The NBA thread

[Phoenix Dark]

wow

[Stoney Mason]

Wow awful turnover there by the thunder.

[Stoney Mason]

Heat looking good in this series. Lebron is playing all world.

[Smooth Groove]

I wonder if Wade's near meltdown is gonna make Skip Baylee revise his clutch gene theory. 

[Cormacaroni]

whoooo

in retrospect, not the best-played game but exciting nonetheless

[Smooth Groove]

why is LeBron backing up to halfcourt again

That has to be a spolestra thing. He should call plays and force them to initiate the offense. Not just let them freelance and iso. What else is a coach there for.

As much as I hate Spoelstra, it's not all on him.  Both Dwyane and Bron have a terrible habit of holding the ball for a long time without making any moves.  It's really annoying to see 5 precious seconds go by without so much as a jab step or pump fake. 

[Stoney Mason]

why is LeBron backing up to halfcourt again

That has to be a spolestra thing. He should call plays and force them to initiate the offense. Not just let them freelance and iso. What else is a coach there for.

As much as I hate Spoelstra, it's not all on him.  Both Dwyane and Bron have a terrible habit of holding the ball for a long time without making any moves.  It's really annoying to see 5 precious seconds go by without so much as a jab step or pump fake.

I agree that wade and Lebron indulge themselves in those situation but I still think spolestra has to have the influence and respect to not have them indulge their worst habits.

[Mandark]

Well, until the fourth when the Heat seize up, LeBron camps out by the half court line, and they try to run their "offense" off an isolation with seven seconds to go on the clock.

Last game made me semi-rage over LeBron's backing up to the half-court line on every possession. He'll get the ball inside the three point line, and back out to the logo at center court to size up his man. It's insufferable. If he doesn't do that, it doesn't change the defense he faces in anyway because he's the most unstoppable player in the league in terms of speed, size and ability to drive. All he's doing is adding two steps he has to take, and giving the defense more time to collapse on him.

Nostrabenji

They did this exact thing tonight in the 4th, like running down the clock took priority over actually scoring, even with a small lead and several minutes to play.

[Cormacaroni]

This is turning into one of those series' where all the stars (except the magical one who won the game with his grit, determination, clutch giant balls blah blah blah) gets killed by everyone, and then you look at the box score and think 'fuck, that guy had an awesome game'

[Mandark]

This is turning into one of those series' where all the stars (except the magical one who won the game with his grit, determination, clutch giant balls blah blah blah) gets killed by everyone, and then you look at the box score and think 'fuck, that guy had an awesome game'

Yes.

Earlier I was thinking "man, it's so crazy that people were actually saying the Thunder should ditch Westbrook, and now he's helped lead them to the Finals the very next year."  Only to find out that a big chunk of people still think they should ditch Westbrook.  Yeesh.

[TakingBackSunday]

this series

Star players playing well (for the most part), exciting back and forths, great shots being made.  Just need some overtimes!

[Cormacaroni]

This is turning into one of those series' where all the stars (except the magical one who won the game with his grit, determination, clutch giant balls blah blah blah) gets killed by everyone, and then you look at the box score and think 'fuck, that guy had an awesome game'

Yes.

Earlier I was thinking "man, it's so crazy that people were actually saying the Thunder should ditch Westbrook, and now he's helped lead them to the Finals the very next year."  Only to find out that a big chunk of people still think they should ditch Westbrook.  Yeesh.

Yeah, it's beyond nuts. I'm the biggest Rondo fan on the planet and I'd trade him straight up for Westbrook in a heartbeat. Rondo is the better distributor by a mile, but Westbrook is an unstoppable force, and way more consistent (his confidence is off the charts, which is something Rondo occasionally suffers from).

Casuals seem to think lay-ups and dunks are a given, and that 'good shooting' is only determined by your accuracy on long-distance jumpers. Well, you have to get to the rim first, and finishing when you get there is harder than it may look (contrast Rondo and Tony Parker). Durant is the better distance shooter by a mile, but that team needs Westbrook getting to the rim to shoot a high percentage as a team.

[Smooth Groove]

ha ha, my nickname at the gym is Mr. No Shot but I still usually end up with the most buckets.  Why shoot a J when you can get within 5 ft of the rim?

[Smooth Groove]

ESPN radio said that Durant was 6 of 8 against Lebron in the first 3 quarters but only 1 for 5 in the 4th with 2 turnovers.  Jack Ramsey and Will Perdue credit Lebron for playing "shut down" D but I dunno.  Lebron's D on Durant was pretty sloppy today.  Even in the 4th, Durant was getting by Lebron at will.  It just seemed like Lebron got much better help in the 4th. 

