The Grizzlies played some terrific defense in the deciding 3rd quarter and I've never seen San Antonio look so helpless. They kept turning the ball over and they really were completely lost. Much of it due to the ferocious defense and the relentless attack of Memphis. Gasol-Randolph is a very formidable front court, if not the best in the league. BTW, what is the point of even having Tiago Splitter on the floor? He can't stop anybody on the defensive end, and nobody passes him the ball on the offensive end. Whenever he was on the floor, the Spurs were playing 4-on-5 basketball. I'm cheering for the Hornets tonight. With Kobe hurting, if they win game 5, they have a chance. Wouldn't it be simply amazing if Hornets, Thunder, Memphis and Blazers were the 4 teams left in the West at the end of the week?
Stern would have a heart attack. No Kobe,Celtics, Lebrat, Wade, etc. It would be the end of basketball for Stern.
Here's the lesson. This year's Spurs team is different than most of their past squads because this one is offensively oriented. It was great in the regular season and it will likely result in a playoff failure. Most sports change dramatically when the effort level gets increased from 80% to 95%+ (i.e. 110%). Larry Brown's genius in 2004 was that he didn't go for the regular season fool's gold. He coached the entire season like he was preparing the team for the playoffs.
Which one?? We had one that could not play D, but he always got passed the ball. CV We had one forward masqurading as a center that could play D, could not shoot from the floor or the line and for some reason we still passed him the ball (as a reward for playing good D).....(Big Ben) We had one that could not rebound, played some D, could not shoot, but they still passed him the ball (Max) We had one who had no offense beyond 2 ft from the supposedly played D and occasionally some dufus would pass him the ball (MC Curry)
Dice really looked dejected on the Spurs bench at the end of their last loss... He's certainly had that experience enough with the Pistons....
The Lakers and Kobe [STRIKE]punked [/STRIKE], played everyone , specifically the Hornets and media with the bum ankle issue. Even got the fans at Staples nervous after they fell behind by 10 in the first quarter. Once Kobe sliced through the lane for the monster dunk in the second qtr, the charade was over and it was all Kobe/Lakers from then on. Can only hope that the Hornets can cut the TO's and win game six to take this one to a panic stricken game 7 for the Lakers
Dice played for teams that won 50 plus games six out of the last seven years and went to playoffs each of those years....but never got a ring. Based on how that team has looked the past couple of weeks, there probably won't be a ring forthcoming this year either... Although he has one more year left on his contract you have wonder if he will want to come back for that last year at 37 years old and try to get one with the other old guys on his team? It will be his 17th year searching for a ring....
Do you think they did that on purpose? Now that you say it, I bet you that's exactly what they did....played up that ankle injury and dogged it in the first, no wonder I can't stand that team. In fact it is really hard for me to muster up any enthusiasm for any of these teams now. If it ain't the Detroit Pistons, you ain't got a chance with me...
Boy you have to wonder if Mayo should have tried to foul Gary Neal just as he received the ball prior to taking that winning desperation 3??? It was probably to short of time to react.... Hopefully this does not give the Spurs new life....as the Grizz were kicking their arses even without team captain Rudy Gay, who had season ending shoulder surgery earlier in the month.
Now that guy can shoot... If he, Ibaka, Westbrook and Perkins can play at the top of their games, they are in the finals no matter how bad $tern$ ref$ try to get Kobe another ring and rating$
Ibaka with 9 blocks! I wish we had a dude like that. And then a tough center to play next to him with Perkins. All of their guys are young and most are signed up for a long period of time. What a job they have done.
Yes we could use a defensive guy like Serge Iblocka, deadly shooter like Durant and a penetrator/finisher like Westbrook....wonder if our Piston draft experts can find a diamond in the rough like these three?
That San Antonio game was absolutely incredible. Memphis had so much poise but these Spurs just won't go away. Neal's shot was great, but Manu's shot before that was actually much more amazing. Now the pressure is back on the Grizz. They need to win at home, or the SPurs will take this in 7. I hope so for Dice's sake. But that's as far as they can go. Thunder will simply tear them apart. Durant is simply the best player in the league right now. He has that killer instinct and the poise that screams "I'm going to win and there ain't nothing you can do about it". Only Kobe and a younger KG had that kind of attitude. The Thunder is an absolute joy to watch. Perk was a great pick up for them.
Too bad the Grizz have to play the Thunder in the next round....would have been nice to see those two playing for WCF. If the Grizz can re sign everyone and have a healthy Rudy Gay in next years playoffs that could be a sign of things to come in.
