NBA Playoffs

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Honest to God. For a die hard...37 year Cleveland fan to read this thread is beyond hysterical. It is like I have arrived on bizzaro opposite day planet. The sheer hysterionics going on in this thread are platinum. The pure and unadulterated disdain and hatred that the City of Cleveland actually got a good player is reallly sad to me. They aren't good enough to win the title this year, obviously, are down 3-1 and still people are non-stop that the singular reason Cleveland ever wins a game is refs. They are down 3-1 and people are still non stop that there is simply no way they can win a game without referee assistance. IT is sick to me. It is beyond sick. There really are no words in the English language to describe the mentatlity on this thread. There are simply no words to describe it. It really is pathetic. OF course we are now getting the obligatory "this series is the end of LeBron in Cleveland" national articles popping up of course. So fear not. Really, don't worry so much. Cleveland coming back 3-1...please people. Even the refs can't do that. You want a team down 3-1 to win a series...PLAY against Cleveland (2007 ALCS).

Good lord, just shoot me people.

You need some serious therapy my friend...or like 20 mg of xanax.

Get a grip...its just basketball and we are all just having fun. Lebron is great and cleveland isnt a crappy city. Okay... Lebron is great.

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

You need some serious therapy my friend...or like 20 mg of xanax.

Get a grip...its just basketball and we are all just having fun. Lebron is great and cleveland isnt a crappy city. Okay... Lebron is great.

I'm not the one who needs therapy. I'm not the one who cries, cries, cries about the refs every stinking game. You guys need therapy. By the way the refs are jobbing Cleveland again this game....Turkoglu clears out the world every single drive worse than LeBron, and Van Gundy played into the refs favor Cleveland thing big time with the technical on the most recent Turk clear out the world drive. Classic stuff.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

I'm not the one who needs therapy. I'm not the one who cries, cries, cries about the refs every stinking game. You guys need therapy. By the way the refs are jobbing Cleveland again this game....Turkoglu clears out the world every single drive worse than LeBron, and Van Gundy played into the refs favor Cleveland thing big time with the technical on the most recent Turk clear out the world drive. Classic stuff.

You live in idaho and you are from cleveland.

Case closed.

[ateamstupid]

Ah, Skip. Thanks for playing.

1-for-10, 3 points, 4 fouls, 3 turnovers, -20 +/-, clear path foul, letting the ball be thrown off your leg out of bounds, etc. The fact that he had a -20 +/- in a game that saw a 30-point turnaround by the Magic says something. No one else on the Magic had worse than -11 and Anthony Johnson was +15. Maybe next time in the postgame you'll stop bragging about how you "burned" the Celtics and Cavs when they left you alone and instead worry about shooting worth a sh it more than once per series.

Chuck, still think the loss of Jameer Nelson doesn't hurt much? Holy crap is Alston useless. You go from an All-NBA guard to an And1 dribbler.

No major complaints about the refs tonight from me. The clear path foul was bullshit and the Cavs got a few more calls overall, but it didn't make the difference in the game.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Ah, Skip. Thanks for playing.

1-for-10, 3 points, 4 fouls, 3 turnovers, -20 +/-, clear path foul, letting the ball be thrown off your leg out of bounds, etc. The fact that he had a -20 +/- in a game that saw a 30-point turnaround by the Magic says something. No one else on the Magic had worse than -11 and Anthony Johnson was +15. Maybe next time in the postgame you'll stop bragging about how you "burned" the Celtics and Cavs when they left you alone and instead worry about shooting worth a sh it more than once per series.

Chuck, still think the loss of Jameer Nelson doesn't hurt much? Holy crap is Alston useless. You go from an All-NBA guard to an And1 dribbler.

No major complaints about the refs tonight from me. The clear path foul was bullshit and the Cavs got a few more calls overall, but it didn't make the difference in the game.

Did he really say going from jameer nelson to rafer alston doesnt hurt much? Thats just a horribly bad opinion.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

Did he really say going from jameer nelson to rafer alston doesnt hurt much? Thats just a horribly bad opinion.

Something like that. I'm too lazy to look up the exact quote.

I'm not even trying to call out Chuck, that was secondary. I'm just mad that Skip was talking like king sh it after his one good game in Game 4. I bet he'll be real quiet about his performance tonight. With Jameer Nelson this series would've been a sweep and with an AVERAGE point guard, it would've been 4-1.

[dalakhani]

Sorry Chuck. This is from Bill Simmons, the sports guy. I would say he is my little trump card here. He is about as well known a sports columnist as you will find. Game over

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...8&sportCat=nba

In that respect, Jordan was both the best and worst thing ever to happen to the league. You know the good things he did, but he also paved the way for a generation of one-on-one players who careen toward the basket in big moments, create some form of contact and hope officials will bail them out. With four seconds to play in Game 4 and his team trailing by 2, LeBron put his head down, dribbled as fast as he could and prayed Michael Pietrus would either bump him or trip him. If you watch the clip, he's moving so fast that it would have been humanly impossible for him to make a shot. That wasn't his goal. He wanted a call. And he got one. Their feet got tangled, LeBron lurched forward, and the refs bailed him out.



