Stern smiles today....

[Sense]

Yes he does..... :angel

[Leetonidas]

Did anyone in the world really think this would actually happen?

[Sense]

Did anyone in the world really think this would actually happen?

Everyone cept for Piston and Spurs fans?

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

best teams are in the finals, whats suprising about that?

[Sense]

http://microscopiq.com/images/stern-dave.jpg

HELLO!

[jmard5]

O well. Let us enjoy this series and see who is the pretender and the contender.

Shucks... Heat in 6! Go Heat. *lol*

[Slinkyman]

best teams are in the finals, whats suprising about that?

the spurs and pistons are in the finals?

[ducks]

I bet noone picked these 2 teams before the playoffs started

heat durning the regular season sucked against all good teams

[Sense]

the spurs and pistons are in the finals?

:lol

[ducks]

suns if bell was healthy could have beaten the mavs

I would not say the mavs are much better if at all then suns or even spurs

[ChumpDumper]

Stern would smile if it was Lakers/Cavs.

This matchup garners a smirk.

[ducks]

heat and mavs would be more competive then suns due to suns being worn out and injured
so yes stern is smilling




who would you rather win the finals mvp shaq or dirk?
personally I would rather have howard win it if mavs win it

[Slinkyman]

heat and mavs would be more competive then suns due to suns being worn out and injured
so yes stern is smilling




who would you rather win the finals mvp shaq or dirk?
personally I would rather have howard win it if mavs win it

Finals MVP DWade

[Sense]

Stern would smile if it was Lakers/Cavs.

This matchup garners a smirk.

I think it's a smile.... considering the Spurs and the Pistons in the finals again was almost a certainty....

[ChumpDumper]

I think it's a smile.... considering the Spurs and the Pistons in the finals again was almost a certainty....Only to fans of those teams.

[Sense]

Only to fans of those teams.

You're saying no one else expected it any other way?

Everyone did except for the teams themselves.....
IMO

[judaspriestess]

I blame ABC for this disgraceful Finals..... ratings whores

Go Miami, there is NO WAY IN HELL the mavpricks are going to stop fatass in the paint, buhbye assholes :spin

[ChumpDumper]

likelihood <> certainty

[Leetonidas]

Only to fans of those teams.

Both teams were heavily favored to get back and a rematch was highly anticipated. Sucks man. Who would ever think that the MAVS and the friggin' HEAT would play eachother...

[angel_luv]

Yes he does..... :devil

Fixed! :angel

[ducks]

likelihood <> certainty


did not vegas favor spurs and pistons?

[BillsCarnage]

Blame American Airlines.. The consipiracy is now FACT!

:lmao

[Mavs_man_41]

the spurs and pistons are in the finals?

No dumbass the best teams, being the mavs and heat, are in the finals.

[Mavs_man_41]

Fixed! :angel

you are an ignorant person

[mike detroit]

did not vegas favor spurs and pistons?

enough that I didn't bother putting money on the pistons because the odds were better that 2-1

[angel_luv]

you are an ingenious person


Fixed again. :angel

[Holmes_Fans]

suns if bell was healthy could have beaten the mavs

I would not say the mavs are much better if at all then suns or even spurs
Howard was hurt the entire series to, 2 bum ankles and sprained thumb. Lame excuse


and apparently they are. They won 2 road games against every team so far, including 3 to close out the series.

[RonMexico]

Blame American Airlines.. The consipiracy is now FACT!

:lmao

Pretty lopsided second half officiating - even Barkley notices it

[RonMexico]

Howard was hurt the entire series to, 2 bum ankles and sprained thumb. Lame excuse


and apparently they are. They won 2 road games against every team so far, including 3 to close out the series.

Those ankles and thumbs were very effective in holding and tripping the Suns' screeners on rolls and/or when the Suns were trying to get out on the fast break... I know he's half gorilla, but he should know how to control his feet by now...

