and double post fail.

[Edited on June 2, 2010 at 11:32 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2010 11:32:14 AM

Yall are fucking retarded if you honestly think Lefail is better than Kobe. This is exactly why the fans should have NO vote in the MVP ballet.

6/2/2010 11:38:28 AM

Namwob is a little bitch. cant support his team/guy.

6/2/2010 11:42:18 AM

I wasn't aware that the whole world thought it clear cut that the Celtics would win.

Also, is there a way to create a "Namwob & JTBucky's 2010 NBA Playoffs" thread?

[Edited on June 2, 2010 at 11:51 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2010 11:47:47 AM

sooooo.....Namwob.....

6/2/2010 12:15:37 PM

you guys are just silly, I don't dislike Kobe at all. He's a great player. He's never been a DOMINANT player like Lebron, Jordan, or Magic though. It's just silly to act like he's in the company of the greatest basketball players of all time.

Oh and what is Lebron better at than Kobe????

A ton of things.

Scoring, rebounding, passing, shot blocking, getting to the line, off the ball defense, more versatile on both ends, being a likeable teammate, carrying bad teams, being a winner...

Kobe is better at shooting, making difficult shots, posting up, scowling, being a prima donna...

6/2/2010 5:41:10 PM

Quote :

"being a winner..."

What has Lebron ever won?

Oh yeah, absolutely nothing...nothing that Kobe hasn't won (Olympic gold, NBA MVP)

You'd think someone so DOMINANT would at least have, I dunno, 1 ring in 7 years?

Or you'd think he would at least be...still in the playoffs?

Lebron wasn't even the most dominant player in the Boston series, that title easily goes to Rondo

As a matter of fact, aside from the gamewinning shot to beat Orlando last year (in the only game Turkoglu and Orlando didn't dominate him), Lebron hasn't ever even hit a big SHOT in his life...let alone won anything

6/2/2010 5:44:43 PM

The truth lies somewhere between these last two posts.

6/2/2010 6:10:33 PM

Quote :

"You'd think someone so DOMINANT would at least have, I dunno, 1 ring in 7 years?"

Jordan won his first title in his 7th year, so it's not like LeBron is slacking all that much in that comparison.

6/2/2010 6:12:56 PM

Lefail is better at passing. Thats about it. And underachieving.

6/2/2010 6:25:55 PM

what is the point of moderators if they don't get rid of trolls

6/2/2010 6:27:16 PM

Lebron only throws good passes if they lead to assists.

No interest in reversing the ball, passes that lead to passes that lead to good shots.

[Edited on June 2, 2010 at 7:28 PM. Reason : a]

6/2/2010 7:23:41 PM

Quote :

"Jordan won his first title in his 7th year"

Magic won one as a rookie

And I think Lebron will win titles...but I'm not gonna crown his ass until he does, like some other people want to do...same goes with Howard until he gets some offense...Patrick Ewing must be the most worthless coach ever, why hasn't he taught him the 8' baseline fadeaway

6/2/2010 7:56:45 PM

2 months after the playoffs began and the finals still have yet to start...i want to get back into the nba, but stern & co seem to have no interest in bringing me back into the fold

i mean, everyone gives mlb shit about their long schedule, but the nba goes for just as long

6/2/2010 9:26:10 PM

^^ why is any big man shooting fade-away shots?

He's 6'11" with insane hops. Go straight up and shoot. Nobody's blocking his shot.

6/3/2010 4:35:44 AM

^how'd that dunk-only-offensive game work out for him this year...and fadeaways seem to work ok for Gasol and Dirk, among others...you have to defend them differently

he needs a low post offense aside from just dunks...he needs a reliable hook shot with both hands...and considering Ewing was a 7-footer, and he all but perfected the baseline fadeaway, why not teach that to Howard, since that shot actually is unblockable

[Edited on June 3, 2010 at 8:49 AM. Reason : ]

6/3/2010 8:27:30 AM

I can't believe the lakers are such huge favorites in this series.

