NBA '08 Playoff Thread

[Captain_Kirk]

I really hope Acie Law develops into a solid point guard in the next couple of years. If he can do that and the Hawks can keep the nucleus of Johnson, Smith, Horford and Williams, they will be good and fun to watch for a long time.

Most importantly, they need to keep Mike Woodson. He's a solid guy who took over a trainwreck of a team ... maybe not the greatest coach in the world, but he's going to give you all he has and players are going to play hard for him.

No, no, no. And no.

This team finished 8 games under .500. 19th best record in the league, closer to the worst record in the league than the best.

As you're seeing over the past couple games, they have talent. They should be better than 37-45. Much better. But, to get there, they need a new coach, a new system. With Woodson, they're destined to be middle of the pack at best. Bring in the right guy, and this team can step up to a more elite status.

Hopefully, the Hawks owenership are smart enough to not make franchise decisions based solely on the previous two games.

I guess a guy who's improved that shirtbomb of a team each and every season he's been there can't get the job done. Apparently higher win totals every season makes him destined for the middle of the pack. Give me a break.

And on that note, I'm finished talking about the Hawks. Unless Dominique returns or they actually pull off this upset.

They'd have to improve to be middle of the pack.

This is a team that has had the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 11th overall draft choice over the past 5 years. They shouldn't be about incremental improvements in win totals. They ought to be at the top of the league, or at the very least the top of the Eastern Conference by now.

I'm going against my claim to stop Hawks talking ... sorry.
Mike Woodson doesn't pick the players my friend.
Last four choices of the Woodson era:
Al Horford
Shelden Williams
Marvin Williams
Josh Childress
--Only two of them have a shot to really do anything big, and the jury's still out on Marvin. He works with what he has ... you're unfairly pinning blame on the guy.

You have a point there. So, when Woodson gets booted, he can take Billy Knight with him.

I firmly believe the Hawks potential growth is severely limited with Woodson on hand (and Knight as well for that matter). Looking back years down the road , it could turn out I'm wrong, but I really, really don't think that will be the case.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

I hate when a joke has to be explained . . . .

Apparently, I needed the blue font for the Rondo comment. bostonbred said a few pages back that Rondo was very close to being a premier oint guard. I was taking that to the next level.

Now back to your regularly scheduled acting like "I always thought the Cetics were SHAKY!!!"

 

[Tripp McNeely]

It's official: Zaza Pachulia is a punk.
That said, the Celts should not have needed that little yotch to motivate them last night.
This stuff about Paul Pierce flashing a gang sign just seems like a lot of garbage to me. But if the Bloods want to have a little chat with Pachulia and Al Horford, far be it for me to stand in the way.

Why is he a punk? For reacting when Garnett threw an elbow near his face/throat area? Is everyone supposed to back down from KG cuz he's Mr. Intensity? fork that.
And yeah, I'm sure the Bloods are gearing up for a run at Pachulia and Horford right now cuz Paul Pierce has them on speed dial. Pierce should worry about taking it to the hole again instead of settling for jumpers instead of trying to act like a tough guy and flashing "gang signs" to make himself look tough. THAT'S a punk.

 

[carson08]

Pierce wasn't flashing any "gang" signs haha.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Pierce wasn't flashing any "gang" signs haha.

Really, Canadian?

Tell us more.

 

[Some Guy]

I hate when a joke has to be explained . . . .

Apparently, I needed the blue font for the Rondo comment. bostonbred said a few pages back that Rondo was very close to being a premier oint guard. I was taking that to the next level.

Blue note, is indeed, your friend

 

[JC]

Pierce wasn't flashing any "gang" signs haha.

Really, Canadian?

Tell us more.

What does Canadian have to do with it?

 

[bostonbred]

It's official: Zaza Pachulia is a punk.
That said, the Celts should not have needed that little yotch to motivate them last night.
This stuff about Paul Pierce flashing a gang sign just seems like a lot of garbage to me. But if the Bloods want to have a little chat with Pachulia and Al Horford, far be it for me to stand in the way.

