when exactly will the hornets start getting respect? if you think the hornets played a nearly perfect 4th quarter then you should just come out and tell everyone you have watched very few hornet games.

hack-a-tyson is a horrible idea for the spurs. if you dig into the statistics, when the game is close (less than 5 points separate both teams), tyson shoots 71% from the FT line.

i love your celtics coverage, but your hornet knowledge needs some work. ;)

I think the simple fact that NO has now taken home court, yet you still pick the Spurs to win in 6, clearly shows a lack of respect to the Hornets. Had you picked the Spurs in 6 before the series began, that would have been a reasonable opinion, showing you respect the Spurs slightly more, but to pick them in 6 now, when they are down 1-0, meaning they will now have to win 4 out of the next 5 games, is definitely dissing NO. It seems to me that NO winning Game 1 makes it even more likely than it already was that this thing is going 7, if it goes only 6, it will be because the Hornets won, not the Spurs.

I do like the Celtics matched up against the Cavs. The refs will get even more calls wrong in this series but I think we can definitely win the home games. That said, did anyone see how good Theo Ratliff looked in that 1st Piston VS Magic game? If he can play s good amount of games he adds a lot to Detroit.

Steve,

I thought we beat the Jazz in Utah this season too?? That said, I could see this series going seven. Game two will be huge in that regard. Utah must win it or it will be over quickly.

i like san antone as well. the big fundamental has been the player of the decade and he gets a lot of help.i still like the c’s over the cavs but there were some major chinks in their armor. doc needs to be quicker to make in game changes, paul needs to stop being bad paul and hamming it for the refs and losing his composure. kg has to stop hanging around the periphery at times and get to the boards. i also think tony needs some air time and posey more.

So how is making a prediction showing lack of respect or “dissing” a team? Of course, when you disrespect a team, you also disrepect its players, its fans, the entire city where it plays, the front office of the team, all their families and friends and probably even their pets. Steve made a prediction, that’s all. He didn’t utter a racial slur, claim that New Orleans shouldn’t have a team, or say the team was a bunch of losers.

I’d like to see the Spurs win the series, though as a SA fan I’m probably a little more nervous about making a prediction after Game 1 than Steve was. Coach Pop is renowned for making adjustments to take away the strength of a team, but I don’t see any easy answers for David West. They really don’t have a good match up for him.

As much as I hate to write this, I can’t see the Jazz derailing the Lakers, who are playing like the best team in the league right now. Hopefully something upsets the mojo of the purple-and-gold before the Finals.

Detroit looks like it has gotten its focus after a disappointing start against Philly. As good as they looked in Game 1, you never know if the intensity and cohesive play will be there the next night. The Magic could win this series if they catch a big break somehow, but the Pistons are going to swarm Dwight Howard with their four solid bigs.

The Celtics will have to overcome the NBA (and the refs) undying love for LeBron James, as in seeing this one-man marketing dream take a repeat trip to the Finals. There’s a good reason smart-alek’s call this team the Cleveland LeBrons. No other player really matters when the TV cameras are turned on. It’s a team game, and that’s how Boston can win the series. That said, Ray Allen has to start playing like the guy we saw in Seattle and Milwaukee for the C’s to prevail.

KJ33 said: " I think the simple fact that NO has now taken home court, yet you still pick the Spurs to win in 6, clearly shows a lack of respect to the Hornets. Had you picked the Spurs in 6 before the series began, that would have been a reasonable opinion, showing you respect the Spurs slightly more, but to pick them in 6 now, when they are down 1-0, meaning they will now have to win 4 out of the next 5 games, is definitely dissing NO."

I’m not sure I see the logic, here. First, the Hornets already had home court advantage, so them winning game 1 doesn’t really shift the dynamic in any meaningful way. Whether it was said before the series started or not, for the Spurs to win in 6 they’d have to take one of the first 3 games in NO and all 3 in SA. Expecting the defending champs to be able to do that, even against a very good NO team, doesn’t seem like a diss at all.

