NBA Conference Finals 2007

[edczxcvbnm]

Once again it is time to make a prediction.

East:
Cleavland vs. Detroit

West:
Jazz vs. Spurs

This is a little late and the Spurs have won game 1 for the record.

I think the Spurs and Detroit will win but I am hoping with all of my might that they both lose. I hate Detroit and I really don't care for the spurs. The winner of a Spurs Detroit match up would be who ever can flop and whine the most.

[Bloodline666]

My predictions are Spurs in a sweep, and Detroit in 7. As you all can probably tell by now, I am a die-hard Spurs fan (just look at my location). And besides, I don't think the Jazz have the playoff experience necessary to send the Spurs fishing. Derek Fisher is the only player on that team that has any notable playoff experience.

As for Cleveland, LeBron and the gang do not have what it takes to get past the Pistons D. Simple as that. The Cavs almost got the job done last year, but choked at the last minute. I doubt it's gonna be any different.

By the way, I just bought my ticket to see Game 2 of the Spurs/Jazz series. I'll be at the AT&T Center tomorrow night, and I'll be booing Derek Fisher each time he checks in the game because of a certain shot he hit against us three years ago. :cool:

[Raistlin]

The only team I dislike more than the Pistons is the Spurs. I don't think the Jazz have a chance, but Cleveland has a shot.

[Bloodline666]

I have a strange conspiracy theory right now. Something in my gut tells me that David Stern is trying to rig the Detroit/Cleveland series in favor of the Cavaliers in an attempt to increase the NBA Finals ratings simply because he feels that the star power of LeBron James will increase those TV ratings, regardless of who wins the Western Conference Finals.

I hope I am wrong, because doing so would ruin the integrity of the game. Though it wouldn't surprise me if I'm right, because David Stern has let superstar players get away with gambling in the past (an offense that can lead to game-fixing).

[Kirobaito]

How does a team not sell out game 1 of the Western Conference Finals?

[El Bandito]

I think the Jazz might pull an upset. They seemed really green and starstruck in the first quarter, but pulled it together by the second half. I could see them giving the Spurs a run for their money.

As for the the Pistons, they should dominate the Cavs. Hate them and their attitude all you want, but they're the most balanced team in the NBA. It would take them severely underplaying (like in game 1) for the Cavs to even have a chance. The fact that the Cavs weren't able to even pull out a win in Game 1 is enough to tell me they won't last long. My god, will Lebron ever stop being the worst clutch superstar ever?

[Raistlin]

I have a strange conspiracy theory right now. Something in my gut tells me that David Stern is trying to rig the Detroit/Cleveland series in favor of the Cavaliers in an attempt to increase the NBA Finals ratings simply because he feels that the star power of LeBron James will increase those TV ratings, regardless of who wins the Western Conference Finals.

I hope I am wrong, because doing so would ruin the integrity of the game. Though it wouldn't surprise me if I'm right, because David Stern has let superstar players get away with gambling in the past (an offense that can lead to game-fixing).

... you like your conspiracy theories, don't you? Paranoid much?

[Bloodline666]

I have a strange conspiracy theory right now. Something in my gut tells me that David Stern is trying to rig the Detroit/Cleveland series in favor of the Cavaliers in an attempt to increase the NBA Finals ratings simply because he feels that the star power of LeBron James will increase those TV ratings, regardless of who wins the Western Conference Finals.

I hope I am wrong, because doing so would ruin the integrity of the game. Though it wouldn't surprise me if I'm right, because David Stern has let superstar players get away with gambling in the past (an offense that can lead to game-fixing).

... you like your conspiracy theories, don't you? Paranoid much?

Well, at least said conspiracy theory was proven wrong...for now.

On another note, the Jail Blazers won the draft lottery earlier tonight. It's about time something positive happened to a franchise in deep limbo, given all the financial issues and their recent history of players in trouble with the law.

[Kirobaito]

The current crop of Trailblazers, with the exception of Randolph, have had no problems with the law. I imagine that they'll end up shipping Randolph some time this offseason.

A lineup of Oden, Aldridge, Outlaw, Roy, and Jack is ridiculously young and ridiculously talented. They're a team on the rise. They won 11 more games this season than they did last, and adding Oden in the middle is huge for them. They'll be competing for championships within 5 years.

