Looking forward to the start of the real season today. Couple of potentially intriguing matchups alredy in the 1rst round. iI guess that Bulls San A Miami and Thunder are everybody's favorites and mine. I have not seen San A enough to have a feeling.
I see Lakers, Memphis and Boston as potential dark horses.
My rooting order as follows: Bulls, Thunder, Miami, Memphis Boston.
edit: fergot the Pacers. I think they will be able to give Miami a handful in the second round.
I have to agree with Squaredancecalling Steve. I really don't see anyone beating the Spurs this year. Next year will be the Thunder's year. They're such a fun team watching.
"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."
- Duke Ellington
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.”
- George Bernard Shaw
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion."
i did not expect Lebron and Wade win game 6 as convincingly as they did. Of course they did get some help from their team mates, on the scoring side mainly from Miller and Chalmers. i am not a disser of beautiful teamball but without downplaying Lebron's invaluable contributions I admit that I mainly enjoyed Wades brilliant scoring.
i did not expect Lebron and Wade win game 6 as convincingly as they did. Of course they did get some help from their team mates, on the scoring side mainly from Miller and Chalmers. i am not a disser of beautiful teamball but without downplaying Lebron's invaluable contributions I admit that I mainly enjoyed Wades brilliant scoring.
Agreed. I also thought Wade's incredible offensive performance was the show last night. And necessary. I didn't think the Heat' passing was as sharp last night and Lebron didn't have his best game. (He's still pretty good on a so-so night, though.)
Last edited by steve(thelil); May-25th-2012 at 08:51 AM.
Wilt was the Lebron of his day....but even better.....especially taking into account just how much bigger and vastly superior athletically in comparison to everyone else back then. The man was a "freak of nature" and everyone let him know it and he hated it.
He should have destroyed Russell (just like Shaq should have destroyed everyone short of him being in a coma.) and everyone else every time they played. But like Lebron (as of right now) for whatever reason he just didn't want to be too much of freak. He spent too much time reading what people thought of of him to point he lead the league in assists.
Seriously, Willis Reed completely healthy had no business stopping him....let alone scaring him while injured. The only person that really should have been an issue for him would be Jabbar in his prime. The only one that would have had to make him work on both sides of the court.
Top 5 based on position. I didn't see them all play.
Magic
Jordan
Jabbar (everyone points out the obvious offense...but forget in his prime....he was just as much a defensive force.)
Duncan
Toss up between Baylor or Bird....though based on Bill Simmons' piece....I lean heavily toward Baylor.
P.P.S. No way in hell I would pick Lebron (of right now) if I wanted to win a Championship. If I was putting together a five right now to put people in the seats that would be a different story.
Last edited by Blue Train; May-26th-2012 at 01:34 AM.
"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."
- Duke Ellington
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.”
- George Bernard Shaw
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion."
To be fair....the first year they were learning to adjust to each other and figure out who was Batman and who was Robin and they really had no one else on the team because of Bosh's idiotic signing and his doing his best to prove how bad of a contract it was on a daily basis....and still got to the Championship.
This year with the strike and no real camp and still a bunch of bums because of Bosh....but at least Wade accepting the Robin role and Bosh acting like he had a pulse helped.
Honestly, if they win a Championship it might be with the worst 3-12 bench since maybe the Bullets. It would definitely be the worst in my lifetime.
The only team that had a chance of being even worse was Cleveland in 2007.
Last edited by Blue Train; May-26th-2012 at 05:02 PM.
"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."
- Duke Ellington
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.”
- George Bernard Shaw
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion."
Bop is better than Dixieland. It's all about Free Improv. Jazz is dead, it's all EAI.
The movie version. Sound is better than silent film. Color is better than black and white.
I could do the same with Art and whatnot....but I am sure you get the point.
Did you actually read the Baylor link? He, Wilt and Robertson were easily the most athletic from the 60's. I can't think of a single other player that could even closely do what Baylor did that year. Maybe Wilt because he was so much more bigger, stronger and athletic than everyone else at the time.
Yeah, they're a lot more athletic now and sometime in the future someone will be using your exact same response (just like it was done before in pick a decade.) by saying the same thing about now.
They're also a lot worse fundamentally than in the past and it's getting worse with every decade. That you can blame on ESPN, Jordan's early dunking years and the three point shot, high school players, and one and dones. Just like in the NFL very few have proper tackling fundamentals and are more interested in the hits.
This has actually effected centers most of all. Most of them have sucked in my lifetime and have no clue how to play on the blocks. Can anyone imagine Shaq or Howard with actual fundamentals of being a center?
Using your logic, Russell would be a limited small forward today. Bird was borderline athletic, slow and could barely jump.
Followed by.
How many Championships would Wilt have won with the players Russell had? How many would Jordan won with those Bird or Magic played with? Since Barkley for whatever reason is brought into this....how many would he have won?
Just saw this. Not only is he taking lessons from Wade (no matter what the Kool-Aid drinkers think....one of the dirtiest players and one of the biggest floppers.) on being a dirty player but acting lessons.
