The Celtics must be on the take. Or on drugs. Or something. This is too absurd, and even if Boston ends up winning the championship (looking a lot less likely now), in my mind this permanently mars their season. I mean, good god, Atlanta won 36 games. They may be one of the worst playoff teams in NBA history.

Well if they are not on the take then maybe they were told extend the series because, we more butts in the seats to pay for all your bloated salaries.

I did try to get in during normal campus hours one day when I had time to kill but the doors were locked to the main arena . ( If you're at college campus during a weekday, most times getting in to see a venue isn't difficult as it doubles as classroom space as well. In my experiences...)

Would like to see a game of some sort there someday...hopefully.

I think the Shaq trade worked out pretty well. It wasn't Shaq's fault that some of his teammates made crucial mistakes. Shaq brought to the table what he's always brought to the table, it was up to Nash and Amare to not make stupid plays or get lit up for 40 points in a crucial game 3.



Smoke, I forgot to say thanks for the pic of my new boyfriend Delonte. He is definitely the hottest imo...he has a tradition for dating crazy chicks too. And you know what they say about straight guys who date crazy chicks - from crazy chicks to date flicks. He's totally bf material.

Wrong wrong wrong...no offense but the trade was moronic...no blame for Shaq or his teammates...but the trade never should have been made. The Suns came within a short, curly one of beating the Spurs last season with Marion. And with the Spurs being a year older this year the last thing the Suns needed to do was get OLDER and less athletic. They didn't need to stop Duncan, they needed to stop Ginobili and Parker and Marion was the best equipped to do that. Steve Kerr made a really bonehaeded and shortsided decision.

PS-I am a HUGE Spurs fan.

You absolutely have to. (So do I, for that matter.) Actually, the 2008-09 season might be best because they don't play nearly as many games there as they used to (other than Penn, of course) but St. Joe's is playing their entire home schedule at the Palestra due to their arena being renovated and expanded.

Agree, agree and agree. The Shaq trade marked the end of the Suns as we knew them. If the Suns wanted to guard Duncan, they should have kept Kurt Thomas (instead of giving away first round draft picks just for the privilege of giving away Kurt Thomas -- yeah, that made wonderful sense).

I just hope it didn't mark the end of fast break, run & gun basketball. There's still Golden State, but they're just too crazy.

The Hornets did a number on Duncan big time. 1 for 9 for 5 points in 37 minutes. Yikes! And is David West the best player that nobody knows? He scored the quietest 30 points imaginable. The Spurs are going to have to find some way to stop him--and Chris Paul and his 13 assists, 17 points and 4 steals--if they're going to get back in this.

Well, West did make the All Star team. At the time, I thought it was just a kind gesture towards the hosting Hornets, and also it only came after several injury withdrawals. But he sure looked like the real thing here. He was unstoppable both inside and from mid-range.

The Spurs may have to put Duncan on West. Duncan's already having all sorts of difficulties on offense; that would only wear him down more.

I agree on the Kurt Thomas situation...however, you guys act like Shawn Marion was a Girl Scout who wanted to put the team first instead of cancer who was tearing the locker room apart all based on his ego and competition with Amare. He had to be traded, it was just a matter of who do they get in return. They may have gotten Gasol if Jerry West hadn't colluded with his beloved (and my former beloved) Lakers. I think they made the best out of an impossible situation. It's difficult to trade someone when everyone knows he has to be traded.

The trade didn't have to be made. At the time the Suns were the top seed in the West after missing out on the Finals the year before under dubious circumstances. So I don't see that Marion was tearing the team apart. This wasn't a Terrell Owens-gots-to-go situation. After the trade they fell to #6 (granted the West was ridiculously close) and then ousted in the first round by the oldest team in the league. Getting Shaq to cover Duncan is one thing. But to acquire someone who so drastically alters the way you play the game was just not smart. And what's the point of getting somebody who is supposed to shut down Duncan if that means now Parker and Ginobili are more free to run wild?

Dallas getting Kidd and Suns getting Shaq were panic moves, nothing more. They overreacted to the Lakers getting Gasol. And perhaps the Suns could have avoided having to go after Shaq if they had actually kept some of their draft picks the last couple of years instead of selling them for cold hard cash.

