Oliver P

When exactly did I "discount" his teammates ? I actually said the opposite, I said that this year Dirk finally had the teammates he needed to be able to show what kind of player he truly was. So it clearly means that his teammates are good. It's the same for Hakeem in 94, you cannot win by yourself anyway, basketball is a collective game... It would be totally asinine to think the opposite. But the fact still remains that among his teammates, none of them, and I emphasize NONE, was even close to be an All Star this year. Kidd can still be good but he's not even close to the superstar he once was (how many bad passes did he do in the playoffs this year ? He's had some great plays, some great clutch shots and still bring a lot to the team but he's not the Kidd he used to be, that's a fact). Terry is a very good sixth man but he never was even close to be an All Star. Chandler is a very good defender and was a DOY candidate, yes, but we all know that he's not, and will never be All Star material. And Marion was not even close to be the player that he used to be in Phoenix, since he left the Suns... He got back to a better level but he will never be back to the level at which he played in Phoenix, that's for sure. He's now just an above average role player. And yes he had a number of players capable of playing that role on any give night (just like Hakeem in 94, Horry, Smith or Mad Max could get on fire any time), I know that, I said it myself many times. I even said it not so long ago when someone told me that "Dallas had nothing"... Again he has good teammates, no one is denying that. But still it's not the same than having a TRUE second option. Someone you know you can count on every night. What happens if all of those players struggle at the same time ? Well it in fact happened during the Finals. In the first four games all of Dirk's teammates struggled and didn't play to the level expected. It's only in games 5 and 6 that Terry (who's supposed to be the second option anyhow) and Barea woke up at the same time. Well what was the result after those four games ? 2-2. That gives even more credit to Dirk... The fact is that, Dirk had real good teammates, definitely good enough to win a ring, but he still won a ring with less help overall than most of the superstars of the past. And the way he played during all the fourth quaters in the playoffs, especially in teh WCF and Finals is just unreal. In ways Dirk can't ? Really ? Yet I have seen all those players play at their prime and I never saw any of them having the kind of performances that Dirk had this year... Except for Tim, who had huge performances in 2003 as I said. But anyway I have never seen those players dominate in the fourth like Dirk did that year. And hit so many clutch shots. Never. Now I agree with Duncan at number 1. I said it myself. But I'm not so sure about Barkley and Malone. It's definitely arguable. As for KG, as I said in terms of pure talent I agree that he was better but the fact that he never was the leader that Dirk is, and succeeded only as a second option, is definitely not enough to make him a better player than Dirk. I already talked about all of this in my post and ain't gonna repeat myself anyhow, I think I was clear enough... No doubt Dirk is above him in my mind. Oh and about that you don't need to show me a video to convince that KG is a good passer... First a video doesn't prove anything (I could show videos of Mike missing a clutch shot to "prove" that he was not a clutch shoter for example...) and second I already know that he is a very good passer... He is definitely one. But the fact is that Dirk is a great passer as well. And I don't see how you can even deny that... I followed Dirk all his career with Dallas and the Germany team and I can tell you that he's a fantastic passer indeed. Alright I can accept that someone tells me that KG is "slightly" better passer than Dirk if you wish... But definitely not by far, Dirk's passing abilities are amazing. Oh and Shaq is one of the best passers, among the big men, I ever saw. Back to Malone and Barkley, well in fact everyone agrees that Dirk's main weakness has always been his defense. Well it's the exact same for Barkley. He was heavily criticized in this area during his career. And, as already been stated, Dirk has been way better defensively lately. So a strong case can definitely be made for Dirk. As he's much better than Barkley offensively and in the clutch. Another important thing to consider, which hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet, is longevity. Barkley started to decrease at the age of 30 (he even started to talk about retirement at that age... And kept talking about that every year until he eventually retired...). KG started to decrease at the age of 31. While Dirk, at the age of 32 (almost 33), is just playing the best basketball of his career. Better than ever. Very important to consider that as well if you want to be consider among the very best IMO. Anyway because all of these reasons, the one who has the strongest case against Dirk, for number 2, is Karl Malone. Cause, contrary to Barkley and KG, Malone was at the same time a very good leader, good defender, and also was still at his best, and in fact was even playing the best basketball of his career (like Dirk) at the age of 32-33. But still even Malone didn't have the kind of performances that Dirk had in the fourth quarter in this year's playoffs... And again Dirk was already this clutch and that good of a leader those past couple of years, he just had this time a real opportunity to prove it. So basically I definitely think that the best PF is Duncan, and that at second it's arguable between Malone and Dirk. Then it's Barkley and KG (a case could still be made for Barkley, but definitely not KG IMO).

^Well we cannot that for sure though... Do I believe that the Mavs would have beat the Bulls ? No, I do not. But still we just can't know... Anyway as I said in my post it's not this ring alone that makes me put Dirk upthere but rather the way he won it. Again in the past only Hakeem managed to make his team win with no true second option... That certainly gives more credit to Dirk. Especially that he made his team win against a team that was much better on paper. When Malone led his Jazz to the Finals he had much better teammates than Dirk this year. And Dirk's performances in the clutch were just better than Barkley and Malone ever did. But it's hard to tell as Dirk never played against Malone or Barkley at their prime... Anyway I want to precise that I said in my post that Dirk was "arguably" the second best PF ever. I personally put him there (because I like him too much maybe haha) but I definitely agree that it's arguable. I think a case can be made for Malone at second indeed, I have no problem with that. But I also believe that a case can definitely be made for Dirk as well.

