Quote :

"I certainly agree that Kobe's finger cause him to have a HUGE dropoff this year."

Do you not expect it to heal in the off season?

Quote :

"According to reports his finger is healed now from the fracture and he's still struggling in the playoffs to score."

According to other reports, he has an ankle injury and a hip injury...who knows...he also dropped 31 last game...thats struggling to score? Your boy Durant is the one who struggled to score in the playoffs...oh wait, the regular season and playoffs are the exact same

And while Kobe is 31, Gasol is 30...why so firmly on his nuts? With his experience in Spain, he has just as much wear and tear as Kobe...oh yeah he doesn't have a broken finger though, I guess that means he's better

Would I rather have Lebron or Dwight Howard over Kobe right now to build for the future? Absolutely, no question about it

But who would I rather have for one game in the NBA Finals? Kobe, no brainer

Hence I think we're almost arguing different things...or maybe I'm right and you just ignore intangibles in favor of efficiency statistics

Quote :

"Howard just shit all over the Hawks who won 53 games this year."

21 points and 12 rebounds, crown his ass, move over Wilt and Bill

5/4/2010 10:20:08 PM

Well Kobe is a SG and Gasol is a PF. Kobe was on a lot of teams that made deep runs while Gasol was on shitty teams that didnt go that deep. Kobe's body is breaking down on him and Gasol looks as steady as ever really. Sure, he's not as good as he was 5 years ago, but he's still a terrific player.

Fuck this losing streak, I took Jazz +2 (+125) in the first quarter tonight. Normally, I'd hate a bet like this against a team with a great starting lineup and terrible bench (sans Odom) like the Lakers but I have some weird feeling the Jazz come out strong tonight and the +125 gives me a huge margin for error.


^ Typical you ignore that he only played 29 minutes, shot 80% FG, blocked 5 shots, made an elite big man like Horford irrelevant, ended the game in the 2nd quarter, got their entire team in foul trouble, and basically crushed any ideas the Hawks had of winning this series in FIFTEEN FUCKING MINUTES.

So irrational. Oh well, can't wait to collect that $3,000.

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 10:29 PM. Reason : a]

5/4/2010 10:26:15 PM

Quote :

"Kobe's body is breaking down on him and Gasol looks as steady as ever really."

Kobe didn't look bad last year...47% from the field...35% from the arc...28, 5 and 5

How does his finger (and possibly other injuries) make you think he has fallen off as bad as you're implying?

Quote :

"Typical you ignore that he only played 29 minutes, shot 80% FG, blocked 5 shots"

no need to specify FG when you're talking about Dwight's shooting percentages...nobody would ever mistake it for FT% since he's such a liability...gotta love superstars who are huge liabilities late in close game situations

just went through the play-by-play...5 of Howard's 8 field goals made were dunks...wow, what a multi-dimensional offensive game he has!

I've said plenty of times he's the best defender in the game...but if you watched the CHA/ORL series, where Howard was a non-factor after the first quarter of game 1, and all of Orlando's other players were responsible for their sweep...its hard to say Howard is a top 5 player

You give Kobe all this shit, talking about how Gasol and Bynum and Odom (LOL) are carrying the team...yet you're too fucking hardheaded to realize that Orlando's 3 point shooters are what beat Charlotte, not Howard...he averaged 5.5 fouls per game, and if the refs called all his offensive elbows, which might be asking too much, he would have been even less effective...in the Charlotte series, unlike tonight, Howard's minutes were limited because of foul trouble...not because Orlando was up 40 points

Howard had a great game tonight, good for him...yeah he didn't need to play many minutes because it was over early...but he did nothing offensively in the Charlotte series...congrats to him for breaking the 20 point margin for the first time in the 2010 playoffs tonight...he is truly one of the best players ever

Quote :

"Oh well, can't wait to collect that $3,000."

good luck, seriously...your faith in efficiency stats should help you win more than you lose in the long run...I don't knock your stats and trends from a gambling perspective...although it will be kind of funny when the Lakers win it all and Kobe gets NBA Finals MVP


[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 10:55 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2010 10:29:05 PM

Quote :

"Although Howard's complete lack of any offense aside from dunking still obviously keeps him out of the top 5 players in the game...thats like saying Nash is a top 5 and ignoring his complete lack of defense"

you've got to put howard in the top 5 players in the game right now, as I said before, you could argue carter, nelson, and lewis didn't even have good years, and orlando STILL finished ahead of the lakers, he was the clear cut number two mvp but that doesn't mean all that much

he could definitely score more points but I wouldn't say he has some great fault in his offensive game, he's shooting 60%+ I believe, he just needs to get more touches

I don't think you realize what a fucking idiot van gundy was at times this year, I remember when I was going over the stats earlier in the year that were stretches of games where pietrus was taking more shots than howard was, I just said pietrus; I didn't even say carter, lewis or nelson

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 11:11 PM. Reason : k]

5/4/2010 11:02:54 PM

I'm not trying to say Howard wasn't integral in Orlando having a great season, or that he's not a very good player with unlimited potential...I'm saying in the Bobcats series (the playoffs), he was a non-factor offensively (48% FG, 9.8ppg)

Defensively he is probably the top player in the league, but he didn't do a lot to win the Bobcats series...when the Bobcats got him in foul trouble and benched, or fouled out, we kept shooting jumpers...all of Orlando's 3 point shooting and defense (as a team) was what won them the series

Look, I am not a Howard hater anymore...dude has game, but he's also 24 years old...just cause he (and Lebron) have the potential to be some of the best ever, doesn't mean they are there yet...and if this is based on predictions, rally is the same guy who thinks Michael Vick and Reggie Bush are or would be two of the best football players ever...even though Vick can't pass and Bush can't run up the middle...he likes to look at flash and style and weird stats, and not football (or basketball)

Until either Lebron or Howard wins a title they're Dan Marino and not Joe Montana...and for the record, I like Lebron 100x more than I like Kobe...I just don't think Lebron is there yet

Quote :

"I don't think you realize what a fucking idiot van gundy was at times this year"

I have never thought he was a great coach...in fact I thought that might help the Bobcats win a game or two, although in hindsight we lost the series by a combined 37 points...Atlanta lost by more than that tonight

Also Pietrus shot 50% from the arc in the Charlotte series...pretty deadly...compared to Howard's FG% (2 point field goal percentage) its a better overall efficiency...if I were Van Gundy, until myself or Patrick Ewing can develop Dwight's offense, I'd pretty much only rely on him for defense, and dunks...and of course just give it to him to draw double teams and let 10 of his teammates drain open 3's

5/4/2010 11:07:49 PM

Powell in the game!

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 11:51 PM. Reason : And immediately commits a moving screen foul, then a blocking foul]

5/4/2010 11:50:47 PM

Jack is pissed

5/4/2010 11:53:29 PM

Quote :

"except amac but he just loves him some Tracy"

i will never back down from my claim that tracy could have been an all time great...his raw skill is/was just insane

5/5/2010 1:04:50 AM

McGrady is similar to his cousin Vince Carter in that they both had literally all the athletic potential in the world, yet (my guess) they were satisfied with their 8-digit net worth and didn't feel the need to really go all out and try to prove they were up there with the best ever

I used to think that if you substituted Vince or T-Mac or AI on the Lakers with Shaq when they got the threepeat that they would've still 3-peated...but then 2 things happened

1. Most importantly, I came to see how much more of a strong, albeit cocky, competitor Kobe Bryant is compared to Vince and T-Mac
2. I saw some of the former Lakers 01-03 players talking about how Shaq was just as influential as Kobe in the Kobe/Shaq drama queen ego drama and that he wasn't always the best teammate either

Up until that point, I had ALWAYS sided with Shaq in the issue...and I still like Shaq a lot more than I like Kobe, from a personality and sense of humor standpoint...Shaq is a fucking trip...I think he was the first twitter person I ever followed, and I follow <20 people to this day despite signing up maybe 3 years ago

But I got to see that it wasn't just Kobe not accepting 2nd fiddle...it was both of them being primadonna pricks

Somebody (wish I could remember who) a few years back broke down the Lakers in the 80s and compared it to the Shaq Kobe Lakers of the late 90s and early 2000s...basically that when Magic got to LA, Kareem was still the man, but that the franchise knew Magic was the future...after all Magic was 12 years younger than Kareem

But unlike Shaq, Kareem realized that the time was coming for him to relinquish the #1 guy on the team honors to a guard, even though he was one of the best ever...he knew he was getting old and Magic was the new baller (although it didn't hurt they had Worthy, Green, Scott, etc)

Shaq was too prideful to do that...you couldn't convince him that he wasn't the man, regardless of age...shit, he broke his finger this season and dropped 25 pounds because people were saying he couldn't last in the postseason...regardless of his current postseason play, he still has the determination to try and prove people wrong and show he's the best, even though he's over the hill...but damn I want a Cleveland/Orlando series just to see the Shaq/Howard play...I was so damn disappointed with the officiating in the Georgetown Ohio State game a few years back in the Final Four because they called so many ticky tack fouls...if called correctly that would've been the best pure center on pure center matchup in college basketball in over 10 years...mind you this is when Hibbert still had some mobility, and Oden wasn't career injured (yes I said Portland should draft him over Durant, I was wrong)

I just think, whether from the rape charges, or his attitude and cockiness, or whatever, people like to hate on Kobe...but Kobe is the Bill Belichik of NBA players...you love to hate him, but you have to respect the shit out of him

5/5/2010 1:20:42 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNBsg43cdTc&fmt=35

pls embed

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 3:19 PM. Reason : d]

5/5/2010 3:19:14 PM

hahahah the left coast...what a fucking obsessive loser faggot



[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 3:27 PM. Reason : .]

5/5/2010 3:26:53 PM

(It's not real)

5/5/2010 3:34:27 PM

still funny even if it is

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 3:35 PM. Reason : asdf]

5/5/2010 3:34:51 PM

shut up Ernie its not funny if you know its fake from the start

5/5/2010 3:34:52 PM

There is absofuckinglutely nothing funny about that video.

5/5/2010 5:40:28 PM

All boned up for Game 2 of Suns Spurs tonight

I like Duncan and Co to even the series here

5/5/2010 6:59:47 PM

if the spurs win this game, they will win the series I'd bet

5/5/2010 10:19:32 PM

Los Suns will take it all.

5/5/2010 11:46:37 PM

i think it's great when Magic fans chant "MVP" whenever Howard shoots free throws.

because he misses most of them.

maybe if he would have made more he wouldn't have finished 4th in voting

5/6/2010 8:40:30 PM

and then steve nash will get arrested at the parade for not having his id.

5/6/2010 8:41:51 PM

howard averaging 5 blocks a game in the post season

5/6/2010 8:44:53 PM

thanks to the Bobcats!

5/6/2010 8:57:14 PM

The Magic are the whiniest fucking team. Every foul they act like the ref screwed them and it is some great injustice.

5/6/2010 9:56:02 PM

look at bogut getting that all nba 3rd team

5/6/2010 10:16:17 PM

^^agreed

they also throw more elbows and get away with fouls more than anyone, so i don't know what they have to complain about

5/6/2010 10:27:45 PM

great time for the hawks to stop playing basketball

5/6/2010 10:31:48 PM

seems like unc players were all over the playoffs this year

5/6/2010 10:32:26 PM

every NBA team needs role players to compliment their high school and foreign born stars

Cavs Lakers finals would be 2 State guys and no Tarheels though...interesting

5/6/2010 10:35:16 PM

atlanta just doesn't have any leadership, yes the nba is all about individual talent but you still can't just have a bunch of passive personalities out there

5/6/2010 10:41:00 PM

^^ jamison?

5/6/2010 11:33:56 PM

Jamison is a nice player but Lebron is obviously the main guy with Cleveland...he's a very good role player but still a role player

I mean he's a starter but not a go-to guy...however re-reading your post you make an interesting point...because imo the only way Cleveland beats Boston, unless Lebron's elbow heals magically or the refs will it, is if the coaches actually start running plays for guys not named Lebron

^oh shit i completely missed the point of your post, yeah Jamison would be a UNC guy in the finals my bad lololol

[Edited on May 6, 2010 at 11:42 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2010 11:40:54 PM

^ Jawad Williams? 2-2

5/6/2010 11:51:41 PM

ATTN: TreeTwista10

consider yourself officially called out

although at least LALvCLE will be 2v1 NCSUvUNC as far as players on the playoff active roster

5/6/2010 11:57:14 PM

Quote :

"great time for the hawks to stop playing basketball"

5/7/2010 12:06:26 AM

Dwight Howard what a freaking monster.

18 pts in the first quarter???

29 pts, 17 rebs on 8-9 FG and 13-18 FT.


If they both stay with their current teams we could potentially have a Cle-Orl Eastern Finals for the next ~6-7 seasons. The gap between these two guys and everyone else in the league is just so wide that its unfair really.

5/7/2010 12:29:05 AM

Quote :

"The gap between these two guys and everyone else in the league is just so wide that its unfair really."

dwyane wade begs to differ


i assume you are speaking of lebron and dwight, rather than their respective squads

[Edited on May 7, 2010 at 12:41 AM. Reason : ]

5/7/2010 12:40:01 AM

^^wake me up when Orlando plays a decent team this playoffs

wow you beat the Bobcats and the unfocused Hawks (so far)

lets crown their asses in the 2nd round

[Edited on May 7, 2010 at 1:05 AM. Reason : the 13-18 FT is pretty impressive though...for Howard...anybody else you'd say 72%? great...]

5/7/2010 12:52:16 AM

Yes of course its great. If you can hit 72% from the ft line then you want to get fouled as much as humanly possible. 13-18 is like going 6.5/9 from 2's plus the damage the foul trouble does to the other team.

Not to mention it gets your team in the bonus so when someone accidently handchecks your guards you send 80%+ shooters to the line instead of getting the ball out of bounds.

Free throw attempts are more important then percentage unless you're just a terrible shooter.


And atlanta was one of the best teams in the league all season, not sure why its not impressive to dismantle them like this

5/7/2010 9:36:31 AM

Some of the officiating in that Magic-Hawks game last night was horrible. The refs basically let Howard do whatever the fuck he wanted (travel, lead with the shoulder, throw elbows, etc.) and then call a foul on the Hawks player after he did it. I like Howard as player, but the refs blew some calls.

The Hawks have no chance because the NBA needs another Magic-Cavs final (or Boston if they take out the Cavs). Imagine the horror of a Hawks-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals.

5/7/2010 10:29:07 AM

Yeah I care about things other than Kobe. Syke.

5/7/2010 11:50:38 AM

the west is just not worth watching without denver dallas and kirelinko. Just waiting to see if its lakers vs cavs or celtics or magic now.

5/7/2010 12:16:22 PM

^ Are you fucking retarded??

Denver hasn't been fun to watch since George Karl went out. That wiped out all hopes of them winning the West. The Jazz COULD be fun to watch if Kirilenko came back...which could give them a chance against LA. If they can take this next game in Utah and he comes back...then watch out.

And to me...Suns/Spurs is the best series to watch right now...at least even with Celtics/Cavs. Watching Amare/Nash/Duncan/Ginobili/Parker by themselves is awesome....then you add the history of those two teams in the playoffs for the last 5 or 6 years and their contrast in playing styles....great stuff.

I wish injuries didn't have such a big impact on the playoffs this year. I would pick the Jazz past the Lakers if Okur and Kirilenko were playing. And no telling how much better the Bucks would have been with Bogut. Even the Suns with Lopez would be significantly better. Jarron Collins is straight garbage. He's only worth about 5 fouls, a couple rebounds, and one putback a game.

5/7/2010 12:36:50 PM

why do people continue to converse with her/it/him? Just ignore it.

5/7/2010 12:59:26 PM

BOSTON BEATDOWN

5/7/2010 8:21:02 PM

BOSTON BEATDOWN

5/7/2010 8:42:43 PM

GO WATCH NASCAR

5/7/2010 8:49:26 PM

Now is when you put lebron on the floor.

Quote :

"^ Are you fucking retarded?? Denver hasn't been fun to watch since George Karl went out. That wiped out all hopes of them winning the West. The Jazz COULD be fun to watch if Kirilenko came back...which could give them a chance against LA. If they can take this next game in Utah and he comes back...then watch out. And to me...Suns/Spurs is the best series to watch right now...at least even with Celtics/Cavs. Watching Amare/Nash/Duncan/Ginobili/Parker by themselves is awesome....then you add the history of those two teams in the playoffs for the last 5 or 6 years and their contrast in playing styles....great stuff. I wish injuries didn't have such a big impact on the playoffs this year. I would pick the Jazz past the Lakers if Okur and Kirilenko were playing. And no telling how much better the Bucks would have been with Bogut. Even the Suns with Lopez would be significantly better. Jarron Collins is straight garbage. He's only worth about 5 fouls, a couple rebounds, and one putback a game."

did you not see kirelenko in my post? how do you start a post with are you fucking serious then go on to repeat basically one of the points i made.

kirelenko being out is what makes it not worth watching.

sure the suns spurs is a great series basketball wise and comp wise but what takes away the fun for me is knowing that the winner has almost no chance to beat the lakers. in the past, it was so exciting watching those two teams play because you felt like the winner of that series would likely win it all or at least have a great chance to. now you know that even if they somehow have a car crash with gasol and kobe the suns/spurs winner would get swept by the eastern conference champion.

thats why the west is not worth watching. the lakers will likely win it without much challenge and if they dont then its still worthless because anyone else would get swept by cleveland or orlando.

[Edited on May 7, 2010 at 9:24 PM. Reason : either way, these western games are irrelevant to the championship. great basketball though]

[Edited on May 7, 2010 at 9:25 PM. Reason : la newspaper called the jazz an "intermission series"]

5/7/2010 9:17:43 PM

"Boston massacre"

5/7/2010 9:43:24 PM

yippee, the lakers are sure to make the finals now, oh well at least orlando and the cavs get home advantage

5/8/2010 1:58:06 AM

Holy crap I definitely underestimated the suns this year.

If roy and oden can stay healthy the blazers might be the 2nd best team in the west next year with camby returning if not the best

5/8/2010 12:54:52 PM