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N.B.A. thread

#241
Bob_Ross said:
Anyone else see Skip Bayless' comments about this?

“I set my bar high for the man who is the best basketball player on this planet, and I’m here to tell you that occasionally LeBron’s overall numbers, which look sensational once again because they add up to a triple-double, can camouflage what really happened — because last night he continued to fail repeatedly, and I’m going to count the ways for you right now, in late-game, closeout situations.
2-for-12 was LeBron James in the fourth quarter and overtime. He had three total assists in the fourth quarter and overtime. Not bad, but not great…. [at the end of regulation] LeBron had a tough but decent shot. A left-handed layup that was clean, and he missed it. I’m thinking that the best player on the planet should have made that shot. Some how, some way, if you’re not going to get fouled and you get the ball that close to the rim, you should put it down.”

Professor Skip Bayless gives LeBron James a C+ for his Game 2 triple-double | For The Win
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Skip Bayless is the biggest piece of Journalistic garbage that happens to have a paycheck still somehow. And i dont mean that just for this piece but the guys so full of it its not even funny. The thing is i wouldnt even be that mad if he was just milking the Jim Rome train and just hate and exaggerate little mistakes in athletes. But theres been several times where its been noted, and occasionally called on it on air, where u can tell the guy didnt even watch whatever sporting event hes talking about. Hes like the inovator of the sports talk filibuster lol anyways enough of that rant.

That iguodala non call was ridiculous, as was the jump ball hold on green, but yeah maybe Lebron has it coming for complaining too much. But when u miss such a obvious call like the iguodala one, its hard not to think that ref had it out for him. And im not even trying to defend the guy and his whining but that non call was ridiculous.
 
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#243
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#244
GuiTuber said:
When you refer to the "Iguodala non-call", are you talking about the one where Lebron also didn't get called for traveling? If so, if that sequence was called properly, the traveling would have been called first so there is no foul.
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Yup that exact play. Look we can go off tangent on how the NBA is super lenient when it comes to travel calls. In fact there was a whole "shaqtin a fool" segment to the worst non travel calls this season lol (it was hilarious). But just look at the video posted above. You NEED to call that much off the ball contact. Worst part is the ref is right there, in direct sightline of iguodalas hand coming down in his direction. Thats just ridiculous.
 
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#245
GuiTuber said:
If Curry makes just 2-3 of his missed shots, the game doesn't go in to overtime. GS up 2-0.

Cleveland can't survive counting on James scoring 40+ pts a game. I'm sure Steve Kerr is happy with LeBron going off as long as the rest of the team is kept under control. At the end of regulation, Lebron had almost half of his team's points. That's not going to cut it game after game.

The difference in last night's game was Curry not being able to hit water if fell out of a boat. If Cleveland can keep the pressure on Curry, the games will be close and then we'll see who knows how to win in crunch time.

So far, I've seen GS continue to play their style no matter what part of the game it is. Not Cleveland. And LeBron needs to stop complaining to the refs because he didn't succeed. The only legitimate beef he had was the foul on the jump ball. He's been in the league long enough (as well as 5 Finals in a row) to know that there will be contact at this point.

Personally, I think GS lost the game more than Cleveland won it. GS blocks James' shot, gets the rebound and throws the ball away. Then Curry shoots an airball with under 10 secs left. Room Service!
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Bob_Ross said:
^^^This. I'm sure Curry's worst detractors aren't beating him up as badly as he's beating himself up right now: The dude had an off night, a really off night, a ridiculously bad Son-You-Suck, How-Did-You-Ever-Become-League-MVP-Shooting-Like-That? off night. And yet the Warriors lost by only 2 points. In OT.

Woe be unto the Cavs if Curry ever has an on night.
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C'mon, both games went to OT. If the Cavs made one more shot in regulation in Game 1, they would be up 2-0 going back to Cleveland. If JR. Smith doesn't commit two incredibly moronic fouls in the last few minutes of regulation, Game 2 doesn't go to OT.

Curry is highly unlikely to shoot that poorly again, but (as much as it pains me to say it) Dellavedova did a heck of a job defending him and could continue to be a thorn in Curry's side. Also, keep in mind that James only shot 31%--that's probably unsustainable, too.

Btw, as Adande pointed out, GS has only led in 27 of the 96 minutes of regulation in the first two games. They simply have to play better on a more consistent basis.
 
