[VJ_MAVRICK]

Sohail ! Unfortunately very few, infact the western conference semis only are being telecasted as i posted earlier and up again here are the upcoming matches (LIVE,TAPED, DELAYED and REPEAT)

May 9th Live : 05:30 AM STAR SPORTS : Western Conf Semifinals : San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orlean Hornets

May 10th Live : 5:30 AM ESPN : Western Conf Semifinals : LA Lakers Vs Utah Jazz (GAME 3)
May 11th Repeat : 04.00 AM ESPN

Will post other upcoming match timings as per the scheduled viewing time here in india.

The above timings for the matches are IST and tomorrow is the GAME3 match between Spurs and Hornets and it will be a good one,but its @ 5:30 AM

Anyone care to lookup when the NBA finals start (appx). Hope it starts when I'm in the US!

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Sure Dude NBA Finals starts June 5th ending on the 24th of June itself.If in the states then you are a lucky soul to watch these matches.

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

Sure Dude NBA Finals starts June 5th ending on the 24th of June itself.If in the states then you are a lucky soul to watch these matches.

Awesome! I'm going there for my holidays and will be there till the first week of July.

[nemo]

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

Sohail ! Unfortunately very few, infact the western conference semis only are being telecasted as i posted earlier and up again here are the upcoming matches (LIVE,TAPED, DELAYED and REPEAT)

May 9th Live : 05:30 AM STAR SPORTS : Western Conf Semifinals : San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orlean Hornets

May 10th Live : 5:30 AM ESPN : Western Conf Semifinals : LA Lakers Vs Utah Jazz (GAME 3)
May 11th Repeat : 04.00 AM ESPN

Will post other upcoming match timings as per the scheduled viewing time here in india.

The above timings for the matches are IST and tomorrow is the GAME3 match between Spurs and Hornets and it will be a good one,but its @ 5:30 AM

@VJ thanks for the timings, i'll atleast try to catch the 2nd half of the match. Should be interesting with the Spurs trailing 2-0

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Originally Posted by nemo

@VJ thanks for the timings, i'll atleast try to catch the 2nd half of the match. Should be interesting with the Spurs trailing 2-0

No Problem Nemo anytime and sure its gonna be very interesting with the Spurs having home court advantage and should see how Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Bruce Bowen counter the Hornets.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Record: 56 - 26 (.683)
Standings: First, Southwest
At Home: 30 - 11
On Road: 26 - 15
Streak: L 1
PPG: 100.9
OPP PPG: 95.6
FG%: .466
OPP FG%: .460
RPG: 41.8
OPP RPG: 40.8


Record: 56 - 26 (.683)
Standings: Second, Southwest
At Home: 34 - 7
On Road: 22 - 19
Streak: W 2
PPG: 95.4
OPP PPG: 90.6
FG%: .457
RPG: 41.3
OPP RPG: 40.3
OPP FG%: .444

Hornets lead Spurs by 2-0 and having home court advantage for the Spurs could be a decisive factor with the crowd being very noisy and boisterous and will be in full flow backing up the home team and defending champs.

Hornets Players to watch: Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and my personal favorite PEJA STOJAKOVIC (BEST 3 POINTER SHOOTER IN THE LEAGUE NOW)

Spurs Players to watch : Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen (most physical player who is not liked by the opposition and he will be in full flow)

Players Making a difference to this game are: Ginobili (SPURS) and PEJA (HORNETS)

I still back the young Hornets who are hungry and definitely the future NBA CHAMPS.

MAVRICK'S Prediction: Hornets will steal the game from Spurs cheers:

TV TIMINGS: MAY 9TH @ SAN ANTONIO
LIVE TELECAST INDIAN VIEWERS: START SPORTS @ 5:30 AM IST

NORTH AMERICAN VIEWERS: ESPN @ 9:00PM EST

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Record: 45 - 37 (.549)
Standings: Second, Central
At Home: 27 - 14
On Road: 18 - 23
Streak: L 1
PPG: 96.4
OPP PPG: 96.7
FG%: .439
OPP FG%: .455
RPG: 44.6
OPP RPG: 40.4


Record: 66 - 16 (.805)
Standings: First, Atlantic
At Home: 35 - 6
On Road: 31 - 10
Streak: W 4
PPG: 100.5
OPP PPG: 90.3
FG%: .475
OPP FG%: .419
RPG: 42.0
OPP RPG: 38.9

This is another interesting game and unfortunately here in India there is no telecast (as its been the case with most eastern conference games)

Celtics have an edge here having the best league stats in the earlier rounds with KG, Ray Allen and Pierce coming good and the Cavs will hope that King james comes with a blinder and beating Celtics in their own backyard needs a lot commitment and play of extraordinary caliber from the cavs.