I think that this year will definitely have an impact on Dirk's legacy. Not only because he finally won a ring but rather because of the WAY he won it. As a matter of fact Dirk's level has been very impressive in the playoffs, and due to the level at which he played while making his team win, everyone who doubted his leadership have now no case against him. As I already said it though, Dirk's been playing that way since the last couple of years. The only problem is that he didn't have the help that he needed to get a ring.. But now that his teammates finally adapted to the team and that they got this summer the missing piece (Chandler) Dirk had the opportunity to SHOW how terrific a leader he really is. And so he did. Dirk's performance this year was really astounding, especially when we consider the fact that, as ABL said it, only three other stars led their team to the ring while being surrounded by no All Star : Barry, Olajuwon and Thomas. However it's important to consider that Thomas had for teammates Dumars and Rodman, who both became All Star the following year. And also Bill Laimbeer who was a multiple All Star as well, and was still playing at his best at the time, even if he wasn't All Star that year. Besides Dumars and Rodman were both in the All Defensive first team that year, and Dumars was an All NBA third team the two following years, and All NBA second team in 93. Besides we all know that Dumars is one of the best defensive guards ever (Jordan even said that only him and Blackman could have an impact on his game). And on top of that Dumars was actually the Finals MVP in 89. So when we consider all of this we can definitely see that Thomas had more help than Nowitzki. Then Rick Barry had Wilkes, who was a fantastic player and became All Star the following year. So that's a better option than Dirk had this year. Basically what I'm saying is that only Hakeem did what Dirk do this year in fact, only Hakeem made his team win with that "little" help. Which definitely gives even more credit to Dirk. Now about McHale, well it's true that Kevin was a better defender than Dirk but Dirk is not a shitty defender as he was at the beginning of his career... During the Avery Johnson days Dirk definitely became a much better defender. And if he ain't, and will never be, great defender, it's at the same time impossible to say that he's not a good one, Dirk is alright. And he's a much better scorer than McHale ever was. I loved McHale, he had fantastic post moves, but he still can't compare to someone like Dirk offensively. No one has ever mastered the mid range jump shot as well as Dirk in the history of the game, except Larry Bird IMO. Dirk can score from anywhere on the court. Besides, as it's already been said, Dirk is a much, MUCH better leader than Kevin ever was, McHale had a shot to show what he could do as leader when Bird was injured in the 89 season and he didn't show much... Of course the team was less talented as Bird was out, but there were still enough talented players (Lewis, Parish, Shaw, DJ) to lead this team beyond the first round. The fact is that McHale was a second option. One of the best second option, but still nothing more than a second option. And that is just not enough to compare him with Dirk. Then about Garnett, well I'd say that KG was the best player of the two IF we're talking about pure talent. As it's been mentioned again, KG is one of the most versatile player ever, in fact he was the LeBron James of his time. The dude could do everything on the court, great post moves, great ball handler, great defender, great rebounder, very good passer and shot blocker, etc... His only "weakness" was his jump shot, but he was still quite a good shooter though. Like LeBron he could do everything, he was even more versatile than him as he had a back to the basket game. He could play every position on the court. BUT the fact is that, again like LeBron, he was very criticized from his lack of leadership and clutchness in his Minnesota days. Even more than LeBron actually... The fact is that the dude couldn't make his team go beyond the first round for seven years in a row. And he had good enough teammates to get his team to a higher level. At the beginning of his career he had Marbury and Gugliotta (Googs had his best days in Minnesota and Marbury was by far better than what he was when he landed in Phoenix and New York). Then he had Terrell Brandon (a fantastic PG), Joe Smith (who played the best basketball of his career in Minnesota) and Szczerbiak (had also his best days as a Wolves), Chauncey Billups... And it's in 2004 with Spree and Cassell (Spree got back to his best level that year, and Cassell had the best season of his career) that he had his best shot to win a ring. He finally managed to lead his team to the WCF but failed... It's true that Sam I Am got injured in those WCF. And this alone was enough to have a big impact on the team. But why is that ? Again because KG was not the leader that he was supposed to be, and in fact Sam was the REAL go to guy of the team at the time. And after that year KG never even managed to lead his team to the playoffs again, this despite the fact that he was surrounded by "good enough" player like Cassell, Wally, Spree (even if he started to decrease that year, mainly because he considered himself underpaid...), the surprising sixth man Hudson, and Hassell who was a very good defender, then later Davis, Blount, McCants, Foye, Smith, or Mike James... Sure I'm not saying that this team was good enough for a ring, but definitely good enough to make the playoffs. Anyway honestly, as great as KG was, he wasn't in his Minnesota days the player that he later became in Boston. He started to decrease in Boston, but he became much better in the clutch. He had way more energy than he ever had as the first option in Minnesota. And he finally managed to win a ring. But still not as a first option.. Cause, even if KG was clutch at times, Pierce was definitely the leader of the team, the go to guy. The fact is that KG never really succeed as a leader. Contrary to Dirk. And that is why I personally definitely put Dirk over him. Besides, in terms of pure talent, Dirk is right behind him, he's a much better scorer and shooter, as good a passer (it's not because that you don't have a lot of APG that you're a bad passer, Dirk's passing abilities are among the best we ever saw for an inside player) and ball handler. The only areas in which KG is clearly better than him are in defense. He's a better rebounder too but not by far, Dirk is a very efficient rebounder as well. Oh and ABL it is definitely not true to say that the only thing that Dirk had to do in the early 2000's was scoring. It's actually the opposite, at the time the team was only about offense, and there was no one inside. Dirk had to play center many times. His best rebounding days were at those times anyhow, that's no coincidence. Besides it's not true that his teammates was much better than KG's as well, slithgly better yes, but not that much... Nash was definitely not the player that he became in Phoenix (thanks to D'Antoni's system) afterwards, at the time he was considered as a good PG but no more. Finley was a very good scorer but he never was a superstar and wasn't a very good defender... LaFrentz was just a shooter. He played center because of his side but he was no center. The Mavs never had a good center before the arrival of Chandler anyhow, Wang Zhi Zhi and Bradley even had to start in that team... They've always been terrible inside since the Donaldson, Tarpley and Perkins days. As for Nick, he was washed up when he arrived in Dallas. He could still be efficient in the clutch but he was no where the level he was playing at in LA. Those Dallas teams were actually all about scoring, so Dirk had to focus on other areas more than now, which is why he had more RPG, APG, BPG and SPG anyhow. As for Petit and Hayes, well Petit had huge numbers but it was another time... And the only year that he won his ring, well Cliff Hagan was the best player in the playoffs anyway. Same for Hayes, the only time he won his ring, Unseld was Finals MVP. So it hurts both their impact. As for Malone and Barkley, well I love those two players, but the fact is that they never had such a great performance as Dirk in the playoffs this year. I watched them at their prime, and they were terrific players, but none of them was as clutch as Dirk is. The only PF who played at such a high level as Dirk this year while being such a great leader was Duncan in 2003. When he had unbelievable performances in the playoffs... This is why the only PF that I would put over Dirk for sure is Tim Duncan. Dirk can arguably be considered as the second best PF ever. Besides among all the stars I followed, only Jordan and Kobe were as clutch shooters as Dirk was this year. Besides we can add that only two PFs in the NBA history won the Finals MVP, they are, of course, Duncan and Dirk. So it gives more credit to both as the two best PFs ever. So basically I would put Duncan at first, Dirk at second, then it's IMO arguable between Barkley, Malone and KG.