[Cormacaroni]

man i am arguing about Kobe vs Westbrook with Rob Liefeld on twitter right now. It's like the two worst parts of my favorite pastimes colliding

[Smooth Groove]

Anyone else thought Bosh's play was impressive tonight?  He was tentative on a couple of catches inside but he was terrific on help defense and got several huge offensive rebounds. 

[Smooth Groove]

man i am arguing about Kobe vs Westbrook with Rob Liefeld on twitter right now. It's like the two worst parts of my favorite pastimes colliding

He would probably stop hating if Westbrook can get his delts to be bigger than his head. 

[Cormacaroni]

Yeah, Bosh was solid. Committed to defense and rebounding, which is mostly all they need from him. Worked the PNR well with Wade in the early going too.

If anyone deserves heat (har har) for this loss, it's Harden. He really struggled against Miami's traps. He got through a few times and got to the line, but in general, they really limited his movement I thought. And my impression was that he took as many bad jumpers as Westbrook (although the stats may reveal something different, haven't checked yet...).

[Cormacaroni]

ha ha, my nickname at the gym is Mr. No Shot but I still usually end up with the most buckets.  Why shoot a J when you can get within 5 ft of the rim?

Shaq scored 28,000 career pts without ever scoring on a J that I saw.

[Cormacaroni]

man i am arguing about Kobe vs Westbrook with Rob Liefeld on twitter right now. It's like the two worst parts of my favorite pastimes colliding

He would probably stop hating if Westbrook can get his delts to be bigger than his head. 

He's telling me I don't know what I'm talking about re: the Lakers because I didn't watch them play  

I hated those f'in Lakers teams he's talking about more than life itself. I knew the Lakers better than any other team except the Kings back then. Lakers fans! I've yet to meet a sane one.

[Smooth Groove]

Yeah, Bosh was solid. Committed to defense and rebounding, which is mostly all they need from him. Worked the PNR well with Wade in the early going too.

If anyone deserves heat (har har) for this loss, it's Harden. He really struggled against Miami's traps. He got through a few times and got to the line, but in general, they really limited his movement I thought. And my impression was that he took as many bad jumpers as Westbrook (although the stats may reveal something different, haven't checked yet...).

He also took a gamble on a flop instead of playing solid D on Lebron in the closing minutes.  It probably wasn't smart to think that he would get the call over Lebron in that situation. 

[Smooth Groove]

man i am arguing about Kobe vs Westbrook with Rob Liefeld on twitter right now. It's like the two worst parts of my favorite pastimes colliding

He would probably stop hating if Westbrook can get his delts to be bigger than his head. 

He's telling me I don't know what I'm talking about re: the Lakers because I didn't watch them play  

I hated those f'in Lakers teams he's talking about more than life itself. I knew the Lakers better than any other team except the Kings back then. Lakers fans! I've yet to meet a sane one.

Magic is probably the sanest one which is why much of LA has labeled him a hater.   If not for Magic's accomplisments for Lakers, he would be even more reviled than David Stern right now. 

[Cormacaroni]

yep.

That thing he does of holding the ball out in front, hoping to draw a foul backfired on him at least once too. He ended up losing it. I think the Heat are too smart and too active defensively to try that shit over and over. This is not the Warriors in January.

Liefeld is not backing down - thinks Westbrook should be traded

[benjipwns]

Shaq scored 28,000 career pts without ever scoring on a J that I saw.

Hey, he has that one three pointer!

Nostrabenji

They did this exact thing tonight in the 4th, like running down the clock took priority over actually scoring, even with a small lead and several minutes to play.

It's not really a prediction when you see it in every close game for three or four years. 

The running down the clock with a four to six point lead has to be Spoelstra, the backing up thing is LeBron. He would do it in Cleveland. The difference was Cleveland often spread the floor with three bombers and Varejao boxing out. Miami has Wade and Bosh out there who both score mostly from 18 feet in. So when LeBron gets closer to the rim they both move in as well. (And because they often stick LeBron and Wade on opposite sides of the court for isos you only ever seem to have one of Battier/Chalmers on that side for a three point kick out.)

It's like Stoney said, you can just so easily pick out all the flaws. Yet they're still here 100+ games later.

[Smooth Groove]

Without Westbrook, the Heat would have a much easier time of stopping Durant.  As good as Durant is, he won't be able to do much against a constant Wade and Lebron double team. 

