NBA discussion thread

Originally posted by Myth
Anywho, anybody here about Kobe changing his number to 24 next season? Seems like an odd time in his career to do something like that. He should just stay #8 because if he does, everybody in the future will recognize him by simply saying "I remember watching #8 play" just like people refer to Jordan as 23. We don't want another Jordan-esque #45 fiasco.

I heard that rumour yesterday and it was confirmed today by the Lakers PR guy John Black. I think its a terrible idea, i sometimes refer to Kobe as #8, even Stu Lantz the Laker play by play guy calls him that. I've heard the reason is that its the number he wore in high school (although i always thought that was 33).
I would guess the reason he is doing it is to have a clean break and leave all the negativity behind him, i dont think it will be that easy for him but thats my guess.

Originally posted by forumcrew
the calls were terrible in the bulls game, miami was given extreme home court advantage in officiating. And when it was down to 4 points late in the game, yea that matters a lot.

Tell me some bad calls, because I didn't see any.

Actually, I saw one, against the Heat. When Wade stole the ball at the end of the half and dunked it, that should have counted.

And to Myth, yeah it was a good play by the Spurs, but there is no reason for him to be that wide open. It was bad defense.

LAKERS BABY !!!! 💃 💃 😱 😱

Even if we dont win the series i am so proud of my guys, we stuck to the gameplan and it worked to perfection. Great composure from some of the young guys when the Suns started to make their runs, they could have caved but they hung tough and stole the home court advantage.
Kobe was awesome, i dont think its easy for him to play so passive (he got his shots but didnt force anything) especially with so many of the Suns trying to bait him in the press into breaking the offence and going one on five.
Odom hit some huge shots and even Sasha had a massive contribution in the 4th with some tough d and a couple of 3's.
Man i am on cloud 9 at the moment, i knew we could do it as long as we attacked their weakness. Next game is at Staples and i get to actually watch it on BSPN, it doesnt get any better (actually another Lakers win would top it off nicely).

😮‍💨

Ok i cant resist this, you guys know i love Nash but this is just too sweet to pass up, check out the Laker fans in the background:

When can i buy that poster? 😱

Nash won the MVP.........😬

Should've been Kobe or Lebron this season, not Nash.

Originally posted by RZA
Should've been Kobe or Lebron this season, not Nash.

Originally posted by RZA
Should've been Kobe or Lebron this season, not Nash.

Or Dirk.

This is more upsetting than last year. The whole premiss of his last MVP was that they were the #1 team and that MVP should go to the #1 guy on the #1 team. Now they completely abandoned that reason and gave it to him for some other reasons. They lost 8 more games than last year which isn't bad considering they replaced much of last years squad with quality guys. Kurt Thomas's work was way under-appreciated on the defensive end (btw, Phoenix took a huge hit to their record the last stretch of the season when Thomas got hurt). What they lost in offense from last year, they gained in defense this year, and that was not Nash's doings.

Also, most people defending him seem to mention his league leading assists (10.5). Stockton did that for his career average. In a time when scoring was down, Stockton still averaged more than that. He even averaged 14.5 assists for a season. Did he ever get considered for MVP? No. Not even considered. Obviously he wouldn't have one against Jordan, but no consideration while Nash wins two? Ridiculous.

maybe the voters are starting to realise that myth... stockton should have won an mvp, he was an amazing passer and handler of the ball. i'm not so sure that nash should have won it, he certainly deserves consideration... but i woulda gone for dirk. the mans been playing amazing all year.

whooo, seems to be alot of nashbashers, no matter what he does people are gonna say he doesn't deserve just because he isn't the stereotypical high flying dunking highlight reel, he makes the highlights with passes and gameclinchinng shots.....if steve nash leads the atlanta hawks to the championship game and he was up for MVP there would be the bashers saying "coming on, the hawks were due, Nash was just a small piece to the puzzle".....pre-Nash phoenix couldn't win over 33 games, last year he won over 60 if memory serves correct, but everyone said last year he didnt deserve the mvp because amare stoudamire was the real reason why he won it, stoudamire is what made it possible for nash to have so many assists, he was what made it possible for the suns to win so many games, Stoudamire deserves the MVP over Nash, and lets not forget Nash's supporting cast, Joe Johnson, Marion , Q-tip are all what made Nash so great, but this year when Nash shows all his critics HE is the one that was so valuable to last years team, they took away half the team from last year and most of his starting 5 and Nash still made Phoenix a dangerous team by upping his game completly without any of this great supporting (besides Marion) and nash still doesn't deserve the MVP.....when everyone found out amare was out for the year they all said there was no way Nash was even gonna be considered for the mvp because they predicted the suns would be lucky to get a 6th seed in the playoffs and nash's number would deflate, well they got a 2 seed and his number actually inflated without Amare "the real mvp of the suns" Stoudamire... what does this guy have to do deserve an mvp? lead the the new york knicks to a championship?....even kobe said he would give nash the MVP award again

