2012 NBA

[Paelos]

Oh Westbrook. That may be the play that haunts you for the rest of the year.

[ghost]

It's tough to fault Westbrook.  The dude shot over 60% from the floor, had 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal.  The rest of the team lost the game, even considering a pivotal play.

[Paelos]

I don't fault him. I just said it would haunt him.

The Thunder have no chance at beating the Heat the way they are playing right now. Hardin is absent, Ibaka can't get any points down low, and Durant refuses to rebound. I mean shit, when one of your forwards is getting outrebounded consistently by your point guard?

[ghost]

It would be interesting to see how good Durant would be if he didn't have Westbrook on his team.  Russel Westbrook is very, very good.  Hell, he may end up being better than Durant.  He reminds me a lot of Isaiah Thomas.

[ghost]

John Hollinger has an insider article on ESPN about the recent Okafor/Ariza trade to the Wizards.  It's hilarious and spot on. 

The good news for Washington Wizards fans is that general manager Ernie Grunfeld is building a winner. The bad news is that he's doing it in Minnesota and New Orleans.

Seriously, can anyone explain why this guy is still running a basketball team?

Grunfeld engineered yet another numbingly brutal trade today when he sent Rashard Lewis and a second-round pick to the New Orleans Hornets for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza.

The deal is classic Grunfeld -- taking a "win now" approach with a team that's not even close to win-now mode, overpaying veterans, mismanaging the cap, and basically throwing slop at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Okafor and Ariza combine to make $42 million this year and next, soaking up all of Washington's cap space for this year and next. The departing Lewis was due $22.7 million, but only $13.9 million of that was guaranteed, so the Wizards ate close to $30 million in salary with this deal.

And people wonder why these teams continue to suck.  This was just a miserable trade. 

[Paelos]

Dear lord the officials just want this series over. Not that Miami won't win otherwise, but good lord just let them PLAY. They don't need your help, refs.

This championship is OVER. Lebron is going to the hoop finally. Forget it OKC, you got no answers for that.

[ghost]

And he has 11 assists.  They're putting the hammer down now.

[Paelos]

Mike Miller is absolutely unconscious. My god.

[ghost]

Yeah, it's pretty bad when you get beaten by Shane Battier, but at least he plays good defense.  Getting beaten by Mike Miller is unconscionable.  

Interestingly, Miller and Battier are shooting a combined 10-15 from three as of now.

[Paelos]

It'll be a quiet day from the haters tomorrow.

Then, by next year they'll be back talking about how he couldn't do it alone or some shit.

[Rasix]

Yeah, because Jordan didn't have Pippen (or Rodman).  

Internet, especially Facebook, is soooo quiet.  I need to find some obnoxious animated gifs to get them agitated.

Good for the Heat, I honestly didn't think they'd win this series.  I thought the Thunder were just too young, too talented, and too fearless.  I never pick the finals right.

[Malakili]

I think the defining moment of the night is when they went up big in the first half and Mario Chalmers started playing to the crowd.  James walked over and just shook his head saying "not yet."  The last 3 playoff series has turned LeBron James into that killer people said he needed to be.  Pure business until the job is done.  The rest of the league has more to fear from him than ever.

[Bunk]

Yay! I'm so excited!


That it's over!

Sports radio will finally shut up about it.

[ghost]

Yeah, I've never understood the "can't do it by himself" argument (which had already started from sources).  Magic had Kareem and Worthy, Bird had McHale and Parrish and Johnson, Koby had Shaq and then an assortment of really, really good players, Jordan had Pippin, Duncan had Manu and Parker and Robinson.  Incidentally, I think that Jordan had the weakest cast of supporting players, but some of them (Horry, for example, who has more rings than any of the guys above) appeared to be very average players that went on to win a ton of titles.  The NBA isn't a league in which you can Iverson your way to the top. 

With this win Lebron has firmly entrenched himself in the top 50 of all time because there can never be a "well, he didn't win a title" conversation like you could have with Iverson, Malone and Barcley.  Good for him.  He's lost his choke status.  Now if he wants to cement himself with the legends mentioned above he'll just need to win a couple more titles.  That may be difficult as the Thunder look very, very dangerous and they will learn from this loss.

