The NBA (yawn) playoffs

[bent20]

This is the lamest post season in any sport that I can remember and I like the NBA. What happened to all of the parody and competitiveness I kept hearing about? This is pathetic. Three second round series are sweeps and the Celtics are absolutely humiliating the overrated Cavs in Cleveland in game 5. The NBA is worried they won't have any games left to televise this weekend. That's sad!

 

[SycamoreFBGM]

All about the matchups. Lakers did what they should have done to the Jazz. Utah is undersized and played without two starters for the first two games and one starter for the last two. Kirilenkio wasn't himself in the games he played either. Utah had zero size and the Lakers have three guys around 7 feet tall so they did what they should have done and swept Utah. Everyone should have been surprised that the Suns swept the Spurs. I heard all this stuff about the Spurs being old but no one was saying that when they beat the Mavs. This series had some good games in it but it just didn't last as long as what everyone thought it would have. Orlando should have done what they did to the Hawks as well. I know the Hawks won 50+ games but they just aren't that good of a basketball TEAM. They have good indviduial players but they just don't play together very well.

 

[Sackalot]

WHO CARES! NBA sucks!

Just had to say that! This proves that it is fixed..in a sense. LeBron is on his way to New York as was probably always planned anyway.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

This is the lamest post season in any sport that I can remember and I like the NBA. What happened to all of the parody and competitiveness I kept hearing about? This is pathetic. Three second round series are sweeps and the Celtics are absolutely humiliating the overrated Cavs in Cleveland in game 5. The NBA is worried they won't have any games left to televise this weekend. That's sad!

Actually, this is the first playoffs in awhile that I've enjoyed. Lots of interesting matchups and this feels very much like the late 80s when the Celtics and Lakers had the best TEAMS and they walked all over teams that had the best individual players -- ie LeBron, Wade, et al.

 

[bent20]

But most of the games haven't even been close. I haven't found it interesting at all, so far. I expect the Lakers will sweep the Suns and the Magic will make short work of the Celtics. The finals could be interesting, but getting there should be a challenge.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

I think both conference finals series could go 6-7 games. The problem with the earlier round matchups is that you have one of three things happening: 1) aging teams 2) overly young teams or 3) teams that play little defense. Sometimes you can combine a couple of those and have disasterous results... see #2 and #3 which makes up the Atlanta Hawks.

 

[TH_Sycamore12]

I like seeing the Cavs getting blown away at home just because LeBron is way overhyped. He has talent out the wazoo, but when all you hear is "It's LeBron's championship, it's LeBron's championship" that can get very annoying.

 

[SycamoreFBGM]

WHO CARES! NBA sucks!

Just had to say that! This proves that it is fixed..in a sense. LeBron is on his way to New York as was probably always planned anyway.

If the NBA sucks what does that say about college basketball? I wouldn't say for sure LeBron is on his way to New York yet. This series isn't over yet. Under a week ago the Cavs went into Boston and handed them their worst playoff home loss in franchise history.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

If the NBA sucks what does that say about college basketball? I wouldn't say for sure LeBron is on his way to New York yet. This series isn't over yet. Under a week ago the Cavs went into Boston and handed them their worst playoff home loss in franchise history.

Nothing. They're mutually exclusive in my eyes.

 

[SycamoreFBGM]

I think it says that those that say the NBA sucks must think college hoops suck as well since the talent level in the NBA is much higher than it is in college hoops.

 

[Callmedoc]

WHO CARES! NBA sucks!

Just had to say that! This proves that it is fixed..in a sense. LeBron is on his way to New York as was probably always planned anyway.

Gotta disagree with ya there sackalot...The NBA is the best players on the planet and they always find a way to make things interesting...Hopefully the Cavs find a way to win this game 6 to force a game 7

 

[Jason Svoboda]

I think it says that those that say the NBA sucks must think college hoops suck as well since the talent level in the NBA is much higher than it is in college hoops.

And on the flipside to that argument, you get a truer brand of basketball played in college. Lots of different styles, philosophies and it's a lot more pure.

 

[SycamoreFBGM]

And on the flipside to that argument, you get a truer brand of basketball played in college. Lots of different styles, philosophies and it's a lot more pure.

Every league of basketball whether it is high school, college, or the pros has teams playing different styles and coaches with different philosophies. I like to watch college hoops but to me it doesn't compare to the NBA.

 

[Sycamore624]

Cavs and "King James" getting destroyed by the "old" Celtics was priceless!

 

[bent20]

I don't know that styles matter as much in the pros because the athletes are so talented and fast that they can offset a lot of that. Even in football that's true. In college the option and spread offense (for example) are very well defined. You get hybrids of the various college styles in the pros but not the full thing. My point? Very few bother to argue about whether college or pro football is better. They're both very popular. It's funny to me that people argue that the NBA isn't as good as it was in the days of Bird and Magic and Jordan. I don't know about that. It's kind of nice to see more competition and several stars.

 

[Sackalot]

Talent? I don't know about that. The NBA has the best athletes...that is without question and one could consider that a talent for sure. But basketball talent or perhaps knowledge is a better way to put it is different to me. The NBA just isn't entertaining to me because there is little basketball knowledge...there is athletic talent that is literally amazing, but little knowledge of the game. Of course LeBron is amazing, because he is so athletically gifted there is no one that can "usually" compete with it. But his basketball knowledge, understanding of the game itself, is still limited. This is why, from my perspective that he and the Cavs have lost the last two years in the playoffs. When it comes down to it, the Celtics understand the game better, they have more knowledge of the game because they have veteran players that have plaed in the league for over a decade.

All I am saying is that the NBA focuses on athletic ability rather than basketball knowledge and that makes it less fun for me. I would rather watch a hotly contested 70-72 scored game than a 130-100 game anyday, because the lower scoring game (in most cases) is a better played game. Scoring a bunch of points doesn't make the game exciting to me. But then, I am an old soccer player, scoring isn't all that important to me <wink, wink>

 

[4Q_iu]

Biggest issue post Bird_magic NBA

The addition of the Heat and Hornets - 1989; Magic and T-Wolves - 1990;
Grizzlies and Raptors - 1996 and Bobcats - 2005 have diluted the talent base.

It's not different than the NFL or MLB expanding -- just not enough NBA caliber players to man all of the franchises w/ 5 quality starters and 4-5 quality bench players.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

The addition of the Heat and Hornets - 1989; Magic and T-Wolves - 1990;
Grizzlies and Raptors - 1996 and Bobcats - 2005 have diluted the talent base.

It's not different than the NFL or MLB expanding -- just not enough NBA caliber players to man all of the franchises w/ 5 quality starters and 4-5 quality bench players.

I disagree -- there are plenty of NBA players to man the franchises in existence. The biggest problem that the NBA faces is the fact that teams are handcuffed to contracts. With every NBA contract being guaranteed, teams cannot get rid of underperforming players like the NFL or MLB can.

 

[SycamoreFBGM]

I disagree -- there are plenty of NBA players to man the franchises in existence. The biggest problem that the NBA faces is the fact that teams are handcuffed to contracts. With every NBA contract being guaranteed, teams cannot get rid of underperforming players like the NFL or MLB can.

I agree with this. I think MLB contracts are guaranteed though.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

I agree with this. I think MLB contracts are guaranteed though.

Sorry, you're correct. One slight difference between the two is that a lot of MLB contracts are heavily incentive based so the baseline salary can be chopped if needed. This is why you see clubs option guys to the minors, or hold them from getting milestones sometimes.