About time you [expletive]er !!! I will forgive you this time but if you're a day late in two weeks again, I'll swear to God I'm a rip out your eyes and pee on your brain... But anyway at least you have a very good top 5. Very similar to mine as you'll be able to see in that post. You already know though... Good choice, I love this movie as well. One of the first Scorsese movies I seen. Maybe even the first one I don't remember.. Have you seen the original version of that movie ? With Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum (who both have a cameo in Scorsese's remake, same for Martin Balsam). It's a very good one as well. Lol well you ain't gonna be pleased to see that it ain't in my top 5 either... Honestly I don't know why most people didn't mention it as well but personally I ain't a big fan of the Godfather movies... I mean I like them, they're good, but contrary to most people, they're not great to me... Good but no more than that. Besides De Niro doesn't play a big role in that Part 2. Jesus whatcha waiting for ??!! I agree with htown (did I just say that ?! ) you definitely have to watch them rightaway. My two favorite De Niro movies, and at the same time Scorsese movies, for sure. They're actually both among my ten favorite movies of all time. Pure masterpieces. I totally agree with you there. I just CAN'T STAND Heat. One of the worst movies I've seen.. They based that movie only on the Pacino-De Niro duo, the script is just not interesting at all. At least for me. Anyhow, here's my top 5 De Niro movies : Taxi Driver http://scorsese.free.fr/taxiaffiche.jpg Arguably my favorite movie of All Time (arguably cause it's very hard for me to come with only one..). It's a pure masterpiece. And quite an unusual role for De Niro. As a matter of fact Robert is usually a big boss, a tough guy in his movies. Certainly not in this one... Here he's a lonely guy, war veteran, who's getting more and more a prisoner of his own insanity... A very toughing movie. For me it's more than just a movie, it's a poem. And Bernard Herrmann's music (one of my very favorite music composer, he made almost all of Hitchcock's movies music ; the Taxi Driver soundtrack is the last one he made...) is absolutely outstanding. One of my favorite film music ever. If you haven't watched the movie don't watch this scene yet, cause it's the ending.. definitely one of the best scene ever : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCDXRTbXd2Q Raging Bull http://denissoupault.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/raging-bull.gif I'm usually not very high about movies about sport, or movies about people who really exist (cause they tend to glorify the person) but with this one it's different. Jake La Motta is certainly not glorified at all in this one, that would actually be the opposite, Scorsese rather decided to show the life of La Motta to show the fighting of a man with his inner demons. And it's certainly De Niro's best performance. And one of the greatest actor performances of All Time. Here's my fav scene of the movie, same that htown posted except it's the entire scene (almost, they just don't show the very beginning which I couldn't find anywhere on Youtube) : The King of Comedy http://moviereviews.allmyblog.com/images/moviereviews/1_20110110_003326.jpg I just love that movie. One of my very favorite comedies ever. And again a very unusual role for De Niro, who's this time playing a screwball who's 100% sure that he's made for show business lol. And it's always great to see the amazing Jerry Lewis. This movie is a pure delight, I advise everyone who haven't watched it yet to do it tonight. Rupert Pukin is the king !! Hard to pick one scene... I'm gonna go with that one, the fantasy scene : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Jp33ulMtQ Mean Streets http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/Mean_Streets_poster.jpg As htown said it's the first movie that Scorsese and De Niro made together. And it was a success rightaway. This movie is just cult. And again De Niro has an unusual role in it (I love unusual roles haha..), here he's playing a kid, Johnny Boy, who spends his time doing stupid things... And his best friend Charlie, played by the great Harvey Keitel, spends his time trying to get him outta trouble. Here's my fav scene of the movie : "I'm a mook ? What's a mook ? You can't call me a mook." LOL Goodfellas http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv246/richierich123456/GoodfellasP.jpg?t=1242645370 Yeah well it's just impossible to make a top 5 De Niro movies without that one... Definitely my favorite movie about the mafia, ever. With amazing performances from De Niro of course, but also the hilarious Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta. There's not De Niro in it but my fav scene is definitely that one : "C'm'on make that coffee to go, let's go. What the [expletive] you're doin', it's a joke, A JOKE." LOL

Quoted for the truth. Honestly this is possibly the worst excuse I've ever heard... Heat didn't want to win as much ? As Real Deal said the reason why LeBron left Cleveland, and the ONLY reason why, is because he wanted to win a ring. He could have made much more money if he stayed in Cleveland, or if he went to New York... Same for Bosh. Besides if Bosh didn't want to win that much why did he cry in the locker ? Same for Wade (despite the fact that he already has a ring), he literally fell on the floor crying on his way to the locker room... They were all devastated. They all wanted to win it all THIS YEAR. And the reason why they did not was because the Mavs were better. Plain and simple. PERIOD. Also I wouldn't be so sure that the Heat made the Finals the following years... First let's not forget that most people were sure that they would win FOR SURE this year, well we all saw what happened.. there's no guarantee for that at all. Especially that LeBron was absolutely terrible for the last four games, the minute he started to struggled he never managed to get back to his best level. I already gave examples of players who lost their basketball in the past because of stuff like that, the same thing can happen to LeBron. Especially that, the least we can say is that he certainly didn't show that he was solid mentally, quite the opposite... So I wanna see how LeBron is gonna react next year after this terrible performance. As well as the entire Heat team in fact, this first year failure is gonna be VERY hard to get over, there is no doubt about that.

None. I would rather have Dirk alone. He doesn't need another star at his side to make his team wins.

