*NBA THREAD* Abe will be missed (2 Viewers)

[Gr00vus]

Yeah the NBA is in horrible shape right now. They need to find a way to get back to when Finals games were shown on tape delay - if they were shown at all. Back when you could see your home team's rode games on t.v. and that's it. That Tim Donaghy really knows stuff.

No better way to accomplish this by rigging lotteries and coaching refs so the right team wins.

I don't like this line of reasoning's implications for my Lakers. I don't like it one bit.

 

[Raider Nation]

I'd like to see the Spurs take on the L.A. Kings.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

I'd like to see the Spurs take on the L.A. Kings.

Go back to Canada

 

[SoBeDad]

OKlahoma CIty reminds me of the Chicago Bulls as coached by Doug Collins and the Los Angeles Lakers as coached by Del Harris: so much young talent, so close to winning a championship- but not quite together yet. Mix in a Phil Jackson and you get multiple rings. But even without him, they'll probably get them; just not this year.

Greg Popovich is better at Xs and Os, although Jackson may be better at managing egos. But Durant and Westbrook don't have ego problems.

 

[Popinski]

With regard to the "clutch" discussion, some dude from Stats Inc. was on the Dan Patrick Show this morning and countered Patrick's take that he'd want Kobe, above all other players, taking a jump shot at the end of a game. The Stats Inc. guy countered that LeBron has been much better than Kobe and shoots better from the field and that he'd take LeBron.

So, Patrick steers the discussion back to his point about jump shots and says that, sure, he'd be fine with LeBron going to the basket for a dunk or layup, but take those away (can you?) and he doesn't think LeBron would look so good.



The Stats Inc. guy calls back later in the show and said that, since LeBron came into the league, in the last 15 seconds of a game (maybe it was 10?) with his team tied or down by one possession, Kobe is shooting 48.5% from the field on jump shots and LeBron shoots 31% from the field on jump shots.

In that same period of time, as Ferris previously pointed out, Kobe has 15 game-winning shots and LeBron has 7.

I'm a little fuzzy on whether the field goal percentage actually was based solely on jump shots or if it was total FG% and whether the time was last 15 seconds or last 10 seconds.

Anyone else hear this?

Anyone confirm?

 

[Ghost Rider]

I see grammar is not Reggie Miller's friend.

"Is he talking to I?"

 

[Nipsey]

I'd like to see the Spurs take on the L.A. Kings.

Goaltending would determine the series.

 

[Raider Nation]

LOL @ Harden staring down Jackson.

Jackson would murder him and then kill him again just for spite.

 

[Popinski]

It's painful listening to Shaq.

 

[Britney Spears]

It has never been like this in the NBA.

Come on dude.

Do you think Lebron, with 9 fouls in 8 games, isn't getting undue star treatment? Or do you just think that is how it has always been, always will be, and any team playing against them should be expected to play with that disadvantage? Or the 25-6 technical disparity, do you think that is just the ante you have to throw in when you line up against the Heat? Rather than use smileys, tell me in words

The thing is LeBron doesn't really commit a lot of fouls, so that could've contributing to the refs not calling fouls on him.

 

[timschochet]

Thunder playing excellent defense. But even more than that, they're not allowing the Spurs to get offensive rebounds. The Thunder are winning all the so-called "50-50" balls.

 

[saintfool]

Thunder playing excellent defense. But even more than that, they're not allowing the Spurs to get offensive rebounds. The Thunder are winning all the so-called "50-50" balls.

they were due. OKC has played hard throughout the playoffs but tonight it everything is pretty much on the line. they're too good to #### the bed. SA, for their part, had to put up a clunker eventually and tonight seems to be the night.

 

[Mister CIA]

I'd like to see the Spurs take on the L.A. Kings.

Goaltending would determine the series.

