NBA '08 Playoff Thread

The Pistons-Sheed romance will end very badly, and likely very soon.

Blazer Sheed has been reappearing more and more frequently. Although anybody who ever expected anything different has to be a terminal idiot.

 

Damn it's nice watching Shaq fail. I can't stand that phony bastard. [/lifelongLakersfan]

 

You're bitter about a three-time NBA Finals MVP for the Lakers? Really? A three-peat not enough for you?

 

Shaq has spent a lot of time since that threepeat pissing all over the Los Angeles Lakers in interviews.

And Oz, as a fan of a great program like Kansas, surely you can appreciate this: Shaq wasn't the first great player to win a title with the Lakers, and he won't be the last. Yay for the titles . . . . now take your share of the blame for the fact the whole thing fell apart.

 

Thank you, Piotr. No offense at all Oz, but only another true Laker fan would understand.

 

As someone who never was (too) bitter at Roy Williams when he left Kansas without a national championship after 15 years in Lawrence, I don't get it. Even without a championship banner, I wished Roy well elsewhere.

Root for your team, of course, but at least respect what the guy did for your franchise. At least, that would be my approach.

 

Oz,

Roy is so eager to continue to be accepted by Jayhawker fans, well . . . the sticker on his shirt tells the story there.

Shaq went out of his way to not respect what he did in LA. While he was in LA, he went out of his way to not respect the franchise, which is supposed to be one of the great ones, an honor to play for.

He didn't respect his teammates or the game enough to have his famous toe surgery before training camp 2002, when they were shooting for four in a row. He didn't respect the Lakers enough to not yell "Pay me!" at Jerry Buss during an exhibition.

The Lakers were wise to not pay him. He has never respected the game, or his teammates. He is an ass. And it is delightful to watch him fail after all his bluster.

 

This, I get. I'll admit, I'm not much of a Lakers historian, so I'll take your word on it. And I can understand that.

 

I hear what you're sayin, bro, but Shaq did so many little things during his time here that the media (locally and nationally) let slide, while Bryant was constantly roasted (most of the time deservedly so).

"If you don't feed the big dog, I'm not gonna guard the house." (i.e. give me the ball on offense or I ain't playin defense) -- the media thought that was hilarious. Imagine if Bryant had said that?

"I got hurt on company time, I'll have surgery on company time." (that was when Shaq waited to have surgery right before the season started instead of the offseason).

And, no matter what he said, he was never willing to share the spotlight with Kobe the way he did with Wade (at least temporarily) or Nash (currently).

It's also no coincidence that whenever he leaves a team, he leaves behind at least one teammate who he's feuded with publicly (Anfernee Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, and now half the Miami roster plus Pat Riley).

I appreciate those Laker teams, but I think Shaq receives TOO MUCH credit. Bryant did a lot of heavy lifting, especially during the Western Conference playoff series'. Then, in the Finals, Shaq usually faced an East squad with no center and dominated and earned the Finals MVP honors. Also, guys like Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Ron Harper, Brian Shaw ... they all made so many shots.
Don't get me wrong. Shaq made things so much easier for players like them. But people like 93Devil who say Shaq was the central figure and really disregard Bryant's role in those title runs aggravate me.
Shaq is a great player, but I also think he's a big time phony.

 

Jesus Christ ... the Spurs are gonna win the West again.

 

Better not happen. I would rather see the Jazz win the west. Actually, make that New Orleans.

 

I think it's hilarious everyone was writing these guys off for dead before the playoffs started. "The Suns have finally figured them out." The consensus on ESPN.com was Suns in six.

Now, it looks like the Spurs might sweep.

And you know what? If you made me bet my life savings on Spurs-Hornets, I'd have to take the Spurs. Experience counts this time of year, and these guys have it dripping out of their old asses.