The Basketball Thread

[Mr Tree]

...The All-Star game will be next weekend, and the teams have now been fully announced:...

West
[...]
Reserves:
[...]
Kevin Love (Minnesota)

As a Twolves fan, where's a mention of Kevin Love, he's a monster!

He certainly is.

And he's only got better throughout the season. Love's team have a 13 wins - 41 losses record, but it's not his fault. he's putting up numbers unseen in 30 years. well worth his place :yes:

 

[Mr Tree]

New Jersey and Toronto are in town to play two games against each other, the first ever regular-season NBA games to be staged in London

both are basement-dwelling teams, though interest has been increased as NJ captured star Deron Williams in a trade last week, one of my favourite players

lots of fun recently - quite a few players moved around, and someone jumped over a car and dunked a ball too. fun fun fun

 

[maddogging]

Off to see history at the 02 tonight. Thank god the Nets got hold of Deron !!

Nice little race in the East for top spot, Miami, Chicago and the Boston Celtics, if Celtics lose anymore big men they may let it slip

 

[Mr Tree]

i haven't heard any more but it looked like "Big Baby" Davis hurt his knee dunking in the last minute of an already-won game on Wednesday. could be the injury nightmare you're referring to

Miami-Chicago at 6pm GMT on Sunday evening

the West is tasty too - San An are rinsing it, 50 wins to 11 defeats so far this season... but Dallas have won 17 of their last 18 to get a firm grip on 2nd, with defending champs Lakers and young upstarts Oklahoma City battling for 3rd. OKC's star Kevin Durant hurt his ankle on Wednesday though, hope it's not serious

 

[Ambrose_1889]

This is exactly the same as when the Premier League wanted to play an extra match abroad. How can basketball ever be expected to grow when we're having the NBA forced down our throats on a global scale? I'll be at the Trophy final tomorrow Could not care less about whoever's playing the NBA fixtures.

 

[Mr Tree]

it's a fair point, and the European leagues have grown considerably over the last few years, even attracting away a few NBA players (though no top stars). will be interesting to see what happens next year if the negotiations with the players' union continue to break down - will a large number of players defect? will European owners wave large contracts in front of them? i doubt it to be honest but we will see

enjoy it tomorrow Ambrose

 

[maddogging]

Nets win tonight, Deron and Brook Lope come to the fore. Some players saying a European team would work in the NBA........b***ocks, no chance. Leave it as it is, the interest as far as I can see is only growing thanks to ESPN and Mr Tree

 

[Ambrose_1889]

I've been heavily into basketball since my dad took me to see Thames Valley Tigers against London Leopards, October 2000. Loved it. He used to go and watch Kingston Kings during the baksetball boom of the 80s (I latterly followed Kingston Wildcats when they played at Tolworth). Was a regular at pretty much every Tigers home match until they went out of business in 2005. We were pretty crap and never won anything but I have memories of matches that will stay with me for life (111-110 overtime win v Leopards despite trailing 55-80 with 13 mins on the clock, thrashing the then best team Chester Jets, the play off defeat v Newcastle, great days). Was a regular during the first three or four seasons at the newly formed Guildford club and despite the major success of winning all domestic trophies within a two year time space, they never meant the same to me as a Tiger win. Although some of the greatest atmopsheres I've experienced at basketball came during Guildford's European adventure. How we didn't beat one of Bosna, Berlin or Sialiau at home, I'll never get over. Seeing us take on the might of DKV Joventut in the ice rink arena was special, even if they thrashed us - Ricky Rubio!

I drifted out of basketball a year or two ago when Guildford moved from the spectrum to Surrey sports park. Haven't seen a game at the new venue. So I'm looking forward to see how things have moved on. All new platers other than the ageless Mike Martin. I recognise more names on the Mersey Tigers (unimpressed with them stealing the Tigers name) roster - Sullivan, Reinking, Jones, all class players. Expecting a Mersey win but let's hope the Heat can pull something out the bag on my return to British basketball at this great arena

 

[Mr Tree]

how'd it go yesterday Ambrose? great to hear some passion behind British basketball

the second game in London finished 138-137 in triple-overtime!! cracking stuff :nutty: maybe the players were told to keep extending the game to get the fans excited

