NBA Discussion Thread*

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 30, 2008, 4:25 pm

I feel like Avery is basically the polar opposite of D'Antoni. I know that the Suns need to shake it up a bit, but do you think that a team based around Nash/Amare would respond well to a coach who insists on micromanaging plays?

Maybe it would work. The Suns apparently want to emphasize set plays to get Amare the ball, and maybe they could use some of Johnson's intensity. Although pairing a team known for tightening up and losing in the playoffs with a coach known for the same doesn't seem ideal right off the bat. Maybe they'd both chill out a bit with a change.

If you can monday morning quarterback the Shaq trade that you were busy praising two weeks ago and that was accepted as a risk when it was made, I think it's legitimate for me to monday morning quarterback the Suns giving away valuable assets in moves that I've been consistently panning since they were made.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 4:39 pm

Sueven wrote: If you can monday morning quarterback the Shaq trade that you were busy praising two weeks ago and that was accepted as a risk when it was made, I think it's legitimate for me to monday morning quarterback the Suns giving away valuable assets in moves that I've been consistently panning since they were made.

I'm not Monday morning QB'ing. I know what happened and why. I'm saying it failed and Shaq can't make basic plays and needs to go now or just sit on the bench and be the mascott for 54 million the next two years.

I'm not opposed to Avery Johnson. I'm running down the list of coaches and having a hard time finding a good one that would be available. They aren't run and gun anymore anyway.

I bet D'Antoni ends up in Toronto with Colangelo there. Chicago would be interesting though. I wouldn't want to take the NY job unless it was the only one available.

noel · Post by **noel** » April 30, 2008, 4:46 pm

See I don't see how you can say Shaq sucks now. If you're comparing him to how he was when he played for the Magic and the Lakers, sure he sucks, but he's playing far BETTER than he was in Miami which is more than what you could have expected. If he wasn't 20mill a year he wouldn't suck, he'd be a bargain, but blame Pat Riley for that.

I don't know why anyone would consider trading Nash. Many point guards have played late in their careers and done really well (Stockton, Kidd until basically this year).

I think you trade for a legitimate center who can back up/share time with Shaq, and trade Bell (who's a really good role player) for someone who can give them some more defensive toughness. I think you tell D'Antoni to play some D (hell, Kerr can show them how to do that), learn to use a bench, and get them back to the playoffs.

You guys keep saying the Suns are getting old... Aside from Shaq, how much older are the Suns than the SPURS?

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 30, 2008, 5:03 pm

noel wrote:I don't know why anyone would consider trading Nash. Many point guards have played late in their careers and done really well (Stockton, Kidd until basically this year).

Because he slipped markedly this year, it doesn't look like the team as constituted can go any farther than they have, and you might be able to get some valuable assets for him. I mean, I don't think you trade him either, considering he's still good and his value won't drop that much as he continues to slip, because he'll become an expiring contract. But you've got to think about it.

noel wrote:I think you trade for a legitimate center who can back up/share time with Shaq, and trade Bell (who's a really good role player) for someone who can give them some more defensive toughness.

What legitimate center is available? What trade chips do the Suns have to go get that center? They have absolutely no valuable young players (minus Barbosa and Amare) because they gave away all their recent draft picks, and they don't have any future first round picks to trade for the same reason.

Raja Bell is a 32 year old defensive specialist / jump shooter with a reasonable contract. Who are you going to get in trade that's more useful?

I kind of agree that the Suns will largely stand pat and try it again next year (although I think they'll have a new coach), but I don't see them getting any better until they blow the team up. I don't really see a decent avenue for going about blowing up the team, though, so maybe your plan is best for the time being.

noel · Post by **noel** » April 30, 2008, 5:14 pm

I'll concede/agree with all your points except:

Sueven wrote:he slipped markedly this year

How bad did he actually slip (excluding the fourth quarter of last night's game!)? Granted I don't follow the Suns as much as I'd like, but even slipping it would still be a challenge to name 4 PGs in the NBA who are better than him. OK, trade value, but I just don't think you trade Nash.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 30, 2008, 5:30 pm

I guess it's not fair to conclusively state that he's slipped. I'm just concerned because he's 34, he's got a bad back, and... OK, I'm probably being excessively influenced by his last two playoff games (7 assists in two games?!).

