*** 2016 NBA Playoff thread ***

[thesmokingman]

damn plumlee

 

[DesiPower]

Over mother fvckin time... What the fvck... I can't take it anymore...

 

[thesmokingman]

and we're in ot

 

[thesmokingman]

oh they woke the little giant

 

[DesiPower]

fucked up finish to a great game...

 

[Drako]

Steph is unbelievable

 

[thegimp03]

What happened Portland? LOL

 

[thesmokingman]

Stephen happened

 

[Drako]

Rest In Peace city

 

[DesiPower]

Rest in peace all other NBA teams

 

[Muse]

The Trailblazers even up the series tonight! Book it!

Ha! I feared so, based on Draymond Green's too-confident prediction of a victory. But they came through. They continue to amaze, and I think you have to agree that was an amazing victory (no, I didn't see it, I'm reading the SF Chronicle accounts of it). But 17 points in OT for Steph after missing 4 straight games and his first 9 three-pointers last night? That's amazing!

Steph is unbelievable

That's it in a nutshell, I'm thinking the greatest ever. No BB player has blown my mind like Steph, not even close.

The paper says he made 4 out his last 5 half-court shots pre-game. This guy is out of this world. I hope his knee feels good this morning!

 

[thesmokingman]

If you look at Curry's stats, you can see how cold he was thru the first 3 qtrs, then he starts heating up. By the 4th he's at typical percentages, and then in OT he's shooting like 95% lmao. The best thing that happened to GW is Livingston getting ejected lol.

 

[zinfamous]

Ha! I feared so, based on Draymond Green's too-confident prediction of a victory. But they came through. They continue to amaze, and I think you have to agree that was an amazing victory (no, I didn't see it, I'm reading the SF Chronicle accounts of it). But 17 points in OT for Steph after missing 4 straight games and his first 9 three-pointers last night? That's amazing!That's it in a nutshell, I'm thinking the greatest ever. No BB player has blown my mind like Steph, not even close.

The paper says he made 4 out his last 5 half-court shots pre-game. This guy is out of this world. I hope his knee feels good this morning!

David Thompson should be considered the greatest ever by the standards of you and Sp33dy. 2 phenomenal seasons are all that matter, right? Well, Thompson had more than 2 phenomenal seasons and he was the "best in the league" his first 2-4 seasons or so. It didn't take him 6 seasons to get above-average. (Fair Consideration going to 'Nique and Kareem, of course)--but Thompson was the first "should never have gone to college" type of phenom, as the Lakers were trying to get him to de-commit and flee the JV team at NC State his freshman year (JV was a freshman requirement in those days)

How about Pistol Pete? certainly the greatest ever by the same small window within a career.

Steph is playing lights out right now and certainly no one in the league can compare; but you guys have tunnel vision. You also ignore the fact that it took Steph some 6-7? seasons to get to these last 2 seasons. Why wasn't he GOAT then? Was it because Lebron was GOAT? I thought Lebron was the obvious GOAT now?

Steph certainly can be if he has another 5-9 years in his tank and continues to perform at this level. But that's a huge if. Thompson was taken out by his knees (....oh and the coke, too). Pistol was taken out, literally, by an undiagnosed hypertrophy. Steph's already-substantial injury history doesn't bode well for him, but I do like seeing phenomenal talents continue to be phenomenal so I'm pulling for that, but history leaves me skeptical.

If Steph falls off a plateau due to injury or fatigue, no one will ever remember him as GOAT because of these 2 seasons. No one. The discussion will continue to be if Lebron legitimately challenges Jordan for that honor.

 

[SP33Demon]

Steph is not a human being. Setting the record with the most points in overtime, ever? And in the playoffs nonetheless? Are you kidding me? Lebron is nowhere close to the best ever, he's not even close to mj in rings. Mj made his teams better than LeBron. Steph makes his team better than both of them (assists).

 

[lupi]

At same age, I'd easily take Bron over curry.

 

[SP33Demon]

At same age, I'd easily take Bron over curry.

Patrick Ewing disagrees. When asked who he would build a franchise around in today's era, he said Steph all the way. Hard to disagree with him when Steph just did something Lebron had never done in his entire career last night.

 

[lupi]

Yeah, I'd hate to have the guy about a week away from topping MJ in finals apperances. Someone that had a 2-1 finals lead over Curry before his team litteraly died around him, and a series in which a glorified bench assist kept the regular season MVP to third place in finals mvp voting.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Yeah, I'd hate to have the guy about a week away from topping MJ in finals apperances. Someone that had a 2-1 finals lead over Curry before his team litteraly died around him, and a series in which a glorified bench assist kept the regular season MVP to third place in finals mvp voting.

LeBron has been playing in a historically weak East for so long and the fact that he's 2-4 in the NBA Finals will keep him out of overtaking Jordan unless he goes crazy and wins the next 4.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I'm not liking how the Spurs are playing, especially given how they did it in the regular season. My one hope is that Pop is playing games. Duncan needs to play more, and Parker needs to get more involved in the offense They need to rely less on just Aldridge and Leonard. It's not the same offense when you're relaying on Adridge in the half court. They need to have six guys in double figures, the way they did it all season, not two with 30.

 

[zinfamous]

LeBron has been playing in a historically weak East for so long and the fact that he's 2-4 in the NBA Finals will keep him out of overtaking Jordan unless he goes crazy and wins the next 4.

How much weaker is the east compared to when Jordan was playing? Yeah, I think it was stronger, because there were some great teams, but each one of those was relatively short-tenured compared to the Bulls. First that come to mind:

Celtics, obviously (the legit and only team better than Jordan's great Bull's teams, imo....though they were only great before Jordan became great)

Pistons. 2 amazing years with Lambert and Rodman and Zeke and the others, and rather solid when Hill came around, but nowhere near the contenders the Bulls needed.

Knicks. Jordan probably the only reason Ewing never won a ring, but it's not like the majority of those very good Knick teams were truly special. Some of them were very good, though.

That weird year with Orlando....was that the year Jordan was "retired"?

Heat. Probably the only other competitive team, near the end of Jordan's tenure, but they were never really better than the Knicks of those same years, either.


....OK, I get your point. I would imagine that is still more competitive than what exists today. More competition then, even though one team was still incredibly dominant. Basically, today you have one guy moving from one team to the next which essentially determines which team will dominate that half of the league. sad.

Oh but don't forget: The Cavs once lost to a really shitty team this year and the Warriors also lost to a shitty team...therefore there is real parity! Sp33dy says so.

 

[SP33Demon]

Oh but don't forget: The Cavs once lost to a really shitty team this year and the Warriors also lost to a shitty team...therefore there is real parity! Sp33dy says so.

I don't say so, nyloncalculus does. And they > your non-statistically-based opinion. L2math

 

[zinfamous]

I don't say so, nyloncalculus does. And they > your non-statistically-based opinion. L2math

I never considered a C+ to be success. We clearly have different standards.

 

[lupi]

LeBron has been playing in a historically weak East for so long and the fact that he's 2-4 in the NBA Finals will keep him out of overtaking Jordan unless he goes crazy and wins the next 4.

Bills were once considered a joke, now member after member getting a gold jacket and documentaries are being made about how they were one of the greatest teams of all time.

 

[manly]

LeBron has been playing in a historically weak East for so long and the fact that he's 2-4 in the NBA Finals will keep him out of overtaking Jordan unless he goes crazy and wins the next 4.

Do you mean overtaking Jordan in GOAT status or titles? Both are highly unlikely. LeBron is already 31 and he probably has a limited number of seasons left near his physical peak. He's already entered the part of his career where all-time NBA greats have to get smarter to offset diminished athleticism. LeBron has always been a fairly heady player, but also one whose scoring is highly dependent on explosiveness near the rim.

As far as titles go, I don't blame LeBron for losing in 2007 or 2015. Even in 2014, the Spurs were a better and more talented team considering how diminished D-Wade was (yes, this is easier to say in hindsight). The title LeBron truly let slip away was in 2011 to the lesser Mavs, but even then, it was the Heat's first rodeo together. I'm not making excuses but mainly stating that winning championships is a team achievement. It's highly unlikely LeBron could win the next 4 unless you considered a scenario where he joined the Warriors and rode Curry's coattails.

 

[JujuFish]

Warning: I don't really watch basketball. If what I ask sounds stupid, it probably is.

I read that the Cavs set a record (77 of 152) for most 3-pointers in a 6-games-or-fewer series as well as most 3-point attempts in a series when shooting at least 50% (the previous record was 39 of 75 by Utah against the Spurs in 1996).

Have the Cavs always been 3-point monsters, or have they been adjusting their offensive game plan in preparation for a finals matchup with Curry and Golden State?