NBA finals prediction thread!!!

[The Outlaw]

Throughout the whole time, out of everyone I've talked to I am the only one who said it was going to be a closer series, EVERYONE I talked to and everything I read said Lakers would dominate, me being the only one saying it would be closer than that, and even I didn't expect this.

[AlphaBean]

Yeah, it's weird how everyone is coming out of the woodwork now saying they picked the Pistons.

Someone bump that old thread asking if the Pistons could do it.

Shoulda been a public poll, so that people couldn't change their pick.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

I knew it would be at least 5 or 6, but I'll be damned if I thought it would be the Piston's winning.

[AlphaBean]

So many people predicted sweep...

I wouldn't have picked the Pistons to win, but I'm a life-long pessimist. I'm either proven right, or pleasantly surprised.

I am orgasmically happy to be proven wrong. :D

[The Outlaw]

You guys are so mean. :(

[The Outlaw]

Well Ninti is about to respond saying he predicted it too I bet. :(

[AlphaBean]

You guys are so mean. :(

Nah I'm still predicting the Lakers.

Pissed off Shaq is worth 10,000 Ben Wallaces. The NBA wants this competitive, so I highly doubt they will be letting anything go in the next three games... defense means touch fouls, so the Lakers will be going to the line 80 times a game, and the PIstons will get scared and play soft, which is what the Lakers want... and the Pistons will not be able to compensate.

Watch!

[The Outlaw]

Nah, the Pistons will keep shooting 50 free throws

:mad:

[El Santo]

WOW I am shocked. Detriot had control of the game hte entire time, the score wasn't lopsided like last time but I was never worried about the Lakers making a push to win it

Kinda pisses me off though. I mean I am glad that somebody other then the Lakers is winning, but I just think back to 2 years ago when the Celtics where better then the Pistons. Now the Celtics suck and Detriot has improved greatly. Pisses me off...why couldn't have the Celtics done the samething?? :mad: Its not Detroit completely revamped their roster, I mean Prince and Rasheed got added on but other then that there wasn't much. Their guys have just gotten better for whatever reasons where as the Celtics dump an all star for a 7 foot bum that only shoots 3 pointers :mad:

AlphaBean mentioned the coach and maturity. I'm going to also include a pretty damn good president in Joe Dumars, a man who's not afraid to make unpopular decisions when he knows it's for the good of the team.

Remember, Detroit also ended up dumping an all star --- Jerry Stackhouse --- in exchange for Rip Hamilton. Dumars was also widely criticized by sports pundits for picking Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony for the main reason that he wanted to keep Tayshaun Prince. See how both those scenarios played out.

[AlphaBean]

AlphaBean mentioned the coach and maturity. I'm going to also include a pretty damn good president in Joe Dumars, a man who's not afraid to make unpopular decisions when he knows it's for the good of the team.

Remember, Detroit also ended up dumping an all star --- Jerry Stackhouse --- in exchange for Rip Hamilton. Dumars was also widely criticized by sports pundits for picking Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony for the main reason that he wanted to keep Tayshaun Prince. See how both those scenarios played out.

You think Darko will pan out?

Also I dunno if I said coach/maturity... I said a lot of things but that doesn't ring a bell.

[Kid Robb]

Suprised by how relatively easy it has been, then again though, the Pistons have played really really smart.

Defense is their strength, and they've played to it. They've let Shaq get his, but Prince and his massive wingspan and reach have made Kobe's life a living hell. Malone is now injured, and Payton is struggling with his role. The bench has been shut down completely by the Pistons defense.

Don't mistake the Lakers inability to execute as being entirely their own fault. The Pistons have made it bloody hard on them, and done it really well. They deserve to be in the position they're in now, and save for a last minute brain lapse in game two, it'd be series over right now.

[El Santo]

You think Darko will pan out?

Also I dunno if I said coach/maturity... I said a lot of things but that doesn't ring a bell.

Oops. Sorry. I checked and it was splaya who said it.

As for Darko... I think he will eventually be a dominant player, for no other reason than he's a big guy that might one day counteract Shaquille O'Neal. He's only 18 yet (the youngest player ever in the Finals), he's still playing with European basketball mentality, and he's on a championship roster, and he didn't play much of this season due to contractual issues with his European team. We haven't seen Milicic's potential yet, but I really do think that he's the future of the Pistons.

[The Outlaw]

Hell, if noone else will hit any shots, I would be fine with them going to Shaq every single time down the court. He will get his points and I'm 90% sure all of their big men would get in foul trouble.

[AlphaBean]

Hell, if noone else will hit any shots, I would be fine with them going to Shaq every single time down the court. He will get his points and I'm 90% sure all of their big men would get in foul trouble.

Seriously. If anything, the Pistons would have 8 players in foul trouble, and at least one of them would be injured. You know it.

Shaq scoring 85 points in the pivotal game 5? I like that.

If he's the only Laker who scores, I'll be happy.

Outlaw, go check the NBA thread at Rajah's if you can... some Laker fan is saying that Kobe is better than Jordan, and more important than Shaq.

That's somebody I know even you gotta slap.

[The Outlaw]

Oh shit.

I'm on it, if I can remember my login shit.

[Kid Robb]

DID YOU HEAR KOBE CAN'T BE STOPPED!!?!?!?@>?!>

THAT'S KOBE aka K - O - B - E aka MR. 36-FOR-92

Sorry Outlaw, couldn't resist :D

[The Outlaw]

WHy I oughtta :mad:

Nah, it's all good. I'm not all that upset about it, seeing as the Pistons are my team from the East. :D

But damn, Kobe can't do anything while Shaq is dominating but Kobe still tries to take the game over.

[BCWWF]

I bet you're also a Yankees, Patriots, Red Wings, fan... :shifty:

[The Outlaw]

Me?

Braves/Cardinals, Packers/Colts, Avalanche/TB

:mad:

[The Outlaw]

I hate the Yankees.

Don't mind the PATs but not a fan.

Hate the Red Wings.

[BCWWF]

You should try rooting for established franchises next time :rant:

[The Miz]

24 minutes away :cool:

[Loose Cannon]

jesus christ, the lakers are getting schooled

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

WOW Ridiculous

[The Icon of Elisim]

Lakers lose with Joey Crawford reffing. Just wanted to point that out

Congrats to the Pistons

[AlphaBean]

Lakers lose with Joey Crawford reffing. Just wanted to point that out

Congrats to the Pistons

LOL I wonder what OUtlaw thinks about that. :D

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

I am so surprised. Pistons dominated this WHOLE series, it really should have been a 4 game sweep. I thought the Lakers where going to win for sure, but I was wrong. I think the Lakers are going to break up now, they did not play like a team AT ALL this series. If played together, and lost, then I would think they would regroup and come back. But the way that they lost....I dunno

We'll see I guess

[The Outlaw]

:(

Well, what can I say? A record was set last game in the finals for difference in fouls, 35-20.

I stopped watching the game (I flipped back and forth) after Shaq got two in 4 minutes or so. I knew the game was going to be ugly after that. I completely stopped when it was 90-65. I'm guessing a lot of FT were shot by the Lakers in that last bit to get them to 87 to...even it up a bit? ;)

Pistons: 119-171
Lakers: 71-136

This taking into account that tonights free throws were...I'm not going to say even but they ended up even.

Taking all this into account, I still don't know if the Lakers would have beaten them if it was reffed a little less...well...shitty? I think it would have went to 7.

What I find funny though, is the Pistons fans gave up a couple of series ago against the Nets (go back a few pages and look at Bad Guy posts)

I am not taking ANYTHING away from Ben Wallace and company though, they busted ass and pretty much embarrassed us

Congrats to the Pistons, like I said in the beginning, I'm not that upset about it. BIG BEN :love:

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

I don't think the calls where really ALL that bad

Pistons just play way better defense then the Lakers, and the Lakers were fouling WAY more. I hate when point out the foul numbers and are like "They should be even at the end" Why should they be? Why can't one team foul a lot less then the other? Never really made sense to me at all

[Rouge Horseman]

I am so surprised. Pistons dominated this WHOLE series, it really should have been a 4 game sweep. I thought the Lakers where going to win for sure, but I was wrong. I think the Lakers are going to break up now, they did not play like a team AT ALL this series. If played together, and lost, then I would think they would regroup and come back. But the way that they lost....I dunno

We'll see I guess

Nah, they're finshed. Jackson said in an interview after that there was a slim chance he was coming back. Fisher, Payton, Kobe and Malone could be gone and I would expect at least 2 of those four to be finished. Fox might retire. And remember hearing that Shaq only wants to play for Jackson, but I don't think he'll leave anytime soon even if Jackson goes.

