General Chat / Official NBA Playoff Predictions/Discussion Thread

Don't you even suggest I'm a bandwagon fan, or I'll have Toon come out and cap you after I tell him you were making a mess in front of his restaurant.

I'm glad Detroit won... Poor Malone couldn't buy his ring! He could never pull through in clutch situations in Utah, and he ended up not doing a thing for L.A.

I'm glad Detroit won...  Poor Malone couldn't buy his ring!  He could never pull through in clutch situations in Utah, and he ended up not doing a thing for L.A. 

First of all, I disagree about Malone...he just happened to run into the Chicago buzz saw too often. The Bulls are one of, if not the best team in NBA history.

Secondly, I'm not capping anyone for you Corky.

Finally, how refreshing to see a hard working, fundamentally sound team win the Championship against a bunch of so-called superstars. Basketball has become such a 'me' sport for most of the players that I think more care about averaging 25 points/game than they do about actually making the sacrifices necessary to win a championship (can you say Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, and so on). Detroit is basically a team without a 'superstar' yet through great fundamental, disciplined defense and well executed offense the absolutely dominated the Lakers. Dumars definitely wins the how to build a team award. Chemistry and role players are undervalued by the media, but the great coaches and GM's know that it brings championships. It was beautiful to watch.

Congrats Pistons for having the integrity and teamwork to go all the way.

Given that, I didn't much like this Finals series. Ironically Game 2 was the only game that had marginal interest to me, and not because I wanted the Lakers to win. Honestly I wasn't really rooting for either team, I just wanted to see a good series. I'll get to that later. In my view there are three kinds of basketball games (which can sometimes alternate within one game). A is the blowout, in which one team totally dominates and it's not even close. These games can be entertaining because the winning team can be able to have some fun with their lead most of the time. C is the close game, with multiple lead changes, in which it's not decided until the middle or late fourth quarter or overtime. These games are always exciting to watch for obvious reasons. Then there are the dreaded B games. These are the games where one team is ahead by around 8-12 points for a very extended amount of time. There are very few runs made by either team, few lead changes, not too many instances in which the lead team pulls ahead and few instances in which the team that is behind actually cuts it close. To me B games are extremely boring to watch. I don't want to see one team constantly up by 8 or 10 points for the entire fourth quarter. Maybe I'm just being ignorant and I didn't watch the games closely enough, but IMO this series had too many B games. I tuned into Game 4 and watched one unfold right before my eyes. In the fourth quarter the Pistons were constantly up by about 8. The Lakers never made any runs, the Pistons never made any runs, it just hovered at 8 or 10 for the entire duration of the part I watched. I was even more disappointed to see that the Pistons just ran the clock down on every possession, instead of making solid efforts to pull ahead. Now I admired the Pistons' integrity in this segment and how they played the full 48 minutes, never letting up. But it's not fun to watch a game that so rarely changes. Going into the fourth quarter I always find myself hoping whichever team is down (Pistons or Lakers) will make some sort of valiant effort to come back. Yet at the end of a B game I always realize that the team that was ahead had the game the whole way. It's as if there was no point in having a fourth quarter at all. IMO Game 2 almost became a B game but it was the only game in which either team actually made a strong effort to change the margin of the score in the closing moments of the game. It was not that the Lakers came back, it was that something changed in the final minutes. IMO this was a B series as well. I had hoped, regardless of who won, that it would go to six or seven games. To see players make great efforts when the pressure was on. I hoped the Lakers would come back, win one in Auburn Hills, not because I am a Lakers fan but because it would make it interesting. My dad was rooting for the Pistons but he also wanted it to go to six or seven. I would have liked to see the Lakers make a stand and steal one from the Pistons in Detroit. Instead their gameplay just deteriorated throughout those three games. After tuning into Game 5, middle of the third, and seeing the score I didn't even watch the rest, because I knew there was no point. The Pistons held the Lakers in their grasp for the entire series, but not spectacularly and not powerfully, just coldly and enough to squeeze the life out of them through the duration of the series. To me that is not fun to watch and not interesting. If the Lakers had done the same I would have been just as bored. Anyway, that's my rant.

First of all, I disagree about Malone...he just happened to run into the Chicago buzz saw too often.  The Bulls are one of, if not the best team in NBA history.

