Thee Official 2004 NBA Playoffs thread

Boston will be very lucky to get one win in their series. Just a guess at Carlisle's game plan: "Okay Artest, you shut down Pierce and force the rest of them to make shots."

There is no way I could pick the T-Wolves for the finals. I will have to see them beat either LA, Sac or San An. in a playoff series to believe that they could actually go all the way. It could happen and this could be their year, but they don't have any skulls hanging around the rear view mirror like LA or the Spurs.

The big trouble with the NBA is the crappy officiating, which rewards a crappy style of basketball. The Isaiah Thomas-era "Bad Boy" Pistons started the trend, and the Riley-era Knicks put the finishing touches on it. It stinks.

I have to admit, Mark Cuban isn't as much of a tool in blog-form.... He's actually pretty dead-on:

www.blogmaverick.com

Are they showering when this happens?

Man I'm so psyched for the playoffs.

Why don't superstar players who are supposedly so hungry for a championship get it that if they just get paid a little less they can get some other good players on their team?

well i understand the sentiment but... huh, i'm a friend of lakers-haters and lakers-haters are friends of mine, still.

(the only ones i hate on more are the effing effers who took offa my cable the only sports channel that i could sometimes watch nba live on - aaaaarrrrghhh!!)

that's exactly what malone did. he may be the first guy in the history of the nba to do it too. go lakers.

the bucks have never recovered from losing t.j. ford. they all fell down like syleena johnson re-singing a lauryn hill hook, now they must suffer against a tough-ass group of detroit pistons. but I still hope the bucks win to un-reward billups and 'sheed for fucking up my ILX fantasy team by taking the last two weeks off. AAAAAAAAARGH, etc.

I really hope this series goes to at least 5 or 6.

Celtics-Pacers score could get up to 120 at the rate they're going.

I think I watched just about every game over the weekend except for LA-Houston, which was the one to miss apparently. Sacto came alive but I'm not sure if they will keep it up. San Antonio are peaking at just the right time as usual. T-Wolves will be interesting to watch - I dunno if they make it to the finals but they shouldn't be going down in the first round at least. And the Lakers look like lame ducks - no way they make it past San Antonio, assuming they limp past Houston. They already seem ready for the summer.

Pacers-Pistons showdown is inevitable, although NJ will give the Pistons a run (should be a passing of the torch series). I really really like both the Pistons chance at getting to the finals and even winning it all. And, despite all the complaints that will come, they make defense really fun to watch. They're like the Grizzlies (10-man rotation) with more talent.

Oh, and Artest got suspended for Game 2 for leaving the bench. Dumbass.

But, still pretty dumbassness. Especially cuz he's about to win defensive player of the year (thanks to Carlisle lobbying for him).

http://www.nba.com/playoffs2004/trophy_love.html

I will too but they are up by 16 in the 4th in game 2 right now...Honestly though...in fairness this is hardly the same team in any real respect....So many of the key players now (Spree, Sam, Olowakandi, Hoiberg, Madsen, Irv, etc...) weren't really around in past runs...They so much more tough-minded now (which I guess you can prob. attribute to Spree and Sam - Sam who I am totally in love with man he has been great this year)....

OK, I think I now have a crush on Vlade Divac.

That's Fred "The Mayor" Hoiberg! best nickname evah!

they could get really good with the right remodeling plan this summer. i think isaiah was just grabbing pieces and will figure out how to fit them together later. he did a pretty good job and might be able to flip some of those pieces into a real team next season. starbury is a great start; tim thomas might be ok if kenyon martin doesn't go to foul level 5 (on court homicide) on him before the end of the series, and penny's resurgence should be funneled into making him into a reliable, flexible bench leader.

Man, F Carmelo Anthony???!!! Are you kidding me, Rob? The Pistons just won a championship thanks to Tayshaun Prince.

Also could Al Michaels be any less excited? What a bore. Stick to football, Al.

Winning a championship makes taking Darko better because they won a championship anyway. They didn't have an immediate need to fill, so they took a project with a fluke no. 2 pick. That's the right choice from a looking-to-the-future perspective.

10 years ago or so I would have never thought I'd be happy that the Pistons won one game, let alone the championship. But there's nobody left from the Bad Boy era apart from Dumars, and he was the one guy I liked back then.

The amazing this was that thru the playoffs, they were actually coming more and more together. I feel like this team could keep going in another series next week. Only thing that's sad is that the season has to end.

That said, they're going to be even better next year.... Scary.

Detroit police characterized the early crowds as moderate and mindful. By 2:15 a.m. as crowds thinned, Detroit mayoral spokesman Dave Manney said at 2:15 a.m. there were no reported major incidents.

So did I. I'm glad I was wrong! What a great game, it was so satisfying to see the Lakers so thoroughly spanked. Al Michaels is probably going to have to take out a prescription for Prozac now.

I was a Danny Ainge fan.

I was surprised when I read that Jackson called off practice yesterday. I guess he zenned his team right out of the Finals.

Student loans bringing you down? Your basketball team lost? Flip a car. Tear that vending machine a new slot.

whoever it was
that i said it to, confirm
and prove me PROPHET

Admittedly this is not a good picture of the mask, but you can still kind of see it in this picture.

And Matt brings the truth (except Ned WANTS the Phantom in the Palace action).

Instead we get Chauncey Billups hugging Davidson:
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040616/capt.dtp17406160530.nba_finals_dtp174.jpg

Only in Detroit would you find Kid Rock spraying champagne on Ben Wallace while Rasheed Wallace hollered out quotes from a Will Ferrell film.

Such was the scene deep in the Palace shortly after the Pistons' Game 5, Finals-clinching victory, as the jubilation that was seen on the floor shortly after Detroit's runaway win carried over to the home team's locker room. Highlights of the postgame celebration included:

- Rasheed repeatedly yelling, "You're my boy, Blue!" a quote from the movie "Old School."

- Kid Rock answering "Oh, that was too easy" when asked what he thought of the Palace staff cutting between clips of Kid (met with wild applause) and Jack Nicholson (hearty boos) on the arena Jumbotron.

- Hank Williams Jr. calling the series "total domination."

- Elden Campbell trying to usher the media out the door, so the team could "start the party."

- Numerous players singing J-Kwon's hit "Tipsy."

- Lindsey Hunter asking the media, "Who else do we need to beat?"

- Rasheed answering "When the clock read zero" when asked when he knew he had won a title.

Simply put, it was a spirited, if not unconventional, celebration for a team that broke the mold in winning the title.

http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm20310_20040617.htm

Lakers spokesman John Black said the team expected the move because Malone would have locked himself into a lower salary than he likely will be able to negotiate should he decide to play.

Shaq and the TMac? Intrigue...if it happens, could Phil be far behind. Put Okafor at power forward with these two with guys and that would be very formible.

TMac traded to the Pacers for Al Harrington and either Ron Artest or Jonathan Bender? Don't see this one happening if Shaq goes to Orlando, but I would love to see McGrady playing with Artest and Jermaine O'Neal, that would be like the Justice League.

This is shaping up to be one of the most interesting off seasons in a long time.

A 3 or 4 team deal involving Shaq, T-Mac, and a team or two under the salary cap wouldn't surprise me. I dunno if Shaq will end up in Orlando though, especially with McGrady still there. But totally agree that it will be an interesting off-season.

Buss is making a HUGE mistake by picking Kobe over Phil & Shaq. Lakers gonna be pretty average for a while (especially if Kobe's in jail).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1824945