1st rd Playoff prediction thread.... for playoff prediction superiority guys.

You simply can't brag up Rivers then bash on Spoelstra while bringing up the reason you brought up.

If you can't see that then I can't help you.

Also Spoelstra proved he was a good coach during the 2012 playoffs. Chris Bosh went down and he had to adjust on the fly as his team found themselves down 2-1 to Pacers(were 0-2 without Bosh to that point). That is when Spoelstra decided to go small ball and play Lebron at the 4. As you would say the rest is history.

Where Spoelstra is at his best is making adjustments in the middle of the series something that Vogel and Brooks are hesitant to do. Battier was in a slump so he took him out the rotation in game 7, NBA Finals 1-3. After game 3 of NBA finals he started Miller, took out Birdman. After game 5, took out Haslem and Cole.

In three NBA Finals Spoelstra has never started the same lineup in every game of a Finals series. Constantly adjusting on the fly. That is his strength and that is why he's a good coach.
 
you are saying it isn't even close which is balogna.
Spoelstra has won with great talent
Doc has won with great talent
I'm not sure I see the big difference here.
 
I get what you're saying ... I'm just giving a little more credit to Doc for pulling off the run that he did with the roster that he had, and in particular considering the age. We can agree to disagree on that.

I agree that Spoelstra makes a lot of changes. I guess what I'm getting at is that part of his changes is often giving the ball to the best player in the world right now and asking him to do a little more. It's far from a FS strategy, but it is what it is.

I guess one of my problems with Spoelstra is that I feel like he has a big 3 and then everybody else is just completely interchangeable. It works for him and his team ... but I prefer to have a team that is more aware of what their roles are and what they are asked to contribute.

If he's able to win a title this year, I'll give him significant credit. There's a good chance that this Miami team wouldn't win 2 rounds in the West.
 
The only coach who has won an NBA title in the last 25 years without great talent was Larry Brown with the 2004 Pistons. Even that team had 4 NBA all-stars.

I remember when guys like Tequilla would discredit Phil Jackson because he hasn't won a title without great talent.

My point then and just like now is in the NBA you don't win titles without great talent.

That is why Scott Brooks and Mike Brown are in a class of their own for shit coaches.
 
One thing I didn't put in the above is that one of the strengths I see in Doc as a coach is that he's really good at defining roles for his team and creating a system that everybody buys into. He always seems to be in tune with his club and rarely makes a mistake when it comes to pushing too hard or allowing them to slip too far.
 
I get what you're saying ... I'm just giving a little more credit to Doc for pulling off the run that he did with the roster that he had, and in particular considering the age. We can agree to disagree on that.

I agree that Spoelstra makes a lot of changes. I guess what I'm getting at is that part of his changes is often giving the ball to the best player in the world right now and asking him to do a little more. It's far from a FS strategy, but it is what it is.

I guess one of my problems with Spoelstra is that I feel like he has a big 3 and then everybody else is just completely interchangeable. It works for him and his team ... but I prefer to have a team that is more aware of what their roles are and what they are asked to contribute.

If he's able to win a title this year, I'll give him significant credit. There's a good chance that this Miami team wouldn't win 2 rounds in the West.
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So they are so talented that anyone can win a title but not so talented where they can't win 2 rounds in the West?

Jesus Christ man just stop now.
 
Phil's greatest strength as a coach was getting everybody on the same page, defining roles, and providing the proper grounding and motivation. He was far more of a manager of a team than he was a coach. His record speaks for itself, he's won everywhere he's been, and is on the very short list of best coaches ever.

Spoelstra's got 2 NBA titles. The first was by beating Scott Brooks FS and the second was helped by a mental brain fart by Popovich combined with Ray Allen hitting one of the most incredible shots in the history of the game.

He's absolutely a better coach than most ... and particularly so compared to guys like Mike Brown and Scott Brooks. Of all the coaches left in the East playoffs, he's by far the best.

It'd be hard to expect them not to come out of the East this year in large part because of Indiana falling apart under Frank Vogel (who is starting to earn himself a spot in the Mike Brown and Scott Brooks club).

One thing interesting to watch will be if Golden State does fire Mark Jackson. I would think that Larry Bird might be interested in what is going on there.
 
One thing I didn't put in the above is that one of the strengths I see in Doc as a coach is that he's really good at defining roles for his team and creating a system that everybody buys into. He always seems to be in tune with his club and rarely makes a mistake when it comes to pushing too hard or allowing them to slip too far.
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Nobody is dismissing Doc so no need to say why he's a good coach. We are saying your argument against Spoelstra is FS.

He's gone to three straight NBA finals and won back to back titles. Phil Jackson btw is the only coach in the last 20 years to coach in three straight NBA Finals.

Hell Greg Popovich has never even coached in two straight NBA Finals to illustrate how tough that is.

If they make the finals this year Spoelstra would be one of only four NBA coaches ever to coach in four straight finals.
 
What I'm saying is the East right now is a dreckfest. I don't think Miami would get to the Conference Finals in the West this year as they are a team that is getting quite old quite fast.

I do think that Spoelstra's record is helped by the fact that he's been in the East.

