2013 NBA

[ghost]

You know I'm not good at predicting outcomes.   

[DevilsAdvocate25]

Grizz looked completely overwhelmed in game 1.

Yep. Zach Randolph finished with 2 pts and he is the Grizzlies leading scorer. The Spurs also hit a franchis record 14 3-pointers. The Grizzlies help defense is just leaving three shooters wide open over and over again. In the OKC series, they were getting burned by Derek Fisher. In this series, they will get burned by everyone unless they learn to stay at home on those shooters and let the big men handle the drives to the basket.

The Spurs are still dominating Zach Randolph. Shook his confidence enough that he started 1 of 6 from the free throw line too.

Good game, good defense from both teams, but the Grizz really shot themselves in the foot at the end of the game and OT with poor clock management and bad offense. They also played out of control at times which led to missed passes to open players and turnovers. And they are still not covering the 3 point shot effectively. Too many wide open threes that are making Danny Green look like a sharpshooter.

They had one funny moment in the game when I think it was Matt Bonner and Zach Randolph had a jump ball. The announcers called it the lowest jump ball in the history of the NBA. 

[ghost]

The Spurs probably have a serious chip on their shoulders from being ousted by the Grizzlies recently when they were supposed to be the number one overall seed.  They are OLD though, and only have so much gas.  Well, non-intestinal gas, anyway.

[ghost]

Phil Jackson is such a badass. 

When Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak called Phil Jackson to tell him the Lakers were hiring Mike D'Antoni instead of him as coach, he responded the only way he knew how.

"I laughed," Jackson told ESPN's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" show Wednesday. "It was humorous to me when Mitch said that we think that Mike is a better coach for this group of guys."

This is hilarious. 

[Paelos]

That's gold. It shows exactly how inept things have gotten in LA.

[ghost]

You take Howard off that team and they probably win 10-15 more games.  He's a cancer. 

[ghost]

Yet more Phil Jackson funniness. 

 

[Paelos]

Heat did their best to lose that game, but thems the breaks Pacers.

[Malakili]

Exciting finish.  Without Hibbert in the game Lebron is just going to out muscle anyone to the hoop.  Good play to call there. 

[Ghambit]

Heat did their best to lose that game, but thems the breaks Pacers.

Heat have a pretty mediocre game to go along with very bad officiating, losing their starting point guard, being in foul trouble, and they still win.  I predict series over in 5.  And I'm kinda glad Chalmers is gimpy because I do believe there are better matchups with Cole in there with Miller providing backup.  Cole and BIRDMAN BIRDMAN have pretty deadly chemistry btw, which works well for game 2 since I do believe Birdman will get a lot more minutes.  The Pacers have no answer for him; the Heat's Dennis Rodman basically...only with offense.

Regardless, Lebron can just play point  .  I mean really, the guard play the Heat have is ridiculous.  Fuck, Miller could play the point easily. (handles the ball even better than Wade does)

[Paelos]

BIRDMAN is a difference maker for the Heat. They haven't been playing him enough but he's a monster on the boards.

[Ghambit]

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS8COIzQg_g

Read Birdman's lips:  "let's go boy"
Tyler was all like: "uhhh, pass"

[ghost]

Spurs proving me wrong, yet again.   

[Paelos]

Spurs proving me wrong, yet again.   

Idk man, they barely squeeked by in that 4 game sweep of the conference finals.   

[DevilsAdvocate25]

Spurs proving me wrong, yet again.   

Idk man, they barely squeeked by in that 4 game sweep of the conference finals.   

2 games that went into overtime. They did a great job of shutting down the Grizzlies leading scorer, Z-Bo. Only 1 Grizzlies player scored more than 20 pts in any of the 4 games. It was the same guy and he did it in games 3 & 4. (Quincy Pondexter)

It was surprising to see the Grizzlies get as far as they did without having any outside scoring except Pondexter. The Spurs just have too many inside defenders and the Grizzlies just were not defending the 3 point line. They weren't doing that in the OKC series either, but Kevin Martin is no Manu Ginobili and Serge Ibaka doesn't have the range of Bonner or Leonard.

[Paelos]

The Spurs are the only team in the NBA that I think can legitimately push back against the Heat. I'm glad they are in the finals. They have size, shooters, and play the best defense in the post-season out of the West.

[ghost]

I've gotta say it.  The Heat are going to sweep the Spurs.   

[Ingmar]

I can't remember an NBA playoffs where injuries had such a huge impact on things.

[Paelos]

I mean, assuming it's Heat v. Spurs in the finals, I don't think it would have been that huge of a shock with or without injuries, no?

[Threash]

You could say Westbrook getting injured was a pretty big deal, but trading Harden was just as big a problem for OKC.  Durant/Westbrook/Harden was a dynasty waiting to happen, Durant/Westbrook is an injury away from being an afterthought.

[Ingmar]

I mean, assuming it's Heat v. Spurs in the finals, I don't think it would have been that huge of a shock with or without injuries, no?

Maybe not the East so much, but just about every matchup in the West minus the finals has had critical injuries that probably affected the outcome.

[Paelos]

I thought the Rudy Gay trade was just as big as any injury. I think the Grizz play hard with the Spurs with Rudy on the team. Without him, they didn't have the offense to play with the Spurs D at all. The best they could hope for was to drag the Spurs down into the high 80s, and even that didn't work since they had to play OT.

[Ghambit]

Jesus this series has been the worst officiating the entire playoffs; culminating in this game 4.  Absolutely abysmal. 

[Paelos]

Jesus this series has been the worst officiating the entire playoffs; culminating in this game 4.  Absolutely abysmal. 

