NBA Finals

[ant_7000 0]

Eventhough its going to be a boring and a low scoring series, Spurs seem to play up their opponents style of basketball like the Suns, now they play the Pistons (Yawns). Both teams do match up well, Rasheed seems to play Duncan well on D, then they can rotate on guarding Duncan with the Wallace's and McDycess. I think the Pistons wins in 7.

[Guest Brian]

People do realize these teams played a 110-101 game this year, right?

[Dangerous A 0]

I think some people realize that these 2 teams CAN score and play entertaining basketball, but there are others going by the perception of the 2 teams being slow down, half-court, defensive minded, Pat Riley's Miami Heat type teams.

[Guest Redhawk]

Darko Milicic might have two championship rings after this series. Meanwhile, LeBron, Carmelo, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined have 3 playoff series wins.

 

Clearly Detroit made the right pick in the '03 draft.

[razazteca 0]

Darko Milicic might have two championship rings after this series. Meanwhile, LeBron, Carmelo, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined have 3 playoff series wins.

 

Clearly Detroit made the right pick in the '03 draft.

 

They could of had Olympic gold also but Larry Brown doesnt believe in playing them youngsters.

[Dangerous A 0]

It's why people are questioning Cleveland's sanity in trying to hire Larry as president instead of as a coach. Larry is a great coach, but I'm not so sure about his ability to evaluate young, key word young, developing talent and he's not very patient. Larry seems more successful when guys are already sound and just need direction.

[Adam 0]

OK, so perhaps I'm writing off this series rather lightly, but I'm not a huge fan of either team considering The Pistons eliminated Indiana and the Spurs beat Phoenix, one of my favourite teams just to watch play this year. I'm a huge Tayshaun mark, so I really want him to do well in this series. I'm going to pick Detroit in 6, because I think they have a more complete team than the Spurs. Manu and Tim will try their asses off, but they won't be able to get past the defending champs.

[Rendclaw 0]

Considering that neither team have any players with personalities what will the media do?  I sure as hell don't want to see nothing but reports of why Larry Brown never wants to stay in a city long term.

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I thought the media like Rasheed?

 

I'm gonna say Detroit in 7 and there will only be one game in this series that will go over 85 points.

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The only time they like Rasheed is when he gets techs and ejections. Nuff Said.

 

This is an almost even matchup, even though the Spurs will get the nod from the media. It all comes down to coaching (which is almost a wash there too) and mental toughness. The Pistons have been know to go through horrendous dry spells where they couldn't thorw the ball into the ocean if they were hanging off the end of the pier, and the Spurs have been known to fold like an accordian in the face of true adversity (see Western Conference Finals, 2003). Its going to come down to heart and desire, I think.

 

Pistons in 7. No way this series goes less than six games. No way in hell.

[Precious Roy 0]

Marion guarded Duncan, or Mohammed when Stoudemire was on TD, he was almost never on Ginobili per asignment. Marion's an excellent defender at the 3, and on help, but not so good 1-1 at the 4 when he has to guard a guy like Duncan. Phoenix got away with it against smaller 4 K-Mart and less physical 4 Nowitzki.

 

The Bowen-Hamilton and Prince-Ginobili matchups should be really interesting. If anyone can contain Rip it's Bowen, and Prince's length and instincts are a good match for Ginobili's quickness and creativity. I think Billups has an advantage against Parker, he's a lot quicker than Nash and if the refs let him play physical should be able to slow Parker down quite a bit. Parker has no chance to contain him on D. If Detroit wins it will be because Billups is able to abuse Parker on both ends.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

SA probably has better offesnive weapons, but the Pistons are better closers. If a game(s) comes down to the final minute, i'd trust detroit more than SA to play clutch, SA needs to put away games before that, ie 10 point wins or so.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

I'd like to see the Pistons post up whomever is being guarded by Parker.

[razazteca 0]

SA probably has better offesnive weapons, but the Pistons are better closers. If a game(s) comes down to the final minute, i'd trust detroit more than SA to play clutch, SA needs to put away games before that, ie 10 point wins or so.

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Who's better than Horry?

 

The only time they like Rasheed is when he gets techs and ejections and makes predictions

Both teams play hard. It's a conspiracy. Fuck the refs.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Conspiracy my ass.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Darko Milicic might have two championship rings after this series. Meanwhile, LeBron, Carmelo, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined have 3 playoff series wins.

 

Clearly Detroit made the right pick in the '03 draft.

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If they win again this year then it really won't matter. Sure they could have gotten Wade or Carmelo, then maybe they wouldn't have had the right mix of guys to win it last year or be where they are this year.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Just because I'm getting tired of hearing people say there was some conspiracy against the Pistons getting into the Finals again:

 

Game 1 (Pistons won)

Det: 10-12 From the line, 12 personal fouls.

Mia: 5-10 from the line, 12 personal fouls.

 

Game 2 (Miami won)

Mia: 17-23 from the line, 23 personal fouls.

Det: 15-23 from the line, 26 personal fouls.

 

Game 3 (Miami won)

Mia: 38-54 from the line, 29 personal fouls.

Det: 28-43 from the line, 33 personal fouls.

 

Game 4 (Pistons won)

Det: 28-39 from the line, 28 personal fouls.

Mia: 29-39 from the line, 30 personal fouls.

 

Game 5 (Miami won)

Mia: 13-23 from the line, 22 personal fouls.