[Cormacaroni]

Great as Durant is, he still isn't Dirk in that you can't just throw it in his general direction, and he will grab it from 12ft in the air and be in perfect position ready to score. He can do that a lot on smaller guys thanks to his reach, but he's just not massive enough to really seal off big, burly defenders like LeBron or Haslem.

[Cormacaroni]

You know what else would have helped? If Durant and Westbrook hadn't sat so damn much late in the game, sheesh. And of course, nobody actually fouled out.

[Cormacaroni]

just realized that the Thunder have to win 3 straight now for my 4-2 prediction to come true

I really have no idea who the better team is yet. I feel pretty confident in saying that LeBron has been the best player, and that the Heat have been a hair better but with some adjustments, I think the Thunder can be better...it's probably going 7 now. Which would be INSANE. No wonder Stern looks like he's had his first BJ of the decade

[Stoney Mason]

You know what else would have helped? If Durant and Westbrook hadn't sat so damn much late in the game, sheesh. And of course, nobody actually fouled out.

Brooks is going to have to ride them more. Lebron and wade are barely coming out of these games.

[benjipwns]

Great as Durant is, he still isn't Dirk in that you can't just throw it in his general direction, and he will grab it from 12ft in the air and be in perfect position ready to score. He can do that a lot on smaller guys thanks to his reach, but he's just not massive enough to really seal off big, burly defenders like LeBron or Haslem.

He also still does a lot of standing when Westbrook or Harden are isolating. He's improved on this, but it still seems like he only runs around screens Rip/Reggie style when it's a set play. LeBron did quite a bit of cheating tonight because Durant would just camp somewhere rather than move with the ball.

[Stoney Mason]

Joel anthony still has only played two minutes in this series. He averaged 20 minutes for them in the regular season. And plenty of time in the other playoff series. This has been a smart adjustment.

[Cormacaroni]

You know what else would have helped? If Durant and Westbrook hadn't sat so damn much late in the game, sheesh. And of course, nobody actually fouled out.

Brooks is going to have to ride them more. Lebron and wade are barely coming out of these games.

Yes, and not just those two. Harden and Ibaka have to be on court for 40+ minutes. Anyone who whines in the locker room, give them a fluffy bunny to cuddle. The most talented players have to play, since that's what the other team is doing.

[Cormacaroni]

Joel anthony still has only played two minutes in this series. He averaged 20 minutes for them in the regular season. And plenty of time in the other playoff series. This has been a smart adjustment.

Yeah, and Turiaf has been banished as well. Mike Miller over James Jones is still a head-scratcher, but otherwise I think Spoelstra is playing the right guys.

[Cormacaroni]

Great as Durant is, he still isn't Dirk in that you can't just throw it in his general direction, and he will grab it from 12ft in the air and be in perfect position ready to score. He can do that a lot on smaller guys thanks to his reach, but he's just not massive enough to really seal off big, burly defenders like LeBron or Haslem.

He also still does a lot of standing when Westbrook or Harden are isolating. He's improved on this, but it still seems like he only runs around screens Rip/Reggie style when it's a set play. LeBron did quite a bit of cheating tonight because Durant would just camp somewhere rather than move with the ball.

Right. Against the Spurs, it seemed like they had figured out that they are better if they all move and run actual plays. But it's not happening very often here.

[TakingBackSunday]

Also, can we talk about Shane Battier for a moment?  Dude's FIRST finals appearance and he's playing like its his last.  Smart defense for the most part, and he's shooting fucking great from the arc.

[Mandark]

Battier has always done a lot of really smart things as a player, like the trademark hand in the shooter's face to screen their vision (why doesn't everyone do this?).  Late in the game when Perkins was shooting a free throw, Battier jumped into the middle of the lane after he shot to make sure Perkins couldn't rebound his own miss rather than double either of the OKC players, who were both small enough to be blocked out by one guy.

The issue's always been, especially this year, how much he could physically pull off.  It's nice to see him being able to contribute.

[Cormacaroni]

On the other hand, those baskets are all assisted, right? It's good that he's knocking them down now, but let's not forget all the misses on wide-open 3s throughout the season. There is some mean-reversion going on here....still, props. Better to make them now than in the 1st round!

[TakingBackSunday]

mandark...



not sure if thats all sarcasm

[benjipwns]

It's shocking, he was so bad all season long, and looked like he was done.

Almost like he was saving it all up during the season to go all out in the Finals. Probably would play every minute if he had to.

[Mandark]

No, BrandNew, I'm not sassing you.

Not until you try to sell me Dwyane Wade as the new Reggie Miller again.

