The koolest part about the Shaq trade.

[rickortreat]

It will make for great television.  Kobe hates Shaq.  Shaq hates Kobe.  Shaq hates Phil.  Shaq hates the Lakers.

There could be nothing better than for a real rivalry to develop between the Suns and the Lakers.  The two teams don't like each other, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see the two teams square off in the playoffs.

I can't wait to hear what Kobe says about Shaq and vise-versa.

This is good for the NBA.  The East has some strong teams this year and the West has a lot of drama, and the Spurs are always there.

[westkoast]

He already made a comment which was along the lines of wait and see before you pass judgement on the trade. 

The East has TWO strong teams.  The west had about 9 lol

[rickortreat]

Yeah but the East teams are ranked #1 and #2.  No one in the West has proven they can handle the Celtics.

[Wolverine]

Yeah but the East teams are ranked #1 and #2.  No one in the West has proven they can handle the Celtics.

Yeah, but that's because they play the majority of their games against crappy competition ... you know, the rest of the East.

[westkoast]

Yeah but the East teams are ranked #1 and #2.  No one in the West has proven they can handle the Celtics.

Theyve never played those teams on their home court so id wait to see if 'no one can handle them' once the series are all sown up.

Detroit is not #2 btw

[rickortreat]

Yeah but the East teams are ranked #1 and #2.  No one in the West has proven they can handle the Celtics.

Theyve never played those teams on their home court so id wait to see if 'no one can handle them' once the series are all sown up.

Detroit is not #2 btw

How is Detroit NOT #2?  They have the 2nd best record and the 2nd best pt. differential.  Boston is #1 in both those categories.

Who's court it is doesn't matter that much to a good team.  Good teams routinely win on the road. Playing the Celtics at home wouldn't help the Lakers.  Adding Gasol would.  In any case, since they do play in the East they are more likely to have home court advantage in the Finals.

[Reality]

rick Dallas was likewise 40-9 last year at this point and that was after starting 0-4!
So yes it's looking very good for Boston currently.
And agree their playing in the watered down East virtually assures best record overall thus HCA.

But the point is they have not won @ San Antonio or @ Phoenix or @ Dallas.
The win @ Los Angeles was prior to Collusion 2008 so that has to be factored.

Yes, it's looking good for Boston, especially in the East.
No way no how anyone here doesn't like their teams chances.
San Antone flipped the switch last year and it worked.
Orlando has a major internal battle between Van Gundy and Dwight Howard, wonder how that will turn out.

Oh yeah, Feb 20th Shaq Suns vs Kobe Collusionists should be a good one.

[westkoast]

Yeah but the East teams are ranked #1 and #2.  No one in the West has proven they can handle the Celtics.

Theyve never played those teams on their home court so id wait to see if 'no one can handle them' once the series are all sown up.

Detroit is not #2 btw

How is Detroit NOT #2?  They have the 2nd best record and the 2nd best pt. differential.  Boston is #1 in both those categories.

Who's court it is doesn't matter that much to a good team.  Good teams routinely win on the road. Playing the Celtics at home wouldn't help the Lakers.  Adding Gasol would.  In any case, since they do play in the East they are more likely to have home court advantage in the Finals.

Maybe because they are not the defending champs?

Sorry rick but playing at home does make a difference whether you are a good team or not.  Its the floor they shoot on the most, the crowd is behind them, they get to sleep in their own homes....lets not be silly here.  There is a reason teams are ALWAYS better at home then they are on the road.  Even the best teams.

[rickortreat]

We're talking about THIS year not last year.  Right now, the Celtics are #1 in play this year, and the Pistons #2. 

Also Boston is almost as good on the road as they are at home. 

There are a couple of teams out there that are potential contenders, but Boston is on top.  What isn't clear is who is really the best team out West.  We'll probably have to wait until the playoffs to find out who.  And whoever gets out of the West is going to have to go through a gauntlet of good teams.

As a Sixers fan, it seemed every year the Sixers were able to contend, they always had to face Boston first.  It was so difficult to get by the Celtics, that the Sixer's were exhausted and lost to inferior teams like the Lakers who were waiting with days off, nice and relaxed.  Boston fans felt the same way about their team getting softened up by the Sixers before they faced the WC opponent for a championship.  Who knows how many more titles they would have won if they didn't have to go through each other first?

Well, this year, the tables have been turned.  The East has 2 good teams and the West is filled with them. Whoever gets out of the West will probably find Boston waiting for them, holding home-court advantage.  It took a long time for this change to come around.

[westkoast]

We're talking about THIS year not last year.  Right now, the Celtics are #1 in play this year, and the Pistons #2. 

Also Boston is almost as good on the road as they are at home. 

There are a couple of teams out there that are potential contenders, but Boston is on top.  What isn't clear is who is really the best team out West.  We'll probably have to wait until the playoffs to find out who.  And whoever gets out of the West is going to have to go through a gauntlet of good teams.

