Post by Stevie B on Jun 13, 2020 19:42:51 GMT -8
***Disclaimer: Who knows the actual DCs but was going off of what I think would happen or off the last DC submitted. I'm sure there will be differences!***
BBS Playoff Series Breakdown
Conference Finals Edition
Knicks (3) vs. Pacers (4)
Synopsis: The New York Knicks led by the great Skillz dispatched the Greeme’s Nets with relative ease. Yes, the series went to a 6th game, but Knicks blew them out three times. Series wasn’t as close as it looked. As we figured, the Celtics and Knicks met. Brian’s Celtics team always seems to be in the discussion on how he manages them…is he a good GM? He has the talent. No excuses, right? Well, the Knicks made the quickest of work against his team…I mean, Knicks won three of those games by 19+. Not good. MJ and Gilbert are leading the crew with menacing defense.
Switching over to the top half of the bracket. Sargo’s Pacers faced off against Kobe’s Heat squad. This wasn’t a particularly exciting series as every game was essentially a blowout. This went 6 games, but this wasn’t interesting to watch on television. The Pacers then had to head to Cleveland where they were undoubtedly the huge underdog. Svedda’s squad take the first 2 games as expected. Then the next 4 games were won by the Pacers. I mean, choke job, right? However, let’s give credit to Sargo who was able to be one of many GMs to neutralize the much-maligned KG. And now…we break down the Eastern Conference Finals.
PG: Arenas vs. Vujanic
Advantage: Knicks
Why: Milos was very efficient against one of the best perimeter defenders in Gary Payton the series before. Arenas isn’t remotely the same defender so he should be efficient in this series, but I worry about the other end. Gilbert in year 2 is already an incredibly gifted scorer of the basketball, and will no doubt feast in this series against Milos.
SG: MJ vs. VC
Advantage: Knicks
Why: I like Vince Carter a ton, and hilariously the opposing GM likes him even more than me. There are strong rumors that a VC/Arenas framework is coming as soon as this offseason. With that in mind, he has to go up against still arguably the best wing in the game in MJ. What MJ is doing in this playoffs is extraordinary. He is averaging the 5th most points per game through two playoff series with an average of 28 point per game. What’s even more impressive, maybe, is that he is averaging nearly 4 steals per game. He’s still the king...for now.
SF: Horry vs. Maggette
Advantage: Pacers
Why: Horry is a strong defender who can shoot the ball at a decent clip when asked upon. Maggette has enjoyed a breakout year of sorts. He did 24/8 in the regular season. He is an extremely solid player, but he’s not great by any sense of the imagination. He should and needs to do damage against Horry.
PF: D-Rob vs. Griffin
Advantage: Even
Why: I think both are very good yet very similar. Look at their numbers during the regular season. Very similar. In the playoffs they are both essentially averaging 13 boards per game. Here’s the big difference...Eddie is doing 4+ blocks per game, and D-Rob isn’t in the top 10, but still producing blocks at a decent clip. This could determine things, and I think as close as these guys are...this deserved an “even” line here. Seriously take your pick in this one.
C: PJ vs. Pryz
Advantage: Pacers
Why: Close, and once again similar type guys. Don’t shoot...which is good...but can really play some defense and rarely turn it over as they should since they don’t score the ball. I’d lean Pryz in this case...more efficient, but again, this could go either way. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
Bench: Eddie/Damon/Marshall/Michael O vs. El-Amin/Smith/Hunter
Advantage: Knicks
Why: Man, both have really good benches. I think the Knicks slightly have more fire power, but again, this will be fascinating to watch as it unfolds. Both teams have nice depth.
GM: Skillz vs. Sargo
Advantage: Knicks
Why: Sargo has really had a roller coaster through his first three seasons...48 wins, lost 48, then won 48 again. Kind of crazy...he really tried to add that one extra piece to put this team into championship contender status...and it never came to fruition. Having said that, he just beat the best team in BBS this year. So hey, there is that. Skillz made a million trades and there’s no point in going through that hectic set of events, but what I can tell you is this...he went from having truly scary team to one that is a different kind of scary. This team’s defense is suffocating and it funnels more shots to their two most gifted scorers. I think, at the end of the day, Skillz gets the edge here.
Series Prediction: Knicks in 6. Arenas/MJ will just be too much at the end of the day.
