Do people not credit Miami because of their hatred for them?
It’s great reading all these arguments on different forums about what would happen if Miami plays Dallas. But it’s hard not to sense the hatred for Lebron in these comments.
I’m a Golden State Warriors fan (sad, I know) but would like to see Kidd or Wade win the title. I’m taking Miami in 6 because of home court advantage, 3 of the top 4 players on the floor, resurgence of Miller and Haslem to finally give Miami a bench, Bron becoming more of a point guard or facilitator (many on ESPN have said he can be the best point guard in the league if he wanted to be), and their athleticism to swarm Dallas.
Dirk is much better than Bosh, but Bosh will force Dirk to expend some energy on defending him. Because Bosh has pretty good range, having Chandler defend him would take away his shotblocking for Dallas. And Chandler is a very good interior defender.
I’m taking Dallas tonight and Chicago Thursday.
Miami will finish them on Saturday.
Miami’s defense gets too much credit? So, MIA defense is overrated on the whole? If so, how did they have one of the best defenses in the regular season? (#1 or #2, with CHI taking the other spot)
Man, I hear you guys on the bar/club scene. I’m 28 and it just feels off to me. I want to be somewhere quiet or at a friend’s place, BBQ’ing and drinking and shooting the shit. No lines, no covers, no ugly music blaring.[/quote]
I meant the individual players get too much credit. Take James for example: He’s a good weak side defender, but he doesn’t play that good one-on-one D. If Rose hits those step backs then people talkabout how he lit James up, not how James “stopped” him. Also, Reggie Miller said that James reminds him of Scottie Pippen on D. Of all the hyperbolic bullshit that gets tossed around in favor of James, that was one of the most absurd. Scottie Pippen is one of the best overall defenders in NBA history. He could realistically defend the 1-4 as well as anyone, and James gets that comparison? Shit’s ridiculous.
Miami’s defense gets too much credit? So, MIA defense is overrated on the whole? If so, how did they have one of the best defenses in the regular season? (#1 or #2, with CHI taking the other spot)
Man, I hear you guys on the bar/club scene. I’m 28 and it just feels off to me. I want to be somewhere quiet or at a friend’s place, BBQ’ing and drinking and shooting the shit. No lines, no covers, no ugly music blaring.[/quote]
I meant the individual players get too much credit. Take James for example: He’s a good weak side defender, but he doesn’t play that good one-on-one D. If Rose hits those step backs then people talkabout how he lit James up, not how James “stopped” him. Also, Reggie Miller said that James reminds him of Scottie Pippen on D. Of all the hyperbolic bullshit that gets tossed around in favor of James, that was one of the most absurd. Scottie Pippen is one of the best overall defenders in NBA history. He could realistically defend the 1-4 as well as anyone, and James gets that comparison? Shit’s ridiculous.[/quote]
Well, Miller did play against Pippen, so he would know a little better than us. Don’t think he played against Bron. But growing up watching the great Bulls teams of the 90s, Pippen was 2nd to only Rodman that I’ve ever seen.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
WF do you have a favourite team? Houston Rockets?[/quote]
Honestly, not really. There are certain players I like watching, and certain teams I like watching, but none I’d call a favorite. Obviously I’m down for the Rockets to do well, but they’re stuck in perpetual mediocrity: Too good to get a high draft pick, not good enough to do any real damage. Hopefully they can make some moves and get back on the right track.
You and Larry should be pretty pumped though. Toronto has some nice young players [DeRozan will be an All-Star in a couple of years] and the town is apperantly pretty into the team. If they can do some good things through the draft and not lose pieces to free agency they’ll be heading in the right direction.
Miami’s defense gets too much credit? So, MIA defense is overrated on the whole? If so, how did they have one of the best defenses in the regular season? (#1 or #2, with CHI taking the other spot)
Man, I hear you guys on the bar/club scene. I’m 28 and it just feels off to me. I want to be somewhere quiet or at a friend’s place, BBQ’ing and drinking and shooting the shit. No lines, no covers, no ugly music blaring.[/quote]
I meant the individual players get too much credit. Take James for example: He’s a good weak side defender, but he doesn’t play that good one-on-one D. If Rose hits those step backs then people talkabout how he lit James up, not how James “stopped” him. Also, Reggie Miller said that James reminds him of Scottie Pippen on D. Of all the hyperbolic bullshit that gets tossed around in favor of James, that was one of the most absurd. Scottie Pippen is one of the best overall defenders in NBA history. He could realistically defend the 1-4 as well as anyone, and James gets that comparison? Shit’s ridiculous.[/quote]
Well, Miller did play against Pippen, so he would know a little better than us. Don’t think he played against Bron. But growing up watching the great Bulls teams of the 90s, Pippen was 2nd to only Rodman that I’ve ever seen.[/quote]
Scottie Pippen made a career out of shutting down the teams best offensive player after Jordan came back the first time. James hasn’t shutdown ANYONE, ever. How that comparison can be made - even in passing - is ridiculous.
