who to cheer for in this series?

i love livingston. marv and i pegged him to be the next great point guard B.P. (before paul). i love brand. i love kaman.

but i love nash. i love diaw. i love the matrix.

man...this is a pick'em but i think the clips are just too dominant inside to be stopped. barbosa and nash have to take it to cassell and mobley and get them out of the game early.

Suns

Root for LA. Nash is very good but not the legend the media who drools over him thinks he is. Brand is better than he ever gets credit or attention for.

livingston is deceptively quick and extremely silky...

Was anyone else thinking LA could have used WIlcox? Rado was doing nothing. All I can think is that WIlcox must have been a real bonehead there for them to give up on him. Remember the game in the Garden where Cassell screamed in his face after a defensive missed assignment?

LA's finally made a lot of good decisions but I think they messed up on Wilcox. Even if he was a bonehead, he clearly can produce big #s. He could have gotten 28 mpg as a combo PF/C backup. Even if they thought he was too problematic to keep, he would have had much more trade value.

meanwhile i think you nash detractors are way off-base.

I wouldn't call myself a Nash detractor. I think he's great, but I don't drool over him like many do. I prefer 2-way players. I don't like it when he's mentioned in the same breath as guys who earned consecutive MVP titles. I think he'd barely squeeze into the top 10 in MVP voting in any given year in the 90s (trailing Jordan, Ewing, D. Robinson in ealry 90's and Duncan in late 90s, Olajuwan, Shaq, Karl Malone, Stockton, Barkley). Someone else said this, but it really is the "most valuable *old* player"

Posted by Bonn1997:

I wouldn't call myself a Nash detractor. I think he's great, but I don't drool over him like many do. I prefer 2-way players. I don't like it when he's mentioned in the same breath as guys who earned consecutive MVP titles. I think he'd barely squeeze into the top 10 in MVP voting in any given year in the 90s (trailing Jordan, Ewing, D. Robinson in ealry 90's and Duncan in late 90s, Olajuwan, Shaq, Karl Malone, Stockton, Barkley). Someone else said this, but it really is the "most valuable *old* player"

ah, but here you have it. we're in an era now with a real dearth of dominant big men. "Ewing, D. Robinson in ealry 90's and Duncan in late 90s, Olajuwan, Shaq" would all be killing the award now, as would vintage Alonzo. The voters always love to give it to dominant big men - we just don't have them now.

You also mentioned "Jordan, Karl Malone, Stockton, Barkley." Jordan's an obvious exception, arguably the greatest player of all time and 6-time nBA champ. Barkely won it in his one magical year and his team's magical year. ANd he was NO 2-way player btw! Malone I thought was overrated and didn't deserveit, they just didn't want to give it to Michael or Shaq every year. ANd Stockton wasn't gonna win it no matter what, just wasn't enough of a scorer or "presence" on the court, even though he was an unbelievable and tough player.

Posted by Marv:

meanwhile, bonn, you're 56 away!! are you saving it for a special date? gonna go on a binge and blow the load today? what are the plans here?

Oh, I knew I was close but wasn't paying that much attention. I would save it for a binge when the Knicks make a good trade but that might be several decades away!

i'm rooting for the Clippers cuz i love how Brand plays... also it's always entertaining to watch Alien Sam I Am on the floor