Why is he a punk? For reacting when Garnett threw an elbow near his face/throat area? Is everyone supposed to back down from KG cuz he's Mr. Intensity? fork that.
And yeah, I'm sure the Bloods are gearing up for a run at Pachulia and Horford right now cuz Paul Pierce has them on speed dial. Pierce should worry about taking it to the hole again instead of settling for jumpers instead of trying to act like a tough guy and flashing "gang signs" to make himself look tough. THAT'S a punk.

The whole gang signs debate is ridiculous. Any person who has watched even a handful of Celtics games this season has seen members of the team use the sign, which is supposed to symbolize unity or blood, sweat, and tears or something similar to that.

I loved the TNT camera showing David Stern during that little scuffle last night, sweating bullets with a goofy smile plastered on his face. What a tool.

 

[Boobie Miles]

Well the league never said it was a gang sign, just a menacing sign. Horford had just talked a ration of shirt to Pierce and Pierce walked towards him and flashed the sign. Not sure why he would be flashing "unity" to Horford in that situation and the sign he flashed IS a gang sign. I'm not sure what he was going for; probably just pissed off and trying to send a message. But I don't find the fine ridiculous. There's too much of that crap in the game. There's nothing wrong with talking trash and playing hard, but some guys today don't understand where the line is.

 

[Tripp McNeely]

It's official: Zaza Pachulia is a punk.
That said, the Celts should not have needed that little yotch to motivate them last night.
This stuff about Paul Pierce flashing a gang sign just seems like a lot of garbage to me. But if the Bloods want to have a little chat with Pachulia and Al Horford, far be it for me to stand in the way.

Why is he a punk? For reacting when Garnett threw an elbow near his face/throat area? Is everyone supposed to back down from KG cuz he's Mr. Intensity? fork that.
And yeah, I'm sure the Bloods are gearing up for a run at Pachulia and Horford right now cuz Paul Pierce has them on speed dial. Pierce should worry about taking it to the hole again instead of settling for jumpers instead of trying to act like a tough guy and flashing "gang signs" to make himself look tough. THAT'S a punk.

The whole gang signs debate is ridiculous. Any person who has watched even a handful of Celtics games this season has seen members of the team use the sign, which is supposed to symbolize unity or blood, sweat, and tears or something similar to that.

I loved the TNT camera showing David Stern during that little scuffle last night, sweating bullets with a goofy smile plastered on his face. What a tool.

So, Pierce was trying to inspire the Hawks? Mission accomplished.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Pierce wasn't flashing any "gang" signs haha.

Really, Canadian?

Tell us more.

What does Canadian have to do with it?

Crips and Bloods (LA-area gangs, which Pierce would likely know about since that's where he's from) generally aren't known for making trouble in the Great White North.

That said, if bostonbread says that the hand sign is some cheesy thing the Celtics have come up with to inspire each other all season, I stand corrected.

I'd like to see what the sign looks like, though. Just so I can make fun of it.

 

[rube]

It's official: Zaza Pachulia is a punk.
That said, the Celts should not have needed that little yotch to motivate them last night.
This stuff about Paul Pierce flashing a gang sign just seems like a lot of garbage to me. But if the Bloods want to have a little chat with Pachulia and Al Horford, far be it for me to stand in the way.

Why is he a punk? For reacting when Garnett threw an elbow near his face/throat area? Is everyone supposed to back down from KG cuz he's Mr. Intensity? fork that.
And yeah, I'm sure the Bloods are gearing up for a run at Pachulia and Horford right now cuz Paul Pierce has them on speed dial. Pierce should worry about taking it to the hole again instead of settling for jumpers instead of trying to act like a tough guy and flashing "gang signs" to make himself look tough. THAT'S a punk.

The whole gang signs debate is ridiculous. Any person who has watched even a handful of Celtics games this season has seen members of the team use the sign, which is supposed to symbolize unity or blood, sweat, and tears or something similar to that.

I loved the TNT camera showing David Stern during that little scuffle last night, sweating bullets with a goofy smile plastered on his face. What a tool.

The only sign Paul Pierce needs to be flashing is one that helps him slow down Joe Johnson and not miss layups down the stretch.