+ Reply to Thread
Page 2 of 3
FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 29

Thread: The NBA Playoffs Media Thread (Dan LeBatard included)

  1. #11
    The Healer Black Dynamite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Having an awkward moment just to see how it feels.
    Posts
    9,638
    i wanna see him say this to one of their faces. otherwise the worst shit he talks, the more of a pussy he is.
    ^
    Stalked by a Mod who gives 1 percent credence.

  2. #12

    espn's mad love for the pistons

    2 things they said.

    1) stuart scott was riding tayshauns balls hard last night. dont know if anyone saw it, but he said the whole espn office thinks hes the most underrated player in the nba.

    2) they showed a stat (probably everyone saw it) that the pistons have the most elimination game victories of any team over a 4 year span in nba history. (pistons are 11-2 in elimination games since 2003)

  3. #13
    Shaq, Heat get stuffed; focus shifts to Friday

    By Dan Le Batard

    dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- There are certain natural phenomena that can't be stopped, slowed or detoured by one human body. An ocean tide. A rock slide. Shaq's backside. Shaquille O'Neal getting the ball under the rim is just about the surest thing ever in basketball. One bounce? That's thunder's warning before lightning. So you knew something wasn't right in Wednesday's second half when O'Neal began to uncoil and Ben Wallace suddenly remembered, for the first time this series, that he's supposed to be the world's best defender. With the aid of a trampoline, a ladder and a jet pack during this 91-78 Detroit victory, Wallace climbed up into the atmosphere and came down cleanly with an angry palm upon the basketball.
    Miami's path?
    Blocked.
    Miami's goal?
    Postponed.
    Miami's access to the championship round?
    Temporarily denied.
    What does that mean? More joy when Game 6 of this best-of-seven insanity resumes in Miami on Friday with the Heat leading, 3-2, and Miami having a chance to hold up the Eastern Conference trophy before its rowdy home fans.
    After Wallace's block? O'Neal suddenly collapsed to the floor, not unlike his team. And while he got up fine, his Heat never quite did. Miami never had a lead after that moment.
    Not much at stake Friday. Just the most important game of the season. Just the second-most important game in franchise history. The 99th game of this interminable season is especially critical because Miami doesn't want to play its 100th in Detroit with a loss ending the season.
    ''One game to win,'' Dwyane Wade said. ``That's all we need to do.''
    Said O'Neal: ``We won't play like that on Friday. We'll be ready.''
    A bit of perspective to calm the hyperventilating basket cases who make the most noise whenever there's a loss during the playoffs: There are four teams remaining for one throne and not a one of them today is in as good a position as your Miami Heat. Miami's 3-1 lead has shrunk to 3-2, but the last 16 teams to lead 3-1 in the conference finals are 16-0.

    UNLUCKY PLAY
    Detroit, trying to save its season, strangled Miami in its most important quarter of its season -- holding Miami to a microscopic 13 points in the desperate fourth. Miami went nearly five minutes without making a single basket. But Miami blew a perfect chance when trailing 79-76, after O'Neal's third block, when the rebound landed in the only Detroit hands Miami didn't want them in on this night.
    It's not often Detroit wins while Richard Hamilton goes seven for 21, Chauncey Billups goes three for 12, Rasheed Wallace goes three for 11 and the team goes two for 15 from behind the three-point arc. But a Prince protected The Palace. Tayshaun Prince, the only Detroit starter who wasn't an All-Star this season, scored 29 points, including a deflating three after that O'Neal block. Miami never got close again after that.
    And Antonio McDyess threw in another crippling 12. Antonio McDyess? Five for five from the field? It was like watching that new Wayans brothers movie win an Oscar. ~Its actually not all that shocking but its a funny line IMO.

    Wade, meanwhile, made only 11 of 20 shots and scored only a team-high 23 points, the bum. This one wasn't as easy for him as the previous four, when he blew bubbles while playing and spread his legs upon dunks so all the flashbulbs could catch him in artistic flight. ~WTF? Anyone else think that sounds far too Brokeback?

    The pressure is all on Miami now, several Pistons said, conveniently ignoring that only one team can have its season ended Friday and, well, it isn't Miami.

