The Official NBA 2005-06 Thread

[Judgment Day]

Wait a minute...I fell asleep real early in the game, and the Mavs were winning by 10. I wake up with only seconds to go, and the Heat are up by 5. What happened?

And this is the first time a team on the East Coast has won who WASN'T Detroit, Boston, or Chicago in over 20 years...!

[4neqs]

T_T

gg to Miami

[Black Deniro]

Yay. I don't normally post in this thread, just lerk around. But lemme say this, I can't wait for the hating/wining/bitching that's going to happen in here over the next few hours or so.

[Arz2003!]

shaq > kobe
Why does Miami get to celebrate on danger turf? I don't remember the Lakers celebrating on 76ers/Nets floors. Lakers had to celebrate it in a little private room.

Payton is still cool tho

81/Lakers/Clippers Por Vida.

[GeoG2]

It's a series!

Holy fuck, if you guys could hear the car alarms going off down here...

[DanSC]

its finally over, congrat to Heat, now lets move to the fifa 2006 thread....

[Taito]

Dallas fell victim to a L O T of garbage calls, but let's not pretend that they weren't sleepwalking for most of the 2nd and 3rd quarter. This was Dallas' series to lose, period.

As for the Kobe/Shaq comparison.. the Heat are a heavily fortified team and the Lakers.. aren't. Shaq jumped ship to a promising organization, and Kobe decided to stick around on what's been a sinking ship since 2003, so that's his dumb ass.

[Arz2003!]

It's a series!

Holy fuck, if you guys could hear the car alarms going off down here...

LOL too true! Do you guys got everything under control there? Or riot time?

[Biggzy]

Yeah whatever you do, stay away from Bird Rd.

Where's all the shit talking Dallas fans now?

That's right bitches its the D-Wade show...

[AkumaTX]

Lebron Who?

[kindaichi]

Fuck the NBA. Its great to see a team can give less of a fuck about the regular season and go win the NBA title because they know David Stern wants to pimp Wade's jersey.


Thanks for watching the game and understand the game of basketball

[Stuckey]

Wade and Mourning came to fuckin play tonight. Mourning is like 16 again. The refs called it fair and that's all I ask for. Congrats

[Hokuto Shingo]

Yay. I don't normally post in this thread, just lerk around. But lemme say this, I can't wait for the hating/wining/bitching that's going to happen in here over the next few hours or so.

No there won't be any bitching. We just couldn't get the ball to stay in the basket. We had great looks down the stretch. You could say that Dallas choked but hey, we're a young team with a young coach. Thats not an excuse just optimism. Congrats to Wade...thats all. Miami is a squad full of vets and wont be shit next year, so its ok that they won. Yes, I am furious and even shed mutliple "Avery-like" tears. You can chalk this series as a collapse more than a comeback IMO. Sorry for random topics but I'm venting. Anyway, Bigzy go to a basketball camp and learn the game. Meanwhile, I'll just have to take it out on anybody who tries to hold me tomorrow when I hoop. Later...Oh yeah I wont be changing my AV until T.O. scores his first TD in a Cowboys uniform.

[Hunter D]

Mourning finally gets a ring. Wade owns!

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Way to go, Stone Hands Dampier. Although that wasn't the best pass. Still catchable though.

Way to go Heat, er I mean Wade, that guy's a beast. Been a hell of a season and especially playoffs.

*Counts down days to Amare's return*

[Cool-Breeze]

Dallas fell victim to a L O T of garbage calls, but let's not pretend that they weren't sleepwalking for most of the 2nd and 3rd quarter. This was Dallas' series to lose, period.

As for the Kobe/Shaq comparison.. the Heat are a heavily fortified team and the Lakers.. aren't. Shaq jumped ship to a promising organization, and Kobe decided to stick around on what's been a sinking ship since 2003, so that's his dumb ass.

Bull shit post PERIOD.
DALLAS CHOKED End of Discussion, but if you want to continue one we shall.

Miami isnt a Heavily fortified team, they will be losing 60% of this squad whether you like it or not, and not much of there team is tradable for BETTER TALENT.
SHAQ is 34 or 36 years old, he got traded to a team with VETERAN Talent, L.A. was not a sinking ship til the Denver situation and even then it could have been worked out but to many people wanted to be the captian or boss in that situation so someone had to go.
Smartly it was SHAQ. Kobe has a bright future ahead of him, also he has an organization that is willing to spend money to get better.
Honestly there is no comparison, Miami WONT REPEAT, SHAQ will play probably one or two more years while KOBE has like 10 or more, he isnt that far behind in the running for rings compared to SHAQ, in fact he could surpase him depending on his team situation.

Now on to Dallas, THEY CHOKED.
Dirk is nolonger on my "A" list, he is still just a All Star, I said this during last years playoffs, and I said this during the MVP voting even though I felt he was a top three candidate.
MIAMI earned 4 STRAIGHT WINS, and the most important on ENEMY TERRITORY.
In order to be great you must win AWAY from home, Bird did it, Isiah Thomas, JORDAN, Magic Johnson need I go on???
So what he scored 30 plus tonight, where was this in South Beach???
Yes he gets blamed everytime the MAvericks come up short, but doesnt Kobe, or Nash for the Suns, Or O'Neal for the Pacers, or Lebron the year they lost like 30 games in the second half of the season.
He is the Superstar on this team, yes he played similer to this role leading up to the championship series but when the chips were down, Jason Terry would have been the Playoff MVP if Dallas would have won.

Of course it is now WADE instead.
Congrads to the Miami Heat, you showed true heart in this series, you shitted on all the critics and proved them wrong.
Wade you have earned the monicre of the BEST player drafted out of the '03 Draft live it up son live it the fuck up.

Dallas nolonger Un-Blockable now thanks to Alonzo hokuto.

[Stuckey]

Way to go, Stone Hands Dampier. Although that wasn't the best pass. Still catchable though.

Way to go Heat, er I mean Wade, that guy's a beast. Been a hell of a season and especially playoffs.

*Counts down days to Amare's return*

It's gonna be over when Amare comes back. Over.

[FragMasterGen]

miami deserved it

[DanielLarusso]

Geo my boy, WE GOT A SERIES!!! :rock:

This is too good. First the congrats...

Congrats to Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks, yeah they dropped four straight, but they were a threat, no pushover, and they got some true ballers on their squade. I fail to see how they didn't beat Miami, on paper, it should've been a five to six game series for a Mavs win, but somehow they LOST in six?

I guess the DWAYNE WADE factor is bigger than any of us mortal basketball fans ever expected. Can we truly say Miami is the better team? For some reason it sounds hard to say, but when a team wins four straight games after going down 2-0, you have to say the better team won.

Did the refs give the Heat some favorable calls in Miami? No question, but Dallas still had chances to win in each of those two games, and they did PLENTY of choking that can't be blamed on the refs.

I don't want no more crying about the refs, take your losses Dallas. Yeah, I agree you had some tough calls, but give the Heat some credit, don't make this ALL about the refs. That's whining, and on top of that, it's bullshit.

Dirk is an amazing player, so is Terry and Howard. Just couldn't get it done.

On to Miami...

Wow, who'd have thunk it? Whenever I heard interviews of Shaq saying the heat were going to "be ok" when they were losing to every team they played in the regular season who had an above 500 record I was like, "sure, Shaq."

Turns out he was right.

Give it up to the Miami bench.

GP hit some HUGE shots in Miami, Mourning IS one of the best backup centers in the league, if not THE best. You don't get in the top five in the league in blocks only playing a handful of minutes a game by accident.

Give White Chocolate some credit. Nobody wanted to do anything but critisize him when he came in and he has been running the point very well for Miami throughout the playoffs. WC just held his head and did what he had to do. He cut down on the "And 1 Mix Tape" type shit, he cut down on no look behind the back passes, and he handled the rock well.

Dwayne Wade has just cemented his superstar status. He will be put up there with the best of the best now, regardless of whether he's worthy or not. The man willed his team to a championship, he deserves every bit of the praise. Why? Yes it's true he had Shaq on his team, but this was Shaq-lite, this was a Shaq that Wade carried, not vice versa. And like Kobe, Wade is CLUTCH. MONEY. Wade is the truth right now.

Shaquille has just seperated himself from Kobe Bryant. The two may still be forever joined at the hip, but Shaq has cemented his non-Kobe legacy in a way that Kobe hasn't cemented his non-Shaq legacy. I wonder, of all the people in the world, how does Kobe Bryant feel right now? I love Kobe, but I wonder if he's truly happy for Shaq, or a little bit jealous. I'm sure he'll say nothing but the right things in public, but c'mon, it'd be hard for ANY human being to not be a little bit like "damn, that's fucked up." And I don't fault Kobe for that.

Again, congrats to Dallas for a great series, congrats to Miami for bringing it home. And congrats to the NBA for an amazing season and even better playoffs this year.

[Hokuto Shingo]

I still don't know what the hell you guys are smoking. Lebron is still THE best player from that draft. No question about it.

[GeoG2]

The Mavs are young... they have a bigger window. The Heat deserved to win more... guys like Zo, Payton... they deserved to go out as champs.

This was a great Finals. Two teams who were once at the bottom. Now look where they are.

In one or two years, I envision Miami becoming another Bulls team. Wade will be averaging 30 a game, they'll get a young sidekick for him, and Shaq and all these vets will basically be gone. But so will Riles... so who knows what the future holds.

All I know is, I will be at the parade. And this Friday I will be on the South Beach strip partying.

Kobe and LeBron are mad as hell.

This whole season was pretty nice. I can't wait for the offseason... it's going to be awesome. So many big names rumored to be on the move. Who knows, a team you didn't expect would go anywhere could get a superstar and become the next Miami.

I'm sure Mr. 24 is at home practicing his J... so he can 1-up Mike... break his own scoring record... and all kinds of other dumb shit to no avail.

[Stuckey]

I'll agree that LeBron is a more complete player, but even though he had a good run in the playoffs, he doesn't have the same confidence in what he can do that Wade does. That's something that practice won't give him. I think it'll get better as he gets older though.

But there were times when LeBron would give up the last shot to somebody else on his team that might've sucked all game. He's definitely an asset to the team, but he has to take the reigns when everybody around him plays like shit, because odds are they're playing that way because they expect LeBron to bail them out. Wade went out there with the flu, a bum knee, and countless other things knowing that he was STILL going to contribute something worthy of him being out there. I think Wade is better at this point because of the intangible shit, but LeBron is better technically.

[Black Chanler]

Best playoff season since MJ retired. Next year will be great.

[jchensor]

I have to get this out of the way first, 'cause I don't want anyone accusing me of bitching: the 2-3-2 format has GOT to go. It just doesn't make snese to have the team with the worst record have the first chance of eliminating the opponent if they all win their home games. Gives the "road" team a much better chance to build momentum by winning 3 in a row. It's a terrible idea, and I'm hoping someone changes it soon. Either way, it's a dumb idea. It's hard to win 3 in a row, and if it happens, there's too much advantage. Go back to 2-2-1-1-1 like it was in the past.

