NBA

[kidcarter8]

Chris Paul Mokeski

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

[appaloosabeach]

there's this groaning, sucking sound coming from the right  side of my TV, I think it might be the Boston Celtics slipping back into a peat moss bog, look, there's Garnett's shiney head, we can use it as a stepping stone, walk across the green slime to Laker land. The Portland Trail Blazers will play the Cavs for the NBA trophy. Danny Ainge is an Oregon kid, sucked east by the devil.

[Kam]

Portland making it out of the West is a ballsy prediction.

Cleveland and Orlando in the playoffs should be fun to watch.

Jamison better practice his free throws.

Antawn Jamison is a career .728 free-throw shooter but has been struggling at .452 since joining the Cavs.

On the other hand, Jamison is exceeding his career averages in overall field-goal percentage (.479 with the Cavs compared to .456 for his career) and three-point field-goal percentage (.369 with the Cavs compared to .348 for his career).

[godot]

Wouldn't it be ironic for Mike is Phoenix came out of the west?

They're playing pretty good, now.

[whiskeypriest]

Portland making it out of the West is a ballsy prediction.

Cleveland and Orlando in the playoffs should be fun to watch.

Jamison better practice his free throws.

Antawn Jamison is a career .728 free-throw shooter but has been struggling at .452 since joining the Cavs.

On the other hand, Jamison is exceeding his career averages in overall field-goal percentage (.479 with the Cavs compared to .456 for his career) and three-point field-goal percentage (.369 with the Cavs compared to .348 for his career).

Perhaps he need the pressure of the knowledge his teammates are packing heat to focus his mind.

[Yankguy1]

I think Delonte West packs more heat than Gilbert.

[Kam]

Chris Paul Mokeski

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Old school buck.

[Kam]

I was asked the other day what I think of the referees this season. My answer: I hate the referees.

I was only kidding, kind of.

Lately, the refs have treated me and my teammates OK, but there was a point earlier this season when they were acting like they were bigger than the game. Joey Crawford, especially. That guy. You can't even ask him a question; he won't even look at you. Did you see what happened a few years ago when he challenged Tim Duncan, of all people, to a fight during a game? Ridiculous. The guy is a hothead, and players around the league know that whenever he refs a game there is gonna be some drama. More foul calls, more technicals, more delays. If you're watching a game and see Joey Crawford as one of the refs, expect controversy. It's a shame but it's true.

I always say that you can tell the difference between a young ref and a veteran guy. Generally speaking, players like young refs better because they don't tend to favor coaches or individual players, they just call the game as they see it. The problem is they are constantly being overruled by older refs. They'll make the right call and then an older ref will come running in and say, "Are you sure that's the right call?" Then the young guy will be like, "Well, what did you see?" They don't want to show the older guy up so they defer to him, and he's most likely biased. That's right, you'd think that the veteran referees would be more mature and balanced about their calls, but really they just carry more baggage onto the court.

Of course, the refs, young and old, are always getting worked over during the game by players and coaches. We played Charlotte earlier this season and Larry Brown completely controlled the whistle. The same thing happens with Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson and George Karl -- they're considered the greatest coaches in the league so it's easy for them to get the refs to do their bidding. I guess it's no surprise that refs favor winners. Let's say you're a great team and you're on a fast break and someone fouls you. A ref won't call it right away, he'll let you dunk, then call the foul so you get the three-point play. But if you're on a bad team they'll call a ticky-tack foul right away. No dunk for you.

Me, I always try to chat up the younger refs during the game. I'm a pretty calm guy, so I usually start with "Excuse me, sir. Can you explain to me what just happened?" Then I'll ask him to check the call at halftime because I think he missed it. My favorite response -- and this is what they usually say -- is, "That wasn't my call. Ask him." I get that a lot. Maybe I'm not one of the refs' favorites like some guys in the league. For instance, Kevin Durant has impressed me with his ability to get a whistle at such a young age. He had 15 free throws the other night! LeBron always gets calls, obviously. Kobe gets fewer than you'd think because he travels all the time. But the guy who gets the most calls by far is Dwyane Wade, even though he carries the ball a lot and is always falling down. The refs like his personality, I guess. He never met a ref he didn't like.