But if you can't win a title with him (and it doesn't look like Phoenix can, although that's no fault of Nash's), why do you have him? To sell tickets, I guess.

It reminds me of baseball, when a team like the Orioles will hold onto a player like Miguel Tejada even though they're clearly not going to win anything with or without him and he's not going to be worthwhile by the time they're ready to win anything. Then you end up watching your unhappy star mope for your shitty team until you give him away for 25 cents on the dollar three years after you could have given him away for 75 cents on the dollar, and meanwhile you've lost three valuable years that you could have spent building for the future instead of trying to win with a team that everyone knew wasn't going to win a damn thing anyway.

This is obviously a different situation. It reminds me more of the Bibby/Stojakovic/Webber Kings. That team was so close to winning that management just couldn't bring themselves to blow it up when it was obvious the team was slipping and not going back uphill anytime soon. So they embarked on a half-assed rebuilding plan, which in actuality just led the team getting worse and worse every year until they finally committed and got rid of Bibby this year. Now they're irrelevant, and who knows how long it'll take for them to climb back up the food chain again. In my mind, a team should always be doing one of two things: Trying to win a title or rebuilding.

I guess the exception is if you're a consistently and historically horrible team who suddenly finds yourself moderately successful. Then it's OK to drag out the period of moderate success and try to make slight improvements to build up your team and transform the franchise into one which could conceivably host a champion one day. The current Wizards are a great example of this.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 5:55 pm

I watched all the Suns games and Nash has slipped this year for sure. He seemed out of it. I'm almost positive it happened when Shaq came to the Suns. He lost a little leadership with that move. He's also just slipping physically as well.

I would add Diaw to Amare and Barbosa. I like Diaw. He's no superstart but he's finally playing agressive and just plain owned everyone that guarded him in the Spurs series. Diaw made all of his little jump hooks. Shaq missed 80% of them.

Amare/Barbosa/Diaw

That's what the Suns should keep. Dump the rest. Give Nash a chance somewhere else to get a ring. We're stuck with Shaq so that's why 2011 looks like the target date for being contenders again with one huge or two big time free agents used with Nash/Shaq cap money. We'll miss out by a year on the Labron and Chris Paul sweepstakes.

Shaq is a liability more than an asset on the floor. He has no hands anymore. Fumbles shit away, makes poor outlet passes and, again, can't make a simple hoop under the basket anymore. He also burns you with hack a Shaq but everyone already knew that.

Post by **Sylvus** » April 30, 2008, 5:56 pm

Sueven wrote:I guess it's not fair to conclusively state that he's slipped. I'm just concerned because he's 34, he's got a bad back, and... OK, I'm probably being excessively influenced by his last two playoff games (7 assists in two games?!).

I'd have to dig through a number of 10+ page threads from previous seasons to be sure, but before this season couldn't Steve Nash get 7 assists in only one or two possessions???

At least that's what Winnow made me believe.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 30, 2008, 6:06 pm

Winnow wrote:I would add Diaw to Amare and Barbosa. I like Diaw. He's no superstart but he's finally playing agressive and just plain owned everyone that guarded him in the Spurs series. Diaw made all of his little jump hooks. Shaq missed 80% of them.

Did you watch a different series, or did you only watch a game? Diaw was playing like he was afraid to shoot over men smaller than him on the block when the San Antonio big men were not near him. He was throwing up weak shots on drives as if he was hoping to get fouled and not "have" to make a shot.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 6:08 pm

Sylvus wrote:
Sueven wrote:I guess it's not fair to conclusively state that he's slipped. I'm just concerned because he's 34, he's got a bad back, and... OK, I'm probably being excessively influenced by his last two playoff games (7 assists in two games?!).
I'd have to dig through a number of 10+ page threads from previous seasons to be sure, but before this season couldn't Steve Nash get 7 assists in only one or two possessions???

