The NBA Thread

[Guest]

Dont forget his jump shot, and his ability to only bother playing properly when he's either a) pissed off or b) playing on national tv.

If Thib has any sense he'll rest Rose for the next week, then give him 20 mins per game for the last week or so that he can play his way back into game shape and still rest his toe more. Added bonus if the bulls beat the heat without Rose tonight, the impact it could have on the heat would be huge

It makes no difference to the Heat.

you (I'm guessing you're a bullshit fan) swept us in the regular season last year and still got canned in the playoffs. We have far more hope of beating you with Rose playing than without. over - rated.

[martyn]

Yep, definitely prefer John Lucas III over Derrick Rose........

Miami should win it all, but hopefully they don't. Memphis to be the 'sleeper' again. If the Spurs escape the 1st round can see them getting to the conference finals as well.

[Guest]

JL111 torched us much better than Rose.

He can handle Lebron's defence about as well as he can handle dancing at the ASG preview

[welck12]

It makes no difference to the Heat.

you (I'm guessing you're a bullshit fan) swept us in the regular season last year and still got canned in the playoffs. We have far more hope of beating you with Rose playing than without. over - rated.

Nope, not a bulls fan.

How can it not have any effect? Basketball like all sports has an huge element of psychology to it, being beaten by a time without its best player will have an impact of players who are not mentally strong (here's looking at you Bron and Bosh) Also by not having Rose playing it means that Thibs can save some plays he would run (that the heat might not have seen yet) for the playoffs and it gives Spo one less chance to experiment with ways of stopping Rose when it really counts in the finals

Yep, definitely prefer John Lucas III over Derrick Rose........

Miami should win it all, but hopefully they don't. Memphis to be the 'sleeper' again. If the Spurs escape the 1st round can see them getting to the conference finals as well.

I cant see past a OKC vs Lakers/Spurs final in the West Finals

[Guest]

Nope, not a bulls fan.

How can it not have any effect? Basketball like all sports has an huge element of psychology to it, being beaten by a time without its best player will have an impact of players who are not mentally strong (here's looking at you Bron and Bosh) Also by not having Rose playing it means that Thibs can save some plays he would run (that the heat might not have seen yet) for the playoffs and it gives Spo one less chance to experiment with ways of stopping Rose when it really counts in the finals

Not a bulls fan at least raises you from the slime.

Sports psychology sure - if you want.

So last season the bulls won all four games against the Heat and then were steam rollered in the ECF. This year the Heat have looked much better than last year.

The bulls play every game to win, The Heat (rightly or wrongly) won't start their season until april 28th.

The Heat are 10:1 when Wade hasn't played this year. Will he be benched in the playoffs - only if there's garbage time. The heat will go where Wade takes them (not lebron or bosh)

Bron and bosh are not mentally strong!?§! You listen to too much BSPN media. I bet you think that D Rose is a much better closer than Bron too? Wrong the stats do not back up that sugestion at all. Bron is an unselfish BB player, he chooses the play that he believes is going to have the best chance to win the game. If that's a pass to UD or Mario then he'll do that and not play hero ball. Bosh is a finesse player but that doesn't mean he's mentally weak - he is off his game at the moment though.

Thibs can save some plays - and of course Spo will play the same plays with Rose out as in! We have seen that Bron can shut down Rose. that's why we want Rose in, the bulls don't play as a team with Rose in they are predictable and can be shut down easier.

Thibs has also shown an inability to adjust between games in the playoffs, spo has shown he can and will adjust.

Heat beat the bulls in 5 again if they meet in the ECF.

I'm not as confident as you concerning the Heat winning it all though. I fear the spurs (if fit), The Lakers could be difficult if they play through Bynum as opposed to Kobe hero ball. the Grizz are downright nasty.

[welck12]

Wow you do like to jump to a lot of conclusions dont you?

Not a bulls fan at least raises you from the slime.

Sports psychology sure - if you want. So the fact that Spurs have a full time psychologist on there staff has nothing to do with their continued success at all, pure coincidence i'm sure. And the less said about Phil Jacksons opinions on sport psychology the better huh?

