Minnesota Sports Forum

As Wolves fans, we could be forgiven for forgetting what it's like to actually have our team in the playoffs, but I'm know you guys care about basketball in general and I assume many of you are watching the playoffs. So let's have a playoffs thread. Maybe it will remind us what the goal is here--to compete for a championship.

So, any thoughts from day 1?

Here are mine:

Derrick Rose looked like Derrick Rose again, and reminded me how much I love watching him play. All players have a kind of physical style of movement that's unique. It's like a kinetic fingerprint. That's why you can tell which player is which from across the room on a bad TV even when you can't see their face or number. You can just tell by how they move. Along with Lillard and maybe John Wall, it's hard to think of any players whose style of play I find more aesthetically satisfying to watch.

Old man Paul Pierce and the Raptors fans. I love when old guys age well, like Sam Cassell. Savvy vets who beat you just by being smarter and better than younger guys twice as fast and strong as them. We've all played with those guys down at the playground. I just love those guys. Paul Pierce has ALWAYS had an old man's game, but now he's actually old and of course he's still got it. I was really cheering for him in this game. But on the other hand, I love the Raptors largely because of their fans, so I kind of want to see more of those fans. If the Spurs are the model that teams should follow, Toronto's fans are the model that fans should follow. It just reinforces what a passive, quiet fan base we have at Target Center (at least from what I can tell--I live abroad and have only been to games in Minneapolis a few times in the last 6 years or so). Of course, maybe if we actually tried to win some games . . .

And finally, I love Corey Brewer.

What about the rest of you? Let's follow the playoffs.

Go Celtics.

People want to talk about pace of the game and how intentional fouling ruins the pace of the game. Nobody talks about how the pace of the game is screwed when guys like Harden flop around like a fish out of water.

The playoffs are pretty anticlimactic compared to what they seemed to be a few weeks ago.

- The West just isn't as daunting anymore.
- Dallas has JJ Barea and Richard Jefferson playing crunch-time minutes for chrissakes.
- Injuries have cooked Portland.
- OKC is out.

Sans the LAC vs. SA series, all the action begins in Round 2.

The one surprise might be that the Bulls throw a third team into the mix in the East to spice up round 2 slightly.

TRKO wrote:Go Celtics.

People want to talk about pace of the game and how intentional fouling ruins the pace of the game. Nobody talks about how the pace of the game is screwed when guys like Harden flop around like a fish out of water.

Don't get me started on Harden.....

AbeVigodaLive wrote:The playoffs are pretty anticlimactic compared to what they seemed to be a few weeks ago.

- The West just isn't as daunting anymore.
- Dallas has JJ Barea and Richard Jefferson playing crunch-time minutes for chrissakes.
- Injuries have cooked Portland.
- OKC is out.

Sans the LAC vs. SA series, all the action begins in Round 2.

The one surprise might be that the Bulls throw a third team into the mix in the East to spice up round 2 slightly.

It's also just too many damn games. The first round should be best of 3 or best of 5, not these ridiculous best of 7 series in the first round. Or they should do what they do in soccer and play two games, using the sum total of both games to determine the winner. That would be interesting and shorten things up.

7 games seems right for the Conference Finals and Finals. It's overkill for all of the other match-ups.

I think Best of 5 works. Best of 3 makes it too much of a crapshoot.

Never use soccer rules for anything. That sport has a lot wrong with it.

There's no question that the playoffs are way too long...I'm pacing myself for this marathon and haven't watched much more than 15 minutes so far.

Maybe I'm being nostalgic, but when I was a kid all early rounds in the playoffs were shorter than best of 7, and I liked it a lot...better yet, the finals were over before summer started. This would be a great change. Unfortunately, it will never happen because it would reduce the revenue stream. Playoffs in all sports are destined to expand, not contract.

Camden wrote:Never use soccer rules for anything. That sport has a lot wrong with it.

Well, if you say so! The vast majority of inhabitants on the planet earth disagree with you.

I'm not a huge soccer fan, but I like the fact you can watch a full half without a single commercial break or major stoppage of action. One continuous 45-minute half, a break, and a second 45-minute half. The flow is so much better than other sports.

I also love the player development methods used, where playing game after game, tournament after tournament as youth is shunned (unlike the AAU basketball culture). Instead, far more time is dedicated to skill development and tactical awareness. If USA basketball had a similar approach, Zach LaVine would have had a left-hand many years ago; Shabazz Muhammed would know how to go right; and Andrew Wiggins would have better handles.

I also like the relegation process used in European soccer. Now that would eliminate tanking!

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:Never use soccer rules for anything. That sport has a lot wrong with it.

I also like the relegation process used in European soccer. Now that would eliminate tanking!

I'm glad this never happened. Although the Wolves winning the Howard Pulley league every summer would give us SOMETHING to cheer about.