The 2005-2006 NBA Season Discussion Thread

The Spurs-Kings game was pretty good tonight, especially for Manu, who seem to get back in his groove tonight. I gotta give it up to Bonzi though, as he was playing great tonight as well.

Now I just hope that the Spurs can pick up a victory in the next game, even though it's in Sacramento. As long as they can at least keep playing like this, they should be able to pull out a victory, even if it's a narrow one.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Wow, a night resulting all in 3-2 series. Craaaazy. We'll get a possible 3-2 with Milwaukee/Detroit tomorrow night (but probably not), and definitely one with the Wizards.

I don't know what kinda game would be more fun to watch on Friday, a game which would be a must-win for the Wizards to stay alive, or a series-winning game. Whew.... excited I am.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Miami had a huge scare in their game against the Bulls last night. Dwayne Wade went for a dunk and landed on his hip. At first, it looked a lot worse than it actually was. However, in the second half, he was able to come back into the game and garner his team to a 3-2 lead in the series, with Shaq in foul trouble. Oh... and that pass he made to Alonzo when he did the spin was pretty hot.

Against my better judgement, I'm thinking that the Spurs-Kings series could go 7 games. I know San Antonio is the better team but the Kings play much better at home with that crowd. So, I think Sacramento will win Game 6 and the Spurs win Game 7 back in San Antonio.

Phoenix bounced back from their heart-breaking loss in Game 4 to win Game 5. Boris Diaw showed why he was voted Most Improved Player this year by leading the team with 25 points and adding 10 rebounds. The rivalry between Raja Bell and Kobe Bryant escalated as well. Bell was ejected from the game for giving Bryant a hard foul around the head/neck area. Bryant held his cool, but but he was ejected late in the 4th quarter for arguing with a ref. The Suns won this game but still have a long way to go. Game 6 in LA will be fun to watch.

I was speaking idiomatically.

This isn't really Playoff relevant, but a little randomness doesn't hurt:

Dwight Howard:

Quote:

"I was in the mall, and this dude asks if I'll sign something for him. I said, 'Cool, what?' He opens up his jacket, and on his T-shirt he has the picture of me getting dunked on by Kobe. I had to sign it. I had to laugh at that one. When you get dunked on, there's nothing you can do about it. You just want to go do it to somebody else on the other end."

Spoiler:

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Dwyane Wade: Fall down 7 times. Get up 8. Now, no one really knows what this means. FALL DOWN 273047235093 times GET UP 273047235093 + 1. OSNAP.

Dwight Howard: OH MA GOODNESS. What a good sport. Nice of him to sign it. Now, where do I get this shirt? Then again, I don't really want a shirt with Kobe on it. :/

FELIPE NO

Damn man, that dunk isn't as sick as the one Vince Carter did in the Olympics a few years back, but not far from it. Most people would have either gotten upset or refused to sign the t-shirt but Howard didn't. I like his attitude and how he handled that situation. I bet the guy who wanted to get it signed was trying to get a rise out of him. Howard is a good kid and class act. He's proven that on the court, and this is an example of his personality off of it.

Nice find.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Yeah, Dwight Howard is a nice kid. He's got a very bright future in the league.


Trade rumour: Ricky for AI

Surely the T-Wolves would have to give up more than just Ricky to get AI.

But can someone please make it happen.

KG and AI. Dope man.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

OH MA GOODNESS. WE GOT LEBRON'D. Man, I'm crying now. What a ridiculous finish. Awesome game.

BUT WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T THE WIZARDS CALL A TIMEOUT, not to mention poor time management near the end. They had a full timeout and a 20-second time out with the .9 seconds left. ...

This makes the Friday game I'm going to a MUST-WIN. WE MUST WIN.

The commentators are having a field day with this one.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I like how Detroit gave up 124 points to the Bucks in Game 3, then came back to score 109 and 122 in games 4 and 5 respectively, to close out the Bucks. When their offense is clicking like that, they are unbeatable.

LeBron James burned Washington yet again last night, hitting another game-winning shot. The Wizards have been snake-bitten in this series. I think Washington will pull out Game 6 at home. Then when Game 7 comes around, all bets are off.

I enjoy this back and forth between Raja Bell and Kobe Bryant. Bryant calls Bell a kid but the guy is 2 years older than him. I don't think the Suns will lose all that much without having Bell in the lineup. Even though they are still down, I still favor Phoenix in this series.

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

Trade rumour: Ricky for AI

Surely the T-Wolves would have to give up more than just Ricky to get AI.

But can someone please make it happen.

KG and AI. Dope man.

If the T-Wolves could somehow acquire Iverson, it would be great for them. It'd be awesome if, after all these years of not being able to win a championship individually, they teamed up to win one together. I , for one, hope it comes to fruition.

