2006 NBA Finals Thread

Seems like it will be a rematch of the Finals this year. Only this time I think the Pistons edge the Spurs out. Barring that health (Pistons can't afford any injuries) and the Spurs bench (or big shot Rob) doesn't wake up.

The biggest thing I'm looking for in the playoffs is to see if Kobe can beat the Suns. I've never really seen a basketball player be soley responsible for beating a team. I think Kobe can do it.

I don't feel right counting out the Bulls in the wide-open East, despite the end result of Game One vs. the Heat. Their perimeter rotation competes with anyone in the postseason, and if Shaq is not of good health, they will hound Dwyane Wade to no end. Plus, Miami seriously lacks a defensive stopper on the wing.

Also, count me in on the bandwagon for Kobe beating the Suns by himself.

Did we ever do an MVP thread? I'll do one now.

Artest out for the next game.

Pacers pulling out the win cements my feelings that they can sneak by the Nets, even though Carter isn't going to make it easy.

I think Haslan getting suspended for a game is going to hurt the Heat.

But that doesn't really matter the Pistons are going to win it.

heat up 2-0. wade made 2 incredible plays late in the 1st half. at one point he dove across the court to steal the ball, it was deflected to j-will, wade rolled around and popped up, run down the side, was fed the ball, got the layup and foul. then with 1.2 sec left in the half he stole the ball and threw it down. nice stuff.

Finals Matchup

Spurs v Pistons is the easy answer, and the pistons have that in 6.

for the more adventurous: Mavs v Pistons. Much more entertaining, i think, as the Mavs have a mysterious voodoo hex over the Pistons. Mavs in 7? Dirk for Final MVP? wouldnt it be great.

And suddenly the Lakers decide to play like a team. A Princeton offense-running team, no less. I guess they were waiting for the playoffs? Frankly, if Kobe had played more like this during the regular season I'd have been more likely to pull for an MVP for him.

Still, the two hard fouls by Walton and K. Brown were punk moves. It was fun to listen to Bill Walton berate his son on air.

Heat look like shit. They are fighting with eachother and are playing flat. With the homecourt the Heat should still beat the Bulls but they are so screwed the next round. And I think the Bulls might pull the upset.

Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!

what was wrong with kwames foul? there wouldnt even be a discussion if he didnt stand over the dude like that.

btw great game tonight. lakers in 6.

you just guaranteed the miami heat a trip to the eastern conference finals. thank you!

Does anyone know exactly what Kenyon Martin did to get suspended for an entire playoff series? I mean, I don't even recall this guy having trouble when he was coached by Byron Scott.

Right. If the Bulls had a decent inside game this series would be just about over in the Bulls favor.

If they make the second round I hope they get Washington. Arenas will torch this slow, old team.

that's why that slow, old team (can i get a houston astros?) has beaten the wiz 17 times in a row. you really know your nba!

What happened last year has nothing to do with this year.

Wizards lost by 3(ot), 15, 6, 13.

Only now the Heat are playing bad and fighting amongst themselves. And Arenas had 3 games of 30+ points on them including a 47 point night. Heat have no answer to stop Gordon or Heinrich. Arenas will torch them.

the heat's domination over the wiz isn't a win 3 out of 4 times type scenario. it's been total, complete domination. the wiz have no chance in beating the heat if they play in the next round. the cavs have a far greater chance in defeating them. the heat have played bad for 2 games. nice job dictating their success on that. they've been up and down all season long but you probably wouldn't know that. i guess you never heard of dwyane wade and shaquille o'neal either. the wiz are like totally known for their stout defense.

Bulls will win nothing with Ben Gordon and Kirk Heinrich going 3 for 16 and 3 for 13.

The Bulls were brutal last night. The first quarter the refs spent half the time making up fouls. Everytime Shaq had the ball he was mysteriously fouled. Still the Bulls kept in in because oth teams played so shitty.

Then with 4 and a half to go and down 4 all hell broke loose and the Bulls got destroyed.

Detroit is still the only team worth a damn in this league.

Bulls have a lot of character. All they need is a good post player and a superstar guard and they'd be dangerous.

It's weird that most of the sports reports about last nights Laker game are downplaying the whole Bell-Bryant horse-collar flagrant foul.

With Bell suspended for game 6, possibly game 7 (whenever it is announced) who is going to guard Kobe?

That's the thing about the playoffs: you play each team at least four times, you begin to learn how to play against your opponent, and with Bell out, they're gonna have to put someone fresh on him. It's gonna change their whole gameplan.