Mavrick's Prediction: Cavs will be pounded by the Celtics and Boston will take a 2-0 lead.

TV TIMINGS: ESPN :7.00 PM EST ONLY NORTH AMERICAN VIEWERS

NO TELECAST HERE IN INDIA

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Hello Brothers,
To watch the NBA PLAYOFF'S news and minor clippings get glued to ESPN @ 9:30PM tonight to watch NBA ACTION for an half hour fast break. Dont miss to watch the news on games and players.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Celtics lived up to the reputation of having the best numbers in regular season and came up good to nail Cavs 2-0 in the eastern conference semis. Ray Allen of Boston came into his own after being scoreless in the first half to nail down 11 straight points of his 16 for the game. KG scored only 13 but had 12 rebounds and that explains why the Cavs lost 89-73.
Lebron, Wally and Ilgauskus netted some baskets but it was low thanks to excellent defense of the celtics. Ben wallace had only 2 rebounds without any points and Celtics cruise to a 2-0 lead in this crucial eastern semi finals.

HORNETS @ SAN ANTONIO : into the 1st quarter Hornets lead Spurs by 20-18 and this game is already lived to the expected reputation and dont miss this..
START SPORTS LIVE ..NOW

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

...the list goes as the game has dramatically changed with too much fast passing and defense.

I played the game for years in North America. You will find that Americans sometimes tire of the game because there not enough team work and not enough emphasis on defense and the fundementals of the game. Purists love "Blue Collar" effort in basketball. Fighting for loose balz (yeah I know I spelled it wrong, the infraction editor will not let me write ***** for some reason.), rebounding, being physical on defense, out working the opponents. The current masters of this are the Spurs and the Pistons. The work ethic and team ethic are what purist fans enjoy, not just beautiful ballet-like running and jumping on offense.
Watch the action away from the ball sometime. Watch how players fight for position, how they screen their teammates, how they fight for rebounds, how they help each other on defense. You will see real effort and find the game much more rewarding to watch.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Thats a good observation Dan and sometimes players like Kobe enjoy a status far more superior to others and many a time even in spite of great talent like Kobe ,his team effort and spirit has been under scanner for all the wrong reasons.
The Mighty Bulls team in the 90's had excellent team work for that matter and Rodman, Pippen,Paxton all played around the great Jordan and they shared an amazing team spirit presence which lacks in today's present teams.

Coming to Spurs and Pistons your observation is spot on as their defense is far more superior with the likes of Rasheed and Tayshaun ofcourse Ben wallace's absence had put Pistons slightly on the backfoot but they still manage. Regarding the Spurs Bowen is one nasty player, opponents find on the court and i had never ever seen a player as physical and without remorse than Bad Bowen.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Boy O Boy ! Many pundits had a say that the Spurs are a team off the past and they proved them wrong about being off the bygones era and came back hard on the young Hornets in the 3rd Game to make the series interesting.
Spurs are down by 2-1 against the ever improving Hornets and they will bounce back for sure in the Game4 @ San Antonio in a couple of days. There had been a talk based on previous games about their inability to score off the second half, in particular the 3rd quarter where they enjoyed only 22.5 PPG AVG as against the Hornet's 32.5 PPG (3rd quarter AVG), which was relegated to the dumps tonight by coming back with a bang and scoring off a 29 and 27 points 3rd and 4th quarter respectively against the Hornet's 22 and 21 points in 3rd and 4th respectively.
Chris Paul of Hornets scored 35 points but was outdone by the shooting prowess of Parker and Ginobili scoring 31 each and making a difference to the game. As expected Ginobili rose to the task as Duncan looked like a school kid dishing out only 16 points. Nevertheless, its going to be a must watch series as the relatively young and hungry Hornets who are the team of the Future tries to get into the shoes of the past decade's most consistent team and present defending champs the Spurs.

[WhiteKnight]

Spurs won Game 3 to make it 1-2 with Hornets. Now that is what champions docheers:

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Truly WhiteKnight, Spurs ability is never questioned and this series is going to go for 7 games if am not wrong. But still feel Hornets will pounce back