2012 NBA Playoffs

[whitestazn88]

f*ck KD. He's such a good shooter. So many times we contested his shots yet he still drained them.

Bosh and Wade played really passively and we can't have that. We wasted a good game by Chalmers and Battier.

Game 2 is huge. Lebron needs to shut KD down. I don't want to see Battier on KD at all in the fourth. Hopefully we can get Westbrook to jack up jumpers.

I think the biggest problem for the Heat moving forward is defense. They don't have enough people to guard all of the Thunder weapons. Bosh has to take one of the big men, but who gets the other? Lebron? That leaves KD. If you put Lebron on KD and Wade on Westbrook, well then good luck because Sefalosha is still capable, as are Fisher, Harden, and to a degree Cook. If Perkins or Ibaka go into foul trouble, apparently Nick Collison can clean the glass like a pro.

The Thunder, like the Celtics tried to do before them, really only need to stop 1 guy, 2 now that Bosh is healthy. But Perkins/Ibaka got Bosh covered pretty well I'd say, and it's not like he's putting up 30 a game anyway. They can live with Lebron getting 40, if that means Wade is struggling. And they don't even really need to cover any of the Heat perimeter shooters, because as we saw tonight, even if they get hot for a quarter or a half, you can't shoot 60% from 3-point land for a whole game, let alone a whole series of games.

I love how you're implying that Sefalosha and others are as good on offense as D Wade.

I don't think that's what I meant. In fact, I don't see where that could be implied. I thought that in the first paragraph, I kinda concluded that KD/Westbrook cancel out Lebron/Wade. It's the other pieces, and the depth of those pieces that give the Thunder the advantage.

I did say that Wade has struggled. And maybe if you mean Sefalosha and the others aggregated being as good as Wade, then yes, I am ok with you thinking I thought that.

[nietzsche]

GO THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AndyDufresne]

We'll see if the Heat can bounce back. Going down 0-2 in the Finals will be tough to come back from. That statistic is something like 90% of the time a team goes down 0-2 in the Finals they lose the series.


--Andy

[whitestazn88]

We'll see if the Heat can bounce back. Going down 0-2 in the Finals will be tough to come back from. That statistic is something like 90% of the time a team goes down 0-2 in the Finals they lose the series.


--Andy

But it happened last year.

[AndyDufresne]

We'll see if the Heat can bounce back. Going down 0-2 in the Finals will be tough to come back from. That statistic is something like 90% of the time a team goes down 0-2 in the Finals they lose the series.


--Andy

But it happened last year.

--Andy

[spurgistan]

My issue is thus - while I have warmed somewhat to the Heat (no pun) since the extraordinarily masturbatory way in which they were assembled, I still can't stand them. Also, Wade commits an offensive foul on around half his drives, it's maddening. FLYING KICKS ARE ILLEGAL. On the other hand, the Thunder, while playing a wildly entertaining brand of basketball with fun players, are run by carpetbaggers and crooks. I want to root for them both to lose for wildly different reasons.

I'm pulling for the Sonics.

[Army of GOD]

Mavs weren't down 0-2 last year (down 1-0 and then 2-1). In 06, though, the Heat won 4 straight against the Mavs after being down 2-0, so I guess that's what you were thinking.

[AndyDufresne]

We'll see if Bosh can set it up this game like he did a couple of games ago. And if Chalmers and Battier / Haslem can get going, we'll see.

But the Thunder I think just have a better team.


--Andy

[nietzsche]

I hear today is the second game.

GO THUNDER!!!

Lebron, king without a crown lmao.

[whitestazn88]

I hear today is the second game.

GO THUNDER!!!

Matisyahu, king without a crown lmao.

FTFY

[Master Fenrir]

How many games would Westbrook be suspended if he just rifled the ball into Shane Battier's face? I'm getting tired of watching chump change drain 3's that he has no right making.

[nietzsche]

that was fault!!!!!!!! fucking referes

lebron over durant, twice, on the arm and on the tigh

[Army of GOD]

that was fault!!!!!!!!

oh god sigged


Also, what a great game for the Heat. Didn't trail at all in the game and the only tie was at 0-0.

f*ck, we can't let Durant take any more open threes for the rest of the series. He drains everything.

