haha, damn cuz, now that's messed up.


So... you have a 9 point lead with just under 4 min left in the game. 9 times out 10, you can go ahead and mark that down as a "W". But, uh uh, not against the Suns and that offense. They completely exploded in those last few minutes. Steve Nash hit some huge shots but it was Boris Diaw who won the game for him. He's really come into his own during this playoff run. He had a good regular season and now he's stepping up even more in the postseason. Overall, the game was very exciting and entertaining. This series is gonna be a fun one to watch.

Man, most improved player Boris Diaw came up huge -- and clutch -- with a career high 34 points.

Awesome.

Double Post:
Pistons tied it up. Heat still has homecourt advantage, though.



Non-Playoff related: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf90YzWV42E

David Hasselhoff should be banned from all sporting events.

I just found out that Keith Van Horn is pocketing nearly $16 million this year.

That's just about as much as Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

That's almost $2 million more than Dirk Nowitzki.

That's $7 million more than league MVP Steve Nash.

That's $12 million more than Lebron James.


I wish I could make $16 million playing 13.8 minutes a game in the Playoffs while averaging 5.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 3.4 fouls, and shooting 34.5% from the field.

No kidding! I wonder what made him worth so much in the first place?

Van Horn's first few years in New Jersey were pretty promising, so they gave him like a 73 million dollar contract extension. Naturally, he hasn't come close to being worth that much, but I'm guessing they thought he would evolve into a superstar instead of just a decent player.

There are probably worse contracts out there.

EDIT: Not surprisingly, many of the worst are/have been Knicks. Brian Grant is getting 16 mil, Anfernee Hardaway is getting 15.75 mil, Jalen Rose is getting 15.7 mil, Eddie Jones is making 14.56 mil, Tim Thomas is making 14.36 mil (he's been great in the playoffs though), Antonio Davis is getting 13.86 mil.

This doesn't include those cut by the amnesty thing. Most of the rest making top dollar are the real deal, though some are probably overrated by their salaries.

I do too. Wow.



And yay. Heat win, they're up 2-1 now. Shaq showed up hard in this game: 27 points, 2 steals and 12 rebounds.

And then you have bargain players who make very little money (relative to the league average of about $4 million): Boris Diaw makes $1.1 million this year. Tayshaun Prince makes $1.8 million (but it'll be a nice $7.8 million next season).



Random quotes:

"For some reason I could never play well against Popeye Jones. I have no idea why, but he just kicked my butt every time we played."
-- Charles Barkley

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/basketb...layers/834.jpg


"For the Clippers, three guys are the...ka, key. Kaman has to play well. That means that the tempo can slow in the terms of for the Clippers. Also, Cassell and Mobley has to have a good game as well."
-- Magic Johnson, on TNT

Those are rookie contracts, to be fair. Those contracts vary by the position in the draft (so first pick would earn more than the second pick and so on) and I think the amounts are set, so naturally there'd be bargains (and stinkers, conversely). Off the top of my head, a good bargain that isn't a rookie contract is Chauncey Billups, who is making 5.90 million this year.

Yeah, I know rookies sign for contracts based on their draft position. But I just wanted to point out the general salary disparity in the NBA, which is messed up.

You're right about Billups. He should be making Van Horn money.

I don't want to say that the Pistons-Heat series is over but the Pistons-Heat series is over. Miami took a 3-1 lead in the series with an 89-78 victory last night. Shaq played very well and showed flashes of the great dominance he had back in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. And whatelse can be said about Dwayne Wade. The guy has a great first half, doesn't even take a shot in the 3rd quarter... then comes back and takes the game back over in the 4th quarter. That shot when he was falling away from the basket and flipped the ball up for an AND-1 was phemomenal. He's really letting the game come to him and his shooting efficiency is downright scary. Detroit has NO answer for him. Udonis Haslem played big as well.

It seems to me that Detroit has lost their defense swagger. They were able to get away with it (narrowly) against the Cavs, but against the Heat, it's just not cutting it. Miami has proven that they are the better team, with the better coach. Flip Saunders has not been preparing his team well defensively at all. I guess there is something to be said about Larry Brown and his coaching style.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...-EFG4-And1.jpghttp://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...FG4-And1-2.jpg

Yeah, this guy is shooting %69.5 from the field in this series, not simply on drives. But also on fadeaways, and shots like ones above.

Amazing.

And did anyone enjoy Shaq's block-to-handle-the-ball-by-myself-coast-to-coast-for-a-layup as much as I did.

Thanks for the pics, T-Wolf.

