What do you think? Who are y'all cheering for? Do you even care?

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

Answers

The what?

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

Mavs and Lakers on a collision course, baby.

Nothing better than watching Pippen and Skunkhead (Wallace) clang a couple of free throws in the final minute to blow a 5 point lead with 39 seconds left.

Nowitzki is a playoff monster and will help knock Sacramento off.

The Lakers will continue their mastery of baby-soft San Antonio.

Lakers over Mavs in 6.

I think Detroit will come out of the east and get stomped by the Lakers.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

I hope the Mavs win it all. They're so much fun to watch, and it would be a hoot to see David Stern's face when he has to hand the trophy to Mark Cuban.

So far, the most shocking event of the whole playoffs is that the officials Saturday called John Stockton for six of the 27 fouls he committed, and he actually fouled out of a playoff game.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

I have a new boyfriend. His name is Steve Nash. Don't tell Latrell or Iverson, but I might be cheating on them.

I really hope the Mavs can take down the Lakers. It will give me great pleasure to see the stricken look on stupid Kobe Bryant's face if they pull it off.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

Don't tell Latrell or Iverson, but I might be cheating on them.

Well, Spree isn't even here, and Iverson ... well, his shoulders must be exhausted, what with trying to carry an entire team on his back in the Boston series. Sometimes you have to pick the person who's going to be with you for the long haul, right?

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

I would LOVE to see a Celtics/Mavericks final.

Is there a continent that isn't represented on the Mavericks? I'm half expecting to see a penguin as their waterboy one day.

I like them in sprite of Mark Cuban, who is an ass.

And it is always good to see a basketball dynasty begin another rise to prominence.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

Why is it that people who live in DFW loooove Mark Cuban, and people who don't live here hate him? Can he not exude his smarmy charm from afar?

I like him because he's sassy.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

I was lucky enough to get floor seats to a Mavs game about a month ago and I was sitting right behind Cuban's fiance. He sat on the other side (near the Mavs bench, along the baseline), but he came over during a few timeouts and at the half and talked to all of us. Seemed much less abrasive than he does in interviews.

AB, I also got to talk with Nash and Finley before the game. Nash was asking about you. He's a big fan.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2002

"The what?

T (tgoestotown@yahoo.com), April 29, 2002"

Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee - T, you crack me up.

This is what I don't understand about the NBA playoffs. When I get into discussions with people about my disdain for the NBA vs. my love for the NCAA, they inevitably say, "Well, I really only watch the NBA playoff series". Hello? The NBA plays like 3 regular season games and then start the playoffs...the playoffs go on for approximately 4 months. I know that I am exaggerating but it just seems like the NBA playoffs are designed simply for ratings.

Okay, I'll shut up now and crawl back to my Maryland Terrapin Championship corner...ahhh, it feels good in here...

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2002

I missed Stevie Nash on Letterman, even after I was reminded repeatedly! So sad.

Who saw my boo Iverson last night? I love it so much when he gets interviewed after the game, because he still sounds all out of breath and jumpy and excited, like he wants to school the interviewer, too. He'll take all you bitches! Hunh!

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2002

Sorry about the Sixers, AB. Poor Iverson. He's only one person, after all. It's a shame nobody else on that team understands how to shoot a basketball.

Go Mavs!

And I'm far from DFW, and I love Mark Cuban because he's right. The refs in the NBA (and in the NCAA as well) are generally atrocious.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Sorry to see the Sixers go down, but it's hard not to love the Celtics.

It was also great to see the Spurs advance, even if they have to face the Lakers.

And I do think Cuban has a point about the referees, but being right doesn't justify him acting like a spoiled 8 year old who doesn't get his way.

He may be right, but he's still an ass.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

My hatred for the Lakers will never diminish. It is as strong now as it has been for generations of Lowes. That team signifies to me all there is in the world to detest about professional sports.

And Rick Fox is not fooling me at all with his shaved head. I still loathe him.

-- Anonymous, May 06, 2002

Rick Fox is in an ad in ESPN magazine this week, and he still has hair, but it's all oiled up and slicked down, and...ugh. I can't even continue.

I understand your Lakers hate, Al. It's part of why I love you.

-- Anonymous, May 06, 2002

I actually hate Kobe more than Rick Fox now. We joke about him the way we joke about Emmitt Smith in football -- both seem to make a big deal about hobbling off every game with minor boo-boos, than "miraculously" returning.

Douchebags.

-- Anonymous, May 06, 2002

Steve F'ing Nash, people!

I love the playoffs.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

Steve F'ing Nash, people!

Ooooo! He's such a little rockstar! I love him. The Mavs are one of my favorite teams. How weird are they? Such diversity! The Mexican guy, the German guy, the Chinese guy, the French guy and little Steve Nash, who wants to be the lead singer for the Goo Goo Dolls with that haircut.

I do not like Mark Cuban, but the Mavs have been impressive this season.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

He is a little rocksthtar, isn't he? He reminds me of somebody, too, but I can't think of who it is.

The Mavs are Master V's favorite team, period. I think he even likes Cuban. And I'm sure the Asian representation of Wang Zhizhi (whom he calls Joey Chao, and who looks a lot like him, except for the seven feet tall part) doesn't hurt his love for them.

