I'm an Oakland native and I hate Payton (you'll understand if you meet him in person or his father). The past 10 years i don't recall any bandwagon players winning a championship (that actually made an impact). I also regarded the firing of Van Gundy because Riley made a mess left it for Gundy then took it back when times were good again. Detroit, San Antonio, Lakers (As much as i hated them) were well respected champs.
I have never met Payton, so I cant really judge. On the other hand he does have that cocky ghetto Oakland attitude. Since he's from Oakland and paid his dues in the league, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Riley didnt make the mess. The team was rebuilding after the Tim Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn and Mourning era. Riley stepped down but still had control over the team. He was the one who drafted D Wade and responsible for the Shaq trade. Riley was responsible for putting the Heat back on top. The reason why Van Gundy was fired was because the team didnt perform as expected early on in the season. Van Gundy stated that he wanted to step down to spend more time with his family but I think it was all bullshit. If Flip Saunders and the Pistons were hovering around .500, I'm sure Dumars would have fired his ass in a heart beat. Championship caliber teams do not tolerate mediocrity. What about Detroit deciding to let go of Rick Carlisle after he brought the team back to the playoffs. They fired Carlisle so they could hire Brown. Isnt it worst to fire a coach when things are going well compared to firing a coach when things are going bad? Regardless of that I still think the Pistons are respected Champs. I cant say any thing negative about the Spurs. They are a near perfect organization. The Heat are not as bad as what you made them out to be. I'll repeat myself again, I'm not a Antoine Walker or Jason Williams fan. Nor am I a Eric Dampier or Jason Terry fan. Best center in the league my ass!!!
The heat shouldn't even be in the playoff...haven't u seen that d-wade is getting to the free throw line for no reason. The whole time the ref is helping the heats and dallas was the better team, and there is no way that the heats could beat the piston since they have 2 great big men (ben and rasheed wallace) that could defend in the key, tayshaun have long arms that is also for defending, hamilton in the offense and is a really great shooter, and billup that can pass and shoot. The piston have the ultimate team and they would have won if it weren't for the ref
thats stubborness for ya..I know this guy..he was still complaining about the super bowl even in May..lol halarious...
