NBA Thread

So I'll be the first to admit that I am not as ardent a follower of the NBA as I am the NFL, but I still love the game. This year I've been following the regular season more closely than I normally do, in no small part because my team, the Lakers, have been superb.

And if you're wondering, yes, I did initially take to the Lakers because they share the Vikings colors. Needless to say, they've been much kinder to me than football's purple and gold.

The regular season can get to be rather long. With 82 games, it is almost impossible to follow consistently from start to finish. But the playoffs are very intense and I've seen some incredible things . . .

At the moment, I'm very high on the Lakers. They have the best record in basketball and have just come off a six game road trip in which they went 6-0, with the final two wins coming at Boston and at Cleveland, the #2 and #3 teams in the league. This after losing their starting center Andrew Bynum for 8-12 weeks.

This year the Lakers snapped the Celtics 19 game winning streak, the Celtics 12 game winning streak, and handed the Cavaliers their first loss at home (they started 23-0).

Anyway, talk NBA.

The 08/09 season has seen, IMHO, has been quite stale so far. Last year's big players and last year's big teams seem to be dominating this year's big news.

Its not that I'd have a problem with another Lakers/Celtics championship - I understand how huge this rivalry is for the game overall - but at least when Detroit and San Antonio were running things the league managed to spin out some cool side shows to keep things interesting (LeBron's first two seasons, Kobe/Shaq infighting, Nash's MVPs, and the 07 Golden State/Dallas series all come to mind). There doesn't seem to be any spectacle this season, and without that flash the league will have a hard time keeping me interested come March.

That being said... Lakers may have tie breakers on Boston and Cleveland now, but Orlando's still got 'em by the balls. As long as Howard keeps getting better under pressure (and he will) Kobe's doomed yet again.

Big Heat fan here, soon Wade and Chris Bosh will be in South Beach, the Marion for O neal trade helped facilitate that.

Suns fan....... so any mention of the Oneal for the Matrix still stings. Not as much as the 07 playoffs against the Spurs though. Not even close. Not even close.

This season, watching both Nash and Amare play defense has been like watching a first grader try to read James Joyce outloud: the effort's there, the skills and the awareness are not.

So yeah, damn you Robert Horry.

Edit: - ....hmmm, haven't followed too much NBA action recently, so I got the whole Marion-Oneal thing wrong, but . . . hmm.... short term, that just kills the heat, but otherwise....

McGrady out for the year? .... That....sucks....

The Raptors will trade Bosh the moment they can get another former Sun or former Mav for him. Its all part of an dastardly Canadian plot to ensure Nash is intimately familiar with his entire team the day he arrives in Toronto for his final seasons.

It was great to see Kobe and Shaq put some soul into the all-star game; The look on Howard's face when Shaq put that give-n-go ball through his legs made my year. Good to know that one of the game's greatest on-court partnerships can survive half a decade of rivalry and bad-blood...

Originally Posted by Crimson Moon

Edit: - ....hmmm, haven't followed too much NBA action recently, so I got the whole Marion-Oneal thing wrong, but . . . hmm.... short term, that just kills the heat, but otherwise....
..

How does it kill the Heat short term? They have someone competent who can man the middle as long as he stays healthy.

Originally Posted by Lincoln Osiris

How does it kill the Heat short term? They have someone competent who can man the middle as long as he stays healthy.

"As long as he stays healthy," and "Jermain Oneal" are two sets of words that resonate with my inner pessimist.....

Actually, Marion's an old Sun, so naturally I'm biased.

Originally Posted by Crimson Moon

"As long as he stays healthy," and "Jermain Oneal" are two sets of words that resonate with my inner pessimist.....

fair enough

Anyone see that wild game winning buzzer beater by Devin Harris?

He went to my high school (and college) =0

And the Lakers just keep rolling right along. I don't think anyone in the Western Conference can take them in a 7 game series.

Odom has been brilliant since Bynum went down. But I think we need Bynum's physical presence against the Celtics, Cavaliers or Magic (especially against Dwight Howard)

well the Knicks learned an important lesson: Dont piss off D-Wade.

2 different interpretations for this:

Playoffs started today. And damn, Derick Rose is putting on a show against the defending champs. I remember him being awesome for Memphis, but damn, he's playing amazingly right now.

EDIT: OVERTIME BABY!
Rose has 36 points already and hit two clutch free throws. . . in the garden - epic.
Love the playoffs.

What an awful effort(if you can call it that) against Atlanta.

Anybody else find it amusing that the Jazz have a Brewer and a Boozer?

Granted, nothing could have matched the Gay Love combo in Memphis. Too bad they botched it by trading Love away . . .

well it looks like Miami decided to show up so far.

Wade is on fiya and *gasp* we're actually playing defense!

Miami is up 51-44.

Let's go Lakers!

Kick the Jazz's ass and let's end this in five.

[EDIT]

And they did just that.

Kobe was sick (as in, really awesome) tonight.

It's very likely going to be the Lakers and the Cavs. That's the series everyone wants to see. Let's hope neither team has a letdown.

revenge *****es

Nuggets 121, Hornets 63 . . .
Christ, I can't believe Phoenix lost a playoff seed to that.

Lakers look insane right now. I hope Houston finishes up Portland quickfast tomorrow so we can have a real Western Conference Playoff series.

**** what a total lack of effort, I'd give Atlanta props but they played just as bad as the Heat did.

Once again, what the refs call and what they won't call is a huge issue. There's no way Rondo should still be in the game after tossing Heinrich into the stands.