How ya doing, buddy?

That Suns-Lakers game last night was another classic. I didn't know Tim Thomas had that in him.

Game Seven. Niiiiice.

Nets and Heat move on. Should be a good series.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, that Suns-Lakers game was nice. Even though Kobe was on fire (50 points!), the Suns still managed to force a game 7. While I personally don't like the Lakers (I don't think there are any Spurs fans that do), I'm gonna go with them for winning Game 7 tomorrow, even though they don't have home court advantage.

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Originally Posted by Timberwolf

That Suns-Lakers game last night was another classic. I didn't know Tim Thomas had that in him.

Yeah, that game was great. But what do yu mean about Tim Thomas? He's always been a great player, even back in his days with the Bucks.

Damn! Gilbert Arenas has such a great game, then goes and costs his team the series by missing two key free throws. I never would have thought I'd ever call him a choke artist... but he surely choked at the charity stripe (huge 3-pointer to send the game into OT though). So, the Cavs win the series, and get the privledge of getting handled by the Pistions. Should be a good series, though.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by bishop743

Yeah, that game was great. But what do yu mean about Tim Thomas? He's always been a great player, even back in his days with the Bucks.

A gutsy three-pointer off a pumpfake after a scramble Suns offensive rebound ... I was just surprised he took and made that shot, especially when Nash was open and calling for the ball.

Originally Posted by bishop743

Damn! Gilbert Arenas has such a great game, then goes and costs his team the series by missing two key free throws. I never would have thought I'd ever call him a choke artist... but he surely choked at the charity stripe (huge 3-pointer to send the game into OT though). So, the Cavs win the series, and get the opportunity to get handled by the Pistions. Should be a good series, though.

Yeah, poor Gilbert's two freethrow misses cost them the game.

Damon Jones, who saw his first action of the night, went ahead and hit the gamewinner. The Cavs advance, and we get to see more of Lebron James.

They might just give the Pistons a run for their money. Or not, if the Pistons decide they like their offense more than their defense.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

A gutsy three-pointer off a pumpfake after a scramble Suns offensive rebound ... I was just surprised he took and made that shot, especially when Nash was open and calling for the ball.

You'd be suprised what some people are capable of when their season is on the line and they have to take a desperation shot. But again, he's a disciplined, veteran player who's been in the trenches of the postseason before. So, if I were a Suns fan, I'd be comfortable with him taking that shot. Maybe he didn't know how much time was left and figured an extra pass might have cost them.

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

They might just give the Pistons a run for their money. Or not, if the Pistons decide they like their offense more than their defense.

I'll give the Cavs one game in this series. If the Pistons are gonna score 100+ each night, you can forget about it. With that defense, it's a sweep in the making. Rest assured, if the Cavs had been playing the Pistons tonight, Damon Jones would NOT have gotten a wide open look like that.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by bishop743

You'd be suprised what some people are capable of when their season is on the line and they have to take a desperation shot. But again, he's a disciplined, veteran player who's been in the trenches of the postseason before. So, if I were a Suns fan, I'd be comfortable with him taking that shot. Maybe he didn't know how much time was left and figured an extra pass might have cost them.

Heh, I didn't realize that Thomas is a career 37.1% three-point shooter, and that he is shooting 51.6% from the arc in this series.


Ooooh, Artest rolled an ankle.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

So yeah, that Spurs-Mavs series should be hot.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't want to get my hopes up too early, but it looks like the Spurs are gonna take this. hey've been playing pretty good for a road game.

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time for the post-wizards game rant. this'll feature a completely objective view of the game and it's officiating, and if you disagree, you suck at life. forever. it's still in the works and i'll finalize it as i put in my blog and stuff.

what did lebron say to gilbert on the free throw line? "if you miss the second free throw, you're going home." lebron james... king james... more like queen bitch. what a frikkin' cry baby. i swear, after seeing this game and the way it was officiated, i have lost all reverence of lebron james that i've had since his inception into the nba. all he did forabout 90% of the game was complain and moan about the 1 out of 20 calls that didn't go his way. meanwhile, gilbert arenas continued to get no respect at all, getting absolutely none of the superstar calls (or even non-supserstar) calls to go his way. i can clearly describe at least 12 situations where this happened. never getting continuity calls or superstar calls of any type, but ultimately leading up to at least once, not get a goaltending call, including one that cost the game, and will be highly contested for all eternity. there you have it. lebron sucks at life.

