Pouncing on Opportunity (NBA Live 06)

[Cornerthree]

Great series against Knicks...
Hope to see more great wins...

[Mark.]

Round 1 Game 2 Results

WEST

128 @ 89

88 @ 113

92 @ 98

94 @ 69

EAST

112 @ 89

85 @ 93

92 @ 102

125 @ 79

Round 1 Game 3 Results

WEST

103 @ 71

103 @ 98

EAST

116 @ 99

There were a few upsets in this first round of the playoffs. The Mavs and Spurs both upset the Blazers and Rockets respectively, although this isnt that big a supprise, as it was more shocking that these two teams didnt finish the regular season with better records. In the East the Cavs upset the 76ers by sweeping them, while the Pacers managed to outlast the Heat and advance to the second round.

Predictions will be the same formatt, although you dont get to change or choose new teams to back to the conference finals. I will post the updated bracket soon

[Arcane]

damn miami lost memphis won though good to see.

[Mark.]

------------------------------------------------BRACKET

[Arcane]

i'll go detroit and mavs final i think for my prediction

[Cornerthree]

WOW Indy beats HEAT!! WOW....

[Keo]

West:

Memphis 2
San Antonio 1

Phoenix 2
Dallas 1

East:

Detroit 2
Cleveland 1

New Jersey 2
Indiana 0

Good luck in Round 2!

[Marquis]

My predictions

West:

Memphis 1
San Antonio 2

Phoenix 1
Dallas 2

East:

Detroit 2
Cleveland 1

New Jersey 2
Indiana 1

Nice bracket. Good luck against Cavs!

[Jugs]

Fuck a doodle, the Blazers lost..

West:

Memphis 1
San Antonio 2

Phoenix 0
Dallas 2

East:

Detroit 2
Cleveland 0

New Jersey 1
Indiana 2

[Mark.]

We found our next 3 prospects back in Australia.
This is an interesting Trio as we get two players who have already graduated college,
and a Freshman who has self proclaimed himself "The One" or G.O.A.T (Greatest of all time)




Basketball IQ is the one thing that Andrew Watson has always been known for.
While not possessing the best natural athletic skills, Watson (or more commonly known as "The X")
is perhaps one of the best of all time at evaluating the opposition and knowing how to exploit their weaknesses.
He is a natural born leader, and as such was found playing Point for a lot of college career.
A late growth spurt put him into the forward category, and once he got to the higher levels,
and his new height made him not quite quick enough to stick with the smaller opponents
X converted to the Point Forward Postion.

To add to Watson's great court IQ and vision, he also has an excellent outside shot for a big man.
While not having great quickness or speed, X has a great handle for a big man, meaning he has a nice set of
post moves to easily confuse bigger and slower opponents.
After watching Watson play, at first he appears to be a perimeter hugging big man,
however he isnt affraid to drop down inside to knock it around.

Projected Draft Position: Late First Round to Mid Second Round

Best Case Scenario: Poor Man's Larry Bird, with more inside presence.
Worst Case Scenario: Pat Garrity
Most Likely Case: Pat Garrity, with more IQ and ball handling ability.




At 25 years old Ben Branch (aka. Dragon) is a late bloomer in basketball.
Having played most of his life, it wasnt until lately that he has grown into his lanky 6'11" frame and started to realise how
to put his athleticism and skills to use.
Branch is a coaches dream as for a near 7 footer he still has the skills of a swingman.
Branch couples great court speed with a awesome 42 inch vertical leap to come into the draft
as perhaps the best open court and help defender avaliable.

However Branch's skills do not only lie in defense, as he knows how to use his great handles to create space
for himself to get to the hoop to finish with a highlight dunk.
On the downside not much is known about Branch's shooting ability,
however he has been known to take jumpers often his percentages dont look stellar.

Projected Draft Position: Mid Lottery to Late First Round

Best Case Scenario: Stromile Swift with greater offense and Bill Russle type defensive presence
Worst Case Scenario: Chris Anderson
Most Likely Scenario: An upgraded Stromile Swift, with more handles




"Attitude determines altitude" that is Will Sits outlook on life.
Sit is arguably the most exciting prospect in the draft, having the skill set of your typical scoring swingman,
Sit also has the cockyness and ambition to become, as he suggests the greatest of all time.
However it is his cockiness that may be his downfall,
Sit is a hard player to coach as he sticks to what he believes and doesnt take any crap.
He has also been known to be a harsh teammate (MJ anyone?)
Out biggest worry is that there is the chance Sit could end up heading down the Spoilt "its never my fault"
of other exciting prospects like J.R. Smith or Kwame Brown.

Assessing Sit's skill set, it is quickly apparent hes has all the skill nessecary to become the player he needs to be.
His offensive game is already up to NBA standard, although there is still room to improve.
His natural abilities such as speed and athleticism are elite, and while his defense is near to non exisitant,
he has all the tools needed to become a great lock down defender.

