Welcome back, folks, to another year of the “Big Shot Bob (Rob)” Playoff Tournament. It’s hard to believe we’ve made it to Year 14. But as far as I’m concerned, Year 14 is just the beginning–I fully plan on seeing all of you for the BSB(R) 75th anniversary tournament (yes, even you, Bernie).
First I’ll show you all everyone’s picks, then an update on the leaderboard, and then the first round recap.
- I was tempted to say that, unlike most years, we don’t have much in the way of crazy picks. But this year feels so wide open, that I’m not sure it’d be possible for any pick to be crazy. I mean, I guess if someone had picked an 8-seed to beat a 1-seed, that’d be crazy. Oh wait…
- On that note, 2 out of 43 people correctly picked the 8-seeded Heat to upset the 1-seeded Bucks: Julia and Tanc. Is it coincidence that the two of them met in person for the first time 10 days ago? These playoffs are feeling spookier by the day.
- As a group, 42/43 picked the Celtics, 43/43 picked the Sixers, 31/43 picked the Cavs, 43/43 picked the Nuggets, 28/43 picked the Lakers, 25/43 picked the Warriors, and 34/43 picked the Suns. The group choices are unsurprising, except for the group’s choice to favor the Lakers and Warriors, both of which were the lower seeds. Of course, we were proven right. Go team! Touchdown!
- In the much anticipated Celtics-Sixers series, 31/42 people had the Celtics winning. Seems about right, even if Joel Embiid. Sadly, he gets injured every postseasons, and this year it was his knee was the iceberg that sunk this titanic matchup. 40/41 picked the Bucks to win their second round matchup. Shnope.
- Things get interesting out West. The simple stuff: 6/9 picked Nuggets over Clippers, and 20/34 picked the Nuggets over the Suns. The Kings/Warriors/Grizzlies/Lakers side of things is gnarlier: 4/6 picked Kings over Grizzlies, 5/9 picked Warriors over Grizzlies, 6/12 picked the Kings over Grizzlies, and 16/16 (!!!) picked the Warriors over the Lakers. Everyone wants to see LeBron vs. Steph, and yet, the result is a foregone conclusion to the group. (Mildly related: how close is Steph to LeBron in the all-time rankings?)
- In the Bucks-Celtics ECF matchup that will never happen, 19/29 people picked the Celtics. Interesting, given the Bucks having the top seed and the best player, but I was one of those people myself. In the other major, now-impossible, ECF matchup, 6/11 people picked the Sixers over the Bucks. Where’s the respect for the #1 seed and 2021 champions?
- The WCF results are a tad overwhelming, as there were 11 distinct matchups that were picked. Among the most commonly picked matchups, we saw that 7/8 picked Suns over Warriors, 4/4 picked Suns over Kings, 10/13 picked Nuggets over Warriors, 3/4 picked Nuggets over Lakers, 4/5 picked Nuggets over Kings, 4/4 picked Nuggets over Grizzlies. All told, 5 people had the Warriors in the Finals, 12 picked the Suns, 21 picked the Nuggets, 2 picked the Lakers, 2 picked the Kings, and 1 picked the Grizzlies.
- The Finals get crazy again, with 12 distinct matchups. 3/5 picked Nuggets over Sixers, 6/6 picked Celtics over Suns, 7/12 picked Celtics over Nuggets, 4/5 picked Suns over Bucks, and 4/4 picked Bucks over Nuggets. In total, 12 picked the Celtics, 8 picked the Bucks, 8 picked the Nuggets, 4 picked the Sixers, 4 picked the Suns, 3 picked the Warriors, 1 picked the Lakers, and 1 picked the Kings (that was Taizo–you’re a brave soul, my friend!).
Next up, an update of the scores!
David Gold, co-creator of this blog and original party boy, leads the pack. After him, we have a three-way tie at 37 points, but it will be a long road ahead for Chris Cappello (who may be an alter ego for Clint Capela…I genuinely wouldn’t know), given that Chris picked the Bucks to make it to the Finals.
Just behind them at 36 points: new BSB(R) participant Max Kiefel and long-time BSB(R) participant (and long-time life participant) Bernie Chovitz (aka grandpa). Bernie called me to tell me that he was aiming to get another ring and become only the second person to win the tournament more than once. The man is already on the BSB(R) Mt. Rushmore, but the man has G.O.A.T. blood running through his veins.
Sadly, from a BSB(R) perspective, his G.O.A.T. blood doesn’t run in the family, because as always, I’m in the middle of the pack. But there’s nothing wrong with being average (right?)! What’s most important is that I’m beating Jesse.
I’d also like to give some perspective on the bottom-feeders. You may think, “How do they have so few points? They must be really bad a predicting things!” But look at their first-round predictions–all of them are reasonable! Let’s instead see celebrate their low scores as beautiful signs of unpredictability and randomness–two keys to making basketball, and dare I say life, more interesting.
Finally, some first round thoughts…
- Jimmy Butler. He was the story of the first round, and it’s easy to forget because that series ended early as a result of his dominance. He had two of the greatest back-to-back performances in playoff history–a 56 point heater followed by a 42-point close out effort. He spurred come-backs, hit improbable game-tying shots, and reminded the league why he’s its most underrated superstar.
- What happened to the Cavs? They finished the season 2nd in Net Rating, and figured to be sleepers in this playoffs. They have Donovan Mitchell, playoff maestro. And yet, they lost in 5 games to the Knicks. Moreover, no one here picked them to go far…perhaps that says something about their success having a hollowness that people could see through?
- Sixers-Nets could have been interesting with the Harden-Simmons storyline. But it’s unclear whether Ben Simmons even exists anymore. No drama for you! And of course, Embiid got hurt during the series. It wouldn’t be the playoffs without an Embiid injury!
- In speaking of injuries, Kawhi Leonard tore his meniscus? The Suns-Clippers series, in theory, could have been a battle of two contenders. But Kawhi’s injury (with Paul George’s absence) ended all hopes of the superstar battle we could have had.
- Injuries played a role in the Lakers’ win–no Steven Adams or Brandon Clarke hurts–but the collective moral injury or being Dillon Brooks’ teammate. hurt the Grizzlies the most. It was a fun series with some genuine animosity. The Grizzlies, who had title hopes this year, might need to make some big changes.
- Steph’s 50-point, Game 7 masterclass was basketball brilliance, and was analyzed well here. The man does it unlike any other, and it was a fitting end to a series of two teams who play a beautiful brand of basketball.
Who are your picks to win, both the playoffs and the BSB(R) tourney? Comment on the article or email us at AGRbasketball (at) gmail (dot) com. Don’t forget to follow @AGRbasketball on Twitter and to like us on Facebook
Alone In The Green Room 