NBA '08 Playoff Thread

Dwight Howard hasn't been too bad either..

But yes, I haven't seen point guard play as good as what Paul is providing in the last 25 years. I pray that kid doesn't get injured because he's going to have a special career if he doesn't.

 

You just can't call an off-the-ball foul in that situation unless it is egregious. And if you think what Scola did is egregious, then you'll probably want to hand AK the Oscar.

 

He's going to eat up Tony Parker or Steve Nash in the next round. And that's saying something, because both those guys are tremendous players.

 

A) I'm not a huge fan of not calling things just because it's late in a game and B) this wasn't some tangling under the boards. This was knocking a guy off his path as he went towards a guy who looked like he was in position to taking a tying shot. The fact that McGrady didn't shoot the ball is irrelevant. The fact is you can't do what Scola did. It may have been off the ball, but it gave a direct advantage to the guy with the ball -- not really much different than a moving screen.

But I'm fine with agreeing to disagree.

 

I can't wait to see Paul-Parker next round. I'm not sure he'll eat up Parker, but it'll be damn fun to watch two guys with that speed and ability level going at it.

The point guard position across the board is as good as I've ever seen. And it'll only get better with Rose coming in next year.

 

But...but...but... Rose only went to school for one year.(crossthreading)

 

I am. Parker can't play defense worth shit.

 

I think Paul will do a better job of keeping Parker out of the lane. Nash has simply let him go nearly every time.

BTW, what happened to Raja Bell? I thought he was a pretty good defender. He's getting abused by Ginobili.

Barbosa has missed some easy layups.

 

I second that.
But the Spurs actually play defense as a unit ... unlike Dallas, who just stands at random spots around the court, waits for Paul to shred them and then talks like he's the second coming of God in the postgame.
Avery Johnson might be gracing us with his presence as an NBATV analyst next season if he doesn't figure out how to cut Paul's limbs off.

 

Somewhere, bostonbred screamed at the nearest passer-by and he knows why:

Garnett named Defensive MVP

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=3358952

 

The problem with that logic is that what Okur did about 30 seconds earlier -- slamming Scola to the floor in transition and making no play on the ball -- was a clear flagrant. But, given the time in the game, the officials only called it a personal and let it slide. If you're going to follow the rulebook to the letter, that's fine, but be consistent. They weren't, and that's a big part of the reason why Adelman and McGrady were bitching.

 

Once the NBA outlawed his favorite defensive tactic (

) he was done.