    FREE-THROW WOES
    It was long overdue for Miami to lose a game because of abysmal free-throw shooting. It hadn't happened once in the last two postseasons. Not once has Shaq's Achilles' heel crippled the entire team. But Miami made just six of 20 free-throw attempts. To understand how terrible that is, consider that Wade averages more than six makes per game all by himself. He made 15 Monday.
    Hamilton, one of Detroit's best players, goes by the nickname ''Rip.'' It is supposed to be because he is such a clean shooter that ''rip'' is the sound the net makes when his shot goes through it.
    But he and his teammates have shot crooked all series, this night included, and Miami is hoping Rip will have another meaning to Detroit come Friday.
    As in R.I.P.
    STEW BEEF!

  4. #14
    Glenn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    The Buxtons are not thieves.
    Posts
    2,895
    Blog Entries
    2
    That's great homeriffic stuff.

    I've been waiting all day for Charley Rosen to post his analysis too, nothing yet.
    Find a new slant.

  5. #15
    im surprised lebatard still has a job. hes a mediocre writer and a blatant racist, who also plays the race card when its convenient for him.

    i notice that this year, the freepress and miami herald declined to renew that playfull column where mitch album joked about miami's fairweather fan's and lebatard joked about detroit being the city most resembling hell and being unsuitable for white people to live.

    damn, i wish this dude would just get shot already.

  6. #16
    Glenn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    The Buxtons are not thieves.
    Posts
    2,895
    Blog Entries
    2
    =
    Last edited by Glenn; 06-02-2006 at 10:27 AM.
    Find a new slant.

  7. #17

  8. #18
    Glenn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    The Buxtons are not thieves.
    Posts
    2,895
    Blog Entries
    2
    I was trying to say that LeBatard looks like Flounder from Animal House.

    Swing and a miss.
    Find a new slant.

  9. #19
    The Healer Black Dynamite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Having an awkward moment just to see how it feels.
    Posts
    9,638
    that fat bastard must sweat hard in south beach.
    ^
    Stalked by a Mod who gives 1 percent credence.

  10. #20
    Glenn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    The Buxtons are not thieves.
    Posts
    2,895
    Blog Entries
    2
    From ESPN's Page 2 Daily Quickie:

    What are the big differences between the Pistons being down 3-2 to the Heat in the Eastern finals last year and this year?

    (1) Dwyane Wade: A year ago, Wade had a DNP in Game 6 -- the Heat's worst playoff loss ever -- and continued to struggle with his injured ribs in Game 7 (7-20 FG).

    This season? Despite a slow(er) Game 5, Wade is playing as sharp as anyone in the playoffs. Last year's Game 6 DNP isn't just a bad memory; it might be his greatest motivation.

    (2) Track Record: A year ago, the Pistons had already won in Miami (Game 1); winning there in Game 7 wasn't an entirely new experience.

    This season? The Pistons have lost both games in Miami so far, and neither was even particularly competitive. It's a tougher obstacle to win their first game there with the playoffs on the line.

    (3) Sequencing: Last year, the Pistons played Game 6 in the friendly confines of the Palace to tie the series (remember: with Wade's DNP), then played Game 7 in Miami with all the momentum.

    This season? The Pistons are under pressure to win in Miami first (and, this time, against a healthy Wade), and -- only then -- get the chance to pull the comeback at home in Game 7.

    (4) Coaching: A year ago, it was Larry Brown (who, for all his faults, was still a championship coach) versus Stan Van Gundy (removed this year, probably because of last year's Games 6 and 7 results).

    This season? The roles are reversed: Pat Riley is the experienced playoff manager; Flip Saunders is treading water in the deep end -- barely.

    The last time Saunders had a conference finals Game 6 on the road? His perennially underachieving Wolves lost to Shaq's Lakers.

    (5) Aura: A year ago, the Pistons were the defending champs, with an aura of inevitability to their run through the East.

    This season? Despite renewing their defensive swagger in Game 5, the Pistons have been stripped of that.

    As symbolically significant as Ben Wallace's block on Shaq was in Game 5, it feels more like Shaq is about to take his humiliation out on the Pistons than that the Pistons will continue to dominate the Heat.
    Find a new slant.

+ Reply to Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts