May 02, 2006

aw crud, i just spent all my salient nba thoughts on the clippers thread. well here are my thoughts on the looming LAC/LAL series anyway. i'm a little surprised that the spurs and heat let their series get knotted at 2. maybe they were looking past this round, or maybe they're not as dominant as we all thought. maybe they just don't feel the urgency to win in a 7 game opening round series, but if this were the old 5 game series, we'd have 3 deciding game 5s coming up! ultimately, i expect the heat and spurs to win their series but a pistons championship is looking much more likely now. then again, they haven't played anyone tough yet either. i have little respect for the lower seeds in the leastern conference as they let 4 teams without winning records in this year.

posted by ninjavshippo at 01:12 PM on May 02, 2006

Yeah, I'm starting to wish I had picked Dallas in the office pool, although I think Detroit still has to be the favorite.

posted by Bill Lumbergh at 01:32 PM on May 02, 2006

As somebody who has followed the Heat all season, I really think they are done. They are old and lack chemistry. It sucks, they would've been in the Finals last year if Wade had been anything close to healthy, and this line up of past and present all-stars just doesn't seem to have what it takes. There's no chance for them to beat the Pistons, and I wouldn't be shocked if the Bulls won this series.

posted by uglatto at 02:12 PM on May 02, 2006

Did you hear what the one Clippers player did to Chris Kaman? He basically molested him and got fined $10,000.

posted by buffalo will never win at 02:53 PM on May 02, 2006

Arenas is hilarious:

"This is LeBron's show, you know," Arenas said through a babykins smile. "We're all just -- we're just all witnesses."

posted by lilnemo at 03:33 PM on May 02, 2006

maybe they just don't feel the urgency to win in a 7 game opening round series I think Artest's suspension actually worked in the Kings favor. When Barry's "Oh crap, I could tell when I released it that that was a horrible shot, I'd better go ahead and start moving in for the rebound, what the hell it went in!" shot happened, the momentum completely swung the Kings way. You don't want to let a team missing it's star player nearly run away with one right before returning to their arena. Especially a team that has fans as hardcore as Sacramentos. That quickly turned from "we can beat them in game three" to "we can win both games at home" to "we really can win this series". San Antonio *needs* to blow the Kings out like they did in game one tonight to get any of their confidence back. If they win in a squeaker, they should be very wary. If they lose, they should panic. I gotta say, though, I'm quite impressed with the way the Mavs are playing. Dirk has completely made up for his performance in last year's first playoff round. I'm kind of pissed, since I had a ticket for game five tomorrow, but I'll take the first sweep in a seven game series in franchise history and a few extra days for Devin, Marquis, and KVH to get completely healthy (or close enough to play, in KVH's case). If I were a Grizz fan, though, shit, I'd be frustrated right now. The thing is, Memphis actually played fairly well, for the most part. They're a good point guard away from being a very good team. It'd be kind of funny for the next big rivalry in the NBA to be between a 7 foot German and a 7 foot Spaniard instead of Kobe and Lebron or Carmelo and Lebron. As for the Suns: all I can say is that *this* is the playoff version of Steve Nash that we in Dallas knew all too well. Ailing back, short-breathed, panicky, and making bad decisions. I love the guy to death, but this is not surprising in the least. I bet Cuban's wearing a big shit-eating grin right now. Well, more than he usually does.