Dwyane Wade won an NBA Finals for Miami that way. Three years later, LeBron nearly saved Cleveland's season that same way. It's a reprehensibly effective strategy that has nothing in common with anything we would ever see on a playground, an intramural game or a one-on-one battle in someone's backyard. I have been writing this column for 12 years dating back to my old Web site. Never have I received as many "I hate the referees" and "I hate watching these guys drive to the basket and get bailed out" and "Why can't they just let these guys play basketball and act like human beings?" e-mails as I did this spring.

It was impressive watching LeBron attack the basket instead of settling for jumpers. Also getting his teammates involved was pretty cool too. Now if he can only do that consistently.

[dalakhani]

now that was a rout.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

now that was a rout.

I was playing the new Punchout on Wii after the half. Talk about a team that quit, that was pathetic. PM me your address and I'll send the check. Congrats.

[King Glorious]

LeBron's fourth quarter the other night was basketball brilliance. Season on the line and he just takes over. Scores 17, assists on 15 more. That's what I love about him. He's about making the right play and knows it doesn't always mean him shooting. The only reason he doesn't average a triple double is because his teammates can't shoot that well. Watching him in this series, I don't think I've ever seen a player do more. Watching a guy averaging 40 a night, getting a 37-14-12 triple double in an elimination game, and single-handedly keeping his team alive is great stuff. And imagine, all of this is coming from a guy that would be an all-pro tight end in the NFL. I almost feel like it's blasphemy to say because I love Michael Jordan but there's no doubt in my mind that when James is done, he's the new standard.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

I was playing the new Punchout on Wii after the half. Talk about a team that quit, that was pathetic. PM me your address and I'll send the check. Congrats.

cool. you want to double on the final? Should be interesting

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

LeBron's fourth quarter the other night was basketball brilliance. Season on the line and he just takes over. Scores 17, assists on 15 more. That's what I love about him. He's about making the right play and knows it doesn't always mean him shooting. The only reason he doesn't average a triple double is because his teammates can't shoot that well. Watching him in this series, I don't think I've ever seen a player do more. Watching a guy averaging 40 a night, getting a 37-14-12 triple double in an elimination game, and single-handedly keeping his team alive is great stuff. And imagine, all of this is coming from a guy that would be an all-pro tight end in the NFL. I almost feel like it's blasphemy to say because I love Michael Jordan but there's no doubt in my mind that when James is done, he's the new standard.

He is version 2.0. But he just doesnt have that "it" Mike had. Mike was more of a surgeon while this guy is more of a blacksmith.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

cool. you want to double on the final? Should be interesting

What are the odds on the finals? I haven't checked.

[gales0678]

lakers -260 come back +200

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by gales0678

lakers -260 come back +200

Thanks.

Fu, want to just do a second bet and square up after? My $50 against your $110 for the finals. If I win you owe me $60. If you win I owe you $100.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

On that team, he is. It's not a matter of him being as dominant player as anyone else in the league but on that team, he is the team's best offensive weapon. Their offense has to work inside out. Rashard Lewis cannot create a shot for himself. Never has been able to. Turkoglu and Alston are best able to operate when the ball comes back out to them after going inside. When they take Howard out of their offense, they make it hard on themselves. Howard doesn't have to score all the time but has to at least get the ball and draw the double and kick it out to get the guys better shots. Also, he draws a lot of fouls and gets guys in foul trouble and gets his team in the penalty earlier. I don't think he's a dominant offensive player but he's their dominant inside player and he's got to get the ball.

Lewis still hasn't created his own shot. Only scores when he has open jumpers or maybe gets a mismatch with a smaller man on the post and he can just turn and shoot. He cannot create anything off the dribble at all.

[SniperSB23]

This years Lakers is the worst championship team I have seen in my lifetime. I've never seen a team win three series in a row that they should have lost and played like **** and still won a championship cause their opponents played shittier. It is like watching Big Brown win the Preakness, you knew you were watching dogshit but people still wanted to praise it.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

This years Lakers is the worst championship team I have seen in my lifetime. I've never seen a team win three series in a row that they should have lost and played like **** and still won a championship cause their opponents played shittier. It is like watching Big Brown win the Preakness, you knew you were watching dogshit but people still wanted to praise it.

I have to agree. Orlando has to go away kicking themselves. Simple free throws and they are tied. Inches away from being up 3-1. It can turn so easily. You have to give the Lakers credit though. It's not pure luck when you consistently come out on top and even though so many of their games could have gone either way, the majority of them are going their way. There's something to be said for always keeping yourself in it and giving yourself a chance to win. Gotta give it to Fisher too. Some big shot. Big shots. Gotta give Jackson credit too for sticking with him.

[dalakhani]

Was it just me or was Kobe trying to "punk" howard a little there?