Guest Spaceman Spiff Report post Posted May 3, 2002 24 hours from now, the 76ers bandwagon will go down in flames. Where will everyone jump when this happens? *If* the 76ers lose, I'll probably pull for the Mavs. So much fun to watch, plus there the only team I think can beat the Lakers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 3, 2002 Since I have no Local team, I'm allowed to Bandwagon. So, I'll hitch my wagon to Dallas as Well. Since Van Exel was a nice guy to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest goodhelmet Report post Posted May 3, 2002 sorry man, the mavericks can't beat the lakers. no center to contend with shaq. no gaurd to keep up with kobe. and the mavericks live and die by their outside shooting. and the lakers are excellent at shutting down the outside shot. i hate the lakers but there's on way the mavs will get past the lakers, musch less even get a chance after getting beat up by sacramento. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ripper Report post Posted May 3, 2002 No center to contend with Shaq??? Can Shaq cover their centers?? No. No guard to slow down Kobe...Um, remember that Finley guy. Greg Buckner??, Adrian Griffin??? I really wouldn't look past San Antonio or the Sonics, really. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 3, 2002 I think the Lakers can be beaten by the Spurs because on the surface, the Spurs don't look like they are up to the challenge of dethroning the Lakers. This is a chance to see how much of an MVP Tim Duncan truly is. Last year, they had their heart questioned by the Lakers, the press and everybody else with two cents to toss in (myself included). Shaq called them girl scouts last year and I agreed with him on that. This will be a gut check for the Spurs. Tim Duncan is grieving his father's death and David Robinson is hurt. Instead of looking to use that stuff as excuses, they need to stand up and get the job done despite that stuff. The Lakers might expect to go into this series and run roughshod over the Spurs. This is a big matchup in my eyes. The Spurs better go out and watch Spider-Man, listen to that song "Hero" or do whatever the hell it takes to be ready to upset the Lakers. I think this is the Lakers' biggest challenge in the playoffs (sad isn't it?). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest goodhelmet Report post Posted May 3, 2002 No center to contend with Shaq??? Can Shaq cover their centers?? No. No guard to slow down Kobe...Um, remember that Finley guy. Greg Buckner??, Adrian Griffin??? I really wouldn't look past San Antonio or the Sonics, really. Yeah Greg Buckner will hold Shaq to 35 instead of 40. And I like Finley, really I do, but no way in hell is he going to 1)get the benefit of the calls from the refs and 2) is he going to be able to hold kobe below 30 a game. And Pinnacle, I really hope you are right. Being a Spurs fan, it's time to put up or shut up. The easy thing to do would be to make excuses on why they can't beat the Lakers (although Tim's dad dying isn't really an excuse, it's a reason) but the champion thing to do would be to answer the criticism and win a championship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RicFlairGlory Report post Posted May 4, 2002 I think the Hornets have the best chance in the east they have impressed me in the orlando series, because their ablity to win on the road and they do have some depth and size to at least matchup with any team in west. So my prediction ya'll heard it first here. Who ever comes out of west will the championship. Hornets/Lakers or Hornets/Mavs Yeah right. The NBA wont give ANY calls to the Hornets in the EC Finals NO WAY. They dont want a team they're moving to New Orleans to be a defending anything Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Satanico Report post Posted May 4, 2002 This has been the year of upsets in all sports...hench the Boston BY GOD Celtics will win it all. Hmm that would give that area two championships over a team and conference that everyone said couldn't be beat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 4, 2002 I don't think Boston is a upset...I had them reaching the Semi's in my pre season picks...However, I also thought S.A would dissipate as well...so what do I know? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted May 4, 2002 Hmm that would give that area two championships over a team and conference that everyone said couldn't be beat. Red Sox fans are now so confindent that they think they're team won't blow it until September. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 4, 2002 The Red Sox? Right now I'm having flashbacks of Jim Mora saying, "Playoffs? Playoffs? I just hope we can win another game! Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Playoffs?" The Red Sox aren't winning a championship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest AlwaysPissedOff Report post Posted May 5, 2002 Actually, most people seem to think that the Kings will win, despite the fact that Dallas owned them in the regular season. Bibby can' match up with Nash, Christie can't match up with Finley, Stoiakavic will have a great defender attached to him(Buckner or Griffin) Webber can score, but can't match-up with Dirk, and Vlade and Raef are basically the same player only Raef can run the floor better. Then Bobby Jackson can't match up with Nick Van Excel, Najara will runs circles around pollard on the offensive end(Pollard will own him on the boards, though)...It just keeps coming down to who has the most offense. They both like to run that sprint pace, up an down shoot fast offense, and basically, noone can beat the Mavs in this kind of game. Guess you were wrong so far. The Kings beat the Mavs down yesterday. Whether they can keep it up and not allow Dallas to get back in it remains to be seen, but Sacramento has drawn first blood. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 6, 2002 The Spurs couldn't steal a Game 1 from a Lakers team with an injured Kobe Bryant and an injured Shaq. I guess my upset pick won't get it done. All of the high seeds won game 1 this round, we'll see what happens though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest EI Cubano Report post Posted May 6, 2002 If the Spurs were ever going to steal one in LA this should have been their opportunity. LA did NOT come to play and it was obvious from the early going. Turnovers were killing the Lakers in the first half and the Spurs really didn't capitalize and their were a few instances when freaking Shaq was leading a 3 on 2 break and the Spurs still failed to get their defense set in suitable time. Derrick Fischer was playing some horrible ball, Shaq was a little off on his 5 foot out one handers, Robert Horry was cold in the first half and he and Kobe both had 3 fouls and sat some time out during the game and the Spurs still failed to do anything. The officiating was pretty pro-San Anton to say the least with a few inconceivable fouls (particularly on Robert Horry) being called and some off-the-ball and blocking fouls that the Spurs really should have been called on. The Spurs just wasted so much time in the last 30 seconds as well, if they don't step it the hell up they are going to find themselves getting embarassed again at the hands of the Lakers. Sac and LA is going to be the series of the year if and when it goes down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 6, 2002 Maybe the Spurs really are soft. Maybe they really are Girl Scouts like Shaq said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ripper Report post Posted May 6, 2002 Actually, most people seem to think that the Kings will win, despite the fact that Dallas owned them in the regular season. Bibby can' match up with Nash, Christie can't match up with Finley, Stoiakavic will have a great defender attached to him(Buckner or Griffin) Webber can score, but can't match-up with Dirk, and Vlade and Raef are basically the same player only Raef can run the floor better. Then Bobby Jackson can't match up with Nick Van Excel, Najara will runs circles around pollard on the offensive end(Pollard will own him on the boards, though)...It just keeps coming down to who has the most offense. They both like to run that sprint pace, up an down shoot fast offense, and basically, noone can beat the Mavs in this kind of game. Guess you were wrong so far. The Kings beat the Mavs down yesterday. Whether they can keep it up and not allow Dallas to get back in it remains to be seen, but Sacramento has drawn first blood. This weekend was full of the "good win, bad win" situations. Sacramento beat Dallas, but it was a bad win. They won the game due to bad shooting from the Mavs, not good defense. Dirk, Nash, and Finley had amazingly large amounts of open shots and just didn't convert. Simply put, you can;t really expect them to shoot 33% during the series. If the Kings use the same defensive stratagy tonight as they did last night, they will lose bad. BTW, that was the worst officiated game of the playoffs, for both sides. No one really got a edge due to the bad officiating, it just really hurt the over all game. The Lakers got a good win...the Spurs had a bad loss. The Spurs lost only by 6, but if they think they can win playing like that, they are in trouble. In the upside, if Duncan had a decent first half, the Spurs would have been up 20. Duncan had a bad game, none of thier perimeter people could hit and Robinson didn't play and they lost by 6. The Lakers on the other hand had a horible game. Shaq shot horribly, as did Bryant from the line and Fisher and Horry shot horribly. i don't think we have seen who is the best team yet, we just saw who was the least horrible. I have said it before and will keep saying it. Jason Kidd is the MVP. The Nets, my pick for the East, had a great win, and I do believe that they will take Charlotte. If they cut down on the turnovers, they will be OK. PLUS Kenyon Martin and Van Horn had bad games. One thing though...Byron Scott really does a horrible job of substituting. Jason Kidd siting for almost the entire second??? Todd McCullah getting no play after that brilliant 3rd??? The Celtics, hopefully, see what wild shots will get you. They will play better, but I think the Pistons are just too deep...but this series I can really see myself being wrong about. As a reminder my picks: Kings/Mavs: Mavs. Spurs/Lakers: Spurs(if they get Robinson back) Hornets/Nets: Nets Celtics/Pistons: Pistons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 6, 2002 The spurs better not curl up in a ball and make it easy for the Lakers to stomp on them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ripper Report post Posted May 6, 2002 Yeah, but I hope they don't plan on Duncan going 9-30 the rest of the series...cause if they do, things could get interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 7, 2002 If by interesting you mean them getting their asses kicked, you are right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
