Official 2007-08 NBA Thread

[The_Mighty_Thor]

Now I am a Lakers fan, but i mostly just want to see a good game, the refs did not let them play tonight and the difference in free throws attempts seems very skewed in Bostons favor. I saw some of those fouls and i saw either all ball or no foul at all. The last one with Peirce that decided the game pisses me off cause i wish they would just let the teams play and instead the game was decided on a foul call.

People will say I am making excuses for the Lakers, but I am not. The played soft defense and missed important shots. But just look at the difference in free throws. a 38 to 10 edge, that seems like very bad calls to me.

The difference in foul shots comes from the Celtics shutting down the lanes to the basket and the Lakers settling for jump shots. The Celtics took it to the hole. There is always a bad call or two and a missed call or two at both ends of the floor but the refs also see the plays from a different angle than what the camera is showing you and sometimes they see something that you missed.

This let them play crap is just that, crap! A team should win because they were allowed to cheat and get away with fouls all night? No Way! The calls should be more consistent from game one of the season to the last game of the championships but it should be officiated none the less.

 

[Immortalfire]

But I did love watching Miami suffer into the endless abyss of the basement this year though.

'Tis better to have won it all and be crap in subsequent years than to have 8 consecutive 50 win seasons and not have jack to show for it other than coulda/woulda/shoulda/Boo Stern.

Owned!!

 

[LastSunrise1981]

Owned!!

Not really, it just shows he's stuck on the past and refuses to concentrate on the present. So it's not really an owned I'm afraid Mr. Immortalfire. While it's true we don't have a championship, I'm not focused on our past success because it means jack in the present time.

Miami's basement living is the present time and their championship doesn't mean squat right now.

 

[Mister J]

I'm stuck on the past? I'm not the one who continually references comparable phrasing to "I still believe shady officiating was involved in Miami beating Dallas, but...". I'm not the one still crying about the Big Bad Commissioner and his Conspiracies of Doom. I'm not the one who was whining about a rigged Lakers/Celtics Finals weeks before it ever came to fruition. Your sour grapes are littered throughout this, and the last two incarnations, of the NBA threads.

I don't make any qualms about Miami being awful this year. Apparently, their championship does mean squat, seeing as how you like to often incorporate it into your Oliver Stone routine. My take is that the season is only worthwhile if you win it all or are building to at least making an attempt at such. The whole bride's maid deal doesn't really do a lot for me.

You want present time concentration? I'll roll with the 26-year old proven superstar, the Matrix and a team president who's been known to pull off extremely beneficial deals. You take the highest payroll in the league, the roster that wilts under the mention of the word 'pressure' and the loudmouth owner with a blog. Coincidentally, Cubes believes the idea of the league being rigged is nonsense, but I've mentioned that before. You simply choose to overlook it because it makes a little too much sense. It's just as well; your ramblings are a source of entertainment. Heaven help us all if you decide to stop.

I believe this is the portion of the program where you throw up some videos of Magic, Larry Legend, Pistol Pete or someone. Holla.

 

[Raiden]

As a Lakers fan, I'm deeply disappointed that they lost two at Boston. They had a chance to win in Game 2, but they blew it and now it's pretty much Game 7 in every game from now on. Celtics played well, but Lakers also played poorly and they have no excuse not to turn it up several notches in the biggest games of their lives. Odom especially should've played better, and the team need to focus more on defense and not let a nobody to suddenly drop 27 pts on you when his average is more like 4. Thanks to the 2-3-2 format, Lakers still have a chance if they can pull off 3 straight victories at home, because it will give them the confidence they need for the last two games, but they will have to work harder than never before and they have to be mentally tough, because there will be no magic wand making it happen.

 

[BlackLantern]

IMO the refs were a little too involved in the 1st half but it seemed to die down in the 2nd...the Lakers had more than enough chances to build a lead...but rebounding and turnovers hurt them...I had anticipated a split in Boston due to LA's deep bench....

 

[Raiden]

IMO the refs were a little too involved in the 1st half but it seemed to die down in the 2nd...the Lakers had more than enough chances to build a lead...but rebounding and turnovers hurt them...I had anticipated a split in Boston due to LA's deep bench....

