** NBA Conference Finals **

[CharlieDontSurf]

I have a feeling the Pistons may pull off the upset and go onto the Finals.
I want the Heat to win...but I just get this baaad vibe. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I view the Pistons as a more dominant team than the Mavs, Heat, Suns, and this years Spurs...in part because they are a great shutdown defensive team..espc when you include Hunter...and they have 4 starters who can all put up over 25 points and several who can go for 30+.

In my mind the playoff team that is best defensivly should win unless they don't play to their potential for a number of reasons(poor coaching, whiny players, no teamwork, poor execution, etc etc.

This is the main reason the Heat are up 3-2.

[CharlieDontSurf]

Oh and...the Pistons/Heat will go on to win the Finals.

[Artdogg]

[ QUOTE ]
yes we know. when the mavs beat the spurs, it's not because the Mavs played well, it's because the Spurs played bad defense (#1 defensive team in the league statistically btw). When the Heat finish off the Pistons, it's not because Miami played well, it's because Detroit is sucking and not playing up to their potential. Then whoever goes on to win the final won't really be NBA champs, they're just lucky they didn't have to play (insert Spurs or Pistons here).

Garbage.

[/ QUOTE ]

yea I agree 100% (with it being garbage.) It was pretty clear to me that Dallas was the better team in that SA series (just slightly better given all the close games.)And I do think it would have ended in 6 without the Terry suspension, so that coinflip game 7 wouldnt have been an issue. The Spurs just couldnt stop anyone, I dont think theres any point to go any further.

I will admit I think the Pistons havent been themselves since the Cav series, they seem to have lost their swagger and become brick city, and I cant stand the Pistons. Miami however has played fantastic and should get all the credit. I think if your going to give Detroit the retarded excuse then you must give Miami the excuse for not being 100% in game 7 last year. Otherwise just give the winners credit or its retarded, cause there are other elite teams other then the Spurs/Pistons.

I think mavs/suns will go 7 and hope it does too, cause game 7s are so cool.

[Fallen Hero]

"cause there are other elite teams other then the Spurs/Pistons"

we disagree here

[CharlieDontSurf]

"The Spurs just couldnt stop anyone, I dont think theres any point to go any further."

again this isn't a quality one would associate with the dominant Spurs of past years.

If this is true then there is no need to boost the Mavs greatness by saying they beat the Spurs aka " the defending champions" because they are obviously a much different/worse team if your above quote is true.

They became Champs by being able to stop people. Same with the Pistons.

[Artdogg]

[ QUOTE ]

again this isn't a quality one would associate with the dominant Spurs of past years.

If this is true then there is no need to boost the Mavs greatness by saying they beat the Spurs aka " the defending champions" because they are obviously a much different/worse team if your above quote is true.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well thats true, but the Spurs really havent been tested so much in transition in previous years. They were tested last year against Phoenix, but the Suns were playing with 4 players and were getting beat on the boards, so they would take the lead to the 4th but then the Spurs would take over.

No one is a great defensive team in transition. Dallas and basically everyone else knows they couldnt beat them in the half court, and thus had to get in the open court where the Spurs were vulnerable.

So you could make those arguments, but Dallas beat them the way they could, so I dunno what else you could expect.

[teamdonkey]

[ QUOTE ]
"cause there are other elite teams other then the Spurs/Pistons"

we disagree here

[/ QUOTE ]

you may be the only person in the universe that doesn't think Dallas is one of the NBA elite.

Charlie - sorry, the East is going to lose again this year

[CharlieDontSurf]

I agree with FH on the above.

Dalls isn't in the elite category...nor is Phoenix.

Spurs/Pistons
then Heat
then Mavs
then Suns

[nation]

Charlie,

If you still believe that Dallas is not one of the elite teams in the NBA, then you must have missed much of the playoffs.

I'm sorry, but a team of Nowitzki, Howard, Terry, Stackhouse, Harris, etc. has to be one of the elite. Terry and Howard both can be scoring machines, and nobody has to say anything in Nowitzki's favor. Dude is a beast.

The Spurs simply don't have it. Their lockdown defenders (Bowen, Duncan) are getting slower with age. The offense bogs down often as Parker showed he can still be streaky, as with Ginobili. Duncan wasn't as effective because of his injuries, and perhaps is slowing down a bit, despite is dominant performance in Game 7.

The Spurs are still an elite team, but the Mavs are superior on paper and as was proved in the playoffs.

As for the Pistons, I really believe they are just complacent. They have started to take their reputations as a lockdown defensive team for granted, and don't have the passion. I really don't believe the Heat are anywhere near as good as Detroit, but I think they'll close out the series. They seem to "want" it more, and those are intangibles that are important this time of year.

My rankings (I am a big Bulls fan, so these are very unbiased) based on teams playing their best, currently still in the playoffs.

Pistons>Mavs>Spurs>Heat>Suns

[Hornacek]

Pistons, Spurs, and Mavs are the NBA Elite.

The East is going to beat the West in 6 games.

Book it.