2007-08 NBA Playoffs thread

[korme]

omg the c's are gonna blow this game

they are still winning but i just feel like this is detroit's game to lose at this point

[BishopMVP]

Not a fan of this fouling stategy Doc.

[Neon_Chaos]

C's hold on.

Somehwere, Stern is sitting in a dark room wearing his Bird jersey over his Magic jersery, smiling.

[SirFozzie]

HUGE freaking sigh of relief.

[Passacaglia]

Not according to the NBA, who announced that he should have shot two free throws.

Heartbreaker of a game to watch tonight.

EDIT: Missed a page, but this was in reply to the comment about Barry traveling.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Not according to the NBA, who announced that he should have shot two free throws.

Heartbreaker of a game to watch tonight.

EDIT: Missed a page, but this was in reply to the comment about Barry traveling.

*shrug*

Looks like a clear travel to me. Barry is already lifting his pivot foot and hasn't dribbled the ball yet when the foul occurs.

Of course, It wouldn't be the first time a travel has gone uncalled/unnoticed in the history of the NBA, either.

[Neon_Chaos]

Lotsa stuff that went down awry in that Lakers/Spurs game.

The Spurs shouldn't have even been able to put that last shot up. The ball grazed the rim on Fisher's shot at the last possession... meaning the shot-clock should have been reset with 5 something seconds left.

[molson]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Not a fan of this fouling stategy Doc.

There's nothing more annoying that a team hitting a game-tying 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to go. It doesn't have to happen - and most coaches finally realize that.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by molson

There's nothing more annoying that a team hitting a game-tying 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to go. It doesn't have to happen - and most coaches finally realize that.

Yes, Doc deserves credit for having the balls to go against convential wisdom and do the smart thing in that situation. More things have to happen for you to lose a game if you simply foul in late game situations when you're up 3.

[SirFozzie]

Heh. Sheed is now $25K lighter after his bleep-filled rant last night. Win or lose, I think he'll get that magic #7 T in game 6, so if there's a game 7, he'll be sitting out.

[Neon_Chaos]

Come on, Lakers. Less than ten minutes of stellar basketball, and it's back to the Finals...

[Neon_Chaos]

And the Spurs are done.

Four wins away, Lakeshow.

[MrBug708]

Heck ya!

[SirFozzie]

God, that introduction by "Mason" was the most streetball set of introductions I've ever seen

[Groundhog]

How does Rasheed not get like 2 technical fouls right there? EVen looked like the one official grabbed the other official as he was about to call the T to stop him doing it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

How does Rasheed not get like 2 technical fouls right there? EVen looked like the one official grabbed the other official as he was about to call the T to stop him doing it.

and yet perkins got T'd up for nothing. Huge double-standard. It needs to be more consistent

[SirFozzie]

The refs apparently have heard it straight from the top that there should be a game 7. What a one-sided crapfest from the officials

[larrymcg421]

Man, please get Cassell out of there.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The refs apparently have heard it straight from the top that there should be a game 7. What a one-sided crapfest from the officials

agreed. How in the fucking hell was that a 4th foul on garnett? or an offensive foul by pierce on that potential 4-pt, game-changing play? bullllshit

[Jas_lov]

Pierce obviously initiated the contact by forcing the Detroit defender to jump into him. NO! It was a terrible call! Should have been a 4 point play. The 4th foul call on Garnett was absurd. Perkins got a T for much less than Rasheed has done. The refs are scared to call one on him becuase he'll be suspended for a possible game 7.

[larrymcg421]

I think Rasheed has at the very least lot a bit of cash for his reaction to the cameraman.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

Pierce obviously initiated the contact by forcing the Detroit defender to jump into him. NO! It was a terrible call! Should have been a 4 point play. The 4th foul call on Garnett was absurd. Perkins got a T for much less than Rasheed has done. The refs are scared to call one on him becuase he'll be suspended for a possible game 7.

yeah and then they'd be worried that that'd affect the game too much.

which just illustrates my key issue with NBA refs, they're too focused on the big picture - "omg if I call this a technical it'll potentially affect the series" - when they need to be instructed to just call things CONSISTENTLY. A charging foul should be a charging foul regardless of whether it's a scrub-PG running into someone or Kobe running into someone. It's just too inconsistent and that bothers me.

[larrymcg421]

dola

And didn't I say we needed to take Cassell out? He can get you back into a game, but he can also take you out of one. Old man wasn't feeling it today.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

dola

And didn't I say we needed to take Cassell out? He can get you back into a game, but he can also take you out of one. Old man wasn't feeling it today.

yeah...his turnovers there in the 3rd were a huge reason why they fell behind

AND HOW was that not a foul on maxiell?

fortunately billups missed twice

[DaddyTorgo]

thought the C's had blown it...great run by them here...and now the Pistons are in the penalty

[larrymcg421]

Why was Hamilton sitting? Uh, thanks for that, Flip!

