FanPost

Breakdown before Rd 1 begins


For the last month in a half I've been hoping this scenario for seeding would play out. My thoughts were the best case scenario for the dubs would be to matchup with the Clippers and also avoid playing San Antonio in round 2. Clippers are a better match-up than any other one of the top 4 teams, and we've played them well the last two years. Houston would have been okay, but they owned us last year and it would also have come at the cost of a date with the Spurs in the next round. Not that the road to the finals doesn't go through San Antonio, I'd just rather face them later and hope they are more tired and beat up than us. Onto the matchup.....

PG- Steph vs. CP is a wash IMO. Call CP the point god all you want, but Steph has been just as good as CP this year and always plays well against him.

Advantage: Even

SG- I see Klay vs JJ as a huge win for the dubs because Steph can guard JJ and Klay can spend all his energy on guarding CP saving Steph from foul trouble and fatigue.

Advantage: Warriors

SF- Iggy is just better than MB. Was Iggy playing possum at the end of the season? I think he's about to get on that Igoudala vs. us last year in the POs mode. Dubs win here huge.

Advantage: Warriors

PF- Blake is playing better than David Lee right now, and deserves credit for having a somewhat breakout year in terms of his improvement. That being said, David Lee has always played Griffin tough, and I feel like Blake is lightweight scared of Lee. Clips win here especially since Lee is banged up.

Advantage: Clippers

C- Gotta say DeAndre gets the nod over JO. I wouldn't be surprised either if JO outplays DeAndre in this series. Look for DeAndre's minutes to be limited at the end of games due to "Hack a DeAndre" as well. Don't underestimate O'Neal's experience in the match-up either.

Advantage: Clippers

Bench PG: Collison vs Blake is a wash to me. I think they've had very similar years in that they were used heavily at certain points in the season, and also used sparingly as back-ups. Collison has the athleticism Blake has the experience. Both can knock down trey balls, and both are solid defesively.

Advantage: Even

Bench SG: I think we can all agree who the better Crawford is but man are they similar. Jordan is coming off a big night and is healthy, Jamal is not healthy. Other than that I think Jamal is basically just a slightly better chucker across the board. Based on experience you gotta go Jamal here, but injuries could play a factor for him as well.

Advantage: Clippers

Bench SF: I know Barnes has had a crappy season, but things have gotten better for him the last few weeks, and I feel like there is no way in hell Jared Dudley impacts this series more than Harrison.

Advantage: Warriors

Bench PF: Draymond Green might be the most important player in this series because he will be spending alot of time guarding Griffin. I fell like his ability to defend the post will be one of the key factors in this series. Turkoglu is an old chucker who will not make much of an impact in the series except from 3.

Advantage: Warriors

Bench C: Could we have 2 worse back-up bigs? They are both really bad players who serve a similar role for the teams and have about the same value. Both teams would probably prefer that neither gets much PT

Advantage: Even

So of the ten rotational players listed the Dubs have the advantage at 4 positions, the Clippers 3 and 3 are even. Of the 4 Advantages the dubs have I feel like Klay, Iguodala, and Draymond are all big advantages where as the only big advantage I see for LA is Griffin on Lee. Clippers also get a big advantage point for HC advantage. Thats home court not head coach. My take on that is coaching is also a wash. Where-as Doc has a ring which you can say makes him the better coach, I think Mark Jackson has some intangibles that even Doc doesn't have. The players know the pressure is mounting for coach and his job, and I think they will sell out for their coach in an attempt to not just win, but to secure the future of their leader. People will say I'm crazy to put MJ as even with Doc, but let's not also forget that Doc doesn't have a team with Allen, Pierce, Garnett, and Rondo as the 4th wheel,not to mention a solid at the time Perkins. His team is CP, Blake, and DeAndre, which IMO has squat on the previously mentioned. As long as Mark Jackson finds a way to not give Speights any meaningful minutes except to hack Blake and DeAndre he's gonna rise to the occasion.

I got Dubs in 6

Next onto OKC.... A match made in heaven for the NBA!!! These teams have had epic match-ups this year in the regular season. Reminds me of some of the epic match-ups we had in the regular season with Denver the year before. Foreshadowing??

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!