[Bloodline666]

The current crop of Trailblazers, with the exception of Randolph, have had no problems with the law. I imagine that they'll end up shipping Randolph some time this offseason.

A lineup of Oden, Aldridge, Outlaw, Roy, and Jack is ridiculously young and ridiculously talented. They're a team on the rise. They won 11 more games this season than they did last, and adding Oden in the middle is huge for them. They'll be competing for championships within 5 years.

Darius Miles has also had his fair share of run-ins with police, not to mention a locker room incident when he got in an argument with then-head coach Maurice Cheeks, in which the former uttered racial slurs toward the latter (ironic, since both are of the same race).

And even though Miles and Zach Randolph are the only players of questionable character left on the Blazers roster, their mere presence on that roster still makes me want to call them the "Jail Blazers".

Also, the Blazers are in financial limbo, possibly as a result of fans having had enough of players on that team getting in trouble with the law, and thus refusing to buy Blazers tickets and merchandise. As a matter of fact, Oregon Arena Corp., the Blazers' sister company, filed for bankrupcy, and as a result, Blazers owner Paul Allen (who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, and also owns the Seattle Seahawks) lost control of the Rose Garden, which is the Blazers' home arena. Without revenue from the Rose Garden, the Blazers organization found it difficult to turn in a profit, and there was even talk towards the end of last season of the possibility that the Blazers could relocate.

While the Blazers' draft lottery victory should provide a better future for them on-the-court, I'm not certain it's enough to help the franchise's financial situation any. Unless Greg Oden's jersey sales go through the roof next season...

However, something tells me that the Blazers will either trade down, or trade the draft rights of their selection in exchange for another team's selection, because they've done just that in the last two drafts.

[Bloodline666]

I had recorded the game last night while I was there for my family to watch (since I only had enough $$ for one ticket, and it was nosebleed seats), and had the recording started 30 minutes early for the draft lottery, and an hour late for SportsCenter. I just finished watching the recording today, and here's a little something from last night's SportsCenter that caught my attention.

Apparently, LeBron James is being criticized for "making the wrong decision at crunch time", and apparently, I'm sitting here debunking the criticism as criticizing him for "being too unselfish at crunch time". And apparently, I'm not alone in defending LeBron in this bout of criticism; even the Detroit Pistons, themselves, are defending LeBron's decision to pass up on a game-tying shot in favor of passing the ball to a wide-open Donyell Marshall for a game-winning three. Why else do you think he would have passed up a contested game-tying dunk in favor of a wide-open game-winning 3 from Donyell Marshall? Simple: because of that quote right there. A wide-open 3 would've given the Cavs a better chance to win than a contested dunk.

Two things stand out here. First of all, I am reminded of a quote from former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, former New York Jets head coach, and current Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards which blatantly explained why athletes play not just football, but sports in general: "You play to win the game!" Apply that very quote to LeBron James passing up the point-blank shot in favor of a game-winning 3-ball from Donyell Marshall.

Second, LeBron was triple-teamed on that play. He wasn't guarded by your Joe-average defender; he was initially guarded by Tayshaun Prince, a defender who once chased Reggie Miller down the lenght of the floor and rejected his would-be uncontested layup (affectionately known as "The Block"). Rasheed Wallace went over to help guard James. Common sense dictates that when you have the ball in your hands and you are double-teamed, let alone triple-teamed, one of your teammates is wide open, and it is your responsibility to find him and pitch the ball out to him. Not only was Donyell Marshall WIDE, WIDE OPEN on that play, but he was also behind the 3-point line in the corner. LeBron made the right decision. Donyell Marshall had the right shot, from the right spot. The bottom line is, the ball did not go in, and Detroit dodged a bullet on that play; even Rip Hamilton admitted as such.

Frankly, I don't think the criticism LeBron received for passing up that shot was warranted. In fact, had that three-pointer by Donyell Marshall gone in, the sports experts would be comparing LeBron's pass to Marshall to a Montana-to-Rice touchdown pass. But since the shot didn't fall, the media's now comparing LeBron's decision to pass up on that shot to Charles Barkley's golf swing. But you know how the media is about sports stars; they want to project the image that all your big-name superstar players like LeBron are literal deities, especially with the game on the line, and decide to crucify them when they don't make a decision that makes them look like basketball Gods. And as far as I'm concerned, that is complete and utter bull:skull::skull::skull::skull:.