I think home court, or home ice, would be the deciding factor.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Harden is just fun to watch

 

[timschochet]

So the Spurs' run comes to an end. 20 wins in a row. Pretty incredible achievement.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

LOL @ Harden staring down Jackson. Jackson would murder him and then kill him again just for spite.

He'll cut a #####

 

[wilked]

It has never been like this in the NBA.

Come on dude.

Do you think Lebron, with 9 fouls in 8 games, isn't getting undue star treatment? Or do you just think that is how it has always been, always will be, and any team playing against them should be expected to play with that disadvantage? Or the 25-6 technical disparity, do you think that is just the ante you have to throw in when you line up against the Heat? Rather than use smileys, tell me in words

The thing is LeBron doesn't really commit a lot of fouls, so that could've contributing to the refs not calling fouls on him.

Brit, do you think the refs got it right on the play where Lebron and Rondo were going for the loose ball?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

It has never been like this in the NBA.

Come on dude.

Do you think Lebron, with 9 fouls in 8 games, isn't getting undue star treatment? Or do you just think that is how it has always been, always will be, and any team playing against them should be expected to play with that disadvantage? Or the 25-6 technical disparity, do you think that is just the ante you have to throw in when you line up against the Heat? Rather than use smileys, tell me in words

The thing is LeBron doesn't really commit a lot of fouls, so that could've contributing to the refs not calling fouls on him.

BS is right, Lebron really doesn't commit many fouls, maybe 1-2 games since being in a Heat jersey where Spoelstra had to sit him early for foul trouble, almost never happens.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

OKlahoma CIty reminds me of the Chicago Bulls as coached by Doug Collins and the Los Angeles Lakers as coached by Del Harris: so much young talent, so close to winning a championship- but not quite together yet. Mix in a Phil Jackson and you get multiple rings. But even without him, they'll probably get them; just not this year.

OKC is at the very fore front of winning a title... only the crazy Spurs team game stands in their way (officiating excluded).They don't need a different coach at this point.

The natural maturation of Jordan and the Bulls team went to the ECF with Collins, and when Jackson came they did the same thing the next year, ECF.

And for Collins that was Pippens rookie year and without a BJ Armstrong or Stacey King.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Didnt watch the game tonight, but since OKC was winning by double digits every time I flipped to it, Im wondering if the refs were bad?

Serious question.

 

[ffldrew]

Didnt watch the game tonight, but since OKC was winning by double digits every time I flipped to it, Im wondering if the refs were bad? Serious question.

Tough call on a block/charge that went against Harden when he was driving to the net - it was pretty clear to the eye it was a block - TV crew was all over it - and Harden got a T. Refs have a tendency to buy the Spur flops more than needs to be so far in the 3 games - IMO. A few excessive dramatic moments for Ginobli - but Pop pulled the plug pretty early on this one. Spurs seemed to play with less aggression than games 1/2 - Refs will have there work cut out for them. I guess Joey Crawford shows up next and it will be mystery call after mystery call.

 

[Britney Spears]

It has never been like this in the NBA.

Come on dude.

Do you think Lebron, with 9 fouls in 8 games, isn't getting undue star treatment? Or do you just think that is how it has always been, always will be, and any team playing against them should be expected to play with that disadvantage? Or the 25-6 technical disparity, do you think that is just the ante you have to throw in when you line up against the Heat? Rather than use smileys, tell me in words

The thing is LeBron doesn't really commit a lot of fouls, so that could've contributing to the refs not calling fouls on him.

Brit, do you think the refs got it right on the play where Lebron and Rondo were going for the loose ball?

No. A no-call would have been best IMO, although Rondo did appear to slightly undercut him from one angle What does that have to do with LeBron committing fouls?

 

[wilked]

It has never been like this in the NBA.

Come on dude.

Do you think Lebron, with 9 fouls in 8 games, isn't getting undue star treatment? Or do you just think that is how it has always been, always will be, and any team playing against them should be expected to play with that disadvantage? Or the 25-6 technical disparity, do you think that is just the ante you have to throw in when you line up against the Heat? Rather than use smileys, tell me in words

The thing is LeBron doesn't really commit a lot of fouls, so that could've contributing to the refs not calling fouls on him.

Brit, do you think the refs got it right on the play where Lebron and Rondo were going for the loose ball?

No. A no-call would have been best IMO, although Rondo did appear to slightly undercut him from one angle What does that have to do with LeBron committing fouls?

Uhh, the discussion is about refs favoring Lebron, and not calling fouls against him. I am pointing out a play I saw the refs do exactly that. Rondo had position on him... I would have bought a non call as wellAs I said earlier though, I agree, he generally plays a clean game, but not 9 fouls in 8 playoff games clean. I have seen 1 or 2 plays a game that he should be called for and the refs instead swallow the whistle (or in the case of the 50/50 ball with Rondo, call it the other way). Wade is by far the bigger offender here

 

[wilked]

So the Spurs are a 4 point dog tonite... Looks like a strong play, anyone else agree?

Looks like you should stick with #####ing about the officiating.

Haha, good point Ferris Luckily with a baby on the way I have emptied my money in the sports books account...

 

[wilked]

Here's a pretty good article showing James' prowess as a defender, and his low foul totals.

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=899

The author makes a good argument that he is not receiving too much favorable treatment at 1.8 fouls per game.

I couldn't find a similar article for Wade tho...

 

[Popinski]

With regard to the "clutch" discussion, some dude from Stats Inc. was on the Dan Patrick Show this morning and countered Patrick's take that he'd want Kobe, above all other players, taking a jump shot at the end of a game. The Stats Inc. guy countered that LeBron has been much better than Kobe and shoots better from the field and that he'd take LeBron.

So, Patrick steers the discussion back to his point about jump shots and says that, sure, he'd be fine with LeBron going to the basket for a dunk or layup, but take those away (can you?) and he doesn't think LeBron would look so good.



The Stats Inc. guy calls back later in the show and said that, since LeBron came into the league, in the last 15 seconds of a game (maybe it was 10?) with his team tied or down by one possession, Kobe is shooting 48.5% from the field on jump shots and LeBron shoots 31% from the field on jump shots.

In that same period of time, as Ferris previously pointed out, Kobe has 15 game-winning shots and LeBron has 7.

I'm a little fuzzy on whether the field goal percentage actually was based solely on jump shots or if it was total FG% and whether the time was last 15 seconds or last 10 seconds.

Anyone else hear this?

Anyone confirm?

According to basketball-reference.com, from the 2004 season forward (since LeBron entered the league), including both regular season and playoff games, setting the game situation to shots to tie or take the lead, and setting the shot distance at 15 feet or farther out:

In the last 24 seconds, Kobe is 33-for-99 (.333)

In the last 10 seconds, Kobe is 24-for-78 (.308)

In the last 24 seconds, LeBron is 9-for-48 (.188)

In the last 10 seconds, LeBron is 9-for-42 (.214)

Almost all of LeBron's misses are three-pointers. In the last 10 seconds, he's 4-for-32 (.125) on three-pointers, and 5-for-10 (.500) from midrange.

In the last 10 seconds, Kobe is 9-for-43 (.209) on three-pointers, and 15-for-35 (.429) from midrange.

B-R's searchable PBP data goes back to the 2001 season. From 2001-2003, Kobe was 5-for-24 (.208) in the last 10 seconds from 15 feet or farther. He was 1-for-13 (.077) on three-pointers, and 4-for-11 (.364) from midrange.

Thanks. Didn't realize they now had this data.

 

[pollardsvision]

Didnt watch the game tonight, but since OKC was winning by double digits every time I flipped to it, Im wondering if the refs were bad? Serious question.

