Basketball Playoffs Contest

[Mtanski]

It's playoff time and even though the playoff series have started we are going to run a little contest to see how knowledgable or lucky you are.

Pick the winner of each series. You will get 1 point for each correct pick. ex. pick 4 series winners get 4 points and so on...

Everyone will pick a winner for each series from each round. Points will be accumulated. In the event of a tie for the finals a tie-breaker will be selected before the final round begins.

All participants will have until Thursday noon EST to get their selections in. All of the series will have played 2 games by then

2 completed trades again are required by the signup deadline

Here are the series

Round 1

Philly/Detroit-Detroit
Miami/New Jersey-Miami
Boston/Indiana-Indiana
Chicago/Washington-Washington

Phoenix/Memphis-Phoenix
San Antonio/Denver-San Antonio
Seattle/Sacramento-Seattle
Dallas/Houston-Dallas

Round 2

Games begin Sunday 7/7

San Antonio/Seattle-San Antonio
Miami/Washington-Miami
Detroit/Indiana-Detroit
Dallas/Phoenix-Phoenix

Round 3

Games begin Sunday 5/22

San Antonio/Phoenix-San Antonio
Detroit/Miami-Detroit

Finals

The first game is Thursday June 9

Detroit/San Antonio-San Antonio(ouch. that was painful to write)

Tie Breaker: Select the total points difference for the series.

The prizes have been selected. They are 2004-05 Black Diamond Gemography Jameer Nelson g/u which will be available to everyone.

There is also a 2003-04 Flair Final Edition Jerry Stackhouse auto collection that bgl13 and Mtanski will be playing for.

This is being done this way in light of the fact that only bgl13 and myself were the only ones to get their second round picks in on time.

Mike&Patrick

[Mtanski]

My selections are

Detroit,Miami.Chicago,Boston,Phoenix,San Antonio,Seattle and Houston

Mike

[EaglesFan]

Detroit Miami Indiana Chicago Pheonix Seattle Denver Houstan

[Pinetarsports]

I am going with Detroit, Miami, Boston, Chicago
and Seattle, Phoenix, Houston, and San Antonio.

[SayHeyFan]

I'm hoping to get my second trade completed by the time this contest starts. I will take: Detroit, Miami, Chicago, Indiana, Phoenix, Denver, Sacramento, Houston

[SayHeyFan]

I think the trade got in under the deadline, so I should have two trades now. I'd like to change my pick from Sacramento to Seattle. Gotta go with the head instead of the heart. Ouch. The rest will remain the same.

[Mtanski]

SayHey,

Yes, you made it in time and you are all set

Mike

[Patrick4]

Here are my picks;
Detroit
Miami
Indiana
Chicago
Phoenix
San Antonio
Seattle
Houston

-Patrick

[Lamont]

I'm in:

Detroit, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Phoenix, Houston, Denver, Seattle


-Jared

[bgl13]

OKay, here are our picks:

Miami, Indiana, Detroit, Chicago
Phoenix, San Antonio, Seattle and DALLAS

[Mtanski]

My second round picks are

Detroit,Miami,San Antonio.Phoenix

Mike

[bgl13]

I hate to be boring, but I think we'll take the favorites this round:

Detroit
Miami
San Antonio
Phoenix

[bgl13]

Where did everyone go?

[Lamont]

If it's not too late:
Pistons, Suns, Heat, Spurs

-Jared

[Pinetarsports]

detroit miami, San Antonio, and phoenix... real original huh?

-Ryan

sorry i was out of town for the weekend.

[Patrick4]

I'm bummed that I missed the deadline. I didn't check my PMs until 1PM PST yesterday.
The funny thing is, is that I don't even know who won any games yesterday.
Sorry I didn't get in Mike. Saturday consisted of; son's baseball game, shooping for Mother's Day, birthday party (son's friend), parakeet getting out of cage, dog finding and 'playing' with said parakeet, parakeet with broken wing = frantic child) and Mother's Day was well, Mother's Day.

Good luck to all who are still in (unless it's not too late). :D
FYI - My picks would have been; Seattle, Miami, Detroit, Phoenix.

-Patrick

[Mtanski]

Hi guys. We seem to have had a major problem with this contest over the weekend and only Barry and myself got their second round picks in on time. With that being said the contest will still continue but the prizes have been split up which I will explain later. I have all of your picks noted and will get in touch with the last 2 players to get their selections in by tomorrow before game time. I hope everyone finds this to be agreeable,especially Barry, since he is leading and would have locked it up completely if only my picks were allowed.

Here is what has been added to the main post in regards to the prizes

The prizes have been selected. They are 2004-05 Black Diamond Gemography Jameer Nelson g/u which will be available to everyone.

There is also a 2003-04 Flair Final Edition Jerry Stackhouse auto collection that bgl13 and Mtanski will be playing for.

This is being done this way in light of the fact that only bgl13 and myself were the only ones to get their second round picks in on time.

Thanks for everyone understanding

Mike

[EaglesFan]

Miami Detroit Pheonix Spurs

[Pinetarsports]

Because the games should end soon, and i may not be able to get on from fri to sun, i will take the folllowing.

assuming a phoenix, detroit, and san antonio win

Miami and Phoenix.

[Mtanski]

Okay Ryan, I will mark these down for you but in the event the next round doesn't start before you get back I will allow you to change your selections as long as it is before the round begins. I am thinking the next round probably won't start until about Tuesday since all 3 series have their game 7's lined up for Sunday.

