Playoff Threads - discuss the games here

Post #161 » by **Flash3** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:43 am

Kobe's taking his team to the Finals. Wow!

CaliHeat · Post #162 » by **CaliHeat** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:50 am

Kobe isnt taking his team to the finals.

The Lakers are loaded with talent.
Odom/Gasol/Fisher/Radman/Turiaf/Vujacic/Farmer/Walton and Ariza/Mihm/Mbenga that dont even see the floor.

Kobe led his team to the finals with the help from one of the more talented teams in the NBA.

Miami's Finest · Post #163 » by **Miami's Finest** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:51 am

Glad he's happy and not whining anymore. They will be the most talented team in the NBA for a few years (or until kobe starts to complain and breaks it up), Bynum-Gasol-Odom-Bryant is crazy good.

Post #164 » by **Flash3** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:56 am

CaliHeat wrote:Kobe isnt taking his team to the finals.

The Lakers are loaded with talent.
Odom/Gasol/Fisher/Radman/Turiaf/Vujacic/Farmer/Walton and Ariza/Mihm/Mbenga that dont even see the floor.

Kobe led his team to the finals with the help from one of the more talented teams in the NBA.

Ehh, whatever.

Wade led us to a title, right? -- Yes!

Kobe's taking his team to the Finals.

Post #165 » by **GameTime_3** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:58 am

Kobe should yell when he wins the title " Im going to Memphis" and Seconds later we see Mr.West clamping his hands and received a nice Check from a Charity called " Kobe loves you"

Iputsomepantson · Post #166 » by **Iputsomepantson** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:11 am

So who thinks the Spurs are now in deep trouble? Tim Duncan is under contract until 2012, is 32, and starting to show signs of aging. Don't get me wrong, he's still good, but he's starting to decline from his prime. I don't think they will win another championship with their current squad. They had a good run though.

Post #167 » by **GameTime_3** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:21 am

The Spurs had their run and a damn good one at that. The biggest problem they will face is that they have been giving away picks for the last couple of years. They have alot of contracts on the books and not many pieces to make moves. The big 3 are not going anywhere and the rest of there team is old and trash. How the Mighty fall. I think boston has 2 years to win it as well.

Heat3 · Post #168 » by **Heat3** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:10 am

There goes Posey again. Why Riley? Why did you let him go??

Post #169 » by **dflash3** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:19 am

Go Posey

Go get your second ring.

MartyConlonJr · Post #170 » by **MartyConlonJr** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:51 am

I dunno, Duncan put up 20 ppg, 15 rpg, 3.5 apg and 2.0 bpg this playoffs, was one bad call against Brent Barry from a 3-2 deficit in the conference finals with the next game at home, had Manu far below full strength, and Duncan's game takes very little athleticism. They went up against the best team in the West, lost 3 close games. I mean, it's not like they just got smashed by some chumps.

They have another 2 years, they just have to get a contributor with their MLE.

Flash4thewin · Post #171 » by **Flash4thewin** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:59 am

The Spurs will reload and be more motivated next season. The problem is the lakers will then have Bynum.

Iputsomepantson · Post #172 » by **Iputsomepantson** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:03 am

MartyConlonJr wrote:I dunno, Duncan put up 20 ppg, 15 rpg, 3.5 apg and 2.0 bpg this playoffs, was one bad call against Brent Barry from a 3-2 deficit in the conference finals with the next game at home, had Manu far below full strength, and Duncan's game takes very little athleticism. They went up against the best team in the West, lost 3 close games. I mean, it's not like they just got smashed by some chumps.

Let me reiterate what I said: The Spurs will not win another championship with Duncan, Parker, and Ginobilli as their big three.

And wtf are you talking about when you said Duncan's game takes very little athleticism? Are you serious?

DBurks2818 · Post #173 » by **DBurks2818** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:11 am

I agree that Duncan's game takes relatively little athleticism. How often do you see him exploding or taking ridiculously heavy contact? He's all long arms, strength, footwork and smarts. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see him play as long as Malone did.

But I disagree about how 'close' SA was in that series. First of all, the Lakers didn't even have Bynum, which will change next year. He was averaging 20-10 in the month of his injury and will thrive off of Gasol's passing. Maybe he doesn't off-set Ginobili's injury, but it's close, team value-wise.

