NBA Playoffs

[Damaramu 0]

Way too much effort.

No way. That was fucking hilarious. It brought me to tears laughing. Seriously......

 

Anyways back to the NBA. Hopefully the Sonics can finish the Kings off next time they face one another.

I'm glad the Celtics pounded the Pacers and I hope they can keep it up.

Anybody see Jason Williams go off on that reporter?

[Ripper 0]

Way too much effort.

No way. That was fucking hilarious. It brought me to tears laughing. Seriously......

 

Anyways back to the NBA. Hopefully the Sonics can finish the Kings off next time they face one another.

I'm glad the Celtics pounded the Pacers and I hope they can keep it up.

Anybody see Jason Williams go off on that reporter?

He needed to go off on that reporter. Fucking media. Apparently the guy was talking about how the Grizzlies weren't playing as hard as they could then took a out of context quote from Williams when he said that he is just happy to get home to his wife and kids when its over. All this (basketball) is secondary. The reporter slanted it to make it look like Williams was saying he didn't care about the series when the quote had nothing to do with that.

 

And the Sonics are up 3-1 against the Kings, who are some explosive scorers. Most other teams wouldn't have gotten back into the games against them like that. Sonics have been getting doubted the whole year and continue to win.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Ben Wallace wins the Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in four years

[Ripper 0]

Ben Wallace wins the Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in four years

Bullshit. He shouldn't have gotten the most votes on his team. As a matter of a fact, his teammate should have won it.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Now that the Nets are done, start placing your bets in the "how long until Jason Kidd starts crying about the coaching and gets Lawrence Frank fired" pool.

or until vince decides he wants to get traded and start deliberatly phoning it in and playing crappy, sabotaging his team.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

nice surprise. Ben Wallace is as good as ever, literally changing games with his defensive pressure. its a surprise though because I didn't expect it, i thought he'd fall into the Duncan category (ie, he's just consistently good that it becomes kind of "boring"). I think you could make a legit dark horse case for Tayshun prince from that team too.

[Ripper 0]

nice surprise. Ben Wallace is as good as ever, literally changing games with his defensive pressure. its a surprise though because I didn't expect it, i thought he'd fall into the Duncan category (ie, he's just consistently good that it becomes kind of "boring"). I think you could make a legit dark horse case for Tayshun prince from that team too.

Dark horse my ass, he should have won it. That was Prince's award for being the shut down guy for the team this year.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

hey i wouldnt complain in the least if tayshun had won it, but as far as judges, media, perception go, he'd be a 'dark horse' candidate. not that i like it or anything

 

ALso, there is another report floating around that says Bruce Bowen to win DPOY, so there could still be a question, but CNNSI has picked up big ben's.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

nice surprise. Ben Wallace is as good as ever, literally changing games with his defensive pressure. its a surprise though because I didn't expect it, i thought he'd fall into the Duncan category (ie, he's just consistently good that it becomes kind of "boring"). I think you could make a legit dark horse case for Tayshun prince from that team too.

Dark horse my ass, he should have won it. That was Prince's award for being the shut down guy for the team this year.

I couldn't tell if Wallace was the best defender or not. I will say Prince is a damned good defender in his own right.

[Ripper 0]

As long as Bowen doesn't win it, I am cool. Dirty defense should not be rewarded. And yes I realizes that he doesn't play dirty defense all the time, but it is part of his defensive game, and shouldn't have a reward on the mantle celebrating it.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I also agree that Tayshaun Prince deserved it, but Wallace is the more marquee name, so that's probably who they'd go with.

 

Prince has been shutting people down since last year, though.

[alfdogg 0]

Wallace has officially won it now, it's on NBA.com. Bowen finished second, and Marcus Camby finished third. 6th man of the year will be announced tomorrow, followed by ROTY on Wednesday. Ben Gordon is the fan favorite to win both awards.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I hope Gordon wins both, but he should definitely win at least 6th man if he loses ROTY to Okafor.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Van Gundy gets fined 100,000 dollars

 

 

Van Gundy Challenges Officials and Says an Owner Is to Blame

By LIZ ROBBINS

 

Published: May 2, 2005

 

 

ALLAS, May 1 - Jeff Van Gundy, the Houston Rockets' coach, said Sunday that officials were calling fouls more readily, and unfairly, on his 7-foot-6 center, Yao Ming.

 

Van Gundy also suggested that complaints to the league by the Dallas owner, Mark Cuban, had been to blame, something the N.B.A. immediately denied.

 

"When you review his fouls, you look there and you got to give Mark Cuban credit," Van Gundy said after the Rockets had a meeting at their hotel. "He's been calling and calling about Yao. You got to give the guy credit. He's taken a lot of fines in his time, and he's been on them hard. And he's gotten the benefit."

 

Van Gundy said that after the Mavericks' 97-93 victory Saturday in Game 2, which tied their playoff series at two games each, he received an unsolicited call from a friend who is a league referee not working the playoffs. The referee, Van Gundy said, told him that referees "were looking at Yao harder because of Mark's complaints."

