams. the four semi-finalists and perhaps one or two other teams that are very close.

felton is being given the kind of help he has really always needed, giving him room to excel at what he does best-- which is not orchestrating an offense but something in between shooting guard and orchestrating point guard. there is no shame in that whatsoever and i'm glad this issue was addressed from day 1, first with kidd and now with prigioni. on his own without a player like kidd or prigioni felton would most definitely flounder.

U said it!!!!They are players not driven to win or play hard but you blame Woodson for their lack drive to perform in the post season while in Atlanta..

Prigs play 15/20 mins a game most of while is while Felton is on the bench yet you credit him for Felton's performance ...

the playoffs really is about teams that are better than mediocre playing against one another.

dk7th wrote:your definition of when the playoffs begin is dictated by the league. but when more than half the teams make it in to the playoffs then by definition the playoffs in the first round is about mediocre teams playing. it's a shame that the nba rewards mediocrity but the reason is not competition but revenue stream.

the playoffs really is about teams that are better than mediocre playing against one another.

One more thing about Felton, he is at his best being aggressive, driving the lane and hitting the open man...That has nothing to do with Prigs..

The regular season is meaningless.
The first round is an exercise in meaningless mediocrity.
The second round is all that really matters.
Actually, the Conference Finals are all that really matters.

Why all this posting if it's all so meaningless and mediocre?

I wonder.

We need to revert to an 8-10 team league, so that every minute of every game might be meaningful and just possibly above average.

Today's NBA, where mediocre happens.

dk7th wrote:

jrodmc wrote:Ah, the meaninglessness of professional basketball.

The regular season is meaningless.
The first round is an exercise in meaningless mediocrity.
The second round is all that really matters.
Actually, the Conference Finals are all that really matters.

Why all this posting if it's all so meaningless and mediocre?

I wonder.

We need to revert to an 8-10 team league, so that every minute of every game might be meaningful and just possibly above average.

Today's NBA, where mediocre happens.

everything is informed by winning a title.

based on that premise it is what the team's goal is and what its expectations are of itself and what the fanbase and media expect of the team.

that said, in any season there are going to be only 5-6 teams in the entire league that have a statistically valid chance of winning the title.

of those teams in the first round, this means that the top 3 seeds in either conference are the only ones who have a chance, with the occasional upset.

hence, the second round, where those top 6 teams are going to be playing, is the beginning of the real playoffs.

You picked the Knicks to come in 5th or 6th in the conference at the beginning of the season...Well they came in second in the conference...Exceeding everyone's expectations including yourself...Yet u do nothing but hammer Woodson..What gives???..You goalpost changes during the games????

holfresh wrote:

dk7th wrote:

jrodmc wrote:Ah, the meaninglessness of professional basketball.

The regular season is meaningless.
The first round is an exercise in meaningless mediocrity.
The second round is all that really matters.
Actually, the Conference Finals are all that really matters.

Why all this posting if it's all so meaningless and mediocre?

I wonder.

We need to revert to an 8-10 team league, so that every minute of every game might be meaningful and just possibly above average.

Today's NBA, where mediocre happens.

everything is informed by winning a title.

based on that premise it is what the team's goal is and what its expectations are of itself and what the fanbase and media expect of the team.

that said, in any season there are going to be only 5-6 teams in the entire league that have a statistically valid chance of winning the title.

of those teams in the first round, this means that the top 3 seeds in either conference are the only ones who have a chance, with the occasional upset.

hence, the second round, where those top 6 teams are going to be playing, is the beginning of the real playoffs.

You picked the Knicks to come in 5th or 6th in the conference at the beginning of the season...Well they came in second in the conference...Exceeding everyone's expectations including yourself...Yet u do nothing but hammer Woodson..What gives???..You goalpost changes during the games????

if i indeed picked them as a 5th or 6th seed then they exceeded my expectations.

translation: i was WRONG

that said, are we not allowed to change our expectations as the season rolls along? i mean at some point i even started saying that they were exceeding my expectations even though the way they were winning was not going to translate to playoff success. i started saying they looked like a team that could reach the ECF if they played the right way.

yet look at my sig line: it says it all. it's been up there since before the all-star break. it's not THAT you win it's HOW you win.

and that gets us back to woodson and his baggage.

that's "what gives!"

jrodmc wrote:Ah, the meaninglessness of professional basketball.

The regular season is meaningless.
The first round is an exercise in meaningless mediocrity.
The second round is all that really matters.
Actually, the Conference Finals are all that really matters.

Why all this posting if it's all so meaningless and mediocre?

I wonder.

We need to revert to an 8-10 team league, so that every minute of every game might be meaningful and just possibly above average.

Today's NBA, where mediocre happens.

nykshaknbake wrote:No games here. If I recall the last time we won a playoff series we were an 8th seed. What teams besides the Bucks and Lakers didn't give a competitive series? None. There's more parity in the league than you like to think. Or maybe the Nets and Bulls series and the Thunder Rockets, Knicks Celtics were unwatchable for you? Because it was a waste for the ROckets, Celtics, Warriors and Bulls because they didn't have a chance right? Especially the BBulls and Warriors, they should never have been there in the 1st place. So who deserves to play since obviously the 1st round of the playoffs is a huge waste of time and the 'mediocre teams are there just to get rolled by the good teams?

dk7th wrote:

nykshaknbake wrote:The only team below 0.500 in the playoffs was the Bucks. If the first round is about mediocre teams playing be definition, that includes all the top teams playing too, which is self contradictory. The only truly bad series were the 1-8 on both sides.

dk7th wrote:your definition of when the playoffs begin is dictated by the league. but when more than half the teams make it in to the playoffs then by definition the playoffs in the first round is about mediocre teams playing. it's a shame that the nba rewards mediocrity but the reason is not competition but revenue stream.

the playoffs really is about teams that are better than mediocre playing against one another.

you're playing games. i said it is about mediocre teams with the tacit understanding that mediocre teams have no business playing against good teams. at the start of any postseason there are really only 5-6 good teams in the league any season, if by good we mean having a legitimate chance of winning a title. mediocre teams should not be rewarded with the playoffs.

essentially the entire first round is a waste. since the league will never get rid of the first round, to make it at least interesting the league should make the first round a 5 game series or even a 3 game series.

Correction, last time we won a series before this year was 2000, and we were the 3rd seed under Jeff Van Gundy.

We beat the Raptors, then the Heat, then lost to Larry Bird's Pacers in the ECF.