NBA Playoffs

I suppose I\'m obligated to root for the Sixers, but they won\'t last long.

In the west, I\'m rooting for the Nuggets, followed by the Suns and the Rockets.

From ESPN\'s Page 2: (Bill Simmons=awesome)

A blueprint for beating San Antonio:

A. You need to get physical with them ... and Denver is the most physical team in the league. Guys like Nene and K-Mart will absolutely knock Mr. Eva Longoria (aka Tony Parker) down the first time he comes cruising down the lane (like the Lakers did last year). Also, Duncan has always been one of the classiest players around -- what happens to him when K-Mart is throwing elbows around, or Nene starts swearing at him in Brazilian? You need to do this stuff against the Spurs; I\'m not sure they like rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty, especially with Malik Rose gone. Who\'s sticking up for TD when Nene clotheslines him into the basket support?

B. You need to keep throwing big guys at Duncan ... and the Nuggets have three good ones (K-Mart, Nene and the wildly underrated Marcus Camby). I see him making the Sad Duncan Face a lot, the one where he stands next to Popovich and looks like a son who just let down his dad in Little League.

C. You need a small forward who can post up the smaller Spurs guys (Ginobili, Bowen, etc.) and take advantage of them ... and the Nuggets probably have the closest thing to a young Bernard King right now in Carmelo Anthony. On paper, anyway.

D. You need a great coach. Not a good coach -- a GREAT coach. And George Karl is one of the best. He\'ll know exactly what to do here -- push the pace, knock bodies to the ground, bang the bejeezus out of Duncan (who\'s been banged up all season).

DETROIT BASKETBALL
DETROIT BASKETBALL
DETROIT BASKETBALL

Originally posted by Cyrus
A good offense will destroy the best defense in basketball. Football is another story.

......Detroit Baskeeeetballllllll

Man how can you say that?  Defense owns in every sport when it comes down to a best of 7 series.  Once the teams get accustom to each other, the best defensive team prevails.  No one gave the Pistons a snowballs chance in hell against the Lakers before the finals started except the Piston fans, who had been watching them all year.  Even the Chicago Bulls of the 90s had excellent defense.  Bottom line, defense wins championships, offense pays the bills.

[Jumpman]

Originally posted by square_marker
......Detroit Baskeeeetballllllll

No one gave the Pistons a snowballs chance in hell against the Lakers before the finals started except the Piston fans, who had been watching them all year.  

Yeah and how many titles did LA win in a row prior to Detroit?

Originally posted by shockwaves
From ESPN\'s Page 2: (Bill Simmons=awesome)

A blueprint for beating San Antonio:

A. You need to get physical with them ... and Denver is the most physical team in the league. Guys like Nene and K-Mart will absolutely knock Mr. Eva Longoria (aka Tony Parker) down the first time he comes cruising down the lane (like the Lakers did last year). Also, Duncan has always been one of the classiest players around -- what happens to him when K-Mart is throwing elbows around, or Nene starts swearing at him in Brazilian? You need to do this stuff against the Spurs; I\'m not sure they like rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty, especially with Malik Rose gone. Who\'s sticking up for TD when Nene clotheslines him into the basket support?

B. You need to keep throwing big guys at Duncan ... and the Nuggets have three good ones (K-Mart, Nene and the wildly underrated Marcus Camby). I see him making the Sad Duncan Face a lot, the one where he stands next to Popovich and looks like a son who just let down his dad in Little League.

C. You need a small forward who can post up the smaller Spurs guys (Ginobili, Bowen, etc.) and take advantage of them ... and the Nuggets probably have the closest thing to a young Bernard King right now in Carmelo Anthony. On paper, anyway.

D. You need a great coach. Not a good coach -- a GREAT coach. And George Karl is one of the best. He\'ll know exactly what to do here -- push the pace, knock bodies to the ground, bang the bejeezus out of Duncan (who\'s been banged up all season).

:rolleyes:

K-mart? Please. Duncan almost had a QUADruple double on that kid. Easier said than done keeping Ginobli and Parker out of the lane. And Id like to see Kmart smack Ginobli down, the guys gets up every time and goes again. He has no fear.

This guy obviously is lookin for a cinderella story.

Dallas.

I feel so bad for IVO I mean the guy plays his heart out too bad he is going up against the champs. When the pistons are playing their game nobody can beat them. I still think philly may end up getting 1 game maybe.

[CHIZZY]

I think the black guys will win.

Hey Vivi when are you going to get that crazy "Spurs = #1" BS off your title?  

You know whats crazy? The Suns beat the Spurs in game 1 2 years ago.

I don\'t recall claiming the Suns were "#1" two years ago with no factual basis for the claim...  

Of course if you want to just say they\'re #1 in your heart, that\'s ok.  LOL.  

Marcus Camby for defensive MVP.

Oh, and if you watched that game, that\'s why I picked the Nuggets.

Originally posted by Jumpman
Yeah and how many titles did LA win in a row prior to Detroit?

0... Spurs won it the year before the pistons.

The point is, no matter how good the Lakers were in the past, it is a shame the Spurs didn\'t kill them each year.  The Spurs and Pistons play basketball like it should be played each year.  Granted it is sometimes boring, but that is how basketball used to be.  Sure it is much more fun watching the Suns this year and Dallas for the last couple, but where has Dallas gone?  No where.  Why?  No defense....as an example, watch the Suns this year.

Who the hell determines how basketball "should" be played?

It should be played however gets you a win.  If the Suns can win by scoring 120 a game, god bless them, I hope they kill the Spurs or Pistons.

In fact, if you ask me, the Suns come closer to playing the game the way it should be played than pretty much every other team in the NBA.  It\'s not a question of offense being wrong and defense being right.  What\'s right is playing as a team, and that\'s also what wins.  What\'s wrong is playing as individuals, that\'s what loses games, and that\'s what happens ENTIRELY too much in the NBA.  That\'s why it\'s so boring to watch so often these days.

The Suns move as a team, play as a team, and win as a team.  I\'ll be damned if that\'s not basketball as it\'s meant to be played.