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Ghoser777 · 07:13 AM

Okay... so is this Bulls-Celtics series the best ever? Let's break down what we've seen so far:

Game 1: Bulls steal a game in Boston in OT
Game 2: Celtics win game on three pointer at the end of regulation
Game 3: Stinker of the series - Celtics win in a blow out in Chicago
Game 4: Bulls win a classic in Double OT
Game 5: Celtics come back from the dead in the 4th to eventually win in OT. "The Foul" may become infamous with Bulls fans.
Game 6: Staving off elimination, Bulls win in Triple OT. Rondo gets a technical foul for throwing Kirk Hinrich of the Bulls into the scores table.
Game 7: TBD

Captain Obvious · May 1, 2009, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by Ghoser777

Okay... so is this Bulls-Celtics series the best ever?

Best that I can remember since i was in junior high and Jordan was still playing. But what a great series it ended up being. I haven't wanted to watch NBA post seasons games much less reg season games in a decade and these last couple weeks brought me back.

exca1ibur · May 1, 2009, 01:41 AM

Yes, I have to say this is the best series ever. I mean whoever wins you have to give up to both teams. They are putting it all on the line.

Apple Pro Underwear · May 1, 2009, 02:30 AM

I'm rooting for Chi-Town! Amazing game

Dakar V · May 1, 2009, 09:14 AM

The parity is phenomenal. 'Course if Garnett wasn't injured or Vinny Del Negro was a good coach, it would have been completely different, so you have to appreciate this very random aligning of the stars, so to speak.

::maroma:: · May 1, 2009, 12:08 PM

The series is incredible. Best that I can remember watching for sure. They've almost played an extra game with all of the OT minutes.

And may I say Rose is an awesome rookie. He can blow by anyone, and he can finish. His future could be phenomenal.

And Ray Allen is an unreal shooter.

Dakar V · May 1, 2009, 12:18 PM

The three he buried while drifting laterally was incredible. That has to be the hardest shot in basketball.

Sealobo · May 8, 2009, 09:09 AM

I wanna chop kobe's elbow off after watching game 2 against Houston. wtf is wrong with this black dude elbowing my main man Ron Ron?

and Fisher was outright crazy knocking down Scola the European MVP.

::maroma:: · May 8, 2009, 12:36 PM

Kobe didn't play very professionally in that game, for sure. That elbow was a lame move, and his constant trash talking to Battier came off as immature to me. From what I've seen Battier never said he could stop Kobe, he just tried as hard as he could to make things difficult for him. Kobe was acting like a jerk.

And I wish Fisher would be banned from the rest of the playoffs. That shoulder was so deliberate and aggressive, it was more like a hokey check than anything else. I lost a ton of respect for him with that one decision. I lost a lot of respect for the Lakers in general (not that my respect level for them was very high to begin with).

I'm hoping Houston can win the next 2 games and put the Lakers on their heals. As much as I'd enjoy seeing a Lebron vs Kobe finals, I don't think the Lakers deserve to play in the Finals anymore.

Dakar V · May 8, 2009, 12:39 PM

Kobe was reacting to the media. Also, Kobe is a jerk.

As for Fisher, his body check was as disturbing as Horry's a few years back.

rickey939 · May 8, 2009, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by Ghoser777

Okay... so is this Bulls-Celtics series the best ever? Let's break down what we've seen so far:

Game 1: Bulls steal a game in Boston in OT
Game 2: Celtics win game on three pointer at the end of regulation
Game 3: Stinker of the series - Celtics win in a blow out in Chicago
Game 4: Bulls win a classic in Double OT
Game 5: Celtics come back from the dead in the 4th to eventually win in OT. "The Foul" may become infamous with Bulls fans.
Game 6: Staving off elimination, Bulls win in Triple OT. Rondo gets a technical foul for throwing Kirk Hinrich of the Bulls into the scores table.
Game 7: TBD

It was good enough to make me a temporary Bulls fan again.....which is really saying something!

E-P-I-C

Jawbone54 · May 8, 2009, 11:00 PM

I loved watching the series, and yes, it was one of the greatest ever.

But can it really be considered the greatest ever when neither team would reach the Finals? This is assuming, of course, that Rondo's cheap tactics and Ray Allen's miracle work can only carry them so far.

::maroma:: · May 12, 2009, 12:39 PM

I think its fair to call is the best series ever. Its not the best playoff run ever, just the series.