So last season the bulls won all four games against the Heat and then were steam rollered in the ECF. This year the Heat have looked much better than last year. And the bulls having improved their offensive effieceny whilst still playing the lock D isnt just as big an improvement?

The bulls play every game to win, The Heat (rightly or wrongly) won't start their season until april 28th. Therein lies the Heats problem, the great players dont take games off (ever). Did you ever see Jordan take a game off? What about Russell? or Magic? or Bird? They refuse to lose thats what made them so successful.

The Heat are 10:1 when Wade hasn't played this year. Will he be benched in the playoffs - only if there's garbage time. The heat will go where Wade takes them (not lebron or bosh) No arguements there, the Heat will go where Wade takes them, but he cant do it all on his own he needs help. See 2006 for example, Wade won them the title but he doesnt win it without Shaq

Bron and bosh are not mentally strong!?§! You listen to too much BSPN media. I bet you think that D Rose is a much better closer than Bron too? Wrong the stats do not back up that sugestion at all. Bron is an unselfish BB player, he chooses the play that he believes is going to have the best chance to win the game. If that's a pass to UD or Mario then he'll do that and not play hero ball. Bosh is a finesse player but that doesn't mean he's mentally weak - he is off his game at the moment though. More assumptions again, where did i even say Rose was a good closer; let alone better than Bron?

No arguements with Bron's selfishness, that pass to UD was the right play. And yep hero ball is shit and has been shown that it very rarely works.

Dont give me that Bosh is a finese player crap, he's 6'11 and he can only average 8.3 rebounds a game? by standing there with his hands open he should get 5 boards a game without moving.

Thibs can save some plays - and of course Spo will play the same plays with Rose out as in! We have seen that Bron can shut down Rose. that's why we want Rose in, the bulls don't play as a team with Rose in they are predictable and can be shut down easier.

Thibs has also shown an inability to adjust between games in the playoffs, spo has shown he can and will adjust. He was a first year coach, of course he was going to make mistakes and he will learn from them just like Spo has done

Heat beat the bulls in 5 again if they meet in the ECF.

I'm not as confident as you concerning the Heat winning it all though. I fear the spurs (if fit), The Lakers could be difficult if they play through Bynum as opposed to Kobe hero ball. the Grizz are downright nasty.

Cant comment ont he rest as i'm at work and off home!

[Guest]

Wow you do like to jump to a lot of conclusions dont you?

Cant comment ont he rest as i'm at work and off home!

No I give my opinion.

and I laugh at your responses. Do you think that your "facts" are more correct than my opinions?

p.s. I don't believe that you watched all of MJ, russell, bird or Magic's games - of course they didn't play at a great level every game. may I jump to the conclusion tha you are a Heat hating fool?

[stix]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a stream to watch the playoff games tonight? As NONE are on ESPN tonight!

Thanks in advance!

[stix]

Maybe we'll meet in the first round.

Well well....

[Jordan]

The only good thing about yesterday's Game 1 for the Knicks was that none of our players died.

[Guest]

The second game wasn't much better for you.

Maybe the third with Amare out Melo can play more hero ball and bosh is out too due to the birth (possibly) of his first child.

The Heat and particularly Lebron was otherwordly in game 1.

I love the mentality of our defense at the moment.

G3 is a very big game for the Knickerbockers.

[Jordan]

****in' Stoudemire. Jeez.

You're too right about Melo. I don't think Melo could care less about missing Amar'e but whether I like it or not, Melo is going to have to have the ball almost every possession, make those terrible shots with hands in his face that he loves so much, and drive + kick out to Novak or whoever else can get hot from behind the arc. Knicks are gonna have to make a lot of 3s to stay in this series. I like Chandler defending/rebounding in the paint against anybody so I'm not jumping for joy about Bosh sitting this one out. But the Knicks do not have any strong perimeter defenders without Shumpert so they're still going to give up a lot of points and lose anyway.

