2013 NBA playoff thread

[ABQCOWBOY]

At a point, we just have to stop comparing guys to Jordan. He and Lebron are two totally different players, at two different positions, with two different skill sets in two different eras. It's a lesson in futility.

Who was better - Larry Allen or Emmitt Smith?

Who is better - Clayton Kershaw or Miguel Cabrera?

Allen and on the Kershaw/Cabrera question, are we talking on PEDs or off?

 

[Noryb]

Lebron James: "man there is 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Leonard is playing off of me and if I drive the Spurs might double team me, quick pass the ball to Chalmers"

Announcer: "shot clock running down... Chalmers puts up a 3... it's way off"

Casual NBA fan: "man the heat role players suck!"

 

[NIBGoldenchild]

I seriously doubt James is 290 lbs.

Agreed. I believe he's more in the 250-260 range.

 

[RastaRocket]

Lebron's listed height/weight is 6' 8" 250 lbs.

 

[RastaRocket]

Allen and on the Kershaw/Cabrera question, are we talking on PEDs or off?

I honestly believe Cabrera is clean.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I honestly believe Cabrera is clean.

This is a joke?

 

[RastaRocket]

This is a joke?

Nope. I believe he is one of the stars in baseball who is clean. I think he is just an extremely talented hitter. He has never been linked to any scandal. Melky Cabrera is dirty but I believe Miguel is clean. His body has changed in no way to make me question PED use either.

 

[jterrell]

Certainly debatable. I am a UNC fan and a Jordan fan but he is not the best player of all time IMO. He is in that discussion thou.

Only debate is with big men from other eras, not guards. At guard it isn't even close. In the modern era it isn't even close. Jordan was simply dominant on both ends of the floor and one of the greatest finishers ever to see the game.

According to Phil Jackson he is. According to Phil Jackson, the difference between Kobe and Michael were very close and on any given night, against any given team, it could go either way. Over all, he did say in his book that Michael was better and I agree with that but he never said that Kobe wasn't in the conversation. In fact, he said just the opposite and I heard him say that myself in interviews on ESPN.

That's not true. Phil is very clear who was the better player. Mike.
He is discussing his two great 2Gs so of course he compares them but he is clear in who was better. Even if he didn't it is clear anyway. Kobe shoots it too poorly and defends far less impactfully and doesn't pass it at all. Kobe has a will to win second only to guys like MJ and maybe Russell but he doesn't have MJ's all-around game.

LeBron might have a better precentage but LeBron can not shoot a jump shot like Kobe can, on the move and in the face of defenders. LeBron can spot up and shoot pretty well but he can not take guys off the bounce, rise up and shoot over guys like Kobe can. His jump shot is different and that's probably why he shoots a higher percentage but that is just speculation on my part.

LeBron doesn't have to take contested jumpers because he can actually get to the rim... ya know, like Mike. Kobe can get shots off but he is more comparable to Iverson than Jordan or LeBron for efficiency.



There are tons of advanced basketball stats that remove all the feely nonsense. Kobe is at a 1.83 for Win Shares per 48 mins. Jordan? 2.50. LeBron? 2.37. Shaq? 2.08. Ray Allen 1.52. Oscar Robertson? 2.07.

 

[jterrell]

Did Wade have nothing in the tank when they played the Mavs 2 yrs ago? The Heat kept those games close only for Lebron to shrink in the 4th quarter.

Lebron is the most skilled player in the league but he has clearly shown the tendency to shrink in big moments. Lebron shot 57% from the field and 40% from 3pt range during the season but in this series he is shooting 39% and 23% respectively, while pretty much averaging the same amount of attempts per game. Most of the shots he made in games 2 and 3 came in garbage time. Mike Miller and Ray Allen are a combined 20-25 in this series and the role players carried Lebron in game 2. The heat are down 1 - 2 because as to the norm, Lebron the star has disappeared and has been replaced by Lebron the facilitator.

Guessing you've never actually played basketball.

When an NBA player is wide open you pass him the ball and he scores. You don't leave non-centers in the NBA open... ever.

MJ was ruthless to his teammates if they missed open shots. RUTHLESS. But he did pass the ball many times at the end of games. And spares hit shots.

LeBron is the best defender on the Heat.
The guy guards Tony Parker for cripessake. While the rest of the Heat cant even manage to guard spot up shooters around him.

The Mavs beat the Heat because they had a better team. Much like the Spurs they are defending the paint and spreading the floor on offense with 3 point shooters.

LeBron has the only low post game, the only facilitation of the offense and the only lock down defense for that team. The Heat are terrible in the half court unless they can get LeBron on an isolation and even then he has to beat a pack line defense that sags off literally every other player.

 

[RastaRocket]

Yep, the Heat lose if Lebron can't get to the paint. The Mavs ran the best zone defense in the league in 2011 and that was the achilles to the Heat. If you force Lebron to settle for jump shots and kick out opportunities you severely limit the Heat.

 

[Noryb]

Guessing you've never actually played basketball.

When an NBA player is wide open you pass him the ball and he scores. You don't leave non-centers in the NBA open... ever.