Not that I noticed. To quote the man I go to for all sports and social commentary, Stephen Jackson, "it was just good old-fashioned butt whoopin'".That's pretty much all there was to it last night.I'm not sure how they are going to handle a Westbrook/Harden/Thabo/Durant/Ibaka lineup for most of the game. I guess that's why I'm not Gregg Popovich. That lineup made the Spurs look old and overmatched last night.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Didnt watch the game tonight, but since OKC was winning by double digits every time I flipped to it, Im wondering if the refs were bad? Serious question.

Refs were fine. OKC kept the Spurs (primarily Parker and Ginobli) out of the paint by hedging hard or switching screens. Lots of Duncan posting up Perkins in the high post and not getting good shots off. The great ball movement the Spurs have used all series was nowhere to be found last night.

 

[drpill]

Great effort by OKC last night and a totally flat, pathetic game from the Spurs. A true ### whooping. As saintfool said they were definitely overdue for a letdown. Game four is now pretty much a must win for both teams. We'll see how they respond, last time they got beat this bad it was by LA and Bynum's 30 rebound effort, and they came back and won twenty in a row including two huge wins over the Lakers. Hopefully they will show similar resolve here but I think it's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way.

Spurs in 7.

 

[wilked]

Turnovers was the big thing I saw watching last night. SA very sloppy with the ball, a lot of the steals did not even require a lot of effort on OKC's part

 

[wilked]

Also, Sefalosha was a monster on Parker

 

[Kiddnets]

Anyone have that girl in high school who you had a huge crush on but she kept waffling whether she liked you or not.....you want to save your dignity but desperation always takes over...

Broussard's latest:

"It appears that someone wants the Nets to move quickly on Dwight Howard, despite his surgery for a herniated disk. Just as Adrian Wojnarowski quoted a "source" Wednesday saying "It's Dwight Howard or bust," Chris Broussard basically said the same thing Thursday.

"Now they're going to their new arena in their new location of Brooklyn, NY. without that first round pick," Broussard said to an ESPN camera. "The good news for the Nets is that right now, Dwight Howard is saying he wants to be traded to them...right now, he's saying that. The Nets had better get Dwight Howard because if they don't get the pick or Dwight Howard, it's going to be tough for Deron Williams to decide to stay in Brooklyn and THAT would be disastrous for the Brooklyn." Williams denied the basis for the Woj story, that he had made up his mind.

 

[saintfool]

Turnovers was the big thing I saw watching last night. SA very sloppy with the ball, a lot of the steals did not even require a lot of effort on OKC's part

OKC was active all night. SA couldn't get anything going offensively and were unable to get into rhythm. Great, daring coaching move by Brooks.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Lot of weak fishing trips here.Interested to see if OKC will continue the much more successful small lineup vs. SA.

Nice adjustment by Brooks finally going small.They've got no shot with Ibaka/Perkins logging significant minutes together. If Thabo harasses Parker as well as he did last night, OKC is stealing this series.Final adjustment Scotty: Less Derek Fisher. Now's not the time for completely washed up veteran leadership.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Great effort by OKC last night and a totally flat, pathetic game from the Spurs. A true ### whooping. As saintfool said they were definitely overdue for a letdown. Game four is now pretty much a must win for both teams. We'll see how they respond, last time they got beat this bad it was by LA and Bynum's 30 rebound effort, and they came back and won twenty in a row including two huge wins over the Lakers. Hopefully they will show similar resolve here but I think it's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way.

Spurs in 7.

How is it a must win for the Spurs? If they lose, it is still 2-2 and they'd have two of their last three at home.

 

[drpill]

Great effort by OKC last night and a totally flat, pathetic game from the Spurs. A true ### whooping. As saintfool said they were definitely overdue for a letdown. Game four is now pretty much a must win for both teams. We'll see how they respond, last time they got beat this bad it was by LA and Bynum's 30 rebound effort, and they came back and won twenty in a row including two huge wins over the Lakers. Hopefully they will show similar resolve here but I think it's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way.