The Suns are on a roll, no doubt. Marion woke up in game 4, they played much more like themselves in game 5, but the flagrant foul is gonna hurt them in game 6. If the Lakers can cut down their TO's, they have a great chance to wrap this up.

and ill be in the building. bring on the clips.

this has easily been one of the best first rounds ever in my 15 years or so of watching basketball(i'm 24) , still a big nets fan, hoping they go far in these playoffs, THEY NEED TO WIN TONIGHT , this should not go seven

Cavs win

Not that there's anything wrong with that


And the Bulls live up to expectations after dragging me in again. Still a big man and 2 guard away. Gordon or Kirk needs to be traded.

Well said Anya. I like what Skiles has done with the talent there if they can simply bolster the team through trades or draft they'll be in the thick of it for years to come. Personally I say move Heinrich and Chandler or Sweetney for someone. If they need to give it all up for KG they should bring him back home.

first Exorcist and now the Lakers.

Kobe has no teammates. He must be impossible to play with nowadays. I'd say come to Chicago because we need a 2 guard but I just can't stand the guy and I doubt he could handle Skiles.

Garnett would be sweet but he makes way too much and Minny will never trade him.

Are there and decent big men in the draft? Or guys w/ 1 year left on their contract. Ben Gordon and a first round pick for a big man would seem fair.

Too bad Ben Wallace will stay in Detroit. He fired his agent and is going with an hourly lawyer meaning h has no intention of leaving Detroit.

Yeah KG is too big but what if right? I'm positive out of any player that would blow up in that city and kick his own ass to get them on top that would be KG. The guy wants to win so bad its scary.

As for Kobe and the Lakers i'll say this. They looked dangerous and played as a team that final month and took the Suns to 7 thats the great news. Also Lamar Odom seemed to turn the corner. Thats bigger than just about anything. The guy has to be the Pippen/Rodman for Kobe's Jordan there is simply no question.

Kwame Brown and Luke Walton seemed to make tremendous strides as well. Kwame managed to fuck up off the court for the second straight year though (suspended last year by the Wizards for behavioral issues and then this sexual harrassment this year). He deserves some sort of prize for that.

Saying that the same question really remains for me. What free agent really wants to come and play with Kobe? Will he continue to be praised one instant and loathed the next? Will any FA really want to come to Kobe's town and think he could get shots between Kobe and Lamar? Its been the major question for 2 straight seasons.

Looking back at the Kwame for Caron Butler deal I hated it but seems like the Lakers knew they needed that big man. Still not sure about Kwame but the upside on the floor with him seems bigger now. Its something to watch. What will Kupchak do this summer?

The Lakers need a solid presence in the paint, and while Kwame has made strides, I wonder if they'll be patient enough to wait for him to keep improving. It'll be interesting to see if he starts next season (I would assume he would, unless they make some off-season trade for a more proven big man). Garnett would be great in theory, but I also have doubts about any superstar wanting to play on a team with Bryant.

I'm still amazed how the Lakers fell apart in game 7. I figured the Suns would win the series, but I thought it'd be a better game. And the big mystery to me: Bryant only attempted 3 shots the entire 2nd half? Is this some kind of signal? I'm all about sharing the ball, but...?

Anyway, I'm happy I get to see Nash play for at least a little while longer.

Like Shaq?

KG is also 30 and I fear he may start to slide soon. He does need to leave Minny cuz after 12 years he's never going to win there.

barkley vs. bryant

Former NBA All-Star Charles Barkley accused Bryant of trying to make his team-mates look bad.

"He was being selfish," Barkley said of Bryant. "He wanted to prove (to his team-mates) 'you guys can't do anything without me'. He doesn't want to take any blame."

But Bryant insisted: "If we were going to get back in this type of game we had to have everybody contributing.

"In the first half I started to pick it up offensively just to keep us in the hunt.

"If we were going to get back into the game in the second half everybody has to get into a rhythm and that didn't happen."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...ll/4981584.stm

anyone else got a different theory?

the UK cares about basketball?

Didn't Kobe do this before in not scoring for a half? Kobe took 3 shots in the 2nd half(2-3's) so I'd say he was trying to make a point that his team sucks. They do even w/out him pointing it out.

It's been a shitty weekend.

Two things. Number 1 yeah that game 7 the more I look at it was a huge blow to cap off a good year for the Lakers. It leaves that terrible aftertaste. It won't help a guy who wants to win and get paid want to come to tinseltown and play with mr 3 shots in the second half. Its quite clear to me that Phil Jackson doesn't have Michael Jordan number 2. Michael Jordan never faded away like that in a second half in his prime.

Number two. Mr LeBron James owned in this first game (primarily when it counted the 3rd quarter and then sat for the duration of the 4th) of the semifinals. Its clear to me LeBron needs more than he has in Cleveland but thats just a poor poor showing and helps to highlight what many missed this season. A number 4 seed in the east shouldn't get spanked like that. It only proves its the Pistons and the hobbly Heat in the east and noone else.

i can't believe kobe finished 4th in the mvp voting. who the fuck is voting for these awards?