Now, if the Cavs can sweep every team they play in these playoffs to win the Championship, then I would call that the best playoff run ever. They're on their way. I hope they meet the hobbling Celtics in the next round, then sweep the floor with Kobe and the rest of the Laker thugs.

boy8cookie · May 12, 2009, 03:49 PM

Playing dirty makes you a thug? Interesting.

I'm really not a fan of all these retroactive fouls, if the refs missed it, its not a foul.

Dakar V · May 12, 2009, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by boy8cookie

I'm really not a fan of all these retroactive fouls, if the refs missed it, its not a foul.

Buuuullllshiiiiit.

patrickC · May 12, 2009, 10:22 PM

I'm a Hawks fan... wish they could have pulled off at least 1 win. They need to make some big moves in the off season if they ever plan to get passed to 2nd round.

macfantn · May 12, 2009, 10:46 PM

Cavs all the Way

they may go 16 - 0

::maroma:: · May 13, 2009, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by boy8cookie

Playing dirty makes you a thug?

I'm not referring to drug selling, nose breaking street thugs. I'm talking dirty fouling, elbow throwing basketball thugs.

And the Lakers aren't the only team doing that sort of crap this playoffs, I just like picking on them. Its been a particularly rough post season this year.

Dakar V · May 13, 2009, 12:26 PM

I'm really pissed Yao's injury is going to let them off the hook from what was shaping up to be a tough series.

::maroma:: · May 13, 2009, 04:45 PM

Indeed. Lets hope at least the Rockets win tomorrow and push it to game 7. At least make the Lakers work as hard as possible for the series win.

quesera · May 14, 2009, 10:24 PM

Go Houston!

Rumor · May 14, 2009, 11:20 PM

Cavs are going to take it. LeBron deserves it.

angelmb · May 18, 2009, 02:17 PM

D'oh !! Needs no further explanation.

Jawbone54 · May 18, 2009, 02:33 PM

I'm just glad I don't have to watch KG jutting his jaw out all game long anymore.

::maroma:: · May 18, 2009, 05:04 PM

Is anyone else annoyed at the NBA for splitting up the playoffs between 4 networks? I have an HDTV, but I don't get HD versions of TNT, ESPN and I don't get the NBA Channel at all. So the only HD games I get to watch are when they are on ABC.

I get it that they can't put every game on ABC, but why 4 different channels? Is there a rational reason for this that doesn't involve money? (that's probably a silly question) And I would think that they could move to ABC only now that there is only 1 game on a night at most. Instead all of the Cavs vs Magic games are on TNT (even the one on Sunday).

Dakar V · May 18, 2009, 05:11 PM

I certainly don't appreciate them putting them on NBA TV, since not all cable subscribers (I"ll bet most) get it.

As for the ESPN/ABC, technically they're the same channel (In that ESPN basically covers all of the sports for ABC). But yes, things were better when it was just NBC. ESPN just doesn't have the consistency for regular and playoff games like NBC had. Also, the theme music.

::maroma:: · May 18, 2009, 05:54 PM

Yeah, its the NBA TV thing that really cooks my goose. Since I can watch the ESPN/TNT games (albeit in SD), it is tolerable to a certain degree.

I too miss the good ole days of NBA on NBC. No one does theme music like John Tesh.

Jawbone54 · May 19, 2009, 12:48 AM

I won't be satisfied until all television is accessible on the Internet, a la carte.

These companies and sports leagues still haven't quite figured out how to make this stuff work without hacking off all of their customers in some form or fashion. It'll probably be another 5 years before these idiots push people over the line and are forced to rethink their strategies.

Dakar V · May 19, 2009, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

It'll probably be another 5 years before these idiots push people over the line and are forced to rethink their strategies.

You're extremely optimistic. How much have they changed how they do things in the past 30 years, a time in which we've scene VCRS, DVRs, & Season DVDs?

Jawbone54 · May 19, 2009, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

You're extremely optimistic. How much have they changed how they do things in the past 30 years, a time in which we've scene VCRS, DVRs, & Season DVDs?

With the advent of Hulu, PirateBay, iTunes Store, Boxee (to a minimal extent, obviously), and others, I believe these people are in a panic mode, realizing that something has to be done. As for what to do, they have no idea and it will take some time, but the realization that change is here whether they like it or not is what (I believe) will push things forward.

I'm being uncharacteristically optimistic with the 5-year prediction, but there's no sense in being Debbie Downer.

Dakar V · May 19, 2009, 02:38 PM

Here's the problem: Even a solution for normal TV (such as Hulu) doesn't work for sporting events because they're best served live.

Not to mention the constant action of Basketball makes it a compression nightmare.

