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Post by Hipster Doofus on Apr 24, 2008 10:55:39 GMT -5
Yeah, he's looked like crap....forcing up outside jumper early then completely disappearing.
I'd be happy with that too. If Philly wins game 3 I'm officially worried, but I feel pretty confident that Detroit will bring their A game again....not that you should even have to wonder about that in the playoffs, but that's the way it goes with them.
By the way....3 of the past 5 nba champions have lost game 1 of their opening series.
I actually, am going to say that I think it'll be Boston and NO in the finals. NO is just amazing right now.
While i am super impressed by NO and i think Chris Paul is the best ball handler in the NBA, I don't see them beating LA. Kobe wants it more than most in the league, and he finally has the cast again to do it. I feel Kobe is the second most capable of carrying a team on his back, behind Lebron, then Paul. Kobe will probably be able to slow Paul down too.
wow...really? i mean, i know i'm biased and all, but the spurs just look GOOD. they're playing a strong, consistent game, and they're healthy. it surprises me that more of you don't at least give them a shot.
Post by Hipster Doofus on Apr 24, 2008 13:53:29 GMT -5
The Spurs are defending champs, have won 3 of the last 5 championships, and were only 1 game off the top spot in the west....by all those measures they should be the team to beat, but something that stands out to me is that they only have a 20-22 record against teams with a winning record. Here are the best records against winning teams...
Detroit 30-13 Utah 27-12 Boston 29-15 Lakers 27-17 Suns 27-19 N.O. 25-18
And since Detroit has the best record, that is of course the best measure of a team
While i am super impressed by NO and i think Chris Paul is the best ball handler in the NBA, I don't see them beating LA. Kobe wants it more than most in the league, and he finally has the cast again to do it. I feel Kobe is the second most capable of carrying a team on his back, behind Lebron, then Paul. Kobe will probably be able to slow Paul down too.
wow...really? i mean, i know i'm biased and all, but the spurs just look GOOD. they're playing a strong, consistent game, and they're healthy. it surprises me that more of you don't at least give them a shot.
Being a Suns fan and all, it pains me to admit this, but the Spurs HAVE consistently been a good team over the past couple of years [this year being no different] and they are, unlike most of the other teams right now, are all healthy-- but when I look at it, I think that there are better teams than the Spurs in the West this year. Previous years, the Lakers and NO weren't a mentionable threat-- but this year, I'd pit them to win against the Spurs. Not to mention, the Spurs have never won a championship back to back.
Post by GratefulHippie on Apr 24, 2008 14:20:51 GMT -5
deathreu...the only reason i don't rely on stats like that too much is because the playoffs are a WHOLE different ballgame than the regular season. by that measure, the mavs never should have lost to the 8 seeded warriors in the first round...but they did.
handgun...i agree that there are definitely stronger teams in the west than there usually are, and i'm not thinking we have this series with the suns in the bag by any means. i think your point about us never having won back-to-back is really what makes me want it this year. to finally be able to say, without a doubt, that we are a dynasty.
overall, while the talent in the east isn't lacking, i still say the west will once again win out, regardless of who they send to the finals.
Post by Hipster Doofus on Apr 24, 2008 14:48:38 GMT -5
Well, you can say that in general stats from the regular season don't mean that much, but if one stat does, it's how a team does against the best competition, because that is presumably when both teams are playing with the most intensity.
That said....I wasn't trying to say they didn't have a chance because of it. In fact if I had to pick a team to come out of the west, I'd pick them. When it comes down to crunch time, they know what to expect from their teammates, and have the confidence they can come through. That means a lot, and can't necessarily be said about the other top teams in the west.
Post by GratefulHippie on Apr 24, 2008 17:14:47 GMT -5
Well, you can say that in general stats from the regular season don't mean that much, but if one stat does, it's how a team does against the best competition, because that is presumably when both teams are playing with the most intensity.
and the playoffs add a WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLE other aspect to those kinds of stats. during the regular season you can have an "off" game, and not feel TOO bad about it. when it comes to the playoffs, you don't have the freedom to screw up, therefore the competition become the most intense at that point...IMO
Well, you can say that in general stats from the regular season don't mean that much, but if one stat does, it's how a team does against the best competition, because that is presumably when both teams are playing with the most intensity.
and the playoffs add a WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLE other aspect to those kinds of stats. during the regular season you can have an "off" game, and not feel TOO bad about it. when it comes to the playoffs, you don't have the freedom to screw up, therefore the competition become the most intense at that point...IMO
Right, I don't think anybody is going to argue that the playoffs aren't more intense than the regular season. It was just the great disparity that jumped out at me....a losing record against good teams....just seemed odd is all.
of course im biased living in san antonio, but here is why i think they will do well in the post season...1. they have an amazing TEAM (not just one or two super-stars), with a bench that can pull off just about anything, and 2. experience (they have been here before, and succeeded recently)
if im lucky, i will be able to get out of work on time to watch some of the last quarter...i guess until then, the radio and my imagination will have to suffice
Post by GratefulHippie on Apr 25, 2008 22:08:13 GMT -5
well...the spurs are definitely looking good right now. my dad commented, however, that it worries him when they come out strong because its hard to keep that kind of momentum going.
the spurs have stayed pretty consistent so far, though...