[Jas_lov]

Celtics shooting lights out. They might just pull this off.

[DaddyTorgo]

damn...huge play by posey


garnett's laid an egg this game though - but I guess that's why you got a "big 3" so that only 2/3 needs to be firing at a time

[Schmidty]

I hate the Pistons right now. I love them, but I hate them.

Sheed needs to go. He's showing everyone that in the big game, he's a baby and a cancer. He might be a "good teammate" the rest of the time, but when it counts, he's a liability.

Oh, and if Boston makes it, they will get destroyed by the Lakers (who I hate).

[DaddyTorgo]

good point there by the announcer - ray allen shouldn't have passed it to garnett...he should have taken the foul himself as the better FT shooter

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I hate the Pistons right now. I love them, but I hate them.

Sheed needs to go. He's showing everyone that in the big game, he's a baby and a cancer. He might be a "good teammate" the rest of the time, but when it counts, he's a liability.

Oh, and if Boston makes it, they will get destroyed by the Lakers (who I hate).

if detroit makes it they'd get destroyed by the lakers too though

[Groundhog]

Garnett decides to keep the game interesting...

I kinda hope the Pistons pull of an amazing comeback here and most of the Pistons fans will hear about it in their car on the way home after leaving too early...

[DaddyTorgo]

ballgame

[Jas_lov]

The Celtics deserve this win after getting screwed by the refs. Everyone here thought they'd lose to the Pistons except myself and the bandwagon Celtics fans. I think the Celtics-Lakers series will be a close one and the Celtics won't get destroyed. I think they'll lose, but it'll be a good and hard fought 6 or 7 game series.

[DaddyTorgo]

Garnett vs. Gasol is going to be interesting battle. Garnett's a better pure shooter but can he exploit that. Pierce can guard Kobe okay, he's shown that.

The question will be Lamar Odom for the Celtics and Ray Allen for the Lakers. Those are the guys that would be matchup problems defensively...at least if you assume Pierce on Kobe (which I think you almost have to do if you're the C's)

[Neon_Chaos]

David Stern and the ABC executives are having a sexy party right now.

Lakers vs. Celtics!

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Garnett vs. Gasol is going to be interesting battle. Garnett's a better pure shooter but can he exploit that. Pierce can guard Kobe okay, he's shown that.

The question will be Lamar Odom for the Celtics and Ray Allen for the Lakers. Those are the guys that would be matchup problems defensively...at least if you assume Pierce on Kobe (which I think you almost have to do if you're the C's)

Pierce can guard Kobe better than his teammates, but my guess he is still going to get burned by a lot. I think both Bowen and Udoku are better defenders and Kobe blitzed them.

Gasol is a solid player, but Garnett should be a mismatch. He is a better offensive and defensive player, with the length to bug Gasol on both ends. Plus, KG has been fairly consistent, but Gasol still has a tendency to occasionally disappear when the going gets tough.

Garnett might actually have to guard Odom, come to think of it, because Perkins can probably at least stay with Gasol a bit, but there really is no one else who can play with a guy with Odom's length and versatility.

As for Allen, I think Manu is a better player than Allen right now, and Vujacic bugged Manu to death. My guess is that Vujacic can stick with an older Allen. Sure, Manu is a little hurt, but a healthy Allen hasn't hardly shown up for the playoffs.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Oh, and if Boston makes it, they will get destroyed by the Lakers (who I hate).

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.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

if detroit makes it they'd get destroyed by the lakers too though

Not sure about that, but good luck.

I hate Kobe. Even though my other thread was bumped, I'm not sure who to root for now.

I might just watch the Wings win the Cup.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Not sure about that, but good luck.

I hate Kobe. Even though my other thread was bumped, I'm not sure who to root for now.

I might just watch the Wings win the Cup.

Heh, I'm rooting for the Wings, cuz I can't stand Pittsburgh, since the days of Lemieux

[SirFozzie]

Wow, less then an hour after the Celtics win, the NBA online store has already emailed me (psuedo-spam) with the chance to buy 2007-8 Eastern Conference Championship gear

[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.

I agree with this sentiment. It really does not matter to me who wins the title. Both teams have players that I really would like to see win titles. On Boston's side, seeing KG, Ray Allen, and especially Paul Pierce would be cool since as recently as last year all somehow "lacked what it to took to win a title." I think Pierce's public turnaround is almost as impressive as Kobe's. I remember how much of a problem this guy was considered. On the other hand, I would also like to see guys like Lamar Odom, Luke Walton and the other "no talent hacks" on the Laker bench win the trophy.

[BishopMVP]

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.