Yeah, Shaq's one-man fast break for the layup was hilarious. Nobody wanted or dared to get in his way. He looked like a young fella out there.

OMG.

Amazing layup by Wade - great pics Timberwolf. I like the expressions on everyones' faces, priceless.


3-1 in favor of the Heat, looks like my prediction of the Heat taking it in five may be possible.

Off topic again, but this is a great rebound by Nate Robinson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1MDCjkAjvo

It seems ilke everytime the Pistons have their backs against the wall and people are counting them out, they find a way to make something happen. This entire series their vaunted defense was nowhere to be found, but last night, it showed up with a vengeance. Even though Dwayne Wade didn't have a terrible game, per say, the Pistons did a great job of denying him the ball and trapping him whenever he did get it. Also, the Heat really shot themselves in the foot by shooting very poorly from the free throw line.

Detroit has to feel good about this victory. They didn't play so hot either. Tayshuan Prince was really the only guy who was consistent offensively. He hit a huge 3-pointer when a blocked shot when right to him. That shot gave them a 6-point lead late in the 4th quarter as the Heat were getting ack in the game.

Now the pressure is on the Miami Heat to close this series out in Miami on Friday. They definitely don't want a Game 7 in Detroit. It's still gonna be an uphill battle for the Pistons. They need to keep their defense running on all cylinders and they need more production offensively from Rasheed, Billups and Hamilton. I'm not ready to write them off just yet.

Daaayam, Dirk's 22 points in the fourth quarter in a key Playoff game is impressive. 50 points for the game is awesome.

The Suns will need to win the next game to force yet another Game 7.

Haha, yeah. The Dallas/Phoenix is series is fun to watch. It's kinda sad when Phoenix needs to rely on Tim Thomas to stay in the game. I like both teams here, so I don't care too much who goes on. It'd be funny to see Phoenix go to 7 games in every round of the playoffs. It would be good for Dallas to make the Finals for the first time ever.

Actually, the Detroit/Miami series is fun too. Detroit also needs to force Game 7. Prince has been freaking ridiculous lately. But I'm rooting for Miami still.

When the Suns got 3 24-second violations in the first quarter, I thought it was going to be a long night for them. But they were able to overcome that and stay in the game, for the most part. Nowitzki, in the 4th quarter basically said, "Give me the damn ball and get out of my way!" He would not be denied. He had an incredible game. Man, if the Suns could find a way to force a Game 7 and win, that would be amazing. I don't remember the last time a team won 3 straight Game 7's ('course, up until a few years ago, the first round was a best of 5).

If the Pistons lose, Detroit is really screwed.

Red wings #1 league seed lose playoffs.
Pistons #1 league seed lose playoffs.
And Tigers #1 league seed I bet will not goto finals.
(Lions just suck).

I know I've said it before, but something about that Mavs team just seems so undeserving of a title. I'm not a Mavs hater by any means, but it just seems they don't play with that passion or energy. I really can't put my finger on it, I just don't want them to win a title.

I'm rooting for the Suns because I love Tim Thomas in a sarcastic kind of way. If not them I'm pulling for the Heat because I like Wade, and Shaq.

Miami better win tonight or else it's over for them IMO.

Woohoo, Miami wins. Anotine Walker. He was open, coach. Walker with the shimmie... osnap. Congrats to the Heat for making the NBA Finals for the first time ever. Maybe Dallas'll pull that off too.

Damn. I was rooting for Detroit, but they were playing terribly all series. Oh well, there's always next year.

Congrats to Miami. Now that they're in the finals, I think that they may actually take the championship this year, especially if they have to play the Mavs in the finals.

Same. They've been struggling offensively for whatever reason since the Cleveland series. Also, there is next year, but after that, I think their championship window is probably closed since they're going to get old (and LeBron's going to terrorize the East for years to come). The good thing is that I think that the starters' skillsets won't deteriorate too much with age. People with Rasheed's build tend to last a long time in the league, Billups should be able to keep this level of production for a while, Prince is still very young, Hamilton's game is built around keeping in shape and running a lot (he's probably the main candidate to fade as time goes on, actually), and Ben Wallace is in amazing shape. They just need a decent bench for when the main guys get tired or aren't hitting their shots. The bench isn't deplorable like it was last year, but Saunders was still only really willing to use Hunter and McDyess during the playoffs.

My horse is out, and I don't have any emotional attachment with any of the teams left. I'm rooting for whoever comes out of the West, now, though.

Anyone bored enough to talk about the offseason at this point?