Yesterday I watched Once Upon a Time in America. http://www.krissweblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/once-upon-a-time-in-america.jpg Wanted to watch this one for a long time but don't why, I didn't watch it before for some reasons... I was glad to be able to find the real version though, the 3 h 39 mn one. Well anyway it was quite a good movie but not as good as I expected though... Was a bit disappointed. Leone's Western are much better in my opinion. I prefer, and by far, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and even My Name is Nobody which is not as good as the other four I mentioned though... Well still was a good movie, a bit too long though IMO, I don't mind long movies but they have to be REALLY good. Which is not the case with that one.. Still solid performances from the actors, especially De Niro and it's always good to listen to Morricone's music, even though it's certainly not his best one IMO... Well anyway I'm gonna give it a 7/10. And today I rewatched Broken Flowers. http://fmgroovy.blog.bg/photos/4670/original/broken-flowers-02-poster--1-.jpg A pure masterpiece. Definitely my favorite movie of the 2000's. Well that is, favorite movie not named No Country For Old Men in fact... So rather my second favorite, but right behind No Country. Jim Jarmusch is among my three favorite filmmakers ever (the other two being the Coens and Scorsese), I just love his movies. It's the kind of movies that you either love or hate. And I definitely LOVE them. Dunno how many times I watched masterpieces like Stranger Than Paradise, Dead Man or Ghost Dog for example... I'm also a fan of Bill Murray. In that movie he had one of his most serious roles. Just like in the other movie he made with Jarmusch (The Limits of Control ; he also played in a short story of Coffe and Cigarettes by the way ; two other must see movies for sure). So it's quite an unusual role for Bill and the least we can say is that he's just perfect in it. Anyway I definitely give it a 10/10.

And the Dallas Mavericks are the 2011 NBA Champs baby !!! Holy shit that's so great... I can't believe it haha. I'm happy. Yes I'm happy. First because, as I said, the Mavs have been my second fav team since Nowitzki arrival, Dirk is my favorite current player. But not only for that... Yes I'm also happy cause I remember all the debates I had last year with people who were trying to convince that Dirk was a TERRIBLE leader and that the Mavs would NEVER WIN WITH HIM AS THE FIRST [expletive]ING OPTION.... MY ASS !!! I said it before the season even started that this team could win it all. I don't know how many times I've been criticized for it... yet I kept saying it all year long. Even when the Blazers came back to win game 4 (or 3 I don't remember). What I told ya htown ? Remember when I told ya, right after that game, that the Mavs would eventually win the series and a ring ? I'm also thinking about all those people who were so 100% SURE that the Heat would win it all, that it was impossible otherwise... And how much I was criticized when I said that a great team on paper was not a guarantee to win it all... Yeah I remember that. Those people just couldn't even conceive that the Heat could lose... I hope that they know better now. Cause yes another team of stars FAILED. Like many others before... Well anyway I'm especiallly for Dirk, we couldn't dream of a more humble Finals MVP. Fantastic player, he's definitely an All Time great. He's been struggling in the first half in this game but got back to his best in the clutch, showing one more time that he's clearly one of the most clutch players and one of the best leaders in the leaders. And I'm happy for Kidd, he deserved more than anything to have this ring, after this great career. Great NBA season, I couldn't have been happier. Well actuallly I could... If the Knicks had won a ring. But no worries we will next year. CONGRATULATIONS MAVS !!!

It ain't the fourth yet.. I don't think so. Terry's been amazing in this game and very good in the last one, but he was terrible in the other three... So, if Dallas wins, being good in two games wouldn't be not enough for Terry to be MVP, even if Dirk doesn't wake up in this one and keeps playing so bad... I would be surprised if he didn't wake up in the second half anyhow. All what he needs is getting closer to the rim and scores easier baskets to get his confidence back. I certainly hope that he will cause he doesn't deserve this... Well anyway Dirk's been horrible in this first half yet the Mavs lead by 2... So I'm plenty satisfied so far. But again Dirk needs to wake up right at the beginning of the third. Funny how this Finals was all about defense in the first four game, and that now offense has taken over since the last game... Really weird. And about the fight the refs took the good decision, Stevenson shouldn't have shoved Haslem but Udonis and Chalmers shouldn't have reacted like they did. Very good job by the refs there, a tech each was the right call.

Nowitzki two fouls are a bummer for Dallas (and as already been stated the second one could not have been called...) but fortunately Jet and Barea have both awoken since the last game, they're just on fire. The Heat D just has no answer for Jose, they haven't adapted to him at all since game 5.

Lol yeah true I forgot about last year... I definitely was don't worry haha. Just not as much as for today's game though, mainly because the Mavs are my second fav team and Dirk is my fav current player.

I can't wait for this game. Honestly, I haven't been that pumped up for a Finals game since the game 6 of the 1998 Finals... I just hope that the team I root for wins this time (yeah I was rooting for the Jazz in that game 6, but only because I wanted a game 7, I liked both Jazz and Bulls equally ; besides Jordan's amazing ending made up for a game 7). The only game I was that excited to watch this past decade was the game 7 of the 2002 WCF (definitely the best game of the 2000's, for me at least). I always record the NBA Finals games and watch them the following morning, I don't stay up all night, or wake up at 2 or 3 AM, to watch games any longer, but I think that I'm gonna try to stay up till 5 AM to watch the game this time. Besides there's a holyday in France tomorrow and I don't work.. And the game is a little earlier as it's Sunday, Finals games have always been earlier on Sunday, too bad that the game ain't at 7:30 PM (New York time, 1:30 AM my time) any more, as it was in the 90's. It's only 30 minutes but still I would have gone to bed a little earlier haha... Anyway if I fall asleep I'll watch the end of the game tomorrow... But I'm so pumped that I don't think I'll fall asleep haha. I wish I was in the US and watch the game at a decent time though. Dam living in France sucks... Well anyway only 5 hours left till the start of the game. Let's go Mavs !!!