The Knicks' front office wanted a half-court team so badly. They made their bed, now they have to lie in it.

Edited 3 May 2012 by Jordan

[stix]

Apparently Bosh will play tonight. His wife gave birth earlier.

Subscribed to NBA.TV earlier today, got a promo code so it was $50 instead of $70. Which i compared to buying a ticket to watch Citys 0-0 thriller with Doncaster this season & grabbing a pie & a pint. Well worth it!!

[Jordan]

Heat playing the worst possible game the Knicks could have ever asked them to play, yet the Knicks have let themselves get blown out in the 4th quarter.

The $75 million man sure picked a poor game to take the night off. I hated the Melo trade then, and I hate it now, especially after the way he threw D'Antoni under the bus. They just HAD to get Melo at all costs once LeBron did that douchey "The Decision" to "take his talents to South Beach." They could have just added Chandler to last year's squad and have been the baby Spurs, but noooo, they needed a superstar!

[Ozwin]

God the Knicks are so ****ing annoying. I think everyone wants them to do well but they fall short every single time.

The Melo trade has actually made them so much worse hasn't it? I miss Galinari dropping them 3s in with ease and everyone working on the same page, albeit maybe not being the best defensively. Now it doesn't feel like a team at all.

[ACF]

With D-Rose out, time for my Celtics to take over.

Boston v Heat Conference Final.

[Guest]

Ray Allen coming back is a worry.

Lebron also showing how much more he deserved DPOY than TC. TC can't stop anyone and Bron is stopping the hottest player of the last month dead.

[teblin]

Went to see the heat when I was in the states. Awesome experience.

[Guest]

_{Grizz lost in OT last night. 3-1 down with the OT loss and two 1 pointers.}

_{They should be able to pull one back in G5.}

_{Paul is great but I'm not a Blake lover.}

[Cruss5]

Knicks fan here, ever since i went to MSG i have been hooked by them. Even through the bad times.

I think Anthony isn't the best fit for the team, he scores loads but he throws the ball away so many times and also makes some bad shot decisions. Glad they got 1 win over Miami and hopefully they can get another.

Chandler deserved the DPOY in my opinion, he helped the team go from the worst defensive team to one of the top defensive teams. I think if James wasn't MVP material he would of won it. Alot of politics in the game unfortunately.

James did annoy me in Game 1 where her was blatantly flopping to gain calls, no need for it as he is a good enough player without it. He will never be in the same league as Jordan due to the fact he jumped ship to win a championship instead of fighting it out in his team to build a championship.

Wouldn't mind him playing on my team though!!!

[martyn]

_{Grizz lost in OT last night. 3-1 down with the OT loss and two 1 pointers.}

_{They should be able to pull one back in G5.}

_{Paul is great but I'm not a Blake lover.}

Been surprised at Memphis, can't believe Rudy Gay is getting so many shots and that they're not using Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph more.

As for Griffin, it's easy to forget he's still a sophomore. He needs to improve his D and develop a better back to the basket game but this will happen. Indeed, it will have to happen as his athleticism declines over time. CP3 is just a beast.

[Guest]

Agree about Gay.

Blake is just a dunk machine. He can't shoot and his defence is poor. If he getsany kind of injury that affacts his athleticism he's finished. Without Paul the clippers don't even make the playoffs.

Loved boston losing last night.

shame that the Pacers get to rest

Bulls showed some bulls at last.

Loved the Lakers losing.

[stix]

Congrats to Lebron & the Heat on winning the NBA Championship lastnight. James rounding a great season off with a triple-double.

Reluctantly.....well deserved

[martyn]

Whatever you think of Lebron, the guy is an absolute beast. Really think Bosh coming back made a real difference as well, series would have been much tighter if he was still injured.

Shame that Harden and Ibaka didn't really show up in the finals, and that OKC continued to throw away leads that they built up throughout the series. Hopefully they can keep their young core together, would love to see Durant with a title before too long.

[Samilktray]

Are ESPN showing live games again this season? The seasons starts tonight If I'm not mistaken and none of those games are on ESPN