Neowin's Official NBA 2004 Playoffs Thread

[kombolcha]

finally fixed my TV and caught up with my NBA Live 2004 xbox game..

i tried to have the current roster as much as possible, the only thing i couldn't do was get rid of chucky atkins and get rasheed wallace, but still i was 82 - 0 in the regular season, WITHOUT CHEATING, i had a few very close games going into overtime.

now i'm in the finals i was 8 - 0 in the semi-finals and now i'm facing the lakers. so far i'm up 1 - 0, i'm playing the full 12 minute quarters this time. this was also a very close game, chauncy came in at the last few seconds and made two threes. and i won by 2 points. i'll play some more tomorrow.

i'm unbeatable at this game

[-=SD=-]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2004...tory?id=1820204

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Police are investigating a confrontation between Karl Malone and a fan who says the Lakers' forward poked him in the face before Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Malone shouted back and jabbed his right index finger at the man, whose head jerked backward. As to whether he made contact, Malone said, "Maybe I did, but he was in my playing field.

Just found this to be funny.. "jabbed his right index finger" lol, why would anyone investigate this? :wacko:

[KzR]

The Pistons' spectacular defense owned the Lakers. In Game 3, Kobe and Shaq each could not even score above 15 points. If Phil Jackson cannot find a way to win Game 4, Malone and Payton might well not be able to win a champ ring.

[....]

The Pistons' spectacular defense owned the Lakers. In Game 3, Kobe and Shaq each could not even score above 15 points. If Phil Jackson cannot find a way to win Game 4, Malone and Payton might well not be able to win a champ ring.

And that alone, is why I don't want the Lakers to win.

Malone is a moron.

[beekay_]

Go Pistons!

[KzR]

And that alone, is why I don't want the Lakers to win.

Malone is a moron.

Heh, I believe that Malone deserves at least one championship ring after failing to get one with Jazz. He's been in the league for so long too and the Stockton/Malone duo is great!

Also, I think that Payton isnt contributing much to both the Lakers' offense and defense. On the other hand, Fisher defend by taking charges and scores on the offense too. Fisher should take the place of Payton in the starting lineup, IMO.

[kombolcha]

haha i heard about the malone thing last night too, i also heard that the fans were very very close to the floor, close enough to make physical contact with players! i think the fans help a lot too.

i think tonights game starts at 5:30 and i think phil is done for, i can't think of any strategies that he can pull for a win, if he has any i think larry brown definately has some to counter this strategies

GO PISTONS!

[kombolcha]

30 more minutes people.. watch the game~~~!!!!

GO PISTONS!

[kainashi]

pistons win!!!

one game away from bringing it home. :cool:

[ThunderRiver]

Piston won game 4! with 8 points leading Lakers :)

[Laughing-Man]

Awesome, just one more game. I do not know if I want the Pistons to win it at home or do it in LA. I think I would rather them win in LA just to see the disappointment Jack Nicholson's and the so called Laker star fans' faces.

[Ayepecks]

w00t...

Boy are my friends gonna back out of paying me... I said at the beginning of the year that the Pistons would beat the Lakers in the finals! :D

EDIT: BTW, anyone know the song they played on the segment right before the game -- before Kid Rock sang, etc... it was something about "Anxiety" and sounded like a rock track...

Edited June 14, 2004 by Scorpio

[kombolcha]

:woot: :woot: GO PISTONS!

the look on shaq's, fox's, malone's, and rush's faces were just priceless near the end of the game. :happy:

GO PISTONS!

[-=SD=-]

Nice, hopefully the Pistons win at home, gotta remind myself to watch it.

[CatnipOligarchy]

the look on shaq's, fox's, malone's, and rush's faces were just priceless near the end of the game. :happy:

yess.. one of my favorite recurring moments in sports is the stunned look on the faces of the favorites as they fall.. so awesome.. go pistons!

[Diata]

they could be the first team to win all 3 home games in the 2-3-2 final format... detroit what

[mattmatik]

I got to thinking when the game was over how funny it's going to be next year when all these Laker fans stop going to the games because half the team will be gone. Anyone remember the Lakers after the '91 Finals against the Bulls? They couldn't sell out a game until Shaq went to LA. LA fans are horrible, they are the epitome of fairweather fans.

