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Heat won again last night, I didn't get to see most of the game, but saw a pretty good breakdown on nba tv after my game last night.
The more you see the Bulls, the more they do resemble the Cavs of the last few years.
One superstar, and a bunch of role guys. With Carlos Boozer playing the role of Mo Williams, the guy who's supposed to be good, but is just an offensive threat. I know he put up some nice numbers yesterday, but overall, he's been horrible in the playoffs, and his defense yesterday was a complete joke.
I did get to see Dallas play on Saturday. When that team is clicking, I don't think any team playing at their very best can beat them. I give OKC credit for hanging around, and making it interesting.
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I watched very little basketball this weekend and it was grand (thank you Indians for the weekend and Felix Hernandez for a nice afternoon cap on Sunday).
It was nice not caring much about the Heat v. Bulls. I saw enough in the first 2 games that I was worried about how the Bulls could matchup and beat them in the long haul (thinking it will take a perfect storm, which can happen but will be tough).
The Mavs are the only team that can takedown the Heat by just being a better team IMO. It will be extremely interesting to see them matchup and I do look forward to that series (and hope that Durant doesn't mess up that chance by putting the Thunder completely on his back for a few games because I don't think OKC is ready yet).
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I've come at peace with myself with the Heat. I'm not gonna get all butthurt if they win a chip, if Lebron gets his ring. I mean, whatever.
On the other hand, it sets a really bad precedent for the league. It's already gone the way of super teams with the Celtics and Heat doing what they did, and just this fall, the Knicks putting those wheels in motion.
By winning a championship, Miami could prove that you don't neccassarily need depth to win. That could further damage the league as you will see more small and mid-markets have their stars take their talents to a bigger market.
While the NFL proves you don't need a team full of superstars to win, and even with the Tribe kinda proving the same. The NBA, you need those stars. Those teams need to be able to keep those players to operate.
I guess the silver lining is, that it couldn't happen at a better time with the CBA coming to an end July 1.
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I agree to some extent, but I still will root against the Heat. The long-term ramifications will be dealt with in the new CBA or things will continue though. The genie is out of the bottle now as LeBron/Wade/Bosh showed that the players have alot more power in the NBA than in any other sports league (on and off the court).
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You'll be ok with the national media trashing the Cavs and the city of Cleveland incessantly? This postseason isn't about "can the big three win a championship", it's about "will LeBron finally win a championship". Nobody will talk about how he had to partner with Wade and Bosh. They'll just talk about how he had to get out of that crappy town with the crappy owner who put a crappy team around his star. Forget that you know that that's not the case, because nobody cares. They're not going to let the facts get in the way of their arguments. If Miami wins it all, get ready to hear about how Cleveland sucks day in and day out, because it'll be unavoidable.
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If the NBA goes with a hard cap, which I think is going to be a very tough sell on the players, I think that would be a good thing for the league as a whole.
There needs to be incentive for players to stick around. They tried to do it with the current system. I can't fault the league too much because it was set up for guys to want to stay home, but that all gets wiped out with sign & trades.
The cavs were forced to deal lebron. I'm sure Dan Gilbert would have loved to have told the James crew to go and find your deal elsewhere, but they needed that exception. Even if they don't use it, they still had to get it, just in case that deal was there.
If they don't end up using it, I can't fault the Cavs for doing what they did.
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the Cavs did what they had to with the TPE (I still wish once we found out he was leaving we told Miami to give us Beasely before they could ship him off to Minny).
but, I don't think a hard cap is what the owners want. first, it would take years to actually get to that point as there's no way the NBA is going to tear apart the Lakers/Celtics/Mavs, etc. second, even teams like the Thunder and Grizzlies want to be able to keep the talent they draft/acquire and they need to be able to go over a hard cap to do that unless the cap is really high (which then kills the reason for it).
the 'franchise player' tag that the NBA has mentioned is a nuetered one that I think will actually hurt teams more than help (player has to agree to it and it'll just end up with more Joe Johnson's getting overvalued and dragging a team down even more).
it's tough. the best players are needed to win in basketball, but the best players have realized and are willing to take the knock to just all go play together like it's AAU ball. i'm really not sure what the 'good' solution to it is.
