Sigh Of Relief

If the Pacers have won Game 3, then I would have scrambled to pick Dwyane Wade then LeBron James, and probably miss Chris Bosh. That would leave me with just David West in DTTF for the Finals. It's good to have this series right back on track :)

I know some of you were banking or playing it safe just in case the Pacers advance. If you are one in that group, then you will have to pick a good Pacer now that they are two games away from elimination. It is still possible for the Pacers to get back to this series, they just have to win 3 of the next 4. That sounds doable. The problem is when you rephrase that to -- Heat losing 3 of the next 4. Now, that sounds improbable.

If you are Pacers fan, you just need to wish for two straight wins for the Pacers in Games 4 (home) and 5 (road, they've done that). That sounds much much more manageable.

Anyway, here I am again supposed to pick a Pacer. I was and still am determined to save David West for an elimination game, but feel free to pick him now -- he is still the most consistent player for these fantasy games. For me in 1-N-Done, I happen to have saved Paul George (do not ask me how) and I am picking him for Game 4 at home. He went 3 of 10 from the field in Game 3 and I would like to think that that is an aberration, an isolated case. Before Game 3, LeBron and Spoelstra gave praise to Paul George... You see, it is a psychological war. When someone gives you a compliment, you tend to soften up towards that person. Hehe! I expect him to be back to normal in the next game.

In DTTF though, my next best Pacer is D.J. Augustin who, as you know, I replaced in a previous post with Mario Chalmers (who I later changed to Chris Andersen). I wanted to give Chalmer's shoulder time to heal, but a 4 of 6 shooting (and 6 of 7 freebies) does not look like an injured shoulder. He gets my pick in DTTF for Tuesday.

Roy Hibbert will continue to play well. The Heat made him work extra hard on defense by LeBron working the paint and additional inputs from the Birdman and Udonis Haslem (yes 25 PRA, wow!). Hibbert still got his PRA, and will still be that guy in Game 4.

Comments

  1. My next two picks for this series is George, then West. As much as I wish that the Pacers would knock out the Heat, I just don't see that happenning...

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    1. Heat will win. LeBron needs the 6 rings to match Jordan as fast as possible. A loss just delays greatness... Or cancel it.

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  2. I as well have P. George & G. Hill. Already used, Hibbert, Stephenson,this series.Foolishly West, last series. So, I'm hoping for the Heat to win next 2 games!! I used Ray Allen last night, still kicking myself over that decision, but live & learn.... I'm in 1-&-Done Challenge, by the way.

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    1. Nicole already warned us of Allen. If not for her, I would have picked Allen already in this series. It's good to read others' comments too.

      Btw, pick George Hill. You still want to play 1-N-Done's strategy of saving the best for last (except when threatened by injury).

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    2. Yeah i know, just was a tough decision yesterday & probably over thought my pick. Yes, I already have G. Hill locked in for tomorrow...

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  3. I can´t believe I did that again.
    I picked Hill and went through the play-by-play, got angry at his missed shots, marveled at his inability to grab a rebound or dish out an assist to save his life (1 and 2 respectively), was kind of happy he at least managed still 19 pts, netting me 22 PRA. After I looked at the Pacer starters I was glad that I got Stephenson out of the way (why was not Stephenson the one Pacer I picked in the NY-series? Why did I waste West? Sigh) and saw that Paul George also had a bad game, netting only 23 PRA.

    Then, when I tried to pick for the next game, what are my options on the Pacers? Hibbert and Hill?

    Oops, I did it again. Just as I did last year I mixed up Paul George and George Hill. I wanted to pick Hill, I was sure I picked Hill, and I ended up having picked George. On a bad night, to boot.

    So, what does that leave me? Hibbert in game 4. After a stellar game 2 and an improbable great follow-up in game 3 he surely is bound to have a bad game, hence my pick. That leaves me with Hill for game 5, and I guess the Heat will be in the Finals after game 5.

    To whoever thought the Pacers were destined to win: 70 pts in the first half by the Heat. They scored 86 in a loss in game 1 against the Bulls in 48 minutes, and 70 in 24 minutes in the home of the best defensive team of the league? Please.

