*** Official 2014-2015 NBA Playoff thread ***

[maddogchen]

i don't care who wins MVP as long as the Warriors win the finals! Go Warriors!!!

 

[Retro Rob]

The way Curry was toying with "Delli" and blasting threes in his grill during that 4th quarter should have finally put the narrative: "he can stop the MVP" to rest.

Lebron will probably have to get 50 and play all 48 mins tomrrow if they want to win.

Iggy's playing good d on James, though not stopping him. James can't just back him under the rim with ease like he does everyone else on GS.

 

[smackababy]

So what you're saying is that nobody on the Spurs should have won the Finals MVP last year since no one stood out and they all shared the ball pretty much perfectly in their 70% shooting performance?

Yes. The Spurs play a style of basketball that allows everyone to shine. The fact Kawhi Leonard had a few standout performances on offense and defense is what put him over the top on votes. Had LeBron averaged a triple double, he would have taken it with the loss.

 

[QueBert]

So what you're saying is that nobody on the Spurs should have won the Finals MVP last year since no one stood out and they all shared the ball pretty much perfectly in their 70% shooting performance?

There wasn't a James like performance last finals. The award should go to a stand out player, if there's no stand out on either team then the one who plays the best on the winning team should get it. If there's a LeBron type performance on the losing team and the winners all play good without 1 person excelling, give it to that stand out. With that said we won't see another playoff performance like James is having, this is a once in a life time freak like performance from him. If he doesn't get it this year the award means nothing at all imho,

 

[IAteYourMother]

If he doesn't get it this year the award means nothing at all imho,

Hint: the award has never meant anything

 

[Retro Rob]

I just had a vision about game six tonight:

I recall that when the Lakers were in serious danger of losing game 6 of the 2002 WCF and thus losing the series AT HOME, the NB..I mean, refs, made sure that there was a game 7 -- ticky-tack calls, a lot of no calls, and overall terrible officiating.

Can anyone forsee the NBA wanting a game 7?

Thoughts?

 

[darkewaffle]

In non-playoff related but still interesting news the Clippers send Hawes and Barnes to the Hornets for Stephenson.

 

[vi edit]

I just had a vision about game six tonight:

I recall that when the Lakers were in serious danger of losing game 6 of the 2002 WCF and thus losing the series AT HOME, the NB..I mean, refs, made sure that there was a game 7 -- ticky-tack calls, a lot of no calls, and overall terrible officiating.

Can anyone forsee the NBA wanting a game 7?

Thoughts?

Or how about 2006 and the Dwade free throw fest with Miami vs. Dallas.

I'm not a conspiracy guy...but there's some shady stuff that happens in NBA games. *MAYBE* it's a different era with Stern gone. Who knows.

 

[chitwood]

I just had a vision about game six tonight:

I recall that when the Lakers were in serious danger of losing game 6 of the 2002 WCF and thus losing the series AT HOME, the NB..I mean, refs, made sure that there was a game 7 -- ticky-tack calls, a lot of no calls, and overall terrible officiating.

Can anyone forsee the NBA wanting a game 7?

Thoughts?

eeesh. that '02 WCF was just excruciating on so many levels.

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2014/05/gerald_wallace_in_grantland_or.html

The 2002 Kings-Lakers series has been considered controversial for years. Writing for ESPN at the time, Bill Simmons called it "from an officiating standpoint, the most one-sided game of the past decade."
...
Disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy (who did not officiate the game) later claimed knowledge that the league fixed Game 6 in favor of the Lakers. After the allegations, which came in 2008, Michael Wilbon wrote for the Washington Post: "Three terrific veteran officials -- Bob Delaney, Dick Bavetta and Ted Bernhardt -- called what I still consider the single worst-officiated game in the 28 years I've been covering professional basketball. It was egregiously, embarrassingly bad for the league and for the Kings. It's the only time, I think, I've ever written an entire column about refereeing for the purpose of being critical."

 

[Retro Rob]

Or how about 2006 and the Dwade free throw fest with Miami vs. Dallas.