They had an easy road into the finals in a depleted west while the celts mopped the floor against good teams.

This series is going to be a rude awakening for a team that's been on cruise control all playoffs and hasn't faced a defense yet

6/3/2010 9:27:12 AM

I agree with you. It could be surprising.

6/3/2010 9:28:31 AM

they're 5.5 point favorites at home, where they are undefeated this post season

whats the problem?

6/3/2010 9:33:15 AM

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AsnU._QMx28mnR.bJEOHVH68vLYF?slug=ap-nbafinals-lakers

I had the same injury Bynum had (torn meniscus in Feb. 2003) and didn't cut back any until after the semester was over (after playing IM basketball and taking PE basketball class). There must be something more to his injured knee than just that.

[Edited on June 3, 2010 at 4:43 PM. Reason : Perhaps his previous surgeries are a possible reason why it's worse for him?]

6/3/2010 4:42:05 PM

trying to decide who to pull for in this series. i guess i am going with the lakers because they have josh powell on the bench whereas the celtics have rasheed on the bench. any thoughts tww?

6/3/2010 4:48:08 PM

I took celts to win the series at +175 that's pretty big underdogs for such a tight series.

The lakers are great at home and their homecourt advantage is huge in this series, but I think the celts can overcome.

As a wild stab I think celts take game 1, 3, 5, and 6.

Tonights game is huge for the lakers pysche they are the much more fragile team

6/3/2010 4:56:44 PM

Celtics. Only because Ray Allen was my favorite ever UConn player as a kid. I actually have come to sort of like Kobe, if only because I love watching him play.

But really, I don't like either one of these teams all that much.

6/3/2010 4:58:27 PM

Haha, in Rallyworld, okc doesn't have a defense.

6/3/2010 5:43:30 PM

Watching the Lakers play the Celtics is like watching the Eagles play the Cowboys. I can't pull for any of them.

6/3/2010 9:32:50 PM

I'm actually liking this even though boston is down a little bit, it's a low scoring game and boston's defense is definitely getting to LA, if someone on boston can get hot they can easily take the lead

6/3/2010 10:03:37 PM

but of course the celtics are going to have find a way to score somehow to win

6/3/2010 11:04:24 PM

PHIL JACKSON'S PISSED AT CHRIS ROCK.

6/3/2010 11:31:01 PM

wow. that was a late call

6/3/2010 11:36:39 PM

ha what's chris rock up to?

6/3/2010 11:39:07 PM

LOL Garnett

6/3/2010 11:40:37 PM

Fisher probably thinks guarding Rondo is easy compared to Deron and Nash

6/4/2010 12:00:56 AM

So uh...the Lakers played some serious defense.

6/4/2010 12:40:44 AM

Ugh, where to begin...

1) The lead story has to be Gasol. He was inhuman tonight, and he's actually not all that far behind Dwight Howard as the best post player in the game. He was clearly the best player on the court in Game 1 and it looks like he took the "soft" comments this week leading up to the game pretty seriously. It's ridiculous that a top scorer, rebounder, shot blocker, and passer gets called soft. He's obviously more finesse than strength but soft is an absurd description. He did a great job working in tandem with Bynum everytime the Celts D broke down.

2) Garnett/Perkins. Garnett looked 100 years old out there tonight, he's really worn down over the course of the playoffs. He got absolutely demolished by Gasol on both ends and his help defense was a step slow all night. The two of them combined for SEVEN rebounds and Garnett passed up open looks all game even though the Celtics were having trouble finishing around the basket. If these two guys can't hang with the Lakers frontline, then Boston has zero chance in the series. The Lakers are the better rebounding team, but the Celtics were supposed to mitigate that advantage, not get demolished like everyone else.

3) Artest, why the fuck is he nailing everything now? He shot 27% from 3's on the season so of course he knocks down 3/5 and another one with his foot on the line.