Okay, now that that's over, congratulations to the Heat. I won't lie, I'm not happy about it at all, but I've never seen a team willed to victory by one guy more than this series. Everyone contributed, yes... Mourning had some amazing defensive plays today (he was better than Shaq today), Haslem stepped it up big, Walker played well despite shooting poorly (found other ways to contribute), GP hit some clutch shots... but man, Dwyane Wade is something else. You just watch him keep scoring shot after shot and there really isn't anything left to say. And he's a foul-drawing magnet, a great ability to have (this power euqally shared by LeBron James). If you can get those fouls, it's so tough to defend him. Wade deserves this championship without question.

It's sad to see the Mavs lose, after all they accomplished this year. It would have been awesome to complete their run with a championship, but you have to feel they'll be back to take on the challenges of the Suns and a vengeful Spurs team. I hope Cuban does the smart thing and keeps the team together. I still love Dirk, and being angry at him doesn't make any sense right now. He did a crazy-ass job this whole playoffs.

I wanna say that, I wasn't expecting this, but I was really happy for Riley. I had learned to hate him from his first stint with the Heat, despite having rooted for him all throughout his Lakers and Knicks run. But to see him soooo happy, it made me feel better. To have won four before and then to struggle so hard to never win again, it's tough. So I was glad to see Riley pretty much close the final chapter of his career. I noticed he didn't guarantee a win next year this time, though. ^_^

Some final thoughts: SO sad they trade EJ for James Posey. If EJ was still on the Heat, I would have been elated with the Heat winning. Also, you an bet GP and Mourning are done. THey've got nothing left to accomplish now. Shaq Kobe comparisons stilldon't make sense, because Shaq was pretty much ineffective this whole series. Mourning played a better game than Shaq. And Kobe doesn't have someone like Wade to help him out. Also, Shaq calling Riley the best coach ever, after having won three with Phil Jackson, exemplifies some of the reasons I don't like Shaq, even when he was ON the Lakers.

Anyhow, good game, Miami. Congrats, and hopefully most everyone will keep it civilized here. I don't expect people to rub in celebrations, just like I would not have even dared come close to doing it myself if a team I rooted for won.

- James
http://jchensor.blogspot.com

[jchensor]

Oh yeah, and if people are gonna cheer for Dwyane Wade, try at least to spell his name right. ^_^ It actually IS:

DWYANE WADE

I think a rivalry between him and LeBron is a brewin'. I can smell the years and years of battling it out between them in the next few years. It's gonna be some goooood stuff.

- James
http://jchensor.blogspot.com

[Taito]

Bull shit post PERIOD.
DALLAS CHOKED End of Discussion, but if you want to continue one we shall.

Miami isnt a Heavily fortified team, they will be losing 60% of this squad whether you like it or not, and not much of there team is tradable for BETTER TALENT.
SHAQ is 34 or 36 years old, he got traded to a team with VETERAN Talent, L.A. was not a sinking ship til the Denver situation and even then it could have been worked out but to many people wanted to be the captian or boss in that situation so someone had to go.
Smartly it was SHAQ. Kobe has a bright future ahead of him, also he has an organization that is willing to spend money to get better.
Honestly there is no comparison, Miami WONT REPEAT, SHAQ will play probably one or two more years while KOBE has like 10 or more, he isnt that far behind in the running for rings compared to SHAQ, in fact he could surpase him depending on his team situation.

Now on to Dallas, THEY CHOKED.
Dirk is nolonger on my "A" list, he is still just a All Star, I said this during last years playoffs, and I said this during the MVP voting even though I felt he was a top three candidate.
MIAMI earned 4 STRAIGHT WINS, and the most important on ENEMY TERRITORY.
In order to be great you must win AWAY from home, Bird did it, Isiah Thomas, JORDAN, Magic Johnson need I go on???
So what he scored 30 plus tonight, where was this in South Beach???
Yes he gets blamed everytime the MAvericks come up short, but doesnt Kobe, or Nash for the Suns, Or O'Neal for the Pacers, or Lebron the year they lost like 30 games in the second half of the season.
He is the Superstar on this team, yes he played similer to this role leading up to the championship series but when the chips were down, Jason Terry would have been the Playoff MVP if Dallas would have won.

Of course it is now WADE instead.
Congrads to the Miami Heat, you showed true heart in this series, you shitted on all the critics and proved them wrong.
Wade you have earned the monicre of the BEST player drafted out of the '03 Draft live it up son live it the fuck up.

Dallas nolonger Un-Blockable now thanks to Alonzo hokuto.
What does 'Denver' have to do with anything? Where did I say Dallas didn't choke? How is Maimi this season not more fortified than LA?

How about you read my post before you label it 'bull shit'..

[evilj]

jchensor:
So even if shaq felt that riley was his best/favorite coach, you'd rather have him give a politically correct answer to avoid the question?

I'm not a shaq fan, but we can't act like we know what he's thinking or felling, or we have no proof he said that, only to put riley over phil.

[Taito]

Bull shit post PERIOD.
DALLAS CHOKED End of Discussion, but if you want to continue one we shall.

Miami isnt a Heavily fortified team, they will be losing 60% of this squad whether you like it or not, and not much of there team is tradable for BETTER TALENT.
SHAQ is 34 or 36 years old, he got traded to a team with VETERAN Talent, L.A. was not a sinking ship til the Denver situation and even then it could have been worked out but to many people wanted to be the captian or boss in that situation so someone had to go.
Smartly it was SHAQ. Kobe has a bright future ahead of him, also he has an organization that is willing to spend money to get better.
Honestly there is no comparison, Miami WONT REPEAT, SHAQ will play probably one or two more years while KOBE has like 10 or more, he isnt that far behind in the running for rings compared to SHAQ, in fact he could surpase him depending on his team situation.

Now on to Dallas, THEY CHOKED.
Dirk is nolonger on my "A" list, he is still just a All Star, I said this during last years playoffs, and I said this during the MVP voting even though I felt he was a top three candidate.
MIAMI earned 4 STRAIGHT WINS, and the most important on ENEMY TERRITORY.
In order to be great you must win AWAY from home, Bird did it, Isiah Thomas, JORDAN, Magic Johnson need I go on???
So what he scored 30 plus tonight, where was this in South Beach???
Yes he gets blamed everytime the MAvericks come up short, but doesnt Kobe, or Nash for the Suns, Or O'Neal for the Pacers, or Lebron the year they lost like 30 games in the second half of the season.
He is the Superstar on this team, yes he played similer to this role leading up to the championship series but when the chips were down, Jason Terry would have been the Playoff MVP if Dallas would have won.

Of course it is now WADE instead.
Congrads to the Miami Heat, you showed true heart in this series, you shitted on all the critics and proved them wrong.
Wade you have earned the monicre of the BEST player drafted out of the '03 Draft live it up son live it the fuck up.

Dallas nolonger Un-Blockable now thanks to Alonzo hokuto.
What does 'Denver' have to do with anything? Where did I say Dallas didn't choke? How is Maimi this season not more fortified than LA?

EDIT: Lakers have gone downhill ever since Jerry West left in 03.. poor trade management and salary cap lockdown are going to prevent Lakers from getting the kind of talent that will get the organization another trophy.. Kobe's gonna have to spend his prime years carrying a team and that's not gonna get him another ring.. hopefully he's not Mourning's age by the time he's surrounded by a great team that can take it to the Finals' (well maybe not Mourning's age, but I think you can write off any chance of Kobe scoring another ring for the remainder of his 20s.. and he's already slower and less defensive than his 3-peat years).. that's what I'm talking about when I call the Lakers franchise a 'sinking ship'..

[ssjbrydon]

well i guess 8 is greater than 5. good job david stern

[GeoG2]

LOL.

You guys should see fuckin' Tim Hardaway. He's still sour because he almost got scooped up instead of Payton. Now he's here trying to maintain his composure while looking at fans celebrating.

[Spiderjericho]

Geo-2, as a fellow South Floridian (305)

High Five.

[TGC]

I just want to take the time now to say:

HAHAHA DALLAS YOU WANNA THROW A PARADE AFTER GAME 2?

EAT IT...PWNED!

Well what did i say? You can't base anything off stats, i was only telling the truth.

[Judgment Day]

To James: Yes. I told my friends out in the D that even though Detroit won the series, Cleveland's gonna be a force in the next couple of years. The franchise would be stupid to not build a team around LeBron. I also mentioned a Miami v Cleveland series and how that was going to be <Randy Jackson>the bomb</Randy Jackson>. Next year is really, REALLY going to be interesting. In both conferences.

Anybody remember those years where Cleveland ALWAYS lost to Chicago in the playoffs?

[Spiderjericho]

LOL too true! Do you guys got everything under control there? Or riot time?

There ain't going to be no rioting in South Florida, unless they announce all Cuban refugees will be turned away when they arrive to the U.S.

Miami isn't a true sports maven town. You could tell by when the Marlins won the World Series twice. It's more of a novelty, as the teams (like the Panthers when they made it to the Stanley Cup) are either new sensations or let's everyone jump on the bandwagon.

[Hunter D]

I still don't know what the hell you guys are smoking. Lebron is still THE best player from that draft. No question about it.
No.

Wade - 1 Ring(s)
Lebron - 0 Ring(s)

[GeoG2]

Yeah man... this town is garbage when it comes to sports. Championships don't really mean anything. It's suppose to be a reason to party, but what does that translate to in a city where people party everyday? Not that big of a deal, really.

People forgot the Marlins ever won. They forgot about the Gators. This will probably have a better lasting effect. I'm sure everyone is waiting for Culpepper to help transform the Dolphins into something special. Otherwise this city is filled with lame bandwagon fans who don't know what winning is really supposed to feel like.

[The D Man]

^^^^^^That can change.

New york probably wasn't always the way they are about the Kincks, Yankees, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Islanders, etc.

Same with Chicago and the Bulls, Cubs, Whitesox, and Bears.

Same with L.A. and the Lakers.

Same with Philly and just about all their sports.

You just gotta win. If Miami goes on and keeps winning and builds a possible dynasty like enviroment, people will be more and more into it.

[donaldducktm]

it was nice seeing shaq and wade get the trophy, but i DID NOT wanna see Antoine I SHOOT UGLY 3s WALKER get one...tsk tsk

[TGC]

don't matter to me, i just wanted to see 'Zo get one because of the tough career for him, and tonight he said "I WANT IT"

and Haslem was nuts tonight as well. Miami wanted it much more, every player stepped up somehow, well most of the team, and J-Ho did not step up, and dirk did not show up most of the 4th.

