Nba conference finals - Page 3

As a Laker fan since the days of Wilt and Jerry West, let me be the first to congratulate the Pistons. I do think the officiating was biased, but can also admit that it has often been biased in the Lakers' favor in the past. As a basketball fan, and one who has found it harder and harder to watch the pro game over college because of the lack of teamwork- the Pistons' unselfish team play is very refreshing. And It's great to see Larry Brown win the two championships- class act and a great, albeit conservative, dresser. It will be interesting to see how Phil handles his only defeat, and the fate of the team. E.g. Kobe may be in jail, rather than Phoenix or New York...

as a laker fan, since the days of bob macadoo and jamaal wilkes, i'll be the second to congratulate the pistons. they were the better team this year. the loss would have gone over a little smoother over here had the officiating been better. i don't know how it is in the rest of the contry, but on the local stations in l.a., they show a slow motion replay after almost every foul. i can count the number of replays abc showed during the finals on one hand... navystyles, as a guy who has played soccer all his life and has had to deal with bad refs who cost my team games and championships with bad calls, i have a very strong opinion about how games should be called. yes, refs make mistakes. they are only human. however, we can see the majority of their mistakes as falling into one of two categories: 1) a player commits a foul and the referee does not call it because he did not see it. 2) a referee calls a foul which did not exist (he therefore could not have seen it). in this case the referee is making the assumption that a foul was commited based on the circumstances (someone's on the ground, someone loses the ball, etc...) mistake number one is simple human error and understandable. the refs don't have eyes in the back of their heads and they can't be expected to keep track of every player at every moment. however, mistake number two is UNACCEPTABLE. i've never taken a course on refereeing, but page one of the manual should read ONLY CALL WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE... i see these types of bad calls in almost every sport, but basketball is by far the worst offender. i almost never see a bad call of the type two variety in the nfl. they might miss something now and then, but they never call something that didn't exist.

There's also a another type of foul in the NBA which is the star system. Superstars get all the calls. I don't think they ever called traveling on Patrick Ewing. And, there's that pushoff Jordan pulled in game 6 against the Jazz. Although, Shaq is the hardest person to referee. All his moves could be considered offensive fouls. And, people defending him, are usually just hacking away.

Matador, I'm in your same situation (having never undergone any referee training). I also believe that the second case you mentioned should not be allowed. I hope I didn't come off as suggesting it belongs in sports. But you gotta remember, it has a place in sports, and it had a place in sports back when the Lakers won their titles. I know you weren't one of them, but some fans would blame the officiating as the reason why the Lakers lost. Though, it may have been a part of it, we can't point our fingers in that direction and ignore other factors. I was just typing out my exasperation for them on here.

As a Lakers fan, let me also congratulate the Pistons.  Of any other team in the NBA (other than the Lakers,) I could not hope for better, or more deserving, champions.  Ben Wallace has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and it is very nice to see how Larry Brown has been able to make him an offensive threat in addition to his being a powerful defensive presence. The Pistons won the right way, the way the Lakers did in their first two trips to the finals in the recent three-peat - with a lot of talent and a lot of heart.  And I hope championship is an indication of a resurgent East.  The league would just be a lot more fun to watch. Of course, I hope that somehow, a new, revamped Laker team will be able to stomp ass on the way to be championship this time next year.

Formula for the Pistons' success: Great TEAMwork, a great teacher-coach, and great fans. On Thursday, more than one million people attended a rally/parade in downtown Detroit. Great fun was had by all. There were no incidents of unruly behavior. Larry Brown, by the way, wears suits from Freeds, a men's store in Windsor (Ontario, Canada) which is across the river from Detroit. At least so proclaims their newspaper ads. Money does not buy a championship. We in Michigan know that all too well--the Redwings.

I agree... and I hope someone told the detested Yankees.

As a Celtics fan since the days of ML Carr and Cedric Maxwell, both the Lakers and the Pistons can get Deez Nutz. However, it is nice to see teamwork and hard work triumph over flash and attitude. And while the officiating was spotty, does anyone really believe that it would have changed the outcome?

If he does, it was a special order and definately not something one could buy from the store. There was a time when Freeds carried some fine suits in there "custom shop," those days are long gone.

Shaq is unhappy and wants to be traded, T-Mac is unhappy and wants to be traded -- does a trade between the Lakers and the Magic for these two players make perfect sense to anyone else (so long as the salary cap issues can be worked out)?  Kobe/T-Mac would make a great combo along the lines of Jordan/Pippen.

FWIW, Tom Friend of ESPN the Magazine thinks that McGrady wouldn't want a trade anymore if Orlando got Shaq and that draft picks, Grant Hill, and Juwan Howard would be much more likely as trade bait for Orlando than McGrady would be.

As far as how well the trade would fit what these teams need, I think it works. But I think Kobe has a desire to get his own team -- no co-stars, which will be tough to do if a lot of teams pick up on that little technique in Detroit (teamwork). And Shaq already left Orlando once. It'll be an interesting summer to see what unfolds, regardless.

Tom Friend is smoking something pretty strong if he thinks that the Lakers are going to go for the trade he is proposing.  Grant Hill, Juwan Howard, and a No. 1 pick for Shaq sounds like a proposal out of a fantasy sports league . . . you know, the one where Annoying Lowball Guy offers you Kordell Stewart, Bobby Taylor, and Brandon Stokely in exchange for Peyton Manning.