When you call your restaurant like that : http://thepeoplescube.com/images/Hitlers_Cross_Restaurant_Bo.jpg

Definitely getting drunk for me. I used to prefer to get high, mainly between the age of 21 and 23, I was high almost everyday. The only days I wasn't high were when I didn't enough money to buy some... I smoked pot as often as I could and took some LSD at times. But I eventually got tired of it. LSD still is a terrific drug and I think that everyone should try it at least once. But anyway now I clearly prefer drinking. I never take LSD any more, and I can smoke a joint from time to time but it's rare... Alcohol is my thing. I like the taste better (especially Jack Daniel's Single Barrell, my favrorite Whiskey, I always got a bottle of it at home) and I like the feel better. I'm a drinker, alcohol is definitely my thing. For me there's nothing better than a good glass of Whiskey and a good cuban cigar (especially the Partagas Lusitanias, this cigar is a masterpiece). That's what life is all about. Rock'n roll baby !!!

LeBron's legacy is defintely deeply hurt right now, no doubt about that. First of all it's true that a bad game can happen to anyone. But the fact is that the greatest players immediately get back to their best the following game. And this time LeBron has not had two but THREE bad games in a row. He was totally unable to react in those three games. Second of all we can talk about his attitude. No matter what an All Time great would never give up, no matter how bad he's playing and give all what he got to make his team wins. Yet LeBron's attitude was absolutely pathetic in those games, especially in game 5, the dude was even scared to shoot ! And being scared is the worst that can happen, because you're not a threat any longer and totally useless to your team. Third, not only he's terrible and has no impact whatsoever on his team in the clutch, but he dares to laugh and lack respect to his opponents... Yet Dirk (as he's the one we're talking about here) is BY FAR better than him in those Finals and he's led his team to a 3-2 advantage in those Finals, this despite the fact that his team is not as talented as LeBron's team (if we still can consider that the Heat is LeBron's team...). (By the way all of this is quite funny as I'm sure that Dirk doesn't even care about it, his best response to that is on the court...). Fourth, he's the only MVP, to be still at his prime, to have such a terrible performance in the clutch, in the NBA Finals. As a matter of fact all the other former MVPs who had such bad performance in the clutch were WAY past their prime. One, that's right, one of the three things I mentioned alone would be enough to hurt his legacy. So when you combine the three you can realize how deeply his legacy is hurt right now... Now it's true that the Finals are not over. And a great performance in a Heat win could make up for it. But it's quite doubtful cause the problem is in his head, and it's very hard, almost impossible in fact, to forget about your struggling and get back to your best just like that... Mental is very important in basketball. In 94 John Starks lost totally his basketball for several months after Hakeem blocks his 3 pters at the end of game 6. In 95 Nick Anderson never was the same player after he missed four free throws in a row at the end of game 1 (one of them would have been enough to make Orlando win). Lindsey Hunter used to be a terrific 3 pts shooter until one day he started to totally lose confidence in his shot and never was the same player again (he becamse a defensive specialist after that). I could give more examples of that... Now sure LeBron is a better player than the ones I mentioned. But the least we can say is that he's not stronger in his head than them. And the fact that he literally quit against Boston last year definitely confirms that (and it hurt his legacy even more). So no doubt that LeBron's legacy is in danger right now. That's the least we can say. However we'll have to wait until the end of these Finals to be really able to judge. Let's see what he'll do in game 6.

What a great game. I'm really enjoying those Finals so far, honestly the best Finals I've seen since the 90's. I know a lot of people doesn't like it as much as I do, because it's scrappy (or ugly...) but that's the kind of basketball I love. And another great performance by Dirk. It's simple, after scoring eight points in the fourth quarter Thursday, Dirk Nowitzki has now scored at least eight points in the fourth during every game in the Conference Finals and NBA Finals. He's the true MVP. Okay I have no problem with Rose being the MVP though, he definitely deserved it, but I have a BIG problem with Durant being in the NBA First team ahead of him... That is just purely and simply OUTRAGEOUS. As I said many times Dirk should have been in the All NBA First team those past couple of years. Well anyway the Mavs have now the opportunity to win their first ring ever. They have just been fantastic so far. After the first couple of games I said myself that the Heat were slightly better but this is not the case any longer, after five games the Mavs have just been better than Miami, both offensively AND defensively. And they've also obviously been way better in the clutch. They have the momentum and are the favorites to win game 6 IMO. But the Heat can definitely come back... It definitely will not be a blow out, I expect next game to be as close as alll the other games. Well anyway Dallas better win next game and not give the Heat any chances. Also I think that many people doesn't understand what the problem is with LeBron James. I mean sure a bad game can happen to anybody, and he's been terrific against the Bulls in the ECF but this is the NBA Finals and the guy SUCKED, plain and simple, for three games in a row. That is not what the kind of things that you expect from a player that is considered by many as the best in the league. Sure when you look at it his stats were not that bad but it doesn't matter, the thing is that he was HORRIBLE in the clutch, when the games are decided and that's the only thing that matters. It's simple : LeBron James eight point performance for the Heat in Game 4 of the NBA Finals was the worst showing by a former MVP in his prime over the past 20 years. Four previous MVPs scored single-digit points in a Finals game, but all of them (Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and David Robinson) were gray-haired fossils by that point. LeBron James is averaging 2.2 PPG during the 4th quarter of the NBA Finals. That is the fourth-lowest by a former MVP in any NBA Finals series over the last 25 seasons. The difference between James and the other guys on this list? His most recent MVP award came just one season ago whereas the others were well past their MVP-winning seasons. And the worst part, the reason why everyone is after him right now, is that the dude is SCARED. Having a bad performance can happen to anyone, those players are human, but it is more, way more than that, it is an ATTITUDE problem, a MVP is not supposed to be shit his pants like LeBron does in the clutch during those Finals. In terms of pure talents he is certainly the best player in the league, but he certainly cannot be considered as the best because of this. At least not yet, that's for sure. Anyway I can't wait for Sunday. Let's go Mavs !!!

