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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

None of those guys will be in a finals game again.

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Not a problem. Also why I said this a few days ago:

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think it is. When you start a season with roughly 80-90% of all teams knowing that they have no chance to play in the Finals that is bad for the sport. I've probably only watched 5 complete Bulls games because they suck.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Agree FF?

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The Warriors will look different next season so I wouldn't count LeBron out yet

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It speaks to the two fundamental problems with basketball, the playing surface is too small, and there's not enough guys on it.

What are the years that didn't have those players?

Without googling, all I can remember is Detroit/Portland in 1990.

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Houston vs New York in 94 also.

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LeBron is gonna launch the coach and try to get Kyrie in and Lonzo out.. he's getting older and he's not gonna land any top 20 guys outside Kyrie. He's done.

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1994 Houston/New York

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Threads like this invite people to conveniently ignore that it's been the fastest growing sport over that same period, and has become the most international sport other than soccer.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Not at all. LeBron is really good. He’s gonna get back there before he retires.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Spurs and Nets or Pistons in the 2000's

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Uhm, you sure about that????? I'd say you should probably re-read the OP, but it was your OP post so try a little harder.

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Right.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Yep. Always conveniently ignored. For all the handwringing that goes on about the "terrible NBA"the numbers do not bear it out.

The NBA has the youngest audience demographically speaking and has the only players that anyone outside of the U.S. would recognize if they walked through an Airport.

If you look at endorsements NBA players dominate there as well. This is another of the pernicious myths which is typically allowed to go unchallenged on here.

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That doesn't mean that a little parity wouldn't be good for the sport.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

You're right, but I don't know if it's possible. It's just far too easy for one supremely talented player to dominate the game. Further, at any given time there's somewhere around three of those individuals. If you don't have one of them, the odds are extremely poor that you're going to win a title.

You could replace Shaq with anyone from that 2006 Heat team and that graphic would still be true. It would be funny if, instead of Shaq, they had Michael Doleac between Kobe and Duncan.

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The New England Patriots have dominated the NFL over the past 17 years and no one seems particularly bothered by it.

They are about to play in their 9th Super Bowl in 17 seasons. That doesn't even take into all of the Conf Finals games that they have lost.

I want to see a little more parity also but once you get it then guys on here will be moaning about the quality of play.

I'd rather see good basketball as opposed to parity.

To be honest last years Conf Finals were mostly decided by injuries to elite players.

Houston probably wins with Paul and Boston would have bounced Cleveland with Irving and Hayward.

Thus its difficult to make the argument that the outcome was "predetermined". Really wasn't.

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You forget his '95 Finals with the Magic?

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Not bothered by it? People all over the country absolutely HATE the Patriots. No way you can say no one is bothered by it

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Ahh... that's the one. I was wondering why they put him in the pic.

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The Patriots are not comparable to the NBA anyway. It's not a foregone conclusion that the Patriots will be in the Finals or win them. They manage to get there a lot, which is why they are so great, but every year, it's a different struggle and a different way they get there. They're not just the most talented team in the league by a wide margin.

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But they always end up there. I could make the same argument about the Cavs. They were about the 5th or 6th most talented team last season. They benefited from playing in a weaker conferennce and having injuries to key players.

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It doesn't prevent them from watching games. Doesn't bother them much if they still hate watch

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The Patriots making it to the SB with the system the NFL has is entirely different than knowing that you have no shot unless you have 3 or 4 players.

I'll still enjoy the NBA no matter what but it's hard watching the Bulls this season.

I don't disagree with you about last season but MANY of us penciled in the Finals teams last season before the season started.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

But it wasn't a shoe in. Both Conf Finals went 7 and 3 of the top 20 players missing probably determined the outcomes


If I tally up all of the years since 02 in which the Patriots were amongst the Final Four at the end of the year what do ypu think it looks like? 13, 14?

As far 3 or 4 players goes Tom Brady alone has been the common denominator in all of this since 02.

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Counterpoint to that is it’s been like 20 fucking years now with the Pats. It would be like if Kobe and Shaq were STILL running roughshod over the whole league. At least it’s a new dominant team every 5 years or whatever with the NBA.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul