[Trumpetman]

Of course my Lakers are going to win it all. They totally ripped apart the Cavs during the regular season and will in the playoffs as well.

I haven't watched all the games but ended up watching about the third period on for several of them since they have gone so long.

Bulls vs. Celtics has been amazing.

The game last night went to triple overtime. I was joking that it wouldn't stop until Doc and Vinny were suiting up again to play due to everyone running out of fouls. The whole series has been full of insane game tying or winning shots with two seconds left.

[Argento]

I'm not a huge NBA fan but I've caught every Celtics Bulls series because I thought it would be good. I have yet to be disappointed. Amazing game last night, I have no idea how Derrick Rose had the energy and the wherewithal to not bite on the spin move and elevate to drain that last second shot by Rondo. Hoping game 7 isn't a blow out.

The one thing that's bad is the rest of the playoffs will most likely pale in comparison to this series, so they'll probably lose me when the Lakers are blowing out whomever in the Western Conference finals.

The other problem I have is that the basketball playoffs go on for far to long (same with Hockey). When June rolls around I'm no longer wanting to be inside watching these sports. I want to be sitting outside watching baseball/listening to baseball on the radio.

[Trumpetman]

Celtics finally took them in the seventh game. I didn't get to watch it (Steel Drum concert instead) but game six was an amazing triple overtime monster.

Now I get to watch my Lakers whip Houston.

[Wrao]

As fun as that Celtics vs Bulls series was, the officials seriously blew it by not suspending Rondo for game 7. Like, completely blew it. Rondo not only threw Kirk Hinrich into a table, but then when Hinrich got up and pushed him, Rondo swung an elbow at his head. The rules are very clear about this, punches or elbows thrown are automatic ejections + suspensions, even if they miss. The fact that Rondo already got away with a Flagrant 1 the game prior just makes it that much more insane. I think it is really lame that they allowed that to happen. It hurts the credibility of the league, after there has already been such a bubbling controversy surrounding NBA officiating in the last few years, and how the Celtics are already the recipients of more than their share of favoritism...

I was very disappointed with that decision. However, it was very satisfying to see that punk get laid out by Joakim Noah in Game 7 and watching him lay on the floor trying to milk it, but only getting the Personal foul. Little bit of justice.


BUT, that is all behind us now. The Bulls put up a helluva fight and that series will go down in history. Looking forward I expect:

The Lakers to eviscerate the Rockets. The Nuggets should push the Mavericks back down. The Magic will whomp the Celtics, and the Cavaliers will coast to the Finals, where they will be handily dismantled by the Lakers in 5 games.

That is... if the officiating doesn't become completely unfair and one-sided...

[Maciej]

Yeah, Wrao I couldn't agree more. I'd even go as far as making the blanket statement that Rondo is a dirty player. (I do have some Celtic hate tho.)

I dig your predictions for the rest of the playoffs too. I thought the refs got in the way last year too, especially in the finals.

[jcoley2]

Still waiting for the Lakers vs. Cavs matchup.

[Wrao]

Originally Posted by Maciej Yeah, Wrao I couldn't agree more. I'd even go as far as making the blanket statement that Rondo is a dirty player. (I do have some Celtic hate tho.)

All the Celtics are dirty players! (except Leon Powe) They mob defensively creating more contact than the refs have breath to call. They regularly camp the paint for 3+ seconds, almost every rebound is a foul, and when that fails they flop and act(of course, most players flop, but Big Baby and Paul Pierce have got to be some of the worst). Sure, they do play some good ball as well, and Ray Allen is unbelievable from distance. But they would never have made it out of the first round this season or last season if the Refs called the game fairly. And to top it all off, they're all a bunch of classless pricks with no respect for the game beyond winning. I never hated the Celtics until this group showed up. Fortunately, they won't win another chip and will fade into unremarkable NBA history.

I really love Basketball, but the NBA has some soul searching to do, imo. There has always been favoritism and helped players and teams, even the teams I like have been the recipients of unfair calls in their favor, but the amount of games being decided by foul calls is dragging down the game as a whole, the amount of inconsistency with the refereeing(and I do acknowledge that NBA refs have a very very tough job), and the occasional completely blatant bias that surfaces... It just sucks. It sucks for a basketball fan, and it sucks for the league.