[ace3g]

No dumbass the best teams, being the mavs and heat, are in the finals.


so just because 2 teams make it to the finals, automatically means they are the 2 best teams; yes that is right 90% percent of the time but I can name a few occassions where the best teams were left out of the Finals due to injuries and such

[kalikot_boy_kr]

now i know stern is a gay..

[Burn531]

No dumbass the best teams, being the mavs and heat, are in the finals.


Mr. Serious is in the building!!

[MissAllThat]

Maybe Bavetta will finally try and call a game fairly or gosh even in favor of the Heat so that they stop calling him Knick Bavetta. Then again, maybe pigs will fly. I won't hold my breath for either, but if I was going to pick one, I'd go with the pigs.

[himat]

Man I thought Spurs vs Pistons was a lock. Damnit.

[Holmes_Fans]

Those ankles and thumbs were very effective in holding and tripping the Suns' screeners on rolls and/or when the Suns were trying to get out on the fast break... I know he's half gorilla, but he should know how to control his feet by now...
Well the suns were setting moving screens the entire series and the refs weren't calling it, he had to get around somehow.

Why is it only spurs and suns fans use the injury excuse? Get a real coach who will play more than 7 players and have a thing called depth.

[Holmes_Fans]

so just because 2 teams make it to the finals, automatically means they are the 2 best teams; yes that is right 90% percent of the time but I can name a few occassions where the best teams were left out of the Finals due to injuries and such
Well the spurs and pistons were both healthy when they lost, so I guess the 2 best teams are in the finals.

[ALVAREZ6]

Man I thought Spurs vs Pistons was a lock. Damnit.
It was but Stern thought otherwise.

[Bob Lanier]

The Pistons (Rip, Sheed, Ben, Dice) and Spurs (Parker) weren't healthy. Of course, neither the Pistons (Rip, Tay, Ben) nor the Spurs (Duncan, Ginobili) were healthy last year either and they made it to Game 7 of the Finals. And Rasheed had plantar fasciitis when the Pistons won in '04.

But I am certain that the Miami Heat are better than the Detroit Pistons, and I'm not certain that the Dallas Mavericks are better than the Spurs, either.

"Better" or not, though, they lost, and that's all that matters.

[MissAllThat]

Well the spurs and pistons were both healthy when they lost, so I guess the 2 best teams are in the finals.

Well thats just not true at all. The Spurs weren't healthy. The Suns weren't healthy, and the other team was Memphis. Talk about easiest road to the finasl ever.

[pking]

wow, I didn't realize Raja was the new NBA superstar series changer.

[pking]

That's funny. Mavs go through two of the best teams in the league and now it's a cake walk because they supposedly weren't healthy enough.

[himat]

The Pistons (Rip, Sheed, Ben, Dice) and Spurs (Parker) weren't healthy. Of course, neither the Pistons (Rip, Tay, Ben) nor the Spurs (Duncan, Ginobili) were healthy last year either and they made it to Game 7 of the Finals. And Rasheed had plantar fasciitis when the Pistons won in '04.

But I am certain that the Miami Heat are better than the Detroit Pistons, and I'm not certain that the Dallas Mavericks are better than the Spurs, either.

"Better" or not, though, they lost, and that's all that matters.

Don't forget about Duncan's ankle this year either.

[MissAllThat]

wow, I didn't realize Raja was the new NBA superstar series changer.

Well Raja is a big part of their team. Notice game 4 in which he returned and played well in was the only game Phoenix won by a huge deficit, but retard even without Raja they were still missing their star player, a guy by the name of Amare Stoudemire. For the Spurs: Duncan was hurt all season, Parker had several injuries that he got in the Kings series, then there was Ginobili. Without those injuries those teams were the 2 best in the west, but with them they were less than amazing. Also, having Bavetta, Javie, and Crawford on your side helps.

[ChumpDumper]

How can anyone say PHX was healthy?