Projected Draft Position: Top 3 to Late Lottery

Best Case Scenario: Think MJ, then a little bit better and your there.
Worst Case Scenario: J.R.Smith, with no coming back.
Most Likely Scenario: This is tough.. if he stays on the right track the Best Case is looking very likely,
if he strays but doesnt blow it completely then something like Penny Hardaway without the injuries could be on the books.


After our workout with these 3 we quickly learn't that Aussie bigmen love to jack up 3's
we knew Watson could shoot them, however Branch quickly showed us that his shot is very underhyped.
As we thought Sit didnt have much defense as of yet, although we were matching him up with bigger opponents.
A pleasent supprise was Sit's effort and ability on the boards, as he would quite often get rebounds over the other two players.
Branch also added to his defensive resume, showing us he has great on ball defense,
and will most likely become a top perimeter defender as well as interior.
X showed us that his IQ covers basically all facets of the game as he constantly outsmarted his oppenent
in areas we didnt even know required smarts, such as rebounding.

Most of their predictions seem dot on, and any thoughts that Will Sit could slip to the late first round were dashed
as it is now apparent that even with his attitude he will go no later than the lottery.

[Arcane]

great scouting recaps....I grew a few inches but thats ok sweet pics as well.

[CouchPotato94]

Nice scouting reports, your playoff pisture is almost real

Do me

[hova-]

Looks very sweet, keep it on !!

[kibaxx7]

West

MEM 2 SAS 1
PHX 2 DAL 1

East

DET 2 CLE 1
NJN 2 IND 1

[.Dee.]

WOW! nice scouting report looks professinal seriously.
Good job and nice screens. good luck in picking.

[The X]

nice scouting report my D.O.B. is 6 March, 1981 but I don't mind being a little younger

I'm Pat Garrity pre-injury

hoping you can get by the Cavs in 3 tough games

[KIG1]

West

SAS 2 MEM 1
PHX 1 DAL 2

East

DET 2 CLE 0
NJN 2 IND 0

[Mark.]

great scouting recaps....I grew a few inches but thats ok sweet pics as well.

Thanks, yeah I use fictional heights eh, just basically what is needed in the draft

Nice scouting reports, your playoff pisture is almost real

Do me

Yeah the playoff picture is beginning to look a little like real life, although with the Heat knocked out it now seems a little outta place.

You will have to do well in the prediction challenge then hopefully you will make it into next years draft

Looks very sweet, keep it on !!

Cheers dude, tough luck on not making the playoffs in yours

WOW! nice scouting report looks professinal seriously.
Good job and nice screens. good luck in picking.

Cheers dude

nice scouting report my D.O.B. is 6 March, 1981 but I don't mind being a little younger

I'm Pat Garrity pre-injury

hoping you can get by the Cavs in 3 tough games

yeah I wasnt too sure on your DOB so just made one up, yeah the Cavs will be tough I think.


Well thats all the NLSC players for this years draft, I will do some Real Life prospects but probably wont go in depth with them....

[Mark.]

Pistons put on strong performance, LeBron goes down with Injury.





Boxscores:[Cavs]|[Pistons]

Chauncy Billups and Rip Hamilton led the Pistons to a 29 point win over the Cavs.
With Lebron James sitting most of the first half in foul trouble, then leaving the game
just before half time with a rolled ankle it was obvious this was going to an easy win for the Pistons.
Showing the hunger of champions, the Pistons were ruthless in the second half,
pouncing on the Cavs as they faltered with the loss of King James.

Even with James on the court the Pistons still looked in command as they made sure to shut down the other players.
The Wallaces controlled the paint well, and even thought Ilgauskas scored 18 points,
they were soft field goals, that Detroit was happy to give up.
The Detroit guards played great, with Lindsey Hunter bringing great energy off the bench
and Hamilton and Billups almost seeming to switch jobs for the night as it quickly became apparent that
Rip was cold for most of the game while Chauncy was on fire from the field.

Billups led all scorers with 27 points, he also added 6 assists.
Rip only shot 33% from the field but dished out 10 assists in a more playmaker role.
Layy Hughes tried to step up in Lebrons absence, but could never really get going only recording 15 points.
Big Z had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs.

Note: After the game it was announced Lebron James will be out for the rest of the playoffs with a severly sprained right ankle.


Both Hughes and James werent much trouble at all for the Pistons tonight.

Billups had a great offensive night, lighting it up from all over the court || Ben Wallace was once again a beast on the defensive end.

The Cavs finals hopes seem to be dissapearing into the distance with tonights loss and Lebron's Injury


Next up: Round 2 Game 2 @ Cleveland

[Arcane]

rip had a big game for you

[.Dee.]

Well, well... nice screens and nice win and nice recap. Ben wallace
was helpful in the defensive and Billups was acting like Billups and
ya got the W "congratz" like a 2004-2005 final playoff games =D.

[Shing]

Aww poor LeBron Your guys played like stars tho, nice one

[Jugs]

It'll be easy for the Pistons to win this round as LeBron is injured. Good work injuring him .

[Marquis]

Good job winning against Cavs. It should be very easy to win at Quicken Loans Arena for you.

[kibaxx7]

No doubt that you will win Game 2 with Bron Bron out. Good luck in Conference Finals