They should really try and revert to old school guidelines, let the players play, reduce the ticky-tack fouls, reduce the need for 'strategic' fouls, not allow triple teams, and be 100% consistent with flagrants and ejections with no exceptions. But... as with most things involving rules, the amount of rules tends to increase over time...

[Argento]

Yeah that's why the NBA is so unwatchable to me. When you have a Spurs Sun series and you eject people for acting like people (getting off the bench because your player got thrown into a table wwf style) and don't eject somebody for punching somebody else in the face, and then throwing somebody into a scorers table...well you lose pretty much all creditability at that point.

The refs in the NBA are the worst in all professional sports. Their complete lack of consistency in the calls, and weird little nuisances they abide by (like giving star player better treatment, changing how they call one game compared to the other based on the team's style of play) make it a hard league to follow.

I would love for them to go back to the old rules where you could push people around and actually play the game like people play the game on the play ground etc. That means you can get into fights, set tough picks, and get physical without the fear of being suspended for multiple games, or receiving stupid ass flagrant fouls.

But that's not going to happen...oh well.

[Argento]

Lebron is the MVP. No shocker there. The man is a cross between a Giraffe, Cheetah, and a Tank.

[Trumpetman]

There should be some shock to it. It really isn't fair until they find some way of evening out the conferences more. The Eastern conference is such a joke right now. How cares if Lebron got a couple more of anything (points, assists, etc.) if you are doing it against a bunch of sub .500 teams.

Again the West is just so stacked. You beat everyone out and it really is something. The Lakers just beat Utah which had 48 wins. They were the eighth seed. In the East they would have been the FOURTH seed.

I'm not saying Lebron sucks. I'm just saying he hasn't won anything yet and it seems to be that when the pressure gets bigger, for now he shrinks.

[Argento]

Originally Posted by Trumpetman There should be some shock to it. It really isn't fair until they find some way of evening out the conferences more. The Eastern conference is such a joke right now. How cares if Lebron got a couple more of anything (points, assists, etc.) if you are doing it against a bunch of sub .500 teams. Again the West is just so stacked. You beat everyone out and it really is something. The Lakers just beat Utah which had 48 wins. They were the eighth seed. In the East they would have been the FOURTH seed. I'm not saying Lebron sucks. I'm just saying he hasn't won anything yet and it seems to be that when the pressure gets bigger, for now he shrinks.

I don't see how. The east might be bottom heavy but their top teams are as good as the West's. Also, who is Lebron playing with again? He has no where near the support any of the other MVP candidates have (except Wade) and there isn't a weak point to his game.

The award is for Most Valuable Player. Take Kobe away and they have other players to carry the load, take Lebron away and the Cavss are sunk (same for Wade). Infact, I would say that it should be Lebron, Wade, and then Kobe.

Also, he shrinks from pressure? The guy single handily got them to the Finals, and he almost single handily beat the Celtics last year. He went shot for shot with Paul Pierce last year in a game 7 at the Garden...people who shrink from pressure don't do that. The other thing is that Kobe has to get his points even to the determinate of the team. Kobe scored 31 points on 32 shots last night in a loss... Lebron doesn't have that night for a couple reasons. The first he's much more unselfish (look at his assists this year compared to Kobe), and he has a post game that Kobe doesn't have.

There really was no debate about this, look at the vote total. James got all but two first place votes which I'm sure were cast by some sports writer in LA.

[Wrao]

Originally Posted by Argento The first he's much more unselfish (look at his assists this year compared to Kobe), and he has a post game that Kobe doesn't have.

Few things:

1) Neither player is a post player, they don't play the pivot. They play the 2 and 3 respectively, and history has shown that Kobe is just as good at getting to the rim as anyone. (he's posterized Yao, Dwight, Tim Duncan...etc...etc.)


2) Assists ≠ indicate whether a player is selfish or not.

Firstly, the Cavaliers run the ball through Lebron. He is their primary playmaker, he holds the ball for the majority of the majority of possessions.
Secondly, the Cavalier offensive scheme is based around Lebron. The Lakers run a variation of the Triangle Offense, the Triangle Offense is designed to not focus on any individual player when it comes to ball handling and distribution. Fun Fact: No Player playing under Phil Jackon's Triangle Offense has ever averaged more than 6 assists a game.
Thirdly, Kobe averages ~2 minutes less time per game as Lebron. This might not seem like a big deal comparatively, but 2 minutes is more than enough time to get a dime, board and bucket.

