2014 Playoffs - Winners and Losers

[Grinder]

For each game day, let's pick an individual winner and loser from each game.

Brooklyn - Toronto
Winner- Paul Pierce - after doing practically nothing through the first three quarters of the game, the old man came alive and sealed the game in front a raucous home crowd (big ups to Raptors fans for an amazing atmosphere.
Loser - DeMar Derozan - despite putting up big individual scoring numbers all season, many thought Derozan would get exposed come the playoffs. He looked lost once the Nets and shut down his driving lanes and it got to his head and affected his jumper. When he's not scoring, he's a liability.


Warriors-Clippers
Winner - Mark Jackson - Jackson's old school approach worked wonders against the Clippers. He constantly exploited mismatches in the post and used crossmatches to disrupt the Clippers' rhythm on both ends of the floor. Getting the kind of production he did out of the fossil that is Jermaine O'Neal is an accomplishment in itself.
Loser - Blake Griffin - Obviously his foul trouble plagued him the whole game but he became a defensive sieve in the 19 minutes he was on the court. He let David Lee get easy layups time and time again and provided nothing in terms of help defense. I suspect he'll respond in a big way in the next game considering how much he's improved this season.

Atlanta-Indiana
Winner - Jeff Teague - The Hawks' lightning quick point guard sliced through the Pacers defense at will and constantly found open shooters on the wing. His pesky perimeter defense caused the Pacers to set up their offense further back than they would have liked and put a squeeze on their offensive sets.
Loser - Roy Hibbert - Against a team like Atlanta with big men that are effective from the perimeter, Hibbert was once again rendered useless. He was exploited on pick and rolls and constantly caught in no man's land due to his hesitation to close out on the perimeter. The Pacers looked markedly better with Mahinmi on the floor.

Memphis-Oklahoma City
Winner - Kevin Durant - not much to say here, KD did what KD does. He was efficient in his scoring, moved the ball around well, and came up big when it looked like Memphis was going to come all the way back.
Loser - Zach Randolph - this might seem harsh but Z-Bo struggled mightily against the length of Ibaka and looked a few steps too slow on his defensive rotations.

Player of the day:
LaMarcus Aldridge (2)
Tony Allen (2)
Kevin Durant (1)
Bradley Beal (1)

[ArbitraryWater]

If you want to continue doing these daily informative essays then why not

[Random_Guy]

For each game day, let's pick an individual winner and loser from each game.

Brooklyn - Toronto
Winner- Paul Pierce - after doing practically nothing through the first three quarters of the game, the old man came alive and sealed the game in front a raucous home crowd (big ups to Raptors fans for an amazing atmosphere.
Loser - DeMar Derozan - despite putting up big individual scoring numbers all season, many thought Derozan would get exposed come the playoffs. He looked lost once the Nets and shut down his driving lanes and it got to his head and affected his jumper. When he's not scoring, he's a liability.


Warriors-Clippers
Winner - Mark Jackson - Jackson's old school approach worked wonders against the Clippers. He constantly exploited mismatches in the post and used crossmatches to disrupt the Clippers' rhythm on both ends of the floor. Getting the kind of production he did out of the fossil that is Jermaine O'Neal is an accomplishment in itself.
Loser - Blake Griffin - Obviously his foul trouble plagued him the whole game but he became a defensive sieve in the 19 minutes he was on the court. He let David Lee get easy layups time and time again and provided nothing in terms of help defense. I suspect he'll respond in a big way in the next game considering how much he's improved this season.

Atlanta-Indiana
Winner - Jeff Teague - The Hawks' lightning quick point guard sliced through the Pacers defense at will and constantly found open shooters on the wing. His pesky perimeter defense caused the Pacers to set up their offense further back than they would have liked and put a squeeze on their offensive sets.
Loser - Roy Hibbert - Against a team like Atlanta with big men that are effective from the perimeter, Hibbert was once again rendered useless. He was exploited on pick and rolls and constantly caught in no man's land due to his hesitation to close out on the perimeter. The Pacers looked markedly better with Mahinmi on the floor.