 

[Mr Tree]

3 days left in the season now, with the playoffs starting next weekend. will be back with a mini playoff-preview later in the week (we know the 16 playoff teams, but #2-#3-#4 is still in the balance in the West, as well as #6-#7-#8, and #2-#3 and #6-#7 in the East can still change too) :nutty:

couple of good games on last night - the top four teams in the East played each other. #1 Chicago went to #4 Orlando and came away with a win, though Orlando were without their star player. then #3 Boston got murdered by #2 Miami. Boston were probably favourites for the title in February but made a perplexing move, trading away a big man (a rare and precious commodity) for a wingman. It's looking a little like they might've shot themselves in the foot.

 

[Mr Tree]

East is locked in,
(1) Chicago vs (8) Indiana
(2) Miami vs (7) Philadelphia
(3) Boston vs (6) New York
(4) Orlando vs (5) Atlanta

A couple more days of the season left, and the West could still move around a bit...

 

[maddogging]

Celts are really going to struggle against the Knicks. Watched them at the Gardens on Friday and were indebted to KG, who needs help bigtime.....a pretty unfit Shaq is what they are basing there help on

 

[Mr Tree]

East is locked in,
(1) Chicago vs (8) Indiana
(2) Miami vs (7) Philadelphia
(3) Boston vs (6) New York
(4) Orlando vs (5) Atlanta

A couple more days of the season left, and the West could still move around a bit...

the West ended up as,

(1) San Antonio vs (8) Memphis
(2) LA Lakers vs (7) New Orleans
(3) Dallas vs (6) Portland
(4) Oklahoma City vs (5) Denver

...but only thanks to Kobe Bryant scoring a 3-pointer with 0:05 left of the final game of the year otherwise the Lakers would've been #3


over the weekend every higher-seeded team hosted Game 1 of the series, with Orlando, San Antonio and the Lakers :laugh: all stumbling out of the gates. Boston won a tight game, Philly came back late to scare Miami, and Chicago finished their game scoring 16 of the last 17 points to overcome a late Indiana 10-pt lead. good start to the next 6-8 weeks of madness

 

[maddogging]

Good start is an understatement, I think every game went deep into the 4th. Watched the magic/hawks and mavs/trailblazers yesterday, the intensity in these games is superb. Mark Cuban in the stands is worth watching the Mavs alone !!

 

[Mr Tree]

EAST

(1) Chicago vs (8) Indiana
(2) Miami vs (7) Philadelphia
(3) Boston vs (6) New York
(4) Orlando vs (5) Atlanta - Atlanta lead 3-2 but Orlando battered them Tuesday night to stay alive. Game 6 tonight in Atlanta.

WEST

(1) San Antonio vs (8) Memphis - Memphis deservedly lead 3-2, they can seal it on Friday (i think), and nearly had it last night, but Gary Neal hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to send the game to overtime and save San An's season
(2) LA Lakers vs (7) New Orleans - Lakers lead 3-2. typical slow start from the defending champs, while Chris Paul of New Orleans has set about reminding us all he really is in any "top-5 player in the league" discussion (when healthy)
(3) Dallas vs (6) Portland - Dallas lead 3-2 and can seal it tonight, though Portland is a difficult place to travel to, raucous home crowd.
(4) Oklahoma City vs (5) Denver


now we're getting into the meat of it. Boston-Miami's gonna be a helluva fight, should start this weekend probably...

 

[maddogging]

How the hell did San Antonio get out of that. Glad to see the OKC progress.

Three cracking games tonight, Dwight needs more help once again, but the Hawks will fancy it tonight, Dallas really don't like the first round and would love to finish it off tonight, and the Lakers bigs will probably carry on where they left off in game 5.

 

[Mr Tree]

San An-Memphis is the only series left after last night's frivolities, and Orlando's Dwight Howard is set to become the big "player story" of the next few months as his team limped out rather pathetically. Dwight's (a great name) a 6'11" muscle-bound monster who has watched his team go backwards - Finals in 2009, semis last year, first round this year. Bad times for your team, Mr Maddogging....

anyway the rest of us can happily look forward to the second round :bound:

EAST

(1) Chicago vs (5) Atlanta
(2) Miami vs (3) Boston

WEST

San An/Memphis vs (4) OKC
(2) LA Lakers vs (3) Dallas

Lakers-Dallas is Kobe vs Dirk, the first time these 10yr+ veterans have ever met in the playoffs (which speaks more of Dallas's playoff chokes than anything else, but whatever). The Lakers have far too much firepower though, should be a cakewalk.
OKC will strangely be favourites, whoever prevails in the San An-Memphis series.