[Wrao]

Originally Posted by Argento I don't see how. The east might be bottom heavy but their top teams are as good as the West's.

Because when you're playing mostly sub .500 teams you have a much greater opportunity to pad your stats than you do when you're playing teams that actually bite back. Yes, the top teams on the East are very good, but the majority of the teams in the East are inferior to the majority of teams in the West, and the Cavs play each of those teams 3 or 4 times compared to 1 or 2 for West teams. This is why stats shouldn't matter so much when considering the MVP, far too many variables.

Also, who is Lebron playing with again? He has no where near the support any of te other MVP candidates have (except Wade) and there isn't a weak point to his game.

Lebron has a weak jump shot(his FG % is mostly based on dunks, his jump shooting FG% is closer to 30%) He is not a good free throw shooter, and if you put [Kobe on him he won't score, dish, or rebound.

Lebron is a very good player, and he did deserve MVP this year. But, by any metric, Kobe also deserved it, to sweep Kobe under a rug is disrespectful to him and to the game.

[jcoley2]

Wow, we have seen two amazing games the last two nights. The Magic did a great job coming back from a 16 point deficit.

[PKIDelirium]

Holy shit that shot almost went in.

[jcoley2]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium Holy shit that shot almost went in.

They could have called a foul too. I actually think the Lakers would prefer the Cavs. The Magic look very dangerous and have a lot of shooting options, esp. from the three point arc.

[ezkcdude]

Holy heck! I can't believe Orlando came back!

[jcoley2]

Originally Posted by ezkcdude Holy heck! I can't believe Orlando came back!

They wore down Lebron and no one else could shoot. That and the Magic hit some clutch 3's in the 4th quarter.

[Wrao]

Originally Posted by jcoley2 They could have called a foul too. I actually think the Lakers would prefer the Cavs. The Magic look very dangerous and have a lot of shooting options, esp. from the three point arc.

They could have called a lot of fouls. Notably both of Lebron's "blocks" against Dwight Howard. The officiating was pretty terrible*, but, for whatever reason the Refs swallowed their whistles for the last 6 minutes of the game, and let the players play.

Magic are a unique offense because they have such a gifted "true center" in Dwight Howard, but if he's being contained, they have gifted 3-point shooters(as well as Turkoglu who seems capable of hitting a shot from anywhere). But, the Magic did not win this game with their offense. They closed the game by contesting shots, not fouling, running the clock, and getting important stops.

Also, How about Lebron? did he even miss last night? that was an impressive performance, even if he was gifted a handful of plays.

*How about that one sequence when Dwight "fouled" Lebron at the basket with the slightest body contact, then on the play immediately following it Reshard Lewis drew a chest full of contact, only to hit the deck, miss the bucket and not have a foul called. It's one thing to be inconsistent throughout a game, that is liable to happen. But on back-to-back plays... That's just lame.

[jcoley2]

Damn my Lakers tonight. Sloppy ball handling, could not shoot critical free throws in the 4th and could not get the ball to Kobe. Good game though. Turning out to be an excellent series.

[curiousuburb]

So I guess these MVP LeBron & Kobe ads go here... I'm not a big BB fan (it ain't ice hockey), but hey, muppets!

Unstoppable
Three Rings
Chalk

[Maciej]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb So I guess these MVP LeBron & Kobe ads go here... I'm not a big BB fan (it ain't ice hockey), but hey, muppets! Unstoppable Three Rings Chalk

I really like those commercials. They make me laugh every time. Muppets are just too funny.

[evan]

I'd rather see melo vs. lebron. kobe's an ass

[ezkcdude]

It may end up Melo vs. Superman.

[jcoley2]

OMG what a finish and come from behind win.

[ezkcdude]

James Ftw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All Hail The King.

[jcoley2]

I spoke too early. That was an amazing shot Lebron hit at the end to win it.

[Maciej]

I am impressed. But I still think Magic wins the series, in 5 or 6 games.

Can we get these threads merged? Maybe just the 2009 NBA playoffs threads.

[Wrao]

Originally Posted by jcoley2 OMG what a finish and come from behind win.

I don't know if you can call it a come from behind win. Sure, it technically was. But The Magic were down that entire game, by a significant margin. Cavaliers held on and won it with a prayer. This series has become very interesting.

edit: oh, you were referring to the Magic. Yeah, heh.

[jcoley2]

One step closer to Kobe vs. Lebron . . .