2009 NBA Playoffs thread (amateur, coach, MVP, star)

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

No doubt Bynum will have his lunch handed to him. All I was saying is that if he contributes a little more than he did in the last series, that will be huge for the Lakers. It's the inside presence they lacked last year, and most of this year.

I don't discount Orlando's abilities - I've seen plenty give Orlando a great chance to win. And I don't think the Lakers have this one in the bag. But I don't necessarily think the Cavs were the team to beat like the rest of the bandwagon world either. The Lakers beat a team that was supposed to be just as hot as the Cavs in Denver - a team that was supposedly deeper, played a better team game, and had a point guard who was going to dominate them (if you listened to the media). And they beat them in pretty impressive fashion. They shouldn't be taken lightly either. I've watched the Laker-haters bet against them every step of the way, just as some people have bet against Orlando. So far, they've proven their critics wrong too.

Orlando has what it takes to be here. But don't you think the Lakers have an edge due to their experience last year? How much more will those players who experienced that deep pain last June lay it on the line? I think that's the biggest reason why some give them the edge. If you sense overconfidence, it's in some of the fans. I seriously doubt any of the Lakers players are overconfident. It was only 12 short months ago that they learned what a serious mistake underestimating your opponent can be. I like their chances and I look forward to a great series.

Good points. The over-confidence comment I made was worded poorly...it's meant that the espn analysts picked Cleveland over them 10-0 and now are picking the Lakers over them 9-1. Howard seemed genuinely irritated in a calm way about how little of a chance everyone is giving them.

I don't think the Lakers players are over-confident. Also, I do think the Lakers being in the finals last year will help them a lot. I can't wait to see the games.

[truemuck]

Originally Posted by nevergoingback

It's not the first time. Everyone knows he is going to wind up somewhere else anyway. Lebron('s head) is too big for Cleveland. At least it wasn't a Knicks hat LOL.

LeBron's Yankees cap causes uproar in Cleveland - MLB - ESPN (from 2007)

Yea, totally old news.

[noid_1985]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

He must have OATMEAL in his head because you don't wear a baseball cap supporting another city. That's like

Kobe wearing a Padres Hat when talking to the LA media.

Lebron is proving he does not have good sense.

It's not the same San Diego doesn't have a basketball team, so it would mean nothing if Kobe had a Padres hat on, unless he really wants to be like Mike and join baseball for a year

[WestPhillyDude75]

Originally Posted by noid_1985

It's not the same San Diego doesn't have a basketball team, so it would mean nothing if Kobe had a Padres hat on, unless he really wants to be like Mike and join baseball for a year

The Padres are a division rival of the LOS ANGELES DODGERS so don't tell me it wouldn't matter

[WestPhillyDude75]

Originally Posted by nevergoingback

wtf is up with a week off? Couldn't they have got this thing started tonight?

I know I been struggling-lol It's hard o go from having a basketball game to watch every night for the whole month of May and then there is 5 days between the last game of the Conference Finals and Game 1 of the Finals. I don't think it had to be that long. Like you said you can have been

Game 1-Tonight-6/2
Game 2-Friday-6/5
game 3-Sunday-6/7
gam 4-Wednesday-6/10
game 5-Friday-6/12
Game 6-sunday-6/14
Game 7-tuesday-6/16

[truemuck]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

The Padres are a division rival of the LOS ANGELES DODGERS so don't tell me it wouldn't matter

Or could it be SoCal has 3 baseball teams, so loyalties are fairly divided there, unlike Cleveland where the Indians are it when it comes to baseball and the fact, Indians fans hate the Yankees almost as much as Red Sox fans do?

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

I know I been struggling-lol It's hard o go from having a basketball game to watch every night for the whole month of May and then there is 5 days between the last game of the Conference Finals and Game 1 of the Finals. I don't think it had to be that long. Like you said you can have been

Game 1-Tonight-6/2
Game 2-Friday-6/5
game 3-Sunday-6/7
gam 4-Wednesday-6/10
game 5-Friday-6/12
Game 6-sunday-6/14
Game 7-tuesday-6/16

The space between the NBA Finals and conference finals was reserved in case a game 7 was needed.

Strange, you would think that since Stern was dictating all that was happening on the court, he would have prevented the conference finals from ending early

[noid_1985]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

The Padres are a division rival of the LOS ANGELES DODGERS so don't tell me it wouldn't matter

It really doesn't

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Good points. The over-confidence comment I made was worded poorly...it's meant that the espn analysts picked Cleveland over them 10-0 and now are picking the Lakers over them 9-1. Howard seemed genuinely irritated in a calm way about how little of a chance everyone is giving them.

I don't think the Lakers players are over-confident. Also, I do think the Lakers being in the finals last year will help them a lot. I can't wait to see the games.

The analysts know nothing. Last year I think they all picked the Lakers too. This year, they picked the Lakers to get to the Finals up until the Denver series got interesting. They all picked the Cavs to roll over everyone. And I will bet money that if the Lakers drop one of the first two games at home, all the analysts will pick against them again like they did with Denver. You can't say there is overconfidence because of the analyst picks. Howard should be mad at the analysts.

I think those that know basketball, even the Lakers fans, know that Orlando has a good shot at winning. Orlando has to feel good about beating the Cavs with as well as LeBron was playing. I'm betting they feel they can do the same with the Lakers and Kobe. The difference is, the Lakers have better weapons outside of Kobe than the Cavs do outside of James. If both teams play at their best, it should be a great series, but I think the Lakers have the edge - not necessarily because of matchups between players (I think it's pretty close in that respect), but because of their experience last year. We'll see though. The Lakers are still a very young team outside of Bryant, Gasol, Odom, and Fisher. Two of their starters are 23 and 21. Half of their backups are under 25. We'll see how the young guys respond. Their youth might offset Orlando's inexperience.

Man, this is such a long wait between games!

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

The analysts know nothing. Last year I think they all picked the Lakers too. This year, they picked the Lakers to get to the Finals up until the Denver series got interesting. They all picked the Cavs to roll over everyone. And I will bet money that if the Lakers drop one of the first two games at home, all the analysts will pick against them again like they did with Denver. You can't say there is overconfidence because of the analyst picks. Howard should be mad at the analysts.

I think those that know basketball, even the Lakers fans, know that Orlando has a good shot at winning. Orlando has to feel good about beating the Cavs with as well as LeBron was playing. I'm betting they feel they can do the same with the Lakers and Kobe. The difference is, the Lakers have better weapons outside of Kobe than the Cavs do outside of James. If both teams play at their best, it should be a great series, but I think the Lakers have the edge - not necessarily because of matchups between players (I think it's pretty close in that respect), but because of their experience last year. We'll see though. The Lakers are still a very young team outside of Bryant, Gasol, Odom, and Fisher. Two of their starters are 23 and 21. Half of their backups are under 25. We'll see how the young guys respond. Their youth might offset Orlando's inexperience.

Man, this is such a long wait between games!

Excellent points, I pretty much agree.

If you are bored and want some entertainment...go back to the 76ers vs. Lakers Final from about 8years ago or so....check out the box scores.
Shaq dominated, Iverson sucked...the normal.

Saw some fluff piece with magic interviewing Kobe and making reference to "greatest ever" OMG....sorry but I wanted to puke. I wouldn't put Kobe ahead of Shaq career-wise....let alone some of the obvious others like MJ.