Official 2013-2014 NBA Playoffs Thread

[darkewaffle]

Lebron to Phoenix? Dragic/James/Bledsoe big three!

 

[child of wonder]

Could anyone imagine Jordan going 2-3 in the NBA Finals? That another team could have a "defensive stopper" prevent him from exerting his will on the Finals?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3qMJCS4Xck&feature=kp

"He can't guard me."

 

[Arkaign]

Damn, utter annihilation by the Spurs. Best team basketball I've seen in the NBA for years.

I know what you mean. Though I would posit that the Mavs defeated the Heat with a much weaker overall team than the Spurs against a younger, stronger Heat. The teamwork and grit were amaze balls.

 

[QueBert]

Better team won......too bad that didn't happen last year.

The better team did win last year, you don't win 4 games to another team by luck. Making the finals 4 years in a row is an amazing accomplishment. Anyone who says the Heat suck is a hater plain and simple.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Eh, I don't know. Lebron left the floor pretty early IMO. He really gassed out after the first as well. If he could have kept up what he did then the entire game, Heat might have one. But, Lebron scoring 17 and the rest of his team scoring around 5 doesn't really help when the Spurs are playing well.

Good thing though, is Wade might finally be cut and the Heat will have an extra $16+ million to get some good role players.

so you're saying LBJ needed to put up 68 points in a finals game in order for his team to even have a chance

naw, what the Heat needed was just one other player to put forth a half-decent effort and then they might have only lost by 4 or 5.

 

[dougp]

The better team did win last year, you don't win 4 games to another team by luck. Making the finals 4 years in a row is an amazing accomplishment. Anyone who says the Heat suck is a hater plain and simple.

Exactly. Except now, people are detracting from the Spurs win by saying that this Heat team is as bad as the 2007 Cavs. No credit is being given to the Spurs for taking Wade, Bosh and the supporting cast out of the game - despite them having a decent series against Indiana.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Could anyone imagine Jordan going 2-3 in the NBA Finals? That another team could have a "defensive stopper" prevent him from exerting his will on the Finals?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3qMJCS4Xck&feature=kp

"He can't guard me."

keep living in the past, you're missing a wonderful present/future

 

[Retro Rob]

Good thing though, is Wade might finally be cut and the Heat will have an extra $16+ million to get some good role players.

This is what I was thinking. Sadly, I see him going the way of Penny Hardaway, but really don't care too much.

He's got like 40+ million coming to him over the next couple years. I think he'll be forced to take a paycut.

 

[manly]

Eh, I don't know. Lebron left the floor pretty early IMO. He really gassed out after the first as well. If he could have kept up what he did then the entire game, Heat might have one. But, Lebron scoring 17 and the rest of his team scoring around 5 doesn't really help when the Spurs are playing well.

Good thing though, is Wade might finally be cut and the Heat will have an extra $16+ million to get some good role players.

Spo has chronically mismanaged LeBron's minutes. An athlete of that size with a history of cramping issues cannot play the entire game without rest. Spo going 2-2 in the Finals with this roster qualifies him as a slightly above average head coach IMO. It's easy outcoaching Scott Brooks, but Carlisle and Popovich are heads and shoulders above league average. I felt Pop fucked up last year, it wasn't like Spo won a heads-up chess match.

Please stop. This is not the NFL, players cannot simply be cut without consequences. D-Wade has an opt-out but chances are he won't exercise it without some form of gentlemen's agreement with Pat Riley. I don't know if players are allowed to "renegotiate" their contract prior to opting out but if so, D-Wade might be talked into something like 4 years, $58M. He alleviates the team's severe cap issues, but still tacks on some guaranteed money that most GMs would be very reluctant to give him right now.

But he's not going to opt out if he doesn't have a good idea of what LeBron is doing and if there's a chance the Heat would not re-sign him. Considering this is basically Wade's last NBA contract, he has to be careful not to shoot himself in the foot.

 

[smackababy]

Exactly. Except now, people are detracting from the Spurs win by saying that this Heat team is as bad as the 2007 Cavs. No credit is being given to the Spurs for taking Wade, Bosh and the supporting cast out of the game - despite them having a decent series against Indiana.

I don't think anyone can argue the Spurs were simply a better team than the Heat this year. I think a huge park that is going to get overlooked is that the Spurs were able to shut down (both on offense and defense) the Heat's supporting cast. Leonard did as good as anyone can expect against Lebron, but he is Lebron; he is going to put up some good numbers and play good defense. But, if you look at Wade, Bosh, Chalmers, Allen, Battier, Birdman, etc, the Spurs took them all out of the game. Was it because Chalmers didn't show up or could it be that Patty Mills said during the off season "I don't want to be that guy that only gets in games when it is a blow out" and stepped his shit up a lot. Same with Diaw.

The Spurs made adjustments since last year, and every player around the Big 3 got better. It really showed against the Heat.

 

[purbeast0]

anyone who WOULDNT want lebron james on their team is simply a hater. there really is no other explanation.

"he is the current best player on the planet but we don't want him"

yeah, ok.

 

[smackababy]

anyone who WOULDNT want lebron james on their team is simply a hater. there really is no other explanation.

"he is the current best player on the planet but we don't want him"

yeah, ok.

They could pull an '84 Portland and say "well, we already have a good player in that position (Drexler)" and skip Jordan.

 

[Attic]

One of the most striking tragedies of Lebron's career so far is that he hasn't had a decent coach to play for. His next level comes from better coach IMO.

Look at him vs the other greats and compare coaches.