 

Van Gundy declined to identify the official, saying, "I don't want to get my man in trouble."

 

He added, "I didn't think that really worked in the N.B.A., but in this case it has."

 

Yao fouled out in Game 1 and had five fouls each in Games 3 and 4.

 

Stu Jackson, the N.B.A's vice president, rejected Van Gundy's comments in a statement Sunday night.

 

"No such directive was given to the officials regarding Yao Ming or any other player or team in the playoffs," Jackson said.

 

Van Gundy said, "I think Yao all year has had a target on his back, for whatever reason, whether it's his size, his kindness, whatever, there's many other things it could be, too."

 

Van Gundy cited what he called an illegal screen that Dallas's Erick Dampier set to spring Michael Finley for a late shot Saturday, saying it was the same movement that Yao had been whistled for.

[The Fett 0]

Jesus. Standard fine for criticizing officials is $10,000. For him to be fined $100,000, he must have really hit a nerve.

[iggymcfly 0]

It's because he didn't just criticize the officials. He criticized the league office, and said he knew for a fact that they were calling fouls on Yao because of what Cuban said.

 

If the referees handed out fines, it might be a different story, but since the league office does it, of course they'll be harsher on something criticizing them.

[alfdogg 0]

$100,000, though? I *might* be able to understand if it was $20,000, but that's just ridiculous.

[cabbageboy 0]

Maybe Mark Cuban will sympathize with Van Gundy and pay the fine for him? Haha.

 

Why exactly is Ben Wallace a bigger name than Tayshaun? The guy can play D and rebound, but I don't think he even avgs. 15 a game. Prince is a game changing defender and also can erupt on offense.

[Guest Redhawk]

For anyone who reads ESPN the Mag, Rip Hamilton did an interview a few weeks ago where he told a harmless little story about Michael Jordan. Well, I opened the Seattle Times today and saw this AP story, so now I guess it's catching momentum. Hopefully this doesn't go any further...

 

PHILADELPHIA — Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton last week confirmed a Bloomberg News report that he participated in high-stakes, post-practice shooting contests with former teammate Michael Jordan when the two were members of the Washington Wizards in 2001-02.

 

But Hamilton said money never changed hands, even though the pots reportedly reached as high as $40,000. That's because, according to Hamilton, Jordan was the one always losing and would never leave the gym until he broke even.

 

"We never exchanged money," Hamilton said last week. "We played until he got even."

 

On Friday, a publicist for Jordan said the former NBA superstar was traveling and unavailable for comment.

 

"When you are Michael Jordan," Hamilton said, "the best player who ever played — and team president — nobody is going to leave until you get even."

 

The two used to make wagers on half-court shots.

 

"There were times he would get up on me, but by the time we were done, we'd be even," said Hamilton, whose salary this season is $7.3 million.

 

Hamilton said that Jordan was so intent on winning — or at least lowering his debt — he would make the team bus wait up to 90 minutes while he and Hamilton dueled.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Maybe Mark Cuban will sympathize with Van Gundy and pay the fine for him? Haha.

 

Why exactly is Ben Wallace a bigger name than Tayshaun? The guy can play D and rebound, but I don't think he even avgs. 15 a game. Prince is a game changing defender and also can erupt on offense.

Wallace has been around better, was the better defender at least before this year, and has the HAIR~!

[Guest Redhawk]

Wallace won because he's less ugly than Tayshaun

[nogoodnick 0]

Thats a questionable statement.

[alfdogg 0]

That he's less ugly, or that he won the award based on the fact?

[nogoodnick 0]

That hes less ugly. Wallace had a great season and deserves what he gets. It would be nice to give some reconition to Prince though.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Watching the San Antonio-Denver game has shown me that Earl Boykins is one of the most entertaining basketball player in the NBA right now. Which other 5'5 player can dribble past the San Antoion defense and hit a reverse layup in only 3.8 secs?

[Guest]

It has also shown me that Earl Boykins tries to be the hero at the end of the game when it is clear that he is not the guy to shoot the ball or drive the lane in the pressure situation.

[alfdogg 0]

...are you watching the game? Boykins is the only reason they're even still in it.

[Guest]

He was also trying to be the hero at the end of the game, and it's clear that Horry's gonna make the game winning shot.

 

Instead Ginobili takes a terrible opportunity while Horry was WIDE open. Now I can further elaborate, Boykins is definitely not their premier player, he got them back into the game, but that doesn't mean that it's his job to get them the lead. He needed to recognize that and apparently he didn't.

Edited May 3, 2005 by Kingofthe909

[alfdogg 0]

The lack of fouls being called on the Nuggets and Manu's questionable shot selection isn't hurting, either.

 

Overtime coming up.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Camby's shot that hit the backboard was more ill-advised than anything Boykins has done at the end of the game. Boykins has been the PG, handling the ball and getting it to Carmelo the best he can.