NBA Finals

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Bobby Horry and the EuroFlopSquad* are enough to dislike about the Spurs. I do like Duncan but he took a hit in my eyes when I saw him complaining about fouls/non-calls while the play is STILL HAPPENING. That's unacceptable.

 

 

 

 

*Ginobili and Parker

[Precious Roy 0]

This is turning out to be the first 7-game NBA Finals series since 1994, when the Rockets were down 3-2 to the Knicks... but they came back and won game 6 and 7 at New York... hmmm, deja vu.

 

Games 6 and 7 were in Houston, not NY.

 

And I'll take credit for picking the Spurs in 7 now

[Vern Gagne 0]

Bobby Horry and the EuroFlopSquad* are enough to dislike about the Spurs. I do like Duncan but he took a hit in my eyes when I saw him complaining about fouls/non-calls while the play is STILL HAPPENING. That's unacceptable.

 

 

 

 

*Ginobili and Parker

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The constant bitching by the Pistons makes them an unlikeable team.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Yeah, the Spurs did look a little like a team of Bobby Hurley's throwing around for a while. But everyone's done that from time to time.

[Matt Young 0]

All I have to say is, thank God the Pistons didn't win. The last 3 games were shockingly great, and I actually got into the series despite not liking either team.

 

Congratulations to the Spurs. As I said, I don't like the team, but I've always been a big fan of Tim Duncan and Robert Horry, so I'm happy to see them get their 3rd and 6th rings, respectively.

[cabbageboy 0]

The last 3 games weren't shockingly great. Game 5 is the closest this series got to what I'd consider watchable basketball, but don't mistake a fairly close game for a GOOD game. Games 6 and 7 were the same plodding snoozers that you'd get watching a Pitt college game.

 

I dunno, I have a hard time accepting the Spurs as equals with people like the Bulls, Lakers, Celtics, etc. The Spurs are essentially the sort of reasonably decent Western Conf. team that the Bulls would have taken in a 5 or 6 game series. I mean hell if you take the Malone/Stockton Utah Jazz and let them play the friggin Nets and this Pistons team they'd have some rings too.

 

It also doesn't help when the Spurs just get destroyed in a couple games. An all time team wouldn't get beat down by 30 against anyone.

[Youth N Asia 0]

The Spurs kinda seem like the Jew Jersey Devils. They always have a solid team and seem to win a title every few years, but get overlooked as being great.

[Rendclaw 0]

i have to say though, these last 3 games went a long way to helping redeem this series.

 

So close yet so far.

 

Here's a question, if you're Detroit, you've got a great team, a championship contender, but they're also more up and down... what do you think, keep the team the way it is or start shifting pieces to try to put you over the hump (again)?

 

by the way i thought the officiating was horrendous. For both teams mind you, so dont think i'm taking anything away from S.A., but just in general, it seems to get worse and worse every year.

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They can only go to the "we play better when our backs are against the wall" card so many times and it caught up to them. If they had won a few more regular season games, they might have had the home court and who knows what might have happened.

 

I like the Spurs so I can't be too terribly disappointed that they won. Props to them for being just a little bit better, and to TD for showing up like he was supposed to.

 

The Pistons need more offensive punch from their bench, to be sure.... They'll keep the starting five, though Tayshaun's and Ben's contracts are up soon.. I think they made some terrible decisions as far as trading and acquiring bench players this year and I think that caught up to them in the end, as doing a seven man rotation is not going to work very well. McDyess can;t do it all by himself.

 

The officiating was terrible on both sides, to be sure. It will never be done, but the officials should be regulated by an independent agency, give them some teeth to fine, suspend, and even fire officials who are inconsistent without due cause.

[The Czech Republic 0]

The Spurs are essentially the sort of reasonably decent Western Conf. team that the Bulls would have taken in a 5 or 6 game series.  I mean hell if you take the Malone/Stockton Utah Jazz and let them play the friggin Nets and this Pistons team they'd have some rings too.

 

True story.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Bulls would of been beaten by the Showtime Lakers.

[razazteca 0]

The Spurs are essentially the sort of reasonably decent Western Conf. team that the Bulls would have taken in a 5 or 6 game series.  I mean hell if you take the Malone/Stockton Utah Jazz and let them play the friggin Nets and this Pistons team they'd have some rings too.

 

True story.

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The Spurs did have problems with the triangle offence but they did go thru 2 Phil Jackson Laker teams to beat NYC/NJ teams for the rings. The Spurs would take the Bulls to 7 and dominate in the middle. What the hell is the 60 year old Bill Cartwright or Bill Wellington going to do to stop Duncan or David Robinson or Kevin Willis? Steve Kerr, BJ Armstrong, Craig Hodges is no match for the Avery Johnson, Tony Parker, GINOBILI.

[Precious Roy 0]

Bulls would of been beaten by the Showtime Lakers.

