NBA Finals thread

[TOOL460002]

It's sad that Cleveland sports fans have to deal with yet another choke when it counts season.
It's like all year they have all the moves then when the day to dance arrives they come off as Elaine in a Seinfeld episode.
Used to be a huge sports fan in my day but now I can care less.

No offence to Cleveland or the East, but... GS Dubs would've won 80 games in that division. It is called a team sport for a reason. Namely that teams play it. But, man, LeBron is playing like a beast and still getting blown out. I somehow feel like maybe Wiggins would be better off there than Love. Forget some of the trade details, but even player-for-player it is nuts. See you in the Finals next year I hope!

 

[Clark Dark]

W-T-F! Draymond is out for game 5. It seems Kinky Vanderweigh didn't like Draymond pushing James away from him the way he did. As a man I thought James pushing Draymond down, standing over him watching him, and then waiting for Draymond to attempt to stand before walking over him dragging his nuts across the back of Draymond's neck a taunt. James got less than he deserved for that, I would've tripped him down on his face. Le Bitch James
I'm surprised the commissioner and Kinky who are allegedly men didn't find James move disrespectful, maybe at night they like that sort of thing.

 

[kesslari]

@Clark Dark , love the Sir Nose Devoidofunk avatar.
Funny, even Charles Barkley came out in favor of Draymond in that one.
But suspending Draymond means maybe a game 6, and that means maybe a game 7, which means maybe a lot more millions of dollars from viewers.

 

[GregC]

@Clark Dark , love the Sir Nose Devoidofunk avatar.
Funny, even Charles Barkley came out in favor of Draymond in that one.
But suspending Draymond means maybe a game 6, and that means maybe a game 7, which means maybe a lot more millions of dollars from viewers.

To be fair, they gave him a flagrant 1. Which to me seems perfectly reasonable when you either punch or try to punch a guy in the nads. (Clark Dark seems to be operating in an alternate universe at the moment.) James got a tech for what he did, which also seems reasonable. It just so happens that because of Green's previous dirty plays, he's now accumulated enough flagrants, etc. to earn a suspension. Oh well, he knew the stakes.

 

[D M C]

W-T-F! Draymond is out for game 5. It seems Kinky Vanderweigh didn't like Draymond pushing James away from him the way he did. As a man I thought James pushing Draymond down, standing over him watching him, and then waiting for Draymond to attempt to stand before walking over him dragging his nuts across the back of Draymond's neck a taunt. James got less than he deserved for that, I would've tripped him down on his face. Le Bitch James
I'm surprised the commissioner and Kinky who are allegedly men didn't find James move disrespectful, maybe at night they like that sort of thing.

Everyone hates GS. Boo-hoo-hoo!

 

[Clark Dark]

Everyone hates GS. Boo-hoo-hoo!

would you like somebody dragging their nuggets across the back of your neck

 

[GregC]

would you like somebody dragging their nuggets across the back of your neck

That is a gross (in both senses of the word) exaggeration. Green and James get tangled up, James does push him with one arm, but Green clearly flops to the floor. James then steps over him, which is the shortest path to get to the ball in play, as he certainly doesn't want to try to go over Green's legs--we all know what they do, just ask Stephen Adams. As Green starts to get up, James' nads (which are covered on the court by shorts, by the way) maybe make contact with Green's shoulder blade. As Green gets on his feet, he clearly swings at James' nads (not sure if he made contact, but the intent was obvious).

 

[John D Harris]

I don't care for the Cavaliers, because I don't care for LeBron (mainly just his particular type of arrogance, mostly from earlier years).
You can debate who's the greatest basketball player in history, but because basketball is a team sport, I tend to like great teams rather than great players.
Curry could not really do what Curry does without the rest of the team-minded GSW players.
So, yeah, I like Golden State & San Antonio Spurs. [Love Coach Popovich!]
I watched the Cavs get better & better as they went through the Eastern opponents.
I figured if the refs don't call the fouls closely, then the Cavs would probably beat the Warriors on account of being more physical.
Thing is when GS turns up their defensive intensity, they can hang with Cleveland pretty well & it boils down to who sticks to the coach's gameplan the best w/o a lot of turnovers AND can still be efficient on offense.

Draymond Green plays with a lot of heart & passion, but I think he does not yet have a very good handle on his oncourt reactions.
GSW's loosey-goosey style of play is fun to watch when they're really all in-the-zone, but when they aren't, they have way too many turnovers.
In the playoffs, up against really good defenses, they need to learn to play in a more focused way (easy for me to say).
Focus with intense energy & they should finish off the Cavs tomorrow, if not, we may get a 7 game series.

I really wish they didn't play so many games during the regular season, do away with the Eastern & Western Conference, & just have the top teams with the best records do the playoffs.
I think that would produce much more interesting series.

 

[nutdog]

That is a gross (in both senses of the word) exaggeration. Green and James get tangled up, James does push him with one arm, but Green clearly flops to the floor. James then steps over him, which is the shortest path to get to the ball in play, as he certainly doesn't want to try to go over Green's legs--we all know what they do, just ask Stephen Adams. As Green starts to get up, James' nads (which are covered on the court by shorts, by the way) maybe make contact with Green's shoulder blade. As Green gets on his feet, he clearly swings at James' nads (not sure if he made contact, but the intent was obvious).