Chicago will be far happier facing Atlanta than Orlando. Orlando have the potential to be a good team (Dwight can do it almost himself, and their shooters can get hot). Atlanta shouldn't trouble them.
Boston-Miami's the enthralling encounter - starts Sunday, 9:30pm English time

 

[vcmazz]

Who is your favourite basketball team? Mine is the Harlem Globetrotters :yes:.

 

[Mr Tree]

these days, the And-1 streetball tour is where you'll find such silliness.

in the man's game, my team are Philadelphia, though i also have "apparel" from Houston, Detroit, Denver, Chicago, NY Knicks and, most recently (an insane 38quid t-shirt purchase ) the LA Clippers

that said my current favourite team is Portland. or Memphis. or OKC.

umm....

basically anyone but Lakers (and Miami now too, boooooooooooooooo)

 

[vcmazz]

Are the Lakers anything to do with Freddie and his sky train?

 

[Mr Tree]

Are the Lakers anything to do with Freddie and his sky train?

depends how many drugs you've taken, really...

 

[vcmazz]

depends how many drugs you've taken, really...

What if you've taken lots?

 

[Mr Tree]

yep, that'll do it :yes:

meanwhile in the real world (rather than the cyberworld where vcmazz's contribution to any- and everything is vitally important to us all :yes: ), all the higher seeds lost Game 1 at home, apart from Miami.

Memphis crushed OKC and Atlanta were pretty impressive in knocking off Chicago. Kobe missed a shot at the horn to consign his Lakers to defeat against a ri-dirk-ulous Dallas performance

 

[maddogging]

What a cracking set of 1st games in the Conference semis, these next few days are going to be interesting indeed. Lakers, OKC and the Bulls all need to win

 

[maddogging]

Mr Tree, talk me through this Lakers cakewalk :eek

what odds would you have got on a Grizzlies v Mavs Western Final !!

 

[Mr Tree]

stunning scenes - the 2-time defending champions lose in the "quarter-finals", 4-0. The Lakers had possibly 4 of the best 5 players in the series on paper, as well as legendary coach Phil Jackson, but seemingly relied on the "it'll be alright on the night" philosophy and suddenly fell apart once behind. Game 2 was clearly lost and, as the clock wound down, one of the Lakers wandered over and gave a Dallas player a cheeky clothesline, getting himself suspended for Game 3. They ended up losing their final game last night by 30+

meanwhile the respect for Dallas's Dirk Nowitzki is sky-rocketing around the league

 

[maddogging]

You seen the highlights yet, Bynum taking out JJ Barea, ouch ! Sad end for Phil Jackson, although
knew it was over for them in game 3 when he was raving up at Pau Gasol. Try and catch the post match interview with Dirk and JET, funny stuff with Terry saying he couldn't see the ring for a few of his three's and Dirk covering his face in shock!

Although Chicago have DRose, I just don't see them beating Boston or Miami. Fancy a Heat v Mavs final with the Mavs taking it, be great for Dirk and the legend that is Mark Cuban !

 

[Mr Tree]

your local NBA experts say...

Miami certainly won't win it this year, they really are stuggling against +.500 teams, and James and Wade don't really know how to compliment each other, with the unsurprising statistic that Wade performs better when James is on the bench.

i don't see Miami winning it, but there's been little flashes of them working it out, and they still have time.... if they got cooking and worked out how to get Bron and Wade firing, this year's Miami-Boston East finals could be spectacular.

even with the Lakers recent wobble, 9 out of 10 NBA fans would predict a Lakers-Boston final - which is a bit sad, really, that it's that predictable... are we getting as bad as the Premier League, only the big teams can win

the Lakers will revolve around Bynum as much as Celtics will Perkins. If those two come back fit, healthy and strong then you can't see any other teams stopping them making the Finals.

