O_o. Kobe...

Anyway I got some of the pics from that game up in my chocojournal (shortened form). It links to my personal blog where I have the full entry plus rant, as well as the full gallery.

Nets, osnap. I see them getting that series. Ohh, and Suns taking care of another LA team. Maybe the Suns will wanna take it to a Game 7 again.

Nice photos.

That video clip your friend took of Arena's OT-forcing three-pointer cracked me up.

I imagine y'all were too hyped and jumping up and down to remember you were holding a camera.

Wow, the Spurs got waxed by the Mavs at home last night. Josh Howard had 27 points and Devon Harris, in his first start of the postseason, came up huge with 20 points. Dirk Nowitzki added 21 points. Tim Duncan had 28 points for the Spurs, but he got into foul trouble in the 3rd quarter and was out for a huge stretch, and the Mavs took advantage of it. San Antonio might be in some trouble here.

Speaking of blowouts, Detroit blew out Cleveland for a second straight time. Even though the Cavs did make a game of it late, the game wasn't as close as the score shows. LeBron James was not aggressive in the first half and that played right into Detroit's hands. In the second half though, he made more of an effor to get in the flow of his game and that's when they started to come back. They came up short but I'm sure it gave them something to hang their hat on heading to Cleveland for Game 3.

Wow, Dallas played really well. I missed both games, as I was out. But it looks like they weren't very competitive anyway.


So the Kings are letting Adelman go.

Hmm...

Wow, very stupid move by the Kings here. Adelman is the winningest coach in that franchise's history. He brought that team from the gutter and made them into contenders. I'm sure someone else will pick him up though. I've been hearing rumors that Don Nelson is a candidate to take Adelman's place.

I missed the Spurs game last night, so I was saddened to hear that they lost. However, since they lost by so much, I guess it was inevitable. From what you posted bishop, it sounds like the Mavs were in top shape, so they pretty much earned it.

This may turn out to be a pretty good series, possibly going to Game 7. But now we have to wait until Saturday for the next game. Oh well, at least we'll have two games each from the Clippers-Suns series and the Heat-Nets series during that time.

I still take the Spurs to win this series. The Spurs, along with the Pistons, are the best teams on the road. So, even though they lost home-court advantage, they are fully capable of getting it right back in Game 3. I'm hearing that both Manu and Duncan have some nagging injuries, though. If that's the case, this series may be an uphill climb for them.

Yeah, I know Duncan had a foot injury, and I believe Manu had injured his shin. They said they were trying to rely on Duncan less because of his foot, but considering how many points he's still getting you wouldn't really notice.

Kind of choppy.

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room1...DunkOnNash.gif

Kobe. Ownage.

I was gonna tune to the game, but it's just boring when games are blowouts. The first quarter of the Suns-Clippers game will be fun. If it's close, I'll keep it on; otherwise, I'll... meh, cry. Why not?

Yeah, I'm also waiting for the Suns-Clippers game. The Heat-Nets game is just about over ... blowouts aren't fun to watch.

Wow, the Game 2 matchups between the Nets-Heat and Clippers-Suns was the exact opposite of how things went in Game 1. The Heat were scorching last night. That game was over halfway through the first quarter. Also, down three-headed monster of Brand, Mobley and Cassell came up huge for the Clippers. Both games were pretty boring and uininteresting to watch though.

Thanks for the animated pic, T-Wolf.

Also, Chris Paul won ROTY. Like ANYONE was suprised by that. Dude had the award on lock a week into the season. Congrats to him.

Yeah Chris Paul had the thing locked back in November. Still, congrats to him. Too bad the Hornets slipped out of the Playoff picture in the latter portion of the season.


So there's no game tonight. I just got home, and was wondering where my games at. Then I checked the schedule.

Blowout Playoff games are no fun to watch. I hope the second round gets better in a hurry.

Not only is he a great player but he also has great personality and character. I saw an interview with him on Jim Rome is Burning a couple days ago and he was asked about his feelings on people saying his rookie season was better than Magic's when he won the championship that year. He was very humble and said that that was going way too far, and he pointed out that Magic carried his team to a title that year and played pretty much every position on the team at some point.

He's the type of guy that I'd love to have as the face of my franchise.


Yeah man, I hate that too. I hope tonight's games are a lot more competitive.

