Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Hey noticed we were a year or two behind posting in the old topic.  Looking forward to this year, despite a lot of the same old bullshit in the NBA.  Got this interesting article about how the new CBA really isn't going to stop the big teams from acquiring big time free agents no matter how much it costs them.


Monson: Jazz suffer while Lakers epitomize unfair NBA
NBA ? Under the new CBA, rich get richer at expense of league.
By Gordon Monson | | Tribune Columnist


Bit by little bit, the Jazz have pieced together a nice offseason, upgrading their team by various means, bringing in Mo Williams, Marvin Williams, Randy Foye and Dennis Lindsey. Each of those moves seemed a smart one, a step in a positive direction on a steady ascent toward improvement.

But combined, they were nothing compared with what the Lakers pulled off the other day, configuring that sweeping four-team, 12-player deal that brings them Dwight Howard and bounces them far beyond the modest gains of the Jazz.

They now have a starting lineup ? called "the best in the NBA" by Jeff Van Gundy, including Howard, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

Life in the NBA isn?t fair.

And that wouldn?t be all that troubling, except that the league is built on competition. And if you build a league on competition, then it should be fair competition, where the league?s integrity is at least preserved and at most championed.

As is, it is neither preserved, nor championed.

It is simply up for sale.

A difficult truth: The new collective bargaining agreement, forged out of last year?s labor negotiations, didn?t do enough to balance the equation for unprivileged teams that don?t have the resources to commit to winning that privileged teams do. Yes, the Lakers will be taxed for the big salaries now on their roster. But given their market and the extra money they bring in from that market, they can pay those penalties on their way straight back to contention.


rest of the article here--   
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/54690688-77/lakers-league-money-nba.html.csp

KG's reaction was priceless. :D

Great game last night, worth staying up late at night to watch. Miami looked focused, the ring ceremony didn't have a effect on them.

Also the Lakers lost last night, Howard missed like 60 free throws and fouled out.  :rofl:

I for one love it. Huge Ray Allen fan, so nothing against him, but I'm sick of all the buddy buddy bullshit between players on opposing teams in today's sports.
They are being paid to beat each other. Not many players like KG left in today's game, unfortunately. C's looked like shit, but they will be a force once all the new guys become acclimated, barring injuries of course.

So, are the Knicks legit this year?

Too soon to tell i think but they have had 3 impressive wins to start the season.

They have some real talent, but their chances still hinge on Melo and Amare's willingness to play both sides of the ball.
They've yet to do it thus far in their careers other than in spurts. If they put in the effort on D, they could be scary.
Like my C's, a few key players have some serious miles on them, so health could also be an issue.

This is the NBA, not the NFL.  There are 2 legit teams in this sport.  Lakers and Heat will be in the Finals.  Mark it down.   

The 1-4 Lakers?  Are they so much better than the team that scraped by Denver in the playoffs and got knocked off 4-1 to OKC in the second round?... or the team that got swept in the second round by Dallas the year before?  They have technically lost 18 of their last 21 games stretching back to last year's playoffs and they are a lock to make the Finals?  With Mike Brown as coach?  2 aging stars and one young star with a bad back?  It remains to be seen if they are even the best team in their city.

Also, Miami faced two elimination games against Boston in the ECF last year and could have very well gone home before the Finals.  They were also down in the series against Indiana...

I'll admit that there are only a handful of true contenders, but it's far from a two-team league.

I wouldn't exactly be shocked to see Miami vs LAL, but C's and OKC will certainly have something to say about it.
It's funny how things change so quickly. When the C's were up 3-2 in the ECF, the media was saying Miami needed to blow it up, trade Bosh etc.
Now the media is handing them the trophy for years to come, and all of a sudden Lebron is knocking on MJ's 6th championships.

C's have a ways to go, but they will improve defensively as the year goes on.
If Bradley is on the floor vs Miami last year, it's not a series. C's win in 5. They've added Terry, Lee, Green, and Sullinger since, whom all have great chances of making the team stronger than last year once they gel as a unit.

OKC is still the team to beat in the West.
Lakers know as well as anybody that throwing a bunch of All-Stars together doesn't guarantee anything(see 2004).

That 2004 gets a bad rap IMO, people act like they had a losing season.  That team got thrown together and went to the NBA Finals!  Knocking out the Spurs in their prime.  I also maintain if Malone didn't get hurt they would have won that title. 

WHen OKC let Harden go I think they let their title shot go with him.

Yes, but Boston is not Boston anymore, they were old last year and this year they lost Allen to the Heat.  Miami figured it out in that Bosto series and have been unstoppable ever since.

The Lakers record is irrelevant, they could get in as the 8th seed, if they are healthy they will march to the Finals.  I agree with the Mike Brown comment, they werent going to get there with Brown, but I didnt expect him to be coaching them in April, and as of today he will not be.

OK not exactly sure D"Antoni was the way to go here for the Lakers.  Never understood this guy getting jobs when his coaching methods dont emphasize defense, in a league where defense in a key part in winning championships.  What do you guys think?

Overall I think the Lakers are talented enough to win despite their coach, I think they eventually would have gotten together under Mike Brown who is a far from stellar coach.

I'm pretty suprised they picked D'antoni as well... I mean, don't you wait to hear back from Phil Jackson before you hire someone else?

Anyways, I'm not complaining - I don't like the Lakers, but this should make them even more fun to watch.  We know that Nash can thrive under Mike (& a system that places no emphasis on D)!

I was surprised as well.
Always found it funny that Mike was sought after, since his all offense oriented style of coaching has proven to be built to fail come playoff time.
I thought it was hilarious when they paired him up with Carmelo and Stoudemire.

Maybe they feel that this cast of players is too good to fail?
They could be right.

I think the biggest hurdle is getting these egos to gel, and thought Phil would be the guy for the job. I guess D'Antoni is a players coach too, since they know they will be getting off easy on D..

He's got the preexisting relationship with Nash, but he's the least of his problems.
I'm no fan of Howard, but I guess when you have a dominant player like that, you can just throw him in there and that's your defensive game plan.

As a Celtics fan, I'm glad they chose Mike over Phil.
Should be interesting to see how it pans out.

I agree, just pointing out it's not a lock. Remains to be seen, but I still like OKC. Boston, LA and OKC have a ways to go before they can be expected to compete w/Miami, but they've got plenty of time to figure it out. I don't think Miami is unstoppable like the "experts" all seem to think. Can't count San Antonio out either until Duncan, Parker and Ginobli retire.

Free Bickerstaff!

D'Antoni won't last the season.  They are going to have three coaches on their payroll come playoff time.

And Bodhi, even with a healthy Malone, the Lakers were not stopping that Detroit team.  They were too fast!

Knicks are now 5-0 for the first time since 93-94 when they reached the finals. They have some tough games coming up their next few though.

6-0 Knicks!

lol

What's so funny? They're still 6-1 tops in the conference. They just ran into a good team on the second game in two days and had one bad quarter that really cost them the game.

Andrew Bynum might have knee surgery in December that would keep him out for the rest of the season.

