Hawks VS Nets (game 4)

Final Score: Nets win 120-115



Series tied 2-2

Wow, this was a crucial game. The Hawks could have carried momentum back home with a lead in the series. Then Deron Williams came. Out of nowhere. Let's start off with the Nets.

Deron Williams scored in single digits and shot horrible from the field in the first three games. Last night he scored 35 points and 7-11 from 3-point range. He also had 7 assists and 3 steals. Good for Williams. This is what I said that needed to happen for the Nets to win. Deron Williams needed to produce. They could use a little more from the bench. It seems like every night that their bench does absolutely nothing. Other than that, they are doing better than anyone would expect and hopefully can keep rolling.

The Hawks played pretty good. One thing I want to point out. Korver shot 13 threes tonight and only made 4. Why doesn't he shoot 13 when he's making them. He shoots more when he is missing. It makes me so upset. Another thing is that they need to get a person the ball more when they are making shots. I like the whole "sharing" thing but there needs to be a time when someone just needs to get the ball and make something happen. They needed more plays for Carroll. He shot 8-15 from the field and 4-5 form 3 point range. He ended the game with 20 points. He needs to end with 28 in that game. Last, they just need to limit the turnovers. Let's look at the good though. They surprisingly out-rebounded the Nets by 55-40 rebounds. That's a big difference. The Hawks just need to make some minor adjustments. If they can do that, they shouldn't have any trouble winning.

Bulls VS Bucks (game 2)

Final Score: Bulls Win 91-82



Bulls lead series 2-0

Wow, game two was intense. Come on guys, you got at least 2 more game together. You wouldn't think that by watching the first quarter, it would be like that. The Bulls had only 11 points in the first while the Buck only had 16. It was a slow game to start. Let's take a look at the Bucks to start off.

The Bucks have to have more production. Middleton did great. He had 22 points, but others need to have more offense. Giannis "The Greek Freak" Antetokounmpo shot 2-11 from the field and had 6 points. You can't be missing wide open layups in the playoffs. What I really liked with this team is that they had great cuts, ball movement, and spacing. This was a problem with this team. If they evened it out, this would have been a closer game. Rebounding. The Bucks were out-rebounded 48-64. You need to get a body on someone. You can't allow these second chance points. They need to rebound better.

The Bulls just need to keep performing. Derrick Rose picked it up in the second half but he need to score and shoot well. Butler made up for it in this game though as he had a total of 31 points. I honestly think a great way to beat this Bucks team would be to outscore them. The Bucks don't seem like they can score that well, and if the Bulls take off with points, the Bucks won't be able to keep up. Like Jason Kidd said, the Bucks game is playing at a slow pace. If you play at a fast pace, that will throw their game off.

Bulls VS Bucks (game 1)

Final Score: Bulls win 103-91



Bulls lead series 1-0

This is tough. This Bucks team is going against a great offensive and defensive team. Not to mention that Derrick Rose is back and he is healthy. Him and Jimmy Butler had a combined total of 48 points. The other part the the Bucks lost badly in was rebounding. The Bulls had a total of 52 rebounds while the Bucks had 41.

One thing that the Bucks could do better is use Bayless a little more. He had 11 points and lead the team with assists with 5. That is pretty good. One thing the Bucks did great with though is getting steals. Kris Middleton got a total of 4 steals in the game. When I was watching the game, I saw both teams going after the ball all the time. If it was going out of bounds, someone would get it.

The Bulls really need to limit their turnovers. All their starters had 2 turnovers except for Rose who had 4. It might not be a problem right now, but it could be a problem later if they meet the Cavs in the second round. They need to make the easy passes. I saw Rose take a lot of gambles with his passes, throwing skip passes sideline to sideline.

The Bulls can't rest. Jason Kidd is going to try to find a way to beat this team and the Bulls need to be ready for that. They need to keep the momentum going. They can't stop.

Warriors VS Pelicans (game 1)

Final score: Warriors win 106-99



Warriors lead 1-0

The Warriors were harsh on this Pelicans team. They showed no mercy. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry had a combined total of 55 points. If the Pelicans are to win even one game, they have to force Klay and Curry to pass the ball to other teammates. The other thing the Pelicans need to do is protect the paint. They were so focused on Curry and Klay, they didn't notice other players cutting, leaving the paint unprotected.

It seems like Asik and Davis can't keep up in trasition and they just need to ignore trying to get second chance points and get back on defense. Those two need be the line of defense for transition. Cunningham and Pondexter can't even try to grab rebounds. They need to get back as soon as their team shoots.

Anthony Davis had a great night with 35 points but he needs other help if they are to win a game. You can't have two of your starters combining for 3 points. The Warriors are going to make Davis pass at some point, and the Pelicans need to know how to respond to that.

