NBA Playoffs thread

[CF74]

Refs played just enough part again to change the momentum of yet another game, SMH........

 

[ghst187]

Refs played just enough part again to change the momentum of yet another game, SMH........

this and the predictability of the OKC-Spurs West and Heat-Pacers East Conference Finals…..yet no one besides me seems to buy into that the NBA may just be a hint tainted…?
Even when an ex-referee came out and flat out told the world….
The NBA is so predictable come playoff time that I've been seriously considering finding a bookie, plus the 2002 Lakers-Kings rob job….. And its predictable in a sport that is generally unpredictable…see NCAA men's March Madness. I find it all highly suspicious at a minimum.

 

[joseephuss]

What is so unpredictable about college basketball? Every year the winner of the NCAA championship is one of the powerhouse teams.

 

[ghst187]

Butler's been to the championship game 2x in the past 5 years, Wichita St came from no where to surprise a lot and went pretty far 2 years in a row, Coastal Florida, Dayton, Stephen F. Austin, and San Diego St have pulled off some upsets of major powers and advanced quite a ways recently….
In the NBA, its profits are largely driven by the stars and made worse by their shameless promotion of Michael Jordan during his days. Rest assured, its Lebron's time now and the Heat will get their chance at a three-peat..it was written in the stars long ago…and probably Silver's office whiteboard. Allowing KD to win the MVP this year made me think that the league wants to see a OKC-Miami (or more aptly a Lebron-Durant) showdown in the finals. Although admittedly I'm an OKC fan I did smirk (like the boy on Polar Express when he sees the mechanical Santa's in the toy store window) when Randolph got suspended in game 7 of round one against OKC and then OKC got some ridiculousness in their favor to banish the Clippers. So I'm not 100% certain on the OKC-SA winner but I do know the winner will play the Heat. I find it ironic that the Pacers are in this situation again….standing in the way of a League-mandated Heat three peat like the Pacers stood in the way of the Bulls during their 70 game winning season. They took the Bulls to a game seven only to get a clownshow of an officiating job.
I'll be glad to shut up with the conspiracy theories if the Heat don't make it to the finals. I WANT to believe. But just seems inevitable and league-mandated.
I tend to think OKC will come back and win as that is definitely more marketable than another SA-Heat rematch.

 

[Biggems]

Ray Allen hitting that 3 was amazing!

The Heat were the better team and things worked out so the better team won.

Comical.....if the Spurs had won game 6 or even 7, no one would claim Miami was the better team. Also, had the Spurs won, the Heat would have been dismantled. Lebron and Bosh leave. Allen either retires or leaves. Three finals in a row, but only 1 title would have made it seem like the coup was an epic failure, considering they boasted 7 titles or something like that.

As far as amazing goes, the only thing I find amazing is Pop's decision to have his best player and top rebounder on the bench for the final 2 Heat possessions. I don't think I will ever comprehend what was on the mind of Pop when he parked Duncan.

 

[joseephuss]

Butler's been to the championship game 2x in the past 5 years, Wichita St came from no where to surprise a lot and went pretty far 2 years in a row, Coastal Florida, Dayton, Stephen F. Austin, and San Diego St have pulled off some upsets of major powers and advanced quite a ways recently….

And none of those teams won it all. The predictable winners are the big programs. They put the most into it and get the most out of it, which makes it predictable.

 

[Biggems]

I was hoping when Silver took over, the NBA would not be so tainted......oh well.....