4) Allen/Allen. They weren't able to receive help on Kobe because the Lakers are just masters of floor spacing and Gasol makes quick decisions with the ball. This led to a shit ton of fouls on both Allens (9 total in a combined 43 minutes), most of which were legit fouls and a few Kobe reputation fouls. I think when Kobe is resting that is when you have to put R.Allen in the game so he can get more minutes and shot opportunities without racking up fouls the whole time. I don't know what they will do to stop this obvious problem. The Celts were forced to put Finley in the game at one point which led to 2 Laker layups in 3 seconds.

5) Rondo, uh oh. His passes were spectacular but against any other team he would have been 20 and 12 tonight instead of 13 and 8. The Laker front line was blocking his shot (3 times), cutting off driving angles with their length, and contesting his teammates shots on dropoffs that would normally be layups.

6) Pierce, solid game. It's good to know he can still generate offense against Artest since he couldn't against Lebron.

7) Kobe, solid game. He didn't try to do too much and deferred to Gasol to take over the game which he wouldn't have done two years ago. He didn't look explosive but he picked his spots and got quality shots. His 4 turnovers and 3 shots blocked make you wonder how much more mileage his knees can take...

Boston can still win the series but they have to do a better job rebounding. They did a good job of racking up fouls on the Lakers and getting to the line but other than that they took poor shots, missed a lot of good ones, and looked out of sync. They are used to relying on Rondo to generate most of their offense and he struggles with the Lakers size so Garnett has to be willing to take the open jumpers he is getting. Also, they have got to capitalize more when the Lakers scrubs come in instead of just playing even.

With the way they dominated that outing the Lakers now look like heavy favorites, but Boston has the experience/composure to regroup and steal game 2 and watch the pressure shift back on LA.

6/4/2010 12:51:28 AM

LA also has the experience and composure to win game 2

rally you've been wrong about pretty much every series this playoffs, what makes you think this one will be any different

ps: Gasol is lightyears ahead of Howard offensively

6/4/2010 12:55:44 AM

Quote :

"3) Artest, why the fuck is he nailing everything now? He shot 27% from 3's on the season so of course he knocks down 3/5 and another one with his foot on the line."

its just a perfect analysis of your "what they did in the regular season is who they are" theory. Artest is a knock down shooter and was once 40+. For whatever reason he didn't shoot well this season but he's still Artest. You can't just leave him open all the time.

6/4/2010 2:25:09 AM

Gasol has never been that soft IMO. I think it's just a term generically applied to all european big men, whether it's deserved or not.

He's no softer than Garnett has ever been. Both have high finesse for their positions but aren't soft.

6/4/2010 2:36:31 AM

I was actually talking to my buddy tonight during the game about how Gasol got pushed around when these teams last met in the Finals, but how he seemed a lot more fired up this time...Garnett has definitely lost a step since then though

6/4/2010 2:44:08 AM

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/

"The Lakers won Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night. Can the Suns bounce back in the series? Hear every game on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com."


(Also, sorry bout the extra thread. It was too early in the morning)

6/4/2010 9:07:17 AM

never miss a chance to take a shot at Kobe huh Rally? Questioning his explosiveness and his knees like that, I dont know if we were watching the same game. The game I watched Kobe dropped 30, got to the rim with ease a lot of times, threw down a couple of dunks (though wide open), and got up above the rim to throw Tony Allen's dunk attempt. He got blocked a couple of times and turned the ball over yes, but if the Celtics are the best defensive team in the league like everyone says thats going to happen.

Paul Pierce had a good game because Ron Artest got in foul trouble early. The Lakers put a hand in their face all night and still the Celtics hit a number of those shots. Rondo's game is crippled being guarded by a much bigger Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen cant stay in front of Kobe on the other end. The Lakers dominated the frontcourt and I don't see that changing much. The intensity Ron Artest brings to this team was underestimated. This could be a quick series.