[ssjbrydon]

don't matter to me, i just wanted to see 'Zo get one because of the tough career for him, and tonight he said "I WANT IT"

and Haslem was nuts tonight as well. Miami wanted it much more, every player stepped up somehow, well most of the team, and J-Ho did not step up, and dirk did not show up most of the 4th.



yea i bet the new jersey nets wanted him to win it too.

fuck alonzo i lost all respect for him when he joined the heat

[jchensor]

jchensor:
So even if shaq felt that riley was his best/favorite coach, you'd rather have him give a politically correct answer to avoid the question?

I'm not a shaq fan, but we can't act like we know what he's thinking or felling, or we have no proof he said that, only to put riley over phil.

Not really. I guess it was an offhand slam at him because of the about-face he pulled on the city of L.A. After leaving, he put out a full-page ad thanking the city, and then in an interview insulted the city by calling it "fake." This all after he alredy blasted Orlando. It's just that Shaq is so ready to thank his current place and insult his past. Riley is a great coach, no doubt, and Shaq could be being very honest about him. But it's just a pattern from Shaq that I don't like.

- James
http://jchensor.blogspot.com

[DanielLarusso]

This is the best thing since sliced bread.

Things to look forward to next year:

Now LeBron is gonna be trying to step his game up next year. He's gonna be chasing Wade now. LeBron is like, hey wait a minute wasn't I the one who was supposed to be getting all the "he plays like Jordan" comparisons?

And Kobe's gonna be like, oh shit Shaq just proved he don't need me to win a championship. Then Kobe's going to look at the players on the Lakers' roster and start to weep silently.

A completely new Miami Heat team roleplayer/coach wise. Riley may step down to have that hip surgery, Zo and Payton may retire. Could we see the return of STAN VAN GUNDY? Poor Stan, even if he did come back next year (highly doubtful), no matter what he does if he doesn't win it all he'll be assed out.

AMARRRREEEEEE STOUDAMIIIREEE!! (This has been discussed before, but it all hinges on what percentage he is of his former self when he comes back.)

Everyone wanting the hand Wade the regular season MVP since it's pretty clear now that he is/was, but was being overlooked by people saying stupid shit like "yeah but he has Shaq on his team."

INSIDE THE NBA!!! The Chuckster by himself > ESPN's entire NBA coverage squad. Oh and speaking of Inside the NBA, rev up that boat Mavs, it's fishing time!

[Hoonyo]

grats heat on winning a one game series

my prediction for next season:
houston with the three-headed monster yao/tmac/redick win it all and the warriors make the fucking playoffs.

[TSC]

It is good to see everyone who didn't believe in the Heat proved wrong. I think in the end, the overall experience of this Heat team combined with their hunger to win a championship was the difference. They were the better team... and not only that, they clearly had the best player in Wade.

For a long time I to was one of those people who felt the comparisons to Jordan were totally wrong and that he was not worthy. But after seeing him lead the Heat with an aging Shaq to a championship it speak volumes about his level of play. For example, would Kobe Byrant have been able to lead the Lakers of 2000, 2001 and 2002 to championships with Shaq playing at his current level? I dont think so.

Congratulations to Miami, so good to see Zo and Payton get themselves a ring after so many years.

Also, just to recap on the Playoffs this year... wow... the best I have seen since 1993. I think the "Post-Jordan" years can now officialy be labelled as over. A new era is upon us in the NBA.

[Biggzy]

I don't know what you guys are smoking, I'd take Wade over Lebron any fuckin day of the week.

Wheres that faggot TrunkSS3? He had so much to say before, and now he disappeared. I guess he's changing his avatar :wink:

[DaliPicard]

Last time I checked Best of sevens aren't one in two games.

Actually, in the NBA Finals if a team wins the first 2 games they are 10-0.


I think what he's trying to get at is that the series isn't over. Which is true .... although Dallas will still win it.


Remember ; SA had 2 blowouts at home, then the series went to 7. I think this series will go at least 5. 6 if Miami is lucky.

F-ing idiots :lol:

[Stuckey]

I have to get this out of the way first, 'cause I don't want anyone accusing me of bitching: the 2-3-2 format has GOT to go. It just doesn't make snese to have the team with the worst record have the first chance of eliminating the opponent if they all win their home games. Gives the "road" team a much better chance to build momentum by winning 3 in a row. It's a terrible idea, and I'm hoping someone changes it soon. Either way, it's a dumb idea. It's hard to win 3 in a row, and if it happens, there's too much advantage. Go back to 2-2-1-1-1 like it was in the past.



All bullshit aside. They need to fix this.

[4neqs]

Wheres that faggot TrunkSS3? He had so much to say before, and now he disappeared. I guess he's changing his avatar :wink:

LOL yes. At least Hokuto didn't put "2k6 champs" in his. :looney:

F-ing idiots :lol:

At least the "six if Miami is lucky" statement proved to be true. Just not in the way that poster intended. :lol:

[Spiderjericho]

^^^^^^That can change.

New york probably wasn't always the way they are about the Kincks, Yankees, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Islanders, etc.

Same with Chicago and the Bulls, Cubs, Whitesox, and Bears.

Same with L.A. and the Lakers.

Same with Philly and just about all their sports.

You just gotta win. If Miami goes on and keeps winning and builds a possible dynasty like enviroment, people will be more and more into it.

I was born in New York, and there is just a huge reverance toward the local sports teams (well, maybe not the Islanders or Rangers as hockey isn't big in the inner city). And there is plenty of history (Yankees being the most successful sports team championship wise), where even the average non-sports following person of the street can be like, "Yeah, Babe Ruth, Patrick Ewing, Mark Messier, Derek Jeter, Darryl Strawberry, etc."

I think something that you didn't mention was history. This town (Miami) just doesn't really have a long history when it comes to sports teams (with the exception of the Dolphins). The Marlins and Panthers came about in the early/mid 90s. The Heat in the late 80s. Like Geo said, our town is primarily concerned with partying, shipping and cuban politics. Maybe in 20 or 30 years, South Florida will have a different climate and sports will be more highly regarded (it was sad to see the 97 Marlins dismantled, sold of several times and have the stadium controversies).

Maybe one day, Miami will abandon the "what have you done for me lately mentality" and provide a strong support for each franchise.

[Cletus Kasady]

Even though the officiating was even (they both had bad calls go against themselves) and Dallas has no excuses because they let up when they had the chance to run Miami out of their building...

Please tell me I'm not the only one who got just a little upset seeing Wade extend his arm to push at Nowitzki and head to the free throw line, especially after the Game 5 debacle. Wade is good enough as it is; when he's getting to the line whenever somebody touches him (or, in this case, when he touches somebody), he's ST Akuma + AHVB + C.Fierce broken.

Even the protection Lebron was getting against Washington wasn't this ridiculous.

[Geese Pants]

Congrats to................

Dwayne Wade
Alanzo Mourning

Fuck........

Gary Payton
Shaq "I FUCKED UP STEEL" O'Neal

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Though Wade played completely nuts in the playoffs and Finals, I still don't think he was regular season MVP (Suns nutrider alert!). He wasn't THIS dominating (though I should have seen it coming) and Shaq didn't completely disappear like in these Finals. Plus he cut waaaaay down on his turnovers....anyone remember his near quadruple (or triple) double stat sheet where he had 10 turnovers? I didn't see any of that in this series.

Next year will be interesting. TGC, you gonna stick to that Suns av or are you gonna change it? I'm feeling a Suns av soon...

[cheese_master]

Thanks for watching the game and understand the game of basketball

I've played basketball... and I don't remember fouls being called against the player guard me when I clear him out with my off arm at the critical part of a game. A shitty call like that in European soccer, and the ref is found dead somewhere. Whatever, Wade is no Jordan. Jordan didn't go to the line 20+ times a fucking game every game to get his 40 pts. He actually earned it by making FGs. And fouls back then were alot harder than they are now. Soon the defensive rules in the NBA will bring the game to playing a game of Horse. Thats what happens when an old white dude who hasn't ever played basketball runs the league.

[Yansoma]

Congratz to Jason Williams

[Hokuto Shingo]

Fuckin Damp...

[p_r0phet]

Congratz to Jason Williams
werd, nobody gives white chocolate credit
big ups to him

[Deuce]

good shit to dampier turning the ball over to wade at the end, looks like he's the mav's counterpart to kwame brown. aka ftl

[Cool-Breeze]

First off this SHAQ vs KOBE shit aint gonna fly no more.
Kobe is carrying a weak as team and did so very well this year, Kobe also had NO SIDEKICK.
SHAQ everywhere he has been, and has been successful. Was so because of his counter part or sidekick, D.Wade held it down for Miami this year not Shaq, this ring belongs to D.Wade cause he is the one who played like a monster, and just omitted pure dominance on the Mavericks.
If you gave Kobe a legit sidekick 9 times out of ten they would have defeated the SUNS not only because all they needed was one more game but because the pressure would nolonger ONLY be on Kobe.
People said all year this was Wade's team and he expressed that threw his game play, you cant give Shaq props for being a sidekick himself when his ENTIRE ARGEUMENT in L.A. was how he could still be a captian and run the show, Shaq handled the situation immature, if he was smart he could have taken THIS same back seat in L.A. with Kobe and continued on to another run at the title.
Until Shaq takes on a championship WITHOUT a sidekick he hasnt done anything over Kobe think about it, would Miami have won this year with only Shaq???

Taito when I spoke on Denver im talking about what Kobe supposedly did to that girl in Denver, remember he and Shaq didnt really get outlandish in the press until that thing occured. Some things were said but they were always worked out threw winning.

[Cool-Breeze]

I have to get this out of the way first, 'cause I don't want anyone accusing me of bitching: the 2-3-2 format has GOT to go. It just doesn't make snese to have the team with the worst record have the first chance of eliminating the opponent if they all win their home games. Gives the "road" team a much better chance to build momentum by winning 3 in a row. It's a terrible idea, and I'm hoping someone changes it soon. Either way, it's a dumb idea. It's hard to win 3 in a row, and if it happens, there's too much advantage. Go back to 2-2-1-1-1 like it was in the past. [/url]

Huh???
Dallas had the second best HOME Record in the NBA. TGC drove home a great point, this year STATS DIDN'T MATTER. Plus no one even expected Dallas to lose at home.
Why in the championship series would you have teams flying back and forth across the United States for just ONE GAME???
Different time Zones etc are a factor in this as well, that can pose an EXTREME problem on sleep, practice, stamina blah. Its easier to do this when leading up to the championship game because the teams you are facing are often near you already, hence your own conference. Dallas played at home damn near the entire playoffs think about it, Arizona isnt that far from texas, Nor Was SanAntonio.

Secondly you said its hard to win three at home, yea thats true just like its hard to win away from home so whats your point???
In the 2-2-1-1-1 set up, the team with the worse record would have to TRAVEL more, its already statistically impossible to pull out wins away from home, then you expect them to do it on almost no good rest.
In the 2-3-3 format, the team with the worst record could lose any ONE game at home either the first, second, or last, Travel to the opposite teams home and pull out a good win, well rested and at the best.
In either set up you would still have to pull out 2 wins away from home which is hard to do as well as pulling out 3 at home, I dont know man its fucked up, Im starting to understand what you mean while just typing this response but then again...:looney:

What was the setups when Jordan Defeated the JAZZ, and Supersonics???