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If the NBA goes to a hard cap I think it needs to be slightly higher than the current soft cap but have provisions for salary allocations. My thought as far back as last summer was something along the lines if your five highest salaries (five being one third of your roster) can not exceed 70% of your entire payroll, or something to that effect. This will prevent teams from signing ten vet minimum bench warmers, and, while a player might be willing to take $2-3 million less to play with another star who commands a high salary, you probably aren't going to find two top tier guys who are each going to take a 40%+ paycut.
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Quote:
The more you see the Bulls, the more they do resemble the Cavs of the last few years.
right down to ESPN complaining about the Bulls not making a trade that may not have even been on the table. apparently, Jason Richardson is the difference between the Bulls beating the Heat and losing 
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/columns/story?columnist=wilbon_michael&id=6577394
ok, outside of how laughable the initial premise is. Wilbon doesn't say why the Magic would trade one of their few scorers to an East rival, how the Bulls would match Richardson's $14mil contract with only Taj/Asik ($3mil), or why the Bulls would risk youngsters for an expiring contract.
or, if not Richardson (he just says a scoring guard to pair with Deng on the perimiter), then who they could have traded for.
it's really like reading all the magical trades the Cavs should have made over the years when it looked like they might (or did) lose in the playoffs. good times.
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I think Bill Simmons or someone brought up that they didn't understand why Rip didn't take the Cleveland buyout, Clevo gets the pick, and Rip goes to the Bulls making them much better in their starting 5, all while making probably the same amount of money, and avoiding the bad pub that went his way this year.
I don't meant to bash the bulls, but you guys all know that if the front of their jersey read cleveland or milwaukee, they'd be talking about how derek rose doesn't have enough around him and that he probably should be headed to a bigger market so he can win. You know that, right?
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you mean ESPN won't have a yearlong discussion about whether Rose should head "home" to Memphis to help get the Grizzlies over the hump because the Bulls haven't given him enough help around him?
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laker fans showing up to the staples center when chicago comes to town, holding up their fake #1 Rose Laker jerseys. BSPN foaming at the mouth at what a kobe/rose combo would be like.
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SMH. I remember when BSPN used to be halfway decent.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
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In the Cleveland area on Channel 5 Sports Sunday show, Andy Baskin did a sit down with Dan Gilbert. Gilbert took ownership of the mistake of not getting market value for Lebron, he stated they should have traded Lebron when he refuse to sign an extension before trade deadline. He did say there was two reasons they didn't do it, 1 they felt they had a good shot at title,and 2 they were led to believe Lebron was going to resign with The Cavs.
King
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NOBODY would have given the Cavs "market value" right before the trade deadline anyway. As if the Lakers would have traded Kobe, Orlando and Dwight, or Team X for Player A. You can't get value for a 3-month rent-a-player, regardless of skill level.
And like you and Dan said, they had to gamble for one more deep shot into the playoffs. Nobody figured the Celtics would get crazy hot down the stretch.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/Punchsmack/punch.gif) “...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
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gilbert would have been destroyed by the media both local and national for trading lbj.
it also would have given lebron the easy way out, instead his "brand' took a hit.
i don't fault the cavs with only getting some crappy picks and an exception for lebron. after all what else did miami truly have to offer?
i fault dan gilbert somewhat for being an enabler, and not seeing the signs that were probably out there. we as fans were lead to believe he was coming back, but as an owner, you and your staff had to have had some clue, and probably should have been better prepared. on the flip side, it's not like there was any plan B. Cleveland can't sign top level free agents. Dan Gilbert had no leverage over lbj the last few years, and lebron knew it.