[El Bandito]

Actually, if you watch the tape, Lebron gets by Prince and Rasheed actually backs off since he doesn't want to foul and risk the three point play. I don't care who's in his way, I've seen him go over every great defender in the NBA. Lebron is one of the strongest players in the NBA and could have easily dunked on that play. I've always thought that a dunk/layup should be taken instead of a jump shot. Especially if you're only down by 2. It was a good pass IF he didn't have a wide open 2. The percentage of him driving hard and scoring is much much better than Donyell's 3-point percentage.

And you know what, if that shot had gone down Lebron would still be criticized because he didn't show up at all in the fourth. He had 2 points. How can you be a franchise player if your team can't count on you in crunch time? The Pistons played horribly in that game and honestly Cleveland should've taken it. The game really shouldn't have even been close. Until Lebron stops missing key free throws and continues to lack the ability to carry his team on his back in the waning minutes of a game, he'll continue to get criticized. It's his third year in the NBA and he's already proven he has the talent to be the go-to guy, he just needs to back it up with 4th quarter performance. I really can't see this series going above 5 games IF that.

[Bloodline666]

Actually, if you watch the tape, Lebron gets by Prince and Rasheed actually backs off since he doesn't want to foul and risk the three point play. I don't care who's in his way, I've seen him go over every great defender in the NBA. Lebron is one of the strongest players in the NBA and could have easily dunked on that play. I've always thought that a dunk/layup should be taken instead of a jump shot. Especially if you're only down by 2. It was a good pass IF he didn't have a wide open 2. The percentage of him driving hard and scoring is much much better than Donyell's 3-point percentage.

And you know what, if that shot had gone down Lebron would still be criticized because he didn't show up at all in the fourth. He had 2 points. How can you be a franchise player if your team can't count on you in crunch time? The Pistons played horribly in that game and honestly Cleveland should've taken it. The game really shouldn't have even been close. Until Lebron stops missing key free throws and continues to lack the ability to carry his team on his back in the waning minutes of a game, he'll continue to get criticized. It's his third year in the NBA and he's already proven he has the talent to be the go-to guy, he just needs to back it up with 4th quarter performance. I really can't see this series going above 5 games IF that.

Actually, I'd like to point out a couple of things.

First, I'd like to comment on the part where you said "until he stops missing key free throws." In that whole game, LeBron never even went to the foul line. Second, as I pointed out earlier, the Pistons made an error on that play that could've been fatal: they left a three-point shooter wide, wide, open. In fact, Donyell Marshall was so open that Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown said quote, "Donyell could've had a cup of coffee and a sandwich". That could've been a critical dagger in the heart for the Pistons, especially since Marshall hit six shots from Downtown in the game before that (which was Game 6 vs. the Nets). In fact, Rip Hamilton even said that in the time-out before that play, the Pistons discussed the possibility that Marshall could have a wide-open three point shot, which tells me they read the scouting report very well, but did not execute properly and it almost cost them the game.

The Pistons have done their job on LeBron, though, as they held him to 10 points. I think LeBron did what he felt was right, though. Because when it comes down to it, winning is a team effort, not an individual effort. The team understands that when their star player is struggling, it's up to the role players to step up and pick up the slack, and vice versa.

LeBron's been criticized for being too unselfish his entire NBA career, which I can understand. Even though he's a small forward, LeBron's essentially been the Cavs' de facto point guard, since they probably haven't had much depth in that position during LeBron's career. As a matter of fact, he led the team in total assists each season he's been in the league, and led the team in assists per game each season except for his rookie season (Jeff McInnis led the team in that category that season, but played fewer games with the Cavs, as he got traded to the team towards the trade deadline).

EDIT: As for Games 1 and 2, if even the most minor details of the game had gone the Cavs' way, the Cavs would at the very least have stolen a game from the Pistons, or be up 2-0. As for Game 2, I think there were two things that proved the most fatal to the Cavs, particularly in the second half.