[Stoney Mason]

I'm glad he's contributed these three games. Like most people I like and respect Battier but he had such a miserable offensive season and playoffs that it was hard to expect anything from him in the finals. But all around he's played a lot better in these three games.

[Cormacaroni]

[Smooth Groove]

Battier has always done a lot of really smart things as a player, like the trademark hand in the shooter's face to screen their vision (why doesn't everyone do this?). 

I remember reading somewhere that waving a hand in the face is actually illegal although it's almost never called. 

[benjipwns]

https://p.twimg.com/Avo80gNCIAApuNT.jpg

[TakingBackSunday]

what play was that?  didn't westbrook hit a clutch three?  was that it?

[benjipwns]

what play was that?  didn't westbrook hit a clutch three?  was that it?

I think that was his brick at the end of the game.

[TakingBackSunday]

otherwise, good screen by spoelstra.

[Brehvolution]

otherwise, good screen by spoelstra.

Great game last night. Most entertaining finals in a long time.

[benjipwns]

Going to copy-paste a post I made on GAF, hope you guys don't mind, didn't want to rewrite it really:

Hey loserbros, been working on updating my stat file for 2011-12 and figured one or two people here might be interested.

Here is an example, with our best friends the Charlotte Bobcats: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnFHT-BqgIfddGpYbEhQX09fMlhYT1E2a05sZlBuMFE

I only have a handful of teams currently done, but will take requests for specific teams if anyone is actually interested.

Will also respond to questions about what the fuck any of it means. Feel free to PM these as well, especially if I haven't responded after a couple days to something you really wanted to know.

I can also provide them in Excel format so you can sort and such: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/820953/bobcats1112.xlsx

[Stoney Mason]

New York Knicks starting player Tyson Chandler, one of our 50 Most Stylish New Yorkers Right Now, proclaimed his love for capes in an interview with WWD today.

“Probably the most dramatic pieces in my wardrobe would be capes,” the center reportedly said. “I wouldn’t consider myself Goth, but I love Gothic pieces,” he continued.

The article describes Chandler's off-the-court demeanor as an "art-loving hipster with a beard and a passion for photography and friends." No stranger to style, Chandler probably feels comfortable exploring different types of fashions with teammates like Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony also making regular appearances at fashion shows and stylish ceremonies like the Met Gala.

Chander likes that New York has a lot of different types of clothes for sale, whether it's dark designers or high-end tailoring. “When I’m in other cities, you can’t just pop up at Rick Owens….You can’t just go down to Tom Ford,” he said.

 

[Phoenix Dark]

Less baggy pants, more capes!

[Stoney Mason]

[Cormacaroni]

Going to copy-paste a post I made on GAF, hope you guys don't mind, didn't want to rewrite it really:

Hey loserbros, been working on updating my stat file for 2011-12 and figured one or two people here might be interested.

Here is an example, with our best friends the Charlotte Bobcats: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnFHT-BqgIfddGpYbEhQX09fMlhYT1E2a05sZlBuMFE

I only have a handful of teams currently done, but will take requests for specific teams if anyone is actually interested.

Will also respond to questions about what the fuck any of it means. Feel free to PM these as well, especially if I haven't responded after a couple days to something you really wanted to know.

I can also provide them in Excel format so you can sort and such: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/820953/bobcats1112.xlsx

Is there anything there not available on say, basketball-reference?

[benjipwns]

Is there anything there not available on say, basketball-reference?

Yes, lots. I am making a glossary.

[benjipwns]

Made it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnFHT-BqgIfddFJhQWlsVlJOR253TTI4Z3BDcENFR2c

[Cormacaroni]

awesome!

Although I could have told you the Bobcats sucked without all that work.

Attempting to measure stops by a particular player seems fraught with difficulty in these days of 5-men-on-a-string team defenses with everyone rotating like crazy. Did you get anything interesting from that?

[Stoney Mason]

The heat never seem to respond in these situations where they have a chance to put a series on lockdown. Bet the house on the Thunder tonight.

[Brehvolution]

I'll respectively disagree unless Durant puts up 40+. I think Lebron smells blood. He won't let this finals get away.

[Phoenix Dark]

OKC's offense disappears for long stretches because they stop running plays and rely on isolation, or a series of fast shots before the offense can set up.

I'd start Derek Fisher thh. At least he can feed Durant and Harding the ball. And that vet leadership? Priceless

[Stoney Mason]

I'll respectively disagree unless Durant puts up 40+. I think Lebron smells blood. He won't let this finals get away.

I'm rooting for the Heat so I hope so but they almost never finish a team early when they have the chance to.