We're talking about him slipping in 2008, not his greatness the three years prior. He just a man! All MVPs must eventually succumb to father time.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 30, 2008, 6:08 pm

Diaw is a nice versatile player, but he averages about 9 points per game and gets paid 9 million a year. He is young and useful though, so I guess that's just one of those contracts that you have to deal with.

Do you think that Diaw and Amare can co-exist playing at their peaks? The last two games of the Spurs series were the ones where Amare played like crap. Diaw's breakout season came the year that Amare was out for knee surgery, and he reverted to crappy play the next year when Amare returned. Coincidence?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 6:09 pm

Boogahz wrote:
Winnow wrote:I would add Diaw to Amare and Barbosa. I like Diaw. He's no superstart but he's finally playing agressive and just plain owned everyone that guarded him in the Spurs series. Diaw made all of his little jump hooks. Shaq missed 80% of them.
Did you watch a different series, or did you only watch a game? Diaw was playing like he was afraid to shoot over men smaller than him on the block when the San Antonio big men were not near him. He was throwing up weak shots on drives as if he was hoping to get fouled and not "have" to make a shot.

The series I watched, Diaw was two assists away from a triple double.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 6:13 pm

Sueven wrote:Diaw is a nice versatile player, but he averages about 9 points per game and gets paid 9 million a year. He is young and useful though, so I guess that's just one of those contracts that you have to deal with.

Do you think that Diaw and Amare can co-exist playing at their peaks? The last two games of the Spurs series were the ones where Amare played like crap. Diaw's breakout season came the year that Amare was out for knee surgery, and he reverted to crappy play the next year when Amare returned. Coincidence?

I think Diaw has trade value to be honest. He's got skills and you're right in that he may shine on another team that doesn't have an Amare. I would hate to lose Diaw though now that he's finally backing down the smaller players that have to guard him.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 30, 2008, 6:17 pm

Winnow wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
Winnow wrote:I would add Diaw to Amare and Barbosa. I like Diaw. He's no superstart but he's finally playing agressive and just plain owned everyone that guarded him in the Spurs series. Diaw made all of his little jump hooks. Shaq missed 80% of them.
Did you watch a different series, or did you only watch a game? Diaw was playing like he was afraid to shoot over men smaller than him on the block when the San Antonio big men were not near him. He was throwing up weak shots on drives as if he was hoping to get fouled and not "have" to make a shot.
The series I watched, Diaw was two assists away from a triple double.

The series is more than one game. His averages for the Spurs series was 14.6ppg, 4.6 apg, 5.6 rpg. Game 2 was the one he was benefitting most from mismatches while posting up. He had 9 points, 1 assist, and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes played...

I am not saying that he is a poor player, but to say that he was taking advantage of the mismatches is to ignore many instances where he backed someone up just to pass the ball back out to the guard without even faking any attempt at a basket. He changed this later in the series, but the Suns just didn't seem to look like they believed they could come back to win the series as a whole. Too little, too late.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 6:36 pm

With two years and $8.5 million left on his contract, D'Antoni is unlikely to be fired. If he returns, it could be with concessions to change. But there is also the possibility that he leaves of his own accord, especially with a perceived lack of support - and interest from New York and Chicago, both of which have vacancies. There is also the chance Toronto President Bryan Colangelo fires Sam Mitchell to hire the coach he brought to Phoenix from Italy.

An article in this week's Sports Illustrated will fan the flames. It paints a picture of a divide between the coaching staff and front office staff. It talks about D'Antoni resenting Suns General Manager Steve Kerr working out of San Diego and taking perceived shots at him in the press, and that Kerr thinks D'Antoni is too stubborn to accept Kerr's suggestions, whether it be in strategy or personnel use.

