Sami v. G: Conference Finals Preview

In lieu of doing our normal preview for the Conference Finals, G and I got into a debate over the playoffs, the draft lottery, Lebron v. Kobe, and all things New York Knicks. We didn’t intend for this to take the place of our normal writing, but at the end of our text argument, I decided this was better than anything we could have trolled up if we had sat down and written it on our own. The following takes place between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm on May 19, 2009. It’s a wonder we haven’t been fired yet.

S: Draft lottery tonight, pray to the Gods that we may rise to the top 4.
S: “And with the fourth overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, the New York Knicks select.. Hasheem Thabeet, University of Connecticut.”

G: Keep dreaming dude. With the 8th overall pick the Knicks select…Baby Dell Curry. Yo would you move this pick if it meant moving Eddy or JJ [Jared Jeffries]?

S: Noooo, move the pick with Nate or Lee to move to top 3, or keep the pick and trade Nate to Golden State maybe so we can pick 7 and 8…need this pick though. Lee and Nate have less than 40 days left on the team.

G: Yea but let’s say its Curry and the pick for an expiring next summer, and a first rounder next year.

S: Dude, no team would ever do that, that is a terrible terrible trade. We’re more likely to sign D Wade for the league minimum.

G: Haha, yeah I mean I’m assuming Nate would be involved too.

S: That’s so much salary a team would be taking on, and theoretically the future pick we’d receive wouldn’t be a lottery pick…[Eddy] Curry is untradeable.

G: Yeah I guess. Wishful thinking. JJ and/or Curry gotta go.

S: Nobody in this economy is willing to take on 21 million on someone who can’t even play [Curry is due 21 million over the next two years]. Better shot at dumping JJ because of the smaller contract, but still not without a small miracle.

G: I hate the knicks. We are doomed.

S: Nah, we’re not, tonight is big and so is draft day…faith in the Godfather…Il Padrino will take care of us.

G: Lol, yea sure. 8TH pick tonight.

S: That’s ok, but if we spin Lee and Nate into another draft pick and dump JJ…we’re in very good shape. We’re not gonna get 2 big time free agents in 2010 so we need to move on from that, we don’t need that though either. Between King, the draft picks and a very good Mid-Level Exception, we’ll be good enough to compete for a title.

G: Yeah, and if it’s not King?

S: Then we don’t win title so it doesn’t matter…without King or some combo of the rest of the top 10, nobody has a chance.

G: Well than no titles for us.

S: This way of thinking has to go, if you don’t think we’re getting Him, there’s no point in being a Knicks fan. We have nothing else to root for.

G: lol well welcome to G’s sports life.

S: Believing he won’t come is tantamount to rooting against them.

G: It’s realistic dude. I want him here but it’s not gonna happen.

S: It’s 50-50 at worst man, I’ve had enough of this bull$@%! With everyone. This is all we have, there are no other alternatives.

G: I mean we do have other alternatives. Like letting Curry and JJ expire and build through the draft and free agents.

S: That’s cute, but you’re not going to beat this guy. And that would require like 3 or 4 more years of losing, nobody is going to put up with that.

G: Yeah, well its better than getting a mediocre free agent. And I love how you think he’s unbeatable. If they don’t win this year, will you drop this?

S: No, because Kobe still has a chance, a chance, and only because he has the team that he has…

G: You really think he’s on the level of Jordan, or better because apparently he doesn’t have the pieces Michael did.

S: When did I say he was better than Jordan? He’s in that stratosphere though, not too far off.

G: Well you said he’s unbeatable. You said you’re not gonna beat this guy. And yeah he might be in Jordan’s stratosphere, but not yet bro. He’s gotta win a title before I say anything.

S: You don’t think he’s gonna win this year?

G: I think he can but there is a chance they lose to the Lakers. Lakers beat them twice this year.

S: C’mon we both know how little that means. Lakers have to get there first too, I don’t care what you say the Nuggets have a legitimate shot at beating them.

G: The Nuggets have less chance of beating them than the Magic do the Cavs. The Magic are so much better than the Nuggets and the Cavs may not be better than the Lakers.

S: God, your knowledge of basketball, or lack thereof, is embarrassing. First off, even if you believe those things they have nothing to do with each other, because it matters buch more how one team matches up with another. Also, on what grounds do you say “the magic are so much better than the nuggets?” Chauncey was in the top 5 in MVP voting and Carmelo is one of those most dangers players in the game. Not to mention Houston just gavea blueprint on how to beat the Lakers by being physical, and the Nuggets are one of the most physical teams in the league.

G: And don’t tell me about matchups because the Magic have Dwight’s mismatch over the Cavs big men. The Magic are a lot better than people give credit. They won a Game 7 in Boston.

