2007-08 NBA Playoffs thread

[korme]

It's getting a little dusty in here

[Groundhog]

We are going to hear Garnett's "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE" clip over and over again in every finals highlight package for the rest of our lives.

[SirFozzie]

Bill Russell is the fucking man.

I remember what he said to KG before the playoffs.

And KG just said the equivalent of "Thanks, Bill.. but I got one of my own now."

[molson]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

+1

It's also GREAT to see him out there enjoying all this, after spending almost 2 decades at odds with the city.

[molson]

Thanks Lakers fans in the thread - lets do it again next year.

[DaddyTorgo]

props to david stern for the shoutout he just gave to red

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by molson

Thanks Lakers fans in the thread - lets do it again next year.

It's a date.

Well, unless my Clips crash the party. PLEASE CRASH THE PARTY, CLIPPERS!

Oh, what the heck am I smokin'?...

[molson]

Stuart Scott and David Stern boo'd.

[NoMyths]

That has to be the absolute greatest postgame appearance ever -- Kevin Garnett is a madman. Screaming at the sky, dropping the f bomb, hitting on the reporter, boasting at the camera, crying on Bill Russell...instant "Save until I delete" status.

[SirFozzie]

I gotta get a DVD of this.

[LloydLungs]

Kevin Garnett would be a fascinating psychological study.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I gotta get a DVD of this.

Be patient. I'm sure ESPN will have one out in about 24 hours.

[Chief Rum]

So who's going #1 in the draft?

Just kidding...

[NoMyths]

When he screamed "Anything is possible" I took it to mean less about basketball and more about the next 24 hours in Kevin Garnett's life. I mean, the man might impregnate the whole city of Boston. He might develop working cold fusion. Anything is possible!

[Izulde]

Oh hell with it... I hate the NBA, but I'm still enjoying this championship feeling!

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

When he screamed "Anything is possible" I took it to mean less about basketball and more about the next 24 hours in Kevin Garnett's life. I mean, the man might impregnate the whole city of Boston. He might develop working cold fusion. Anything is possible!

Can he bring Dems and Repubs together?

[molson]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

When he screamed "Anything is possible" I took it to mean less about basketball and more about the next 24 hours in Kevin Garnett's life. I mean, the man might impregnate the whole city of Boston. He might develop working cold fusion. Anything is possible!

Seriously - what kind of party do you have after 116 games, all that pressure, and then an NBA Championship.

[molson]

Doc Rivers singing along to "We are the Champions" - this is some scene.

[Danny]

Congrats to Boston. I'm a Lakers' fan, but I've never enjoyed a team I root for losing more than this. KG has always been a favorite of mine and he and the rest of the Celtics deserve this championship and I'm happy for them.

[SirFozzie]

Bill Russell: I think that you're going to win at least two or three championships here. Okay? And if you don't but I see you playing the way you should play ... I'll share one of mine with you.
Kevin Garnett (softly): I'm sure you would.
BR: This is a genuine friendship thing I'm talking about. But if you play the way you play, and you dedicate yourself to doing it, they will come. It's like that FIELD OF DREAMS. If you build it, they will come. You may have to put your arms around a couple of guys and take them with you but you can't drag 'em. You've got to put your arms around them and take them with you. Okay? And you have no idea how proud I am of you. I couldn't be any more proud of you than I am of my own kids.

He put his arms around a couple others and took them with him.

He got it.

Thank you KG. Thank you Bill.

EDIT: KG apparently hugged Bill, and asked him "Did we make you proud", before saying "We got one!"

[DaddyTorgo]

showing some class - someone says they lipread KG asking Russell "Did we make you proud?" ---- goosebumps. What class

[spleen1015]

I like it that Kobe doesn't have one without Shaq.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Bill Russell: I think that you're going to win at least two or three championships here. Okay? And if you don't but I see you playing the way you should play ... I'll share one of mine with you.
Kevin Garnett (softly): I'm sure you would.
BR: This is a genuine friendship thing I'm talking about. But if you play the way you play, and you dedicate yourself to doing it, they will come. It's like that FIELD OF DREAMS. If you build it, they will come. You may have to put your arms around a couple of guys and take them with you but you can't drag 'em. You've got to put your arms around them and take them with you. Okay? And you have no idea how proud I am of you. I couldn't be any more proud of you than I am of my own kids.

He put his arms around a couple others and took them with him.

He got it.

Thank you KG. Thank you Bill.

EDIT: KG apparently hugged Bill, and asked him "Did we make you proud", before saying "We got one!"

Awesome quotes.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Be patient. I'm sure ESPN will have one out in about 24 hours.

[Chief Rum]

lol...I underestimated the marketing machine.

[DaddyTorgo]

I hope when they have the parade they have duckboats with the legends on them...

[Chief Rum]

Damn, there are fans crying on the post-game Lakers show. Wow.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Noop

Celtics deserve to win this title. Maybe next year for the Lakers but I think Boston is going to repeat as champs next season.

If Rondo and Perkins keep improving, along with Posey returning they'll be the favorite, but I'm picking New Orleans as my darkhorse next season. They would have destroyed the Lakers with pick-and-rolls if they met up.

[DaddyTorgo]

FYI - Ray Allen just said in his postgame that the "medical emergency" was that his son was hospitalized and diagnosed with diabetes

[DaddyTorgo]

KG is like a 30 year old, 7 foot fall gradeschooler in the locker room celebrating...it's kind of adorable

[korme]

I am most happy for Paul.

[DaddyTorgo]

can we drop the "KG can't deliver in big games" tag now? Or does he have to do it another year? 26 and 14 tonight, overall had a spectacular postseason too.

