Okay, now that we know who the seeds are....

[rickortreat]

How should we run this contest to see who is the best prognosticator?

Should all the series be picked now from the initial round to the finals, or should we allow people to reslect their picks as their alleged winners fail?

IMO, it's much harder to pick all the way through to the end, but that's what makes it worthwhile.  

It also sucks if you miss early, and then have to sit and watch teams you didn't expect to win continue to play.

Suggestions?

[Reality]

Should all the series be picked now from the initial round to the finals, or should we allow people to reslect their picks as their alleged winners fail?

IMO, it's much harder to pick all the way through to the end, but that's what makes it worthwhile. 

It also sucks if you miss early, and then have to sit and watch teams you didn't expect to win continue to play.

Suggestions?

lets do the picks both ways.

[Derek Bodner]

Should all the series be picked now from the initial round to the finals, or should we allow people to reslect their picks as their alleged winners fail?

I think it would be best to do 2 separate things.
1) you predict the entire bracket, from start to finish.
2) each round you pick winners and how many games the series goes.

[westkoast]

Should all the series be picked now from the initial round to the finals, or should we allow people to reslect their picks as their alleged winners fail?

I think it would be best to do 2 separate things.
1) you predict the entire bracket, from start to finish.
2) each round you pick winners and how many games the series goes.

I agree.  I think it would be fun to see if someone could actually guess from the get go.......but since its real tough to do it would be nice to have the other way also.

After having to painfully watch my Lakers play like you-know-what the last few weeks I am real excited for the playoffs.  Dying to see what Seattle and PHX is made of.

[rickortreat]

Sounds good to me.  So with Dabods permission, I'll start the threads.


By the way, Derrick- best dunk of the season your using with your name now.

Sort of a highlight move, only possible on a breakaway play.  You usually only get to see dunks like that in a contest, or when Dominique used to play.  

Andre will not get ROY but he was clearly the steal of the draft, going at #9.  A good candidate for best defender in the league, and IMO a future perennial all-star.  Hope he becomes more agressive on the offensive end, I think he could score alot more points if he was given the ball more, but he doesn't demand it, and A.I.'s first choice is always himself.  

[westkoast]

Sounds good to me.  So with Dabods permission, I'll start the threads.


By the way, Derrick- best dunk of the season your using with your name now.

Sort of a highlight move, only possible on a breakaway play.  You usually only get to see dunks like that in a contest, or when Dominique used to play.  

Andre will not get ROY but he was clearly the steal of the draft, going at #9.  A good candidate for best defender in the league, and IMO a future perennial all-star.  Hope he becomes more agressive on the offensive end, I think he could score alot more points if he was given the ball more, but he doesn't demand it, and A.I.'s first choice is always himself.

Im a big fan of him after this year.  Havent caught too many Sixers games but his atheltic ablilty amazes me.  So much so that I have a screen capture of him dunking on Sheed that DB posted as my backround at home.

[Derek Bodner]

His athletic ability is amazing.  But there are others with or near it.  What makes him special is his attitude.  Both on and off the court.

He'll be fun.

[westkoast]

His athletic ability is amazing.  But there are others with or near it.  What makes him special is his attitude.  Both on and off the court.

He'll be fun.

Oh ya of course there are alot of players with just as much athletic ability.  Lakers got a guy and Sixers have another also.  Other players have just as much athletic ability but he gets off the ground very fast.

[rickortreat]

It's more than athletic ability.  There are lots of guys with ups who didn't quite make it in the NBA.  What happened to Terrence Stansbury?  Harold Miner?  

Andre has more than just ups. he has a great court sense and knows where to go to pick off passes as well as beat the offensive player he's guarding to get to the spot.

He's a complete player with incredible skills.  I think if he was more aggressive offensively, he's be more regarded like Kobe.  In one sense, I'm glad that he's not that selfish, but since the NBA goes for me-first players he takes a back seat to the egomaniacs.  He can even shoot threes so you know he has range.  He has the dribbling skills to break down defenders.  

But there is something special about his jumping.  Not too many players of his height can stand under the basket and get high enough to slam it.  Most of them need a running start to get that high.  Reminds me of the way Julius used to do it when he was young, moving around under the basket for postion and jumping over Artis Gilmore.