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#246
[QUOTE="GregC, post: 17431596,Btw, as Adande pointed out, GS has only led in 27 of the 96 minutes of regulation in the first two games. They simply have to play better on a more consistent basis.[/QUOTE]

Did not know that. Thats almost a quarter of the time all series. And theyre the best offensive team in the league and have been playing at home, which leads to hot starts for home teams usually. Thats pretty surprising.
 
#247
Syxz_ML said:
Yup that exact play. Look we can go off tangent on how the NBA is super lenient when it comes to travel calls. In fact there was a whole "shaqtin a fool" segment to the worst non travel calls this season lol (it was hilarious). But just look at the video posted above. You NEED to call that much off the ball contact. Worst part is the ref is right there, in direct sightline of iguodalas hand coming down in his direction. Thats just ridiculous.
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If there's no traveling, I agree that the contact was a foul.

If you look at the outcome of that play, it should have happened that way anyway. James traveled. GS ball.
 
#248
paste said:
I.. I honestly don't even know what to say to this.

"Iguodala's (GSW) contact on James' (CLE) drive is incidental to his attempt to defend him"
http://official.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/06/L2M-CLE-GSW-6-7-15-FINALS-GAME-2.pdf

You can't make this s*** up. Un-believable. It's not the refs that are incompetent, it's the league. Can't kill the snake without cutting the head.
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I think it's a mistake for the NBA to release this information, or even worry about reviewing the calls. Human beings made the calls while watching other human beings. To me, it undermines the ref's authority on the court. And what can be done about it after the game anyway? It's not they're going to replay all or part of the game.

I coached youth basketball and while I know it's not the NBA, there's nothing you can do about what an official sees. If they mishandle a rules interpretation, that's one thing, like bringing the ball back to the original out of bounds position when an inbounds pass doesn't touch anyone and goes out of bounds at the other end of the court. Those are arguable calls. Otherwise, how can you argue what another person saw, when it comes to fouls or traveling or a ball or player's foot landing out of bounds? Yes, refs will miss stuff. It happens in a game played by humans and officiated by humans.

Basketball, by rule, is a very difficult game to officiate. I give the refs all the benefit of the doubt, even at the professional level. The only thing I worry about is making calls in an attempt to affect the outcome of a game. Basketball officiating is so subjective, it's almost impossible to defend in that light.
 
#249
GregC said:
C'mon, both games went to OT. If the Cavs made one more shot in regulation in Game 1, they would be up 2-0 going back to Cleveland. If JR. Smith doesn't commit two incredibly moronic fouls in the last few minutes of regulation, Game 2 doesn't go to OT.
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Oh sure, plenty of What If's in close games like this. And yes, Dellavadova did an impressive job defending Curry. But Curry's low scoring percentage struck me as the most uncharacteristic stat of the game, and hence the one that seems most likely to A) be different next time, and B) have been different in an alternative universe where they get to do-over Game #2.
 
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#250
I agree that Currys off night seems more like an anomaly and he'll probably have a turn around game. But does anyone think that hard hit on the head last series might be affecting him? Concussions can be a tricky thing and some linger in some people longer then others. Might not be an issue but who knows.
 
#251
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Cleveland gutted the win out and deserved it. GS was not made to win these low scoring games, and when the league MVP shoots 25% for the night, this is going to happen sometimes. The uncalled hack on Iggy was a bad no-call, but as VG pointed out, James also traveled big as day before the foul. Good game, interesting series. Liking this so far.

BTW, how many dumb plays can JR smith make in one game? Geez.
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I hate JR Smith. I hate JR Smith! Not actually hate...but basketball hate. He's the opposite of Luke Walton. Luke Walton: Minimal talent, always makes the proper decision. JR Smith: Talent in droves, always makes the worst possible decision.

That was a great game though; I'm really digging this series!
 
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#252
GuiTuber said:
If Curry makes just 2-3 of his missed shots, the game doesn't go in to overtime. GS up 2-0.

Cleveland can't survive counting on James scoring 40+ pts a game. I'm sure Steve Kerr is happy with LeBron going off as long as the rest of the team is kept under control. At the end of regulation, Lebron had almost half of his team's points. That's not going to cut it game after game.

The difference in last night's game was Curry not being able to hit water if fell out of a boat. If Cleveland can keep the pressure on Curry, the games will be close and then we'll see who knows how to win in crunch time.

So far, I've seen GS continue to play their style no matter what part of the game it is. Not Cleveland. And LeBron needs to stop complaining to the refs because he didn't succeed. The only legitimate beef he had was the foul on the jump ball. He's been in the league long enough (as well as 5 Finals in a row) to know that there will be contact at this point.