The biggest clown in today's game. Even bigger than Dwight Howard.

How dumb do you have to be to go bungee jumping while you're under contract with the LA Lakers?

lol

How about those Knicks? Blowing out the Heat for the second time this season 112-92 and they did it without Anthony out for the game with a lacerated finger. It should be interesting to see what happens when Stoudemire and Shumpert return from knee injuries.

LOL @ LAL

everyone can laugh all they want at the Lakers, they are still my pick for the Finals and to possibly win the whole thing.  Wait and see.  The only thing more meaningless than December NBA games are November NBA games.

I am also not a Laker fan at all by the way, but provided they are ALL healthy going into the playoffs, nobody will stop them.

Definitely too early to panic for any team. The C's have shown over the past few seasons that it is possible to flip a switch come playoff time.
Home court in the NBA is important, though, and I think it's probably easier for a defensive minded team.

We won't know what LA is working with until they have a healthy Nash running the show.
The rest of the league has a head start on them, and I still don't fully understand the fascination with D'Antoni, but I have no doubt LA will be far better than they have shown thus far.
Good enough to win the ship? I have a hard time seeing them getting by OKC even at full strength. LA has some serious talent, but they are gonna have to lock in on D if they want to keep up with the more athletic competition. They can already score. Nash's return isn't going to help their defense, and D'Antoni's never heard of the word.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Bradley's return does for this Celtic's team.
Jeff Green has been maddeningly inconsistent so far, much like the C's, but he has shown flashes. They are still relying too heavily on the criminally underrated Paul Pierce.
I'd like to see Green pick up some slack to save PP's legs. He's got the skills to make it happen.
Season starts for me once Bradley is healthy.

What the Knicks have done so far is impressive.

LOL

What makes it more impressive is they are doing it without Stoudemire and Shumpert. It should be interesting to see what happens when they both return.

Specific games / matchups don't matter in December or November... but the games DO matter when you're piliing up the L's... The Lakers can't make the Finals if they don't make the playoffs.  More likely now they're going to scrape in and get bounced in the first round by OKC, SA or Memphis. 

I'm suprised New York has kept it up, I keep waiting for the drop off but it hasn't come yet.  If anything they need to survive the return of Amare and the potential impact on their chemistry!

Yea, I don't think Amare returning is a real boost, unless he buys in. Big "if".

Watched the LA game yesterday, and they look worse than I thought. Not much in the way of defense going on over there.
Granted they are missing Gasol and Nash, so I'll reserve judgement until they are all healthy, but they've got a long way to go before they are in the conversation of contention.

My Celtics do as well, but Bradley will undoubtedly help solidify the defense, and could also give the offense a boost.
Shifting Terry back where he belongs should give them the production I thought we'd be getting from the bench.
Hopefully everything falls into place. If so, they are constructed give the younger athletic teams a run for their money.

Not sure I can say the same about LA.
They look old and slow, and the players they are waiting on aren't gonna make em any younger.

Another brutal game by the Nets, puts them at .500 which is right about where I think they should be 28 games into the season.  I didn't buy into that hot start they had as much as a lot of people on here, hope they turn it around, Deron Williams has got to get it going, I know he is injured but still.

Also, Lakers showing glimpses of figuring it out, they will be deadly if they do.

Avery Johnson is out, saw this coming in the last week or so.  Good move by the Nets.  I am sick of hearing how a guy who went 60-116 here is a "great" coach.  Lets not forget to mention the title shots he pissed away with Dallas.

When the conversation regresses from ?Can they win the title? to ?Can they make the playoffs,? you get a pretty good idea of how crummy the state of the Lakers is right now.

They?re interesting to watch for all the wrong reasons, fighting for relevancy when they were supposed to continue a legacy, and now they run the risk of being a total box-office stink bomb. They were so bad the other day against Oklahoma City that Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler left early -- Hollywood walking out well before the credits rolled, the ultimate thumb-your-nose by an entertainment town.

Is there such thing as a reality disaster show? If so, it?s playing at the Staples Center whenever the Clippers aren?t there, and who could?ve imagined this back in August? The Lakers are 16-21, a record that received a bump when they bravely delivered a must-win against the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers! In early January!

And now we?re left to try to make sense of it all, to apply some perspective to a situation that defies logic, to figure out why Jack didn?t cut them no slack, and to explain how the Lakers can still salvage the season and make the playoffs.

Whoa. Did that last nugget soar over your head like a football over a Broncos? defensive back? Lakers? Playoffs? This season? Surely right now you?re asking: Did this guy find some untouched peyote that Phil Jackson left behind from a few years ago?

Let us be very clear about this. The odds of the Lakers saving face and doing an about-face are very, very, Jenny Craig-slim. The circumstances and the facts are quite cold and harsh and don?t portray a promising picture for the Lakers, who dug themselves a deeper hole than Lance Armstrong. Here?s what they?re looking at:

Going into Tuesday?s game with the Bucks, the Lakers are five games under .500 and sitting 11th in the West, three spots away from the final playoff position. Assuming 47 wins will give them a reasonable chance at the playoffs, they must go 32-14 here on out, winning more than twice as many as they lose.

The Lakers are 0-7 against the Clippers, Thunder, Spurs and Grizzlies, the top four in the West, and must play those teams seven more times.

Their final four games are against the Blazers, Warriors, Spurs and Rockets, and the Lakers could conceivably be fighting two or three of those teams for a final spot.

Pau Gasol has missed 12 of the team?s 37 games with concussion and knee issues and his averages are across-the-board career-lows, along with his psyche and perhaps his trade value.

Coach Mike D?Antoni hasn?t solved the Lakers? defensive riddle -- you?re shocked about this, I can tell -- and the Lakers are giving up more points than all but four teams.

The Lakers are 5-12 on the road, and 10 of their next 15 games are away from Staples, creating the potential for doom to settle in right around the All-Star break.

Sounds depressing for the Lakers, sure. But not impossible to overcome. Stranger things have happened. Well, OK, maybe not. Still, in a best-case scenario, not only can the Lakers make the playoffs, they can climb as high as the seventh seed and even get beyond the first round.

For that to happen, everything must fall in place for this team, and immediately, and the Lakers must realize they?ve already used up their margin for error. D?Antoni said as much recently when he announced that the season started Sunday, meaning the win over Cleveland, a statement both silly and sound.

?We realize it?s important to make up ground now,? said Steve Nash, as the Lakers wisely adopt the ?look ahead, not behind? approach to the final 45 games. The sense of urgency has finally smacked them in the face and the Lakers realize that for them, the playoffs start three months early. It?s all hands and hamstrings on deck regarding a season that?ll collapse under the weight of another losing streak.

If the turnaround happens, here?s how:

Dwight Howard is finally, maybe, probably over his injuries. Nobody believes Howard is 100 percent, but he did look lively against the Cavs and says he never felt better as a Laker. Howard realizes, injury or not, his status in the league is slipping. He might be the game?s best center by default, since the position has never been weaker, but a franchise player? Howard needs to re-confirm this, and that only happens if he?s giving double-doubles and playing like he wants the Defensive Player of the Year trophy back.

