bball

[Lizra]

I wish Shaq would trip on Malone and squish Kobe....To Detroit!

[Insidious Rex]

What in the world was Detroit thinking NOT fouling Shaq when they inbounded the ball to him on that play! I mean think about it. Yer up by three. Theres like 20 seconds left. You absolutly know they want to go to Bryant to take the three and you absolutly know Bryant simply lives for those kinds of plays. And you know that Shaq is a 50% free throw shooter and that you only get TWO SHOTS at the line when you foul. So what were they thinking not fouling him and letting Bryant end up with it. of course he was gonna can that three....

[Valandil]

*blink-blink*

think I just saw something suggesting Detroit CREAMED LA tonight!

[Lizra]

Makes the Pacers look better! Go East!

[Khamûl]

Go Pistons! If only they had fouled Shaq or Kobe hadn't hit that 3... It'd be 3-0 in the series. Hooray for the underdog.

[Insidious Rex]

I have this strong feeling LA will win the next two though.... Im not sure why....

[Lizra]

Conspiracy? Nah....Farty noise!

[Lizra]

Heh! heh! heh! ALL RIGHT!!!! The East is gonna ride again! I will be happy to see Larry Brown win a title! (Even if it's not with the P's! )

[Khamûl]

And the Pistons win again. One away with a chance to close it out in Auburn Hills... I do feel sorry for Karl Malone and Gary Payton though. I wish they could win a title.

[Lizra]

I saw one of the basketball talking heads apologize to Detroit, Indiana, and NJ last night, for the JV statement (the east is the Junior Varsity league ) thats been floating around this season! Heh!

[Insidious Rex]

Well thankfully my feelings were wrong. Although I do feel sorry for Karl Malone like you said. Would like to see him get a title and hes killing himself just to stay in the game. But it would be nice to see Larry Brown get a title too. He'll be the only man to have an NCAA title and an NBA title. Quite an accomplishment. And now it will take the Lakers making history to actually when this series. No one has ever come back from 3-1 down.

*jinx*

[Valandil]

I can't quite believe it.

I go to bed early so I didn't SEE it happen, but I just saw on an internet headline that Detroit won the NBA Championship last night... WOO-HOO!!! Just kind of nice because the whole East has been considered Underdogs for the past 5 years now. Hope some of you LA-area people (or other Lakers fans) aren't too upset about the anti-Lakers sentiment here.

Don't feel too bad for Karl Malone... there's LOTS of guys who have never won a championship - so I don't think you go handing them out to everyone who's never won one before. Besides, in addition to remembering all his hard work, I also remember all the times he really slammed people around and put people out of games.

Just hope Detroit didn't all get set on fire last night (and hope it won't happen tonight). Sadly, post-championship havoc first became a big event when Detroit won their last two NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. Maybe they've forgotten though... or maybe this time it won't happen because they weren't expecting to win... we'll see.

Congratulations Pistons! (if any of you moot... )

[Valandil]

PS - kind of interesting that the past 18 NBA championships have been won by only 5 different franchises. And if you throw in the 6th (Celtics) I'm sure you'd go back a lot further, since they traded off with the Lakers and also the Rockets won in the 80's once:

Lakers: '87, '88, '00, '01, '02
Pistons: '89, '90, '04
Bulls: '91, '92, '93, '96, '97, '98
Rockets: '94, '95
Spurs: '99, '03

(EDIT: and 9 championships each to East and West!)

(EDIT: should also add that we in Chicago NEVER imagined we'd be pulling for THE PISTONS!!! They were the 'Bad Boys' standing in our path in the late 1980's... )

[Lizra]

The Pacers really should be on that list! Anyway....YEA!!! PISTONS! Congratulations!

[mithrand1r]

Originally posted by Valandil
PS - kind of interesting that the past 18 NBA championships have been won by only 5 different franchises. And if you throw in the 6th (Celtics) I'm sure you'd go back a lot further, since they traded off with the Lakers and also the Rockets won in the 80's once:

Lakers: '87, '88, '00, '01, '02
Pistons: '89, '90, '04
Bulls: '91, '92, '93, '96, '97, '98
Rockets: '94, '95
Spurs: '99, '03

(EDIT: and 9 championships each to East and West!)

(EDIT: should also add that we in Chicago NEVER imagined we'd be pulling for THE PISTONS!!! They were the 'Bad Boys' standing in our path in the late 1980's... )

I am glad the Pistons won.

