Haha.

The new season is coming up on us fast. Sadly, I don't think my homerism is justified anymore. I think the Suns will make the playoffs, but who knows how far they'll get. A lot has changed for them.

New coach
New schemes
New style

They still run and gun, but it's limited to when they get some defensive stops. We have a new PG, Goran Dragic, who is actually pretty good, he's not a Steve Nash, but he's more of a 10pt/5ast/5rb kind of guy, which is more production from a backup PG than we've had in the past. I am glad they're focusing more on defense, although I kind of agree that the ol Mike D'Antoni saying of "What, we won 62 games? That means we played better defense 62 times out of 82." That won't win championships.

Imo though, we have a great lineup:



You can blame it on a lot of things... suspensions, injuries, bad luck, but in the end none of that matters. They just didn't win.

This year, the Hornets are smokin' so far, in the West. 5-0 in preseason. Most other teams are breaking even I think, but the Hornets just look dominating. The Suns open their official season on the 28th (?) against the Spurs, and then the next night against the Hornets. This will be interesting to see.

So, how are your teams this year?

I have high hopes for the Rockets this year. Anything less than the NBA Finals is a failure in my book. Yao needs to stay healthy. Period.

I'm excited to see how Artest fits in... Rockets definitely make the playoffs this year again hopefully win a series though. T-Mac and Yao are keys imo, both need to have at least 72 games on the books.

Personally I see Rockets rolling into the playoffs at 55-27.

Suns? 50-32 maybe. Hopefully that's competitive enough to get in. Heh. Couple West teams from last season have slid a lil bit though.

There are more teams in the NBA than the Suns. Then again, a casual reader could come to these boards and read all of your posts on the NBA and they would never know that there are other teams. Well, I guess you do bitch and whine about the Spurs on occasion, but still...

And yes, I can see where a homer bandwagon fan like yourself would not care about this season, since the Suns are basically abandoning their exciting fast-paced style for a more conservative system. Porter already said he is looking to shave off ten points per game off of last year's offensive totals, and he wants to slow it down. Woo. Then again, I guess you are the type of "fan" who abandons your team once they start to go downhill. If that is the case, I have a New Orleans Hornets jersey waiting for you to try on if you want to fall in love with the flavor of the month/year.

Or, I believe I recall you are moving to Utah, aye? Not sure how well you will be treated up there, since those fans are loyal hardcore fans who stay with the Jazz through thick and thin. But I suppose you can jump on their bandwagon this year, because they have a legitimate chance of making the Finals.

And yes, people care about the NBA. It is the #2 sport in America, and is doing just fine thanks! Maybe you should go back and rename your thread "NBA- Do I Really Care Since My Team Sucks This Year?"

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Might be harder to predict all the teams that WON'T make the playoffs rather than the ones that do.

I personally enjoy watching college ball better.

Oddly enough, I prefer professional football over the college game.

Go figure.

Something wrong with you methinks.

I prefer a playoff system over the BCS system any day of the week. When college football switches, then I become a bigger fan. Back on the topic of the thread...

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Detroit- Most talent in the conference. Deeper than last year. Curry needs to install discipline and focus; if he does this, they are in the Finals. If he cannot, then Dumars will get rid of either Wallace/Hamilton/Billups before the trade deadline and rebuild for the future with Prince/Stuckey/Maxiell. This team should be the best, but (depending on focus or lack thereof) they can also implode and be a lower tier playoff team.

2. Boston- Losing Posey hurts more than most think. Rondo needs to continue to improve on leading the team and becoming more assertive as the PG. Big question is... last year they had motivation and desire to win. Now that they have won, will they still have the same intensity... or lay off a bit now that they all have their ring?

3. Philadelphia- Brand is huge, especially in Eastern Conference. They are young, talented, and Cheeks is highly underrated. Miller might be the difference on how well they do this year- if he plays distributor role they are great... if he wants to take lots of shots, they will be average/above average.

