NBA Playoffs 2008 - Round 1

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Someone who has been sucking the dick of the Big Aristotle for a long, long time.

 

Of course.

 

Or someone with a really dry sense of humor.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

I dont know what was going on during the 1st two games, but i know at the end of Game 2, Paul Pierce was running around screaming about how they were gonna sweep the Hawks, the Celtics players gloating and celebrating when they were up 20. It was all extremely bush league, might be what Ripper was referring to. I wasnt paying close enough attention to those 2 games to see if it was one-sided though.

 

in fact the whole Horford thing was a direct response to Pierce in Game 2, pierce said something like '10,000 bucks says we sweep you' and Horford in 3 when doing his little trash talking was referring to that talking about checks your ass can't cash or whatever.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Pachulia standing up to Garnett is kinda funny.

[Ripper 0]

The Celtics have nobody to blame for firing this team of guys up but themselves. All that shit talk at the end of game 2 pissed these kids off. They got over the whole "we need to look respectable agains them" and got to, Fuck these guys we are giong to kick the shit out them.

Please. You act like the Hawks have been upstanding citizens through the first four games. It's been a chippy series. Both teams have been mouthing off to each other and playing extremely physical basketball. The Hawks aren't this young, cute little baby-faced group of angels trying to beat the nasty, big bad wolf. They've been arrogant pricks, just like the Celtics. Get off it.

 

 

Bullshit. During game one, they were helping the Celtics up after they fell, playing like a bunch of guys who had never been in the playoffs before. There was little to no trash talk on either side (besides KG of course). Then came game 2 where the Celtics went up big and just started to act like a bunch of fucking pricks. KG trash talking, Pierce talking about he would bet them they would get swept, KG pulling his jersey to the side chest beating, talking trash after every basket, Kedrick Perkins jumping up celebrating when Josh Smith went down hard and it looked like he was injured(yes, he did do this) and simply trying to embarass the team.

 

Then in Game 3 the Hawks got right back in their faces. No one claimed they were angels, but if you are going to pretend that that ridiculously over the top showing by the Celtics at the end of game 2 didn't change the Hawks overall attitude, you are just not watching the same series. They came out trying not to get blown out the first two games. They came out swinging and angry in the last two.

 

Doc Rivers has talked all year about how they talk too much and how they need to calm that down. Now they are playing a team they have to see every other night and they have the opportunity to get back in their faces. Good for the Hawks.

[Ripper 0]

Oh:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKsS-3j9sfg

 

Fuck Boston announcers right in the fucking eye. That is just horrible.

 

Apparently the hawks were doing whatever they could to win because that is the only way we could win. GETTING KG kicked out by forcing him to throw an elbow. Oh...I am sorry...he was only trying to get him off of him before the big bad Zaza headbutted him.

[Boon 0]

Wait a minute. Are you saying that announcers have a bias toward their home team? You've got to be fucking kidding me. How long have you been sitting on this information?

 

Rather than dig up a dozen YouTube videos of all the dirty plays and trash talk committed by BOTH teams, I'll just say this. Horford and Garnett have been in each other's faces since they knew they'd meet in the playoffs back on April 12th. Bibby shot his mouth off after game one, Pierce shot his mouth off after game two and the floodgates opened. I'm personally glad these two teams have been at each other's throats. It's made what was expected to be a blowout series a lot more entertaining.

[alfdogg 0]

Byron Scott wins Coach of the Year.

[Ripper 0]

Wait a minute. Are you saying that announcers have a bias toward their home team? You've got to be fucking kidding me. How long have you been sitting on this information?

 

Rather than dig up a dozen YouTube videos of all the dirty plays and trash talk committed by BOTH teams, I'll just say this. Horford and Garnett have been in each other's faces since they knew they'd meet in the playoffs back on April 12th. Bibby shot his mouth off after game one, Pierce shot his mouth off after game two and the floodgates opened. I'm personally glad these two teams have been at each other's throats. It's made what was expected to be a blowout series a lot more entertaining.

 

 

Bias is saying that shouldn't have been a foul.

 

Ridicuously over the top bias is saying that a guy throwing a elbow at anothers face is him "Just getting him off him" and suggesting that the Atlanta broadcasters are manipulating footage to make KG look bad, suggesting that having Zaza get KG kicked out is the only way that the Hawks could win, and constantly saying "Who cares if Zaza Paculia plays or not?". There is a big difference dude. that was fucking ridiculous.

