The Perpetual NBA Thread

**ILuvDetailing** · April 18th, 2006 04:38 PM

medyo sablay ang playoff seedings ng NBA ngayon, since there are 3 divisions in each conference the teams with the better records but not # 1 in their division will be ranked lower - Spurs and Dallas are in the SouthWest, they are #1 and #2 in the Western Conference based on their regular season record but Dallas gets the #4 seed because they are in the same division as San Antonio. Phoenix gets the # 2 seed because it won the Pacific, Denver gets the #3 seed because it won the Northwest. Despite have a worst record than Dallas, Phoenix and Denver will avoid the Spurs until the conference finals if they make it while Dallas gets the Spurs in round 2.

I think they should ditch this system next season and rank by regular season records, scrap the division championship thingy, it means squat in the playoffs.

**baiskee** · April 18th, 2006 04:49 PM

It's Showtime!

Go Lakers!

**kimpOy** · April 18th, 2006 05:46 PM

shareef abdul rahim's in the playoffs!!!
good for him, a classic good player of goofy teams...

also first timers, elton brand, corey magette and 90% of the clippers he..he

**kimpOy** · April 19th, 2006 06:06 PM

nba oddities 2005-2006
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ies/index.html

Carmelo Anthony founded a personal charity foundation with the acronym "HOOD."

We learned that Michael Jordan's Gatorade outtakes might be even better than the commercials.

After signing a $90 million contract, Michael Redd bought his father a church.

Jarron "The Lesser" Collins missed the start of training camp in Utah while suffering from "severe sunburn."

Bobcats center Melvin Ely was robbed for his jewelry late one night after leaving a strip club. Days later, while Ely was visiting a pawn shop to look for said jewelry, the assailant came walking in, saw Ely, then turned and ran.

The night before training camp began, Julius Hodge slept on the floor of the Nuggets' practice gym.

Cuttino Mobley rode a bike back and forth between the Clippers' practice facility and hotel during training camp.

During his NBA debut, Johan Petro accidentally removed his jersey along with his warmups while checking in.

Before the Kings' home opener against Detroit, a video was shown of Detroit that featured abandoned buildings and burned-out cars. The Pistons won 102-88.

Damon "Basketball" Jones refused to speak to the Cleveland press for several weeks, announcing he was on a "revolt" against the media.

Hornets players Rasual Butler and J.R. Smith appeared as potential suitors in a music video for hardcore female rapper Trina.

Darius Miles was whistled for a defensive three-seconds violation after stopping to tie his shorts while standing underneath the basket.

Larry Bird announced his association with a line of wines called "Legends."

Ron Artest had the name of his record label, "Tru Warier," shaved into his hair. He reported that he received a "homey discount" on the haircut.

Lakers rookie Andrew Bynum spoke to the media but forgot to remove his mouthguard.

Vince Carter paid to have a life-sized bronze statue of himself erected at his former high school.

When asked what it was going to take to get the Heat to play like he envisioned they would, Pat Riley said, "It's 525,600 minutes."

Damon "Basketball" Jones became the first U.S. player to endorse Li Ning shoes, one of the biggest brands in China.

Then-Sonics forward Reggie Evans missed the start of the second half of a game because he was detained after being unable to provide a urine sample for a halftime drug test.

Following an overtime win against the Raptors, Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas admitted he was tired because he was up late the night before playing video games.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said that starting power forward Kwame Brown is "a pussy."

After playing poorly in a win over Washington, Pacers center David Harrison broke a picture of himself hanging in a hallway of Conseco Field House.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban invested in a toilet seat that utilizes "retractable wands."

After getting involved in an altercation in a Utah bar, Jazz point guard Deron Williams told police his name was "Torrey Ellis."

Shaquille O'Neal admitted that two of his aliases when checking into hotels on the road are "Donovan Perot" and "Vladimire Mandingo."

In an NBA.com celebrity fantasy basketball league, TNT analyst Kenny Smith finished 1-21 for the season, eight games behind Pamela Anderson in the loss column.

Tracy McGrady named his second son Laymen Lamar McGrady.

The New York Daily News reported that Jerome James was suspended indefinitely because he was in no shape to practice with the Knicks on the morning of Jan. 1 after spending the night celebrating.

Sonics coach Bob Hill banned players from talking to each other during practice.

After a close loss to the Denver Nuggets, Bulls GM John Paxson chased the referees into their locker room.

Former Cavs lottery pick Dajuan Wagner had his colon removed.

Pistons guard Carlos Delfino announced that he'll wear American pants, but he prefers European shirts.

Jason Williams cut his finger putting a weight on a weight rack.

Cavs guard Ira Newble spent eight days in the hospital with an ingrown hair in his nose.

To help lighten the mood in the Miami Heat locker room, Pat Riley performed a 15-minute dance routine to the Doobie Brothers' Listen to the Music.

Darko Milicic showed up for his first practice with the Orlando Magic with a sunburn, explaining that he had fallen asleep on the beach.

The Philadelphia 76ers announced a program to allow fans to swap guns for tickets.

Hawks forward Al Harrington mentioned that he once sang a duet of Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better with Rosie O'Donnell on her eponymous television show.

Reserve Spurs forward Fabricio Oberto, who just moved to America from Argentina, won the team's NCAA pool after picking teams randomly with no knowledge of any of the teams.