I thought we beat the Jazz in Utah this season too?? That said, I could see this series going seven. Game two will be huge in that regard. Utah must win it or it will be over quickly.[/quote]
Steve said in 2008. Celtics won there in 2007, just about, a few ticks before the new year (twenty summit of December I think). Jazz didn’t lose at home again until Kobe led a Bynum-less and Pau-less team to a 20 point drubbing of the Jazz. Jazz lost 4 games total at home in the regular season. Houston, LA, Spurs, anybody know the third? I’m guessing Portland, The Blazers beat them up pretty bad early in the year.

[quote]’d like to see the Spurs win the series, though as a SA fan I’m probably a little more nervous about making a prediction after Game 1 than Steve was. Coach Pop is renowned for making adjustments to take away the strength of a team, but I don’t see any easy answers for David West. They really don’t have a good match up for him.[/quote]
I’m more in line with this view of the Spurs-Hornets series

David West is killing them. That matchup terrified me (for San An) about 5 or so games into Kurt Thomas’ Spurs career. David West destroyed him. David West is simply too quick and too good of a shooter for Kurt Thomas. If West played with more intelligence it would be even worse, instead of stupidly going into the post against Kurt where Kurt’s pretty handy in limiting West. Every time West steps out on the floor Kurt Thomas is beat.

I was hoping Oberto could play some defense on him but that doesn’t look likely. Robert Horry didn’t do much better but those ticky tack fouls Horry was called for had a lot to do with that, he’s worth another shot. Their best defender on West was probably Francisco Elson with his length and quickness. Might be time to brush off Matt Bonner and see if he can give the team anything. His offensive skills would help against those Duncan double teams.

[quote]Paul might be a step too quick for Bruce Bowen, but Gregg Popovich will do plenty of finagling to find a way for the Spurs to help on Paul and David West and to force the Hornets to find another way to beat them.

I don’t know Steve. I think you’re putting too much faith in Pop’s hands. The Paul-West high pick and roll might be even tougher than the Stockton-Malone ones from back when. Pop couldn’t solve that one either. There’s just no way to stop it, you just hope they miss the shot.

On that high screen and roll at the top of the key …. They space the floor so well and leave you 2-on-2, can’t leave Peja, can’t leave Tyson at the rim, Mo Pete wide open for three? Ehh that’s not a good option either. There’s not a lot Pop can really do.

Bowen is an excellent defender but I haven’t seen anyone force Chris Paul to consistently go where he doesn’t want to go so I doubt he has much chance funneling him away from the screen and roll.

Steve said:

The pick: Celtics in 6

Steve, I am picking the Celtics in 4 because judging from their demeanor in game 7, I get the feeling something is different from their other home wins; maybe they’ve finalyl broken through that psychological barrier. Of course there’s that minor problem of winning on the road, which is why I think they will prove it to themselves by winning both road games to end the series in 4.

I can’t wait for tip off tomorrow night, the day just seems to be going very very slowly for me. I can’t seem to focus on anything else at the moment. I mean I haven’t felt this much excitement and trepidation at the same time since Rick Pitino came to town and conned me into buying his book “Success Is A Choice – Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life” (I’ve been dying to ask him why he didn’t take his own advice back then. But then I must admit he covered himself nicely with the title, as the does not mention anything about Basketball).

 ;)

Go Celtics… in 4.

San Antonio have big problems in this series.

This is where the biggest problem lies, New Orleans need that third scorer to beat top teams but with Bowen on Paul they have nobody that can defend Peja Stojakovic.

Manu Ginobili is going to have to stop him. Peja looks very comfortable on Manu, comfortable on the post, comfortable running him around the court, comfortable getting open looks when Manu cheats for a turnover. He’s way too comfortable out there.

You need a Bowen-esque defender, someone who has excellent lateral quickness, excellent balance, excellent agility, runs through screens very well, exteremely discplined, someone who’ll get in Peja’s face and never leave. Spurs don’t have another defender like that. Udoka can do the next best job but he’s more of an on-the-ball defender and better against wings who like the interior, not someone who darts through screens and laces up 26 foot three pointers. But then where’s Manu? On the bench? Guarding David West? Manu has to defend Peja if Bowen stays on Paul

Peja Stojakovic is the man they have to stop and it doesn’t look like they can. They didn’t in the regular season either.