[Holmes_Fans]

Because we all know Bavetta loves the mavs, notice how all series Tim Duncan would foul every time he got the ball and there be no call, and Nash would grab and rip each time Harris or Terry got away, no foul. Terry had 3 fouls in 2 minutes, I guess that's because the refs love him so much. Good players play though injuries, mavericks played a good part of the season with 4 players out and still were winning. In games 1&4 during the regular season the mavericks were full strentgh and beat the spurs, games 2&3 we were no where close to healthy and still the spurs barely beat us.

[Winnipeg_Spur]

Well the suns were setting moving screens the entire series and the refs weren't calling it, he had to get around somehow.

Why is it only spurs and suns fans use the injury excuse? Get a real coach who will play more than 7 players and have a thing called depth.
Uh, we're still hearing about how Dirk was injured in 2003, even though the Mavs actually played better without him, so I don't think it's really fair to say only Spurs and Suns fans use the injury excuse...

[MissAllThat]

Good players play though injuries

As a Mavs fan are you really saying this? See 2003 playoffs, Mavs vs Spurs: someone was missing.


In games 1&4 during the regular season the mavericks were full strentgh and beat the spurs, games 2&3 we were no where close to healthy and still the spurs barely beat us.

Wait, the Spurs weren't healthy during the season either, so we'll throw this one out.

[ChumpDumper]

Because we all know Bavetta loves the mavs, notice how all series Tim Duncan would foul every time he got the ball and there be no call, and Nash would grab and rip each time Harris or Terry got away, no foul. Terry had 3 fouls in 2 minutes, I guess that's because the refs love him so much.I've never seen winners whine so much.

Ever.

[MadDog73]

Honestly, I saw the Heat beating the Pistons, esp. after the fiasco with the Cavs.

Of course, I'm surprised the Mavs beats the Spurs in Game 7 on our homecourt, but then watching Dirk in Games 5 and 6 against the Suns, I'm not surprised the Mavs beat the Suns. Dirk has really grown as a player, and it's going to be tough as hell for the Heat to win the Finals...

[mike detroit]

well, if we're just going by population, assuming stern wants as many viewers as possible, then it should have been dallas vs. detroit. maybe, just maybe, it was actually about which teams won and not some stupid conspiracy.

[MadDog73]

Stern would want: Lakers vs Detroit. The 2004 Finals had the best ratings since the Jordan era, correct?

[TheSanityAnnex]

maybe, just maybe, it was actually about which teams won and not some stupid conspiracy.Holy shit.....................I found someone with actual knowledge!!!!!!!


All those who are running around saying Stern wanted this and Stern fixed this are making themselves, and the teams they root for, look like a bunch of classless whiny bitches.

[mabber]

Stern would smile if it was Lakers/Cavs.

This matchup garners a smirk.


Funny and correct at the same time. Lakers/Cavs (Kobe/LeBron) is his wetdream matchup! Stern certainly doesn't want the Mavs to win as he'd have to hand trophy to Cuban :lol ). I'm sure he's happy that the Heat are there instead of Detroit cuz of Shaq.

[mabber]

so just because 2 teams make it to the finals, automatically means they are the 2 best teams; yes that is right 90% percent of the time but I can name a few occassions where the best teams were left out of the Finals due to injuries and such

A huge indicator of if most people think that the best teams are not in the finals will be when Vegas posts the odds to win the conferences next season. I'm thinking that the Mavs (not Spurs) will be favored to win the west again and the Heat (assuming Shaq is back) will be favored to win the east again. The Spurs & Suns will be close behind (same with Pistons in east). That alone pretty much tells you who most people feel are the best teams.

[RonMexico]

Conspiracy theories are stupid, but sometimes the reasons behind them are not wholly unfounded... rule changes over the years have shifted how the game is played and officiated and the benefits are given to the more exciting teams in the hopes of re-popularizing the league (in fact, when they changed such rules as 10 seconds to 8 seconds and legalized zones again, the league office said that they were doing it to speed up the game and emphasize teamwork, outside shooting, and higher-scoring offenses).

However, I'm not saying it's a conspiracy that Dirk averages 300 FTs a game in these playoffs... Avery Johnson told us that it's obviously just "bear-hug" defenses... no doubt Dirk knows some kind of extra-special treatment is going on because he's (a) sticking his tongue out all the time and (b) shocked when a player is within 5 feet of him and a foul isn't called

and I can't tell you how many Mavs fans complained to me that the officials took them out of the first half of game 4 and that's how they lost... a first half where they were only down by 5... lame

[TheSanityAnnex]

RonMex-


I felt game 6 was called very shitty on both sides. Too many "you looked at that player wrong" fouls.

[RonMexico]

RonMex-


I felt game 6 was called very shitty on both sides. Too many "you looked at that player wrong" fouls.

I agree - especially in the first half... the third foul on Jason Terry was pretty cheap but also a make-up call for the 3rd on Barbosa at the other end, so I could understand it. What started making me angry were little calls like Diop going over Josh Howard's back and making Howard fall over Marion (who got an elbow from Dirk as Dirk made a move to the basket and fell backwards) and then Marion gets called for the foul (Bernie Fryer claimed he lifted his leg up)... replays from multiple angles showed that Marion didn't lift his leg at all and merely his arms to protect himself from Howard falling over him - a classic example of the officials "reaching" for calls and trying to put too much of a mark on the game.

What angered me is that the second half ended up being very pro-Mavs and suddenly you have 4 Suns with 4 fouls going into the 4th quarter, while Terry and Harris still have the same 3 they got in the first half...

[mabber]

RonMex-


I felt game 6 was called very shitty on both sides. Too many "you looked at that player wrong" fouls.

It was called very tight for sure. But I was glad that the refs weren't calling all the flops that the Suns players were doing. Suns must have flopped 5-6 times in the first half alone.

[pussyface]

this conspiracy is absolutely correct.
rather than adressing the basketball issues that got you where you are, I suggest teams like SA instead spend the offseason figuring out how they can better appeal to david stern...

[RonMexico]

It was called very tight for sure. But I was glad that the refs weren't calling all the flops that the Suns players were doing. Suns must have flopped 5-6 times in the first half alone.

Yeah, I know - some were pretty bad - especially a few by James Jones... definitely not 5, though, more like 3-4 flops... then again, Josh Howard flopped to draw Diaw's 4th foul in the second half... the Suns were just playing a little desperate and they felt that the refs had some quick whistles so might as well try to draw a couple of touch fouls on Dirk and company to get them out of the game early... at least they weren't trying to send in videos of accidental elbows before the game because they were trying to gain an edge... it's tough for the Suns when Dirk pushes and slaps hands away because he's frustrated that he's only 2-9 in the first half and then the defensive player gets the call, so they tend to resort to cheap flopping tactics to try and return the favor - just the refs didn't fall for it...

[TheSanityAnnex]

I still can't believe Terry picked up 3 fouls in like 2 mins of play. That is fucking stupid.

[mabber]

Yeah, I know - some were pretty bad - especially a few by James Jones... definitely not 5, though, more like 3-4 flops... then again, Josh Howard flopped to draw Diaw's 4th foul in the second half... the Suns were just playing a little desperate and they felt that the refs had some quick whistles so might as well try to draw a couple of touch fouls on Dirk and company to get them out of the game early... at least they weren't trying to send in videos of accidental elbows before the game because they were trying to gain an edge... it's tough for the Suns when Dirk pushes and slaps hands away because he's frustrated that he's only 2-9 in the first half and then the defensive player gets the call, so they tend to resort to cheap flopping tactics to try and return the favor - just the refs didn't fall for it...

In regards to the overall game...from my perspective, I think the Suns just got tired. I thought they played their asses off (especially on defense) in the 1st half and their lack of depth (plus foul trouble) was their biggest issue in the end. I thought the Suns played great defense in the 1st half (none of the analysts really gave them credit for it). Nash was definitely spent in the 4th quarter. I recognized that from his 6 seasons in Dallas.

