NBA Playoffs

[HaemishM]

If you find the halfcourt boring, then you don't like basketball.

This may, in fact, be quite true. I'm not going to deny it.

The Spurs keep winning because they are "boring"?? They win because they simply take advantage of the game's fundamentals more than anyone else right now

By boring, I mean supremely efficient. And against lesser teams, it's really boring to watch. They have some really good players, but no real marquee guy. Parker can drain 3's but they just lack... zazz.  I'm in no way saying that they shouldn't be playing that way, or the league should change things to discourage that type of play. But don't ask me to watch it, because I just really don't like to see it.

But again, I may not like basketball. I was raised on Magic/Bird matchups, and sometime after Jordan started winning all those championships, I just lost interest in basketball.

[stray]

Duncan is, basically, the marquee guy. When he retires, he'll go down as the greatest power forward of all time. Hell, he already is... Malone and Barkley never did what he's already done multiple times. And McHale is the very guy that Duncan modeled his game after -- except Duncan's better and doesn't need Bird.

He doesn't have "zazz" though. I'll agree with that. Nor do the Spurs as a whole. This is still David Robinson's team somehow, even though he's been long gone.

[edit] Damn, how could I forget this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu1Wz5JQEz8&feature=related

One of the funniest calls ever. Tim Duncan gets ejected out of a game...For laughing. The ref wasn't used to the guy actually displaying emotion, and so he gave him a technical.

Lack of zazz indeed. So much so that if you even display a little now, you'll get booted from the game.

[Fordel]

I always love the contrast between players and refs in the NBA.


Giant  Man vs. Tiny  Man, with ultimately the Tiny Man holding all the power.


It's like Napoleons wet dream 

[HaemishM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu1Wz5JQEz8&feature=related

One of the funniest calls ever. Tim Duncan gets ejected out of a game...For laughing. The ref wasn't used to the guy actually displaying emotion, and so he gave him a technical.

Now THAT was ridiculous. That looked like a ref showing his ass.

[stu]

The Last NBA Cowboy?

J.A. Adande makes an arguement in favor of  Robert Horry's future Hall of Fame status. I believe he'll make the cut. My favorite players have always been the "other guys" like Kerr, Kukoc, and Hornacek, so I have a soft spot for Horry even though I don't watch as much NBA as I used to.

[stray]

Big Shot Rob. Hell yes, he deserves hall of fame status. Probably one of the best 6th men ever... And definitely one of the clutchiest players.


I can't believe what happened tonight (if anyone watched LA vs SA). 2 seconds, 2 points behind, Robert's wide open for a 3... And... Nada. No pass given to him. Fail. 

[Mosesandstick]

It would've been sweet to have LA taste their own medicine 

[Arnold]

So... I live in San Antonio. I'm a Spurs fan. Wouldn't mind seeing them kick everyone's ass yet again.

But... This might be the best chance to see another Lakers vs Celts series. Wouldn't mind seeing that as well.

Anyone else watching?

I live in Sacramento.  FUCK the Lakers!  After Sac and GS go down, San Antonio is my team.

I want to see SA vs Detroit in the championship series.

[Arnold]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu1Wz5JQEz8&feature=related

One of the funniest calls ever. Tim Duncan gets ejected out of a game...For laughing. The ref wasn't used to the guy actually displaying emotion, and so he gave him a technical.

Now THAT was ridiculous. That looked like a ref showing his ass.

Joey Crawford is a retarded dipshit with a Napoleon complex.

[Slayerik]

DEEEEEEETROIT BASKETBALL

I live in Flint, pretty close to there and it is nice to have 2 teams kickin' ass in the D.

These Celtics aren't as good as the Pistons, but I think it will take 7 for the Pistons to finish em off. Horrible officiating IMO. They seem to want Celtics to win, as probably most of the NBA fans do! 6 years in the conference finals in a row, thats pretty sweet.

