ZoomSlowik

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 07:56 PM) LeBron's on the cover for NBA 2K14... What?! No, I thought this was the cover?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 03:34 PM) I don't think Dan refuses to have a serious conversation, I just don't think it's possible to have a serious conversation with Karl Malone That's true of a bunch of guys. Charles Barkley says all kinds of ridiculous stuff, and I'd love to see a list of all of the centers that Shaq has said are better than Dwight Howard.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 12:44 PM) The Last of Us getting tons of great reviews, including a 10/10 from IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/the-last-of-us-review Very excited for it. It looks amazing. I generally don't like forking over $60 for a single-player based game, but I may have to in this case (Yes, I know it has multiplayer. There's not much known about it though and I generally avoid paying full price for games I'm likely to beat once and then leave on the shelf to collect dust).

If she's arguing about basketball being similar, you're never going to win. There's such a HUGE height difference, a lot of the WNBA power forwards are in the 6'5" range.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 05:33 PM) Is it really a debate at this point that Parker and Duncan are the 2nd and 3rd best players in this series? But yes, I agree Heat in 7. Though this is only the 3rd series in the Lebron era that I actually think/thought the Heat had a chance to lose. Well, based on how they played in their respective conference finals, no. Wade was excellent most of the year though and at least showed some life in game 7.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 03:15 PM) I have no doubts that Miami will win this series. You either have to have freak athletes or play really physical against the Heat to have a chance. SA won't do either. They will try to out execute them, but again, when you have the best players on the floor, you don't have to be perfect. SA would have to play a perfect series to have a chance, and based on that match ups, I just don't see them having enough to do it. Miami in 6. I wouldn't go this far either. If Wade and Bosh continue to suck, the window is open. The Spurs are much better than any team they've faced other than OKC last year. Duncan and Splitter could cause similar problems to Indiana, they're a good shooting team, and Parker is playing phenomenal right now. Lebron's the best player in the series, but the Spurs could easily have the next two with better role players than the Heat. I could really see this going either way. I'd be shocked if it ends in 5, and my leanings would be Miami winning in 7 on their home floor.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 03:54 PM) Ah yes, of course. He and Duncan will still have a field day. Splitter averaged 12.5/9.5 in 28 minutes against the Heat this season. Meanwhile, Tim Duncan only played one game, but had 17/12 with 2 blocks. I don't believe that this series will even be close. Neither matchup was remotely meaningful this season. The Spurs benched like their entire team in the first matchup while the Heat rested Lebron and Wade in the other (both of which were Heat wins by the way).

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 02:32 PM) It's over guys. Miami beat Indiana. The better team won. Stop re-hashing it. I don't see how the Heat could ever hope to have a chance against a team with the depth of the Spurs. Splitter is the type who is just going to dominate them them off the bench, and the Spurs have weapons all the way down the bench. Spurs in 6. Splitter started 58 games this season and 11 of the 12 games he's played in the post-season (he missed some time against the Warriors due to an ankle sprain). Their usual bench is Manu, Gary Neal, Matt Bonner, Corey Joseph and Boris Diaw.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 01:38 PM) Of course, it could mean playing a bunch of rookies with limited first-year potential. Also, it's the Bobcats/Hornets organization here - so expecting them to hit on a draft pick or 3 is a big leap. Well, at least 3 of your starters wouldn't be rookies (Walker, MKG and this year's pick unless they whiff horribly), and there's a real chance the top-5 pick next year is a stud. Even if they don't get #1, Jabari Parker or Julius Randle (among others depending on how things go next year) are likely better than anyone in this draft. They wouldn't necessarily need those later picks to be homeruns, it's more building depth. Even something like Kawhi Leonard's first year is better than what they have now. Besides, I'm not talking about them turning the team into a real contender, I'm talking about them being good enough to push the Bulls' pick outside of the top-10. They also have Richard Cho running the team now, who was part of Portland's front office the last few years. I don't think you can assume they're going to blow every pick anymore, he's pretty sharp.

