iggymcfly

For real. People forget how huge that Orlando/Chicago series was at the time. It was to a typical playoff series what Mayweather/De La Hoya is to a typical title fight. As in, among people that weren't interested in the sport, everyone was still on the edge of their seat as to how it would turn out. Jordan played pretty well, but he and Pippen got outplayed by Shaq and Penny and that was that. Then, the Magic fell apart in the Finals, the Rockets' nucleus fell apart the next year and the Bulls added Rodman and went back to winning championships. Honestly though, MJ played half the season and had a warmup playoff series, and he'd been playing baseball prior to that so he wasn't exactly out of shape to begin with. By the time he faced the Magic, he was ready. His Bulls just weren't good enough to win the series.

Dirk's been playing undeniably terrible. I've never seen him this bad for an entire series, even when the Mavs were getting crushed by San Antonio 6 or 7 years ago. He's just not looking for his own shot ever. He stands in the corner most of the time and the only time he shoots is when the shot clock's running down, when he gets a rebound or to take that stupid little 20-footer from just inside the three-point line. He needs to drive to the basket, post up, or even jack up threes, but he can't be a non-factor in the offense if the Mavericks are going to win the series. Devin Harris and Josh Howard slashing to the basket every play just isn't a good enough offense to beat anyone.

Honestly, as soon as Baron Davis made the half-court shot, I knew Dallas was going to lose tonight. The Warriors have been coming out with fire every game while the Mavs have looked tentative and scared. There was a bright spot though in the last 30 seconds: Dirk making those two late threes. All series he's been hesitating to shoot the ball and not been involved in the offense and it's been absolutely killing Dallas. Hopefully, those shots will remind him then when he just starts jacking up shots, most of them go in. If Dirk comes out firing the next three games, I think Dallas still has a very, very good chance to win the series. If he plays anything like he did the first four games though, Golden State can start selling tickets for the second round.

After the break halfway through the 3rd season, I quit watching as I was just getting frustrated with the direction of show and Eko's corny death via the black smoke was kind of a turning point. I watched last week's episode though just because I was bored and I thought it was pretty good, and then this week's episode (which I just watched tonight) was fantastic. I don't think I'll skip any more episodes the rest of the season.

I honestly don't understand what happened to Dallas. Dirk looks like he's not even trying out there. He either stands in the corner or else makes a really shitty attempt to get open and then takes a 20 foot set shot if he gets the ball. They don't look remotely like the team that won 67 games.

Jesus, what's with all the ref complaining in this thread. I honestly did not see one questionable call send Kobe to the line tonight. They called a couple charges on him when they were merited and most of the defensive foul calls, he was actually slapped on the arm or at least given solid body contact. 13 free throw attempts is pretty typical for a star player trying to do most of the scoring himself. The reason the Lakers got the win tonight wasn't the free throws, it was that Kobe was 15-26 from the field and that the Suns were badly outrebounded on both ends of the floor.

According to the shot chart on ESPN.com, only 7 of Amare Stoudemire's 17 shots came from in the paint and for Barbosa, that number drops to 4 of 18. Kobe meanwhile, attempted 16 of his 26 shots from inside the painted area. That's a huge difference and it's only natural for it to lead to a FT disparity. Also, I saw Amare dunk the ball several times uncontested while Kobe was almost always facing at least two defenders by the time he got to the basket.

Don't try to act like the refereeing was the difference. Kobe was going to the basket constantly while the Suns were sitting back and taking jumpers. And the few times Phoenix did get to the basket successfully, the Lakers mostly just let them dunk it uncontested. I didn't see any bias in the officiating whatsoever.

God I love watching Kobe play. As a pure scorer, there are times I think he's actually better than Jordan. He gets in that zone, and you just don't believe he's ever going to miss a shot.

Really fun game between LA and Phoenix thus far. Both teams are playing tremendous basketball on the offensive end, getting great ball movement and draining their shots. Kwame Brown, Kobe, and Amare Stoudemire are all just playing amazing right now.

Can't believe the Sens game isn't televised tonight. I mean it's the second round! What the fuck!

Huge finish to the first half for Kobe. He hit threes on 3 of the last 4 Laker possessions to finish the 1st half with 28 points.

The Laker bigs are dominating early. They're getting every rebound and Odom and Bynum have made some nice baskets too. Meanwhile, on the other end, they're just giving Marion and Stoudemire open 15-footers and they're barely catching rim. Looks like the fighting Kobes might give Phoenix a real series.