[UD_Delt]

Add in the latest Donaghy news on even more fixed games and I think I might be done with the NBA for this year since there is no good outcome that can possibly happen in the playoffs or otherwise.

I will watch again next year though since the NBA loves LeBron and will eventually rig the playoffs so Cleveland can pull a championship. The Lakers vs. Celtics was too good of a story for the NBA to pass it up this year.

Just quoting myself again after the rigging that got the Lakers into the playoffs. The NBA is just too easy for the officials to decide the outcome of games. There's pretty much a foul somewhere just about every trip down the court so all the discretion goes to the officials to set the flow of the game.

I just hope the NBA rigs it in Cleveland's favor before LeBron heads to NY so we can finally end the drought.

[stray]

Hmm! Even though I love my Spurs, I can't find much to complain about the referees.... Kobe is playing phenomenally this year, and Jackson finally has a lineup where the Triangle can work again. That, and they were simply more hungry than San Antonio was.

[Mosesandstick]

With a 4-1 margin you can't say it was the refs.

I love watching these lakers play. I just think that when you combine so many players who are smart offensively, can all pass and move + triangle offense = heaven.
Not a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination but generally a joy to watch imho.

[UD_Delt]

With a 4-1 margin you can't say it was the refs.

I love watching these lakers play. I just think that when you combine so many players who are smart offensively, can all pass and move + triangle offense = heaven.
Not a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination but generally a joy to watch imho.

Ummm... actually it was the NBA that said it was the refs that cost the spurs the game not me. There is a big difference between going into game 5 with the series tied 2-2 than with the series at 3-1.

[stray]

One could say the same thing the other way around though... Kobe only went to the line literally a handful of times during the whole series. They didn't call any fouls for him.

Granted, that was part of Spurs strategy to try not to foul him as much as possible... But there were still plenty of times that he did get fouled, and didn't get any calls.

[Rasix]

No Spurs, no Pistons.  What more could a guy ask for?  Ohh yah, not so goddamn long of a lay off.  The playoffs really lose all momentum with this.

Edit: as for the hubbub with game 4?  So.. we're all clairvoyant?  No guarantee Barry hits those free throws.  No guarantee Spurs win Overtime. Yes, they got hosed on that call.  It happens.  Move on, Spurs fans, your team is too old.

[Mosesandstick]

I loved the comment about Bruce Bowen being Edward Scissorhands. The guy's defensive IQ and hand/arm quickness are off the charts. You watch him closely and you realise that he's always doing something thats nearly a foul and he is real smart about it. I would have hated to be a ref during the Spurs/Lakers series; impossible job.

[stray]

I don't carry about the bum foul in game 4. I'd rather blame Barry for not passing to Horry. That's the real problem. He recognized that the play imploded -- but he panicked because of it. That implosion created an open Robert Horry.

[Paelos]

Lakers/Celtics might be the only championship I'd ever watch outside of something with Dallas or Atlanta in it. Personally, go Celtics. I'm really sick of seeing LA or the Spurs in the finals every year.

[stray]

Get used to it. As much I like the Celts, Kobe is going to crush them.

[Paelos]

Get used to it. As much I like the Celts, Kobe is going to crush them.

I...disagree!

[stray]

Apparently, everybody does.

Random dude earlier: Dude, you sucking Kobe's cock or what?

Random dude's friend: Harharhar! Kobe steak! He's eating Kobe steak!

[Mosesandstick]

If you ask me its probably indicative of the team's quality that the Lakers have been pretty much rolling through the playoffs and the Celtics have had an um, slightly bumpy journey (go Atlanta...).

I don't think Boston has the gas to keep up with the Lakers. No one likes to talk about the Laker's defence but the strength of Phil's second unit means the Lakers play swarming defence the whole damn game. Phil's rotations also mean that he often leaves it to one guy on the opposing team to knock down jump shots. Relying on jump shots can be risky, especially later on as players get tired.

Watching the Lakers comeback time and time again against the Spurs + riding their second unit was just bloody impressive. I can't see the Celtics having that kind of staying power throughout a whole game.