Kobe Bryant is having a terrific season. This has been buried under the avalanche of negativity, but the Mamba is scoring 30 a game and shooting 47 percent. Yes, he?ll need to share the load now that Howard is back, and he can?t treat his teammates like Smush Parker, but if that?s what it?ll take, figure Kobe will do it. His championship clock is ticking. He?s not behaving like he?s 27 anymore, just playing like it.

Nash vows to control the ball and deliver it better, now that he has a sharper idea of how to feed Howard and where to find his teammates. Remember, Nash has only played 13 games, not enough time to expertly learn everyone?s tendencies. His role and his level of play can only rise in the second half of the season (though the same is not true of his defense, alas).

Gasol should only miss another game or two as he recovers from the concussion he suffered last week. He can?t get any worse on the court, can he? Nash said his priority is getting Gasol more involved offensively, a clear message to D?Antoni that the coach must do the same.

The Lakers will likely fight the Blazers, Rockets, Jazz and Timberwolves for the final two spots. All of those teams have warts, just not displayed as spectacularly as the Lakers?. The Rockets lead the Lakers by four games but have lost three straight; they play Tuesday against the Clippers and then start a four-game road trip, and their defense is even worse than the Lakers?. The Blazers are a bundle of unpredictability and lean heavily on their starters and their rookie point guard; how much longer can that hold up? Utah is a fickle team, not good enough to be totally taken seriously, not bad enough to fade from view. And Minnesota will be without Kevin Love for the next month at least and, therefore, dead meat.

Strictly from a talent standpoint, the Lakers have an edge on the teams they?re chasing, none of whom are threatening to distance themselves from mediocrity the way, say, the Warriors have.

If the Lakers do make the playoffs, then they?ll only get there by playing better than most of the NBA -- and hot teams are usually rewarded in April and May.

?I?m an optimist,? said D?Antoni. ?I think we can play well enough to win. I do. I think it can happen.?

So, there you go. The Lakers are on the verge of being fully healthy, Kobe is feeling frisky, Howard is getting serious and the teams fighting for the lower seeds are eminently beatable. Jim Buss, who built this masterpiece, says the Lakers are ready to make a move. D?Antoni likes what he hears and sees. There?s really only one way to go.

Therefore: Don?t you get the hunch that something special is about to happen? That the turnaround is around the corner? That the Lakers are ready to move beyond a dreadful start and find a way to keep Jack nailed to his seat this time? Don?t you? Don?t you?

Yeah. Me neither.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/40965040/?tcid=MLB_Homepage_40965040 (http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/40965040/?tcid=MLB_Homepage_40965040)

Pending league approval the Sacramento Kings are moving to Seattle next season and will become the Seattle SuperSonics.

Rondo will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

Big loss there for the Celts.

I'm hearing a lot of people, mostly in the Boston media, trying to downplay the Rondo injury.  Saying they'll be a better team defensively without Rondo and maybe even more diverse offensively, since everything ran through Rondo.  Problem is, everything ran through Rondo, so things will be completely different now.  Of course, Rondo has never been a very good shooter, so they won't miss him in that respect.

But I can't see how this injury doesn't greatly impact their chances at making any sort of run this year.  On the other hand, it was doubtful they were going very far even with Rondo.  It'll be interesting to see what they do in the interim to try and fill the void left by Rondo, as they really don't have any legit backup PG's on the roster.  Terry, Barbosa, and Bradley would be the top options, but they're all basically SG's.  I heard Delonte West's name floated around as well, but he too, is more of a 2.

Good read..

http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/id/8924289/kobe-bryant-feels-pain-rajon-rondo-boston-celtics

Rose might miss the entire season.

he will if he is smart.  He should really not come back until he is more than fully ready, no need to rush back and jeopardize his career, nobody in the east is beating Miami.

I really don't think he'll ever be the same player.  His style of play does not go hand in hand with durability.  Also don't think he should have won the MVP award over Lebron two seasons ago... if not for the "Decision" and the hatred against Miami that year, the award would have belonged to James.  I think Lebron's performance in the ECF was proof of that, including his lockdown D on Rose at the end of games.

Anyways, he should sit the season if he's not 100%.  Remember when Brandon Roy tried to rush back during the playoffs?  Better in the long run to make sure you're fully healed.

Not even New York? ;)

The Knicks have owned the Heat this season.

The playoffs are a different animal though.  Trust me, I'd love to see Miami lose to anyone, but I don't really see it happening.

you guys are kidding yourselves if you think the Knicks will beat Miami in a 7 game series.  I don't put any stock in the Knicks winning a few games in November.  Chicago has also owned the Knicks this year, does that mean they can beat the Knicks in the playoffs without Rose?  Doubtful.  The Knicks are old, and still don't play great defense, Miami will bounce them in 5 or 6, and thats assuming they even get to Miami.  The Heat and Thunder are considerably better than the rest of the league.  I would like to put the Spurs in that conversation, but as we have seen before they are too old when it comes to playing a best of 7 series.

Knicks can't even beat the Raptors!  :hihi:

It is starting to look like the Lakers might not figure it out in time this season.  Very strange what is happening with them out there, I really thought it was going to click for them at some point, just too much talent on paper to have a record this bad.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Out all season with bad knees, Andrew Bynum's latest setback may be the one that finally ends his year.

Bynum admitted for the first time that he may not play for the Philadelphia 76ers because of swelling in his right knee. Bynum had been steadfast since training camp that he would eventually make his Sixers' debut, even setting an All-Star break target date. Bynum backed off Friday because he still had swelling in his right knee from five-on-five drills last week. Bynum, an All-Star last season with the Lakers, refused to commit to a comeback.

"It's getting really late," he said. "I don't know."

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/03/01/bynum-update.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpts (http://www.nba.com/2013/news/03/01/bynum-update.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpts)

Big game tomorrow at noon. The top two teams in the east go at it. The Heat and the Knicks. The Knicks have struggled the last two months or so but have played better the last few games. The heat come in winners of 12 straight. Can the Knicks cool them off and dominate them for a third game this season?

I certainly hope so 8)

So do i.

Anyone reading between the lines two weeks ago should not have been surprised by tonight?s news that Andrew Bynum?s season is over before it ever started and that he?ll need surgery on both of his ailing knees.

Bynum?s fate was sealed months ago, during training camp, when we all learned that the knee issues that have plagued him throughout his career were flaring up again after that blockbuster summer trade that sent the Los Angeles Lakers? big man problem to Philadelphia for the Sixers to deal with.

The jaw-dropping part of this whole mess is anyone being shocked that it?s come to this: Bynum?s tenure with the Sixers consisting of not one single second of actual game action in Philly.

?After many months of rehabilitation and consulting with numerous doctors, Andrew and the doctors treating him determined that this is the best course of action at this point,? Sixers General Manager Tony DiLeo said in a statement. ?We will continue to monitor and evaluate his status moving forward.?

Moving forward?

Bynum is an unrestricted free agent this summer. That?s a Bynum-filled headache the Sixers don?t need after paying him $16.9 million this season to model his wardrobe and throwback hair styles on the bench while his teammates suffered through a brutal season that was supposed to be filled with so much more.

DiLeo and the Sixers would be wise to let someone else take the next multi-million dollar risk on Bynum?s shaky knees. They?ve already poured more than enough money down that drain.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/03/18/bynum-deal-burns-sixers/?ls=nbahpsplit3 (http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/03/18/bynum-deal-burns-sixers/?ls=nbahpsplit3)

Don't look now but the Knicks are on fire.

The only problem with the Knicks, is they're young and lack experience, at least in terms of the playoffs.  They got their feet wet last year, but it can take a team awhile to really get accustomed to playing playoff basketball.

They do have guys like Chandler and Kidd though that have a lot of experience. That should be beneficial to some of the younger guys.

Knicks win their 11th in the row and Melo ties a team record with his third consecutive 40 point game.

11 straight wins and they are still 10(!) games back of Miami....  :o

Yeah, a 27 game win streak will do that lol. They were just a half game back if i remember right before the Heat went on that run.

Knicks win their 12th straight beating OKC in Oklahoma. Melo didn't get the knicks record for consecutive 40 point games but at least we got the win.

13 straight wins now for the Knicks and their first division title since 1994. A bit of a scary moment though with Martin going down it looked worse then ti was at first. Luckily its just an ankle sprain.

Enough of this regular season BS!  Let's get this thing started already!

I agree, i'm eager for the playoffs to start. Less than 2 weeks!

Kobe is possibly out 9-12 months with an Achilles injury.

There goes LA's season then.

There goes LA.

Now would be a good time to tear this thing down and try to get it up and running again in the next year for when Kobe gets back.  With Howard possibly going to the Nets, I would try to unload Gasol, Nash and Artest any way possible.  Most teams would have to take a few years to rebuild, but they are the Lakers, with their resources they will be winning 50 plus games again probably next season.

That said, who knows how Kobe recovers from this injury, this could be it for him.  He is not getting any younger.  I would hate to see him go out like this but there is no guarantee that he is going to  able to come back and play at a high level.

lol utah.

The Jazz are better off, they were going to win what, maybe 1 playoff game and thats if the Thunder took off a game.  Now they at least get a lottery pick.  This is the Heats title to lose.

I'm definitely hoping for a Knicks/Heat showdown in the conference finals.

You're right!

Just for that, I really hope they get lucky with the ping pong balls and get a high pick!

The Knicks are lookin' pretty good :smoking:

They are but they need to be more consistent in the first half. They aren't gonna beat a team like Miami by playing their best in just the second half. They need that suffocating defense for the entire game. Playing like that will probably get them to the conference finals but it won't get them to the championship finals.

Russel Westbrook is done for the season. Does this keep the Thunder from reaching the finals?

It keeps them from winning the Finals... I don't think it stops them from making it there.

Best game of the first round tonight!  Golden State Vs. Denver, the energy in that building is awesome!  They were trading crazy baskets the whole 4th quarter... Steph Curry is the man!  Can't wait to see the next game.

maybe its them or the Spurs playing for second place.  The Heat have already printed up the hats and t-shirts which makes it hard for me to get into the playoffs this year.  That and the Nets are especially frustrating to watch against this hobbled Bulls team.

I still think the Knicks actually have a shot against Miami. If they can play 4 complete games like the game they played last night against the Celts. If they can play D like that for 48 minutes in 4 games i think they have a chance. They were 3-1 against the Heat during the season. That wasn't an accident.

The playoffs are an entirely different animal though.  I'd be surprised if the Knicks, or any team took the Heat to 6 games.  The Knicks do have their own superstar who gets the typical NBA superstar treatment from the refs, but the Heat have 3 or 4 of those.  That's tough to matchup against.  The Knicks would have to play a PERFECT series to contend.  No offense, but the Celtics just aren't what they used to be.  Especially without Rondo.  They survived without him in the regular season.  But you need all your weapons, and especially your prime time players for the playoffs.  The Celtics, without Rondo, have no true PG on their roster.  So that gives the Knicks defense a bit of an edge.  Not to take anything away from them, they've played great.  But the Heat are the Heat.  We'll find out soon enough.  I hope I'm wrong.  I'd love to see anybody but them win the championship.  But I wouldn't bet on it.

Your point proved pretty true today. The Knicks were hurting bad without Smith who had the 1 game suspension. We have him today and that series is likely done with. We made it tough on ourselves going cold in the first half but his points would've likely given us the lead in the 4th quarter when we made that huge run.

The Celtics just can't put together a 48 minute game.  Another abysmal 2nd half performance.  Luckily the Knicks were bad enough in the first half that they were able to hold on.  I imagine Carmelo is icing his shoulder today after hoisting 35 shots and 20 FT's.  I actually thought he hurt the Knicks a little down the stretch by being a little too selfish.  I mean, I know you live and die with your stars but he just didn't have it going yesterday and Felton was far more effective.  Maybe he felt like he had to do too much with Smith out, but it Felton certainly seemed up to the challenge.

I did think when the Knicks forced OT, the momentum would have shifted in their favor but somehow the C's were able to prevail.  While they were able to avoid the sweep, I don't hold out much hope for winning game 5.  The lack of ball handlers has been too apparent, especially late in games when the Knicks really up their pressure.

No Smith is what i think hurt us the most. He's been so consistent for us and he helps create so much off the pick and roll to get guys open. He's also great at getting to the basket for layups or throwing it back out to the perimeter for a 3 cause defenders have to collapse to defend him. Melo is definitely our star but so much of our offense revolves around Smith. Not to mention he and Chandler are perfect together with the ally oop.

Jason Collins from the Wizards has become the first pro athlete to come out and say he's gay. Good for him! I can't wait for the day when this is a non issue and we're all accepted for who we are no matter what.

Wade and Lebron sat one of those games, so you can scratch that one.  Also the other games happened in November.  When the Heat came to the garden the last time with their streak on the line they embarrassed the Knicks in the fourth quarter of that game.  The Knicks are a terrible one on one defensive team.  Who is going to stop James or Wade?  Nobody.  I would be surprised if the Knicks took it past 5 against the Heat.  I dont think theyll get swept but I them losing all the games in Miami and splitting the 2 Garden games.

That is also not a knock on the Knicks, they are a good team.  The Heat are a great team

I don't see the Knicks or any other team winning more than 2 games in any series against Miami.  I would, though, be most interested to see Miami-Memphis in the Finals, specifically to see how Miami would handle defending Z-Bo/Gasol inside.

You also forget though that one of those games the Knicks blew them out in Melo was out and it was before Shumpert returned. It may not be likely we'll beat them but its certainly possible.

We'll see, the West could be wide open now with Westbrook done for the Thunder for the season.

For the record i'd like to say how much i hate all these days off between games! 3 days between nearly ever game. What is this garbage? I hope it isn't the same for the next 3 rounds. We'll be playing in July still!

The NBA playoff schedule is horrendous.  They want to spread everything out so they have games every night, but it is ridiculous.

