The 2004/2005 *NBA Talk* thread

Zanchief · Post by **Zanchief** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 11:44 pm

Malluas, you're fucking retarded.

Jackson and Artest ran into the stands and beat up fans.

Neither will play until January.

Rotj · Post by **Rotj** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 11:48 pm

GOAT FUCKEN HELL. I switched off that Pacers VS Pistons game..3 mins before it finished. Therefore missing the brawl..So annoyed.

Edit: Grammatical mistakes.

Rotj · Post by **Rotj** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 11:55 pm

And I agree with Zan. He won't get 4 games. He'll get at least two months and the whole nation coming down on his ass. By smacking a few fans..no matter how retarded they were..is an utmost disgrace to the game. Stern will go hard on Artest and anyone else involved to set an example.

Rotj · Post by **Rotj** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 12:00 am

One more thing: Dwayne Wade is incredible. That is all.

Malluas · Post by **Malluas** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 12:14 am

um Zan hear what announcers and coaches were saying? i doubt he gets more than 8 games IF that. Since he was attacked 3 times by fans. I think he was justified

jackson i agree with but he won't get much not what you guys are thinking.

They aren't gonna suspend anyone for a month

Malluas · Post by **Malluas** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 12:15 am

and you forgot the PA.. they will go on strike if that happens

there were already hints at statements from the PA, saying that they are gonna fight a long suspension... not including the blacklash on the league if they suspend artest for a long time.

use your brain not just the rules

watch the video again man... fans started coming down to the floor and out on the floor attacking people.. the moment things are throw at players or they are attacked by fans.. all bets are off.

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 4:14 am

I just watched the whole thing over and over...

The NBA *has* to penalize EVERY player involved... HARSHLY. I could see them going as far as a whole month off. However, this was quite easily the worst sportsmanship I've EVER seen from a home crowd. Why would Artest and Jackson have to put up with stuff like that? They are human beings... no amount of money is worth having someone throw whole bottles of beer at you. ANYONE would be justified in getting pissed. Ya'll saw the part where Jackson was on the ground and the fan was throwing punch after punch? That was a disgusting... horrible scene. The two biggest faults should be laid on Ben Wallace and the initial fan. The foul wasn't THAT hard... it's just that Artest was doing what he does best - the whole game... he got in people's faces. Wallace had enough... and he threw that first shove.

I really don't know what will happen here. It's a disgusting turn of events. Probably the most surprising thing was Rasheed's restraint... common history would have you believe that he'd be the first one in there kicking ass. Artest was QUITE subdued until the fan through that cup.

The end scenes where the Pacers were trying to get to the locker room and we saw fans POUR full cups all over the players and coaches... that was the final straw for me. I've never seen such poor behaviour. The Pistons should publicly criticize their fans over that shit. There was no excuse for that.

Jirig · Post by **Jirig** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:01 am

Hello Grant Hill coming back from the dead.

Malluas · Post by **Malluas** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:59 pm

vonk... they won't.... did you see Larry Browns press conference.. he blamed the pacers for it all.

andthe pacers coach didn't defend his players at all.

I am sorry but as players i would be so pissed at Rick... and as a fan of the game i think so much less of Larry brown now. Ben Wallace set up all this tot happen. The overreaction then the throwing of stuff after it calmed down.

No beer at games after this i bet

Listenin to some guy on Sporting News Radio... he said he would do this

Artest 20 games (plus huge fine)
Ben Wallace 15 (plus HUGE fine)
Stephen Jackson 10-15 games (huge fine)
2 games each for eveyrone else... plus one for those that got off the bench for a total of 3 games

and imo... that entire section of the Palace's seats should NOT be allowed to be occupied for the rest of the season PERIOD no matter if you got involved or not. And i thnk all those fans involved should go to jail for 30 days

and give that little kid you saw crying at the end, court side seats

Rotj · Post by **Rotj** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 3:28 pm

No beer at games? Come on. Beer is a CASHCOW at Arenas..EVERYWHERE. They can markup the prices and absolutely snake everyone out of their money there. No beer would be an incredibly stupid thing to do.