Memphis-Oklahoma City
Winner - Kevin Durant - not much to say here, KD did what KD does. He was efficient in his scoring, moved the ball around well, and came up big when it looked like Memphis was going to come all the way back.
Loser - Zach Randolph - this might seem harsh but Z-Bo struggled mightily against the length of Ibaka and looked a few steps too slow on his defensive rotations.

I agree with all the picks except for Zbo, I think without Zbo the griz would have been blown out and would never have came back in the fourth. His game leaves a lot to be desired, and he really needs to step up or the griz will get swept.
PG has been terrible in this game too going 5/16 while his defense was average at best.

Edit: and good post OP

[red1]

For each game day, let's pick an individual winner and loser from each game.

Brooklyn - Toronto
Winner- Paul Pierce - after doing practically nothing through the first three quarters of the game, the old man came alive and sealed the game in front a raucous home crowd (big ups to Raptors fans for an amazing atmosphere.
Loser - DeMar Derozan - despite putting up big individual scoring numbers all season, many thought Derozan would get exposed come the playoffs. He looked lost once the Nets and shut down his driving lanes and it got to his head and affected his jumper. When he's not scoring, he's a liability.


Warriors-Clippers
Winner - Mark Jackson - Jackson's old school approach worked wonders against the Clippers. He constantly exploited mismatches in the post and used crossmatches to disrupt the Clippers' rhythm on both ends of the floor. Getting the kind of production he did out of the fossil that is Jermaine O'Neal is an accomplishment in itself.
Loser - Blake Griffin - Obviously his foul trouble plagued him the whole game but he became a defensive sieve in the 19 minutes he was on the court. He let David Lee get easy layups time and time again and provided nothing in terms of help defense. I suspect he'll respond in a big way in the next game considering how much he's improved this season.

Atlanta-Indiana
Winner - Jeff Teague - The Hawks' lightning quick point guard sliced through the Pacers defense at will and constantly found open shooters on the wing. His pesky perimeter defense caused the Pacers to set up their offense further back than they would have liked and put a squeeze on their offensive sets.
Loser - Roy Hibbert - Against a team like Atlanta with big men that are effective from the perimeter, Hibbert was once again rendered useless. He was exploited on pick and rolls and constantly caught in no man's land due to his hesitation to close out on the perimeter. The Pacers looked markedly better with Mahinmi on the floor.

Memphis-Oklahoma City
Winner - Kevin Durant - not much to say here, KD did what KD does. He was efficient in his scoring, moved the ball around well, and came up big when it looked like Memphis was going to come all the way back.
Loser - Zach Randolph - this might seem harsh but Z-Bo struggled mightily against the length of Ibaka and looked a few steps too slow on his defensive rotations.

Great post from an unbiased poster

[Grinder]

I agree with all the picks except for Zbo, I think without Zbo the griz would have been blown out and would never have came back in the fourth. His game leaves a lot to be desired, and he really needs to step up or the griz will get swept.
PG has been terrible in this game too going 5/16 while his defense was average at best.

Edit: and good post OP

That was a tough one to pick a loser for since it was such a tale of two halves. In hindsight, you're probably right that Conley was a bigger reason for Memphis' loss than Z-Bo. I think some of the onus has to be on Dave Joerger as well for having his team look so thoroughly unprepared in the first half of the game.

[Budadiiii]

You should do an overall winner too.

Overall winner of yesterday was Kevin Durant.

[Funnyfuka]

KD gets no respect cause he s lanky nerdy ugly looking. But fact is he s one of the best ever. Same could be said of westbrook.

[ArbitraryWater]

KD gets no respect cause he s lanky nerdy ugly looking. But fact is he s one of the best ever. Same could be said of westbrook.

Since when doesnt KD get any respect?


And since when could you mention Westbrook among KD and the GOAT's?

Maybe you didnt realize it yet, but Goatbrook is incredibly popular

[Grinder]

You should do an overall winner too.

Overall winner of yesterday was Kevin Durant.

That's not a bad idea. I agree on Durant.

[ArbitraryWater]

Durant the overall winner?

It's between KD, Johnson and Teague.. Close. I'd give Iso Joe a Shout

24/8/4 with GREAT defense... while KD was 1-6 when guarded by Tony Allen and feasted on the others

[Cowboy Thunder]

KD was his consistent spectacular self, but Ibaka was a winner yesterday.

