NBA Playoffs Thread

Don't forget about Luc Longley

 

C'mon...
Mavs are finished.
IF they win game 5, Baron Davis is gonna go crazygood in game 6. And as long as Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson keep stroking it, no way they lose three in a row.
You don't beat a team six of the last seven times and then suddenly lose the next three, even if it IS against a No. 1 seed.

 

So you truly believe that Nash is a better basksetball player than Kobe?

 

Steve Nash is not the MVP, I don't even think he is the best point guard in the league.

If Jason Kidd can put up the assist numbers he does playing in New Jersey, with essentially only two other players to pass to, what would he do in Phoenix's system with Barbosa, Bell, Marion, Stoudamire around him?

That being said, Kobe isn't the MVP either, though you could make a better argument for him than Nash.

I think LeBron James can make a better argument than Nash (or Nowitski for that matter) as well when you consider what he has to play with.

Still, the MVP is a guy who isn't a sexy choice because he is low key, doesn't do anything flashy but wins, and wins consistently and this year carried his team and will likely carry them to the NBA championship -- their fourth in his career -- Tim Duncan.

PS -- To compare Steve Nash to Steve Kerr for purposes of discrediting the "did he win a title" argument is silly. Steve Kerr was never considered the team leader or the team's most important player as Nash is. You can't have the accolades of a superstar without the responsibility that comes with it.

 

DING DING DING DING DING

 

I can't wait until Golden State finishes off Dallas and all of Screamin' A's of the world go on and on and on about this "upset" or better yet Dallas's "choke job".

Both points only show a complete lack of understanding about basketball -- or most team sports for that matter -- and that is, it is a game of matchups and while Dallas was a better team over 82 games -- the Warriors are a horrible matchup for them.

And that's why they've won like nine of the ten games they've played. Last night I watched that game and it is clear Dallas has nobody to guard all three of the Warrior's guards.

 

This may have been the funniest thing I've ever read on this thread. I think even my buddy Rok had to laugh at that.

 

Actually, Rok probably got the point, which pretty clearly sailed over three heads there.

 

Agreed. Very well put.
Some people on this thread take any defense of Bryant and turn it into an argument that I want him to be MVP. That's not the case. The Lakers were the No. 7 seed in the West. For me, he's not the MVP this year. Dirk, Nash or Duncan are.
What irks me is when people say that those three players are obviously better players than Bryant because they're elite teams. I disagree. It took Jordan about seven seasons to win because he didn't have the talent around him. No player can win without a strong, strong supporting cast. Until Kupchak/Buss/Jackson make some shrewd moves, Bryant is going to struggle to get his team out of the first round.
But, you can't take away what Bryant did when he DID have talent. He played within the offense, shared the ball with Shaq/Horry/Fox/Rice etc. and stepped up when Shaq was injured/out of shape/fouled out in a key Finals game against the Pacers and helped lead his team to three titles.
If anyone else out there wants to say Duncan is better, OK, I can accept that. He's a dominant player on a team that's won multiple titles. Nash/Dirk?? Not yet. Not even close.

 

I agree -- the MVP and the best player are not the same thing, at least in my book.

I think it would be hard to make a sound argument that there is a better player in the NBA than Kobe Bryant. He is scary good and he is unstoppable if he decides to take a game over, it most likely is over.

There isn't another player in the league who can do the things he can do.

Nash is not even one of the five best players in the league, much less the best and to say he is a better player than Kobe is, well, delusional.

But I still believe Duncan is the most valuable player in the league because he really does carry that team on both sides of the court and he does it night in and night out and he does within the context of an offense that asks him to be very unselfish, perhaps too unselfish at times.

 

The keyword in Gimpy's post was "lead."

Kerr wasn't even a Robert Horry on his title teams. He was a jump shooter, plain and simple. One game-winning shot in the playoff runs. Several key buckets.

It is absolutely indisputable that Kobe was a co-leader of those Laker teams, playing the Pippen to Shaq's Jordan. An essential cog for three title teams.

Nash is an amazing, MVP player. But he has nottitle. Perhaps this year.

And then the Suns can change uniforms again.

 

People don't realize that Duncan's been on 1st team All Defense every year of his career. That's amazing.
Having said that, LBJ is 10X more valuable to his team than Nash and Dirk are to their respective teams. Without LBJ, the whole city of Cleveland(just ask spnited ) would be a ghost town.