So, random thing I didn't realize that affects the Bulls: the Bobcats could have three first rounders (possibly even lottery) in next year's supposedly loaded draft class... 1) Their own, which barring some kind of miracle is going to be in the top-5 (if it's outside the top-10, it goes to the Bulls). 2) Detroit's pick, which is top-8 protected. Detroit picked 8th this year and could easily be a little better between Drummond's development and another high first. The Cats would get it in 2015 unless it's the #1 pick. 3) Portland's pick, which is top-12 protected. In the East they'd have a legit shot to make the playoffs. In the West, that's about where I expect their pick to be. It's top-12 protected in 2015 as well, then unprotected. So, hypothetically, let's say they take McLemore or Oladipo this year and MKG make ssome strides towards being a Gerald Wallace type player (his stats were only okay this year, but he's insanely young). Now in 2014, they get a shot to add a superstar-level talent and two more picks from a deep talent pool. If those pieces pan out to a reasonable degree, the Bulls' massive bargaining chip loses significant value. It's only top-8 protected in 2015 (meaning it wouldn't take much for the Bulls to get it that year) and unless they draft horribly with all those assets, they're probably not going to completely suck in 2016 when it's completely unprotected. That was a bit of a downer when I saw that.

I was listening to the Simmons podcast yesterday with Brian Windhorst and he said Chris Bosh wouldn't have been on the team next year if they had lost. I'm not sure they'd actually get better doing that, but it's about the only move they could feasibly do since Lebron would have to stay and I don't think they'd ever trade Wade since he was the ring-leader (plus who knows what they could get for him now). The mentioned two deals: Bosh for Cousins (I'd think the Kings would want to go younger) and Bosh for the #1 pick (doesn't really help unless Varejao is involved too). Anyways, thought that was interesting. As for the state of the Heat, you never know with the NBA. You need a little luck for everything to come together as we've seen with teams like Portland, Chicago and OKC recently. You also never know when the next superteam will show up, maybe we see vintage-Dwight next year and that changes things. They should have a tougher fight in the East next year with Rose and Granger back, the conference was horrible this year. Beyond that, Wade's health will eventually cause a huge decline (I have no idea how he can have been a top-tier scorer this long and not developed a dependable jumper) and we're going to see an influx of talent with the 2014 draft that could drastically improve some teams. That roster has good depth, but they'll have a tough time surviving Wade turning into Larry Hughes, especially with no picks in '13 and '15 to add young talent. They'll need Bosh to go back to a 20-10 type at that point or pull some kind of miracle with the roster given they're WAY over the luxury tax and only have three assets anyone wants. Oh, and that all assumes that Lebron doesn't opt out after next season and join a younger roster.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 09:59 PM) Wade obviously showed up tonight. But it's not like he's been dominant. Bosh still sucks. Ray Allen hit a few 3's. Tonight was mostly the LeBron show. This eastern conference title for LeBron might be more impressive (as in single-handedly getting your team to the finals) than 2007. I just can't agree with that. Their other 4 starters in the playoffs were Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Sasha Pavlovic. Put Luol Deng in there instead of Lebron and they'll struggle to win 20. Plus the Pistons were legitimately good and he scored like their last 25 points in that game 5.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 09:37 PM) LeBron making Paul George his b**** tonight. Completely destroying him at both ends of the court from the start. Consistency is an issue for George. Sometimes he looks like an unstoppable monster that can put it on the floor or burn you from deep. Other times he's a turnover machine that misses shots in bulk.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 09:27 PM) Heat +6 on the boards to this point. Pacers have NO CHANCE when that happens. Or turning it over 14 times in the first half, or having George go 2-8, or letting Wade finally be a factor...

I'm absolutely shocked that Reggie didn't agree with Steve Kerr criticizing Wade's flop.

"Wade thought he was fouled, slow to get up." I think that's the new title for his biography.

LOL, Steve Kerr calling Ray Allen the best 3-point shooter of all-time within earshot of Reggie Miller. It's true, but I still found it humorous.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 08:23 PM) To me, Lance Stephenson sucks ass I think everyone knows that but Lance Stephenson.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 08:10 PM) Birdman's done more in 3 minutes than Anthony did in like 30 in game 6. An excuse to post one of my favorite videos!

Putting Hansbrough on Lebron is an epic fail. Luckily Lebron is mostly in pass-mode right now.

Shocked they didn't give Lebron that call at the end of the quarter.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 07:59 PM) Crazy that Indiana leads with this bad of an offensive performance Heat aren't exactly lighting it up either, I think they've hit one jumper.

Bosh is taking some really stupid shots.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 01:11 PM) Not the greatest athlete either but he could see the floor like few before him. Also the best rebounder I've seen at the position and an excellent defender.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 01:03 PM) Jason Kidd retired. He was awful the second half of the year. He's been running on fumes for a few years now, but coming back for the remaining two years on his contract would have been hilarious. It's pretty amazing how much he accomplished for a guy with marginal scoring ability.