The game where you play nude and have to wear a bell too?

I used to referee in the pro league.

It's true, it's true.........

I'm not sure we're entirely on opposite ends of this one. My Kobe comment was just directed at the fact he wanted to be the main attraction on the Lakers and seemingly not share the spotlight. However, almost all NBA rings are won with more than one superstar/Hall Of Famer/future HOF'er, etc. Having more than one doesn't guarantee a ring, but it doesn't seem like you can get that ring with only one. I know Shaq wouldn't win on the Lakers if he and Kobe switched places. The Lakers just don't have that second great player. The Heat did last year. Kobe got what he wanted (he's the only one in the spotlight), but because of that, he didn't get what he wanted (another championship). Is it entirely his fault? Probably not; he's not totally responsible for the players around him. But he is responsible for not having at least one other great player there.

Omygod! We might've met! :eek:

I played in that league - I was the one with the big bells.

I had to retire because I kept running out of good partners.

Avery Johnson should get fired????? I can call you Fanboy now....

I guess its HIS fault that Dirk doesn't have that competitive fire that Jordan, Kobe, Bird, Magic had/have. He mailed it in after game 4 and game 5 was a fluke.

Its his fault that Golden State has MORE athletic players on the court who cal all dribble/shoot/and are lighting fast. The mavs dont have that big man like Biedrins/Pietrus/Harrington who are just athletic. Dirk yes but Diop no and they couldnt go with another small guy because then one of the warriors bigs would just kill them in the post.

Oh yeah -- the Warriors were on fire.....thats Avery's fault

Baron when healthy is one of the 10 if not 5 best in the league -- he can straight up get to the bucket
Richardson is a beast -- especially from outside -- OH and the guy can JAM
Jackson -- plays very hardnosed defense and is a good offensive option -- OH and he hit what like 7 3's
Harrington/Barnes/Pietrus/Biedrins -- 4 athletic big men who can cut/jump/rebound/shoot

OH and they like to run -- no matter how Dallas tried to slow the game down the Warriors wouldnt let them. they played a viscious zone and kept pushing the pace.

Avery cannot teach a team hunger.

I think I disagree. The Warriors beat the Mavs all 3 times they met in the regular season. This wasn't a fluke or simply a "hot" team. The Warriors simply match up great with Dallas. Dallas was built by the Warriors' head coach. The Dallas head coach was trained by the Warriors' head coach. The front office decisions for Dallas are currently being made by the son of the Warriors' head coach.

Think the Warriors might have had some inside information on how to exploit the Mavs' weaknesses?

And yet, the Warriors finished 8th in the conference for a reason. They're not that good. They just happen to match up very well with Dallas. I'm not calling for the coach's head, but there has to have been more that he could've done to adjust. Not a good coaching job in this series, IMO. He got outcoached by his mentor.

This is all true, and so is the stuff in your previous post...however, one of the reasons GS finished 8th and barely made the play-offs (had to win final game of season to get in) is that Baron Davis missed a bunch of games due to injuries (I think he missed 30)...that would put a crimp in their won-loss record...and GS IS hot right now - even tho they beat Dallas in the regular season, they did not manhandle them the way they did in several games in this series...

not just baron but also J-Rich was injured for a good portion.

plus they didnt get stephen "im a thug" jackson and al harrington until mid season.


i would say they were the hottest team going into the playoffs.

And how is he responsible for that? Are you talking about Shaq being that other player? He (Shaq) had his opportunity to be the other great player and he got fat! Even last season he was working his way into basketball shape right before the playoffs - that is idiotic.
The Heat did have two great players Wade and Mourning. Kobe was pissed because Shaq wasn't preparing to win. Can you blame him?

I don't watch much NBA anymore, but I was just reading that Stephen Jackson was thrown out of 2 games this series and was still able to play in game 6? Is that correct? How bad does a player have to be before he's really gone? It just kind of underlines why I won't watch that league.

1) Ask Joey Crawford.....:D

2) You ain't the only one. Call me when the NBA can beat Spain, Argentina, Italy, Puerto Rico, Greece, etc., all the countries that have beaten them in the last few years.

The thing that is worse than not being able to beat other countries is the fact that they (NBA players) still walk around with that swagger (some of them) like they are invincible.
How can you be considered the best in the world when you can only win in your league, with your rules and your officials? It is still basketball.

I think that is a completely different situation. If the best players actually decided to play in the international games, I would agree with you. The last several times the USA did not put their very best on the court. Many of the players were journey man players or one time All-Stars. Lamar Odom has not done much of anything in his career, but he was on the USA team a few years ago. Other countries put their best players on the court all the time. Frankly, when the USA decides to care then this might be an issue.

Peace

Are you serious? In the 2004 Olympics, the USA started Tim Duncan, Allan Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. They brought Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion off the bench. If those are journeymen, then the NBA must have one helluva lot of great players that I've never heard of. All that got them was third place and losses to Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina.

In 2004 Shaq and Kobe played for the NBA Finals that year and were not on the USA team for the World Championships (they did not commit at all to the team anyway). Carmelo Anthony was a very new player and hardly played. Lebron hardly played and had similar NBA experience as Melo. Carlos Boozer has improved greatly since then and was not the player he is right now. The same could be said for Shawn Marion at that time. Also keep in mind that many of the players on that team played similar positions and they had almost no pure shooters on that team either. If memory serves me, right Ray Allen was left off the team and he was not only an All-Star but one of the best shooters in the USA (I will have to look this up).

My point is this was not the Dream Team by any stretch. Yes you had some All-Stars, but there were players on the team that hardly started on their NBA team. Or some of the players had marginal careers. And Gilbert Arenas was also left off the team and he is one of the most popular players today but was even at that time not very well thought of.

Peace