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 9:45 am

"You can say whatever you want, but when you start throwing stuff, it's a matter of protecting yourself," the Nets' Richard Jefferson said. "You can talk as bad as you want to a dog, but if you kick it and keep kicking it, sooner or later the dog is going to fight back. That's just human reaction."

Alonzo Mourning, who is the vice president of the NBA Players Association, also blamed the fans.

"When the fans start throwing things, (they) put lives in danger," Mourning said. "And that's unfortunate. Especially when Ron Artest was making a concerted effort to stay out of harm's way. He did. He didn't retaliate from Ben, he stepped back. ... And what sparked the rest of the confusion was that one fan just so happened to throw that drink."

Asked whether he thought Artest was justified in going into the stands, Mourning, who had that famous fight with the Knicks' Larry Johnson in a playoff series in 1998, stopped short of saying yes.

"You've got a guy like Ron Artest, you already know his overall intensity level and you know his demeanor when it comes to different altercations," he said. "Does it justify him doing it? I'm sure that if he can turn back the hands of time ... then he probably wouldn't do it. But when the level of intensity is that high during the course of that game and you separated yourself from a different altercation, and something like that happens, then some people react without thinking."

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:21 pm

Nice game, Zan... that Murray guy certainly stepped in for Carter.

Also... Toronto has one of the strangest crowds I've ever seen... booing one second, GREAT response the next. I'd hate to play there... you'd never know how they will react.

Zanchief · Post by **Zanchief** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:33 pm

I made fun of Lamond Murray till my throat was sore last year, but he's playing well this year.

Carter was atleast cheering from the bench.

Alstons line. 20pts 11assists 8 Rebounds.

Ownage.

Post by **Arlos** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 5:06 pm

From: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1928540

ESPN wrote:It appears the Indiana Pacers will pay a heavy price for Friday's embarrassing melee.

Ron Artest has been suspended for the season, while teammates Stephen Jackson received a 30-game suspension, and Jermaine O'Neal, a 25-game suspension, ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Insider Chad Ford have learned.

"The penalties issued today deal only with one aspect of this incident -- that of player misconduct. The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self control that should rarely be accepted from NBA players," commissioner David Stern said in a statement Sunday.

The Detroit Pistons will be without Ben Wallace for six games.

Indiana's Anthony Johnson also received a five-game suspension.

Eldon Campbell, Chauncey Billups and Derrick Coleman, as the Pacers' Reggie Miller each received 1-game suspensions and $35,000 fines for leaving the bench following the initial altercation between Wallace and Artest.

Guess Kizzy can feel better about trading away Artest, eh? :lol:

(and he should have PLENTY of time to promote his rap CD now...)

-Arlos

Rotj · Post by **Rotj** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 7:52 pm

Ouch!

Tadpole · Post by **Tadpole** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 8:11 pm

Good. Stephen Jackson should be suspended as much as Ron Artest imo.