It might be time to allow Tony Parker to defend Chris Paul. He did well on Nash in the last round. That could help uncomplicate matters.

Byron Scott did a fantastic job in game one. It was a brilliant call to double team Duncan hard and on the catch every time he caught in the post.

The Duncan Threat: Duncan torched New Orleans in the regular season. He scored 22ppg on 53%. Now picture playoff Duncan? It’s nasty and has to be avoided. Tyson is an excellent interior defender but Duncan is too smart and he normally handles the youngsters well. Scott had to and has to avoid that.

The Spurs are vulnerable to double teams this season. They ranked in the middle of the pack for three point shooting this year. They can’t combat those double teams nearly as well as in past years. It’s a good calculated risk to exploit that. The Spurs shot 39% from three in game one, that would have topped the league in the regular season so they considerably over-performed.

There’s one X factor in this for San Antonio with Brent Barry. He missed most of the season through injury and the trade. He’s their best perimeter shooter, he’ll considerably improve their sides spacing and shooting if he plays. Pop made a huge blunder leaving him on the bench for the first three quarters (I think he got 5 or so minutes in the fourth), San Antonio can’t win this series without shooting and that means their best shooters have to play.

The second Spurs big has to do a better job of getting good looks too because they were a non-factor. Kurt Thomas has that great midrange game. Oberto moves so well without the ball and finishes smoothly in the paint. Those two guys are likely to get the bulk of the minutes and they need to do a lot better. Horry needs to find his shot, mabye Bonner needs to play. The lack of that extra scorer is killing them. Remember they can’t go small, Tyson and West would destroy San Antonio in the paint if they did. San Antonio don’t even have big wins, just small wings which makes it even worse.

Byron Scott will stick with this strategy until Pop figures it out. It’s a tough one too.

Typical Scott strategy also, Riley-student that he is, take away the opponents best player and make the rest beat you. He’s been doing this all year. This isn’t a one game thing.

As long as he does it, it’s going to be extremely difficult for Duncan to score. Tyson is quick enough, long enough, and good enough to trouble any quick moves Duncan makes in the post. Duncan has to take his time and back Tyson down to consistently get good looks at the rim, he can’t do that if a hard double team is coming on the catch. Duncan might have to resort to jump shooting, that’s a win for New Orleans.

We might see that screen and roll strategy from Phoenix where Manu and Tony become prime options and Duncan fits in around them. Right now that looks like their best option.

Let’s revisit the standings and then I will make my new picks as well.

1st Round
Bill = 8/8
Boof = 5/8

My lead.

Here are my second round picks.
Hornets in 6
Lakers in 5
Pistons in 5
Cavs in 7

Go ahead and jump all over me for the opposing pick here. I’m not a Celtics fan. I just love my boy boof (Steve W) and all his general NBA coverage. Deal with it.

Still like SA in 6? 4 straight for the Spurs is certainly not impossible, but not likely at this point. And yes, I think it was disrespecting (dissing, or whatever term you are comfortable with) the #2 and higher seed with home court advantage in the series to pick the Spurs to win in 6 after having dropped the first game. That doesn’t mean the Spurs aren’t capable of winning 4 out of 5, now 4 in a row, but to predict that they will do that, does suggest they are clearly superior to their opponent to be able to do so.

I think most thought this series would be very even, predicting the Spurs in 6 even after dropping Game 1, meaning they would have to take 4 of 5, certainly indicates that one feels their opponent is not much of a threat. I think NO has shown fairly definitively that at the very least they are even with the Spurs, not a team that is likely to drop 4 of 5 to them. This reeks of a prediction made with the heart, not the head, we have already read in other posts how much the author enjoys watching the Spurs play, it seems obvious this affection played into picking them in 6…after being down 1-0.

you’re absolutely disrespecting the hornets and their fans when you predict the spurs in 6 after they got blown out the night before and are already in the hole. its either that, or you just don’t know anything about the hornets. i’ll assume its the later.