--------------------------

Also, the 2005-2006 NBA All-Defensive teams were announced. Here's the breakdown:

2005-06 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM
Position Player, Team 1st 2nd Points
Guard Bruce Bowen, San Antonio 26 3 55
Center Ben Wallace, Detroit 26 2 54
Forward Andrei Kirilenko, Utah 19 6 44
Forward Ron Artest, Sacramento 11 8 30
Guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 12 4 28
Guard Jason Kidd, New Jersey 9 10 28


2005-06 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM
Position Player, Team 1st 2nd Points
Forward Tim Duncan, San Antonio 7 9 23
Guard Chauncey Billups, Detroit 7 9 23
Forward Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 4 10 18
Center Marcus Camby, Denver 2 11 15
Forward Tayshaun Prince, Detroit 3 7 13

Jason Kidd All-Defensive First Team? That is wack. I want to know which nine idiots gave him first place votes.

Kevin Garnett All-Defensive Second Team? What is wrong with the system.

lol yeah, seriously. These voters don't see to have a clue. Outside of your points, I don't really have any other problems with the selections. I might have opted to swap Tayshaun Prince and Ron Artest though, since Artest missed a chunk of the season and Tayshuan's played all year for the best team in the league.

Yeah, Tayshaun Prince is one of the best defenders in this league. His season stats (blocks and steals) don't tell the story of just how great he is defensively. He gets his long arms in the passing lanes, and alters so many shots.

Well, last night's games were a lot closer this time around. The Heat-Nets game was pretty close throughout until the Heat began to pull away at the end. Vince Carter had a huge game with 43 points but it wasn't enough as the Heat took a 2-1 lead in the series. The Clippers looked like they were gonna win last night, but the Suns went on a huge run late in the 4th quarter to win the game and also take a 2-1 lead in their series. Steve Nash hit a fading jumping as the 24-second clock expired to ice it.

All-Defense teams tend to lag a couple years based on reputation (Payton got it a few years ago and then was murdered by Billups in the Finals a few years later). Kidd has been a great defender over the years, but he's lost a step (he got his ass torched by Anthony Johnson ). I also have my misgivings on Artest, since he only really played half a season.

Lots of people wanted Bruce Bowen winning DPOTY as well. It'd be fairly impressive, since most of the winners have been shot blocking big men (Artest won it a few years ago, and I think Payton is one of the few guards within the last decade to win it). Bowen's lock-down defense is impressive, but I dunno. The fact that Wallace is always around to block shots and work the glass, is able to step out against guards, and generally scare the bejeezus out of anyone who comes near the basket seems more valuable to me.

Oh well. When do the All-NBA teams get announced?

Ben Wallace is my choice. Wallace's defense is much more respected and legit around the league -- and around the media I'm sure -- than Bruce Bowen's is.

Bowen's tactics borderline dirty. He likes to crowd a player taking a jumpshot, and sometimes even plants his feet underneath the landing spot of the jumpshooter. It's a surefire way of making sure someone rolls an ankle.

And then there's crap like this ... (which I posted earlier in this thread)

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room1...BowenDirty.gif

I love how the media and a lot of NBA fans confuse Bowen's dirty, unprofessional play for good defense. I'm sure a lot of players in the league don't like or respect him, though.

In other news, Larry Hughes probably won't be in the lineup tonight for Game 3 between the Pistons and Cavs. His younger brother, Justin, died after battling complications from a 1997 heart transplant. The "I Am My Brother's Keeper" Hughes has tattooed on his neck was a tribute to him. He's back in St. Louis now. The funeral will be on Tuesday. Here's an article about it: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...ory?id=2443157

Condolences go out to Larry Hughes and his family.

Yeah, I read about Larry Hughes' brother. It's unfortunate.

The Cavaliers won one for him, though. Lebron came through huge in the fourth quarter, and finished with another triple-double.

http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/l...400_060513.jpg

Oh man, nice shot of that dunk. Yeah, the Cavs definitely won that one for Hughes. James took the game over in the 4th quarter. Yet another triple-double for him in this postseason..

The Mavs are up by 4 in the second quarter right now. Glad to see these games are getting closer.

More:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...G3-Pregame.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...-R2G3-Dunk.jpg


So yes, the Spurs closed that gap in a hurry. Should be a good second half.

OSNAP! Great finish in the Spurs-Mavs game. It came down to the wire and had a couple lead changes in the last minute or so. Dirk hit some big free throws late to give his team the victory. Duncan fouling out definitely didn't help the Spurs. Devon Harris had another great game for Dallas too. They are up 2-1 in the series now. Again, great game.

Also, great pics there, T-Wolf.