I'm not sure why Suns fans would be surprised that the Spurs are kicking their team's collective ass. It's not like it takes a rocket scientist to figure out trading Marion for Shaq isn't going to improve either your defense or your rebounding as he's a better rebounder and defender than Shaq. And the marginal improvement it gives you in the half court offense is completely negated by how bad Shaq, Amare and Nash are at transition defense.
More thoughts: *Dallas is more likely to beat New Orleans not playing particularly well than vice versa. When they play a tighter 7 man rotation, they're definitely better than the Hornets. It's when they go to a 10 man rotation that things get away from them.
*Utah will not close out the Rockets fast because Utah is not good at defense. The Rockets are. Therefore, I would not be surprised if the Rockets beat the Jazz despite being decimated by injuries
*The Cavs suck on the road because the Cavs just plain suck. They are still and always have been winning games because Lebron is on their team and gets ridiculous calls in his favor. The fact is, even though Lebron is a great player, the NBA will be better for the Cavs losing, whenever they do, as they play a form of basketball that will completely undue the progress towards a more entertaining open court game the league has been making for the past decade.
*The Lakers will not win the title because like the Jazz, they do not play defense, especially inside. Next year, I think they're the favorites. This year, I think they are a great pretender, and would not be at all surprised to see Denver come back on them and push it to 6 or 7. Game 2 was largely reported as a victory when in fact the refs bailed the Lakers out of a Denver run with a couple of really awful techs. But then what else do you expect in Staples Center
*As bad as they look now, Detroit has a history of stumbling out of the blocks early against opponents. I don't think the Pistons lose this series, but I also don't think it bodes well for them against the Magic. Again, no interior defense for the Pistons. This will be a repeated theme throughout the playoffs. Teams with no interior defense will lose. Teams with it will win. This means teams like Utah, Detroit, Los Angeles and Phoenix have been largely overrated by the media at large. I cannot think of a single NBA Finals champion in recent memory that did not have excellent defense inside.
Post by GratefulHippie on Apr 26, 2008 0:38:40 GMT -5
^^^^ that's a great overview dudezer
like the old saying goes..."offense wins games, defense wins championships"
i also thought it was hilarious that almost every announcer/critic on espn.com had the suns winning in 6 games. i think only 2 of the 8 or 10 picked the spurs to win
Post by handgunhipster on Apr 26, 2008 14:40:58 GMT -5
^^ I never thought the Shaq for Marion trade was a good one. I actually thought we screwed ourselves something good with that. Seriously, what was Kerr thinking? Actually, that's a dumb question.. Kerr needs out of there, now.
And let me tell you, my team played like a bunch of f'n high schoolers last night. It made me want to vomit. I flew all the way to Phoenix from Alabama to see my team act like they didn't know what basketball was.
But I have to admit, Hack-a-Shaq is getting old, quick. The Spurs need to win the game without playing Hack-a-Shaq. Last night, they could have.. so why keep it up? It just made for a boring last 2 minutes of every quarter.
^^well, if its a legal move why not make them work for it...it kind of gets old when any team thats down by say 10 or so points starts fouling at the end of a game just to try and catch up, however, nobody says anything about it...anywho, with that taco bell ad that shaq did a few years back, you would think that he would know how to shoot free throws (i kid, i kid)...but seriously,
Post by GratefulHippie on Apr 26, 2008 18:50:24 GMT -5
But I have to admit, Hack-a-Shaq is getting old, quick. The Spurs need to win the game without playing Hack-a-Shaq. Last night, they could have.. so why keep it up? It just made for a boring last 2 minutes of every quarter.
i would think shaq shooting under 50% on free throws would be getting old, too
i'm sorry, but when your big man barely breaks .500 for his CAREER in free throws, don't expect any team playing him to not use the tactic
Post by handgunhipster on Apr 26, 2008 20:12:11 GMT -5
Oh goodness no, I'm well aware that Shaq sucks at free throws.. I never wanted Shaq. I think he's old and.. to put it kindly, overweight. I was completely satisfied with Marion. I had my three with Shawn, Amare and Steve. But Shaq, I mean, he has had this tactic used against him for ages, so I wish he'd learn to shoot some free throws [he made more than I expected last night though].. He doesn't practice them[obviously], Ive watched him warm up at numerous games-- he practices layups, but never free throws.. kinda pointless, in my mind. I know teams are going to use it, but it just gets boring, so quickly. I think the Spurs and the Suns are two teams that play best with high speed games, and all that's doing is slowing it down.
I just got bored with it. The Spurs were far better than us last night.. we didn't play basketball. We didn't come to play basketball at ALL. If we get swept, then we deserve it. We need to let our bench do more than just play the bench, we need to learn what a rebound is, and we need to play some defense.
Post by GratefulHippie on Apr 27, 2008 0:36:23 GMT -5
yeah...if the suns get swept, i don't imagine shaq will be around for long. i can't believe he's not already retired. he's definitely seen his better days.
as for high speed games, the spurs are actually much better when they slow things down. i think that was a lot of the suns' problems...they ARE better when they can run, and the spurs' defense doesn't let them. i've been really disappointed in nash, too. he was all over the place last year, and now its hard to remember he's even on the team. he really needs to step it up.