Originally posted by koolruningz
Ok i cant resist this, you guys know i love Nash but this is just too sweet to pass up, check out the Laker fans in the background:

When can i buy that poster? 😱

it was a sweet dunk, to bad it was a charge

nash was too far under the hoop for kobe to be called for it... impresseive as well was the hustle just before that made that play by odom. i think nash is juts one of several guys who deserve mvp, i'd have preferred it to be dirk though😄

i thought nash's feet were outta the circle, which makes it even a better dunk because that means kobe has to jump and and reach even higher than usual....i agree with.....you can make a case for any of the canidates, they are all deserving... i could even make a case for Billups, but to say Nash is undeserving is laughable, he deserves it more this year than last, and just to clearify, noone directly said he doesn't deserve it, but from reading some reactions thats what it sounds like people are implying

wuTa i thought you of all people would frown on cissy defense like that, especially in the playoffs. 😛
Nash didnt get to the spot until Kobe had taken off so he actually undercut him, though with Joey Crawford making the call you never know.
Kobe did the sportsman like thing though and hung on the rim so he didnt land on Steve, what a nice guy. 😇
I have no problems with Nash winning the MVP, there were plenty of deserving candidates and i personally would have liked Kobe to get it but Nash had a great season and nobody can deny that.

i don't know...it looks like nash is to the spot the at the same time kobe is taking off, call coulda went either way if you ask me, and how dare you slander my name with that sissy defense remark, i only approve of Man's Man defense.....and calls that goe against Kobe 😛.......the bulls tore it up tonight, that was the worst i've ever seen shaq play

Nash's feet were definitely out of the circle. Whether he got in position before Kobe jumped, I don't know.

The thing with Nash winning the MVP (especially this year), is that they gave it to him for exceeding expectations, not necessarily for being the best or most valuable (IMO).
As for not wanting him to get it because of his lack of highlight dunks, I wanted Dirk to get it who is actually in highlight reals less.

😆 I thought that remark would get your attention wuTa. Seriously though the rule is before the player starts his shooting (or in this case dunking) or passing motion the defensive player must be set, Nash wasnt.
To be fair the only contact on that play was Stevie grabbing Kobe's black mamba as he fell back, i had no idea Nash felt that way (literally).
😗

To be more specific, the rule is that they must be set before the player on offense starts his "upword motion" (not once their feet leave the ground). The more I watch it, the more I think it may have been the right call, though at first glance I completely thought it was an offensive foul. Tough call for the refs to make.

exactly, i thought it was the right call, but if it woulda been a blocking call it would be a tough call to contest, just like how it's tough contesting that it was a charge

[QUOTE=6411954]Originally posted by Myth
[B]

The thing with Nash winning the MVP (especially this year), is that they gave it to him for exceeding expectations, not necessarily for being the best or most valuable (IMO).[B]

but isnt that what MVP's do, exceed.......I don't think its a coincidence that Nash;s numbers improved while being on a less talented team this year, but you made your point and i already made mine, so lets just agree to disagree 🙂

wow, vince carter went 0-10 in the 2nd half in the indiana game

Originally posted by wuTa
exactly, i thought it was the right call, but if it woulda been a blocking call it would be a tough call to contest, just like how it's tough contesting that it was a charge

[QUOTE=6411954]Originally posted by Myth
[B]

The thing with Nash winning the MVP (especially this year), is that they gave it to him for exceeding expectations, not necessarily for being the best or most valuable (IMO).[B]

but isnt that what MVP's do, exceed.......I don't think its a coincidence that Nash;s numbers improved while being on a less talented team this year, but you made your point and i already made mine, so lets just agree to disagree 🙂

I don't think he "excelled" more than others. He just "exceeded" what was expected of his team. Last year people argued against Shaq as MVP because he didn't "exceed" expectations because he wasn't as Shaq-like that season. Same thing with the Duncan vs Ginobili dispute for last years finals MVP. Duncan did worse than usual while Manu exceeded what people expected from him, so people wanted him to be MVP. That did not mean that he actually did better. Doing better than expected doesn't mean you did the "best".

As you said though, agree to disagree. I understand I won't change your mind. I'm just giving forth my perspective.