2006 NBA Playoffs

[jonatas]

Actually Stern likes Cuban now. It's just that Cuban was a very different type of owner, and at the beginning Cuban did things in a very unorthodox way and upset other owners, coaches and head office. Cuban likes to shoot his mouth off But Stern likes Cuban, he realizes that Cuban is a personality and someone who has contributed a lot to basketball.

 

[adog]

I notice that the 2 teams with the most votes are out and only 1 vote for the Heat.

 

[Serutan]

Actually Stern likes Cuban now. It's just that Cuban was a very different type of owner, and at the beginning Cuban did things in a very unorthodox way and upset other owners, coaches and head office. Cuban likes to shoot his mouth off

I had just assumed Cuban was still in bad odor with
the league office...

Rats! that will deprive me of my fun

 

[Azale]

@serutan, a maverick owner...and owner of the Mavericks. Pun intended?

@jonatas, Bosh has developed his offensive game faster because he has been in the league longer . Not to mention, Bosh was a college player right? Howard came straight out of highschool. From what we can already tell, Howard is not the next Kwame Brown. I guess my ultimate point is that I would rather pin all the hopes of my franchise around Dwight Howard than Chris Bosh.

 

[jonatas]

@jonatas, Bosh has developed his offensive game faster because he has been in the league longer . Not to mention, Bosh was a college player right? Howard came straight out of highschool. From what we can already tell, Howard is not the next Kwame Brown. I guess my ultimate point is that I would rather pin all the hopes of my franchise around Dwight Howard than Chris Bosh.

Bosh was in college for 1 year. He is also the youngest player ever to reach 2000 boards. So it's not like he's an old man or something. He's not a consistently dominant rebounder either. If Howard average 15 boards a game next year, then he will break that record probably and Bosh will be the second youngest.

Plus Garnett doesn't really take guys off the dribble from the perimenter. He's more of a shooter if he's out there. (I was comparing Bosh to Garnett)This is a difference between Bosh's game and Garnett's. It's not just a matter of time spent in the league. Anyway where did you ever get the Kwame Brown/Howard comparison? I am a big D.Howard fan and have been following him very closely since last season. I was saying what you're saying about him, last year. He's gifted with an unreal body and has an untapped ceiling right now. I know you think he is apparently a much, much better player than Bosh. I think that's unfair to what Bosh has shown so far. I could say, I (and probably a bunch of teams) would rather have Greg Oden than Howard, and he's not even in the league yet.

How many young elite PF's are there right now? Amare blew his knees out. Basically you have Bosh and Howard. Many teams would kill to have Bosh as their PF.

 

[Inter4]

I notice that the 2 teams with the most votes are out and only 1 vote for the Heat.

Actually, the Mavs only had 2 votes before the San Antonio series was over.. one of those votes was mine


@Serutan: I started reading your post.. and I realized that, for some reason, I was thinking about Howard Stern, not David Stern That's why I couldn't make a connection.

 

[Serutan]

@serutan, a maverick owner...and owner of the Mavericks. Pun intended?

Not really, but I don't mind since I am a glutton for
pun-ishment.

 

[Azale]

Bosh was in college for 1 year. He is also the youngest player ever to reach 2000 boards. So it's not like he's an old man or something. He's not a consistently dominant rebounder either. If Howard average 15 boards a game next year, then he will break that record probably and Bosh will be the second youngest.

Plus Garnett doesn't really take guys off the dribble from the perimenter. He's more of a shooter if he's out there. (I was comparing Bosh to Garnett)This is a difference between Bosh's game and Garnett's. It's not just a matter of time spent in the league. Anyway where did you ever get the Kwame Brown/Howard comparison? I am a big D.Howard fan and have been following him very closely since last season. I was saying what you're saying about him, last year. He's gifted with an unreal body and has an untapped ceiling right now. I know you think he is apparently a much, much better player than Bosh. I think that's unfair to what Bosh has shown so far. I could say, I (and probably a bunch of teams) would rather have Greg Oden than Howard, and he's not even in the league yet.

How many young elite PF's are there right now? Amare blew his knees out. Basically you have Bosh and Howard. Many teams would kill to have Bosh as their PF.

Oh no, I wasnt saying that you compared K. Brown to Dwight Howard, I was just stating a fact. Howard has already shown he is no Kwame Brown, and assuaged fears he may progress like him. I think he is on an irreversible (barring injury) course to supastardom but thats just my opinion. We shall see.

Greg Oden...looks like a monster. He is the kind of player teams will try to blow games for, not this Tyrus Thompson-JaMarcus Aldridge-Adam Morrison trifecta teams have to choose from.

 

[jonatas]

Oh I think Howard will be great. He has maybe strongest, most athletic physique in the game... just amazing. You look at him and figure he could a Wilt Chamberlain. He's bigger and powerful in frame than the stereotypical PF (Garnett, Duncan, Jermain ONeal). But I'm a bit more realistic about him now in the areas he has to improve. Believe it or not, he's not what you would call a great shot blocker for all his size and athletic ability. He has to work on consistently having high rebound totals, every game. Not 25 and then 7 the next game. And he needs to become more skillful offensively. He usually just picks up points on open dunks. But he's so young and physically gifted, I think he will be great.

 

[Inter4]

The Heat have no chance in this series.. I was hoping for a nice Mavs in 6. But I'm afraid it won't happen. Mavs in 5 (or even 4 )

 

[Azale]

Im still saying Mavs in 7...the Heat are definately good enough to steal game 2, and I think they will plus take 2 in Miami.

 

[Inter4]

I just don't see how Miami can win 3 games.. The Mavs didn't even play well: Dirk and J-Ho under 20 points, only Terry stepped up.

 

[Serutan]

@inter4 - Miami looked awful in Game 1 vs. Detroit, too. So I don't think
they're going to roll over.

 

[Inter4]

Detroit was over-rated. The only reason they did well in the reg. season was due to the low eastern conference quality.

Dallas in the other hand beat the best defensive team (Spurs) and the best offensive team (Suns) in the league.


When the SUNS go down, the HEAT go with them.

 

[Azale]

I picked the Mavs btw, at the beginning of this thread if you want to check. I just didnt vote in the poll

btw, Italy is going down

 

[kingjoshi]

How can anyone say Detroit was overrated? They were the best team during the regular season and has played at an elite level for three years now! However, they slacked off in the second half of the year and their swagger and composure left them in the Cleveland series. They got away from what got them there and the regular season offense was gone. As a team, they're better than Miami. But they self-destructed.

Dallas has played beyond most people's expectations. Probably even their own. I'm sure they can smell the trophy and complete victory. But Miami is tough at home and Dallas can't get over confident. However, I love seeing Miami lose

 

[jonatas]

Detroit was over-rated. The only reason they did well in the reg. season was due to the low eastern conference quality.

Detroit wasn't overrated, they simply fell apart. It was obvious when they barely dodged a bullet from Cleveland. They just lost it in the playoffs and the quality of their play dropped. Possible reasons: 1) Flip Saunders is a bad playoff coach. 2) Ben Wallace slowly deteriorated, both defensively and offensively (he got even worse). Either he's getting older or just didn't fit into the system. 3) Bad karma from trading Darko and Arroyo for nothing. The bench wasn't that impressive, and look at the boost Orlando got.

Anyway, Detroit collapsed. The game they got eliminated was the worst I saw them play in years, literally. There was a huge drop in the level of their play.

 

[Inter4]

Jonatas, you make a good point, but I still think they were over-rated.

Azale: No, the US is going down

This series, of course, it's not over.. but if the Mavs win next game.. that will be pretty much it.