The Mavs will win 57 in a row and then bow out in the Play-Offs as normal.

...well, as Charles Barkley says, "only God's an expert - the rest of us are just analysts"

Boston bowed out last night to Miami in a surprisingly straightforward series...

meanwhile neither of us said anything about the Memph Grizzle

they lost last night to fall 2-3 behind to the Oklahoma City Thunder (do you like those names?), but a lot of analysts i've heard have pointed out the same thing - Dallas are praying for OKC to get through that series, because Memphis's tough inside could cause Dallas big problems. Zach Randolph could be the "playoff MVP" so far (if not for Dallas's Dirk Nowitzki), and all this is being done without their highest-paid player, sidelined with a dislocated shoulder since February.

Atlanta play Chicago tonight in Game 6, 2-3 in that series too but Atlanta can be tough at home and Chicago have had their end-of-season momentum disturbed a bit. Miami will be feeling confident waiting for either of those two teams.

 

[maddogging]

Boston led for something like 45 minutes of that game last night, but when it comes down to it, Lebron pulled it out if the hat. Shame, be interesting to see what happens to the Doc-less Celtics.

This OKC v Grizzlies is superb, two teams just going all out to win, surely the feet up Mavs with this extra time to rest up will make it to the finals, be great for the Dirkster.

Fancy the Bulls to put it to bed tonight, then we have an Eastern Final with the headline of Wade v Rose, should be superb viewing

 

[Mr Tree]

Doc Rivers is saying he'll stay with the Celtics, though we'll see - it may well just be a negotiating tactic (now he can say to the Celtics owners "but i promised the fans!! you don't wanna let the fans down do you??!! so give me more money ")

meanwhile did you see that Bynum got a 5-game unpaid suspension for his mid-air takedown of JJ Barea. Barkley was saying that'll cost him $700,000

Chicago polished off a plucky Atlanta last night, and actually seemed to be clicking well yesterday. they're much more of a "team" than Miami, so it should be an interesting series. very much the old "good vs evil" story

wouldn't bet against Memphis winning tonight to tie the series and give us a Game 7 decider on Sunday, vs Oklahoma City

 

[maddogging]

Taj Gibson put back !!!! That is all I need to say ! Wow

 

[Mr Tree]

hell yeah, but don't forget the one in Wade's face in the first half too, yikes

 

[maddogging]

Indeed. Fascinating match up yesterday. Seems Taj Gibson could be the key and Thibs had gameplans for every Heat line up, they really impressed me last night.

Big night for the T-Wolves, will they get that number 1 pick. Reading up on old drafts, they were favourites to get Shaq and ended up with Christisn Laettner, what a bitch !

 

[Mr Tree]

Doc Rivers is saying he'll stay with the Celtics, though we'll see - it may well just be a negotiating tactic (now he can say to the Celtics owners "but i promised the fans!! you don't wanna let the fans down do you??!! so give me more money ")

pretty good negotiating tactic, Doc ended up with a $35m 5yr contract, just to coach a team. nice work

Dallas-OKC game 1 tonight. essential 5mins of highlights to watch over your cornflakes in the morning

 

[Mr Tree]

Dirk Nowitzki is having an outstanding year and playoffs, though ultimately America will judge him yet again by the standard of "if you don't win it all, you've done nothing"

but last night's performance, 48pts off just 15 shots (!!!), was ridiculous. most players average around the same number of points as shots (given that they normally make 50% of their shots, but each shot counts for 2pts, geddit?). Dirk's numbers were further boosted by being 24-of-24 from the free-throw line, an NBA playoff record for accuracy.

his adversary in this series, OKC's Kevin Durant, did well enough himself - the NBA's scoring champion for the last 2 years, he popped in 40pts in a losing effort...

a 121-112 final score suggests we're in for a fun series

 

[Mr Tree]

Dallas have won Game 3 and 4 in Oklahoma City to take a seemingly invincible 3-1 lead in the series.

Chicago slaughtered Miami in Game 1 but have responded well to Miami's counter-punch, and the Heat are looking ominous, 2-1 up after two convincing wins of their own.