First round predictions Western Conference: (1) Dallas def. (8) Golden State 4-1: Don Nelson really does have the Mavericks' number as he basically layed out the entire offense for Avery and knows how to stop it. I think that will be enough to get the Warriors a game or maybe even two, but when Dirk really turns it on, there won't be much they can do. (4) Houston def. (5) Utah 4-2: After stumbling down the stretch and losing home advantage, I can't see the Jazz turning it on for the playoffs. An ever-improving Yao Ming and a greatly improved T-Mac should be enough to take the Rockets to the next round. (2) Phoenix def. (7) LA Lakers 4-2: Kobe should carry the Lakers to a couple wins, but the Lakers don't have the big advantage inside that they did last year now that Amare's in the lineup for the Suns and with LA being such a mess lately, they're not really a credible threat. (3) San Antonio def. (6) Denver 4-3: This should be a hell of a series as Denver's really been coming together lately with Iverson and Melo working together and they should be able to outscore the Spurs when they're shooting hot. They don't really have the size inside to stop Duncan though. Camby's a decent defender, but he's older than Duncan, and if he couldn't handle him in '99 (when he got rocked in the Finals), I doubt he'll do any better now. Eastern Conference: (1) Detroit def. (8) Orlando 4-0: It would be nice to see the Magic get a game, but I can't see a team that starts Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Tony Battie competing with a playoff-tested Pistons squad. (4) Miami def. (5) Chicago 4-3: The Bulls match up great with Miami and certainly have the capability of winning the series, but with D-Wade and Shaq in the lineup, I just can't see the champs going down in Round 1. When they play at peak capacity, the Heat just might be the best team in the league. (2) Cleveland def. (7) Washington 4-0: A Cavaliers squad just waking up after spending most of the season on cruise control and no Agent Zero for the Wizards should combine for a really non-competitive series. (6) New Jersey def. (3) Toronto 4-3: As much as I hate the Nets, this is the one upset that I see happening. As a young team that the regular season's still fresh to, the Raptors overachieved somewhat this year whereas the Nets likely underachieved somewhat. I say Vince Carter cements his position as the most hated man in Toronto by hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer in Game 7 to knock the Raptors out of the playoffs. Quick predictions for the remainder of the playoffs (1) Dallas def. (4) Houston 4-0: The Mavs really are that good. They didn't win 67 games on a fluke. (2) Phoenix def. (3) San Antonio 4-3: The Spurs aren't that young any more and I think that playing back-to-back lengthy series, esp. against a team as fast as Phoenix will wear them down. (4) Miami def. (1) Detroit 4-3: Miami didn't just look a little better than Detroit last year. They looked a lot better. C-Webb will help the Pistons somewhat, but it still won't be enough to overcome a healthy Miami squad. (2) Cleveland def. (6) New Jersey 4-1: Pretty sure one series victory is all the Nets have in them at this point. They seem to deteriorate a little more every year. (1) Dallas def. (2) Phoenix 4-2: The Mavericks are one of the few times in the league not bothered by playing Phoenix's tempo. Playing better defense and having a truly elite scorer than can step his game up when necessary should be the difference. (4) Miami def. (2) Cleveland 4-2: D-Wade's got a significantly better supporting cast than LeBron as the Cavs are still about a point guard away from having a championship caliber team. (1) Dallas def. (4) Miami 4-2 Miami having to go through a tough road and play almost the maximum number of playoff games with a banged-up roster and Joey Crawford's suspension from the league should be enough to keep Miami from repeating as world champions. Also, while Dirk's done a great job of getting his teammates involved this year, if it comes down to one clutch shot with the game on the line, I think he'll know better than to defer to Jason Terry this year.

Oh my god, I can't believe people are still defending Cena. I quickly checked some Raw results tonight (the show didn't even cross my mind until Tuesday because Cena's killed so much of my interest) and I couldn't believe how bad the booking was. They basically had Cena go over all three challengers at once while the entire crowd booed him. Seriously, how can anyone want to see this? He's got no credible challengers and is booked 10x stronger than Stone Cold or The Rock ever were in their primes. They just couldn't be beaten one-on-one cleanly. Cena can't be beaten by anyone ever. Also, this "he sells merchandise" thing is probably the stupidest argument I've ever heard in my life. As if all we should want as fans of the show is for it to make money, not for it to actually be good. When you listen to the radio, do you say "they should really play Lil Bow Wow more, all the children and young women seem to like him". Of course not! You want to hear music that's actually good. As fans, how much merchandise someone moves should not even be a concern. And even if you do look at it from a business standpoint, that still doesn't justify this reign. The Rock moved way, way more merchandise than Cena ever did and was also 100x more interesting as a character, yet throughout his entire career, he held the title less than a year total. Meanwhile Cena's held the title for 21 of the last 24 months and people are still saying he shouldn't drop the belt? He's had it forever! He's dominating the title scene more than anyone since Hulk Hogan. Isn't "dominating more than anyone in 20 years" way, way overkill for a mediocre face that moves a little bit of merchandise. Finally, the litmus test for a babyface champion isn't just "moving some merchandise" and getting 50% of the fans to cheer you. Anyone can do that. Al Snow and Jeff Hardy both moved a lot of merchandise, but neither one got close to the WWE title. And when you're looking at the WWE audience, especially in the markish cities this board seems to use to make their point, over half of the audience is going to cheer the babyface regardless. Make Cena the face and Orton the heel and they'll cheer Cena. Make Orton the face and Cena the heel and they'll cheer Orton. The fact that only half of the audience is cheering for Cena regardless of the fact that's he's been pushed to the moon for the last two years means either (1) he's really unpopular or (2) he's really stale and the fans are really sick of his character. Either one should be grounds for a heel turn. Honestly, I think the real problem is that the WWE bookers and writers aren't even trying any more. They don't care if Cena's popular, they don't care if the feuds are ever based on anything, and they don't care if the television shows have any more storyline to them than the house show matches. They just want to crank out a few hours of copy and then get home for dinner. The fact that anyone's still willing to eat it up and try to defend every BS thing they do as a "smart business move" is beyond me however.