Det: 13-20 from the line 23 personal fouls.

 

Game 6 (Pistons won)

Det: 12-19 from the line, 17 personal fouls.

Mia: 11-18 from the line, 20 personal fouls.

 

Game 7 (Pistons won)

Det: 11-15 from the line, 23 personal fouls.

Mia: 16-24 from the line, 22 personal fouls.

 

 

Totals

Detroit Pistons:

117-171 from the line, 68%

162 fouls over 7 games = 23 per game.

 

Miami Heat:

129-191 from the line, 67%

158 fouls over 7 games = 22 per game.

 

 

Amazing what looking at something measurable rather than spouting off inane rhetoric can do to an arguement huh?

[The Electrifyer 0]

Not really that newsworthy, but check out the court in San Antonio. They got the Larry O'Brien trophy in the floor design too which looks pretty cool to me.

 

[Crimson Platypus 0]

That's weak, they aren't the defending champs.

 

 

(looks sweet though)

[Guest bigm350]

Tim Duncan is not yet a Shaquille O'Neal offensively.

Timmy might have a better Free Throw percentage. Comparing a 400 pound dunker/5 foot jump shooter to a finese player is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

The way I see it is that this series is an even match up. The guards are even, the Spurs have the advantage with the bigs considering Duncan/Muhammond > Wallace twins and the bench are about even. I don't know about you but I can't wait to see Rasho vs Darko in garbage minutes.

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Duncan is a better player individually than both Wallaces; but a combo of Duncan/ Mohammed is NOT better than both Wallaces.

[Guest Redhawk]

I'll just say this: If the NBA was really into conspiracies...the Lakers and Heat would have been in the Finals this year, and you all know that.

[Guest Vitamin X]

^^^

 

Man's got an excellent point. Not to mention it would have probably been a decent series as well, since the Lakers and Heat had two very competitive games this year.

 

If the Lakers made the damn playoffs maybe it would have happened...

[Guest *KNK*]

Why is it that NBA is always accused to fixing games but never NFL or MLB?

 

If they fixed this, would they really choose two teams with a reputation(though not neccesarily true) of being boring personalities and low scoring teams?

[razazteca 0]

I'll just say this: If the NBA was really into conspiracies...the Lakers and Heat would have been in the Finals this year, and you all know that.

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The NCAA college football bowl system this is not.

[Dangerous A 0]

^^^

 

Man's got an excellent point. Not to mention it would have probably been a decent series as well, since the Lakers and Heat had two very competitive games this year.

 

If the Lakers made the damn playoffs maybe it would have happened...

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Sorry to oppose, but even if the Lakers would've made the playoffs, they would not have made it to the Finals. I could see them pulling a first round upset depending on where they seeded, but no way they beat SA, Phoenix, or Dallas in a 7 game series this year.

 

To answer KNK, I think a lot of it has to do with the public perceptions of the sports you referenced. Baseball is America's "past time" and Football is just so damn popular, it gets a pass for just about any and all infractions. Basketball doesn't get that pass. While Basketball's officiating isn't perfect, no sport's is.

[Adam 0]

A question not completely off topic, but I may as well ask it in here: whats the difference between a 'replica' jersey and a 'swingman' jersey? Im wanting to buy a couple, but I just wondered what the difference was.

 

 

Oh, and Game 1 starts in 10, Spurs will take it, with the Pistons winning the next 2, then Spurs again, then Detroit the next 2 to win the series.

[razazteca 0]

Ugh, Alanis Morrisette aged badly......and again the audience no-sells Will Smith's new song.

[iliketurtles 0]

This PA announcer is fucking horrible.

[razazteca 0]

At least the announcer is not a distraction like others.

[Guest Vitamin X]

^^^

 

Man's got an excellent point. Not to mention it would have probably been a decent series as well, since the Lakers and Heat had two very competitive games this year.

 

If the Lakers made the damn playoffs maybe it would have happened...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Sorry to oppose, but even if the Lakers would've made the playoffs, they would not have made it to the Finals. I could see them pulling a first round upset depending on where they seeded, but no way they beat SA, Phoenix, or Dallas in a 7 game series this year.

 

To answer KNK, I think a lot of it has to do with the public perceptions of the sports you referenced. Baseball is America's "past time" and Football is just so damn popular, it gets a pass for just about any and all infractions. Basketball doesn't get that pass. While Basketball's officiating isn't perfect, no sport's is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh, I totally agree with you, especially on the SA and Phoenix fronts. But Dallas? L.A. for some reason totally had the Mavs' number this year, even after Rudy T. resigned. They might have beaten Dallas, or at least taken them to 6 games or so. But they deserve to miss the playoffs for that disgusting losing streak after the Kobe injury and the Rudy T. resignation, where they went from the #5 seed to out of the playoffs.

[Precious Roy 0]

A question not completely off topic, but I may as well ask it in here: whats the difference between a 'replica' jersey and a 'swingman' jersey?  Im wanting to buy a couple, but I just wondered what the difference was.

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'Swingman's' are polyester, slightly better quality than the nylon replicas, a little heavier, nicer to the touch but not too noticably different visually. Check em out at a store to see the difference.

[Adam 0]

Thanks man - and thats the problem. Im in Australia where jerseys are scarce. I'll probably end up buying either a Tayshaun Pistons Home Jersey, a Jermaine Indiana Throwback or a JRich Golden State 'City' Throwback. I'm not sure yet. Can anyone recommend?