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i fault dan gilbert somewhat for being an enabler, and not seeing the signs that were probably out there. we as fans were lead to believe he was coming back, but as an owner, you and your staff had to have had some clue, and probably should have been better prepared.
But what exactly should he have done? If he called Lebron on his antics and made him behave, then he would be "the guy that pushed Lebron out of town" ... if he kept talent and draft picks as some sort of "plan B", then he would be the guy that didn't do enough to keep Lebron (as if he isn't already) ... heck, the guy gets a ton of flack already because he didn't trade the farm for Amare, and we'd likely be screwed even worse than we were if that trade went through.
And even if he did have some sort of insider info on Lebron leaving ... what was he suppose to do? Trade him at the deadline? You see how well that went for Dolan regarding Sabathia, and he did just about everything but wear a Yankees billboard on his head to let people know his free agency intentions ... oh wait, he did do that. Lebron was making no public indications that he was leaving, and if he did get traded, I wouldn't put it past him to say that Gilbert didn't want him here to make him look like the poor victim. What other options did Gilbert really have other than to bite the bullet and go all-in?
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Like I said in another thread, the only way they could've traded LeBron at the deadline last season is if he goes to Dan Gilbert personally and says "there is absolutely no way I'll be back". Even then, with being in strong contention plus healthy skepticism, its a tough call to make. Easy in hindsight, for sure, but imagine having to pull that trigger last February.
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That's why I only partially blame him. He didn't have a lot of leeway, however you have to agree that allowing Lebron to bring his teammates on flights, to hold flights up for a day so he could hang out, to use floor seats for his friends, for friends of friends, and probably most of all, not doing anything when it was reported he stormed off the court in practice because he didn't see eye to eye with the coach? you can't just stand there with your hands up and not take some of the blame.
I'm also of the minority that I did not like the letter put out in the hours following the decision too, and I'm a huge Dan Gilbert fan.
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Ouchie, OKC was up by 15 with 5 min left in the game, then dal went on a 17-2 run to close the game and force OT
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Wow ... Dallas wins in OT.
That's a heartbreaker for Oklahoma City ... and probably the series. Up by 15 and wind up going to OT ... then getting manhandled in OT to lose by 7 ...... Ugly, painful, and done.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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Yep, too bad for OKC, but I'm pulling for Dirk anyway, and I would rather have them rested in hopes Chicago gets their act together and strings out Miami.
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Yep, too bad for OKC, but I'm pulling for Dirk anyway, and I would rather have them rested in hopes Chicago gets their act together and strings out Miami.
agreed. OKC is young anyway, they need to fail a few times in the playoffs before getting to the mountaintop. Dallas has the look/feel of those old Spurs teams. They get in the right spots to breakup plays, poke away passes, get long rebounds. They just know what to do. And Dirk is the finisher on the other end.
radio here was playing some Oklahoma callers today and they were calling them Kevin Dur-can't and Russell West-brick this morning. There will always be idiots in every fanbase (this young of a team making the Western Conference Finals and even having a legitimate shot is amazing in itself).
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More agreement fom me,...OKC is what I called the Cavs for a few years here lately until whatshisname left -- about a guy and a half, and some playoff experience short.
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More agreement fom me,...OKC is what I called the Cavs for a few years here lately until whatshisname left -- about a guy and a half, and some playoff experience short.
They are much like the 2007 Cavs team that was still built on defense before we started to try to keep importing offensive players and hope they learned to play defense. OKC has Westbrook, who is better than any running-mate LeBron had here though.
