Is This The Regular-Series Crawford? No.

First up, whoa Memphis!

I picked Zach in Round 1 Game 1 thinking Spurs would stomp on them. Wrong wrong wrong. I then picked Marc in Round 2 Game 1 thinking the Thunder with Perkins are different. Wrong again? I will not push the panic button just yet in Game 2 as I will spend that pick on the other series (Heat). But seeing how they dominated Thunder, my new plan B is if Memphis goes 2-0, I'll start picking off the Durantula and Westbrook in Games 3 and 4.

Now off to my pick. The Hawks played well in Round 1 and they deserve the credit of ousting Dwight Howard and the seven dwarves. But you see, the Bulls are a different animal. I will pick Rose/Deng/Boozer/Noah just for pure hustle play over Joe/Josh/Al/Jamal anytime of the day. The Bulls dominated the Hawks in the regular season 2-1 with blowouts on those two wins. I expect them to do the same in the playoffs. Hey, have they announced Rose yet for MVP?

So for the Hawks, you have four choices:
  • Joe Johnson (28.0) - He is the best player in this stock. Choose him to play safe.
  • Josh Smith (24.8) - Second-best player, but the most aggressive. Pick him if you don't have Joe.
  • Al Horford (25.8) - Silent but deadly. I already used him in Round 1 though.
  • Jamal Crawford (25.0) - Playing like the Best Sixth Man of 2009-2010.
Just as I mentioned when I picked Al last round, that these four are too balanced. You can just roll a die and pick one at random. However, I'm one of the guys who still stubbornly put the factor of road record into the picture. Jamal's road record is about 3 points better than his home record, so I will be hoping he gets around 28 PRA for this game. He will also shine off the bench going up against Brewer or CJ. (Note: Hinrich may not be back from injury this series.)
Week 3, May 2:
Jamal Crawford

Alternative picks, depending on which team you pick to lose:
  • Derrick Rose (38.2) - He racks up like there's no tomorrow in Game 1s. Expect 50+ PRA.
  • Dirk Nowitzki (38.2) - How dare you pick him?!
  • Kobe Bryant (30.0) - That's more like it! The 3-day rest is the best he'll ever get for that injured ankle (Possum!)

UPDATE: Coach Tom wins Coach of the Year! There is a reason the city of Chicago rushed to erect Scottie Pippen's statue -- to finish honoring the old and welcome the new era of Chicago basketball.

UPDATE 2: Jeff Teague starts for the injured Hinrich; Coach Drew doesn't want to disrupt bench play. I'm still looking for Crawford to get off the bench early and get more minutes than when Hinrich plays.

    Comments

    1. The way the Grizzlies played against the Thunder reminded me alot of when they beat the Spurs. Memphis is for real!, in the second half of their season they were 27-11(not including the 2 games they dumped to get the Spurs in the first round), if we include the Spurs series and todays game they are 32-13, that's the pace of a 58win team!. I have already picked Westbrook for game 2. I dont want to take the chance on the Grizzles taking a 2-0 lead going home. People could face a problem in having to leave some of these guys out :Wade,Lebron,Bosh / Garnett,Rondo,Pierce,Allen and/or Westbrook,Durant(a lot of guys have propobly already picked Gasol and Randolph)since all the game days of those two series are on the same day exept for their game 7's. It could get tricky if your first 2 picks are on teammates which team suddently becomes the favourite in the series(that you would not have counted on happening).

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    2. You may be right, Rebound321.
      I am constantly changing my pick chart. I hope I can cover all scenarios. Heat's game 1 at home is no surprise (still hoping Celtics steal one in Game 2). Only Memphis' win was a shocker.

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    3. I look at tehe raod record... but I also look at the best match for any player. As the first one is the best for Kidd and I think Dallas will lose... I've picked KIDD this time.

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    4. Kidd only has 23 PRA average. Are you sure you don't want to pick from the CHI-ATL series? :)

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    5. tao- All the Hawks are erratic. Joe Johnson stunk for me a few games ago, but I'll have to use a Hawk sometime.

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    6. Horford stunk me too. But it's something we have to do eventually anyway.

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    7. Imagine all the series go to 6 matches (from now to the final). That means we have 30 picks (25+)and I have (# avaible pick; * already used):

      DAL * # #
      LAL # # # #
      MEM * * #
      OKL # # #
      BOS # # #
      MIA # # #
      ATL * # # #
      CHI # # #

      I still have 22 avaible picks; that means i'll have to pick someone who scores 25- any time... When??

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    8. That's when timing comes in. Be alert for player and team news, injury updates. etc. Look for signs where a single player will be given extra opportunity to produce. And don't forget to inform us as well, so we can adjust our picks if it makes sense to change.

      Cheers!

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    9. tao- So we both took Crawfird last night. He did OK.

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    10. Yup we got his average. Not too shabby. He was absent the first quarter though.

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