Dallas had to win and so they did. Geat win for them. And they saved the NBA Finals... Funny how those Finals look exactly like the 94 ones so far. All the games have been won by less than 10 points, no team has scored at least 100 points, defense totally dominates the Finals, games 1 and 4 were won by the home team (Miami in game 1, Dallas in game 4 ; in 94 Houston in game 1, New York in game 4), games 2 and 3 by the away team (Dallas in game 2, Miami in game 3 ; in 94 New York in game 2, Houston in game 3) and of course the series is tied 2-2 after four games. Weird.. But as the 94 Finals are among my favorite Finals ever I have to say that it's good news. And I'm having a very good time. I just hope that the team I root for will win this time... As for LeBron he better wakes up soon if he wants to become the best player in the league. I mean he was already not great in the last game, but this time he sucked, plain and simple... And this is not even the worst part, having a bad game can happen to anybody, but this time he looked like he wasn't even trying... That was just outrageous. Especially after what he did against Boston last year... It's in the playoffs that we see who the true best players are, LeBron should think about that. As for Dirk, he was once again very impressive last night. Flu game number 2 ? Lol well alright he's not Michael Jordan, contrary to Michael the flu definitely had an impact on him, he struggled for most of the game but still... He fought like a warrior, gave all what he got, did all what he could to involve his teammates more, focused more on rebounds and hit the clutch shots... Another heroic performance. Alright that's it, I wanna become a woman and marry Dirk Nowitzki !! http://prettysketchy.com/site/smileys/smiley_big_grin.gif