1) Turnovers! Do NOT expect the Cavs to win if they keep turning the ball over. Detroit can, and will, take full advantage of each and every turnover the Cavs commit. As a matter of fact, at one stretch of the game, they committed five consecutive turnovers, which certainly helped the Pistons to get right back in the game, since they've been clawing their way back in the game since the start of the second half. While I do have to give a tremendous amount of credit to the Pistons defense for forcing some of these turnovers, other turnovers were outright stupid ones, such as a pass out of bounds when I think it was either LeBron or Larry Hughes who passed the ball to guys in blue shirts who he thought was a teammate, when it turns out those blue shirts were the Pistons bench.

2) Coaching errors. For starters, Mike Brown should've been a lot more cautious with his time-outs. In fact, he wasted so many time-outs that early in the 4th quarter, he only had ONE time-out left. That time-out was not called until 24.3 seconds to go in the game, right after Rasheed "The Human Technical Foul" Wallace scored the go-ahead basket. Second, after that final time-out, he made the critical error of having his team run out the clock and try to score at the end of the shot clock. What he should have done was draw up a "catch-and-shoot" play on the inbound pass, and if they missed, THEN they could foul the Pistons and take advantage of their poor free throw shooting that night, and they'd have more time to get one last shot off. Instead, they only had one second left in the game when they made the foul.

It is interesting to note that only two teams have ever erased a 0-2 deficit in the Conference Finals to win it; the 1971 Washington Bullets, and the 1993 Chicago Bulls, with the New York Knicks being the victim of both occurrances.

In other news, it turns out LeBron James lucked out. With 1:20 to go in the Third Quarter of Game 1, LeBron James had elbowed Chris Webber in the head as the former was following through on a jump shot. The officials missed that call. Just hours ago, it's been reported that Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, has hit LeBron with a flagrant foul 2. (http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/nba/cleveland_cavaliers/17278878.htm) Now, had the call been made on the spot, LeBron would've been ejected automatically, since the rules state that a flagrant foul 2 results in the culprit getting ejected if called during the game. But since the officials missed the call, LeBron avoided ejection, thus also avoided missing Game 2.

Here's what irks me, though. First of all, the usual fine for a flagrant foul 2 is $5,000. No fine was even announced for LeBron James. Second, LeBron didn't even get suspended. I think Stu Jackson's letting LeBron giving him preferential treatment, despite tagging him with a flagrant 2, despite the fact that Kobe Bryant and Jerry Stackhouse were suspended for similar acts. This reminds me of when David Stern let Michael Jordan get away with gambling 4 years after Pete Rose got banned for life from Baseball for the same offense.

[El Bandito]

Kobe Bryant got suspended TWICE for those elbows after the shot during the regular season. I know it's the playoffs and not the regular season, but c'mon Stern if you're going to suspend Amare and Diaw for breaking the rules you have to give Lebron the same judgement you already passed on earlier in the season

YouTube - Lebron James unnatural act (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGnnN5BMXwE)

I mean, c'mon, that's even harder than both of Kobe's.

And I don't care how wide open Donyell was, he's still no Reggie Miller or Larry Bird. Lebron had the lane for a dunk, and he's one of the most ferocious dunkers (actually probably THE most) in the NBA. You're only down by two. Put the pressure on the other team to try and score.

To me, it's like in football if you're down by one and choosing between a field goal and a 2-point conversion. Even if the circumstances for the two point conversion are great, I'd still rather see my team take the much safer route. Especially in the playoffs.

And the free throw comment was more about Lebron historically than the other night against the Pistons. I saw Lebron clunk way too many fourth quarter free throws in both previous series for my liking. It's getting to the point where teams might start playing Hack-a-Lebron.

Also, the fact he never went to the line shows just how passive he was during that game. Lebron isn't Steve Nash or Jason Kidd. He has the build and the skill to be an extremely aggressive in-the-paint forward. It's okay for him to pass it every now and then, but he needs to consistently drive to the hole throughout the game. There's spots when he disappears too much for such a talented player.

[Bloodline666]

If Mike Brown wastes his time-outs in Game 3 the way he did in Game 2, I think the Cavs should fire him as soon as they get eliminated. That's a sure-fire way to hand the series over to the Pistons on a silver platter.

