Bron Bron, The '89 Finals, and Bitch Made Wade

Da Realist:

funny article about lebron james. i guess d-wade is a star because he is already getting hate.

Waldini:

I find this "hate" on Lebron amusing. If you recall before the 2005-06 season, the Cavs acquired Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, Damon Jones, and resigned Z-train. The initial comments were he's got a great sidekick in Hughes, two good shooters in Marshall and Jones, and a steady presence in the middle with Ilgauskas. A year and a half later, all of these are so called bad moves and Bron bron isnt helping the cause....

Amazing how one team can be built up so quick just to be picked apart just as quick

Gangsta D:

That happens all the time. The media builds players up to be things they aren't. Like when the Knicks signed jared jeffries, people were all "this guys is a defensive stopped." Really? based on what? If you say something enough, people will start to believe it. Damon Jones is John Starks without the lisp. He can hit shots, but he's streaky as hell. Larry had ONE good season in the pros. That doesn't mean he's gonna be Robin. But no matter what, it falls on Bron. He's got to elevate his game. The longer he goes without a championship, the louder the critics will get.

Da Realist:

i wrote out this elaborate rant about how the nba sucks and the quality isn't where it should be. then i figured i'd let you guys watch in peace without my "old fogey-ism".

i would like to say this. i've been watching the 1989 playoffs (from the bulls perspective, of course). anyway, during some of the games, they would mention the lakers because the lakers were usually the second of the double-header. all i keep thinking about is how we as fans were robbed that year. magic and byron going down DESTROYED the finals. the lakers went 57-25 and were 11-0 in playoffs. the pistons went 63-19 that year and were 11-2 heading into that matchup. i've always considered the 1988 finals to be the best finals matchup i've ever seen. 1989 had the potential to top it.

Gangsta D:

The thing is, the series was still pretty good, as far as sweeps go. The Lakers led games 2-4 going into the fourth quarter, WITHOUT they're starting backcourt. I have no doubts it would've been a great series. F**king Riles worked them to death, even though they destroyed Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix. First Byron goes out, then Magic. As soon as magic's hamstring popped, Showtime was wrapped.

Da Realist:

i've always been torn by the pat riley charge. did he work them too hard or was it just an unfortunate turn of events?

the lakers wrapped up the phoenix series before the bulls/pistons played game 4. that game was on may 27, which means the lakers wrapped up phoenix on may 26. the finals didn't start until june 4 that year. that's a long time to run soft drills and expect to play an angry, physical detroit piston team bent on revenge. i don't know...

Waldini:

That's a good question. All I know is a team that goes 11-0 then "suddenly" loses 4 straight, something had to be wrong. People forget how good that '89 team was....Of course the '90 team goes out in shocking fashion to a Phx team that sees KJ goes bananas on Magic.

Da Realist:

i already know how you guys think, but at the time i didn't think anyone was going to beat that piston team -- especially y'all after the year before. now that may just be my (sometimes) pessimistic side talking because i was rooting heavily for the lakers that year. but the pistons went 25-1 before taking their foot off the gas late in the year and the only 2 games they lost were to michael jordan. i know the pistons barely won games 2-4 but that's how they played. they never ran over anyone. they wore teams down. they were the basketball version of andre agassi. you're in every set, but you lose 6-7 5-7 4-6. for what it's worth, i've met more people that believe the pistons were closer to the 3-pete ('88, '89, '90) than the lakers ('87, '88, '89).

but i will concede that the lakers never got an honest chance to defend their championship or go for the 3-pete. and that's the tragedy of it all. we don't know either way.

Gangsta D:

There's running hard practices, then there's acting like Mussolini. Supposedly Riles was a slave driver during those practices because he didn't want the team to lose their edge. Instead, they lost their STARTING backcourt. I will admit it's a lot easier to take shots at Riles now after the heat fiasco of the past four years. this team sucks-I don't wanna coach, oh wait we're good-I wanna coach, etc. What's the over/under on the number of games it takes for his hip to flare up if Wade opts for surgery? And can I say, no way do you get in a wheelchair when you have a shoulder injury! What was that about?!?

Da Realist:

damn you're harsh! now had that been kobe...

Gangsta D:

That's cause Kobe wouldn't have gone off in a wheelchair! "D-Wade is so tough. He's so tough!" Pfft I say....

Waldini:

I'm not one to defend the Heat but it is a dislocated shoulder. You aint about to just step back onto the court immediately whether you have surgery or not.

Speaking of the Heat, do you find this decade starting to mirror the 70s somewhat. You have two teams that dominated the early half (Spurs and Lakers vs Knicks and Lakers in 70s) and then a bunch of one timers (Pistons, Heat vs Warriors, Sonics, Bullets, Blazers) that rounded out the rest of the decade. The way it looks now, the Mavs will win it all but I dont see them as a dynasty type team. You're right realist, the NBA is truly down. People can hate on the Shaq-Kobe lakers all they want but in their prime, they would have MOPPED the floor with these pretenders including everybody's favorites in dallas and phx...

Gangsta D:

Sure you don't go back on the court, but do you need a wheelchair to get to the locker room? That's all I'm saying.

What are you talking about? Phoenix is as good as Showtime:)

Waldini:

Ok, I see you on that point. I thought you were talking about him playing through pain.

Yea every team is good as Showtime....when I am playing as them on my PS2