2005-06 NBA Season Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Brandon_T]

Just think, Cleveland tried to add Michael Redd this last off season, and boy am I glad they didn't. That would have been a huge difference to have him instead of Hughes.

 

[Lew Crippen]

What a game and what a series, as two of the best three teams in the league battled each other right down to the game 7 overtime wire.

Six games down to the finish (including two in overtime) that either team could have won, but in the end Dallas was able to win two on the road and had the only blowout.

Congratulations to the Mavericks and too bad that San Antonio with 63 wins in the regular season had to lose so early in the playoffs.

This should have been the West final series.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I agree, the NBA has to change its format, you have teams tanking games to be the 6th team instead of the 5, you've got the teams with the 2 best records in the conference playing in the semifinals.

The NBA should do something perhaps resead the teams after the first round so that the division winners have home court in round 1 but the teams with the best records have it as the playoffs progress after that.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Just an incredible series.

Who was the imposter posing as Tim Duncan during the regular season? He was a monster in the middle during this series. I believe this is the first time in his career to not be on the All NBA First Team. Is there anywhere to tally up the players with the most consecutive seasons on that level?

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Tim Duncan is an amazing player and the Spurs are a great team. Dallas and San Antonio should be about even again next year. As great as Duncan is, I really think Nowitzki passed him this year. Duncan even hit his free throws last night to give San Antonio a chance to win that game.

Duncan made all NBA first team his first 8 years. I recall Larry Bird made all NBA first team his first 9 years. Look for LeBron to have a long streak but those two will be hard to beat. I don't recall any other great players selection streaks but know Jordan had a broken bone and missed an early year.

Anybody agree Duncan is the greatest power forward all-time and Bird the greatest small forward all-time?

Chris

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Definitely. A Mavs - Suns conference finals matchup is anticlimatic compared to the series that just completed. A pair of conference finals matching Dallas vs. San Antonio and Detroit vs. Miami would have really been something special.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I found this following page:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ll_league.html

By my count, Karl Malone had 11 consecutive years. That looks like the longest to me. Magic and Bird both had 9 years straight. Jordan has 7 straight and 10 in total, with his baseball years as the ones that break the streak; Sprewell and Penny Hardaway took his spot during those two years, so it seems very possible that MJ could have had 12 in a row. Since Duncan ended his streak, the longest current one is Shaq's 7 years; Shaq has 8 in total.

I think Malone is still ahead of Duncan in the greatest PF debate. Duncan has had an amazing career, but compared to Malone's 19 seasons, he still has some ways to go. His biggest claim to being "greater" is the championships, because both his long term overall and peak years do not eclipse Malone's.

 

[Haggai]

From a quick perusal at this list, it appears that Bob Cousy might have the record, he made first team all-NBA 10 seasons years in a row.

EDIT: Ah, Kirk beat me to it, yeah, 11 in a row for Karl Malone looks like the record. And Jordan presumably would have had it without the first retirement.

Although I don't think it was quite Kings/Lakers '02, this Mavs/Spurs series was definitely one of the best in many years. Dallas showed terrific guts by pulling it out after losing their big lead.

An odd fact relating to the Spurs is that in each of the last 5 seasons, they've either lost in the 2nd round or won the championship. Quirks in the standings, and with the playoff format in this season, have made the "real" Western conference finals happen in the 2nd round very frequently in the last 4 years.

 

[Haggai]

Longevity is a factor, but I'd take Duncan in a heartbeat. Championships loom very large in this debate, and he's got 3 of them. It can be said for Malone that he had to face Jordan and his Bulls a couple of times, while Duncan never did. But winning over Kobe and Shaq is hardly chopped liver, and the fact that Malone went 12 years before making the Finals for the first time had nothing to do with Jordan, who was always in the other conference. Malone also had the benefit of a Hall-of-Fame/Top 50 teammate in Stockton, and while Duncan did have Robinson for his first two titles, The Admiral was certainly nowhere near HOF level in his last season of '03.

 

[Hunter P]

If Dallas ends up winning the title, I'm gonna feel sorry for Finley. How much would that suck to be booted by the team where you played your best years, get eliminated the next season by that same team, and watch them finally win a title without you? Someone better put him on suicide watch if Dallas makes the Finals.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Finley was a great clutch performer for Dallas for years and he just didn't get help in the big games. Nash and Nowitzki have become great clutch players now and looking back at the teams when all three were together, it sure seems they should have done better. I think Mavs/Spurs series was one of the best ever but since it wasn't for a championship, it won't be remembered for long. Duncan, Parker and Ginobli are great performers in big games and got it to a 7th game where finally Nowitzki played big in a big game. I guess the Spurs will make some changes because Dallas really does look like the better team all of a sudden. The Spurs don't need to change much though.

