NBA and College Basketball Thread

[monir]

Anyone watched the Warriors game against the Thunder? ***deep breath***

I'll be honest. I haven't been much of a basketball fan until I've came across Curry in the NCAA tournament against Georgetown. I've seen highlights of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen and etc..... but I've never seen anyone shoot like Curry from off the dribble. He is redefining the sports of Basketball. The guy just broke the record for the most 3 points made in a season with 20+ games left in the regular season. That was his own unprecedented record he broke that he set with 286 three pointers just last year. Incredibly at his current pace he may touch 400 before the season is over. That's about 5 three pointers per game. Remember how Usain Bolt shook up the track and field. Before him anything below 9.80 second for a 100 meter dash was incredible followed by a steroid scandal. He comes into the 100 meter scene and redefines speed with 9.69 second and then follows up that with an otherworldly 9.58 second. Curry is Usain Bolt of Basketball. The feat that seemed impossible isn't so anymore thanks to them in their respective sports.

I gobble up games or highlights (if I can catch the entire game) when the Warriors are playing. This thread should be more active.

[sayde]

Warriors vs OKC was amazing. It was one of those games that truly captures so much of what makes the Warriors and Curry so great. Just a couple more thoughts:

I felt like the warriors got pretty lucky at the end of the 4th when Iguodala got the foul call. Because usually you don't see many refs respect fouls made at the buzzer. But credit Golden State for doing what they had to do to capitalize on the opportunity. It took a bunch of clutch plays to get the win against the Thunder and I honestly don't think any other team in the league was capable of pulling it off the way that they did.

Lastly, if Curry keeps this up for the better part of the remainder of his career, he might be one of those extremely rare players that pushes the league to change the rules. Especially if Curry's propensity to drop 3 point shots from infinite range gives gives rise to a generation of new players who spend their childhoods and adolescents developing long range shooting skills.

Hell, Curry's so freaking amazing that he supposedly is even giving video game developers trouble on how to properly implement his character. Because the things he can do and the frequency at which he can do it makes him incredibly broken. So how do you put a character like that into a game in a way that effectively portrays and respects his stats and skillset without making him unstoppable? You can't really, because that's just what he is in reality on many nights--unstoppable.

Hell, he's so good he'd even give the Generation of Miracles a run for their money. And I'm only half kidding. lmao

[monir]

Two back to back "bad games" for Curry's standard. Warriors escaped against the Wolves. I also couldn't help but notice a hesitation in Curry's usual fluid motion. There were at least two occasion where it seemed Curry hesitated splits of a second before taking a shot and he missed both. I guess the game against Spurs rattled him more than we thought.

Btw, he has now made 339 three pointers with 15 more games to go. 400 threes in a single season doesn't seem that improbable any more.

Originally Posted by sayde

Hell, he's so good he'd even give the Generation of Miracles a run for their money. And I'm only half kidding. lmao

I guess Curry is in the same mold as that 3 point shooter who never misses. Incidentally, I forgot his name.

edit: Spurs lost to the Hornets after such an epic win against the Warriors? Jeremy Lin went lights out!

[Cream]

As a bulls fan these past two games against the knicks make me so happy we lost. We really don't deserve that 8th seed, not now at least. Glad to see Rose coming to form, hopefully our players can get healthier before next season.

[monir]

Few first for Curry this season and for the history of NBA as well:

- First to cross the 400 3-pointers threshold with 402 3-points made in a season!

- First to score 17 pts in the history of NBA in one overtime quarter!!

- First to be voted UNANIMOUSLY as the MVP of the league!!! pic

As they say, this is Curry's world and we're all living in it.

[monir]

Hohoho... Warriors are in a real pinch. I'm not sure how they can find a way to guard Westbrook and at home nonetheless, which is essential so this game doesn't become a free-for-all blow-out for OKC. Should be a very good one tonight.

[sayde]

They may not be able to guard Westbrook. But if they can't handle that, then they better somehow keep Durant from joining in for 30+ points tonight. They certainly have their work cut out for them though. They'll need to not get killed in offensive rebounds, they'll need to take care of the ball and limit those reckless turnovers, and they'll need to go back to executing on the offensive end like they usually did during the regular season. Warriors haven't completely looked like themselves as of late--especially Curry and Green. We've seen solid moments of it here and there during games 2 and 5, but they're going to need 48 minutes of it in game 6 tonight.

Unlike the Raptors who really were outmatched and stood little chance against the Cavs, I believe Golden State does have what it takes to come back to win this game and the next. But it's going to take good contributions from everyone unless Steph Curry has one of those magical nights where everything starts going in from everywhere--which *could* happen, but isn't a reliable strategy. lol

Who knows? If the Warriors can keep it close, maybe the pressure of the situation will get to OKC and lead to the return of one of those 4th quarter turnarounds that they become so well known for throughout this years regular season. Because even though this is an absolute must win situation for Golden State, it's only slightly less of a must-win situation for OKC.

[Last Sinner]

Originally Posted by monir

Hohoho... Warriors are in a real pinch. I'm not sure how they can find a way to guard Westbrook and at home nonetheless, which is essential so this game doesn't become a free-for-all blow-out for OKC. Should be a very good one tonight.

Westbrook is unguardable via athleticism. But he's delivered most games this series. Definitely more than Curry has.

I think it'll be more about perimeter shooters and the bench contributing than trying to curb Westbrook or Durant. Thompson and Curry can only do so much.

If OKC prevail in the coming hours, what a blow that will be to Golden State. 73 win season for what? Michael Jordan will be ecstatic if that happens. The only comparable thing I can thing of in recent sports is New England being undefeated up to the 2007 Superbowl then getting beat by the New York Giants in the one game that mattered most.

