NBA '08 Playoff Thread

[rube]

Dwight Howard with a giant ice glove on his hand late in the blowout, something to watch. Looks like they were wrapping his thumb up earlier.

 

[Omar_dont_scare]

Spurs-Hornets delayed for unsafe court conditions?

Not near a TV; what's up?

 

[beefncheddar]

forking George Shinn and his horseshirt operation.

They did the mascot through the fire thing between the first and second quarters. Apparently you have to use a certian type of extinguisher to not create a huge farking mess. Well, they couldn't put the fire out with said extinguisher. So the used the regular ones. Hilarity ensued.

 

[beefncheddar]

From AP:

While Super Hugo celebrated the success of his stunt, workers had to douse the fire with foam from fire extinguishers for several seconds before it would go out.
Maintenance crews then tried to clean up the mess by using dry mops normally used to soak up sweat, but that ended up smearing it from end to end.

 

[GB-Hack]

Yep, those entertainment pieces sure are great.

 

[rube]

Less than an hour before we see if Boston can avoid a monumental collapse. Where the heck is bostonbred!??!?!

 

[Boobie Miles]

Is there really anything particularly hateable about this Celtics team, or is it just because they're from Boston?

Blame Bill Simmons, ESPN and SI, which shoved them down our throats all year.

Fair enough, that's kind of what I expected. It's tough because it's not like that's the Celtics fault. The organization isn't pushing Red Sox nation or anything like that. I'm a Boston fan and I can completely understand why people don't like the Sox or Patriots. I get sick of some of those teams bullshirt too, particularly the Sox unrelenting marketing. But with the Celtics I don't see it. They're a storied franchise that was mismanaged for years and driven into the ground. Now they've rebuilt by doing what just about every team in the league could do (go for broke, trade young talent, pay the luxury tax, get a little lucky) and for the most part the coach and players don't seem to be especially offensive, if at all. I can understand rooting for Atlanta -- if you're neutral it's a great story and it's easier to root for the underdog. I was just curious on where the Celtics hating came from.

I have zero problem with the Celtics past glory and all of that -- tremendous franchise and some of the best teams ever. Bottom line though, it just gets a little old to crown a team who hadn't played one playoff game together ever. With a GM who, up until stumbling onto two gold mines, has been about as bad as Isaiah Thomas during his tenure and a city that enjoys acting picked on more than just about anyone else. Cubs fans whine and cry with the best of them, but they have reason to. Boston fans really don't have much of a reason to do it anymore -- yet, a solid majority of them still do. Not saying anyone on here in particular does, because I haven't heard it from any of you -- but in general.

Fair enough. I don't really understand the mindset of Boston fans anymore. I'll fully admit that I was like that pre-2004, but -- even though I said it would never happen -- my mindset changed completely. This city has had five championships in about a seven year window...I'm not complaining.

Re: the Celtics being crowned. I think that may be a bit of revisionist history. I know I was cautiously optimistic before the year and I generally think that was the feeling around here, and I don't remember every national outlet crowning them as THE favorite. I think when they started 29-3 or something it obviously (and understandably) changed. Still though there were questions raised after they lost the first Pistons game and after they stumbled a bit on a Western trip. The hype might be picking up now as the NBA and networks drool over a possible Lakers-Celtics Finals, but I don't think the hype was overwhelming before the year. I think they've "earned" it to some extent -- it's a superstar laden team, storied franchise and they won 66 games. Those ingredients equal some hype.

 

[Boobie Miles]

I think Garnett was the MVP this year. He needs to play like it today.

 

[Boobie Miles]

Celtics are playing with more energy and hustle early. Hawks look tentative.

 

[king cranium maximus IV]

dear al horford:

here's the deal. i will wear a forking tebow jersey if you start making the damn jumpers in this game. OK? you'd love to see that, right? me in a tebow jersey?

then get crack-a-lackin.

 

[Boobie Miles]

Through one: Joe Johnson's 3's is the sole reason the Hawks are hanging around. Everyone else looks nervous; lot of misses on easy shots and forces. I hope Smith doesn't wake up, because he's been the x-factor all series, but he was a non-factor in the first.

Perkins of all people is playing huge for the C's. I've never understood why Pierce seems to have a bad big game rep. I've always felt like he steps up and he looks like that might be the case again today.

 

[Boobie Miles]

As much as we complain about fans invading what was once press row, how do you think coaches and players think about fans between the bench and scorer's table. That would bother me to no end. You have some schmuck sitting their listening to your timeouts and he has better seats than the guys on the end of your bench. All it'll take is one Larry David-Shaq type moment to happen for real and they might change it.