Kings (1) vs. Lakers (7)
Synopsis: The Kings have been, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, known as one of the favorites to win it all. The road to the conference championship wasn’t too smooth. They started out with the Trail Blazers who were certainly a better 8 seed than you would think. However, the Kings took care of business in a nice sweep. This is where it gets interesting. They then had to play the Mavs next which you knew was going to be a battle. Both teams take care of home court advantage in the first 4 games. The next two games go to the home team. This leads us into game 7. Ray Allen was cold-blooded. Incredible 40 point game performance. The bad news was that wasn’t enough against a balanced Kings attack who won that game by a single point to move on. Wow!
Nanz’s squad is the 7 seed. A crazy ride, and one where it looked like he might not have made the playoffs. Anyway, they squeak in...and then the magic begins. They get good ol’ Erbes’ team and take care of them with relative ease. Lakers took the first two on the road, and never looked back as they won in 5 games. The Lakers then got to face their little brother’s in the Clippers which is led by Darell and Frangie. The series starts off with an emphatic game 1 victory for the Clips. Duncan, of course, was dynamite. After that, just craziness. The Lakers win the next two...then the Clips win the next two which puts us at game 6. Clips are now ready to close it out. However, the Lakers at home, hold serve to force a game 7. All 5 starters for the Lakers score 20+ in that game. Game 7 goes to OT and even with a Duncan statline of 44/21/6...it wasn’t enough! The Lakers balance was just too much! This now leads us into the Western Conference Finals!
PG: Nash vs. Kidd
Advantage: Lakers (slightly)
Why: I mean, I think I wrote about this last year...about how Kidd’s defense could be a serious problem against Nash...Kidd seems to really do some special things against Nash like...um, does 56 ring a bell? Nash just doesn’t seem to match up all that well which kind of leans me towards this direction. I think Kidd can neutralize him again.
SG: Walker vs. Bodi
Advantage: Kings
Why: Bodi is solid, but I think Walker will have his way with him. Now, with that being said...I go off the previous series...I can easily see Ashes switching Walker and Mash this series. But we’ll see. Anyway, yeah, Walker will have his way with Bodi...but Bodi is one efficient muthafucka.
SF: Mash vs. G-Rob
Advantage: Lakers
Why: G-Rob is just so damn good. He did 25/7 with more steals than turnovers and had shooting splits of 484/462/802...yes, please. Yes. Yes. Yes. Anyway, I drafted my man Mash, but he is going to struggle against G-Rob. Mash is a very solid player, and oddly has kind of been getting trashed these days.
PF: Ben vs. Dirk
Advantage: Kings
Why: If I’m Ashes, I’m putting Ben on Dirk. Dirk will struggle immensely if this scenario plays out. Usually I just list the player from where they last played in a series...but I genuinely don’t see how Ashes doesn’t put Ben on Dirk...which could create a chess match in moving Dirk to the 3 after the first sim takes place...or maybe Dirk rises up to the occasion. What I do know is Ben Wallace is the defensive player of the year and would cause several problems for the immensely talented Dirk.
C: Camby vs. O’Neil
Advantage: Kings (slightly)
Why: Camby is just so talented, and I think what separates him here is the lack of turnovers...and it’s not like Jermaine coughs the ball up a ton either...but the margin of error is thin in a series like this. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jermaine got the better of Camby.
Bench: Ratliff/Kittles vs. Mihm/Stith/Watson
Advantage: Kings
Why: Not a deep bench, but those two guys destroy the Lakers bench. Nanz was trying to improve it with the limited assets he had since he wanted to keep that starting 5 together...and it has been difficult for him. Ashes should enjoy a nice advantage here...
GM: Ashes vs. Nanz
Advantage: Kings (the slightest of margins)
Why: Listen, I love Nanz. One of my favorite GMs here. Was he in BBSBL3? Drawing a blank here. I think there was some misfortune with injuries much like DB...and so that’s just unlucky. Good GM’s find a way to make it, though, and boy that’s what he was able to accomplish. Nobody wanted to face this Lakers team...and so it’ll be interesting. Having said that, Ashes has been really good, and just his ability to get those desired pieces time and time again has been impressive. Habes is saying the wings could be his downfall...which very well might be the case. I think Ashes has such a fun balance...and I think you need to give him the slightest of margins of an edge here. Good luck, fellas.
Series Prediction: Kings in 7...boy are we in for a heck of a series!
Good luck, fellas!
Good luck, fellas!