[Bloodline666]

Despite the fact that I'm rooting against them, I really have to give a lot of credit to the Jazz for making this a series. I think they played with a greater sense of urgency, knowing they'd be in a huge hole if they didn't.

Foul trouble sure does suck. Gotta be frustrating for Tim, as well as the rest of the team. I think Coach Pop gambled with keeping Tim in with 5 fouls, and I think that only delayed the inevitable. Of course, the Jazz had some foul trouble of their own, but the Spurs did not take advantage of it the way Utah took advantage of Duncan's foul trouble.

As for Utah, I think everyone that needed to step up big certainly did, Deron Williams in particular. I think the Jazz made the right choice back in 05 by trading up with the "Jail Blazers" in the draft and picking him with the third pick. Fisher stepped up big, as well. And though Okur sucked on the offensive end, he was a difference maker on guarding Duncan.

It'll be interesting to see how the Spurs respond in Game 4. Oh, by the way, the Jazz are 9-0 at home against the Spurs in the Playoffs. As far as head-to-head playoff series go, the Jazz lead the Spurs 3-0, and as far as playoff games, Jazz leads in that category 12-6 as of now (the latter of which includes this playoff series). These stats are all-time, and much of them account primarily for the Stockton-Malone era of the Jazz, when they were among the elite in the Western Conference. If the Jazz do not win this series, then those stats are a moot point. But I have a strange feeling that this won't be the last time the Spurs and Jazz will meet each other in the playoffs. The Jazz look like a team that will be in perennial playoff contention for years to come.

[Bloodline666]

While the majority of Utah's fans were generally well-behaved, a select few of them showed an absolute lack of class by throwing stuff on the court. The fans who did that need to be banned for life from all Utah Jazz home games, and have their season tickets revoked.

On another note, when was the last time you saw someone pick up his sixth foul AND second technical simultaneously? I can just see the locker room conversation now:

Derek Fisher: *walks in the locker room* Hi Coach Sloan!
Jerry Sloan: You got ejected for your second technical too? What the (expletive) were you thinking, Fisher?!
Fisher: Hey! It wasn't my fault! That Steve Javie dude got trigger-happy with the whistle!
Sloan: BULL! You just cost us the game, son!
Fisher: But really...it wasn't my fault! That Manu kid flopped, and Javie got trigger-happy with the whistle! And who are you to be talking? You, yourself, had a hand in our loss by arguing those calls vehemently and getting yourself ejected!
Sloan: That's it! YOU'RE BENCHED FOR GAME 5! Now sit down and shut up before I consider trading you this off-season!

In other news, I saw on SportsCenter that Kobe Bryant has made an ultimatum to the Lakers brass: either bring Jerry West back to the front office and give him "full authority", or he's gonna demand a trade. Apparently, Kobe feels that the Lakers front office does not have the best interests of the Lakers in mind. He feels that the only front office executive even remotely capable of bringing the Lakers back to championship contention is none other than Jerry West, which I think is definitely credible; not only is West, himself, an ex-Laker who won a championship with them as a player, but he is also a former Lakers GM who built two Laker dynasties. Though West is currently the GM for the Memphis Grizzlies, his contract with the organization expires at the end of June, and does not plan on returning there, and is possibly thinking of retiring as a GM. By the way, the silhouette you see on the NBA logo...just happens to be Jerry West. He's also the first-ever NBA Finals MVP, but he was on the losing team the year he won that award (the only player from an NBA Finals runner-up team to win that award).

[Kirobaito]

The fourth quarter of that game was one of the most appalling displays of officiating I've ever seen. What happened with fucking Ginobili made it even worse. Is the idiot capable of NOT flopping? Did the Spurs even make a shot in the 4th quarter, other than Oberto's uncalled offensive basket interference? EDIT: Oh, yes... they hit two other shots.

Absolutely ridiculous. The incompetence of NBA officiating shines through once again. And conveniently in favor of the Spurs... once again.

[edczxcvbnm]

The fourth quarter of that game was one of the most appalling displays of officiating I've ever seen. What happened with smurfing Ginobili made it even worse. Is the idiot capable of NOT flopping? Did the Spurs even make a shot in the 4th quarter, other than Oberto's uncalled offensive basket interference? EDIT: Oh, yes... they hit two other shots.