Too many ifs here... we can go very far with ifs. If my aunt had balls she would be my uncle... But anyway all jokes aside we just can't know what would have happened if Charles and Clyde had played those games. I agree that they would have had more chances to catch the Jazz for best record in the West, but first we can't know that it would have happened for sure and second HCA is not as important as people make it to be. Sure it's better to have HCA but if you're really the better team you will win despite that fact. Frankly HCA is a bit overrated... I'll always remember this astounding series between the Rockets and Spurs in 95, in which every team won away... Until the Rockets won game 6 at home. It clearly shows that it's not that important... I mean, again I agree that it's still better to have it but I believe that the better team will win no matter what. Oh and I'm glad to know that you think that 33 is extremely old by the way... Well anyway I will not agree with you that age was the reason why the Rockets didn't win that year. The following year yes, but not this year. Actually there is a point to bring that trio up. I clearly said it in my post, I mentioned that team because, even if they weren't at their prime yet, this team had to star and got IMMEDIATELY BETTER right after one of them (Richmond) left. And so it shows that having the more stars in your team does not necassarily means that your team will be better, sometimes it's even the opposite. Again the All Star appearance is unrelevant here. I clearly explained why in my last post so I will not repeat myself. I will never agree with you that Smith or Stoudemire were not stars, they were clearly the best players of their team before they joined Portland. That defiitely means something. Also Mighty Mouse was a low percentage scorer because he was too lonely in those Raptors teams. He had to do it all by himself, I think that's a pretty good reason why his FG% was not higher.. He changed his game once he joined Portland (something that many players are not able to do) and managed to adapt to better teammates. He became a more efficient player, even if that doesn't show on his stats. The fact is that he could dominate a game all by himself, I don't know how many times he did it for Portland, I clearly remember that. And that's the definition of a star for me. Smith was not the best defender ever but he was better defensively than you make it sound... Besides he was much more than just a shooter, this guy was also a great ball handler and passer. He played PG at his beginning with Miami. And played PG several times again during all his career. He was even a member of the Dream Team II. In Portland he didn't have to do all what he did in Atlanta and Miami because he had Pip and Mighty Mouse to take care of ball handling and playmaking as you said, that's pretty logical as he had stars around him by this time. Which is why you're not as noticed when you play in a team of stars... But he was still the same player nonetheless. I agree with you about Duncan, Sheed, Malone, KG and Webber but certainly not with Brand and DC... Brand was just a rookie at the time, there is no way that I would put a rookie ahead of a veteran... Except if that veteran is a scrub.. Besides Brand was the kind of player that had great stat but never had a great impact on his teams.. Brian Grant was a much better hustler and always gave all what he got to make his team wins. Which is why I'd take him over Brand any day. Even over DC, who was one of the best talents to ever play the game (could have been the best PF ever) but didn't care about working on his game, practicing... And he was a terrible defender (especially because he didn't care). I'd pick Grant over him any day as well. As for Kemp he wasn't the same player that he used to be after the lock out... No doubt that Grant was better than him that year as well. As I said Sabonis was not the player that he used to be, that's true but he still could dominate a game and make his team win by himself, he did it several time in Portland. Which is the definition of a star to me. Not a superstar (he would have been if he arrived in the NBA at his prime) but a star. He couldn't play many minutes as his body was entirely broken... But if you look at his stats per 36 minutes for example : 17 PPG, 11 RPG, 1.7 BPG. This with his hand ONLY... If you add to this that he was a clutch and a true leader you have the very definition of star. Well as I said I agreed that Pip started to slow down in his first Rockets year but no he was not out of his prime yet... I'll say it again he really started to get out of his prime in his second year in Portland... Anyway I said it myself, I agree that he started to slow down in Houston, but saying that he was not the same player is definitely going way too far... He was the same player. Just a little less efficient but he didn't slow down enough to consider him a different player.. Mmh... That's a good point, I can agree TO SOME EXTENT that the two teams can be compared, but still, the Blazers were clearly a better team on paper. First of all, Dirk is a better player than Sheed, I agree with this, but I definitely do not agree with your "MUCH better"... I think that many people do not remember how terrific Sheed was at the time. This guy was amazingly talented, he could play C, PF and C just AS efficiently... Had fantastic post moves, a great outside jump shot, and was a very good defender as well. It's simple this dude could do just about anything. In terms of pure talent he was even better than Dirk (this is coming from a Dirk Nowitzki fan). The only reason why I agree that Dirk is better is simply because Dirk is better in the clutch (Sheed was clutch as well though) and he's definitely a better leader than Rasheed ever was (Sheed didn't even want to be a leader anyway, which is too bad for him..). Then you said it yourself Pip is a much better second option than what Dirk got. Dirk doesn't even have a true second option in fact... But many players who can be that second option at times. While Pip is IMO the best second option ever. Now Kidd, Marion and Peja were All Stars in the past, but that was honestly a long time ago... Marion kept on struggling since his Suns days and never reached the level at which he played when he was in Phoenix. Even he's having his best season for a while right now... It's still not near the All Star level at which he played in Phoenix. And let's face it he will never play at this level again. Peja has only been efficient in the Lakers series and he's not even close to the player he was in his Kings days, when he even had a MVP season in 2003. As for Kidd, well he got better those past two years. He had some troubles at first to adapt to Dallas but he finally managed to adapt to this team. However the dude is clearly past his prime and is, ironically, first of all a shooter now. While in Portland you had all the stars I mentioned... Plus Bonzi Wells who was the big surprise of the year, no one expected him to be that good... Frankly you may say that I overrate this team as much as you want, well you can be sure that I'm not the only one... Besides so far you're the only one I meet who is not impressed by this roster. No disrespect intended, you're entitled to you opinion, I'm just saying that I find that weird that's all. Especially that I clearly remember how everyone was high on this team at the time... All the hype. Just as much as for today's Heat in the summer. Lol don't you think you're overreacting a bit here ? I mean I just said that because you only mentioned the score of the Argentina-USA game, bypassing totally the rest of the game. Which is why I wondered if you even watched the game.. That was pretty legit... Sorry if you felt insulted, it is not my intention at all to insult you. It's even the opposite, I think that you're a very good poster, with a great knowledge of the game and I respect you for that. I've enjoyed this little debate that we've had, even if we don't entirely agree lol, but that's a good thing, if we all agreed about everything it would be totally boring and it would be pointless to even be a member of a forum... I respect eveyone here anyhow, I think that overall this forum is very mature and the posters are very knowledgeable, it's definitely the best forum I've been on since the RST days (and by far). I'm really enjoying the discussions here. So again I'm sorry if I offended you and I hope that there's no hard feeling. And I know what you're saying about having to get up at 3 AM to watch a game... The NBA Finals games are broadcasting live at that time here in France... I don't know how many times I had to wake up at 3 AM to watch a game, I did it during the whole 90's while having school the following day... I don't do it any longer, I record the game and watch it the next morning. But I still have to get up early, for example I work today and there's no way I would have waited till 5 PM to watch last night's game.. So I woke up at 5:30 AM this morning to watch the game right after it ended... And now I'm exhausted (I am at work right now, I hope that my boss won't notice that I'm posting on OTR lol). So... welcome to the club lol. Well actually it's a bit of both. Yes the rest of the world is overall better, I'm not denying that, but not as much better as many people make it to be. Again I was a basketball fan in the 90's and I can tell you that there were many great international teams and players at the time... The late 80's early 90's Yugoslavia team is even probably the best international team I ever seen.. They had Kukoc, Divac, Petrovic, Radja, Paspalj, Danilovic, Savic, etc... An amazing squad. Or teams like Lithuania in the 90's, with Sabonis, Marciulonis, Karnisovas, Kurtinaitis, Einikis, Stombergas, etc... for example. There were already fantastic players at the time. There even was arguably the best international player ever, I definitely consider him as the best player to never play in the NBA, I'm talking about the Brazilian Oscar. I could on like this for days... Honestly it's gotten better but not as much as people make it to be. Because yes, overall the Team USA were not as good as in the 90's. Which is a reason why I always say that the NBA was better at the time... In fact Larry Bird and Jordan said it over and over again from the late 90's on, "young players doesn't work on the fundamentals as hard as they should do". The fact is that a lot of the NBA superstars in the 2000's didn't master the fundamentals as much as the legends from the past. Very few players use the backboard or master the mid range jump shot any longer for example... A lot of stars (like Carter or example) were obsessed with dunks or 3 pters... Which explained why, at least in part, even with the very best, Team USA struggled against international players who mastered the fundamentals of basketball. Besides if this 2006 Team USA wasn't built with great balance well I don't see how the Heat can then... Cause we got the same three players, James, Wade and Bosh, with Dwight at C instead of Anthony, and Paul instead of Chalmers.. And of course a much, MUCH better bench... So I don't see how this team wasn't well balanced (contrary to the 2004 one who wasn't well balanced indeed for sure). Well that's the problem : this Argentina team was not the same as the one who won the Olympics. First of all, as I said, Ginobili got injured rightaway. Which was a huge problem as Manu is definitely THE superstar of the team, the team is nothing without him. Even if it was the same team as in the Olympics. Yet it wasn't as many key players weren't there any longer, like Herrmann or Sanchez for example. Besides the team had struggled during the whole tournament and wasn't close to play at the same as they did in 2002 and 2004. It was a much weaker team, only Scola played at a great level. Yet all the stars struggled during two quarters and a half against that team... I'd say that it's not impressive. By the way I'm not trying to diss or hate on Team USA on any way. I always root for them (yeah that's right even when they play against France... especially when they play against France lol) and was the first one to be disappointed when they lost in 2002, 04 and 06. And I clearly remember about this game against Argentina, cause I was really scared during those two quarters and a half... and pissed off to see them not dominating as they should have. I am not undermining the importance of Team chemistry in any way. I have said it myself many, many times, any team with a great team chemistry can have some success. And this is definitely one of the main reasons why Team USA wasn't great this past decade. In the 90's, all those superstars who matered the fundamantaled didn't need time to develop a team chemistry and destroyed their opponent. In the 2000's, we had stars who didn't master the fundamentals of teh game and were overall more individualist and now needed some time to develop a team chemistry. And we're talking about that cause, it's definitely great that they beat Spain, but it wasn't a convincing win, especially compared to what Team USA did to their opponent in the 90's. With all the superstars that they had Team USA SHOULD HAVE LITERALLY DESTROYED Spain. Well that's fine, I understand what you mean, but still I didn't compare the Heat to those teams.. I agree the Heat are a different team than all those teams but the fact is that... All those teams are also very different from each other. And none of them can't be compared with another one as well. Some had players who were too young, others too old, others suffered team chemistry issues, others had players who didn't fit the system, etc... But they all got something in common : they are all among the best teams ever "on paper". But all failed to win it all. Which shows that it's not because you have a great team on paper that it means you will win it all. No matter the reason (again players who don't get along, injuries, players that don't fit in the system, troubles offensively or defensively, etc...). My point, and my only point is that a great team on paper is not a guarantee to win it all. And apparently we both agree about that.

