West Conference playoff thread

[FNG]

I see three lower seeds advancing in the first round:

Suns over the Clippers in 5
Warriors over the Kings in 6. Wiggins and Glove Jr. totally overhauls the Warriors' defense.
Memphis over the Lakers in 5. The PG difference is immense. DLo will be a liability in the playoffs, and Schroder has injury issues.
Wolves over Denver in 6. Well duh. Plus Rick Mahorn, who refused to play for the Wolves when we expansion drafted him, has us winning in 6.

Suns over Wolves in 5...Come on ...I'm not a total homer!
Warriors over Grizzlies in 6.

Suns over Warriors in 7.

[Leado01]

Approved.

I wouldn't change a thing FNG

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Those are some legit predictions. At the same time, I don't feel confident in predicting stuff.

Will the Warriors reintegrate Wiggins easily? Probably, but maybe not. And Sac's defense sucks, but I like their fight. I could see that going either way. It's weird to call that an upset because they're the 3 seed, but it feels like most people are predicting the Warriors there.

I agree the Suns are going to be tough to stop, and that is one thing I'm pretty confident about.

I think the Lakers could make that Grizz matchup an interesting series, but who knows.

Speaking of the Lakers, I just read a hilarious article about DLO and his narciss . . , er, confidence. Seriously, you have to read this article. His quotes are priceless. I think by the end it's clear the writer is letting DLO's own words basically function like self-satire. A couple details in this article are priceless.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/s ... off-series

[Monster]

Those are some legit predictions. At the same time, I don't feel confident in predicting stuff.

Will the Warriors reintegrate Wiggins easily? Probably, but maybe not. And Sac's defense sucks, but I like their fight. I could see that going either way. It's weird to call that an upset because they're the 3 seed, but it feels like most people are predicting the Warriors there.

I agree the Suns are going to be tough to stop, and that is one thing I'm pretty confident about.

I think the Lakers could make that Grizz matchup an interesting series, but who knows.

Speaking of the Lakers, I just read a hilarious article about DLO and his narciss . . , er, confidence. Seriously, you have to read this article. His quotes are priceless. I think by the end it's clear the writer is letting DLO's own words basically function like self-satire. A couple details in this article are priceless.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/s ... off-series

So Russell is confident in his game and more than just scoring. I guess that’s good. Ok it was funny when he said that “humbly” or whatever but yeah.

FWIW a big reason why Russell didn’t get back on the floor is because Schroeder played well. Last year Russell was the starter for the Wolves played bad and didn’t play because Mcalaughkin was playing well and he wasn’t. Schoder is a different class of player than McLaughlin. Russell seems cool with it and ready to do his thing next opportunity. Seems reasonable to me.

This was the quote from that article that made me chuckle.


“A whistle is blown or not blown, we have a job to do. That’s been my message to my team the entire season,” Ham said.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Those are some legit predictions. At the same time, I don't feel confident in predicting stuff.

Will the Warriors reintegrate Wiggins easily? Probably, but maybe not. And Sac's defense sucks, but I like their fight. I could see that going either way. It's weird to call that an upset because they're the 3 seed, but it feels like most people are predicting the Warriors there.

I agree the Suns are going to be tough to stop, and that is one thing I'm pretty confident about.

I think the Lakers could make that Grizz matchup an interesting series, but who knows.

Speaking of the Lakers, I just read a hilarious article about DLO and his narciss . . , er, confidence. Seriously, you have to read this article. His quotes are priceless. I think by the end it's clear the writer is letting DLO's own words basically function like self-satire. A couple details in this article are priceless.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/s ... off-series

So Russell is confident in his game and more than just scoring. I guess that’s good. Ok it was funny when he said that “humbly” or whatever but yeah.

FWIW a big reason why Russell didn’t get back on the floor is because Schroeder played well. Last year Russell was the starter for the Wolves played bad and didn’t play because Mcalaughkin was playing well and he wasn’t. Schoder is a different class of player than McLaughlin. Russell seems cool with it and ready to do his thing next opportunity. Seems reasonable to me.

This was the quote from that article that made me chuckle.


“A whistle is blown or not blown, we have a job to do. That’s been my message to my team the entire season,” Ham said.

The rest of you should read that article, but here are a couple highlights.

• “I like the way I do things. I really appreciate … I’m a fan of me,” he said after the All-Star break. “I’m humbly saying that.”
  
  He wasn’t kidding.

The fact that the writer wrote "He wasn't kidding," stresses how ridiculous the writer finds that quote, and so do I. (I'm "humbly" a fan of myself!) The story ends with a similarly wry comment from the writer.

Here's another gem. After he got benched against us in the play-in game because he was playing so badly (remember we had to bench him down the stretch of the Memphis series last year too), he said if Ham had left him in he could've gotten 20 assists (he seems to recognize how ridiculous this is, because he later also says 15 assists) and won the game for the Lakers that way. I mean, he's got some offensive skill, no doubt, but he really was basically a nonfactor in that game and seems to see things totally differently. Essentially, he says he's cool with getting benched because he can rest easy knowing that if the coach plays him, they definitely win. I mean, I like confidence, but this just crosses the line into obliviousness and selfishness. If they had lost, you can imagine him basically feeling the same way. He doesn't say a single thing about how his teammates pulled that win out, even though they did, and even though (or maybe because) his backup played great and hit what was nearly a game-winner and literally did DLO's own celebration. That's the basketball equivalent of getting cuckholded. But no worries for DLO. The team doesn't matter, only his feelings about himself, and he's definitely feeling himself. How are you ever going to improve as a player if you think you were awesome even in games when you kind of sucked? How are you ever going to help your team if you prioritize yourself over them?

Also, he likes his candles and blankets.

I was never a huge DLO hater. He kind of grew on me a little over his time here, but his immaturity (and lack of defense and toughness) was always an issue for me from the moment we traded for him, and I think this article displays that pretty well. The contrast with Conley couldn't be more stark.

[kekgeek]

Dlo struggling early for the lakers

[kekgeek]

I hate both of these teams

[Lipoli390]

The only playoff teams I seriously dislike are the Lakers and Sixers. I’m hoping the Grizzlies sweep the Lakers, but I could see the Lakers winning that series. I’m pulling for the Grizzlies to come out of the West if the Wolves don’t. I have to root for smaller market non-west coast teams.

[Lipoli390]

Did you guys see Anthony Davis get hurt in the 2nd quarter of the game today? I watched the replay several times. The contact seemed minimal. Davis is just one of those guys who’s brittle.

[Coolbreeze44]

I have to laugh, DLO is out there pointing on defense for Lebron to pick up a guy.