That little Mike Bibby is pretty sassy for Sacramento, though. He needs an eye kept on him.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

>He is a little rocksthtar, isn't he? He reminds me of somebody, too, >but I can't think of who it is.

He's Kelly Leak from the "Bad News Bears"

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

It's amazing how different the East and West are. The Western games are great. The East? Not so much.

I will disagree with the MOC, though, and say the Celtics have no shot because they can't seem to put two good games in a row together.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

I will disagree with the MOC, though, and say the Celtics have no shot because they can't seem to put two good games in a row together.

You're gonna go dash my hopes like that, Mike? Shame on you. But I know you're right, despite how it pains me. However, I will not count them out, just in case something crazy happens like they remember who they are and decide to stop being such an embarrassment to the name of the Boston Celtics and go out and play some damn basketball.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

I hope and pray Charlotte makes it to the finals. I'm anti- establishment that way, and it would make me laugh that a team that is moving away from a huge hoops city solely because its owner is an ass can go so far.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2002

All right Spurs! One down, three to go.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

>The Western games are great. The East? Not so much.

Uh, what about NJ/Indiana Game 5? That was the best NBA game I've seen. Tied at halftime and the end of the third, Miller's buzzer beater (which shouldn't have counted but still...), an exhausted Jason Kidd making clutch jumper after clutch jumper, double overtime in a deciding game! It's only happened what, three times in history?

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

Dude, you are so right. That was the best game ever, and just cemented my love for Reggie Miller. As if it weren't already set in stone for his floppy self.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

I hate Kobe Bryant.

Sorry. Had to get that off my chest.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2002

Wow, Mike Bibby! Last night's game (and that shot!) may have been the best of the series so far.

I, too, hate Kobe Bryant.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2002

Also ... Chris Webber? Needs to not stand 20 feet from the basket and try to drive the lane. I thought Bill Walton was going to have a coronary watching him last night.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2002

I thought both Master V and I were going to have a coronary those last couple minutes. It was only by using reverse psychology and cheering for the Lakers that we willed the Kings to win.

I felt so dirty when I uttered the words, "Go, Kobe!" Oh, so dirty.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2002

That shot was amazing. And what do I know from NBA? Nothing.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2002

That smell on Bill Walton's breath? Laker dick. Mostly Kobe Bryant's.

Love me some Bibby. That is all.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2002

All right, which one of you motherfuckers paid the refs? That's all I want to know.

Kobe Bryant = The Devil.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2002

Aw, so sad. So, so sad.

Mike Bibby played like a damn man tonight, but their free throws? Sucked rocks.

Does nobody read this thread on weekends? Where is my anti-Lakers support, people?

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2002

I'm sorry, AB. I've been trying to drown my sorrows in the World Cup.

Poor Doug Christie.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002

Now y'all know that I would rather drill nails into my eyeballs than watch the NBA, but I gotta tell you, I did watch some of the games this weekend. And, the referee butt-love for the Lakers reaffirmed the reason that I hate the NBA. Phil Jackson is just as much of a whining ninny as Coach K, minus the pinkie ring. I also love me some Mike Bibby, ever since his days at Arizona.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002

Well, my basketball watching for the season is over. The Nets are sure to be spanked soundly by those evil, evil lazybones Lakers. But that game last night? Best. Game. Ever. Except the outcome, which sucked.

AB, did you read the article in Salon that said when Phil Jackson told him to guard Bibby, Kobe politely declined because he said he was "unfamiliar with his moves"? Apparently that's a true story. And then last night they showed footage of Kobe and Mike Bibby playing against each other in HIGH SCHOOL. Frickin' Kobe, man.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002

I didn't read the article, Aidan, but I did see Jackson say that in his postgame comments. I also saw that weasel Bryant deny that he ever said it in his own postgame interview. And THEN, when the interviewer pressed him, he pretty much implied that Jackson made the whole thing up. God, I hate him.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002

We were terrifying our neighbors with our shouts of "KILL HIM!!! KIIIIILLLL HIIIIIIIMMM!!!" Could I loathe the Lakers any more vehemently? Not possible.

Poor Bibby, man. And did y'all see Webber's face? I just wanted to tell him "Go ahead and cry, skinny dude. You've been trying to guard a HOUSE for SEVEN games. It's all right."

I told the MOC in the last minutes of the game "If the Lakers make it to the finals, I am not watching them."

I just can't. It's all too disappointing.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002

I have also vowed not to watch the Finals, but I don't think I'll be able to resist, on the completely insane chance that the Nets win a couple of games. I will also likely put aside my Jason Kidd hate, because while I think he's a wife-beating punk, I will still enjoy seeing him try to beat the Lakers.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002

And did y'all see Webber's face? I just wanted to tell him "Go ahead and cry, skinny dude. You've been trying to guard a HOUSE for SEVEN games. It's all right."

See, I was like "Go ahead and cry ... it'll be just about the first productive thing you've done in the fourth quarter other than set picks for Bibby." Jesus Christ, I thought he'd have learned by now that he sucks when he tries to take the ball from the three-point line into the lane, but is really good when he sets up down low and actually plays where he's supposed to.

If he had Bibby's heart, he'd be unstoppable.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2002