That's pretty ridiculous especially with the first round. A day off maybe 2 for a travel day is all you need. With as many opening round series there are a game daily wouldn't be hard with a day off max unless there's travel. I'm anxious for game 5. I guess i can look at it on the bright side. The Knicks can advance on my birthday.

My god that Knicks/Celtics game tonight sucked something awful. Both teams should be ashamed at how they played. I would really hate to be in either locker room after that one. Both coaches were probably spitting nails at every player. It was like i was watching a competition on who can miss the most shots.

The Answer to the Lakers' problems? :hihi:

(http://i42.tinypic.com/2cyof8g.jpg)

Took a bit longer then expected but the Knicks as they were supposed to have disposed of the Celtics. Onto the Pacers Sunday.

It's about time!  .. and that goes for all of these series that were 3-0, 3-1!  Miami will have been sitting around doing nothing for over a WEEK before they face either Chicago/Brooklyn on Monday or Tuesday.

Maybe they'll be rusty and get their asses handed to them. I can only hope.

Same old selfish Melo has returned and its shown for 4 games in a row now. We barely escape the Celts now get our ass kicked by the Pacers. If he can't get back to sharing the ball and fast we're dead. Smith also needs to get his shit together. Since being suspended and opening his fucking fat mouth he's been garbage. 4 baskets a game isn't going to get us past the Pacers. He should've just kept his fucking mouth shut and played.  Unless you are say Mark Messier and can back up your big mouth you keep it shut.

Dear Charles Barkely, please just shut up. Your opinions are stupid and usually completely way off base. Indiana is not a better team then the Knicks. Remember you're the same idiot who said the Knicks wouldn't finish second and couldn't beat the Heat without Melo. So do the world a favor and shut your trap and Shaq shame on you for agreeing with this moron.

Charles Barkley is the man! Guy is fucking hilarious if you ask me.
I don't always agree with him, but think he's entertaining. Shaq has been a disappointment, though.

As for the Knicks? They have had a hell of a turnaround and deserve a ton of credit for it.
They turned themselves from a joke to a threat in a pretty short amount of time. Not easy to build a team and keep it happy and driven when it's built around the incredibly gifted, but biggest ball hog in NBA, Carmelo Anthony.

That said, I don't see them getting by the Celtics if Rondo is on the floor, and even though I'll be rooting for them if both teams get that far, I don't see them getting past Miami.
The whole black clothes before game 5 thing showed me a lot about them. I know it's not so much basketball related, but to think that a team that had been so inept for sooo long could have something like that rolling around in their small minds really shows their mindset. We've known for a long time that not much is going on upstairs with guys like Kenyon Martin and JR Smith( I still appreciate what they bring to the table otherwise), but to think a whole team could think that's a good idea, and then still lose to a team decimated by injuries? Hard to imagine a team like that contending for a championship.

Nothing would shock me this year though. The road gets easier by the day for the Heat.
C's with Rondo, Bulls with Rose, Thunder with Westbrook were all teams that could have kept them from repeating.
Knicks have a chance in hell, but they will need Melo's shots to fall consistently, because you know he's gonna be jacking em up regardless if they are or not!

Spurs are my team now, but they are always on thin ice with old injury prone bastards Duncan, Parker and Ginoblli.
Would love to see them get another ring, and keep James at bay for a year.

I'll give your hilarious but he's shockingly wrong way too often to be any kind of credible analyst.

If the Knicks can consistently play like they did last night they definitely have a chance in hell. Good ball movement great defense. If the play like they did the previous few games they have no chance. Smith has got to get his shit together though. It looks like Stoudemire will return Saturday. I'm not sure if that's good or bad though.

The Knicks are a weird team.  At times they look really good.  They play suffocating defense, they can shoot the lights out, Carmelo, Smith, and Felton can all take over at a moments notice.  But at other times they look like a middling team at best.  They let a hobbled and advanced in age Celtics team hang around for 6 games, when Boston played horrendous for the most part of that series.  Now maybe that's a testament to their playoff experience and the Knicks lack of experience.  Maybe winning that series gave them a needed boost in confidence.  But then they go and lose game 1 at home to the Pacers.  I think Indiana is a slightly more solid team than the Knicks, and have a better chance at giving the Heat a more competitive series.  If the Bulls weren't so banged up, I'd put them in the conversation, and they still might be.  Unfortunately, the Heat are just so much better than any other team in the East, or the NBA right now that I don't think it matters.  Every other team is playing for 2nd place, and it looks like it's going to be that way for the foreseeable future.

Its definitely puzzling how awful they can look sometimes. I still believe we can and will beat Indiana. Smith has got to figure it out though. He's been a non factor since the suspension. The Bulls even as they are honest to god scare me holy crap out of me. I actually like our chances better against Miami then them. Not because i think they are better but because of how well their perimeter defense is. They gave our 3 point shooters the absolute fits this season. I think part of the Knicks problem may be Melo's shoulder. He has clearly been laboring the previous few games. Hopefully the 3 days off will give it time to feel well enough that he's more accurate. The defense won us game 2 in that second half it was just insane but defense alone isn't gonna get us past the Indiana. We need our scorers to score.

Dear Knicks and Pacers the idea of basketball is to score more then your opponent not see who can have the worst shooting for the game. Lets step up the offense in game 4 please cause that was completely ugly.

Good old NBA Eastern Conference basketball at its finest. 

Yeah and painful to watch. Neither was particularly good defensively it was just poor shooting all around.

What a pathetic joke the Knicks have become and i blame J.R. Smith almost entirely. From the moment he decided to be a selfish bitch and get suspended then open his fat trap the Knicks have been awful. In his absence then went right back to the isolation crap of let Melo do everything and haven't been able to get back to what made them successful. I wish i could say the Pacers defense is killing us but its not. Its too much isolation, too many bad shots, missing the good ones, missing free throws, terrible defense and awful offensive rebounding. Personally i'd trade Smith for his actions. Also, Martin needs to go for his terrible wear black idea.

The Pacers are also playing great D, they have 2 guys that can cover Melo without having to double him and are completely out muscling them on the glass.  The Pacers are built way better than the Knicks when it comes to playoffs.  The style of ball the Knicks played all year has never won a championship.  They can still win this series as 2 of the last 3 potential games are at home, but this is a hell of a hole.  The Heat are going to obliterate anybody they play, but I thought a Knicks/Heat series would be more interesting.

Their D isn't lights out D like the Knicks played in game 2. A lot of it is the Knicks killing themselves. They are just throwing up bad shot after bad shot without moving the ball. That's what they have to do to be successful. They are killing themselves at the line too which was strength. They are missing at least one of every 2. They definitely are getting murdered on the glass though. The Pacers aren't playing bad D but i think its more the Knicks taking just terrible shots.

From what I've been seeing, with a few exceptions, I'm not sure that the Knicks are playing much different than they have in the regular season, other than it seems that Indiana and Boston have completely neutralized the Felton/Chandler pick and roll.  But JR and Melo have been doing this routine all year --- they rarely beat their defender and mostly hoist up high-degree-of-difficulty, well-defended shots.  It's a testament to their excellent shooting ability that a respectable percentage of those shots still go in, but with the added intensity and better defense that you see in the playoffs, those percentages always go down a few notches.  Since them 2 take the bulk of the shots in the Knicks' offense, it makes sense that scoring has taken a dive in the playoffs.