4. Atlanta- Improved greatly, they are much better than their 38 win season last year indicated. I like this team a lot- their starting five is as good as any in the NBA, and adding Evans as a role player helps the loss of Childress. I expect a 45 win season from this team, and many years of playoff appearances due to youth and talent.

5. Toronto- O'Neal is a huge X-factor for this club. If he can come back from his injuries last year and play at the level he was a few years ago, then this team can be as high as 3 in this conference. If not, then they are an average/above average team that won't get past the second round. Really depends on O'Neal and his health/talent... although they really could use an outside shooter that teams fear and respect. Otherwise they got everything else.

6. Chicago- Rose has looked good so far, penetrating the middle at will. This team has too much talent to not be a playoff team. If they can get great value in a Gordon trade, then they should host a first round playoff series. If not, they will still be playoff bound but probably not past the first round.

7. Orlando- Only because of Howard and Lewis. They still need a solid PG to help them get to the next tier.

8. Cleveland- LeBron is waiting to go to New Jersey or New York. I think Jersey will be better able to get the money to pay him, and Jay-Z will be enough of an influence. LeBron gets them a playoff birth, that is it.

9. Miami- Wade looks like he is back, but I think the big key is Livingston. If he is ever able to stay healthy and play up to his "next Magic" billing that he has been labeled with for the past four years... then Miami could be a middle of the pack playoff team. However, I just don't think he will be healthy enough to do so. Look for Marion to be gone by the trade deadline as they get ready for 2009.

10. Milwaukee- Interesting team. Some solid players, a new gritty and tough coach, they could surprise some people this year. Most likely a year or two away however...

Rest of teams will not challenge for they playoffs, and are of inconsequence. Jersey will deal Carter either this year or next to make room for James, Washington is too injured to be of significance, rest of the conference awaits the draft lottery next year.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. Lakers- Add Bynum to this mix and they can be awfully deadly. Kobe still wants his Shaq-less ring, and I think he now sees his opportunity to get it. The window is still open for this team, and I don't think they want to see it slammed shut like the Suns and possibly Pistons (unless they can focus every night).

2. Jazz- Rock solid, hard nosed defensive team. Boozer and Williams make a great new age Malone/Stockton combo, although big rumors that Boozer might be traded. If Boozer gets traded then they fall down mightily... assuming he stays, this is the second best team in the conference. Still would like to see them get a pure outside shooter that will start and make teams honest- Korver is a pure shooter, but not necessarily a starter. Still talented and a great team.

3. Houston- Artest loves Adelman, which should help their rapport. This team is all based on health of Yao and McGrady. If they stay healthy for most of the season and enter into the playoffs healthy and ready... then this is a Western Conference Finals team with an outside shot of the NBA Finals. At the very worst, Houston should finally win a first round playoff series.

4. New Orleans- I know they did great last year; however, I am still not 100% sold on Chandler and Stoyakovic. Yes CP3 is amazing, but the rest of the team... not so much. How much of Chandler and West improvement last year was because of them, or because of CP3? They are thinking NBA Finals potentially if they were in the East, but in this conference they are a first round playoff loss waiting to happen.

5. San Antonio- This is it for their window. Age is creeping up, they did not add anyone of note/value in the off season. Manu's injury scares me, they could definitely slide further down the list. Still will make the playoffs, but unless Pop can muster up one final courageous motivation for a big playoff run for this team... they may have to start thinking about rebuilding. The big trio still have one last run in them, will be interesting to see where they stand come playoff time.

6. Portland- I love this team. Young, hungry, talent laden from top to bottom. Roy is a star, Oden will be solid defensively, and Rudy Fernandez is a star waiting to explode- possibly this year. And Pritchard is such a great GM that he will be able to pull off a trade at the deadline for a top notch player. Portland has enough talent and high dollar expiring contracts to make such a move. This is definitely the future of the Western Conference.