Chris Paul gets away with the most talking. There have been times when I've seen him curse a ref out like, "What the f--- are you looking at you ---hole?! Learn how to call a f------ game!!" The ref will be like, "My bad, I'll get you next time." What?!! If that had been me I'd have been T'd up and thrown out. You can't curse at a ref without getting a technical or at least a stern warning. Unless you're Chris Paul, who can say whatever he wants.


Tags:Insider, NBA

[whiskeypriest]

I think Delonte West packs more heat than Gilbert.

At least he has the common sense - and the meds - to only tote them around town, and not into the arena.

[Kam]

Earl Barron* Davis

* close enough

[bodiddley]

The only certain playoff matchup seems to be Orlando (2) v. Charlotte (7).
Orlando won the season series 3-1, but the first two wins were back in November and the second game was Jax's first with the Bobs.  
All four games have been close (Charlotte lost in Jan in OT at home, and then won in Orlando in March) and low-scoring (the OT game was tied 92 all at end of reg, otherwise it's been first team to 95 points wins.

Low scoring games play to the Browncats strength.
And the Bobs have more centers than any other team, so can bang with Dwight using Chandler, Ratliff, Nazr and Diop.  Does LB ever go in for the intentional hack-a strategy?  Because he could sure do it with Nazr and Diop.
Ty Thomas and Diaw can bother Shard.
Wing matchups are interesting with Vince, Barnes Pietrus trying to contain Wallace, Jax and Larry Hughes (did folks know he was there?)
Felton v. Jameer  ...   Augustin v. Jason Williams

Bobs are 14-5 in the recent past.
4 of those losses were to Indy, Toronto and Chicago, Miami -- a rather middling quartet, but only Toronto was a home loss.  The other loss was to Atlanta in OT.

Should be a good series.  In some ways a game of contrasts, as the Magic shot over 30 3-point attempts the last 3 games v. the Bobs, who take few distance shots.  So the Bobs perimeter D and ability to drive the ball will be key.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bobs could pull it out.
Only real question is if they have the end game composure and someone to hit the big shots (Jax?  Wallace?  I think Felton gets a good deal of the last play calls).  I've hardly seen the Bobs play -- I wasn't even aware that Larry Hughes Corporation was on the scene.
Thoughts?

[Yankguy1]

If Chandler stays healthy and out of foul trouble they have a chance, I think.  But I think it's a small one.  Orlando has too much firepower.

[Kam]

MIchael Jordan has granted Larry Brown permission to look elsewhere at season's end.

[bodiddley]

The way I heard it is that Larry Brown fell out of favor with Larry Brown.
That Larry Brown is now trying everything possible to rid himself of Larry Brown, his former savior.

[Kam]

By Shane Battier

 "There are too many throw away games in the NBA regular season. For anyone who’s gone through an NBA season, they know it’s nearly impossible to go maximum intensity for all 82 games of the year just because of the grind and the travel. I think the game suffers because of that. Don’t get me wrong, we travel first class all the way. We have chartered flights, we have people who pick up our bags, so it’s absolutely the best it can be. But with that said, I still think the game suffers because we can’t be at our physical peak due to the overall grind. I think by dialing the season back to where we play 58 games and you play every team once -- once at home and once away -- you’re creating a more pressure-filled environment where every game means so much more, so you have to play at your best if you want to get into the playoffs. You can’t afford to have a four or five game losing streak in a shortened season. I think the fans would appreciate it more, too. I know I’ve talked to a lot of NBA fans and they say, “I’d love to get season tickets but the commitment is just too great.” Instead of 41 nights a year, I think 29 home games is much more manageable for a fan. If I were a season ticket holder, I think I would appreciate that. Yeah, I’d love to see Kobe Bryant come to my arena twice a year. But you know what, I’d also like to see everyone play hard every single night in a pressure-filled situation. By shortening the season and creating that scenario I think you’d get that effect."