As a Sixers fan, it seemed every year the Sixers were able to contend, they always had to face Boston first.  It was so difficult to get by the Celtics, that the Sixer's were exhausted and lost to inferior teams like the Lakers who were waiting with days off, nice and relaxed.  Boston fans felt the same way about their team getting softened up by the Sixers before they faced the WC opponent for a championship.  Who knows how many more titles they would have won if they didn't have to go through each other first?

Well, this year, the tables have been turned.  The East has 2 good teams and the West is filled with them. Whoever gets out of the West will probably find Boston waiting for them, holding home-court advantage.  It took a long time for this change to come around.

Rick it doesn't matter as the championship still runs through San Antonio.  They are the defending champs.  That accounts for something whether you think so or not.  If I was bringing up last year I could easily have thrown in the fact that Detroit got handled by a soft Cavs team.  I am not speaking on all of last year.  I am speaking on the fact that a team has to TAKE the trophy from SA.  Right now they are the championship basketball team.  The Celtics and Pistons are not.

Boston being good on the road against EC teams really means very little when a MAJORITY of the good teams in this league reside in the Western Conference where the Celtics have not played the top teams on their own turf.  That's really awesome the Celtics can beat up the Heat, Sixers, and Nets on their home floor but it's a different story against PHX, SA, and Dallas who all have very good home records.

[Reality]

Rick it doesn't matter as the championship still runs through San Antonio.  They are the defending champs.  That accounts for something whether you think so or not.  If I was bringing up last year I could easily have thrown in the fact that Detroit got handled by a soft Cavs team.  I am not speaking on all of last year.  I am speaking on the fact that a team has to TAKE the trophy from SA.  Right now they are the championship basketball team.  The Celtics and Pistons are not.  [/quote]
That is really deep.  I don't think any of us have heard that before.

[WayOutWest]

As a Sixers fan, it seemed every year the Sixers were able to contend, they always had to face Boston first.  It was so difficult to get by the Celtics, that the Sixer's were exhausted and lost to inferior teams like the Lakers who were waiting with days off, nice and relaxed.  Boston fans felt the same way about their team getting softened up by the Sixers before they faced the WC opponent for a championship.  Who knows how many more titles they would have won if they didn't have to go through each other first?

What a load of crap.  Sixers were just not good enough.  Celtics fought those battles as well and beat anyone comming out of the West.  Please don't put the Sixers in the same catagory as the Celtics or Lakers, the Sixers are the inferior team in that groupl

Well, this year, the tables have been turned.  The East has 2 good teams and the West is filled with them. Whoever gets out of the West will probably find Boston waiting for them, holding home-court advantage.  It took a long time for this change to come around.

Another load of crap!  This year?  Try this DECADE rick.  This ENTIRE decade has been WC dominant, the EC sends teams with LOSING records to the playoffs.  So far only two LEastern conference teams have won the title, all the rest went to the Lakers or Spurs.  While everyone thought for YEARS that the NBA title was decided in the WC semis or WC finals, nobody complained that the WC champ was going to the Finals with a disadvantage because they had to fight through the WC.  Sure WC teams that should have gone to the finals and won had their fair share of injuries or suspensions that prevented them from going but finals but the eventual WC reps have done pretty good.  If anything this decade is 10X worse than the 80's, the WC is sooooooooooooooo much better than the EC that most of the time the Finals are a waste of time, the real playoff basketball STARTS and ENDS in the WC.

[WayOutWest]

That is really deep.  I don't think any of us have heard that before.

Yea wk, playing with photo shop and digging up BS links to try and save face is so much deeper.  We all know what a deep thinker Reality is and how he contributes to threads around here.

[rickortreat]

Last year's NBA champ is not assured of the chance to defend their title in the Finals.  The team that goes has to earn it every year.

SA gets their props for winning it all last year, but now the best team in the league based on their record is the Boston Celtics.

Teams are seeded by record and Boston is quite a few games ahead of the Spurs and everyone else. I would say that counts for quite a bit more than being last season's Champ.

Right now, it doesn't appear that SA is the team to beat.  Tony Parker being out makes it harder to get a bead on how good they are.  Stoudamire appears very inadequate as a replacement.  The Spurs have been beating up on EC teams, but play a good one tonight in Cleveland.  Last time the two teams played, the Cavs won, and they've started playing better themselves, with Larry Hughes putting up good numbers recently.

San Antonio can get along without Tony and still make the playoffs, but once they get there, without him, they're not winning anything. I think they loose tonight.

[Lurker]

but now the best team in the league based on their record is the Boston Celtics.

Rick, 2000 was the last time the team with the best regular season record won the title.  Boston's great regular season run doesn't mean squat come playoffs.

If I were to bet right now I would take Detroit over Boston just for the Eastern title.