Personally, I think GS lost the game more than Cleveland won it. GS blocks James' shot, gets the rebound and throws the ball away. Then Curry shoots an airball with under 10 secs left. Room Service!
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And he's been LeBron long enough to expect all of those calls to go his way :D

On a sidenote, I dislike Dellavedova. I spent about 20 minutes just watching him on defense, and he pushed and grabbed and chest-bumped all game long. He's a small guy (NBA speaking) and a strong guy, and he smartly uses that to his advantage, but i just feel like he cheats the whole game and can get away with it because his arms are short and the refs don't see :D
 
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#253
macaroni tony said:
I hate JR Smith. I hate JR Smith! Not actually hate...but basketball hate.
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Me too, obviously. But I LOVE the term "basketball hate". It says so much with so so few words. Duly stolen. :)


He's the opposite of Luke Walton. Luke Walton: Minimal talent, always makes the proper decision. JR Smith: Talent in droves, always makes the worst possible decision.

That was a great game though; I'm really digging this series!
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Agree with all of this. Looking forward to the game.[/QUOTE]
 
#255
Great game, Curry seemed like something was wrong with him in the first half, just totally out of it. Lebron was... well, Lebron. The little Aussie played way over his head. The big Aussie is another story. Bogut has been absolutely terrible the whole series. No offensive threat, no passing, not much presence in the paint, and not much in the way of rebounding. And as JVG pointed out, he's not even running the floor. Kerr finally got him out and David Lee had some nice minutes. The Dubs need to put Bogut on the bench and keep him there and hope to get more consistent performances from Curry and Thompson. Iggy is doing his best, but sculpted as he is, he looks like a midget next to Bron Bron. Great series so far.
 
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#256
Man Deladova just oozes the "only made it cause he hustles" poster boy, but its getting hard to not just straight out say this kids got some talent. Heart and hustle alone will maybe allow you to put a small stamp or two on a random game but hes really turning into a big, consistent factor in this series. Exciting series so far. Part of me wanted to see 3 straight OT games ;)
 
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#257
Delavadova is playing lights out. It might be a seven-game series but he's playing like there's no tomorrow. But, when you get to this point, you can rest tomorrow. You can't leave anything behind.

I turned the game off when Cleveland was up 72-55. I saw the Warriors jack up another wild 3 and that was it for me. Although I just knew it wasn't over. On a commercial (for whatever the heck I was watching), I flipped back just to see if GS came back and sure enough they were down by 3 with 1:40 left. Needless to say, I watched the rest.

It appears that the Warriors' inexperience at this level is beginning to show through. Not that the whole Cleveland team has been there before, but when you're playing with a guy who's been there the last 5 years in a row and with a couple of guys who have been there with that guy for some of those years, there's a definite advantage there and I think that is becoming the difference.

Van Gundy made a great point during the game when he said that GS hadn't faced that much adversity all year so they're not as prepared for it now that they're really experiencing it in The Finals. They got down to Memphis in the playoffs, but they really weren't tested otherwise. I think Cleveland has managed to crack the Warriors' confidence.

Maybe with the extra day off before game 4, Kerr and his staff will figure out a way to exploit Cleveland's aggressiveness. You can't just overcome something like that, you have to figure out a way to use it to your advantage. That whole "We have to match their intensity" thing isn't going to cut it. At this point, if GS can win this series, it just might say more about the coaching than anything else.
 
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#258
This series can still go either way and the first 2 games can be argued that they could have been won by either team. But its really starting to look like Cleveland should be up 3-0 and just gave game 1 away. GSW continues to just try and sneek out a win by coming back from behind. That wont work for 4 wins in a 7 game series.

Mozgov yesterday had some moments where if i was a coach trying to teach a young team how to defend without fouling and going straight up while holding your ground, I'd show them some of last nights highlights. He really has turned into a great piece for this team.
 
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#259
It appears that the Warriors' inexperience at this level is beginning to show through. Not that the whole Cleveland team has been there before, but when you're playing with a guy who's been there the last 5 years in a row and with a couple of guys who have been there with that guy for some of those years, there's a definite advantage there and I think that is becoming the difference.
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We SF folks saw it from the other side in the World Series. In some critical way, experience at this level matters. I'd think "these guys have all been through so much, played so much ball at different levels, including getting to this point". And yet...
Like I said earlier, it's the playoffs. Stuff happens, amazing, weird stuff. And it still ain't over 'til it's over.
 
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