Again, I said it before the Finals started...it was up to the refs on who would win this series. They have let the games play out, and I don't care what Laker fans say, the Lakers simply don't do jack to draw fouls. You see the Pistons crash the boards, push the fastbreaks, drive the basket, making the Lakers react. The Lakers settle for jump shots or leave Shaq on the block by himself.

Poor Shaq...playing with a bunch of pansies, crybabies, ballhogs...it's a shame really.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Poor Shaq...playing with a bunch of pansies, crybabies, ballhogs...it's a shame really.

I could not agree with you more, and granted I want to see LA go down bad, but it is truly just sad how Shaq seems to be the only one with heart and desire on this team. Granted it should be easy to be a team player when you are the team, but the fact that Shaq only touched the ball once in the final 7 minutes of the first half shows that the rest of his teammates, especially Kobe, are a bunch of selfish little kids...

To sum up why Detroit is simply handing the Laker's their ass, they play as a TEAM.

This by the way is for the Lakers Fans...

[Original_]

Nobody likes the Lakers except people from LA hahaha.

Shaq - only "good" because he is big. In my opinion, what he does is not basketball, but more football than anything.

Kobe - has talent but should stick to what he does best, young women ... and his shot selection is pitiful.

Malone - One of the dirtiest players in the game and doesn't deserve a damn thing

Payton - IMO has always been overrated... that is showing this series.

[kombolcha]

i disagree with two of your comments about Shaq and Kobe.

i believe that Shaq is a great player. on defense not a lot of people want to take the ball in against him, and on offense, i don't think anyone his size and weight can move as fast as he does and be able to make 10 footer when most centers can't do it. who cares about free throws, have you seen how many times Ben Wallace has air balled free throws?

as for kobe i think is second best player in the league just under Carmelo Anthony, if fisher or horry never brought out the lakers from a loosing game, its all Kobe, its just sometimes its not his day and people don't understand that, just because you're a superstar doesnt mean you're always going to score 30+ points a game, i don't see anyone else pump fake twice, make the shot and still get a foul.

@ soloredd i agree w/ that too, about how stupid the fans are. what makes me more angry is what i read in the LA times. I've been a pistons fan for years now, i even rooted for the Jazz when they were playing the Lakers in the finals way back. and i was reading the newspaper where "laker fans" got to have their comments in the newspaper and one guy said.

"you're going to see 3 things happen when the Lakers loose.

1. there will be less lakers flags flying around

2. you're going to see more people wearing Piston gear.

3. i forgot what number three was.

#2 really hurts me because as you know LA has the brightest people (sarcasm) you know how they'll react.

[CatnipOligarchy]

as much as i'd love to think detroit has this series wrapped up.. teams like the lakers always seems to get the breaks just when it looks like they are down for the count

[ANova]

Kobe has tallent I'll give him that, but he's a bit of a ballhog and he has an 'I'm better then you mentality'. Shaq has almost no skill at all imo. You never see him more then 10 feet from the basket. He uses his shear size and weight to force him way in and theres not a damn thing anyone can do about it. Refs have a tendency of calling fouls on anyone guarding him as well, even if they didn't touch him.

[KzR]

Matchups is what NBA is all about. The team that has the best matchups win. Shaq is taller than Ben Wallace and LAL has the advantage in that matchup. Kobe is better than Rip and LAL has an advantage there.

But Pistons has the advantage in the Malone-Rasheed, Payton-Billups and George-Prince matchups. The Pistons has completely shut down Kobe's offense by having 2, or sometimes 3 players guarding him. Payton and George often miss WIDE-OPEN jumpshots, and Malone's knee is slowing him down. It is like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe vs Ben, Rasheed, Prince, Hamilton and Billups in scoring points...

Sadly, I've to say Pistons will be the champions this year. Malone will not get his ring and Payton will go to another team. The dominance of the Lakers is breaking down, and will break down should the Lakers lose in Game 5.

[kombolcha]

GO PISTONS!

up by 10 in the half

[StaticX]

ohh man... this is going to be some upset going into the 4th q