NBA Playoffs Conf. Semis (2) Hornets Vs. (3) Spurs

D-Wade, Kobe and LeBron are still included in over half the user names on this forum though.

Absolutely, such players still have huge followings and probably always will but once they reach a certain level of success it becomes more fashionable to hate them rather than marvel at or even just like them.

I <3 Manu.
I mean I <3 Lamrock polls.

This series will all depend on Tim Duncan's play.

I think Paul can manhandle Parker on both ends but Bowen will probably guard Paul most of the time. Ginobili, NOH has Stojakovic to counter Manu's offense at least. West and Chandler will have a hard time with Kurt Thomas and Duncan guarding either of them.

I pick Spurs in 7.

Duncan looked tired in the game. Maybe frustrated from missing shots. The entire just went flat in the second half. Is it age perhaps?

I wouldn't go that far. The Spurs didn't have the most impressive record on the road during the regular season and they're certainly not immune to having a subpar performance. I think it can be chalked up to just one of things that happens to elite teams sometimes, I doubt the whole series will go that way.

The Hornet's defense was just suffocating and none of the Spurs really got a rhythm. Every time they doubled Duncan and forced him to pass it out, they allowed no open shot as the Spurs swung it around the perimeter. And again Paul was amazing with another MVP performance. Just hope they can do the same in San Antonio.

Like I said; bandwagon city!

Good to see the Spurs struggling mightily. Lets see if NO can win in SA!

I still cannot believe it. Havent seen the Spurs playing such weak on the defensive end for a long time. Did you see how easy it was for CP3 to slice through the lane ?
And how open Peja was in the corner ?

I aint a bandwagoner but I think the Hornets deserve it more and more to make it to the Conference Finals. They got the Spurs to a point where you cannot believe they can play worse.
Respect.

this is great, with my overall hatred of anything spurs related this has been a fun series to watch lol

Take that, defending champs!

this is great, with my overall hatred of anything spurs related this has been a fun series to watch lol

But without the Spurs, no one will stop the Lakers from reaching the Finals in which they will then massacre your Celtics.

lakeshow going down baby, though i admit i would feel better playing the spurs over lakers. celts lakers will make the best finals though

Bandwagon city!

I'd say it's more of a case of Spur-hating.

celts lakers will make the best finals though

I actually wouldn't mind a Celtics/Hornets Finals. On one side you'd have the team who won the most games during the regular season and has also won more championships than anyone else but has been chasing that 17th banner for over two decades, and on the other side you'd have a team that has exceeded pretty much everyone's expectations with the opportunity to win the first championship in franchise history, not to mention the players involved.

Lakers/Celtics would probably be the more popular series because of the history and the matchup of Kobe/Gasol/Odom against KG/Pierce/Allen and I think it would be a great series but I find the possibility of Celtics/Hornets interesting too.

am i wrong in thinking the celtics and hornets were the top 2 teams with the biggest turn arounds this season?

no.

Hornets playing very well, Parker seems to be the only one trying for the Spurs which is very surprising...?

funny how the #2 seed can be considered underdogs by most against a 3 seed but I'm glad the Hornets won the first 2 games. They should win their games at home so the real test comes when they go to San Antonio.

am i wrong in thinking the celtics and hornets were the top 2 teams with the biggest turn arounds this season?

Not only that, the Celtics' turnaround eclipsed the Spurs mark set in 1997/98 for the biggest turnaround in league history.

funny how the #2 seed can be considered underdogs by most against a 3 seed but I'm glad the Hornets won the first 2 games. They should win their games at home so the real test comes when they go to San Antonio.

alot of people considered them underdogs vs the mavs too, never before have i seen a 2 seed get called an underdog vs a 7

A lot of stock was placed in "experience" in the Hornets/Mavs series, with the Mavericks boasting players who had gone further in the postseason and had more playoff games under their belts than the combined experience of the Hornets. The same could be said of the Spurs in this series but given that they are the defending champions, own the third seed and have been one of the top teams in the league going on a decade now it's a more reasonable assumption.

Earney and Kenny Smith thought 2-2 after 4 games, but I'm in favor of Barkley, who thought Hornets will take at least one game.

Chandler wrote in his blog, that game #3 is the toughest.

Other players need to step up. Paul did his part.

Game #4 will go to Hornets - believe and hope so..

i really hope that hornets takes this!

^meh