Sources confirmed an SI anecdote that Kerr and D'Antoni had an early November argument in which Kerr suggested that the Suns feature post-up plays for Amaré Stoudemire more often. That incited D'Antoni, who set off a shouting match that included him saying, "Don't tell me how to coach offense."

Since then, Kerr has expressed public support for D'Antoni, who has also been complimentary of Kerr, especially when Kerr changed his mind to be on board with trading for Shaquille O'Neal after initial reservations.

As D'Antoni came under fire the past week, Kerr would say only that evaluations would be made after the season while D'Antoni became obviously irritated with the ordeal.

A postseason meeting between D'Antoni and the front office will settle the direction the Suns front office and D'Antoni want to take.

I think Colangelo would love to have the coach he brought in for the Suns back for Toronto.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 30, 2008, 6:53 pm

From current Chad Ford chat (can you tell that I'm being real productive today)

Robert (Fresno CA): Think Larry Brown is already regretting the Charlotte Gig..he could've gone to Dallas!

Chad Ford: (5:17 PM ET ) Sorry ... but Charlotte has a brighter long term future than Dallas or Phoenix does right now. Both of those teams are getting very old and both have done a very poor job of cultivating young talent to replace guys down the road. With so many younger teams in the West loading up ... I don't think it's out of the question that neither Dallas nor Phoenix are in the playoffs next year.

noel · Post by **noel** » April 30, 2008, 7:58 pm

I do agree with Winnow that when Shaq arrived, Nash's game suffered the most. He literally looked like a painter who's used to doing murals and someone handed him a hammer and asked him to keep doing murals. It was like he really didn't know what to do with Shaq, but he's a consummate professional/team-player so he did what he could to make the best of it. I just don't think you can expect that to work in 2-3 months.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 30, 2008, 8:10 pm

noel wrote:I do agree with Winnow that when Shaq arrived, Nash's game suffered the most. He literally looked like a painter who's used to doing murals and someone handed him a hammer and asked him to keep doing murals. It was like he really didn't know what to do with Shaq, but he's a consummate professional/team-player so he did what he could to make the best of it. I just don't think you can expect that to work in 2-3 months.

I was going to comment on this on the last page as well. Adding Shaq to a team and planning to make him a key part of the play calling takes some time. As a mid-season trade, this was a big one. Teams were built around him, but he was being pulled into a fast system that was already successful. He is not a fast person generally, and having a functional system that is designed to get the ball down the court and start passing/shot selection, is something that would take some time to get "right." While I thought Shaq was a good addition to the team, I think he was a poor mid-season addition for a team planning on running through the playoffs.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 8:33 pm

Well, either the Mavs or Suns, or both will have a major shakeup in the off season. I think the Mavs are in slightly worse shape than the Suns.

Neither team would want to go back into the season with the same lineup. Suns get the 15th pick in the draft. Trade it and Diaw for Dirk. Maybe the Suns can get Josh Smith from Atlanta for Diaw. hehe.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 30, 2008, 9:20 pm

I can see a shakeup, but I don't see the Mavs trading Dirk. Who else would they rebuild around?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 9:24 pm

Boogahz wrote:I can see a shakeup, but I don't see the Mavs trading Dirk. Who else would they rebuild around?

Nobody. Remember when the Suns rebuilt? They grabbed Nash and teamed him with a bunch of young up and coming players:

(Nash)

Joe Johnson
Amare
Marion
Q Richardson

and no bench.

That team made waves and then it took off from there for the next four years and now has collapsed.

Mavs need to clean house, grab one good player and then add a bunch of young promising players. (they're stuck with Kidd)

Dirk is getting old. I wouldn't rebuild around him.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 30, 2008, 9:35 pm

Winnow wrote:
Boogahz wrote:I can see a shakeup, but I don't see the Mavs trading Dirk. Who else would they rebuild around?
Nobody. Remember when the Suns rebuilt? They grabbed Nash and teamed him with a bunch of young up and coming players

Who did they have TO rebuild around? Why would you want Dirk, but not build around him like Nash?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2008, 10:07 pm

Boogahz wrote:
Winnow wrote:
Boogahz wrote:I can see a shakeup, but I don't see the Mavs trading Dirk. Who else would they rebuild around?
Nobody. Remember when the Suns rebuilt? They grabbed Nash and teamed him with a bunch of young up and coming players
Who did they have TO rebuild around? Why would you want Dirk, but not build around him like Nash?