Haven't managed to catch a game yet but that clip is an example of why I don't watch NBA anymore. Green came up for the screen and clearly pushed James back. The ref was watching it. No call. Then big men hit the floor, swings fly and all the he-man posturing ensues with "double foul" called.

If they'll call the push in the first place the best basketball players in the world can play basketball and it will be fun to watch again.

 

[Bob_Ross]

As Green gets on his feet, he clearly swings at James' nads (not sure if he made contact, but the intent was obvious).

Sorry, I was watching the game on TV when that altercation happened, saw all the replays they showed during the telecast, and I just watched the video clip you embedded twice ...and I don't see Green clearly swinging at James' nads.

Clearly swinging at James, sure.

But to my eye it seems to "clearly" be an untargetted emotional "GTF OFF ME!" flailing of the arm rather than a targetted "Ima punch you right there". It was an unguided missile at best.

 

[slobake]

We have intense professionals playing in the biggest games of the year. Did James intentionally "disrespect" Green or was he so focused on the play under the hoop that he didn't consider his actions? Green's reaction should come as a suprise to no one.
I also noticed that Le Bron was very aggressive with Green on the play right after. Words were then exchanged and the two men were then separated. Green walked away but it was LeBron that kept running his mouth.

 

[Immigrant]

LeBron's lizard brain took over and told him to step over Green in an attempt to further keep him down. He really didn't need to step over him.

I watched the clip that @GregC so kindly embedded and the path Lebron took to get to the action wasn't the clearest path.

If one of them gets a game suspension, they both should.

 

[slobake]

Haven't managed to catch a game yet but that clip is an example of why I don't watch NBA anymore. Green came up for the screen and clearly pushed James back. The ref was watching it. No call. Then big men hit the floor, swings fly and all the he-man posturing ensues with "double foul" called.

If they'll call the push in the first place the best basketball players in the world can play basketball and it will be fun to watch again.

Don't watch the playoffs you won't like it. Curr described LeBron as a freight train on the court. Not in a disresctful way but just a recognition of how James plays. He is a great athelete and close to unstoppable on the court.
Steph Curry doesn't have the size and strength that James does, he relies more on his skills and his teammates.
The whole series has been vey physical and the refs are letting more of it happen without calling it.

 

[D M C]

LeBron's lizard brain took over and told him to step over Green in an attempt to further keep him down. He really didn't need to step over him.

I watched the clip that @GregC so kindly embedded and the path Lebron took to get to the action wasn't the clearest path.

If one of them gets a game suspension, they both should.

They both were assessed a flagrant 1 foul. Green was suspended because it was his 4th flagrant during the playoffs. It was James' 1st. If James has 3 more in the next 3 games, he too will be suspended.

 

[Clark Dark]

That is a gross (in both senses of the word) exaggeration. Green and James get tangled up, James does push him with one arm, but Green clearly flops to the floor. James then steps over him, which is the shortest path to get to the ball in play, as he certainly doesn't want to try to go over Green's legs--we all know what they do, just ask Stephen Adams. As Green starts to get up, James' nads (which are covered on the court by shorts, by the way) maybe make contact with Green's shoulder blade. As Green gets on his feet, he clearly swings at James' nads (not sure if he made contact, but the intent was obvious).

Greg, James swung his arm at Green which pushed Green down, calling it a flop is excessive. Then James stands over Green looking down at him and waits until Green starts to get up before he drug his scrotum over the back of Greens neck. If James was interested in playing basketball he would've joined his teammates in defending the play at the basket. But instead he did a sissy move and no real man would ever accept that. He hovered over Green for at least 3 seconds. Look at the link YOU posted.

 

[Clark Dark]

We have intense professionals playing in the biggest games of the year. Did James intentionally "disrespect" Green or was he so focused on the play under the hoop that he didn't consider his actions? Green's reaction should come as a suprise to no one.
I also noticed that Le Bron was very aggressive with Green on the play right after. Words were then exchanged and the two men were then separated. Green walked away but it was LeBron that kept running his mouth.

Hell yeah he attempted to emasculate Green. I don't know any man who would accept that crap.

 

[slobake]

Now the real question is can the Warriors beat the Cavs without Green? I think they can but we will find out tonight.

 

[FilterFunk]

Now the real question is can the Warriors beat the Cavs without Green? I think they can but we will find out tonight.

I think they will, too.

Draymond is a great contributor, but he may have actually become more of a distraction than an asset in this game. The Cavs, and certainly LeBron, would have probably baited him all game long. This way, the Warriors know they have to play without him, and they've proven time after time that they can step up when necessary.

 

[kesslari]

Everyone hates GS. Boo-hoo-hoo!

The league loves GS. The league loves money more. Suspension = chance of longer series = mo' money.

 

[John D Harris]

Seems like there's a fair number of people who like minimal foul calling by the refs, but I think the rules & foul calling should be tighter.
I understand 'letting them play' interferes less with the pace of the game, but I think that gives a big advantage to big muscular players like Shaq was.
I prefer more finesse type playing with lots of ball movement.
I love it when the smaller, faster players run circles around the big guys.
Just my dos centavos!