Basketball

[Sick Boy]

After a bollocking from their GM, the Lakers play even worse than on Game 1, closing the gap between them and Utah. Next two games are at home. I think the Jazz will win Game 3, and that this series could possibly go to seven games.

And Dikembe Mutombo! Retiring following a knee injury! While this is sad, I think Greg Oden is going to come alive now Mutombo is out. I'd like to see the Blazers beat Houston.

 

[Sick Boy]

As predicted, this thread was as unpopular as I thought it'd be, but for any people who may be viewing it and not posting, Bethlehem Shoals from Free Darko did a really nice write-up on two heavily underrated players from one of my favourite teams: Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith from the Denver Nuggets.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I think if Derrick Rose continues to play like he played in Game 1, the Bulls will take this series. My opinion has totally changed on the Eastern Conference with the current match-ups.

Padraig? Are you on this shit? Report to thread!

sorry man I have just been too busy to watch the playoffs. but but - I did catch that Celtics/Bulls game last night. good lord!! did you see it? that Ben Gordon 3 - off-balance, falling away & to the side - with like 4 seconds left to send it into double OT has got to be one of the all-time last second play off shots, right up there with MJ & Robert Horry & Steve Kerr.

I think the Bulls could still take it but I dunno man...even w/out Garnett it's hard to see them taking another one from the Cs in the Garden.

76ers/Magic has been pretty good, pretty much a tossup at this point.

Cavs/Pistons was, of course, abysmal but what else could have been expected? how the mighty have fallen...

& I sure hope LeBron Cavs/Kobe Lakers isn't the new Celtics/Lakers. cos those guys are of course all time greats but as far as the rest of their teams...I mean you can't exactly compare Varejao to Robert Parrish yunno?

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

And Dikembe Mutombo! Retiring following a knee injury! While this is sad, I think Greg Oden is going to come alive now Mutombo is out. I'd like to see the Blazers beat Houston.

well I mean he is like 50 years old. looks like the Rockets are finally (albeit w/o T-Mac) going to win a damn playoff series. I think Rockets/Lakers should be a good series...

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

As predicted, this thread was as unpopular as I thought it'd be, but for any people who may be viewing it and not posting, Bethlehem Shoals from Free Darko did a really nice write-up on two heavily underrated players from one of my favourite teams: Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith from the Denver Nuggets.

Shoals has been a huge J.R. Smith fan forever & ever. He's one of those quintessential Free Darko players (also; Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, uh let's see who else...Josh Smith maybe...)...

 

[Sick Boy]

sorry man I have just been too busy to watch the playoffs. but but - I did catch that Celtics/Bulls game last night. good lord!! did you see it? that Ben Gordon 3 - off-balance, falling away & to the side - with like 4 seconds left to send it into double OT has got to be one of the all-time last second play off shots, right up there with MJ & Robert Horry & Steve Kerr.

I think the Bulls could still take it but I dunno man...even w/out Garnett it's hard to see them taking another one from the Cs in the Garden.

76ers/Magic has been pretty good, pretty much a tossup at this point.

Cavs/Pistons was, of course, abysmal but what else could have been expected? how the mighty have fallen...

& I sure hope LeBron Cavs/Kobe Lakers isn't the new Celtics/Lakers. cos those guys are of course all time greats but as far as the rest of their teams...I mean you can't exactly compare Varejao to Robert Parrish yunno?

Re: Celtics/Bulls

This series has become really interesting. Game 1 was exciting to see Derrick Rose playing at the top of his game - though that dropped off over the next two games. What is really amazing about the Celtics is how good they are looking despite not having Garnett. Like I mentioned upthread, I was worried about Paul Pierce taking the weight of the team on his shoulders, but Ray Allen and especially Rajon Rondo have pulled through in a huge way. Likewise for Ben Gordon on the Bulls.

Re: Cavs/Lakers

Really? I think that Mo Williams is a great partner to Lebron James on the Cavs, and the Lakers have one of the most solid line-ups you could hope for: Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Andrew Bynum...

Nuggets/New Orleans

I don't know if you're watching this right now, but the Denver Nuggets are embarassing the Hornets in their home town. Beyond Chris Paul, the Hornets have got nothing - which is not good because the Nuggets have been playing at the utmost top of their game. Technicals are racking up, this is by far the most aggressively played series so far in the playoffs.

The Nuggets are such a fantastic team with so much potential and a lot of style.

 

[Sick Boy]

Update: REALLY embarrassing them. 40 points ahead by the end of the third. Now there is 7 minutes left and the score is 105-55.

Commentator: "This is just... ... ... surreal."

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Celtics/Bulls

I'm not surprised by well the Cs are playing actually. I thought that w/out Garnett they'd still make it to Conference Finals. Allen/Pierce is a helluva combo still & I reckon Rajon Rondo to be well underrated - sure, he can't shoot to save his life but he has great handle/vision & w/that ridiculous wingspan it's a tossup in my mind as to who's the best defensive PG in the league, him or Chris Paul. Actually if anything's surprising to me it's how well the Bulls - who really are not very good (tho things are finally looking up for the future) - are playing.

Cavs/Lakers

Yeah but Celtics/Lakers had that mystique - it was larger than just basketball - it defined an entire era. I mean that rivalry is essentially what catapulted the NBA into national consciousness (well that & David Stern's run as commissioner). Plus I'm not saying the Cavs & current Lakers don't have solid teams. But Celtics/Lakers I mean, beyond Bird & Magic we're talking, Parrish, McHale, Kareem, Dennis Johnson (RIP), James Worthy, legends each & every one. Admittedly not many rivalries can compare to that - but still, I mean Kareem vs. Ilgauskas, Gasol vs. McHale & the Chief...I dunno man...if you see what I mean.