7. Phoenix- Window is closed. I would not be surprised if Nash gets traded at the deadline and they go into full blown rebuilding mode. Maybe next year Nash is traded (forgot if his contract is up this year or next). The system Porter is bringing on simply does not suite Nash's talents at all, and Barbosa needs a run/gun team to be successful. Would not be surprised to see Barbosa traded as well to a fast break team, maybe a Golden State?

8. Clippers- Don't laugh. This team has talent. Camby was a steal, and provides great interior defensive presence. Thornton is a young stud blossoming, and could be a solid 15-20 point scorer each night. Gordon is a great sixth man, I harken him to a Vinnie Johnson of the old Pistons teams. I think Davis has something to prove to people, and he might be motivated at the slight Brand did to him.

9. Denver- Carmelo and Iverson together, and not making the playoffs? I see lots of friction with Karl and 'Melo, one of them will be gone by the end of the season. I don't understand the Camby trade at all on their perspective, unless it was a straight salary dump. Nene's health is huge, and if he can be healthy then they might have a chance. I just think Melo is going to be gone by the trade deadline, especially if Denver gets off to a rocky start in November and December.

10. Dirk not in the playoffs? I guess when you fail to add significant pieces in the off season, that is what happens- you get leap frogged. Very interested to see how Cuban reacts to this mess.

Rest of the teams are thinking 2009 lottery already. Golden State has some decent young players, but are a couple years from contending again... Minnesota is a year or two away (depending on their lottery placement in 2009) but they are making good moves to position themselves for the future... OJ Mayo will put up a lot of stats, upset people because he won't be a "team" man, and friction and conflict might come about.

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I love how you make fun of Skycrasher's homerism but every year you think Detroit is the best team in the East (or in the entire NBA).

And my post was in no way homerism. I asked about "YOUR" team, i.e., your fav. team. I posted about mine. I'll post some more later. Dallas just pwned the Rams, 7-0 2 minutes into the game.

Touchdown Rams biatch! Don't count us out of this one!

You're right, no one cares about the NBA.

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :breath:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hoe 'bout dem Cowboys?!?!?!?!!?!?!

They need to fire Bum Jr. I have seen more emotion out of a dead guy. He is lost.
They play calling was horrid. Johnson couldn't complete a pass more than 5 yards yet they still kept calling the long pass plays.
They are so undisciplined they can lose to everyone.
Their defense is bad, offense, inconsistent, and their special teams are horrid. Unless something changes this team will have a hard time making the playoffs

Yes, people care. I am one of them.

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I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer.

Pro basketball is the number 2 sport in America? That strikes me as not true. Above NASCAR or Golf or Baseball? I'm not saying it isn't true just that it it is true it would surprise me.

There is no way it's ahead of Baseball or Football. It might be #3 (Golf and Nascar might be bigger though, don't know), but that's a huge drop off from the big 1-2 spots. At least it's beating Hockey these days, that's a notch in the hat I guess.

You would think the reigning NBA champs would get a little more love, at least until they lose a regular season game. I don't even like Boston, but come on...

I'm curious-- what criteria are you using to designate what sport is "#1, #2 etc.?" Hype? Spectators in the seats? Dollars earned? TV ratings?

If it is spectators at seats in live events, my understanding is that NASCAR wins, hands down.

I'm a Detroit homer too, but I would rank Boston above them again this year.

NASCAR has larger venues averaging 186,000
Major League Baseball has a larger total attendance for their season ~79 million

I think the biggest number is television rights fees.
The NFL earns nearly $4 billion each year (well in excess of $100 million a year per team)
Major League Baseball and the NBA earn more than $700 million a year (more than $20 million per team)
NASACAR earns $240 million in television rights fees
NHL earns about $60 million in national rights fees (amounts to about $2 million per team)

I forgot, NCAA FBS (Formerly Div1) football attendance:
Total Attendance 37,018,285 averaging 46,918 per game

Golf is irrelevant unless Tiger Woods is playing- TV ratings, along with attendance at events, prove that. I don't have the actual stats available, nor do I want to go search for them- you can do so if you wish. However, the fact remains that no Tiger = no care from sports fans.