They tried building around Dirk...that started four years ago when they let Nash go and kept Dirk.

Dirk isn't going to win you a championship as the key player.

noel · Post by **noel** » April 30, 2008, 10:57 pm

I think Cuban loves Irk too much to trade him, but he absolutely should. He's one of the better owners in the league and I really hope he blows that team the fuck up.

I agree the Mavs are in a worse spot than the Suns.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 30, 2008, 11:12 pm

In fairness, Marion was already a star when Nash arrived. The 4 previous seasons he'd averaged between 17.3 and 21.2 points, 9.3 and 10.7 rebounds, 1.7 and 2.3 steals, and 1.1 and 1.4 blocks. He got more press when Nash arrived, but his numbers have been relatively consistent.

Also in fairness, Amare isn't your typical promising youngster. You could have twenty promising youngster, and nobody would be surprised if none of them were close to as good as Amare.

It's really unlikely that the Suns get Josh Smith. He's a restricted free agent. You could try to sign him, but you have no cap space. To get him would require a sign-and-trade, and I can't see any way to pull that off. The Hawks can just stand pat and retain him, so they would need to think that whatever package you were offering was more beneficial to them than retaining Smith. You don't have anyone like that with the exception of Amare. Even if the Hawks were interested in swapping him for Diaw for some incomprehensible reason, they would first have to sign Smith to a long-term contract, and that contract would be substantially larger than Diaw's and the deal would therefore likely not work.

I really like the Spurs model. They have three stars, and those three stars are locked up with big contracts. Beyond that, they fill in the gaps with role players on short small contracts. Of course, to emulate that, you need to get three stars. And then you need to convince role players that it's worth signing with your team instead of chasing money elsewhere. That's a lot easier to do when you have a proven system and a championship pedigree. It's also a tough model to emulate when you've already got shitty players signed to massive contracts (cough cough Erick Dampier).

I agree that the Mavs are in substantially worse shape than the Suns. In terms of young talent, the Suns have Amare, who rocks, and Barbosa, who at worst is a vicious 6th man combo guard in the mold of Bobby Jackson in his heyday. The Mavs have... Brandon Bass.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 1, 2008, 3:26 am

Sueven wrote: I really like the Spurs model. They have three stars, and those three stars are locked up with big contracts. Beyond that, they fill in the gaps with role players on short small contracts.

We had that in Nash, Amare and Marion.(three All Stars) Didn't work although it came close.

Aardor · Post by **Aardor** » May 1, 2008, 6:29 pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/080501

Bill Simmons article about the Phoenix Suns and why they failed (basically). It almost made me hate their owner as much as I hate Billy King.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 1, 2008, 6:47 pm

Putting everything together like that hurts.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 1, 2008, 7:07 pm

That article states pretty much what I've repeated for years about the Suns. They were a great team to watch and kept their fans well entertained.

From there, Connelly unleashed his theory of "critically acclaimed" sports teams (check the podcast for the full details) and how these Suns teams would be cheerfully remembered some day like we remember Coryell's Chargers and the Fab Five. In other words, it didn't really matter that they never won a championship, just like it didn't matter that "Pulp Fiction" didn't win an Oscar, "The Wire" never won an Emmy and "Arrested Development" bombed in the ratings. We would always remember them fondly and feel like they were more successful than they actually were.

Thanks for the good times!

Spang · Post by **Spang** » May 1, 2008, 7:11 pm

They'll always be World Champs in my heart.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » May 1, 2008, 10:05 pm

Winnow wrote:That article states pretty much what I've repeated for years about the Suns.