I don't think he'd be looking at 4 straight trips to the Finals if the competition in the East was anywhere close to what it was in the West the last few years.

That's my opinion ... you are free to disagree with that.
 
maybe this is unfair to include because spoelstra has never had to coach a bad team. But Rivers was pretty awful in Orlando before going to boston
 
maybe this is unfair to include because spoelstra has never had to coach a bad team. But Rivers was pretty awful in Orlando before going to boston
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I think he did though. Check those 2009 and 2010 Heat teams. He doesn't get enough credit for taking those teams to 5 seeds as those teams were pure garbage. Won 15 games the year before he took over. Then their team chose Beasley over Westbrook and Kevin Love.
 
maybe this is unfair to include because spoelstra has never had to coach a bad team. But Rivers was pretty awful in Orlando before going to boston
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I think he did though. Check those 2009 and 2010 Heat teams. He doesn't get enough credit for taking those teams to 5 seeds as those teams were pure garbage. Won 15 games the year before he took over. Then their team chose Beasley over Westbrook and Kevin Love.
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yes but wade was far better than any player doc ever had in orlando
 
maybe this is unfair to include because spoelstra has never had to coach a bad team. But Rivers was pretty awful in Orlando before going to boston
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I think he did though. Check those 2009 and 2010 Heat teams. He doesn't get enough credit for taking those teams to 5 seeds as those teams were pure garbage. Won 15 games the year before he took over. Then their team chose Beasley over Westbrook and Kevin Love.
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yes but wade was far better than any player doc ever had in orlando
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Remember Doc had T-Mac. We laugh at T-Mac now but T-Mac was legit when Doc had him, he was a top 10 player in the game. T-Mac was first team all-NBA in 2001 and 2002 as well as top 5 in the MVP.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/riverdo01c.html

That's Rivers coaching W-L and you can tell when he gained KG and Allen plus Rondo emerged.
 
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So Doc was a .500 head coach ... got fired ... took some time to figure a few things out ... had a couple of down years in Boston while the roster retooled ... and has been one of the best coaches in the league since then.

Facing adversity as a coach isn't a bad thing ... you tend to learn from it.
 
t-mac is not on the same level as wade. Sorry JMO. not even close.
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Historically he isn't but that T-Mac was. That T-Mac was scoring champ twice in his career. First team all-NBA two years and was top five MVP two years. He had a four year stretch which is when Doc coached him he was one of the best players in the game.

D-Wade has just two first team all-NBA's and two top 5 MVP years.
 
Let's hope that the rest of the playoffs are as good as the first round this year ... this is reminding me of late 80s and early 90s in terms of quality of play. Everybody seems to have good players on their roster.

Spurs in 7
Clippers in 6

Heat in 7
Pacers in 7
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The only reason the thunder got pushed to 7 was Tony Allen could guard durant. But in the end talent won out. The Clippers perimeter defense isn't anything close to the thunder. The grizzlies could also slow it down and ugly the game, which is the way you win in OKC. That is not the clippers. The thunder are not losing a home game to the clippers, same with the clippers. HCA will be the difference in this series
Click to expand...

Let's hope that the rest of the playoffs are as good as the first round this year ... this is reminding me of late 80s and early 90s in terms of quality of play. Everybody seems to have good players on their roster.

Spurs in 7
Clippers in 6

Heat in 7
Pacers in 7
Click to expand...
we'll see. When you want to beat a great team on the road in a great enviornment speeding the game up usually isn't the recipe for doing so
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I'm hearing this team does not suck and that the rebuild is ahead of schedule.

I'm also hearing the Mariners will win 85-90 games and be 3-5 games above .500 after April.
 
Let's hope that the rest of the playoffs are as good as the first round this year ... this is reminding me of late 80s and early 90s in terms of quality of play. Everybody seems to have good players on their roster.

Spurs in 7
Clippers in 6

Heat in 7
Pacers in 7
Click to expand...
The only reason the thunder got pushed to 7 was Tony Allen could guard durant. But in the end talent won out. The Clippers perimeter defense isn't anything close to the thunder. The grizzlies could also slow it down and ugly the game, which is the way you win in OKC. That is not the clippers. The thunder are not losing a home game to the clippers, same with the clippers. HCA will be the difference in this series
Click to expand...

Let's hope that the rest of the playoffs are as good as the first round this year ... this is reminding me of late 80s and early 90s in terms of quality of play. Everybody seems to have good players on their roster.

Spurs in 7
Clippers in 6

Heat in 7
Pacers in 7
Click to expand...
we'll see. When you want to beat a great team on the road in a great enviornment speeding the game up usually isn't the recipe for doing so
Click to expand...

I'm hearing this team does not suck and that the rebuild is ahead of schedule.

I'm also hearing the Mariners will win 85-90 games and be 3-5 games above .500 after April.
Click to expand...
it isn't on that level. It's probably my equivalent to "the smart money was always on BSU"

 
Another example of Spoelstra is playing the match ups series to series. Had Haslem starting round one while Battier never played. James Jones was the 6th man.

Now Battier starts and Haslem/Jones played garbage time.

Heat were just coasting during the season.
 
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