I hate to tell you this Jay, but I've had the good fortune to be around a lot of NBA teams, and the biggest cancer I have ever seen was Ben Wallace in Chicago. Now, he is with your team. He was sooooooooo much worst than Marion, it's not even funny. I don't want you to think I'm picking on you- another NBA major knucklehead plays for my beloved Grizzlies- Darko Milicic. I have not made up my mind yet, if he is just a knucklehead or a team cancer. He was trained under Ben Wallace, and it shows!

I just think it's all about perspective. Shawn wanted top dawg money because he wanted to be the top dawg in Phoenix. He was never going to be that with Amare on the team; one of my favorite bloggers said the following:

Or is it something far simpler... the fact that he can't score without someone giving him the ball in a position to do it. Whether that means on a pass or an offensive rebound, or even him just scooping the ball up after a loose ball. Perhaps it's the fact that any time he starts dribbling, the only time he will ever get to the hoop is if the guy guarding him is so much slower than him that he has no business guarding him in the first place.

Or maybe it's that, through all of this... through being the highest paid player on the team, being named to the all star team, getting lucrative advertising deals, being one of the top vote getters for defensive player of the year... he still finds time to claim that he's unappreciated. Perhaps it's the potential for him to destroy the team's chemistry with a me-first attitude in a system that calls for selflessness. And all this while embodying the idea of a team player. Someone who will do what he does irregardless of his teammate's accomplishments... Someone who can win games through hard work and desire.

So why is his game so appealing while managing to be appalling?

Just another contradiction in the world of Shawn Marion.

Next season may be too late for the Suns but it will be interesting to see if Shaq comes into camp in shape or plans on working his way into shape like he's done so often in the past. I don't know all the ins and outs of the the salary cap and free agency but the Suns are going to have to be very aggresive if they plan on contending next season. The Lakers and Hornets aren't going anywhere, the Spurs probably have one more year (given their cumulative age) and teams like Houston, Utah, Portland, Golden State and Denver will make it tougher for Phoenix and Dallas to contend.

Shawn Marion was, is and will always be a jerk, but even in the "whispers" around the league no one was saying that the Suns had to trade him. After all, Kirilenko demanded out of Utah, Utah ignored him and that worked out pretty well. And then there's that Kobe fellow....

In any event, if the Suns truly believed they had to trade Marion, they would have started exploring moves way way earlier in the season. And if they had, word would have gotten out. As it was, they threw off their entire team chemistry in the home stretch. It was last minute panic, plain and simple.

The Suns are finished. Even if Shaq does try to stay in shape over the summer (doubtful), he's going to be 37 next spring. Big men don't last forever (Kareem and Parish were definitely exceptional). Also, as much as I love Nash, he's not going to develop more stamina and resilience as he gets older. Now if Sarver had kept Rajon Rando with the 21st pick, things might have been different. But as George points out, that cheap ass owner has a history of selling draft picks, and selling his fans down the river. Bill Simmons did a nice article on ESPN, cataloging Sarver's idiocy.

Ooh, I think Orlando got shafted on that clock malfunction at the end of the third quarter. I don't see why the officials can't watch a replay. I mean, they watch a replay to see if a shot went off before the clock expires. Well, that was a case where the shot clock very likely would have gone off IMO. I think had the clock been working, Billups wouldn't even have got that shot because the guy who passed it to him (was it Stucky?) would have taken the shot because the clock would be so close to zero. I don't see how there was enough time to go Billups-dribble-Stucky-Billups-three point shot--and still be 0.5 seconds left. That would mean all of that would have had to happen in 4.6 seconds. Well, we'll see if that extra basket matters.

Edit: a-ha! They just showed a timed replay and it was 5.2 before Billups released the shot and they had only 5.1 seconds.

End of first quarter message board blog: I hate the Celtics.

I used to hate the Celtics from the old LA/Boston rivalry of the 80's, but this is a whole different era, Anyway, I can't hate Kevin Garnett. But, what a bizarre defensive Gulag. LeBron goes 2 for 18, with 10(!) turnovers. If he had managed one more rebound and one more assist he could have had a dubious quadruple double.

And for the Celtics, Ray Allen + Paul Pierce combine for 4 points (and matching LeBron at 2 for 18)?? People complain about San Antonio and Detroit, but these two teams are setting a new standard for grind it out ugliness.

