Basketball

[manutd43va]

anyone here watches basketball?
by the way, i support denver nuggets and is hoping that they will qualify for the nearing playoffs.

[spellbound]

I watch Euro League as often as possible on TV.

[Keano4taoiseach]

I play around my house a lot as I got a basketball net recently.

I watch loads of youtube videos of Jordan, Bryant and Magic, and of course the Slam Dunk Contests :)

Very varied views on youtube, some say Jordan is the best ever along with Magic while others don't rate Jordan in that league at all.

[spellbound]

I watch loads of youtube videos of Jordan, Bryant and Magic, and of course the Slam Dunk Contests :)

Very varied views on youtube, some say Jordan is the best ever along with Magic while others don't rate Jordan in that league at all.

A mate who were a basketball player told me just last year or so the US born kids who dream of a basketball career all wants to be on a national tv show (to get big deals when they sign after being drafted) where they show the top 10 plays which all is slams or half court shot beating the buzzer. We all know basketball is like football a team event and most of the times the best team win but not always the best players. Coaches dont like the players go one-on-one-plays all the time and that has open the doors for European players as well as South Americans and Asian players since they still know how to shoot from a distance as well as doing all what the Americans can do.

Best basketball player. I was brought up with all the players from the Dream Team. So for me the best players are one of those who came to Barcelona and outclassed the rest of the world. What can you say when the opponents were taking snapshots of you during the game!!? And what a team they were. Jordan, Pippen, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Erwin Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Pat Ewing, Admiral Robinson, Bad guy Charles Barkley and a few more. They brought a tourist with them, the collage guy Christian Laettner. Uh...

Drazen Petrovic of Croatia was really the only one giving the Dream Team a hard time. A Euro Legend who sadly died in a car crash in Germany in 1993. Since his days Divac. Kukoc, Radja, Sabonis and Marciulionis are a few of the top Euro players who made a mark in the NBA.
Now we got names like Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, AK 47 aka Anderi Kirilenko to name a few of the top names.

[Skele]

I like to play it,maybe more than football.I watch Euro League,and NBA,and a bit support Sacramento Kings.

[reddwarf]

I went to see the Harlem Globetrotters when they came to Manchester last year but I don't really follow basketball.

[abojodeh]

good game i love some players but i prefer to watch not to play

[yangch0000]

prefer to watch, play sometimes..
normally watch nba, but hates the timeouts, especially in the fourth quarter.

[nigelchin]

nba would be super nice if there isnt too much time outs. haha

[yao]

i like watch and play basketball.but i don't play it recently.when the Yao ming injuried .our dorm drop out of watching the houston rocket's games.but we will support it and our national team.

[dckyfoxes]

I played basketball... but have grown out of it since last year... guess my height???

[yangch0000]

NBA playoffs starting!!
shame i dun have much chance to watch, no telecast, damn!!

[spellbound]

Ok the NBA playoff starts but first Im looking forward to the Final Four in Euroleague in Madrid.
Who is your winner?
This is how the semis looks like.
TAU Ceramica vs CSKA Moscow
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Montepaschi Siena

[Skele]

Ok the NBA playoff starts but first Im looking forward to the Final Four in Euroleague in Madrid.
Who is your winner?
This is how the semis looks like.
TAU Ceramica vs CSKA Moscow
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Montepaschi Siena

CSKA easily,imho;)

[spellbound]

CSKA easily,imho;)


CSKA is class, but winning easily? :)
I dont say you're wrong but I think Maccabi will be the winner. The Spaniards at home soil shouldnt be written off so easily even if the games are held in Madrid and not Vitoria.

[Zenitka]

I think CSKA will win,but I hate them...
Come on Maccabi!!!

[spellbound]

CSKA could have the best starting line up and one of the best coaches in Ettore Messina but its I still believe they have to work hard over two games if they want to win.
And yes Zenitka: GO MACCABI :) I just love guys like Alex Garcia and Esteban Batista. They wont score 20+ or get the big headlines but they often do more use then a 20+ scorer.

