Dame did the same thing to the Rockets a few years ago to end a series.That was a freaking Steph 3.
Yup. Watched it about a dozen times now.Is anyone else still rewinding and rewatching that over and over or is it just me?
Baddest man in the league.Nobody will ever be as cool as Dame waving goodbye to the Thunder after draining a half-court shot to send them home.
I think the celebration photo might be even better than the wave.Imagine hitting a shot like that, not immediately going nuts, but rather calmly turning around and waving goodbye to youropponent. That amount of spite could power the arena. I LOVE IT
I said to myself what is he thinking when there were 2.5 seconds left on the clock, then he showed us all what he was thinking.That may be the greatest shot I've ever seen. What the heck.
Yes, congratulations to the team with Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris on their inspiring, heroic elimination of Jared Dudley.Dudley with 0.
Would have been great to see the whole team together rock the baby.I think the celebration photo might be even better than the wave.
Don’t talk all that noise and then put up a zero and get blown out in an elimination game.Yes, congratulations to the team with Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris on their inspiring, heroic elimination of Jared Dudley.
Yes, congratulations to the team with Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris on their inspiring, heroic elimination of Jared Dudley.
Lillard shot almost 40% on attempts from 30-40 feet. If you look at the shot chart that percentage would crater on shots from 35-40 feet though. The game winner was 37 feet. Pretty remarkable.Serious question: do you think that was a good shot under the circumstances? I didn't watch the game and only saw the replay of that play but the box score shows me how well he was shooting from three. Normally we would be critical of a player not trying to get something better/closer.
He made the shot. So it was a great shot. Had he missed they could be critical but it was still tied. If they were losing and he took that shot and missed, he'd be getting grilled. The nature of sports.Serious question: do you think that was a good shot under the circumstances? I didn't watch the game and only saw the replay of that play but the box score shows me how well he was shooting from three. Normally we would be critical of a player not trying to get something better/closer.
Smaller guys like Lillard have learned that getting space and getting an "open" look is a better shot than pressing forward for a contested shot. He obviously practices that shot regularly and hit a similar shot with the first attempt of the 2nd half.Serious question: do you think that was a good shot under the circumstances? I didn't watch the game and only saw the replay of that play but the box score shows me how well he was shooting from three. Normally we would be critical of a player not trying to get something better/closer.
Counterpoint: Jared Dudley should talk all that noise all the time because it's hilarious.Don’t talk all that noise and then put up a zero and get blown out in an elimination game.
I'm not saying players and coaches can't have adverse reactions to close or incorrect calls. I'm saying they should calm down about it and be more understanding, because people act like the refs are hurting their teams on purpose. If everyone approached it in the manner that the officials are just doing the best they can and maybe made a mistake or don't see things the same it would go a lot smoother. Instead, referees are treated like the enemy or some servant who isn't worthy of anything but a harsh reprimand in a rude and public manner. It is complete crap and wouldn't be allowed to almost any other profession, yet it is supported and even celebrated from the very pinnacle of the sport (looking at you Steve Kerr...who this article calls out). I hate it by the players, coaches and fans and if this trend keeps up, there is going to be so few people willing to do it that there won't be enough to cover the games.Here is what I know: In my 16 years covering the NBA, the referees have never been fitter, more diverse or held to a higher standard than they are now. And I've never seen as much acrimony as is going on.
Clearly, this is complicated. Obviously, the stakes are so high that reasonable people are driven mad by these subjective decisions. This is a real problem.
I don't know what the answer to it is; there are a lot of experienced people who have been working on it. What I do know is it's going to take some leadership to dial this down, and I'm not seeing a whole lot of that right now.
A decent amount of it has become gamesmanship, trying to influence the refs for future calls. But most of it is just juvenile behavior by coaches and players who should, eventually, have figured out how to operate as adults, but don't in this context.In the midst of reading articles about how great Dame was last night, I ran across this article:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26585590/nba-action-fantastic-constant-griping
Being a high school referee and feeling incredulous over the treatment they receive at all levels, this is a subject near and dear to me. From the end of the article:
I'm not saying players and coaches can't have adverse reactions to close or incorrect calls. I'm saying they should calm down about it and be more understanding, because people act like the refs are hurting their teams on purpose. If everyone approached it in the manner that the officials are just doing the best they can and maybe made a mistake or don't see things the same it would go a lot smoother. Instead, referees are treated like the enemy or some servant who isn't worthy of anything but a harsh reprimand in a rude and public manner. It is complete crap and wouldn't be allowed to almost any other profession, yet it is supported and even celebrated from the very pinnacle of the sport (looking at you Steve Kerr...who this article calls out). I hate it by the players, coaches and fans and if this trend keeps up, there is going to be so few people willing to do it that there won't be enough to cover the games.
Baddest man in the league.
It'll be nice to hopefully get some Blazers games that tip off at a reasonable hour over the next round (or two). I'm too old for this ####.
Not to mention Durant, who willfully created an environment in which free agency for him and other stars are a vastly more important story lines than 99% of the actual games and then has the nerve to complain about reporters asking him about his pending free agency instead of some random mid-January tilt with the Suns.Yeah Steve Kerr can #### right off. Calling out Westbrook for his treatment of the media as "dangerous" for the league, meanwhile Draymond acts like a toddler on the court. Fans care way more about the flopping and the histrionics than they do about someone being mean to a reporter.
I'm in CST and the only reason I was still up was because I was working on a side project until 12:00. Had been checking on the game in the background all night and watched the last 3:30 live.
I'm too old for it and I live on the West Coast!
Seriously, I fell asleep putting my daughter to bed - something I do quite a bit lately. Luckily, I had recorded the game and set my phone to airplane mode. Got up at 11:30pm and watched it all alone, fast forwarding through commercials. Pure bliss!