The NBA Playoffs

[bachbeet]

Sauce: What made me more nervous was to hear Kobe say afterwards "Bring it on!"

 

[Saucemaster]

If this leads to more on-court energy and physical play, I'd actually be happy with it. If it leads to flagrant fouls and a tit-for-tat "put him on the ground" mentality, it'll be bad for the teams and for the league. I was impressed that when Kwame Brown was fouled hard later--the fould that Kobe got ejected for complaining about--he had the presence of mind and self-control to just sit down and wait until he cooled off.

As long as no one in the crowd throws a beer, we should be fine....

 

[Saucemaster]

LeBron. James.

My God.

 

[matadorpoeta]

i saw the last few minutes of that game and it was really strange. the fans were really quiet and they didn't seem to cheer very loud regardless of what was going on in the game. after lebron made the gamewinner, one of the guys from the other team took a last second shot from half court and i could swear he got fouled, but no one mentioned it and they didn't show a replay.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Saucemaster

LeBron. James.

My God.

A strange choice, but then again, so is Jehova.


Are you prepared for the coming of the lord of Apokolips?

 

[Saucemaster]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

A strange choice, but then again, so is Jehova.

Jehova can't jump.

 

[odoreater]

Nets close out Pacers!!!!! Woo-hooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miami's next.

 

[Lamo]

wow, did the lakers absolutely blow it. 10 seconds away from a matchup with the Clippers.

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by Lamo

wow, did the lakers absolutely blow it. 10 seconds away from a matchup with the Clippers.

How about a Styleforum Pool on the final Lakers/Phoenix game (most interesting series, to date, I think.) $20 an in, closest score wins. Winnings must be put to good use (i.e. buying of clothing and accessories).

Post here to commit.

I am in. Phoenix 110, Lakers 105. (I love Steve Nash and am a long time Lakers fan, so just want to see a great game.)

 

[Get Smart]

I don't think I've yelled that much at the TV in those last 11 secs of regulation. ugh....i had predicted to my coworkers last week that the Lakers would be winning by game 6 only to choke it in the end, and sho nuff HAIL DARKSEID!!

 

[Saucemaster]

That was painful. I stayed up just to see the end of the game. Kobe was ridiculous, absolutely on fire; you could see him just WILLING the team into the game in the last couple minutes of OT (how many incredibly difficult clutch shots did he hit in the end of regulation and in OT?!), but it wasn't enough. The thing about this game was that it was so FRUSTRATING. The Lakers just didn't execute. Sure, Phoenix was in the passing lanes a lot, and they were reading the offense fairly well, but there's *got* to be some way to find your guys in the low post without turning it over a few million times. It didn't help that Kwame Brown dropped everything that was tossed at him. Stop with the jumpers, it just encourages Phoenix. Ugh. Phil Jackson showed you how to beat this team, all you have to do is follow his instructions.

That said, Phoenix earned it. They enticed the Lakers into playing at the tempo they wanted, they shot magnificently, they drew a few key fouls and then they exploited the situation perfectly--did you see them force rotations in the fourth quarter until Nash could get Kwame Brown? Kwame had, what, five fouls, right? He didn't dare get close--all Nash did was just move in, watch Kwame back up, then stop ten feet out and pull up for an open look. And no one could help because they had to respect Phoenix's snipers on the perimeter.

Also: is it just me, or was Smush Parker almost useless? He looked really nervous and intimidated out there. It was probably just nerves, but if he was nervous last night at the Staples Center with a one-game cushion, what's he going to be like in Phoenix for game 7?!

 

[Saucemaster]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

How about a Styleforum Pool on the final Lakers/Phoenix game (most interesting series, to date, I think.)

I can't get in on the pool, but I will say that I'm really torn between Lakers/Suns and Cavs/Wizards as the best series to date. Both of them have been incredible, feature some amazing players playing some of the best basketball of their careers (so far--LeBron looks to be going nowhere but up), and some amazing clutch performances.

I was at a bar the other night watching the Cavs/Wizards game 5--half the people there didn't care, but the rest of us were glued to the televisions. The whole place erupted when LeBron made that final baseline move and sunk that shot (after Arenas' stone-cold pimp-ass free throws right before! The man didn't even look even slightly nervous!). This whole first round is turning out some classic basketball. I don't get how people can be disappointed with the NBA right now.

 

[Bradford]

I agree - NBA basketball is definitely getting to be fun to watch again.

What a great game last night between Phoenix and LA although I was chewing my fingernails thinking our season was about to be over. As much as I dislike Kobe, his play was unreal. Thank God Tim Thomas hit that 3 to go into overtime and Shawn Marion really stepped it up for the first time in this series.

Who knows what's going to happen on Saturday, but I just swapped the D-Backs/Reds tickets I have from Saturday to tonight. I'm not going anywhere without a TV on Saturday night - I want to see Game 7. If I can figure out a way to get in the arena without paying a fortune, I'll be there

Bradford

P.S. No Arizona fan is surprised that Gilbert Arenas is as good as he is. Every NBA team should feel stupid for passing on him in the first round of the draft. First pick of the second round, what a joke!

 

[Steve B.]

I want in the pool, but will need to think a while on the prediction.

Not a good sign...

 

[odoreater]

Am I the only one that doesn't like LeBron? The problem I have with LeBron's play is that he's not the type of guy that inspires the other players around him in my opinion. Jordan made everybody play good and so do Nash and Kidd. These guys inspire other people to perform at their best, whereas I feel the LeBron does not have confidence in the rest of the team and tries to do things himself, which leads to the rest of the team not having confident in iteself and not getting any better. He just seems like a spotlight grabber who's good as an individual player but not good as a leader of men. Any thoughts?