[red_devils4life]

Woohhooooo!! The NBA Playoffs has begun & LA Lakers triumph over the Denver Nuggets 128-114 @ the Staples Centre!! Get in there guys & gals, it's KB24 & Pau 'Wow' Gasol!! :D :p

[Zenitka]

CSKA could have the best starting line up and one of the best coaches in Ettore Messina but its I still believe they have to work hard over two games if they want to win.
And yes Zenitka: GO MACCABI :) I just love guys like Alex Garcia and Esteban Batista. They wont score 20+ or get the big headlines but they often do more use then a 20+ scorer.
yeah!:)

CSKA could have the best starting line up and one of the best coaches in Ettore Messina but its I still believe they have to work hard over two games if they want to win.
And yes Zenitka: GO MACCABI :) I just love guys like Alex Garcia and Esteban Batista. They wont score 20+ or get the big headlines but they often do more use then a 20+ scorer.
yeah!!! They are good!:)

[spellbound]

yeah!:)





Next weekend the party will start.:) Nice addition to the title hunt in the PL and CL for United :)

[red_devils4life]

http://www.nba.com/media/bryantdunk_490_080423.jpg

“Yup. Yup. Yup.”

It was all Kobe Bryant had to say.

J.R. Smith decided to rattle the Black Mamba’s cage, as if scoring 21 points and picking up a technical foul gave him enough clout to start a hissing match with a man playing on his home court in the midst of the most dominant playoff performance of his 12-year career.

But Smith was talking anyway. Apparently, young J.R. thought there’s something worth saying to a guy after he has scored 46 points on you and your teammates and dished out 10 assists en route to routing your team for the second straight game.

Bryant put his head down and drove straight for the basket, bringing Smith along for the ride the same way a car speeding down the highway picks up an unexpected passenger in the form of a squashed insect on the windshield.

Bryant made the layup for points 47 and 48 on the night and got the ref’s whistle to put him to the line for number 49.

On his way to the charity stripe is when he delivered his message:

‘”Yup. Yup. Yup.”

After 48 minutes of letting his game do the talking, no further explanation was necessary.

The Lakers won Game 2 on Wednesday by 15 points, one point more than they beat the Nuggets by in Game 1.

Bryant finished one-point off his playoff career high of 50 and finished one assist off his playoff career high of 11, but in this case; second best points + second best assists = Kobe’s best game.

Had this been a Western Conference Finals or NBA Finals game, it’d be in the discussion as one of the best individual postseason performances ever.

As it is now, it rests just slightly above Kobe’s overtime forcer in regulation and game winner in OT in Game 4 against the Suns in the First Round in 2006, as well as above his coming-of-age performance in Game 4 of the 2000 Finals against the Pacers.

He scored 20 points in the first quarter on 8-for-10 shooting, but looked even more dominant down the stretch as he scored 19 in the fourth but also kept on racking up assists – reaching double digits after going to the locker room at halftime with only 20 cents in his pocket (a.k.a. two dimes in his boxscore line).

It wasn’t just that he scored 49 points, it was how he scored 49 points – connecting on 18-of-27 shots, rising to the rafters to throw down an alley-oop one possession and then yo-yoing the ball out on the perimeter and blowing by Eduardo Najera for a layup on another.

He even hit five threes, and after the fifth, gave video highlight operators around the world the money shot they were waiting for as he held his right hand like a pistol and shoved it into an imaginary holster on the side of his gold and purple shorts.

For the rest of his playing days and even when he retires, you’ll see a clip of Kobe’s pistols and immediately think, “That playoff game vs. Denver in 2008” sort of how whenever you see Michael Jordan shrug you’re taken immediately back to the 1992 NBA Finals vs. Portland.

Denver now faces a 2-0 deficit as it heads home for Game 3 on Saturday. They’d better hope that the Lakers’ flight from L.A. to the Rocky Mountains isn’t a turbulent one.

They wouldn’t want the Mamba’s cage to be rattled any more than it already has.

[akash_reds]

kinda like la..good team...paul gasol seems to be a good buy for them......and kobe as usual does his job in the game...and a great job at that!! ;)
really hope they can win it...

[fazman]

yank sport i hate yank sports

[spellbound]

kinda like la..good team...paul gasol seems to be a good buy for them......and kobe as usual does his job in the game...and a great job at that!! ;)
really hope they can win it...