I'm not a conspiracy guy...but there's some shady stuff that happens in NBA games. *MAYBE* it's a different era with Stern gone. Who knows.

I'm not that guy either, and I forgot about that Wade game, but that wasn't as obvious as that Lakers series.

I'm sure that Silver remembers that Lakers series, and people will be closely watching refs etc tonight.

Probably best to let the players decide the game and only call obvious fouls.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I'm not that guy either, and I forgot about that Wade game, but that wasn't as obvious as that Lakers series.

I'm sure that Silver remembers that Lakers series, and people will be closely watching refs etc tonight.

Probably best to let the players decide the game and only call obvious fouls.

That Wade free-throw fest was horrible. The NBA was basically trying to create a new superstar with Wade and succeeded.

 

[andy04]

I think Cinderella should go home and sit in her ice bath for another 20 minutes

 

[andy04]

If team = cinderella
then foul = good_defence

 

[Attic]

With 3:47 to go in the 2nd.

Free Throws:
GS: 1-2
CLE: 12-19

....

 

[RibeyeAndScotch]

How could the refs miss that out of bounds call....

 

[QueBert]

I just had a vision about game six tonight:

I recall that when the Lakers were in serious danger of losing game 6 of the 2002 WCF and thus losing the series AT HOME, the NB..I mean, refs, made sure that there was a game 7 -- ticky-tack calls, a lot of no calls, and overall terrible officiating.

Can anyone forsee the NBA wanting a game 7?

Thoughts?

Of course they'd want a game 7, Cavs weren't suppose to make it out of round 2. Then Kirye got injured yet they're still in it. Hell even if it means the refs have to make some shitty calls to help make it happen, I want to see a game 7.

 

[andy04]

If its just about game 7 then I guess I can live with the lies and dishonesty. But I am afraid that at this point NBA can see a gold mine in making Cinderella story a reality...

 

[QueBert]

If its just about game 7 then I guess I can live with the lies and dishonesty. But I am afraid that at this point NBA can see a gold mine in making Cinderella story a reality...

The reffing has been decent so far, except in game 1 where a call went against the Cavs which would have won them the game has it not been called. The refs in the game have been mostly on point and with like 20 turn overs already the Cavs are still within 2. With playing like that GSW's going to lose this game on their own, Cavs won't even need the refs help

 

[Red Storm]

Regarding the MVP. It's not the "Best Player Award". If it was, Lebron gets it for sure. But it's not the best player award, it's the Most Valuable Player award. And what is valued? Winning. It doesn't matter if a guy averages 50 ppg, if he loses then there is no VALUE to it. If the effort doesn't translate to victory, then it's worthless and has no value, never mind the "Most Value".

When Tracy McGrady was putting up 30+ ppg on the magic and playing just as good as anybody that season, why wasn't he the MVP or even in the running? Because they weren't winning many games. You gotta be more than just good or great, you gotta win too.

 

[Attic]

Take away Lebron's ability to travel and palm/carryover the ball with impunity on >50% of his drives to the hoop and he's not as dominant. Let's not even talk about his consistent forearm shove off he gets away with to open up space that follows the palm/carryover and travel.

Not even basketball... that's the truth.

Watching what he gets away with is always one of the most incredible things about his impact on the NBA.

 

[IAteYourMother]

This has been Curry's best game of the series. He's been punishing them out of the double team

 

[pete6032]

Stephen Curry is punishing the Cavs' defense right now.

 

[manly]

This has been Curry's best game of the series. He's been punishing them out of the double team

Doubling him hard has been disastrous. I'm starting to think it's better to let him burn you than to let him get everyone else involved.

I know Shawn Marion was hurt much of the season, but would he really be worse than James Jones at this point?

Cavs can't buy a 3, there's probably about a 3% probability of a comeback now.

 

[zinfamous]

Cavs decided to stop playing with 2 min to go.

 

[zinfamous]

or not.

...holy shit, has it really been 11 minutes elapsed over the last 1.5 min of game time?