It was startling to see his fall off after Q1 in game 5. Why not just take the game over the entire game? He's a complete athletic freak and enjoys ref benefit like the other greats. That's what he's not been able to do in finals, just dominate and take over to win, like Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, Duncan. Lebron is in spitting distance, but he's clearly not there yet. After his 1st Q, he should have made 50shot attempts game 5, only way they had a chance to win.

 

[Ns1]

lol @ mean tweets NBA edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_0wjFP3YsQ

 

[darkewaffle]

Saw that earlier, I actually liked the Mutombo one lol. Cousins was also good.

 

[tboo]

Yeah, they only won consecutive NBA titles, they really suck.

Seriously, congrats to the Spurs; I thought LeBron was graceful in defeat. 31-10-5 in a losing effort, only idiots will continue to give him shit for this.

I dont recall saying they suck?

 

[child of wonder]

keep living in the past, you're missing a wonderful present/future

Just felt the need to put Lebron ball washers who compare him to Jordan in their place.

The present game is fun to watch, too. Pity I won't get to root for Kevin Love anymore.

 

[Miramonti]

i do love the espn articles this morning saying lebron did all he could, the rest of the team sucked lmao. oh well, time for lebron to jump ship to the next "sure" thing.

/me waits for decision:the sequel

Could anyone imagine Jordan going 2-3 in the NBA Finals? That another team could have a "defensive stopper" prevent him from exerting his will on the Finals?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3qMJCS4Xck&feature=kp

"He can't guard me."

That would be tragic if it's James is considered as having done all he could. He scored 17 in the 1st quarter and 14 over the next 3 quarters, yet his team desperately needed scoring. He went soft after some open looks didn't go down, taking only 4-5 shots in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter (excluding shots resulting in ft's.) Whether that was due to lack endurance or mental weakness, he took his foot off the gas and wasn't willing to work hard for his shots when they got tougher or when his teammates couldn't make anything. They weren't exactly double or triple teaming him either, only helping with rotations to try and always have someone in front of him.

 

[zerocool84]

That would be tragic if it's James is considered as having done all he could. He scored 17 in the 1st quarter and 14 over the next 3 quarters, yet his team desperately needed scoring. He went soft after some open looks didn't go down, taking only 4-5 shots in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter (excluding shots resulting in ft's.) Whether that was due to lack endurance or mental weakness, he took his foot off the gas and wasn't willing to work hard for his shots when they got tougher or when his teammates couldn't make anything. They weren't exactly double or triple teaming him either, only helping with rotations to try and always have someone in front of him.

You heard it here first, a 30pt 10rb game is not acceptable. He should have done more. I'm not a LeBron fan but wow, you're just that type of person that no matter how good someone is, if you don't like them, they can never do enough.

 

[QueBert]

That would be tragic if it's James is considered as having done all he could. He scored 17 in the 1st quarter and 14 over the next 3 quarters, yet his team desperately needed scoring. He went soft after some open looks didn't go down, taking only 4-5 shots in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter (excluding shots resulting in ft's.) Whether that was due to lack endurance or mental weakness, he took his foot off the gas and wasn't willing to work hard for his shots when they got tougher or when his teammates couldn't make anything. They weren't exactly double or triple teaming him either, only helping with rotations to try and always have someone in front of him.

So you're telling me a double double where he scored 30 points isn't trying hard? That's play off MVP performance for anyone else, but James? People will say he choked.

 

[slayer202]

So you're telling me a double double where he scored 30 points isn't trying hard? That's play off MVP performance for anyone else, but James? People will say he choked.

the heat lost

 

[Miramonti]

You heard it here first, a 30pt 10rb game is not acceptable. He should have done more. I'm not a LeBron fan but wow, you're just that type of person that no matter how good someone is, if you don't like them, they can never do enough.

With that reasoning, I suppose if he got all 30/10 in the first quarter he wouldn't have had to do anything the rest of the game to prove how great he is. But he didn't so I guess he put up a few shots to pad the stats. If he were actually trying to reverse his team's fortunes, he would have put up a lot more than that. Sorry, but when his teammates can't hit the broad side of a barn on most shots, and he has the best chance of scoring, averaging 4 points on only 4-5 shots the final 3 quarters isn't good enough to equate to 'doing all he can' imo.

So you're telling me a double double where he scored 30 points isn't trying hard? That's play off MVP performance for anyone else, but James? People will say he choked.

I wouldn't say 'choke', but after his hot start was entirely wiped away, he went soft. For what he's capable of (and affirmed in the first quarter), he sucked by his own standards after that when the game was in the balance. Leonard did a good job slowing him down, but instead bringing more energy to overcome leonard's pressure better, he seemed content deferring offense to others, even when they were horrible.

 

[manly]

jjsole,

LeBron neither choked nor quit. Sure, he could've done a little more but that's really beside the point. Bron dropping 40/12 last night would still be in a losing effort. He personally put his team in a position to compete and possibly steal game 5, and they thanked him with a collective stinkbomb after the hot start.

woo great basketball year

rockets out in 1st round
clips out
heat denied

yes i'm a lakers fan i can now go back to disliking the spurs

LOL seriously is this what Lakers fans are reduced to? That's mad embarrassing.

 

[dbk]

U cant really blame Lebron for being soft..the entire league is soft.. No reason to put urbbody on the line like in the 90s..better to flop ur way to success..ohwell

 

[DesiPower]

The better team did win last year, you don't win 4 games to another team by luck. Making the finals 4 years in a row is an amazing accomplishment. Anyone who says the Heat suck is a hater plain and simple.

Heat suck, will always suck.