Just John

Stupid ESPN-perpetuated drama. At least I'll get some more milage from my new Kobe 24 jersey.

On paper maybe, but the Rockets had a very realistic chance to win that series. I don't really feel like re-visiting that first round pain again, and I know I've made these points already, but basically, if... 1. JVG used the small lineup more than 2 minutes a game 2. Hayes guarded Boozer instead of Yao 3. T-Mac controlled the ball down the stretch in Game 7 instead of Yao Houston probably wins the series.

I find Mark Jackson to be atrocious myself. JVG had me cracking up with his idea for a new rule that if you hit a shot from half court the game is automatically tied. Now if you put Bill Walton in Jackson's place, that would be amazing. And whose idea was it to put Screamin' A on the halftime show? Oh yeah, there was a game too. Um, the Jazz looked pretty terrible, but I can't say I'm surprised after the Game 4 collapse. In some ways, I'm glad the Jazz got annihilated, but at the same time, it leaves me depressed about the first round. Man if that ESPN color guy made some simple adjustments in Game 7, he's probably spending tomorrow getting ready to coach Game 6 of the WCF instead of playing golf or whatever. Fuckin' Jazz ruined the playoffs for me this year.

I don't get why the Lakers would want to keep Kobe in their own division. I'd think they'd want to send him to the Eastern Conference just for the sake of not having to potentially deal with him in the playoffs. If the Lakers trade Kobe, they won't have to worry about seeing anyone in the playoffs for a while. He's the best player in the NBA right now and no one (or even two) slightly lesser player(s) will do more with that deadweight team than he did. Anyway, while Kobe may be whining a lot, let's not let that overshadow the huge consequences if he gets moved. Like when Shaq got traded a couple years ago, any team Kobe goes to automatically becomes a contender. I won't say an automatic championship because the Spurs will still be around, but adding a superstar like Kobe would make any team better. I think the proposed Nets trade for Carter and RJ sounds like the best deal. That's as good a trade as LA can get for Kobe, and it probably gets the Nets out of the East again. I would like this deal because Kidd deserves a ring for all his work with the Nets, and Kobe would definitely put him in good position to get it. I don't see the Suns deal happening. I doubt the Lakers will settle for just Marion, but I can't imagine the Suns parting with Amare. He's the perfect "center" for the Suns system, so he probably doesn't go anywhere. You could also make the case Kobe doesn't really offer anything the Suns are looking for with their current setup. They have tons of shooters and a clutch game-changer already, though not as dominant as Kobe. The Clippers boat has sailed I'm afraid. If he signed with them two years ago, they probably would've won the title in 06. Now, though, with Cassell aging rapidly, Livingston having serious question marks about his health and the rest of the team just kind of stagnating, I don't see the other LA team having the pieces for a trade without giving up Brand. Getting him as a FA would've been perfect, but a trade is much harder. Another option that hasn't been discussed yet is Dallas. Here's a team that's never quite lived up to expectations and is trying to avoid becoming the Sacramento Kings of the last half of the decade. I'm not sure about cap/contract status here, but it seems like Dallas has enough pieces to spare to get a real superstar like Kobe. I don't expect Cuban to part with Dirk, but I could see some combo of Howard, Stack, or Terry getting the axe for Kobe.

Don't know why the Lakers wouldn't want Boozer. Which of their front-line players is better than him again? And Baron Davis is too injury prone, but they insist on keeping Lamar Odom around? I can see why Kobe would be upset with the direction of the Lakers right now.

Can't say I'm too surprised. The CF are about as boring as they could've been this year. Took the East teams 3 games to reach 80, and the first 3 games in the West were all blowouts.

Finally, Utah's defense gets the whistle-treatment it deserves. The funny thing was no players were complaining about the personals, even though they had gotten like 4 in a row. Most of those personals down the stretch were no-brainers. I know the Utah fans must be furious the refs decided to actually call all the fouls their team commits. Now, the techs... That was some bullshit there. Sloan's complaining was maybe .2 D'Antoni, but he gets ejected. Fisher's second was warranted, but the first was one of the lamest I've seen. I hope no one tries to spin these as an excuse, however, because the game was pretty much out of reach by the time the Tech parade started. I almost started to feel bad for Utah getting kicked while they were down by the refs, almost... Also, credit to Steve Javie for doing something I thought no human could do... He managed to get Marc Jackson to stop blowing Deron Williams for more than 10 seconds. Unfortunately, those late techs will overshadow San Antonio out-playing Utah in crunch time, as well as out-playing them in Games 1 and 2. It'll be like that Suns series all over again.

So, Deron Williams is questionable tonight with the stomach flu... I don't think Utah can afford to lose him for the game. Utah looked their worst against Golden State when he had those two games with foul trouble, and he's been the only really effective player against San Antonio so far.

Terrible idea. A college all-star team would get demolished in the West. Having a bunch of inexperienced players trying to form a cohesive team when most of them are pegged to be franchise players combined with no veteran leadership or role players sounds like a disaster. That team would be lucky to win 30 games. As of right now, they look like they might have enough to contend for a lower seed in the playoffs, so this trade would be pretty stupid.

The officials made the right decision to not call anything on Lebron at the end, but I'm surprised Sheed got away with that push-off on Varejao on the go-ahead basket. I think Anderson might've gotten the call had he not ridiculously oversold it. If he takes a couple steps back and swings his arms, that's probably believable enough to get the call. Acting like he got run into by a small car, however, made it too obvious he was looking to get bailed out by the refs. I don't think Cleveland's done in this series. They just lost two tough ones on the road, and going back home usually gives teams in that situation enough to win at least Game 3. Also, do the Pistons feel threatened enough by the close games to play hard, or do they coast with a 2-0 lead?