I'm glad to see San Antonio salvage some pride and maybe some chances. Remarkably, Parker played CP3 to a virtual standstill, and Ginobli finally got back to doing what he does. I think that groin pull has limited him in the playoffs so far. He's really the Spurs' main advantage, because no one on the Hornets can guard him. And Duncan seems to be getting over his fever or whatever. So if San Antonio is back to full health, I wouldn't count them out just yet.

Meanwhile, we're a witness to LeBron is being smothered, handcuffed and humiliated. I think he needs to start passing the ball to Ilgauskas, who is the Cavs' only reliable scorer in this series.

Dude, you should definitely get a prize for that. Everyone on ESPN picked the Mavericks. As a Hornets fan, it totally pissed me off. Glad to see someone on the planet had some respect for CP3 and company.


Now everyone has picked the Spurs to beat the Hornets. I just hope the Hornets prove them all wrong again.


Funny, so who was the "nobody" guarding Ginobli the first two games? Because "nobody" did quite well against him then.

His pulled groin muscle was guarding him.

Well, that's better than the "Stern is cheating for the Hornets" excuse I saw at Fan Nation.


When the Hornets won by 25 in the regular season, whose muscle was pulled then?

Utah is back to being its invincible self at home. Not sure what's been wrong with Boozer this post-season, but he sure got over whatever it is last night. He had a monster game.

Yes, he did. Deron Williams really picked it up as well. I still think the Lakers are going to win that one. As a Hornets fan, I'm more concerned about the Jazz than the Lakers because Deron Williams seems to have some sort of magical power over Chris Paul. I'd rather take my chances with Kobe than to play against a team that has Paul's number.

Deron Williams is like kryptonite to CP3, which is odd because no one else can guard him one lick. On the other hand, Boozer's not much on defense, so David West would have a huge series.

But I think the Lakers will beat Utah too...barely. And I think that would make an absolutely terrific conference finals, with MVP against MVP runner up. Both of them would be unstoppable. To me, the key is whether Gasol can man up, now that he's being knocked around and rendered ineffective. Smokey, can you send Pau some armor or something?

It's funny that we're both rooting for each other's team as tne next opponent. Good as the Hornets are, I'd still rather face them than a healthy San Antonio.

Larry, Larry, Larry,

First of all, Pau is a finesse player. The only thing tough about him is his beard- it looks tough. It's very easy to get in his head. Jackson needs to run a couple of plays for Pau at the start of game 4- to try and get him off early- build his confidence and try and take the crowd out of the game. Pau does not respond to negative reinforcement. Tell him to man up, and he will shut down. Try positive reinforcement, and he will move mountain. Praise him and tell him how much he is needed, and he will give 150%. He needs his ego stroked. His self-confidence has always been low. He needs others to believe in him, before he believes in himself. Pau is a wonderful kid. He'll bounce back, as long as the LA doesn't drag him through the mud. You just can't tell someone, they suck, but need to man up and win. Of course Kwame wouldn't be knocked around so much. Perhaps, you guys would like him back.

It's hard to succeed in the post-season if you're purely a finesse player. You're going to get banged around, plain and simple. Kareem was purely a finesse player, and everyone banged him around in the playoffs, but he kept his composure and still torched them. I'm sure there are more recent examples, but I'm too senile to come up with one.

Smokey, I'll suggest that Jerry Buss put you on the (highly compensated) payroll as Pau's official psychologist/self-esteem coach. We obviously could use you. Why does he have low self-confidence do you think? Blessed with all that skill?

Since I'm only a fan, it's fine for me to tell Pau to toughen up, but I suspect that Phil Jackson will just do the same. I don't think he's knows any other way. And believe it or not, it actually helped Kwame. Remember 2 years ago when the Lakers' anemic team was up on the Suns, 3-1? You know how they did that? By pounding the ball inside to Kwame Brown. Yup, Kwame Brown, the centerpiece of the Lakers' offense. And when Kwame wasn't fumbling away the ball, he was actually doing good things with it. The Lakers fell back to earth and lost that series, but it was an impressive coaching stunt by Jackson nonetheless.

First, you are right- Jerry Buss should!