[Loose Cannon]

I am so surprised. Pistons dominated this WHOLE series, it really should have been a 4 game sweep. I thought the Lakers where going to win for sure, but I was wrong. I think the Lakers are going to break up now, they did not play like a team AT ALL this series. If played together, and lost, then I would think they would regroup and come back. But the way that they lost....I dunno

We'll see I guess

Nah, they're finshed. Jackson said in an interview after that there was a slim chance he was coming back. Fisher, Payton, Kobe and Malone could be gone and I would expect at least 2 of those four to be finished. Fox might retire. And remember hearing that Shaq only wants to play for Jackson, but I don't think he'll leave anytime soon, even if Jackson goes.

[The Outlaw]

I don't think the calls where really ALL that bad

Pistons just play way better defense then the Lakers, and the Lakers were fouling WAY more. I hate when point out the foul numbers and are like "They should be even at the end" Why should they be? Why can't one team foul a lot less then the other? Never really made sense to me at all

They were pretty bad, everyone I've talked to has said that, Piston fans, Laker fans, even people who don't even like either team. Even without all this, the Pistons couldn't do wrong in this series, anything they threw up was going in so it probably wouldn't have mattered. When the Pistons played good defense, it was good defense. When the Lakers would do it, a lot of the time it was a foul.

No, they shouldn't be even at the end, where did I say it should be even at the end?

When a team like the Lakers who go inside and drive as much as they do attempt less free throws than the Pistons, who rely mainly on defense to win games who are a mainly perimeter team (Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, and even Rasheed and Ben shoot jumpers), make, it's a little odd. Even taking into consideration that the Pistons did attack the basket a little more this series than normal.

Like I said, I'm not really that upset about it. Huge Ben fan, he's my boy.

[YOUR Hero]

Pistons and Lightning, same owner, two sports championships within a month.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

When a team like the Lakers who go inside and drive as much as they do attempt less free throws than the Pistons, who rely mainly on defense to win games who are a mainly perimeter team (Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, and even Rasheed and Ben shoot jumpers), make, it's a little odd. Even taking into consideration that the Pistons did attack the basket a little more this series than normal..


The Pistons attacked way more, and the Lakers attacked very little. That was the difference. LA was settling for shots (well those who actually did shoot, as we know someone was scared to *cough*Malone*cough*). That's why the fouls ended up so off. Hell even Kobe settled more than he drove.

[The Miz]

Not to mention he owns the Detroit Shock, who won the WNBA championshup last season

[AlphaBean]

Did you see Rip Hamilton, Outlaw?

He was running ALL OVER the court. Under the basket, circles, like he was on crack. You can't stop that. He burned the fuck out of GP or whoever was guarding him... drove and drove and drove. He hardly ever took jumpers, since they weren't falling.

Difference is, when he drove, he either was fouled, made it, or the miss was put back by Ben or Tayshaun.

Seriously. With all the offensive boards the Pistons got, and the PUTBACKS, that's a lot of fouls right there, when you're caught off guard and they do that shit to you, you're like WHAT!? oops?

And I saw Ben Wallace driving to the basket, so you know that the Pistons had the mindset to drive. They rarely settled for jumpers, and when they did?

That's right, putbacks. Every fucking time. They did not make all their shots, in fact they made a poor percentage... but their second chance points were so much higher than the Lakers'... when you have Prince boarding over Shaq, you know something's amiss.

Lakers must have had a collapse in the locker room after the Wolves series, because they seemed to hate each other the entire Finals. I mean wow.

I wonder if Shaq killed anyone in the locker room after the game. Fisher was like "I'll talk to the people out here since I don't want to be in there :("

Also, the Lakers never drove to the hoop. When they did, they scored or got fouled. Just like the Pistons. The falls were ALWAYS CALLED. However, the Pistons swarmed so heavily in the half-court that the drives were impossible. Everyone was afraid of Ben, and there were no picks set.

Pistons set the pick and roll, which would leave people free to drive to the hoop. When there's nobody on you, or your man was beaten, he will foul you. That's what happens.

The thing is, with the Wolves... all I'm saying is, KG gets fouled on every play and it's not called.

Shaq gets the calls and Kobe gets the fouls, but that's it. I want the refs to give more props to the best player in the friggin league. :rant:

[BCWWF]

I love how Outlaw thought he was smart by saying it would be closer than everyone thinks, but then it was beyond that, it wasn't close at all but in the opposite way :lol: Anybody who tried to take credit for calling this gets a negative rep :rant: Outlaw would have been the forum []D [] []V[] []D had this been a game 7.

Anyway, I watched most of the game, and the Lakers kept missing shots and the Pistons didn't. "They can come back, they just have to have good possessions everytime down the court" right as Luke Walton (I think it was) clanks another three, and Ben Wallace gobbles it up.

I am glad Malone didn't get his ring, cheap bastard.

The only thing I don't like about this is that teams in the East will be like "Yeah, the East isn't that bad," when really it still is. There are three good teams, and two that are capable of competing with the west. They can't forget that they had losing teams in the first round of the playoffs. Move the T-Wolves to the East, so all of the games aren't at 10:00 pm.

[AlphaBean]

I didn't even realize this until now.

Outlaw, you could quite possibly be the worst sports fan of all time.

Lakers and Packers. :nono:

That's low. That's way low.

I'll accept the Braves because I mean, Twins beat em in the best WS ever :love: but the Lakers and the Packers... I can't believe it.

[Ninti the Mad]

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

[The Outlaw]

I didn't even realize this until now.

Outlaw, you could quite possibly be the worst sports fan of all time.

Lakers and Packers. :nono:

That's low. That's way low.

I'll accept the Braves because I mean, Twins beat em in the best WS ever :love: but the Lakers and the Packers... I can't believe it.

;)

I used to be a hardcore Vikings fan actually. :$

I still love to watch Randy Moss. I dunno, for me I'm more of a fan of players than teams, considering my hometown is known for nothing more than their College Football team (and Basketball this year), and even in football we've done shitall ever since Shaun left. :mad:

Yeah we've been decent a few years, but nothing like I'm used to.

But yeah, I'll be the first one to point out that the Lakers played like absolute shit. I'm not even sure if they had a game plan coming in.

Oh well. Here's to a totally revamped roster I guess. :wave:

[The Outlaw]

BTW that Braves comment was a low blow. :(

[The Miz]

and even in football we've done shitall ever since Shaun left. :mad:

YEAH WHAT #37 WOOOOOOOOOOO

[AlphaBean]

HEY GUYS CHECK IT OUT.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/pete_mcentegart/06/02/col.nba.stern/index.html

Hahaha awesome.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/040616

Check it out...

Bill Simmons has declared THE NBA IS BACK!

:rofl:

BY THE WAY, notice how Rick Fox is trying to mindfuck Kobe? saying Kobe has to go through what he went through with Shaq... with another player if he leaves?

THat's horseshit. If you're mature, you won't have the whiney bitch problems Shaq and Kobe had. If you have an unselfish player who wants to be a team, you will not have that problem. Everyone called Rasheed a cancer before he went to Detroit.

Rick Fox is a bastard. I don't think Kobe will have to worry about that at all unless he goes to Philly, or like, Orlando. Otherwise, he'll fit in perfectly.

[The Outlaw]

Rasheed is a little bitch. You can claim he "wants to win", but yeah so do other guys who don't whine and bitch.

It's kind of hard to win when you have these stats:

Kobe : 43-113
Shaq : 53-84

You would think they would have just went to Shaq every single time.

YEAH WHAT #37 WOOOOOOOOOOO

:D

[AlphaBean]

Rasheed is just louder.

Kobe's one of the biggest whiners around.

Remember when the Lakers weren't getting calls and lost a game to the Wolves, and Phil whined about the officiating... then the Wolves didn't get any calls for the rest of the series, and when Flip said "If Phil can talk about the officiating, so can I."

Then Phil replied with "He's just grasping at straws trying to find a way to win. Everyone knows the Wolves are a jump shooting team"

Then in the Finals Phil whines about no-calls again. Larry Brown replied with "The Lakers took (was it 27?) 3 pointers in that game. That's over a third(half? quarter? forget) of their shots."

It's funny how much of a hypocrite Phil is. He's the only coach in the NBA allowed to complain I guess. :nono: