[Azyiu]

I hear you there, Jeff. Then again, every coach (and some players) "talks" during playoffs, whether directly at the refs, via media or what not. Let's just say MD'A is not as skillful in that dept as Pop or Phil Jackson. Still, I think he is not a bad coach per se.

[GH0STrider]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

I am not a Mavs fan and I can care less about what they do, but I still think letting AJ go is their BIGGEST mistake since trading for Kidd!!! That team is no way going to find a better coach than AJ this summer, nor will they be as good as they were record-wise this year. That said, AJ is now a free man, and I think he would be an awesome candidate for the Bulls' job. Your thoughts, Mr. Blackcock?

Dude Avery is great! He is now my top choice. He knows defense and offense. Not to mention he won't let anyone walk over him like boylan did. If pax doesn't lock him up I seriously will kill the son of a bitch myself.

Originally Posted by Azyiu

Also, what is up with the "fire D'Antoni" non-sense? Regardless of whether the Suns actually play D or not, I truly think MD'A is the perfect coach for the Suns, and there is no way whatsoever anyone else can do a better job in Phoenix. Seriously, IMHO, before you fire your coach, you better have all the right reasons and a GOOD replacement waiting in the wing. I say give MD'A another year and a full training camp and go from there.


Seriously, I thought part of the Suns' problems is their players, namely Diaw, Barbosa and maybe Raja Bell. They seriously need to find a way to get rid of either or both of Diaw and Barbosa for a hard nose SF or PF. They should never have traded away Kurt Thomas... I think if somehow they can add a guy like Battier, or perhaps Najera (he is a FA this summer); that would be good start. Of course, MD'A have made some bad coaching decisions along the way, like going with Skinner instead of Sean Marks. I mean, neither really play D or is going to get you any rebounds, but I'd rather go down with a guy who can frigging shoot a jumper!!!

I think your wrong there Azyiu. Kenny Smith said it best. he said that the suns are a great regular season team. But they lack good decision making and defensive skills to win hard playoff games. They turned the ball over 7 times in the 4th quarter of game 5 alone. Granted- this can't all be blamed on the coach. But blowing 16-20 point leads? Where the fuck is the defense? There are great defenders on that team- why can't they all play d together? Mike D is an offense genius. But he sucks with d and it shows. Defense is what wins championships. Just take a look at recent champs. bulls,rockets, spurs, lakers, heat, pistons, ect. Those teams played good hard d. that is why they got there. You can't expect to outscore your opponents every game. Eventually your going to run into a club that can stop you and in that case you need good decision making and the ability to defend and grind it out. If the suns want a tittle the need someone who can get the team on the same page and do those things. That is where the improvements need to be made. And I agree- If mike d'a can't do it- them get someone who can. Because 4 years in a row he has been knocked out of the playoffs for the same fucking reason- his team can not defend for shit.

[Azyiu]

Yes, the Bulls need to talk to AJ at the very least but I heard AJ is not interested in getting another job at this moment... we will see...


I think the Suns' coaching situation is so messy now, whether they wanted to keep D'Antoni or not, I think it might be best for both parties to go their seperate ways and move on. After all, the way things ended in the Spurs series were so messy, I don't think he can ever commend any respect from guys like Amare or Shaq anymore.


Oh, how about them Hawks?! Those kids played their hearts out in game 6, man. Ok ok, let's not get too excited and I still firmly believe the Celtics should destroy them on Sunday. Still, we are going to game 7 in that series?! Wow!!! Also, what is up with Doc' decision at the end of the 4th? The Celtics were down by 3, Rondo dribbled the ball up court and didn't seem like he was either looking to pass or shoot. I mean, shouldn't Doc at least instruct him to get KG the damn ball while Bibby was still at the foul line? IIRC, I saw nothing like that... and it felt like the Celtics were much rather play a game 7 than going to OT.


By the way, MVP! MVP! MVP!

[GH0STrider]

Azyiu- you should love this.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a massive downgrade?
SOURCES: MAVS TO HIRE CARLISLE - New York Post

[Azyiu]

Honestly, I respect Carlisle's coaching and I think he is one of the better defensive coaches out there in the league. That having said, I am not sure why the Mavs would want to hire him at this point. I mean, perhaps Cuban finally decided that, the Mavs should head to a different direction in their plays and finally add the D back into Dallas , but I don't think their current players are made for playing great D. Of course, knowing how Cuban is; maybe he will trade everyone over the summer or something.


I don't know if Nick still check out this thread or not, I hope he does and I value his opinion. I actually wanted to read about what he is thinking about the Hawks and game 7 tomorrow. Oh well, so Nick, if you are still around, make more posts here, dude.


Finally, kind of out of curiousity and I bought that new NBA dvd called "Greatest Rivalries & Upsets - Vol. 1" Well, it is worth a rental but that's about all. They started off the dvd with how the Mavs managed to beat the Spurs in 2006, after losing to them for a few years; followed by how they got upset by the Warriors in 2007. After that, the document kind of went confusing without a good flow IMO. I understand this is only the so-called "Vol. 1", but they should have really put the Knicks / Bulls (in the 90's) and then Knicks / Pacers or how about Knicks / Heat in there. Sadly there is nothing like that on that dvd, or anything before 2001... Still, it is worth a look, but don't buy it.

[GH0STrider]

well the celtics took care of business. Although I worry about the against the james gang. If they had such trouble with the hawks imagine what lebron might do to them

[Azyiu]

^ my thoughts exactly.


Keep an eye on both Paul Pierce and LeBron too, IIRC, they don't really like each other and they have exchanged words both via the media and in each other's face during the season. This is going to be HOT! There is no need to say anything else, and I am just looking forward to game 1.


Over in the west, TD is too good to repeat his 1 of 9 performance, so I expect the Spurs to come out very strong in game 2. D.West is not going to get 20 pts or above again, I think...

[zimbloth]

The Hawks really just weren't as bad as people think and they played above their heads. When guys like Josh Smith who shoot 18% from 15 feet and out all of a sudden shoots lights out, what can you do?

I really feel like the Hawks presented certain matchup problems and a style of play that gave the C's some trouble, I don't think you can say that will translate against the Cavs or Detriot who are half-court slow it down teams. I certainly think the Cavs could give us problems, but I wouldn't be surprised if we won in 5 either. Who knows, every series is its own entity.

[Azyiu]

Totally agreed. And the Cavs are a pretty unpredictable team. They can play like a top team in one game, and shoot in the 30s the next. I just want to see some GOOD basketball.

[heavyjeffd]

Man, the Spurs pooped Game 1. Hopefully they get their fingers out of their butts in Game 2.