posted by Ufez Jones at 06:07 PM on May 02, 2006

I dunno, I'm inclined to believe that Artest could have pushed the Kings over the top to steal home-court in Game 2. Fair enough , but in hindsight, I think the way it worked out may have helped the Kings momentum better and done more to send some doubt into the Spurs mindset. Unfortunately, the game's on NBATV tonight, which I no longer have. Dammit. I think these playoffs have made it quite clear that Kobe is a cut above the rest of the league. I've never denied that. But, imagine if Phil had gotten him to play like in that style all year. He'd've been MVP hands down, and the Lakers would've been at least the 5 seed. Plus, we could have avoided all of the "Kobe has no supporting cast" talk. He makes other players better (much like Nash) when he plays in this fashion and they win games. I'd be surprised if they don't beat the Clips in the second round. Carmelo's playoff resume is beginning to read like KG's. You know, minus the heart, or ability to do anything besides shoot the ball. Weird. I was just thinking the same thing a few days ago. Fortunately, Melo's all of 22, so he's got plenty of time to work it out. Hell, KG's only 29. He's easily got 4-5 more studly seasons in him if he can get out of Minnesota. As for Nash, thats cold Ufez. Cold, but true. Well, it stems from about four post-seasons too many watching the team collapse under he and Finley's inability to perform past April. It's also a large reason why seeing him in a different uniform (or the same one, but redesigned seven seasons later) is tough, but bearable. Having said all that, nothing would please me more than for Dirk and Pau to completely break down the stereotype of what represents "the best NBA player". Could happen. Yeah, that'd be awfully nice. Pau reminds me a lot of Dirk two or so seasons ago, the difference being Dirk's 3's and Pau's solid post-up game. The local media is already hyping Dirk as the best player to come from Europe (with the caveat that Drazen Petrovich could've been right there if not for his untimely death), and while that may be premature, there's no doubt in my mind that he'll go down as something very very special by the time it's all said and done. We just get the pleasure of watching it happen.

posted by Ufez Jones at 08:11 PM on May 02, 2006

I hear you, ninja v. hippo. I'll add this: Kobe? Sure, but given his first two years, Lebron is going to surpass him and soon, not only on ability but with attitude. He's a positive team player, Kobe has yet to prove that he is (although he's got plenty of time to change his ways). The thing about Dirk (and to a lesser, although hopefully eventually extent Pau) is that they're not true Centers. Sure, they're 7 ft., but they both play like 4s. Dirk's got his three point ability, Pau can shoot the 15 or so foot jumper pretty well, and neither is a solid inside factor on defense. Cite the fact that Dirk has Diop/Dampier and Pau's got Tsakilidis. This isn't to take anything away from their (respective) games, but they're not the traditional Shaq/Hakeem/Jabbar/Parrish centers. If they do (and I posit they will) have an impact on the game, it's adjusting the role of the big guy and having the supplementary 5 whose role is strictly defense and rebounding, scoring only on second-chance opps. It's likely not permanent, but for the next 5 or so years (and let's face it, this or next year will be Shaq's last run) this is the way the NBA trend is going.

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:54 PM on May 02, 2006

Kobe v Lebron: i agree with you about lebron, but with two caveats. #1 the jumper is still way too iffy for him to be big time like kobe's proven in the playoffs. something that gets overlooked is that kobe is probably the game's most dangerous midrange shooter (see sunday night's gamewinner). #2 lebron is beyond sub-par on defense. the guy is an all-out liability. butler and jamison are regularly blowing past him without resistance. if i were the opposing teams coach, i'd focus my offense on this weakness. i'm not saying he has to be lockdown, but take someone like wade who's already shown a commitment to D and the way that vaults him above someone like carmelo. granted, this wasn't kobe's finest year on defense either, but the guy doesn't take anything away from you on D. that said, he's still young and can improve on those two areas. if he does, the guy's a slam dunk all-timer. Big Men: You're right about all the guys who should be 5s (dirk, KG, duncan, bosh, Pau) now playing as 4s. that doesn't make any sense to me, personally. if these guys listed themselves as 5s, they could probably get paid a lot more (not that they aren't well paid currently). you're right. it would be silly to see who the best 5 right now is because outside of shaq, big ben, and yao, do i really care if jeff foster is better than chris mihm or michael olowokandi? the infusion of outside jumper oriented international players has changed the game for NBA big men (especially defensively where they can't just patrol the paint anymore), but i'm not ready to write off the guys who like to bang in the paint just yet. american-bred big men still bang inside and we may see a few more centers come in that mold... greg oden or big baby perhaps?

posted by ninjavshippo at 12:05 AM on May 03, 2006

I think we should all be allowed to whinn about whatever we want to whinn about. Anyone who disagrees is just whinnig.

posted by Hugh Janus at 11:18 AM on May 03, 2006

In other sports, players who fulfill a role or position that is hard to find get rewarded in this way. Not so much in basketball. really? you don't think teams overpay for a valuable yet hard to fill position like a center? what about jerome james? or olowokandi? or raef la frentz? or even kwame brown?

posted by ninjavshippo at 04:17 PM on May 03, 2006