Spurs in 7.

How is it a must win for the Spurs? If they lose, it is still 2-2 and they'd have two of their last three at home.

I guess what I meant was they will need to play with a sense of desperation they haven't had thus far this series. "Must win" may have been stretching it but they can't afford to give OKC that kind of life, if they lose game four the Thunder will smell blood and they can easily steal one in San Antonio.

 

[pollardsvision]

Great effort by OKC last night and a totally flat, pathetic game from the Spurs. A true ### whooping. As saintfool said they were definitely overdue for a letdown. Game four is now pretty much a must win for both teams. We'll see how they respond, last time they got beat this bad it was by LA and Bynum's 30 rebound effort, and they came back and won twenty in a row including two huge wins over the Lakers. Hopefully they will show similar resolve here but I think it's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way.

Spurs in 7.

How is it a must win for the Spurs? If they lose, it is still 2-2 and they'd have two of their last three at home.

"Must" is a pretty strong word, but I don't think it's far off. OKC has been every bit as dominant as the Spurs this season and were considered the WC favorite for much of the season.

The Spurs outplayed them in Game 2, exploiting a lineup/defensive flaw that most everyone could see. They adjusted and immediately started dominating the Spurs. They looked like the insanely athletic and explosive team that most thought for most of the season the Spurs would have a hard time handling in the Playoffs.

If OKC wins tomorrow night, it'll likely mean the Spurs didn't adjust and the momentum will be strongly in OKC's favor heading into game 5, which will be a must-win no matter what.

 

[Joe Summer]

Orlando Woolridge dead at 52

 

[Yenrub]

Also, Sefalosha was a monster on Parker

I think that was the key to victory last night. That move allowed OKC to slow down the Spurs offense

 

[Premier]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

 

[Abraham]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

There may not be a team with fewer assets than the nets. They could sign Williams and trade him fr Dwight I suppose. Lol

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Gerald Wallace will forever be the face of the Brooklyn Nets.

Who the ####, with a rebuilding team opening a new stadium, trades for a soon to be 30 year old journeymen with an opt-out?

Billy King not only shouldn't have that GM job. He should be barred from ever being one again.

 

[GDogg]

With regard to the "clutch" discussion, some dude from Stats Inc. was on the Dan Patrick Show this morning and countered Patrick's take that he'd want Kobe, above all other players, taking a jump shot at the end of a game. The Stats Inc. guy countered that LeBron has been much better than Kobe and shoots better from the field and that he'd take LeBron.

So, Patrick steers the discussion back to his point about jump shots and says that, sure, he'd be fine with LeBron going to the basket for a dunk or layup, but take those away (can you?) and he doesn't think LeBron would look so good.



The Stats Inc. guy calls back later in the show and said that, since LeBron came into the league, in the last 15 seconds of a game (maybe it was 10?) with his team tied or down by one possession, Kobe is shooting 48.5% from the field on jump shots and LeBron shoots 31% from the field on jump shots.

In that same period of time, as Ferris previously pointed out, Kobe has 15 game-winning shots and LeBron has 7.

I'm a little fuzzy on whether the field goal percentage actually was based solely on jump shots or if it was total FG% and whether the time was last 15 seconds or last 10 seconds.

Anyone else hear this?

Anyone confirm?

According to basketball-reference.com, from the 2004 season forward (since LeBron entered the league), including both regular season and playoff games, setting the game situation to shots to tie or take the lead, and setting the shot distance at 15 feet or farther out:

In the last 24 seconds, Kobe is 33-for-99 (.333)

In the last 10 seconds, Kobe is 24-for-78 (.308)

In the last 24 seconds, LeBron is 9-for-48 (.188)

In the last 10 seconds, LeBron is 9-for-42 (.214)

Almost all of LeBron's misses are three-pointers. In the last 10 seconds, he's 4-for-32 (.125) on three-pointers, and 5-for-10 (.500) from midrange.