Lakers have a deep bench, but what they lack are experience since they are all youthful (under 30). That might've worked against them during the pressured situations.

 

[Mister J]

The early fouls that Bryant got hurt, but the game didn't open up for Boston until the third. The second was pretty weak. Mamba's thrown way more vicious elbows than that with no whistle.

You can't call a game that way. It'd be near impossible to do so and remain consistent without fouling everyone out. Although, that call gave rise to Jeff Van Gundy blurting out that the league should raise the foul limit to 7 or just do away with fouling out altogether. That was comedy in itself.

 

[Docker2.0]

The refs made f-ed up calls in the 1st half but got it right in the 2nd. The Lakers still have a good chance of winning the series. I'm rooting for BC but Doc is coaching crazy! 7 players! House and BB can't even get any burn and those guys played their arses off! Cassell is getting a lot of time though he is playing insanely crazy! Garnett REFUSES to post up it seems! Maybe they shouldve gotten Larry Brown to coach these guys!

 

[Mister J]

That's a good point. Why is KG not in the paint more. Spacing for Pierce and Allen is one thing, but Garnett has either Odom, Gasol, Turiaf or Rodmonovich guarding him. What am I missing?

 

[The_Mighty_Thor]

They played 9 guys.

 

[Docker2.0]

The wrong 9 guys. But I only recall them playing 8. The starters plus Powe, Cassell and Brown.

 

[The_Mighty_Thor]

and posey. Sam played short minutes because he suposably sprained his wrist so maybe House and or Tony Allen will be in the next game.

 

[Darthphere]

The refs made f-ed up calls in the 1st half but got it right in the 2nd. The Lakers still have a good chance of winning the series. I'm rooting for BC but Doc is coaching crazy! 7 players! House and BB can't even get any burn and those guys played their arses off! Cassell is getting a lot of time though he is playing insanely crazy! Garnett REFUSES to post up it seems! Maybe they shouldve gotten Larry Brown to coach these guys!

That's a good point. Why is KG not in the paint more. Spacing for Pierce and Allen is one thing, but Garnett has either Odom, Gasol, Turiaf or Rodmonovich guarding him. What am I missing?

Doc has addressed this problem already and is in the process of fixing it.

 

[Dark Donnie]

Vinny Del Fuego

Report: Bulls to offer Del Negro coaching job

Although a deal has not been finalized, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Bulls are ready to offer Suns assistant GM Vinny Del Negro their head coaching job.

Del Negro has no previous coaching experience but reportedly impressed Bulls GM John Paxson and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf enough during interviews last week to edge out former Timberwolves head coach Dwane Casey and Kings assistant Chuck Person. Casey was initially thought to the be the favorite to win the job, but it now appears to be Del Negro's job if he accepts the Bulls offer. Jun. 9 - 2:29 pm et
Source: Chicago Sun-Times

 

[LastSunrise1981]

I'm stuck on the past? I'm not the one who continually references comparable phrasing to "I still believe shady officiating was involved in Miami beating Dallas, but...". I'm not the one still crying about the Big Bad Commissioner and his Conspiracies of Doom. I'm not the one who was whining about a rigged Lakers/Celtics Finals weeks before it ever came to fruition. Your sour grapes are littered throughout this, and the last two incarnations, of the NBA threads.

I don't make any qualms about Miami being awful this year. Apparently, their championship does mean squat, seeing as how you like to often incorporate it into your Oliver Stone routine. My take is that the season is only worthwhile if you win it all or are building to at least making an attempt at such. The whole bride's maid deal doesn't really do a lot for me.

You want present time concentration? I'll roll with the 26-year old proven superstar, the Matrix and a team president who's been known to pull off extremely beneficial deals. You take the highest payroll in the league, the roster that wilts under the mention of the word 'pressure' and the loudmouth owner with a blog. Coincidentally, Cubes believes the idea of the league being rigged is nonsense, but I've mentioned that before. You simply choose to overlook it because it makes a little too much sense. It's just as well; your ramblings are a source of entertainment. Heaven help us all if you decide to stop.

I believe this is the portion of the program where you throw up some videos of Magic, Larry Legend, Pistol Pete or someone. Holla.

