NBA Playoffs 2012

On a totally unrelated note, has anyone read Shaq's autobiography? Gives a great insight in to many of the players and coaches contesting these series.

It is clear that he has huge respect for Doc Rivers and calls him a great coach. The last few chapters on his time in Boston are the standout in my opinion. He is injured for large parts of the season, and when he played in the series he admits to being seriously hobbled by that achilles. He makes it clear he felt that that team was a championship team.

The ' hack a shaq 'stuff is hilarious too. He talks about the Spurs and especially Popovich utilizing this tactic and Pop getting great pleasure out of Shaq getting annoyed.

Interestingly he also talks about how everyone was always on eggshells at Cleveland with Lebron. He notes one instance when after a game they are going over the tape and a clip of lebron turning the ball over and not running back on defense. Mike Brown stays silent, then directly afterwards a clip of Mo Williams getting blocked and not hustling back is flashed up. Brown lays into Mo , Mo loses it and fair play to him stands up and says something about everyone should be treated the same.

It really is an interesting, frank and honest read. A good read for and ball lovers

buyer95 wrote: »

On a totally unrelated note, has anyone read Shaq's autobiography? Gives a great insight in to many of the players and coaches contesting these series.

It is clear that he has huge respect for Doc Rivers and calls him a great coach. The last few chapters on his time in Boston are the standout in my opinion. He is injured for large parts of the season, and when he played in the series he admits to being seriously hobbled by that achilles. He makes it clear he felt that that team was a championship team.

The ' hack a shaq 'stuff is hilarious too. He talks about the Spurs and especially Popovich utilizing this tactic and Pop getting great pleasure out of Shaq getting annoyed.

Interestingly he also talks about how everyone was always on eggshells at Cleveland with Lebron. He notes one instance when after a game they are going over the tape and a clip of lebron turning the ball over and not running back on defense. Mike Brown stays silent, then directly afterwards a clip of Mo Williams getting blocked and not hustling back is flashed up. Brown lays into Mo , Mo loses it and fair play to him stands up and says something about everyone should be treated the same.

It really is an interesting, frank and honest read. A good read for and ball lovers

Might order it myself, is this it?:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Shaq-Uncut-Shaquille-ONeal/9781455504411?b=-3&t=-20#Fulldescription-20

This third quarter will decide the spurs season imo. Really lost their way since looking so dominant up to game three...

Celtics - Thunder final is looking likely.

Paully D wrote: »

I'd be absolutely amazed if the Heat didn't win the series against the Celtics.

Prepare to be amazed

Great game. Boston showing the advantage of having depth with Miami relying on the big two, which isn't helped when Lebron goes 8 minutes without scoring in the final quarter. Nobody outside him and Wade scored more than 9, while the likes of Pietrus and Bass stepped up when it counted for important shots to wear the Heat down.

I still think this is going to a Game 7 though. But Boston are already re-writing the script so wouldn't be surprised if they finished the job.

Garnett is playing like a man on a mission, even his post match interviews have been great

jwilco wrote: »

Garnett is playing like a man on a mission, even his post match interviews have been great

Is this possibly his last NBA season?

Delighted for OKC. A real performance of champions there. Fantastic game. Now all we need is a Heat comeback so Durant can show Lebron who the real MVP is, face-to-face.

leggo wrote: »

Delighted for OKC. A real performance of champions there. Fantastic game. Now all we need is a Heat comeback so Durant can show Lebron who the real MVP is, face-to-face.

Would prefer the Celtics to win against the Heat, simply so I can just sit back and enjoy the final without really, really wanting one team to lose. :pac:

Do you guys think OKC will be a favourite over MIA? Over Boston?

Oh I'd have complete faith in OKC against Miami. They've got too many options. Miami have shown themselves to be very, very limited outside of the big two in these play-offs (though Chris Bosh does add a new threat with his perimeter shots and offensive rebounds). Whereas OKC have strength and depth althroughout, plus a point blank refusal to lose with Durant in charge. And if the Pacers and Celtics can figure them out, then OKC should be able to do so with relative ease. It'd be competitive, but OKC in 6 I think would be a safe enough bet.

I hate the Heat, but that's the best Finals option by far for me. If the Celtics do it, though, they've earned it.

Just watched the documentary. A great watch, thanks Padraig.

What a shady twat that Bennett is, saying 5 months before buying the team that he's definitely interested in bringing a team to OKC and that the Sonics are a possibility, then in the press conference after buying the Sonics saying he wants to keep them in Seattle. I guess 95% of people knew they'd be moved, but openly lying to everyone despite this made it worse. Going to meetings with propositions to build the most expensive NBA arena in the worst area for traffic in the state and not even speaking at the lobby meetings, trying to turn the people against the team by gutting them and refusing to let their players talk to media etc to give the perception that there's no support. He was never serious about keeping them there, even the House Chair said so. Aubrey McClenden (part of the ownership group) of the OKC Journal then saying that they never had any intention of keeping the team in Seattle and only bought it to move it to OKC, which Bennett denied! The Ballman Group being rejected, the ''I'm a man possessed'' leaked emails, the emails between Bennett and Stern that read like love letters, no Seattle representatives on their board etc. Stern is just as bad. I wonder what the result of the verdict that the City of Seattle never bothered to find out would have been? Shocking stuff from the major to settle on that case.

Can't imagine how the Sonics fans feel, especially at the minute as their once franchise looks set to dominate the NBA for years. Felt so sorry for the radio guy, covered them for over 10 years and he looked like he just wanted to break down in tears when discussing everything, especially when he was talking about how they got Durant and he thought the market would pick up, but then Allen was traded and it became clear for certain that Bennett would move and how he naively had believed that the team would stay. It's the one thing I've always disliked about American sports, the way a franchise can be relocated.

I like the Thunder's players, but after having my eyes opened to the history of the deal thanks to that documentary I would be absolutely delighted to see things go wrong for Bennett.