Feel free to disagree as much as you want, it still doesn't change the fact that Malone could never bring a ring home to Utah... Then he sells out to a team guaranteed to win the rings, and does nothing to contribute. He's got an injury that is refusing to improve, and yet he says it's not because of his age, it's just one of those things.... He should have retired here in Utah, rather than making himself look like a fool over in L.A.

^ SOMEONE's bitter...

Someone has a point, Malone looks pretty sad out there in LA.

"Kahl Malone want deh beanie babeh."

^ SOMEONE's bitter...

Frustrated more than bitter... Sports in Utah are the pits! No matter who is on the Jazz's roster, I partially lose respect for them as soon as they put on the jersey. Maybe it's because someday I want to live in a state with more pro sporting events, bigger thrill/amusement parks, real beaches (not the filthy great salt lake), etc...

I honestly don't follow the jazz at all, not since I watched an ill Jordan destroy any and all hopes the Jazz ever had at winning a title. Karl can stay in L.A. for all I care, Payton as well! I'm simply elaited that the Pistons won.

Cork, as much as I hate the Lakers, I feel for you.

Phil = gone.

Shaq wants a trade.

Kobe opts out.


So, what are next years draft prospects?

I wish shit like this happened to the Yankees.

The Lakers could actually come back out of this a better team, believe it or not.

Shaq will more than likely get traded, and the Lakers are going to get some good players in return.
+ - Good players...and more of them. They're going to get more than one good player for him.
- - He's Shaq...he's been their go to guy and no one can guard him. Can you say offensive re-org?

Kobe....is Kobe. There's still a slim chance he'll stay, but I doubt it.
+ - A lot less drama.
- - He's Kobe. You cry if you lose Kobe, plain and simple.

Next year will be Luke Walton's coming out party, and even though I'm a Pistons fan, I really hope that the Lakers keep him. He had flashes of brilliance in game 2 (and I arguably say that he, not Kobe, won that game for the Lakers), and with some of the star power gone, he'll see more playing time and will develope center stage.

Rick Fox will probably retire. I'm sure that Rush and George will probably stay. I know that literally everyone is a free agent, but I mean, think now. They can get a ton of $ with the fact that Shaq and Kobe are going to free up a shitload of cap room.

I Hope to god, for the sake of Lakers fans everywhere, that they do not re-sign Slava Medvedenko. I hate him with a [i]passion[/b]. He's just about as bad as Darko...he just gets more playing time so he manages to score here and there. Give Darko half a game consistantly and I'm sure his stats would better those of Slava.

Gary Payton needs to retire. Now. He sucks horribly...end of story. I really hope that Malone can heal and continue playing...the new Lakers team is going to need that one staying memeber that they're used to who is the "daddy" of the team.

I'm sure they'll pry pick up a draft pick for next years draft when they trade Shaq, so this'll be a two year deal...but it's not going to be this huge re-build that'll take years and years. Hell, they'll still be a force next year...Although you can't help but wonder who they're going to lose to the Expansion Draft...if they do lose some people, that will hurt their cause for next year substantially.

Kobe and T-Mac have a pretty simular story. Tracy wants out of Orlando unless the Magic pull off something REALLY good. Rumors are the Tracy really wants to be a Laker, after all T-Mac is probably the reason why Shaq is in the Lakers. Beleive me or not it was in a book. Not to forget Shaq and T-mac are very good friends, so lets say T-mac went to the Lakers, Shaq would pretty much stay, despite how much T-Mac can handle the ball, Shaq says that T-Mac is more of a "team player." But I wouldn't get my hopes up.

How about this...

Yeah, I have heard the Rockets are the frontrunners for T-Mac's services. They will likely package a deal that includes Francis and Mobley, but Orlando wants a trade before Thursday's draft, so we shall see. I believe if Shaq is traded, then Kobe will likely stay in L.A. He will be able to run his own team and stay there. I really don't see Shaq leaving though. It is tough to trade a player with a contract like that. I'm interested to see where Phil ends up. I saw that he might go to New York after next season.

Wouldn't that make the Rockets into Lakers 2.0?

Fucking Dallas.

Too lazy to register. What's it say?

Meanwhile... WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING?

They'd either get Josh Howard or Okafur, THE two best candidates in the draft, both of them basically #1 picks, and they pass it up??? Morons.

Try this link for info about the Mavs, O'neal, and T-Mac.

Mavs