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Man, Wade sucks. He wasn't even the first in his draft class to win.

DARKO FOR LIFE!

[ViciousSLASH]

Man, Wade sucks. He wasn't even the first in his draft class to win.

DARKO FOR LIFE!

Exactly, Darko forever.

Watch out for those magic.

Howard, Darko, Hedo, Reddick, and Nelson next year are gonna fierce punch some niggas.

I can't wait till man child Howard averages 20 and 20.

[Robust]

I agree with james 2-3-2 is buns.
2-2-1-1-1 in every other series, but somehow they change the format on the series that counts most. They need to just advance the clippers to the finals too. The teams in the west don't even deserve to be on the same court as them. AYE@

[TGC]

F-ing idiots :lol:

Hey i said it before the series even went to game 3, that you cannot base shit on stats, i don't care if only 2 teams have actually come back. It means, it has happen, and can always happen again. It's the fucking playoffs, the regular season does not mean JACK SHIT!

I honestly don't know why the city of dallas thought it would be ok to throw a parade like Hokoto said there was, because it was after game fucking 2!!! God there are some dumbass people out there.

[GRITZ]

And thats the series, ladies and gentlemen.

[Hokuto Shingo]

I honestly don't know why the city of dallas thought it would be ok to throw a parade like Hokoto said there was, because it was after game fucking 2!!! God there are some dumbass people out there.


Because for Games 1 and 2 and 42 minutes of Game 3 we beat them soundly. Then all hell broke loose.

[The D Man]

I was born in New York, and there is just a huge reverance toward the local sports teams (well, maybe not the Islanders or Rangers as hockey isn't big in the inner city). And there is plenty of history (Yankees being the most successful sports team championship wise), where even the average non-sports following person of the street can be like, "Yeah, Babe Ruth, Patrick Ewing, Mark Messier, Derek Jeter, Darryl Strawberry, etc."

I think something that you didn't mention was history. This town (Miami) just doesn't really have a long history when it comes to sports teams (with the exception of the Dolphins). The Marlins and Panthers came about in the early/mid 90s. The Heat in the late 80s. Like Geo said, our town is primarily concerned with partying, shipping and cuban politics. Maybe in 20 or 30 years, South Florida will have a different climate and sports will be more highly regarded (it was sad to see the 97 Marlins dismantled, sold of several times and have the stadium controversies).

Maybe one day, Miami will abandon the "what have you done for me lately mentality" and provide a strong support for each franchise.

That's what I was getting at. You have to establish a history first. Miami sports teams haven't been around that long.

[GeoG2]

Everyone and their mom is gonna want to play for Miami now.

But fuck all this. I have a couple of questions for you folks.

Do you think Zo deserves to be in the HoF? What about Glenn Robinson?

[Galactic]

zo maybe, big dog, no.

Kevin Willis has a better (legit) shot of making it in over big dog.

^_-;

[FragMasterGen]

First off this SHAQ vs KOBE shit aint gonna fly no more.
Kobe is carrying a weak as team and did so very well this year, Kobe also had NO SIDEKICK.
SHAQ everywhere he has been, and has been successful. Was so because of his counter part or sidekick, D.Wade held it down for Miami this year not Shaq, this ring belongs to D.Wade cause he is the one who played like a monster, and just omitted pure dominance on the Mavericks.
If you gave Kobe a legit sidekick 9 times out of ten they would have defeated the SUNS not only because all they needed was one more game but because the pressure would nolonger ONLY be on Kobe.
People said all year this was Wade's team and he expressed that threw his game play, you cant give Shaq props for being a sidekick himself when his ENTIRE ARGEUMENT in L.A. was how he could still be a captian and run the show, Shaq handled the situation immature, if he was smart he could have taken THIS same back seat in L.A. with Kobe and continued on to another run at the title.
Until Shaq takes on a championship WITHOUT a sidekick he hasnt done anything over Kobe think about it, would Miami have won this year with only Shaq???


extremely well said

[GeoG2]

zo maybe, big dog, no.

Kevin Willis has a better (legit) shot of making it in over big dog.

^_-;

But why wouldn't Big Dog have a legit shot?

1st overall pick who later went on to have a 20ppg career, a couple allstar appearances, and won a ring with SA.

And yet... even though the accolades are there... there's just something not right about seeing him in there...

[Ukyo Tachibana]

fuck alonzo i lost all respect for him when he joined the heat

Um, wtf are you talking about? How long have you been watching the NBA? I'm 90% positive that Zo was traded to the Heat in the MID 1990s, so he HAS been with Miami for a VERY long time now. In fact, his career got sidelined a bit because of that liver cancer (or whatever) thing, and a lot of people didn't expect him to come back. Sure, he played for the Nets, but if you're going to finish your career, why not spend it with the team you spent your career the most in? He didn't really "join" the Heat, but rather... he returned to them.

Zo deserves his championship ring, especially since he spent most of his career with the Miami Heat. Plus, he played SO well in that game 6... his defense really made the difference in putting away the Mavs that night. You could tell that he REALLY wanted the championship. Watching Zo block all those shots was like vintage Zo all over again. Kudos to Zo, definitely.

Fuck Alonzo? Hahaha, nice try. Give the man the respect he deserves.

[Taito]

First off this SHAQ vs KOBE shit aint gonna fly no more.
Kobe is carrying a weak as team and did so very well this year, Kobe also had NO SIDEKICK.
SHAQ everywhere he has been, and has been successful. Was so because of his counter part or sidekick, D.Wade held it down for Miami this year not Shaq, this ring belongs to D.Wade cause he is the one who played like a monster, and just omitted pure dominance on the Mavericks.
If you gave Kobe a legit sidekick 9 times out of ten they would have defeated the SUNS not only because all they needed was one more game but because the pressure would nolonger ONLY be on Kobe.
People said all year this was Wade's team and he expressed that threw his game play, you cant give Shaq props for being a sidekick himself when his ENTIRE ARGEUMENT in L.A. was how he could still be a captian and run the show, Shaq handled the situation immature, if he was smart he could have taken THIS same back seat in L.A. with Kobe and continued on to another run at the title.
Until Shaq takes on a championship WITHOUT a sidekick he hasnt done anything over Kobe think about it, would Miami have won this year with only Shaq???

Taito when I spoke on Denver im talking about what Kobe supposedly did to that girl in Denver, remember he and Shaq didnt really get outlandish in the press until that thing occured. Some things were said but they were always worked out threw winning.
I knew what you were talking about.. Shaq and Kobe's relationship was on the rocks long before the incident/deposition, that's what led Kobe to drop names in the first place. I remember the infighting getting worse during the time when Shaq was gone for half the 03 season resting his big toe.. that was when Kobe started openly whining to the press about his conflict with Shaq and Phil.. well before the Denver incident..

But you're right about Shaq, he's being as big of a baby as Kobe has. What was that 'uhh Riley is the best coach I ever had' slight at Phil Jackson at the end of this game.. he still hasn't grown up.

[The D Man]

Everyone and their mom is gonna want to play for Miami now.

But fuck all this. I have a couple of questions for you folks.

Do you think Zo deserves to be in the HoF? What about Glenn Robinson?

One thing interesting about Miami winning was it cemented the careers of GP and ZO.

I think now they are both HOF material.

Glenn Robinson sadly is a no-no. He didn't really contribute when the Spurs won it. Even with a decent career, he kinda tailed off and was unknown, even when he won the title with the Spurs.

Zo was great all-year, and showed he wanted it last night almost more than anyone. Plus coming back from the kidney problems will probably make him a lock for the HOF coupled with this ring.

[TGC]

Because for Games 1 and 2 and 42 minutes of Game 3 we beat them soundly. Then all hell broke loose.

I'm not even talking about Game 3, i'm talking right after game 2 there was that parade you said, like it was all said and done.

But like i said, 2 teams have done it before, and because it has happened at least once, it gives hope for a repeat, which it did happen, and now it's happened twice. So that means heat had a chance to be the 3rd, not a big chance, but a chance regardless, and BAM! they're the 3rd team to come back from a 2-0 hole.

It was a technical sweep.

[Cletus Kasady]

Um, wtf are you talking about? How long have you been watching the NBA? I'm 90% positive that Zo was traded to the Heat in the MID 1990s, so he HAS been with Miami for a VERY long time now.

The way he got signed by the Nets, then whined his way off the team (when they took a HUGE financial risk signing him), whined his way out of Toronto and started pumping his fist and celebrating whenever he did anything (that stopped this year when Carter nutted in his face and started up again in Game 6) was pretty detestable.

Were he not suffering from a kidney ailment, he'd likely be recognized as a pretty big jerk. But then, were it not for that, it's entirely possible that the Heat would have re-signed him anyways.

And regarding the HoF debate; Payton was one of the defining players of the era, so I think he would have been a shoe-in even if he hadn't won this year. Alonzo is a bit more subject to debate; he wasn't one of the defining centers of the 90s (Recall that he was drafted the same year as Shaq, and Robinson, Olajuwon & Ewing were all in their primes) the way Payton was one of the premier point guards in the league. I'm personally 50-50 on him just because of his aforementioned antics.

I only really remember Robinson because he's the same as many other All-Stars in his time; they peaked too soon and didn't really stay at a high level for very long (see also Jamal Mashburn, Penny Hardaway, Derek Coleman, Kenny Anderson, Juwan Howard, Jimmy Jackson, Vin Baker; I could go on); if you put him in, you have to include all of them too. Plus it's not named the "Hall of 20ppg Guys Who Went To The All-Star Game A Few Times"; which, when you think about it, is about the entirety of Glenn Robinson's HOF resume.

[Legendary Gokou]

Rosho traded to Raptors. Have fun with the somewhat hefty contract. =)

[PC2000]

Rosho traded to Raptors. Have fun with the somewhat hefty contract. =)

Bonner + Ewill + the cash you guys are giving us works out to around the same as Rasho's contract. :wgrin:

[Cletus Kasady]

But the contracts are expiring; they're decent trade assets, or cap space if the Spurs simply choose to hold on to them (I think next year there are some fairly noteworthy FAs; can't remember exactly whom).

Rasho is actually a decent defensive center that they can stick next to Bosh, anyways. So it's not like they traded their cap space away for nothing; it's just that SA already had another center.

[Hunter D]

This was a good trade for the rapt. They got a center that can clog the middle.

[GeoG2]

Between the Rasho trade and the fact that they acquired Kris Humphries earlier in the month... I think it's safe to say they have a reason to not draft any frontcourt players and to take Morrison #1.

Everybody seems to think he's a near lock for it these days.

[Galactic]

But why wouldn't Big Dog have a legit shot?