No question Kobe should have been 1 or 2 and nothing else. However in the MVP thread someone pointed out those games against Dallas and Toronto as the main reasons Kobe deserved MVP. Thats exactly the problem.

That isn't a most valuable player to a team many in the NBA saw Nash off the Suns and Kobe off the Lakers and thought Nash was more important overall. Considering just how great (and dominant) Amare was the year before. Many just couldn't believe how strong Phoenix played this season (I among them) and to be number 2 in the west was a staggering accomplishment. While I do think Kobe got robbed I have no problem with a player who is as good and as fundamentally important to his team as Steve Nash pick up that MVP trophy. The guy is that good and above all that important.

Make no mistake about this though the Lakers many thought would make the playoffs last season and they did this season but even with Kobe the great they only managed to be ranked 7th. The LA Clippers won more games and have moved on to the next round. It speaks volumes and it also speaks volumes no Laker team has ever been beaten so bad in a game seven. Kobe's hardwork, intensity and above all his heart dissapeared and to see Nash with that trophy seems all the more ironic now. MVP's in purple in gold don't go quietly into the night. Or so I thought....

I'll never jive right with Steve Nash winning the MVP, ever. He runs the type of offense the media wants to promote, he's not covered up in "tats", and has never been in any kind of serious trouble. Rather than focus on what these guys do on the court (defense comes to mind), the media would much rather put a guy like this up on a pedestal.

Ten years from now, when people look back on passed NBA MVPs, they'll wonder who the hell this Steve Nash guy was, and why his name showed up amongst a plethora of Hall of Famers.

If defense mattered that much Shaq wouldn't have won his MVP's. The NBA has been upside down for quite a while in that regard.

Knock out the plural for Shaq. He's only won once.

Thank god for small favors.

The Lakers disagree with you.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

Ridiculous. Sure they could use a guard but isn't Aaron McKie coming back? Also whats this clamoring to keep Devean " I sometimes show up " George? What a weird little organization the Lakeshow has become.

I can't believe how fucking burnt out I feel. I can't concentrate on any other series now because the Lakers fucked up. Shit!

Now, I was thinking, "Yeah the Clippers are going to fuck Nash's shit up". And then, they get their asses whipped. Now I hate the Clippers even more for not taking advantage of a team coming off a grueling series, and getting run off the court. Basketball should not get me this agitated, but it does.

Lebron is gone in 5, if not 4. His role players are absolute garbage.

Miami and New Jersey. That won't capture my attention at all because both of these are going to get spanked by Detroit. I'm ready for next season.

uh, what? are you out of your mind? dont let shaqs last couple years in la fool you, he anchored a very good defense in his prime.

aaron mckie? please, tell me you are joking.

yeah, shaq in his prime was an above average defensive center while nash is arguably one of the worse defenders in the game. there's quite a difference between the two.

Above average wow well good thing he got his one MVP then. With that sterling logic Hakeem Olajuwon would have won 5 instead of 2. Many say Shaq dominated but he did so with no competition at the position in a league with no true big men. His only real equals if you could call them that were Dikembe Mutombo (who was already old), Alonzo (who isn't really a center he's an oversized power forward) and the Admiral (who wasn't near the player he was at the end of the 90's because of a bad back).

you can't fault shaq because everyone else was shitty.

Nash makes everyone he plays with better, period. He was really the overwhelming, logical choice for MVP this year (and I think the voting pretty much got it right on the money as far as the ranks the rest of the guys got). edit--Strike that...Billups should've tallied more votes than Kobe. Hell, Detriot's five starters should've tallied more votes than Kobe.

And while his defense is his worst area, Nash is not "one of the worst defenders in the game", for God's sake. I mean, you could pick from almost anyone in the Wizards, for starters. He probably ranks somewhere in the middle of the NBA entire.

I'm frankly glad as hell that a point guard's getting this kind of recognition right now. It's a good sign.

if that's the case then we should list point guards 1-30 in mvp voting as their role is specifically to make everyone else on their team better.

and nash is easily one of the worst defenders in the nba. it's not even debatable that he's an average defender. he's fucking terrible. every single player he's up against on the defensive end, even earl boykins, is a mismatch against him. do you get the chance to see anything besides washington wizards games?

no, its not a good sign. this is like mark price beating out michael jordan for mvp, its a complete joke.

shaq should have more than one mvp, i hate to break it to you buddy. look at the numbers, near 30 ppg, 10 rpg, 2.5 bpg basically his whole career. oh and every team hes on becomes a title contender. oh and he changes everyones gameplan on both ends of the floor. oh and hes probably the most dominant player in nba history? yeah, id say thats an mvp.