Stabby McSter
Member
what if the two SAS curses just cancel each other out
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NBA Finals 2017 |OT| Same As It Ever Was
- Thread starter Jarate
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what if the two SAS curses just cancel each other out
Cmon man, you can't claim there's an asterisk next to their 2015 title while also claiming nothing impacted them losing last year. This shit is stupid and goes both ways.
Hakeem is a legend, but if we're going to do the insanely dumb title asterisk stuff, isn't Jordan skipping town to play baseball a pretty massive one?
I really need to get off twitter and everything sports related until after the finals.
I'll admit 2011 Dallas is pretty damn crazy, though.
in reality it's not because the whole concept is real stupid
Yeah, that's all nonsense from every angle. Almost every title involves injury luck and anyone that seriously puts an "asterisk" next to anyone's title is the absolute worst.
I really need to get off twitter and everything sports related until after the finals.
I'd argue almost all of those teams had multiple great players, with or without all-star nods (which is really just a popularity contest for fans). I mean it mentions Tony Parker being the only all-star in 2014, but Duncan was still a good player and Kawhi Leonard won finals MVP.
I'll admit 2011 Dallas is pretty damn crazy, though.
DerangedHermit
Member
Damn, Steve Kerr already preparing next season and sending his son to work (spy) for the Spurs.
Hyperactivity
Banned
It isn't because Hakeem ripped the soul out of those Bulls teams. He was 34 or 35 around the 2nd three-peat, with an old Barkley and older Drexler next to him, of course he couldn't do it by that point. Otherwise, jokes aside, I honestly believe Jordan loses one of '94 or '95 to the Rockets.
beat
Member
ESPN's current top NBA story reminds me, if JR Smith can be a vital and productive member of a championship team, JaVale can certainly rehabilitate his reputation.
Dreams-Visions
Member
how are they even remotely similar?
JR always had game, just lacked the refinement and defensive effort. JR going for 30 wouldn't be unexpected when he was in a Nuggets uniform.
JaVale had no game, just some atheleticism and was prone to doofus mistakes and embarrassing highlights, as we can all see on Youtube. Is he even a career 6ppg scorer?
lol @ comparing him to JR Smith.
beat
Member
I meant this is the guy who untied an opponent's shoelaces for fun, was warned about it, then tried to do it again. The guy who shot a dumb three with 21 seconds left in the game, game tied, because he thought they were down two... and only weeks after being mad at Bargs for a similarly dumb three/clock management.
Hot Take
He couldn't get it done with westbrook and Harden so he needed a team with 3 other all stars instead of two.
Real answer
Who cares he has years to write his legacy. It took James that one win last year against the Warriors to change his narrative. No one knows until these guys careers are wrapped up.
I feel like my surprise prediction, is Durant does a pretty good job defending Lebron for periods of the game. Can see his length frustrating him some. And of course as the new addition to the series, could see him going off offensively. Definitely expecting Durant mvp if Warriors take it.
The KD factor is going to be so compelling to watch in this series. Could also see the Cavs driving all day long, and try to get KD possibly in foul trouble.
The KD factor is going to be so compelling to watch in this series. Could also see the Cavs driving all day long, and try to get KD possibly in foul trouble.
beat
Member
Is it tomorrow yet?
I guess this is Cavs vs Warriors, and I can see some of the teams each has faced along the way, but where are the Celtics and Blazers, and why is the green alien a Warrior?
Shamrock7r
Member
I believe the pipe is from the Celtics and the hatchet is from the Blazers.
Lionel Richie
Member
It wouldn't be a lie. It's a slightly pointless fact, but it would also be true.
Who cares? You ccan use that argument against everyone but Dirk in my lifetime. Twenty years go by and all anyone sees are championships.
Joei
Member
I could care less but I bring that up cause constant Lebron detractors with what happened in Miami and Cleveland.
beat
Member
Dang, that's a deep cut.
GalacticToast
Member
Not just a super team, but a record setting 73-9 super team. The team that came back and kicked him out of the playoffs the year before. If this is his one and only ring it doesn't hold as much weight as far as I am concerned. Not invalidating GSW. Just Durant.
I laughed..then cried
It's not a fact. One, we don't know how his career would have gone if he hadn't signed with the Warriors and two, getting to the finals(through the West, ahem) once and being up 3-1 last year shows he could.
Here's to him having a great finals to make all this bitch move could only win on the best team noise a thing of the past.
Shamrock7r
Member
Yep, as Paul Pierce said it's like "a kid becoming friends with his bullies to avoid getting beat up."
https://twitter.com/JordanHeckFF/status/869642425173778433
Or someone on Reddit pointed out Burr had a great take
https://youtu.be/8yLAO0EZX6k?t=4m29s
Is Pierce still sore about that Draymond put down? Burr is funny, but maybe KD learned how to win some time back and so he saw taking turns with Westbrook and calling it offense wasn't such a winning strategy?
GalacticToast
Member
Agreed. Awesome quoting strategy, I'll be doing it like this from now on.