Absolutely ridiculous. The incompetence of NBA officiating shines through once again. And conveniently in favor of the Spurs... once again.

Exactly why I am not looking forward to the NBA Finals. Detroit might not have balance issues...well...hamilton might but they sure whine alot more than the Spurs. If the NBA has wondered why its ratings have continued to drop each year this is a factor in my opinion. How can a casual fan take this kind of crap seriously. I have trouble taking it seriously.

[Bloodline666]

Well the Jazz were playing like crap during the game, so I feel the officiating only affected the margin of victory, and not who won the game. I feel that the technicals against Fisher were not warranted. That second technical on Fisher may have only been enough for a personal foul, since the contact was there. Now if the game was closer than it was, though, then the missed basket interference call on Oberto could've affected the game's outcome.

It's ironic that Spurs fans like myself were chanting "Javie Sucks" last year in the playoffs, yet, the Spurs heard that same chant on the road. Like I mentioned in the last playoffs thread, Steve Javie does have a history of screwing over the home team, not to mention the fact that he was one of ten NBA refs investigated for tax evasion a few years back. In fact, he's even ejected team mascots. Not to mention he is notorious for being trigger-happy with the whistle when it comes to calling technicals. Had Javie not been officiating, Derek Fisher, and probably Jerry Sloan, would not have been called for two technicals.

As for flopping, the only rule change I'm aware of that the NBA has ever made in response to it is adding the "block-charge semi-circle" underneath the basket back in 1997, as a means to cut down on defenders flopping underneath the basket (which is why a charging foul committed while the defender is inside that circle is either ignored, or called as a blocking foul). The only other flopping-related rule I'm aware of that exists is a FIBA rule that states that anyone caught flopping will be called for a technical foul. Such a rule does not exist in the NBA, so according to the letter of the law, flopping remains perfectly legal in the NBA. And as for the Spurs' flopping, I have to say that it is not a problem with just that team, but it is a league-wide problem. Even the Jazz, themselves, have gotten away with flopping in the playoffs.

And speaking of that FIBA rule against flopping, Rasheed Wallace seems to think that rule needs to be instituted in the NBA, because he was quoted as saying that Anderson Varejao's flop in Game 2 needs to be called for a technical foul (http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/05/27/rasheed-wallace-thinks-varejaos-flopping-should-be-a-technical/) (ironic coming out of Sheed's mouth, since he's the Human Technical Foul of the NBA; he regularly leads the league in that category).

[Kirobaito]

If technical fouls were called for flopping then Ginobili would regular miss 30 games a season.

[Bloodline666]

I'd also like to point out that there's gonna be flopping in the Finals, regardless of who the two teams that play there are. The Cavs' most notorious flopper is Anderson Varejao. I believe Kirilenko is the Jazz's top flopper. I shouldn't even need to tell you who the Spurs' top flopper is. And if, next season, they DO make flopping punishable by a technical foul call, I can tell you right now that Rasheed Wallace is gonna start flopping next season just to try and be the all-time leader in technical fouls.

I think the recent spike in international players coming to the league would account for most of the flopping going on in the NBA. Most of those players grew up in, or played professionally in, countries where "football" (soccer to us Americans) is the most prevailant sport. It should be noted that flopping is EXTREMELY prevailant in soccer. My best guess is, most of these international players saw their soccer heroes flop so much that they thought, "this is really cool! What would happen if we did this in the NBA? Would we get the foul call in our favor?" I'm fairly certain some of these international players even learned how to flop by playing soccer. Sure enough, look what happened? These same players are now taking what they learned from watching (or playing) soccer, and applying it to the NBA. As of right now, soccer refs and FIFA are actively trying to crack down on flopping in that sport by issuing yellow cards to any player caught flopping. While FIFA and FIBA have rules against flopping, it's still legal and part of the game in the NBA. I would have to say the exact opposite of flopping in the NBA would be Hack-a-Shaq (or rather, Hack-a-[insert bad free throw shooter's name here])

[Raistlin]

They could make Not Being Rasheed Wallace a technical foul, and Wallace would still lead that category.

Recently I turned from an NBA game to watch a baseball game. I don't watch baseball.