I'm not sure how everybody is crowning the Lakers right now. They're the slight favorites, but the Celtics, even as individual players, have been so schizophrenic this postseason I think anyone making predictions is bound to be wrong.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I'm not sure how everybody is crowning the Lakers right now. They're the slight favorites, but the Celtics, even as individual players, have been so schizophrenic this postseason I think anyone making predictions is bound to be wrong.

I think with Gasol the Lakers are the best team in the NBA, so I would pick the Lakers regardless of how this post season had gone for Boston. But after this series with Detroit I would assume everyone who was writing off Boston b/c of the earlier series would not be doing that anymore(I'm in that camp, I didn't expect them to lose to Cleveland but I certainly didn't' expect them to beat Detroit either after their play in the early rounds). I do think that the Lakers could win it in 5, where if Boston wins it'll likely go 7.

[Neon_Chaos]

< 12 hours until Game 1!!!!

Lakers or Celtics?

Time to draw the line and take sides.

Go Lakers!

[Dr. Sak]

Can't we just hope for the ground to open up and swallow both teams ?

[cartman]

Great article from The Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news...lakers_celtics

Pau Gasol Googles 'Lakers + Celtics + Rivalry'

LOS ANGELES—Claiming he was unaware of the existence of a Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics rivalry until numerous media outlets suggested their 2008 Finals matchup would revive it, curious Lakers center Pau Gasol researched the topic Wednesday by entering "Lakers + Celtics + Rivalry" into the Internet search engine Google.

The All-Star center expressed surprise upon finding that search results yielded nearly 75,000 websites about the topic, including a Wikipedia entry devoted solely to the Celtics-Lakers matchup.

"I guess these teams go way back," Gasol told reporters, adding that he was also intrigued to learn that the Lakers themselves have a history that precedes their 1996 signing of Shaquille O'Neal. "Apparently, before I was born, the Lakers and Celtics used to play each other all the time, and the games were intense. It seems to have been a really big deal."

"Listen to this," the visibly impressed Gasol said before reading from a printout of the Wikipedia page. "'The rivalry originated in the 1960s, when the Celtics defeated the Lakers six times in eight years to claim the championship. The classic matchup featured greats such as Bill Russell and Bob Cousy for Boston, and Elgin Baylor, Joe Montana, and Jerry West for Los Angeles.'"

"Man," Gasol added, "I wish those guys were still alive. I would love to talk to them about it."

Gasol's Internet search history confirmed that the information gleaned from the initial Wikipedia page spawned a number of related Google searches, including those for "Kevin McHale," "Magic Johnson," "Bill Russell," "Red Auerbach," "Kobe Bryant + sexual assault," and "Pau Gasol."

Gasol said his interest in the topic was first piqued after being repeatedly asked to compare his potential matchup against Celtics center Kevin Garnett to that of "Chamberlain vs. Russell." Though Gasol said he was happy to eventually learn the Chamberlain to whom reporters were referring was former Los Angeles Lakers star Wilt Chamberlain, and the Russell was former Boston Celtic Bill Russell, Gasol admitted he was still struggling with the question's relevance to the actual 2008 Finals.

When asked if this newly acquired information about the rivalry had further inspired him to beat the Celtics, or had created a deep-seeded hatred for the Boston team, Gasol responded, "No, not really. It's all very interesting though."

Gasol's teammates echoed that sentiment, saying that though it was worth knowing that the Celtics and Lakers had played one another 10 times in the Finals over 75 years ago, they now they considered the San Antonio Spurs or the Dallas Mavericks their biggest rivals.

"I don't remember this because it was years before I was born, but I was reading that at one time the Lakers had guys with crazy names like Kareem and Magic," said Gasol, adding that the player photo of the latter reminded him of a thinner "Mr. Johnson," an eccentric local movie-theater owner who often hovers around the Lakers locker room, tells the team "good job," and always offers advice. "He's a nice guy and doesn't mean any harm, so we let him stay."

"But apparently that rivalry between that Magic guy and Larry Birdman [sic], who my dad said was a pretty great shooter, saved the NBA," Gasol added. "I don't know about that. I'll tell you, though, on those YouTube videos, that Lakers coach with the fancy suits and the slicked-back hair looked ridiculous."

Gasol said that his teammates were equally interested in learning more about the rivalry's history, with the exception of guard Kobe Bryant. According to Gasol, when the Lakers star was informed that his name was not mentioned in the initial Wikipedia entry, an angered Byrant walked away without saying a word. Upon revisiting the page several minutes later, Gasol said the header "Russell vs. Bryant" had been edited into the site, and a rudimentary Wikipedia page for a 1988 Nintendo video game titled Bryant vs. Bird now existed.

[Young Drachma]

Awesome new commercial with Magic and Bird.

[KWhit]

Agreed.

[KWhit]

Pierce hurt?