What part? I didn't watch the game because I just assumed Miami would coast.

[DevilsAdvocate25]

Jesus this series has been the worst officiating the entire playoffs; culminating in this game 4.  Absolutely abysmal. 

What part? I didn't watch the game because I just assumed Miami would coast.

Lebron James fouled out in a game they were down by 4 in with 2 minutes to go setting a screen. Not a moving screen or one of those grabby screens that Lamar Odom sets, he just planted and hip checked Stevenson. It's only the second time he has fouled out in 128 playoff games. The stats at the bottom of the screen said he had 0 fouls in the previous game.

All 3 refs missed the ball hitting the rim on a shot by the Pacers in the 3rd. The Pacers got a shot clock violation. It cost them 2 points and the ball. Even at full speed it was very obvious that it bounced off the rim.

Only 2 technicals called, but a total of 55 fouls called combined. Of course Crawford was officiating...

[Paelos]

Lebron fouling out is a good thing, imo. He gets soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many calls it's time somebody didn't cut him a break. Controversial or not, he's been flopping a lot in these playoffs, AND calling it a strategy. He's not the only one on the Heat, either. If the NBA heads that direction we might as well give up. It'll turn into the soccer bullshit we hate.

It doesn't matter though, the calls will go back the Heat's way in 5-6. They win in 6. Stern would never allow this to get to an elimination game.

[Ghambit]

They literally shoved Chalmers into the stands during a shot and they didn't call a foul.  Hibbert raises up for a block, jumps and body checks the shooter - no foul.  Bosh does the same... foul.  LeBron did the same, perfectly (following the verticality rules)... foul.  There was just zero consistency from the officials throughout the whole game, and it cost the Heat in the end because that's their style. (they're aggressive and take chances)  Shit, Birdman got a foul with his face against Hibbert's elbow the other day... but LeBron does even less (not even leading with the elbow ala Hibbert) and it's an offensive foul.  They throw techs for dumb crap like talking or disagreeing with the official.  Docked the coach a timeout 'cause he was on the court giving a play (I'm pretty sure that's not even remotely legal per the rules); just give the tech like you're supposed to.  And somehow in this series it's a defensive foul if the offensive guy initiates contact, pushes off, then shoots.      In the 2nd half that was Hill's MO; worse than a flop imo.

There was a lot of stuff miscalled on the Pacers side also, but their team is more setup for that.  They dont foul much and they prefer slower play; so if the officials get whistle-happy it's better for them.

I mean, just look at the stats and you can see.   It was horrendous.  The LeBron offensive foul thing was just the coup de gras; 56 secs to go and they call that.  Earlier in the quarter Hibbert literally annihlated someone with a moving screen and no call.  And the Wade "travel?" LoL

It was so bad that the league is actually investigating the game.  Seriously. 

[Paelos]

I believe it. I just think it's hilarious the league looking into a game going against their glory boys when bad officiating in the NBA is an epidemic. That same thing goes against the Pacers? Oh well, tough break boys that's why we play 7 games. Against the Heat? INVESTIGATION! THERE'S MONEY AT STAKE!

[Threash]

Jesus this series has been the worst officiating the entire playoffs; culminating in this game 4.  Absolutely abysmal. 

What part? I didn't watch the game because I just assumed Miami would coast.

Lebron James fouled out in a game they were down by 4 in with 2 minutes to go setting a screen. Not a moving screen or one of those grabby screens that Lamar Odom sets, he just planted and hip checked Stevenson. It's only the second time he has fouled out in 128 playoff games. The stats at the bottom of the screen said he had 0 fouls in the previous game.

All 3 refs missed the ball hitting the rim on a shot by the Pacers in the 3rd. The Pacers got a shot clock violation. It cost them 2 points and the ball. Even at full speed it was very obvious that it bounced off the rim.

Only 2 technicals called, but a total of 55 fouls called combined. Of course Crawford was officiating...

The "0 fouls the previous game" is the biggest travesty here.  Lebron James is a very physical player who uses his strength very effectively and goes months at a time not getting called for fouls, in games were fairly officiated he SHOULD regularly be in foul trouble.

[Paelos]

Lebron just got a $5k fine for flopping along with 2 of the Pacers. Finally!

[DevilsAdvocate25]

Lebron just got a $5k fine for flopping along with 2 of the Pacers. Finally!

Yep, double flop on him and West.

Then Stevenson got one for a flop against Ray Allen.

Also, Stevenson foul on Wade got upgraded to a Flagrant.

[Malakili]

I'm only a casual fan of basketball and never played it, so I can't say I know what I am talking about, but the amount of contact allowed in the NBA seems almost entirely arbitrary to me.  I have no sense of what is or isn't going to be a foul until it's called or not most of the time.  Sometimes a literal slap on the wrist has a guy going to the foul line, sometimes lowering your shoulder into someone and pushing them gets no call either way.  

[Ingmar]

The only thing that bothers me about that traveling call is that they don't call it every time.

[Paelos]

NBA officiating is arbitrary by nature, because it's subjective and the flow of the game is so fast. It's akin to holding calls in the NFL. They happen on every play, but you only have to call what you deem obvious versions.

That being said, flopping should continue to be pointed out by the league and fined, especially on their best players. There's no place for that in a sport of 7 foot giants.

[DevilsAdvocate25]

The only thing that bothers me about that traveling call is that they don't call it every time.

Initially, I was mad about it, but on the replay you can see that he came to a stop with both feet behind the 3 pt line and picked up the ball, then stepped forward and planted his left foot and his right foot comes off the ground, then hops backward to his right foot and throws the pass. If his right foot hadn't left the ground, then it wouldn't have been a travel.