NBA Playoffs Thread

It's going to be one long-ass summer in Dallas.

We've got nothing but the 10-18 Rangers to get us to Cowboys training camp — and the SportsJournalists.com gathering — for the next 2 1/2 months.

 

Hilarious pic from Deadspin. What makes it even better is that when I went to save it for my own collection, the default file name was "cuban owned." LOL!:

 

Stephon A Smith brings out the Thesaurus to trash Nowitski and them the WWL replays his verbal regurgitation every hour. Yet the only time you can't hear Screamin A. is when he's playing the rusty trombone on AI (Artificial Intelligence?).

rusty trombone •
This is what happens when you've got a less then respectable female (aka be-yatch) tongue deep in your chute. She wiggles her tongue as she does the reach around to pump you like a Catholic priest doing an Alter Boy, thus mimicking a trombone player.

 

If you missed it, check out the pic I just posted above your post. Cuban housed!

Yeah, what a surprise Stephen A. went off on Dirk but didn't work over AI. I'm stunned :

I'll say this for AI: He handled it like a total pro, took responsibility, etc. No wussing out, passing the buck, etc. Good for him.

 

Can't wait til Cuban owns the Cubs

 

I hope he does it. Big improvement, IMO, over the Tribune Co.

 

Um, there is one HUGE difference between Iverson and Dirk --- Iverson's teams don't generally lose in the playoffs until they are supposed to lose. They don't get the shit beat out of them by teams who they are supposed to beat handily. The Nuggets were supposed to lose to the Spurs because the Spurs are a much better team than they are.

And AI doesn't disappear in those games -- he might miss shots, but he still plays defense, he still gets assists and he still SHOOTS the ball, he still WANTS the ball come crunch time.

Dirk not only doesn't want the ball, when he has it he treats it like a hot potatoe.

To try and compare the two is ridiculous, particularly since I'm not sure Iverson has ever been on a team than anyone would say should have won the NBA title or even advanced to the NBA Finals for that matter. Go back and look at that team that Iverson somehow managed to get to a fifth game against the Lakers in the NBA Finals and tell me what business -- other than having AI -- that team had getting out of the second round.

The problem with Dirk is he is typical Eurotrash -- Because he is part of David Stern's wet dream of globalization of the game, he is generally over rated and over hyped. But you can't be a superstar if you are afraid to take the big shot, if you are afraid to lose and if you are 7-feet tall and want to stand around taking 25-foot jumpers instead of getting to the basket once they aren't falling.

 

You are delusional if you think this had anything to do with coaching. The bottom line is the Mavericks are a soft, no defense-playing, finesse team who isn't overly athletic. They have a lot of talented players and night in and night out they will out-talent most teams.

The problem they had with Golden State is (a) they settled for too many jumpers and their 7-footer played scared (b) they had no, absolutely NONE, answer for the Warriors three guards, particularly Stephen Jackson, who could post up and get to the hoop any time he wanted, which is why he was always open for three's and (c) the Mavericks, unlike the Spurs and Rockets, have no big men capable of slowing the game down and pounding the ball down low and scoring and getting to the foul line. They had to play Golden State's game because Dirk would rather shoot fadeaway's from 35 feet than go inside and force a different tempo.

The Warriors and Mavericks could play 100 times and unless Dirk suddenly grew some balls and recognized he was 7-feet tall, the Warriors would win about 94 of them.

 

Yeah I'm also wondering exactly how Iverson compares to Dirk in choke jobs? Did anyone outside of the 15 guys on the Nuggets roster and their coaching staff think they were going to beat the Spurs?

 

[/quote]

You are delusional if you think this had anything to do with coaching. The bottom line is the Mavericks are a soft, no defense-playing, finesse team who isn't overly athletic. They have a lot of talented players and night in and night out they will out-talent most teams.

The problem they had with Golden State is (a) they settled for too many jumpers and their 7-footer played scared (b) they had no, absolutely NONE, answer for the Warriors three guards, particularly Stephen Jackson, who could post up and get to the hoop any time he wanted, which is why he was always open for three's and (c) the Mavericks, unlike the Spurs and Rockets, have no big men capable of slowing the game down and pounding the ball down low and scoring and getting to the foul line. They had to play Golden State's game because Dirk would rather shoot fadeaway's from 35 feet than go inside and force a different tempo.

The Warriors and Mavericks could play 100 times and unless Dirk suddenly grew some balls and recognized he was 7-feet tall, the Warriors would win about 94 of them.
[/quote]

Dirk and the Mavs deserve all the bashing they will get, but there is a part of me that thinks of Dirk as a less defensive minded version of David Robinson. The Admiral didn't win a title until Tim Duncan showed up and the Spurs added some tougher elements to their team.

Shaq didn't win until Kobe came around and the two played off one another. Shaq won a title last year because Wade broke out and took the leadership role.

Dirk does play a soft game. I'm not a big fan of dunk contests, but the dunk has it's place in the game, especially when you're a big man. How many times do you see Dirk go hard to the basket and dunk. I would say 95 percent of the time we're talking lay up when Dirk does go to the basket. Quite honestly, most of the time Dirk goes to the basket he's looking for a bail out foul. His head is always looking down at the floor when he drive and he rarely looks up to shoot the ball.

Dirk is in need of that player that can break down defenses and penetrate and get off his shot. Josh Howard can't do that consistently and D. Harris is still learning and not at a star level yet. Defensively, it's the same problem. Granted, players such as Wade, Davis and Kobe are very hard to stop, but the Mavs make them look great because they have no one-on-one defensive stoppers.

I blame Avery for his Game 1 strategy, but this thought that he should have sent out his usual lineup at the end of the season to avoid a GS matchup is a little too simplistic. Avery may have been avoiding demoralizing his team to start the playoffs. The Mavs have been Golden State's bitch the last two seasons. If Dallas lost its dress rehearsal against the team it probably would face in the regular season, how much confidence does it have in the playoffs? What was going to change?

 

No, the Mavs lost to the better team. Better teams win best-of-seven matchups in the playoffs.