Ninja Scooter
Member
Westbrook was efficient as fuck and Durant is as passive as you all accused LeBron of being all these years. Turn your sights on the new paper champion.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
2012 NBA Finals |OT| Good Job, Good Effort
- Thread starter reilo
- Start date
Westbrook was efficient as fuck and Durant is as passive as you all accused LeBron of being all these years. Turn your sights on the new paper champion.
Thunder fans have been real good about it.
I still don't really feel excited, this team last year has wrecked all optimism I have -_-
Black Mamba
Member
the officiating is worse. It was better in the 90s. And I'll tell you why.
1. Hand-checking allowed. This meant less guards getting in the paint which meant less tough plays in the paint to call. Also meant more legal physical defensive play on the perimeter.
2. No zone D + illegal D rules made it almost impossible to get a charge like the kinds Battier and Collison get. Because you couldn't leave your man at all to even half-commit to a double without it being a technical, the spacing was often too much to make the slide-over charge
3. No restricted zone. Means refs didn't have to look at the feet position as well as everything else.
4. Players are faster and stronger than ever. With the increased athleticism as perimeter forcus with no hand check, the game has gotten too fast live. It is VERY hard for a ref to watch a play and try to at the same time see if a player slides into position in time or the other player starts his move first, if the player takes too many steps, if the defender is on the restricted line or not, if he's going around the player or in a straight line, if there's contact up top, etc. 3 refs can't do what they used to do, anymore. Game is too fast. There's just too much to follow without the camera angles we get.
5. Flopping has fucked refs up. Some of the flopping is really good and the ref is kind of screwed cuz they're watching so much other stuff they don't realize it.
The officiating is worse today. Not because they got worse, but because the rules changes combined with the speed and athleticism of the players increasing a lot has made it much harder to officiate. Just too much to do and the action is too fast.
I still contend one way to help officiating is to get rid of the Charging call (not offensive fouls, but running straight into a player). But a lot of people don't like that idea. Personally, I think you should challenge a player's shot, not his body.
Black Mamba
Member
I didn't think Durant was passive. Just more media narrative. Lebron was playing really good ball denial on Durant for a while. And Westbrook had it going and was relentless in the 4th quarter, especially.
harden was the problem. Dude missed so many open looks. He wasn't even guarded for 5 seconds in a 4th quarter play and he bricked a 15 foot shot so bad I figured the game was over right then.
Didn't help when Lebron falls down hurt, OKC has a 5-4 and Fisher decides to go coast to coast rather than pass. In a play that the Heat wanted to intentionally foul to get Bron out. And bron gets a bucket out of it. That and the Harden bricked layup on the steal were the big 4th quarter plays that killed OKC.
iamshadowlark
Banned
Yea three straight losses just happened last year.
benjipwns
Banned
Plus "I don't have anyone better."
Roger Danish
Member
Funnily enough, it's seemed like Bulls fans and Celtics fans have been far more critical of the reffing in this series than Thunder fans.
This kinda freaks me out, if they close it out on Thursday I'm really not sure the Heat will go after Nash. I feel like they don't respect his defense ability at all and that they will be happy with Chalmers and a developing Cole
Which would be really fucking stupid....
Black Mamba
Member
The Heat were never getting Nash, man. He's going to take a 2 year $10 mil offer, somewhere. At least. Plus, I don't see him blatantly ring chasing on a team coming off b2b Finals.
Bumblebeetuna
Member
I was referring to Westbrook's blunder at the end and lol @ "you all". Don't include me on that crap, thank you very much.
Roger Danish
Member
On the other hand, if they win, then they can play the "discount to win a championship" card. However, a solid, veteran post player with the MLE would probably have more impact on this Heat team than an upgrade from Chalmers/Cole to Nash.
iamshadowlark
Banned
Im pretty sure riles and whoever else have been trying to get to nash since he said he was interested. Our FO really can't afford to take an off-season off.
people also didn't see lebron coming to Miami because they thought he was too selfish to share attention with wade
you never know what a guy is thinking. not saying I think he will go but I wouldn't rule it out
I say we get a 5 that we can pencil in the starting lineup for every game but I'm pretty sure that will be near impossible and that next year's revolving door of centers will feature Nazr Mohammed and Tony Battie
shit Marcus Camby is an UFA....
iamshadowlark
Banned
He's finally against a team that can play D.
He must of told you this him self? What else can you leak to us?
Roger Danish
Member
A Camby-Bosh frontcourt would be very intriguing. Unfortunately, I just don't see MC as the type to take a monster discount just to win a title.
Side note: I've met him, and I can confirm that dude is tall.
benjipwns
Banned
He's 38, who's going to give him more than the MLE?
