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NBA Finals Thread
- Thread starter burk48237
- Start date
Scot, Perhaps you need a slight history lesson. The Pistons that got swept for Carlisle had an injured Chauncy Billips and they had not traded for Wallace (Rasheed) at that time. Michael Curry was the starting small forward, Cliff Robinson was the starting power forward. It's a miracle that team got to the playoffs. On the other hand the REASON Carlisle was fired was he had two rookies he refused to play, Tashon Prince and Mehmet Okur.
LB was a great game coach, but he didn't have a chance at a title until the Piston got Rasheed. After the Rasheed trade the Pistons clearly were the dominant team on Basketball for the rest of that season. People forget that Pistons championship team had Mehmet Okur, Corlis Williamson, and Mike James on the Bench. The reason LB was fired after the second season was because HE was a Prima Donna. How can you keep a coach whose openly talking about other jobs (Cavs GM, Knicks coaching) while your in a playoff run? It was utterly classless. Especially considering the Pistons let him take extended time off during the season for surgery. It is a tribute to that team that had no bench, that they got as far as they did. Are their some prima donnas on that team? well duh it's the NBA.
Speaking of prima donnas, whose a better coach Isaih or LB? If you look at the great job LB did with the Knicks it would be hard to tell. LB is a good teacher, a very good game coach. But he's only won one NBA title, and that was with that bunch of prima donna players. Do you think that maybe the players had something to do with it?
Scott in Dallas
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Lucky to make the playoffs? The Pistons won 50 games and were the number one seed. They won 50 games the year before. Carlisle was fired because Larry Brown was available. They had the defensive player of the year and the sixth man of the year. Thanks for trying to re-educate me, but I'll stick with truth over fiction.
Larry Brown's resume speaks for itself. He went to the finals both years he was in Detroit, and they have gone back to being an underachieving disappointment without him. If it were the players then they should probably have won at least one title without him, or at very least gone to the Finals after a historic regular season. Instead they've gone back to being eliminated by inferior teams.
Oh wait, you thought they got robbed by the officials for their losses. That's right. It certainly must be that and not the coaching.
The Spurs are rough the Cavs up pretty good, I'd say. Hell, I'd take most of the teams that made the playoffs in the West over the Cavs right now. I think it might be time to stand up and acknowledge how much the Eastern Conference sucked this year.
That's fair enough.
As I saw it last year, though, the Heat ran into a superior Mavericks team that also happened to be an incredibly mentally fragile unit. We saw it from that bunch again this year - it seems that once they encounter an ounce of adversity, the Mavs fold. The Spurs are the polar opposite of the Mavs in that department.
Plus, SA is better at both ends of the court than Cleveland, they have a better bench, and the coaching mismatch is tremendous. This really looks like a slam dunk to me. Then again, I'm an idiot.
Cavs have just as good as chance to win. I remember how everyone was looking past the Bulls for the Heat. Don't dismiss the Cavs, anything can happen.
In fairness, Cleveland would not have beaten Detroit had Daniel Gibson not emerged from nowhere. Credit the Cleveland management for drafting him. But none of the predictors ( including me) saw that coming. And you can't blame them. I'll go with the Spurs in six. The only reason Cleveland competes, is that Duncan will have some foul trouble games.
Those Detroit teams that won fifty games did it on grit and defense. Billups and Hamilton were their only legitimate offensive threats. Many teams do that during the Regular season. If you work hard every night you'll win your share of games, because most NBA teams don't. Unfortunately that breaks-down quick in the playoffs. Carlisle was a great coach in that respect, but he lost the team after a couple of years. His spiel gets old. The same thing happened in Indiana.
Yes LB was hired because he became available. Joe D did the right thing, he is a great teacher (didn't I say that before?) and a great game coach. But theirs a reason LB never STAYS ANYWHERE, LB is all about LB. And he is certainly as big a prima donna as any NBA player. Most Pistons fans wanted him to stay and be the long term man, (myself included), their is much dispute in Motown as to if he left or was fired. But the fact is, he could not stay after his classless and disloyal behavior.
I think Sanders problem is he took over a veteran team that had gotten cocky and really didn't listen to their coach. They definitely need to move a few of the pieces, including Sheed (who never listened to anyone but LB). As far as "getting robbed" by the officials, You sound like LB, in his after game interviews. Especially his comments about Rasheed.
True enough...but I'm pretty sure that Daniel Gibson wouldn't have had to emerge from nowhere if he had been logging any minutes in the regular season. The front office deserves credit for drafting the guy, but the coaching staff has to shoulder some blame for burying a promising player on the bench for so long. Especially when Larry Hughes is your starting point guard...
I'll go Spurs in 5. If it goes six, I wouldn't be surprised...but I'll be very shocked if this makes it to seven. I really hope it does, though.