Lost 8-3 this week which I think may have been my worst loss for a week ever in fantasy baseball. It was a combination of getting really below average production out of my offense and my opponent having a super pitching week with an ERA of under 2.00. I guess I should be happy to salvage the wins I did since I was still down 12-0 late in the week. On the bright side, if I'm still at 11-11-2 overall despite getting virtually nothing out of my offense all season, I should be easily back in the playoffs if my team starts playing to potential.

Sorry to be a nit, but that was my favorite part of the show too and I wanted to get it right. Pretty much the whole scene with Ari at the party was hilarious. I agree that the Vince/E sideplot was kind of weak, but the rest of the show was awesome.

Yeah, that episode was a huge improvement. Just watched it now. The thing I don't get though is why the Chinese would want (mild spoiler from the preview)

Nah, if anyone does it's Vince. They already teased E being unfaithful this season (it is all supposed to be the same season technically), and I don't see Johnny or Turtle being smooth enough to hook-up with the professional woman inappropriately. I could however see her being overcome by Vince's charms if they're in the same place for too long.

Yeah, please don't tell us about this. Even if it's not true (like some rumor from the early part of the season that I don't even remember now), it will bug me the whole time, wondering if that's actually what's going to happen or not. I'd rather have no information outside of what's presented on screen.

Surprised the playoffs are here already. I really haven't been following the NHL at all this year. I'll still watch a few of the Senators' playoff games, but I don't really see them getting too far and with the Mavericks so close to finally winning a championship, that's where my focus will be.

Surprised that no one commented after the first episode last night. I just watched it this morning and the impression I get is that in the series finale, Tony's going to wind up in jail. After starting (part 2 of the) season with him getting arrested and with all the talk about how the feds are building a case, plus Bobby screwing up and leaving the weapon at the murder site, it just seems like that's the natural conclusion. Of course, if it was all one season, you could see the beginning of the season as foreshadowing his eventual death instead of this foreshadowing his arrest; they could go either way with it, but I really think he's going to end up behind bars when it's all said and done.

Got the season off to a pretty good start with an 8-3 win over the Rebels of Oakland. If everyone had remembered to set their rosters, that would be enough to put me a half game out of first. My offense didn't play up to potential, but still won 4 categories and my pitching was just lights-out awesome. Also, my recent signings of Xavier Nady and Dave Roberts will mean that I'm not stuck starting Nick Punto this week which should be a nice little boost to my hitting.

Comparing the records is like comparing apples and oranges. The fact is that the year Gillespie came in at Texas A&M, the Aggies were a sub-200 team and the year he left, they finished as one of the Top 10 teams in the country. That's a huge turnaround. When Meyer came in at Utah, they were probably ranked about #50 or so, and the year he left, they finished #3 or #4. The turnaround's pretty similar. Both were strong candidates for coach of the year in they're final season and both were considered the hot young coaching property following the season. Yes, Donovan would have obviously been a better coach, but that's irrelevant, because he just won back-to-back titles at Florida. You can't just steal the absolute best coach in the country who's already made his program into a huge powerhouse. As stated, that's the equivalent of trying to take Pete Carroll from USC. Oh, and quickly while I'm at saying "that's a down year under Pitino" doesn't mean shit. The Kentucky program that was coached by Rick Pitino doesn't exist any more than "the Florida program under Spurrier" existed when Meyer took over. The UK program that does exist has finished with 22 wins two seasons in a row and got bounced in the second round both years. Gillespie will be a huge upgrade and with the resources and tradition of the Kentucky program to work with, I'd be surprised if he doesn't get UK back to the Final Four within 4 or 5 years.

Yeah, my pitching's awesome. Going into the day, I had all my innings done and an ERA under 2.00. It's been enough to give me an 8-4 lead, even though I haven't got much production out of my offense. Pujols has been especially frustrating as he's slugging under .200 for the season thus far.