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i didn't like the body language from the OKC kids last night, but I guess it's to be expected with a pretty young group.
but honestly, after kidd hit that 3, did you see the look on durant's face in the timeout? it was like they were down 6. he's gotta learn that you still have possessions to execute. you can't just be beaten when the game is still at hand. you watch the teams like the spurs and celtics operate in those situations, and it's all business.
they just have to learn from this. I think in the offseason they could use a veteran player, someone who can knock down a big shot or two. not some superstar or anything, but remember how boston had pj brown to knock down that shot? something similiar to that. an antonio mcdyess kinda guy.
and not only to knock down shots, but to lead by example in those kinda situations.
kevin durant is a hell of a player, he'll learn from this.
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and Scott Brooks has got to have a better play with 6 seconds on the clock than 'give the ball to Westbrook, hand it off to Durant to waste 4 of the seconds and chuck a shot'
that was terrible.
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It is just me.....or does Westbrook remind anyone else of Larry Hughes? Good one night, horrible the next, disaster the following, and then even worse when you think he'll have a good game. And even when he has a "good game", he has too many misses and TO's.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
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Quote:
It is just me.....or does Westbrook remind anyone else of Larry Hughes? Good one night, horrible the next, disaster the following, and then even worse when you think he'll have a good game. And even when he has a "good game", he has too many misses and TO's.
yeah, definitely. good defense, good athleticism, horrible shot.
and honestly, if the cavs had allowed larry to handle the ball more, you probably would have seen a bit more of the penetration that you do with westbrook. that's actually a pretty solid comparison.
i know we bag on larry hughes for his shot, with the website and jokes and everything, but his defense helped us get to the finals that year.
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Hughes was great at defending PGs, but did not want to be called a PG (those were funny interviews). And yes, one of the reasons we got swept by the Spurs was Hughes got hurt and he was the only one on the team that could have defended Tony Parker.
anyways, Westbrook can finish at the rim instead of getting half his shots blocked. I do see some similarities in their game, but I would take Westbrook over Hughes everytime.
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yeah, but you might not say that if you were looking at larry legend when he was the same age as westbrook.
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yeah, but you might not say that if you were looking at larry legend when he was the same age as westbrook.
when Larry Hughes was 22, he was playing for GS and didn't care about defense. I most definitely would have picked Russell over Larry then.
Russell is ridiculously ahead of where Larry was when he was 22 on both ends of the floor.
Age22 Russell Westbrook 44%FG 33%3pt 84%FT 4.6Rb/Gm 1.9St/Gm 8.2Ast/Gm 3.9TO/Gm 23.6PER 9.4WS
Age22 Larry Hughes 38%FG 19%3pt 76%FT 4Rb/Gm 1.9St/Gm 4.5Ast/Gm 3TO/Gm 13.9PER 0.6WS
So, better %'s across the board and pretty significantly too. Equal rebounding and steals, but way better assist numbers. TO's higher for Westbrook is the only spot where Hughes was better at age 22.
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could LeBron's walk on that last shot have been any more obvious and still not been called?
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Looks like LeSidekick will be going to the finals.
I won't be watching.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
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Miami 4, Dallas 2 (maybe)
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heard someone on bspn radio on my ride home last night trying to play up the bulls (it was the late night guy, not anything local)
he was drinking the heat kool aid, he said they have already lost their last game.
the bulls are a good team, maybe a very good team, but who exactly does rose have to defer to? he's getting the same treatment lebron got in cleveland, yet the national media is playing them up to be this great team on the rise. really? is kyle korver gonna get any better? carlos boozer? is he all of a sudden gonna start D'ing up? They maxed out Loul Deng this year. The guy played about as well as you'll see him play.
Even before Chicago lost last night, I've heard people already playing the tune of "we gotta go get dwight"
I dunno, I think Dallas matches up really well against Miami, should it be those 2 in the finals. I like Dallas' interior defense a lot better too. They have some big bodies. Chandler and Haywood should both provide good defense around the rim. You'll see a lot of hard fouls. They have good perimeter defenders. Nobody on the Heat can check Dirk. I think Marion might be able to control lebron a bit.
You would expect Bosh to disappear in a series like this too.
