British Expatriate Network

I just wanted to say that I despise this team as they basically only have two players and the rest are no-names. They surely are the Manchester United of the NBA.

I must be quite Americanised - bad loser razz

I totally agree. If you pull Shaq out of the paint then he's a non-player also.

Now, if you want a team to watch, try the Mavs. They have...count em... Nowitzki, Nash, LeFrentz, Wang, Van Exel, Finley, Newman even Bucknet and Griffin who can all shoot 3 pointers...great defence from Bucker, LreFrentz (Number 2 shot blocker)...just can't rave enough.

Put my money where my mouth is? Certainly, I have play off tickets!

Regards
Nigel

That's great Nigel - bet you can't wait.

Portland have a number of characters and to stand out, the prolific players have to almost beat up the ref or something (Rasheed Wallace springs to mind). My favourite players though are Bonzi Wells and Damon Stoudamire - Bonzi is extremely accurate, especially on 3 pointers and Damon is the smallest basketball player I've ever seen but nimble as hell.

I really should get up to Portland for more games next season. Watching it on the TV is a poor substitute.

Add to Nigel's comments 1st place in the Mid West, 1/2 a game ahead of San Antone and 2nd overall in the Western Conference. Still probably a little early to tell but if they hold on to that number 2 spot in the west then I would place a lot of money on them making the Conference finals. Now wouldn't that be something?

When I first travelled to Dallas, back in 97 before I moved here, I bought a Mavs mouse pad at the local compUSA. The fella at the check out laughed at me and said that I sure as hell couldn't be from Dallas. Little did he know the the Cuban would invade and turn it all around. Quite possibly the most effective pro sports owner ever (sorry Pilgrim but Paul Allen pales in comparison).

I'm in the market for playoff tickets, it's sure to be a fun time in Dallas. Oh, and even without Dirk I think they will roll over the Blazers tonight.

You were right Laurence - the Blazers did get turned over. A real shame to me but best team won and all that so no complaints.

Portland are one of those frustrating teams who can just go to pieces after some fantastic runs and results.

I still dislike the Lakers but no beef yet with the Mavs smile

Saw the Mavs play the Jazz in the playoffs last year, they are one of my favourite teams top watch. I agree about the Lakers I absolutely hate them with no rational reason for doing so, not because they are so good I watched all of the Bulls championship runs from the UK and loved 'em. Phil Jackson is a great coach but they do lose a worrying amount of games when Shaq isn't in the line up, which doesn't really say much for Kobe's star power. I like Eddie Fisher, Samaki Walker and Lindsay Hunter, I must admit though I want Rick Fox dead.

Ok now this is getting really annoying - just off to watch 2nd half of Lakers vs. Blazers but not sure why. Lakers are miles ahead and O'Neal needs a good kicking - all he does is stand by the basket - at my school he would have got a good kicking for being a goalhanger.

Hoping for some kind of miracle on Sunday now at the Rose Garden.

I have said this to my wife on a number of occasions. Get him out of the paint and he sucks. If only Shawn Bradley could do the same. All they have to do is throw the ball 8 feet in the air, he jumps up and dunks it on Shaqs head. He would be unbeatable. The problem is with Bradley, he doesn't jump and he keeps putting the ball to the floor and he's too slow. He's be getting 3 second violations. If only he could quicken up his reaction times and jump/dunk.

Regards
Nigel

Well IF the Blazers go out, I'll temporarily switch allegiance to the Mavs and watch their games, in the hopes that they end up drawing the Lakers.

Bryant can at least play - some of his moves are classy. I laughed when I saw O'Neal's free throw technique - he sort of rolls it in but I can't argue with his stats for FT - he certainly gets the last laugh there.

Blazers lose composure too easily. If they could just chip away at the Lakers, they could negate a lot of it. They pulled back a lot of points last night but kept getting turned over too much earlier on.

The Blazers almost had it last night. Oh well. Mavs will play the winner of the Kings v Jazz series. Takers will obviously take on the winner of Sonics v Spurs. The Mavs can and should beat either Kings or Jazz.

The next game is at 530pm CST on Saturday.

Regards
Nigel

Was entertaining at least. A shame to go out so soon and in that fashion. You'd think that 5 points up with less than 30 seconds to go would be enough to win but I guess that is why the Lakers have been Champions two years in a row. A lot of blame was headed Pippen's way I noticed but I thought the game was lost in other areas too - seems a bit silly to blame it all on him.

I shall keep an eye out for the Mavericks - the commentators yesterday seemed to think they had some really classy players that would give L.A. a run for their money.

Roll on next season!!!

Well, let's think about who can put in the 3 point shots... Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Michael Finley (the big 3), Raef LaFrentz (all starters), Nick Van Exel and Wang Zhi-Zhi - Count 'em...That;s six. Raef is the NBA's 2nd best shot blocker. The Mavs had an NBA record low number of turn overs. The highest scoring team...we have what it takes to beat the Lakers and a bit left over...just let us plough through the Jazz or Kings first.

I'll be there cheering from section 314, row b seat 2.!

Regards
Nigel