Another thing that has hurt the Knicks is not being able to have Novak and Copeland on the floor for extended periods.  Those guys are great 3-pt shooters, so they spread the floor and make it much easier for Felton and Chandler to run the pick and roll.  But the problem is that they are horrible defenders and you can't sacrifice D in the playoffs.

They have been worse though since game 4 at Boston though when Smith was suspended. Melo and Smith were making better shot selections but something just changed starting with game 4 in Boston. I can't explain what happened but it all turned to shit starting with that game. You're right the pick and roll has disappeared and so has Smith driving to the basket like he had been. He needs to do that to be successful and to draw the defense in to get better looks at the perimeter. I don't know why he's gotten away from that since he came back from suspension in game 4. The lack of Novak and Copeland has hurt too for sure. Novak is a great 3 point shooter. I think Chandler is a better defender then you give him credit for but Felton definitely is not known for his D.

^ T, sorry, I actually meant Novak and Copeland were the bad defenders, not Chandler and Felton.

Here's a good article that talks more about the problems the Knicks have had this series:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/j-r-smith-takes-blame-knicks-awful-series-163111519.html

Ok, that makes more sense. Getting Novak and Copeland in more in game 5 might not be a bad idea. What do we have to lose? Its win or go home. Hopefully we can get a boost from being at home. Then have to find a way to steal one in Indy. A game 7 in the garden i think would favor us if we get there.

Agreed.  I just think the Pacers are a better team than the Knicks, especially for playoff basketball.  I don't see the Knicks coming back and winning 3 straight.  They don't seem to have that in them.  I still don't see any team challenging the Heat.  This could be the least exciting NBA Playoffs in some time when all is said and done.

Heat get a few more days off to rest... 45 wins in 48 games!  Wow.

Fo, Fi, Fo, Fo!

I still point to that game 4 against the Celtics as where it started to go south with Smith's suspension. They were just rolling we both saw it and agreed. Then he gets suspended then it started to go south and they barely held off the Celtics. They just haven't been able to figure it out since that happened and its completely puzzling. Its frustrating because i know we're better then this capable of playing better then this but for whatever reason aren't the last 7 games. I don't think they are coming back either not unless somehow they manage to figure out what went wrong starting game 4 against the Celtics. They haven't in 6 games since that game 4 so i doubt they will by game 5 of this series. The west looks wide open now with OKC out. I saw that coming without Westbrook they had no chance of getting out of the west. I think Memphis will be the team out there that makes it. If the Knicks can't have a outstanding comeback i give the Pacers little chance against the Heat.

The Knicks lack playoff experience.  They were bound to face some adversity along the way, so far they haven't handled it very well.  You can win all the regular season games in a row, it doesn't always translate into the post season.  It's a different brand of basketball, a different mindset.  The Knicks aren't there just yet.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, it really doesn't matter.  The Heat are far and away the best team and probably won't break a sweat on the way to a championship this year, and possibly years to come.

And right there is the good news. Like you said they are inexperienced in the playoffs. So this is a great learning experience for them and they'll be better for it. Lessons learned are 1. Don't elbow Jason Terry costing yourself an ejection and suspension derailing your momentum and chemistry. 2. Don't listen to Martin about wearing funeral black. It'll be interesting to see what they look like next year. They have some very old players that i assume won't return.

Well we might have a series now. If we can steal game 6 in Indiana its hard not to like our chances at home in game 7. But one game at a time. Just find a way to win in Indy. I thought we looked much better tonight. The shooting still wasn't stellar. Copeland was big off the bench but the defense that won us game 2 was back tonight. We need that for two more games.

Well the Pacers manage to hold on for dear life against the Knicks in game 6. You gotta give the Knicks credit though they kept coming and didn't give up and were very resilient. They will be better for this. Good learning experience. I wanna know who paid off the refs though. Holy phantom calls on the Knicks and one that sealed it for the Pacers. Shumpert didn't touch the guy! At the time it was 99-103. We stop them there and get a quick 2 or 3 who knows how it ends. Refs aren't supposed to determine who wins the game. Just terrible. There was another one on Anthony earlier in the game that i saw.

"From Elias: Carmelo Anthony now has 10 NBA seasons under his belt and has yet to make it to the NBA Finals. Anthony's regular-season scoring average of 25 points per game is the second highest all-time among players that played at least 10 seasons and never made it to an NBA Finals."

He's never made it to the conference finals has he?

NBA refs do sometimes determine the outcome of games in a negative way, that's been proven.  They're a shady bunch, that's been proven.  I think this is more of a case of the Pacers getting the home town calls though, not a case of wanting to keep the Knicks out of the conference finals.  I mean, the NBA would clearly prefer a NY/Miami conference finals.  Much more appeal than Indiana/Miami.  I just think in the end, the better team advanced.  The Pacers were much more well rounded.  They have a developing star in Paul George, an athletic supporting cast, a legit big man in Hibbert, some quality ball handlers, a team that can D it up.  They're solid. 

I heard the commentators talking about the disparity in foul shots in the series, heavily favoring the Pacers.  Now I didn't watch the series all that closely but I can imagine that has more to do with the 2 teams vastly different styles of play than a conspiracy from the refs.  The Knicks are a 3 point shooting team, typically those teams don't get to the line as often.  The Pacers attack the rim more often, thus more free throw attempts.  Unless there was more to it than that.

Overall the Knicks poor shooting in the 4th did do them in but that bad call sealed it is my point. At the time i think there was 55 seconds remaining with the Knicks down 4. If the correct no call was made there maybe we get a defensive stop get the ball back and hit a 2 or 3. That would cut the lead to 2 or 1. Potentially still enough time left we don't have to foul and if we manage to stop them again we could have the ball for the final shot to tie or win. Or maybe if we cut it to 1 foul them this way the lead can be no more then 3 giving us one last shot to send it to OT. I'm just saying a terrible call like that shouldn't be made with the game still very much in doubt. 4 points is not too much to come back from with nearly a minute to play. After the foul and free throws we scored fast but they pushed the lead to 6 with the foul. I'm not saying we would've stopped them from scoring those 2 points and gotten the rebound to cut it to 2 or 1 there. Its entirely possible though. The bad foul just killed any chance we had. I mean the call was so bad that immediately the announcers said he never touched him. If two guys watching at half court at full speed can get it right, shouldn't the 3 guys who are trained refs also get it right?

I think the Nuggets made it to the West finals once, but I could be wrong.  Either way, it's a big time indictment on him as a "superstar" (same goes for Chris Paul actually... he's had some big time playoff duds in the past, I think he put up 4 points in one game in New Orleans).

Makes me even more curious who voted Melo over James for MVP this year.....

Probably Peter Vescey or one of his "sources."

The Nuggets got to the WCF in 2009, if my memory serves me well.  Lost to the Lakers in 6.

