NBA Playoffs 2012 Thread Round II

[Beastly]

LeBron's 0 ship in 9 years #quit #hype #ringless

LeBron is the single best player in the NBA right now. #fact

Unlike other teams he was competing against when he was on the Cavs, LeBron was the entire team. Anytime the rest of the team had to do anything, it was already a lost cause. LeBron was carrying an entire team on his shoulders, which is something his rivals like the Celtics don't have to worry about given they have several hall-of-famers on the court every night (KG, Ray Allen, Rondo, and Paul Pierce). Not to mention they have a hall of fame coach leading the squad in Doc Rivers. It's not easy to win a championship by yourself, especially when you're facing a real team alone. Or, as the stats tell us:

Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002 without LeBron James: 17-65 (.207)
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 with LeBron James: 35-47 (.427)  [Rookie Season]
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2004 with LeBron James: 42-40 (.512)
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2005 with LeBron James: 50-32 (.610)  [Playoff Appearance]
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006 with LeBron James: 50-32 (.610)  [Playoff Appearance]
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 with LeBron James: 45-37 (.549)  [Playoff Appearance]
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 with LeBron James: 66-16 (.805)  [Playoff Appearance]
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 with LeBron James: 61-21 (.744)  [Playoff Appearance]
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 without LeBron James: 19-63 (.232)

I rest my case.

True, you got me there but KG, Ray and Pierce never quited on there team... KG was stocked on that Twolves team that there 5 first round got forfeited, he was a non-playoff team for like 3 years(not sure because West was so stocked back then remember 50 win Warriors not getting in the playoffs) but he never quit on that team, Pierce was part of very bad team, best team was Walker as the 2nd best player.(Equivallent of Hughes???) he never quitted even with that 07 Celtic team. Ray always had decent teams but was never good. Doc Rivers ain't a HOF coach though, maybe best in the league currently but not HOF-material.

[dilbertschalter]

lebron was great for much of that series, if not up to his usual standards. few players have done more with less.

though yes, doc rivers is certainly not a hof-worthy coach as of now.

[Jd-]

Doc Rivers is gonna be in the Hall of Fame after all is said and done--maybe I should've put it that way instead.

The guy's only 50 right now and I don't expect him to retire anytime soon. He's only had two full losing seasons in 13 years of coaching, and has made the playoffs in every season but three of those (not counting the one where he only coached a few games before getting fired back in the Magic days). He's been fortunate to have great players, but as Spoelstra can tell you, it's not really enough to just have great players if you want to make a good team that people actually fear. The Celtics have been not just consistently good but consistently great and a lot of that has to do with how good Doc is at keeping the team operating as a unit and not just individuals that happen to share the same uniform. Even though I loathe the Celtics (mainly due to me liking LeBron and them being his chief rivals), I do have mad respect for Doc Rivers.

[ranger]

True, you got me there but KG, Ray and Pierce never quited on there team... KG was stocked on that Twolves team that there 5 first round got forfeited, he was a non-playoff team for like 3 years(not sure because West was so stocked back then remember 50 win Warriors not getting in the playoffs) but he never quit on that team, Pierce was part of very bad team, best team was Walker as the 2nd best player.(Equivallent of Hughes???) he never quitted even with that 07 Celtic team. Ray always had decent teams but was never good. Doc Rivers ain't a HOF coach though, maybe best in the league currently but not HOF-material.

Some corrections just I'd like to point out -

The warriors have never achieved a 50 win season, they have gotten 48 wins after their 07 season with the Dallas Mavericks upset, and didn't make the playoffs ;( crazy, I know.  But yes you are correct, the Western Conference is far more stacked compared to the East, and it's pretty much been like that for the past 12-13 years.