Tremendous impact on the game.

[All Net]

Ibaka was huge yesterday too.

[Random_Guy]

That was a tough one to pick a loser for since it was such a tale of two halves. In hindsight, you're probably right that Conley was a bigger reason for Memphis' loss than Z-Bo. I think some of the onus has to be on Dave Joerger as well for having his team look so thoroughly unprepared in the first half of the game.

agree damn for sure i thought it was going to be a blowout after the first half. gald that the griz has shown that they can hang with the thunder, hope it goes 6

[SpecialQue]

Good post.

[Grinder]

Dallas - San Antonio
Winner - Tim Duncan - Old man Timmy turned back the clock and showed why he’s arguably the greatest power forward of all time. He commanded the paint on both ends of the floor and his effectiveness in the post forced the Mavs to deviate from their ideal defensive schemes. If Duncan can continue to produce like this offensively, Dallas’ season isn’t going to last much longer.

Loser - Monta Ellis - There’s two things Monta Ellis needs to do for the Mavs to be successul - score a lot and distribute a little bit. He failed at both, putting up a barren offensive effort and accruing only one total assist or secondary assist. He had 9 uncontested shots and only converted two of them. His poor offensive night was compounded by his lackadaisical defensive effort.


Miami-Charlotte
Winner - Lebron James - While Lebron didn’t put on his usual passing clinic today, he filled the role that was needed from him. Charlotte’s athleticism and positioning relative to the passing lanes forced Lebron to take on more of the scoring load or risk unnecessary turnovers. Forcing Lebron to beat you from the perimeter while not allowing him to facilitate used to be the blueprint on how to take him out of games…but as we saw today, that’s no longer the case and it’s a big reason why the Heat are two time defending champions.

Loser - Chris Bosh - Bosh was unable to take advantage of a hobbled Al Jefferson on the defensive end and missed several shots we’re used to seeing Bosh knock down in his sleep. Bosh did himself no favors with his poor effort on the boards. In addition to being bullied by Jefferson, he was routinely beaten on 50-50 balls by Charlotte's perimeter players. The Heat can cruise through this series without needing much production from Bosh, but they won’t be able to get away with performances like this in the later rounds.

Portland-Houston
Winner - LaMarcus Aldridge - I was prepared to list Aldridge as a winner even if the Blazers ended up losing the game. LMA put on a masterful display on the offensive end; hitting timely and difficult shots time and time again when it appeared the game was just out of reach. An astounding 12 out his 17 field goals were contested and he proved to be unguardable no matter who the Rockets put on him. On the occasions that Houston decided to double team him, Aldridge made quick, decisive passes that generated several open 3s. Simply put, it was a commanding performance from one of the best, and oft overlooked, big men in the game.

Loser - Dwight Howard - Look, I was tempted to list Kevin McHale here because some of his coaching decisions were indefensible but it’s hard not to put a lot of this loss squarely on Dwight’s shoulders for a multitude of reasons:
1. Hack a Dwight was the main reason Portland was able to get back in the game just when it appeared that Houston had secured the victory.
2. He was consistently late with his help defense late in the fourth quarter and on some occasions in OT, he was nowhere to be found as Portland found acres of space in the paint.
3. Robin Lopez is a decent defender but there is no way he should be forcing Dwight to shoot 9/21 from the field. Facing single coverage a large portion of the game, Dwight failed to convert some easy looks and on the occasion he was double teamed, he was too late to kick the ball out and it allowed the Blazers’ defense to recover.

Terry Stotts deserves a lot of credit for some of the adjustments he made late in the game as well not getting discouraged and sticking with the Hack a Dwight even after he made his first two FTs. I’d like toss James Harden an honorable mention for loser because his defense was deplorable and he killed any rhythm the Rockets had on offense by chucking up ill advised shots and freezing out teammates in preference of ISO situations.


I only watched the 4th quarter of the Wizards-Bulls games, so I’d like to hear your thoughts on this game. From what I saw, I’d say Nene was the winner while I can’t quite pick out a loser. I did notice that Hinrich dribbled himself into trouble a few times and had trouble containing penetration.


Player of the day - LaMarcus Aldridge (1)