The Daily Bruh Review 12-10-14

It is finals week for many colleges and it is no exception St. Bonaventure, the school I go to. The stakes are a little higher for me too because I am in graduate school. So take that in mind that I have still been delivering these daily. So I'm going to keep my observations and notes short and sweet.

1. Memphis Grizzlies vs. Dallas Mavericks

Not sure if this was Chandler Parsons best game as a Mav but it definitely look like one of his better games. The Mavs have played pretty well and Parsons was hitting the 3 ball against a team that is one of the best in the league at defending the 3. I think Parsons was 6-10 from 3 and poured in 30 points. The Mavs offense is just really efficient and it showed because they dropped 105 on the best scoring defensive team in the league. The surprising part of this game was that the Grizz scored 114. The Grizz have found ways to score but not a team that usually gets into these types of games.

The biggest thing you should know about the Grizzlies though is that somehow their post play keeps getting better. Both Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph have pretty similar skill sets on the post but they have figured out how to be versitile and to compliment each other perfectly. They are both versatile so they just know how to switch roles down there and they both are great passers. Only team in the league with a front court like this.

Tony Allen is really excited about it.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Milwaukee Bucks

The Thunder are definitely trying to get their groove back and it shows at times. There is still some lapses in defense and some stagnation on offense. This was their best offensive performance of the season and the offense flowed a lot better at times than I ever saw the Thunder flow but it is still a work in progress. This win and the last few have just showed that the Thunder are good at winning games against teams that they should beat. The red hot Cavaliers coming to OKC Thursday should be a good test to how far they are in this return. Either way the Thunder are starting to correct their poor record.

Also they are starting to look long and scary athletic again. What other teams have guards that can do these things...




The Milwaukee bucks have surprised me in many different ways this season. They are pretty good defensively and Brandon Knight is having a great year and finally looking like the point guard people thought he could be, coming out of Kentucky. Jabari Parker had a good game as well and looked a lot like Carmelo with some good isolation mid-range jumpers. It is a little hard to see what their identity is though. They have a lot of nice pieces but not sure who their go to guy is or their bread and butter is. This makes sense for a young team with a new coach but it's crazy that they have won some games along the way.

3. Indiana vs Louisville basketball

I had this set up going with 3 screens.

This game was the one that I paid the least attention to. I will say that the first thing I thought was that Indiana looked surprisingly good. The game got away from them at the end but they looked a lot better than the team did last year. Louisville is just a really good team. Montrezl Harrell was just every where for dunks and putbacks. Most people focus on Wayne Blackshear but they have really good guard play in general with both Terry Rozier and Chris Jones dropping over 20. Louisville has aa chance to make a deep tourney run again.

Smaller Observations

• The Cavs beat the Raptors for the second time in 5 days and I don't know if they would have won thsi game if DeRozan played because the Raptors were in control for most of the game but man their big 3 has been balling.

• I just realized nobody has tried to nickname this big three like they did in Miami. Maybe because naming a group of 3 has proven to be pretty damn hard.

• The Lakers beat the Kings in the close game and I don't know why but the Lakers look a lot better to watch with Swaggy P back on the team.

• Kobe is about the pass Michael Jordan in points which is just insane on so many levels. I wonder if MJ is regretting those years he retired. 

• Chris Rock was a guest on NBA TV and he said that there are Kobe guys and there are Shaq guys. I love Kobe but I am a Shaq guy. If you overly like Kobe just go back and check Shaq's stats in the Lakers 3 finals series in the early 2000's. They are absurdly good.

• Cam Newton Smiling after being in an accident is so Cam Newton.

• The Spurs lost to the Jazz? What?

• The Suns lose again. It helps the Thunder but hurts my heart.

• The Bruh of the night goes to Jon Lester for signing to the Cubs for $155 million. This is a good bruh for Lester and a bad bruh for the Cubs. The Cubs will be good maybe and needed pitching but man i don't know if Lester isn 155 million dollar good.

https://vine.co/v/Or0mXYrKOV3

https://vine.co/v/Or0K3DYez0g

https://vine.co/v/Or06Q6l0zpx

NBA 1st Round Playoffs Preview

This has to be one of the most unpredictable NBA Playoffs in recent history. I have never been so unsure and excited about an NBA playoff before. 