He was logging minutes, even starting, until he sprained his left big toe. He was out for about three weeks, and got buried after that while Eric Snow started at PG (I think Hughes is technically their starter at shooting guard). I guess Mike Brown thought they would squeeze out the top seed with veterans logging the most minutes. Didn't work out.
I shouldn't have typed point guard...that was my mistake. I don't really know if it should ever feel like a good decision to hang your hat on Eric Snow, in any case. I guess I'm probably being too hard on Mike Brown, given that if Gibson melted down Brown would have been criticized for not sticking with the veteran.
What's your prediction, Beta? Or did you already make one and I missed it?
I agree with you about Snow, though he does well enough on defense. Damon Jones, for the win!
Haven't made a prediction yet. I hate the Spurs.
But I'm picking them anyway. Cleveland wins as many games as the refs allow them to. There's no reason we can't expect James to get the same type and number of calls Wade got last year.
I just don't think they're going to be able to get 4.
For the record, I find a year of everyone spewing about how awesome LeBron is preferable to a year of the same people spewing about how the Spurs are the perfect team.
Haven't made a prediction yet. I hate the Spurs.
But I'm picking them anyway. Cleveland wins as many games as the refs allow them to. There's no reason we can't expect James to get the same type and number of calls Wade got last year.
I just don't think they're going to be able to get 4.
For the record, I find a year of everyone spewing about how awesome LeBron is preferable to a year of the same people spewing about how the Spurs are the perfect team.
Agreed. This team used to have the fire in their bellies, and now they just have hot heads. I would never want to coach a player like Rasheed, and I hate watching him...so much talent buried under to much talking and complaining. That meltdown in game 7 was downright embarrasing.
I really hope that we get to see a competitive series. My logical side tells me to pick the spurs in 5, but I never listen to my logical side...cavs in 6.
Spurs are the better team no doubt. However, Lebron is a big physical guy and Bowen may have a tough time defending him (as history has shown). He also has the ability to get to the rim and depending how disciplined Duncun is (usually very disciplined) and the way the fouls go, you may see Lebron getting Duncun into foul trouble. The Cavs also need Gibson, Pav, Hughs, and Marshall to be shooting well this series. They will more than likely get some open shots when Lebron gets doubled or when he drives and the defense collapses. The Cavs are also a very good on defense which most people seem to forget.
On the other side the spurs are by far the best team in the playoffs. I don't think the cavs have anybody that can keep Tony Parker from driving to the basket and creating fouls or open shots. Duncan is probabaly the best PF in the game and Duncan vs. Gooden just isn't fair.
Yeah... spurs are going to win in 5............But, to be different and stupid I will go cavs in 6
Spurs are the better team no doubt. However, Lebron is a big physical guy and Bowen may have a tough time defending him (as history has shown). He also has the ability to get to the rim and depending how disciplined Duncun is (usually very disciplined) and the way the fouls go, you may see Lebron getting Duncun into foul trouble. The Cavs also need Gibson, Pav, Hughs, and Marshall to be shooting well this series. They will more than likely get some open shots when Lebron gets doubled or when he drives and the defense collapses. The Cavs are also a very good on defense which most people seem to forget.
On the other side the spurs are by far the best team in the playoffs. I don't think the cavs have anybody that can keep Tony Parker from driving to the basket and creating fouls or open shots. Duncan is probabaly the best PF in the game and Duncan vs. Gooden just isn't fair.
Yeah... spurs are going to win in 5............But, to be different and stupid I will go cavs in 6
2-0 Spurs. The Cavs still don't seem to have an answer for Tony Parker. If they don't sweep all three in Cleveland, it's over for sure.
Ironically. I believe Detroit would have given them a better series. Not because Detroit was a better team, but because Detroit matches up better. Parker would still have his way, but Detroit has more shot blockers at the second line of defense, and Parker has always had trouble with Billups. I still believe Cleveland will win two games, because they'll play better at home. Remember there was only two close games in the seven game series when SA beat Detroit, the first four were blow outs for the home team. Also mediocre role players play better at home. So I expect Marshall, Jones and Gooden to shoot far better in the next two games. One other note, does Michael Finley play like a Dallas Maverick during playoff time? Even with SA blowing them out he looks horrible. I never thought I'd say this, but Brent Barry played better,
I gotta admit that I usually agree with your comments / analysis and this time is no exception.
(It`s a pity that you`re from Detroit)
I never thought that Cleveland would reach the Finals. Anyway, after these 2 first games I see SA as a clear winner. Their collective work has been impressive and the "Big Three" really worked well together.
I`m pretty sure that the next 3 games in Cleveland will be a completely different story, but if SA wins 1 of them, then it`s over.
I really don`t care if they`re a boring team (Pistons fit the same category), I like to watch basketball and don`t care if a team "sells" better than another (like Heat, Knicks, Lakers, for example)