[Bloodline666]

Note to Utah: If you can't beat Manu's flopping, resort to Hack-a-Bruce. Despite his tenacious defense and mad 3-point shooting, he's bad at the free throw line. The only team I've ever seen do Hack-a-Bruce is the Dallas Mavericks.

[edczxcvbnm]

To me flopping isn't the problem so much that the refs actually give the call to the flopper. I also feel that flopping happens on both ends of the ball and not just when a defender falls over. I can't begin to call the number of times an offensive player has fallen to the ground to make it look like he was hack out of his brain...sometimes they were never touched. Dwayne Wade from the finals last year comes to mind.

The players are just taking advantage of poor officiating.

I also was not saying that the outcome of the game would have changed but when a game is called like that it doesn't help perception no matter how bad a team is playing.

As sad as it is poor officiating will always be a part of basketball but it has only gotten worse and worse and they continue to do nothing to fix it.

[Bloodline666]

I, like the rest of the Spurs faithful in my hometown, am excited to see the Spurs back in the Finals for a 4th time, possibly grabbing a 4th NBA title. Though I would've liked this game to be won by the Spurs under less favorable circumstances, since Deron Williams was playing with a bad ankle, not to mention the fact that Derek Fisher did not enter the game until the 2nd half due to his daughter having a follow-up to her eye cancer treatment all the way in New York (interestingly enough, that follow-up was scheduled weeks in advance, so there was no way of knowing ahead of time whether the Jazz would be facing elimination that day). I think the week-long rest for the Spurs will help them in the long-run, especially given the average age of the team.

And the saga in L.A. continues to take attention away from the playoffs. First, it's reported that Kobe either wants Jerry West back in the Lakers front office or he wants out. Then, he retracts that statement by saying it would be nice to have Jerry West back in the Lakers front office. Then, in an interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith (perhaps the most animated analyst in all of sports), he says point-blank that he in fact wants to be traded from the Lakers, and that there's nothing the Lakers organization can do to keep him a Laker. And now, he's retracted that statement as well. So I think this coming off-season is going to be very interesting. As for that saga, I'm gonna have to stay neutral on that, and I feel both sides were wrong. For starters, I feel Kobe has betrayed the trust of the Lakers by demanding this trade, because when Kobe was going through that rape trial in Colorado, the Lakers players (save for Shaq, obviously), coaching staff, and organization at large stood by Kobe through thick and thin, and for Kobe to make the remarks he made was a stab in the back to the organization. On the same token, though, when Kobe opted out of his contract back in 04 to test the free agency market before ultimately deciding to re-sign with the Lakers, he did so because he felt he was made a promise by the Lakers organization that they would rebuild the team into a championship contender around him. Well, three years later, the Lakers have one lottery pick and two consecutive first-round exits to show for that "rebuilding", so it tells me the Lakers betrayed Kobe's trust by doing a horrible job at rebuilding the team.

Oh, and if you were watching the post-game presentation of the Western Conference Championship trophy, when it was Bruce Bowen's turn to speak, it sure SOUNDED like he was being booed by his own team's home crowd. The fact is, the fans were NOT saying "boo", they were saying "Bruce." Bills fans did the same thing with Bruce Smith, and Rams fans did this with Isaac Bruce. So basically, if you're a pro athlete and your name just happens to have the word "Bruce" in it, your home crowd is gonna stretch out the name "Bruce" and make it sound like you're being booed when you're really not.

[edczxcvbnm]

Screw the Spurs. Death to them all.

On a much more awesome not tonights game 5 of the East Finals was a terrible 3 quarters of play due to horrendous officiating. Then in the 4th they realized that they couldn't keep calling the game the way they had been or there would be no players left. Then King James took over giving a huge performance of unstoppability. It was one of those great moments of a player truly taking over a game. Just amazing. Lets see if the Cavs can finish the job in game six.

[Bloodline666]

Well, this totally sucks. Tickets for Games 1 & 2 of the NBA Finals (since San Antonio has homecourt in the Finals, regardless of who advances by virtue of a better record than both Cleveland and Detroit) are supposed to go on sale tomorrow at noon Central time, and I can't even connect to TicketMaster's website, even after 13 hours. If this keeps up, I'm getting my tickets by phone.


