I also quit watching the NBA-it's the NFL for me. But I WILL watch the Pistons & Bull. Go Pistons!!! Ben is no Michael(whom I loved to watch) And it was NOT Laimbeer and Co--it was Isaiah & Co! Again I say---Go Pistons!!!!!
Echoing Weedy, watching the Raptors has been painful to the point of misery (while lightening my wallet in the process).... PublicUrinal, in my opinion you are right about Bosh not stepping up...I honestly believe his ineptitude has been the key to this series. I understand long and lean Mikki Moore giving him problems, but Jason Collins has essentially shut him down as well, which is inexcusable. He has become in this series what we always lamented about Vince Carter: an amazingly quick talent who settles for outside jumpers. As others pointed out, Detroit-Chicago is going to be a fantastic series. They *really* are almost identical: great jumpshooting 2-guards (Hamilton, Gordon), athletic and versatile wings (Prince and Deng) and deep in the post (Webber, Wallace, McDyess vs. Wallace, Brown and Thomas). Both teams defend like all hell and both rely probably a little too much on their perimeter game to win the championship. They even both have an Argentinian swingman coming off the bench. Keys: Chicago usually puts Hinrich on the opposing team's scoring guard (ie. Rip), which leaves Gordon to guard Billups. Chauncey is going to torch him a few times in the series, shooting over him and breaking him off the dribble. Hinrich *has* to make shots or the Bulls are f+cked. Likewise for Tay Prince. Ty Thomas has to continue his impressive learning curve, or McDyess will eat him up. The coaching matchup: I don't think the Pistons generally like Flip Saunders all that much, so we'll see what happens when the series gets tight down the stretch. On the other hand, I think Skiles runs the best stuff out of timeouts in the league, and that he has more flexibility to make adjustments as the series progresses. I also think the Bulls generally buy into what he's all about. Give Skiles the edge here. The Big Ben factor: it's relatively easy to take a gifted shooter out of his game, but much harder to take an aggressive rebounder, defender and shot blocker away -- there are fewer fine motor skills involved. He will be very motivated and will probably win a game for Chicago outright in the series with his presence. Pick: I am going with athleticism and coaching over experience.....Bulls in 6. Maybe that is why my wallet is lighter? ;)
God the Raptors have disappointed me. After the home game split it was hopeful. They didn't play good AT ALL, but were still tied in the series. Things were looking up. I BOUGHT tickets for game 5. Then, not long after I bought those tickets, they played even worse than the shit they were calling "basketball" in their first two games. sigh.
THIS YEAR HAS BEEN UNPREDICTABLE. That's the bottom line. NO ONE could've guessed Deng and Gordon would eat the Heat alive. NO ONE could've guessed the Warriors would be up 3-1 to the Mavs. Game 4, by the way, was the most exciting playoff game since the 3-game-winning shots game Lakers vs. Spurs, ending with Derek Fisher's .00001 seconds left fader. Houston vs. Utah seems to be the only good match-up in the first round. I would love to see a young Utah team excell, OR T-Mac finally get a chance to shine well into the playoffs. One thing I am still curious to see, who will win MVP? Dirk deserved it for the regular season. But if they take into account, the last week of play. Dirk disappeared.... and Nash almost beat the playoff assist record.
Couldn't have said it better Smithers. Except the fact that not only Kirk *has* to make shots. In all of the Miami wins ,and most of the season wins, Kirk, Luol, and Ben Gordan scored well over double digits. And Thomas on McDeyss? I don't know, Thomas hardly played at all in the Miami series. Thomas needs to come to build momenteum with some big plays, because he is just to small and young to try to keep McDeyss in check. My prediction: Bulls in five. The Bulls will win all of thier home games and win one at Detroit. Chicago has the best home record after the all-star break and the fans are going to be pumped.
If everyone is throwing predictions out there then I'll go Pistons in six. Detroit is the best team in their conference long as they come to play every night and don't waste time crying about the refs. Which they'll do at least once. It will be a great series.
Sorry TelamarketersBeware, I took it as given that Gordon and/or Deng will make shots on any given night....Hinrich always seems to be the question mark for the Bulls team. When he is on, their emotion and focus is pretty unbeatable. As for Thomas, I hear your point, but the main reason he didn't play in the Miami series revolved around matchups...there was nobody for him to guard. I will be very surprised if he doesn't get much more time in this series, although if Nocioni is playing well, that could be negated (which is what I was referring to when I said Skiles has more flexibility offensively...ie. go big, small, shooters, defenders). Oh, and by the way Snikastyle, it's not exactly the prediction you were looking for, but...
Yes the Heat are a better team than the Magic, but I wouldn't give the Bulls too much credit. The Heat were not even close to playing at the level they did last year.
Props to you smithers, even though the Heat have been my team a while... they will have to move in new point guards and some young talent all over the floor. Mavs just won game 5. Dirk finally plays MVP style basketball when it counts. He validated his near future MVP trophy tonight. BUT.... with BD in the game at the end, it easily could've been an OT game. Look for game 6 to be VERY CLOSE. By the way, if the Bulls beat the Pistons, it will HAVE to be in 6 games. NO WAY the Bulls beat the Pistons AT HOME in a game 7. Should be a great series and a possible rivalry future.
Oh, and I can't forget the fun of watching Kobe go down in defeat. I love Phil Jackson, but the Lakers must be stopped. Let me revise my statement, thus: Except for Phil Jackson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and Vlade Divac-- all good guys- the Lakers must be stopped. Or maybe just: All CURRENT Lakers players must be stopped.
Oh, and I can't forget the fun of watching Kobe go down in defeat. I love Phil Jackson, but the Lakers must be stopped. You're not bitter at all... I'm still having nightmares of Steve Nash throwing alley-oops to Shawn Marion and Amare.
Golden State you were so close!!! Hopefully they'll get them next game.
