NBA Playoffs 2012 Running thread

Your point isn't invalid, but I'd point out Diaw wasn't waived by Charlotte because he was a bad player. He was waived because he basically quit on them. The dude only plays hard for contenders. He checks out on bad teams. Which is a character flaw, but is a moot point when playing for the top seed in the West.

Danny Green has been a find, for sure, but he's a starter in name only. He's a placeholder for Manu Ginobili, who isn't the starting shooting guard but is the shooting guard when it matters.

But I see what you're saying. On paper, these guys don't look like the be all end all. They've done a very good job of finding nominal players with one obvious skill and fitting them into a specified role around their three studs.

On top of that, Tony Parker has been one of the league's best point guards -- if not the best -- for the past few months. Tim Duncan has played fewer minutes than ever, but efficiency wise he's as good as he was four or five years ago.

And, yes, there's coaching. Now that Phil's gone, Popovich is inarguably the best in the league. I don't think you'll find any NBA person to dispute that. The Spurs win, even against teams with better raw talent, by just out-executing you.

If there is an NBA equivalent to Norman Dale's Hoosiers, this team is it.

 

Did you know the Spurs have been averaging more than 110 points over the past month? They aren't your father's grind-it-out Spurs anymore.

 

It might be a stretch to call that a tank job. Four of their top six scorers from the '96 team that won 59 games were hurt for most of the season. That includes an in-his-prime David Robinson, who only played in nine games. And they still only had the third-worst record.

 

Leading scorer: A 37-year-old Dominique Wilkins, who was averaging 15 shots a game. That team, with all the injuries, was all kinds of terrible.

 

Those "injuries" were pretty nebulous -- a lot of back "problems," "inflammation" and such.

 

Surprisingly bold (and good) column from Le Batard calling out Wade, and saying his free pass for 2006 is over.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/20/2808094/dwyane-wades-free-pass-miami-heat.html

 

As an athlete, if you've lost Dan LeBatard, you've lost America.

 

Very true. Hard to alienate him, but once you have, it's all over with....

 

Well-deserved sewage . . . to be blunt about it.

Light candles for the Pacers, today. Pray. It'll be worth it.

 

More candles, please.

 

That was an Oden sized game by LBJ.

 

If James puts this team on his back and they win a title, that will be a big step to placing him with all timers. Gotta win the next one in Miami, though.