09 playoffs thread

she did 28 ;)

Chuck's pushup form only slightly better than his golf swing

he said lebron is #1, kobe is right behind him...and that melo is the best "pure scorer".

i totally agree w/charles barkley when he says "carmelo is better than kobe"

that's not what he said. he said caramello is better than kobe. cause like he's a fattey ya see.

o in that case since its unprovable i wade in fearlessly and say battier is better than kobe

I almost put my fist through the monitor. I have hated Battier for the better part of a decade.

Be fair: Battier is good, but Kobe is one of the best 20 -- maybe even 15 -- players in the league.

Name 14 players better than Kobe. Go ahead. You MAY be able to name 3. Maybe.

Lakers in 6 is a good call, both for Houston, and then again for Denver.

BLAM, what kinda Angelenos are Clips fans? (genuinely curious)

Be fair: Battier is good, but Kobe is one of the best 20 -- maybe even 15 -- players in the league.

Uhhhhh . . . was kidding.

Geez Lakers fans have a sense of humor.

Uhhhhh . . . was kidding.

Totally took it that way, my man. Curious - I have three players in mind that I'd consider in the "best in the league" discussion, along with Kobe - who do you think they are? I'll be honest.

BLAM, what kinda Angelenos are Clips fans? (genuinely curious)

As far as I am able to surmise, there are not a lot, and those that are fans are fans because they want to be able to see NBA games without paying Lakers prices. Another group might be those that are a little contrarian, a la Mets fans, and yet a third might just prefer the red, white and blue instead of purple and gold color palates.

Geez Lakers fans have a sense of humor.

Game day, bro. Game day.

mets are hugely popular in ny and surrounding areas fyi

mets are hugely popular in ny and surrounding areas fyi

It was the contrarian element about which I was making that analogy. I went to school in the NYC area, and am WELL aware of the Mets large and vocal fan base.

Totally took it that way, my man. Curious - I have three players in mind that I'd consider in the "best in the league" discussion, along with Kobe - who do you think they are? I'll be honest.

Not following the NBA much this year, but . . . LJ, D. Wade, and . . . Hmm. Hard after that. I'm bias toward the significance of big-men, but I'm not sure who I'd put into the last slot of the Top Four. Also, I'm not sure how I'd rank them. Obv., Bryant is very -- very -- good.

Is Dwight Howard at that level yet? Yao Ming seems too fragile. Just not sure.

HELLO CP3 ANYONE NOT ACKNOWLEDGING HIS UTTER DOMINANCE IS A TOTAL ASSHOLE

http://thm-a02.yimg.com/image/24ff7e62826f6308http://thm-a02.yimg.com/image/24ff7e62826f6308http://thm-a02.yimg.com/image/24ff7e62826f6308http://thm-a02.yimg.com/image/24ff7e62826f6308http://thm-a02.yimg.com/image/24ff7e62826f6308

1 lebron
2 paul
3 wade
4 howard
5 who the fuck cares

I was actually thinking LBJ, Howard, and Chris Paul. You give me them, kobe, and a power forward who can play defense, and I'm taking the championship 5 straight.

D Wade is great, but his defense is suspect to me. Yao is good, but I agree on the fragility assessment.

HELLO CP3 ANYONE NOT ACKNOWLEDGING HIS UTTER DOMINANCE IS A TOTAL ASSHOLE

Nice. I'm not a total asshole!

d wade is prob in the top 10%-15% in league as far as D - not dominant but v good - he uses his strength speed and intelligence v well - the fact that hes on the small side for his position is the only thing keeping him from being a lock down guy imo

for no good reason he came in lol 2nd this year for defensive player of the year fyi

Hmm. You make interesting points. Maybe my brane isn't working yet this AM.

no way

http://www.austinmeat.com/images/Kobe_Beef_%20Dinner.GIF

is better than

http://www.candy.org/cleanimages/candybars/caramello.jpg

imo yr assessment of wades D wouldve been otm a few years ago but hes stepped it up since then - particularly this year being fully healthy and all xp

looking forward to this nuggets/magic finals

haa all u hav to do is GET SUPERMANS MORE SHOTS

I guess the last I really watched of D Wade was the finals a few years back when he won the Championship with shaq. East Coast games are impossible for me to catch out here. Hopefully, he'll be healthy and I'll get more of a chance to see him next playoffs.

Carmello...the pride of Baltimore....

I gotta say, he has really big upside - he's smooth, can get his own shot, can shoot from anywhere, and is starting to show some talent at defense. In a few years, maybe he's at Kobe's level - he's certainly got the potential and the physical gifts to get there. I just don't think he's there yet.

looking forward to this nuggets/magic finals

From a basketball standpoint, this would be GREAT. It would also mean that the Celtics lost, which is always good in my book.

From an LA fan standpoint, I would be disappointed.

lebron vs kobe
lebron vs carmelo

would be great

if you rate howard above kobe you're a cumguzzling rapemonkey

I'm just enjoying that, right now, there are at least three teams that could legitimately win the whole thing, and probably a fourth if you consider the Magic having a shooter's chance.

