West

[Yianni]

Originally posted by jerry springer
gee phil if you were as agressive as the the spurs were, you might get a foul.getting sick of phil's shi.t of late actually,i used to really respect him but he is sounding more like a broken record every time he loses now.Why doesn't he praise the opposition and challange his own team.God I hope the Spurs sweep the fakers then win the championship and then tell the Faker's that there is a * next to last years championship cause the Ref's gave them game 7.Fuc.kin sore loser

Yeah, coaches get like that when they are too used to winning, they forget that they can lose.

Listen to Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson in the EPL, whenever they lose, they still say "I think we were the better team, etc, etc"

Kinda like Grant Thomas really!

 

[jerry springer]

Funny how phil Jackson never uses Kareem Rush at all either as a spark plug off the bech,Rush has seriously suffered in L.A.In college he was a gun.He would easily average 10-15 points playing for a lesser team.Maybe switching kobe to SF every now and then would give them some depth.Does anyone know what happened to Tracey Murray?He is listed on the lakers injured list but i dont remember him getting hurt during the season.

 

[jerry springer]

Originally posted by jod23
I
[*]Kobe shot the ball 38 times!!! and he had only 2 assists. Not team ball. Individual brilliance may get you out of the first round but the whole Lakers team will need to turn up to beat a quality side like the Spurs.

hard to work out how kobe with his speed off the dribble cant drive and dish more often.2 assists thats pathetic

 

[mattyc2422]

From what I saw on ESPN highlights, what we did well was bring the double team in late on Kobe, so that he was nearly about to fire up his shot, and then, say Duncan came across to Kobe and he had to reassess his options.

Hopefully we'll continue that in game 2.

 

[jerry springer]

and game 3+4

im starting to get a good feeling about the spurs.at the start of the season Sportbet.com.au had them at $18 to win the championship.After seeing Ginobli At the world Championships and knowing Parker would get better I put down $100 bucks.If we win it all i collect $1800.

Go U spurs!!!!!!!

 

[jod23]

It's so tough to pick the champion at the moment. The Kings looked irresistable with their display against the Mavs but the Spurs have been so impressive. You can never ever count out the Lakers though. It will definitely come from those 3. Dallas are not a factor, neither is whoever makes it out of the East.

 

[CURVE]

Originally posted by jod23
It's so tough to pick the champion at the moment. The Kings looked irresistable with their display against the Mavs but the Spurs have been so impressive. You can never ever count out the Lakers though. It will definitely come from those 3. Dallas are not a factor, neither is whoever makes it out of the East.

I think it's easy. The Royals will win their 2nd title, 52 seasons after their 1st. The Mavs are nothing, the Lakers are on their knees, but will still do enough to tire/wipe out the Spurs, and the East isn't even worth mentioning.

They should have kept the "Royals", it sounds better than the "Kings".

 

[jerry springer]

Spurs giving Fakers a flogging 10 min to go leading by 26 points

Fouls are 22-21 Spurs way so i wonder what phils excuse will be tonite.Kobe is shooting a outstanding 8-23 with one whole assist.
Bowen is hot with 7-8 3pt% Tim on his way to another triple-double

 

[rednugget]

Spurs win 114- 95

 

[jerry springer]

Originally posted by DEVO
I think it's easy. The Royals will win their 2nd title, 52 seasons after their 1st. The Mavs are nothing, the Lakers are on their knees, but will still do enough to tire/wipe out the Spurs, and the East isn't even worth mentioning.

They should have kept the "Royals", it sounds better than the "Kings".

i dont think it will be as easy as that especially if the spurs sweep the lakers.Dont forget that the Spurs beat the kings 3-1 this season,in which webber played in 2 of the victories and beating them on their home court twice.Ginobli hardly played any time in them either due to his ankle injuries either.

the spurs IMO match up very well against the kings.Divac and Robinson are both old but Dave is a far superior defender.Duncan Is better than webber.Bowen will matched up on Stojavokoic.Bibby and Parker are pretty even.Christie is a better defender than jackson,but jax can light up more than christie

Bench is pretty even Probably a slight edge to the kings who have clark,turkoglu and jim jackson to the spurs Ginobli,rose willis and speedy claxton

All in all i think the Kings have more firepower but the spurs are a better team and play better defence.I think webber is a bit suspect down the stretch compared to duncan.

only my humble opinion though

 

[mattyc2422]

Bruce Bowen, I could kiss you!....er, maybe not, but you get the idea. 7-8 3pts? Whoaaaaaaaa! Career high scoring? Whoaaaaa.