I didn't say the opposite, I agreed that being older was a disadvantage because they were more injury prone indeed... I just added that it was not ENTIRELY a disavantadge, that it had its good sides too as the players were more experienced... And I will not agree that it is a MAJOR fact, it is important, but it's not that important, because young players can get injured too... The fact is that the Rockets Big Three were all fine during the playoffs so they didn't lose because of that. If anything the injuries they had were a good thing as it allowed them to rest a bit during the season. The 97 Rockets didn't fail because of age and injury. I agree that it was a factor for the 04 Lakers, but still we'll never know what they would have done if Malone was healthy. And again it's not a comparison at all... I didn't mention those teams to compare them with Miami, you totally misunderstood my point... But anyway I never said that they were in their prime. I said that there was another team who had 3 stars together under the age of 30... And I mentioned it. They were not in their prime yet, that's true. And none of the player were of the caliber of Wade and James, I agree. But not of Bosh... I'm sorry but Tim Bug were definitely better players than Bosh could ever dream of. A case could even be made for Mullin and Mitch... It's very hard to compare players who do not play the same position but Tim Bug was one of the three best PGs of the 90's (with Payton and Stock), one of the best defenders ever, and definitely a top 10 PG ever. Anyway I mentioned this team because they had a very impressive team on paper as well, three players that became later all stars, and yet the team was better IMMEDIATELY after Richmond's departure. So it shows that a less good team on paper can be better overall... I can't believe you said that... I seriously hope this is a joke ? Comparing the Mavs with the 00 Blazers is totally asinine and, no offense, but I think that you've never seen that team play, you wouldn't say that otherwise... Sheed was a superstar indeed. But no the other players were not "glorified role players"... Certainly not. It's not because you're not All Star that you're not a star. I already mentioned Aldridge case for example, he played at an All Star level this year yet wasn't All Star, because they were too many players to choose from and everyone couldn't be picked.. So in the future they certainly won't look at him as an All Star, yet we all know that he was truly one this year. So it's not because you're not an All Star that you're not a star. Only Sheed was All Star this year, well of course, it's totally logical, when you have a team with multiple talents your stats will decline it's pretty obvious... There's only one ball for so many players... And as stats are very important to be All Star, it's totally logical to have one All Star in such a great team. And no Scottie Pippen wasn't all star the previous years, you wanna know why ? First because there was just NO ALL STAR game in 99 (because of the lock out), and he was injured in 98... So he wasn't all because he just COULDN'T BE ALL STAR. His stats, especially his PPG, were not as good because he had to share the ball more, but his other stats were the same as it always was and he was just as good as during his entire career. As I said before it's the following year that Pip got out of his prime. Steve Smith was certainly not a role player, before his arrival in Portland he had been the leader of a very good Hawks team for quite some years. And was considered at the time as one of the best NBA guards. He was a true star. Stoudamire was a terrific PG, he's had some fantastic seasons in Toronto before his arrival in a much better Blazers team, in which, again, he had to share the ball more.. But he was clearly one of the best PGs in the league at the time and was a star as well. Brian Grant is one of my favorite players ever, he already showed a terrific potential in Sac Town but truly became one of the best PFs in the league with Portland. Schrempf, Sabonis and Augmon were not in their prime any more in Portland, that is true. But Sabonis was still a fantastic player nonetheless, he body was totally injured but he could dominate a game only with his magic hands... He was definitely a star in his NBA days. This team was just fantastic, which is why everybody was so high on them at the time and that everyone thought that they would win it all for sure. It is definitely a good example. Firs this team was not imbalanced (the 2004 one was, not the 2006), they had talents in every position (best PG, best SF, best C in the world and second best SG in the world plus one of the best PFs) and all the players were complementary. And yeah they didn't have a lot of games to play together before and had to adapt to new rules but i's always been the case for Team USA. Hell in the 90's the players didn't even practice together... Yet they blew out all the opponents. Now it's true that International players have improved since, but certainly not not as much as some people think... I was a fan in the 90's and I can tell you that there were at the time international teams that were MUCH better than this Greece team... Like the Yugaslavian teams for example, full with amazing talent. Yet Team USA always destroyed them. So the rules and lack of practice is not an excuse at all. I am perfectly aware that they beat them by 20 but I take it that you didn't watch teh game right ? Cause they struggled during three quarters indeed, which was very surprising... until, as I said in my other post, a late run that allowed them to win by a large margin. They shouldn't have struggled during such a long time... And I never said anything about the other games. They were a huge blowout indeed. Just like it was supposed to be. And just like they were supposed to do against Argentina and Spain in the Finals. In that case it just confirms that you didn't get my point then... Because that's the only thing I tried to say here. The only thing I wanted to say was that it's not because you have the best team on paper that you will win for sure. That and only that. Again, as I already said, I never ever tried to compare the Heat to all those teams... The fact is that you can try as hard you can to find some good reasons to explain why those teams didn't win, and you may find some indeed, the fact is that those teams didn't win. And that's all I wanted to say here, that no matter how good your roster is, anything can happen (players who don't get along, injuries, players that don't fit in the system, troubles offensively or defensively, etc, etc, ETC....). Nothing comes with a guarantee. And it's not because the Heat got this terrific Big Three that this team would win for sure. That is why I wanted to wait and see for myself. That is the ONLY thing I said in my posts. So I guess that we agree about that after all... I never said the opposite. Actually I even said that the Heat deserved to lead 2-1, and that they've been the better team so far. They could lead 3-0 it's true. But, as good as they've been, they haven't outclassed the Mavs at the same time and the games were won in the money time. So the Mavs could lead 3-0 either. No one can say the opposite.

Yep right here is my favorite Shaq dunk ever... And one of my very favorite dunks. Shaq clearly got robbed in this All Star game, he was the clear MVP. However it's important to know that at the time the journalists voted for the All Star MVP at the beginning of the fourth (thank God they changed that..) and it's in the fourth that Shaq clearly stood out from others... Too bad, he was definitely the best player of the game. Another of my fav moment is his UNBELIEVABLE performances in the 2000, 2001 and 2002 NBA Finals of course. Then there's this (that I already posted in another thread) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFME30bB7ok It was at the very beginning of his career... I remember the first time I saw that, I was "what the [expletive]..." both times... I just couldn't believe it. Chocolate Thunder (who broke baskets on purpose) must have loved that as well lol. And these : And this of course !!! : And I love... just his entire career.