I am not going to completely blame the refs for the loss last night........most of the credit goes to Ibaka for his energy and defense, Parker playing like the aliens from Space Jam stole his skills, the Spurs turning it over like the ball was infected or something, and missing a ton of wide open shots. Still, in the 2nd half, whenever the Spurs were about to get a little momentum, the whistles seemed to come out. I am sorry, but for 1 team to shoot over 20 FTs and the other team 0 in a single quarter, that is just poor officiating. While the Spurs were shooting jumpers a lot, they did attack some. I am not saying there should have been several FTs, but I saw at least 3 shooting fouls that were not called (6 FTs right there). However, the worst call of the night was the offensive foul on Mills. Not only did it take away a 3 that would have cut the lead to 6 and give the Spurs some momentum, but it killed the Spurs momentum, and the Thunder scored 5 straight to go up by 14. Every jump shooter in the league does what Mills did, and does it to draw a foul (Miller, Malone, Durant, and Harden have made livings out of the maneuver). It should have been a no call. Still, even if you want to call a foul on the play, the shot should have counted, since it had already left Mills' hands before the OKC player ran into Mills' leg. BTW, we all know why they foul was called.....it was Durant who ran into the leg and fell down.......I used to like Durant, but he has become the whiniest, doucheiest, punkbutt, cry baby in the league. He acts so entitled out there, like every single call should go his way and if not, he complains the entire next possession or two. His act absolutely sickens me. It is one thing to complain about calls, they all do it, but he takes it to an epic level. Giving the Spurs 9-10 FTs in garbage time to even out the FT totals was a pathetic display by the refs and the league to cover up their one-sided second half officiating.

Game 4, go back to attacking the paint. Play as a team, no more running up the court and chucking the first shot. Share the basketball. Limit turnovers. Rebound better, especially on the defensive end. Continue with the solid transition D. Play better overall D, covering the 3 pt shooters. Go at Ibaka early and often. Parker needs to be very aggressive. Oh, and make the wide open shots.

Spurs will win game 4. I think the game will be the closest on of the series so far......109 - 103. It is a 5 pt game late, but the Spurs are fouled twice to put the lead up to 9 with FTs. OKC makes a 3 at the buzzer to close the game down by 6. Then, they close it out in 5, close for 3 quarters, Spurs pull away in the 4th to win by 10+.

BTW, the loss last night was by 9........it broke a string of 8 straight Spurs games, where the winner won by double digits, the Spurs winning 7 of them.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Comical.....if the Spurs had won game 6 or even 7, no one would claim Miami was the better team. Also, had the Spurs won, the Heat would have been dismantled. Lebron and Bosh leave. Allen either retires or leaves. Three finals in a row, but only 1 title would have made it seem like the coup was an epic failure, considering they boasted 7 titles or something like that.

As far as amazing goes, the only thing I find amazing is Pop's decision to have his best player and top rebounder on the bench for the final 2 Heat possessions. I don't think I will ever comprehend what was on the mind of Pop when he parked Duncan.

IF a bullfrog had wings he woudnt bump his butt on the ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[Biggems]

IF a bullfrog had wings he woudnt bump his butt on the ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

upon landing he just might...............bullfrogs aren't small, you know.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

upon landing he just might...............bullfrogs aren't small, you know.

To be honest, Im not all that up on bullfrogs, nor basketball. But I do watch the Heat in the post season.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I was hoping when Silver took over, the NBA would not be so tainted......oh well.....

I am not going to completely blame the refs for the loss last night........most of the credit goes to Ibaka for his energy and defense, Parker playing like the aliens from Space Jam stole his skills, the Spurs turning it over like the ball was infected or something, and missing a ton of wide open shots. Still, in the 2nd half, whenever the Spurs were about to get a little momentum, the whistles seemed to come out. I am sorry, but for 1 team to shoot over 20 FTs and the other team 0 in a single quarter, that is just poor officiating.

You're right, it is. But didn't Westbrook not go to the line a single time last game in SA? Even as aggressive as he is at going to the basket?

As much as we like our NBA teams, we always know in the back of our heads that the officiating is borderline crooked at times. I guess the owners don't really care as long as they make their money. I'm sure you heard about the former FBI agent who was part of the Donaghy investigation that told Mark Cuban that if he sued the league he'd probably win, but Cuban said he didn't want to kill the golden goose.

 

[Biggems]

You're right, it is. But didn't Westbrook not go to the line a single time last game in SA? Even as aggressive as he is at going to the basket?

As much as we like our NBA teams, we always know in the back of our heads that the officiating is borderline crooked at times. I guess the owners don't really care as long as they make their money. I'm sure you heard about the former FBI agent who was part of the Donaghy investigation that told Mark Cuban that if he sued the league he'd probably win, but Cuban said he didn't want to kill the golden goose.

tbh, i dont know about westbrooks FTs in game 2.

Im not upset at the thunder shooting so many in the 3rd, they attacked the basket and were aggressive. however, the Spurs deserved 6-8 FTs that quarter.....there were a handful of times the Spurs got fouled, but no whistle (I mean more contact than that which was sending the Thunder to the line for some of their FTs).

Even with the one-sided officiating in the 3rd, it was a 6 pt game (Thunder won 3rd by 2) going into the 4th.

 

[jterrell]

tbh, i dont know about westbrooks FTs in game 2.

Im not upset at the thunder shooting so many in the 3rd, they attacked the basket and were aggressive. however, the Spurs deserved 6-8 FTs that quarter.....there were a handful of times the Spurs got fouled, but no whistle (I mean more contact than that which was sending the Thunder to the line for some of their FTs).

Even with the one-sided officiating in the 3rd, it was a 6 pt game (Thunder won 3rd by 2) going into the 4th.

at any level of bball the home team gets a bit of break with officiating.
this was a small home court bias imho.
this wasnt like the heat getting 25 free throws from dwayne wade in one game versus the mavs.

 

[jterrell]

And none of those teams won it all. The predictable winners are the big programs. They put the most into it and get the most out of it, which makes it predictable.

that statement may have been accurate at one point but isn't really any longer.
kentucky did well last year (in the tourney after a rough regular season) but most of the teams were not mega programs.
what you describe does hold in football but basketball is too much a year to year thing.
dayton, san diego state, butler and gonzaga are recent examples. iowa state and other afterthoughts in football also do well.

on the flip side duke and kansas from last year showed having the best players doesn't mean you'll win.

in college football it is much harder to crack that glass ceiling.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Gonzaga has never really broken through though. They have a good program but never can win when it counts.

 

[ghst187]

It's tons easier to control the outcome of an nba game than a football game and as for college basketball, there's not as much profit motive to fix games, at least for the league as a whole. They'll make crazy money whether there's a power program in the finals or two Cinderellas. The nba is a different beast, they lose big revenue if a series only goes four or five games and/or it's completely uninteresting. Further, the nba has made itself 100% about its brand name star players. People tune into to watch individuals play in the nba. If Lebron is their cash cow and loses in round one, esp to a small market team with no household name stars....it's like killing the golden goose. And with a few calls or no-calls here or there or just in the clutch...can change an entire series and add millions to the nba's profitability for that series. They probably view it as insurance. Take the OKC-SA series, if SA goes up 3-0, hardly anyone is watching games four or five if there is one. Frankly I'm shocked even an SA fan would complain about the refs, SA has been in a ton of games the last few years that were decided by refs, often with predictable outcomes. For example, games one through seven of the finals last year. Funny how people rave about how great the playoffs have been this year, yet without one true upset. Note to SA fans, expect to get hosed next game. A 3-1 heading back to SA won't sell the drama nearly as well as 2-2 will.

 

[jimmy40]

To be honest, Im not all that up on bullfrogs, nor basketball. But I do watch the Heat in the post season.

normal Heat fan.

 

[jimmy40]

George Hill gets slammed going to the basket, no call, back down the court Lebron goes to the basket and George Hill puts a finger on his shoulder and it's a foul. Fire all these full time refs and start over with part timers.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

George Hill gets slammed going to the basket, no call, back down the court Lebron goes to the basket and George Hill puts a finger on his shoulder and it's a foul. Fire all these full time refs and start over with part timers.

Sad thing is, they're calling them exactly as their bosses want. The new part time guys would soon be calling it the exact same way.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

normal Heat fan.

Not really. Most are far more passionate than I. I cant get too excited about a game like basketball that's only worth watching in the post season.