And the thing is..KG and Ray did quit on their teams, eventually.  Paul would of bounced too if the Celtics front office didn't get anyone for help.  KG and Ray stuck with their relative franchises longer, but a player of Lebron's caliber, being stuck with Cleveland's terrible management (do remember, Danny Ferry WAS NOT willing to trade JJ Hickson for Amare Stoudemire) is of course going to want to leave.  I just don't like Lebron's dumb antics and love for the theatrical, only to backstab millions of his beloved fans. Sure you'll have the pure Lebron fans, who will just bandwagon with any team he gets on, but the Cleveland fans were devastated, I can only hope it doesn't happen with Irving as well.

And also, Beastly, Doc Rivers the best coach in the NBA right now? I don't want to act as a total homer, but it's kind of a given that Gregg Popovich,  a guaranteed HoFer, is and has been the best coach in the league now that both Sloan and Phil Jackson have retired.  Since Duncan's decline, he's been able to manage minutes and lineups perfectly, integrate some unknown players to become strong roleplayers essentially taking lemons and making lemonade, and pretty much expose any team's weakness.

Also, I'm still standing by the fact that Clippers are going to be swept.  I was watching the game, and TNT's inside analysis was totally on the spot...The Clipps can't run the pick and roll, the Spurs just aren't letting them.  If they cant do the P'n'R, the Clipps essentially have no offense except CP3.  No one else can create their own offense.  Game 1 demonstrated that both teams will and can neutralize each team's main threat, CP3 and Tony Parker, but the Spurs just have far more weapons in their arsenal.

[Beastly]

As a Cs fan I sometimes see Doc make some note-worthy mistake. Putting Marquis Daniels 6''6 to Al Horford 6''10 and putting 6''2 Avery Bradley to 6''8 Joe Johnson. Relying too much on Injured Rondo last season to name a few. But really I thought before All Star Break this team will be 8th-10th seed team.

He's no where perfect but I think Doc said he might quit coaching soon to concentrate on his kids.(He watches 8/10 Austin Rivers' Duke game this season) I remembered he was on a 6 PM EST game then he went after the game to watch his kid Austin Rivers play what a great dad! He almost quit coaching Celtics last year but opted to stay.

[Beastly]

True, you got me there but KG, Ray and Pierce never quited on there team... KG was stocked on that Twolves team that there 5 first round got forfeited, he was a non-playoff team for like 3 years(not sure because West was so stocked back then remember 50 win Warriors not getting in the playoffs) but he never quit on that team, Pierce was part of very bad team, best team was Walker as the 2nd best player.(Equivallent of Hughes???) he never quitted even with that 07 Celtic team. Ray always had decent teams but was never good. Doc Rivers ain't a HOF coach though, maybe best in the league currently but not HOF-material.

Some corrections just I'd like to point out -

The warriors have never achieved a 50 win season, they have gotten 48 wins after their 07 season with the Dallas Mavericks upset, and didn't make the playoffs ;( crazy, I know.  But yes you are correct, the Western Conference is far more stacked compared to the East, and it's pretty much been like that for the past 12-13 years.

And the thing is..KG and Ray did quit on their teams, eventually.  Paul would of bounced too if the Celtics front office didn't get anyone for help.  KG and Ray stuck with their relative franchises longer, but a player of Lebron's caliber, being stuck with Cleveland's terrible management (do remember, Danny Ferry WAS NOT willing to trade JJ Hickson for Amare Stoudemire) is of course going to want to leave.  I just don't like Lebron's dumb antics and love for the theatrical, only to backstab millions of his beloved fans. Sure you'll have the pure Lebron fans, who will just bandwagon with any team he gets on, but the Cleveland fans were devastated, I can only hope it doesn't happen with Irving as well.

And also, Beastly, Doc Rivers the best coach in the NBA right now? I don't want to see him a total homer, but it's kind of a given that Gregg Popovich,  a guaranteed HoFer, is and has been the best coach in the league now that both Sloan and Phil Jackson have retired.  Since Duncan's decline, he's been able to manage minutes and lineups perfectly, integrate some unknown players to become strong roleplayers essentially taking lemons and making lemonade, and pretty much expose any team's weakness.

True I forgot about Pop.