It also states how fucking stupid your team was to give away incredibly valuable assets for nothing. How you can read that article and not be enraged I have no idea. Hell, it enrages me, and I'm just a Sixers fan who enjoyed watching the Suns.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » May 1, 2008, 11:11 pm

I like what he said about The Wire, Arrested Development and Pulp Fiction. However, their fate was up to some douchebag critics where the Suns failures were up to them.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 2, 2008, 12:24 am

Doesn't change the fact that they were fun to watch for four years! They may not have been as entertaining had they traded away players to keep picks. Sure mistakes were made.

Always so negative!

I agree that some of the draft picks wold have been great additions. It's in the past though. All you can do is look to the future. Blow the team up, get some picks and work toward another four year run from 2011-2015.

Four years on, two years off is the Suns cycle. Look at the Barkley years, etc. I'm OK with it and am entertained by the Suns (with Sueven, Aardor and others proving that the Suns have/had national appeal with their style of play)

82 games of fun or 90 something games of boredom and a championship. I'll take the 82+ games and a chance as it's more valuable when you think of the amount of time you spend watching games during the regular season for entertainment value.

It follows my "journey is more important than the destination" philosophy. Enjoy the 82 regular season games...sleep with someone 82 times and then hand them off to get married to the boring guy. Repeat the next year. One year you might stick with them and get hitched but it will be fun every year in the meantime. The boring guy doesn't realize his prize is being used all year long and it's just a used up trophy they end up with. (crappy ass NBA finals TV ratings bear out my analogy) Grats on the trophy! I fucked that trophy in the ass all season long! ...wait, that's not quite right.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » May 2, 2008, 11:38 am

Joe Johnson should not have been an issue at all. If Rick Pitino was not an incompetent buffoon, Johnson would still be in Boston. In fact, even with the butchery Pitino made, they could have had a good team there for several years just with drafted talent. You would be looking at Chauncy Billups at PG, Joe Johnson at SG, Paul Pierce as SF, Al Jefferson at PF, and Kendrick Perkins at C.

They definitely would not have been the joke of the last decade with that lineup...and been able to fill in with some quality free agents since they would have been winning games.

Gzette · Post by **Gzette** » May 2, 2008, 1:29 pm

Ugh the Mavs are in BAD shape. It looks like Josh Howard has fucked himself off the team (a shame because i like his pot smoking ass). I'm still unsure on the AJ firing, but it appears the team lost confidence in him, and he lost confidence with his ability to coach there. AJ was also a big proponent of acquiring Danpiere (Ugh). The Mavs have never addressed the need for a big, dominant presence down low. Dirk should and will stay. Kidd will stay unfortunately. That trade makes the Shaq trade appear like genius. Talk about trading away your future. Why do you trade a pretty good, young PG in Devin Harris along with a shit load of draft picks, and depth down low in Lasagna Diop (which they now have zero since we're lucky if Danpiere can get out of the first half with less than three fouls and more than 3 points).

I heard on the radio that Josh Howard and Devin harris are good buddies and JHo hasnt played as well since.

Blow the fucker up and it still won't matter. They're fucked on pay roll for awhile.

Kidd is gonna get like 21 million for a shitty season, and Howard (who is mroe valuable IMO) is making much less and will be traded. UGH

Michael Finley of the Spurs bench squad will get 18 million from the Mavs next year. UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHH!!!!

I forgot Danpiere's salary, but its safe to say that it's too much.

So I foresee a lot of the undesirables staying and Josh Howard leaving.

Mavs need a decent 2 guard and, as always, an actual center.

I assume Cuban will blow up the team and sign a bunch of old players for way too much money and trade away draft picks for the next decade.

Disappointing

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 2, 2008, 1:43 pm

Gzette wrote: Michael Finley of the Spurs bench squad will get 18 million from the Mavs next year. UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHH!!!!