In the last 10 seconds, Kobe is 9-for-43 (.209) on three-pointers, and 15-for-35 (.429) from midrange.

B-R's searchable PBP data goes back to the 2001 season. From 2001-2003, Kobe was 5-for-24 (.208) in the last 10 seconds from 15 feet or farther. He was 1-for-13 (.077) on three-pointers, and 4-for-11 (.364) from midrange.

Listened to it again and the Stats Inc. guy said, "when the Lakers have trailed or been tied with 10 or fewer seconds to play in the game, Kobe shoots 48.6%. LeBron, in similar situations since he joined the league, just 31% . . . Kobe's got 15 game-winning shots when there's 10 or fewer seconds left in the game and LeBron only has 8."So, this is obviously a different situation and a little misleading. The Lakers could be getting blown out or could be down 8 or so and it's meaningless.

But, combine the two and it does appear that Kobe shoots better from the field in the last 10 seconds. How valuable is it is a completely different debate.

 

[GDogg]

Anyone have that girl in high school who you had a huge crush on but she kept waffling whether she liked you or not.....you want to save your dignity but desperation always takes over...Broussard's latest:"It appears that someone wants the Nets to move quickly on Dwight Howard, despite his surgery for a herniated disk. Just as Adrian Wojnarowski quoted a "source" Wednesday saying "It's Dwight Howard or bust," Chris Broussard basically said the same thing Thursday."Now they're going to their new arena in their new location of Brooklyn, NY. without that first round pick," Broussard said to an ESPN camera. "The good news for the Nets is that right now, Dwight Howard is saying he wants to be traded to them...right now, he's saying that. The Nets had better get Dwight Howard because if they don't get the pick or Dwight Howard, it's going to be tough for Deron Williams to decide to stay in Brooklyn and THAT would be disastrous for the Brooklyn." Williams denied the basis for the Woj story, that he had made up his mind.

How can they offer a package that the Magic would accept without the pick? Bill Reiter of Fox Sports said the Nets are pretty much out of it now and they are going to lose Deron Williams.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

At the risk of turning into an Abe-like trade machine, which of these teams turn down the following deals?Lakers send Bynum to Orlando for HowardLakers send Gasol to NJ for Williams (sign and trade)

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

At the risk of turning into an Abe-like trade machine, which of these teams turn down the following deals?Lakers send Bynum to Orlando for HowardLakers send Gasol to NJ for Williams (sign and trade)

Well the NBA is rigged, so dont worry tommy they will fix the lakers this offseason

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

At the risk of turning into an Abe-like trade machine, which of these teams turn down the following deals?Lakers send Bynum to Orlando for HowardLakers send Gasol to NJ for Williams (sign and trade)

Bravo Billy King.Just what your rebuilding team needs: A 32 year old soft post player with a bad contract. At least you don't have to worry about Pao curling up in a ball during the playoffs anytime soon.

 

[Premier]

I think at some point this offseason the Bynum for Howard deal is likely. All depends on what the new GM can sell to Dwight.

 

[SoCalBroncoFan]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

At the risk of turning into an Abe-like trade machine, which of these teams turn down the following deals?Lakers send Bynum to Orlando for HowardLakers send Gasol to NJ for Williams (sign and trade)

Bravo Billy King.Just what your rebuilding team needs: A 32 year old soft post player with a bad contract. At least you don't have to worry about Pao curling up in a ball during the playoffs anytime soon.

I thought sign and trades werent allowed in the new CBA?

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Dwight can want to go to the Nets all he wants, but it isn't going to happen. Zero chance of that now.

At the risk of turning into an Abe-like trade machine, which of these teams turn down the following deals?Lakers send Bynum to Orlando for HowardLakers send Gasol to NJ for Williams (sign and trade)

Would Orlando prefer Bosh to Bynum? AND WHAT ABOUT SCOLA AND LOWRY.