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

  1. #21
    The Healer Black Dynamite's Avatar
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    the all importat aura. the biggest stat of the game.
    ^
    Stalked by a Mod who gives 1 percent credence.

  2. #22
    Glenn's Avatar
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    Re: Charley Rosen

    Quote Originally Posted by Pharaoh
    I don't know - I don't read a lot of articles

    Post some links of his regular work and I'll let you know.
    Most recent article (from earlier today): http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5659252

    Archive: http://msn.foxsports.com/writer/archive?authorId=227
    Find a new slant.

  3. #23
    I'll read some of them and let you know what I think GD
    Rise like Lions after slumber,
    In unvanquishable number -
    Shake your chains to earth like dew
    Which in sleep had fallen on you -
    Ye are many - they are few.

  4. #24
    i generally like Charley Rosen's columns. He tends to get into more detail instead of just sticking with the generalities (a la espn's shitty daily dime bitches)

  5. #25
    Glenn's Avatar
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    I always laugh when he throws a $3 word in there (usually once per article).

    It's like he gets his kicks out of sending people runing to dictionary.com
    Find a new slant.

  6. #26
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    http://www.suntimes.com/output/jacks...spt-jax04.html

    Classless Pistons send a bad message

    June 4, 2006

    BY JOHN JACKSON Staff Reporter

    As much as I admire what the Detroit Pistons have accomplished the last four years, I've grown tired of their constant whining and complaining. No team spends more time moaning to the officials, and they almost never give credit to the opponent when they lose.

    Following a Detroit victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade took a shot at the Pistons when he said, ''I'm not going to be like Detroit. I'll give them credit. When we win, it's because they didn't play well.''

    Whining to the officials and not giving opponents credit is one thing, but the Pistons took their classless act to a new low last week when a few players openly blamed coach Flip Saunders for their struggles.

    Rasheed Wallace questioned Saunders' decision to employ the Hack-a-Shaq strategy in Game 3. Wallace snapped at Saunders twice in that game, once in the first half when he was replaced and headed to the bench and then in the fourth quarter when Shaquille O'Neal was fouled intentionally.

    Perhaps more damning of Saunders was the criticism from Ben Wallace, who said part of the Pistons' defensive problems were the result of not working on defense enough in practice.

    Detroit advanced to the NBA Finals the previous two seasons under Larry Brown, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Saunders would be criticized if this season's team didn't achieve similar success. Saunders understood that when he took the job, but I doubt if he expected the hits to come from his players.

    Outspoken TNT analyst Charles Barkley immediately jumped to Saunders' defense.

    ''I'm [ticked] off at the Pistons,'' Barkley said. ''All season they've been saying, 'We love this guy,' that he 'turned us loose and we don't have the pressure of Larry Brown.' And when things aren't going well, they turn on Flip Saunders and they throw him under the bus.

    ''Nobody on that team has played well, and it's total b.s. for them to blame it on Flip Saunders. Actually, it's kind of punkish to blame it on Flip Saunders. All coaches make mistakes, but the game comes down to players. They have played terrible, and they have a scapegoat in Flip Saunders. And that's terrible.''

    To his credit, Saunders downplayed the criticism.

    ''They gripe all year. Everybody just doesn't know about it,'' the coach said. ''That's how players are. You talk to some of them about where they're at, but I think what you do more than anything, we talk about challenging. You challenge them. It's a matter of going out and executing what we want to have done.''

    Still, some in the Pistons organization felt the need to apologize for the public criticism from the players.

    Sure, there are things Saunders could have done differently early in the series, which the Pistons lost 4-2 on Friday, but as far as I'm concerned, coaching wasn't the deciding factor in any game.

    The Pistons fell behind 3-1 in the series mainly because they weren't playing well enough to win. Ironically, it was the play of the Wallaces that was most responsible for their struggles.

    Instead of griping about Saunders, Rasheed Wallace should have been focusing on being a consistent scorer against the smaller Miami defenders. Instead of worrying about how much time Saunders spent on defense in practice, Ben Wallace should have been more focused on playing like the defensive player of the year.

    Mostly, all of the Pistons players need to look in the mirror. Players decide the outcome of games -- not the officials, not the league office and not the coaches.
    Find a new slant.

  7. #27
    McCosky: Things aren't as bad as they seem
    The big offseason questions surrounds Ben Wallace

    AUBURN HILLS - The suddenness of the collapse will keep the Pistons' organization spinning for a bit. It’s going to take a while to fully comprehend and understand all that went into it.
    When the dust settles, though, things aren’t going to look as bad as they do right now. Toward that end, and before the summer reconstruction officially begins, it might be helpful to sort through the rubble of myths, misperceptions and misrepresentations that were bandied about the past three weeks.
    Myth: Coach Flip Saunders played the starters too many minutes in the regular season, leaving them gassed for the playoffs.
    No starter averaged more than 35 minutes in the regular season. In the last two weeks of the season, Saunders cut the starters’ minutes down below 30 a game. The last three games, it was down under 20.
    Arnie Kander, the Pistons' physical therapist who keeps track of these things, said the players, on the whole, got more rest this season than any of the previous four. What can be said, though, in terms of fatigue, was that the accumulated wear and tear of playing 83 playoff games over four years -- essentially an extra season, with each game played at playoff intensity -- caught up to them.
    They were mentally exhausted and beaten down physically. Saunders kept imploring them to run, to pick up the pace, get into the sets quicker, move the ball -- and it never happened. The Pistons looked like they were running in sand from the middle of the Cleveland series on. There was no juice left.
    Misperception: The players didn’t respect Saunders.
    Saunders, right or wrong, empowered the players to make suggestions and have input on how things would run. Saunders knew he inherited a successful, experienced team, one that had accomplished more than he had. It would have been utter folly for him to come in with a “my way or the highway” approach.
    Did the players take his kindness for weakness? Maybe a little. But there is and always was a mutual respect. The ESPN and ABC cameras caught Rasheed Wallace storming past Saunders on the sidelines, or sitting along at the scorer’s table and assumed there was a rift. Had they been around all year, they would have known that Saunders always kept his huddles brief and Wallace stood at the scorer’s table goofing with broadcaster Rick Mahorn or whoever happened to be there all season long.
    Had they been around all season, they would have known that Wallace often vented his frustration at Saunders. It was part of their working relationship.
    Wallace and Saunders have a very workable relationship, as do most of the other players.
    Misrepresentation: Ben Wallace had issues with Saunders.
    Ben Wallace has had issues with every coach since he’s been a Piston. At some point, it’s not the coach. Wallace’s petulance was more visible this year than ever this season, which was disappointing.
    The guess here is that a convergence of several stresses got to him.
    He has lost a lot of loved ones in the past three years, and he’s talked often about how at times he still finds himself grieving.
    There was his impending contract situation. He’s a free agent July 1. He fired his long-time agent Steve Kaufman, which was painful and embittering for Wallace. He put a lot of trust in Kaufman and in the end, felt his trust and friendship had been betrayed.
    After a draining search, Wallace finally hired a new agent -- the powerful Arn Tellem.
    Read the rest of it here
    http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...127/SPORTS0102

  8. #28
    AG - that's actually a very good article.

    Time to change the sig GD.

    BTW, read some of Rosen's work - he's not bad. I like how he breaks down the play and actually has a point.

    Stuff like this:

    From then on, the game seemed to be up for grabs. Jason Terry's shooting was erratic until the game was won and done late in the fourth quarter. His total numbers — 6-13, 14 points — are therefore very deceiving. (For all of you Xs and Os freaks, the Mavs ran the same curls for Terry that were initially so effective in Game 3, and he responded by knocking down 2-of-2 jumpers.)
    The Mavs' defensive adjustments led to loose double-teaming of Nash. Close enough to let Nash know that any possible layups would be endangered, but far enough away to also challenge his available passing lanes. This was the most effective defensive adjustment made by either team
    He's not just dribbling shit to make a deadline.
    Rise like Lions after slumber,
    In unvanquishable number -
    Shake your chains to earth like dew
    Which in sleep had fallen on you -
    Ye are many - they are few.

  9. #29
    Yeah, Rosen seems like he actually understands the game.

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