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The NBA Playoffs Thread

#101
Parker is a great player, but he had quite a few, "drive the lane and fall down" foul calls...my least favorite play of all time, in any sport. You know you've achieved superstar status when you get that call. Between Ginobli, Oberto, Parker, and Bowen, you've got a dramatic-gestures-all-star-team right there. I still respect them as a team as much as ever, but they've become a dynasty, and are getting harder to root for. I'd still like them against the Lakers, but against anybody else I think I'd cheer for the underdog.

I like the way the Detroit and Boston series' have become interesting.
 
#103
bwv1013 said:
+1000. i can't wait for him to retire. he's praised for being a "defensive" player, but all he does is swipe his arms at people. he's also deliberately malicious at times (i.e. running into Amare with an elbow). :rollno:
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In todays "Hoilywood" NBA we don't know what a dirty player is. Bowen is a throwback, not the cleanest player alive, but no dirtier then Karl Malone, Robert Parrish, Bill Cartwright, Bill Lambier, Jeff Ruland, Anthony Mason and Rick Mahorn. In the NBA of the early 90's, holding out an elbow during a screen was routine. And if you were a little guy driving the lane it was going to hurt. Those players got inside your head, and the wimps were afraid to challenge them. I appreciate Bowens style over a Steve Nash who never breaks a sweat on the defensive end, the difference is Bowen has rings. Is he perfect? Nah, I hate him when my team plays them, but the Suns wouldn't be watching the playoffs on TV if they had a couple of players like him.

The Suns are sitting, No surprise, The Mavs are sitting. no surprise, When will teams and GM's learn that defense wins championships? The Suns had the most talent of any non championship team I've ever seen, far more then the Mavs I might add. I actually respect that the Mavs at least got to the finals, but both just had their window close. Both teams had star players that were defensive liabilities, and they couldn't make even one key defensive stop in a big game. Even Magic and Larry Bird (no all defense team members) knew when to play shut down D when it counted.

Having said all of this, the Spurs are far from perfect. They get far to little contribution from their role players, and Parker still dribbles to much. And their execution down the stretch, while better then the Suns was questionable. They can be beat, their are no great teams this season, only about six good ones.

One other quick note, watching the Pistons as a fan can be frustrating. They can look so good, almost unbeatable, and so bad. My conclusion more and more is they are good, but not that good. The Sum of the parts is far better then the parts, and when a couple of the parts are having tough nights, they labor to accomplish anything. I think more then anything on both ends of the floor they are built on execution. When they execute, they are the best team in the league, when they don't they struggle. But I do admire the "team" part of that equation, and I would rather see that then Kobe, Wade, or Lebron running Isso's in what's called offense in todays NBA.

In the NBA (Pre Jordan) you had some great Teams, even though they had superstars. Go back and watch some film of the Celtics, Lakers, and Pistons in the 80's the Teamwork on both ends of the floor is a form of art. They didn't win by running Isso's for Bird, Magic and Isaih.
 
#104
PS: Larry Brown just took over the Charlotte Hornets, his ninth pro team. That is the most pro teams of any head coach in history, and that doesn't include two NCAA teams and two ABA teams! I wonder what the over / under is on his stay with the Bobcats? Michael Jordan is quickly challenging Isaih Thomas and Kevin McHale for worst executive / best player in history honors.
 
#106
burk48237 said:
In todays "Hoilywood" NBA we don't know what a dirty player is. Bowen is a throwback, not the cleanest player alive, but no dirtier then Karl Malone, Robert Parrish, Bill Cartwright, Bill Lambier, Jeff Ruland, Anthony Mason and Rick Mahorn. In the NBA of the early 90's, holding out an elbow during a screen was routine. And if you were a little guy driving the lane it was going to hurt. Those players got inside your head, and the wimps were afraid to challenge them. I appreciate Bowens style over a Steve Nash who never breaks a sweat on the defensive end, the difference is Bowen has rings. Is he perfect? Nah, I hate him when my team plays them, but the Suns wouldn't be watching the playoffs on TV if they had a couple of players like him.

The Suns are sitting, No surprise, The Mavs are sitting. no surprise, When will teams and GM's learn that defense wins championships? The Suns had the most talent of any non championship team I've ever seen, far more then the Mavs I might add. I actually respect that the Mavs at least got to the finals, but both just had their window close. Both teams had star players that were defensive liabilities, and they couldn't make even one key defensive stop in a big game. Even Magic and Larry Bird (no all defense team members) knew when to play shut down D when it counted.
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+10000. Couldn't agree more. Except Laimbeer and Mahorn should have headed up the dirty players list, I hated those guys.:D
 
#107
GregC said:
+10000. Couldn't agree more. Except Laimbeer and Mahorn should have headed up the dirty players list, I hated those guys.:D
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Everybody in the league hated those guys, but every GM in the league wanted them. Both were also very basketball smart. Mahorn had this move where he would move out of the way of a guy backing him down for position and the guy would fall flat on his back. Happened about twice a game, hilarious as heck.:D

Lambier was a player with very limited athletic ability, not a very good shot blocker, in fact most the shots he blocked were as the player was going up before he elevated. But he made the all defensive second team a couple of times, knew how to draw charges, and had more defensive rebounds then Moses Malone or Olijiwan in his prime. He led the league in rebounding twice and couldn't jump worth crap, he just knew how to get position. He also led the league in foul shooting a couple of years and was one of the better shooting big men in NBA history. He was a player who made the most of limited athletic ability with hard work and he was a student of the game. He also knew how to get into the other teams heads. He's also a very good WNBA coach.
 
#108
Avery Johnson was just let go. I don't think he was a bad coach, but He couldn't take the Mavs to the next level. They always have been a soft team mentally, I don't know if thats the fault of the coach or not. But the new rooster with Kidd is not going to get any better. They do have some soft players, and Nowitzki while a good numbers player doesn't seem to have the fire to win the big ones. To me he's a great complimentary star aka Pau Gasol, but not the go to guy on a championship team. And his lack of defense means he needs some defensive stars around him, something Dallas doesn't have. I wonder if Johnson will wind up anywhere else?
 
#109
I'm over the fact that the Raptors are out so I'm just gonna watch neutral and hope for some great entertainment down the stretch. Odds are that TJ Ford will be out of Toronto next year (That seems to be what most Raps fans seem to be saying). I personally enjoy watching Ford play (even bought a red Ford jersey when I went to a game early in the year), but I'm open minded as a fan and am going on the assumption that the only safe bets to remain Raptors for next year are Calderon (Colangelo says he'd match any pending offer to keep him) and Bosh. The only way to add talent is by subtraction.

At a press conference, GM Bryan Colangelo brought up the possibility of adding a 20-something scorer to take offensive pressure off Bosh. I'd like to see the Raptors get some veteran talent with aggressive rebounding ability. Any defensive help would be great, and I'm hoping Jamario Moon can keep bringing his energy and improve his defensive game that has shown great improvement from the beginning of the season. The pressure is on for coach Sam Mitchell and Andrea Bargnani to prove the critics wrong next season or they'll be packing.

Lots of people getting the axe lately, fitting since I spent most of my working day chopping and stacking wood. I just checked though and the Suns are denying D'Antoni has been let go.
 
#111
According to SI.com D'Antoni has been removed from the Suns job. I blame him more then I blame Avery Johnson. Avery had some mediocre Talent. D'Antoni, had lots of talent, and let go of a lot of Talent (joe Johnson, Sean Marion) . He never demanded defensive effort and a few of his players regressed under his tenure, including Stoudomier who became a terrible defender despite the fact he has all the tools. I personally don't think he's an NBA level coach, because he doesn't seem to learn. His system will not win titles no matter who the players are. So I can't see him going to any team and them improving to championship caliber. he might be a good college coach.
 
#112
burk48237 said:
According to SI.com D'Antoni has been removed from the Suns job. I blame him more then I blame Avery Johnson. Avery had some mediocre Talent. D'Antoni, had lots of talent, and let go of a lot of Talent (joe Johnson, Sean Marion) . He never demanded defensive effort and a few of his players regressed under his tenure, including Stoudomier who became a terrible defender despite the fact he has all the tools. I personally don't think he's an NBA level coach, because he doesn't seem to learn. His system will not win titles no matter who the players are. So I can't see him going to any team and them improving to championship caliber. he might be a good college coach.
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Any bets on Avery going to Phoenix and Mike to Dallas?
 
#114
jrthebassguy said:
Any bets on Avery going to Phoenix and Mike to Dallas?
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No.

If D'Antoni ends up anywhere but Phoenix, I think Toronto is the most logical place. Bryan Colangelo thinks he knows better than Sam Mitchell (and the two have clashed at least one time this season), and D'Antoni and Colangelo have the Phoenix connection.

Some rumors have it that Chicago and New York are interested in interviewing Johnson. Don't see how he's a fit in Chicago, because the players there already tuned out one authoritarian coach in Scott Skiles.
 
#115
Beta said:
No.

If D'Antoni ends up anywhere but Phoenix, I think Toronto is the most logical place. Bryan Colangelo thinks he knows better than Sam Mitchell (and the two have clashed at least one time this season), and D'Antoni and Colangelo have the Phoenix connection.
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I was thinking D'Antoni might go to Toronto for that reason. Colangelo has stated he has no plans as of now to change coaches, but if D'Antoni is available who knows.
 
#116
Pistons take care of business, it will be interesting to see if the Celts do the same tomorrow. They were as sharp as I've seen them in a while tonight with a thirty point lead going into the fourth. I still think the champions coming out of the east.
 

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