It took Wade a while to realize what he could do.  The sooner Andre figures it out, the sooner the Sixers become a team to be reckoned with.  They've drafted a lot of players I though were good, but never really panned out, Tim Thomas, Keith Van Horn, Larry Hughes- solid players yes, perenial All-Stars no.  Hughes may yet get there, but there's something about his attitude that keeps him from getting to the next level.  I was sorry to see them traded, but in retrospect, it appears they were good decisions.  

But Andre is the real deal.  Years from now, he may be considered the best player from this years draft.  

[westkoast]

I didnt even realize he was a rookie all the times I watched him this year until it was mentioned on the board.  He doesn't play like a rookie and that says something.  I simply was commenting on his athletic ablility and his leaping.  Partially because I like to watch athletic players and mainly because I havent watched him enough to pay attention to other things he does well.  Plus im sure he relies on his god given talent more so than he does his knowledge of the NBA game.

Holy crap did a thread get hijacked over talk about a team other than the Lakers    

[rickortreat]

Hey I started the thread, if anyone has a right to hijack it, it's me!  

Still waiting for Dabods to appoint me as the prognosticator tracker...  

[Guest_Randy]

PLEASE will EVERYONE stop talking about Andre's athleticism!!!  Athelicism is HIGHLY overrated in the NBA!  How many quote/unquote "high flyer dunk participants" have faded out of view because they have NOTHING else in their game.  I've grown to like this guy because of his DEFENSE!!!  THAT'S the reason the guy should be considered for ROY -- not because of his stupid athleticism!  Athleticism is the reason you make SportsCenter -- not the reason your team wins a game!  I get soooo tired of watching the NBA choose lottery picks based on athleticism rather than defense and the fundamentals of the game.  It's everything that is wrong with the NBA today.  I like guys that play hard-nosed defense and relish shutting down their opponent.  I look forward to seeing if Andre can continue to grow in this area.

[rickortreat]

Randy, ever since Dr. J, we've been looking for the next one.  Dominique came close, but I think it was the lack of a decent team around him that caused him to fall short. MJ was the next one, now we have Kobe, who's pretty damn close, and in some ways is ahead of MJ, but now looks to be falling behind with the demise of the Lakers.

Who's next? Clearly LeBron James, maybe Andre but well have to see.

But when you remember Dr. J, what is it you remember?  It was the smooth, elegant, athletiscm, the smoothness and the power.  The breaking down of the defender and getting to the lane.  Then later, the fakes inside and the sweet long-range jumper.  It was allways about offense with these guys, in the minds of the fans.  They weren't the biggest players on the court, but they played like they were.  They took over the games they played in.

In truth there are a number of players who had a little of that, but some of them had a lot of that, the two who had the most were Magic and Bird, but these guys were bigger than 6-6.

MJ was better than Doc, because he was a better defender.  He worked on his game on both ends.  

[Guest_Randy]

Oh, please!  I can't believe you are comparing Andre with Dr. J and MJ -- I think I'm going to be sick!  It was a LOT more than just athleticism that made Dr. J and MJ who they were -- it was their ability to make incredible finishes around the basket -- not just flashy dunks.  You should be comparing Andre with Nique -- a flashy dunker -- not one of the greatest to ever play the game.  Andre still has a LOT to work on offensively -- his defense is what he is hanging his hat on -- his athleticism, IMO, offensively isn't even up to VC standards much less any of the other players you mentioned.  I think it's REALLY early to make those comparisons.

[rickortreat]

Yes it is VERY early to be making these comparisons.  But I saw MJ when he came into the league, and I saw Kobe come in, and I even remember Dominique comming in.

Andre is a better defender as a rookie than any of those guys were when they were that age.  All of them were much better offensively.

I won't even compare his with Dominique that way, as he led the league in scoring.  He's not the center of attention, and he didn't come into the league with anywhere near the hoopla that MJ had, comming off a title win with the Tar Heels, or Kobe comming out of high school.

But I have seen enough players come and go to know which ones are players and which ones have the potential to be great.  I knew the Lakers were geniuses to maneuver to get Kobe, I knew he was the best player by far that year.

I think Andre could become that type of player.  He has a long way to go, developing his offensive game to the point where he throws up shots from all over the place knowing they'll go in, and I have no idea if he will develop into that type of player, but it's great watching him on the court, working hard, doing all the little things an expereinced player does as a rookie.