The DTTF (Drive to the Finals) My Picks section is now open. Again for newbies, here is a tutorial on how to take your picks:
http://nbadrivetothefinals.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-pick.html
First off, as always when DTTF starts, here is our foremost advise: Do notpick the best player. What you need to do is pick from the losing team. So trust us when we say, do NOT pick Steph Curry in Day 1, not even in Round 1. Remember the game rule: You can only use each player once throughout the entire playoffs. You will need Steph Curry in the latter stages of the playoffs.
Now that that is out of the way, go on and take your picks for April 18 up to April 26. It is important that you make your daily pick. If you miss a day, that is enough to ruin your game. A 30 PRA (points rebounds assists) missed is very hard to make up for.
Warning: Do not pick for Game 5s yet. If you do and that series finishes early before Game 5, you may not be able to take that player back, thus losing him. We have seen it happen before.
I'll discuss my Day 1 pick tomorrow, but for now heed these:
* Day 3 will have only two games: Bucks @ Bulls, and Pelicans @ Warriors. Consider saving your best pick for the Bucks or Pelicans for that date, so you have plenty of space to manoeuvre for Day 1 and Day 6.
* Watch out for your Clippers picks. There are three viable picks there: CP3, Blake, and DeAndre. If their Game 1 performance seems like they can't win against the Spurs, consider starting to pick those three early. Do not wait for elimination.
Start pickin'!
http://nbadrivetothefinals.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-pick.html
First off, as always when DTTF starts, here is our foremost advise: Do not
Now that that is out of the way, go on and take your picks for April 18 up to April 26. It is important that you make your daily pick. If you miss a day, that is enough to ruin your game. A 30 PRA (points rebounds assists) missed is very hard to make up for.
Warning: Do not pick for Game 5s yet. If you do and that series finishes early before Game 5, you may not be able to take that player back, thus losing him. We have seen it happen before.
I'll discuss my Day 1 pick tomorrow, but for now heed these:
* Day 3 will have only two games: Bucks @ Bulls, and Pelicans @ Warriors. Consider saving your best pick for the Bucks or Pelicans for that date, so you have plenty of space to manoeuvre for Day 1 and Day 6.
* Watch out for your Clippers picks. There are three viable picks there: CP3, Blake, and DeAndre. If their Game 1 performance seems like they can't win against the Spurs, consider starting to pick those three early. Do not wait for elimination.
Start pickin'!
This is going to be a weird year. Very weird year.
ReplyDeletePels/Warriors: Davis and Evans should be picked early. I'm waiting on a lot of series, so you can't have must picks from teams that are almost certainly out lingering around. I can see the tangential evidence that Davis might be better at home, but I'll take a slightly lower PRA if it means avoiding a traffic jam later in the round.
Rockets-Mavs: I *think* the Rockets win this, but it doesn't really matter all that much 'cause the Mavs aren't going past the 2nd round anyway. This one will depend on matchups. If Beverley is out early, Ellis becomes a must pick. Backcourt matchup of Harden and Terry defending Ellis and the black hole of offense Rondo? Give me Ellis, and give him to me now.
Clippers/Spurs: This one will be a headache. 50/50 on who gets through, will decide by the 3rd round. Like always, I'm going to leave out one of Paul/Griffin/Jordan because I'm too conservative.
Portland/Grizzlies: I don't like Aldridge here. Going against Gasol and Randolph, he's a candidate for "Sore limb, will not return" after the first quarter of any game. And the Grizzlies have been tired and sluggish, not sure I trust them beating a team with 3 clutch outside shooters (hoping Batum returns). I like Lillard against the wobbly Conley, but I'm keeping Aldridge for either elimination or Golden State. Aldridge also does much better in h2h superstar battles (see: Harden last year), so Golden State is a good team for him to play. Not so much Memphis.
Hawks/Nets: You can pick Lopez, I guess, if you want. And if you're daring, the Joe Johnson lottery.
Cavs/Celts: This is going to be fun. Like Johnson, luck of the draw with Thomas. He'll get 45 PRA one game, 12 the other 3. Best of luck.
Chicago/Bucks: Not sold on Chicago. Wasn't last year either and it gave me a huge advantage going into the second round. First sign of struggle, Rose is going in for me. I don't mind picking Bulls early, because new producers (Gibson, Mirotic, Snell, etc) will inevitable rise when the infirmary fills back up.
Raps/Wiz: Only 3 must picks: DDR, Lowry and Wall. I think the Raps have a slight advantage, but I'm waiting on this one.
SATURDAY PICK: Anthony Davis (Monta Ellis may be inserted depending on lineups)
SUNDAY PICK: Rolling the dice with Isaiah Thomas.
Nice coverage mfari, I picked up a few things
DeleteNice review mate! I have more or less the same opinions as i wrote on the last post. I just won't pick isaiah thomas except in emergency scenario. He is way too risky.
DeleteMy saturday pick is still up in the air, not decided yet: Anthony Davis/Tyreke will probably be my choice.
As for the sunday pick it will be between Lopez and Lamarcus.
Matteeo, those were my exact debates & I settled on Davis/Aldridge out of the gates. Go Big or Go Home mentality :)
DeleteGood picks Jerry! Right now i'm going with Evans/Lopez :) but everything can change hour by hour. Now i go to take a look at the stats of these players against their opponents this season. I wanna see who plays better at home and who is good away too. Then i'll give you a more concrete idea. Like your mentality btw.
DeleteNo need to pick Isaiah Thomas at all for any reason given the sheer amount of options on the playing field in the first round in my opinion although you can always get lucky
ReplyDeleteI'm mulling it over, but he's been pretty good recently; +Avery Bradley is still dealing with injury concerns. He hasn't been below 18 PRA in his last 10 games, and he strikes me as the type to have a huge game early and then disappoint everyone who picks him the next few games.
DeleteIt'll be a decision I'll probably take Sunday morning. I see him being as reasonable a pick as Lopez, and I'm not picking from Portland/Memphis yet, in my opinion there aren't a lot of options on the playing field on Sunday.
Taong, what do you mean by your Game 5 warning? I have players picked (temp) all the way through potential Game 7s on the site. I've always done this and never lost the ability to use a player that I never truly used. It would be a glitch in the system that they'd surely have to recognize & fix right?
ReplyDeleteSomeone in the comments complained about it last playoffs. It was there, and I am not sure if it is fixed.
DeleteYou may have picked from the team that lost the series, so you may have noticed.
Maybe the glitch is gone, but just be careful.
You may have picked from the team that lost the series, so you may have *not noticed.
Deletehaha, thanks, it definitely scares me a bit now, but I assure you've I've often had picks made for series games that end up not being played & I always retained the player no prob
DeleteGood to see you again Taong....!
ReplyDelete....The NBA playoffs are back baby!!!
:)
Welcome back topknox! And your gutsy picks too!
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