***Official NBA Thread***

[nightprowler10]

Looking forward to the D Will and D Rose matchup. Bad start for the Bulls so far.

[nightprowler10]

Rose owned. Oh yeah.

[Anil]

d-wade has been singlehandedly keeping miami in playoff contention...exceptional performances from him...

[nightprowler10]

Yeah definitely a contender for MVP along with LBJ.

[duffer]

I love D-Wade as much as anyone but what Bron is doing with that team is scary. Take him out and they'd be under .500 but they're destroying teams left right and centre. The guy is on a whole new level right now and is better than anyone I've seen apart from MJ. Just needs a couple of rings to confirm his greatness.

[ohtani's jacket]

Originally Posted by Anil

don't know about finished...they still have duncan, parker and ginobli and they still have popovich..they just need to get rid of some of the older elements in the team and build a younger, more energetic structure around the big 3...mason and hill have proved to be good additions, they need other more useful role players, not necessarily very experienced(their superstars have more experience and leadership capability than most of the top guys on other teams)...

Stuff like that just doesn't happen in the NBA. The Celtics were able to win a championship five years after their dynasty ended in '69, but that was a different era. Really the Spurs got that extra championship you're alluding to in 2007. I can't see Duncan getting a fifth.

[duffer]

Maybe it's just because I dislike Ginobli so much but I can't wait for that particular empire to crumble.

[Anil]

Originally Posted by ohtani's jacket

Stuff like that just doesn't happen in the NBA. The Celtics were able to win a championship five years after their dynasty ended in '69, but that was a different era. Really the Spurs got that extra championship you're alluding to in 2007. I can't see Duncan getting a fifth.

right now the celtics, the cavs, the lakers and maybe even the magic are better than the spurs...and teams like the hornets, the rockets and the jazz can give them a tough fight over a 7 game series....so it's difficult for me too to see the spurs win it all this year but i am not talking about necessarily winning a championship here, i am talking about making the team better...

they still have three brilliant players who are playing at a high level, bowen is still one of the best defenders in the nba, they still have arguably the best current coach in the nba(phil jackson would be his only competition), they also have a couple of very useful role players that i alluded to earlier...if they can beef up their bench strength this year or at least next year, they would become strong contenders again....admittedly the window for duncan, bowen and ginobli are closing because of their age but they do have the experience and the pedigree to make another serious run at the title...

[Anil]

Originally Posted by duffer

Maybe it's just because I dislike Ginobli so much but I can't wait for that particular empire to crumble.

why do you dislike him? he is one of my favourite players to watch...

[Anil]

there are a lot of brilliant young players in the nba right now who are potential future hall-of-famers:

james - barring injury will reach there
wade - one nba title, finals mvp and outstanding stats across the board and getting better all the time, probably 90% in right now
paul - barring injury will reach there
anthony - has the potential, but his greatness is still a question mark, he needs to lead his team into big stages and make his presence felt more
bosh - has the potential but not gonna happen with the raptors...needs to make a wise move in 2010
howard - barring injury will reach there
roy - has the potential and the young, hyper-talented trail blazers could take him there
williams - has the potential and he is in a good team as well, need to start making his mark soon
boozer - solid player, excellent stats and a ring or two might help him take that final step into the hof
rondo - has shown tremendous improvement, already has a ring and if he progresses like this, a definite chance
rose, oden, mayo, durant, harris et al - too early to tell...

[duffer]

Originally Posted by Anil

why do you dislike him? he is one of my favourite players to watch...

He has mad skills just hate his bitching and moaning at the refs for every time someone dares touch him and his absolutely ridiculous flops. He pretty much made it acceptable to flop again in the NBA after Vlade left. Plus some of the stuff he's said about other players rubs me off the wrong way. Just don't like the guy at all comes off as a bit of a wanker to me.

[nightprowler10]

Some great matchups today. Should be watching them all on HD.

[nightprowler10]

After the one sided game between the Magics and the Hornets, an absolute gun matchup between the Suns and the Spurs. What a beautiful play at the end by Parker to win the game to top Hill's play before.

[Anil]

yeah spurs-suns was a thriller...once again, the spurs show that they have the edge over phoenix...parker and duncan came through even though ginobli had an off day by his standards...in spite of all the good-to-great players in phoenix, they just don't defend well enough to win big games...

[Anil]

the lakers snap the 19 game streak of the celtics! this has been the perfect couple of games today..both l.a and s.a winning against tough opposition...