iggymcfly

Theres just..no way.. I don't know if this counts as advice, but I started laughing uproariously while reading this post, an didn't stop until well after it was finished. If I was going to generously assess the probability of this story being true, I'd call it low. Just for entertainment's sake though, you should probably try and get a hold of this girl again though.

Phoenix didn't go to the basket all night. That's why they got less free throws. There were a couple times where they were asking for traveling on Dirk and then they showed the replay, and the dude just didn't travel. I really think it was even. I've backed off the Mavs in 5 prediction a little, but I still think it's gonna be Mavs in 6. They'll probably split in Phoenix, but eventually the Mavs are going to start playing their 'A' game and when they do, it's gonna be lights out, series over.

Shut up Dama. The officiating was completely even that game. They missed a couple calls both ways, (Diop's block toward the end was completely clean), but the referees had nothing to do with the outcome. Howard added a little bit of scoring punch for Dallas, and Phoenix's offense seemed a little out of rythym when Dallas got back on defense to shut down the fastbreak. Dallas still hasn't played as well as they did in any of their wins in the San Antonio series yet, so I think they should be fine when it goes back to Phoenix.

Ortonsault lost overness from this segment.

What are you talking about? Eeyore's got so much more soul. When he says "thanks for noticing me" in that low, desperately depressed voice, it's almost enough to make you want to tear up a little. And then, just to make things worse, his house blows away all the time. He's a way better character than Droopy.

I don't usually like girls under 12 or 13, but that's hawt.

I'm sure this has been asked before, but why can't you just go pick up a girl at a bar? It seems like it would be a lot easier.

No third option? Fuck that! SS and Umaga are both fast-forward fodder for me.

It's not pro-Mavs bias. It's just honestly evaluating the series. Part of it's looking at things from a sports betting perspective. I was scared to bet on Dallas in Game 1 because I thought Phoenix could take it, so I just threw a token bet out there. It was for the same motivational reasons that I picked Miami to beat Detroit in Game 1. It's not that Dallas really thinks Phoenix can't beat them. It's just that the toughest thing you can do is to beat the 1 seed on the road in a Game 7, so there's going to be a little letdown when you play Game 1 of a new series. I don't think the Suns really thought the Clippers could beat them in a Game 7 in their building, so they just didn't feel it to quite the same degree. Game 2 in Dallas, the Mavericks will probably come back strong and win the game just like the Pistons will against the Heat tonight. Overall, I think Miami and Dallas both have talent edges with Dallas's being a little larger, so I think the Heat will win in 6 or 7 and the Mavs will win in 5 or 6.

I really don't think this game was that representative of the Suns being better than the Mavs. The fact is that Dallas just played a brutal seven game series and beat their long-time rivals on the road who just so happened to be the defending champs. I mean, there has to be a little bit of a letdown taking on Phoenix. I know that Phoenix just played a seven game series too, but they at least know they're taking a step up going from the Clippers to the Mavericks. They're going to be more motivated, and they're going to play better than Dallas in that spot. I really wasn't that surprised to see the Suns take Game 1, but I still think Dallas wins the series in five or six games.

Does anyone else think that Michael's somehow taking the boat to hell? Desmond's comment about how there's no way off the island is enough to make you think that they're at least in a somewhat different dimension.

HUGE run for the best team in basketball. They outscored Phoenix 11-0 over the course of about 30 seconds.

I think it's just a little emotional hangover from Game 7 against the Spurs. I'm sure they'll come back fine.

I had a TI-89, and that came in really handy all the way through college. In math classes, they usually knew not to let you use them, but anything like Physics, Chemistry, or Astronomy, you usually had all the information you could type in. I didn't really need to cheat all that much though, so I never got caught. I always did quite well in school until I just got sick of it altogether junior year and quit.

Maybe because Nash already plays like shit on the defensive end. When his offense is supposed to be the strength of his game, he can't afford to just stop scoring. If Wallace was struggling with defense or rebounding (his two strengths) all through the Cleveland series, I don't think people would give him a free pass. Also, you have to realize that when somebody gets back-to-back MVPs, they're held to a higher standard. I don't think anyone's saying Nash is "trash", just that there are two or three players in the league that are better than him. I really wasn't trying to hijack the thread from the Detroit/Miami game though (which was supposed to be the focus today). I watched some of it, and I was really impressed with D-Wade and the Heat. They did what they wanted on the offensive end for much of the game, and I really think they're going to take the series. Just remember, that is thing drags on, the Pistons are going to get more and more tired, and now they have to win in Miami if they want to take the series.

Little comments like this always brighten up my day.