1st overall pick who later went on to have a 20ppg career, a couple allstar appearances, and won a ring with SA.

And yet... even though the accolades are there... there's just something not right about seeing him in there...

Glen Robinson was a perennial "Main talent on a whack team" player. His stats are slightly inflated in Milwaukee because of that, and most everybody knows it. He wasn't a GREAT talent, he just happened to be the best player on his whack ass team.

If you notice, Robinson only scored 20 PPG and above on teams where he had no one better than him on it. In philly his points took a dive (though you can blame that on being in the twilight of his career) as it did in San Antonio. (ditto.)

However, scoring 20 ppg over 11 years without ever being a dominant force cannot get you in the HoF.

One huge stat, ask yourself how many times Big Dog brought his team to and lead them deep into the playoffs...

Considering he's played in exactly 39 playoff games, only 26 of which he started, and averaged exactly 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in those games... that's pretty much an answer to your question right there.

Compare those to Zo's playoff stats...

More than double the amount of playoff games at 91, 57 of which he STARTED with the Heat, the same amount of points at 13.9, but 7.2 AND 2.3 blocked shots per game. And that's taking into account the way past his prime alonzo we saw this year and last year.

Zo has double the amount of all star selections (4 to big dog's 2), has over 2000 blocks and nearly 6700 rebounds, destroying Robinson's numbers, and Glen has zo beat in scoring by like 700 points or so,

If we let Robinson in the HoF, Joe Johnson might be a hall of famer if he continues to play in Atlanta and they don't get anyone better than him on that team.

Hell, we might as well let Spree in.

You can make a case for Zo (and Kevin Willis, for that matter) because he's a center, and there are very few long-lasting centers out there, but Glenn Robinson is nowhere near HoF material. He's not even a perennial all-star.

^_-;

[TGC]

Though Wade played completely nuts in the playoffs and Finals, I still don't think he was regular season MVP (Suns nutrider alert!). He wasn't THIS dominating (though I should have seen it coming) and Shaq didn't completely disappear like in these Finals. Plus he cut waaaaay down on his turnovers....anyone remember his near quadruple (or triple) double stat sheet where he had 10 turnovers? I didn't see any of that in this series.

Next year will be interesting. TGC, you gonna stick to that Suns av or are you gonna change it? I'm feeling a Suns av soon...

I'm just lazy to change it right now, but when the next season starts, ima have an AV made that hopefully i will be able to spot until the end of the year.

[cheese_master]

One thing interesting about Miami winning was it cemented the careers of GP and ZO.

I think now they are both HOF material.

Glenn Robinson sadly is a no-no. He didn't really contribute when the Spurs won it. Even with a decent career, he kinda tailed off and was unknown, even when he won the title with the Spurs.

Zo was great all-year, and showed he wanted it last night almost more than anyone. Plus coming back from the kidney problems will probably make him a lock for the HOF coupled with this ring.


Uh... Zo's career may have been cemented in the HOF... no matter how much of a piece of shit I view him as for what he pulled in NJ and Toronto. However... GP... I don't see how a ring which he did very little to contribute to obtaining is the difference between the HOF and no HOF. He was an HOFer before, and he is an HOFer now... no matter how sad it was that he had to mooch the ring off of someone else.

[jchensor]

Um, wtf are you talking about? How long have you been watching the NBA? I'm 90% positive that Zo was traded to the Heat in the MID 1990s, so he HAS been with Miami for a VERY long time now.

[snip]

Fuck Alonzo? Hahaha, nice try. Give the man the respect he deserves.

I was gonna say something, but Cletus already said just about everything I wanted to say. What he pulled with New Jersey and Toronto is very childish of him: whining his way off of a team because they didn't look like they could win to join the Heat, who looked like they could. Give me guys like Joe Dumars (who stayed on the PIstons even after they started to stink), Derek Harper (who languished on the Mavs for a long time before the Cuban era), and Piatkowski (who resigned with the Clippers even though they sucked big time) any day. Of course, people will argue that you have to want to win, so staying on losing teams is stupid. But at the same time, there is something to be said about loyalties.

But despite all the negativity surrounding 'Zo, he did play better than Shaq in game 6.

- James

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Isiah's the Knicks head coach now. HOW much has Brown earned then, from Detroit and New York?

By the way, do we make a NBA Off season thread or what?

[Robust]

Isiah's the Knicks head coach now. HOW much has Brown earned then, from Detroit and New York?

By the way, do we make a NBA Off season thread or what?
around 50 mil lol.

[FallingEdge]

Anybody see the D.Wade interview with Letterman last night?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvg7aBVatQU

Good ish if I say so myself.

[The Invincible Swordsman]

Zo to the HOF? Yes. Don't forget he was the number 1 man during his first tour with Miami and I think he was a 2-time defensive player of the year. (not sure about that. I'm guessing but I know he won it at least once). He's been to what?.... 5 all-star games? (Again, I'm guessing). That's good enough for me. For at least 8 years the man was a boss for Charlotte and Miami. He goes along with Mutombo who was FAR worse on the offensive end but won 2 defensive player of the year awards.

Big Dog however..... no. My HOF is for bosses. Big Dog is just a powerful guy in the middle of a stage that you have trouble with until you figure out his weakness. Kinda like in God of War when you first have trouble with those dudes that have scissor hands and dig into the ground and attack you from there. Big Dogg's weakness? Couldn't play D to save his life. Was he a good scorer? Pretty good. But he also doesn't have a defining moment or skill or memory that sets him apart from all the tons of other really good players that have come through the NBA. If you're gonna put him in, you might as well put in Danny Manning or Shareef Abdur-Raheem or Jeff Hornacek or Rony Seikaly (spelling? the guy played for Miami early in his career) in. These guys don't have any defining moments or skills or they didn't make you think about their positions differently. I feel the same about Paul Pierce and Ray Allen if they keep going on in their careers and don't reach an NBA Final as a boss or don't have a few defining moments as a complimentary player.

The Glove was a HOFer before Miami and before he went to the Lakers (I thought he was gonna get a title in LA. And you did too! Don't front!). In Seattle he was a boss.... he and Tim Hardaway and Jason Kidd and Shea Whitey (AKA John Stockton) were the best at the position at that time (a lot of the 90s). How many times was he named to the NBA All-defensive team? I'm gonna guess and say at least 4.

Larry Brown can suck it. He ruined my Sixers future by trading it away for one fucking season (Ratliff and Larry Hughes could've still been 76ers). I hope he never gets another job ever again.


This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:

Whose bright idea was it to run a pick-and-roll with Dirk and Erick Dampier on play that could determine the NBA champions? :confused:

[Hunter D]

Swordsman, Hughes was traded because Iverson didn't like him. Same reason the sixers traded Speedy Claxton.

[Legend II]

One thing this series proved is that effort, hustle and desire > talent. The Miami Heat proved it by beating the more talented Mavericks. They were hungrier and just plain wanted it more. Good run from Dallas. They will be more dangerous next year now that they will be hungrier to prove and correct some things.

The only problem is that Dallas plays in the power conference with Spurs, Suns, rising Clippers, Nuggets, rising Jazz and even Grizzlies are all good teams. They wasted a good chance to win it now. The Heat has more chance to make it again to the Finals than the Mavericks as they play in a weaker conference but guess we'll see.

Congratulations to the Heat and Alonzo "Infinite K-Groove" Mourning.

[Legend II]

Alonzo vs. Glenn:

Alonzo is a HOF, period. Was the go to guy with the Hornets and the Heat and had very productive years. 2 times Defensive Player of the year, 5+ All Star, many years of 20, 10 and 2 and was getting better but kidneys robbed him of his prime years. He could have won an MVP but it wasn't meant to be. Doesn't matter! As a limited contributor, he's elite with almost leading the league in blocks in almost 20 minutes. What else has to be said about him? He has his credentials.

Glenn is more doubtful! Was a 20+ scorer with the Bucks and 2 time All-Star but that's about it. When he won with the Spurs he wasn't much of a factor, just like Mitch Richmond in his Laker run. He sucked defensively, had ego problems with the Bucks (Allen and Cassell years) . Maybe he will make it but it'll take a lot of years to enter. A LOT!!!

[The Invincible Swordsman]

Swordsman, Hughes was traded because Iverson didn't like him. Same reason the sixers traded Speedy Claxton.

I'm gonna need some proof of that because I never heard it. Still doesn't excuse it or the Ratliff trade and the fact still remains that Brown fucked our future for the present.


This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:

ESPN is getting on my fucking nerves with two things:

#1 Comparing MJ to Dwyane (I can't believe that's actually how his first name is spelled) Wade is one of the dumbest fucking things I've ever seen. He's still not better than Lebron or Kobe and he's still not in the the top 5 of best players in the league.

Top 5 (no particular order)

Master Kakashi
Kobe Bauer
King James
Pistol Steve
T-Mac (although he might drop off if he keeps getting hurt)

#2 Continually saying Wade was the first guy in his draft to get a ring. If they would stop sucking his dick for just a moment they'd remeber it was Dark Magic who was the first to get a ring in that draft.

[Cool-Breeze]

Swordsman, Hughes was traded because Iverson didn't like him. Same reason the sixers traded Speedy Claxton.

BULL SHIT Hughes was traded because he wanted to be a number #1.
He thought he could be a scorer and he also wanted to be a Point Guard which Iverson was at the time, dont get it twisted Iverson is NOT the complete blame for the 76ers not being as good as they once were.

FUCK LARRY BROWN, this faggot is getting paid from almost 3 teams all at once.
He has no loyalty and that stunt he pulled to GET Glenn Robinson was foul, hell that later drove us to have to get Keith van Horn.

[Hunter D]

No, I know for a fact that Iverson is to blame for sending Hughes and Speedy packing.

When Philly drafted Hughes Iverson was playing the 2, not the point. Hughes wanted to get more playing time. He never said anything about starting, never. Speedy was traded because Iverson did not like him. The shit hit the fan when AI and Speedy started shit talking eachother. The last straw was when Speedy worked him over in a practice, showing AI how he earned is nickname. He was Traded a couple of weeks after that.

Edit- At one point I knew what was really going on in Philly. I've been out of the loop since I've left Pennsylvania though.

[Cool-Breeze]

I doubt that Hunter D Im from Philly bra born and raised no bull shit, Hughes wanted playing time, also that year I think Iverson only played 48 games, Speedy wasnt even on the team yet.(1998-99)

We dropped Larry for his bitching and he was vocal about NOT liking Iverson and the media took the ball and ran with it, saying that Iverson wasn't a team player because people assumed Larry Hughes to be a defender and scorer similer to Iverson. We scooped Kevin Ollie and Toni Kukoc, Theo was hurt yet again Jumaine Jones was scooped as wel.(1999-2000)

Also this wasn't while they were on there playoff run as well, they needed someone to take the pressure off Iverson. Larry Hughes was only on the team for one year dog, speedy was there for 1 year he also played in more games then Iverson and was still unproductive. (2001-02)

Aaron Mckie was slipping, Eric Snow was never a scorer and like the HAWKS Illadelph tried to make Mutumbo a scorer and it didnt work. We nolonger had help from the Small forward position everyone we had there were defenders, Raja Bell, George Lynch, We got Roshown Mcleod but he never lived up to the hype. (2000-01)

[TrunksSS3]

I don't know what you guys are smoking, I'd take Wade over Lebron any fuckin day of the week.