The C's are old and injured, and have no way of handling LeBron (does anyone?).

The Nuggets are really good, and will be even better next year - getting Chauncey is even better than the Lakers getting Gasol a few years back.

And you have to factor in the Lakers.

Its been a great three months straight of basketball this year - good conference tourneys -> Good NCAA tournament -> good NBA playoffs.

magic had the best D in the league w/a bunch of below average defenders and howard - dude is beastly - deal

btw kobe is not as good as he used to be - something to consider

celtics - no shot
magic - no shot
lakers - no shot
nuggets - no shot
cavs - in the bag

btw just found out oj mayos little brother is named "todd mayo" most hilariousest name

ayo ladies im "todd mayo" whats up want 2 party

June, 2008: Mayo is a talented guard with a versatile skill set and a high upside. He handles and passes the ball well enough to play both guard positions. He has good size for the point guard position, and excellent athleticism. He can attack the defense with the dribble (especially in the open floor), challenge shot-blockers, and finish above the rim. He is an excellent medium range shooter who elevates to get his shot off and has a very soft touch. But he can also make shots from behind the three-point line when his feet are set. Defensively, he is very active and very efficient in full court run and jump situations because he can cover large portions of the court very quickly. Overall, he is a very talented young prospect. He has a funny name.

btw kobe is not as good as he used to be - something to consider

what do you base this on?

ayo as far as i'm concerned wade and kobe are 2-3 before paul, howard, or any other jokers until further notice.

well his stats are down from his peak of 05-07 but i base this mostly observation - hes just not as quick or explosive as he used to be - this imo has really hurt his D - hes not the lock down guy he used to be - prob this has something to do w/his stamina decreasing with age/miles - it takes crazy effort to do so much on both ends - hes also to a lesser extent more containable on offense - if hes not hitting those tough long jumpers its possible w/the right personnel to pretty much shut him out of the lane - see lee last years finals for evidence - he used to be able to assert himself on a game pretty completely - now hes more abt getting his within the flow - where as lebron/wade/cp3 can still just rape the hell out of an opposing team nightly

paul has been so much better than kobe for the last two years its not even funny fuck u if u wont understand

His rape stats are drastically down as well.

Dude. He dropped 40 on the Rockets in a playoff game. And the reason his stats are down is because he doesn't HAVE to do everything anymore.

Even, assuming arguendo, that you're right, and he has declined a bit - which isn't a far-fetched idea at all, given that he's been in the league since he was 12 - he's still in the top 3 over all, and on any given night is the best in the league.

As for getting his within the flow, I agree - but I think its on purpose that he waits for the whole team to come with him. He can't do it himself - nobody, not even Jordan, could.

His rape stats are drastically down as well.

Alright, alright. I'm not defending the man's character. Never would.

"on any given night CAN BE the best in the league" is what I meant.

anyone can drop 40 on a given night - i still content that kobels is not capable of imposing himself on a game like he was in 05-06 and hes v lucky that hes on a better team than he was then cause if he was forced to bare a wade/lebron/cp3 type load every night his age would be showing much more than it is now

i guess this is about whether i am winning one game (or playoff series) or building a team for the next five years. i think there are different answers to those questions.

I think you’re selling this kobes short here. he has a lot of miles and all that but he’s also well known as one of the most dedicated guys in the gym and offseason. He’s what 31? And I think he will play at a pretty high level for a few more years.

hes v lucky that hes on a better team than he was then cause if he was forced to bare a wade/lebron/cp3 type load every night his age would be showing much more than it is now

That's probably true, but does that mean he's not as good as he was in 05-06? His FG% is better, his 3PFG% is bette, and he's averaging fewer turnovers per game. Also, and I think this is really important, he took less shots (400 less) than 05-06. He's a more mature player who isn't able jump as high as he could when he was 18, but his production hasn't slackened all that much.

I predict, however, that if LeBron continues to play the run as fast as I can, jump over everyone all the time, and dunk with my head above the rim every time I get the chance, he will deteriorate physically much quicker than Kobe has.

i guess this is about whether i am winning one game (or playoff series) or building a team for the next five years. i think there are different answers to those questions.

Totally. If this were the criteria, I'd take LeBron in a heartbeat over Kobe. But I would probably take Howard over either of them.

I predict, however, that if LeBron continues to play the run as fast as I can, jump over everyone all the time, and dunk with my head above the rim every time I get the chance, he will deteriorate physically much quicker than Kobe has.

Actually, if LeBron were to run as fast as I can, and dunk with his head above the rim every chance I get, he'll never win another GAME, much less an MVP.

I am slow and cannot jump.

per:

05/06 28.11
08/09 24.46

consider per w/the fact that his defense is down and i think its pretty clear that hes declined - his fg % is really the only thing u can look at thats not worse than it used to be - his turnovers are actually up if u look at them as a % of possessions used

the big advantage lebron has over kobe as far as longevity is hes much larger and more physical - that doesnt go away - on the other hand kobe shoots better than lebron and shooting ages well - regardless every player experiences a decline in athleticism around their 30th birthday - some compensate better than others but it hurts them all

Anal rape is the fountain of youth!