ryan
baton rouge via boston

its crap like this that gets NO fans worked up: http://atthehive.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/predictions/

im first and foremost a celtic fan, however, i’ve been in louisiana for 4 years now and have adopted them as my local team. after watching this team all season i can’t believe how many people predicted the mavericks in 5-6 games. then the spurs series is about to start and it’s the same thing all over again.

i got back from the game about an hour ago and i’m still reading where people are predicting the spurs are going to come back. can they come back? absolutely. it’s not that i think the hornets are far superior to the spurs. what aggravates me is the continued lack of respect the hornets are getting from people who claim to know the game. the only think i can think of is people haven’t seen them play until now so they consider it a fluke.

how can you seriously watch chris paul play and give the mvp award to kobe bryant? actually, i would give it to lebron. but there is no way in hell it should go to kobe before paul or garnett.

it’s not a personal attack, just honest criticism. the hornets have been putting quarters like that together all season. that is exactly my point. so many people are saying because of this and that they were able to pull off a game BUT DONT EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN AGAIN. it’s the BUT that aggrivates people who have been watching the hornets do this all year.

i apologize if anything seemed personal. that was in no way my intent. maybe i should have said people aren’t giving the hornets their due respect, rather than say “disrespect”.

im one of those guys who clicks on ADD COMMENT and just starts typing whats on my mind w/o proofreading. its my pure emotion and love for the game that can sometimes come across are arrogant or hostile when that isn’t my intent.

cheers,
ryan

..also, a lot of the frustration i discussed wasn’t directed towards you, but “you” in a general sense.

i finally have a few spare moments away from meetings to give you a more detailed response explaining why i criticized your your hornets / spurs prediction:

1. last year, the spurs swept the hornets 4-0. this year, the teams split the season series. each winning one at home and one on the road. the avg margin of victory for the hornets was 23.5 points and the avg margin of victory for the spurs was 11.5 points.

2. late in the year, julian wright has emerged someone who can lock down a 2, 3 or 4 with the ability to consistently shoot from the perimeter and slash to the basket as good as any rookie out there.

3. tyson chandler is one of the toughest, if not THE toughest guys tim duncan will have to go up against.

4. the hornets didn’t squeak by the mavericks in the first round. they destroyed a veteran led dallas team, similar to the spurs. so, i don’t buy the logic that the spurs were going to overcome a 1-0 defecit because of their playoff experience.

5. before the series with spurs, byron scott said marvin ely had been instrumental coming up with a defensive plan to defend against tim duncan. you posted your prediction after game 1. at that time, it appeared scott and ely must have really been onto something as duncan was dominated. fast forward a couple days after game 2 and duncan had decent numbers but was largely a non-factor.

6. the hornets have been a 2nd half team all year, which goes against your prediction that they won’t be able to duplicate what they did in the 4th quarter in game 1.

6. in your post, you said how bad the spurs played in game 1 and it was unlikely to happen again. why was it the spurs played that bad and not the hornets played that good? we’ve been seeing all year how good this hornets team is. during the dallas series, we heard it all series how dallas played bad, not how good the hornets played. i beg to differ with the analysis of those who consistently see it this way game after game.

5. the hornets have home court advantage and were already up 1-0 when you made your prediction. for the spurs to win in 6, they would have to have to win all 3 consecutive home games in a row and take 1 of 2 from the hornets at home or win 2 of 3 at home and take the next 2 games in new orleans. you didn’t even give the hornets credit enough to say the spurs in 7.

point #1 alone would make me question why someone would predict the spurs in 6 even before the series started due to the hornets having home court advantage. but, i can at least comprehend why someone would pick the spurs in 6 before the series started. what i do not understand is the logic behind picking the spurs in 6 AFTER they already lost game 1? what stats, logic, information, etc. did you use to come to your conclusion?

am i personally attacking you? absolutley not. however, i do not see a solid argument being made for the spurs to win in 6 AFTER they just got beaten handily in game 1.
sure it could happen, but to predict it…… thats’s a stretch.