Phil Jackson cannot lose enough games for my liking.

Rockets lost to the Celtics in '86

http://www.nba.com/history/awards_finalschampsmvp.html

Pistons: '89, '90, '04
Spurs: '99, '03
Lakers: '80, '82, '85, '87, '88, '00, '01, '02
Bulls: '91, '92, '93, '96, '97, '98
Rockets: '94, '95
Celtics: '74, '76, '81, '84, '86
76ers: '83
SuperSonics: '79
Bullets: '78
TrailBlazers: '77
Warriors: '75

If you go back 30 years (73-74 season) there are only 11 teams.
Since 79-80 season (24 years) only 7 teams.

And they say Baseball has problems with the same teams winning all the time.

[Valandil]

The anti-Lakers sentiment DOES seem to be pretty widespread. Brings a couple questions to mind:

1. I'm a Chicagoan... were the Bulls despised anywhere near as much when they won their titles in the 90's as the Lakers have been in the past few years? I always had the impression they were not - but there's no way I can say for sure (I mean... they all seemed so... LIKEABLE! ).

2. I understand the sports atmosphere in LA is a bit different. Sounds like there's so much else to do that folks could 'take it or leave it' - as far as following professional sports. So... how much were the Lakers LOVED out there in LA? If a lot, did that continue through THIS year, with all their feuding, and Kobe Bryant's trial, etc?

(EDIT: it ALSO is looking like the Lakers are busting apart after the season)

[Insidious Rex]

The Lakers have a reputation for being a team (like the Yankees) who have some sort of predestination to win and perhaps an unfair advantage in recruiting talent (both players and coaches). The truth is that Jerry West did a brilliant job of putting together a team back in the early 80s with the likes of Magic Johnson and Kareem and others who invented Show Time but desereved every bit of praise they got. But now they have a reputation as this fickle rich mans team that hollywood types go to see so that they can be seen. And its just expected that they better win a title every year or something is wrong. The Bulls, however, came from a working mans town and had the most popular player in the world ever on their team so I think people accepted the idea of the Bulls dynesty without question if nothing more then in defference to Michael Jordan and his enormous talent and probably even bigger drive to win.

A lot of LA fans disgust me because they just seem to be fans only because The Lakers are popular and they tend to be the loudest in the room and ignorant of a lot of basketball history to boot. They just like to strut around bragging about the Lakers as if they play for them. A sign of a truly low life fan. When the Lakers have problems these fans take off their Bryant and Shaq jerseys and fade into the background (or worse they become Detroit fans loudly boasting how they liked Ben Wallace all along). The Lakers in basketball, the Yankees in baseball and the Cowboys in football all have reputations for having pathetic fair weather fans like this. I know people who are fans of all three teams. It never ceases to amaze me. I mean how do they think they can justify that?

[Valandil]

Shaquille O'Neal trade to Miami Heat is final!

Interesting off-season so far... wonder if the season will be interesting as well. It'll certainly be DIFFERENT... and hard to keep up with who-is-where!

[Lizra]

Fun! Who got the better end of the Shaq deal....3 for 1.... big one!
Pacers trading Baby Al (Harrington) for a Hawk...Steven Jackson. Al needed to start, so the trade will make him happy. He's a great kid! I'm sure I'll like Jackson. I wonder who will play more, him or Reggie? Maybe equal. Any other interesting trades?

[Valandil]

Lakers also get a First Round draft pick from the deal (prob next year - anyone know?).

One big trade that happened already was between Houston and Orlando... Tracy McGrady went to Houston and Orlando got Steve Francis - and there were other players involved but I can't keep track anymore. Houston probably got the bigger 'star' - but Orlando got someone with his head screwed on a little tighter, IMHO.

The Knicks were trying to work up a trade for Chicago's Jamal Crawford, but it finally fell apart. Chicago felt they were moving the best player among the ones involved in that trade - and didn't think New York's offer justified it.

I don't know what else... but some other free agents are moving around. Carlos Boozer (what a name) took an offer from Utah (I think) which Cleveland doesn't intend to match. The BIG one still to see about is whether Kobe Bryant stays with the Lakers or goes across town to the Clippers.

I wonder if Bryant's championship days are done. If he stays put, he'll be a great player on a maybe decent, but non-championship caliber, team. If he goes to the Clips... he'll be a great player on a bad team - and maybe slip into mediocrity himself. In either case, I don't see him being pushed to achieve like he has been the past 5 years.