Wheres that faggot TrunkSS3? He had so much to say before, and now he disappeared. I guess he's changing his avatar :wink:


im not changeing anything.....


i can see it now on the parade all the miami heat players there drinking and hanging out with the nba ref's!

[Hunter D]

Whoa slow down CB. Why do you always take things out of context? I never said anything about Hughes and Speedy being on Philly at the same time.

I got my information from Speedy Claxton's brother and had the same info confirmed by Speedy himself when came back to my neighborhood a few years back. That is how I know that Iverson is the reason Hughes and Speedy were traded from Philly. The guy really is an asshole.

[Hoonyo]

haha and speedy got a ring before iverson. i guess that's justice.

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Huh? Speedy won a ring?

[Hoonyo]

Huh? Speedy won a ring?
spurs

then he went to golden state and had an unsuccessful run there (they had a 4th quarter in which they scored ZERO points)

[donaldducktm]

I'm gonna need some proof of that because I never heard it. Still doesn't excuse it or the Ratliff trade and the fact still remains that Brown fucked our future for the present.


This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:

ESPN is getting on my fucking nerves with two things:

#1 Comparing MJ to Dwyane (I can't believe that's actually how his first name is spelled) Wade is one of the dumbest fucking things I've ever seen. He's still not better than Lebron or Kobe and he's still not in the the top 5 of best players in the league.

Top 5 (no particular order)

Master Kakashi
Kobe Bauer
King James
Pistol Steve
T-Mac (although he might drop off if he keeps getting hurt)

#2 Continually saying Wade was the first guy in his draft to get a ring. If they would stop sucking his dick for just a moment they'd remeber it was Dark Magic who was the first to get a ring in that draft.word up. i still like Wade in the top 5 though :wonder:

[Hunter D]

Wade is better than Lebron at this point IMO. After is rookie season where he hit some big shots I became a believer. Both guys have similar stats, difference beig Wade isn't a 3pt shooter, but Wades accomplishments are what makes him better IMO. Wade has been in the playoffs every year since he has been in the league, has been to two conference finals, and has a ring. It took Lebron three seasons to lead the Cavs to the playoffs. If his team didn't make a run in the playoffs he wouldn't even be worth mentioning.

If the cavs make the playoffs again next year James' name will be worth mentioning.

The best perimeter players in the league IMO are-
1)Bryant
2)Wade
3)Nash
4)Dirk
5)Iverson

[Adam Warlock]

but Wades accomplishments are what makes him better IMO.
Switch the teams they're on and I guarantee Lebron's accomplishments would outweigh wade's. Not saying lebron is better, but wade was stacked with support. The mere presence of Shaq takes pressure off wade whether Shaq is effective or not. Lebron has zero support.

[donaldducktm]

Wade is better than Lebron at this point IMO. After is rookie season where he hit some big shots I became a believer. Both guys have similar stats, difference beig Wade isn't a 3pt shooter, but Wades accomplishments are what makes him better IMO. Wade has been in the playoffs every year since he has been in the league, has been to two conference finals, and has a ring. It took Lebron three seasons to lead the Cavs to the playoffs. If his team didn't make a run in the playoffs he wouldn't even be worth mentioning.

If the cavs make the playoffs again next year James' name will be worth mentioning.

The best perimeter players in the league IMO are-
1)Bryant
2)Wade
3)Nash
4)Dirk
5)Iversonoverall, i think lebron is more better than Wade besides Wade's accomplishment.
and 2nd of all, IVERSON A GOOD PERIMETER PLAYER??? i'd take James > Iverson anyday....i got much respect for you hunter D, but IVERSON??? he was good during his Finals run, but sucked ass after that

[Cool-Breeze]

Whoa slow down CB. Why do you always take things out of context? I never said anything about Hughes and Speedy being on Philly at the same time.

I got my information from Speedy Claxton's brother and had the same info confirmed by Speedy himself when came back to my neighborhood a few years back. That is how I know that Iverson is the reason Hughes and Speedy were traded from Philly. The guy really is an asshole.

No offense dude I wasnt trying to jump on you but SPEEDY CLAXTONS BROTHER???
That says enough right there, Speedy hasn't had a successful career anywhere he has been, True he won a ring and I think scored like 20 points out of that entire series, plus I think that was the year where it was only half of a season.

Philly needed a STARTING PG Speedy showed he wasnt it, Larry Hughes voiced his opinions once he left Philly, do you not remember him all in the media speaking about Iverson not being a dominate guard, and how he wouldn't pass the rock in practice.
Hell remember Larry Brown dissed Iverson that same year, But go look at the teams roster from back then, to even make the 8th should have been impossible with the names let alone there stats.

Larry Hughes still hasnt shown me anything WITHOUT Iverson, and neither did Claxton. Hughes was this fake as defender who looked good because of talent AROUND him not because he was solid himself, Washington damn near looks hella better without him and Cleveland is now wondering why'd the get him.

Claxton had a good 20 games this year maybe but his position was given early in the season to a rookie, which means he must not be doing shit good to keep a starting position, neither of these players would have gotten us (Philly) a ring back then.
It probably would have been nice to have them around longer, but in all honesty Iverson cannot be blamed for the 76ers not having success, he has excepted the worst of the worst in trades, they traded off his entire defense to get what???
Lack luster scoring in old ass Small Forwards like Kukoc, Robinson, and Van Horn.

[GeoG2]

That parade was so... weak...

[Hunter D]

No offense dude I wasnt trying to jump on you but SPEEDY CLAXTONS BROTHER???
That says enough right there, Speedy hasn't had a successful career anywhere he has been, True he won a ring and I think scored like 20 points out of that entire series, plus I think that was the year where it was only half of a season.

What are you trying to say. I know Speedy's younger brother. As I have already said Speedy's brother told me the story and then Speedy confirmed it later on.

How do you guys know that if you flip flop Wade and James that James would accomplish the same thing? You can't say that one guy would accomplish the same things if they were put in eachother's shoes. Both guys have different mentalites and approach things differently. They have similar tools, but they utilize them differently.

IMO Lebron does not have the leadership ability that Wade or a guy like Nash has shown.

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

He has the "shit-talk" assist that he obviously abused in the Wizards-Cavs series. Though I'm willing to bet all players have that assist, no one utilized it like James did in the modern era...where was Payton's signature trashtalk in the series?

All kidding aside, a question has been bothering me; did the old school stars such as Bird, Magic, Jordan, Jabbar, etc...ever get this many free throw attempts driving to the basket? 25 in a game? Did Jordan EVER have that many? I can appreciate a hard drive to the basket but come on...

[The Invincible Swordsman]

How great a leadership ability do you have to have...... when you're not even the leader of the team? That's Shaq. All Wade has to do is score and pass when he's doubled. Lebron is responsible for everything with that team. Physically, emotionally, and especially statwise. How many times have you hear Shaq and Wade say "You got my back tonight?" to each other? Who does Lebron have to say that do? Drew Gooden? Damon Jones?

I wish Iverson was garbage so I wouldn't feel so bad when he gets traded. I wish he would stop dropping 31 and 7 a night (Wade's numbers are not even close to his) and being the only guy who brings it every fucking night. Especially since he's the pg now. Man..... I wish Wade sucked ass like that.


This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:

If you put Ray Allen or Michael Redd with Shaq in place of Wade, they'd get a ring too.

[Hunter D]

You guys have to be joking right? I could have sworn Wade carried his team past NJ, Detroit, and Dallas.

What did Shaq do this year to lead Miami to a championship? All Shaq did the whole season was live off of Wade.

[The Invincible Swordsman]

You think Wade got his great amount of mid range jumpers and layups because he's so good? Or because of the room Shaq gave him? You think Shaq got whatever he wanted because of Wade? Nope. It's inside out. Not the reverse. Very rarely is it the reverse. I'd love to suck Wade's cock too and say he can get 30 a night and get a ring without Shaq. He would.... but he'd be just like every other T-Mac/Vince Carter/Kobe/Stackhouse/Iverson. Except..... Iverson got his squad of scrubs to the finals. None of the other have done the same.

All kidding aside, a question has been bothering me; did the old school stars such as Bird, Magic, Jordan, Jabbar, etc...ever get this many free throw attempts driving to the basket? 25 in a game? Did Jordan EVER have that many? I can appreciate a hard drive to the basket but come on...

Bosses would go to the line..... but like..... 10-12 times. 15 would be a lot. 20 was unheard of. It just goes to show how pussified the league and the refs have become. Dirk had 25 free throws in this year's playoffs too right? two guys shooting 25 free throws? Come on..... the refs have to make pussy calls so guys like Wade and Iverson etc can drive down the lane without impedement. Which is why drawing charges and flopping have become so common. No hand-checking. Barely any bodying or shouldering. Can't even make a hard foul so the guy doesn't get a shot. I remember The Lakers/Pistons series of 87 when the series went seven games. That was a fucking WAR! You guys should look up game 6 of that series somewhere. You should see some of the stuff that WASN'T called. But you know what? They both still got to the 100s in points. You don't need to make the league pussy to get high scoring games.


This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:

But then again...... the NBA is made up of a bunch pussies nowadays anyway.

[ViciousSLASH]

I wish Iverson was garbage so I wouldn't feel so bad when he gets traded. I wish he would stop dropping 31 and 7 a night (Wade's numbers are not even close to his) and being the only guy who brings it every fucking night. Especially since he's the pg now. Man..... I wish Wade sucked ass like that.




I have a love/hate relationship with AI. I think everyone does.

I love that he brings is so hard all the fucking time.

I hate the fact that it's one of the most difficult things in all of sports to build a successful team around him because he is such a damn freak.

I don't like this pussying of the league either. David Stern is a dickface. He must jerk off every night because he got the league's scoring average up by having 50 free throws shot every damn game.

[Cletus Kasady]

I've said it before, and it still warrants mentioning...

Even throughout the Finals, Wade would play back a bit during the middle of the game and then take over late because the Heat have offensive options and a good defensive frontcourt that could keep them in the game. In the playoffs, if Lebron wasn't making things happen, the Cavs didn't stand a chance. Detroit didn't have to worry about keeping Eric Snow or Flunk Murray in check, and their defense sucked (Not that Lebron helped matters any).

If Wade would have had to carry Lebron's load, he would have broken down in similar fashion to how he broke down last year vs. Detroit. I think that sufficiently counters, "Well, Wade's been to three playoffs and has a ring, and Lebron's only been to the playoffs once".

