pretty sure that list is ****ed up. How can you say that Bill Simmons is great when he is so good at being wrong...time after time..and especially about the sport he is a self annointed "expert" on.
Cmon man the reach about the Lakers/Celts having worse defenses than the Mavs? I mean cmon you're just fading into left field on that one, and I was old enough to watch those teams. When you get a 2-1 free throw advantage you're going to win theres no doubt about that. I guess you can argue a team might 'deserve' to get 200 free throws while another gets 100 but its a stretch to me personally, the finals are supposed to be more physical, the refs aren't supposed to get in the way like they did there. I think Shaq, Zo and Payton will make the HOF so Wade had 3 on the team. Back to Van Gundy and how wrong you were about him though.......
Just admit you don;t remember the series and be done with it..because it is becoming clearer by the minute. 2 to 1 FT disparity? here are the FT numbers from the games the Heat WON..since you are okay with the Heat losing (it is only fair if the Heat lose..in your mind..they should have been 0-82 that season apparantly.). Game 3: Mavs 18-26 Heat 20-34 Made: Heat +2 Game 4: Mavs 21-27 Heat 23-36 Made: Heat +2 Game 5: Mavs 21-25 Heat 32-49 Made: Heat +11 Shaq was 2-12. Dallas intentionally fouled SHAQ down the stretch. Game 6: Mavs 19-23 Heat 23-37 Made +4. Dallas was behind down the stretch and inteionally fouled Wade 3 times for 6 FT's. Wade was 4-6 on those FT's. WTF is this 2-1 FT disparity? So there ya go...you have bought into the Bull**** that others say and you are just repeating it. Think for yourself. or actually watch the series for the first time. or of course...admit that you are just hating. SHAQ, ZO and Payton were not playing at HOF levels. they made the HOF ELSEWHERE at other times. don't be ridiculous. and I was not wrong about SVG. Ask Dwight Howard.
To prove this, I call into evidence the fact that Shaq and Payton couldn't win a championship with Kobe and Malone, and that was when Shaq was still a respectable force. So I guess that really says more about Payton actually. Shaq at the time however (for the Heat) was not playing well, and wasn't even on the floor long enough to make a difference. ZO was not playing at a hall of fame level, but in reality he was playing at a much higher level than Shaq in the playoffs.
to recap..the heat is getting a +2 in FT's made and that is some sort of fix? how is this for a fix? the player they wanted to rig it for also got called for these fouls: Wade: Game 3: 5 PF's Game 4: 4 PF's Game 5: 1 PF Game 6: 4 PF's again...what is the argument? His FT's in OT of Game 5? There is photographic evidence of the foul. So what is the argument? You don't have one. Want to get into SHAQ's Foul trouble in that series? or how bout the NBA trying to rig a game against the Heat in the 1st round against the Bulls where the Bulls got 31 FT's and the Heat got 5. http://www.nba.com/games/20060430/MIACHI/boxscore.html I bet that was fair in your eyes.
The list I saw was on basketball reference, it must have just left dwade off, cause the average PER I come up w/ for him puts him on the list. I find Simmons entertaining. Dont read all his columns, but I listen to his podcast frequently.
Simmons is a Bawston jackass. lover of all things Boston and completely ignorant of the NBA's history and the way the game is played. His analysis is downright hilarious. This year..he kept his streak alive of completely idiotic proclamations with his prediction of a cakewalk for Cleveland to the finals. Orlando had no chance whatsoever to beat Cleveland. Just brilliant.
Alright. But i'm not really looking to the guy for indepth spot on analysis. He's entertaining imo. Both his writing style, and in his podcast. That's all I said. He's just offering his opinions. Take 'em or leave 'em lol.
Did he really call Dwight Howard a Ben Wallace with a jump hook or did you make that up? Holy the **** is this guy writing columns for ESPN.
Comparing Ben to Howard is a terrible comparison. One is a career role player, and never had been anything more. Howard is a legitimate superstar and his roof is endless. I love him having Ewing to mentor him as well.
not really. the smart NBA analysts thought Orlando was a matchup problem for the Cavs. BTW.....I bet Orlando to win the series and the Cavs were NOT a -800 favorite. it was 2-1 and the money came in on orlando steadily. Bill Simmons is an idiot.
BTW..Bill Simmons in his latest chat session of course..gave the obligatory dig at the heat...but he also said that Wade will be playing D'antoni ball in New York in 2010. LOL. he said that on the day that Pat Riley went to Chicago to talk to Wade's agent to begin setting down his extension. it's as if Bill Simmons tries to get everything wrong.
Um game 5 where the Heat had 49, yes 49 free throws to the Mavs 25, sorry that wasn't exactly 2 to 1...my bad.. The heat win a game by 1 point with Wade having as many free throws as the entire Mavs team? This showed me that the refs were out of control in that series. The Heat had free throw advantages and still barely won a lot of those games, you aren't convincing me. And please stop telling me I didnt watch the series, thats just dishonest and troll-like on your part, its unbecoming. I'm never going to buy what you're selling so lets just agree to disagree and move on.
How does one game show you the refs were out of controll in the series The fact is that the Mavs were a SHOOTING team. While the Heat were a DRIVE TO THE BASKET team. Obviously there are going to be more fouls for one team than the other.
The Heat led the LEAGUE in points in the paint that year. Dallas was in the bottom half of the league. naturally..the heat is going to get to the line more than Dallas. even with that FACT...the Heat's advantage in all of those games except ONE was minimal. YOU said there was a 2 to 1 FT disparity in the series. You were wrong. Barely won ALOT of those games? game 3..they made a comeback...all with shots from wade and SHAQ FT's... game 4 was a heat blowout. Game 5 is the rigged game apparantly...by your estimation... and Game 6...the heat dominated that game from 2 minutes left in the first half till the end. the heat outplayed them...period. so what is your beef now? that the series should have been 3-3 then since game 5 was rigged? at what point do you blame Dirk for getting his *** shut down for most of the series? Watch the series and get back to me...when I say that it is apparant to me that you did not see it, I mean that you probably saw it on and off at the time it happened....then you bought into the whiners argument the next day and since you are predispositioned to hate the Heat...you repeat that Bull**** in here. I am merely suggesting that you see the series again...and now since you narowed down the rigged game to Game 5....just watch that one and explain to me which calls were not proper. I am telling you that I saw the game again..and they were not only fouling him...but INTENTIONALLY fouling him. Don;t forget that the Hack a SHAQ was employed in that game and SHAQ shot 12 FT's. Agree to disagree my ***. You are wrong and I am telling you that you are wrong. I won't permit this **** to be perpetuated about the 2006 Heat championship team. You are doing the "72 Dolphins went undefeated because of a weak schedule" argument. it deserves to be put down.
Oh stop youre just embarrassing yourself now. I mean seriously. Someone disagrees with you about the way a series is refereed and you feel the need to crusade about it, get over yourself. I still don't buy what you're selling, never will because I'm not a Heat fan and can be objective you cannot. You haven't supplied me with any information I didn't have already. If I told you the Lakers would get a 49-25 free throw advantage in game 1 you'd sell everything you own and bet on the Lakers, that game was decided by the refs as was the series. This post is a new low for you, its sad to see really.
