New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[FrantzM]

Count me among the Heat NOT-fan ... THey're nt a great team and if they don't balance the team.. They willnot win multiple rings but .. they are a load to play against .. D-Wade is a handful on any given night and now you have to deal with LBJ one one the greatest talent this game has ever seen... Yet they're not balanced and one has to wonder what could have happened with Boston healthy (Bradley and the three other players). Two things came out of this series:
1) LBJ is fully capable of taking over a game and beat another team seemingly alone
2) Doc Rivers is the best coach in the league right now. I have seen him outcoach Phil Jackson although no one uttered such but when the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the Finals some years ago, it was a case of Phil being outcoached by Doc and this year if it weren't for the histrionics of James ... The Celtics would be in the Finals ...

 

[jadis]

I wonder if the media bashing of James after the Heat lost game 5 at home was the shot in the arm that took his performance level up in the last 2 games. The writers were particularly harsh in proclaiming a disaster in his career when all that happened was a 5th game loss and not a 7th game loss and its ensuing elimination. It could be very well that all that talk fired him up no end and it was Doc Rivers who, after Game 6 said that he hoped the media will stop writing that James is not a big time performer. Let's see if he continues this in the Finals. We'll be seeing 2 fantastic basketball talents pit their talents in the mold of Magic vs Bird in 1984. And now that the Celtics are out, I can watch without much tension.

 

[steve williams]

Well I started a new thread with a poll as to who will win. So everyone vote

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...012-NBA-Finals&p=115043&viewfull=1#post115043

 

[jadis]

Yet they're not balanced and one has to wonder what could have happened with Boston healthy (Bradley and the three other players).
...

Frantz, that certainly would have mattered a lot. Fresh legs off the bench to relieve aging starters. Jeff Green, lost to heart surgery at the beginning of the season was a started of OKC last year. Bradley was just starting to jell and contribute on both ends of the court till that unfortunate elbow injury happened. Miami was fortunate (good for them) Bosh recovered in time to play and certainly helped in the last 2 games. But nobody makes excuses. You just show up or you don't. Derek Rose's injury was to me the toughest to handle as a Bull fan because they relied on him so much and they had a fantastic year even with him on and off games. Sad to say, injuries are all part of the game.

 

[steve williams]

James and Heat Assume New Role as Underdogs

From the NY Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/s...bron-james-and-heat-assume-underdog-role.html

 

[jadis]

Hope we're right with OKC at 6, Steve.

It would be interesting to see how OKC will defend against James.

 

[jadis]

The new 'dream rivalry'. Makes a great poster.

 

[steve williams]

I just heard on ESPN that a poll taken by them asking who will win the Finals, over 50,000 votes were cast and 49 states voted OKC whereas only Florida voted for the Heat

 

[jadis]

Not surprising, Steve.

Minutes away from game time.

 

[steve williams]

Incredible game. I've said all along that this team never gets flustered and they overcome all adversity. I thought that the Heat were going to bury OKC with all the tres but the second half is a whole different story.

Go OKC.

 

[jadis]

Yeah!

OKC is a well oiled scoring machine. They showed it again today. Down big at the first 2 quarters they come back, poised and confident in their abilities. Fish did well both ends. And that guy Collison was terrific. Bench of OKC came through despite Harden in early foul trouble. You need at least 3 consistent guys at the bench to be a championship team.

 

[steve williams]

I thought that when OKC grabbed the lead, the Heat imploded, looked lethargic whereas OKC was getting their second win. The bench of OKC is so much deeper than the Heat.

Westbrook looked good but he has some self destructive behavior like last night which resulted in a T

 

[MylesBAstor]

I thought that when OKC grabbed the lead, the Heat imploded, looked lethargic whereas OKC was getting their second win. The bench of OKC is so much deeper than the Heat.

Westbrook looked good but he has some self destructive behavior like last night which resulted in a T

Yeah but Westbrook is simply amazing in the open floor or given a little space on the floor

 

[steve williams]

He is probably the fastest player in the league

IMO the big3 of OKC are simply better than the big 3 of the Heat. This plus a deeper bench makes them still my favorites to win it all

 

[jadis]

He is probably the fastest player in the league

And if I may add, who can shoot pretty well. His pop up jump shots are a joy to watch. It's like a 2 motion thing - he jumps, momentarily freezes in the air, and you can see his wrist motion flipping the ball into the ring. And I like that fact that he is looking for a free man in the paint while driving in. 11 assists in game 1. And he had more rebounds than Perkins in that game.