This time you can't blame it on Anthony. He did everything he could to win this series for us with a bum shoulder. The guys around him disappeared. Kidd  was invisible, Chandler was invisible, Smith took a dump after his suspension and Felton disappeared. The only other Knick that was scoring was Shumpert. You just can't win a game with two players scoring.

it was actually Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe who voted for Melo. He wrote an article explaining why he did so. I didn't read it, but he stood behind it.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/05/05/yes-voted-carmelo-anthony-for-mvp-and-for-good-reason/Yo08ZgzGaxzlt9KF0JDfqM/story.html

Agreed that Pacers were the better team and the MVP vote for Melo was dumb.  But if he's not a superstar, then right now Durant and Lebron are the only superstars in the league.

The Knicks falling short had little to do with Melo's shortcomings and everything to do with the fact that the rest of the team (including the coach) crapped the bed in the playoffs (except Shumpert, he was good).  Every other key player --- Felton, Chandler, Smith --- produced way below their regular season averages in all facets.  That said, this team will never be a title contender if its playoff offense is built around Melo taking 30 shots per game.

The fact that Kenyon Martin --- a player who could not find a spot with any team for even the league minimum all season --- was getting major playoff minutes says it all about the state of the team's roster. 

That's the reason, Gary Washburn cast his vote for Melo for MVP.  You take Melo off of the Knicks and they go from the 2 seed to maybe having the 2nd overall pick in the draft.  I think he had by far the worst supporting cast among any of the other MVP candidates.  So as crazy as it sounds for Melo to be more valuable than Lebron, a case can be made.  Is he a better player than Lebron?  Absolutely not.  No one is going to dispute that.  But the old, what does most valuable player mean comes into question.

Yeah, but even if you accept the "most valuable" is different than "best" logic, all you need to do is look at Cleveland with Lebron (perennial 60+ wins) and without (shit).  Also, his argument is that Miami would be a 5th seed without Lebron, while the Knicks would be a lottery team without Melo.  Well, the Knicks were 20 wins better than a lottery team and Miami was 21 games better than the East 5th seed.
 

I think making guys like Melo into "stars" is pushing a bad brand of basketball too... someone has to score the points, but it seems like this isolation play form of basketball ends up propping up one player at the expense of winning.  Maybe someone who follows the Knicks can correct me, but that's what I get from Melo.  If things aren't going well, instead of trying to get the team going - he tries to carry the load himself more (and when it doesn't work the supporting cast isn't doing their job). 

I'm in the same situation with Rudy Gay being on the Raptors... he's a chucker despite having a poor FG%.  Don't get me wrong, they've got great skills... but they aren't using their potential to benefit their team.  Meanwhile the Grizzlies trade their "star" Gay and wind up in the West finals, along with teams like Miami and San Antonio that have balanced, unselfish offensive sets. I would think an MVP vote for someone lke Tony Parker would be more justifiable than Carmelo vote.

I blame Kobe.   :hihi:

He did try to get them going though, they just couldn't find a basket consistently from anyone not named Shumpert. Felton, Smith, Novak etc couldn't hit a shot if the basket was ten feet wide in this series. The only other guy who did anything worth a damn was Copeland. George you hit the nail on the head. It had little to do with Melo not playing well but more with his teammates faltering. You really need to look to that game 4 against Boston. Smith is suspended and it started to unravel. I have no idea how his absence for one game caused things to unravel so quickly and badly but it did.

As for the remaining teams, Miami is no doubt the heavy favorite, but I think all 3 of the other teams are more than capable of beating Miami, whose weakness --- interior defense --- plays right into the hands of Memphis and SA's strengths (and even Indiana with Hibbert and West).

Right... if guys like Allen, Battier, Miller, etc. have their shots falling - I don't think the Heat can be stopped.  All these teams are capable though, even more so if one of the big 3 should miss games due to injury, or even get limited due to injury (i.e. D-Wade).  Should be a good couple of weeks!

I like Memphis to be the team in the West. They look really good.

I think the JR Smith suspension and whole dressing for a funeral in the Boston series was merely coincidental that the Knicks didn't look as good from that point forward.  That Celtics team just wasn't that good.  They were the 7th seed for a reason.  They had NO legitimate ball handlers, and the Knicks had a field day on the defensive end exploiting that.  The fact the Celtics were able to run off back to back wins had more to do with their resiliency.  And maybe the Knicks let up a little, but they straightened themselves out enough to hold on in game 6.  I think their shooters just got cold.  Smith went from lights out to cold as ice.  Felton played great against the C's, and couldn't carry it over to the 2nd round.  They faced a much better team in the Pacers, and that proved too much for them.

As for the other 3 teams remaining, they're all good teams but Miami is a great team and I don't think they'll be challenged all that much.  They MAY see a game 6, but I wouldn't expect anymore than that.  Unless some crazy stuff happens of course, but I don't anticipate that happening.  I think Lebron has matured to the point where he could win with a far less formidable supporting cast like in his Cleveland days.  So I think even if Wade or others aren't themselves, I think Lebron can will his way to victory basically on his own at this point.  Makes me wish even more he would've stayed in Cleveland.  Things would've been at least a little more competitive and more impressive a feat for him as well.

He has once with the Nuggets when they got Billups. (2009 I believe) LA beat them 4-2 to advance to the finals. That was the first of 2 times Melo has been out of the first round.

Yeah, me too.  Miami mostly plays with Bosh at center and Lebron at power forward --- I would think they'd have a hard time guarding Z-Bo and Gasol.  Also, Tony Allen from his days with the Cs has a very good track record of containing Lebron. 

If they make it i don't think its a slam dunk the Heat winning it all.

Well maybe San Antonio is gonna be the team. They are up 2-0 now.

We'll see, I think that Memphis may have figured something out after the half in Game 2.  Also, Spurs can't keep shooting 3s at this rate.  Griz came back from down 0-2 against the Clippers...

Pacers fucking blew it last night.  2.2 seconds left, up 1 and the coach takes Hibbert out of the game?  WTF?  It seemed as if they drew up their defense to plan exactly how they can give up an open layup.  Did they think they were up 3?  Beyond ridiculous.

It was puzzling to take Hibbert out, but Lebron blew by George on that play.  He has to play better defense there regardless of who else is on the floor.  Even with Hibbert in the game, he would've had to pick up Lebron and there's no way the refs wouldn't have called a foul in that situation.  So I think the result would've been the same.  Unless Lebron missed the FT's, which would've been sweet.  Regardless a bad 2.2 seconds all around for the Pacers.  Then again, they were sort of lucky to get to OT to begin with.

Yes, George got tricked on the play, so he fucked up.  Another fuckup was that Hansbrough (who came in for Hibbert) left the paint wide open to cover the corner 3.  Hibbert would not have done that and, even though Lebron got by George, I don't think Lebron would have challenged Hibbert at the rim.  I think he would have pulled up and taken a jumper (or dished either to Bosh or to the open 3 in the corner).  Per ESPN: LeBron played 38 minutes with Hibbert on the floor, and took just three shots from around the rim. But in LeBron's nine minutes without Hibbert in the game, he took six shots from the same proximity.

Yes, they were lucky to get into OT (forget George's shot, I've never seen Ray Allen miss a game-clinching free throw), but that's what makes the last play all the more devastating --- if you can't win a game when you get huge lucky breaks, what hope do you have when you don't those breaks?

I think Lebron goes at Hibbert if he's in the game because that's the last play of the game and he knows he's putting pressure on the refs to call a foul in that situation.  If it was anywhere close to a foul, like Hibbert's 5th foul on Chris Anderson which really wasn't a foul, they would've called it.  I agree it's a puzzling move not having Hibbert out there, I'm not sure what Vogel's reasoning was.  Haven't heard an explanation, if there was one.  But I think Lebron still gets to the line at the very least in that situation.

And yes, the Pacers did let one slip away.  Could be damaging.  We'll see how they react.  They have to believe in themselves and take out of the game that they can hang with the Heat.  They can't view it like they let one slip away.  Focus on the positives, and there were plenty of them.  I fear the Heat will wake up though, and come out all business in game 2.  Unless, the Pacers really can hang with them.  Then we're onto something.  I'm not convinced just yet.

Agreed, absolutely inexcusable defense. You can't let Lebron just walk to the basket like that.

I am so sick of the NBA kissing the Heat's ass. In the first round Smith gets suspended for a game for elbowing Terry. In game 2 of the conference finals Wade plows into the head of Stephenson with his forearm and gets nothing? Fuck you David Stern.

They upgraded Wade's elbow to a flagrant 1.... not that it will have any impact on the series.

Should've been at least a one game suspension. He leaped up and plowed his forearm into his head. There's no universe where you can justify saying it was unintentional.

You can in David Stern's universe! 

Well he's as corrupt as the officials but we've known that for awhile.

In other news the league actually does the right thing and suspends Andersen for game 6 in Indy. The officials should've ejected him and the league suspend him for game 6 though.

I'll go out on a limb and predict that Stern has the officials decide Game 7 early on tonight by putting Hibbert/George/West in immediate foul trouble.

Sadly, that wouldn't shock me.

In other news though, Jason Kidd retired today. Next stop the HOF.

Good call. The Sternba gets what it wants as always

That sure is what happened.

But watching the game, I'm not sure it was entirely (or even mostly) because of the officials.  The Heat were MUCH more aggressive going to the rim and rebounding the ball.  The Pacers took a lot of jumpers....

Throughout the season, and especially the playoffs, I think the officiating has been pretty horrible.  Last night?  Not terrible.  Not great, either.  But not so terrible that I think it effected the outcome,or even the margin that much.

I think there were a couple things at play.  Not sure which is the most prominent factor or if its just a mix of them all.

1) Indiana was a better team than some people gave them credit for and matched up well with Miami

2) Miami isn't as dominant as people thought

3) Miami IS as good as advertised, they just don't play like it all the time.  Maybe they think they are so much better than the opposition that they feel they can just show up and win and it isn't until they're really tested that they go full throttle.  I heard so many people the last few days talk about the demise of the Heat and how they went from the Big 3 to a Cleveland like Lebron team.  This is a team that dominated the regular season and went like 40-4 at one point.  None of those Cleveland teams ever did anything like that.  So I think that was a bit of an exaggeration.  We will see in the finals.  If they fall to a veteran team like the Spurs, maybe there's something to that.

Right, I don't think any officials could have helped Indiana last night.  But I did find it funny when, in the 3rd quarter, Indiana scored a few straights buckets to cut the lead to 'only' 13, then Hibbert immediately got hit with his 4th and 5th fouls.  Miami may have been in total control of the game, but to me that showed that the officials weren't taking any chances.  That was when I turned the game off.  
 

I think all of those basically true, but the bottom line is that Miami, as talented as they are, is a flawed team.  They were one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA this year.  They went berserk on the boards last night and ended up completely dominating.  But I don't think they can rebound to that degree consistently against the Spurs.  Scary thing is, they're so ridiculously talented, they may not need to. 

Let's go Spurs! :hihi:

The Boston Celtics are apparently thinking of trading Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers to the Clippers in a deal that would include Eric Bledsoe and perhaps DeAndre Jordan, along with other assets.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/06/17/marquee-coaches-players-rule-nbas-bizarro-world/?ls=iref:nbahpts (http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/06/17/marquee-coaches-players-rule-nbas-bizarro-world/?ls=iref:nbahpts)

Great game last night to end a great series.  Was sad to see Duncan and the Spurs go down, but the better team won.  Congrats to to the 2 die-hard Miami Heat fans out there.

The Spurs really blew this championship series!  I get a headache just thinking about how close they were.....

Anyone who thinks Kobe is better than Lebron is out of their mind!

The Boston Celtics would appear to be in full-on rebuild mode now :(

Will the Lakers try to get Bynum back now that Howard is off to Houston? :hihi:

This is a terrible idea.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/9586574/los-angeles-lakers-wear-short-sleeve-jerseys-several-games-next-season-source-says

Iverson is apparently officially retiring this week :'(

???

Is he not already retired?   ;D

Seriously though, Iverson's Sixers versus Carter's Raptors is my favourite playoff series of all time as a TO fan... they traded 50 point games and it all came down to one shot in Game 7 that rimmed out... but that's 12 or 13 years ago - he has been finished for a long time now... and with the focus in basketball shifting to "effeciency" instead of pure scoring numbers, guys like Iverson aren't appealing to teams anymore. 

P.S. Next season Lebron will likely pass Iverson in total career assists.....   ;)

The NBA is finally doing away with the 2-3-2 format in the finals. Its about time that format sucks.

Interesting potential Celtics moves, rumors.

Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony.

Love the idea of adding KL. Not a huge Anthony fan, but could be a pretty scary trio with Rondo.
Even scarier if someone could finally convince Melo to play D. Love could use some help in that regard as well.

With the East being as pathetic as it is at the moment, they could sleep through the regular season and still be guaranteed to make the playoffs. Hopefully that would convince some vets who want a ring to sign on the cheap, because there wouldn't be much $ left to go around, and it'll probably take just about all those pieces Ainge has been stockpiling..
Depending on who they could surround these guys with, it could work.

Would love to see Pierce off the bench for one more run. Hell throw KG in there too.

http://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/basketball/59460-holding-court-celtics-pacers-opposite-directions

Wow, just noticed we're still on last year's thread.  No NBA love here I guess... not even some opinions on the whole Sterling fiasco!

Anyway, I think Melo is actually a good fit for Boston.  They've never been a 'system' type offense, so an 'iso' guy like Melo is not exactly going to disrupt anything there.  Also, I think he could work well with Love.  Melo-Stoudamire did not work because Stat is strictly a pick-and-roll guy, but Love is much more versatile.

And don't underestimate Melo on D.  When he's motivated (e.g., going up against Lebron), he has a whole other gear on D.

It would make the Celtics a factor again in the East, but not a favorite by any means. At least I don't think. They need to do something big though with all the draft picks they have coming their way. They can't use them all. And so far, Melo and Love is the most intriguing option I've heard.