The Big B

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now ready to start the NBA Member Mayhem for NBA playoffs. I know you have all been waiting to see this after the great turnout with the March Madness Member Mayhem (or MMMM ). It is very similar to that, but we tweaked it a little. For anyone that doesn't know the rules here they are:

Rules:

A) Only posters from playoff teams can make it in.

B) We will have 2 representatives for each team.

C) A poll will be put up along with the question asked, and each member must give an essay form answer to the question. Other members can vote in the poll to decide the winner.

D) We will have we 3 way voting:

1. Starters (1st representative) get to answer question No. 1

2. Reserves (2nd representative) get to answer question No. 2

3. Since we are having polls, we would have each 10% count for 1 vote. That we would add it up between both members of each team and who ever has the most votes wins. That way we there would be less of a chance of a tie. In case of a tie, I would ask a tiebreaker question.

Schedule:

First Round: 2 days per matchup (48 hours)*
2nd Round: 3 days per matchup (72 hours)
Conference Finals: 4 days per matchup (96 hours)
Finals: 5 days (120 hours)

* for the First Round only we are posting the starters question on the first day, and then the bench on the next day. There will be 16 total matchups to vote on in the first round (including starters and bench), and I don't think we should have more than 8 matchups going at a time. For all the other rounds, all matchups will be posted at the same time.
Here are the matchups:

East Matchups:

(1)LogicMan/thefarnz vs. (8)axesstar/BucFan40

(4)BuckeyesROK/LBJ-MVP-08 vs. (5)Viktor Crapper/gazzso

(3)North Harbour/Frady vs. (6)takman777/doc1394

(2)DJTANKELITE/Sheeds-Law vs. (7)Miamigregory/Huyho924

West Matchups:

(1)lakers2408/bosh4prez vs. (8)CowboysForever9/Bronco4life24

(4)Cowboynut_73_/slcmoney vs. (5)whoosh/toby20708

(3)Hornsstampede/Spurs Fan 4Life vs. (6)ChrisperJ10/wildcatsfan1

(2)RFMoldaner/GoHornets21 vs. (7)mavsyear/slim33chance

Make sure you come to the NBA boards and vote on all the matchups.

Here are the links to all the first round matchups:

Starters:

LogicMan vs. axesstar: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858331

BuckeyesROK vs. Viktor Crapper: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858356

North Harbour vs. takman777: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858402

DJTANKELITE vs. Miamigregory: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858440

lakers2408 vs. CowboysForever9: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858466

Cowboynut_73_ vs. whoosh: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858509

Hornsstampede vs. ChrisperJ10: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858543

RFMoldaner vs. mavsyear: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7858572

Bench:

thefarnz vs. BucFan40: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873693

LBJ-MVP-08 vs. gazzso: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873737

Frady vs. doc1394: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873754

Sheeds-Law vs. Huyho924: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873773

bosh4prez vs. Bronco4life24: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873792

slcmoney vs. toby20708: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873832

Spurs Fan 4Life vs. wildcatsfan1: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873815

GoHornets21 vs. slim33chance: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7873850

As many know the Pistons are no young team. All of their starters, other than Tayshaun Prince, are over 30 years old. The team's average age is 28. They have been in title contention since the last 5-6 years (yet have only won 1 title! ), but this very well may be their last year to win another one for awhile. Then we will go into the infamous "rebuilding stage" for a few years. But after those rebuilding years, will the team be back in title contention again? Can they win another (maybe more than one) championship? Their young talent points towards another title in Detroit's future (other than this year of course ).

This year's rookies, Aaron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey, have been huge off the bench for us. They have also filled in as starters when one of the original starters where out for a game or two. Both have looked great, and can only get better as they gain experience. Jason Maxiell is starting to be the new "Beast of the East" in Detroit. He could very well have been a starter this year, and may be in the near future. Amir Johnson has raw potential, but oh what great potential it is. He is only 20 years old, and will get stronger and smarter with age. He could be something special. Another raw player is Cheikh Samb, the amazing shot blocker from Dakar, Senegal. If he can add some size, he could be a good center in the future. Then we will have our team leader, Tayshaun Prince. He will be an experience veteran and have what it takes to step up and be the captain and heart of the team. This may be the Pistons lineups in 3-5 years:

PG- Rodney Stuckey
SG- Aaron Afflalo
SF- Tashaun Prince
PF- Jason Maxiell
C- Cheikh Samb

6th man- Amir Johnson

Now it may just be the homer in me, but that could be a very dangerous starting 5 and 6th man. Great scoring back court, and great defending front court. Some dangerous weapons all around. If these guys live up to their potential and turn out to the players all of us Detroit fans hope and pray they will be, the Pistons could be back on top and winning championships again.

Okay, I liked how the Final 4 Tourney Member Mayhem thing turnout, so after following that, I got an idea: what if we started one of these for the NBA playoffs? I think that would be very fun as well. I have taken it upon myself to start this up because I wasn't too sure about how much CBS cares about the NBA, so I didn't think they would start one. We are taken all 16 playoffs teams and finding posters who want in this. However, we changed up the rules a little bit:

Rules:

A) Only posters from playoff teams can make it in.

B) We will have 2 representatives for each team.

C) A poll will be put up along with the question asked, and each member must give an essay form answer to the question. Other members can vote in the poll to decide the winner.

D) We will have we 3 way voting:

1. Starters (1st representative) get to answer question No. 1

2. Reserves (2nd representative) get to answer question No. 2

3. Since we are having polls, we would have each 10% count for 1 vote. That we would add it up between both members of each team and who ever has the most votes wins. That way we there would be less of a chance of a tie. In case of a tie, I would ask a tiebreaker question. 

Go ahead and come to the NBA boards to either nominate yourself, or nominate another poster you would like representing your team.

Come here to nominate: www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7598297/0/5

I'm sorry Lakers fans, but I have some bad news. No, I didn't change my mind about you making it the Finals against my Pistons; I still have faith for you guys there. Most of this year I have been agreeing with you that Kobe Bryant deserved the MVP. I was on your bandwagon and no matter what anyone else said, it didn't sway my opinion. I still believe he is going to be one of the top players in contention and probably is in 2nd place, but from what has happened now that the season is coming to a close, I have to start agree with Hornets fans (and others) than Chris Paul is this year's MVP.

First off, we can look at if from a statistical view. He is leading the league in assists with 11.5 apg. He is also leading the league in steals with 2.66 spg. He is also averaging 21.6 ppg 3.9 rpg and has 49.2% FG. Not to mention is he 2nd in assist to turnover ratio with 4.62. Just from a statistical standpoint, he is a MVP candidate. But now for the more important stats.

He has lead the New Orleans to the #1 spot in the West (for the moment), and has them in the playoffs for the first time since 03-04. Not to mention they went 39-43 last season and now have gotten 50+ wins this season. The Hornets as a team this year have allowed the 5th fewest points per game in the league with 95.6. They are also 5th in the league in points differential with +5.29. The Hornets have made huge strides this year, and is mainly due to how well Chris Paul has played.

He has stepped up game so much this year, and his team's record is showing it. It is still a young player, but has already showed great signs of good leadership. He doesn't fold under pressure, and is ready to pass the ball for the game winning shot rather than take it himself. He doesn't have any other big stars on his team, but all the players have had good year