[murdoc]

Then, by next year they'll be back talking about how he couldn't do it alone or some shit.

The 'shortened season' whines are already in full effect.

[Paelos]

Ah, so that's where they are going?

If they aren't from Cleveland, those people can go jump off a bridge and do the rest of us a favor.

[01101010]

I doubt anyone, even us Clevelanders and ex-Clevelanders, would question Lebron's talent and physical ability. He got his ring his way. Good for him. He played as we all expected he could play. Still rooted against him and wantedt o see him choke. Didn't happen, so congratz to him. That said, he tarnished his image so that no matter when he comes up in conversation, it will always have that "decision" specter along with it. He can win 7 more rings, he can give to charity, he could come back to Cleveland and win a championship... nothing will eliminate his dickishness to the city of Cleveland.

[Paelos]

That's why I said, if you aren't from Cleveland. I don't expect anybody there to ever get over it. You found the best player on the planet and your organization surrounded him with the Washington Generals AllStars.

[Rasix]

Then, by next year they'll be back talking about how he couldn't do it alone or some shit.

The 'shortened season' whines are already in full effect.

I don't know if I'd go for that angle.  This season was a grinder.  Back-to-back-to-back games? Yetch.

Eh, fuck Cleveland.  Well, except the Indians.  I hope they win one.  



edit: Hah, look at Shane Battier start to get into it. 

[ghost]

I doubt anyone, even us Clevelanders and ex-Clevelanders, would question Lebron's talent and physical ability. He got his ring his way. Good for him. He played as we all expected he could play. Still rooted against him and wantedt o see him choke. Didn't happen, so congratz to him. That said, he tarnished his image so that no matter when he comes up in conversation, it will always have that "decision" specter along with it. He can win 7 more rings, he can give to charity, he could come back to Cleveland and win a championship... nothing will eliminate his dickishness to the city of Cleveland.

He was a bit immature when he left, but it's not like he was strangling babies or kicking dogs.  I just don't see the bitterness.  Paelos is right.  He wanted to win and it was never going to happen in Cleveland.  Who can blame the guy for leaving?

As for the talent, it's clear that he's probably the most talented player to ever play the game-  physically.  His mental toughness has been (and rightfully so) challenged in the past but he pretty much nailed that one in the ass this year.  Now it's just a matter of trying to cement his legacy among the all time greats. 

[Mosesandstick]

Mark Cuban tears Skip Bayless apart

[ghost]

I like Mark Cuban.  He provides good entertainment value.

[Merusk]

He was a bit immature when he left, but it's not like he was strangling babies or kicking dogs.  I just don't see the bitterness.  Paelos is right.  He wanted to win and it was never going to happen in Cleveland.  Who can blame the guy for leaving?

It's not just that.  Cleveland has a history of getting kicked in the balls by Sports.  Indians, Browns v1.0, Modell fucking-over the city, Browns v2.0.

LeBron is from the city and knows that history and chose to add to it in the most dickish self-centered way humanly imaginable.   If he'd handled leaving with a modicum of class rather than making it the LeBron show it wouldn't have caused as much bitterness.  There's still be some but the majority of folks would be over it by now.

[ghost]

He was a bit immature when he left, but it's not like he was strangling babies or kicking dogs.  I just don't see the bitterness.  Paelos is right.  He wanted to win and it was never going to happen in Cleveland.  Who can blame the guy for leaving?

It's not just that.  Cleveland has a history of getting kicked in the balls by Sports.  Indians, Browns v1.0, Modell fucking-over the city, Browns v2.0.

LeBron is from the city and knows that history and chose to add to it in the most dickish self-centered way humanly imaginable.   If he'd handled leaving with a modicum of class rather than making it the LeBron show it wouldn't have caused as much bitterness.  There's still be some but the majority of folks would be over it by now.

He's immature and coddled.  I don't really blame him that much.  I'm sure "the decision" wasn't an idea that originated with him and it's tough for guys his age to do much with a modicum of class (particularly the rich ones).  It would be very surprising if some media idiot at ESPN didn't push the suggestion to his agent and then you get the awfulness that followed.  It's also not fair to blame Lebron for Cleveland's history.  They had the opportunity to try and keep him, but never really made any moves to bring in a legitimate secondary star to help him out. 

