2012 NBA Season

[Jason]

OKC, San Antonio and Denver are easily the big three in the west in my opinion.

How long is Parker out? I know the Spurs have been banged up and they've really been struggling. it's not looking so good. But they might actually face Loss Angeles in the first round.

Yeah, I think I mentioned Loss Angeles choking in last year's NBA thread. I'll have to dig it up, but it feels sweet to be right about it.

I do feel bad for Kobe, but then he went and complained like a little girl on facebook.

[Man in Black]

Lol, the Spurs ate the Lakers ;D


I guess the Warriors came out of nowhere! I've followed Curry for a long time as he's the son of a local legend and a local product himself. He's always been much better than he's given credit for, but recently he has been playing at a video game level.

I'm sorry about the Nuggets for you, I thought they'd be in the 2nd round for sure. But, I'm loving all the ACC player success in the West in the playoffs (and Curry from local Davidson). All 3 of those teams have UNC alums - Ty Lawson, Danny Green, and Harrison Barnes. Jarrett Jack is from Georgia Tech. It just goes to show you how big hoops are where I live.

Of course I'm pulling for the Spurs but if they can't get past GS... I'd love to see Curry go all the way - They may actually have the best chance against the Heat... even thought that's unlikely.

[Jason]

The attitude of GS has bummed me out. I've always liked Mark Jackson and Curry, too. But the way they handled the Nugget series really shot them down on my list of teams I like. I was already unhappy with the referees in that series. They never seem to let Denver play physical in the playoffs. GS played physical ball the entire series, and I love that about basketball, but let the other team do the same. It's almost never the case with Denver it seems.

They finally became physical in game 5 and Jackson and company went on that huge rant about Denver being a dirty team. I didn't get to see the game, but the footage they showed didn't show the Nuggets playing dirty at all. That is WAY out of character for a Karl coached team, and especially players like Lawson, Iggy, Chandler and Miller. Maybe I'm a blind homer, and I'll acknowledge it if you point it out, but I have no idea what Mark Jackson was seeing from Denver that was dirty. His entire team had been camping in the paint during the entire series and weren't getting called for it. Curry was getting away with blatant pushoffs, allowing wide open shots. GS defenders were constantly bullying every Nugget who drove for a layup, but when the Nuggets even made any contact with anyone the whistle is blown. Bogut has harrassed every single player on the Nuggets throughout the entire series and never gets called until he practically punched Faried in the throat.

As far as the rest of the series, Noah really gets on my nerves for some reason. REALLY bad Boozer, too. But I just can't help but root against Noah especially.

I'm really rooting for the Spurs to pull it off against GS, which I think they'll do in five or six. I love the Thunder, even though they're rivals, but I don't think they'll get past San Antonio without Westbrook. His absence has proven that Durant isn't the only driving force in that team.

I've forgiven Melo. I really like the guy and wish him the best in New York, but I don't really like the Knicks.

And the Heat. Well, I think it's a given that they're taking the title. They look like one of the best teams ever.



Some Nuggets responded to Jackson and the Warriors. Iggy's statement kind of puzzled me. He was actually knocked out on his feet?
"I think I've taken the hardest hit throughout the series. Bogut hit me on a full court screen. I didn't remember what happened for the rest of the game. So, I think they brought the physicality to the series, and we're starting to hit back a little. As far as anybody trying to cheap shot, I don't condone that myself. It's not in my game"



Here is video of the Nuggets responding to the Warriors.

[Jason]

To add, my 25th birthday was one of the worst ever. I had to work on that day, even though I requested it off way in advance, and I didn't know until that day that they didn't give me the day off. So all plans were canceled. No Iron Man 3 midnight showing for me.

To top it off, the Nuggets were eliminated that day. On a blatantly obvious terrible call that ended the game.

Ah, well. Life goes on, as does the playoffs. Go Nuggets

[Man in Black]

I ain't never been a fan of Mark Jackson. I've always hated that style of basketball that his era Knicks played. And he was full of shit with the banging on Curry nonsense. Nobody was really paying him much attention outside of the series participants... and I think they all took it with eye rolls. If he were up against Curry he would have hammered him just after the jump ball, I've seen him do it a zillion times.

I'll always be a Curry fan though, unless he pulls a Kobe all of a sudden.

Miami might be the greatest team of the last few years, but I still say Bird's Celtics, Magic's Lakers and DEFINITELY Jordan's Bulls wouldn't have had much trouble with them. Jordan's teams swept series with lowly squads like this years Bulls on a regular basis. It was never even close. As did Magic and company... they pretty much came out on the court with brooms until they reached the finals. ;D

On a homer note... I'd like to think the Spurs team with Robinson and Duncan and Manu in their primes would have whacked the Miami Kings too... but that's just a Spurs homer talking.

I have come to appreciate Lebron a lot more over the last few years. He has improved greatly especially on defense. That is where he needed to close the gap between him and Jordan the most. And that gap is getting smaller and smaller. He still has a long way to go on the killer instinct. I need to see him put down the lesser competition like dogs... along with playing at a higher level at the end of games and series.

[Jason]

LeBron had one of the greatest stretches of games ever, recently. Shooting around, what was it, 70%? Nailing almost all the free throws and getting tons of assists and rebounds. It's already hard to deny he's the best right now, and then he went and did that. The dude is just phenomenal. I respect any player who can play like that. The fact that he is a pretty classy guy and stays out of trouble just makes me respect him more. You'll never see him pull a Gilbert Arenas.