Black Mamba
Member
Camby is old and can only give like 20 min at best and is injury prone. I think he'd actually accept the mini MLE. Non-contending teams have no use for him, so if he wants to win, it's the MMLE.
Camby's basically got one or two more years left though.
I wouldn't underestimate Miami's ability to get discounts yall. We got savvy veteran Juwan Howard to take the veteran minimum.
I won't front like Miami doesn't play good D, but...man we're talking wide open jump shots. Couldn't be more wide open on some of them.
Right at the end tonight, he got near the elbow with no one around him and he was visibly terrified to take the shot. Waited a good four seconds or so until he threw a contested one up after Bosh or whoever it was rotated over to him.
It's been sad to watch to say the least.
Roger Danish
Member
If I'm not mistaken, the Heat only have the mini-MLE... something like $2 million. He can definitely command the full MLE elsewhere.
benjipwns
Banned
The taxpayer MLE will be $3.1 million, non-taxpayer is $5 million. Both are monster discounts from the $12 million he made this year.
I don't think the Bulls or Thunder will offer him the MLE.
CoffeeJanitor
Member
He's been bricking open shots and missing layups all series long...
Black Mamba
Member
Is this a joke? He's missed wide open shots. Like, no one within 5 feet of him. And blew a all by himself layup to give his team the lead in the 4th.
Roger Danish
Member
Ah, thanks for clarifying. I guess then the question is whether Camby would sacrifice $2 mil per year for a chance at the title. Again, nothing about him has indicated to me that he's "that" type of veteran.
iamshadowlark
Banned
Thats part of it though. Basketball is a game of rhythm, a good defensive team will disrupt your rhythm which will make it harder for you to score. Even wide open. People are shitting on harden but its extremely hard to find a lost rhythm in the midst of a game, hell its even harder doing it in practice which doesn't have the same feel. Some guys like Ray or KD need only a couple of shots but they are special.
Thats the best thing the Heat have done this series is disrupt rhythm. We have brought them into fuckball. I would say most playoff teams in the east are used to playing rhythmless ball which gives us an advantage.
VindicatorZ
Member
I'm ready for the closeout game 5 at home! It's going to be crazy if we win. This is it! I might even buy nosebleeds just to be there for this.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
too bad he isn't a great defender and is stuck on the pups...
probably the only old school post player in the NBA right now...
What? lol.. Being stuck on the pups gives him a lot less exposure so I need to ask.. Have you seen him play much? Love is a jump shooter who has little back to the basket game. Dude changes games with his rebounding not his post game...
benjipwns
Banned
That's not Kevin Love.
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
It's the other bearded white guy, haha.
I think you just had a nash/amundson moment.
He has dominated games in the post though, I had to watch him a lot because Kevin Love was on my fantasy team and he had some monster nights.
Dominated his matchup with Dwight and played Bynum pretty much even when they played.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
He had some monster games.. but he wasn't consistent enough yet.. hopefully next year he will be dominating more regularly..
ToyMachine228
Member
Not one. Not two. Not three...
Iron E Man
Member
Fell asleep during halftime I have a lot catching up to do.
iamshadowlark
Banned
This been posted? Phil on LBJ, Wade and Heat
Video: http://www.hbo.com/video/video.html...lter=real-sports-with-bryant-gumbel&view=null
Video: http://www.hbo.com/video/video.html...lter=real-sports-with-bryant-gumbel&view=null
That looked uuuuuuuuuuuuuugly LOL Effective tho, but ugly lol
Observe, Andrew bynum feat Pau gasol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhS4KfxcBNE
Forceatowulf
G***n S**n*bi
Would be glorious if the Thunder came back from this and was the first team to overcome the 3-1 odds in the finals.
But I don't see that happening at all. Heat have this shit on lockdown. Durant and Harden have gone straight bitch in the finals. If Westbrook is really the only guy on your team with a sack between his legs then you are just fucked....
But I don't see that happening at all. Heat have this shit on lockdown. Durant and Harden have gone straight bitch in the finals. If Westbrook is really the only guy on your team with a sack between his legs then you are just fucked....
LegendofJoe
Member
Why are people so down on Durant for having ONE sub-par game? You're being emotional and reactionary. He had a poor game, but he was still 9 for 19 with 28 points.
How exactly has Durant gone "straight bitch"? He, Westbrook and Collison are the only guys who have done their jobs this series. Durant didn't play "great" last night, but he wasn't the problem.
As for Harden, this really says it all:
Daily Thunder said:
I'd like to think OKC can show up and bring the series back to OKC, but I'm sure they're just emotionally shot right now. That was a tough one to take.
Yeah, I don't get the Durant criticism right now.