Yes, I suppose it is nice that I will be able to avoid a heart attack for another four months. Now I can concentrate my posting efforts on the offseason. I only lurked last offseason, this time I will be in full force. Come to think of it, I'm glad the series is over. Get ready Clutchcity, here I come!!!!!!!!!! (evil laugh)
ZRB since you know exactly what dominance isn't..can you tell us what dominance is? Does it take a team to win by 20 every game. And never let the other team go on a run? What team has ever done that? Its obvious that you will never give the lakers their props, and i don't mean " yea they played good, yea they won, yea shaq had an okay series." The laker won 4-1 and that IS dominance. They swept all other teams that WERE superior to the sixers(I know you won't accept that either). The only reason that LA didn't go 16-0 is because the sixers had so much trouble with that TOUGH eastern conference, that they had to take every team the whole 7 games,okay only 4 games out of 5 for Indiana, and the lakers sat around eating doritos, waiting for them to hurry the hell up. Anybody who thinks that the lakers didn't dominate the post season either just hates the Lakers or knows nothing about hoops. ------------------
I am not a Lakers fan, but no team in the last 20 years dominated the post season the way the Lakers did. Not even the Bulls went 15 and 1. Only a little luck in game one kept the Lakers from sweeping the entire post season. That truely is dominance. ------------------
Dominance is what they did to the Spurs and the Kings. Those teams were not competitive. If the Sixers had been completely healthy, and the Lakers had still gone 4-1, then I would have considered them dominant. No doubt that they dominated the playoffs as a whole, but not the Sixers. You say a little luck is what gave the Sixers game one? I say a little luck is what gave the Lakers games two and three. You could make a case that they dominated this game, but not the whole series. ------------------ Protrolls.com!
Come on y'all, don't be so short-sighted. Yeah, it was 4-1. Yeah, if you see "4 to 1" it looks fairly dominating. But if you watched the games, you'd see that it was a good series. Come on now, AT LEAST PHILLY PUT UP A FIGHT!!! More than I can say for San Antonio, the 2nd best team in the West. Face it, the two best teams met, they fought it out, and LA won, but it was a hard-fought series. LA has more talent, and had little injuries. But Philadelphia didn't roll over. They played hard, they battled, they did a hell of a lot better than everyone else thought they would. They just didn't get it done. But it was a good series, and with three or four breaks for Philly, the series could still be going on. ------------------ blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
Oh whatever ZRB, 4-1 is 4-1. The Lakers were the better team in this series. So what if the Sixers would have been at full strength, this series would have ended in the same result as the Lakers being the champs. Don't get me wrong, I was impressed by what the Sixers were able to do. But come on. The Sixers had no chance in this series. And with each passing game, that fact became more evident. The Lakers did what they had to do, and the Sixers didn't have what it took to make this a series. ------------------
ZRB didn't say that the Sixers were better than the Lakers, he was stating how they were competitive with the Lakers and kept on coming back. They had their chances to make it 2-0, even 3-0, but they choked and the Lakers' experience and talent won out. Another thing is that, Shaq abused Mutombo not because of skill, but with elbows to the face and by shoving his shoulder into Mutombo's body. If offensive fouls are called like they're supposed to be, Shaq wouldn't be nearly as dominant a force as he is. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
crash, you're not giving the sixers any respect at all. The fact is that the Lakers were the superior team, I admit that. But the fact also is that the Sixers played their hearts out and got the Lakers attention, Phil Jackson, Kobe, and Horace Grant all admitted that the Sixers opened their eyes and challenged them. The Sixers actually drove the Lakers to compete, somthing that the Spurs, Kings, and Blazers didn't. That says something about the Sixers. Shaq is a dominating force, but if offensive fouls were called correctly, he would be fouled out by halftime. We were never saying if he wasn't so big and strong, or if he wasn't skilled. We are talking about the officials calling the game fairly. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
Injuries were definately a factor in this series! If Mckie was healthy the sixers probably could have pushed the series to 6 or 7 games. Snow was also fighting a ankle injury! I don't understand how anyone thinks that injuries had no affect on the outcome. ------------------ PG- McGrady SG- Jones SF- Thomas PF- Brand C- O'neal YOUR 2000-2001 CHICAGO BULLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Guy Can Dream Cant He???
Your right I'm not. I have no respect for Eastern Conference teams. The Rockets would have had a legit shot at the NBA finals if they played in the East. What does that tell you. I don't give any team credit for moral victories when you get into the finals. Allen Iverson claimed that they Philly was good enough to win and they were not even good enough to win one single game on their home court. They lost 4-1, not very competitive in my book. Every one said that the must win of the series was game four and the 76ers did not even show up for that game. In game five the Lakers were never seriously challenged. Every time the 76ers would close to about 4 the Lakers would push it back to 10-14. The Lakers played down to the 76ers IMO and still beat them bad. I don't mean to sound so negitive but it just irritated me that all the media jumped on the Philly bandwagon this year with out one single consideration with what conference they were in. The Rockets win 45 games in the West barely missing the play-offs and the media and the NBA give no props to the team. One paper even compared the Rockets as a team to the Pistons! Please! It bugged the hell out of me that the 76ers got all of this praise by the media and was built up as this great team that had a real chance at beating LA when they did not. ESPN ranked them #1 on their poll almost all year based on their record. They intern constantly kept the Rockets ranked below teams such as Indiana, Boston and Charlotte to name a few even though we had better records and dominated the east. They would then claim that they do not base their polls on record! well then how in the hell to you put Philly or Milwaukee ahead of LA, SA, SAC, Ute, Port or Dallas? Give me a brake! Forthermore they give all the awards to Philly. COY, MVP and 6th man. Lets just line the whole stinking city of Philly up in one big line and have a big ole ass kissing party! Sac had almost an identical record as Philly in a much more diffucult conference and suffered just as bad when their main man CWebb went down. CWebb should have been MVP. The Dallas Mavericks should had one of the biggest turn arounds of any team in NBA history even winning round one of the play-offs against the Jazz. Nelson should have been COY. Do you see a patern? The award winners were determined well before all star break. The 76ers were the best team in the east nothing else. IMO the NBA championship was finished a couple of weeks ago when the Lakers beat the Spurs. The 76ers are nothing more than wannabees in my book and are not on the same level as the elite teams in the West. ------------------
If the 76ers were completely healthy or If they had just hit a few more of their 3pt shots or If Tyrone Hill had come to play or If George Lynch did not have a broken foot or If Motumbo had a few calls go his way or If Jerry West had not drafted Kobe a few years ago or If Shaq were only 40lbs lighter… If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we would all have a merry Christmas and if frogs had wings they wouldn't bump their ass every time they jumped. If Michael Jordan could not hang in the air for so long and jump higher and move so much quicker than the competition he would not have been so dominant when he played. If Wilt Chamberlain had not been so much taller and stronger than every one else he would not have been so dominant back in his day. And... If Shaq were not so much stronger and bigger than every one else then he would not be as dominant as he is today. If...If...If... The world is full of ifs. If I were 7'4" 340lbs with the athletic ability of Hakeem or Kevin Garnet then I would be the greatest basketball player of all time. If Cato only had a heart... The world is full of ifs and regardless of why the Lakers were the superior team in this years play-offs. The 76ers were never any bigger threat to the Lakers than any other team. Mark this down, the NBA champions will come out of the West for the next three or four years before any team in the CBA…I mean the East is ready to seriously challenge the West. ------------------
You mention Sacramento, a team that got swept by the Lakers, and Dallas, a team that got beat 4-1 by the Spurs, another team that got swept by the Lakers.... The Sixers may not be as talented as those 2 teams, but they have 100x more heart. They would have found a way to win against them. If the Rockets had played the Sixers in the final, they would have gotten killed. The Rockets are way too young and inconsistent to win even 1 series in the playoffs. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz [This message has been edited by LiLStevie3 (edited June 17, 2001).]
I admit that coming in to the finals, I had no respect for Philly at all. I thought that if the Spurs got killed by the Lakers, Philly doesn't stand a chance. Instead they won me over by playing with so much heart through injuries and they made the Lakers actually play. When that one Sixers fan posted here about how Iverson was better than Francis, and how the Sixers are better than the Rockets, I strongly disagreed, but after watching the Sixers fight and play their hearts out in the Finals, I look at them in a new light. Who cares if the Sixers are in the East, they did something that no other team in the West could do- win against the Lakers and gave them several competitive games. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
The Rockets dominated the East this year, there is nothing to make me think that they would not have rolled through the East in the play-offs. Against the inferior conference the Rockets were consistantly great. ------------------
The Rockets wouldn't have had any interior rebounding, and in the playoffs you must out rebound your opponents. The Rockets wouldn't have gotten through the first round in the east unless they played the Magic or Pacers. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
Oh-Yeah thats right I forgot. The Rockets record against the east this year was a fluke. Thanks for reminding me. BTW. Dream is more than enough for the teams in the east when healthy. Interior rebounding would not have become a problem until we played a Western Conference team. ------------------
Crash, the playoffs are totally different. The Rockets are too young and inexperienced to go deep into the playoffs. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
Yeah kinda like the Mavericks a team that has not sniffed the play-offs in the last decade until this year would not stand a chance against a play-off veteren team like the Jazz right? And what team in the East is so powerfull that the Rockets would not stand a chance against? The Hornets? Now there is a battle hardened play-off tested team for you. Oh wait Indiana right? A team that barely finished at 500 in the weak CBA...I mean Eastern Conference. Toronto Maybe? How many times did they play us competitively this year? None. Orlando? They are about as new to the play-offs as we would have been. Don't be so quick to but lack of play-off experiance as a reason for failure. ------------------
I said deep crash, however you are entitled to your opinion, but I don't think the Rockets have the consistency, experience, poise, or execution to advance deep in the playoffs. I hope they prove me wrong next year if they make it, but I wouldn't put my money on it. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