    Would have been kind of interesting seeing a big market final with the Spurs against the Pacers, but that is not going to happen. It´s Duncan´s final hurra against LBJ on his way to the second ring.

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    1. You are right, that Game 3 Heat win says it all.
      Pacers were unbeatable at home before that.
      The castle begins to crumble.

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  4. So I only have George left in DTTF and 1-N-Done. I rather use him in G4 than in G5 facing possible elimination. I think I will take some Heat players in G5 not the big 3. Spurs are moving on and have all except Leonard and Gino.

    From,
    League MVP53

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    1. MVP53, that is a sound plan. Pick a Heat that plays better against the Pacers, more than when playing the Spurs. Outside the Big3

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  5. I'll go Paul George then Bosh I think. hoping that it ends in 5 games.

    Will leave me with Parker/Ginobili/Duncan/Lebron/Wade and then will have to wing it with roughies game 6 and 7.

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    1. Ginobili has been playing an all-around game but he hasn't been PRA-heavy. You may want to save Bosh for Finals in lieu of Ginobili.

      Instead of Bosh, how about Chalmers or the Birdman?

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  6. I think even a bad day from Manu will net you about 12PRA and on a good Day anywhere upto 30.

    A bad day for Chalmers/Birdman will net you 6-12PRA and at best a 20.

    They will be the guys looked at if the Finals go 7 games or the pacers series goes past 5 games.

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    1. Ah okay, you play DTTF I assume.

      If 1-N-Done, save Bosh for Finals' 4X multiplier.

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  7. Not sure whether I should go with Hibbert tonight...
    I'm afraid he's not gonna be able to keep up this pace he's been playing with in these first 3 games.
    I still have George left but I wanna save him (in 1-n-Done) just in case the Heat screw up..
    So what do you think? Hibbert or one of the Heat role players?(haven't picked anyone from Miami, and everyone except PG and Hibbert from Indy)

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    1. Play Hibbert. You have no choice. If Heat win series 4-1, you have only 2 dates left to pick Hibbert and George. Tou will always worry about Hibbert, regardless of date or game.

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    2. yeah, i probably will. it's just that after these big nights he's been having lately he's seems to be prone for a bad one someday... but I guess I have no other choice.
      And I'm going to play George in D2TF anyway.

      Btw, I think it would be a great idea for next year to have two separate blogs or at least entries for D2TF and 1-n-Done (I think you mentioned something like that in one of your posts before) because the strategy is different due to the multiplier in 1-n-Done.

      I'm also thinking about making one myself next year. I think it's too bad that they don't have an expert that actually voices his opinion anymore, like they used to 3 or 4 years ago, so I really enjoy getting some opinions from others. Thanks for the great job and big ups from Germany!

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    3. Yep will certainly do split entries next year.
      Gratz to German soccer btw!

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    4. That sounds great!

      Thanks - been quite a special year for soccer in Germany!

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  8. Have to agree even as "team Pacers win" that the game 3 loss puts them in an uphill battle. It really was blowing that first OT game that made a tough challenge even tougher. A team like the Heat don't give games away so you have to take them when you have a shot.

    Game 3 was an anomaly. The Heat set a franchise record for lowest turnovers ever, while UD goes 8/9 and Birdman hasn't missed a shot, meanwhile LeBron pounds Indiana in the paint and somehow Vogel didn't have a gameplan to deal with that despite that being what LBJ does anytime they are up against a wall these days.

    I expect the rest of the series to be closer, and this to be the worst loss (by far) for the Pacers. Too many things went right all at once and Vogel's inexperience as a coach in big games was exposed. You could tell he had no confidence his team could pull out a win in that game and the players lost faith.

    Meanwhile Popovich's team was down 18 points in the first quarter and he sits all his starters, lets the subs play hard then calmly rights the ship and gets a series sweep. That man does not get ruffled.

    Though I still think Indy can win, I expect it will now be the Heat in 6 or 7 so I'm going with Hibbert today, and then George in the closeout if the Heat win game 4.

    Good news is I have all of SA, Bosh, Wade and LeBron so next round is a piece of cake with lots of big PRAs to pick from.

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    1. I expect Heat to continue doing that inside, until a quarter where Pacers adjust to it.

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