 

And I will again repeat, if you are going to pretend that the entire tone of these series didn't change when the Celtics were hoping around with a 20+ point lead in game 2, you are just trying to ignore what is really happened. There hasn't been any dirty plays in this series. KG is a famous trash talker who ALWAYS talks trash. that is expected. What is not expected is Pierce betting Al Horford that they will "sweep your asses", telling the other team they don't belong on the court, having starter in the game against Atlantas bench players and talking shit to them too. All the little baby shoves and elbow shivers after plays took their toll after game 2.

 

When your head coach has been telling the team to calm down all that shit talk all season, I don't see how you can suddenly pretend that they didn't do it now. Simply put, they fired up a emotional young team by disrespecting them. The LA Kobes just beat the shit out of Denver but they didn't do half of the shit Boston was doing toward the end of game two. you can win without being dicks about it. And Boston didn't so Al Horford was a big dick about winning game 3.

[alfdogg 0]

Garnett should get an Oscar for the way he sold that "headbutt." Also, he shoved a referee during the skirmish. And Perkins and Marvin Williams apparently left the bench.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Wade lost his explosiveness because of his crash-bang style of play... you know, think of that commercial of him getting knocked on his ass all the time. He got hurt, he tried to play through it, got hurt more, finally was forced to shut down. He can't play balls-out crash-and-burn, because his career is going to be very very short.

 

He'll be the next Ron Harper if he tries...

[Ripper 0]

Garnett should get an Oscar for the way he sold that "headbutt." Also, he shoved a referee during the skirmish. And Perkins and Marvin Williams apparently left the bench.

 

 

Oddly, Perkins was already standing on the court during the play for some reason. he never walked towards the skirmish...he was kinda still standing where he was standing when the live play was happening. Why he was on the court in the first place...got me. But he technically didn't leave the bench area during an altercation. he only went back. He shouldn't be suspended IMO. Marvin took a step sideways and part of his left foot went over the line and the rest of him was still in the bench area. he shouldn't be suspended either.

 

They will find a way to justify KG not getting suspended for shoving the ref though. I just know it.

[Ripper 0]

Wade lost his explosiveness because of his crash-bang style of play... you know, think of that commercial of him getting knocked on his ass all the time. He got hurt, he tried to play through it, got hurt more, finally was forced to shut down. He can't play balls-out crash-and-burn, because his career is going to be very very short.

 

He'll be the next Ron Harper if he tries...

 

 

Its Wades own fault though. Just like Ron Harper and Kevin Johnson(two great players who screwed up their careers with their styles) when he goes to the rim, he just lets his legs go. He COULD land but that would require letting up off the throttle just a little before getting to the rim. He doesn't thus the ground hitting.

 

There is no way he will last long if he keeps doing that. Unless you are Allen Iverson who I am convinced isn't actually human.

[Boon 0]

Ridicuously over the top bias is saying that a guy throwing a elbow at anothers face is him "Just getting him off him" and suggesting that the Atlanta broadcasters are manipulating footage to make KG look bad, suggesting that having Zaza get KG kicked out is the only way that the Hawks could win, and constantly saying "Who cares if Zaza Paculia plays or not?". There is a big difference dude. that was fucking ridiculous.

I'll give you Mike Gorman, who is only matched in Celtics homerism by Tom Heinsohn. But Donnie Nelson has been great when filling in, and what he's saying about the value of Garnett vs. the value of Paculia is true. He was the one arguing it should have been a double technical. Losing KG would have been devastating, while Paculia's biggest contribution of the series was when he got into KG's face.

 

And I will again repeat, if you are going to pretend that the entire tone of these series didn't change when the Celtics were hoping around with a 20+ point lead in game 2, you are just trying to ignore what is really happened. There hasn't been any dirty plays in this series. KG is a famous trash talker who ALWAYS talks trash. that is expected. What is not expected is Pierce betting Al Horford that they will "sweep your asses", telling the other team they don't belong on the court, having starter in the game against Atlantas bench players and talking shit to them too. All the little baby shoves and elbow shivers after plays took their toll after game 2.