It's gonna be a good watch. Probably the highest rated finals in a long time. Bandwagon d-bags will watch for the heat, as will south florida, and you'll have most of the country pulling for the mavericks. you've got the mark cuban angle.
Plus I think Dirk and Lebron have gotten similiar treatment for their inability to win a ring this far into their careers (Much more for lebron because he brought it upon himself with the way he came into the league, and with the way he changed teams over the summer)
I'm gonna watch.
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I'm gonna watch.
Let me know how it turns out.
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Quote:
I'm gonna watch.
Let me know how it turns out.
Ditto that,...I'm going to pay attention, but I will not watch LeBum win.
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honestly, the Mavs series is the first one that I can fully root against the Heat. I have been hoping for the Celtics & Bulls to win, but feel a bit dirty actually rooting for them to and as a result ended up completely skipping the last 2 Heat v. Bulls games.
the Mavs though. Tyson guarding Bosh. Marion on LeBron. Kidd on Wade (uh oh), and Dirk causing major issues and throwing the ball out to all those shooters.
If Tyson could score better on the low-block, then this Mavs team would be the perfect team to pair up to beat the Heat. It will be interesting to see if the Mavs can overcome their lack of post-scoring as Miami is really good on their defensive rotations. And, it will be interesting to see how Miami's defense is disrupted by having to figure out how to guard Dirk.
Dallas also has a defense that can perplex Miami. If Wade/LeBron are hitting their outside shots, well, noone can defend the Heat. That usually only happens 1 to 2 times a series though.
It's gonna be fun. I actually hope that both OKC and Chicago lose their next game so we can just get on with the inevitable.
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Holy cow. If this is true (and it seems to be), then Mike Brown will have coached LeBron and now Kobe. Not too shabby for the first 2 stops of a head coaching tour. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr...6&eref=sihpQuote:
The Lakers are poised to hire former Cleveland coach Mike Brown as their next head coach, a source confirmed to SI.com.
While a deal has yet to be finalized, the source involved in the team's coaching search said it appears that it's "a formality" that Brown will succeed the recently retired Phil Jackson. The potential deal, according to CSNBayArea.com, would be for four years and $18 million.
The Los Angeles Times reported the deal would have a fourth-year team option and pay between $4 million and $4.5 million annually. Lakers owner Jerry Buss reportedly said in an interview with Sirius XM on Tuesday that his team was "very close" to selecting its coach.
The move is believed to be driven by Jim Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel and son of owner Jerry Buss, whose role was expected to increase with Jackson's departure. Brown, the defensive-minded coach who took the 2010-11 season off after being fired by the Cavaliers last summer, was believed to be the frontrunner for the Golden State vacancy as well.
He went 272-138 in five seasons with the LeBron James-led Cavaliers, taking the team to the Eastern Conference Finals twice and the Finals once (2007) and being named Coach of the Year in 2009. But not long before James left his home state for Miami as a free agent, Brown was let go despite the Cavs going 127-37 in his final two regular seasons.
The source close to the Lakers told SI.com that Lakers star Kobe Bryant was "surprised" by the news, and that he was not a part of the decision-making process. Bryant had been a staunch supporter of Lakers assistant Brian Shaw for the position and remains as such.
Yet while the Lakers had also considered veteran coaches Rick Adelman and Mike Dunleavy for the job, Brown's reputation is far more in line with the type of coach Bryant had described during the team's exit interviews.
"If you're building a championship team, your DNA always has to start with the defensive end of the floor," Bryant said on May 11. "Always. I'm a firm believer in that. I don't believe in building a championship team on offense. It has to be built on defense and rebounding. Period."
Should the Lakers finalize a deal with Brown, it would be major piece of what should be an interesting offseason puzzle. Their collapse against Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals in which they were swept sparked speculation that the roster would be overhauled, with most of it fueled by Lakers legend and ESPN analyst Magic Johnson
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr...l#ixzz1NNGWRagy
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