NASCAR is popular, I give you that. However, it is hard to gauge attendance as a factor since a NASCAR event holds up to 9 times more people than a NBA event... and in some situations, possibly 13 times as much. A 12,000 seat NBA arena can sell out while a NASCAR event that holds 150,000 can put 55,000 in the arena and still have more attendance. I will say that NASCAR enjoyed a boom a few years ago, but seems to be dipping a bit in popularity outside of the Southeast. NASCAR events usually only happen once per year in an American city, which explains its popularity in that city... for that week. What happens when NASCAR leaves that city and moves onto the next one?

Baseball plays twice as many games per year. Look at percentage of seats filled for MLB games- hell, the Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series... and as recently as early September were playing pennant race games in front of only 13,000 people!!! I am going to guess that Tropicana holds 40,000... which means that a pennant race team was filling its event at 1/3 capacity?!??! Even the worst attendance NBA team is filling up at least 3/4 of its seats on a nightly basis... and it is rare that a NBA event is not filled up by at least 90% of seating capacity. And we shall see how "popular" MLB is with a Rays/Phillies World Series TV ratings. They are already saying that FOX is going to lose millions and millions with this disasterous pairing.

I personally think that NBA is #2 in popularity. They are expanding into Europe within the next 5-10 years most likely, and are looking at China as another revenue source. They fill up their games, they sell merchandise, the season seems just about right as far as length goes (although I think they could probably cut it down to 65-70 games and still be fine)... look at the Olympics- of all the major sports, basketball was still far more popular than anything except Phelps. People love basketball, they love the NBA. Only thing basketball wise that beats it out is March Madness, but then again that destroys everything in March...

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Nope, don't give a fuck about basketball.

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Marauder Harabakc Goat

me either

my PERSONAL sports ratings:

1 - NCAA Football
1a - NFL Football
2 - NCAA Basketball
3 - Major League Baseball
4 - PGA Golf (Mostly the Majors and Ryder Cup)
5 - Horse Racing (Triple Crown, Major Races, Breeders Cup)
6 - NBA (mostly the playoffs)
7 - NHL (mostly playoffs)
8 - Tennis (Grand Slam events)
9 - Boxing/MMA (trying to get into MMA)
10 - Arena Football

Can we just ban Cicely from ever posting in the sports section again due to being a complete dumbass every time he does. Seriously, every time this idiot posts he just shows his lack of knowledge about sports in general.

Every NBA game I have ever attended was 1/2 full at best even though the paid attendance was considered sold out. Literally the most boring sporting events I have ever seen. I would have preferred badmitten or ping pong. It wasn't that it was just boring though, the players and the courtside people were constantly swearing loudly and acting like babies. I was with a bunch of kids and man do I not want them looking at those guys as role models. Would not buy again.

I've been lucky being a Suns fan, we've had some ridiculous number of sellouts spanning a few seasons. Always packed to the brim there.

But I mean the Hawks in 05 and Celtics in 06 (07?) were some of the worst teams and the Celtics have a legacy, they have a hard time filling the seats. (Celtics not now of course.)

Good part of having a shitty team is tickets are cheap when you want to go see good teams. Me and my buddies wanted to buy court side seats for Hawks in 06 when they were like 150 bones each, and fly out there to watch the Suns play. Lowest court side seat here is 6000 bones I think.

But Tiger Woods does play. That's like saying basketball is worthless without Shaq or Kobe. Of course the big stars matter. The league didn't die when Jordan left, and he was the biggest icon any sport has ever had in my lifetime.



55,000 is more than 12,000. There is no guarantee that having another 43,000 seats available at a BB game will mean they all sell out. If a local playhouse only seats 25 but sells out every single night, does that make it more popular than basketball because it's at 100% capacity every night? If so, I'm going to start practicing my Shakespeare.



