sounds great as a pull-quote but who would you put on him? gotta call 'bullshit' on that. it came down to a made play here, a missed play ther. if i'm brooks i'm probably more interested in why my guys were comatose in the first half;Originally Posted by Beavis
see, that's the thing: once he gets going, everything--including the rules--is on his side.It looked like all they could do is let Lebron get to the rim and hope Perkins can put a body on him and Ibaka can block the shot.
[quote]As for Lebron's foul on Durant. There was definitely contact. In any other quarter Durant probably gets that call. But I'm not surprised the refs didn't call it on the final possession.[quote]agree with that, because if you watch carefully there's contact on pretty much EVERY possession
i don't get this format. i like 2-2-1-1-1.Now back to Miami for Games 3, 4 and 5. Not really sure who this odd format favors at the moment.
all that said i'd still say OKC're in the drivers' seat, but by about .5 mm. this series could be, arguably most likely WILL be, decided by which of the MVP and the runner up put in the better shift. does it get better than this? i think not. gentlemen, we gots us a series.
---Update---
OK ace gimme the list of guys who CAN guard LeBron. please include game 1's version of Sefolosha (spotting him 30's ok if you win, right?)
Imodium can't stop me.
I hate his game. I know you're going to give me shit for this, but IMO, a large percentage of his drives to the basket are with the intention of getting fouled, not making the shot.
4 more years!
Obviously nobody can completely shut him down. But I think there are teams who matchup better. I think the ideal Lebron defender would be a physical 3 (Sefolosha is OKCs best defender, but he's a 2...Durant's not physical enough). Ron Artest comes to mind...Paul Pierce has given Lebron problems in the past.
Miami doesn't really matchup perfectly with Durant either.
Yes...both put in excellent shifts in game 2. Lebron's may have been slightly better, Durant's was a tale of two halves. Wade and Harden were also equally solid. Westbrook's 26 shots is something OKC can't be happy about.
It's certainly exciting. After game 2, I was kicking myself for not watching game 1. I'm excited for game 3, wish I didn't have to wait till Monday.
name a player who DOESN'T do that. i've not seen any. Skip Bayless? that you? what you doin' on a teacherin' forum?
---Update---
a younger Paul Pierce is pretty much the only guy i've seen who can guard Lebron when Lebron's having a good day. on the other hand, who the fuck can guard Durant? Lebron's better than any i've seen but can't stop him, and guarding him an entire game would wear him out and eat into his offense.
one of the many great things about this series is that it's impossible to create perfect matchups, you give something here, the other team has the chance of taking it. look at Battier. now, OKC may have to guard him, they've been leaving him all alone and cheating onto wade and lebron. but if they do, how much space will that make for Wade? and what if the OKC bigs start having one of those games like they did against SA, where they're knocking down shots? how the hell is Miami going to stop that?
as a non-partisan i have to say this is the best, most competitive basketball i've seen in the finals in a long time, maybe since the Bird-Magic era (Michael and Hakeem didn't have any real competition for most of their runs, they were spectacular but it made the finals a bit... boring)
PS if i start repeating stuff please forgive, i can't be bothered to check and see what i've said before and can't remember what i've said here, and what i've said to various people on email... none of the hoops fans i know are from OKC or Miami, and ALL of 'em are excited about what we've seen so far.
hopefully neither team will 'figure it out' completely and pull away, and we'll get at least 6 games out of this. i don't want it to end, especially since the Fakers are long gone.
that was a hell of a game. this ain't over, especially with a team like OKC that's adjusted brilliantly from some pretty tough situations so far. the Meat, though, have developed some grit (and some composure). love him, hate him (or don't care) you'd have to admit that Lebron's leadership has a lot to do with it.
as for me normally i'd pick a team to cheer by now but we're up to game 3 and i'm still just clapping for great plays by either team (i don't use my vocal cords much as i have to save 'em for those loud, booming "QUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET"s). and there were a LOT of great plays. some sloppy plays but a lot of what looked sloppy was forced by great defending. this series keeps on like this it could be a classic.
and did i mention this ain't over yet? i'm expecting a big reply from OKC... partially precipitated by Miami feeling a little too comfy. if Miami have gotten over their tendency to slack off it'll be shocking since it's been on full view in every series they've played so far. no way this is over yet.