Ouch. Finley's done. He was abused by Diaw like he wasn't even there when Boris had the ball backing him down. 18 million is brutal for Finley at this point in his career. (at least Shaq can help out the police force and is popular enough to help out with other public relations things while he sits on the bench)

Gzette · Post by **Gzette** » May 2, 2008, 2:00 pm

I'm guessing he'll find a way to play next year with that kind of money coming to him.

noel · Post by **noel** » May 3, 2008, 2:50 am

Assertion: The Hawks beating the Celtics would be a bigger upset than the Warriors/Mavs last year. Actually, where the Hawks are now is a bigger upset than the Warriors/Mavs last year.

Anyone agree?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 3, 2008, 3:39 am

noel wrote:Assertion: The Hawks beating the Celtics would be a bigger upset than the Warriors/Mavs last year. Actually, where the Hawks are now is a bigger upset than the Warriors/Mavs last year.

Anyone agree?

I agree. I don't think ATL can get a win in Boston but holding serve against them is an oustanding accomplishment and the Celtics should be embarrassed. I mostly like seeing this happen because of Garnett.

Chris Paul was robbed on the MVP. I don't care that Kobe has never gotten it before.

This is great. Horford is flashing the Victory gang sign (according to the gang sign chart) but is off the hook because he hid it my putting up an open five so it looks like "game seven". It could also be mocking Paul Pierce meaning "25" for the 25K Pierce was fined. Brilliant!

If he really meant game seven, he would have switched hands for the 2 and the 5.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 3, 2008, 9:02 am

lol

Why would he switch hands? I know that if I am trying to indicate 7 with my hands, that is the way I would do so too.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 3, 2008, 5:59 pm

Boogahz wrote:lol

Why would he switch hands? I know that if I am trying to indicate 7 with my hands, that is the way I would do so too.

You're making the seven for someone looking at you not for yourself to see, just like when you make an "L" for loser on your forehead, it needs to be an "L" from the viewpoint of your victim.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 3, 2008, 9:22 pm

Winnow wrote:
Boogahz wrote:lol

Why would he switch hands? I know that if I am trying to indicate 7 with my hands, that is the way I would do so too.
You're making the seven for someone looking at you not for yourself to see, just like when you make an "L" for loser on your forehead, it needs to be an "L" from the viewpoint of your victim.

um, you're reaching, and not with the right hand

noel · Post by **noel** » May 4, 2008, 5:31 pm

I think the thing that bothers me the most about the way the Celtics played in that series was that, especially with today's win, it's almost like they were sandbagging the whole series.

Hopefully the basketball gods will smile upon us and give us the Lakers-Celtics finals we've been waiting for since the '87 finals.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 4, 2008, 5:46 pm

What the hell happened to Atlanta today? I just flipped over to see the score in the third quarter when I remembered the game was on, and I promptly changed it back to the soccer game I was watching. I think the score was 68-34 when I checked.

noel · Post by **noel** » May 4, 2008, 6:31 pm

I didn't get to watch the game, but the score would indicate that the Celts just annihilated the Hawks. My questions is... if they can beat them by that much at home, what the hell was wrong with them in Atlanta?

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » May 5, 2008, 11:57 am

In every game in Atlanta, the Celtics were just piddling along with no fire at all....just launching jumper after jumper. In Boston, they were slashing or pounding it inside. They have to keep taking it inside to win. They better keep their game up for Cleveland or they will be done in 6. If they keep their level of play to where it was for the Boston games, they will be impossible to beat.

Post by **Sylvus** » May 5, 2008, 12:06 pm

I'm kind of confused as to how there were second round games going on while the first round wasn't even finished.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 5, 2008, 12:57 pm

Finals Prediction:

New Orleans > Detroit

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » May 5, 2008, 1:51 pm

Sylvus wrote:I'm kind of confused as to how there were second round games going on while the first round wasn't even finished.

The world can't wait for Boston to stop being retarded. But in all honesty, the first two rounds started overlapping when they took first round games to best of seven series.

Spang · Post by **Spang** » May 6, 2008, 12:38 am

The Suns should have done what the Hornets are doing.