I want OKC to win Game 6. That way, either them or Cleveland get their first ever championship.

[sayde]

So between Klay Thompson putting on a 3-point clinic to keep it close (and setting a new nba playoff record in the process), Curry finding the touch at key moments during the 2nd half, the defensive prowess of Iggy and a few others, and between 4th quarter jitters down the stretch on OKC's part, Golden State managed to barely scrape out a hard fought win.

They kept me on the edge of my seat all night long. I have to say though, OKC had this. If they just didn't play so much hero ball in the very end, I think they could've ended this series. With that said, I don't envision OKC going quietly in game 7. Because they've already proven they can take on the warriors in their home and win. And I can only imagine they're going to come out extremely hungry, desperate, and angry come Monday.

It's going to be a wild ride.

[Last Sinner]

Klay was phenomenal that game. Really have no idea how OKC allowed 3 steals in the final minute.

Ascendancy may truly be back with Golden State. But given how much people like to tag OKC with choking when it matters and how they let that Game 6 slip away, OKC will surely be fired up. Klay going for 61% from the perimeter and hitting a playoff record 11 can't surely happen again but he's been the player of the series for Golden State.

Wonder who will lift in this decider. The impetus is on Durant the most. If he is going to take as many shots as he is, he needs to make some better decisions with them and not give up the ball so easily like he did late.

[sayde]

It may sound like I'm only stating the obvious when I say this, but I think OKC's best chance for a win will be to enter the final minutes with a 10+ point lead. Because if they do that, I'd imagine that Westbrook and Durant won't feel as pressured to move away from the type of basketball that has gotten them this far in the playoffs and their won't be as many careless errors and turn overs that come from either one of those guys forcing the action too much.

I've noticed that it only seemed like OKC overcame their 4th quarter woes during this series because each of their wins was so lopsided by the end. This was the first game in this series where OKC had to face some real adversity during the final minutes after coming into the quarter with the lead. And I think that manifested in bringing back bad habits.

I know it's not much consolation for OKC, but aside from how the game finished, they played really well. It took nothing less than some otherworldly shooting from Klay Thompson to even keep them in striking distance the entire night. In fact, even though the Warriors are playing game 7 at home, I'm still very nervous about their ability to close this. Because you can't count on Klay or Steph's heroic antics like that, and yet those miraculous spurts have been what the Warriors needed to get 3 games from these guys.

[BPD Renegade]

That final minute yesterday made me wince. I don't know if it was nerves or if the Warriors upped their defense or a combination of both, but allowing the inbound pass to be stolen every time at such a critical juncture was a terrible mistake to make. Klay Thompson's ridiculous 3-pointers probably didn't help with OKC's mentality either.

I've been rooting for this team for about 10 years (yeah, since the Sonics were at the bottom of the league), so I'd like them to finally win that title. I was disappointed that they didn't close it out.

[Last Sinner]

And it's time for the rematch. Except this time, Lebron (probably) has Irving and Love available for the full series.

Welp....have to hand it to Golden State. To come back from 1-3 to take the series is really something. On the other hand....Durant and Westbrook will never live this down. Durant may move on from OKC as well.

[sayde]

And the fairy tale season for the dubs continues. Watching how clutch these guys are from 3 point range simply never gets old and makes watching basketball games feel like watching a very exciting drama-filled scripted performance. Like if they win a championship in the end, this would be worthy of basing an anime on.

Anyways, finally, I get to see the rematch I've been waiting for all year. I look forward to seeing the Warriors try to prove the critics wrong who thought the only reason they won last year's championship was because the Cavs weren't at full strength. This time there's absolutely NO excuses for the Cavs since all 3 of their all-star's are healthy and they're undeniably the most well rested team going into the finals.

[sky black swordman]

Well, my brother is out 40 bucks.

Personally, I think the Thunder choked and gave series to the Warriors. The Thunder should have finished off the Warriors in Game 6.

[BPD Renegade]

If Durant and Westbrook leave, then I'll be done with OKC. The duo was the only reason I kept up with the team after it left Seattle.

And as much as I love the Warriors' three-pointers and play-style, now that all my teams are out, I'll be rooting for the Cavs to take the title this year.

[Marcus H.]

Seeing Curry win every these games, throwing those threes like it's second nature to him, felt so frustrating as a casual watcher of NBA.
He reminds me of Mayweather, but only because he already had the rules played to his advantage.

He doesn't know that he's killing my overall sentiment towards the game. The other teams stopped mattering; it's all GS and whether Team A could win against them.

I really don't care about record breaking and feats that exceeds those in the past. I just want to see a good entertaining game of basketball. Steph just doesn't help in that aspect for it.

[SuitUp]

I'm pretty sure the finals are already a done deal, Lebron can't carry the Cavs even if he tried, and when Curry or Klay aren't in good form, Iguodala is, and their bench is working for them, as opposed to the Cavs' bench.
I just can't see Lebron overturning this series, he wasn't capable of doing it when he was at his prime, much less now.

[warg14]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

Seeing Curry win every these games, throwing those threes like it's second nature to him, felt so frustrating as a casual watcher of NBA.
He reminds me of Mayweather, but only because he already had the rules played to his advantage.

Maybe I misunderstood but are you actually blaming him for being a good player and doing anything to help his team winning? I mean what is he supposed to do? Back in the Jordan/Bulls days nobody complained, but suddenly GS is the destroyer of basketball now?

[MeoTwister5]

Well I'm not gonna write off Cleveland just yet because coming back from 0-2 has been done before.

Now if GS wins Game 3 then it's essentially over.