Screw the Spurs. Death to them all.

Hah! We'll see who's talking at the end of the Finals! :cool:

[Kirobaito]

Well, this totally sucks. Tickets for Games 1 & 2 of the NBA Finals (since San Antonio has homecourt in the Finals, regardless of who advances by virtue of a better record than both Cleveland and Detroit) are supposed to go on sale tomorrow at noon Central time, and I can't even connect to TicketMaster's website, even after 13 hours. If this keeps up, I'm getting my tickets by phone.


Screw the Spurs. Death to them all.

Hah! We'll see who's talking at the end of the Finals! :cool:
Well, you can't be too sure they'll sell out anyway.

[Bloodline666]

Something tells me Antonio McDyess gets at least a one-game suspension for his flagrant 2 that he pulled off against Sideshow Bob, otherwise known as Anderson Varejao. And while Sideshow Bob over there is a known flopper, that flagrant was no flop at all; I saw McDyess' arm go right around Varejao's neck.

While McDyess was ejected in the 1st quarter for that (effectively "suspending" him for that game), the severity of the flagrant foul certainly warrants a suspension for at least the next game.

[El Bandito]

Guys, the Spurs went 12-4 in the playoffs. You can make all the excuses you want, but they only got beat 4 times (and don't give me crap about the Suns, if they were the better team they would've won the next two games). Tim Duncan is the most fundamentally sound player I've seen and could easily be argued as the best overall player in the NBA and one of the best power forwards ever. Sure I hate Manu's flopping, and Bruce Bowen's bull:skull::skull::skull::skull:, but if I had to bet money, I'd never bet against the Spurs. They've consistently proven the power of their team year in and year out. They've basically become the Patriots of the NBA, where everyone hates them just because they always seem to win without much flair.

As for the game tonight, I'm really glad Lebron finally stepped his game up in the 4th. Everyone knows he has the physical talent, but finally that mental toughness is starting to show. It's exciting watching a superstar grow so much at such a young age.

[Bloodline666]

Guys, the Spurs went 12-4 in the playoffs. You can make all the excuses you want, but they only got beat 4 times (and don't give me crap about the Suns, if they were the better team they would've won the next two games). Tim Duncan is the most fundamentally sound player I've seen and could easily be argued as the best overall player in the NBA and one of the best power forwards ever. Sure I hate Manu's flopping, and Bruce Bowen's bull:skull::skull::skull::skull:, but if I had to bet money, I'd never bet against the Spurs. They've consistently proven the power of their team year in and year out. They've basically become the Patriots of the NBA, where everyone hates them just because they always seem to win without much flair.

As for the game tonight, I'm really glad Lebron finally stepped his game up in the 4th. Everyone knows he has the physical talent, but finally that mental toughness is starting to show. It's exciting watching a superstar grow so much at such a young age.

Patriots of the NBA? These people look to the Spurs as the RAIDERS of the NBA...not in that they suck, but in that they're the bad boys of the NBA. At first, it kinda pissed me off. But you know what? If everyone's gonna make the Spurs out to be the bad boys of the NBA, then I guess I might as well take pride in rooting for the bad boys! Of course, I know a thing or two about rooting for those kinds of teams, since the Raiders are my second favorite NFL team (second only to America's Team).

[Bloodline666]

Turns out Antonio McDyess will NOT be suspended for Game 6 for his flagrant foul on Anderson Varejao. However, Rasheed Wallace could still face a fine, or possible suspension for his reaction after the game, going after referee Bennett Salvatore. While he has been better behaved since being traded from Portland to the Hawks, and a week or so later, from the Hawks to the Pistons (though he still gets those technical fouls regularly), Sheed still has a bad history with refs. During his timultuous stay in Portland, he once threatened a referee at an arena parking lot, and that got him suspended for to 7 games, which I believe is the NBA record for longest suspension that did not involve physical contact or substance abuse.

And while I'm on the subject of Rasheed Wallace, he is already the league's leader in Playoff technical fouls with five already in this postseason. Two more, and he'll be automatically suspended for one game (should he get two in tomorrow's game and the Pistons lose, he'll have to serve that suspension on their season opener next season).