And I'm ignoring what's really happened?

 

When your head coach has been telling the team to calm down all that shit talk all season, I don't see how you can suddenly pretend that they didn't do it now. Simply put, they fired up a emotional young team by disrespecting them. The LA Kobes just beat the shit out of Denver but they didn't do half of the shit Boston was doing toward the end of game two. you can win without being dicks about it. And Boston didn't so Al Horford was a big dick about winning game 3.

I don't know how I can say this any simpler. BOTH teams have been talking shit, taunting and committing dirty plays. The Celtics are not innocent. The Hawks are not innocent. It's not about which team started it, because unless you've been on the court for every single Hawks/Celtics game, you have no clue the entire story. If you can't concede that BOTH teams are playing with sub-par levels of class and professionalism, there really is no use arguing with you.

 

Byron Scott wins Coach of the Year.

Well deserved.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Man, Boston vs Atlanta has already exceeded all expectations... the battle of two bad coaches is only going to get better

[teke184 0]

Garnett should get an Oscar for the way he sold that "headbutt." Also, he shoved a referee during the skirmish. And Perkins and Marvin Williams apparently left the bench.

This has been noted by the AOL Fanhouse, who think that KG shoving the ref, plus Perkins and Williams leaving the bench, could add up to suspensions for all three.

 

 

Doing so would likely give Atlanta a win at Boston, meaning that the Celtics would need to win one in Atlanta and one in Boston to advance.

 

 

 

As far as Byron Scott goes, the man got a well-deserved award.

[teke184 0]

In other news, the Dallas Mavericks held a players-only practice yesterday after Avery Johnson and the coaching staff canceled regular practice in preparation for their flight to New Orleans.

 

This is being taken as a sign that the players have officially lost faith in Avery Johnson, which should be a sign to Mark Cuban that he's got some work to do in the offseason.

 

 

 

 

No one has said which players were the ring-leaders in this, but a lot of the speculation falls squarely on Jason Kidd, who was involved in a player-revolt against Byron Scott several years ago in New Jersey.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Kidd's been a Maverick a few months (in his current stint I mean) and he's leading revolts? WTF?

[Ripper 0]

Shoves and little elbows aren't dirty plays. They are annoying plays. The are the equivilant of just poking someone with a finger over and over and over until they get pissed off and do something stupid. A dirty play is one that can lead to injury or at least dropping the player (say, a knee to the balls or a shove out of the air on a layup)

 

Pushing a guy for no reason only serves the purpose of pissing him off and making him lose his composure. The only thing is, the Boston players didn't HAVE to do that to win the series. They were doing it while up 25 points in the 4th. And they did piss off the Hawks. And the Hawks have been playing pissed off, shoving back basketball since then.

 

Game one was a nice, sportsmanlike ass whooping by the Celtics. Game two was a childish, over the top performance by the Celtics with their trash talk and shoving. Game three was when the Hawks joined in. Yes, they are BOTH doing it now, no question, but once again, to pretend that the Celtics trash talk(that Doc Rivers has acknowledged all year, and even ultimate Bill Simmons homer was talking about when he said the Celtics pushed and intimidated the Hawks and only Al Horford pushed back) wasn't the instigator in all this is just plain silly.

 

 

And was Donnie Nelson also the one that said "this is the ONLY way the Hawks can win"? Thats just plain ridiculous. KG threw the elbow, Zaza reacted...simple as that. To pretend that it was a ploy by Zaza to get KG kicked out is silly. And it completely ignores that Joe Johnson was pulling Zaza away and Sam Cassell just randomly shoves him in the back. Is that the only way the Celtics can win?

 

I have no problem with homerism in broadcasting for your home team. That was just line crossing right there and horrible.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Kidd's been a Maverick a few months (in his current stint I mean) and he's leading revolts? WTF?

 

He's a coach killer, probably got in Big Dirk's ear, and this is the result.

[Ripper 0]

OR Avery cancelled the practice knowing that the players would get together and do the "players only" thing.

 

The same thing happens at halftimes when coaches just don't even go in the locker room and let the players talk it out.

 

 

[Boon 0]

Yes, because Bill Simmons is our Malcom X.

 

Was Avery Johnson's job safe before this so-called player revolt?