Duncan, Parker, Manu, Speedy, Jackson and Bowen all getting in double figures in scoring.

We are doing a top job at restricting the Lakers supporting cast in Fisher, Horry et al.

Bowen and Bryant scoring the same amount of points? I'll take that any day of the week!

Winning the first two games at home is ****ing brilliant. Taking at least one game on the road will be vital.

I've got a case of the Big Kevs at the moment.

C'mon you good things.

 

[Portmanteau]

Don't discount Philly. Seriously.

 

[Dingster]

Originally posted by Guey_34
Don't discount Philly. Seriously.

Yeah. I expect them to make a run too.

 

[Dingster]

A good team win to your lads Matty. Everyone chipped in and you had one of those days where the threes were dropping. Now to get one in LA.

 

[mattyc2422]

Originally posted by Dingster
Now to get one in LA.

Yep. Exactly.
If LA can gain some momentum in LA, the series could get nasty for the Spurs. We need to continue on our momentum run now.
We are a much, much better team than we were in 2002.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by Guey_34
Don't discount Philly. Seriously.

Definitely...cant count out any team with Iverson on it. He has the heart of a lion and I wouldnt be surprised if the 76ers returned to basketball's biggest stage, the NBA Finals. Tough from there though....even for Iverson.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by jerry springer
i dont think it will be as easy as that especially if the spurs sweep the lakers.Dont forget that the Spurs beat the kings 3-1 this season,in which webber played in 2 of the victories and beating them on their home court twice.Ginobli hardly played any time in them either due to his ankle injuries either.

the spurs IMO match up very well against the kings.Divac and Robinson are both old but Dave is a far superior defender.Duncan Is better than webber.Bowen will matched up on Stojavokoic.Bibby and Parker are pretty even.Christie is a better defender than jackson,but jax can light up more than christie

I think your bias is getting in the way a little. I agree that the Spurs are a much better team this year than we have seen in previous years but I still dont think they could beat the Kings.

Let's look at each position. At center you have Robinson v Divac. Robinson whilst being the better defender isnt what he used to be and is no longer an offensive threat, he also isnt particularly that healthy and is often rested on the bench or misses games altogether. His impact is very little nowadays. Divac though whilst also being old is still very good. He can easily get 10 to 15ppg but what makes Divac so special is his ability to bring his teammates into the game. He passes the ball extremely well and is so intelligent with his passes that he rarely turns the ball over.

At power forward you can just say Tim Duncan is better than C-Webb and that's that. But it's not that simple. Webber is a superstar and he will get his 20 and 10 every night. They are both similar players but Duncan certainly has the advantage on defence. Webber though is more likely of the two to score 30 or 40 points in a game. Webber like Divac is a fantastic passer, anybody catch some of the classics he was dishing out in game 1 against Dallas? Duncan averages almost the same amount of assists but his come from just finding an open man off the double team and hoping he knocks it down. Webber actually creates for his teammates.

At small forward it's defensive specialist Bowen up against Stojakovic. Bowen at the minute is putting the clamps on Bryant which is no mean feat but Stoja is a completely different player. You would think Bowen would have an easier time with Stoja than Bryant but Peja is so smart that he often works his way into space, give him an inch and he will knock it down...from anywhere. Could be the matchup that decides the series, should the series eventuate.

Shooting guard has Jackson on Christie. Jackson is inexperienced and streaky and the battle hardened Christie should have no problems with shutting out Jackson.

Bibby and Parker are not pretty even IMO. Bibby has more experience and knows his own teams offence so well, he runs the team extremely well. Parker is just a second year player who is still finding his game. The huge advantage at the point is also the ability to bring in Bobby Jackson who is kind of like Stephon Marbury with his quickness and explosiveness. Could cause Parker all sorts of problems.