[stray]

Exactly.

Though I will say that if there's one team that can ride their way on jumpers, it's the Celts. Neither player is as consistent night after night, but at least either Allen and Pierce can do it well on any given night.

Very doubtful that both will get hot in the same game though. Bryant will be assigned to either one of them -- and whoever that is, won't be scoring too well. Bryant doesn't just succeed through every possible defense -- he also stops people in man-on-man just as well as Bowen and Bell.

[Mosesandstick]

I do wonder who is going to be marking who. My guess is Phil starts off with Kobe on Ray Ray and Vlad on Pierce. I don't know whether Doc is smart enough to realise that if Kobe is guarding Allen its probably worth trying to have Allen get Kobe tired at the defensive end (though whether such a thing is actually possible, I don't know  ). Vlad guarding Pierce could go either way; he's shown himself to be capable of good defence in spurts and his height will make shooting over him difficult. Pierce will probably get to the hole fairly easily with Vlad guarding him but the Lakers have shown to be pretty good at collapsing, Gasol won't probably be marking Perkins tightly and Fisher/Farmar are going to help out on any drives.

I don't think anyone should forget about Vujacic. I'm not sure whether hes strong enough to guard Pierce but the guy is a pure pain in the arse.

[caladein]

Hey, the Celtics showed up.  This is actually going to be a fun series.

[Paelos]

The Celtics look great at home. They always do. Thing is, the Lakers always look good at home, too.

The Pierce "injury" was bizarre.

[stray]

The Pierce "injury" was bizarre.

Lol... Can you say "WWF"? When he came back, that was the first thing that came to mind.


Either that, or the Celts have Mr. Miyagi as their personal physician.

[stray]

Fuck. The Celtics are freakin' hot. 

[Mosesandstick]

I've only watched the game in spurts but some of that reffing was absolute shite. Lakers should have played better; they had a real chance when they cut the lead to 10. Celtics didn't give the Lakers any easy shots but that might not work so well for them in LA. Got to see what happens in game 3...

Edit: Maybe I should've kept watching the game.

[stray]

Holy fuck. 4 point game. 

[Paelos]

Celtics are still up 2-0, despite the  ending.

Celtics win this thing in game 6. They lose the first one on the road, win the second, lose the third, and win the whole damn thing at home.

[Rasix]

Phil Jackson really needs to stop whining.  I don't remember him bitching this much with the Jordan led Bulls and Shaq/Kobe Lakers.  If you're shooting 28 less free throws as a team, perhaps you should start driving to the hoop and stop having 80% of your team parked on the 3 point line.  Jump shooting teams don't shoot a lot of free throws.   Also, Boston just defends better.  Laker interior defense relies on a lot of contact.

That collapse last night was epic.  I was almost hoping they'd lose it.   Parked jump shooting Euros on the 3 point line can pay off at times. Especially when the other team refuses to put any effort into defense.

[stray]

Celts D is playing damn good, forcing the jumpshot, where LA can't drive even if they wanted to. And when they do drive (they meaning Kobe), they aren't getting enough calls. Of course, as I said, Celts are playing damn good defense... But there still might be something up there. Same shit happened throughout the SA series (no calls on Kobe), but the difference there was that he hit every damn jumpshot he took.

[Mosesandstick]

Heh, the one problem with having the Lakers + Jackson complain is that they probably have had a lot of calls go their way in the past.

The Lakers are not a jump shooting team though, whilst they obviously have a lot of capable shooters the triangle relies on lots of cuts to the basket and that sort of thing. The issue with an offence like the triangle is that the kind of contact and physicality you use to defend it wouldn't necessarily be the same sort you would use against a typical team driving using the pick n roll for example.

Those sort of fouls can be hard to call, but some of the calls were absolute crap. The first 3 against Kobe stand out to me. Though it seems to me that the refs responded by giving the Lakers some garbage calls in return.