The Mavs have needed OKC to choke every bitch as much to get their wins as the Heat have. I’d go slight advantage Heat because even if the Mavs defense is actually ‘pretty good’ it’s not the Bulls defense. Their rebounding isn’t as good as the Bulls either. Those 2 things combined and the Heat are still putting up decent offense in this series, I think they gain more than they ‘lose’ by facing a team with more offensive options(they’re not even playing the Bulls as if their players aren’t offensively viable anyways… they’re respecting Korver and Deng as shooters, they just aren’t shooting great in the series).
Congratulations to Dirk"The Jerk" (that’s what me and and my friends would call him back in the day when we played video games lol) and the rest of The Mavs!!! I’ve lost my faith in Chicago so I’m going with Dallas for the Finals.
Mike Brown as the new coach of the Lakers? This should be interesting. I’m a Laker Hater but I’m pretty interested to see what the Lakers are gonna do this offseason. It could be really interesting. I hate to say it but they have some serious talent as it is. Of course it seems like all the egos can’t get along.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
WF do you have a favourite team? Houston Rockets?[/quote]
Lol why would you even ask that question? Where were you last year and this regular season. WF is a Laker boy as long as Kobe Bryant is affiliated with them.
[quote]fnf wrote:
Do people not credit Miami because of their hatred for them?
It’s great reading all these arguments on different forums about what would happen if Miami plays Dallas. But it’s hard not to sense the hatred for Lebron in these comments.
I’m a Golden State Warriors fan (sad, I know) but would like to see Kidd or Wade win the title. I’m taking Miami in 6 because of home court advantage, 3 of the top 4 players on the floor, resurgence of Miller and Haslem to finally give Miami a bench, Bron becoming more of a point guard or facilitator (many on ESPN have said he can be the best point guard in the league if he wanted to be), and their athleticism to swarm Dallas.
Dirk is much better than Bosh, but Bosh will force Dirk to expend some energy on defending him. Because Bosh has pretty good range, having Chandler defend him would take away his shotblocking for Dallas. And Chandler is a very good interior defender.
I’m taking Dallas tonight and Chicago Thursday.
Miami will finish them on Saturday.[/quote]
Interesting analysis. I think the ultimate factor though is going to be the converse of what you just said; how will Bosh (and co.) contain Nowitzki. The entire discussion starts there imo, because out of everyone these playoffs Dirk has played the best basketball. If he starts getting hot the Heat can forget it. Dirk is so different from the other “superstars” out there because when he gets hot it seems the Mav’s offense gets more fluid and organised. It’s unlike other superstar players and their respective teams where in the scenario the superstar starts scoring all the points the other players start getting cold. To call a player of Dirk’s talent unselfish is really saying something, and it’s true, he could be going 15-17 but he’ll still give it up for his team mates to shoot if they’re more open.
The Mavs will take it if Bosh starts scoring on Nowitzki because chances are there will be be more damage on the other end by you know who. I think the Mavs would actually like Miami to run its offense through Bosh if possible. You just have to look at the tight games this Miami-Chicago series and the game Miami lost to see how this is advantageous to Dallas. In those games Bosh was Miami’s leading scorer (or at least up there).
Like I said before it is going to be an intense Finals. You have to think it will go 7 games. LeBron James vs. Dirk Nowitzki, you have Jason Kidd, Chris Bosh, Shawn Marion, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler. All these guys have faced challenges and heart-breaks in their careers so far chasing that elusive trophy. It’s all going to be put on the line come Finals commencement.
My problem with Bosh is that he’s just not assertive. Maybe’s it’s his strength relative to other bigs in the league; he’s definitely not the strongest big man out there. I don’t care what he typically scores, because he can easily get pushed around.
Miller hasn’t done shit all playoffs minus hitting some shots last game.
Why has Ilgauskus been out the past few games? What’s wrong with him? Or was that just a Spoelstra strategy?
The most exciting NBA game I’ve ever gone to was Warriors vs. Mavs when Baron Davis was on the squad. THAT was a sick game; the energy in the stadium was nuts.