NBA Playoffs 2K11 Smackdown Update!

About 2 weeks ago, when the NBA Playoffs started, me and Joyful Chicken went head to head ala True Hoop's Stat Geek Smackdown. Rules are simple, 5 points for predicting the series outcome, and extra 2 points for predicting the number of games.

philos

joyful chicken

  vs

After the first round, here's a look at the scoreboard:

NBA Geek		Chi vs Ind	Mia vs Phi	Bos vs NY	Orl vs Atl	SA vs Mem	LA vs NO	Dal vs Por	OKC vs Den	Total
philos		7	5	5	0	0	5	0	5	27
joyfulchicken		7	5	5	0	0	5	5	5	32

As expected, one is up by 5 because we disagreed on the outcome of the Dallas vs Portland series, other than that, we, like most "experts", didn't foresee both the Magic and the Spurs elimination, though we bought agreed that it was going to be a difficult series for both teams. Right now looking at the True Hoop Smackdown Scoreboard, JC is tied with sports economist Dave Berri for 3rd place, and I'm tied at the 2nd to the last place with overrated ESPN Analyst John Hollinger, Basketball Reference's Neil Paine and Las Vegas gambler extraordinaire (or so Henry Abbot leads me to believe) Haralabos Voulgaris. So clearly, a bad sign for me.

So now I owe Josh a small prize (to be decided) for losing round 1. We've decided a week or so ago, that each round's winner gets a small prize, and the grand winner gets a big prize, none of which we've settled on as yet. I have very little hope for the 2nd round however. Here's a look at our 2nd round predictions:

Semi-Finals
NBA Geek		Chi vs Atl	Mia vs Bos	Mem vs OKC	LA vs Dal
philos		Chi in 6	Bos in 7	OKC in 5	LA in 6
joyfulchicken		Chi in 5	Bos in 7	OKC in 7	LA in 6

We're all in agreement on who will win the series. The only series to take a special look at is the Chicago vs Atlanta one and the OKC vs Memphis one. This will be the difference maker of around 2 to 4 pts assuming one of us get the exact no. of games right. So clearly, I have no chance to get ahead in this series from this round. I can only hope to win myself a small prize, and maybe cut the 5 point lead to 1. We'll see.


Join us via the comment section if you want.

NBA Playoffs 2K11 Smackdown!

Playoffs starts today (yesterday in the US), and fantasy season is over. Joyful Chicken finally wins his first championship in our league but that's another story. Since we're such NBA Geeks, we thought (well I thought and he agreed) that it might be a good idea to make predictions and wager on it. So we did. We're doing it ala True Hoop's Stat Geek Smackdown. Rules are simple, 5 points for predicting the series outcome, and extra 2 points for predicting the number of games.

philos

joyful chicken

  vs

Here are our projections:

1. East 

NBA Geek		Chi vs Ind	Mia vs Phi	Bos vs NY	Orl vs Atl
philos		Chi in 5	Mia in 4	Bos in 6	Orl in 7
joyfulchicken		CHI in 5	MIA in 6	BOS in 6	ORL in 7

2. West

NBA Geek SA vs Mem LA vs NO Dal vs Por OKC vs Den philos SA in 6 LA in 5 Por in 7 OKC in 7 joyfulchicken SA in 6 LA in 4 DAL in 7 OKC in 6

Series to take a special look at is the Dal vs Por one. This will be the difference maker of 5-7pts in round 1. 3 other series that might potentially give one a 2 point advantage apiece are the Mia vs Phi series, the LA vs NO series, and the OKC vs Den series.

Join us via the comment section if you want.


Scoreboard

1. Quarter Finals

NBA Geek Chi vs Ind Mia vs Phi Bos vs NY Orl vs Atl philos --  --  --  --  joyfulchicken --  --  --  --

NBA Geek SA vs Mem LA vs NO Dal vs Por OKC vs Den Total philos --  --  --  --  -- joyfulchicken --  --  --  --  --

Thoughts about the 2009 NBA playoffs

My my, the Celtics vs Bulls matchup is turning into an exciting series indeed! And who would've thought that Rajon Rondo would actually average a triple double in the playoffs? I certainly didn't! Do I had hopes about it. I realize early on that with KG out, somebody's got to step his game up, and I certainly don't expect Marbury or Miki Moore to do it. Gordon's been streaky hot! That and with Rose's one-for-the-books performance in his first playoff appearance, makes this an epic battle indeed! I wonder if he'd get anything higher than that $59M/6yrs contract offered to him before the season started. I bet Paxson is kicking himself now for signing the oft-injured Luol Deng for $71M, and now having to re-negotiate a better deal for Gordon.

Anyhow, I'm glad the Cavs vs Pistons and Lakers vs Jazz series are over. Detroit sure deserved getting swept the way they played this year. All year long they kept blaming Iverson for this team's descent, but bitching about it sure didn't help. How many games did Rasheed just mailed in this year huh? Tayshaun was pretty disappointing too. And apparently, Stuckey is not the second-coming of Billups. Heck, the only bright spot in their roster this year is the aging McDyess and he'll be gone soon, and Will Bynum who might turn out to be just another Stuckey. Great talent, but not quite ready for the responsibility yet. The Jazz were just too outclassed and too banged-up to even compete with the defending Western Conference champs at this point.

I hope the Nuggets vs Hornets series mercifully ends soon. I don't think New Orleans can take much more of this beating. And while I think the San Antonio Spurs can still mount a comeback, I think they're better of resting now. Jason Kidd and the Mavs sure are playing an inspired ballgame. With the resurgence of Josh Howard, I wouldn't mind seeing them topple the Lakers. Not that I believe it will happen. I'm just glad the Devin Harris for Jason Kidd deal didn't stink as much as it seemed to when it happened.

Will Houston beat Portland to finally advance to Round 2? I think so. Inasmuch as I'd love to see the Blazers take on the Lakers at the Western Conference Finals, I don't think they're ready. And Houston might just be finally ready to take on the next step. Which is quite ironic since it perpetuates the McGrady jinx of 1st round exits. I don't know about jinx, but with McGrady out there, they seem to miss that distinct defensive intensity that they're showing now, something they need if they want to actually succeed in the playoffs.

And to round up the matchups, I think the Magic vs 76ers and Hawks vs Heat series is still a toss up at this point. I'm still betting on the Magic and the Hawks to take their respective series, but then again, I almost always lose these kind of bets.

The Playoffs are upon us!

Can you feel it? Excitement is in the air! The NBA 2008-2009 playoffs is upon us! And an exciting start indeed with the young Chicago Bulls beating the defending champs Boston Celtics in Overtime on what could very well be the most exciting start to the playoffs in recent years.

Will update later with some of my thoughts on the result.