Yeah I never played, you got me... where did I say you don't pass the ball to open players?

MJ was ruthless to his teammates if they missed open shots. RUTHLESS. But he did pass the ball many times at the end of games. And spares hit shots.

Miami spares are hitting shots, Lebron's the one that's shooting 39% and turning the ball over in critical moments of the game.

LeBron is the best defender on the Heat.
The guy guards Tony Parker for cripessake. While the rest of the Heat cant even manage to guard spot up shooters around him.

Yep, that's what the Heat are known for, weak perimeter defense. Don't let one game fool you. The Heat's perimeter defense is actually a strength of this team. Unfortunately they followed Lebron's lead and didn't come to play Tuesday.

Lebron guards TP in certain situations, not the entire game. Jordan guarded Magic, Gary Payton, Drexler and Kevin Johson in certain situations too. Kobe generally guarded the other teams best perimeter player, so what's your point? I thought that's what NBA stars do.

The Mavs beat the Heat because they had a better team. Much like the Spurs they are defending the paint and spreading the floor on offense with 3 point shooters.

LeBron has the only low post game, the only facilitation of the offense and the only lock down defense for that team. The Heat are terrible in the half court unless they can get LeBron on an isolation and even then he has to beat a pack line defense that sags off literally every other player.

Are the Mavs and Spurs the only team allowed to employ such a unique defensive strategy? Is this his excuse for his statistically poor performance in this series and the fact that he averaged 17pts in the Mavs series? Not to mention his 2 FTA per game average. Heck he should guard TP the entire game... he aint doing crap on offense.

 

[Noryb]

Yep, the Heat lose if Lebron can't get to the paint. The Mavs ran the best zone defense in the league in 2011 and that was the achilles to the Heat. If you force Lebron to settle for jump shots and kick out opportunities you severely limit the Heat.

Lebron needs to come out and shot the jumper and shoot it with confidence. Don't hesitate and think about it, just shoot the ball. He has to make the Spurs play him honestly to open up opportunities to go to the hole. They should also post him up more, for the life of me I don't know why they do this some games and totally ignore it in other games.

 

[Sean50Lee]

GO Spurs!

 

[Lodeus]

 

[jimmy40]

Steve Javie was a horrible ref, hell worse than horrible and they're asking his opinion on calls? You gotta be kidding me.

 

[juck]

Ginosey is done.

 

[jimmy40]

I quit watching when Bosch flopped like he got shot out of a cannon and the ref of course ate it up, was the reffing that bad the whole game?

 

[Noryb]

Wow, you mean LeBron and Wade can actually score against the Spurs even though they have all those athletic, long armed defenders and with Pop employing a pack line defense? Say it aint so....

The only thing that can stop Lebron and Wade is Lebron and Wade. When they play like this, not only do they win, they win going away. Of course Sunday they'll come out and lay an egg...

 

[Gemini Dolly]

Damn, When Wade and Lebron are in the Zone.

LIGHTS OUT.

Winner of Game 5 r your Champions.

Ginobili is done. Hes got no more.

Gary Parrish ‏@GaryParrishCBS 46m Manu Ginobili has finally started playing like you'd expect a man with a large bald spot to play.

Parker will brilliant in the 1st half, not so much 2nd half. Duncan was out of it. Bench wasnt as good as game 3.

 

[MC KAos]

let me preface this rant by saying, i still think the spurs will win this series....

but, tiago splitter was a complete buzz kill tonight. every time the spurs would start to gain some momentum, he would just completely kill it by getting blocked by guy much shorter than he is, turning the ball over, getting worked on the boards or just completely breaking down defensively. he played one of the worst games i have ever seen a spur play in the 20 or so years that i can have been following this team (im 27, so i dont remember much before i was 7). He was atrocious and single handedly cost us any chance of at least competing!

having said that, its still a 2-2 series, and game 5, probably the most critical game besides a potential game 7, is at home, we will be coming off a loss, which we have played very well in. Most importantly what we learned from this game is that green and neal are just white hot right now and that should continue at least in game 5, being that its in SA. Also, and most importantly, tony seems to be fine going forward.

I hate to say it, because he is one of my all time favorite athletes, in ANY sport i follow, but ginobili is about as done as you could possibly be. he is a huge liability out there, taking terrible shots and turning the ball over. i think we should just have gary neal back up tony, and shorten the rotation to the normal starters, neal, diaw, and maybe bonner if he can hit some open jumpers. im just glad ginobili's contract is up this year, if he wants to continue to play for us, he is going to have to take the minimum, otherwise, he needs to retire or play elsewhere. as for Tiago, he cant play any worse, hopefully this game didnt completely destroy his confidence going forward, because we need him for at least 20 solid minutes.

ill end this rant on one note. The Heat have proven that they cant play at this level consistently, lebron probably can, but wade just cant, i wouldnt be surprised if this is the only game in which he surpasses the 20 point mark. we HAVE to win game 5, we arent winning two in miami. i believe that the winner of game 5 will most likely win this series. if its miami that wins game 5, they WILL win this series.