The worst NBA teams are not filling 3/4 of their seats every night. The Rays are not a typical baseball team either, it's amazing how well they're doing with so little local support. Baseball plays 2x as many games because it can. If basketball could fill that many seats for that many games, it would. They don't build 60,000 seat basketball stadiums because the ticket sales wouldn't support it.



Expanding into other countries doesn't make a sport more popular here, that is discussing how popular the sport is in other countries. Basketball is way behind soccer and baseball in that regard. It has probably passed football internationally, but international appeal is off topic. Also, people love basketball in the olympics because all the NBA stars play. If baseball did the same thing it would crush basketball for olympic dominance.

This site has the pro (team) sports ranked by revenue, the NBA is indeed in 3rd (by a mile), behind the NFL and MLB.

http://www.plunkettresearch.com/Industr ... fault.aspx

Baseball also has twice the games as the NBA does each season, and then playoffs. Makes sense. Football is just the American sport I think. Moreso than baseball imo.

Baseball has more games and bigger stadiums, the NBA has higher ticket prices, and many more playoff games (more national tv games). I still think baseball is more popular overall, outside of Miami and LA, how many cities have a basketball team with a bigger fanbase than the baseball team? Maybe detroit?

I'm a huge basketball fan, coached for the last two years, and it's something I will always love (I do live in Kentucky). However, it's really hard to watch the NBA with their attitudes, salaries, and now constant moving due to being unhappy babies.

The NBA is living in the shadow of the 80's, it's not the same, and it doesn't even look like they try until the finals.

I'll watch (TV or attend) NCAA Football and basketball before anything. Heck, i'll grab a High School game before i'll watch a lot of other sports. Baseball, to me, is tainted, NASCAR just isn't my thing, and Golf is somewhat boring unless it's a Tiger thing.

I'll be rooting for the Wizards probably again this year, i'm a huge Jamison fan. I like D-wade and Chris Paul so i'll probably be cheering for them as well but, I doubt i'll be catching many games. Here's hoping the All-star game is good this year. That's something I really miss from the mid-80's to the early 90's. Nique vs. Jordan in the slam dunk, Bird in 3-point, and a great all-star game. Those were the days.

Muli

NCAA basketball isn't anything like it used to be, either. Ever since kids started coming out early (around the Garnett/Kobe straight to the pros from high school era), the college game has suffered. The NBA tried to fix that by making them go to school at least 1 year, but that hasn't really helped.

College sports aren't interesting to me. They're not as good as professional athletes. Heh.

That's very true. It's something they NEED to fix for sake of the sports and ultimately the kids. I know people give the example of, "What if they get hurt before their pro-opportunity." I have always thought that it should be 2 years or 21. Most major universities have 4 semesters of core studies that everyone must take outside of their established major. Essentially meaning you can go to school 2 years undecided before making a career choice and still graduate on time. I think the maturity would help the professional sports as well. Right now, we have pro sports filled with teenagers with multi million dollar bank accounts.

Muli

Actually, my opinion on the topic is that I think they should be able to skip college for the pros. I just think the college game suffers because of it. Why can Michelle Wie become a pro at age 15 but Kevin Durant can't become a pro at age 19? Why can Monica Seles make millions as a teenie-bopper tennis player, but Maurice Clarett can't join the NFL early (what a bust he was, anyway)? Teen actors make millions and get into all sorts of trouble. Teen singers drive themselves to rehab in their $100,000 cars. I don't like the double-standard, personally.

Which is why I feel they should protect their atheletes. I think you have shown enough evidence that there should be a standard for Professional atheletes in all sports. Why add to the the Hollywood pile of ruined lives and broken families for money? If I was a Professional organization, if nothing else for reputation sake, I would steer clear of such situation.

