[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
We are two posts behind the Stanley Cup playoffs thread post count. Keep posting people! I want you to post about what you think of the playoffs thus far, your predictions, how basketball has changed your life, naked pics of your Gfs, etc…[/quote]
This is the fourth year we’ve been doing this thread. The first two years, Stanley Cup playoffs thread drilled us in views and posts. Last year, we did more than double their thread in posts and views. Gotta keep it up.
I like the way the playoffs are going. My Thunder got knocked out early, but I’m happy for what they did this season. Cavs-C’s living up to expectations. Didn’t expect the Spurs to get swept, but I expected the Magic to roll the Hawks.
Predictions: Lakers/Suns: Lakers in 6. Celts beat Cavs in 7. Magic/Celts: Magic in 6. Finals rematch.
Barkley made a good point yesterday regarding the Lakers. He said no team will beat the Lakers in a half-court set, you gotta get out and run to beat them. The Thunder did this well and won two games, and PHX is very much a transition-style team, so the Suns matching up with the Lakers will be nice. I don’t think the Suns will beat the Lakers in the series, though.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Suns score 130+ points one game during the series.
I say lakers in 5 against the suns. There is no way the suns win two games… but then again I picked the nuggets to with it all. meh… lakers vs cavs finals… lakers in 6… but i’ll be rooting for the cavs.I hate the lakers!!
[quote]randman wrote:
So I’m curious drewh based on ur response. If u had to bet $1,000 bucks of ur own money on the Suns/Lakers series would ur prediction change; and if so, how so? Winner in how many games? Try to imagine really forking over $1,000 dollars when answering this. You won’t lose the money if ur off on the number of games but u would if u pick the wrong winner.[/quote]
Still Suns.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
We are two posts behind the Stanley Cup playoffs thread post count. Keep posting people! I want you to post about what you think of the playoffs thus far, your predictions, how basketball has changed your life, naked pics of your Gfs, etc…[/quote]
This is the fourth year we’ve been doing this thread. The first two years, Stanley Cup playoffs thread drilled us in views and posts. Last year, we did more than double their thread in posts and views. Gotta keep it up.
I like the way the playoffs are going. My Thunder got knocked out early, but I’m happy for what they did this season. Cavs-C’s living up to expectations. Didn’t expect the Spurs to get swept, but I expected the Magic to roll the Hawks.
Predictions: Lakers/Suns: Lakers in 6. Celts beat Cavs in 7. Magic/Celts: Magic in 6. Finals rematch.
Barkley made a good point yesterday regarding the Lakers. He said no team will beat the Lakers in a half-court set, you gotta get out and run to beat them. The Thunder did this well and won two games, and PHX is very much a transition-style team, so the Suns matching up with the Lakers will be nice. I don’t think the Suns will beat the Lakers in the series, though.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Suns score 130+ points one game during the series.
[/quote]
Deb raises their thread post count/views, unfair advantage.
And for those of you calling for a Suns upset, there is another factor you may not be taking into consideration here. Kobe Bryant is pissed. Remember, when he had the shit-sandwich team around him he lost in the 2006 and 2007 playoffs to the Suns. He (and the Lakers) want revenge. Revenge is a powerful motivator for a talented team. And with a week off to rest benefits the Lakers even more than the Suns. The Suns don’t have a chance.
I think we can sum up this east/west semifinals as “sweep, sweep, sweep”. The brooms were out in full force this round. The Lakers and the Magic are looking like the 2 best teams in these playoffs right now.
[quote]drewh wrote:
Hockey is on versus, that should say enough.[/quote]
It’s the NFL, MLB and NBA. The NHL is the ugly step child of the four. Ha ha ha. Although I am keeping an eye on the Boston Bruins I have to admit. If they can continue to advance, I’ll be watching more and more.
Here’s the list in order of Relevance.
It’s Boxing, NBA, UFC, NFL, Soccer (Only for the World Cup), MLB…
Anyone who changes or modifies this list in any way shape or form was probably breast fed for too long and obviously has mental issues which inhibit them from making rational decisions.
Were you breast fed for too long celtics lover??? haha
Boxing?!? Boxing? MMA has taken over. BTW, my list wasn’t in order. It was just to depict the big three of professional sports and then NHL way down the food chain. Hey, I like MMA and Soccer but in this country those others are still down the food chain of the big three with NFL, MLB, and NBA with NFL the king over all.
Until LA gets their own team the NFL can’t be taken seriously.