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:46 pm

ESPN Power Rankings wrote:1 (3) Spurs 8-2 Would have been an easy call had Spurs finished off Toronto like they should have. They're winning, yeah, but you can be sure Pop doesn't want to reward them after Sunday's fourth-quarter disaster.
2 (9) Suns 8-2 Watch a Suns game this week. Trust us. We could all use a smile and these guys are the league's primo entertainers at present.
3 (5) Heat 8-3 While folks continue to question its depth, Heat keeps soothing itself by pounding East foes (7-0). And Pacers' woes mean that the path to the conference finals just got even easier.
4 (2) Jazz 7-3 Of greater concern than the losses in Fla. (big to Orlando, unlucky in Miami) is the defensive slippage. Giving up 100 points or more in three of last week's four games was not so Jazzy.
5 (6) Timberwolves 5-3 Wolves have been a bit quiet, but that should change this week. They've got five games between now and Sunday -- at Mavs, Pacers and Kings, home to Supes and Grizz.
6 (8) Kings 6-4 It sounds as though Peja's Sacto home is no longer for sale . . . and it looks as though Arco is still a place teams would rather not visit. No matter how un-deep the new Kings are.
7 (10) SuperSonics 9-2 Sayeth Ray: 'I'm not playing like this because it's the last year of my contract.' Sayeth us: The contract issue certainly doesn't hurt and should help Allen keep this up, even if other Sonics can't.
8 (1) Mavericks 8-3 Bad week for Dallas, and not because of the losses to Phoenix (home) and Denver (away). It's because of the losses: Dampier, Terry and now Nowitzki -- and don't forget Finley before those three.
9 (7) Pistons 5-4 You could argue that Pistons deserve a bigger drop for their role (and their fans' role) in The Malice of Auburn Hills. You can bet that the commitee will take action if the league doesn't.
10 (4) Pacers 7-3 You can make the case that Pacers, in their depleted state, should be dropped into the 20s. I just didn't have the heart to do that to suffering Pacer People. Sadly, there's plenty of time to drop them with O'Neal and SJax out 'til January.
11 (11) Lakers 6-5 Interesting point raised by my colleague Greg Anthony, who says Magic got more for T-Mac than Lakers got Shaq. Do you agree?
12 (13) Cavaliers 6-4 With only one quality win (Phoenix), it's too early to gush over anything here apart from LeBron. Of course, with LBJ you can gush away.
13 (17) Magic 6-3 Keep going, Grant. You sense that the league office welcomes any feel-good story it can find right about now and this is No. 1 on the list.
14 (22) Nuggets 5-5 With virtually no one outside of Denver paying attention, Nuggets are starting to rebound. And they better rebound now, in the midst of a 10-game stretch with nine home dates . . . and a seven-game roadie to follow,
15 (12) Rockets 6-6 Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that they've start slowly. Rockets just might be the slowest team in the league, because of a serious athleticism shortage that must be addressed.
16 (15) Grizzlies 4-6 Grizz is just the fifth 50-win team in history to start the following season 0-4. And now, just when it looked like they were recovering, Pau is freshly hobbled.
17 (20) Celtics 4-4 Sonics were due for a loss, true, but Celts were due for a complete game, too. Fact is, Boston's record should be much better, having blown late leads in all its losses.
18 (24) Knicks 4-5 Though they've been a .500 team this season for less than 24 hours, give Knicks some credit. They handled the dreaded Texas Triangle better than anyone expected.
19 (18) Raptors 5-6 An angry Commish had no real outlet to crack down on Vinsanity for his ludicrous trade request . . . but Coach Mitchell obviously does. We just wish Pape was getting those VC minutes.
20 (23) Wizards 5-4 With the next four games all in their division -- Toronto twice, at Philly and home to New Jersey -- Wiz can spruce up this good start and -- gasp -- challenge for the early Atlantic lead.
21 (14) 76ers 4-6 Belated disclaimer on last Wednesday's praise of AI the PG: AI has to be playing for the praise to apply, but a sore elbow shelved him Sunday.
22 (17) Bucks 3-5 As much as we love the lefty bomber Redd -- and you know how much that is -- the committee still can't see Bucks finishing higher than fourth in the Central. Even with all of Indy's problems.
23 (19) Trail Blazers 4-5 As more than one Blazer has noted, Portland would be No. 1 if these were Clear The Air Rankings. But team meetings don't help you in the NBA Power Rankings unless wins fill the air.
24 (21) Clippers 5-6 There's only one word to justify why Lakers are so far ahead of their neighbors in these rankings. It's a four-letter word. Yeah, you guessed it: K-O-B-E.
25 (27) Hawks 2-7 Put them at the top of the scrap-heap section for that comeback win over Houston . . . and signs that they're looking slightly more competitive. Slightly.
26 (25) Nets 2-7 You knew they'd struggle to win without J-Kidd. What you didn't know is that they'd be the first team in the shot-clock era to score less than 70 points three times in the season's first nine games sans J-Kidd.
27 (28) Bobcats 1-8 Getting fans in the building has been tougher than expected, but it looks as though Bobcats are mastering the art of the excruciating loss. They've got three already.
27 (26) Warriors 2-8 At 0-7 against Western opposition, Warriors (and Montgomery) have to know that they're out of the playoff race already. Barring a miracle for the rookie coach.
29 (29) Hornets 0-8 This is just a hunch, but we don't see Hornets turning their own 0-7 start into a 42-40 Cinderella story like Miami did last season. Do you?
30 (30) Bulls 0-8 This is just a hunch, but we don't see Bulls turning their own 0-7 start into a 42-40 Cinderella story like Miami did last season. Do you?

