NBA '08 Playoff Thread

Boston sweeps Atlanta.
Orlando takes Toronto in 6.
Cleveland beats Washington in 7.
Detroit beats Philly in 5.

Spurs beat Suns in 6.
Lakers defeat Nuggets in 6.
Jazz beat Rockets in 6.
Hornets beat Mavs in 6.

MVP: Kobe Bryant
ROY: Kevin Durant
Executive of the Year: Danny Ainge, Boston
Coach of the Year: Rick Adelman, Houston

Finals: Spurs over Pistons in 7

 

Wow, few people giving the Wiz any love against the Cavs?

 

How can anyone give LeBron serious MVP consideration. If this was a weak year and none of the top players on the top teams had good years, maybe you could make a case because his numbers are amazing. But when you have Kobe, at worst 1-B to LeBron (though I'd have it the other way), leading his team to the top spot in one of the most stacked conferences in a long time, Chris Paul putting up ridiculous numbers and leading a team no one thought would do anything to second in that same conference, and Garnett completely reinvigorating the Celtics and leading them to the single greatest turnaround in NBA history.

You could go with any of those 3 in any order and it'd be tough to argue. I just don't see where LeBron and his fourth place finish factors into the conversation.

 

Ok, I'm a bit worried about Sunday. Maybe some other New Yorkers can help me out. I checked the TV guide listings for my area code, and it says my ABC station is going to be carrying the pope's yankee Stadium mass on Sunday, instead of Nuggets and Lakers. What? It's going to be on every other damn channel, can't ABC show some hoops? Maybe ESPN would pick it up or ESPN2, or ESPN Deportes. Something, anything other than the pontiff's eight-hour service.

Update: ABC is not showing it in New York. But it will be on ESPN2. Thank God(?) for small miracles.

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2008/04/pope-preempts-kobe-iverson.html

 

this is so inticing that i can't resest.
Lakers over Pistons in 6.

 

Only me and Piotr to date. I love how the Wizards are playing right now, which I can't say about the Cavs.

 

Just because voters screwed up in previous years, they've got to make the same mistake again this year?

Not saying LeBron should win it, just that using Past Kobe as a reason, well, sucks.

Personally I like CP.

But I'd argue that LeBron is VALUABLE. Take him off the Cavs and they're looking up at 20 wins. They'd be terrible! They'd what, count on an aging Z for their offense. Go to, umm, uhh, God only knows at crunch time. (Although, they'd probably be in so few games it wouldn't matter.) Take him away and they're a complete joke. Now they're a fourth seed you can't count out in any series because LeBron could go off for 40 a night. That's a damn valuable player.

 

New Orleans-Dallas is going to be a fun series. The Mavs are going to be a tough out for the Hornets. That is, as long as Jet keeps taking up Howard's slack. Howard's had one good game since the Kidd trade.

 

Actually, I'll make the argument even more. The Cavs are barely over .500 (8 games) in the weaker Eastern Conference with a team that possesses MUCH MORE TALENT (Wallace, Ilgauskas and Varajao as enforcers inside; Sczerbiak and Pavlovic as shooters; Gibson and West as shooters/point guards) than those Lakers teams, which (other than Kobe) were atrocious.

I have a question: Do Lebron and the Cavs even make the playoffs if they're in the West? I think that 45-win total speaks for itself. Again, he's a spectacular player, but he's not a winner yet.

 

1. Boston vs. 8. Atlanta (Boston in 5)
2. Detroit vs. 7. Philadelphia (Detroit in 5)
3. Orlando vs. 6. Toronto (Orlando in 6)
4. Cleveland vs. 5. Washington (Washington in 7)

WEST
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 8. Denver (LA in 5)
2. New Orleans vs. 7. Dallas (Dallas in 6)
3. San Antonio vs. 6. Phoenix (San Antonio in 7)
4. Utah vs. 5. Houston (Utah in 6)

MVP Ballot:
1. Kobe Bryant
2. Chris Paul
3. Kevin Garnett
4. Dwight Howard

Coach of the Year: Byron Scott
Defensive Player of the Year: KG
Rookie of the Year: Durant

 

1. The fact that he's playing with absolute scrubs (besides Big Z, who has a good season. Tons of roster turnover amd Gibson is merely a one-dimensional three-point shooter)
2. His incredible stats: Shooting 48%, averaging 30 points per game, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and a block. And he's been playing harder and improving on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Without him this season, the Cavs were 0-6. They would be a lottery team instead of a no. 4 seed.

 

So, by that logic then you agree then that Kobe Bryant should've won MVP the two previous seasons, right?