Muli

But if you were a gifted athelete, you'd want to play when you were ready, right? Tiger Woods came out ok. Ken Griffey Jr. came out ok. Michelle Wie is a choke artist, but she seems to have her head on straight. Outside of Jennifer Capriati (who went through a rough patch) and maybe three or four others, most tennis pros come out ok. Kevin Garnett came out ok. Kobe came out ok. You hear about basketball players being busts more than you hear about them having messed up lives because they came out early. And even those busts end up playing in the CBA, the developmental league, or overseas.

I like the way MLB handles the HS to Pro progression. For the MLB draft you can be drafted out of HS. If you sign then you are a pro and can't play college baseball. If you do not sign and you go to college you can not be drafted until after your junior year.

That protects the team, the student, and the college to some degree. I think it would benefit the NBA to implement something in the same manner. It would give those that are truly gifted a chance to "cash in" early yet give those that just have been told by their inner-circle that they are gifted a security net to fall back on should they not go in the draft. They NBA draft is now, what two rounds -- Thirty some odd teams resulting in 60 or so draft picks.

The NFL is somewhat different in that 99.9% of High School football players are not physically able to compete in the NFL. It may not be the reason why it was implemented but not having football players to be able to be drafted until three years after their HS graduation, but I think it also helps to protect the player. Look at the difference in size/speed/power at your major colleges from a players' freshman year to their junior year.

I definitely agree that pro football, more than pretty much any other sport, needs people who have bodies that have matured. But where was all of this "protection of the youth" when Freddie Adu became a soccer pro at age 14 and even played for US national teams and was the cover boy for American soccer?

There is none.

Sadly because the protection of that youths that participate in soccer, swimming, tennis, rodeo, <insert other non-revenue producing college sport here> aren't as protected because the college doesn't gain anything from it.

It is a major double-standard. If the student-athlete can benefit (read:make money for) the university then the university is interested in protecting (read:keeping) that student-athlete.

regular season nba will be worth watching when they cut the number of teams in the post season in half

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spurs and mavs suckin cock so far, and spurs looking to do so for the next month w/ ginobili and parker out

lakers, rockets, suns, jazz all looking really good

hornets, rockets, looking good but not as good as those 4

celtics and hawks kickin ass in the east, cavs not too shabby either

personal homer note, if the suns are looking this decent (minus their f'in turnovers) 6-2 so far, w/ a new coach and new system, i can't wait til see around mid-season when shit gets clickin.

Congratulations on your week and a half assessment of the NBA! Mighty impressive I must say.

And I am proud of your continued hard on for your Suns team. Of course, one *could* point out that of their six wins only one was against a legitimate team (Portland, and no I am not counting a win against the Spurs w/o Ginobili legitimate)... but hey, who is counting? I mean, the first 10-14 days of a NBA season will pretty much play out as is, correct?

Which means, naturally, that the Lakers and Hawks will go 82-0 and meet in the Finals. Interesting... of course, my Pistons will go 4-78 and fail to score over 100 points in a game the rest of the way. And last (but certainly not least) Spencer Hawes will finish as a top 10 fantasy NBA player. Glad he is on my team!

OK whatever. It is the first week of the season. No one is putting much stock into any of these games, and if you are then that is sad. A quarter of a season really needs to go by before some solid analysis and trends can start happening. Yes it is nice that the Hawks are undefeated... but if you think this is a 60 win team, then I laugh out loud at you. This is the NBA where every team goes on streaks (both winning AND losing), and it is hard to say that the Spurs are awful when 2/3 of their top players are sidelined. Although you can say that they are too old and lack a bench to when they do lose 2/3 of their stars, they are not struggling as mightily as they are. Blame the GM on that one for failing to acquire enough of a bench to carry them through these tough times.

And before anyone bashes the Pistons... they just got rid of their starting point guard of the last what, nearly 7 years? There is going to be a transition period for everyone involved. In the end I think this makes them better this year, gives them a better chance to get to the Finals, and if they don't then they are in a position for the next two years to land the big time free agent that they want/need.