We have 2 baseball teams, 2 basketball teams, 2 hockey teams, 2 soccer teams, and NO FKN FOOTBALL TEAM!!! So until we get our own team or the Raiders start winning games the NFL means nothing. lol
MMA is for beer drinkers, boxing is a gentlemens sport… MMA is awesome but they have a long way to go before they are pushing out the caliber fights that boxing does. And soccer my be down the foodchain but the world cup is not. More people watch the World Cup then basketball. Which isn’t saying much these days. =/
Therefor my list stands and should no be tampered with.
Yeah, I can’t understand not having an NFL team. Makes no sense whatsoever. Although for me I’m a die hard Pats fan anyways.
The other thing I can’t understand why the NBA isn’t more popular in this country. I guess I’m biased because I think it was Whiteflash who posted earlier that nothing really matches the excitement of a closely contested NBA playoff game with last second shots.
It’s like the NBA is growing more in popularity internationally but stays pretty stagnant here. I just don’t get it. How can you want to watch the NFL draft over an NBA playoff game? I can not believe the NFL draft beat out the NBA in ratings that night. How pathetic do you have to be to sit there and watch the draft. This is beyond normal. And this is coming from someone who is an NFL junkie and is glued to the TV every Sunday in season.
Is TNT with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson the best variety show on tv or what? I’m not just talking sports variety show but overall variety show. I just love watching these guys. I’ll tape the show after a late game just so I can watch them the next day if it’s getting too late the night before.
Also, here is another interesting blurb about the history of the NBA ratings.
It says there was a rapid rise and fall in “television ratings since the 1997-1998 NBA season, when ratings for the NBA Finals achieved a record high, to the 2002-2003 NBA season, when ratings for the same event hit an all-time record low. Blame for this rise and fall has been pinned on the destructive NBA lockout which occurred right after the 1998 season. The lockout wiped out thirty-two games of the 1998-1999 season and caused fan apathy. Other blame has been put on the retirement of Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, also on backlash against the new “hip-hop” culture of the league, and as well as heavy competition from prime time programming such as American Idol, the CSI franchise, and Dancing With The Stars. Despite the fall in ratings, the NBA’s regular season ratings average is only slightly lower than Major League Baseball’s, and ratings for the finals continue to outdraw competing events that occur during the same month, golf’s U.S. Open and the Stanley Cup Finals.”
So I guess it’s not all that bad. I just don’t understand why it’s not even better. Also, the NBA is in serious risk of having another lockout in the next couple of years. The owners want a serious re-write of the collective bargaining agreement, they want to do away with 6 to 7 year contracts for players, etc. There are too many teams losing too much money. And of course the players union wants to continue to get their players big bucks. This could be catastrophic for the league.
Alright guys, I’m really doing my part to increase the post count on this thread
Interesting article regarding Lakers, Magic sweeps here
And yet another thing to think about if you’re picking a Suns upset (taken from the article):
Lakers put together their most complete win of this postseason, a game whose film will certainly be worth a long study for the Suns, who will face the Lakers in the conference finals.
Consider three numbers that should concern Phoenix:
52.3. Thatâ??s Kobe Bryant’s shooting percentage over the four games against Utah, which led to his averaging 32.0 points per game. Bryant looked mortal in the opening round against the Thunder, when speculation held that the broken index finger on his right hand caused him to shoot just 40.8 percent from the field, averaging 23.5 points. Heâ??s Kobe again.
33.3. Thatâ??s the combined per-game rebounding of Lakers big men Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom in the Utah series. The Suns canâ??t match the Lakersâ?? size and length, and the series the Lakersâ?? bigsâ??particularly Gasolâ??just posted is intimidating.
Thatâ??s the number of Game 4 points scored by reserve guard Shannon Brown. One area in which the Suns could forge an advantage is the bench, and thatâ??s where Brown’s ability to knock down shots can offset some of what Phoenix does. The Lakers are 20-6 (.769) this year when Brown scores 11-plus points. Theyâ??re 43-21 (.672) when he does not.
Also, I enjoy reading everything Bill Simmons has to write. My favorite sports writer of all time, his latest article summing up the second round of the NBA playoffs:
Ok it’s been mentioned twice that the NBA has exciting last second shots and that makes it special.
Please explain how a last second touchdown or hockey or soccer goal is less special? Or maybe you’re saying that the back and forth scoring is what makes it so exciting. But to me, and I’m sure others, the fact that scoring happens less makes it even more special when it does happen.