[RonMexico]

I still can't believe Terry picked up 3 fouls in like 2 mins of play. That is fucking stupid.

Remember, though, this is the guy who got suspended for hitting a player in the balls, picked up a technical for the same type of play that got Bell and D'Antoni techs at the other end, proclaimed the "JET is on the runway tonight" and then shoots like 6-17, and has some kind of inexplicable puffed-lips celebration after hitting lay-ups... he's not the brightest tool in the shed... and I emphasize "tool"

[RonMexico]

In regards to the overall game...from my perspective, I think the Suns just got tired. I thought they played their asses off (especially on defense) in the 1st half and their lack of depth (plus foul trouble) was their biggest issue in the end. I thought the Suns played great defense in the 1st half (none of the analysts really gave them credit for it). Nash was definitely spent in the 4th quarter. I recognized that from his 6 seasons in Dallas.

Yeah, in the 4th quarter they got too tired and either didn't play D or resorted to too much slapping and pushing instead of moving their feet... no energy left to make the offensive surge needed at the other end of the floor - and they get jittery when they give up such big leads, which we all saw when the Mavs came back from 17 down to win in 2 OT in the opening game of the season this year...

[mabber]

Remember, though, this is the guy who got suspended for hitting a player in the balls, picked up a technical for the same type of play that got Bell and D'Antoni techs at the other end, proclaimed the "JET is on the runway tonight" and then shoots like 6-17, and has some kind of inexplicable puffed-lips celebration after hitting lay-ups... he's not the brightest tool in the shed... and I emphasize "tool"

Yeah, but he's our "tool" :lol

Just like y'all have that "tool", Tim Thomas :lol Thomas is only guy on the Suns that I don't care for. Suns appear to have a lot of really good guys. I really like Diaw's game and the way he carries himself. I think Nash has really rubbed off on a lot of your players. I really like Raja Bell. I was sad to see him leave the Mavs a couple of seasons ago.

[RonMexico]

Yeah, Thomas brings that "thug" aspect that is either good (big shots all playoffs) or bad (Dirk 50/12)... I'm not sure which yet, but if he has a swagger and can back it up with some clutch threes, then I might be ok with it... I'm not going to compare him to Barkley, but Sir Charles brought that kind of toughness back in the day and it's nice to see that again... but Amare will probably bring that same kind of swagger back next year, so do we really need two of them? Unless Thomas is just a really good guy in the locker room and in practice that his on-the-court antics don't really matter all that much...

[mabber]

Yeah, Thomas brings that "thug" aspect that is either good (big shots all playoffs) or bad (Dirk 50/12)... I'm not sure which yet, but if he has a swagger and can back it up with some clutch threes, then I might be ok with it... I'm not going to compare him to Barkley, but Sir Charles brought that kind of toughness back in the day and it's nice to see that again... but Amare will probably bring that same kind of swagger back next year, so do we really need two of them? Unless Thomas is just a really good guy in the locker room and in practice that his on-the-court antics don't really matter all that much...

I'd be ok with it if he were on my team. Everybody on my team is ok in my book (if they're contributing). :spin I'd even like Ginobli if he were Mav :lol

I never had much use for Shawn Bradley when he was a Mav though. I knew they would never win anything as long as he was on the roster.

[RonMexico]

I'd be ok with it if he were on my team. Everybody on my team is ok in my book (if they're contributing). :spin I'd even like Ginobli if he were Mav :lol

I never had much use for Shawn Bradley when he was a Mav though. I knew they would never win anything as long as he was on the roster.

What I don't understand is that for a Mormon, Bradley sure got into a lot of fights out there - with guys that could pretty much whip his ass...

[mabber]

What I don't understand is that for a Mormon, Bradley sure got into a lot of fights out there - with guys that could pretty much whip his ass...

He was just goofy. The sad part was that he really was a talented player for someone of his height but was really hard to motivate. He never worked hard in the offseason either.