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Which Bulls team? I'll give you the first edition, but I think either the 72 win team or the year that after could have taken em, I'd say it's 50/50 if they played several series. Once Kukoc came into his own and Rodman was on his game they were pretty F'n nasty and would be good enough for at least a championship or two if they were in the same era

[Vern Gagne 0]

I think the first Bull teams were better than the second ones. Yes, the record was better but I don't think the league was has good by that time.

[Precious Roy 0]

Jordan was more HOLY SHIT~! dominant on the first teams, and Ho Grant and Paxson were rocks of consistency, but I think Pippen was a better player during the second run after getting a chance to lead a team while Jordan was gone, MJ was a fucking genius after the rust came off, Kukoc was a third wheel that they'd never had before and his play during that run is still taken for granted, and Rodman and Harper could have shut down Ho and Paxson, which is why I give the second edition the nod

[The Czech Republic 0]

Bulls would of been beaten by the Showtime Lakers.

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But the Showtime Lakers lost to the Bulls in 1991.

[Guest]

They didn't have Kareem.

[Precious Roy 0]

Bulls would of been beaten by the Showtime Lakers.

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But the Showtime Lakers lost to the Bulls in 1991.

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Eh, that team was more Cinemax than Showtime. Latenight, b-movie, borderline softporn featuring Lorenzo Lamas and Eric Roberts Cinemax...

[Guest Vitamin X]

They still had Magic, but it was Divac in the middle instead of Kareem at that time, so I don't know if you could call them the Showtime Lakers. Pat Riley wasn't even coaching them at the time, I think. He left in 1990, but it could have been his last appearance. Not sure, but it was a pretty different team.

[Guest]

I think that was the team that Dunleavy took to the finals.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Yeah that was Dunleavy. I'm unclear as to when they stop being Showtime. I mean, no doubts as to when the Bulls dynasty ended.

[Guest]

The day that Kareem retired is when they aren't Showtime in my eyes.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I miss basketball in the 90s.

[Matt Young 0]

So do I. I used to be obsessed with the game, but now it's probably my #3 sport behind baseball and football. It wasn't the lockout, either... I loved the concept of a 50 game season. Even though my Bulls had broken up, I still loved the game. The year after that was good, too, since I am a Phil Jackson mark and I loved both Shaq and Kobe and had been following the Lakers (wouldn't call myself a "fan" but I supported them) since Magic Johnson made his comeback years earlier.

 

After that, even though LA kept wining and Minnesota was playing well, I just didn't enjoy actually watching the games much anymore, although I'd always follow the results online and watch SportsCenter or ESPNews.

[cabbageboy 0]

To me it was pretty much the 1-2 punch of Jordan's real retirement from the Bulls and the lockout. My NBA interest is far down from what it was in say 1998. The NBA of late shows why college basketball is more exciting. The Pistons are like Pitt or someone, the sort of boring team that relies on D and can't score for shit. Thing is, in a 1 and done format someone like Pitt can't go that far because that style isn't something you can really DOMINATE people with. In 2003 Pitt lost to Marquette in the Sweet 16 despite really being the better team...if they had a best of 7 it'd have been a different story. It'd be hard to beat a team with that style over 7 games, which is why the Pistons are tough.

 

As far as the Lakers go, I'd say it was over for them when the Pistons just killed them in 89. After that I think Kareem retired, Riley left soon after. Basically in the late 80s/early90s the Pistons were just the assholes of all time: They killed off the Bird Celtics (Celtics have never done shit since), they finally crushed the Lakers and retired Kareem, and they held down Jordan and the Bulls. Seriously, people just HATED the Pistons.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

^ all reasons why the late 80s/early 90s Pistons were awesome and kicked ass.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I loved the Pistsons durring their back to back title wins back then. You had Thomas, Lambo, Mahorn, and Rodman just bullying people like it wasn't anyone's business. I remember watching a game where for no reason Isiah just buched Bill Cartwright in the gut.

 

The new Pistons play the same D, but they're just not assholes about it

[Rendclaw 0]

Fuck the 90s, I miss basketball in the 80s, where you had guys sitting four or five places down the bench that could acutally shoot and play defense well enough that you could give your starters and superstars precious minutes of rest.

 

That is the one thing that the Jordan Era ushered in, and its sad. Guys wanting nothing but the dunks and flashy plays, and had minimal amounts of fundamental knowledge of the game AT BEST.

[Youth N Asia 0]

When did they just make up their minds and decide to stop calling traveling all together? I saw a clip on sportscenter this year where they counted a guy going coast to coast in four dribbles.

[Precious Roy 0]

When did they just make up their minds and decide to stop calling traveling all together? I saw a clip on sportscenter this year where they counted a guy going coast to coast in four dribbles.

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He probably carried the ball, but that's not impossible....

[Rendclaw 0]

They stopped calling traveling consistently in the late 80s, I think. Jordan and a few others would walk almost every time, and if that book The Jordan Rules is to be believed, the refs would look the other way almost every time.