Don?t Believe the Experts!

[thoughtone]

"Lakers in 4

Get out your brooms and your pajamas because this is going to not only be a sweep its going to be dull and boring and lacking any excitement what so ever unless of course you are a Laker fans and in that case you will be enjoying every minute of it. The Lakers won the title in the 2nd Round on Derek Fisher's now legendary Game 5 shot. The Western Conference Finals was just a minor bump in the road, the NBA Finals wont even be that as the Pistons do not measure up. The West is the Varsity the East is the Junior Varsity, perhaps the Pistons should not even bother showing up because it wont be pretty as only 1 game will be decided by less then 10 points in this forgettable Final putting a cap to a forgettable postseason, which had exactly one great game, and one great ending and the rest was all dreck filled with bad shooting and unwatchable games."

Who in the heck wrote this? Fat Alert and Kobe have been humbled! Hopefully Alan Iverson will learn something from this. Larry Brown has got a ring and Iverson doesn?t.

[NJTank]

That was me and Im glad I was worng I hate the Lakers and was upset they were gonna cruise again

Maybe this will make up for that

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/

Detroit Shock City

Heading into the NBA Finals nobody expected the Detroit Pistons to give the Los Angeles Lakers much of a fight, as it was generally assumed all year that it was the Lakers title to win. Instead it was the Lakers who did not put up much of a fight as the Detroit Pistons stunned the basketball world winning the 2003/04 Championship, in 5 games wrapping up the title with a convincing 100-87 win Tuesday Night. The series was dominated beginning to end by the Pistons who made the Lakers look old while pulling off the biggest upset in the history of the NBA Finals as Chuancey Billups a journey man on a team of players who were castoffs won the Finals MVP, with well traveled Coach Larry Brown, becoming the first to win a title in the NCAA and the NBA.

[oz615]

I bet Mr Davidson is on cloud 9 now,first the Stanley Cup w/the Lightning(which he owns) and now the NBA title w/ the Psitons (which he also owns),al i can say is WOW!!!!

[Roger Clemente]

Who ever said NJTank was an expert?

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[gosioux76]

I bet Mr Davidson is on cloud 9 now,first the Stanley Cup w/the Lightning(which he owns) and now the NBA title w/ the Psitons (which he also owns),al i can say is WOW!!!!

I believe he also owns the WNBA Champ Detroit Shock, not that anybody was watching.

[See Red]

Ok, just a few things -- My pet peeve has been people calling Chauncey Billups a castoff. Yes, teams have been willing to trade him, but that also means teams are willing to take him in via trade. And I don't think he "lead a bunch" of castoffs. Regardless, he's started most everywhere he's been.

The only other guy on that team who could be considered a castoff is Ben Wallace and that's only because he went undrafted, and then decided if he was going to make it in the league, it would take intense defense.

And how will Alan Iverson learn from this?

I'm pretty sure Iverson already knew that he needs talent around him to win, which he's never had. He got Larry Brown coached teams deep into the playoffs and even into the Finals on his back, with little talent around him.

And I think we've all learned that the experts are just guessing like all of us. Noone knows for certain. This board had a better percentage of correct predictions in this series and the entire crews of ESPN, Fox Sports, etc.

[thoughtone]

"Maybe this will make up for that"

No it doesn?t. Post your apology on the same page has your crappy prediction. I am not a Piston fan per say, it fact, the Lakers are historical my second favorite team behind the Knicks, but this current Lakers team is arrogant and classless. After the way they stole the 2002 western playoffs from the Kings (games six should have a Congressional investigation), the Lakers finally get humbled. It is obvious from the short time I have looked over this site that basketball is at least number three on the popularity of the members. But the TV ratings were great and all of the bad mouthing of the NBA (Bird says more whites are needed in the NBA because whites can only relate to seeing other whites play, BS). And to answer what will Iverson will learn, he should learn that just because you lead the league or come in second in scoring (taking 30 shots a game), he should at least make an effort to be a team player. Iverson, like McGrady will never get a quality supporting cast because who would want to play with a guy that won?t pass the ball. If they become more of team leaders by their attitudes instead of trying to dominate the stats, they might become champions, Congratulations Pistons, the better TEAM!

[Phil]

Easy-oh there thoughtone... 'His crappy prediction' happened to be the same prediction that over half of the sporting world made, so Tank's got zilch to apologize for.

Two posts and your already starting to get on peoples' bad sides.

[habsfannova]

Yeah, take it easy man. It's sports: We all basically know the same thing about what will happen: Nothing. Some just like to guess. And of course, hindsight is 20/20.

So, take it easy on Tank. If the situation was flipped, I KNOW he wouldn't say that to you.

Welcome aboard, take it easy bro.

[See Red]

And to answer what will Iverson will learn, he should learn that just because you lead the league or come in second in scoring (taking 30 shots a game), he should at least make an effort to be a team player.  Iverson, like McGrady will never get a quality supporting cast because who would want to play with a guy that won?t pass the ball.  If they become more of team leaders by their attitudes instead of trying to dominate the stats, they might become champions,  Congratulations Pistons, the better TEAM!

That argument is so BS. You want to know why Tracy McGrady hasn't gotten a quality cast around him, yet? Because Grant Hill takes up half of the freakin salary cap. It has nothing to do with people not wanting to play with Tracy McGrady. Allen Iverson doesn't need to be a team player. He already gets teams that have no business being any good to being very good teams. Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady HAVE to try and put up their numbers because noone on their team contributes enough to make them any good.

I guarentee you that there are players in the league that would be willing to play with Tracy McGrady.

Oh, and it's funny how Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, who "don't pass at all", are two of the best Shooting Guards in the league in terms of Assists per 48 minutes. Neither of them have a legitimate big man on their team whom they can just feed it to download and collect assist after assist.

And to be honest, Allen Iversons leadership on a basketball court is THE best in the league. Find me another small guy who makes his living taking it to the hoop and getting his ass kicked like Allen Iverson does! Iverson may have a bad attitude about practice, but who cares if he produces on game nights? Iverson plays hurt on a consistent basis and is rarely completely healthy.

The Pistons may not have any superstars... but they very easily have 4 players in their starting line that are on the verge of superstar-dom, or have been considered superstars on previous teams -- All good at different things.

[Phil]

And to be honest, Allen Iversons leadership on a basketball court is THE best in the league. Find me another small guy who makes his living taking it to the hoop and getting his ass kicked like Allen Iverson does! Iverson may have a bad attitude about practice, but who cares if he produces on game nights? Iverson plays hurt on a consistent basis and is rarely completely healthy.

Those are all admirable qualities to display on the court, but those aren't necessarily leadership qualities.

I don't say Iverson doesn't have them, but screwing over your team by not showing up to practice isn't exactly putting the rest of your team first, which is what a leader does.

[Starchild]

You want to know why Tracy McGrady hasn't gotten a quality cast around him, yet? Because Grant Hill takes up half of the freakin salary cap.

Word.

I don't say Iverson doesn't have them, but screwing over your team by not showing up to practice isn't exactly putting the rest of your team first, which is what a leader does.

True, it's not putting your team first - but if you perform and win, I think that more than makes up for it. Allen Iverson should practice with the team, but with it or without it, he's still the Sixers best player, and still one of the top 10 players in the NBA, so it's just to make management happy than to make them better. No amount of team practice (with AI or without AI) was going to make the 76ers a better team. If your team sucks, your team sucks regardless of player practice. We had similar things here in NY with Sprewell... but only one man, who's name shall not be mentioned, cared about it. Spree came to the games ready and amped up as always, and performed consistently and remained the fan favorite and arguably the teams best player.

[See Red]

Yeah, I'm not saying on court performance makes up for off-court stuff like not practicing -- however, being a leader on the court does speak for itself.

And I think the issue was more-so showing up a little late to practice, but it's basically the same issue.

And to be honest, if an organization is going to depend on Allen Iverson to be a leader off the court, then that's there own fault. Allen Iverson is going to show up and do HIS job. He's done it every night of his career (except for some bad games here and there). It's an organizations fault if they except him to do any more than that on a consistent basis.

[NJTank]

I hate the Lakers Im glad Im wrong but I was wrong I have to deal with it you can laugh at the pick and thats my punnishment. I alway make predictions and I have just as good as batting average any other "expert" thats just the nature of predicting.

[thoughtone]

As far as me getting on someone?s or anyone?s bad side, I don?t offer platitudes, I offer my opinions. Not that I am being malicious, I am not attacking anyone personally, I make comments based on how I see them. When I make mistakes, which are often, I will man up. That is just the issue. Everyone wrote off the Pistons. I think the Spurs gave up. I don?t think they will win another championships. Teams now won?t fear or respect. If Cassel was healthy the Lakers would not have been in the finals and the Lakers have been vulnerable to tight defense ever since they got rid of their outside three point threat Horry. If Iverson is such a team player, why haven?t the 76ers assembled a great supporting cast since he has been there? They got the big contract of Glenn Robinson, no one wanted him, another head case. I?m here in Orlando. McGrady bailed on the team when they lost 10 in a row at the start of the season. There were other teams that started as bad as the Magic that tried hard and made the playoffs. The Knicks and Heat sucked at the start, but didn?t bail. McGrady is a great scorer, but he is not the defensive player he needs to be. I watched the two Magic games against the Lakers. McGrady had 20 plus points in the first half and didn?t really play any ?D? against Kobe and in the second half he got dominated by Kobe. Yes Grant Hill?s situation handcuffed the Magic, but they did have the Pistons 3 to 1 in the first round of the 2003 eastern playoffs and choked when the Pistons came back 3 straight games. Back to Iverson, Alan will never win a championship. He is a great player, but he is not Nate Archibald. Winners don?t take off their uniforms off and sit in the stands when their coach tells them that they won?t start in a game!