Pau Gasol gives Lakers a 2nd dimention with his inside game and should give Bryant some more space to shoot or penetrate the basket. So yeah, definitly a good trade for Lakers to make sure the spaniard came to LA.

[red_devils4life]

Spurs 115 - 99 Suns
Lakers 102 - 84 Nuggets
Magic 104 - 96 Raptors
Atlanta 102 - 93 Celtics

[spellbound]

Two more days before Basket: Montepaschi Siena-Maccabi Elite and TAU Ceramica-CSKA Moskva kick off the Final 4 in Madrid. Its getting exciting. Do we get to bet on these games here at manutdtalk? ;) :)

[spellbound]

Montepaschi Siena-Maccabi Elite starts at 18:00 CET! :D

[spellbound]

Maccabi plays the final on sunday. They beat Montepaschi Siena 92-85. One favourite who could keep their nerves. :)

[Zenitka]

Maccabi plays the final on sunday. They beat Montepaschi Siena 92-85. One favourite who could keep their nerves. :)
gooood!:)

[nigelchin]

LA lakers made a clean sweep of the series. well what lakers lack was a star centre. they got it now in gasol. kwame brown was rubbish. for all the skills of bryant,passing of fisher, power of odom, they lack the centre to win the rebounds and score off rebounds. gasol should be the final jigsaw puzzle to yet another great LA Lakers team

[yangch0000]

spurs will still be the favourites. they are too much playoff experience in them.
it is going to be a nice matchup between tony parker and chris paul, when spurs meet the hornets.
lakers shld get to the conference final, cant see rockets or jazz stopping them.

[Zenitka]

Final
Maccabi-CSKA
Come on Maccabi!

[spellbound]

Final
Maccabi-CSKA
Come on Maccabi!
Yeah CSKA won their semi. Tau game them a tough game.

Come on Maccabi.:)

[Zenitka]

Yeah CSKA won their semi. Tau game them a tough game.

Come on Maccabi.:)
Oh Tau....:(

[spellbound]

Tau game them a tough game.

Awful spelling :D Tau GAVE them a tough game. :p :cool:

[spellbound]

Oh Tau....:(

Do you root for Tau?? Or you just wanted CSKA to lose?:D

[Zenitka]

Do you root for Tau?? Or you just wanted CSKA to lose?:D
I wanted cska to lose...:D
I hate cska...:rolleyes:
And my friend like Tau...

[spellbound]

I wanted cska to lose...:D
I hate cska...:rolleyes:
And my friend like Tau...

It was a close game to the end. CSKA won 83-79.

One thought I had when watching the game. No Russian born players only JR Holden who is a neutralized Amercan starting for CSKA and no spanish player starting for TAU. It was like Chelsea playing Arsenal. :D

[Zenitka]

It was a close game to the end. CSKA won 83-79.

One thought I had when watching the game. No Russian born players only JR Holden who is a neutralized Amercan starting for CSKA and no spanish player starting for TAU. It was like Chelsea playing Arsenal. :D
good comparison:D
cska were executed 85 years on this year...They want to win in final.

[spellbound]

According to LA Times Kobe Bryant is the MVP of the regular season. :)

[manutd43va]

....... dont really understand why nuggets cant play defense. they have all-star calibre individuals in k mart, camby, carmelo and iverson. hope iverson gets the elusive ring b4 he retires. the man with the biggest heart in the nba!

[yangch0000]

According to LA Times Kobe Bryant is the MVP of the regular season. :)

i will give the award to chris paul. this guy is a revolution.

[spellbound]

Montepaschi Siena-TAU Ceramica 97-93 OT

TAU had the winning shot in 4th quarter but Zoran Planinic missed.

Siena is 3rd best in Europe. :)

[Zenitka]

Montepaschi Siena-TAU Ceramica 97-93 OT

TAU had the winning shot in 4th quarter but Zoran Planinic missed.

Siena is 3rd best in Europe. :)
:( What a pity...

[spellbound]

:( What a pity...

It was a nice game even if the desire to win 'the bronze' wasnt really there. :)

[Zenitka]

It was a nice game even if the desire to win 'the bronze' wasnt really there. :)
I dont like basketball :D :rolleyes:

[spellbound]

I dont like basketball :D :rolleyes:

I do :p :cool:

[spellbound]

CSKA beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 91-77 in the final. CSKA was a too strong team and the Israeli team couldnt stop them. A great game and the best team won.