Jawbone54 · May 19, 2009, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

Here's the problem: Even a solution for normal TV (such as Hulu) doesn't work for sporting events because they're best served live.

Not to mention the constant action of Basketball makes it a compression nightmare.

By today's technological standards, yes. By 2014's? Maybe not.

Also, have you ever watched MLB.com's live games? Not bad AT ALL.

Dakar V · May 19, 2009, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

By today's technological standards, yes. By 2014's? Maybe not.

Also, have you ever watched MLB.com's live games? Not bad AT ALL.

Considering 90% of baseball is standing and waiting, BIG SURPRISE.

Jawbone54 · May 19, 2009, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

Considering 90% of baseball is standing and waiting, BIG SURPRISE.

Five years from now, you're going to be claiming you saw streaming high-def sports IPTV coming all along.

::maroma:: · May 19, 2009, 02:54 PM

I suspect the internet providers (Comcast and the like) will have to pull their heads out of their asses as well and give us real broadband instead of the sorry crap they serve us these days. Until that happens, streaming all TV content over the internet will not happen in the U.S. Our tubes can't take it!

Dakar V · May 22, 2009, 10:05 AM

These conference finals are fantastic.

Dakar V · May 22, 2009, 10:47 AM

Bill Simmons: Breaking down the NBA playoffs, mailbag style - ESPN

Anyway, there was a really funny moment Thursday night that could have only happened at a Lakers game. Near the end of a third-quarter timeout, they showed Val Kilmer and three of his chins on the Jumbotron, punctuating the moment by playing "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins. You know, a "Top Gun" homage. He took a second or two to get the joke, then unleashed one of those "Very funny, you got me, just know that I'm on a lot of meds right now" smiles. And this would have been enjoyable on its own, but they cut to someone else in the stands...

That's right...

Tom Cruise!

He caught on a little quicker and did the Tom Cruise Over-Laugh. And this would have been great on its own, but the Lakers pushed it to another level: They wentsplit-screen with Kilmer and Cruise with "Danger Zone" still blasting. As far as I was concerned, this was the most emotional reunion in Lakers history. Cruise kept laughing; Kilmer looked mildly perturbed. (After all, he's an actor, dammit! That was 23 years ago! He's made a lot of movies since then!) At this point, I was praying they'd cut to Anthony Edwards in Section 312 but he wasn't there. Still, I couldn't have enjoyed the sequence any more and it dwarfed the remainder of the game for me.

::maroma:: · May 22, 2009, 12:08 PM

I particularly enjoyed when Chauncey Billups threw the ball off the back of Kobe on an inbounds play and scored at the end of the half. That was pure playground goodness.

Dakar V · May 22, 2009, 12:11 PM

It's always amazing when someone gets away with that play. Triply so when its off Kobe's back.

exca1ibur · May 22, 2009, 11:41 PM

Holy @$#!... 3 with 1 sec for the win. Guess he was MVP for a reason. Wow. Great game. Gotta give it to Orlando coming back from 23 down though. This is going to be a tough series here

rickey939 · May 22, 2009, 11:43 PM

Witness.

WOW!

Jawbone54 · May 23, 2009, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

Bill Simmons: Breaking down the NBA playoffs, mailbag style - ESPN

Reason #34 I've become a die-hard Simmons fan: he mixes pop culture and sports together at random every chance he gets.

Dakar V · May 26, 2009, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by exca1ibur

Holy @$#!... 3 with 1 sec for the win. Guess he was MVP for a reason. Wow. Great game. Gotta give it to Orlando coming back from 23 down though. This is going to be a tough series here

Originally Posted by rickey939

Witness.

In the final minute when they started exchanging epic shots I began wondering when I started rooting for underdogs (in this case the Magic). I finally came to the conclusion that for someone as "great" as LeBron to win the title, I want him to earn it. There needs to be drama, so to speak.

30 seconds later LeBron hit that shot.

It's a start, LeBron, it's a start.

Dakar V · May 26, 2009, 02:36 PM

Also, who knew the Lakers were all smoke and mirrors?

ShortcutToMoncton · May 26, 2009, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

Reason #34 I've become a die-hard Simmons fan: he mixes pop culture and sports together at random every chance he gets.