And yes, the Cavs are shabby. Although Mo Williams was a great addition for them, I just don't think they have what it takes. James gets them to the playoffs, most likely the second round... but that is it. And I don't care what they have done for the first 7 games... talk to me at game 20-25. Then we will see who they really are.

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Every game counts in the West fucktard

I also said "so far" -- and the Spurs have indeed fucking sucked so far. Excuses don't matter. Nobody gave a shit when Suns lose Bell, or Amare and Boris were suspended for bullshit, etc. If you can't win without a key component then you're not likely to win it all anyhow. Same could be said for the Suns in the past, but now we actually have a bench that contributes, and we're actually playing defense now. Oh yeah, we're winning too.

Like I said though, in the West, every single game counts -- unlike the east where you have teams w/ 35 wins going to the playoffs and almost beating a 67 win team.

Dumbfuck.

Ha ha calm down, don't get your panties all riled up in a bunch lol.

Just don't get all excited about a 6-2 record where you have wins over Indiana, New Jersey, Memphis, etc. Sure you are beating the teams you *should* beat, but let's see what happens when you start playing quality teams. You can only play the East twice a year per team, so it is nice that you are racking up those East wins. Of course, when you start playing against quality West teams and losing... don't come crying to the boards

And you should also realize that the playoffs do not necessarily mean that the team with more wins is the far and away superior team. Match up problems exist (look at Golden State-Dallas a few years ago), teams that are peaking at the end of the season (Philadelphia was extremely hot at the end of last year and gave Detroit a good run), injuries (I think it was Washington within the past couple years lost 2/3 of their stars right before the playoffs started, thus ending their playoff season) exist, big trades at the trade deadline that take a few weeks to develop and finally push the team into the playoffs exist, etc etc etc. So just cause you win 60+ games in the regular season doesn't mean that you are an automatic sweep.

Dumbfuck

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I'd rather be 6-2 than 2-6.

And I would rather be 2-6 and make the playoffs at the end of the year than be 6-2 and not make the playoffs at the end of the year.

Your point again is?

PS- even if the Suns do make the playoffs, they are not hosting the first round and are most likely one and done. The Pistons are not only making the playoffs, they have a realistic chance of the Conference Finals and possible NBA Finals.

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Lol

Your crystal ball is intriguing. What's the winning lottery numbers for next week?

17
22
29
34
41
52

Powerball number- 4

If you win, I get half!!!

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why did t-mac have to come out and play well this game when the suns are sputtering

god damnit! frustrating! workin them kinks out.

Heaven forbid a NBA superstar shows up and plays! Then again, the Rockets are a quality team and the Suns are, well...

I was looking at the Suns' upcoming schedule for the first 20 games. I am predicting 11 wins for them at that point. Above .500 yes, but I doubt they would be overly thrilled with that. However, that falls in line with my prediction anywas that they are barely above a .500 team that is a first round casualty (if they make the playoffs at all. However, some teams that I thought would be better have not shown it yet, so they could get in that way. Of course, maybe those teams that I thought would be better will get better and become who I think they will become, and knock out the Suns.)

I am excited- going to the Suns/Pistons game this Sunday. The crowd is generally 1/3 Detroit fans, so we should have a jolly good time as always, since the last three years that Detroit has come to Phoenix that have not only won, but embarassed them on their home floor

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It's no use talking with you because you just say things you know will get under my skin. Apart from being clueless, you're also just a troll. So, no dice on that one bud. The proof is in the pudding.

All that matters is last year your team didn't win. Neither did mine. Until they do, neither is better than the other one because they're all losers until they win it all, right?

Hey cicely accept the trade I proposed to you in the lanys fantasy football league. Mewelde Moore for Justin Gage. Do it now, great trade. accept proposal

Classic, just fucking classic.

Hi, Cicely

Good game. Shaq ejected in the first half, Barnes still suspended, and Barbosa in Brazil attending to his mother who just passed away. All in all, a very nice blowout win by the Suns. They dominated every person on your team nearly every minute of the game. Even our bench pwned Detroit. Vindication. The Suns are a very much improved team this year, and this win showed it. 8-3!

Love,
Hunter

PS:

Man Detroit got embarassed last night. We shot like 39% from the field while letting Phoenix shoot like 58%. That is pretty much the ball game right there. Suns built up a lead early on, I think it got to double digits early in the second quarter, and Detroit I think only got the game to single digits early in the fourth quarter for like a minute or two. Never once was in the game.

I could make the excuse that this was Detroit's third road game in four nights, I could make the excuse that Nash was fully rested from his supsension, I could make the excuse that Shaq getting thrown out made the team rally around that, I could make the excuse that for three straight years Detroit has owned Phoenix in Phoenix, so this was a redemption game... but I cannot. Bottom line is- last night, my team got completely outplayed and embarassed by Phoenix. I cannot say that will happen every night, but last night we *clearly* were inferior.

And not once did I hear the Detroit Basketball chant. Past three years- dozens and dozens of times, especially in last year's blowout. Not once last night though, cause the Pistons just never gave us a chance to use it. We were dominated from the start of the game. Geez.

Although I will say that I do think it was more the Pistons losing, and not the Suns winning. It was not like every Piston shot was contested with a hand in the face by a great Suns defense... they were missing plenty of open shots that they should make (and usually do). I will credit the Suns half court game- that is MUCH improved from last year, although I do think Shaq proved last night how awful and overrated he is with some of his poor post moves. But Stoudamire has greatly improved his offensive shot, especially his outside shooting, and they seemed to have very good spacing in the half court set which was a surprise to me. But I am not about to crown the Suns a top 5 defensive squad because, well, the Pistons were missing too many shots that they would normally make. And these weren't shots with 1 second on the shot clock either, just regular offensive rhythm flow shots...

But again, kudos to the Suns. After three years my friends down here finally have bragging rights

edit- Fixed a typo, oops.

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Classic Shaq:



It was definitely the Suns winning and not the Pistons losing. They were simply dominated by a team that was clearly better than them for that game. With everything the Suns were dealing with, missing a starter, key bench player, and having Shaq ejected after playing only 12 minutes, there are simply no excuses.

This is good news for the Suns, because they played with the finesse that they usually do and they were able to grind it out in half-court and play some amazing defense. There were 9 blocks for the Suns, ol' Nash had 2 of'em. Just a really great game and when the Suns play like that, which hopefully they continue to do, nobody can beat them.

Well congratulations on your hope that Nash continues to get 2 blocks a game...

Did you watch the game? Were you at the game? The Pistons were missing open jump shots. Open jump shots. Focus on the word "open" which basically means that there wasn't a defense around them to contest the shot. Good defensive teams put hands in faces, switch on picks, have spacing, contest shots, etc etc. When you are missing open jump shots, none of that is happening.

Now I will say that Porter does have them playing better defense compared to last year. I noticed that they were doing better defensively (outside of those open jump shots), and they were doing a better job of spacing and switching. Having said that, they are still not that great of a defensive team IMHO... only better compared to last year. Which is not really saying a whole lot.

But I will say that they looked good last night, they needed to win that game, and they won it convincingly. I just don't take much stock in a Piston team that shoots 39% from the field cause that is not going to happen that much, just like Nash is not going to get 2 blocks a game. Hell he may not get two more blocks the rest of the year.

Phoenix, however, did awful at offensive rebounding. There were many many many situations where there was maybe one guy at most that was near the basket for an offensive rebound. I don't know if they were just more concerned with transition defense (which is fine), or if they are that poor at offensive rebounding. I think there was only like 2 that I remember that were legitimate offensive rebounds close to the basket- I am not sure if long rebounds that bounce on the ground first really count as an offensive rebound . But anyways I did notice that they were definitely not crashing the glass, and if the reason is not transition defense then that is an area of concern...

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