Second, the Spurs had no business being in there at the end of game 4 in the first place. LA was up 7, at the free-throw line with 50 seconds to go and had the win secured the whole game. Some bad bounces and plays made it closer than it should've been.

Then there's the fact that LA, if they keep Turiaf (I think Vujacic is replaceable), will only get better from here. SA has peaked in their current form. How many more tricks do they have up their sleeves?

Post #174 » by **dflash3** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:28 am

^I'm going to wait and see what the Spurs do during the off season to pass judgement. The same discussions happen every single time the Spurs lose, but their excellent management brings them right back. Plus, the Spurs don't win two in a row anyways.

MartyConlonJr · Post #175 » by **MartyConlonJr** » Sat May 31, 2008 5:03 am

Well, Duncan is a guy who is 32 years old, and will not have the huge drop off that players who rely heavily on athleticism will. Agreed with DBurks2818 about the Malone comparison. Immovable on the blocks, solid jumpshot, smart player. Manu is 30, so he's got 2 more years at peak (when his contract ends) and Tony Parker is only 26. The Spurs have at least Tiago Splitter to come over, and god knows what else they drafted in the last 5 years that is still overseas. Every year they rent out a player or two (Finely, Thomas, Stoudamire, Horry, Udoka) that becomes a contributor, I'm sure more will follow.

I mean, they aren't ready to rebuild just because they are possibly not as good as the Lakers. The Lakers are my pick to win the title. If teams rebuilt because they weren't as good as the NBA champions (if Lakers win) then one team would steamroll the playoffs every year. The Spurs aren't too old, just need to add some pieces and at worst will be like the Pistons who haven't won in 4 years, but have been in the mix every season as a top team.

Chessboxer · Post #176 » by **Chessboxer** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:42 pm

Well as far as the Spurs go it just wasn't their year. Ihey do not need drastic changes, they just need minor tweaks like they do every year. First of all, they did not match up well with the Lakers at all The are younger, quicker, faster and their frontline is huge The Lakers just looked like they wanted it more Plus Manu Ginobili was labouring and playing hurt all series.

Also I thin Popovich went a little to far with his strategy on Bryant. I understand you don't want to send him to the foul line but c'mon, get a hand in the guys face or contest his shot. Many times the Spurs would give Bryant and open lane to the basket. This happened A LOT in game 5 the elimination game. Plus if you see him hitting jumpers, maybe its time to crowd Bryant a little to more. I just think Popovich should have modified this strategy necause he's had great success guarding Bryant normally, so why change it?

BTW great win for Boston. Great win, because I'm happy Posey is going backt o the FInals, which the clutch steal on Prince at that :clap:

I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I really would like to see Boston can pull this off. Mainly for the fact that they rebuilt the team immediately and shipped in another superstar to surrond their own just like we did3 years ago. Not exactly the same situation but I know what its like seeing the masses hate your team, mainly because you have a bunch of great or big name players.

The reason, it be nice seeing Posey win, he's such a great championship role player who did so much here I'd like to see him be successful somewhere else if it can't be here.

I also enjoy watching the Pistons lose in the conference finals every year..

DBurks2818 · Post #177 » by **DBurks2818** » Sat May 31, 2008 8:44 pm

Big-game James!

You couldn't help but smile at Posey's effort in game 6. Every time he was on the court you could see him doing the little things and making the big plays on both sides of the ball that helped another team win a championship. He's the new Robert Horry, albeit smaller.

Post #178 » by **dflash3** » Sat May 31, 2008 10:18 pm

DBurks2818 wrote:Big-game James!

You couldn't help but smile at Posey's effort in game 6. Every time he was on the court you could see him doing the little things and making the big plays on both sides of the ball that helped another team win a championship. He's the new Robert Horry, albeit smaller.

I hope he wins a ring with the Celtics and then comes back to the Heat to help them win more with his defense and clutch shooting :pray:

Post #179 » by **Flash3** » Sat May 31, 2008 10:32 pm

Posey's the ultimate definition of a role player.

SJ2100 · Post #180 » by **SJ2100** » Sat May 31, 2008 10:46 pm

Rasheed doesn't look the same to me, he averaged 13 and 6 in these playoffs, and seemed to shy away from the big moments. The year the Pistons beat us and even the following year when we beat them, it always seemed like Sheed was hitting post-up fadeaway jumpers and the dagger 3.

Looks like its time for Dumars to shake up these Pistons before their window really closes...