Duncan. He is still great. And better than Kobe on the all time list, in my opinion. I don't remember the last time I saw him miss one of those deep 2 point shots behind the arc of the foul line. He is just money every time.

[Man in Black]

Yep, LeBron has really improved his all-around game the last season and a half. I'd say he was already in the top 10 or so of all time before that stretch. He's closing in on my cream of the crop list now. That list would include Magic, Bird, Shaq, Dr. J and Jordan (this would be of players I was able to watch... no disrespect intended to those that came before). I've watched a shit load of basketball games in my life so that's quite a compliment to James from me.

And Duncan... he's found the fountain of youth this year. I thought he might be about done after last year even though he played well. But this year he's back to near his prime.

[Jason]

I agree about LeBron, and I've caught so much crap from people about it. Especially Laker fans.
He's long since surpassed Kobe, for me. People think I'm biased, but I do acknowledge Kobe is a fantastic player. If I were to make a top list, he'd probably rank right around or just outside the top ten.
LeBron is one of the rarest of the rare: A complete player.
You almost never see that in the NBA. A guy who, not only can do it all, but do it all better than almost everybody else. He's deserved all of his MVPs. He might even pass Jordan when it is all said and done, who knows?

Duncan would make my top ten.

[Man in Black]

Duncan is a hard one for me to place. It's not because I don't love to watch him play or that I think he doesn't deserve all accolades. It's mainly because I can't really relate to what he does. I played a lot of basketball, but I've never once went inside to bang and scrap and block like the prototype big man - which is what Duncan is.

He is better than Hakeem, better than Ewing, better than Mourning and I'd say he could hold his own against Jabbar and Moses. He's not the dominant offensive beast Karl Malone was... but he is the dominant defensive and rebounding beast Malone wasn't (not that the Mailman was a poor defender).

That said I'd take Shaq in his prime and I'd probably take Wilt Chamberlain and 4 high school players over most any big man.

I do think that Duncan has surpassed one of my favorites of all time and his former team mate - The Admiral. And if you place Timmy singly at PF and not at C at all... then I'd totally agree with you that he is probably one of the best of all time.




As far as Kobe goes... I've said it a zillion times, he has the tools Jordan had. He just never developed the mental game. I'd still put Kobe in my top ten of players I've watched. In his prime (IMO) Kobe was every bit as talented as LeBron.

To me there are 4 players in the history of the game that have the size, speed, power, agility and stamina to play any position on any team and dominate for decades. Those are in order of era: Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

Sure there are some differences in their physical attributes... but it doesn't matter to me, they are indistinguishable when applied to the game of basketball. If we were talking about football then LeBron's power would be a huge advantage. In roundball there are just as many disadvantages to power at his height and play-style as there are advantages - so that's a wash and something I just dismiss when I hear it. I've played enough ball as a little man to recognize the advantages a slasher has when he can coil, dart, turn sideways (invisible) and use no energy at all to take flight and hang in the air. This is something LeBron could never do as well as smaller guys, while Jordan and Kobe made a living at it. Dr. J invented it Jordan perfected it now every player 6ft 9 or under tries to emulate it. Those two made basketball a completely different sport.

Kobe and Dr. J never made it to Jordan's level in intensity and attitude... but that is not to slight them. I've never seen any athlete in any sport even come close to MJ in that respect (Bird was the closest but he didn't have the body). For LeBron the jury is still out on that, but I'd bet against him.

Jordan will remain the top (for me), not just basketball player, but athlete in history... because he recognized that he had the greatest athletic body that God had created up to that point... and he NEVER let any opponent or teammate forget it. He is 50 and he still won't let that go.

If LeBron would ever wake the #$%* up and realize that same thing then just maybe he'd win six championships with a doo doo team that wouldn't have made the playoffs without him. Scottie Pippen... please when Jordan left Pippen couldn't do sheeeit even in his prime and he got two chances at it. *Cue Mora saying PLAYOFFS?*

LeBron's best chance to surpass Jordan was to stay in Cleveland and will only happen if he goes back or if he wins 4 or so titles after Wade leaves. He has the body but just like everybody else he pales in comparison to MJ's will to win. The reason I got so ticked at him was because I wanted to see it, and he robbed us all of watching such a thing. My anger with him has cooled completely, but I think he'd be even better with an attitude and a minor supporting cast tuned to his every whim and strong point.

[Jason]

Dr. J. This is a guy I wish I could've watched as a kid. He is one of the most exciting players ever, in my opinion, and the best dunker I've ever seen. I can watch him dunk all day and not get tired of it. He paved the way for guys like Magic and Jordan.

The thing about Kobe, is he was one of the only guys with the talent and physicality to match Jordan. His problem was that in every single statistical category, Jordan has him beat. Kobe is like Diet Coke.

LeBron is one of those guys, too. But if you measure the first ten years of their career, LeBron had Kobe beat, in my opinion. Kobe was a guy I watched grow as a kid, and I was very impressed with him. I really liked him up until the "trade me" and rape incidents. I am, however, more impressed watching LeBron than I was with Kobe. I can understand the comparisons, but I don't think Kobe should get the nod.

Unfortunately for me, as much as I love MJ, the only stuff I got to see of him live was his final few years and Space Jam .