The NBA Thread

[Gilly]

Have you ever seen Kobe this down on himself? I've never seen one shred of humility from him and all of the sudden he's acting like he's the worst player in the game.

[senorcorazon]

Have you ever seen Kobe this down on himself? I've never seen one shred of humility from him and all of the sudden he's acting like he's the worst player in the game.

Give him a day, he'll be back to complaining about his teammates soon enough.

[Charles Arrington]

Dirk and the Mavs swept the Lakers.
even though this is a great accomplishment, they need to reach the finals.... and win.

with a win, i can see Dirk elevated to all-time great.

[Gilly]

I think he was already a hall of fame lock, but a championship will definitely elevate him to get him in the conversation with Duncan and Garnett. they are different players with different game styles but it's always been between those three with Dirk a few steps down the ladder because of his playoff woes. I still think he's below those two, Garnett was considered a greatest player ever before his championship.

[Greggulator]

I think *THE* story of the playoffs has been the "What Do We Think About Dirk Now" storyline. The Mavs were a secretly great team all season long. They have a "We should have seen this coming" vibe to them -- as opposed to Memphis, which is a "Where the hell did these guys come from" thing.

Dirk is AWESOME. Period. He has been since his second season in the league. He's such a unique player, too. The only person who plays anything like Dirk is KD. I love KD like he's my child but I think there's a valid argument to be made that Dirk is just as good as KD. And also that Dirk has done this for about a dozen years and is somehow now better than he was when he was MVP.

Dirk's rep took such a hit because Dallas lost the finals followed by them flaming out the next year against Golden State with him as MVP. That's such a crock -- there are a ton of players that people claim as great (I'm looking at you, 'Melo) who can't touch Dirk's career.

I'm really happy for Dirk -- especially since he's brought so much entertainment in my life with having a weird guru and nearly marrying a woman with multiple identities and bench warrants.

[Chris L]

So it looks like we're  headed for a Dallas/Miami finals rematch? Never thought I'd want to see that but I will be very interested indeed.

The smug certainty with which I've heard a lot people close the door on Dirk ever winning a championship has always grated on me.  I'd love to see Dirk prove those people wrong more than I dread having to look at Mark Cuban during another finals series.

[senorcorazon]

This line from the Times about Bosh celebrating during the game last night sums it up:
"He rose to the rim, tapped the ball home, then landed and unleashed a series of primal screams."
I'm not going to bother to comment.

But please, let us be spared a Heat-Mavs finals. May the Bulls grow a sense of consistency, or may the Hawks grow an inside presence.

[Greggulator]

I tried and I tried and I tried but I HAD to go to sleep right when regulation ended last night. Heck of a game until that point that became an all-time classic. Sigh.

I would absolutely murder Russell Westbrook if I played with him. He's one of the biggest ballhogs in recent memory. I can't remember him pulling this stuff last year or even during this season, save for when KD was out in the beginning of the year. What the hell is wrong with him and Brooks for letting him do this? YOU HAVE A GUY WHO MIGHT BECOME THE GREATEST SCORER OF THE MODERN ERA ON YOUR TEAM WHO IS COMPLETELY UNGUARDABLE! GET HIM THE BALL!

I'd imagine Dirk and KD are going to have to guard each other if they meet next round. That's going to be insanely entertaining.

[gravy boat]

The OKC-Memphis game was awesome last night. Three OTs! I'm pulling for Memphis but last night felt like the swing game of the series.  Both teams, especially OKC, showed a lot of heart.   Two things really hurt the Grizz:  Mayo fouling out and Arthur playing poorly.

I would not be so hard on Westbrook--he made some key shots and he has the better offensive matchup.  He can get past Conley at will.  But yeah, long-term Durant and Westbrook should not be on the same team.

[Greggulator]

I could guard Russell Westbrook and KD could be guarded by Ron Artest AND Ben Wallace AND Gary Payton in all of their primes and KD would still have the better matchup.

[BMin]

Both games were a lot of fun to watch last night, but the reason there was so much overtime was the lack of any good plays drawn up for the final possessions. It was just a whole lot of one on fives and the luckiest moment of Greivis Vazquez's life. The Celtics at least tried to run a play, but it looked like Garnett and Allen knocked each other out of it.

[Greggulator]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/sports/mike-francesa/#

Go to the interview with Chris Herren. It's superb.

Chris Herren just wrote a memoir (along with the help of Bill Reynolds) about his life as a pro basketball player and junkie. Francesa interviews him and it's remarkably candid and gripping. He talks about copping drugs at a train station in Italy and quitting the team because he couldn't score at training camp.

Bill Reynolds wrote a book called "Fall River Dreams" that centers around basketball in Fall River, Mass. Chris Herren's the central character in the book -- he's an All-American in the center of a struggling city that's completely obsessed with basketball. It's one of my favorite books ever written.

Herren got booted from Boston College after a few drug tests, then went to Fresno State under Jerry Tarkanian on a team that had a bunch of players get arrested after robbing someone at an ATM machine with a samurai sword. He then had a brief run in the NBA until he got hooked on Oxy. He bounced around Europe and Asia before he hit absolute rock bottom and OD'd back in his hometown.

This is the next book on my Kindle list. Can't wait.

[jbissell]

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Bulls can take this series. Taj dunking through Wade was the best thing I saw last night, except maybe that putback dunk he had with 30 sec. left.

[Greggulator]

I could not be more pumped for OKC/Dallas. I love both those teams so much. There are so many awesome sub-plots -- Dirk and Jason Kidd's probable last chance at winning a title, KD's ascent to the throne, Will Russell Get It?, etc. and all within a 3.5 hour drive down an interstate!

I didn't get a chance to see any of Game 1 on Sunday night since I was in the car. But I loved what the Bulls threw at the Heat -- got the Heat playing 1 on 5 in the second half and didn't turn the ball over. I have never rooted for a 4-0 sweep more than I am in that season.

Also: The Chris Herren book is fantastic. The dude used to have to wait for sketchball drug dealers to show up outside of Boston's arena to give him Oxy which he needed to play. It's also great if you read "Fall River Dreams" before this, since it's sort of a prequel. Herren was the main character in that book when he was a kid. You can see how damaged he was from living under a microscope from the time he was born and how the gift he had of being a fantastic basketball player was also his biggest tragedy since that was really all he had.

[Gilly]

I could not be more pumped for OKC/Dallas. I love both those teams so much. There are so many awesome sub-plots -- Dirk and Jason Kidd's probable last chance at winning a title, KD's ascent to the throne, Will Russell Get It?, etc. and all within a 3.5 hour drive down an interstate!

I didn't get a chance to see any of Game 1 on Sunday night since I was in the car. But I loved what the Bulls threw at the Heat -- got the Heat playing 1 on 5 in the second half and didn't turn the ball over. I have never rooted for a 4-0 sweep more than I am in that season.

I don't want the sweep because I want a good finals. I have a feeling the West is going to go the full 7.