The Western Conference is going to be epic and the Eastern Conference has some story lines as well. So needless to say I;m going to be making these predictions with very little confidence. But here you go.

The Obvious Picks:

East:

(1) Indiana Pacers vs (8) Atlanta Hawks:

The Pacers have been playing terrible. They lost to the Atlanta Hawks by 20 points a couple of games ago and the Hawks play well against them. But the Pacers are by far the better team. There is no way they could lose this series to a team that is way under .500, Right?

I mean I completely understand if you lost all confidence in the Pacers but they have to be able to win this series. I also think winning the series will help them get there confidence back.

Pacers in 5.

(2) Miami Heat vs (7) Charlotte Bobcats:

The Bobcats are way better than everybody thinks. The have a top 10 defense and a quick scoring guard in Kemba Walker. They also have one if the Heats major weaknesses, which is a scoring big man. Al Jefferson is definitely going to give the Heat some trouble. But it doesn't matter the Heat own the Bobcats almost as much as Michael Jordan does.

Heat in 5


West:

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs (8) Dallas Mavericks:

The Spurs have had trouble with some of the better teams in the league. Well as much as you can have and still win 60 plus games. But the Dallas Mavericks isn't one of those teams that the Spurs have trouble with. The Spurs swept them last year and has won 4 of the last 5 meeting in the playoffs. I don't think the Mavericks are an easy team but this is a terrible matchup for them.

Spurs in 5

A Lil' Tougher:

East:

(3) Toronto Raptors vs (6) Brooklyn Nets:


Everybody is just sleeping on how good the Raptors have been since trading Rudy Gay. They went from looking like a team headed for the lottery to the 3rd seed in the East. They have been beating teams. Sure the Nets have looked like a team that can compete since January but that has been more about their record against the Heat. This is going to be a highly contested series that I can see going both ways but......



Nets in 7


(4) Chicago Bulls vs (5) Washington Wizards

The Wizards are a good team but they probably don't have enough offense to win the series against an offense like this. The Bulls has their own problems scoring but they are the better team. The Wizards are a year and a player away from being a legit team.

Bulls in 6

West:

(2) OKC Thunder vs (7) Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies is a team that nobody wanted to face in the playoffs. Unlucky for them they are playing a team that has the people inside to contend with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. The Thunder lost to the Grizzlies in the playoffs last year but that series had 4 straight close games that could have swung in either direction. Now the Thunder have Russell Westbrook back and played pretty well against the Grizzlies in the regular season. The Thunder finally has there team back to full health and they should be able to win this time around.

Thunder in 6

(4) Houston Rockets vs (5) Portland Trailblazers

This could be a toss up as well. Both these teams play a fast pace style and shoot a ton of 3's . The Blazers have an edge in the post because LeMarcus Aldridge is better offensively than Dwight Howard. This should be a fun series to watch. It should come down to wether one of the teams start to play defense and the Rockets are more likely to do that than the Blazers.

Rockets in 7

I Have No Idea:

(3) LA Clippers vs (6) Golden State Warriors

Yeah I have zero confidence in any pick I could make for this series. These teams play a fast pace and match up well against each other. They also don't like each other which means that the series is going to be heated. With Bogut out for the Warriors, the Clippers might have an edge inside but they need to hope that the splash brother (Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson) don't get hot for a game in LA because they are tough to beat in the Oracle Arena. I could see this series going Clippers in 7 or Warriors in 6 or vice versa. I'm not going to pretend to be any kind of confident but....

Clippers in 7

Second round teams:

East:

Indiana Pacers vs Chicago Bulls

Miami Heat vs Brooklyn Nets

West:

San Antonio Spurs vs Houston Rockets

OKC Thunder vs LA Clippers

I will continue this preview into the second round.