IMO you have to have them tied as best in the league right now (Although I want to see how Duncan comes back next year); if five or ten years from now, Wade's accolades still dwarf Lebron's, I think one would have to concede that Wade is better.

[Cool-Breeze]

What are you trying to say. I know Speedy's younger brother. As I have already said Speedy's brother told me the story and then Speedy confirmed it later on.

How do you guys know that if you flip flop Wade and James that James would accomplish the same thing? You can't say that one guy would accomplish the same things if they were put in eachother's shoes. Both guys have different mentalites and approach things differently. They have similar tools, but they utilize them differently.

IMO Lebron does not have the leadership ability that Wade or a guy like Nash has shown.


When did Speedy confirm this again cause he sure hasn't done it threw his game play?Plus Iverson has become more of a team player as the years have gone by, THIS without a true number #2 guy.

My brother are you mad???
The Cleveland Cavaliers entire system RUNS threw there Superstar Lebron James.
Not only that, how can you say Wade has leadership ability over the KING when Wade just scores??
Wade isnt the point for his team, nor does he have to be, The Miami heat have what 2 or 3 veteran Point Guards at the helm.
The Heat could survive without Wade, they wouldn't win no ring but they could survive, Wade wasn't the focal point of there offense, he was just a threat in it. (That has now changed)

The tools you mentioned in your post are the key reason this makes no since, The Miami Heat is a team BUILT with veterans, Compared to the Cavs they are SUPPOSED to win and ace them well at that.
Lebron often has to set up his own plays, make lanes for himself, take shots that aren't really there.
Wade has company that can take the focus off of him, Lebron doesn't have that yet.

Shaq is a threat whether he is old or not. The man was trained threw the years to be a dominate force in Basketball.
Dampiers, Shawn Bradley, Zydrunas, Mutumbo,Rasho Nesterovic, Im not gonna list all the useless '7 footers in the league but these guys can never compare to Shaq, none of these guys draw attention AWAY from there main scoring counter part for there team, they often just stand out there to defend.
Shaq makes things easier for Wade scoring wise, also he keeps things in shape on court, reminding the likes of Posey and Wade that this IS an inside out game.

Before Shaq was sent to Miami Dwayne Wade's so called mid range jumper was trash, Why??? Because he was forced to take many shots that other teammates wouldn't or couldn't. There weren't any real openings for the young man.
He didnt have the depth that they have now to spread the ball so he could find openings. This year his jumper and game play stepped up do to the talent around him.

Lebron on the other hand has done so without any solid veterans, he took his team to the second round and almost defeated what we thought was the next Eastern Conference Dynasty (And still could be if they get Jalen Rose, Kevin Garnett and Gerald Wallace) Wade has not carried the Heat anywhere ALONE.

[Carpet Lint]

Seriously, this Lebron vs. Wade shit is stupid.

Redo the 2003 draft.

Who do you pick first?

Lebron James.

100 out of 100 fucking times.

______________


Alonzo Mourning has a ring.
White Chocolate has a ring.
ANTOINE FUCKING WALKER HAS A RING.

Jason Kidd? Nothing.
Chris Webber? Nothing.
Paul Pierce? Nothing.

Wow, that's fucked up.

Still, I'd take Walker having a ring over Dampier ever getting one.

And you know what? FUCK ZO.

The guy's a piece of trash. Fuck his kidney.

He ditched his club to try and ride Jason Kidd for a ring. And then when they got good again without him, he comes crawling back, fist pumping every fucking little move he makes.

And I don't even really care about his deal with Toronto because it's more Rob Babcock's fault for even making that trade, but it certainly doesn't help Zo's image.

Fuck Alonzo Mourning.

...

Probably a Hall of Famer though.

_________


Regarding Rasho Nesterovic...

Two spare parts for a legitimate starting NBA centre is a good trade, no matter how you slice it.

The salaries balance out for this year only, which also makes it a really sweet trade for San Antonio. I think Bonner's going to be fantastic for them as the 9th/10th guy off the bench there instead of the 6th/7th guy off the bench here.

Championship teams always need guys like Bonner.

Eric Williams is pretty useless, but he's depth, and an expiring contract for like $4.3 million.

Rasho's owed something like $7.8 and $8 million for the two after this year, which is probably more than he deserves, but it's hardly cap killing, since we only have like rookies AND BOSH (hopefully) signed for those years.

And frankly, like $16 million for 2 years seems better than paying like $44/55 million over 5 years for a free agent centre like Ghostface Pryzbilla/Nazr/Nene or something.

Rasho's healthy, a big body, can rebound a bit, and doesn't need the ball. He should fit in well. No offense, but we just need a living body in the middle.

If anything though, this almost guarantees that we'll choose a big guy at #1, if we don't trade it - Aldridge or Barny. That way we can now bring them up slow, get them into the rotation as they're ready. I don't see this as an indication that we're going to get Thomas or Morrison now at all.

Still lots of trade rumours with the picks going around though, and I'm hearing a lot of stuff about Marion being moved too.

[PBalla]

This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:

If you put Ray Allen or Michael Redd with Shaq in place of Wade, they'd get a ring too.
what? no way, neither those players have the flash that wade has, sure they can score but they dont have that pizazz, that burst of energy that can just lift a team.

[Hoonyo]

Seriously, this Lebron vs. Wade shit is stupid.

Redo the 2003 draft.

Who do you pick first?

Lebron James.

100 out of 100 fucking times.Thanks for elaborating. I mean, if you only said 10 out of 10 fucking times I would've doubted you. But since you said 100 out of 100 fucking times that's a better argument.

[Kool-Aid Ryu]

There is no arguement

Kobe > LeBron > Wade

I'll admit that Kobe is better than LBJ, and I'm a pretty big LBJ mark

[Carpet Lint]

Thanks for elaborating. I mean, if you only said 10 out of 10 fucking times I would've doubted you. But since you said 100 out of 100 fucking times that's a better argument.
The fact that an argument that stupid even came up means that any argument for Lebron needs all the extra emphasis it can get.

I would have said 10,000 out of 10 times, but I was afraid that the math of that would have boggled people's minds.

Thank you for completely ignoring everything I said and choosing to make a retarded comment regarding a throwaway, 1% of my post. Please, I urge to you continue to make annoying and pointless snide comments and contributing absolutely nothing.

There is no arguement

Kobe > LeBron > Wade

I'll admit that Kobe is better than LBJ, and I'm a pretty big LBJ mark
I don't think a single person outside of LA would pick Kobe over Lebron either.

'cept maybe for all those idiots that think Wade > Lebron just because Shaq > Big Z.

[Hoonyo]

Please. I'm not going to search the thread for everything you posted. All you said in your post was you'd pick Lebron. You didn't give anything to support it. All I did was use fire against fire. A stupid post without any substance.

[Zulu]

Clippers need new uniforms.

[Carpet Lint]

Please. I'm not going to search the thread for everything you posted. All you said in your post was you'd pick Lebron. You didn't give anything to support it. All I did was use fire against fire. A stupid post without any substance.
I don't even know why you're having this beef with me.

I haven't been on SRK in a month, so I threw in my two cents on the silly Lebron vs. Wade argument, the Finals, Alonzo Mourning, and the Rasho Nesterovic trade and why I didn't think that guaranteed the Raptors would pick Morrison.

Why the fuck do I need to explain to YOU why you why I'd pick Lebron? Was there insufficient arugments put forth prior to my post? Are you some fucking NBA thread post Nazi that requires every single opinion that's shared in here to have a thirteen hundred word essay justifying it, complete with thesis statement, works cited, and proper standardized APA essay formatting?

Here's some Lebron vs. Wade arguments before my post that you can go back and read at your own leisure. All within the last page.

Before Shaq was sent to Miami Dwayne Wade's so called mid range jumper was trash, Why??? Because he was forced to take many shots that other teammates wouldn't or couldn't. There weren't any real openings for the young man.
He didnt have the depth that they have now to spread the ball so he could find openings. This year his jumper and game play stepped up do to the talent around him.

Lebron on the other hand has done so without any solid veterans, he took his team to the second round and almost defeated what we thought was the next Eastern Conference Dynasty (And still could be if they get Jalen Rose, Kevin Garnett and Gerald Wallace) Wade has not carried the Heat anywhere ALONE.Even throughout the Finals, Wade would play back a bit during the middle of the game and then take over late because the Heat have offensive options and a good defensive frontcourt that could keep them in the game. In the playoffs, if Lebron wasn't making things happen, the Cavs didn't stand a chance. Detroit didn't have to worry about keeping Eric Snow or Flunk Murray in check, and their defense sucked (Not that Lebron helped matters any).

If Wade would have had to carry Lebron's load, he would have broken down in similar fashion to how he broke down last year vs. Detroit. I think that sufficiently counters, "Well, Wade's been to three playoffs and has a ring, and Lebron's only been to the playoffs once".

IMO you have to have them tied as best in the league right now (Although I want to see how Duncan comes back next year); if five or ten years from now, Wade's accolades still dwarf Lebron's, I think one would have to concede that Wade is better.Switch the teams they're on and I guarantee Lebron's accomplishments would outweigh wade's. Not saying lebron is better, but wade was stacked with support. The mere presence of Shaq takes pressure off wade whether Shaq is effective or not. Lebron has zero support. How great a leadership ability do you have to have...... when you're not even the leader of the team? That's Shaq. All Wade has to do is score and pass when he's doubled. Lebron is responsible for everything with that team. Physically, emotionally, and especially statwise. How many times have you hear Shaq and Wade say "You got my back tonight?" to each other? Who does Lebron have to say that do? Drew Gooden? Damon Jones?
So I'm going to type up another five hundred word post about the same shit ON TOP of all of that?

Shut the fuck up, Hoonyo.

_________


Latest rumour - There's apparently been talk about a sign and trade involving Mike James and Marquis Daniels.

...

A ridiculous idea involving Toronto and Dallas, as reported by a Philadelphia newspaper. It's gotta be legit.

Sounds crazy though - I have absolutely no idea why Dallas would even consider something like that, unless they thought there's no way Jason Terry would stay, and wanted to replace him with a player like him...but crappier.

And why would you trade a guy like Marquis Daniels? I'd be like if Mark Cuban just decided "ah, fuck it" and ditched the idea of keeping a solid core together every year and went back to the NBA Live Dynasty Mode way of building a team.

That's not even considering that the Raptors have absolutely no trade assests outside of J'onn J'onzz and the first pick in a crappy draft.

Another equally retarded rumour I'm hearing is Marion and Barbosa and the 27th pick to Seattle for Fortson and the 10th.

...which makes absolutely no sense either. Why would Phoenix want to dump a key member of it's core after almost reaching the Finals without Amare? It's not like they have salary problems with a team like that and such long playoff runs the last two years.

Seattle's the one that wants to dump salary, which is why it'd make no sense to get Marion, who's got a max contract for like three more years.