 

[steve williams]

and the team is so young and so deep in talent that they just might prevent LeBron from getting that ring any time soon

 

[steve williams]

another amazing game with this time OKC not being able to overcome a 17 point deficit and KD in foul trouble. Nonetheless, action at both ends of the court. OKC just ran out of clock but also were blowing it at the line.

So we have a series

 

[jadis]

yeah, both teams are not easy to dispatch. so this is a true dream series. home court has been broken and it's up to okc to adjust next games and take back the advantage. or else, miami will win it all at home.

aggressive start by miami in both games. wade and james came out flying as usual but okc better solve this battier thres phenomenon. to be killed by chalmers is a given but battier is becoming a surprise offensive weapon. 17 points is no joke in a finals game and okc need to watch the tapes and see how this guy gets open looks. okc has to follow the lead of miami by being aggressive next games and not play catch up. . so far, it's miami looking hungrier.

 

[jadis]

Drama, controversies, and the breaks of the game.


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...eVU5OTi6xPL1EL5hp8rOH0agUfmKIDdK-Hi-09VoM#_=_

 

[jadis]

NYDailyNews.com
Knicks

Phil Jackson tells HBO NY Knicks are ‘clumsy’ and Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire ‘don’t fit together well’
Legendary Hall of Fame coach says he wouldn't have taken Knicks job, even if Garden called
Comments (11)
By Michael O'keeffe / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Friday, June 15, 2012, 7:47 PM
Updated: Friday, June 15, 2012, 8:00 PM


BOSTON - JUNE 13: Head coach Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Boston Celtics during Game Five of the 2010 NBA Finals on June 13, 2010 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics won 92-86. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Hall of Fame coach and former Knicks forward Phil Jackson is not impressed with the Knicks roster. In an upcoming 'HBO Real Sports' episode, the Zen Master says Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire can't play together.

There have been rumors that Phil Jackson would be hired to coach the Knicks before the team made Mike Woodson his permanent coach last month, but man who led the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to 11 NBA titles says he wasn't interested in taking the helm of Jim Dolan's "clumsy" club.

In an "HBO Real Sports" interview that premieres on Tuesday, Jackson tells correspondent Andrea Kremer that Dolan never called - and he was glad.

"I wasn't gonna take that job, that's for sure," said Jackson, who played with the Knicks from 1967 to 1978.

Jackson suggests he has given a good deal of thought to coaching the Knicks - "New York is special," he says - but he dismissed the possibility of returning to Madison Square Garden because the current team is "clumsy."

"What's clumsy mean?" Kremer asked.

"Well, they don't fit together well. (Amare) Stoudemire doesn't fit well with Carmelo. Stoudemire's a really good player. But he's gotta play in a certain system and a way.

"Carmelo has to be a better passer. And the ball can't stop every time it hits his hands," Jackson continued. "They need to have someone come in that can kinda blend that group together."

"But wouldn't you have been the perfect person to come in and blend all that talent together?" Kremer said. "You sort of have a good history of that."

"Yeah," Jackson agreed. "Well, it never happened."

Jackson retired from coaching last year after the Dallas Mavericks, the eventual NBA champs, swept his Lakers were swept in a playoff series Several of his players acted boorishly in the Lakers' final game of that season. Center Andrew Bynum clothes-lined the Mavs' JJ Berea.

"It was humbling," Jackson told Kremer. "Not the way I wanna see my players behave on the court. Andrew particularly took his jersey off and walked off the court in a way that was, you know, sense of arrogance. The game itself was bad enough as it went. So it-- it was kinda like-- so this is how it's gonna end, huh? This is an interesting closure to chapter of basketball."

Jackson is recuperating from knee replacement surgery he had in March, and people close to him have said his improved health has got him thinking about returning to coaching.

Jackson acknowledges that he no longer suffers from arthritic pain, but he declined to comment about returning to the NBA.

"No, I'm not gonna answer that," he told Kremer. "I don't have an answer for that question."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...toudemire-fit-article-1.1096639#ixzz1xv3iwQ3P