NBA Playoffs; Whose Turn is it this Year?

[Greadius]

Originally posted by bvd
The league has been watered down by expansion; it now sucks. The dominant Lakers of today would be ten-point underdogs to the championship Lakers of the 80's. If the commisioner can eliminate failing franchises, reducing the league's distribution to four teams/division, then perhaps the problem would be solved and franchises would be able to live up to hype in a newly competitive league.

No way! The only reason I became a basketball fan is because the Magic moved in an hour away. As far as watered down teams... there are more talented players out there now than there were back then, the talent pool has expanded too. The 80's Lakers bench players wouldn't have started today.

 

[willemvanoranje]

Originally posted by monk
I live just out side of Portland. I don't feel ashamed.The Blazers coach should. So should Rasheed Wallace. Well, I can still root for the Spurs.

I meant the players and coaches, not supporters

 

[rjgo]

your poll is wrong. its not the "charlotte" hornets anymore, but the "new orleans" hornets now. yes yes yes. as of friday, new orleans officially obtained the hornets. the hornets are the 2nd nba team that new orleans has had, the first were the "new orleans" jazz, now known as the "utah" jazz.


shalom

rjgo

 

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

Dammit! We couldn't hit anything today Although van Exel probably would've if that ref hadn't stepped so quickly in front of Turkoglu

 

[bvd]

Greadius:

In any given year, there are only twenty stand-out players; the talent pool has remained constant since the 1960s, with the possible exception of the ABA years. Today, it may be able to sustain a league of 24 teams. At present, I'm sure that Mychal Thompson, Bob McAdoo, A.C. Green, Mike McGee and even Kurt Rambis (who put up good numbers on the expansion hornets) could find starting roles on certain teams.

The Grizzlies franchise should have been dissolved. It was unable to build a franchise through the draft, a strategy that was [initially] used successfully by the Miami Heat, eliminating its cap room by pouring $61+ million dollars into Bryant Reeves for a six-year extension. It went on to draft point-guard Antonio Daniels (a bust who would be unable to start on virtually every team) only to abandon him the following year by selecting Mike Bibby. On the brink of relocation, it gives away it only viable stars in Rahim and Bibby.

What was the NBA thinking? Why would whiny big-market stars like Steve Francis want to play in Vancouver (a nice city)? The best free-agent signing the team had was Grant Long.

The mismanaged Hornets, on the other hand, had a stellar inaugural season and did very well in the lottery but simply refused to re-sign its stars. The team was able to lead the league in attendance for 7 straight seasons before fans became disillusioned with its office.

The bottom-feeding Timberwolves (which has always been mismanaged and, now that it has a strong nucleus, can never seem to win a playoff series), Grizzlies and Hornets should have been removed in that order.

---
My playoff prediction:
The Celtics will come out of the east.

They will win over the Detroit in 5 games. The Pistons are an overrated defensive team, despite the efforts of Ben Wallace; they mostly outrebounded during the regular season. Their backcourt, especially at the point, lacks depth and will suffer from the best backcourt defense of the league. Jim O'Brien is a smart coach, and realizes that a 22-foot perimeter not only allows easy three-pointers, but is also easy to defend. The Celtics are also one of the best defensive teams in terms of clogging passing lanes, so any Detroit front-court depth is negated.

They will then win a 7-game series over the Nets, only to get swept by the Fakers in the finals.

 

[Plexus]

Originally posted by monk
I had to vote for my home team, the Blazers. I hope they dont get sweeped in the first round by the LA Fakers. :aargh3: However I think the Spurs have a good chance of winning as well.

Heh Heh He

 

[NY Hoya]

While saddened that Orlando and Philly are out, I have to be happy that my pseudo hometown team the Celtics are still in it. I really do wish Larry Brown would try to get some real help for Iverson though. He's got to be one of the hardest working NBA players there is. One of the biggest a$$holes I've ever met, but that guy has a huge heart.

 

[Greadius]

What you forget about the expansion woes is that there are many established teams that have had long term woes. The Sacramento Kings who started as the KC Royals way back when were terrible for a while. The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks, both established franchises, missed the playoffs this year.
Orlando has had a decent regular season for most of the decade, but importantly have actually successfully signed two major free agents, and almost got a third.

The point is that a teams success is heavily dependant on how well players that the gain and retain develop. Could the Orlando franchise control the fact that Grant Hill is too fragile to play basketball anymore? Or that Shaq wanted to be a movie star?

As far as talent pool, I think it is expanding, if for no other reason than the emergence of international players. Watching the Kings-Mavs game today was the perfect example of something you would have never seen 20 years ago: international players making a major impact on both sides.