That Marion for Chandler and the #2 rumour makes no sense either, for the above reason, and because Chicago's already so stacked at the 3 and has absolutely nothing at the 4/5.

I don't think Marion can play powerfoward in the East as effectively on the West, and certainly not in another type of non-Nash system. I think the shift of power's moving back over to the East with all these young PF/C's coming up and those in the West getting older.

This is my favourite part of the NBA year - the start of the offseason, right after the Finals, and right before the draft. All the insane trade rumours start flying around and it's just fun to see how ridiculous they can get.

Man, I can't wait for the draft. No one has any idea how it's going to go down.

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Wow, every one of those trade rumors sounds extremely stupid. It's almost like Isaiah Thomas was owning every team and was given the power to make deals with all of them...

And while I'd Marion to make his own shot without Nash on the court just as much as everyone else, WHY is everyone having a rumor about him being traded?

[Carpet Lint]

Phoenix would be insane to trade Marion. And you'd be insane trading for him.

The system in Phoenix is PERFECT for him, so if you're trading to aquire Marion, you're going to see a dip in his production. And since I don't really consider him a frachise guy, that dip in production is going to make his contract even more unwieldy.

And Marion leads the league in assisted field goals (field goals that counted as assists for other players) so you know objectively, and quantifiably that he's getting his numbers playing in that system with Nash. Take him out of it, and there's no way he can duplicate that production.

Marion's perfect for the Suns, I can't see why you'd trade him. You could fill a hole maybe, but then you'd have another one and you'd need to trade for a Marion-replacement anyway.

He shoots threes well, he can run like a fucking gazelle, and I don't think anyone gets off the floor as fast and as high and as frequently as he does. He gets 12 rebounds a night, with the potentional for any given game to go off for like 20 boards.

If you can get that much rebounding from your shooting guard, you'd be insane to let that go. A guy like Marion rebounds so well from the shooting guard position that it compensates for weaknesses in your traditional rebounding spots, like PF and C.

To play the run and gun, you need rebounds. A player like Marion allows you to play that way, by giving you the rebounding that you'd normally expect from slower and bigger guys at PF and C. Instead, you can fill it up with guys like Diaw or whatever - big men that don't rebound particularly well, but can run and spread the floor.

I think Marion's almost as essential to the system as Nash is. You don't trade a guy like that unless you're looking for cap relief. But after seeing Kurt Thomas suck out in Phoenix, I don't know why'd you trade for another player similiar to him in Chandler or Fortson - the type of guy who'd actual suffer playing in an uptempo system like with the Suns.

Can you imagine Danny Fortson on the Suns? The guy would be angry at Steve Nash for making him run around so much.

[Hoonyo]

Dude you're beefing with me. You took my post out of context and considered it a weak argument. IT WASN'T AN ARGUMENT TO BEGIN WITH. It was a silly response to an equally silly post. Its intention was light-hearted and not meant to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, you took it seriously. End of discussion.

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Marion plays SF/PF.

[TGC]

His main position is a SF, but he had to take the role of PF this year because of Amare. If he's around (i'm positive of it) then he will go back to the SF next season, doing the little things like defense and rebounds, and amare will do the scoring.

[ViciousSLASH]

I don't really think positions even matter in the Suns system. Just height.

The only person who really has a set position is Steve Nash and like I dunno, maybe Amare. Other then that everyone just runs all over the place.

And yes, the Suns would be stupid to trade Marion, I don't see that happening at all.

[Carpet Lint]

Well as long as we'd both draft Lebron over Wade 10,000 fucking times out 10, then you're my good buddy.

Now how would a hypothetical overall draft work out? With their current contracts taken into consideration? With guys like Lebron, Wade, or Melo, you're looking at a max extension next year anyway, so you don't save a particularly lot of money with them instead of like Garnett or Kobe...but it's another bit to consider with guys like Chris Paul or Dwight Howard.

You could theoretically make this list like 50 deep and it'd still be interesting. Let's go top five for now though.

Every team in the league waives all it's players and you start a new franchise, and you have the first pick of any and all NBA players as they are today, complete with their current contract situations.

Who'd you pick?

I'm still thinking about it. Probably Lebron first, and then maybe Wade over Kobe, but then you have to consider that it's easier to get top production from the guard spot than from a big, so guys like Brand, Garnett, Amare, Bosh, Dwight, or JO would go rise a bit...

Damn that's tough. I'll have to think for a bit.

______

Marion can play PF, and he did, but I'd think that his natural position and the ideal place you'd play him at if you had your entire team healthy would be SF.

Chris Bosh CAN play center, but you'd want him at PF. T-Mac CAN play SG, but ideally he's a SF, and etc.

I'm actually a bit curious as to what the starting line-up would be for Phoenix next year, assuming everyone comes back and everyone's healthy.

PG - Nash
SG - Bell
SF - Marion
PF - Amare? Diaw?
C - ...Diaw? KT? Amare?

Would it be Diaw/Amare at PF/C (or vice versa) or Amare/KT?

But VS is right, I don't really think conventional positions matter as much for Phoenix. It only really matters when you're playing half-court - so when the other team manages to slow you down to your half-court offense, or when you're playing defense. And I think Phoenix does those two things least out of all 30 teams.

[spideyman]

line up will be Nash, Bell, Marrion, Amare, and KT. Diaw will come off the bench and win the 6th man award.

[mystikazien]

damn the Suns lineup looks really scary with Diaw on the bench =(

[GeoG2]

I thought PHX should have traded Marion a long time ago, honestly. I figured it would one day cause problems having so many max contracts. And really, Stoudamire can be a 20-10 player when healthy... so it isn't like Marion is totally necessary. They have plenty of pieces.

But they're dumb as hell if they plan to let Tim Thomas replace him as a starter.

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

Is KT a free agent?

[Warpticon]

So today I figured out the formula for winning an NBA championship. It's a 3-part process.

1. Acquire Eddie Jones
2. Draft young, explosive shooting guard
3. Trade Eddie Jones

[jchensor]

So today I figured out the formula for winning an NBA championship. It's a 3-part process.

1. Acquire Eddie Jones
2. Draft young, explosive shooting guard
3. Trade Eddie Jones

That's the most depressing formula I've ever, ever, ever read. :-( If Memphis trades away Eddie Jones and promptly wins after drafting a young, explosive shooting guard, I'm gonna cry.

- James
http://jchensor.blogspot.com

[spideyman]

yes, but if they trade him, they are champs.

[DA GAME]

Just saw on ESPN.com that Peja Stojakivic(sp?) has decided to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Pacers making him a free-agent.Who do you guys think will pick him up & who do you think the Pacers will get to replace him?

[AkumaTX]

^^

the rockets should pick him up. Great shooter and could provide some relief for when Tmac cant take the shot.

[Hunter D]

^^

the rockets should pick him up. Great shooter and could provide some relief for when Tmac cant take the shot.
All he can do is shoot though. He doesn't try to play defense, isn't aggressive, and faulters in the clutch. It also seems that guys have figured is game out. He would be a nice pickup, but at the $10 mill he will be demanding that would be a rippoff.

[jae hoon]

^^

the rockets should pick him up. Great shooter and could provide some relief for when Tmac cant take the shot.


Except T Mac would never pass him the damn ball.

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

NBA Draft tonight. Discussions?

I already saw the Dicky V Duke nutriding, so we'll pass on that.

[Carpet Lint]

I need to figure out a nickname for Andrea Bargnani or LaMarcus Aldridge if we draft either of them - it's looking more and more like we're keeping the pick.

And in every single interview with Colangeo I've seen for the last month, every time someone asks him about Bargnani, he talks about him for like five straight minutes, and I don't think he's ever mentioned Aldridge voluntarily.

It's looking like he's leaning SO MUCH over to Bargnani that it almost seems fake.

And Tyrus Thomas didn't work out with the Raptors, so that pretty much takes him out of the equation for #1.

http://www.realgm.com/src_feature/607/20060628/realgm_mock_draft_version_60_(draft_day_mock)

This mock draft has Giant Griffey all the way up at #5 to the Hawks and Aldridge dropping all the way down to #9 to Golden State.

...that makes no sense to me, but I'll admit I didn't see Deron Williams being drafted before Chris Paul last year, and I us drafting J'onn J'onzz AT ALL.

Nor did I think we'd draft Hoffa at #8 and Nelson dropped all the way to #20...but that draft never even happened, so I don't even know what I'm talking about.

Italian Dirk - hurray! ....?

Is it wrong to want Rudy Gay at #1 for absolutely no other reason other than so that I can get his jersey and the hopeful Thursday newspaper headline of "TORONTO GETS GAY"?

[HaiDuongRiceMan]

No Carpet, that's a perfectly legitimate reason to want Gay, hehe.

I hope New York doesn't draft Saer Sene with the pick before Phoenix, but I have a feeling they will and ruin his potential and development. Sigh....

[Warpticon]

I'm interested to see who goes first between Redick and Brewer. Brewer is a 1-3 guard, unselfish, atheltic, fine passer, good rebounder, potentially great defender at three positions, and would almost certainly be a top 5 guy if his shooting form wasn't so questionable. Redick is below average in size and athleticism for the 2, his skills as a potential 1 are questionable, his ability to defend 2's is debatable, but the one thing he can do without any question whatsoever is stroke it. They're almost flip sides of the same coin. You would have a guaranteed superstar if you could combine them somehow. What's also interesting is these mock drafts have Redick going as high as 10 and as low as 25, I've seen Brewer as high as 8 and as low as 21.

[Hunter D]

I think Rodney Carney wil be the best player in this draft. He is a great athlete. He was also the most productive player in college scoring wise per minutes played in college. Brandon Roy might also be a big time player if he ends up on the right team. I think the two best PGs in this years draft is Williams and Farmar.

[Mario Lemieux!]

I need to figure out a nickname for Andrea Bargnani or LaMarcus Aldridge if we draft either of them - it's looking more and more like we're keeping the pick.

And in every single interview with Colangeo I've seen for the last month, every time someone asks him about Bargnani, he talks about him for like five straight minutes, and I don't think he's ever mentioned Aldridge voluntarily.

It's looking like he's leaning SO MUCH over to Bargnani that it almost seems fake.

And Tyrus Thomas didn't work out with the Raptors, so that pretty much takes him out of the equation for #1.

http://www.realgm.com/src_feature/607/20060628/realgm_mock_draft_version_60_(draft_day_mock)

This mock draft has Giant Griffey all the way up at #5 to the Hawks and Aldridge dropping all the way down to #9 to Golden State.

...that makes no sense to me, but I'll admit I didn't see Deron Williams being drafted before Chris Paul last year, and I us drafting J'onn J'onzz AT ALL.

Nor did I think we'd draft Hoffa at #8 and Nelson dropped all the way to #20...but that draft never even happened, so I don't even know what I'm talking about.

Italian Dirk - hurray! ....?

Is it wrong to want Rudy Gay at #1 fo