I would like to see more of Livingston. He was great last year with the Nets in the playoffs. I think the Warriors should play him more in this series before they play against more tough teams to get him going. He only played about 13 minutes in this game.

Well, I would like to see the Pelicans come out with a win in the series. They obviously won't win the series (however, the Pelicans have proved me wrong before.)

Raptors VS Wizards (game 1)

Final Score: Washington Wins 93-86 in OT



 Washington leads series 1-0

Paul Pierce is a Villain in Toronto. He lead another team to another win against Toronto in the first game of the playoffs. Air Canada Centre is a hard place to play. It is so loud and for the Wizards to win there, that makes the win so much more important. The Wizards got off to a slow start but caught up and had the lead for the whole second half. Of course Vasquez has to come out and tie up the game. The Wizards had control in overtime though and they came out with the win.

I noticed at the beginning of the game, the Wizards had trouble getting the ball inside. They shot a lot of mid-range jumpers and threes. Toronto didn't really get to the paint til the second half. Toronto would have had an easy game if they forced the Wizards to force up jumpers.

Once you force up a jumper, you have to get the rebound. Toronto rebounded horribly. The Wizards out-scored them 61 to 48. Not to mention, the Wizards had 19 offensive rebounds.

What made me mad was Toronto was drawing tons of fouls and that was a result of the Wizards doing a lot of lazy defense. They switched on defense way to much. They need to hedge more. Toronto seems like a more perimeter oriented team and I would hedge more on them. The Wizards were really lazy and just didn't want to hedge. Instead of them playing good defense they ended up sending them to the line. They did pick it up in the second half though.

DeRozan was playing pretty well, but John Wall and Sessions kept Kyle Lowry contained. He ended up fouling out of the game and only had 7 points. That was a crucial point to Washington's win. If they can keep Lowry contained for the rest of the series, the Wizards will have a great chance to win the series.

Pierce was going absolutely crazy in the game. He lead his team with 20 points and he was 4-7 from 3 point range. If Toronto is going to have any chance in this series, they have to keep Pierce contained.

Anyways, congrats to the Wizards on the win but they have one more at Air Canada Centre before they go off the Verizon for 2 straight games. Can they get 4 wins, or will they fall to the Raptors?

DeMarcus Cousins or Marc Gasol

Who would make your all NBA first team at the center position? Would it be Marc Gasol or DeMarcus Cousins? I will try to help you decide in this post. Let's compare these two in shooting first.

Shooting: 5-15 Feet: DeMarcus Cousins shoots below the average for a center in the league while Marc Gasol is above. Cousins only shoots 29% from 5 feet out while Gasol shoots about 47%.

Take a look at DeMarcus Cousins' shot chart. Notice how he has poor consistency form the top of the key area.

Now take a look at Marc Gasol's shooting chart. Notice how he takes more shots from that area.

You can also see that Marc Gasol has more red in the in the paint and you can see a lot of blue in the paint for Cousins. In conclusion, Gasol is the better shooter.

Defense: If we take a look at defense, DeMarcus Cousins allows the opposing team to 103.3 Point per 100 possessions when he is on the court. Gasol allows 101.5 Points per 100 possesions when he is on the court. Yes this does factor in the players that Gasol plays with, so they are about the same.

Rebounding: Let's take a look at Rebounding now. DeMarcus Cousins has won this one. He averages 12.7 RPG while Gasol averages 7.9. DeMarcus Cousins also accounts for 20.9% of the rebounds in a game while Gasol takes in about 13.9%.

Assists: Now this is where it gets complicated. If we look at the APG, Cousins averages 3.6 while Gasol averages 3.9. About the same right? If we look at the Assist % for their teams, Cousins is at 20.2%. Gasol on the other hand, is at 19.4. What does this mean? It just means that Gasol's team has more assists per game. Cousins Assist to Turnover Ratio is at 0.83 while Gasol's is at 1.73. This means that Cousins turns the ball over more than he assists, while Gasol assists more. Clearly Gasol is the better at assisting.

Scoring: If we compare the usage%, Cousins is used 33.9% of the time. Gasol is only used 24.7% of the time, which makes it seem that Cousins gets the ball more. That is why he averages 24.1 PPG and Gasol only averages 17.6. Gasol can score in many more ways than Cousins can though. When it comes down to who is the better scorer is though, the answer is obviously Cousins. Cousins scores about 6.5 more PPG.

Who is the better player? I'm not making this decision for you. You can make a case for both sides. If you can't decide, let me ask you this. Who would be the better player to have on a team? Cousins or Gasol? Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a better player.