I think this might be the Lebron Zapruder film with his reaction in comparison to what it should have been from the force and angles involved.
Just saw this. Not only is he taking lessons from Wade (no matter what the Kool-Aid drinkers think....one of the dirtiest players and one of the biggest floppers.) on being a dirty player but acting lessons.
I think this might be the Lebron Zapruder film with his reaction in comparison to what it should have been from the force and angles involved.
You don't like flopping. I don't either, but compared to being a selfish player, demanding trades, dissing his teammates in public, flopping is practically saintly. It has nothing to do with whether he is a great player or great teammate. It's clearly the kind of largely irrelevant bullshit people who look for reasons to dislike a great player are forced to focus on. Maybe you should expand your ethical editiorializing to other important topics and convince people that they shouldn't think Miles Davis as a musician due his personal issues. Or that Ted Williams wasn't a great hitter because he was rude to fans and was even known to spit at them.
Even with all the casual and/or clueless fans out there looking for anything to smear Lebron with based on "the Decision" and the "not 5, not 6, not 7" pep rally, you never hear anything that suggests he isn't an incredibly hard worker and fantastic teammate. (He's also always been pleasant and friendly to fans and the media, despite all the shit he gets hit with) I guess you don't find that as interesting as your Zapruder film. Also, Nice touch equating trading flopping tips with assassination. Insightful.
PS. It's slightly flattering that you've chosen to use my my "drink the kool-aid analogy" back at me. However, even if Magic, Barkley, Pippen and I are wrong about Lebron being the greatest basketball player in the world, it doesn't apply. My correct use of the "drink the kool aid" expression suggested that people who undervalue or dis Lebron are basing it on bullshit being fed them by the TMZ level crap in the media. By contrast, my position on him is based on my understanding of basketball and what I see with my eyes, and is contrary to the of the crap you hear. By using the term "drink the kool aid" to mean "being wrong" suggests a simplistic level of analysis that distracts the reader from the level of your otherwise scholarly thesis.
Last edited by steve(thelil); May-27th-2012 at 10:00 AM.
I didn't think LeBron was going to go down quietly against Boston and he didn't but they needed Bosh to win game 7. It also helped that the Celtics' starters (except for Rondo) seemed to all suddenly realize how old they were during half-time.
I thought next year was going to be OKC's year. If Bosh can play like he did last night and Wade and Lebron do what they're expected....I can see the Heat beating OKC.
I still think OKC wins this year. They're just too deep.
P.S. I was never a fan of the Celtics, but they had a great run.
Last edited by Blue Train; June-10th-2012 at 12:03 PM.
"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."
- Duke Ellington
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.”
- George Bernard Shaw
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion."
Finally was able to see the game. It went from the Heat looked like they were going to blow out the OKC to they would have blown them out if not for LeBron. Everyone but LeBron seemed to forgot the game lasts more than 1.5 quarters. The only reason they hung around so long was LeBron and they could have won if he stopped taking outside shots and just took it to the hole. He kept it from being a blowout, but the fourth he was drained. Someone should have told Bosh to stop taking 3pt shots.
The Heat had no answer for OKC's pick and roll while Durant struggled early.
James can't carry the Heat over the OKC. They're too good and deep for that. He needs to stop trying to guard everyone and they need to put him on Durant. He's the only one they have that can defend him.
Wade seems to be taking every other playoff game off.
Right now, I would take Westbrook and Durant over Wade and LeBron because of Wade.
Dr. Dave:
Westbrook also ended up with 11 assists, which for him is close to double his average. He's really a shooting guard playing point.
Last edited by Blue Train; June-13th-2012 at 04:10 PM.
"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."
- Duke Ellington
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.”
- George Bernard Shaw
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion."
Westbrook also ended up with 11 assists, which for him is close to double his average. He's really a shooting guard playing point.
Indeed he did, and the next teammate after him was Durant with 4. My comment had to do with a few moves in the 4th, when it seemed like he held on to the ball for an excruciatingly long time (It was probably four seconds).
I see Collinson had 10 rebounds too, plus that nice slam on Durant's feed in the fourth. Not bad for a role-player.
I see also that Harden played 22 minutes, picked up 4 fouls, and didn't really do all that much. What do you bet he comes out frisky in game 2?
“America’s not a country. It’s just a business. Now pay me my fucking money.”
I'm picking OKC based on their depth and talent but not based necessarily on last night's game. While the Heat didn't show how they could stop OKC's big 2, neither did OKC show that they could stop Lebron and Wade, really. They got - and missed - a lot of good shots. On the other hand, while they can get so hot at times that you think they're great shooters, they are both really inconsistent from the outside .
Also, remember how often it appears in retrospect that people attached too much importance to the home team winning game 1 (or even game 1 and 2) in the playoffs. So while I believe that the Heat can play better than they did last night, I think OKC can, too - and that they will have to to win.
Last edited by steve(thelil); June-14th-2012 at 09:46 AM.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve
