The NBA Finals and prediction thread [R]

[Ian McCracken]

Well, I'm the biggest Pistons fan around and, yeah, I feel all the "bring it on" feelings that fans feel when they have great confidence in their team. However, while I certainly feel the Pistons have a shot at an upset, I'm going to have to predict the Lakers in six games. One reason is the 2-3-2 format clearly favors the team with home court. Even if the Pistons steal one of the first two games in LA, they have virtually no chance of winning three straight against the Lakers. That means they would need wins in games 6 and/or 7 on the road. I don't see that happening. Plus, I think the difference-maker in this series is Kobe Bryant. While it's hoped that Rip Hamilton can take some of the wind out of Bryant's sails by making him chase on defense, it is Kobe's offense which will be the difference.

That being said, GO PISTONS!!!

[Ted Cikowski]

pistons will sweep. see you at the parade Ian.

[Danks81]

Pistons in 6. See you guys on Woodward. :)

[otterulz]

Ok, is it weird that the only thing I paid attention to during the game was the nice cleavage on that chick behind Phil Jackson?

[skipshady]

I can't believe I'm missing the Tony Awards to watch this. Fortunately, it's a pretty decent game.


Man, if I hear that "Let's Get Retarded" song one more time...


Edit: if the Lakers come back and win this thing, the series is over. Or not.

[ScouseCat]

Time to bring some balance to this thread...

http://www.onlinesports.com/images/lakers.jpg

Prediction: LA in 6.

GO LAKERS!!

[Ted Cikowski]

luckily there's an (R) at the top of this thread.


TAYSHAUN PRINCE bitches!

Detroit wins game one!!!!!!!

[skipshady]

Edit: if the Lakers come back and win this thing, the series is over. Or not.So the series is not over. This series will go at least 4 games, I guarantee it.

[Ian McCracken]

Ok, is it weird that the only thing I paid attention to during the game was the nice cleavage on that chick behind Phil Jackson?

Well, I paid attention to other things but the cleavage certainly did not escape my attention. That damn Phil Jackson kept moving his head and blocking it, though. I wanted to slap him silly.

As far as the game is concerned, I thought the west coasters had a little more game than that. Rip Hamilton had a horrible game offensively and the Pistons still won. If the Pistons steal game 2, I'll have to think about revising my prediction.

[Danks81]

Ok, is it weird that the only thing I paid attention to during the game was the nice cleavage on that chick behind Phil Jackson?

That makes two of us. ;)

[Davids26]

Bitches.

[NORML]

Last nights game reminded me a bit of game one in the Lakers/Spurs series in the conference semifinals. Lakers will win in 5. Stupid Lakers.

[microbrew]

Detriot will win if they continue to run Kobe ragged. Chasing Rip Hamilton around has to be tiring. At the other end, Kobe is being guarded by taller players, notably Tayshaun Prince.

Speaking of predictions: Mehmet Okur is gone next season.

And will we see Darko Milicic guarding Shaq?

[skipshady]

And will we see Darko Milicic guarding Shaq?If Larry Brown resorts to Haq-A-Shaq, maybe. Say what you will about Darko, he has 6 fouls like everyone else.

Honestly, nothing Brown does would shock me - he had that 4-guard lineup with Philly 3 years ago and managed to get quite a bit out of Jumaine Jones in that playoff run.

But lest we get too excited about the win, we should remember Brown's last Finals meeting against the Lakers. The Sixers won Game 1 in Staples, but Phil Jackson figured he could put the legendary Tyronne Lue on Iverson and the Lakers won 4 straight. In the aftermath, Michael Jordan signed Lue to the Wizards and the rest is history.

[FlashMan]

Detriot will win if they continue to run Kobe ragged. Chasing Rip Hamilton around has to be tiring. At the other end, Kobe is being guarded by taller players, notably Tayshaun Prince.




kobe doesn't even guard hamilton most of the time. they leave that to george much of the time.

kobe can stop hamilton pretty much anytime he wants to. hamilton has largely been crap so far and the lakers still needed a miracle to win game 2.

pistons, presuming they can recover from game 2, should take 2 out of 3 at home and will have every opportunity to pull out a win in games 6 or 7. as a team they're better than the lakers. unfortunately, i'm starting to think hamilton, as clutch as he's been for the pistons in the past, is a bit of a choker in these bright lights. he's going to have make some huge plays for the pistons to win it.

(by "crap" i don't mean he hasn't had some nice plays and key buckets. but he's not quite consistent enough and has made too many bad decisions. he needs to take over a game or two - within the team framework - to get the pistons over the top.)