OPEN THREAD: Day 20 of the 2k8 NBA Playoffs

by Atma Brother ONE on May 8, 2008 11:00 AM PDT in NBA

You won't be seeing this tonight...

Yet another way to... "Make It Rain!"

But that doesn't mean it ain't worth the jump!

It's the 20th day of the 2008 postseason and hoops junkies worldwide are in good hands. No true Warrior fan would root for the Lakers, but against the Jazz it's all good. I'm praying for Mr. Mamba and crew to sweep the boring Jazz on their home floor in front of one of the most classless fanbases in the league . (Unrelated, but sort of related- shout out the newest member of the SBN hoops fam SLC Dunk! You know it would be hilarious if the masses of GSoMers went over there and welcomed them with a few different clips of BD posterizing AK47 dunk in their FanShots-Video section. Just a friendly welcome of course!) By the way, all Laker haters must admit that unlike the Spurs they're a great team to root against. They're far from boring. The Fakers are one of those teams you love to hate. The farther they go, the more entertaining the 2008 NBA Playoffs will be.

Over in the other Western Conference Finals series it looks like the Hornets will be eradicating the only known cure for insomnia, the San Antonio Spurs. I can't remember the last time in the past 7 years where I've seen a team just flat out dominate the Snores in the playoffs. It's simply amazing and a testament to CP3, Tyson Chandler, David West, Peja, and Coach Scott. This isn't great for those poor souls suffering from insomnia, but it's great for anyone with a pulse. The quicker the Spurs are gone fishing, the more entertaining the 2008 Playoffs will be.

LeBron's the man and Coach Grimace knows D, but the Cavs are even more dull than a Sunday afternoon in Cleveland, Ohio. The Boston Three Party should take care of them faster than you can say "COLLUSION ".

Superman and his crew from the magical kingdom probably won't be able take out the savvy Pistons. That means there's still a good chance that those barbaric fans from the sub-urban Auburn Hills will do something stupid in the Eastern Conference Finals or NBA Finals, but hopefully the commish will send in the NBA's equivalent of the national guard to protect the children. But it also means we'll get to see Rasheed rack up some entertaining T's as late as mid-June.

We're in good hands my fellow hoops junkies.

Tonight we've got:

G2: Cavaliers @ Celtics (Celtics lead 1-0)

Fellas, how about hitting 80 points this time around? What in the name of Nellie is going on here? Anyhow I have a hard time believing 2/3 of the Celtics big 3 will combine for 4 points again. I'm thinking Celtics win easy and go Detroit Bad Boys on King James, while bumping "Let's Get Physical" in their locker room.

Quick side note about the Boston Three Party. They've all been to the Conference Finals once individually (KG- TWolves, Jesus Shuttleworth- Bucks, and Pierce- Celtics) but never to the NBA Finals. I think this is the year for them. It couldn't happen to a better group of superstars in their 30's. It couldn't happen to a more annoying sports town either, but that's another story for another time.

G3: Hornets @ Spurs (Hornets lead 2-0)

The two Hornets wins in New Orleans were very, very impressive, but that won't mean much if the Spurs can return serve and win both games in San Antonio. I don't think those big Game 1 and Game 2 victories were a mirage as this is a very, very good Hornets ballclub, but I just don't see this Spurs team losing 3 in a row in the playoffs. I'd love to see the Hornets break out the broom though. Unfortunately, the Spurs will whine and flop their way to a nice game 3 win.

Also I'd hate to say it, but it in terms of hoops:

Tyson Chandler > Andris Biedrins
David West > Stephen Jackson
Peja Stojakovic > Al Harrington
Chris Paul > Monta Ellis
and I think it's time for Warrior fans to admit like I did the other day to my boy FJ- Chris Paul > Baron Davis

I remember a lot of Warriors fans weren't so happy about a recap I wrote for a Warriors blowout loss to the Hornets in Oakland way back in January. Well it's not easy to say this as a Warriors fan, but it's the truth. The 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors are nowhere near as good as the 2007-2008 New Orleans Hornets. There might have only been an 8 game win difference, but there's a world of difference between these two teams. They're headed in completely opposite directions as well.

At least it's easy to root for New Orleans.

Also see: Four Lessons from the Hornets from my friend Adam over at Fast Break

Post your Golden Picks and any playoff game thoughts in the comments.

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Comments

I wouldn't say completely opposite directions...

And the major knock on the Hornets has been their lack of depth. They still don’t have a bench. Their starters just miraculously didn’t get injured (the four mentioned missed a combined 16 games) like they have the year before (Missed a combined 126 in 06-07). All four of the above players notched over 35 mins/game in the regular season.

by Dubs fan in Boston on May 8, 2008 11:23 AM PDT reply actions

We'll be headed

in a different direction next year if Nellie doesn’t come back, or the year after that when Nellie finally retires. Hopefully, that direction is UP towards the top tier teams.

But in any case, I have to enviously tip my hat to the Hornets. I still think the media overmarkets Chris Paul, but he’s very good player and the Hornets are playing like a team with a unified purpose during these playoffs. Our Warriors mentally fell apart during the crunch time weeks at the end of the season.

The only thing I can’t stand about the Hornets is their PA guy that does that “Whoo!” thing every time Chris Paul scores.

by IQofaWarrior on May 8, 2008 11:34 AM PDT reply actions

That ain't the announcer

The “Woo” you hear at the Hornets game is a sound bite from the all time greatest wrestler of all time. His name is “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. As Ric himself says, “I’m a jet flying, limosine riding, kiss stealing, wheelin dealin son of a gun! Wooo!”

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iy-LQH8N6Ug

by gabezgsw on May 8, 2008 1:27 PM PDT reply actions