Euroleague Final MVP: Trajan Langdon, CSKA Moscow

[Zenitka]

CSKA beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 91-77 in the final. CSKA was a too strong team and the Israeli team couldnt stop them. A great game and the best team won.

Euroleague Final MVP: Trajan Langdon, CSKA Moscow
:( I hate CSKA!

[Skele]

CSKA easily,imho;)
smart guy,eh?:D

[spellbound]

Kobe took Lakers to Conference Final :)
Boston and Cleveland will have a 7th and final clash to reach the Conf. Final. Boston is 7-0 on home court. :D

[spellbound]

Its time for the Conferance finals in the NBA play offs:
Lakers - Spurs
Celtics - Pistons

my predictions...or guesses:D
Lakers - Spurs 3-4
Celtics - Pistons 2-4
:rolleyes:

[spellbound]

Lakers - Spurs 89-85.
Top scorer:
Lakers: Bryant 27, Gasol 19
Sprurs: Duncan 30, Parker 18

At one point Spurs were leading by 20 points :eek:

[spellbound]

Pistons tied the Conference final by beating Celtics 103-97.
Top scorer:
Pistons: The guys were running it from back court. Richard Hamilton 23, Chauncey Billups 19 p

Celtics: Paul Pierce 26, Ray Allen 25, Kevin Garnett 24.

[jerrakos]

C'mon Lakers!

[Lawbreaker1944]

I don't know why but I support the Lakers..I also have their baseball cap. I cannot explain why.

[yangch0000]

i would not like a spurs and pistons final. so i guess i will support celtics and lakers.
pierce, allen and KG vs billups, hamilton, wallace and prince. piston might just have too much playoff experience together, the same for spurs. but i think lakers under phil jackson can be strong enough to overcome the spurs.
pistons lakers final for me.

[spellbound]

i would not like a spurs and pistons final. so i guess i will support celtics and lakers.
pierce, allen and KG vs billups, hamilton, wallace and prince. piston might just have too much playoff experience together, the same for spurs. but i think lakers under phil jackson can be strong enough to overcome the spurs.
pistons lakers final for me.

Hm...why should a final serie between Pistons and Spurs be so much more boring? I see it the other way, it'll be facinating battle. Still, I think Celtics will be one of the teams in the final. But maybe you're right about Lakers beating Spurs. But it'll be all the way to the 7th game there I think.

[yangch0000]

lakers in, after beating spurs in game 5. faster than i expected.
celtics and pistons still have to battle it out, looks like it will come down to game 7, and now, maybe the home advantage of celtics can pull them through. still, too close to shout.
i still think pistons can do it, but i would love to see KG in the nba finals. after all, i think he deserves it, after all this years.

[jerrakos]

Lakers VS Celtics

Old School Finals

Lakers will win 4-3.

[spellbound]

Lakers VS Celtics

Old School Finals


This is definitly an old schoo final serie.
Throughout the 80's Lakers and Celtics were fighting who were the better team. Erwin 'Magic' Johnson or Larry Bird.

http://bp0.blogger.com/_owi23fQKgaY/R3aqAzlNnPI/AAAAAAAAALY/ORLTUodq6qM/s320/tx_magic.jpg

Celtics won the first of seven finals 98-88 at home.
Next game is also in Boston before the serie move over to LA for three games and if needed ends in Boston with another two.

[yangch0000]

home advantage counts so far, with celtics leading 2-1. kobe stepped up in game 3 and took the game, while paul pierce fallen asleep on court. still, celtics managed to lose by only a small margin. so far in this series, bench players like powe from celtics in game 2 and vujacic from lakers in game 3 decided the game, so expect to see another bench player to step up and make a difference.

[spellbound]

Lakers fell hard at home court with a huge win turing into a defeat. The Lakers bench managed only 15 points while the Celtics bench scored 30+. Lakers is limited to just the 5 startes and sometimes Vujacic get hot from outside the 3 point line.

[spellbound]

Sonics moves to Oklahoma City!

Seattle will be without NBA team at the start of the next season when Supersonic move is approved.

http://www.nba.com/news/sternsonicsstatement_080702.html