I like the Blazers too, don't get me wrong. I can't wait to see them with Greg Oden next season.
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The NBA Playoffs Thread
- Thread starter StanFan
- Start date
I like the Blazers too, don't get me wrong. I can't wait to see them with Greg Oden next season.
The Blazers are my western conference team - I adopted them during my 6 years living in Portland. The Pistons will always be my real team though.
...and the Blazers will be good with GO, but they'll still be a borderline playoff team in the west.
I'm going to be moving to Thunder Bay in a few months. It's pretty far from Toronto, so I wonder what teams they support up there. Most likely the Raptors, but it could be the T-Wolves.
I don't think they are good enough to win without fouling like that. I think the only reason they get anywhere is because they are dirty as hell. Watching their regular season games they didn't resort to their dirty, cheap tactics and they lost 3 out of 4 against the suns.
Now the post season is here and they resort to the same cheap and dirty play that got them to the finals last year. I hope they get what they deserve this year.
The operative word is HAD skills. When Shaq came into the league his basic move was an offensive foul. But he was quick enough to get away with it. Now that he's slower, he finds himself in constant foul trouble. And he can't understand how the stuff he's been doing his whole life is suddenly illegal. He never worked on D, couldn't defend the pick and roll, and never worked on foul shooting. Most years he showed up for camp out of shape. He could have been among the top five players of the game if he had a work ethic. He was a monster athlete in his earlier days, but he never had great basketball instincts or skills. To his credit he was a decent interview, and he knew when to turn it on. He did have heart in big games.
This is Shaq's 16th season. 25 ppg/11.5 rpg/2.5 blks throughout his career. Quit doggin! 
To be expecting what he had in his earlier years is like telling Patrick Ewing to man up when he was with the Magic in his waning years.
LOL all that said, I strongly dislike Shaq as a person and as a player. Even when he was playing alongside Penny, he was one of my least favorite players, but he doesn't deserve all the flack he gets.
To be expecting what he had in his earlier years is like telling Patrick Ewing to man up when he was with the Magic in his waning years.
LOL all that said, I strongly dislike Shaq as a person and as a player. Even when he was playing alongside Penny, he was one of my least favorite players, but he doesn't deserve all the flack he gets.
This is Shaq's 16th season. 25 ppg/11.5 rpg/2.5 blks throughout his career. Quit doggin!
To be expecting what he had in his earlier years is like telling Patrick Ewing to man up when he was with the Magic in his waning years.
LOL all that said, I strongly dislike Shaq as a person and as a player. Even when he was playing alongside Penny, he was one of my least favorite players, but he doesn't deserve all the flack he gets.
I dig Shaq. He's not a very stylish player, but the beatings the guy takes and his ability to muscle the ball to the hoop is pretty amazing. It's not pretty but a basket is a basket.
Yap! I like Shaq now, actually I respect him, but he never was a Hakeem or Jabaar.
I wish Shaq the best of luck getting to the 2nd round! Not likely though
Unfortunately, that's how they always have been. Even when Drex was running the show
Well, they did manage to make two NBA finals in the 90's, and did make the playoffs 21 straight seasons (1983 through 2003) - so I wouldn't say they were a borderline playoff team.
The Maurice Lucas-Bill Walton team would have been great had it not been for Waltons injuries and err, quirks. They also had Lionel Hollins and Johny davis. They beat a very good Sixers team in the finals, with Dr. J. World B Free, and George McGinnis.
The Blazers of the late eighties were the Dallas Mavs of their era. Some very unintelligent (in a basketball sense) players who were athletic and knew when not to show up (Big Games). Kevin Duckworth and Jerome Kersey just weren't dependable big game performers. And as good as Clyde was he couldn't win when he was the Number one gun on a team, couldn't handle the pressure. I saw him make several boneheaded plays in the playoffs. On Houston, he wasn't the go to guy, in fact you can argue he was number five on that team in the playoffs. As Mario Elle, Sam Cassal, Robert Horry, And Akeem were all better playoff clutch performers.
Short of the Cavs, every scenario is still possible.
Burk, I tired to tell you the BadBoys 2 Pistons were down 2 years ago after DWade mauled them. Letting Big Ben walk last year was the nail in the coffin. Neener. As a Heat fan, I have to take solace in that fact with while Miami is the worst team in the league and should be the worst team for another year or two, the Pistons will be beaten every year that they decide to just pencil themselves in for the NBA Finals. The Heat almost beat them the year before they won it and Lebron took it from them last year. Barring their championship season in 04, their run of 5 straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances in beginning to resemble a New York football team from the early 90's.
Y'know, for a guy with a rep as soft or a playoff choker, Dirk sure does have a long list of wow-inducing postseason performances.
His best IMO was the 50-point performance against the Suns in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
Of course, there is his 37-point, 15-board performance in Game 7 in San Antonio, highlighted by his OT-forcing and-1.
Tonight was as big a must-win as the Mavs have ever had in a non-elimination game. And Dirk delivered 32 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
As the big guy on the team, he obviously deserves his share of the blame when they don't succeed. But I think that Avery Johnson is the weak link. I think that if the Mavs win a title with him as coach, it will be in spite of him, not because of him.