Always so good:

Originally Posted by Bill Simmons

Q: Rob Thomas should be nowhere near an NBA game. We need to genetically implant a shock collar in him so that if he even thinks of the NBA 100,000 volts of electricity ravage his body. Let him go ruin some NHL playoff highlights with his adult contemporary songs.
-- Alex, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

SG: I like it. Reminds me of how they kept Natasha Henstridge in that cage with poisonous gas that would release in her brain if she ever escaped. Which reminds me, I watched "Species" and "Species II" recently and have four absolutely crucial comments. First, we need to vote "Species" into the Rewatchable Cable Classics Hall of Fame, and frankly, it's been long overdue. Great premise, solid acting, a couple of scares, lots of nudity, Natasha in her "Doc Gooden in 1985" season. What's left? Name me a reason why HBO hasn't turned "Species" into a series yet: Just the 2009 version of Natasha making it on her own as a hot alien, getting a job as a stripper to make ends meet, trying to mate every week and ultimately having her sex plans foiled in some way … but not before getting naked seven times in an hour. I'd even hire Dirk Nowitzki's fiancee as her best friend, a fellow stripper who's getting on in years and trying to rope one more athlete into a relationship. This would work, and you can't tell me differently. You would watch "Species: The Series." You would.

Second, the drop in quality from "Species" to "Species II" rarely gets mentioned in the "worst sequels ever made" discussion, which is really unfair, since it's an absolutely atrocious movie in every respect and a complete betrayal of the first one. And on top of that, Natasha submits a 1988-type Doc Gooden season in it: Still good, but there's something missing, and it ends with her killing the Mets' season by letting Mike Scioscia take her deep.

Third, Michael Madsen's performance in "Species II" remains the defining mailed-in performance of my generation. He's literally squinting at the cue cards the entire time and delivers everything in the same monotone voice. The one problem (blessing?) is that Marg Helgenberger is trying to outdo him in the mailing-in department, which leads to a Bird-Magic type situation in which they're both mailing it in at the same time and upping the stakes, and the last half-hour turns into the 1984 finals of mailing it in (with Madsen as the Celtics winning in seven).

And fourth (my favorite wrinkle), there's an unbelievable "movie scene mirroring real life" moment near the beginning, when an Army corporal tries to convince Madsen to find a group of astronauts who were possibly infected with alien DNA, only Madsen doesn't want any part of getting involved, so the corporal says to him, "Maybe a million dollars tax-free will change your mind?" Madsen gets the exact same twinkle in his eye that he probably had when the producers of "Species II" told him "I know you don't want to do a sequel, your agent already told us … but maybe a million dollars tax-free would change your mind?" It's my favorite moment of either "Species" movie, other than the 47 times Natasha Henstridge gets naked. Maybe the sequel isn't all bad.

Dakar V · May 26, 2009, 03:46 PM

The two Madsen references are excellent.

Personally, comparing Kobe to Dirk Diggler is fantastic:

Originally Posted by Bill SImmons

Q: Kobe said during the Spike doc, "Me and Phil will sometimes call the same play without even knowing it." Did that not remind you slightly of Amber Waves' documentary about Dirk Diggler in "Boogie Nights," when Dirk is being interviewed with Jack Horner and explains how Jack lets him block his own scenes? Remember, Jack waits a beat and replies, "I .. uh .. I don't let him block his own scenes." I imagine Phil waiting a beat and then saying, "I .. uh .. I don't let Kobe call the plays."
-- Adam, Carmichael, CA

SG: I'm laughing but refuse to type "LOL." You're right, the parallels between "Kobe Doin' Work," "Exhausted" with John Holmes and the Amber Waves doc were overwhelming. We're going to eventually remember "Kobe Doin' Work" as a comedy. I really believe that. You know what else is funny? The Kobe fans are so devoted that many are defending the documentary and saying it was terrific. Come on.

Dakar V · May 27, 2009, 01:14 PM

These technicals are getting out of hand.

Nevermind the arbitrary limit of 7 before suspension.

Jawbone54 · May 27, 2009, 01:21 PM

Every NBA Finals in the 80s would've had 3-4 banned starters by the time Game 1 started.

paul w · May 27, 2009, 01:27 PM

So looks like Howard finally figured out that he can be unstoppable inside. And as long as the Magic can make insane amounts of 3s they're winning this series. So much for the coronation (and yes, this makes me hopeful that if he ends up frustrated with a crappy cast and without a title next summer Lebron ends up saving my Knicks).

I'm not sure about LA, but the Nuggets should beat the Magic if they meet in the finals.

Dakar V · May 27, 2009, 01:30 PM

I wouldn't go that far on Howard. Every time they force-fed him inside in the second half he forced up awful shots. Things clicked in overtime, but I'm not sold that's some kind of permanent situation.