Chris

 

[Lew Crippen]

When it was the big three, Dallas was also no as “No D”. Dirk has improved quite a bit (although he will never threaten to be on the all-defensive team), but Finley and Nash basically don’t contribute to defense at all.

Also Dallas was (then) a jump-shooting team—and when the jumpers were not falling they had trouble. As long as the score was in the 100–110 range they did well, but they did not win many games in the 80s. Now they do.

You are right that Dirk played big in a big game—so too did Duncan and it would not have taken much for the Spurs to advance.

For example Ginobli went from hero (hitting the 3 that put San Antonio up 104–101) to goat (fouling Dirk at the rim to allow the 3-point play that sent the game into OT.

Strangely after all of that first 48 minutes, Dallas never seemed as though they were going to lose in overtime.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I agree the three players are not great defensive players. Nowitzki is so impossible to guard that he makes great defenders look helpless. No 7' player I have ever seen can shot from the outside so effectively. Rather than blame the lack of defense, it just seemed they choked in big games since their opponents were even more helpless trying to guard them. I know even great players have bad games offensively but for years, Nash and Nowitzki had bad games when it counted the most or got hurt when it counted the most. I lived in Dallas and watched them some and kept up with them even after I left. To think they also had Antawn Jamison one year and still went nowhere is just mind boggling.

Chris

 

[Jan H]

After watching the Mavs-Spurs, I really don't give Phoenix much of a shot against them. The Mavs do everything the Suns do well, and also bring bulk, defense, and grit. I can't see that series going beyond 5 games.

As a Laker fan who has enjoyed many an incredible playoff series, the Mavs-Spurs series ranks right up there with any ever played. Just beautiful basketball.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I lived in Dallas also Chris, and while I agree that Dirk And Nash often came up short in key games and situations, this is a much superior overall team to those that had the ‘big three’, even plus Antwan Jamison. I don’t know if it was Jamison’s fault or if Don Nelson just could not figure out how to use him, but I thought that he was pretty much a bust when playing for the Mavs.

As I’m sure you know, one of the knocks on Nash when he was in Dallas was that he ran out of gas by playoff time. With no extended tme off in the schedule this year (against the Mavs) it will be interesting to se that theory put to the test.

I have to agree with Jan also—a beautiful series, among the best ever.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Nice job mavs on giving that one away.

 

[Hunter P]

I think whomever won last night's game earned it. Very entertaining game. Looks like the Suns are going to dictate style of play on yet another series. Dampier and Diop are going to see very little playing time.

It's almost like a blinking contest. Other teams keep killing them on the boards with their bigger men but the Suns don't blink and continue to run and gun. Eventually the opposing coach blinks because they can't stand the fastbreaks anymore and bench all their big slow centers. It's amazing to watch.

It seems like every round and every series in this year's playoffs have been good to great. Best playoffs evar!

 

[Chris Gerhard]

The Mavericks could have played better the last few minutes, no denying that but give Nash credit. He realized the Suns had one chance and he did what he had to do. Nash is the most criticized back to back MVP I can recall but the guy is usually the best shooter, best free throw shooter, best three point shooter, best passer, and best playmaker on the court. He wins games, period. His style of play wears him down, but he is in great shape right now and plays hard for close to 40 minutes each game. The Mavericks have two players that seem to know what it takes to win, Dirk and Josh. If the Mavericks don't get better play from Terry, the Suns will win. I do think Terry can play better and if he plays close to as well as Nash, the Mavericks should win.

Diop is an adequate center, rebounds and plays defense, I say keep him in there. Dampier is ineffective against Phoenix. This should be a great series, both teams can run and score.

Chris

 

[Lew Crippen]

I don ‘t suppose that there have been enough back-to-back MVPs to make Steve Nash anything other than the most criticized of that category—but very few knowledgeable fans would consider him anything other than a premier player who is largely responsible for the Suns’ success this year.

Even so, the two knocks on Nash when he played in Dallas were that he was a poor defender and that he ran out of gas during the playoffs. Last night I thought that he did not play with the same energy as he did in game 1. We will see as to the remaining games.

To me, the Suns have a major problem when they play both Harris and Terry at 1 and 2: Nash can’t really guard either one, and if both happen to be on it can be a long night.

Of course none of the Dallas guards have much success against Nash either, but they did limit him pretty well in the second half (of game 2).

Eric Dampier is definitely against the Suns, but so are all of the other centers in the league. It looks as though the Mavs have found the counter, going with a combination of Van Horn and Diop.

The question is, “can the Suns counter?”.

 

[Brandon_T]

Pistons now 0-7 when Crawford officiates a playoff game for them since 2004. Besides that, it was a piss poor effort and it appears there are internal problems now with Flip and Rasheed...