Nope, I've already proven my knowledge of basketball and while I have posted old school videos of great legendary players, it only proves that I actually know what I'm talking about and know history involving the sport of basketball.

As you already know I'm one of the most passionate, realistic, and outspoken fans of this sport. If I feel there's shady officiating then I'm going to say what's on my mind and if people don't like it, then that's their problem and no one has a gun to said posters head forcing them to read my posts. Whether you or anyone wants to believe it or not, it's not exactly far fetched to believe the officials have hidden agendas and demostrate favoritism for certain teams.

I take it you forgot the story about Tim Donaghy who was caught betting on games and intentionally messed up several games? My belief isn't exactly as far fetched or as non-sense as you claim it to be Mister J. Anytime you have sports analysts or long time fans saying the NBA is close to professional wrestling in terms of the outcomes, favortisim, and so forth that's when you know something is wrong. But yet, I don't see you ragging on anyone else who whines about bad officiating, Stern screwing them over, and Paul Pierce faking an injury. But God Forbid I speak my mind because certain people around here can't handle the truth. Guess who was officiating the 2006 championship game? Tim Donaghy. How come the NBA is so quick to sweep the story under the rug?

I stand by my belief that there was shady officiating in 2006. But I also know that that we put ourselves in a position to lose, and while officiating did play a part, we also helped our cause by missing crucial shots, not playing defense, and not playing through the bad calls. Great teams play through it and that was something we didn't do. I've already admitted that and quite frankly I'm nowhere near as angry about it as I once was. Hell, to prove that I am not angry about it, here are some videos I was watching a few minutes ago.

[YT]19xH1gNWxt4[/YT]

[YT]Y7cG9NrfhM0[/YT]

[YT]AI-0WUWsCfg[/YT]

 

[Pickle-El]

Incredibly disappointed.....Refs or not, the Lakers didn't play like it mattered until the final 7 mins.

The bench needs to step it up. They look like chumps out there. Oh and Mamba....step it up for a whole game. Geez, the heck it happening there? I don't think he's gotten close enough to dunk once this series.

Oh, and did Odom leave for vacation already?

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Everyone "gets screwed by the refs" at some point. The Lakers have gotten the better end of bad officiating more often than not. From 2000-2003 you had at least one team that felt the League had screwed them in favor of the Lakeshow. Speaking of 2006, if not for dubious officiating against San Antonio the Mavs probably don't even make it to the Finals.

Fans will be fans I guess...

 

[Mister J]

I take it you forgot the story about Tim Donaghy who was caught betting on games and intentionally messed up several games? My belief isn't exactly as far fetched or as non-sense as you claim it to be Mister J. Anytime you have sports analysts or long time fans saying the NBA is close to professional wrestling in terms of the outcomes, favortisim, and so forth that's when you know something is wrong. But yet, I don't see you ragging on anyone else who whines about bad officiating, Stern screwing them over, and Paul Pierce faking an injury. But God Forbid I speak my mind because certain people around here can't handle the truth. Guess who was officiating the 2006 championship game? Tim Donaghy. How come the NBA is so quick to sweep the story under the rug?

Umm ...this is kinda what I'm talking about.

Donaghy refereed 20 playoffs games; none in the 2006 Finals and, IIRC, none ever past the second round. You can go to the box scores from the 2006 Finals site and see who the refs were for each game. Since Boogeyman Stern could easily have that site altered, feel free to run a few general searches and see if you can find him reffing the Miami/Dallas series. Then again, Godfather Stern is the King of All Media; he could simply wipe any incriminating evidence away. Hmm, this is a toughie. However, good ol' ESPN has to happen to have his game logs (playoffs included) for 05 - 06 and 06 - 07. Donaghy wasn't anywhere near that series. You made it up, but don't let a little thing like facts get in the way of fiction.

Also, and once again, Dirty Donaghy trying to cover the spread for Fat Tony and the mob is nowhere near a Commissioner-issued directive to favor a particular team ...or is $tern the head of the Five Families and collecting on that end too? Lastly, if the league is so obviously crooked why hasn't the FBI investigation yielded jack since it went into overdrive last summer, when Donaghy was put on blast?