[01101010]

He was a bit immature when he left, but it's not like he was strangling babies or kicking dogs.  I just don't see the bitterness.  Paelos is right.  He wanted to win and it was never going to happen in Cleveland.  Who can blame the guy for leaving?

It's not just that.  Cleveland has a history of getting kicked in the balls by Sports.  Indians, Browns v1.0, Modell fucking-over the city, Browns v2.0.

LeBron is from the city and knows that history and chose to add to it in the most dickish self-centered way humanly imaginable.   If he'd handled leaving with a modicum of class rather than making it the LeBron show it wouldn't have caused as much bitterness.  There's still be some but the majority of folks would be over it by now.

Compare it to KG leaving Minn and you will see where I am coming from. Frankly, the market in Cleveland was not big enough for two stars without one of those stars cutting back on salary (which IMHO they are way more able to do given the huge endorsement deals the main NBA stars get). It is sad, but if he would have just headed out on his free agency option and moved onto Miami, it would have bene a way different story. But all this has been said before.

[Mosesandstick]

Kevin Arnovitz on why he wanted the Heat to win

I’d been quietly pulling for the Miami Heat to win the title since April -- and not because I find LeBron James to be sympathetic or because I like the Heat’s brand of basketball or even because I have a lingering attachment to the Heat after covering them in Miami during the 2010-11 season.

I simply wanted it all to be about basketball again, because the public exercise of trying to probe James’ inner life had grown tiresome. The ease with which epithets like choke artist, fraud and much worse have been thrown at James has always been petty and, when examined closely, they usually rang false. In recent months, those takedowns had also become boring, and the prospect that they’d continue to dominate the NBA for at least another year was excruciating.

[ghost]

I guess I could go with that article if the players haven't actively brought that sort of scrutiny into their lives, e.g. Kris Humphries with his Kardashian experiment, multiple rap albums, shittons of money, stupid decisions like "the decision", etc.  Hopefully some of the younger upcoming stars have learned from the nonsense and will do just that-  keep it about the basketball. 

[Paelos]

They won't.

[ghost]

I don't know.  Derrick Rose doesn't seem cut from that same cloth.  Many of the younger guys seem to keep their noses out of trouble. 

[Paelos]

There's a difference between doing something criminal and doing something stupid.

They will all do something stupid. It's the nature of being young and having asstons of cash. I'm satisfied with most of them not getting into run-ins with the law. That's why the Lebron thing never bothered me. Yeah, he gave a middle finger to Cleveland. It's not like it wasn't warranted. That organization was doing fucking nothing, and surrounding him with leftovers that couldn't win 20 games in the NBA. When it's a bunch of dudes judging other dudes, I don't have a lot of sympathy for the "it's not what he said, it's how he said it" argument. Sack up. This is sports.

[ghost]

Lebron, other than acting a little immature at times, has really been a model citizen.  The NBA always gets a bad rap for having thugs, but the NFL is where all that shit goes down.  I don't think we'll see a repeat of his "decision" from our next major free agent.  I think these guys are learning from Lebron's example about what not to do, and I think he learned from that example as well.  Now if we can just get Tony Parker to quit being a douche and hanging out with Chris Brown....

[Bunk]

I flip on Mike and Mike on my way in to work to see what they are talking about now. "Coming up, in a very special interview with Lebron..." Click.

[Paelos]

Yep, they are going to pound this until July. Then, they'll do some All Star break stuff for baseball.

And at that point they shift full bore into the NFL speculation. I like the NFL, but there's nothing more I hate than football talk in the offseason while real sports are going on.

[Bunk]

 I like the NFL, but there's nothing more I hate than football talk in the offseason while real sports are going on.

Must resist urge to be snarky

[Threash]

I don't know.  Derrick Rose doesn't seem cut from that same cloth.  Many of the younger guys seem to keep their noses out of trouble. 

Durant seems like a pretty decent fellow also.