[Anthony]

i'm just glad the Patriots didn't win the Super Bowl (that my NY Giants won, ahhh thank you very much). if that happened, i would've had to take road trip to blow up Boston.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

can we drop the "KG can't deliver in big games" tag now? Or does he have to do it another year? 26 and 14 tonight, overall had a spectacular postseason too.

One night does not a career overcome.

I would say this game elevates KG to "can sometimes deliver in big games", but that's at best. He still disappears way too often to be called a big game player.

[MrBug708]

Ugggh. I hoped Andrew Bynum watched the performance tonight and felt motivated to work hard this offseason.

Congrats to the Celtics.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I think he was shouting out to all his old friends - but he included his mom so he gets bonus points from me. And then he embraced bill russell...mega bonus points

Dude, that was so totally James Cagney.

"I made it, ma! Top o' the world! Top o' the world!"

Yeah, he called his mama out, but he gets the bonus points for me for the White Heat reference.

[Neon_Chaos]

Congrats to the Celtics and their fans. The better team won this series. I can't think of anyone better for the Lakers to lose to than KG and the Celtics.

[Karlifornia]

Congrats Celts. After getting shit all year about "playing in the weak Eastern Conference", they went out and punked the best team in the west with everything on the line. I imagine this Celtics team was easy to pull for.

[Neon_Chaos]

Anyone catch Lamar Odom's postgame interview? I am torn between feeling sorry for the guy or blaming him for the way he played this series. He was pretty emotional and he was swallowing his words in such a way that he seemed to mumble. He kept on repeating the fact that losing Game 4 after being up by 20+ was the biggest factor in this series.

I wouldn't want to step into any one of those Lakers' shoes right now. I might have an emotional breakdown.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

One night does not a career overcome.

I would say this game elevates KG to "can sometimes deliver in big games", but that's at best. He still disappears way too often to be called a big game player.

That's interesting because his postseason line is 21.6/12.4/4.4, while his regular season line is only 20.4/11.2/4.4

In his biggest series before this season, the conference finals against the Lakers, Garnett put up 16, 24, 28, 30, 22 points and had rebound totals of 10, 11, 11, 13, 19, 17.

In the game 7 clincher that got Minnesota to the conference finals, Garnett put up 32 points, 21 rebounds, 4 steals, and 5 blocks.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

One night does not a career overcome.

I would say this game elevates KG to "can sometimes deliver in big games", but that's at best. He still disappears way too often to be called a big game player.

I think KG shows up during the big games, it's just that he disappears during the last 3 minutes.

He's put up great numbers in this series, but he really hasn't delivered in the final minutes of close games as much as people would expect him to.

Not like Allen, or Pierce, or Kobe, who seem to relish taking the final shot, or making the final crucial plays of a game.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

He certainly showed this in this series.

You mean like the 9 points he scored in the final 3 minutes of Game 2 in that frantic comeback?

Or the two field goals he sank in game 3 to put away the Celtics?

Or his attempts to salvage game 4 with four points and a crucial assist to D.Fish to cut the lead down to two?

How about the steal/dunk he had on Pierce to effectively put away game 5?

At the end of the day, Kobe is willing and able to, at the very least, try and impose himself during the closing moments of close games, similar to Pierce, Allen, and any other clutch player in the league.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

I would take Garnett's production and intangible performance in this finals over Kobe's. Perhaps he didn't do it during the last 120 seconds of the game, but that doesn't mean much to me.

I'm sure most would. I'm glad you agree that he does disappear during the last 120 seconds.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by molson

It's been such a weird playoff run for the Celtics and this sums it up....They were so unimpressive, they're obviously going to lose in the next round. We've heard that twice already. The theme of the story on ESPN.com after game 5 was how they didn't play like champions.

Now they're 4 unimpressive wins away from the NBA Championship. If they pull it off, they'll of course be the most unimpressive 60+ wins/championship team ever.

So how does it feel to be of a fan of the most unimpressive 60+ wins/championship team ever?

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

I'm just not sure I understand the point. Obviously the team played well enough during the last 120 seconds to win the series. If others were able to win it here, why should Garnett be criticized for not taking the shots? The Celtics would never have been in the position to win those games without his defense and rebounding. It seems like you're trying to find something to criticize him about.

I was only replying to CR's statement regarding Garnett not showing up during big games, stating that he does show up and makes big plays, just that he prefers to pass out of taking the big shots and the big plays during the final moments.

The point is that he disappears during the end of games. Taking control of a game in the final moments of a close game is not exactly one of his strengths. I'm merely pointing out that it clearly is a facet of his game that other teams have taken advantage of for the past, what, 13 seasons?

Thank god that the Celtics have been able to cover that weakness impressively this season, surrounding him with reliable shooters, something he clearly did not have in Minnesotta.

I'm happy for KG, he finally got his, and he deserves it 100%. That doesn't make him any better in the clutch, though.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

That's interesting because his postseason line is 21.6/12.4/4.4, while his regular season line is only 20.4/11.2/4.4

so you want to say he's a big game player cuz he averaged 1 more point and 1 more rebound in the post-season?

move over, MJ and Reggie Miller - Big Game Garnett is here.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Neon, you're right. I realized I am trying to argue with CR through you.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

so you want to say he's a big game player cuz he averaged 1 more point and 1 more rebound in the post-season?

move over, MJ and Reggie Miller - Big Game Garnett is here.

I love how you clipped out the rest of my post that showed his big time performances in big games.

[Anthony]

I don't care about one game blips on the radar. i'm referring to the regular season avg vs. the postseason avg.

anyone can have a huge game through 3 rounds of the playoffs. can you avg big games and elevate your stats through the entire postseason? that's the question.

[Kodos]

Glad to see Kobe, Phil, and the Lakers go down in flames. Congratulations, Celtic fans. Out of all the recent Boston championships, this was the easiest to root for.