There's a difference between poor officiating and Big Bad Stern huffing and puffing and blowing someone's house down.

Incredibly disappointed.....Refs or not, the Lakers didn't play like it mattered until the final 7 mins.

The bench needs to step it up. They look like chumps out there. Oh and Mamba....step it up for a whole game. Geez, the heck it happening there? I don't think he's gotten close enough to dunk once this series.

Oh, and did Odom leave for vacation already?

I still don't really know how that comeback happened.

Mamba needs more consistent help. Boston's team defense has held up better than I imagined (largely because I figured Rivers to screw it up at some point ). They're doing the smart things and running different people at him on the perimeter and leaving the Defensive Player of the Year and guys like Perkins and Brown underneath to challenge. One guy isn't getting worn down chasing him around.

Fisher and Gasol went into the tank in the second half of Game 1 and nobody was doing anything worthwhile in the second half of Game 2 until LA erupted. Someone besides the Viper is going to need to spark them. Even if he does go off in Game 3 for 40+, that's not what's going to beat the Celtics. It's how the supporting cast plays off it. #24 ain't winning this by himself.

 

[omid17]

I still don't really know how that comeback happened.

Mamba needs more consistent help. Boston's team defense has held up better than I imagined (largely because I figured Rivers to screw it up at some point ). They're doing the smart things and running different people at him on the perimeter and leaving the Defensive Player of the Year and guys like Perkins and Brown underneath to challenge. One guy isn't getting worn down chasing him around.

Fisher and Gasol went into the tank in the second half of Game 1 and nobody was doing anything worthwhile in the second half of Game 2 until LA erupted. Someone besides the Viper is going to need to spark them. Even if he does go off in Game 3 for 40+, that's not what's going to beat the Celtics. It's how the supporting cast plays off it. #24 ain't winning this by himself.

agreed.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

#24 ain't winning this by himself.

He tried that in 2004. Took him 4 miserable years to overcome that mistake.

Also the Celtics are playing him the same way they went at LBJ, and LBJ is better at getting to the hole than KB is. We were told that it only worked because LJB can't shoot outside of 15 ft. So much for that.

 

[Doomed_hero]

No, that's called good defense from the Celtics. Leave it to Laker fans to whine about the officiating when they've received some gimmie calls as well. Where's the ridicule for Doomed Hero? Why do I get ridiculed for making claims of shady officiating, and yet, a poster can make the same exact accusations and receive no flaming?

I guess you can say that it was good defense, but when I see Lakers getting hit all over the place and no calls, I call it bad calls not good defense.

 

[Raiden]

I still don't really know how that comeback happened.

Mamba needs more consistent help. Boston's team defense has held up better than I imagined (largely because I figured Rivers to screw it up at some point ). They're doing the smart things and running different people at him on the perimeter and leaving the Defensive Player of the Year and guys like Perkins and Brown underneath to challenge. One guy isn't getting worn down chasing him around.

Fisher and Gasol went into the tank in the second half of Game 1 and nobody was doing anything worthwhile in the second half of Game 2 until LA erupted. Someone besides the Viper is going to need to spark them. Even if he does go off in Game 3 for 40+, that's not what's going to beat the Celtics. It's how the supporting cast plays off it. #24 ain't winning this by himself.

While that may be true, I wish the officiating will be better in Game 3 because Celtics got 38 FT compared to Lakers' 10 in Game 2, and Leon Powe (a guy off Boston's bench) actually gotten 13 FT, more than the entire Lakers squad. Since Lakers only lost by 6 pts, this 28 FT disparity imo did influence the outcome, despite Lakers' own lackluster performance.

 

[omid17]

While that may be true, I wish the officiating will be better in Game 3 because Celtics got 38 FT compared to Lakers' 10 in Game 2, and Leon Powe (a guy off Boston's bench) actually gotten 13 FT, more than the entire Lakers squad. Since Lakers only lost by 6 pts, this 28 FT disparity imo did influence the outcome, despite Lakers' own lackluster performance.

it got to a point where Kobe had say something to the ref and got a T for that

 

[BlackLantern]

it got to a point where Kobe had say something to the ref and got a T for that

To be honest, I think that kind of thing should get called more often....