Dallas-Miami would be a rematch of the 2006 Finals, though with only 4 (?) players still around from that time (Dallas's Nowitzki and Terry; Miami's Wade and Haslem)

 

[Markybee]

I watched the Grizzlies double overtime game when I was in Florida, it was brilliant. 3 pointers thrown with seconds left to tie the scores both times. Great Drama.

 

[ApolloBeachTone]

The Thunder's melt down with 5 minutes to go last night was reminiscent of some of the greatest Bees moments ever.

 

[Mr Tree]

i didn't realise it was such a comeback! only checked the result quickly this morning. i'll look forward to highlights later then

I watched the Grizzlies double overtime game when I was in Florida, it was brilliant. 3 pointers thrown with seconds left to tie the scores both times. Great Drama.

that was a ridiculous game

 

[maddogging]

Wow, just watched the OKC v Mavs game, was all over with 5 to go and rightly so, OKC had smashed Dallas on both ends of the board......and then the inexperience showed, and Dirk went barmy, including that ridiculous falling away scoop off one leg, what a legend.

Will be a Mavs v Heat Finals, really want the Mavs to win
it for Dirk and Mark Cuban

 

[ApolloBeachTone]

After the refs played such a big role in Miami beating the Mavs in the 2006 finals it would be nice to put it to them, even more so as they are the Chelsea of the NBA with their highly overpriced roster !!!

 

[maddogging]

Let's go Mavs !!

 

[ApolloBeachTone]

Awesome comeback again last night !! The city is buzzing and blue is definitely the colour round here right now !!

 

[maddogging]

Awesome comeback again last night !! The city is buzzing and blue is definitely the colour round here right now !!

Good scenes Dallas. Really pleased for the Mavs, hope they can clinch it so the likes of Kidd, Dirk, Marrion have something to show for there years of work.
Felt for OKC again last night, if you ever wanted to see where experience counts in sport, just watch back the last quarter of game 4 and 5.

 

[ApolloBeachTone]

Yep real "men against boys" stuff. If OKC can ever get their chemistry together the sheer passing of time and gaining of maturity suggests they'll be back here again very quickly !!

 

[Mr Tree]

no-one ever rises from "nothing" to "finalists". we know this, we've seen this hundreds of time, but we still get suckered in by the new kids on the block every time.

well these conference finals had:

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd (been there, done that) vs Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (winners of their first ever playoff series just this year, and 22 years old)

and

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (both been to the Finals before, Wade a Champion in 2006) vs Derrick Rose and (no-one else) - Rose was the league's best player for the last 6 months, but the playoffs are different and he wilted to an extent (yep, he's getting the usual "build up the stars then knock them down" treatment, as is Westbrook - very harsh criticism being directed towards both. Rose is also just 23 years old).


both series have been won by the team with more experienced stars. we shouldn't be surprised (but we can sulk :sad: )

so the Finals start on Tuesday in Miami. come on Dallas!!!

 

[maddogging]

Not such anti Miami as most. They have been hounded all season with people desperate for them to fail.

I am concerned about how the Mavs are going to score consistently against that Heat defence. Still, can't wait for it to all unfold.

 

[ApolloBeachTone]

Right now Dirk can score on anyone Mad.

My main fear is stopping the Heat scorers. If Dirk and Lebron cancel each other out on average and the Dallas bigs can stop Bosch, which I think they can - who matches the points that Wade is bound to score. The Mavs second scorer is usually by committee with anyone of three, Terry, Marion or Barea weighing in with 20+ on a given night. The question is will that be enough each game.

Fingers crossed but I fear not.

Btw. Hated Miami since 2006 when the refs decided Wade was going to be MVP and the Heat won the championship against Dallas as a result. The free agency crap last summer just cemented that !!

 

[maddogging]

I appreciate your hatred for them Dallas, and I bet the Mavs fans are fearing déjà vu and probably would have preferred to face any other team than the Heat.

I agree, Dirk and LeBron will cancel each other, Chandler could have a big series, Heat don't really have anyone as agressive as him. Jason Kidd will be big aswell considering Mike Bibby is ****. But surely DWade can't shoot as poorly as he did in the Eastern Finals

 

[chippendale]

Central Coast Adventist school win again, Haven't lost a game for 18 months