this isn't to say gilbert was being an ideal player. he had fair share of ill-advised shots as always and probably should've hit at least one of those free throws near the end (but it shouldn't have come down to that anyway). he always comes out of nowhere! lebron, on the other hand, is a player i'm really beginning to dislike, if not already hate. thinking about past game, it's become clear that really all he does other than play really good basketball and complaincomplaingcomplainmoanbitchwhinewhinebitch and gloat. i say it's reached the point where i'm actually liking kobe over lebron now. in fact, kobe has stepped into my good side lately; meanwhile, lebron... the king has fallen. very lame to go rowdy at the end and start up a dogpile with his teammates. what the hell. despite all this, gilbert was still a good sport and gentleman to go over to the cavs' locker room and say "good game."

but what a game. it had all the excitement i expected, though quadruple overtime would've been nicer. one overtime was really frikkin' sweet to be there for. now, as a fan, i would say i went all out: lost my voice, blue hair, cheering gear set. the evening was legendary. oh, the cry baby cam is awesome.

i have pictures galore. i'll have those online sometime next week.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Man, watching that game live as a Wizards fan must've been tough. The refs did blow that goaltending call, which would've changed the dynamics of the game, if not the outcome.

I feel you, man.

But why blame Lebron for the inept officiating? That missed goaltending call had nothing to do with Lebron. Every single superstar in the league complains about calls that didn't go his way. It's not like Lebron is breaking new grounds here. And if he gets superstar calls ... it's not really his fault.

I was speaking idiomatically.

nazpyro, I understand where you're coming from. The last 3 games of the series, the Wizards lost by just one point in each game. The officiating was suspect in all 3 of those games at points. A call here or there and the Wizards might have won this series. But, superstars getting special calls and arguing about calls that they feel aren't warranted, is nothing new. Everybody does it... even the scrubs. You can't blame LeBron for that. And as far as what he said to Arenas at the line, doesn't matter. Arenas is an 80+ % free throw shooter. There is no reason why he shouldn't have knocked down at least one of them. It was an amazing game to watch at home though, so I can only imagine how exciting it was for you being there live.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Spoiler:

"I don't hate him, but I have no respect for him, because I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual."

-- Raja Bell, on Kobe Bryant.

Spoiler:

"Does he know me? Do I know this guy? I don't know this guy ... Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid."

-- Kobe Bryant, responding to Bell's remarks.

Let's get it on.

The best series in this year's opening round ends tonight.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

Spoiler:

"I don't hate him, but I have no respect for him, because I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual."

-- Raja Bell, on Kobe Bryant.

Spoiler:

"Does he know me? Do I know this guy? I don't know this guy ... Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid."

-- Kobe Bryant, responding to Bell's remarks.

Let's get it on.

The best series in this year's opening round ends tonight.

ROFL! Oh man, this is gonna be good. I'll definitely be checking this one out. This series has been a nail-biter from start to finish just like the Cavs-Wizards series. This Bell-Bryant back and forth is making this Game 7 that much more interesting.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Not blaming Lebron, or Bron Bron, or Bon Bon, or whatever you want call him for the poor officiating. He just gets more calls his ways from the officiating. It's not that the Cavs won the game, it's just how Lebron handled himself on the court which was pretty pissy. Superstars complain, yeah, but seriously not as much as much as Lebon. Every trip up and down the court he's yakking something off to the ref, shaking his head, crying, and all that good pissy shit. Even Michael Jordan was a complaining bitch during his career, but Lebron really is taking it to a new level. As for Arenas missing the free throws, it's true he should've made them. You just have to even slightly consider the fact that it should have never come down to that. And still, the complete lack of respect for Gilbert Arenas...

Lakers... Suns... it's gonna be gooooood.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by nazpyro

i have pictures galore. i'll have those online sometime next week.

Can't wait to see them!

The Spurs-Kings game was pretty good last night. I'm just glad that they were able to pull it off without there having to be a Game 7 (though it definitely would have been an exciting one. Now I can't wait to see how we play against the Mavs on Sunday. The series could probably go either way, but I'm definitely predicting at least six games, though there will probably be a seventh.

And man, this Kobe/Bell thing is at its peak now. Time to see which one can back up their talk by taking their team to the next round. It's gonna be a sweet game!

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by nazpyro

You just have to even slightly consider the fact that it should have never come down to that.

You're right, it should have never come down to that. Several wizards players, including Arenas and Jamison, had GREAT looks at 3-pointers in that overtime period and couldn't knock them now. Couple that with Arenas' misses at the free throw line, you can't blame the refs for that loss too much. Part of being a great team is overcoming adversity. They had a 7 point lead with just over 2 minutes to go and couldn't close the door. This loss belongs at the doorstep of the Wizards' team, not the referees. I know losing the way you did is a bitter pill to swallow (we've all been there), but come on man...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.