Originally posted by jerry springer
Bench is pretty even Probably a slight edge to the kings who have clark,turkoglu and jim jackson to the spurs Ginobli,rose willis and speedy claxton

All in all i think the Kings have more firepower but the spurs are a better team and play better defence.I think webber is a bit suspect down the stretch compared to duncan.

only my humble opinion though

The benches are both pretty deep but Sac Town has the edge. The Kings have 2 starters at any other club on their bench in Bobby Jackson and Keon Clark. Jim Jackson, Turkoglu, Pollard can all come off the bench and contribute, even Funderburke is pretty good, although rarely used.

The Spurs arent too shabby either with Manu, Rose and Speedy coming off the bench. After that though it falls away a tad with Ferry, Willis, Smith and the underused Steve Kerr. Both have solid benches but its the strong play of Bobby Jackson and Keon Clark that give the Kings the edge.

Of course all of this could be nothing if the Lakers and Mavericks get their acts together.

 

[jerry springer]

Originally posted by jod23
I think your bias is getting in the way a little.

It could well be jod but on some of the match-ups i still believe the Spurs have the edge.Duncan Vs Webber especially.Duncan has constantly out played webber over the last few years and in crunch time i believe he has more "go to" moves.Webber(who im am a huge fan of incidently) often likes to sit back and shoot mid-range jumpers.He is also a very poor free throw shooter in the clutch.He is a great passer though.The Knock on webber is that he has never had a exceptional post-series.

Bibby is a better "quarterback" and does run his team better than Parker,but Tony has more ability to heat up and score a bunch of points than Bibby

once again only my opinion hopefully unbiased

 

[mattyc2422]

Shhh. Guys, don't jinx it.
The Spurs need to get through the Lakers, and over recent times I've learnt not to rest easy until it's over when you are playing the Lakers.

 

[Showbag]

Originally posted by jod23

blah
blah
blah

Of course all of this could be nothing if the Lakers and Mavericks get their acts together.

Exactly.

I know the Kings are the deepest team in the league. They are going to need this depth. No BJax and She-Web in doubt. Mavs tie at 1-1.

Things have changed a little out west.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by Showbag
Exactly.

I know the Kings are the deepest team in the league. They are going to need this depth. No BJax and She-Web in doubt. Mavs tie at 1-1.

Things have changed a little out west.

No doubt. I in no way was getting ahead of myself. I know how quickly the playoffs can turn and we could end up seeing a Lakers Mavs Western Conference Finals. Unlikely but it could happen. I was just analysing a possible matchup between the Kings and Spurs, should it eventuate.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by jerry springer
It could well be jod but on some of the match-ups i still believe the Spurs have the edge.Duncan Vs Webber especially.Duncan has constantly out played webber over the last few years and in crunch time i believe he has more "go to" moves.Webber(who im am a huge fan of incidently) often likes to sit back and shoot mid-range jumpers.He is also a very poor free throw shooter in the clutch.He is a great passer though.The Knock on webber is that he has never had a exceptional post-series.

Bibby is a better "quarterback" and does run his team better than Parker,but Tony has more ability to heat up and score a bunch of points than Bibby

once again only my opinion hopefully unbiased

Duncan certainly does have more "go to" moves with a game on the line but Webber has publicly said this season that he wants the ball with the game on the line because he believes he can win it. So both wont shy away from the spotlight. FT's...well IMO both are not very reliable from the stripe, look back at Duncan in game 1 of the Phoenix series when he missed both his FT's and then Marbury ran the length of the floor and canned that banking 3 for the win.

Bibby can light it up, did you see him last year against the Lakers. He can certianly heat up. I think Spurs fans are asking a little too much from Parker in just his second year. He will be very good though as he matures.

Gotta love Manu

 

[jod23]

Anyways...onto the game at hand. In about 6 or so hours, game 3 will tip off between the Spurs and Lakers. It just doesnt get any bigger than this game. The 3 time defending champs hanging on by a thread, should they lose game 3 they will stare at a deficit that no team in the history of the NBA has ever erased....big big game.

Go Spurs.

 

[Ron]

Well Chris Webber needs surgery on his knee and will be out for 4-6 weeks.

I would say this just about rules out Sacramento winning the title

 

[Dingster]

Originally posted by Ron
Well Chris Webber needs surgery on his knee and will be out for 4-6 weeks.

I would say this just about rules out Sacramento winning the title

Harsh news for the Kings. This was their best chance to win it all and against quality opposition too. Hope the Kings aren`t flattened by the news. They`ll need Bibby to have another blinding series and play great team ball. Hard to see them winning it now though.