It was a short dynasty for the Celtics, but I think we all expected that when they got Allen and Garnett. At least there was one title for them. Probably no one on the current roster will hoist another in Boston.
One title and one close loss in the finals don’t make a dynasty, but they’ve been a great team and a really tough out in the playoffs every year. They’re not totally over the hill and Rondo is a stud, but it’s going to be tough for them to get much better with the amount of money they’re spending on their top few guys. Pretty much the entire bench has to go.
Miami/Boston only had one overtime. I feel cheated. OKC/Memphis is starting their third as a type this. These are the craziest playoffs I can remember.
I think an NBA final four of Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta and Miami might give David Stern an aneurism.
Fight my ignorance: I’ve heard similar assumptions before and have read endless complaints by fans (usually on the losing side) how biased the refs are and how rigged the system is.
Is there any truth to it? Are there any statistical comparisons that show bias, for example? And why should the NBA officials care who is going to win the title?
I’m not sure Spoke was being serious, especially since Miami is the team with the most star power in the entire league and I am pretty sure they had the best TV ratings. But every year it looks like a relatively small market team could make the finals, some people say David Stern will personally intervene to make sure the team from the bigger market wins the series. Every time it doesn’t happen and the smaller-market team wins, there’s silence, and the next season it happens again like new. Somehow we’re supposed to believe the NBA wouldn’t hesitate to rig a series but was OK with San Antonio winning four championships in recent years, and Detroit making the finals twice. Oh, and when the Shaq-Kobe Lakers were winning championships, they played Indiana (beat New York) and New Jersey (beat Philly) in the finals.
Are you saying that Stern totally lacks the psychic powers to make Garnett take just one shot and miss it? That’s … disappointing.
Anyway, I might be a bit fuzzy on the rules, but I’ve now seen big man park so often within the key that I am not sure anymore that any rule actually exists that forbids any prolonged stay there. And many players never seem to be called for carrying the ball around across half the court …
And some of the touching is downright x-rated and might be good material for another NBA BDSM reel.
What, exactly, is considered a whistle-worthy action during the playoffs?
I didn’t say Stern was fixing anything. I meant that he wouldn’t be happy with all the mid-market teams still around. Hell if he were fixing things, those teams wouldn’t be around. We are now guaranteed that the Western final will be between Dallas and either Oklahoma City or Memphis. I’m pretty sure if Stern were fixing things he wouldn’t have mapped out that scenario.
Although…keep a close eye on the foul calls if there is a game 7 between the Bulls and the Hawks. 
Why wouldn’t he be happy that Miami is going to make the conference finals?
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Miami is the 16th largest TV market in the US.
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In my scenario the big markets of Boston, Philly, Los Angeles, and Chicago would be unrepresented not just in the finals, but in the semi-finals, which is highly unusual and runs counter to profitability. (In addition to being big markets, those are big NBA towns. The Mavericks and the Hawks are really afterthoughts in Dallas and Atlanta.)
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I’m sure Stern would be very happy with Miami in the Eastern finals…if they are playing Chicago.
So what? People around the country watch basketball, and people around the country are more interested in Miami than any other team. It’s true that ratings can take a hit when two teams that don’t have large national followings are in the finals, but that wouldn’t be the case if Miami is there.
I’m not sure it’s really unusual. Philly hasn’t been good in a decade, the Bulls are just returning to prominence, and you didn’t mention New York, but it’s also been a while since the Knicks have been any good. I don’t know how much it hurts their profitability either. The only thing it could conceivably do is hurt the NBA the next time it tries to negotiate its TV contracts, and I don’t think this would be more than a bump in the road.
Yes, I meant to include New York. When is the last time none of those markets had a team in the conference finals?
Yeah, I am wrong. Guess it just seems like one of those big market teams is always around.
That would be waaay back in Ought-Seven. (Detroit, Cleveland, San Antonio, Utah). Also Ought-Six and Ought-Five.
ETA Dammit. Left in for silly ought-N jokes.
Ought jokes noted and appreciated.
If Miami wins a title with this fugly iso dribble offense it’s gonna be a basketball travesty. But I guess if you have a big enough hammer…
Well, Andrew Bynam will get an extended summer, gettingsuspended for the first five games of next year. I wonder if that will affect his trade value.
Alright, now that it’s been a few days, I can finally think clearly and maybe have some coherant thoughts
My Lakers, gone, in the 2nd fucking round. And the manner in which they left, a pathetic sweep and a meltdown, that was embarassing… :mad:
But if I can offer some perspective for a second, even though we won’t be catching Boston’s record for number of championships this year, we have an enviable record that probably 95% of the teams in the league would kill for. In the past 20 years, only 5 teams have been able to win back-to-back championships (Chicago, Houston, Chicago, LA, and LA). We have, in my mind, still the best player in the league, if not now, then at least from about 2005-2009. The 2000’s were our decade. In 10 years from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010 we won half the championships and went to the finals 2 more times. We’ve had the 2 best players in the league at once and the best coach. We’ve got numerous huge and memorable games and plays and series. There was no doubt that the 2000’s added another layer of luster to the Lakers franchise
So this loss hurts. It hurts more because we were favored to win. It hurts because of the way we lost. It just hurts. I’ll get over it though. Just like I got over 2008 and 2004. Like I got over losing to Phoenix when we were up 3-1.
But I shouldn’t be THAT hurt. Not many franchises can say they have had some of the best players ever to play the game. To be able to say that we are the only team in league history with more road wins than road losses (I think. Read that somewhere). To be able to say that we were able to repeat as champions multiples times, win in every decade the NBA’s been around (I can count 1999-2000 as part of the 90’s still :p), and all that while we’ve had our share of bad losses, that in our history we’ve only had 5 below 30 win years and were in the finals like 50% of the time. No other teams can say that. Hell, no other team in any other sport can probably say that.
So this year’s a total loss. Any year in which we don’t get to the finals or win is a loss. That’s the kind of expectation we have as Lakers fans. We don’t hang division championship banners or conference banners. We hang the real thing. And whether we get to Boston’s total next year or the year after, we will at least have that chance. Not many teams can say the same, and none can say it for as long as we have been able to.
I have to admit that with their loss, my interest in basketball takes a huge nosedive. Heard the Grizz and Thunder had a great 3 OT game the other night. Don’t really care. Miam beat Boston and that selfish prick Lebron might get his first championship? Whatever, I probably won’t even be watching in June. I have to get revved up for basketball again, and it may take until the conference finals for me to sit through a whole game again. It’s different when my team is gone after being there for 3 straight years. The NBA feels empty. But I know I’ll probably be right back here again at the beginning of next year. But for now, I’m licking my wounds and staying away from basketball.
PS. Go Thunder.