Basketball

[Sick Boy]

I would start a basketball thread but I don't think there is enough people here with an interest to warrant one.

no way start one anyway man, you & I at least...if all these dudes can have their footie threads then we can have a basketball one...playoffs coming up & that - tho I reckon they'll be quite dull unless someone can upset the Lakers...I suppose a LeBron/Kobe Finals has its appeal but the Cavs are just dreadful to watch, as ever...Zydrunas Ilgauskas & Pau Gasol mucking about in the post game after game, ugh...tho I guess it can't be as bad as Spurs/Cavs or Spurs/Pistons for that matter...

when I was living out in Oakland (still a Warriors fan - more cause they rep the city hard than for the team itself) we had an Italian great white hope of our own, uh Marco something...I don't think he panned out but he was perfect Nellie material, a long athletic wing with a great shot who couldn't play defense to save his life...still that team a couple yrs ago of Baron/S-Jax/Monta Ellis/Mickael Pietrus/goofy Latvian dude was so much fun...

you two should definitely start one of those: Oliver started a rugby thread and there's only about six of us that ever seem to comment there with any regularity..

I'd be content with a Kobe/Lebron showdown because I've been so slack following the league this year. My fingernails have only just grown back from the Spurs/Pistons match-up. I actually really liked the Pistons that year.

well I grew up in Chicago & my childhood coincided with the Jordan years so I'm actually legally required to hate the Pistons, the Jordan Rules & all that...one of my earliest sports memories is watching Isaiah Thomas & Laimbeer walk off the court early after the Bulls swept them in 1991...tho I did rather like that Wallaces/Billups/Walker/Hamilton team, you have to respect a team that plays like that...& I've always been a big Tim Duncan fan...& I really like good defense...but honestly that series was excruciating...

I don't follow it at all but apparently basketball is the 2nd biggest sport in Europe after footie? tho maybe moreso on the mainland (especially Spain, Italy, Greece, Eastern Europe) than the UK tho...

Ok, so I decided against waiting until the playoffs for this thread. I started watching basketball relatively recently (circa 2005) which is why I have a soft spot for the Pistons, who were wrecking house then. Ben Wallace is a minotaur.

I'm surprised basketball is the second biggest sport in Europe. Certainly not in Britain. I happened to be in London halfway through the (aforementioned) 2005 Playoffs and finding a decent bar to watch the games live was brutal because of the sheer scarcity and because all the games were broadcasted in the middle of the night (probably lending to the scarcity). We found one at long last, and got there to find it filled with Americans. This is why I was doubting the success of this thread on this board in particular but nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[Leo]

hey, i was born and raised around boston, the celtics were THE sports dynasty for a decade or so. dave cowens was my hero, john havilcek was my god. few things could beat a celtics-knicks match up, except maybe celtics-lakers in the bird-magic era. and the crown returned last year!

love the old uniforms with the short shorts instead of today's baggy-ass gangsta look. and i'm really sick of the tattoomania.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

nice one Sick Boy!

I started watching basketball relatively recently (circa 2005) which is why I have a soft spot for the Pistons, who were wrecking house then. Ben Wallace is a minotaur....

yeah I got just got back into it a few yrs ago as well after a long long time of not paying any attention to sports...got really into that Warriors team I mentioned while living in Oakland...mostly just into basketball tho more than any particular team (FreeDarko has this concept of "liberated fandom")...pro ball over college tho definitely...

& I have nothing but respect for Big Ben but was a minotaur is more accurate I think, the game doesn't smile on aging 6'7" centers who got by solely on freakish athleticism & superior work ethic...he was just painful to watch with the Bulls tho I do have fond memories of him doing a great defensive job on Shaq in the playoffs a couple yrs back despite giving up 6 inches & probably 80-90 lbs...

I'm surprised basketball is the second biggest sport in Europe. Certainly not in Britain. I happened to be in London halfway through the (aforementioned) 2005 Playoffs and finding a decent bar to watch the games live was brutal because of the sheer scarcity and because all the games were broadcasted in the middle of the night (probably lending to the scarcity). We found one at long last, and got there to find it filled with Americans. This is why I was doubting the success of this thread on this board in particular but nothing ventured nothing gained.

yeah as mentioned it's much more of mainland thing - I think Britain is actually the exception not the rule, the only Brit basketball players I know of are a Sudanese refugee (Luol Deng) & an American born in the UK (Ben Gordon). I don't think basketball outstrips football in popularity anywhere (well, maybe in like Lithuania, Croatia, etc. - countries that have traditionally produced a lot of basketball talent) but it's quite popular. The top Euro Leagues (they have divisions, like footie) are a notch below the NBA but considerably above even elite NCAA play...it's a different style of play too, the rules are slightly but importantly different from NBA rules...