Dirk has looked much better since the Kidd trade, and that is a testament to how good of a veteran PG Kidd is.
AJ finally did something right tonight, and put somebody small and fast on Chris Paul. Jason Terry, not known for his defense, played an excellent game defensively tonight. Paul looked tentative and even lost at times. Very few double teams were needed.
Face it, as good as Kidd is running an offense, he is no longer quick enough to guard somebody like Paul for 35+ minutes. About time AJ figured that out!
Go Mavs!!!
His best IMO was the 50-point performance against the Suns in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
Of course, there is his 37-point, 15-board performance in Game 7 in San Antonio, highlighted by his OT-forcing and-1.
Tonight was as big a must-win as the Mavs have ever had in a non-elimination game. And Dirk delivered 32 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
As the big guy on the team, he obviously deserves his share of the blame when they don't succeed. But I think that Avery Johnson is the weak link. I think that if the Mavs win a title with him as coach, it will be in spite of him, not because of him.
Dirk has looked much better since the Kidd trade, and that is a testament to how good of a veteran PG Kidd is.
AJ finally did something right tonight, and put somebody small and fast on Chris Paul. Jason Terry, not known for his defense, played an excellent game defensively tonight. Paul looked tentative and even lost at times. Very few double teams were needed.
Face it, as good as Kidd is running an offense, he is no longer quick enough to guard somebody like Paul for 35+ minutes. About time AJ figured that out!
Go Mavs!!!
Emphasis in the west has really shifted to point guards and defense on them this postseason. Tony Parker has shredded the Suns, and D'Antoni has no answer defensively. The Spurs' strategy of putting Bowen on Nash has been working brilliantly. The Mavs, never known for defensive prowess as a team, did a lot better yesterday (as EMBOLISM so rightly noted) by putting a quicker defender on Paul.
The other thing I can't help but notice is the point guards who are real scoring threats who are causing the most havoc: Paul, Deron Williams, and Parker in the west, and Andre Miller and - of all people - Rondo in the East. If Rondo develops a better jump shot to go with his quickness, defensive prowess, and ability to get to the rim, he'll be a force for years to come. When your point guard can score and distribute, the other team will always have tough choices to make. The exception so far seems to be the Lakers, who - although I never thought I'd say this about a Kobe-led team - seem to have the art of team passing down to a fine art and don't have to rely solely on a point guard, since Kobe, Walton, Odom, and Gasol are all excellent passers.
Great postseason so far! I'm still pulling for the Celtics, but will be happy to see anyone advance past the Lakers and Pistons in their respective divisions (although I respect the quality of both teams).
The other thing I can't help but notice is the point guards who are real scoring threats who are causing the most havoc: Paul, Deron Williams, and Parker in the west, and Andre Miller and - of all people - Rondo in the East. If Rondo develops a better jump shot to go with his quickness, defensive prowess, and ability to get to the rim, he'll be a force for years to come. When your point guard can score and distribute, the other team will always have tough choices to make. The exception so far seems to be the Lakers, who - although I never thought I'd say this about a Kobe-led team - seem to have the art of team passing down to a fine art and don't have to rely solely on a point guard, since Kobe, Walton, Odom, and Gasol are all excellent passers.
Great postseason so far! I'm still pulling for the Celtics, but will be happy to see anyone advance past the Lakers and Pistons in their respective divisions (although I respect the quality of both teams).
You're right about Rondo, his mid-range jumper has improved already.
Going into this season I was excited about having KG and Ray allen on the team but was worried about the guard postion, my fears have since been aleviated!
GO GREEN!
Going into this season I was excited about having KG and Ray allen on the team but was worried about the guard postion, my fears have since been aleviated!
GO GREEN!
- Feb 3, 2005
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Well, I have to say, I kind of always liked the Mavs. I like Dirk's game and Avery Johnson is a fellow New Orleanian. However, I've got to say, Stackhouse is an $%&^@#) saying in his comments about Byron Scott. Gee, you think he heard that from Jason Kidd who got Scott fired?? Last time I checked, Kidd hasn't sniffed the finals without Scott. Not to mention Josh Howard and his idiotic comments, what a fool. I think he may have smoked a bit too much evidently.
It works though b/c now I really dislike the Mavs. In the end, I just don't think the Mavs can steal home court from the Hornets to win this series. In fact, I'll stick with Hornets in 5.
It works though b/c now I really dislike the Mavs. In the end, I just don't think the Mavs can steal home court from the Hornets to win this series. In fact, I'll stick with Hornets in 5.
I don't know what to say about the Suns. Eventhough they are defending champions, not alot of people imagined the Spurs would be up 3-0.
A ton of action going down tonight with the Raps-Magic, Lakers-Nuggets, Celtics-Hawks (I actually had a dream that the Hawks won Game 3 90-82
), and Jazz-Rockets. I'll be sure to watch at least two of them.
A ton of action going down tonight with the Raps-Magic, Lakers-Nuggets, Celtics-Hawks (I actually had a dream that the Hawks won Game 3 90-82
), and Jazz-Rockets. I'll be sure to watch at least two of them.