This is strictly my opinion, but I have known Pau for 7 years so I think it's pretty accurate. Even as a kid, Pau was a superstar in Spain. You just don't get any bigger than Pau Gasol in Spain. Being a superstar and symbol for your country is stressful, when you still don't know yourself who you truly are. Everyone expects so much from him, and he doesn't want to let anyone down. He can put on the face of false machismo, but it quickly falls away when you get to know him. Negative reinforcement doesn't work on him. Jerry West tried that and Pau quickly shut down and wanted to be traded. Pau was scared what Mr. West said might be true, and it was better not to try than fail. When Jerry West realized his error, the damage was done. You will offen here Jerry West say- maybe the game has changed too much for me. That's because in Jerry's day negative reinforcement was what was solely used (Jerry Sloan has this same problem....and AK47 brokedown.) After the trade request, Memphis fans turned against Pau. He was having a terrible time. Mike Miller decided to take a new approach with Pau. He nicknamed Pau, "the Meal Ticket". In every interview, Mike stressed the importance of Pau, and got the nickname going. Pau's play improved, and he was content with staying with the Grizzlies, after the trade deadline passed. Mike stroked his ego, and Pau's numbers improved. "The Meal Ticket" (positive reinforcement) was just the ticket.
I hear Kobe is very positive with him, and I think he will man up for today's game. Not because of the negative publicity, but because Kobe is telling him how much he needs him to win the championship.

Ouch, Hornets need to do some serious adjusting if they want to win this game and send the Spurs a big message.

Smokey, I think it will be helpful for Pau when Bynum comes back (assuming this knee thing, which keeps compounding, doesn't end up being career altering). Bynum can be the big brusier in the middle and Gasol can be more free to pursue his finesse game. He's so multi-talented that I'm sure he can adapt his game to fit in around Bynum. Anyway, Pau did have a better game today. It was their (overrated) bench that was the problem. I just hope Kobe's back issue doesn't ruin the series for the Lakers.

The Spurs looked awfully good last night. Letting Chris Paul do his thing while clamping down on everyone else seemed to be a good strategy. Now we'll have to see if they can make it work in New Orleans.

If Kobe's back issues continue, the Lakers are in real trouble.

A healthy Duncan makes all the difference. Although I'd be surprised if David West goes 4 for 15 in New Orleans!

The defending Eastern Champs put a smack down on the over-rated Celtics tonight !!

Boston does look overrated, but I still think they'll win their home games, at least against Cleveland. What I don't understand is the post-season disappearance of Pierce and Allen. Pierce is somewhat understandable in this series, since he has the incredibly taxing job of guarding LeBron (and doing it well). But Allen is being guarded by Wally S, who is univerally lambasted for his inability to play defense (and since all Wally is on offense is a spot up shooter, it doesn't take much energy to defend him). Allen seems to have left it all behind at this year's All Star game.

An OSU and UM fan finally come together...this is better than when Anakin finally returned from the Dark Side!

Wally went to college at Miami of Ohio; thus when guarding Allen it brings back great memories of Wally Z's college days and Wally has locked Ray down. What I think is also iimportant is that Ray Allen never wanted to leave Seattle. And Wally was sent to Seattle in the trade for Ray. The memory is too much for Ray to overcome and it's gotten into his head. Plus, the Cavs, despite the haters are pretty good. They had a worse team last year and still throttled the Pistons after losing the first two games of the series.

This game tonite will be the decider for the Hornets/Spurs series IMO.

If the Hornets can play like GAME 1 + 2 they'll win this series. But if the Spurs steal an away win, it's all over as much as it pains me to say.

Looks like it's all over the other way. I said that David West would have a better game this time, but outscoring Duncan 38 to 10? Crazy. I still think San Antonio will win at home, but their chances of coming back and winning a game 7 in NO seem next to nill. It's amazing how no one can win a road game in round 2 (except Detroit which, let's face it, had a cream puff opponent).

Although given Kobe's back injury, I expect Utah to win that series, meaning they'll have to take at least one game in LA. Then, I really hope the Jazz don't beat the Hornets (but given Deron's mastery over CP3 it's possible). Not that I have anything against them, but there is just no way Utah is the best team in the West. And I think they'd lose to either Boston or Detroit.

Well, all I can say, is THANK GOD the Hornets won that game. Unfortunately it came with a price: Chandler is injured and West now has a bad back.

But we lead 3 to 2. I'll take that for now. Hopefully, we can go ahead and win in San Antonio to put an end to this and advance to the Western Conference finals.


West was just plain nasty tonight. 38 points/14 rebounds/5 blocks! That's some sick shit. Want to see more of that.