I have never seen a player do more for his team than Hakeem on those Rockets teams. Maybe KG but he was never as good as Hakeem. They ran the entire offense and defense through him. Whenever he got in foul trouble the Rockets would immediately be down by 20 points within 5 minutes. Too bad he didn't get to play with a more talented surrounding cast.
? I didn't really see Hakeem play, but it's hard to imagine someone doing more than Lebron in Miami.
DontBeThatGuy
Member
boiled goose
good with gravy
Yup. Hope Lebron destroys
Other super teams were unproven entities. This was a whole other level of weak.
LeBron was a better passer and racked up more assists. But Hakeem quite regularly led almost ever stat category for the Rockets, even steals. He also did this against several hall of fame centers (so dominating people at the same position).
? I didn't really see Hakeem play, but it's hard to imagine someone doing more than Lebron in Miami.
He did more than LeBron for his teams. And he didn't need to run to super teams to win those rings. Dude had a quadruple double and has come closer to a quintuple double than any other player!
Doesn't mean he was a better player. That's up for debate and both can do things that the other could not.
i forgot to put the asterisk in quotation marks, my bad.
and this is exactly the point i'm illustrating, how stupid the whole thing is. if you're going to use an excuse as to why your team lost, then you need to also acknowledge the how the same excuse benefited your team during the 2015 run and how your team failed to capitalize on it during the 2016 run. it's just a very narrow perspective, almost tunnel vision, that i see too often in the sporting world and it's something i hear way too much, especially from gsw fans.
though i don't think anyone is serious with the asterisk remark, at least i hope not.
A lot of my formative years were spent watching Shaq, I wouldn't describe his game that way.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
Which is true. We keep trying to rewrite their legends as it happens.
Lionel Richie
Member
Yeah it's a fact because that's how he chose it out to be, he closed any path his career would go on if he hadn't gone to the Warriors. If he's fine with his decision, who am I or who is anyone to question it? It doesn't make it untrue though and it's something he knew from the start he would have to deal with. What, you want to go to a 73 win team and not even face questions like that? It doesn't work like that.
GalacticToast
Member
Hyperactivity
Banned
? I didn't really see Hakeem play, but it's hard to imagine someone doing more than Lebron in Miami.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J-WJ5739Tg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22O2lApCBBs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH-uHgdzpXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9L84Rcy72M
Hakeem has the greatest highlight of all time. My BS theory about why post-play is dead is that after Hakeem, it everything else was boring to watch
beat
Member
Serious question: for a few years it always felt like some superstar or other was taking post moves summer school with Hakeem. How many of those players actually came back with a better post game? Maybe LeBron, mmmaybe Yao?
(OK, I'm mostly thinking of how Dwight Howard didn't seem to learn that much.)
STAT improved as a player after training with Hakeem, but his body was failing him, so it didn't do him much good. Knee problems are a bitch.
I mean, Hakeem also had the best player in the league weirdly decide to retire for (almost) two seasons.
LeBron and Kobe are the only players who probably got anything productive from those classes. Amare Stoudemire was a beast too but he had serious injuries that you couldn't really do anything about.
Hakeem was extraordinary coordinated for a big man, you can't teach these things to most big men unfortunately. I can't think of many centers who could completely cross over other centers as if he was a guard.
rokkerkory
Member
Dubz in 3
Great post smooth as fuck. Finesse. Although I will argue that even though as a big man Shaq was a formidable for as a Laker. His foot game improved greatly.
Dreams-Visions
Member
YOU YOUNG MOTHAFUCKAS DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE SHIMMY SHIMMY YA
I bet Shaq still has nightmares, waking up in cold sweats thinking about Hakeem shaking and fading away.
Yoshimitsu126
Member
One more day!
Score prediction for game one?
110 - 90 Dubs! Let's go.
Score prediction for game one?
110 - 90 Dubs! Let's go.
Jmanunknown
Member
Having things like Jordan retiring for two years is a part of the luck involved with playing the game. The Rockets and Hakeem would have had more championships if Ralph Sampson would not have destroyed his knee. Imagine having not one but two dominate big men not even 25 years old averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds a piece. They went to the finals in 86 when they were 23 and 24 years old then Ralph Samson messes up his knee rushes back too early and his career was never the same.
Hyperactivity
Banned
Kobe
Yo, I'm not about to rehash this whole argument as if we were on Mike and Mike. The finals are tomorrow. Maybe it's pedantic, but I wanted to point out "he could only win..." specifically is not only not a fact, but a bad argument for reasons you quoted.
Now it's Kobe. I think Reggie Miller was on a broadcast blathering on about how Kawhi learned so much from Kobe this year, then had to come on after halftime to say they were only talking about getting together with Kobe.
Lebron really would not even try to post up Kidd and Barrea in the finals and now he's great at it, but that part of his game didn't just materialize after a couple of days working with Hakeem. Unless Hakeem is this sage type whose ancient wisdom was revealed to Lebron in stages, I don't know.
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