6/4/2010 10:01:40 AM

I dont think Gasol was soft, I think he had a different style of game then...it was all finesse and fundamental and now he is realizing he can be pretty stout down low and make more plays.

I still think he is the best player on the lakers team...Ive said it all year.

6/4/2010 11:13:48 AM

^^Agreed, I think rally's confusing conserving energy with lack of explosiveness. Kobe did exactly what he wanted to in last night's game.

6/4/2010 11:19:14 AM

Kobe had a solid game but if they hadn't called so any fouls his numbers would have been reduced a lot. Like the time he airballed a jumper and they just assumed he must have been fouled.

He certainly wasn't able to keep rondo out of the paint he burnt him on drives and backcuts. The lakers front line was the one preventing him from having a monster game by blocking his layups.

It was a good effort, his shot was a little off but he didn't force it, he got to the line, passed to gasol, and that one at the end of the shot clock was spectacular.

Gasol was the difference obviously though in game 1 he thoroughly dominated one of the best post players of all time. Now that's impressive.

6/4/2010 11:57:36 AM

Quote :

"how'd that dunk-only-offensive game work out for him this year...and fadeaways seem to work ok for Gasol and Dirk, among others...you have to defend them differently he needs a low post offense aside from just dunks...he needs a reliable hook shot with both hands... and considering Ewing was a 7-footer, and he all but perfected the baseline fadeaway, why not teach that to Howard, since that shot actually is unblockable"

I never said he had to just dunk the ball. I agree that he needs at least a right-handed hook shot (add a lefty and he'd put up another 6-8 points per game, easily)

The best big man of this decade rarely (if ever) shoots fade-away shots. Gasol doesn't depend on his, and it's just another move in Dirk's arsenal. I'd hate to see Howard go Malone/Ewing and have to rely on 14-foot fade-away shots that completely take him out of rebounding position. As it is, they're a weak rebounding team (Howard pretty much handles all the rebounding duties on both ends). Ewing and Malone had scrappy teammates that fought for rebounds. Howard doesn't have that now.

Watch Al Jefferson -- he can back down, face up, or drive from the high post and hit shots. Very rarely does a move take him away from the goal. D12 doesn't have to become Tim Duncan offensively, but Al Jefferson (who's been in the league as long as Howard) is a reasonable expectation.

6/4/2010 12:43:55 PM

rally probably thinks Reggie Bush was more integral in the Saints winning the Super Bowl than Drew Brees...you know, to be original, even when its completely wrong

^I'm not saying Howard needs to become a 50% three point shooter...I'm saying he needs to learn to do more than spin and dunk, which is currently his only offense

6/4/2010 1:13:47 PM

Basketball moves Howard can/should add, in list form, since apparently people are skimming my post:

- right-handed hook shot
- left-handed hook shot*
- face-up jumper, 9-15 ft.
- face-up, three-dribble drive
- short-range up-and-under (comes after developing a respectable jumper, since defenders need to bite on the up in order to go under)

Those five plus his drop-step will elevate his game. Improve 10% on the free throws (that'd put him at .699, TD's career FT% is .687) and Howard easily becomes the best big man of this generation.

[Edited on June 4, 2010 at 1:25 PM. Reason : seriously, where the fuck did I ever mention three pointers?]

6/4/2010 1:24:38 PM

you never mentioned 3 pointers, but I never intended that a 14' fadeaway was necessary...I just figured since Ewing had it, and Ewing was supposed to coach Howard's low post game, Howard might have some semblance of an 8' jump shot...that way maybe Van Gundy won't have to sit him the last 90 seconds of every game for fear he'll miss FTs

6/4/2010 1:29:14 PM

who would you rather have in their prime, Shaq or Olajuwon?

6/4/2010 1:33:48 PM

Olajuwon

6/4/2010 1:36:10 PM

post-headcase Hakeem

6/4/2010 1:48:47 PM