Dallas is now sans Dirk and Finley. Dampier and Terry are only at 80%. Marquis is slowly getting past 90%. The team is now led by Devin Harris (who has played a total of 11 NBA games), Josh Howard (98 NBA games), Shawn Bradley (no comment) Alan Henderson (underrated) and Jerry Stackhouse (stud). That is easily one of the weakest starting lineups in the league. To make things BRIGHTER, our schedule is SUPER EASY. Ready?

Minnesota, San Antonio, Portland, Memphis, San Antonio, Houston, Utah, Detroit, Minnesota, Seattle, Houston.

That's now, until Dec 11. Finley might be back by the first Portland game, but Dirk's injury is looking pretty scary.

Holy shit, this sucks.

Harrison · Post by **Harrison** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 3:22 pm

December 11th is my sister's birthday~

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:47 am

A couple of tidbits...

Don Nelson said forward Jerry Stackhouse apologized to him after he missed 12 of 17 shots during Sunday's 110-82 loss at Denver.

Tell me that this is the same Stackhouse from 3 years ago... what a stud.

When Indiana's Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson went into the stands in Detroit last Friday and attacked a few fans, it brought back a few bad memories for Sam Cassell.

Cassell was a Houston Rockets teammate of Vernon Maxwell in 1995 when the latter went into the stands in Portland and slugged a fan who made some remarks about Maxwell's stillborn daughter. The NBA fined Maxwell $20,000 and suspended him for 10 games for the incident.

"That was a totally different situation," said Cassell, who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves. "Words from one fan and Vernon went back and forth.

"Vernon's daughter had died, and the fan made a gesture about his daughter, and he lost it, which I can see. But it wasn't like last Friday. It was one individual, Vernon, who exploded."

I forgot about that. This was one case where NOBODY disagreed with the player for beating the fan up... the people surrounding the fan were even disgusted with the things he was saying.

DALLAS - Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki could be back in action by the end of this week after an MRI revealed he suffered a mild sprain of his left ankle during Sunday's game at Denver.

The Mavs' medical staff officially listed the timetable for Nowitzki's return as seven to 10 days. But the seven-year veteran doesn't plan on sitting out that long.

"Usually, I'm a quick healer," Nowitzki said after sitting out Monday's 83-82 loss to Minnesota. "[Sunday] I was on crutches, and [Monday] I'm already walking around without a limp."

Nowitzki has ruled himself out for Wednesday's game in San Antonio, but has targeted Friday's home game against Portland as the day he expects to return. If not, he's almost sure to be back in time for Saturday's contest in Memphis.

"We'll see how the next couple of days go," Nowitzki said. "I've got to run on the court and see how it feels and see how it responds.

"With those kind of injuries, I know how to deal with it. It's something that I have on a regular basis, and I know when I can play and when I can compete on the highest level there is."