S: They shouldn’t have gone 7 with Boston if they’re as good as you say. They blew multiple double digit leads, including at home for Game 4. And you’re wrong about Dwight, his offensive game hasn’t developed to that point yet. Boston was able to handle him for the most part with Perkins and Big Baby Davis.

G: Yeah, the Nuggets are physical inside but the only reason that series with the Rockets went 7 was because Artest and Battier did a good enough job on Kobe where they didn’t have to double him every play. Dahntay Jones will not be able to do that to Kobe. And the Celtics shut down Dwights points but he makes players better because he is there and his offensive rebounds are going to go up even more this series.

S: Why are they going to go up even more? Perkins and Davis aren’t as good as Ilgauskus, Wallace, Varejao, and Hickson. The physicality of Denver hurts the guys around Kobe, the trick to beating the Lakers has nothing to do with stopping Kobe. It has to do with crushing his teammates….see 2005-2007 Lakers.

G: I don’t know if those guys can rebound as well although Lebron is going to help with that. And I disagree. Pau is a good enough player where if he has a one-on-one matchup he is usually going to win it. If you don’t have to double Kobe it allows for help on Pau. Watch the Spike Lee thing. It gives good insight to exactly how a Kobe or Lebron makes everyone so much better.

S: I understand how they make the guys around them better, and that’s long been why I thought Lebron is better than Kobe, but there’s more to it than that. The actual chemistry and toughness of the Cavs helps make them better than the Lakers. Look at when Delonte West and Mo Williams had that bad couple of games in the first round. The Cavs still won every game by 20, because Lebron’s teammates are better, Lebron is a much better passer, and he makes even those guys deep on the bench competitive. Kobe & Co. just lost two games to a Rockets team without Yao. Daryl Morey tweeted this morning about it saying, we just went 2-2 with our $25 million on the floor vs. their $75 million.

G: Yeah but that is because the Lakers were playing the Rockets who matchup well with anyone because of how good their defenders are. You can talk all you want about the Hawks but there isn’t a player on that team that plays defense. The Cavs have yet to see a real team. They have looked so much better than they are because they have played two cupcake teams.

S: I think once you bully Pau and Odom out of the game, the Lakers can’t win. And until I see them stop any point guard, I’m not buying that they can stop Chauncey. The best thing they have going for them is homecourt, not because LA is so tough to play in, but because they wouldn’t be able to win multiple games in Denver. With Cleveland or Orlando, that series goes 5 games tops.

G: The Rockets are coached well and play the game right. That Hawks team is all about jump shooting and one-on-one matchups. I know you’re going to say the Yao-less Rockets are so much worse than the Hawks. And if you think the Cavs win in 5 tops than we should crown this guy the best player that ever lived because Jordan didn’t even do that.

S: The Rockets didn’t have a single marquee player and they won by double digits twice! They play good defense but not that good, the Lakers are soft and Denver will exploit that. Still my gut says Lakers in 7 and Cavs in 5. And Jordan did do that. What are you talking about? He trounced everyone in 91 and in 96.

G: Well I’m saying Cavs and Lakers both in 6. And you’re saying Bron might run the table to the Finals, that’s never been done.

S: I didn’t say that once. By the way, don ‘t write a preview, I’m going to use this. I’ll type it up tonight, the back and forth, it’s much more interesting.

G: You said Cavs in 5 tops. So that means good chance of 4 which would be running the table. LOL ok I’ll text you my final predictions.

S: I’m sticking with Lakers in 7 and Cavs in 5, I said the Cavs would drop one to the Hawks too, just to be safe.

G: Here is my final statement. It is going to be tough for the Cavs to match the athleticism of Dwight but Lebron is good enough to play big inside and help out with him. If Hedo and Shard can equal Lebron the Magic are going to make it interesting. Cavs in 6. Kobe is too good for anyone on Denver and they are going to spend too much effort trying to stop him and it’s going to open up Pau, Odom, and Fish. If Bynum plays as well as he can the Nuggets don’t stand a chance. Denver needs JR Smith to play a perfect series to play with them. Lakers in 6.

S: Fisher?? Bynum?? Ugh have you been watching these guys ?!!? Bynum isn’t even starting anymore he’s playing so badly. And Fisher is going to have to turn his kid over to Chauncey by the end of the series. And don’t forget that Shard will be covered by King so his numbers are going to go down dramatically. I can’t wait to see how wrong you are.

G: I’m not saying Bynum will. But he played well in Game 7 and he started every game in that series so I’m not sure you’re watching. And Derek has to hit his shots is what I’m saying.

Well that’s it. We both agree that it will be Cavs v. Lakers, the only difference is our beliefs on how good they both are. If you go into the “G v. Sami” archive you can find our argument from last season regarding Kobe v. Lebron. I hope you enjoyed reading our 6 hour text volley. We’ll see you for the Finals.