Nuggets/New Orleans

No I didn't watch the game but good lord...

 

[Sick Boy]

Rajon Rondo vs. Chris Paul: After tonight's humiliating defeat? Probably Rajon Rondo haha. Nah, I take that back. It's not that Chris Paul is bad, it's that he's the only good one on his team, and as a PG if you don't really have anyone who can make shots, then you don't really have much.

I see what you're saying about Cavs/Lakers now. I misunderstood.

That Nuggets game ended 58 points up. Matched the record for biggest defeat/win in a playoff game. They would've beat it but the Nuggets just dribbled the ball out for the last fifteen seconds so that wouldn't happen. It was amazing: no one was left in the stadium for most of the 4th quarter. Shit was depressing.

It was so bad that by the end the commentators had just descended into disbelief and then further into mockery. So much so that when the Hornets made an offensive try, they'd both start chanting "DE-FENSE DE-FENSE" and laughing.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Rajon Rondo vs. Chris Paul: After tonight's humiliating defeat? Probably Rajon Rondo haha. Nah, I take that back. It's not that Chris Paul is bad, it's that he's the only good one on his team, and as a PG if you don't really have anyone who can make shots, then you don't really have much.

oh it's Chris Paul by a thousand miles. I just meant defensively. Chris Paul is easily the best PG in the league*, last night's defeat not withstanding. tho if Derrick Rose ever develops an outside shot (which I'm not holding my breath waiting for) he could challenge that assertion - he'll never match Paul's supernatural vision & just sense of timing & space but he's so much bigger & stronger & more physically overpowering that it could make up the difference.

Either way it'll be interesting to see what happens to the Hornets from here on out. not the series of course, I mean generally. It seems like a monumental defeat like this is a turning point - it either crushes you or unites everyone & instills a fierce determination, a "never again" kind of thing. my $s probably on the former but hey.

*I mean right now too, not career-wise - Kidd, Nash, etc. being too far on the wrong side of 30.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Sick Boy, you watching Bulls/Celtics right now?

goddam, what a great series. I can't think of a better 1st round series in recent memory except maybe the Baron Davis/S-Jax warriors knocking off Dallas.

Brad freakin' Miller, of all people. that drive to tie the game was just about the most awkward thing I've ever seen.

 

[Leo]

how is it possible that the celtics are still in it?? not that they'll make any further, but it's been a pretty amazing run considering all the injuries. i'd be a proud celts fan even if it ended tomorrow.

 

[Sick Boy]

The Bulls/Celtics was truly an amazing series; I doubt that any game to come in this year's playoffs will match the excitement of the 3OT Game 6. It's highly unlikely they'll take Orlando though. I get the feeling the steam that fed their winning Round 1 without Garnett is running low. I don't like the Celtics at all, but even I can say the strange metamorphosis that took place in the arrangement of their team against the Bulls was incredible. Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo in particular (even though Rajon Rondo is a dirty little fucker).

My boys the Nuggets are looking very healthy though. I know more than a few people who are starting to feel uncomfortable about their Cavs/Lakers final as the possibility of a Cavs/Nuggets final becomes increasingly likely.

At the very least, a Denver/Lakers series will be amazing, regardless of who wins.

 

[petergunn]

 

[Sick Boy]

If this is the game from the other night, I'm sad I missed this. I saw the highlights. Big Baby with 22 points! Also, Nuggets went through last night. I think they can take the Lakers if they focus. (assuming the lakers go through which they will)

"We are a dangerous team." - Chauncey Billups

 

[Sick Boy]

Nuggets vs. Lakers Game 1 - wow.
Melo with virtually identical end of game stats to Kobe.
This will be a good series. Orlando, however, are going to get bitch-slapped.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Nuggets vs. Lakers Game 1 - wow.
Melo with virtually identical end of game stats to Kobe.
This will be a good series. Orlando, however, are going to get bitch-slapped.

yeh - I only caught the 4th quarter, but the Lakers lreally ucked out on that one. or at least, it certainly could've gone either way right up to the very end. I think they'll pull thru but the Nuggets have a shot - unbelievable that the Rockets were able to take a game from the Lakers w/out T-Mac or Yao.

so assuming a Lakers/Cavs series...I'm going Lakers. defense to match the Cavs, serious edge in big men + Kobe has a shot at trumping LBJ. tho if it's Cavs/Nuggets I'm going Cavs w/o thinking twice.

 

[Sick Boy]

If Lakers/Cavs, I predict Cavs. If Nuggets/Cavs, I still predict Cavs but honestly I think Denver has more of a chance of beating the Cavs than the Lakers do.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

but honestly I think Denver has more of a chance of beating the Cavs than the Lakers do.

curious why you think so?

w/the Lakers I guess it's a kind of leap-of-faith thing that if Kobe gets another shot at it he'll rise to the moment & that IMO his surrounding cast has a decisive edge over LeBron's. tho I detest the Lakers & the Cavs so yunno, whatever.

 

[Sick Boy]

The Nuggets have a great line up, right down to the bench; Chauncey has allowed the team to be as voracious as they wish since he is able to balance and control the wild cards so well. Denver have the right amount of heavy and the right amount of crazy right now to take on a team held up by an elemental force like LeBron James. In a nutshell, I think if the Nuggets continue to make the Lakers sweat like they are right now, the Cavs will make them sweat even harder - this kind of pressure is something I think that, in these playoffs, the Nuggets can withstand and the Lakers can't.