NBA '08 Playoff Thread

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080514

 

A reason why many folks despise Boston right there.

 

I was waiting for someone to bring up the fact that I'm a Boston fan. It has nothing to do with that. I don't think the Celtics should have been considered a championship caliber team all year and they certainly haven't looked like one in the playoffs. Doesn't shade my view on the Pistons one bit. It's like I can sit here and say Eddy Curry sucks at basketball. Anyone can turn around and say, "Well he's better than you." And that's not the point; I'm not saying I'm better, I'm just saying he sucks. Does that analogy vis a vis the C's and Pistons make sense?

 

The Pistons compare to the Sixers of the early 80s.

Philly won one, and were probably the third best team of a 7-8 year stretch.

Philly just had one amazing season, but they flopped after that.

The Pistons seem to have a little more staying power. Too bad they couldn't keep Mehmet.

 

Oh I wasn't calling you a fanboi or anything, you've been pretty level headed with most of this stuff -- just to clarify.

 

I think the general thought of Detroit as an NBA title favorite has dissipated a good deal over the last handful of season. I mean the year they won, the year after and MAYBE the year after that -- yes, they were one of the top three favorites. But recently anyhow, no.
And I think a better way to describe them is a well-seasoned contender. And I guess it depends on how you define "championship caliber." Because if it's a team that has a pretty good shot at it, then yeah, right now I'd say they are. By that logic I'd say that San An, LA, New Orleans, Utah, Cleveland and Boston also are. I'm not saying any of them are favorites here or anything (I still think San An will pull it out in the end ... I'll stick with my original pick there), but they're all in good position to make a legit run obviously. It's pretty wide open.
And to take it further ... wouldn't you put Detroit in the top four of those squads?

 

Same to you. I actually just liked that analogy haha.

And yes the Pistons are definitely a legit contender and they've looked good lately. My problem was more during the season when they were sleepwalking and people were acting like it didn't matter because they were good enough to flip the switch. Good enough to flip the switch and get to the Eastern finals? Sure. But beyond that, they haven't shown the ability to flip that switch and get to the real top level recently.

 

Moses Malone was the X factor that finally got Philly over the top.

Where'd he go to college again?

(Yes, I'm an a-hole. Couldn't resist that one).

 

Beautiful

 

It always slips my mind that Okur was on that Pistons team. A starting five of The Most Overrated Point Guard in the Past Decade, Rip, Prince, Sheed, and Okur with McDyess coming off the bench would be pretty scary. But so would Cleveland if Boozer was still there.

Sheed frustrates me beyond no end. ( I know, understatement of the century.)

I agree with Barkley and The Jet: If Sheed wanted to be the best player in the world, he could be. He just doesn't want to. How does a 6-11 guy who has range to 25 feet and guards Tim Duncan better than anyone on Earth average 12 points and 7 rebounds?

 

Cavs up nine with just over nine left in the first half. For some reason, this team - or, I should say, LeBron - always seems to play well in Game 5s of series they aren't supposed to win. (2006 semifinal vs. Detroit; last year's Eastern finals against the Pistons)

It's still early, though. Very early.

 

Cleveland's playing some grown-man D.

Not to be outdone, KG just had quite a manblock.