KG didn't quit he was still mad at Minnesota's management in trading him! Ray Allen being traded. he never asked the management did. Just because they are traded it doesn't mean they quit.

Ray Allen wants to go to another team this Free Agency though.

Paul Pierce is probably the most loyal player in this league right now.(Don't say Tim Duncan because he almost signed with Magic!)

Link to prove it: But since you probably ain't reading it I'll add an excerpt: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/ ... h-his-ship

"Paul had a chance to leave us when we were bad," Rivers said. "And instead of moaning that he wanted to go to a championship team, he stayed. And he said, 'I simply want to be a Celtic and I trust that we’re going to win a title someday.' He had no reason to believe that at that time. I mean, we were pretty awful.

[ranger]

Psh, KG and Allen BOTH wanted to be traded, they were happy to go for a ring and play with other all-stars.  They were both getting old and wanted to go for a championship which they failed to do so in their own respective team.

Just because Timmy was a free agent one year and was looking at his options doesn't mean he's not unloyal he still ended up as a Spur on his own choice anyway.  You can't  call Timmy for being unloyal, he's one of the few superstars that has stick with a single franchise to create a dynasty.  He's never asked to be traded or showed dissatisfaction with his organization, unlike Kobe.

And yeah, I thought Doc was gonna retire last year, but he ended up signing a 5 year extension.  So, I wouldn't be surprised if he has a short career.  And I dunno about him being a future HoFer.

[Beastly]

They didn't... Any proof that they both demanded a trade?

BTW nice shit Celtics up by 20 at Philly's home.

[Beastly]

2-0 Thunder lead Oh

[M.Holmes]

It's about time Pierce start performing, that blowout had to hurt Philly and their classless fans.

OKC played like trash tonight and still managed to steal the win. Last few minutes were pretty intense. Also, what was up with the refs? Artest basically does a diving tackle on two people and he ends up at the line?

OKC really needs to start limiting their jump shots, especially if they aren't going to shoot over 50%.

[ranger]

Why are philly fans classless?

@Beastly,

KG was frustrated from 04-07 when the T'wolves basically didn't give him any help at all, they didn't resign Latree SPreewell, and traded Sam the ugly ass alien Cassell for the ultimate scrub Marko Jaric.  KG was pretty pissed that they missed 3 playoffs in a row after being like, the de facto team in 03.

Obviously angry, T'wolves owner Taylor decided to finally listen to deals.

[M.Holmes]

Why are philly fans classless?

Not claiming that all Philly fans are classless, seemingly just a majority of them who attend the games. Booing freethrows (many teams will attempt to distract, but not by booing) and cheering injuries (See; Rose, Noah). The Wells Fargo Center is just a no-class zone.

[Beastly]

Why are philly fans classless?

Not claiming that all Philly fans are classless, seemingly just a majority of them who attend the games. Booing freethrows (many teams will attempt to distract, but not by booing) and cheering injuries (See; Rose, Noah). The Wells Fargo Center is just a no-class zone.

Booing free throw is pretty common come on when I play in our varsity team, we got boo when we are playing in different school. But that cheering of injury is pretty classless.

[CarpetCrawler]

Philadelphia sports fan are notoriously classless, they even take pride in it. They'd boo Santa Claus (and have, for the record).

I feel for Steve Blake. Idiot Laker fans are tearing him to shreds on the internet when the real culprit was some piss-poor possessions down the stretch where the blame falls directly on Kobe. Besides, Blake had a great, wide-open look. Artest would have been crazy not to give him the ball.

[dilbertschalter]

Philadelphia sports fan are notoriously classless, they even take pride in it. They'd boo Santa Claus (and have, for the record).

I feel for Steve Blake. Idiot Laker fans are tearing him to shreds on the internet when the real culprit was some piss-poor possessions down the stretch where the blame falls directly on Kobe. Besides, Blake had a great, wide-open look. Artest would have been crazy not to give him the ball.

lakers fans live to slurp kobe and blame every problem the team has on the non-kobe players, nothing new there.