Get off the fence. Do you think it's over, or not?
Bullshit call on Durant for his 4th. No way that was a foul. Changed the game.
it's been this way the whole playoffs. a LOT of bullshit, ticky-tacky calls, the kind the refs will miss half of anyway. to be fair, as Van Gundy says (repeatedly) most of this horseshit (and it's been going both ways, it's just that KD's getting the worst of it because his youth is showing a bit) should be "play on."
to be fair though there's no one better at legitimately drawing a charge (as in, being there, and not needing to flop) than Battier. infuriating if he's playing your team. that hand in the face shit would make you want to punch him if he was guarding you too. wish i'd have thought of that in high school.
one key adjustment Brooks has to make is to find a way to keep KD out of foul trouble. Durant in many ways is the best guy to guard Lebron but HE CANNOT GUARD LEBRON UNTIL THE 4th. somehow Lebron can guard KD without fouling the bejesus out of him; i'd say those extra three years come into play here. next game i'm partisan for sure (can you tell?) OKC must win this or it's too big a hole to become a classic series without a near-impossible comeback/collapse (which would be great, but it doesn't happen often outside of hockey).
long-term it might be the best thing for OKC to lose. guys like Ibaka and Harden need to commit to the cause/religion long term the way Westbrook and KD have. long-term i'd like to see Westbrook as a 'real' 2 and Harden as point.
best moment of the game for me was when KD made THAT shot over Wade... apparently the jawing afterward was KD telling Wade "too small"...
Somebody better tell the fat lady.
i still insist this ain't over, but i doubt there's much left to it besides epilogue and footnotes.
ok. barring the Ridiculously Improbable, it's OVER.
the difference in the last three games was exactly what one gets from previous finals experience. Miami benefited from getting thrashed last year. the game was decided by their a) composure (Harden hesitating to shoot a wide open set-shot even you or i could have made, anyone?) and b) situational awareness (Russ, Russ, RUSS. please pay attention to what's happening to the shot clock in crunch time next year, K?
you could see the Tundra getting rattled more and more from game to game. yeah there were bad calls against them but there are ALWAYS bad calls and i tend to believe it evens out (with adjustments for home team and pecking order). hopefully they've learned from this and will come back stronger next year (the careful observer will note that i'm not suggesting they'll be the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals). dear Tundra: come back next year, k? oh... and CALM THE FUCK DOWN. Sign Phil & zen out maybe... (no disrespect to Brooks but he's still learning as is Spoelstra, but Spoelstra appears to be learning slightly faster).
this Meat are a different looking Meat though aren't they? gritty. who'd have ever thought that word would apply to Lebron... or Chris Bosh? fuck it if they can get one more they've earned it, even the Meat haters gotta give propers on that one.
ok. even i'll admit it's OVER now.
Bill Simmons (as usual) makes the case for the evolution in Lebron's game making the difference. Lebron will maintain this new level of all-around excellence and maybe even get a little bit better (and do it by continuing to bang in the paint like a 4). be interesting to see how KD responds. remember, this year's KD was better than last year's. maybe he needs a powow with Hakeem the Dream, too...
Mark Cuban destroys Skip Brainless. can't imagine a better button for the season.
The Iron Sheik sums up my feelings on Dwight Howard to the Lakers:
Steve Nash is one lucky little canuck, eh? Been playing with the leagues rejects for years in Phoenix (that includes you Amare). Has one, maybe two good years left, and he lands in LA with Kobe, Pau and Howard. This would be like if Stockton ditched the Jazz for Duncan and Robinson in 2000 and brought Michael Finley along with him.
steve deserves it, he has been one of the best player and one of the nicest one, he truly deserves a ring, unfortunately it's gonna be with the lakers.
i hope he and Dwight get prison-gangbanged by the rest of the league, just for signing with the (old, slow) Fakers. i hope Kobe remains a ball hog. btw Nash is a dirty player. they all are.
Geez, Zeus. Get off the fence and tell us how you really feel about the Lakers!
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