It's odd to still see people who don't give the Spurs their proper due as one of the best basketball franchises or "dynasties." I can see where the no back-to-back championships hurt their image somewhat, though I think there's some merit to the claim of them being .4 seconds and a silly Manu foul from a 5-peat. I think they'll have a good opportunity to get full recoginition in the next couple of years. Duncan's still in his prime, Parker and Manu are getting into theirs, and the role players are perfect... A couple dead-eye money-time shooters like Horry and Finley, serviceable bigs like Oberto and Elson, an annoying shit-starter to throw other teams off their game like Bowen... I think they're pretty close to a lock to win this year which would make 3 in 5, but if they repeat in 08, that should secure their legacy. 4 in 6 for the post-Robinson Spurs would be impossible to ignore.

Detroit certainly isn't out-playing Giguere.

I think it's worth a shot. Adelman's a more up-tempo coach and the Rockets looked their best under JVG when they were scoring 100-110 a game, not grinding it out to an 85-90 point game. When they moved fast, they got better looks at the basket from inside and at the 3-pt line. The half court execution was always inconsistent because there was only one playmaker. If anyone slowed down T-Mac, the Rockets fell apart. I think Jeff did some good things for the Rockets, but it isn't going to get any better. He's too stubborn with his system that isn't a 100% fit for the personnel. The Utah series badly exposed this, and it's time to move on.

I'm probably the only one cheering for the Spurs at this point. I don't give a shit about the Suns misfortune, the two teams I wanted to see win it all were both eliminated by the Jazz. Time for the Spurs to put this dog to sleep. I almost hope they benefit from some terrible calls along the way just to see everyone get pissed off. In the East, I like the Pistons. It'll be interesting since both teams have been cruising for most of their games so far. I still think the Pistons are their own worst enemy. If they stay focused and shoot moderately well, they are near impossible to stop. On paper, there's no way the Cavs should win this series, but if the Pistons take themselves out of it early, they might not be able to come back.

If Detroit ever goes up 2 games in a series, they should automatically forfeit the next one so they don't have to worry about losing their edge. I don't know if I've ever seen such a capable team slack off so much when they get ahead.

Edge's first MITB title win was pretty genius. Out of nowhere, great heat, perfect timing and execution... It's a shame they didn't put as much effort into the weeks afterwards. Now his second win, I can see where you'd call that lazy, since it is basically a move-for-move re-enactment of the frist win. However, given that the champion and top challenger were both injured and they had to do something on the fly, I think they made the most of the situation. As for Snitsky vs. Cena? Well, it won't be very good, but maybe it'll mean more high profile matches for SD at whatever ppv it's on.

Man, I like the Suns, but I had to lol at Bowen hitting the dagger shot. Only thing that would've been funnier is if Horry did it in Game 7. Poor Phoenix.

Except the Suns have two big guys that can defend the paint, get rebounds, and they make better decisions on offense. Not that Utah couldn't play them tough or possibly beat them, but they certainly wouldn't manhandle them like GS. Their biggest advantage over the Suns is a deep bench. Of course, I don't see any advantage Utah has over San Antonio, so Phoenix is definitely the matchup they want.

Does anyone want to win this Utah/GS game? Lots of terrible play from the late 3rd quarter on. And Doug Collins needs to stop blowing Derek Fisher. It got out of control when he gave him all the credit for that fast break steal when it was plain as day that AK47 created the whole thing. At least other frequent announcer BJ recipients like Kobe, Nash, etc are actually great players.

I think most bitches are crying about the consistency with not suspending Duncan and Bowen for coming off the bench earlier. I still maintain the rule itself is stupid, much like the insta-tech for reacting to a foul call.

I know it's the rule, but I think the rule is stupid. There IS going to be emotional reaction to an incident like that. You'd have to have ice water in your veins (or not be paying attention) to not stand up and take a couple steps toward the action after seeing a teammate get body checked into the scorer's table, much less when the victim is your star player. Like I said, it's like that terrible attempt at cracking down on players complaining. When you play a competitive game, you get testy. That's no excuse for fighting or gooning, but reacting to big incident like that is only natural. It's not just players who "can't control their behavior." I mean, what other incidents like this has Boris Diaw been involved with?

No more judgment call rules. No. Cut and dry is good. You get up, you sit in the next game. Let's not allow the league to make judgment calls on such behavior. They can't call fouls right. That sounds nice, but Barkley made a good point about the emotional reaction from players after an incident like that. Your idea sounds a lot like the NBA's policy on complaining about calls at the beginning of the year. Anyone remember that?

I just think that rule needs to be changed. There's nothing inherently wrong with getting off the bench, and players can probably restrain other NBA players better than the wimpy/elderly officials. If a player off the bench continues or escalates the problem, he should receive a harsher penalty than someone on the floor doing the same thing. However, this whole "suspend someone for standing and walking" is stupid. Spurs wind up getting a big break in Game 5, but hopefully they don't need any miracle 3's.

The Spurs are hated because they win a lot. If they played exactly as they do now, but they only won 25-30 games a year, no one would give a shit.

That pounce sequence was pretty sweet, as the Spurs and Suns are really starting to get nasty with each other now. Also, good job by the Suns hanging in there and stealing it in the final minutes. They were dominated most of the game, and I was quite surprised when they actually got the lead back. Game 5 should be pretty crazy. I think the NBA will suspend Horry and Diaw to set an example, but I don't think they'll do anything to Amare. No way they want to kill any potential excitement from Game 5 by suspending a big gun like that.