 

[scottdisco]

yeah it's certainly massive in Greece, and pretty big in Spain.

Padraig mentioned Lithuania too.

yep it's popular in Croatia.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

hey, i was born and raised around boston, the celtics were THE sports dynasty for a decade or so. dave cowens was my hero, john havilcek was my god. few things could beat a celtics-knicks match up, except maybe celtics-lakers in the bird-magic era. and the crown returned last year!

yeh this is how it was for my mom - Boston Irish Catholic - she was a teenager during the Bill Russell (who really was by far the most important component of those teams) era - had a big crush on Havlicek & so on...

love the old uniforms with the short shorts instead of today's baggy-ass gangsta look. and i'm really sick of the tattoomania.

no offense man, & I don't want to make any ugly insinuations, but I'm not going to let euphemisms like "baggy-ass gangsta look" slip without calling BS....

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

yeah it's certainly massive in Greece, and pretty big in Spain.

Padraig mentioned Lithuania too.

yep it's popular in Croatia.

there are loads of good Spanish players in the NBA - José Calderó, Jorge Garbajosa, Sergio Rodríguez, Rudy Fernández, the Gasol brothers, plus Ricky Rubio who will be top 5 in this yr's draft...the Spanish national team is always really good...

I remember there used to be this Lithuanian guy on the Warriors, Sarunas Jasikevicius and the coach Don Nelson (aka Nellie - hell of a character, total snake oil salesman & basketball genius) always referred to him as "Jazzy Cabbages" cos he couldn't pronounce his name...

Croatia - Vlade Divac, the original & template for the Euro big man (that is, soft, poor defender, not very athletic but good technical skills & great passer)...also back in the Bulls' glory days they had Toni Kukoc...great player & really fun to watch...

Argentina's another place where basketball is huge...of course they won Olympic gold back in '04...also apparently the Phillipines...and China of course...

 

[Leo]

no offense man, & I don't want to make any ugly insinuations, but I'm not going to let euphemisms like "baggy-ass gangsta look" slip without calling BS....

ha! no offense taken, and not sure what insinuations you might be alluding to, but c'mon. today's trunks look ridiculous, getting longer and wider all the time.

and bill russell was the key for that portion of the dynasty, but i was too young for him and was talking more about the later cowens-halicek-white-mchale-parrish-bird years. that group didn't win consecutive titles like the earlier celts but did ok.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

ha! no offense taken, and not sure what insinuations you might be alluding to, but c'mon. today's trunks look ridiculous, getting longer and wider all the time.

oh come on man you know what I'm getting at - when I hear someone go on about "gangsta" this & "tattoos" that, it's generally then a hop skip & jump on to all the players today not "playing the right way" & being "thugs"....you know, the kind of nonsense talk that pretty much started when Allen Iverson entered the League...

still, no harm no foul...just a fashion preference then...tho I dunno what you're on about cause those old short shorts are the epitomy of goofy & not in a good way:...

and bill russell was the key for that portion of the dynasty, but i was too young for him and was talking more about the later cowens-halicek-white-mchale-parrish-bird years. that group didn't win consecutive titles like the earlier celts but did ok.

no that was also a great Celtics era...all before my time, I just barely caught the tail-end of Bird & Magic, Jordan was already on the rise...

Bill Russell just has/had a certain magic about him...

 

[Leo]

i've got no beef with today's style of play. i joked about the short shorts BECAUSE they are so freakin' goofy, basketball from the "mad men" era with bob cousy's behind-the-back passing...then leading into earl the pearl's drives, jerry west' corner jumpshots, rick barry's underhand free throws and lew alcinder's sky hook. good times.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

i've got no beef with today's style of play. i joked about the short shorts BECAUSE they are so freakin' goofy, basketball from the "mad men" era with bob cousy's behind-the-back passing...then leading into earl the pearl's drives, jerry west' corner jumpshots, rick barry's underhand free throws and lew alcinder's sky hook. good times.

I guess totally misread you then...it's just that I've frequently found myself, both online & in real life, dealing with cranky old white dudes (not to say that you're cranky, white or old, I have no idea) complaining that all NBA players now are thugs & that everything was better in the Bird/Magic era...the unspoken elephant in the room always being that the league was much more palatable to a lot of white America back then...if you see what I mean...anyways I'm quite sorry man, my bad...

and let me add Pistol Pete's bottomless bag of tricks to your list with Cousy...always thought it was funny that 2 skinny, kinda goofy white guys are so largely responsible for the style of modern guard play...