Shavlik Randolph didn't even start at Duke, so it's not fair to call him a bust because he's not a star for Philadelphia. And Bobby Hurley looked like he was going to have a very good career in Sacramento until the car accident. Really, I think Redick's problem at Duke was that he was a spot shooter who was trying to carry the offense as a LeBron or Kobe type. He didn't have the size to go to the basket against shotblockers and as a result when he had to face guys like Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis, he couldn't get the job done. In the NBA, he'll have a clearly defined role, and he'll be able to do what he does best which is shoot the basketball. He's never going to be a 20+ PPG type guy, but he should be a solid role player, and he could really help a team like Cleveland on the perimeter.

I really don't get the idea that Dallas can't run with Phoenix. They shot 70% for the half against the best team in the West, and have been unstoppable in games where the score's in the 100s or higher. If Phoenix scores 130, they could score 140. If anything, a blistering pace might hurt Phoenix more, since Nash is having trouble with his back and won't be wanting to go end to end for 40+ minutes. Nowitzki, Terry, Harris, Daniels, Stackhouse, and Van Horn are all players that can get up and down the floor all game long, and can shoot the ball tremendously well. Basically, anything Phoenix can do, Dallas can do better.

Who's the retard here? In what universe is there no question that Nash was more valuable in the regular season? He was one of the most controversial MVPs in recent memory. After the regular season, I had Nash at fourth, Simmons had him in fifth, and less than half of the MVP voters actually gave him first. Really, he didn't put up the numbers to warrant MVP consideration this year, especially when you factor in what a complete liability he is on the defensive side of the ball. He was only given the award because he outplayed his MVP season, even though Dirk, Kobe, and LeBron all had breakthrough seasons which were much better than anyone's season the year before. Oh, and here are Nash's point totals for games 2 through 6: 14, 12, 8, 17, 17. Nash didn't shoot over 50% from the field in one of those games. That's just not what an MVP does on a big stage. That's what an above average point guard does who counts on the rest of his team to provide scoring. Nowitzki, meanwhile, shot over 50% from the floor in five out of the seven games, scored at least 20 points in every game (averaging 27+), and averaged over 13 rebounds per game for the series, all against the best defensive team in the conference. The fact is that when the players really need to perform, you can see who was really the most valuable to his team. Really, the emergence of Diaw and Barbosa was how the Suns replaced Amare this year, and believe it or not, Nash didn't make them good players by himself with magic pixie dust. They developed because they're 23 and 24 year olds that are just learning how to play the game at the highest level. If you want to measure Nash's impact, look at Marion. His stats are almost exactly the same as they were before Nash got there. I'm not saying that Nash doesn't make his teammates somewhat better, but his impact is vastly, vastly, overrated. He's more comparable to Chauncey Billups than he is to Magic Johnson. He's the key player on a team that plays well together in their system. If you really want to go on the makes teammates better argument, Dallas lost Nash and Finley over the last two years, and the Mavs have similarly replaced them with young players that Nowitzki's helped develop such as Devin Harris, Marquis Daniels, and Josh Howard. Do you remember Jason Terry playing like this with the Hawks? I certainly don't. Having that primary scoring option to lean on has helped him perform at levels that he never dreamed of two years ago.

You don't think Redick has the same ability as Kerr? Really? From what I've seen JJ's native talent is way higher than Kerr's was. The only difference is that Kerr has proven himself in the clutch whereas JJ's largely disappeared when he was on a large stage. I think he'll have a good career in the NBA as a starter, as long as his role is clearly defined (spot shooter). If he's on a team like Cleveland or the Lakers where there's already a primary slashing scorer, I think he'd be a great option on the perimeter. I'm really not sure that Utah's such a great situation for him though, as he'd be asked to be more of an all-around scorer, and I'm not sure he can do that against good defensive teams with shotblockers in the middle.

Bumping the thread to officially put my playoff picks in (Dallas in 5, Miami in 7), but mainly to point out the new sig. Thank god someone in the mainstream media noticed how hard Bavetta tried to fuck the Mavs last night. EDIT: Yeah, that's the problem with changing your sig in the middle of a Simmons column. It's easy to find something else that you need to add.

Oh, and I didn't mention this earlier, because it was secondary to seeing my favorite team beat the defending champs, but I finally got a nice sports betting win when I bet more than I should have on a basketball game. The Mavericks payed off for $1050 tonight.

Miami in 7. Dallas in 5. The Mavericks already beat the second best team in the West, I don't think Phoenix will be able to touch them.

I got distracted from posting for a while (WOO HOO, Mavs are in the Finals!), but I just want to say that Dallas played a perfect game there and they needed it. It's almost miraculous that they were able to win Game 7 on the road despite San Antonio getting every single call possible. That was about as impressive of a clutch performance as you could come up with by Nowitzki, Terry and the entire team.

Huge stop there. I love how Duncan's crying about not getting another call there even though he wasn't touched.