Rasheed Wallace almost missed the start of a recent game after forgetting to set his clock forward one hour for Daylight Savings Time.

**mazdamazda** · April 20th, 2006 12:35 PM

Ray Allen just broke the most 3-point in a single-season record... with 6 treys (as of this writing) in the first half of the Sea-Den game.

**wren** · April 20th, 2006 05:50 PM

you mean my warriors didn't make it to the play-offs again?

don't count out the other norcal team, the kings, they may make some noise in the play-offs, if artest is healthy.

**ILuvDetailing** · April 20th, 2006 05:58 PM

^^Bad News they're playing the Defending Champs, and Artest has a thumb injury but nothing major.

**theveed** · April 21st, 2006 01:41 PM

LET'S GET IT ON!!! Excited na ako

Great expectations
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
April 20, 2006

Do you want to know why this could wind up being the greatest NBA playoffs of all time? (Heresy, I know, but give me a chance.)

In the second round, the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, both 60-game winners, should meet. We repeat: Two 60-game winners should match up in the second round.

Sure, that's a byproduct of the NBA's ridiculous insistence on rewarding divisional champions with the top three seeds, but it also promises to fuel a spring where the best action will occur early and won't likely abate.

This is a year that boasts not only three 60-win teams (add the Detroit Pistons to the royalty), but also at least two other teams (Miami Heat and New Jersey Nets) that can make a legitimate case that they can win the championship in June.

This is a year when this wave of outrageously talented young players – LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade – flourish across the league in the high-profile playoffs. All of them are expected to lead their teams on deep runs.

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This is a year when every second matchup (second round!) can be an absolute classic. For the sake of argument, presume home court holds in what should be a pretty good Round 1. That would give us Miami-New Jersey, Detroit-LeBron, Dallas-San Antone and Phoenix Suns-Los Angeles Clippers.

Look, when Suns-Clips, which should be a frenetic and frantic series with a great story line (the pitiful Clips in Round 2?), is the least exciting possible second-round matchup, well, you have something rolling, OK?

And that series could be even more eventful and historic if it wound up the battle of Los Angeles – Lakers vs. Clippers, big brother vs. little brother, storied franchise vs. upstart – with all games played in the same building.

About the only downer in the NBA right now is that Amare Stoudemire's knee never got better, or else the Suns could be considered serious title threats rather than just a dangerous second-tier contender that just happens to play a most fan-pleasing style.

It may be sacrilege to say the NBA has never been better, which is why I'm not actually saying it, but I am at least offering it up for consideration. It is possible.

The NBA has rebounded from its post-Michael Jordan blahs to become a dynamic, diverse, highly entertaining and unpredictable entity. If you are still among the many sports fans who claim the NBA is boring and unwatchable, you are either very boring yourself or you haven't been watching.

A season with three 30-points-a-game scorers, night-in-and-night-out megastar duels and ultra-competitive elite teams is never dull.

The NBA isn't generating the media hype it deserves because the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers – three historic, big media East Coast market franchises – have been mismanaged into the ground. Plus, while the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls have reached the playoffs, neither is a high seed.

But don't be fooled by the lack of attention because the best teams and best players hail from fly-over country.

This is a season when the NBA has seven or eight legit MVP candidates – LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki to just start the list.

"I know it is definitely entertaining," said Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, who will try to ride LeBron's Oscar Robertson-style talents into the playoffs. "You have three guys averaging over 30 points a game, you have a ton of guys out there you can bill as the next great one, from Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, LeBron James.

"Who would have thought a guy like Ben Wallace could get the notoriety? He is a household name. People love his hair. That kind of stuff is entertaining for the media [and] entertaining for the fans."

The best part of the NBA right now is that there is something for everyone. You want uptempo? Try Phoenix and Dallas. You want individual stars? How's LeBron and Kobe? You want team play? It doesn't get any better than Detroit and San Antonio. You want great point guards? Enjoy Jason Kidd and Nash. You want defense? Watch Bruce Bowen or Wallace. You want a Cinderella story? One can't get more unlikely than the dangerous Clippers.

We could go on. Whatever you want, the NBA has it. Pick a team and then marvel.

Everyone points to the early 1990s, the mid-1980s, the early 1970s or some other time as the salad days of the NBA. And we aren't going to argue with any of those memories.

But were the second-round matchups those years better than the potential ones this year? Did this many teams have a true shot at winning it all? Were there this many storylines and superstars? Were the styles of play this diverse?

The NBA took some well-deserved beatings in recent years for ugly play and poor fundamentals, the Pat Riley Knicks making everything look atrocious and the league foolishly grasping for "the next Jordan" to market.

But those days are done. There turned out to be 10 "next Jordans," none as good (yet) as the original, but each carrying part of the load. Strong fundamental, team-first franchises have won the last two championships. Meanwhile, offenses have opened up to the point that even Riley is running a bit in Miami. The hack-and-grab days are over.

Five teams can win this thing. Five more can scare you. Two dozen players can put on awe-inspiring performances each and every night.

The playoffs begin Saturday. Once they get heated up, it may turn out that the NBA has never been hotter. There, we said it. Sacrilege be damned.

**kimpOy** · April 21st, 2006 03:57 PM

Ron Artest vs Bruce Bowen
a very good under card fight...

Lebron James vs the Wizards...

wishlist Lebron vs Kobe sa Finals but it wont happen.....now