 

[Leo]

I guess totally misread you then...

nah, in retrospect i wasn't being clear, can understand how you could have come away with that impression. we're all good. even though i CAN be a cranky old white guy sometimes...

 

[nochexxx]

i always loved the freeky deekyness of spud webb.

 

[Leo]

speaking of freaky deeky, ever see old films of the ABA...originators of the three-point shot and red-white-and-blue ball? dr. j! that league was wild, and ended up bringing some razzle-dazzle to the older NBA. some real characters in that league.

and as much as i love the pro game, there's something about college ball that delivers a whole other type of intensity and drama. maybe because it's a bunch of striving kids gunning for glory as opposed to a bunch of satisfied millionaires.

 

[nochexxx]

speaking of freaky deeky, ever see old films of the ABA...originators of the three-point shot and red-white-and-blue ball? dr. j! that league was wild, and ended up bringing some razzle-dazzle to the older NBA. some real characters in that league.

and as much as i love the pro game, there's something about college ball that delivers a whole other type of intensity and drama. maybe because it's a bunch of striving kids gunning for glory as opposed to a bunch of satisfied millionaires.

you tube links please.

these guys cut some steez.

this aint no trick!

 

[Leo]

you tube links please.[/URL]!

there's a whole series of these "long shot" vids there, love the vibe.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

so the playoffs are all set then.

I guess some questions are:
Can anyone challenge the Lakers in the West? (I'm highly dubious...Denver's (unsurprisingly) miles better with Billups than with an aging AI but I just can't see them challenging the Lakers...being a big Yao Ming fan I hold out hope for the Rockets as a bit of a dark horse even tho I think it's quite unlikely, tho rather perversely they play so much better without T-Mac...)

Can anyone challenge the Cavs in the East? (again, I doubt it...especially if Garnett's not at full strength...)

Whose got the best shot at an upset?
What 1st rd series will be the most entertaining? (Denver/Dallas could be good...)

MVP? (I mean, LeBron...)
ROY?

 

[Sick Boy]

MVP? (I mean, LeBron...)

I don't think there is any questioning this. I think he's playing 28 points a game right now, but mostly he won't miss it because he's picked up his defensive this season from what I can tell. It seems like everyone's got their money on the Cavs winning these playoffs. The Cavs are running 66-15 right now!

 

[Sick Boy]

The Eastern Conference first round looks really boring this year. With the exception of Miami/Atlanta, the rest has already been written in stone I think. Given that nothing changes.

Magic will stomp Bulls
Celtics will stomp 76ers
And there is no point at all in even watching the Cavs/Pistons games.

Western conference will be a little more interesting I think.

Some people are going as far to say that this will be one of the most boring playoffs in a long time since it is almost a given that the only competition exists between the Cavs and the Lakers and, if you want to stretch the imagination a bit, the Celtics.

 

[Sick Boy]

Did anyone watch the first few games over the weekend?

Cavaliers vs. Pistons went as expected. Pistons have no chance whatsoever. Still fun to watch LeBron James score a three from half-court just before the half-time buzzer. He's a force of nature.

Lakers vs. Jazz is more interesting. Utah still got stomped but they went down kicking and screaming. Deron Williams holds it down, even though he's got a gay haircut. To be honest, I'm watching the Lakers more for Trevor Ariza than I am Kobe right now.

My favourite match-up so far (keeping in mind I missed the 76ers/Magic game which was apparently amazing) is the Nuggets vs. Hornets. For the first three quarters the teams were virtually neck-and-neck and appeared to be very evenly matched until around the end of the third Chauncy Billups goes buck wild, attains a three-point game high (8-for-9!) and puts the Nuggets 34 points in front of the Hornets. Game ended 113-84.

 

[Sick Boy]

The Celtics/Bulls series looking to be one of the more interesting ones as well. The Celtics are holding up surprisingly well without Garnett, though a lot of that weight seems to be falling on Pierce who, despite playing well last night, was starting to look exhausted by the end of the game. Ray Allen is looking nice too, but nowhere near as nice as Ben Gordon.

I think if Derrick Rose continues to play like he played in Game 1, the Bulls will take this series. My opinion has totally changed on the Eastern Conference with the current match-ups.

Same with my attitude towards the Cavs/Pistons. Second game tonight, which means more LeBron antics, so I'm gonna choose to watch that one. Some of the other series are more interesting and exciting to watch, but damn, you just don't really know what LeBron is going to do next and I'm sure as hell not going to miss it.

Will this (Cavs/Lakers final) be the present-day Larry Bird/Magic Johnson showdown?
Padraig? Are you on this shit? Report to thread!