In a season marred by injuries, Nowitzki is the fifth Maverick to be sidelined with an ankle injury -- Michael Finley, Jason Terry, Marquis Daniels and Dan Dickau are the others. While the Mavs are stacked at other positions, they're not as deep at power forward, where Nowitzki makes his living.

"I think I have ample support at every position except Dirk's," coach Don Nelson said. "He's such a special player that he's the one guy we can't lose. [But] he recovers amazingly."

With Finley and Nowitzki sidelined, the Mavs are without their top two scorers from last season.

"To have our two leading scorers out will be a challenge," Nelson said. "We have to rely on the other guys to step up and find a way to win."

Nelson hopes to have Finley back in the lineup sometime next week. For now, Nelson said: "He sure looks good in a suit."

I'm not sure which is better... the idea that Dirk will be back so quickly (obviously proving Hitler's race theory correct... Crutches on Sunday, limping on Monday, shooting in practice on Tuesday?? wtf?) or Nellie's pseudo-gay comment on Finley's sexy attire.

DALLAS - For a player who didn't know where he would fit in the Mavericks' rotation after they acquired Jerry Stackhouse this past summer, Josh Howard has steadily climbed the team's ladder.

So much so that coach Don Nelson had one request for Howard after he held his own and tagged Minnesota's Kevin Garnett for 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in Monday's 83-82 loss to the Timberwolves.

"I told Josh he ought to move his bar a little higher," Nelson said. "Whatever he thinks of himself, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you that he is a major player."

Word.

In Charlotte, the Pistons had all their players back from suspensions stemming from the fight except Ben Wallace, who served the second of a six-game ban, but Rasheed Wallace was ejected when he argued a technical foul for throwing his headband into the crowd.

Detroit never found its rhythm and became the first NBA champion to lose to an expansion team since 1970-71, falling to the Bobcats 91-89.

Tacks · Post by **Tacks** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:53 am

Nellie's pseudo-gay comment on Finley's sexy attire.

hahaha

Rotj · Post by **Rotj** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:36 pm

DIGGLER EXPLOSION!

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:17 pm

tee hee

Malluas · Post by **Malluas** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:38 am

that must have been one hellva game

53 from Dirk the Pornstar and Tracy had 48... i love those kinda games

Rzail · Post by **Rzail** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:01 am

Malluas wrote:that must have been one hellva game

53 from Dirk the Pornstar and Tracy had 48... i love those kinda games

Especially when ya have these players on your team :wink:

vonkaar · Post by **vonkaar** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:08 am

It was pretty awesome... one of my buddies was at the game... the crowd was nuts.

Now...

how can anyone say that Dirk isn't the clear favorite in the league MVP race? (so far)

Look at this shit... he's in the top 5 in EIGHTEEN categories... league wide.

Ranks #2 in the NBA in Points Per Game(27.3)
Ranks #5 in the NBA in Rebounds Per Game(11.4)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Field Goals Made(138.0)
Ranks #4 in the NBA in Field Goal Attempts(295.0)
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Free Throws(142.0)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Free Throw Attempts(165.0)
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds(154.0)
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per Game(9.6)
Ranks #4 in the NBA in Total Rebounds(183.0)
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Points(436.0)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Double-doubles(12.0)
Ranks #4 in the NBA in Field Goals Per 48 Minutes(10.93)
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Free Throws Per 48 Minutes(11.25)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(12.2)
Ranks #1 in the NBA in Points Per 48 Minutes(34.5)
Ranks #1 in the NBA in Total Efficiency Points(484.0)
Ranks #2 in the NBA in Efficiency Ranking(30.25)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Efficiency Ranking Per 48 Minutes(38.34)

And then he's top 20 in steals, 3P% and rebounds... that's a total package... this is a better start than any that Elton, KG, TD, Kobe, Webb, T-Mac or Iverson have had in the past few years. 18 cats! Holy fuck!

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The 2004/2005 NBA Talk thread