Mike

[Pinetarsports]

in that case, i should be able to make it back in...

Ryan

[bgl13]

FYI, The Western Conference Finals Begin Tomorrow. (The Suns play on 1 day rest and the Heat get yet another day off--go figure.)

[EaglesFan]

Heat and Suns

Dave

[Patrick4]

Miami and Phoenix

[Mtanski]

SAyHeyFan PM'd me with his pics. They are San Antonio and Detroit

Mike

[Lamont]

Phoenix & Miami

-Jared

[bgl13]

I was thinking about waiting out Mr. Tanski, but.......

Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

[Mtanski]

Well Barry, I wanted to see what you picked :)

I will take Detroit and Phoenix. I would have gone with Detroit anyways since that is my home team but I still feel pretty good with Phoenix the way they have been playing lately.

There is a bunch of others at 9 also so this could be an interesting little contest down the stretch.

Good luck to you and all the rest. I would enjoy having to use a tie-breaker :D

Mike

[SayHeyFan]

I'm feeling pretty good with San Antonio advancing. Now if Detroit can just play some defense again. My picks for the championship, in case I don't get it in otherwise, will be San Antonio.

Guess it is ironic that I picked Denver in the first round to beat them--guess they showed me, now hopefully I'll ride their tide to Jameer Nelson...(if I've still got a shot)

[Pinetarsports]

i was shocked that Phoenix didtn do better. wonder what could have happened if joe johnson was playing the whole series.

I have no idea the score in this competition....

Ryan

[bgl13]

You know what they say. You have to pay your dues in the NBA. Gotta get some playoff experience under your belt before you can get to the Finals. (And as a Jazz fan, I can tell you that once you get to the Finals it doesn't get any easier!)

It was much closer than the 4-1 indicates. Amare is a great, great player. Maybe next year.

(P.S. The Spurs victory gave us 12 points - I think!)

[Mtanski]

Well guys, the Finals are here. bgl13 has a 1 point lead over SayHeyFan so in the event that we can get opposite selections there is a chance for a tie so I have included a tie breaker. Select the total points difference between the 2 teams for the entire series. Good luck guys and I will see you back here in a week after the Pistons triumph :)

Mike

[Pinetarsports]

so what are the other point totals? is it not worth even picking now?

thanks,
Ryan

[Pinetarsports]

i found it, nevermind. :)

[SayHeyFan]

Alright, a San Antonio v. Detroit finals...just like I called it! Now comes down to the real choice, I already said San Antonio would win this, so I will stick with it. Point differential...14 in favor of San Antonio. Can I still smell Mr. Nelson?

Does this also mean that bgl has the original prize sewn up? And now bgl is going for the sweep of both prizes...nicely done, but I'll see what I can do to prevent a clean sweep.

[Pinetarsports]

could it be a more boring finals??? how angry is mr. stern that these are the two finals teams! his revenue just plummeted!

[bgl13]

We're going with the Spurs. By 19 points.

[bgl13]

I realize that we and SayHay have picked the same team. I'm sticking with the Spurs because they've been my pick from the beginning. But I certainly have no objection if SayHey wants to change his pick to Detroit to keep it interesting! Then if Detroit wins, it come down to the tie breaker for Jameer. Whadayasay, SayHey?

[EaglesFan]

if not to late i'm taking Detroit, although i hate larry brown
dave

[SayHeyFan]

Guess it is too late to change to Detroit, but I still have to go with San Antonio since that has been my pick since they got past Denver in round 1. I guess selecting San Antonio will give me the runner up award, oh well. At least I know I will get most of the last three series right. Can't go against a healthy Tim Duncan and Ginobilli. Is bgl sure they don't want to change to Detroit to make it interesting???

[bgl13]

Well, the Spurs won, but, ironically, Detroit outscored them by 13! (If my math is correct.)

What a bland series, huh? Am I the only one yearning for those Lakers/Celtics Finals from the 1980's?

Thanks for the contest, Mike.

[JJLevitsky]

What a bland series, huh? Am I the only one yearning for those Lakers/Celtics Finals from the 1980's?

Barry -

I could not agree more. Whether the Celts won or lost it was still exciting. Those were some basketball games. I dont even watch the National Boring Association any more - that is the reason I didnt get into this contest.

Thanks,

Jeff

[SayHeyFan]

I don't miss seeing the Lakers in the finals, because that means a hated team has a shot at the championship. I probably watched three games of the finals and was happy to see the Spurs win. I miss the days of Jordan and the Bulls even if I never rooted for them, they sure were fun to root against. Thanks for the contest, it was fun to see how my picks turned out. Congrats to Bgl13 on his victory, nicely done, at least I made it close.

[Mtanski]

I have really slipped with this. i went out of town the day after the finals ended and forgot all about it upon my return. A big congratulations goes to bgl13 for a job well done and a nice effort by SayHeyFan as the runner up.

bgl13 will get the 2004-05 Black Diamond Gemography Jameer Nelson g/u and the 2003-04 Flair Final Edition Jerry Stackhouse auto. Good Job!!

And I also wanted to add that I thought it was a great series and was by no means boring if you appreciate "good" basketball and not some track meet. I was just sorry to see Detroit lose but San Antonio outplayed them the last quarter and a half.

Mike

[Pinetarsports]

i agree, except for the first couple of blowout games, what a series....