Pistons finished off Orlando,last night but I refuse to get my hopes up!

As I guessed, San Antonio forces game 7. I still don't like their chances in New Orleans, but if West's back is bad enough it will be a different story. On the other hand, if both the Hornets and Lakers pull through (my hope), the conference finals will be decided by whose back is worse, D. West's or Kobe's. That's both kind of funny and sad.

The home court disparity is just mind boggling. The Spurs and Hornets finished with identical records yet neither can come close to stealing a game on the other's court. Game 7 will be interesting to say the least. The Spurs have never won a Game 7 on the road. However this is the biggest game in the history of the Hornets franchise.

The home cooking with the foul calls in these series (most notably Lakers-Jazz) is very troubling. These refs need to just call the game. I hate when I hear how these superstars get calls that others don't get. If it's a foul, it's a foul whether it is committed by LeBron or Oberto. If it's a foul in Utah it's a foul in Los Angeles.

My family & I were talking 'bout that on Sun while we were watching the game.

I think this year the mandate will (hopefully) be, make it go 7 if possible then in the last game, just let them play. That is all I can hope for the Cavs and Jazz. Meanwhile, another reason to dislike the self righteous, pious, think they're boo boo doesn't stint Spurs and Spur fans; after Cheap Shot Bob Horry elbows West in his back:

When West lay on the floor, the Hornets couldn’t believe what came next in the arena. At first, they doubted what they were hearing. As the trainer and coaches gathered around West, the Hornets’ Hilton Armstrong nudged Chris Paul and told him to listen closely.

They weren’t chanting … were they?

“Horry … Horry … Horry … ”

Yes.

Yes, they were.

Eighteen thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven could also see the bad intentions, too.

Why is this a "model" franchise again?

I used to respect Horry, but now that he's lost his uncanny knack for making a big basket at the right time, he's developed a knack for making a bit body hit at the right time.

I don't think that hit on West was all that egregious. Yeah I'm a Spurs fan but it just wasn't that bad. Basketball is a contact sport. If his back wasn't already bothering him it probably wouldn't have even registered.

As for the fans "chanting", well that just comes with the territory of pro sports. Home fans are going to cheer for their guys no matter what. There are people in the crowd that will always be happy to see an opposing player go down with an injury provided it isn't a life threatening type injury. Most fans aren't this way but the ones that are tend to be the most vocal. Hornets fans would have been doing the same thing if Duncan or Parker went down in New Orleans.

This four day break between game 6 and 7 is just ridiculous though. Sure it gives the banged up Hornets a chance to heal and the aging Spurs some rest, but four days? Come on!

It didn't look that bad in the replays either. He was setting a back pick after all. But it's just kind of interesting that Horry is always involved in something like this. Particularly since he's now completely useless for his actual basketball skills.

If Robert Horry were Glenn Close in "Dangerous Liaisons" this is what I'd say: Booooo!

What makes the elbow on West flagrant to me is not only the play itself, but also the recent history of Horry going after other teams' players. Maybe if the Suns win last year despite the suspensions I have nothing to say. But it seems to violate fair play when a series can turn on this type of action which happened last year. And yes, basketball is a contact sport but only to a degree, it's not football or rugby.

UnderDog Cleveland goes on to game 7 !

p.s. I'd like to see on paper how the Celts got all those players under the salary cap....

Well, the Lakers beat the road jinx, and in the toughest arena to win a road game in the league. Not after almost blowing a 16 point lead they had well into the 4th quarter, but hey I'll take it. It's nice to be watching your next opponent play a game 7, rather than having to grind one out yourself.


I still don't understand how/why Boozer disappeared in the post-season (both against LA and Houston). He fouled out of this one after another bad shooting performance, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Utah -- Paul Milsap came off the bench and was killing the Lakers. Good thing Milsap didn't start instead of Boozer!

OSU, one of the reasons the Celtics swung it is that, other than the big 3, their players make peanuts. Perkins and Rondo are on rookie salaries, and guys like Posey, Cassell and PJ Brown sold their services for a song in the hopes of clutching to the coat tails of a title team. I'm sort of happy to see that Cassell has been a disaster for them. And Doc Rivers should be playing Leon Powe instead of Brown. But I think Doc is too star-struck by all their experience to think straight.

Cavs (BronBron) showed a lot of heart today. Congrats to the Celtics.