[Army of GOD]

Also, there's so much pressure on the officials on that last play where Durant got fouled, I wouldn't have blamed them either way. I know I'm biased, but that's such a difficult call to make.

But like I said in the NHL thread, if you blame the refs for one play then you don't really deserve to win anyway. If the Thunder didn't want it to depend on one play they should've made shots earlier.

[nietzsche]

Also, there's so much pressure on the officials on that last play where Durant got fouled, I wouldn't have blamed them either way. I know I'm biased, but that's such a difficult call to make.

But like I said in the NHL thread, if you blame the refs for one play then you don't really deserve to win anyway. If the Thunder didn't want it to depend on one play they should've made shots earlier.

That's idiotic, in basketball everything is a foul, and that one was clearly a foul.

[nietzsche]

that was fault!!!!!!!!

oh god sigged

That's not fair because in Spanish it's called a "Falta" and the direct translation of "Falta" is fault, it's only normal that I would make that mistake.

[Army of GOD]

The ESPN guys are 100% right about Westbrook. You look at his points, think "oh wow, he played well" and then look at the amount of shots he took and it changes a lot. There's no reason he should be taking more shots than Durant and absolutely no reason he should be taking more than double the shots Harden has.

I think he's going to struggle mightily in the next three games considering how he's such an emotional player and he won't have the crowd behind him. If I'm Scott Brooks, I'd have Harden run the point in the fourth quarter and maybe sit Westbrook more than normal.

[Army of GOD]

that was fault!!!!!!!!

oh god sigged

That's not fair because in Spanish it's called a "Falta" and the direct translation of "Falta" is fault, it's only normal that I would make that mistake.

haha I know, and I know it's a dick move making fun of your english, but I just imagine you saying this with an accent an it's so hilarious.

[xeno]

Any way you want to spell it I'll still take Westbrook over Chalmers

[oVo]

I know I'm biased, but that's such a difficult call to make.

James fouls Durant twice on the play, the first one very flagrant and there is no call?
What a load of crap. It doesn't mean the Thunder tie the game for sure, but the drama
of the Heat taking the last shot to avoid an OT would have been great. How do the refs
miss such a call?

To the Heat's credit they were ready to play right from the git go and the Thunder left
an absurd amount of points on the floor (and at the foul line) that would have made this
an awesome game... had they made the most of their opportunities. Great game anyway.

[Army of GOD]

Any way you want to spell it I'll still take Westbrook over Chalmers

It depends on the type of team you have. If you're the Bulls, you'd need Westbrook (who's pretty much the same player as Rose, except Rose is smarter and is a better pure point guard) because he's aggressive and takes his shots. He works better for the Thunder for that reason too, but he'd be shit on the Heat. Same with other teams like the Lakers or Spurs that already have guys that are aggresive shooters.

And oVo, you think Lebron flagrantly fouled Durant on the last play? Really?

[spurgistan]

I'm rooting for the Heat to lose, but I didn't think Lebron fouled Durant. At least, not "final seconds of NBA Finals game" fouled, which, let's be honest, is a thing.

[oVo]

[And oVo, you think Lebron flagrantly fouled Durant on the last play? Really?

Ok... not flagrant by the NBA Rulebook but an obvious foul, NBA Playoff style.
Reaching between Durant's elbow and hip and making contact, then the elbow
for emphasis to insure he couldn't hit the shot. Point being, don't let him tie
the game with a basket and force him to earn it at the foul line... or not.
Best case scenario being a No Call...
OR... are you just being sarcastic and I missed it?

[xeno]

Any way you want to spell it I'll still take Westbrook over Chalmers

It depends on the type of team you have. If you're the Bulls, you'd need Westbrook (who's pretty much the same player as Rose, except Rose is smarter and is a better pure point guard) because he's aggressive and takes his shots. He works better for the Thunder for that reason too, but he'd be shit on the Heat. Same with other teams like the Lakers or Spurs that already have guys that are aggresive shooters.

And oVo, you think Lebron flagrantly fouled Durant on the last play? Really?

I would say Westbrook is the best outside of the three clear frontrunners for best PG in NBA (Rose,Paul,Williams) mayyyybe Rondo above him slightly

[AndyDufresne]

At least the series will keep going longer, which was all I was really hoping for.


--Andy