[Rendclaw 0]

Wade lost his explosiveness because of his crash-bang style of play... you know, think of that commercial of him getting knocked on his ass all the time. He got hurt, he tried to play through it, got hurt more, finally was forced to shut down. He can't play balls-out crash-and-burn, because his career is going to be very very short.

 

He'll be the next Ron Harper if he tries...

 

Agreed. I'm glad that Harper got his ring (or is it rings?), but seeing what he was in Chicago compared to what he was in LA was rather sad to see. Then again, Jordan had that base covered, so you might as well play a physical game at the point guard position.

 

And Cubes doesn't have *some* work to do in the off-season, he has a LOT of work to do. He might have to blow the team up and start over.

 

Kerr might lose his job, though I doubt it. Bringing in Shaq obviously was a step back for Phoenix, not a step forward in the playoffs. That team might get detonated as well, though I doubt that will happen.

 

And speaking of changes, if the Pistons malaise their way into losing against Philly, look for Joe D to make some changes there, too. People up here are not happy, and they are starting to turn on the Pistons a little bit.

 

Boon, I have to agree with Rip. Things did not start getting nasty until Boston upped the ante on the shit talking, and the Hawks came right back at them. Boston expected them to wilt, and those kids didn't.

 

And I agree about KG not getting suspended. If Jason Kidd didn't get a suspension for that flagrant 2, KG won't either, and its bullshit.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Harpers got 5 I believe... Yeah, I think he followed Phil to LA.

[Guest I swallowed a Q-Tip.]

Rings, right? Harper was on the Bulls for the second three-peat.

[Ripper 0]

I think he has 6. He was till around in LA. for those three I believe...although I think he was a player for 2 and a assistant coach for one.

 

Although I am pretty sure that you meant as a player...so...yeah..

[teke184 0]

Yes, because Bill Simmons is our Malcom X.

 

Was Avery Johnson's job safe before this so-called player revolt?

Avery's job was questionable considering that the only game in this year's playoffs that seemed competently coached was #3, which was the only game they've won in the series.

 

 

Something like this helps fuel the notion that Cuban not only needs to fire Avery, but probably clean house on his roster as well.

 

The only players from the current roster I'd definitely keep are Dirk and Brandon Bass... everyone else has played like crap in this series and should be moved, if possible.

 

(Kidd should be dumped ASAP, but few teams will take his contract.)

[Guest Vitamin X]

Who would've thought that the East would be the place for exciting playoff basketball this year.

 

I did! (sort of)

 

Also, Ripper's comment regarding Detroit-Philly is one of those hindsight being 20/20 things, but Boston-Atlanta seems prophetic thus far:

You aren't going to beat first round Pistons. Maybe in the second round you might catch them getting bored, but not in the first round. Philly had a strong year but:

A: Andre Miller isn't going to be able to big boy the point guards in this game like he has been doing in the Sixers run.

B: Samuel Dalembert still fouls to much when a good big man is on him and he hates leaving the paint....he is going to have a good big man and a guy that can hit the three.

Just ain't gonna happen.

 

Orlando should kick the shit out of Toronto. 4-5 games honestly.

 

Cleveland/Washington...Depends on how hurt Stevenson is. And how hurt Lebron is. And how much they try to shove gilbert Arenas back to the forefront when it should be the Jamison/Butler show. Washington SHOULD be able to win this series, but it depends on a lot of things.

 

Celtics in 5-6. I think they will catch a cocky team for at least one game, then just straight up beat them in another. But I think their defensive abilities are going to be too much, although Al Horford and Josh Smith going nuts on them in the last gave me all kinds of hope.

[Ripper 0]

Yeah, I was way off on Detroit. They SHOULD be kicking the shit out of Philly. They are just fucking up.

 

I was off on the Denver/LA series being slightly competitive, but I did say it hinged on how Carmelo reacted after being arrested, and he acted like a bitch thus they got their asses handed to them.

 

[teke184 0]

New Orleans is 4:10 away from knocking out Dallas.

 

Detroit is smacking the 76ers around.

[teke184 0]

New Orleans is icing a series win while Jerry Stackhouse is walking his ejected ass back to the Mavs' locker room.

 

(He got his 2nd T of the night by slapping the ball out of Paul's hands after a foul, then getting into it with David West after that.)