2016 NBA Playoffs Thread

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I don't follow the NBA but I want to say congratulations to the city of Cleveland. After 52 years they finally have a championship. I don't know how I could have kept my sanity.

 

[YosemiteSam]

That said, that was without a doubt the single worst officiated Finals series I've ever watched. The inconsistency, pettiness of some calls, blatant allowance of some obvious calls...the only saving grace is that both sides suffered and benefited. The league has to demand better.

Demand better? Controlling the games through officiating *IS* their intention. It is the league front office doing it and exactly WHY I no longer follow the NBA even though I love the sport of basketball.

 

[zrinkill]

I am glad the Golden state warriors got exactly what they deserved.

 

[Joe Realist]

Great Game 7. I thought GS would win for force OT. 9 losses all season and 8 in playoffs w/o winning it all. That shot to the groin changed everything.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Great Game 7. I thought GS would win for force OT. 9 losses all season and 8 in playoffs w/o winning it all. That shot to the groin changed everything.

yup. They win that game if green isnt having to sit imo.

 

[DFWJC]

I don't follow the NBA but I want to say congratulations to the city of Cleveland. After 52 years they finally have a championship. I don't know how I could have kept my sanity.

Man, would that be rough!

The DMN listed the remaining cities with long droughts from the 4 major pro sports championships and length of drought (# teams):

57 San Diego (2/3)
51 Buffalo (2/3)
45 Milwaukee (2)
26 Cincinnati (2)
25 Minneapolis/St Paul (4)
24 Washington (4)

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Demand better? Controlling the games through officiating *IS* their intention. It is the league front office doing it and exactly WHY I no longer follow the NBA even though I love the sport of basketball.

I quit watching the NBA as well.

I was a huge bulls fan, even before they started winning Championships.
However as big of a fan of the them as I was...the NBA officiating to let MJ get away with stuff was so blatant during games while at the same time they would ding Rodman for just looking at a guy. Sure Rodman did a good deal of stuff to deserve foul calls but there was lots of times when he would really just look at a guy and they would call a foul while jordan was fouling or traveling and not getting called. It was so blatant they let MJ get away with so many things because he was the poster boy and the marketing tool for the NBA at the time.

Got so tired of it that I quit watching the NBA all together and that was when they were winning championships...I think they won another one after I quit watching.

Plus you had the one referee years later to cheating and said that the NBA would encourage Refs to help influence games.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Don't like nor dislike Lebron or the Cavs.

However I am happy for the people of Cleveland. Too bad it was not the Browns as I think the Browns fans are probably the best fans in cleveland.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Congrats to our neighbors in Ohio, 3 hours from here...

Well earned!

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Lebron is right there with Jordan, Kobe, etc. You can't doubt the killer instinct Lebron showed these last 3 games. More than ANYTHING, I am so happy the talk of Curry being the best player in the game will finally stop.

He's obviously closer than he was yesterday, but I still don't think he is in the conversation for THE greatest of all time.

Closer, yes.
If he can even out to 4-4 in finals... Maybe go 5-4 then yes. Man I was dreading 2-5 in finals for him.

For me... If I had to pick a player or two in a scenario where I had to win the finals I would pick Jordan and Kobe as my top 2. 3rd would be Duncan.

 

[ghst187]

Ditto for me everything brain paint just said

 

[Manwiththeplan]

It was only 4 years ago when they were celebrating the anniversary of the 1992 Dream Team that some people were saying LeBron wasn't good enough to be a member of that team. Some said he wasn't better than Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen or Chris Mullen. I thought he was good enough 4 years ago and has only gotten better. One of the top ten players of all time.

well those people are stupid. Bird was more or less done at that point and was included on the team just as an acknowledgment of how much he meant to the game. Same goes for Magic, Lebron in 2012 was better than both of them in 1991, mainly because age caught up with both of them (hiv for magic).

Scottie was not quite at his peak, but even if you take 93-97 Pippen, Lebron surpassed that a long time ago.

Mullin isnt even worth mentioning in this conversation.

 

[Gemini Dolly]

Major respect for Lebron on delivering on his promise. But Cavs don't win game 7 without Kyrie's clutch shot. Props to him too. Like he said...he went Mamba Mentality.

Great sports story.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

Closer, yes.
If he can even out to 4-4 in finals... Maybe go 5-4 then yes. Man I was dreading 2-5 in finals for him.

For me... If I had to pick a player or two in a scenario where I had to win the finals I would pick Jordan and Kobe as my top 2. 3rd would be Duncan.

I like Kobe, and think all the Spurs/Mavs fans give him a hard time, but he is far from number 2 if I had to pick a player to win a finals.

 

[speedkilz88]

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Hakeem was the best center, IMO of course. I never really got to see the stilt play but the Dream was better than Kareem.

Dream was a better defender than Kareem. That's it. The sky hook was the most unstoppable weapon in the NBA. Kareem is the NBA's all time leading scorer for a major reason because of that.

 

[Tabascocat]

 

[dogunwo]

Man, if the last score of the game was LeBron dunking on Draymond Green, might have been the most epic finish to a finals series ever. Yes, over Jordan's shot over Ehlo or Russell

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Lol


Man, LeBron James is a freaking awesome story.

Born there.
Drafted there.
Left there. Win a couple of titles.
Return there.
Promise a title.
Deliver a title.

The King!

It's akin to Babe Ruth calling the shot... The same, but different.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

Dream was a better defender than Kareem. That's it. The sky hook was the most unstoppable weapon in the NBA. Kareem is the NBA's all time leading scorer for a major reason because of that.

He's also the all time leading scorer because of how long he played.

He had a few 30+ ppg seasons, early in his career, but other than that, the scoring averages are about the same. Had Hakeem played with Oscar Robertson early in his career and then ended his career with a Magic Johnson in his prime, he easily could have had a higher scoring average.

And don't sleep on the dream shake...